Love365 Kings of Paradise: Taki
Mar. 7th, 2020 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrMC finds herself the housekeeper for a cold billionaire...who turns out to be her gentle high-school sweetheart, now made bitter by life.
I didn't think I'd really enjoy this, but it was free so I gave it a shot. And sure enough I ended up skipping to the end, though I did like some aspects. He was too much of an asshole for me to genuinely ship it, but not entertainingly awful enough to be fun.
No real sexual consent issues in the parts I read, despite the premise, but I talk about the topic of consent in otome.
Kings of Paradise: Prologue
To summarise: MC is a sad divorcee who happens to meet and impress a group of rich guys, who invite her to a poolside meeting where they try to strong-arm her into becoming their housekeeper. She tries to leave but falls into the pool, and can't swim!!
She's rescued by Taki, a cold, harsh real estate broker.
MC wakes up in bed in a bathrobe after a dream about her first kiss, with her highschool boyfriend Taki, who looks exactly like this Taki but with a nicer smile.
MC: AHH I AM NAKED UNDER THIS???
Taki: Poor women with sad little bodies don't interest me in the slightest.
Me: Wow he's making it clear he won't rape her, that's nice!
Me: ...otome has broken me
He continues to be cold, critical and harsh, and now says she'll be his personal housekeeper.
Him being an asshole feels less gratuitous than Eisuke since he's a bitter ex. Assuming he has any REASON to be bitter. Still he is REALLY obnoxious about pressuring her to sign a thick contract. And making your ex be your personal housekeeper is pretty fucked up, Taki!
She notices the contract doesn't even list her pay and conditions. But with no other options she accepts...and he says to fill in whatever she wants for salary.
So she ponders what's reasonable and writes TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH. Honey, he is a douchebag billionaire you will be STUCK WITH 24 HOURS A DAY, bilk him for everything you can!
Taki: Do I look poor? Give me that >:( *changes it to $20K*
She's too distracted by how hot he is to complain much, I guess that extra $18K really brought out his cheekbones.
Omg so he drags her into his car and refuses to say where they're going, a dude shows them info on a bunch of multimillion dollar properties and Taki coldly tells MC to pick which one he should buy.
MC: What?? I can't do that! I don't know anything about real estate!
Taki, whispering: This is why you couldn't see through your husband's lies. You're indecisive and run away from anything difficult.
DUDE
She sadly admits to herself he has a point, and calms herself down enough to really look at the properties and pick one in a neighbourhood which is superficially humble but has room to grow. (But is already full of rich people so I don't feel so bad about the gentrification)
Taki buys it for twice the asking price, in cash, later telling her it was what he expected to spend testing her taste. "You have a good eye. Not for men, though."
I mean, she dated you...
All the ads keep crashing and dropping me into the next episode it's great :D
He takes her to a fancy restaurant, puts a giant diamond ring on her finger and says "from now on you're my fiance"
IS THIS FAKE DATING??? :D
MC: No?!
Taki: Your contract says otherwise. I told you I'd get my $20K worth out of you :)
(If it's not a misunderstanding I bet his reason for being so bitter is really weak-sauce, Voltage never let their protagonists do anything genuinely bad)
She looks at the ring and remembers how excited she was when she got a more understated one from her ex. She feels nothing now, knowing 'undying love' is a fantasy.
These guys always make the girl they pressured into fake dating do unscripted improv with no preparation! DO THEY WANT TO GET FOUND OUT?? Anyway, she's trying to impress Taki's clients, an elderly couple.
Couple: When did you meet?
Taki: Highschool, though we didn't see each other again until recently.
MC: WAIT
MC: There's so many coincidences, but Taki from highschool was so kind and bashful, and had a different surname...
The game just totally glosses over them looking the same, so I have no idea if that's supposed to be true in-universe and MC just didn't notice.
Taki starts happily reminiscing about highschool and MC awkwardly goes along.
