u/PinkNinjaKitty

I don’t have time to write a proper review of Otome Daoshi, so I’ll just write my somewhat random thoughts and impressions.

Good things:

— Pretty UI and CGs. I like the manga cut-scene things.

— The game was often funny and the localizations carried the humor well

— The main character is great, likeable and proactive, and often clever in a fight. She’s a lot like Usagi from Sailor Moon, down to the hairstyle. Lovable, loyal, warm, and, at times, adorably dumb.

— I like Mimi, her panda-spirit, and think it’s hilarious when it gets flung at people, etc.

My overall takeaway from the game is that it gets mixed reviews partly because it promises fluff-lovers fluff but then pulls the rug out from under them, while angst-lovers have to wade through fluff to get to the angsty parts. Neither type of player is fully satisfied.

For the light-hearted look and initial feel of the game, there is so much sad stuff here. In different routes you’ll find (mild and vague spoilers) >!betrayals — so many; loved ones becoming undead creatures; the need to choose whether to kill someone important to the LI;!< >!MC’s innocent grandfather being arrested; potential executions; and a LI *actually dying* and not just in a bad ending.!< The game’s tone wobbles back and forth without realizing that’s what it’s doing.

The biggest disappointment for me in this arena was >!Shiyu. I tuned in for absolutely every Shiyu scene — Jun Fukuyama was hilarious — but then he broke my heart. I learned he was a villain; he acts cute but he wanted to kill our MC. But he had plenty of chances in some routes and inexplicably never took them, sometimes even helping MC. His villainy was out of left field. At the end of some routes we were clearly meant to still feel understanding/some sort of gratitude and respect for him.!<

And how many >!secret betrayals/villlains do you need in a game?!< Off the top of my head, there are about five. It got to silly levels.

The romance is definitely not the focus, which I think would be the other main problem with the game. I didn’t mind too much, but it’s kind of an afterthought. I’m pretty sure a few LIs don’t even get the all-important kiss with MC.

Basically, the game is like the MC — sweet-heartedly blundering through every scenario, frequently being clever and doing great but also often being dumb as a box of rocks. I’d recommend buying it, but only if you primarily like sweet, fluffy games and can also handle dark content at surprising times and barebones romance.

Thoughts on the teaser that was released today? It’s a visual I could have gone my whole life without, but people are saying they’ll show in the MV how banal things from the BTS members’ everyday lives are sensationalized by the media.

Sometimes I feel like the teasers aren’t much like the eventual song, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I wonder if they’ll do a serious MV or a more playful one like this teaser seems to hint.

I'm posting here since Hashimoto's can come hand-in-hand with anemia and I'm having a hard time thinking. I've been reading all I can online, but I can't figure out what I should do next. My brain feels like it's walking through a swamp and I can hardly concentrate.

I've been to the doctor (my GP, not my endocrinologist yet) because I've been experiencing memory issues, brain fog, heart palpitations (rarely), muscle pain, bruising, thin hair that falls out, and strange intermittent exhaustion (after mild exercise like going to the store or walking to the park, I'll be exhausted, but not every time). These symptoms worsened after my period recently, so I went to my family doctor to ask for my iron to be tested, suspecting anemia.

The blood test results that came back this weekend seem to show that things are fine:

Total iron: 117

% saturation: 34

Iron binding capacity: 340

Ferritin: 74

White blood cell count: 6.7

Red blood cell count: 4.77

Hemoglobin: 14.8

Vitamin B12: 801

Folate: 17.2

TSH: 3.72

(T3 and T4 weren't measured this time, but were fine in April when my endocrinologist did her usual testing -- free T4 was 1.4, total T3 was 95)

For those of you who have anemia alongside Hashimoto's, what test helped you finally discover it? Should I rule anemia out because of my test results? Any help would be appreciated.

I wrote my thoughts and impressions of the fan disc hoping other people might find it helpful. Sorry it's a bit of a messy review! Overall, I loved the fan disc and recommend it.

Overall and Misc. Thoughts
If you liked the first game, you’ll definitely want to play this one. If you were on the fence with the first one, just know that this fan disc is pretty much like the first game, just with more romance for the original five LIs.

