SHUFFLE! Essence+

[BlueGenome]

'Tis a pity Nerine didn't get a longer route, but I was fairly sceptical of how long Navel's 'extensions' were going to be. I look forward to seeing whatever ending she has though, especially considering you think it's non-disappointing.

I look forward to hearing about Mayumi, as she's one of my favourites!

[tijo2035]

Someone have a save file for this game to send me please or a good walktrough.

Spoiler for my progression:

lisiantus: 100%
nerine: 100%
kaede: 98%
asa: 98%
primula: 98%
mayumi: 16%
kareha: 15%
tsubomi: 0%
nadeshiko: 74%
sakura: 100%
daisy: 3%

the pillow case of primula is beautiful (I have the limited edition and this case come with this edition ^^)

[DJLowrider]

Someone have a save file for this game to send me please or a good walktrough.

You can read my route reviews for answers on how to access some of the routes. I try to post 1-2 new reviews each week. Here's my latest one:

Shuffle! Essence+ Route Review #3: Mayumi

Most decent stories have a wingman or two for its protagonist(s), and Shuffle! is no exception. Itsuki and Mayumi have had that role since the beginning in the original game and the anime, but as is usually the case with games like this one always wonders about the girls you aren’t allowed to pursue and Mayumi was no exception. Popular fan opinion seems to have been that Mayumi and Itsuki had some romantic link between them and there’s been plenty of shipping and even fanfiction towards that end. The truth, however, finally came out in On The Stage where Mayumi’s route was first introduced and it is presented for us once again in Essence+.

Here’s how to access Mayumi’s route in Essence+:

Spoiler for How to access Mayumi's route:

1) Complete Kaede’s route. You can’t access Mayumi otherwise.

2) Choices don’t matter very much early in the game, just make sure you’re not leaning much towards any particular girl.

3) At one point Kaede leaves home early and you’re given an option to either leave right away yourself or to hang out for a while. Choose to hang out for a while (it’s the second choice).

4) Continue on not showing much interest in any of the girls until you get a scene where Mayumi comes over to your house to study. It will get late and the idea will come up to let Mayumi stay overnight. Take the top option where you figure if Kaede’s okay with it Mayumi can stay.

5) At the scene at Flora while talking to Kareha, take the second option to tell her that she looks too good in the uniform, just to be on the safe side here.

6) Congratulations, you’re now on Mayumi’s route! Enjoy.

Character design-wise, Mayumi really doesn’t have a whole lot going on, at least in my opinion. The flat chest and gray hair really doesn’t appeal to me, though her heterochromatic eyes certainly make up for it a lot. Her route and back story, however, make up for her short fallings quite a bit.

Notable story points:

Spoiler for Story points from Mayumi's route:

• We find out that Itsuki and Mayumi, like Rin and Kaede, are childhood friends who’ve been going to school together for years. We also quickly find out that neither has any romantic interest in the other whatsoever (with an emphatic “NANDEYANNEN?!” from both when the idea is posed by Nerine)

• Once you’re on her route proper, Itsuki reveals that he and Mayumi weren’t always so friendly and that she was teased and bullied a lot early on for her eye color. Itsuki eventually came around and promised to help her become a more fun and outgoing person. They didn’t care if anyone else liked them or not, they’d always be friends and figured eventually people would come along who’d come to like her regardless of her eyes.

• Mayumi struggles a lot with accepting Rin’s feelings for her, probably as an extension of her being bullied as a child. For a while she starts getting used to being his girlfriend, but then breaks up with him citing that she doesn’t want to get in Kaede’s way.

• Rin finally gets through to her after convincing her that his relationship with Kaede is the same as hers with Itsuki. He sees Kaede as a lifelong friend and doesn’t feel anything romantic with her.

Mayumi, like Kareha, only has one ero scene and it’s at the end of her route. Predictably, it takes place at the public bathhouse her family owns and operates. As I said before, her character design doesn’t appeal much to me so this scene was pretty forgettable for me, but to each his own.

