Koisuru Kimochi no Kasane Kata (恋する気持ちのかさねかた) Review

Play enough visual novels and you start to notice patterns.

For instance, most visual novel plots follow the same trajectory when it comes to love: the girl has feelings for the guy, keeps them bottled up, and every time she’s about to say something, the protagonist plays dumb, she stays reserved, he keeps wandering around blind, until some specific event happens, he realizes he’s actually in love with her, confesses, they date, they fuck, End.

Honestly, that formula is pretty standard, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But even if salted tofu pudding is delicious, even if five-kernel mooncakes are tasty, you eat them year after year, month after month, day after day, and you’ll eventually get sick of them. So some visual novel companies started throwing in all sorts of weird shit: the girl isn’t human but a god, the girl gets tortured to death, the setting is in the future, the setting is in the past, time travel here, changing the future there~

And so on and so forth. Over time, the original meaning of “Galgame” as a shorthand for “Girl and Love Game” has become a bit of a misnomer. No wonder foreigners always call these things “visual novels.” Some stories have literally become novels, but even then, they still slap an 18+ sticker on the label, just to attract more people, forcibly stuffing in so-called “romance elements” that don’t fit, and while they’re at it, throwing in some sex scenes, hoping to lure in more players—at least those who don’t care about the story and just want to see fucking—to contribute a few more sales.

It’s weird. Logically, if you just want to make a grand, interesting story, then the story should be the core. If you’re just serving people who want to see fucking, then a game that starts with fucking would be better—that’s more precise product positioning for the target customer. But in the visual novel industry, that doesn’t seem to be the case. It takes a lot of courage for a game to sell an all-ages version; most games sell the 18+ version first, then port an all-ages version to consoles to make some extra cash. Very few companies dare to release only an all-ages version—those that did are dead. The only ones left are a handful who can afford it thanks to a special fanbase and immense popularity.

How to understand this situation? You could say visual novel players have become picky. Give them a straight-up porn game and they’ll think it’s low-class, and they’ll feel ugly for playing it. People care about face, after all—not many will publicly admit to being a perverted sex maniac. But if you give them a story like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, with a little full-nude bed scene between Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao as a side dish, it’ll get a better reception, even if those bed scenes don’t necessarily give the player an erection.

In other words, the story, music, and art quality of a visual novel must all be high, and sexual content is also essential—even if it’s only a tiny proportion, it must be there. It seems to be a matter of principle.

So under this weird direction of development, I always get a strange feeling when playing visual novels. Many stories have different settings, but the plot progression is largely the same. Or rather, some stories might have a brilliant main plot, but the moment romance comes into play, it falls back into the dead formula I mentioned earlier. And the companies don’t really care about how monotonous and boring that part is—today’s players like crazy developments and settings that instantly grab attention, plus gorgeous and cute art, and even famous scenario writers known for crazy twists. The romance part? どうでもいい. And many people even have an interesting explanation for this kind of plot direction: “rich storytelling.”

But with all this emphasis on story, I wonder if these companies realize they’re still too young and naive, sometimes even childish. And those otaku who love visual novels—their ability to talk shit and their picky, pain-in-the-ass attitude is on a whole different level from the developers and planners. More and more fresh settings end up being hard to conclude perfectly; more and more crazy developments touch the sensitive nerves of otaku. No matter how good the game’s story is, if it doesn’t suit the otaku’s taste, they’ll hastily slap a “landmine” label on it and criticize it.

So sometimes I feel sorry for the planners at visual novel companies: “They want the girl to have a happy ending, they want the plot to have dramatic twists, they don’t want the girl to have it too easy, but they can’t hurt the girl in a way that touches the otaku’s sensitive nerves.” That’s a tough job~

No shit—serving those ugly otaku is inherently difficult. If otaku were easy to please, would they still be unable to find a girlfriend?

So many companies fall into a deepening spiral: they keep launching new projects chasing fresh settings, but under the skin of those fresh settings, they’re too conservative, writing old-fashioned, bland stories. Even if the beginning is good, they have to emergency-wrap it up at the end. After all, if you kill a character, they die; if you make a big fuss, you can’t expect those otaku who rushed to stores for first-print limited editions to run faster than anyone.

