Wakabairo no Quartet (若葉色のカルテット) Review

I.

My name is Sofia. Full name Sofia Kugel Westrin, but it’s so damn long I can’t even remember it myself, so everyone just calls me Sofia. I came to Japan as an exchange student, in my capacity as princess of the country of Elideurone.

Of course, maybe my country’s status is just too pathetic, because here I am, a bona fide princess, and I show up at some ordinary Japanese school as a “transfer student.” And to make it worse, I have to rent my own apartment and live there by myself.

Not exactly the treatment a princess should get!

Of course, I know why.

In our country Elideurone, every person actually has two forms — an animal form and a human form. And no, our country isn’t sponsored by the Cenarion Expedition and I’m not a druid. It’s just that everyone in my country has the bloodline to “transform,” switching freely between animal and human shapes.

Except I don’t have that ability.

A princess who doesn’t even have her own country’s racial talent — what kind of joke is that? If word got out, I’d definitely be suspected of impure blood, and my father might even suspect I’m a bastard child. In the end my father said it was to protect me (at least that’s what he said), and sent me abroad to study in Japan…

And he never said when I could come back. And the way things look now, I’m probably… not going back.

Unless I can prove I can “transform” too. But that’s easier said than done. I can’t even do laundry or cook — how am I supposed to learn to transform?

Ever since I was little, my father thought I was a “troublemaker” — lazy, eats too much, takes up too much space. He probably wanted to marry me off as soon as possible…

Come to think of it, when my father sent me abroad, he didn’t shed a single tear.

I need to figure something out and get back home.

II.

The simplest way home is to complete two tasks: one, learn to transform; two, make a name for myself here.

But neither is easy. That’s when I noticed someone in my class.

That guy’s name is Yuuto. He looks completely unremarkable, but my gut tells me he’s the chosen one with “protagonist aura.”

And this Yuuto lives in a dorm called “Wakaba-so,” which has plenty of empty rooms. If I can get close to him, all the better.

As a princess, I’ve seen my share of storms. So with a little maneuvering, I easily got to know that poor kid and moved into Wakaba-so.

Once inside, I realized Wakaba-so had more going on than meets the eye, and plenty of competition. A maid from who-knows-where, a big-breasted girl who’s known Yuuto since childhood, and a cat…

Of course, that cat is just a disguise. She’s actually one of us — she can transform, she’s just posing as a cat for now. I saw her, and she saw me, and she actually sent me a look of disdain. So I decided to expose her.

I told Yuuto that the cat was actually someone from my country, originally human, just able to turn into a cat.

With no way out, the exposed cat had to turn human, which shocked Yuuto and the others. A pet you’ve raised for years turns out to be human — who wouldn’t be shocked?

And thanks to that little maneuver, the people at Wakaba-so started to see me in a new light.

And I started getting closer to my target, Yuuto.

That brat is actually pretty easy to handle. One night I saw him heading to the bathroom, so I immediately appeared in the courtyard, pretending to bump into him, and put on a troubled face.

I told Yuuto my troubles — I’m from Elideurone, but I can’t transform. Born into that race without the racial talent, so I was driven out.

Yuuto took the bait, and started actively trying to help me figure out my transformation.

Actually, when it came to transforming, I pulled it off with barely any effort — didn’t take much time or work at all.

And through all that transformation practice, Yuuto and I grew closer. I could feel he was starting to like me, and I decided to date him — after all, to get a foothold here, having a local is pretty much necessary. Japan is a developed country; marrying my way into staying here beats going back to some feudal monarchy.

I decided to make the first move and confess.

But before confessing, there were a few other issues to deal with.

There’s a maid at Wakaba-so, and she’s really into Yuuto. Rumor has it she confessed to him but couldn’t get the words out, so she settled for being the maid instead. So if I just confessed outright, the maid would definitely hold a grudge against me. And I can’t cook — if I can’t come back to the dorm for ready-made meals every day, that would suck!

So before confessing, I found the maid and told her I was going to confess.

The maid was shocked, but I also made it clear I respected her — after all, she liked Yuuto first.

