Yoshiwara Higanbana [R18+]

[LaCaL]

Yoshiwara Higanbana [R18+] [SPOILERS]

NOTE: Since this discussion is intended for people who have completed the game, spoilers won't be hidden.

Hey everyone,

Anybody finished Yoshiwara Higanbana and keen to chat about it?

I have recently, and I enjoyed it. It's one of the best R18+ otome games I've ever played, for sure. I think MariaCrown really delivered on the "tragic" aspects and I felt that their portrayal of Yoshiwara was well-researched (I learned a lot). I can totally see why some people are putting this game on the same level of quality as Koezaru wa Akai Hana and Chou no Doku Hana no Kusari. I really hope MariaCrown makes another game, and I'm definitely keeping an eye on any future projects Hazuki Erika or Kazami Yui get involved in!

Please feel free to discuss whatever you like, but if you're stuck on ideas:

~ Favourite/least favourite characters?
~ Favourite/least favourite routes/endings?
~ Thoughts on the "True End?"
~ Did you like the writing style?
~ How accurately do you think the authors portrayed life in Yoshiwara?

 

[wrndrl]

Good lord, this game brought me out of a terrible slump. I have high praise for it. The narrative, the sex, and even the music was amazing. I'm very impressed with Maria Crown for doing so much and so well on its first title.

I'm not sure about accuracy, but the game has got me interested in oiran culture. The third person narrative was also refreshing. I occasionally look into the files to reread the script for easier access.

I only wish the "True End" wasn't on Shigure's route (or on anyone's route for that matter); neither of the choices brought happy endings. Shigure's at the bottom of my list, while Sakuya tops. Shinobu gets a special mention for being the sweetest and the most consensual.

 

[LaCaL]

I totally agree. It was a breath of fresh air after the string of mostly bad~mediocre R18+ otome that have been coming out for a couple of years. It's even better than most otome games in general. MariaCrown did an excellent job considering it's their first game. It's clear that a lot of love and effort was made when creating Yoshiwara Higanbana. So happy for them that the sales aspect also did well.

I only had basic knowledge about Yoshiwara history, but yeah, I found myself constantly checking various websites about the things that happened. Now I'm even be better equipped to gauge the accuracy of future Yoshiwara/Edo games.

There were also a lot realistic aspects that you'd expect the average otome game to handwave or use some kind of painful contrivance to avert. There are many good examples, but for now, Souichirou's crazy-fast acquisition of wealth comes to mind. In most otome games, they'd just handwave it has him "working hard; starting from the bottom" as though becoming a shipping magnate can merely happen from "hard work" alone. Becoming THAT rich in just 10 years (he was in his mid-teens at oldest by the time Rin left Kiyosuya). Given the authors' use of foreshadowing, the moment the coversation about Souichirou being "too good to be true" came up, I was pretty much counting down the minutes until Rin finds out about some unsavoury truth about Sou-san.

While Sou-san did have legitimate business dealings, most of his wealth coming from being a smuggler (amongst other things) was not only a historically topical crime, but was made much more believable considering he was taken in by Rin's family and would have become familiar with how merchantry worked (at least, on a basic level). All things considered, how else would a commoner like himself have so much money at his young age without being from a noble or a ridiculously wealthy background like Shinobu or Akito?

At first, I wasn't thrilled with Shigure being canonised as the main love interest, but now I'm fine with it. In my view, and after digesting everything that I've read, it'd be strange for Shigure to NOT be the main guy. For one, a lot of the "truths" of the game are directly tied to him. In order to fully appreciate his actions, you need to understand him beyond a surface level. This means that Shigure will have a larger presence no matter what; overshadowing the other guys if they were to hypothetically be the canon interest.

Think about his Best End- you haven't learned a lot about Shigure himself. Rin's admiration of him turns into love, he reveals he loved Rin back all along (you're not told why, really) and the two of you waltz into the sunset. In the True End, though, when you learn everything about him, you learn the whole truth. Shigure and the truth goes hand-in-hand. Being on Shigure's route is the only way Rin will get the chance to learn everything. You can't have one or the other.

