7'Scarlet: Yuzuki good ending
Mar. 1st, 2021 11:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I went very quickly from "How are they going to make this asshole loveable" to "Oh no this is exactly the kind of asshole I like". He never stops being a bit of a jerk, but he's the right mix of passionate, angsty, wryly self-deprecating, and awkwardly sweet to appeal to me, and they make a cute couple.
Also, exciting mystery stuff happens! Only some of which is bafflingly silly!
So. All the others started with the same common route, but for this one you need to start a new game and choose Yuzuki's route specifically.
It begins as the others do with a scene of a woman about to be killed by a guy with Yuzuki's voice. But this time we see the rest of the scene.
She is, of course, a revenant.
Yuzuki: Are you going to beg for your life? You have no life to beg for! You are so beautiful, the perfect prey for my first hunt.
Don't make it weird, Yuzuki.
???: Stop! My name is Tsuzuri Karasuma. I'm a human!
Ahhh. However this plays out, now I have some idea why Mr Karasuma is so bitter. This is presumably leading to Yuzuki being kicked out of the Ensupulchers but I'm tense to find out if it's because he killed an innocent woman or was too trusting of a revenant or what.
Tsuzuri: It's true, I feel an emptiness within me, and know if I don't fill it I will lose myself. It's driving me to want to strangle you. I used to think the stories my grandfather told about revenants were just folk tales. But I won't kill! Because I am human!
Yuzuki: You are a vile corpse! And I wouldn't believe you even if you were human. There are no creatures more untrustworthy or selfish than humans. As if I would believe a revenant wearing human skin.
Tsuzuri: Hahaha. You have never known love, have you? All I ask for is some change. I want to hear my husband's voice one last time.
Yuzuki mutters to himself on the evils of humans, and how he kills all revenants with no exception.
And then we hear Tsuzuri scream.
We jump to the present day, with Ichiko already working at the hotel. She finds an open door in Yuzuki's office and goes in to clean, only realising it's his attached private residence when she sees him working on a beautiful ikebana flower arrangement.
Ichiko: It's beautiful.
Yuzuki: The uncultured can't appreciate ikebana.
Ichiko: I think I can tell enough to know it's beautiful.
Yuzuki: Hmmph. Come in and sit then.
He keeps arranging the flowers and says his grandmother forced him to learn every day until the arrangement was good enough, even when he'd rather play. He rambles about ikebana capturing the beauty in all living things. But his grandmother died before he had learned properly, and now life is ugly and he knows nothing of ikebana.
This is some angsty asshole rich boy Mr Rochester bullshit and I am 100% here for it.
Then he GETS A COLD and is all "I can take care of myself, you'll get sick" while FLUSHED and TOPLESS and Ichiko forces him to swallow rice porridge :D
Yuzuki: Who'd think a cold would hurt so much. I suppose I deserve it.
Ichiko: Why? Oh, because you fired all the staff and made life difficult for Isora and Sua and Yuki?
Yuzuki: It would be ironic if I was punished for something like that. I know I'm not going to Heaven...never mind, it's nothing. I get sentimental when I'm weak.
Yuki please stop teasing Ichiko with the implication that she had sex with Yuzuki because you saw her coming out of his room in the morning. In fact, please never talk about sex ever again.
Ichiko bumps into Yuzuki's dad as he shouts at Yuzuki about Changing Traditions, at which point he starts berating Yuzuki for seeing a girl at a time like this only to stop and stare at her and say he'll see her later.
Like a lot of Otomate games this has little notes with added info, this game's notes are often amusingly snarky. Also there's more talk of God than usual for the genre, not sure if it's a quirk of the writer or foreshadowing.
Ichiko sees a bunch of hooded figures in black chasing a dark figure, and instinctively hides. Yuzuki pulls her into a nearby building and gives her directions back to the hotel, saying to keep out of sight, but she's distracted by hot him being so forceful is lol.
Isora says he's seen Yuzuki sneak out to the forest at night and thinks he's shady. When he doesn't come home that night, a worried and curious Ichiko goes to check his room...and finds it trashed, with Karasuma searching for something. He grabs Ichiko and says "Blame him, like I do" and knocks her out with a drugged handkerchief.