As more and more visual novel companies sink deeper into this “setting spiral,” there are always some willing to keep making traditional “school romance stories.” Oh yes, even though any visual novel these days can be called a “school romance story,” and many people—including me—are tired of it. There was a time when I didn’t want to see any more bullshit elements like “school mergers,” “transfer students,” “student council elections,” or “club disbandment” in visual novels…

But sometimes things surprise me and change my perspective. Even a clichéd story, if written differently, with the right CV and just the right character art, can hit like a truck.

Koisuru Kimochi no Kasane Kata is the new game released this month by ensemble, the company known for its “otokonoko” and “ojousama” titles. Actually, ensemble is an interesting company—story has never been its strong suit, since it keeps churning out new games in a rhythm of one “crossdressing” title, one “rich girl” title. You don’t need to think with your dick to know that the story won’t be anything to write home about, but unfortunately their art is always gorgeous. That’s what ensemble prides itself on, and that’s their selling point.

So as you can see, the art in Koisuru Kimochi no Kasane Kata is absurdly good-looking. Of course, you might find it familiar—one of the artists is the sole illustrator for last month’s Koi x Shin Ai Kanojo. Seeing the same faces again inevitably gives you that feeling.

The game’s title seems like a knockoff of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend—it means “the way feelings of love overlap.” Judging from the various red threads in the OP, this “overlapping of love” is more of a metaphor for the romantic connections between men and women.

The setting is clichéd as hell: two schools are merging (Japan merges schools so often, they might as well merge the whole country into one high school). The merged school faces many problems—what will the two student councils do, how will the students get along, etc. And the reason for the merger is bullshit: the two school directors are getting married…

One of the directors is the protagonist’s older brother, and the other is a woman—his brother’s girlfriend, fiancée, whatever. The story starts with the merger: the protagonist meets a strange girl from the track team, a junior from the other school, the other school’s student council president, plus his own current student council president and his little sister. That’s the full set of heroines, and the game begins at a leisurely pace.

At first I thought this game would be boring, bland as boiled water, but the art was too good-looking, so I played it with a casual attitude. Soon enough, one character caught my attention: the other school’s student council president, Kaburagi Yukie, voiced by Akino Hana.

I noticed her because of one gesture:

I’ve been really into the finger-to-lips gesture lately, so I fell for this character at first sight. There are similar characters, like this one:

And this one:

Etc…

So like a dog off its leash, I dove straight into the “other school’s student council president” route, and found it way more interesting than expected.

The protagonist meets this other student council president when they become neighbors. One day, he accidentally sees Yukie changing clothes by the window, and unfortunately, Yukie notices him too. Normally the girl would scream, but our President Yukie is completely calm, with an attitude of “go ahead and look if you want.”

In the days that follow, President Yukie often deliberately lets the protagonist catch her changing clothes, more or less, every day. She also frequently asks him to help with her work, and during work, she intentionally makes physical contact and offers fanservice.

As the other school’s student council president, Yukie appears gentle and polite in public, speaking with refinement. This makes the protagonist, who faces Yukie changing clothes on the other side of the window every morning, feel restless and guilty, wondering if she’s just innocent and he’s overthinking things.

Yukie calls herself “onee-chan” in front of the protagonist—his big sister. I have to mention CV Akino Hana here. Honestly, out of all the roles Akino Hana has flooded the market with, the only ones I’ve approved of are the initial whale and this Yukie. This big-sister voice completely brings the character to life—elegant with a touch of gentleness, mature with a hint of teasing. It gives you the feeling that “this big sister really exists in this world,” far better than the other thin, high-pitched fake voices Akino Hana has done.

Actually, by this point in the story, I had a thought: while it’s common for girls to throw themselves at the protagonist, Yukie’s approach is completely professional…

“Is she trying to seduce the protagonist into pushing her down?”

Soon the story developed closer to my prediction. The student council decides that after the merger, a new student council needs to be elected—each school picks one representative, then a general election. Yukie once again represents her school in the final election.

The election isn’t easy, so Yukie asks the protagonist for help. While helping, Yukie, now at the protagonist’s house, is restless—sometimes showing cleavage with a low-cut top, sometimes getting her clothes dirty and chatting with the protagonist in just a bath towel after a shower. She drives the protagonist crazy, even doing a divine trip—yes, you read that right, a female divine trip. It was quite fresh to see. At this point, I was almost certain Yukie was deliberately seducing the protagonist. Unfortunately, each of her plans gets accidentally interrupted by the protagonist’s little sister. But the protagonist has already realized that, unknowingly, his mind is filled with Yukie.