Another thing, the game sells itself on tragic romance. When you think about Rin and Shigure's relationship, pretty much everything about it is depressing and tragic; more than any of the other guys. Which is obviously fitting for Yoshiwara Higanbana. By the end of everything, Shigure has been broken beyond repair for years. There is no believable way he can be with Rin AND for them to be happy even if he didn't opt for suicide. Rin has been broken, too. Not only that, Rin feels a strong obligation to become the one that "reigns Shigure in", and who knows if that'd really work anyway. Let's not forget how this will pretty much be the final nail in the coffin for the second-most important guy in the game, poor Sou-san.

Not only could he not "save" Rin, but Rin doesn't even love him back the way she used to and worse, chose to be with Shigure... Who is certainly the absolute last person in all of existence Souichirou wants her to be in love with. To add insult to injury, once Rin is on the path of knowing the whole truth, she will never be happy with Sou; only thinking of Shigure. Canonically, Sou's actions were in vain from the very start. If this isn't all so fittingly tragic for a game like Yoshiwara Higanbana, I don't know what is. At best, Rin and Shigure dying together could be considered bittersweet.

I totally respect MariaCrown for delivering on the main theme they're selling. Most otome games don't have the balls to make the true end a sad one. Maybe bittersweet, but outright depressing like this one? I can't even think of another example. There were numerous bad ends, which not only suits the type of game Yoshiwara is but also makes the Best Ends all the sweeter because of the effort required to get them.

As for my favourite character, I'd say it's Shinobu. Sakuya is very lovely too, but he comes a close second. My favourite route order is Shinobu -> Sakuya -> Shigure = Souichirou -> Akito. Akito isn't a bad character (in fact, I like him as a person more than Souichirou and Shigure), but his route was the weakest, even the bad endings. His route is only more objectively important than Shinobu and Sakuya's because more about Rin parents are revealed... Shinobu's mentions about her parents' death briefly and Sakuya's doesn't mention it at all, unless I'm misremembering.

 

[wrndrl]

I had preferred that the True Route to be exclusive of any man's route, but I would not deny what you've said. My overall distaste for Shigure aside, I am equally pleased with the tragedy woven in the story. I'd begun with Souichirou's route, not knowing that his best ending had to be unlocked, and so had gotten his lovers' suicide end first. Yet it didn't feel like a mistake; that ending was the very first on the list in the Bonus Playing through the other men's routes then became an interesting experience, for as Souichirou had promised to return for Rin, I had felt that it then became my turn to return to Souichirou.

I was, in a way, made to empathize with him, and leaving it there would make for a very fulfilling resolution. Yet the True Route unlocked only after Souichirou's best ending, turns this expectation on its head, cruelly and splendidly. Rin still gets Souichirou, yet does not love him; she cannot love a man who has largely been absent from her life, only to antagonize the man she'd already chosen: Shigure. It is painful, but strangely understandable and even liberating, which is how truth usually works. This meta may all be my speculation, yet it has convinced me that Yoshiwara's narrative is magnificent.

 

[LaCaL]

That's exactly what I thought about Souichirou's main bad end, too. It certainly would not have felt out of place if that were the "Best End" for Sou-san. Your thoughts on about how you felt as though it were your turn to return to Sou-san is very interesting- I've never thought of it like that. While I usually loathe (more like "very, very sick of its almost divinely-engineered omnipresence") the childhood friend archetype, I agree that Sou-san turns it on his head... the poor guy. The childhood friend route cliches just happen to not apply to him, even though I feel like he "deserves it" more than 95% of the childhood friend otome game love interests out there.

To add insult to injury, poor Sou-san isn't even the main hero even though Yoshiwara Higanbana marketed him to be perceived as such. How often is it that the most villainous love interest is the canon one? Anyhow, while I tried to remain neutral, I was also thinking, "they're pushing the angle that Sou-san's the childhood friend so bluntly that this must be some kind of trick"...and it was! In a much different way; the way you noted, that is. It's brilliant! The childhood friend lovers were bashed with the "reality" bat quite hard whilst the genre-savvy were pretty much doubly tricked.

Wasn't it interesting how when Rin tries to have both Souichirou AND Shigure in her life, it would never work out? Again, I completely agree about how strangely understandable the endings that involved the three were. Given their dynamics, it is pretty much nigh impossible for them to "get along", to put it simply, let alone just be around each other without any consequences.