Music: The music is the same as the first game and is awesome (including the new opening by Takatsuna's VA). The CGs, unfortunately, were sometimes wonky; it was a toss-up whether it would be perfectly fine or a little strange. That didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the game, but it’s something worth noting. There are also relatively few CGs, maybe 3 or 4 for the original love interests and a few more for the new routes.

Length: The original five LIs get a shortish (four chapters?) route, while the four new LIs get full routes of about six chapters each. The fan disc is on the short side but pretty much the average of FDs I’ve played.

Translation: The translation was overall clunky but clean. The errors I saw were a few mistaken meanings the translator got mixed up; for instance, in Tomomori’s route, Shanao says that she did something that had actually been done by Tomomori, and in Noritsune’s route, the narration text tells us that they’d been recuperating at Yoritomo’s estate after Dannoura when in reality they’ve been doing their best to hide from Yoritomo.

Spiciness: The game is very descriptive when it comes to the physical side of the romances, at least for the original five LIs. It probably comes close to Cupid Parasite levels, but the game keeps its T rating by being somewhat vague and fading to black eventually. Only one original LI (Noritsune) gets the short end of the stick here. The newly romanceable characters do not go past kissing, but if memory serves, each at least gets an actual kiss CG.

Misunderstanding trope: Fan discs and otome romance in general are often full of “misunderstandings” added for drama that keep the characters apart until the story begins to drag on, but 2/3 of the characters who had this trope – >!Tomomori and Yoritomo!< – resolve their issues relatively quickly, or at least have more going on in the route than just angst. Unfortunately, >!Noritsune’s!< route suffers from a very long misunderstanding. It’s not always heavy – in fact, at times it’s downright funny – but it took time that would have been better spent on more plot or romance.

Individual Routes: I’ve written my thoughts on the individual routes below. There are minor spoilers, but I tried to be vague enough so that most elements of the plot can still be a surprise if you choose to play the game. I included some content warnings, but be advised that I didn’t play the bad ends for most of the routes, and you can assume there’s possible triggers in them. Also, I didn’t make note of it since it was ubiquitous, but there’s battle violence (usually not shown outright), death, and sometimes blood spatters in all the routes.

Also, for reference, my LI ranking in the first game was Noritsune >>>> Shungen > Tomomori >> Yoritomo >> Benkei. You may of course enjoy some routes more than I did if you had a different LI ranking!

Tomomori Route
7/10 overall; plot, 7/10; sweetness, 9/10; spiciness, 9/10

>!All about banging or lack thereof.!<>! I’m not even kidding; the central plot revolves around this. It was nice to have so much romance for the most part. Tomomori’s quite smarmy, but that’s normal for him. He’s possessive but fights against that tendency for the most part here, deciding she can see her friends even though he wants to keep her for himself. (How benevolent of him.) Physically he treats her like a green flag LI would except for one scene that got uncomfortable (see content warnings).!<

>!Shanao didn’t seem quite like herself. I’d almost believe it if someone told me this was a bad ending where she’s been brainwashed to believe she’s happy living in the enemy’s estate and giving up swordfighting and not being able to see her friends, with Tomomori whispering sweet nothings to her constantly. But I was also willing to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy Shanao and Tomomori being romantic and surprisingly wholesome most of the time. At times I was like, why is this villain so heartwarming, lol.!<

>!For the most part, Tomomori is a reformed villain in this route, and if you don’t mind his villainous-ness being dialed down and want to see romance between him and a rather domestic Shanao, you’ll like it. I enjoyed it a lot.!<

Content warnings: >!One instance of dubious consent/marital near-rape, themes touching on infertility, abusive parents, and generational trauma!<

Benkei Route
3/10 overall; plot, 4/10; sweetness, 10/10; spiciness, 8/10

I apologize to fans of Benkei – he’s not my cup of tea, so I found myself skipping through most of his route. >!He pulls a Hanzo at one point – you’ll see what I mean. Also the Lord of Hiraizumi is way too ok with everything Shanao and Benkei do in this route; we’re told he’s a devout Buddhist, but they flout some of the religion’s precepts/customs and he’s inexplicably fine with it. I began to sympathize with his cross son who was always grumbling about “why are you letting them do that, this makes no sense.” The route has lots of wholesome banging and talk of raising a happy family in peace. !<I think Benkei fans love his gentle giant/teddy bear sides and that he's a great guy and a green flag, so if you fall in this camp, I think you'll enjoy it.