MC: Wow, they believe me. I guess lying is easy. I mean, I had no idea my husband was cheating on me...
I love bitter divorcee heroines.
He later calmly admits that he's the same Taki, saying that since she'd forgotten him the past can stay the past. Ahhh looks like he stood her up on a fireworks date out of nowhere then changed schools and refused her calls, I bet he misunderstood something innocent and thought she was cheating on him or something, and he became COLD AND RUTHLESS so he would NEVER BE HURT AGAIN.
MC: At least tell me why you vanished!
Taki, writing a check for $30K: Here's your salary and severance pay. Bye.
DUDE
She stands outside with her bags and the cheque and thinks about all the years she spent passively convincing herself her husband loved her, never really knowing him or facing reality. She's homeless now, but too polite to ask her friend for somewhere to stay. She hears the sound of distant fireworks but ever since Taki stood her up they just make her sad. Her past has returned, not as a beautiful memory, but altered and twisted in the worst way possible.
MC bumps into a nice old man, only for Taki to show up and be all "Why yes this IS my fiance, Mr Rich Business Contact, I'm so glad she's befriended you :)".
She gives Taki back his cheque, all "I don't want your money"...so he says she's refused the severance package and is thus still bound by the contract. Oops.
And so her training to be Fancy begins. He says "The way you walk reveals how you were raised" and she wonders what happened to the boy she grew up with over the last ten years.
MC: I used to put all my energy into looking after my ex-husband, and now here I am working for my ex-boyfriend. You never know where life will take you.
Taki's pet crocodile, in a little cravat: ...
SURE
She's been working as housekeeper for several days and never noticed the crocodile or his room, complete with nameplate (Sydney. Like the city, because he's Australian?)
MC: Why did you stand me up the night of the fireworks festival?
Taki: Why did you kiss that other guy?
THERE IT IS
MC: What? Do you mean the guy who asked me out and then hugged me? I turned him down!
Taki, realising he's spent ten years bitterly fuming about a misunderstanding : ...
MC: Wait is THAT why we broke up?!
Taki: ...there's no changing the past now. Sorry for bringing it up.
MC: ...
Taki: Make me a drink >.>
MC make him her favourite drink, tea with brandy in it. These Love365 heroines are all pretty into drinking, it's interesting considering how Good they are in all other respects but maybe Japanese gender roles have more space for hard drinking Good Girls.
He better start being nicer now he knows the truth!
Yosuke: What would you do if you had all the money in the world?
MC: Hmmm...I'd want an apron.
Taki: What kind of sad, poor person dream is that?
MC: ...and a tour of some nice local street food?
MC, whispering to Shun: Who's that pretty woman next to Yosuke?
Shun: I guess you could say she's like his girlfriend. This kind of thing happens all the time, don't pay it any mind.
Uh.
Taki whisks MC away on a private jet to Macao and says she has an assignment: Spend $100,000
He is totally training her to be his wife. Which is such a weird dynamic, but interesting in a messed up way. It's got me thinking about a more extreme/tragic version, where the Taki character is basically brainwashed and MC doesn't realise, and him trying to induct her into his Rich People Cult is the only way he knows how to express his affection, and she doesn't realise what's coming.
(She spends a lot of time thinking "Ugh, rich people", but without anywhere near as much vehemence as I keep thinking it)
MC: Ooh, this is EXACTLY the kind of apron I want! I might buy two!
Taki: >:/
He takes her to a casino with the others.
Yosuke: Winner's luck is an essential quality of the elite
Me: *eyes roll out of my head*
I just started thinking about how much more fun I'd be having if this was closer to a modern AU of Heaven Official's Blessing *sigh*. The two ending types are "Hearts in Paradise" and "Bodies on Fire" which doesn't help.
And then I got bored and skipped to the end!
Bodies on Fire ending:
MC and Taki are watching fireworks and have apparently just confessed their feelings. He's still fairly blunt with a flat affect but is otherwise quite sweet, with just a little gentle teasing. Ok, good!
