Ayakashi Gohan (あやかしごはん) Discussion Thread

[Mizuno]

I understand how you feel, Honeybee otome game left me a lot of bad memories as well, drag&long story. However, Ayakashi Gohan took a 180degree turn for this company, cute and interesting (for me actually) interaction. There is character which i seriously SERIOUSLY wanted to obtain *coughGincough* but the game wont allow which actually frustrated me quite a bit *flip table*. Additionally, there are tear and bitter feeling after finishing game, I dont wanna say much because it will ruin the game play.

They actually change my opinion out their otoge plot for once (which is rarely happen)

I was actually looking forward to their new PC games series: Un/Re: Birthday Song, Dynamic Choir,...

Hmm... Maybe I'll try it then. I still have many otoges to read but well, let's add it to my list xD

 

[aritni]

-Who's the first character route that you took
I start from Uta route because I heard from my friend that I choose start from human route.

-Who's your favorite character?
If I can chose Gin-san, my answer will be Gin-san. But I cannot choose him, my answer is Manatsu-san.

-What are the memorable events that you liked in the game?
Now, I feel so sad and get shock with the true world in this game, when I found that everyone is died. T^T
However, I like the story of this game so much.

-Any reactions/questions about Ayakashi Gohan?
I'm confused that if I followed Gin-san to cook any menu, my food will be eaten or not?

-What do you like about the game/gameplay?
I like every BGM, OP and ED song, and I like all scenes in this game. All pictures are very beautiful.

-What do you hate about the game?
It's so sad when I found all routes (when I play Asaki route) that I played (I play Uta -> Ibuki -> Suo -> Yomi -> Manatsu) are the dream world. Everyone were died already.

 

[silverr]

-Who's the first character route that you took
Uta

-Who's your favorite character?
Uta but Yomi also took my heart, both of them

-What are the memorable events that you liked in the game?
Getting close to Yomi, although he isn't my usual fave dating type in otome I quite liked him

-Any reactions/questions about Ayakashi Gohan?
I wish Uta had more lovely dovey CG-s

-What do you like about the game/gameplay?
Fantasy setting, two paths for the heroine...

-What do you hate about the game?
The fact that everbody was dead at the begining :(

 

[tomonkazu]

waaa, ayakashi gohan thread ////// may I join in? /no
Already finished playing the game so here you go!

-Who's the first character route that you took
Uta

-Who's your favorite character?
Everyone in rin's human chapter plus gin and suzuri /hit
Okay I can't pick one since I love all of them orz

-What are the memorable events that you liked in the game?
Maybe asagi's nearly ending event,

-Any reactions/questions about Ayakashi Gohan?
Too much feels

-What do you like about the game/gameplay?
I really like it that you can change the heroine's personality by picking different choices during the heroine's childhood time

-What do you hate about the game?
Less kissing CGs 8"))) /hit hard

 

[Anie_Reichi★]

-Who's the first character route that you took?
Suou, because.... I don't know..? My sister said that I have to play Human Route first before Ayakashi Route because Ayakashi Route contains a lot of spoilers from the "truth" of this game...

Spoiler: My Route Play

And so, [Human Route] Suou -> Haginosuke -> Uta -> [Ayakashi Route] Yomi -> Manatsu -> Asagi

-Who's your favorite character?
Yomi because he is voiced by Kaji Yuuki and he is adorable tsundere for me >w<

-What are the memorable events that you liked in the game?
The family things in this game ^^

-Any reactions/questions about Ayakashi Gohan?
Yeah, after i know the "truth" from this game, i was shock though... And hardly to believe that,,,, ;-;

-What do you like about the game/gameplay?
BGM, Arts, OP, ED, Story, The Heroine is voiced, and The Characters are calling her name. YES, I REALLY LOVE IT >W<)bbbb

-What do you hate about the game?
BAD END, the "truth" of this game ;_; And the kids who are break the precious eyes from Uta and Yomi!!!! (ノಠ ∩ಠ)ノ彡( \o°o)\
-------
Yeah, I think this is the greatest game from Honeybee (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
And now, I'm looking forward to Dynamic Chord ヾ(*´∀`*)ﾉ♪

 

[Sakimichi]

Actually, I'm hesitating to play it. I have bad memories of Honeybee's otoges... in simple words, I felt like I played for almost nothing. There was no plot, actually. Really.
Is it different with Ayakashi Gohan ? The drama cds didn't left any impression on me (even with my favorite seiyuus, I was sleeping through all the tracks), so I'm asking for girls who might be able to convince me...

The Starry Sky series may have not have a serious plot, but Honeybee did well as making the constellation series as a perfect example of a classic school-setting Otome Game from start to finish.