Noritsune Route: 6/10 overall; plot, 5/10; sweetness, 9/10; spiciness, 4/10

>!Noritsune and Shanao are living an idyllic Animal Crossing life in a random village. The route is very wholesome with cute kisses and hugs and flower bracelets.!<

>!Noritsune is the honorable, green-flag, easily flustered LI from the first game, which I love, but some may be disappointed with the route because the plot is mostly centered around physical romance not happening. At one point it became funny and I began to jokingly wonder if Noritsune is actually attracted only to men. He fell in love with Shanao while she seemed to be a man, after all!!<

>!The most interesting thing in this route is the Taira brothers showing up unexpectedly, to Noritsune’s chagrin (and to our delight). They’re scene-stealers every time they appear. The misunderstanding between Noritsune and Shanao also drags on a little too long, and imo, he should have told her what he was thinking and I don’t know why he didn’t. I’m a huge Noritsune fan and wasn’t disappointed, per se — there are a lot of good moments in the route — but I thought it could have been better.!<

>!One awesome thing about the route is that, unlike several of the routes, Shanao (eventually) gets to be her genuine, sword-wielding self, and Noritsune’s equal and rival. Also, although they don’t usually get hot and heavy, there are a few moments where Noritsune does take it there.!<

Yoritomo Route: 4/10 overall; plot, 5/10; sweetness, 2/10; spiciness, 9/10

>!Pretty sure Yoritomo fans will like his route, but I found him a little boring since he wasn’t showing much of any emotion most of the time. He’s a ridiculously tight-lipped man. There’s a point later in the route, though, where he finally passionately tells her his sorrowful, angry feelings, and I felt for him then and was more interested. This route has lots of heavy make-outs and physically romantic moments. Their miscommunication is short and the romance is pretty much the main focus here with some well-done romantic moments. VA Makoto Furukawa is great when it comes to that. !<

Shungen Route: 4/10 overall; plot, 1/10; sweetness, 8/10; spiciness, 9/10

I love Shungen, but his route had the dumbest plot out of all of them. I was laughing out loud in disbelief at times. >!It doesn’t spoil much to say they join a group of traveling performers. But why on earth would they choose to perform in a troupe that performs in front of large audiences when they’re supposed to be in hiding and don’t want anyone to notice them? This leads (predictably) to trouble, and they do several more inexplicable things and there’s a possession (yes, possession) scene so unbelievably weird it got funny.!<

>!The saving grace of this route is the romantic moments. VA Soma Saito is really good at a sexy voice and they utilize it a lot in this route. It’s pretty heavy on the romance and physical side of their relationship. !<Shungen and Shanao are really cute together, and it's nice to see them happy and in love.

Shigehira Route: 10/10 overall; plot, 10/10; sweetness, 6/10, spiciness, 3/10

Fun start to finish. He makes me think of my favorite shojo manga storylines. In another life, they’d be high school classmates and he’d be Otani from LoveCom or another charming snarky character. He also reminded me of a less murderous Minami from 9 R.I.P.

>!He starts as an arrogant, but simultaneously pretty innocent, spoiled rich kid. The route is very funny, with him bugging her constantly at first but realizing that he wants to be her friend – and more, once he realizes she’s a girl. There are several romantic moments involving soul-sucking. It was often romantic in a fantasy-adventure way – they’re on opposite sides of the conflict and at times are crossing swords. The route makes you believe, though, that he comes to care for her as a person; he wants to be her friend and wants to see her smile and would do anything to make that happen. It honestly reminded me a bit of Noritsune’s route from the first game. Someone writing these routes is really good at enemies-to-lovers.!<

>!I think some people would find the route a little lacking in kisses, etc., but if you expect shojo-manga-level romance instead you won’t be disappointed.!<

