Title: 妹と彼女 それぞれの選択
Developer: Waffle
Release Date: 22nd December 2023
Age Rating: 18+
Length: 30+ Hours
Links: Official Website, VNDB
Washizaki Kei has a problem.
He has romantic feelings towards his younger sister Haruka but after an incident during the summer festival three years ago their relationship has turned icy.
However, Kei still holds out for a way for him to get his happy ending – his “answer”, as you will. A way for him and Haruka to express their feelings and live in a society that accepts them. His years of fruitless efforts searching have made him depressed, numb to the world and he starts to lose all hope.
Until one day his best friend drags him along to a host club one evening and he meets “her” – a young woman working at the club who looks exactly like his younger sister. This mysterious girl’s name is Mitsuki and she offers to help Kei overcome his problem.
With Mistuki now a part of his life, just how will Kei and Haruka’s relationship change over one fateful summer?
Thoughts
I must admit that Waffle were a company I had mainly written off as being yet another Nukige producer, with themes that don’t really appeal to me. However, when Imouto to Kanojo was announced I must admit that my interest was piqued – it’s not often that eroge take a more mature, grounded view on sibling relationships and the premise seemed interesting enough that I decided to take a chance. Was it worth it or were my original assumptions correct?
Yeah I need to apologise to Waffle, I was clearly not giving them enough credit. While there is a lot of H scenes in this game, it’s definitely more a plot and character focused title. And a pretty great one at that.
I need to first praise the actual writing from Saburo – it was definitely a step above the usual eroge and was enthralling to read. The use of perspective changes between the game’s three chapters were handled especially well. I also enjoyed a lot of the imagery used around the two heroines. There is a bit of repetition due to the game structure but I think it is handled pretty well.
Chapters 1 & 2 are two sides of the same coin, being the hard-hitting utsuge you’re here for. Chapter 3 is a bit different, and feels a little more melancholic, like a fleeting midsummer night’s dream. Imo the ending for chapter 3 was a little rushed but the game overall was still enjoyable.
Moving onto characters and Kei was a good protagonist – he can be frustratingly hyperfixated at times but his mental health issues were portrayed in a very oppressive way, making him pretty sympathetic.
Haruka is the main heroine and was cheerful and doting to Kei until the festival incident (for good reason to be fair). She is now icy towards him but it’s pretty obvious what she’s covering up. I like Haruka a lot, she’s such a kind girl (to a fault) and I don’t think you could not like her after what she goes through in chapter 2.
One thing that I think the game was missing was showing more of Haruka when she and Kei were younger. If you buy the game either from Waffle’s store or the DL version from Fanza then you get two omake scenarios, one of which is set a few years prior to the main story and just should’ve been included in the main game.
While Haruka’s “true personality” is bright and cheerful, Mitsuki is the antithesis of this, being reserved and mysterious. Much like the 陽 and 月 in their names. In a game full of interesting characters, Mistuki somehow manages to be the most fascinating and she undergoes a really interesting character arc between all of the chapters. I certainly was not expecting to like her as much as I did by the end. I feel like she deserves happiness as much as the other two.
For a game that I assumed would be highly focused on the three main characters, there are actually a decent amount of side characters. All of whom are interesting or play their part in the story. I liked that Kei + Haruka’s parents were actually present (unlike most eroge). I also enjoyed the philosophical discussions with Kei’s university professor, those were fun.
Saburo is not really an artist I am familiar with but I enjoyed his work on this game. There’s a really good number of CGs too, even if the way the cg viewer in the game is laid out makes it awkward to see exactly how many there are at a glance.
Unlike most games I play, Imouto to Kanojo lacks any vocal songs, which was a bit of an odd experience. The OST itself was one of those where no individual track stands out but the whole thing does an excellent job at setting the tone of a scene. In particular, they did a great job with including tracks which made me feel tense, or even uneasy. It was understated excellence.
As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of H scenes in this game but for the most part they were actually plot-relevant, particularly in the first two chapters. Despite there being H quite early, I don’t think both parties really enjoy the scenes until chapter 3 which, alongside actual effort in the writing, made them actually interesting reading. That being said, the middle of chapter 3 certainly makes up for this and has a run of back to back fluff H that honestly rivals the start of Harumade, Kururu in how mind-numbingly long it is.
Conclusion
My Score: 9/10
Imouto to Kanojo was surprisingly one of my favourite games I’ve played in a while, and if you like human drama with a more sobering outlook on sibling romance then this is absolutely a must-read. It was an enthralling story about three broken characters who are seeking answers and approval.
I must say this has definitely put Waffle + this game’s staff on my radar and I look forward to their next project! I believe the same group did previously work on Waffle’s “Hajimete no Kanojo” which I do plan to pick up at some point it’s on sale.
Moral of the story, it’s nice to step out of your usual niche every so often – you may be surprised by what great titles are out there!
Thanks for reading~
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