“I’m going to confess to Yuuto in half an hour. If you don’t agree… I’ll give you the first shot.”

I gave her half an hour. A little maid like her wouldn’t have time to react anyway. In the end, the maid could only give up and wish me luck.

After that, my confession went smoothly, and I successfully became the first person at Wakaba-so to get a real love life.

Congrats to me.

III.

Now that I’m in a relationship and can transform, I should think about going home. So I wrote a letter to my father telling him about my situation.

He didn’t write back — instead he sent an envoy to check if what I said was true.

How little does that old geezer trust me?

The envoy came, looked at my situation, and left me with one line:

“I think you’ve been here… for a while now, but there’s no evidence proving you have what it takes to come home.”

What the hell — I can transform now and that’s not enough? I’ve known for ages that I wasn’t exiled because of the transformation thing. My father just thinks I’m useless.

Am I useless? Of course not. I’m just lazy. To deal with this brain-dead envoy, all I need is a little trick.

I took my new boyfriend and ran a little survey at school — “How do Japanese locals see our country?”

We didn’t use an online survey; we did face-to-face interviews, because that way it’s easy to get positive feedback.

In the end I slapped the collected evaluation forms in the envoy’s face and told her this is the kind of social survey I can pull off casually. The envoy took them back, looked them over, and said…

“This social survey is impressive, but you still can’t go back right away.” The envoy said the king wants to set up a diplomatic office in Japan (no idea if it counts as an embassy), and wants me to handle receiving my countrymen who come to Japan. Once I complete that, I can go home.

So I endured it, stayed here for who-knows-how-long, and finally earned the right to go home.

The day I returned, I guess you could say I came home in glory. Not just with the honor of a princess, but with my father’s approval — that old geezer finally publicly acknowledged me.

And holding my husband Yuuto’s hand, looking up at the lofty throne, I felt like my battle was just beginning.

IV.

My name is Hiyori. Moriya Hiyori. I’m the only daughter of an ordinary family.

Not long after I came to this school, I fell in love.

With the guy who lives at Wakaba-so, Yuuto. The first time I saw him, I fell for him.

I decided to confess.

So one afternoon, I finally cornered Yuuto.

“I like you!”

I mustered up the courage and confessed.

“You what?”

Turns out he didn’t hear me clearly.

But I didn’t have the courage to say it a second time. After stammering, I desperately grabbed the dumbest excuse:

“I mean… can I be your maid?!”

Even I thought that was stupid.

“Sure.”

So I moved into Wakaba-so as a maid, and my story with Yuuto began. Sure, I became a maid, but it’s not so bad — at least I can always be by his side.

“Maybe there’ll be a chance in the future,” I comforted myself.

V.

I’d been working as a maid at Wakaba-so for a while when I realized I’d awakened a new hobby.

I started thinking being a maid was great — even better than dating. Buying groceries, cooking, cleaning every day, I actually felt a strange kind of happiness.

I kind of forgot why I’d become a maid in the first place.

But then Yuuto seemed to remember something. He kept trying to talk to me, hinting:

“Did you confess to me before?”

How am I supposed to admit that now? I could only laugh it off.

Then Yuuto went and confessed to me instead…

That really messed me up. I’m not being modest here — I genuinely think being a maid is great now. I like Yuuto too, but if I agree to date him, doesn’t that mean I can’t be a maid anymore?

In the end Yuuto promised me that even if we dated, I could keep being the maid.

The moment I heard that, I agreed immediately.

And so I became Yuuto’s girlfriend.

VI.

Being Yuuto’s girlfriend turned out to be pretty much the same as being a maid — except besides working during the day, I also have to sleep with him at night.

The maid gig kept getting better, and I’d often go shopping with Yuuto in my maid outfit. Then that shopping trip caused trouble.

One day, while I was out with Yuuto in my maid outfit, I ran into my own father…

He was trembling with anger. I tried to explain, but he wouldn’t listen and just stormed off.