>!I didn’t have many complaints with this route, but I did have two minor ones. First, it starts from the timeline where Tomomori has already kissed Shanao before she can escape across the river whose name I forget. It’s a little weird knowing that Tomomori has kissed her before Shigehira can. Second, I don’t want to say much because it would spoil things, but there is a “kiss” that is decidedly not romantic (more like an emergency kiss -- think CPR), but the game plays it like it is romantic and an actual kiss. That made no sense to me, but it did set up a cute scene near the end.!<

Content warnings: >!major character death, forced almost-kiss from a character “under the influence”!<

Tadanobou Route: 1/10 overall; plot, 1/10; sweetness, 1/10; spiciness, 0/10

I liked him in the first game; I don’t know what happened here. >!His route is at first a sort of endless compliment exchange with Shanao and overall has very few actual romantic moments. He’s also irritating once he discovers she’s a girl — he keeps not wanting her to chop wood or work or fight, etc., and doesn’t stop to consider what she wants.!<

>!He came across in his route as pretty dumb. I knew he was a himbo, but I thought he at least had common sense. He’s also supposed to be a competent samurai, but he almost attacks women and children in a village because he can’t tell that they’re not enemy Emishi men (?). (Maybe he needs glasses.) The route got so bad that when Tomomori (as a villain) showed up, I was like, please take me awayyy. The good ending is not actually good — it seems like a sad fate, and an unnecessary one since imo an easy solution was right there. Probably the one time I liked Tadanobou in this route was when he was fighting Tomomori — for once, Tomomori doesn’t have the clear advantage because he’s never seen Tadanobou’s funky sword things. I thought he was kind of cool there.!<

Tsugunobu Route: 6/10 overall; plot, 6/10; sweetness, 7/10; spiciness, 1/10

He didn't appeal to me in his base game route — I'm not sure why, since he’s fun and I like him in this fan disc. My opinion on the Sato brothers has totally flipped. >!He's the first canonically to suspect she's a woman; I appreciate his intelligence and his clever way of confirming his suspicions. Sometimes it's funny just how unaware everyone else seems to be when it comes to her gender. It was a solid route overall. The route dragged a little once they went to battle in the last two thirds, but they had a particularly heartwarming and idyllic good ending compared to a lot of the new LIs. Like all the new routes, the romance was somewhat minor and there’s a single romantic kiss as far as their physical relationship. I feel like I'm not saying enough here, because it was a good route. It's more focused on them getting to know each other and the war than heavy romance. !<

Takatsuna Route: 2/10 overall; plot, 1/10; sweetness, 1/10; spiciness, 1/10

>!His VA does the opening and ending songs, so his singing voice is great. But I actually had to turn off his voice because it was really getting to me. I think it’s just that he was doing a “young” voice that made it weird. I don’t mind “shota” love interests as long as they’re very close to the MC’s age, but Takatsuna just didn’t do it for me, unfortunately. I didn’t like his route much as there was very little romance and not much of a believable progression of their relationship. At one point it even looks like he’s going to let her marry someone else and personally hand her over.!<

>!There’s a brief mention of his white horse, Ikezuki, a cool callback to actual Japanese history/legend. (I love horses so this was a point in his favor, ha ha.) I also liked one CG near the beginning of the route that matches the last CG they have together in their good end, bringing the story full-circle in a cute way.!<

I hope this review is helpful! I definitely recommend this game, especially Shigehira’s route. I think most fans of the first game will be satisfied with the continuing story of the LIs, except for Noritsune; go into that one with slightly lowered expectations.  

We’re getting Come Over and another Run BTS episode for Festa. I’m so happy! 😊

Oh, also! What are you all planning for the Busan concerts? Will you watch, and how? I’ll probably buy the two-day Weverse pass and watch at home. I wonder if they’ll change the concert much for Festa.

Background: I’d never been to an OT7 BTS concert, or many concerts at all, so I had no real basis for comparison. I’ve been a fan since 2017 but I always thought concerts weren’t my thing. Then Jin came to Tampa and of course I had to go to his shows since they were so close; and after his incredible performance, I knew without a doubt that I had to see all 7 of them when they toured again. I saw them on all three days in Tampa from seats in the 100s level and once from the floor. I imagine your concert experience might be different if you’re in a different part of the stadium.