Mayumi herself is smack in the middle of my heroine hierarchy at #6. Great personality, funny character and I love her eyes, but her design otherwise does nothing for me. And I’ve mentioned this before, but good God she does not know how to dress. Despite all this, however, her route is really good and has a great story to it. I give her route a 9/10, it’s one of the better stories in the game.

Next Route Review: Primula. The first of the two girls who refer to Rin as “onii-chan” still has one of the most entertaining routes in the game.

[DJLowrider]

Shuffle! Essence+ Route Review #4: Primula

Of all of the original heroines from Shuffle!, Primula’s route was the one I dreaded doing the most. Character designs like hers do not appeal to me in the slightest, so the prospect of clicking through her ero scenes was not something I was looking forward to. All I can say is thank goodness for the mouse wheel. Despite my misgivings, though, I was surprised to discover that aside from those bits, Primula’s route was hands-down the most entertaining of any of the original five. In addition, her real character and personality were a far cry from how she was depicted in the anime or even in the other girls’ routes.

Essence+ saw an extension to her route, but like the other original girls nothing of substance was added. However, Essence+ did give us some more perspective on her character in areas where she is clearly not the romantic focus of the game.

Spoiler for Primula's further character development:

On three other routes in the game, Primula has the same emotional breakthrough she has on her own route and as a result ends up playing a slightly larger role in these routes. To be specific:

• Sakura’s route – she comes to see Sakura as another “onee-chan” along with Kaede
• Daisy’s route – she plays a key role in the resolution of the final events of the story
• Tsubomi’s route – she quickly becomes a close friend of Tsubomi’s as well as serving to make Tsubomi a bit jealous of her own relationship with Rin, even though it’s not a romantic one

Primula's route is accessed exactly the same in Essence+ as it was in the original game, so I won't bother to go over it here. If you need to know how to get onto her route, I recommend checking an FAQ for Shuffle! Trust me, nothing has changed.

Primula is ranked fairly low in my heroine hierarchy at #8. An interesting true personality does not make up for the fact that her design just doesn’t appeal to me. Still, her route is very fun and still manages to get a few laughs out of me and is still the most entertaining of any of the girls’ routes so it gets a solid 8/10.

Next route review: Nadeshiko. With a body like that and her “take-no-bullshit” attitude you’d think her route would be a home run. Instead, it’s more like a foul tip that bounces off the ground back up into your groin.

[DJLowrider]

Route Review #5: Nadeshiko

Ask just about any guy out there and he’ll probably recall at least one teacher he had while growing up that he had the hots for. I’m certainly no exception, and I can only imagine Nadeshiko’s male students having a similar reaction to her. In the original game her role was minimal, serving only to catalyze some of the more humorous moments in the story. The anime expanded her role slightly, giving her a half-episode that explored her personality a bit more. In Really? Really! she not only had a bit more exposition, she actually had a couple of ero scenes. Those of us who’ve played that game will attest to the fact that while her character design is va-va-voom her voice is…well let’s put it this way. Remember The Chipettes from Alvin and the Chipmunks? Imagine one of them was getting shagged. That’s what she sounds like. Yeah, not pleasant.

Notwithstanding that, finding out she would be a potential heroine in Essence+ was of interest to me. Maybe we’d get even more back story on her. Maybe it’d have some real drama about a romance between a teacher and a student. Maybe it wouldn’t be the absolute worst route in the game and feel like just a pretense to a teacher/student porn video.

Holy fuck was I wrong.

Here’s how to access Nadeshiko’s route in Essence+:

Spoiler for How to access Nadeshiko's route:

1. Complete Kaede’s route. You can’t access Nadeshiko otherwise.
2. Choices don’t matter very much early in the game, just make sure you’re not leaning much towards any particular girl.
3. At one point you head to the cafeteria and spot her sitting alone. Take the top option to go sit by her.
4. Later you’ll have a scene where you meet her outside of school. After some banter you’ll end up in Flora and talk for a bit. When an option comes up, take the top option.
5. Congratulations. You’re on Nadeshiko’s route. “Enjoy”.