MC: Where are we going?
Taki: You'll see ;)
MC: Ooh a fancy hotel! With...Yosuke?
Taki and Yosuke: :)
Just when I thought we might be headed for an unexpected threesome, Yosuke launches into a round of exposition that made the rest of the route sound like it was SURE SOMETHING. Afaict Taki was 10 million dollars in debt and worked with Yosuke to pay it back.
MC: So you really are a marriage broker? (I'm still not sure I approve of what those two did)
Yosuke: I help consenting sensible men in search of a wife find consenting sensible women in search of a husband :) It's all quite legal!
MC: I guess it's not technically illegal...
Yosuke: And while Taki was working for me, he never actually slept with any of the women.
Mmm yes, whatever you're doing sounds totally above board
Then Taki and MC go to a fancy hotel room. He says some sweet things about how he spent so many years focussed on earning money and not able to trust anyone that he closed himself off, but he never stopped loving her, and he's realised now how harmful it was to live that way. Ok, that's how I was hoping this would play out.
They make out and have a Very Otome consent conversation:
Taki: I would never pressure you. We can stop if you want.
MC: You can't get me all worked up and then stop.
Taki: I can't stop any more.
MC: I don't want you to!
Taki: But are you sure?
MC: Yes!
Taki: I can't stop!
MC: GOOD
And then he stops again to put the engagement ring back on her finger and THEN they have sex (not fade to black, just very vague, which I haven't encountered in a Voltage game before) Afaict they had sex already but it was less gentle (and I'm guessing less consensual) though MC looks back on it as a positive experience.
And then there's more feelings, and MC thinks about how she believes in undying love again. The End.
That was about as good an ending as it could have been, modulo whatever the hell was going on with the Marriage Broker stuff, but I'm still not sure I feel like playing the middle section. I just wasn't having enough shippy feels, and the rich people bullshit was annoying me (either I have more patience for rich gangster bullshit or Kissed By The Baddest Bidder used up all my tolerance). I might get around to it during the next few days while it's still free, we'll see.
I didn't think I'd really enjoy this, but it was free so I gave it a shot. And sure enough I ended up skipping to the end, though I did like some aspects. He was too much of an asshole for me to genuinely ship it, but not entertainingly awful enough to be fun.
No real sexual consent issues in the parts I read, despite the premise, but I talk about the topic of consent in otome.
Kings of Paradise: Prologue
To summarise: MC is a sad divorcee who happens to meet and impress a group of rich guys, who invite her to a poolside meeting where they try to strong-arm her into becoming their housekeeper. She tries to leave but falls into the pool, and can't swim!!
She's rescued by Taki, a cold, harsh real estate broker.
MC wakes up in bed in a bathrobe after a dream about her first kiss, with her highschool boyfriend Taki, who looks exactly like this Taki but with a nicer smile.
MC: AHH I AM NAKED UNDER THIS???
Taki: Poor women with sad little bodies don't interest me in the slightest.
Me: Wow he's making it clear he won't rape her, that's nice!
Me: ...otome has broken me
He continues to be cold, critical and harsh, and now says she'll be his personal housekeeper.
Him being an asshole feels less gratuitous than Eisuke since he's a bitter ex. Assuming he has any REASON to be bitter. Still he is REALLY obnoxious about pressuring her to sign a thick contract. And making your ex be your personal housekeeper is pretty fucked up, Taki!
She notices the contract doesn't even list her pay and conditions. But with no other options she accepts...and he says to fill in whatever she wants for salary.
So she ponders what's reasonable and writes TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH. Honey, he is a douchebag billionaire you will be STUCK WITH 24 HOURS A DAY, bilk him for everything you can!
Taki: Do I look poor? Give me that >:( *changes it to $20K*
She's too distracted by how hot he is to complain much, I guess that extra $18K really brought out his cheekbones.