Also — this will color my review, so I mention it — I did not really like the Arirang album. “Normal” and “Like Animals” have grown on me over time, and “Come Over,” released later on the deluxe vinyl, of course, is a song I actively listen to. I like the overall beat and sound in “Body to Body” and think the MV for “2.0” is great, plus it has great choreo, leading me to like the song when it’s performed. The other songs aren’t my cup of tea. I like BTS’ 2015 to 2022 sound best, and pop and rock in general.

The positives:

-Experience: It was so much fun. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of some of the new songs, dancing and singing along with the BTS members and everyone else is awesome. Lots of the new songs (like “FYA,” “Aliens,” “Body to Body,” and “Normal”) have good beats or catchy choruses and are suited to large crowds, stadiums, and the passionate performances BTS is known for. Plus, live, you can hear the members’ voices more clearly than on the album.

-No vocorder: Going off my last point, “Into the Sun” wasn’t an utter abomination anymore. With no vocorder effect, you could hear the members sing and actually appreciate the song. I loved it live and it made the best concert ending. If only they’d release a normal version.

-Choreo: The choreo that exists in the concert is cleanly executed and looks great. Highlights here are “2.0” and “Mic Drop.”

-Song selection: Although the set list choices for older songs seem a little haphazard, they chose some great ones, like “Fake Love,” “Idol,” and the previously mentioned “Mic Drop.” Although they’re not my favorites, “Butter” and “Dynamite” are also fun to listen to.

-Idol parade: Going around the entire lower level of the stadium during “Idol” lets fans who have missed them for so long greet them and vice versa. It’s just another sign of their considerate love for Army.

-Arirang: It was a moving moment watching BTS listen to the crowd sing “Arirang” during “Body to Body.” I’m in the kimchi fried rice with a Paris baguette camp, but I’m glad they can have that moment.

-Fireworks and effects: The fireworks were awesome and timed well, like for emphasis in songs like “Dynamite,” and at the end of “Into the Sun” as they were leaving so we’d have something pretty to look at. During the half-time show/costume change in the middle, there was a cool “earthquake” effect and they raised the circular platform on the stage.

-Hardworking and glowing: The members clearly worked hard as they always do to deliver flawless performances. They sound great and use all their energy to dance or move around the stage. Jimin and Jin particularly imo have great vocals, and J-Hope commands lots of attention with his raps and emotional lines (like in “Merry-Go-Round” and “Normal”). Jimin is glowing, no joke, and they all seem so very glad to be on stage and with Army.

-Happy: The vibe of the concert overall is happy. The members are happy and the audience is happy to share that two and a half hours together.

Negatives:

-Beginning: The concert begins slowly with “Hooligan.” It should begin with “Body to Body.” I know why they didn’t – they wanted to save the part where Army sings “Arirang” for the penultimate main set song and a kind of climax moment, and it is awesome – but it’s a shame.

Not only is “Body to Body” energetic and hard-hitting, but the lyrics are about a concert and hyping people up for it. “Hooligan” is bare-bones instrumentally and is quiet in comparison. The hype isn’t there, and the theme is unclear. Is the message that the concert is about being a hooligan? It’s not easy to sing along with. The first song in a concert, for better or worse, sets the tone for the concert, and they should have used a more energetic and thematically important first song.

-Lack of choreo: There’s a lack of choreography — sad since BTS excels at it. Arguments have been made for and against its inclusion, and I won’t really comment on that except to say that they were exerting themselves almost as much as they would dancing by freestyling and moving from one side of the nearly stadium-length-extending stage to the other.

Of the 23 songs they perform, the 3 songs with full choreo, if memory serves, are “Swim,” “2.0,” and “Mic Drop.” “Run BTS,” “Butter,” and “Dynamite” have partial choreo. I really wish I’d gone to an old concert back in the day where BTS performed their legendary choreo.

-Dressed the same/no easy to pinpoint visuals: The members begin the show in entirely black outfits. The multitude of backup dancers literally running around them is also dressed all in black, and it makes it hard to see them. The members later change into normal-looking clothes in everyday colors, but visually sticking out with showy outfits or bolder colors would make them easier for the audience – some of them sitting very far away – to distinguish them, especially when the stage is so large.