Later I got a bunch of warnings and restrictions from my father:

• I can’t live at Wakaba-so anymore
• I have to prepare to transfer schools immediately
• I can’t keep dating Yuuto

I hadn’t reported my relationship to my father, sure, but his reaction was way bigger than I expected.

In the end Yuuto stepped up and said he’d come with me to demand an explanation from my father.

After meeting my father, I finally understood why he was so angry.

“My precious daughter, ordered to be your maid?! Unforgivable!”

So that was the misunderstanding. I told my father I volunteered. I’m a maid and I’m proud. I’m saving the country rubber.

Yuuto backed me up: “Yeah, yeah, she volunteered!”

In the end my father’s arm couldn’t beat a middle leg, and he had to accept reality.

I ended up marrying Yuuto. Not just a wife, but a maid too, and we had a little maid. Living the happiest life!

Congrats.

VII.

My name is Ai. I’m a cat. Actually, I’m not really a cat. Like that golden dog, I’m from the country of Elideurone.

I snuck in. Originally I was a princess of some minor noble family in that country, but I hated the political faction fights, so I ran away.

By chance I found an oil tanker headed for Japan, turned into a cat, hid on board, and successfully stowed away to Japan.

In this strange country, I stayed in cat form the whole time — partly to avoid visa trouble, partly for safety.

Then a guy named Yuuto took me in, and I became his pet, entering Wakaba-so.

The best thing about Wakaba-so is that it allows pets — that’s why Yuuto lives there.

As for Yuuto, I don’t have much feeling for him. As the only guy in the dorm, he acts all serious on the surface, but as soon as he’s back in his room he starts jerking off. Every day. With an endless supply of fap material.

Then the good times ended when a golden dog named Sofia showed up.

That dog saw me and said I was from her race, exposing the fact that I can actually transform.

How infuriating.

After transforming into a human, I still kept my cat schedule — eat, sleep, go for a stroll. Looked like an old lady.

Oh right, I’m actually not young. I’m 32 already. I may look petite, but among cats I’m a middle-aged auntie cat.

And despite all that, Yuuto got horny for me. He actually confessed to me…

But considering he’s so young, and I’m living under his roof, and I want to stay in Japan, I agreed.

After that, every day was bright and sunny — until that golden dog handed me a letter.

The letter was from my hometown, from my father. He’d thought I was dead, but learned I was alive and in Japan.

I bet 100% that golden dog sold me out.

The golden dog showed the letter to Yuuto, and with no way out, I had to admit I was also from Elideurone, also nobility, that I stowed away to Japan to escape political strife, that I’m actually 32, that everyone back home thinks I’m dead, blah blah blah…

Yuuto was shocked. I think the biggest shock was my age…

In the end Yuuto chose to support me and told me to write a letter to my father explaining how I felt.

So I wrote one, telling him I’m living great in Japan, not planning to come back, not getting involved in family politics, and hoping he’d forgive me.

In the end my father understood. I might have to go back and see him once to fulfill his one request.

As for me, I successfully overstayed in Japan, became Japanese, and became Yuuto’s wife.

And had a little kitten.

Congrats.

VIII.

My name is Miyako. Minegishi Miyako. I’m Yuuto’s childhood friend. Japanese people call this osananajimi, and some Chinese idiots like to translate it as “qingmei zhuma,” but at best we’re “zhuma” — there’s no “qingmei” at all.

I love games. I got into games because Yuuto played when we were kids, so I played too. Turns out I fell deeper and deeper into the pit, while Yuuto quit — and his skills got worse and worse. Now he can’t even survive to the final circle in PUBG.

Gaming is my hobby. I play everything, I love pulling all-nighters, and I love dragging other people into the pit with me.

A lot of people think I’m really close to Yuuto, but I don’t have any special feelings for him. We’re just familiar — played games together as kids, sometimes we roughhouse, physical contact is no big deal. Sometimes we even bathed together, because that’s what we did as kids. Nothing to be surprised about.