I'm also thinking Sou-san's endings were also purposed to build Shigure up to be villainous, and perhaps add a bit of apprehension. One would be made to wonder why and how Shigure became the way he did... Considering I was the least interested in Shigure after Shinobu, I was certainly interested in his route by the time I felt as though I had completed all Sou-san had to offer (I generally don't use walkthroughs; at the very least on my first playthrough and when first playing through an individual route).

 

[wrndrl]

I also thought that they were establishing the "Sou-san is your childhood friend!" too quickly, and that he has loved Rin from the start and has sold his soul to the devil for Rin. The best end reflects his ideal outcome. Allow me to reiterate that players can end there; we chose to complete the True Route after unlocking Souichirou's Best End (and destroy the childhood lovers trope). It's for this reason that I prefer the ending when Rin lives on after Shigure dies; she develops a twisted relationship with Souichirou (and Akito's a decent person).

On a lighter note, I adore how completing a guy's route adds an extra scene to the common route. They're nothing in comparison to the bombshells in Shigure's route, but the addition of minute details tell me that this game was created with heaploads of respect and love.

edited for grammar, and: daaaaaamn I wish I could listen to those Drama CDs.

 

[Wilshrile]

Oh my mangeeezzz.... I love this game so far. I do agree with everyone here with the highly entertaining story. I love the artwork, coloring, scenery, musics, and characters. I love the voice actors and voice actress... sadly, I wanted the Rin to be voiced too. :/

Anyhow, I was hooked into the game the game after I finished one character ending. I wanted to know more about each of them and why the men were so interest in Rin. I come to realized I spend twenty hours on this game in one.... I almost ditched my sleep. -u-

At the end I do put this game on my top three favorite otome visual novels. I hope MariaCrown continues these type of game genres and characters.

 

[|♚|KK|♚|]

I just downloaded the game and it's alright I guess, haven't started with a route yet but the story is interesting so far^^

 

[Vermouth]

Spoliers ahead, so unless you've played the game I would advise to stop reading this post when I start talking about each of the routes. One thing I would like to say for those that may have not finished the game would be my recommended order of reading: Shinobu -> Sakuya -> Akito -> Shigure's good route (you need to read all the character's good endings to unlock Souichirou's good ending) -> Souichirou's routes (you need to read all of his bad endings to unlock Shigure's true route) -> True Story route.

Goodness, this game got an 11 out of 10 from me. I do have some complaints, but quite honestly, they are very much overshadowed by the overall brilliant way of the game.

So let's see. The characters. I guess, first of all, I loved Rin. She's a strong MC, which is rare in Japanese media in general. I absolutely adore strong female characters - which means it shouldn't be a surprise that my favourite female characters are Erza from Fairy Tail, or Tsunade from Naruto. I usually get either bored or incredibly annoyed with doormat female characters. So Rin was a breath of fresh air. I haven't liked a female MC since Kaguya from Jooubachi no Oubou. Rin is strong, she has her pride, she's been thrown into a terrible world and yet she still thrives. Except for Shigure's route, she is true to herself. And I have to respect that. And here comes complaint number one: I do wish she had been voiced.

When it comes to my favourite male characters. Tough. It would either be Akito or Souichirou. They are both very different, yet I couldn't help adoring them both. Metaphorically speaking, Akito would appear like a ravenous tiger (heh heh) when in reality he's a loveable kitten, whereas Souichirou at first seems like a puppy but underneath there's a much more predatory wolf lurking about.

The first route I played was Akito's. I thought I wouldn't like him too much, so I figured that it would be best to ge it out of the way. Boy was I in for a surprise. Plotwise, that route is much weaker that Shigure or Souichirou's, but I absolutely loved it. Both of them are depicted as incredibly adorable stubborn dorks. Both of them ripped laughter after laughter from me. The best end was packed with 200% fluffy fluff, the tragic end was fittingly sad, and even though I usually despise rape scenes (will get to that later), the "rape scene" in Akito's route didn't look much like it. In fact, I found it terribly tragic. I guess one of the factors that made Akito's route so brilliant was its voice actor. Blimey, I'm keeping an eye on him.