For those who read the above, I say “enjoy” at the end there emphasizing facetiousness. There’s nothing about this route that is worthwhile at all. It’s incredibly short. All the other characters and their connections to Rin are flatly ignored. There’s no meaningful dialogue and you get one ero scene on the roof of the school with Nadeshiko in the Verbena girls’ uniform. For that matter, some of the dialogue is straight up awful. I shit you not, this is an actual line from her ero scene:

Spoiler for Seriously?:

Nadeshiko: Rin…is there something in your pocket? It seems really big…

Who the fuck wrote this shit and did they do it with a straight face?

Do yourself a favor and run this route as quickly as possible just to get it out of the way so you can move on to much better things. For having such a fantastic body, Nadeshiko’s route, personality and voice put her squarely at the bottom of my list. 1/10 for her route and dead last in my heroine hierarchy.

Next route review: Asa. My personal favorite from the original game, but does she get any more awesome? Well…

[1got2much3time]

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Spoiler for One of my favorite scenes:

Yay for the Sage/Cineraria scene! That was major wish fulfillment on my part. Now if only they could throw Ama into that mix too...MILF brigade ftw!

This is a few pages back a quick question: which route is that scene?

[BlueGenome]

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Shuffle! Essence+ Route Review #3: Mayumi
*snip*
Great personality, funny character and I love her eyes, but her design otherwise does nothing for me.

Ah, I like her personality and her appearance. Double win for me!

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Route Review #5: Nadeshiko
*horribleness*

Well fuck. Here I was hoping to get to know Nadeshiko (in both the social and Biblical sense) but it turns out Navel managed to completely fsck it up to the highest degree. Perhaps it isn't as bad as it sounds, but... well, I'm not hopeful. Time will tell.

Good thing my imagination still works.

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Next route review: Asa. My personal favorite from the original game, but does she get any more awesome? Well…

Asa always seemed like the good-friend-type more than a potential girlfriend/lover to me, but to each his own. Also, I ship Kareha/Asa.

P.S. I only realised you said "to each his own" in your Mayumi review after I wrote it myself. Great minds think alike, insert other clichés.

[DJLowrider]

Originally Posted by 1got2much3time

This is a few pages back a quick question: which route is that scene?

It's either Nerine's route or Sia's route, I can't remember which at the moment. I'll try to replay both sometime soon and confirm.

Originally Posted by BlueGenome, regarding Nadeshiko's route

Perhaps it isn't as bad as it sounds

No, it is. I suppose the ero scene might be tolerable if you muted her voice, but even then there's the incredibly shitty dialogue. My review is really tame regarding how awful it is, and there's really no excuse for it either. Every other route in the game at least has a couple of truly enjoyable or interesting moments, but Nadeshiko's route has absolutely no redeeming qualities to it whatsoever. Well, I take that back. There is one tiny silver lining to be had...

Spoiler for In all seriousness, the only good thing about it:

When the Epilogue starts, Primula comes to wake Rin up and we get the shortest possible treatment where we learn she regained her emotions. So yes, the best part of Nadeshiko's route is Primula. Go figure.

[DJLowrider]

Route Review #6: Asa

In the past I have made no bones about my preference for Asa among the original cast of heroines. She exemplifies several traits that I personally think all young women should have. She is confident, energetic and proud, but she still exudes femininity to boot. She was a stark contrast to all of the other heroines in the first game and that same personality came through even more through her role in Really? Really!

Essence+ boasted extensions to all of the previously existing routes, though as I have mentioned previously these extensions really have not offered much of anything in the way of new content. Asa’s route is no exception to this as her new scenes offer nothing substantive to her story. What’s more, some of her dialogue was completely changed in certain scenes. To an extent this was a disappointment to me, but on the other hand I can understand the changes.

It’s worth mentioning that Asa’s route in Essence+ is one of two where you have an option to not have a second ero scene (the other being Primula’s route, which I forgot to mention in my review for her route). In its place, you can get a non-ero private scene with her that I believe comes from On The Stage. It’s a fair bit refreshing to see such an option come up, honestly.