The relationship is established so naturally. Yukie jokingly says to the protagonist, “If—just if—you needed a girlfriend… what would you think of me?”

The protagonist agrees, and they start dating.

After becoming lovers, Yukie’s attacks intensify: dragging the protagonist to buy underwear, going on dates, running all over… Our protagonist, under this big sister’s manipulation, is completely like a virgin boy, played with mercilessly by Yukie.

But the student council election keeps them busy, and dates between the protagonist and Yukie become rare. Then one day, the protagonist finds a USB drive at his front door. He takes it home, plugs it in, and it’s a video Yukie recorded for him…

“Lately the student council has been busy, but… dates with big sister are getting fewer and fewer~ Big sister is not~ happy~ at all~”

After some complaints, the video switches to Yukie masturbating while moaning the protagonist’s name…

The scene is too stimulating; the protagonist unconsciously gets hard, wants to jerk off, and just as he’s about to, Yukie jumps out of the closet in his room and grabs him…

“Ah~ I guessed right, you really were jerking off. So lewd~”

Then our protagonist seriously asks Yukie why she dares to do this—what if someone else picked up the USB? And is Yukie really a slut for being so bold?

Yukie confesses: she fell in love at first sight when she saw the protagonist on the first day of the merger. When he accidentally saw her changing clothes, seeing him get embarrassed for her sake made her unusually excited. All the subsequent encounters and fanservice were intentional, meant to seduce him and make him fall for her.

“At first I wanted to talk to you more, but you seemed uninterested in girls. But when I saw you get embarrassed after seeing me change, I was a little happy—so you’re still a healthy boy after all.”

Basically, the pure virgin protagonist got picked up by Yukie, the big sister…

After that, they have their first time, and Yukie becomes even bolder, even suggesting that her first time should be recorded on camera as a memento. The protagonist, despite being a virgin, is exceptionally vigorous—he can go five or six times each round, making Yukie grip the railing and tear the sheets. Their play gets more and more varied, including masked play at school and bringing small appliances out on the street. The bold Yukie is a complete milking machine, even making the protagonist collapse from exhaustion during the day…

“What’s wrong? You could always go three times before, why only twice now?” I was fucking shocked when I read that…

Though they’re lovey-dovey, the final student council election arrives. Yukie returns to her strong-woman persona, gives a good speech, and even publicly reveals her relationship with the protagonist, stating that her bond with her future husband will be the契机 for her to marry down to the other school as the former student council president. She receives a lot of applause.

But it’s all for nothing—the original student council president wins in the end… Yukie only becomes an advisor.

“Being free has its perks too—we can do all sorts of things.” Saying that, Yukie drags the protagonist to a corner of the room…

And so the story reaches its ending.

How should I put it… This story gives me a nukige vibe, but I also get a more realistic and exciting sense of satisfaction. I can guarantee that what brings this feeling isn’t the style of erotic novels, but the thrill of this “big sister reverse-conquest.” Yukie’s CV performance is too on point—I didn’t even know Akino Hana had this voice. That mixture of reserve and eroticism is hard to describe; it fully embodies the essence of a bold big sister.

The route isn’t long at all; the serious content of Yukie’s route is minimal. Most of it is daily conversation, and most of that is Yukie steadily conquering the protagonist. And this aggressive conquest isn’t forced at all—it’s handled just right.

“The body is a woman’s greatest weapon.”

I forget where I read that, but in Yukie’s route, this is executed to perfection.

Unlike typical nukige or other erotic novels, the voice-driven, slightly aggressive and fresh feeling in Yukie’s route is unprecedented.

Of course, unfortunately, aside from Yukie’s route, the rest of the game is the same old stuff…

What do I mean by same old? The way old visual novels should be—the protagonist hooks up with the junior, the little sister, this one, that one, still corny developments. In other words, besides Yukie, the rest of the game just doesn’t hold up…

The game’s tagline is still “the first and last love.” That fits, I guess. For me, this one route is enough. The story’s development sometimes reminds me of urban romance novels I read in middle school—not erotic novels, but each one pushing various boundaries, depicting sex in a hazy, elusive way… leaving a lot to the imagination, yet not feeling too far from real life.

Yes, yes, yes—that’s exactly how Yukie’s route feels… If current web novels had content like this…

I guess it would be called “The Domineering President Falls for Me”…

A bold student council president senpai seducing a pure, handsome virgin—pretty thrilling, isn’t it…