Omg so he drags her into his car and refuses to say where they're going, a dude shows them info on a bunch of multimillion dollar properties and Taki coldly tells MC to pick which one he should buy.
MC: What?? I can't do that! I don't know anything about real estate!
Taki, whispering: This is why you couldn't see through your husband's lies. You're indecisive and run away from anything difficult.
DUDE
She sadly admits to herself he has a point, and calms herself down enough to really look at the properties and pick one in a neighbourhood which is superficially humble but has room to grow. (But is already full of rich people so I don't feel so bad about the gentrification)
Taki buys it for twice the asking price, in cash, later telling her it was what he expected to spend testing her taste. "You have a good eye. Not for men, though."
I mean, she dated you...
All the ads keep crashing and dropping me into the next episode it's great :D
He takes her to a fancy restaurant, puts a giant diamond ring on her finger and says "from now on you're my fiance"
IS THIS FAKE DATING??? :D
MC: No?!
Taki: Your contract says otherwise. I told you I'd get my $20K worth out of you :)
(If it's not a misunderstanding I bet his reason for being so bitter is really weak-sauce, Voltage never let their protagonists do anything genuinely bad)
She looks at the ring and remembers how excited she was when she got a more understated one from her ex. She feels nothing now, knowing 'undying love' is a fantasy.
These guys always make the girl they pressured into fake dating do unscripted improv with no preparation! DO THEY WANT TO GET FOUND OUT?? Anyway, she's trying to impress Taki's clients, an elderly couple.
Couple: When did you meet?
Taki: Highschool, though we didn't see each other again until recently.
MC: WAIT
MC: There's so many coincidences, but Taki from highschool was so kind and bashful, and had a different surname...
The game just totally glosses over them looking the same, so I have no idea if that's supposed to be true in-universe and MC just didn't notice.
Taki starts happily reminiscing about highschool and MC awkwardly goes along.
MC: Wow, they believe me. I guess lying is easy. I mean, I had no idea my husband was cheating on me...
I love bitter divorcee heroines.
He later calmly admits that he's the same Taki, saying that since she'd forgotten him the past can stay the past. Ahhh looks like he stood her up on a fireworks date out of nowhere then changed schools and refused her calls, I bet he misunderstood something innocent and thought she was cheating on him or something, and he became COLD AND RUTHLESS so he would NEVER BE HURT AGAIN.
MC: At least tell me why you vanished!
Taki, writing a check for $30K: Here's your salary and severance pay. Bye.
DUDE
She stands outside with her bags and the cheque and thinks about all the years she spent passively convincing herself her husband loved her, never really knowing him or facing reality. She's homeless now, but too polite to ask her friend for somewhere to stay. She hears the sound of distant fireworks but ever since Taki stood her up they just make her sad. Her past has returned, not as a beautiful memory, but altered and twisted in the worst way possible.
MC bumps into a nice old man, only for Taki to show up and be all "Why yes this IS my fiance, Mr Rich Business Contact, I'm so glad she's befriended you :)".
She gives Taki back his cheque, all "I don't want your money"...so he says she's refused the severance package and is thus still bound by the contract. Oops.
And so her training to be Fancy begins. He says "The way you walk reveals how you were raised" and she wonders what happened to the boy she grew up with over the last ten years.
MC: I used to put all my energy into looking after my ex-husband, and now here I am working for my ex-boyfriend. You never know where life will take you.
Taki's pet crocodile, in a little cravat: ...
SURE
She's been working as housekeeper for several days and never noticed the crocodile or his room, complete with nameplate (Sydney. Like the city, because he's Australian?)
MC: Why did you stand me up the night of the fireworks festival?
Taki: Why did you kiss that other guy?
THERE IT IS
MC: What? Do you mean the guy who asked me out and then hugged me? I turned him down!
Taki, realising he's spent ten years bitterly fuming about a misunderstanding : ...
MC: Wait is THAT why we broke up?!
Taki: ...there's no changing the past now. Sorry for bringing it up.