All this said, Asa’s route is largely unchanged from its original form and her story is, admittedly, rather weak and full of faulty logic on her part. She may be a solid character otherwise, her route is very nonsensical and melodramatic. I give it a 6/10. Asa herself is still one of my favorite heroines in the franchise, but she is now #2 on my heroine hierarchy. If you’ve been reading my posts you’ll know who my new #1 is, but details about that will be forthcoming in a later review.

Next route review: Tsubomi. Apples tend to not fall far from their trees, and Tsubomi is very much like a smaller, younger version of her older sister.

[DJLowrider]

Route Review #7: Tsubomi

Unless you did some judicious Internet research, played On The Stage or paid really close attention to scenes that happened in Flora towards the end of the anime series, you probably would have no idea who Tsubomi was at all. For those who still don’t, here’s pretty much all you need to know: she’s Kareha’s younger sister and for all intents and purposes she might as well be her sister’s clone. She acts, thinks, and to an extent even talks like Kareha. She even has her own version of Kareha’s “Maa maa maa~” line that signals her entry into her own little fantasy world, though Tsubomi goes “Kya kya kya~”.

I question why Tsubomi was such a character of interest that she warranted her own route in Essence+. As I understand things, she was a minor character in some of the novels for the series. She had a couple cameo appearances in the anime and actually made her first in-game appearance in Really? Really!, but she was only referred to by Kareha in the original game. She really seems to have no place in the game aside from adding another loli option along with Primula. Whatever the reasoning, Tsubomi did get her own route and here’s how to get to it.

Spoiler for How to access Tsubomi's route:

1. You must complete Kareha’s route first. You can’t access Tsubomi otherwise.
2. Follow the exact same pattern you did for Kareha’s route.
3. At the scene at Flora where Kareha is asking if you think Asa would look good in the uniform as well, take the second option, mentioning that the uniform looks too good on her as it is.
4. At the cafeteria scene, take the second option. Unless you want to end up on Nadeshiko’s route again.
5. You’ll come to a scene where you’re on your way home, passing a park. You’ll get the feeling you’re being followed. Take the second choice that comes up to head into the park.
6. You’ll then come to a scene as you’re about town. You’re being stalked yet again. Take the first option.
7. Congratulations, you’re on Tsubomi’s route. Enjoy.

Two words sum up this route: puppy love. That’s pretty much exactly the sum of Tsubomi’s feelings for Rin. She admires and respects him enough that she qualifies it as “love”, though there is no basis for any kind of real relationship here. It really is quite similar to the feel Kareha’s route has, but at least on Kareha’s part there 1) is at least an attempt at real romance and 2) is no loli factor to the appeal.

Notable story points:

Spoiler for Story points from Tsubomi's route:

• As mentioned before, Primula does have her emotional breakthrough on this route. She and Tsubomi quickly become very good friends and proceed to involve Rin on what is probably one of the most embarrassing clothing store trips in the game.
• The epilogue sees the game time moved forward one year. Asa and Kareha have graduated, and Rin & company are all seniors now. Rin mentions in a conversation with Nadeshiko that he is considering becoming a teacher as his career. This is the only place I’ve ever seen any mention by Rin about any plans he has for the future.

Just like her sister, Tsubomi has one ero scene at the end of her route. It’s utterly forgettable for me, but again if this is your kind of stuff…well, don’t expect to make my Christmas card list. Ever. Tsubomi’s route is fun but pretty uninteresting and the relationship she has with Rin is very tenuous. It’s at least much better written than Nadeshiko’s so it’s not the absolute worst in the game. Still, there’s not much substance to be had here, so I give it a 4/10. Tsubomi herself is an amusing side-character, much like her older sister, and I like her marginally better than Primula so she’s #7 in my heroine hierarchy.

Next route review: Lisianthus/Kikyou. The most underwhelming heroine and route in the first game return, but with a twist that actually makes her route worth playing.

[BlueGenome]

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

It’s utterly forgettable for me, but again if this is your kind of stuff…well, don’t expect to make my Christmas card list.

Awwwww

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

>> Implying that someone is better than Primula

HERESY!

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Next route review: Lisianthus/Kikyou. The most underwhelming heroine and route in the first game return, but with a twist that actually makes her route worth playing.