-Too much to keep track of: Especially in the last third or so of the show, the members move constantly from one end of the large stage to the other, and the camera that films what’s on the screens above the stage can only focus on about one thing at a time. The audience tends to miss what members are doing if they’re far away or not on camera.

-Screen effects: Speaking of the screens, there are many, many overlays. I don’t fully remember, but there are some that make them “shine,” some that are black and white, and some that are flames or something. Occasionally, like in “They Don’t Know ‘Bout Us” and I think “Idol” and “Body to Body,” actors or audience members are shown instead of BTS (if you wear a hanbok to the concert, apparently you might be filmed and shown on the screen, which is cool, but not what most people came to see). The screen construction is great – you can see them well from most seats – but the effects are distracting.

-Random play songs: I actually really love this segment and the concept, but it’s pulled off awkwardly. When Jin had the audience sing in a similar segment in his shows, he introduced the segment and literally read rules about what was happening and there were words on the screen and a countdown to begin singing. In this concert, it’s not made clear that a non-BTS-performing segment is beginning. That makes it weird sometimes when the audience remembers all the words, but the members don’t sing, or when the members stand there while some of them dance. It can look unprofessional.

Again, I say this as someone who loves this part of the show and enjoys revisiting the old songs. V said in the Weverse live they did after their first El Paso show, “Wouldn’t it be better if we knew which songs were going to be played each night?” I agree with him. It’s sad if it appears that BTS doesn’t remember a beloved song as well as we do. Usually, though, the BTS members were energetically engaging with the song and audience members, so overall it wasn’t bad. “Magic Shop” was especially wonderful; Taehyung was doing the “so show me, I’ll show you” call and response with the audience and they sang the words easily.

-“Fire/FYA”: In this mashup, they get almost to the 3:33 part in “Fire,” the climax, and you expect them to launch into a high-powered ending, but instead the music stops. Then there’s that robotic wind-up noise and “FYA” starts again. But to stop the momentum and then slowly begin again is a bad choice for a fast clubbing-style mashup.

-Stage: I’m kind of neutral on the actual 360 aspect – it allows more fans to see them, and they do their best with it. Sometimes their backs are turned towards you depending on where you are, but at some point they’ll probably face you.

The center I don’t like. It has a circle that breaks into pieces like a giant motorized puzzle and does quite a few complex up and down and moving things, especially in the first two thirds of the concert. But the end result is that for those songs, many of which are slow or melancholy to begin with, the members can’t move much, and the concert is sluggish at those points.

If they were to move or get too far from their points, they wouldn’t be at the right place when their part of the circle is lifted or lowered or whatever, so they have to stick close. “They Don’t Know ‘Bout Us,” “Like Animals,” “Fake Love,” “Swim,” and “Merry-Go-Round” are the primary victims here. After the first third of the concert, the vibe mercifully picks up with “2.0,” “Normal,” “Not Today,” etc. when the circle is not used for the most part, allowing the members to range around the stage more.

Would I recommend the concert?

I would definitely recommend it to fans who liked the album; that’s a no-brainer and you’ll have the time of your life.

I’m more conflicted trying to decide if I’d recommend it to fans who didn’t like Arirang. I loved the experience, but I went in with somewhat tempered expectations, pretty well aware of what it would be like and what was missing since I’d seen the Goyang livestreams. I found it worthwhile as the location (neighboring city) and cost were doable for me. I also really enjoyed their energy, seeing them with my own eyes for the first time, and just them being awesome human beings. The set list is probably 1/3 older songs vs 2/3 new album songs, so you’re bound to like at least something they perform. I guess you’ll have to decide for yourself, but I hope my review is helpful to anyone on the fence.

Set List (in order):

Hooligan
Aliens
Run BTS
They Don't Know 'bout Us
Like Animals
Fake Love
Swim
Merry Go Round

(costume change/halftime show thing)

2.0
Normal
Not Today
Mic Drop
FYA/Fire
Body to Body
Idol

(Army Time: Army’s signs and costumes are shown on the screens)

Come Over
Butter
Dynamite
Surprise Song 1
Surprise Song 2

(ending ments)

Please
Into the Sun

Run time: About two and a half hours