MC: ...
Taki: Make me a drink >.>
MC make him her favourite drink, tea with brandy in it. These Love365 heroines are all pretty into drinking, it's interesting considering how Good they are in all other respects but maybe Japanese gender roles have more space for hard drinking Good Girls.
He better start being nicer now he knows the truth!
Yosuke: What would you do if you had all the money in the world?
MC: Hmmm...I'd want an apron.
Taki: What kind of sad, poor person dream is that?
MC: ...and a tour of some nice local street food?
MC, whispering to Shun: Who's that pretty woman next to Yosuke?
Shun: I guess you could say she's like his girlfriend. This kind of thing happens all the time, don't pay it any mind.
Uh.
Taki whisks MC away on a private jet to Macao and says she has an assignment: Spend $100,000
He is totally training her to be his wife. Which is such a weird dynamic, but interesting in a messed up way. It's got me thinking about a more extreme/tragic version, where the Taki character is basically brainwashed and MC doesn't realise, and him trying to induct her into his Rich People Cult is the only way he knows how to express his affection, and she doesn't realise what's coming.
(She spends a lot of time thinking "Ugh, rich people", but without anywhere near as much vehemence as I keep thinking it)
MC: Ooh, this is EXACTLY the kind of apron I want! I might buy two!
Taki: >:/
He takes her to a casino with the others.
Yosuke: Winner's luck is an essential quality of the elite
Me: *eyes roll out of my head*
I just started thinking about how much more fun I'd be having if this was closer to a modern AU of Heaven Official's Blessing *sigh*. The two ending types are "Hearts in Paradise" and "Bodies on Fire" which doesn't help.
And then I got bored and skipped to the end!
Bodies on Fire ending:
MC and Taki are watching fireworks and have apparently just confessed their feelings. He's still fairly blunt with a flat affect but is otherwise quite sweet, with just a little gentle teasing. Ok, good!
MC: Where are we going?
Taki: You'll see ;)
MC: Ooh a fancy hotel! With...Yosuke?
Taki and Yosuke: :)
Just when I thought we might be headed for an unexpected threesome, Yosuke launches into a round of exposition that made the rest of the route sound like it was SURE SOMETHING. Afaict Taki was 10 million dollars in debt and worked with Yosuke to pay it back.
MC: So you really are a marriage broker? (I'm still not sure I approve of what those two did)
Yosuke: I help consenting sensible men in search of a wife find consenting sensible women in search of a husband :) It's all quite legal!
MC: I guess it's not technically illegal...
Yosuke: And while Taki was working for me, he never actually slept with any of the women.
Mmm yes, whatever you're doing sounds totally above board
Then Taki and MC go to a fancy hotel room. He says some sweet things about how he spent so many years focussed on earning money and not able to trust anyone that he closed himself off, but he never stopped loving her, and he's realised now how harmful it was to live that way. Ok, that's how I was hoping this would play out.
They make out and have a Very Otome consent conversation:
Taki: I would never pressure you. We can stop if you want.
MC: You can't get me all worked up and then stop.
Taki: I can't stop any more.
MC: I don't want you to!
Taki: But are you sure?
MC: Yes!
Taki: I can't stop!
MC: GOOD
And then he stops again to put the engagement ring back on her finger and THEN they have sex (not fade to black, just very vague, which I haven't encountered in a Voltage game before) Afaict they had sex already but it was less gentle (and I'm guessing less consensual) though MC looks back on it as a positive experience.
And then there's more feelings, and MC thinks about how she believes in undying love again. The End.
That was about as good an ending as it could have been, modulo whatever the hell was going on with the Marriage Broker stuff, but I'm still not sure I feel like playing the middle section. I just wasn't having enough shippy feels, and the rich people bullshit was annoying me (either I have more patience for rich gangster bullshit or Kissed By The Baddest Bidder used up all my tolerance). I might get around to it during the next few days while it's still free, we'll see.