You thought Sia/Kikyou's path was weaker than Nerine's? IMO, Nerine's path in the original game was weaker than weaksauce. While Sia's actions seemed a little... hasty, I still think their path made for a good story. Of course, that might just be my fondness for Kikyou coming through.

[DJLowrider]

Originally Posted by BlueGenome

You thought Sia/Kikyou's path was weaker than Nerine's? IMO, Nerine's path in the original game was weaker than weaksauce. While Sia's actions seemed a little... hasty, I still think their path made for a good story. Of course, that might just be my fondness for Kikyou coming through.

To be sure, and to somewhat spoil the forthcoming review a bit, Kikyou is precisely what makes Sia's route worthwhile. The problem is there's not enough of her to fully offset how weak Sia's part of their story is. Sia bases her relationship with Rin on even less than what Nerine does and basically resorts to throwing herself at him in order to cement things between them. Plus there are just some aspects of her character that I simply do not like. But more on all of that when I post the review.

And as I think about it, it's kind of amusing that in the anime they made Kikyou the one throwing herself at Rin when in the game's canon Sia is by and far the less inhibited of the two of them.

[Sian]

Is there a default route which you land in if you 'fail' to enter anyone else's route (such as Kaede was if i remember correctly in the first game)

[DJLowrider]

Kaede's route and Asa's route are the easiest in the game to get onto, so if any of the routes are possibly "default" in the game I would imagine it's either of them depending on the early choices you make.

[Sian]

so depending on your early choices either Asa or Kaede is the route you end up on if you try to steer off routes for as long as possable?

[DJLowrider]

Pretty much. Any time I was trying for a given route if I failed to achieve it I ended up on either of their routes.

[DJLowrider]

Route Review #8: Lisianthus/Kikyou

I’m not gonna lie, I am no fan of Sia at all. I don’t understand what possible appeal she has with people. She’s unintelligent and at times seemingly proud of it. Her relationship with Rin seems to be comprised of her cooking for him and her basically throwing herself at him albeit in a completely passive manner. Her whole attitude seems to be that she doesn’t care who else Rin decides to include in his life so long as she’s #1. All this combined with that nails-on-a-chalkboard voice of hers have made her dead last in my heroine hierarchy until Essence+.

Sia and her route return basically untouched in Essence+ and my ratings for them remain similar to how they were for the original game. The route gets a 3/10, being only somewhat better than Nadeshiko’s route. At least it has decent dialogue going for it.

Now that would be the end of the review, except there is a twist to this whole deal and her name is Kikyou. Kikyou has been a part of the game’s story since the beginning, though only insofar as being “Another Sia”. There were some slightly different scenes involving her in the original game, but that was about it. She got a somewhat expanded role in the anime, however they took a butcher’s knife to her character and made her Sia’s polar opposite. Anyone who’s played the game and paid any attention to her dialogue with Rin knows she’s not the “bad girl” to Sia’s “good girl”, she’s just a bit more up front and direct about her interactions with people. She’s a bit playful but not to the point of some of the outlandish things she does with and to Rin on their “date” in the anime. And she is not as uninhibited as the anime portrays her being over and over and over.

While it can’t be called a separate route, Kikyou does have a full, separate ending from Sia’s in Essence+, unlike the original game. You get it the same way you got all of Kikyou’s scenes from the first game. I won’t bother going over it here, if you need to know how to do it look up an FAQ for Shuffle!

Spoiler for Notable points from Kikyou's sub-route:

Kikyou’s sub-route explores her day-to-day life for a number of days after Rin “names” her after facing off with her. She interacts more with the other characters and Rin (in particular she and Mayumi become very good friends very quickly) and starts to become one of the gang. She not only clicks more easily than Sia does with the rest of the group, I’ll be damned if she isn’t a truckload more likable than her sister. Her sub-route culminates with her and Sia agreeing to attempt a dangerous ritual/procedure by which they would each get their own body (my guess is it's a variation of the cloning process that created Licoris since Forbesii is the one who suggests it). And since Shuffle! has no “bad ends” so to speak, it predictably ends with us being greeted by a pair of twin princesses.