Sayuka... Sakuya was adorable. Hard-working, honest, straight-forward... All in all a very decent guy. The relationship between him and Rin was deep and strong. The part where you learn that he can't read, and she decides to teach him, and then their letters - blimey, that was powerful. And don't get me started with the kitten affair, sniff. You could see perfectly well how their bond grew deeper and they became attached to each other. I guess I only have one and a half complaints with his route. First, the weird rape thing. What the heck, Sakuya? Where did that come from? And the other one, well, it's not really a complaint, just a feeling. I couldn't help seeing them more like elder sister and younger brother than a couple. But that's just the feeling I got from time to time.

Mmmhm, Shinobu. He was fun to read, but I guess his route didn't shine especially. At least to me. I have to say that I was quite disappointed when I leant that the reason he didn't bed any of the working girls was because of his size. Speaking of which, that's one thing Maria Crown overdid. I mean, seriously, it looked like he had had a male whale genitalia transplant. I wish I could have renamed Shinobu "Vlad, the Impaler". Seriously. But anyway, his route was fun. He is a fun and loveable character, and I adored the fact that Maria Crown kept to reality and didn't make a Daimyou marry a prostitute and forget the social norms. I'm honestly tired of stereotype of a the prince who falls in love with a poor girl, marries her and she becomes queen. The ending where she ends up as his concubine was fittingly creepy.

Souichirou. I loved him. I loved how Maria Crown crushed the childhood friend stereotype. I loved that he got his hands dirty to get what he wanted, and yet was still capable of loving. I played his route before the True Story, and boy I'm glad I did. Souichirou's and Shigure's route go hand in hand, and had I played the True Story before, I think it might have been overshadowed and lost its impact. I guess his tragic end was one of the most beautiful and poignant ends in the story. Blimey I cried. I kept reading that end again and again. It was so moving I can't even remember what happened during the good end.

All in all, I loved Souichirou and his route. Even though I adored Akito, I guess Souichirou's route was much more fulfilling. It made me want to read it again, and again. I'm getting the itch to read it again even now.

And last... Shigure. Ugh. The good story made me think Shigure had some twin we didn't know about, because quite honestly it wasn't a Shigure route at all. His True Story, though. I can't really explain it. I both hated it, but I couldn't stop reading it. Shigure was fascinating from a very safe point of view. He was twisted, dark, completely broken, incapable of loving. Quite honestly, I was torn between being disgusted at him, and pitying him. He is wonderfully portrayed and it shows how much effort Maria Crown has put into it, and I guess that's why I got such a strong reaction while reading him. I guess that even though I couldn't like Shigure as a person (seriously, how could anyone?), he was so well depicted I was swallowed by his story.
I have to say, his sex scenes looked much more like rape than any of the actual rapes, so yeah, I didn't liked them although I guess they fit with Shigure's unstable personality. What I didn't really like during his route was Rin. It felt like she had lost her badarse-ness along the way and become another doormat. I absolutely hated the ending where she jumped into the flames and burned to the death with him. It felt like she had completely forsaken herself. In that aspect, the ending where she gets Souichirou but is still completely messed up was much more suitable.

So all in all, I think this game is a masterpiece. The art, the music, the characters, the fact that even though the MC is a prostitute, it's not drowned in mindless sex. Oh, I do have to point out two complaints about the art: 1) the nipples. Akito has nipples, but the others don't. Very mysterious. 2) The kissing/tongue-wrestling cgs. I guess it's a common thing in R18 games, but seriously, it did look like some sort of reptile way of greeting instead of a kiss.

I guess, finally I have to add my own input about rape. Seriously, even though R18 games have sex, I don't understand the fascination with humiliating and degrading a character. I don't understand why it seems necessary, which is why I usually just put them on auto play and go away to do the laundry, or something. Puts to show just how good this game is that I didn't do that during the "rape" scenes. I guess they didn't really seem like it? The characters were so messed up internally that even though you knew it was wrong, it didn't bring out the usual horror rape scenes tend to bring out in me.

All in all, incredible game. I do hope Maria Crown makes more stuff like this one. And I think that's enough rambling from me.

Cheers!

 

[|♚|KK|♚|]

[MENTION=135281]Vermouth[/MENTION]; Great review there! :)