But one time, Yuuto suddenly offered to give me a shoulder massage, and while he was massaging, he started groping my breasts…

At first I didn’t think much of it. Massaging breasts is OK too — they’re huge, and they get tired, you know…

But after he kept massaging, I started feeling something strange… like… my crotch getting wet…

After that I started touching myself down there, and weirdly found it felt really good. Innocent little me learned to masturbate without even realizing it.

Once I discovered the joy of masturbation, there was no stopping me. Every day, every night. Sometimes I’d skip games just to hide in my room and masturbate.

Eventually I felt this was wrong, but I couldn’t control myself. I kept doing it, and I felt embarrassed around Yuuto… I thought I was a dirty woman.

Finally I decided to tell the other women at Wakaba-so. They were shocked at first, then gave me a “what, that’s it?” look. They said I just liked Yuuto, told me to confess to him ASAP, and offered to be my strategists.

So those women each came up with ideas, but none were reliable. The biggest problem was that Yuuto and I are too familiar, too close. We talk naturally, and even if I hinted at a confession, he wouldn’t take it seriously.

In the end I just awkwardly confessed honestly, and after a lot of effort, finally got Yuuto and became a couple.

The biggest difference from before was that I didn’t have to masturbate every day anymore — we could have sex.

Later Yuuto ran into a problem: he was going on to higher education, and after that he couldn’t keep living at Wakaba-so. It might become a girls’ dorm.

In the end we all went to beg the school, and even had that golden dog Sofia threaten the school with affecting international relations. Eventually Yuuto got to stay, and our wonderful life continued.

IX.

My name is Yuuto. Arima Yuuto.

I’m a resident of Wakaba-so. I like cats. I have a cat. I originally planned to grow old with that cat.

But lately Wakaba-so has become very unstable. First a golden dog-eared schemer showed up, then a brain-damaged stalker, plus Minegishi Miyako, my childhood friend — I’m in a major crisis.

All three of these women are interested in me, and I just wanted to grow old with my cat.

Then that despicable schemer told me my cat is actually a human, and this cat is 32 years old!

Oh God! The world is cruel.

In the end I had no choice. I accepted Minegishi Miyako’s confession — after all, I can’t choose a 32-year-old auntie, I don’t like the schemer, and I definitely can’t choose the brain-damaged stalker. Miyako may be a closet pervert and sex addict, but at least she’s familiar and relatively reliable.

After all kinds of efforts, I chose to stay at Wakaba-so as the dorm manager. Maybe in the future, I’ll be the old gatekeeper of a girls’ dorm.

Maybe my life is just beginning.

Afterword:

Sometimes I don’t really understand who Japanese “18+” eroge are made for.

If a game is “18+”, then besides porn, its content should have other elements fitting “adult content.” At the very least, the story depth and dialogue style should be at an “adult” level.

But looking at it now, aside from a few small studios, most “18+ eroge” have “teen-level dialogue and content,” just with porn CG added.

Or rather, many games’ script quality isn’t even up to teen level.

That’s how I feel about Wakaba Iro no Quartet.

This game is a completely factory-line product. The story has no highlights, the plot unfolds all peacefully, and there are plenty of very naive parts. Like, how could a princess of a country live in a dorm? How could a princess fool everyone with some casual social survey? And dragging in international relations at the drop of a hat — is this story serious? Plus the generic Japanese language, and those lukewarm daily conversations that feel like nothing, make me suspect Lump of Sugar ran out of money and just cranked this out to get by.

Lump of Sugar’s previous games were pretty good, so why did they put out something this boring?

In Kanojo to Ore to Koitsu to 2, the animal ears even had animation. Here, nothing. The ED is engine-implemented too — as cheap as it gets.

Of course, the game isn’t entirely without merits. Yamamoto Nozomi should just go back to singing hip-hop. Besides CV Ui once again slightly saving the heroine role, the art improved — lots of details and the porn CG are genuinely top-tier. The black tights and white tights CG are really well drawn.

But this is a game, not a porn doujinshi…

Oh right, maybe for this game, the selling point is the porn doujinshi aspect.

P.S. My Sina Weibo account is back https://weibo.com/sumomogal