Kikyou, to me, is everything Sia isn’t and that makes her a far more interesting and likable character. Her sub-route is short on content but long on chemistry with Rin and the other characters. Unfortunately there isn’t enough content for me to be really able to judge her separately, so I have to lump her place in my heroine hierarchy along with Sia’s, especially since even by taking her ending you’re still picking Sia as well anyway. It’s really a shame that despite all this Kikyou still lives in Sia’s shadow, she really is Sia’s “better half” in many, many ways.

Next Route Review: Kaede. The last of the original heroines and nothing has changed. But then I suppose that’s Kaede for you.

[BlueGenome]

Yay Kikyou!

Although it came second-hand, Navel's "extended routes!" rhetoric seems to be a bit weak now that the cards are on the table. I read somewhere (can't remember where) that Kaede's route didn't change much, which is somewhat disappointing because I found Really? Really! very enjoyable.

Kaede. Kaede never changes.

[DJLowrider]

Route Review#9: Kaede

Arguably, Kaede is the face of the Shuffle! franchise. She’s girl #1, the childhood friend/girl next door, and Rin’s unofficial girlfriend since the beginning of time. She’s also probably the most popular of the game’s heroines, mostly for her nice, warm, non-threatening demeanor and her ability to take many things in stride. Those of us who aren’t fans of hers have a word for this kind of character, and I’m just gonna throw it out there in case you haven’t seen it before: doormat. Based just on the first game in the series, and on the re-presentation of her route in Essence+ (the “extension” of her route is a joke, it’s exactly one scene that adds nothing of importance), it’s hard to come to any other conclusion. Kaede pretty much just lets Rin do as he pleases and she just deals with it. To me that’s not a healthy attitude and it’s certainly no kind of real relationship.

If you want to form a real opinion about Kaede, you have to play Really? Really! There’s no way around it. Kaede gets so much character development and shows so many more facets to her personality in that game that you will easily be seeing her in a new light. Hell, the first few minutes of the game will get you doing that.

Spoiler for Really, Kaede? Yes, Really! :D:

I mean, really, who knew she’d turn out to be a complete nymphomaniac? And no, I’m not making this up or exaggerating.

Kaede is 9th in my heroine hierarchy and her route is a 5/10. Like I said, it’s exactly the same as it was in the original game so there’s nothing worth mentioning here that hasn’t been said elsewhere about it. As for Kaede herself, keep in mind this is my rating for her as a heroine in Essence+ and based on just that she’s just not that interesting or worthwhile. Still, I usually recommend people run her route first since it’s the easiest in the game to get, possibly even being the “default” route in the game if you screw up everything else, and in Essence+ it unlocks the most new routes upon completion.

Next Route Review: Sakura. If you’re playing this game looking for a real romance story, this is it. And it does not disappoint.

[DJLowrider]

Route Review #10: Sakura

We’re coming down to the wire here, and I’ve saved the best for last between this and the last route review. At first one would wonder how good this route could possibly be. Sakura wasn’t even referred to at all in the original game, or anywhere for that matter until her first appearance in Really? Really! How could she possibly fit into the story and progression of events? What kind of relationship could she have with Rin? What would all the other characters think of her? All these questions will be answered herein.

First, a primer. Sakura Yae is a girl the same age as Kaede and Rin. She was first Kaede’s best friend in grade school and was introduced to Rin by Kaede. She was around when Kaede lost her mother, but like Kaede she didn’t know about Rin’s lie in order to protect/save Kaede. As such she spent several years wondering why Kaede treated her so nice and then, in an instant, turn a cold shoulder to Rin. She spent those years being the one who had Rin’s back the most. When he’d get beaten up or otherwise end up hurt, she was there for him. Eventually, Rin did explain everything to her after Kaede figured it all out. At practically the same time, she confessed to Rin about her affection for him. Rin turned her down, citing that he was still too concerned about Kaede to let himself get into any kind of relationship. After that, the three graduated from middle school as best friends. Rin and Kaede went on to Verbena, but Sakura went to attend the all-girls school, Stralychia (I have no idea how to translate it properly, this is as close as I can figure).