The goal was simple, create an otome game which have the general visual novel elements and make it slightly better thus creating a solid fanbase. Unfortunately they went too far ... *cough* Colorful*Step *cough*, but manage to redeem themselves in Ayakashi Gohan.

You can't expect something revolutionary in a school setting because and they can't re-invent the wheel (unless you want a survival school setting lol), thats what the fandisks were for tho and I simply enjoyed it.

 

[kareshi]

I only played Starry Sky in Spring and I have to admit that I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. I think one reason I don't like it is because of the main heroine and the school setting (Tsukiyo is boring and like a skin for players to take on). However, Ayakashi Gohan brought us a more interesting protagonist and a brand new way for the character to develop depend on your choices (Honeybee play their cards well here :P). I gradually fall in love with both the energetic RIn and the reserved Rin. ;)

 

[Keon]

I started with Yomi. He often says "it's troublesome" and "I hate people," but he actually is a pretty gentle and helpful guy. Yomi's Best End ended up... I was like "How is this a best end ????" I didn't know about the features of the route of Asagi.
I understand their opinion of humanity. I think condemn them that they have lost faith in people isn't correct. In the game we see real people's actions. As people forget history and traditions. As people are afraid of that they don't understand. I think there is something to think about.

The heroine is interesting too. In the Human route: She was like " I just wanna to read a book. Don't disturb me". It was interesting to see how her relationships changed her, rather than the heroine changes the male character. In the Ayakashi route: she cheerful and curious, her playable characters are opposites Yomi, Manatsu and Asagi.
I like the route of Utah and Yumi, Haginosuke, Asagi. Suou. He's always "nyani", "ochinyai", "nyanya" and he sleeping everywhere he goes.

I really like the game. In the game has many comedic episodes. Oh, like the one with the kappa, which was hilarious. I love Kami-Sama's shirt, hehe ~
I didn't like one thing. Why Rin has no route ?! I was hoping that he would be a secret character. Why are so cruel I want his route! Tsu-kun is so cute.

-Any Reactions / questions about Ayakashi Gohan?
So sad But maybe that's why the game catches you.

 

[haruny]

-Who's the first character route that you took?
Yomi. So glad i did Yomi's first, it made me fall in love with this game ;-;
-Who's your favorite character?
Yomi and Asagi aslkdjlda. Yomi is so GODDAMN CUTE and Asagi just make me want to hug him, give him a warm cup of tea, and give a lot of love to this guy because seriously
-What are the memorable events that you liked in the game?
God, where do I start. I loved Human!Rin's character growth, the every single ayakashi story in both Human and Ayakashi Rin's route, the warm feeling the whole game gives with the Family stuff. And of course

Spoiler: Click only if you finished Asagi's route

The looping thing. THAT JUST MADE ME CRY A LOT THANK YOU HONEYBEE

This game just give me so much feels OTL
-What do you like about the game/gameplay?
The deep story behind every single character was probably what i loved the most. Of course the BGM and character design was also super gorgeous <3
-What do you hate about the game?
Hmm, i don't really have anything that i actually HATE. Maybe only with certain routes that i think lacked more romantic stuff and somewhere near the end that felt kind of rushed. But overall it's still my best otome game ever <3

 

[matamune09]

Who's the first character route that you took
I followed a blogger's play order suggestion, so I played Ibuki first.

Who's your favorite character?
Tsuzuri OMG. That kid is such a adorable tenshi.
Uta for his awsum elderbrother in general, genki and teasing that always cheered the heroine & me up, and sweet awkward dork when it comes to raburabu.

What are the memorable events that you liked in the game?

Spoiler: spoiler

When Uta piggybacked the heroine till they got back home.

I seriously cried at that scene. Crying for otome scenario has really been a while since Hanamani.

What do you like about the game/gameplay?
Background music and background art

What do you hate about the game?
-The heroine's voice. After playing two routes or so, I turned it off. She sounds unnaturally slow in ningen version and somewhat clingy despite her supposedly cheerful & independent personality in ayakashi version, I found it really disturbing.

-The deus ex machina in some ayakashi stories. Especially the spider ayakashi story. TBH I didn't enjoy most of the ayakashi stories, it's like they tried too hard to be somewhat Natsume Yuujinchou-like but failed to impress me. Also, they're super lengthy.

The inexistence of skip to next choice function like rejet games. I was always wishing for it since the ayakashi stories r lengthy n wasn't enjoyable.

-Finally, Asagi.

Spoiler: spoiler

Maybe it's just my personal bias, but I'm die hard fan of Evangelion's Kaworu Nagisa, so I was shocked to find not only his character design is similar and voice actor the same, but also his destiny/character role is freakingly... I expected something original and satisfying, my hopes also got up since many ppl sez Asagi is their most favorite, but after working hard completing 5 routes to unlock his route, what I got is annoying dejavu, the "why did they have to do dis to Kaworu" feel.