Here’s how to access Sakura’s route:

Spoiler for How to access Sakura's route:

1. Complete Kaede’s route. You can’t access Sakura’s route otherwise.
2. At the very first option in the game, outside the supermarket, take the second option.
3. Eventually, Sakura will surprise you as you’re walking around with a game of “Guess Who?” Choose the second option confirming that it’s her.
4. Continue normally, not showing any leanings towards any other heroines until you get to the scene where Rin’s deciding whether to go home with Kaede in the rain or to go on his own. A third option at the bottom that was previously grayed out should be available. Take this option.
5. Continue on and eventually you will have a scene where you contemplate calling Sakura to talk to her about things that have been happening lately. Take the top option to call her.
6. Congratulations! You’re on Sakura’s route. Enjoy!

To be fair, the other routes in the game do have elements of romance in them as well. The difference is that Sakura’s route is almost purely about her romance with Rin whereas the other girls for the most part have other things going on with them as well. This lends a feeling of realism to Sakura’s route that is utterly lacking from any other and it ends up being the sort of story I’ve been waiting for with this franchise as Sakura ends up being a person with whom Rin can talk about anything and escape the ridiculousness of his situation with all the other girls that have become a part of his life.

Notable story points from her route:

Spoiler for Story points from Sakura's route:

• Early on there’s a scene in Flora where Sia and Kaede ask Sakura what it is about Rin she likes the most. While Kaede and Sia only manage to say “Oh, we like everything about him” Sakura is very specific as she says it’s Rin’s perseverance that she admires the most.
• A number of times when Sakura doesn’t make an appearance for a given scene, Rin ends up on the phone with her talking about the events.
• A major party at Kaede’s house sees Sakura, Sia, Nerine, Kaede, Asa and Kareha all end up drunk on sake. Sakura merely passes out in a bedroom upstairs (no ero scene here, pervs) but the rest of the girls have some hilarious conversations and commentary.
• During a sleepover at Kaede’s, Sakura and Kaede have a nighttime talk about Rin. Kaede admits that nothing has developed between her and Rin and at this point nothing ever will. Sakura says she thought she had been able to give up her feelings for him long ago, but re-connecting with Rin again has made those feelings re-emerge.
• Sakura’s hobby, nay passion, is stuffed animals. She not only collects them, she makes them and has won competitions for them in the past. She mentions wanting to use Rin and Kaede as models for a special project she has in mind, but we don’t get to see the prototypes she creates, at least not right away.
• Sakura’s route is the only route in the game that ends in not only a marriage, but a child. Her epilogue sees Kaede looking after her and Rin’s daughter and explaining about the promise the three of them made to always be friends and always be together. Here we finally see the dolls Sakura made of the three of them. Rin is in the middle, with Sakura on his right and Kaede on his left.

I suppose there is some amount of bias to my preference for Sakura and her route. Her relationship with Rin is similar to mine with my wife. My wife and I were best of friends in college when she admitted feelings for me. I turned her down at the time because we were both about to do off-campus study for a year and I didn’t think a relationship was a good idea for either of us, least of all me. Nonetheless, we did get together a year later after we were both back and were married a year and a half after we graduated. So to see such a similar story as ours depicted in the game was, for me, a real treat and I immensely enjoyed Sakura’s route. And yes, that includes the three ero scenes she gets.

Sakura’s route gets a 9/10 from me. I suppose the only negative thing I could say is that just like most of the other routes in the game it lacks any real drama or conflict. Still, that’s not enough to overshadow the sheer wonderfulness of her or her route. As for Sakura herself, meet my new #1 heroine. She is very similar to Asa, but a ton more down-to-earth with some modesty thrown in. And wow is she easy on the eyes (ignore Navel’s supposed three sizes for her, they obviously weren’t paid any attention when they got to actually drawing her).

Final route review: Daisy. Did I save the best for last? You know it. After ten tries, Navel finally gets it right. And when they do, is it ever epic.