I found his character and his route totally disappointing.

 

[LaCaL]

Alright, I'm fairly late to the party but I enjoyed Ayakashi Gohan enough that I want to post my thoughts.

Anyway, my play order was: Haginosuke -> Manatsu -> Suou -> Uta -> Yomi -> Asagi

Character preference order is: Uta = Yomi > > > Haginosuke > Suou > Asagi = Manatsu

First of all, WOW. So much "GIN SHOULD HAVE HAD A ROUTE!" I really liked Gin (and Tsuu-kun, God, he's so bloody cute) as well, but I'm starting to feel like one of the few people that would loathe the idea. I don't know if this is the case with all fans (I'm sure some just want one because he's handsome and a nice guy voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru), but I really think they're missing the point of his character and the theme of "family/familial love" he strongly represents in the story. Especially after playing the true end route and learning of his background and motives, there is no way a Gin route could be well-written. I really hope he doesn't become a romantic option in the fandisc.

As an Inushima twins lover, it's sad to see how the game treated them at times and how some fans reacted to them (honestly, it's more on Yomi's part than Uta's; Yomi cops it worse and it's not hard to see why). Considering what the boys went through, it's beyond just "understandable" that they'd hate humans to the extents that they do and possess the attitudes they currently have. I think it's interesting how both of them chose to cope with the same past; taking differing approaches. While I wouldn't call their characters especially "deep", I think they have more to them than Suou (Suou does have slightly more to him, but not as much or more than the twins), Haginosuke, Manatsu and Asagi, which made them more interesting in my view.

I liked how on the surface, Yomi appears to be the maturer one, but in actuality, Uta being the older brother is justified. This is mostly because of how they've developed to cope with their past. I've overly simplified this, though. Anyway, I enjoyed their interactions, their dynamic and their bond. I'm so thankful that honeybee didn't cheapen this by introducing some love triangle trite. There are few types of routes that are worse than breaking up close friends/brothers over some boring Ms. Protagonist without writing it in an interesting or meaningful way.

There is a lot more I want to say, but I don't want to make the post too long. Overall, I really recommend Ayakshi Gohan, especially to those who got a poor impression of honeybee after their string of barely functional~mediocre games. Love and effort clearly went into Ayakashi Gohan, and it shows. Moreover, the quality of writing has improved in the employment of Chekov's gun and foreshadowing. Most, if not all of the twists have some measure of hinting-at (if you finish the game, you'll definitely understand why those supposed "best ends" actually are referred to as such), so nothing is too left-out-of-field. However, it's not without some flaws. In my view, the general ones are:

~ Lack of a choice-jumping function even though the game has a long common route

~ While I don't care about this too much, some would consider Ayakashi Gohan lacking in the romance department due to its shorter individual routes. This also lead to the romance feeling a little quick or underdeveloped

~ The "importance of family" theme is a little cheesy at times, but to me, this wasn't a big deal.

~ It can become a pain to get into individual routes without a walkthrough, as I believe getting even one or two choices wrong could lock you out of the character's route you want.

~ If you're not a fan of "inexperienced adolescent romance problems", some parts of Uta and Suou's routes will piss you right off (I wasn't a fan of those moments, let me tell you).

That's all for now!

 

[Tsukihii]

-Who's the first character route that you took

I've chose yomi because I like Kaji Yuuki's voice and seeing tsundere fall in love :3 Then came Uta, Haginosuke, Suou, Manatsu and Asagi (even if I wanted to play him before I couldn't aha)

-Who's your favorite character?

Asagi without hesitation !! I love his personility, how he is doing his best to protect everyone without them knowing and how sweet he is with Rin... (♡´౪`♡) I mean I cried so much in his route :(
-What are the memorable events that you liked in the game?
Usually I hate doing Bad ends but this time I did Asagi's because I like him too much, and really I think I could never forget his both ends... T-T

-Any reactions/questions about Ayakashi Gohan?
My favorite visual novel ever ❤❤ I'm looking foward to playing the sequel so much !!

-What do you like about the game/gameplay?

The art omg. I've started to like Kazuaki's art with the Starry Sky series and honestly I think this is the art I love the most ^_^ .Musics are great too :D

Something I think it is like reaaaally important in visual novel : the casting. There's a lot of seiyuus that I love, like Kaji Yuuki (Yomi), Midorikawa Hikaru (Gin), or Ishida Akira (Asagi). I like the fact that Rin owns a voice, too. Otome game with voiced heroine are pretty rare, unfortunately.

And to finish : I like the story itself ! Like I said It's my favorite otome game :)

-What do you hate about the game?
What the hell can I hate about it. It has everything that I like so honeslty I can't think about something I hate in it :')