She wakes, tied up, in an abandoned house. She hears someone breaking the door down and cries out "don't touch me!" as they approach.
Yusuki: Hanamaki, it's me! Are you injured?
Ichiko: Boss ;_;
She throws herself into his arms as he checks her for injuries. They share a long hug and he apologises in a hoarse voice for dragging her into all this.
...this is all super cute but I also keep wanting to pick all the ruder answers, dude deserves it, and it annoys me that he prefers a polite, quiet girl considering his everything.
So I'm going to start again, choose the rude answers, and ride this train to a bad end, and THEN go back to the save I just made and see the good end.
I ended up at the same point but that was fun. Lets see how long I survive...
Karasuma arrives and knocks out and ties up Yuzuki. Yuzuki and Ichiko are very DON'T HURT THEM about each other. Karasuma has no interest in hurting Ichiko. He exudes wry menace as he complains about the government cutting down on smoking, lights a cigarette, and idly kicks Yuzuki in the stomach. He has a list of questions.
Yuzuki: You won't be better off knowing anything. That's how this world works.
Karasuma tells Ichiko about the Ensupulchers, who he sees as murderous madmen led by Yuzuki. He also makes a veiled remark implying there may be a Secret Murokumo Heir.
Yuzuki explains how he was told the truth about the town at 23, when he'd just graduated uni, and immediately inherited leadership despite a relative lack of experience. The other Ensupulchers resented this (except for Sosuke's dad who tried to offer him advice and was rebuffed) and Yuzuki was desperate to prove himself.
But when Karasuma's wife asked to ring her husband...Yuzuki gave her the coins to do it.
Flashback:
At first Karasuma is confused when his wife rings him. Because she's dead /o\ She thanks Karasuma for making her so happy, and tells him to move on with his life. But he is overcome and just sobs that he needs her.
Yuzuki tries to let her escape, to die naturally, but the others catch her, and kill her. Yuzuki is expelled from the Ensupulchers. He thinks revenants form when someone is unwilling to let go of life, and they should be helped to let go and move on instead of being exterminated. And those like Karasuma who mourn them need to let go, and move on.
Present:
Karasuma collapses, sobbing, and cuts Yuzuki free.
Yuzuki wants Ichiko to go back to the hotel separately so people don't get the wrong idea. The next day they sit next to each other and she says she doesn't mind what people think. They look up at the stars and he asks about her brother and she breaks down crying, saying Yuzuki's done so much to help people by himself but she's useless, she's already half forgotten her brother and can't do anything to find him.
Yuzuki pulls her into a hug and says she's not useless, that he'll help her and they'll figure something out. She nuzzles him like a cat and he quietly catches his breath. They pull tighter and mutter each other's first names to each other.
Ichiko: It's all your fault that I feel so lonely and long for someone's warmth.
Yuzuki: Don't be ridiculous. That's my line.
...ok, you got me, game. *goes back and replays with the good choices because I want to see the good ending*
The next day he says they should hold hands for entirely practical reasons.
Yasu: Is that Yuzu-chan with a GIRL?? :D
Yuzuki badgers Yasu into telling them what he knows about Ichiko's brother. Yasu's worried about the council listening in and getting them into trouble.
Apparently Ichiko's brother kept to himself but knew a suspicious amount about the town, and vanished in the field of corpse flowers.
Looking at Yasu and Yuzuki...they look kind of similar. Could Yasu be the real eldest son??
Yuzuki grumbles to Ichiko about Yasu but is clearly actually fond of him. YASU is the panda! Ok yeah that makes sense. He thinks it's a brilliant scheme for doing surveillance on the town lol.
Yuzuki stumbles across Sosuke's dad's body and tries to protect Ichiko from seeing it.
Kagura: I was taking photos in the mountains today and saw Sosuke and Yuzuki talking with their heads close together, are they...in that sort of relationship?
Me; They were discussing THE CORPSE of SOSUKE'S FATHER who you JUST MURDERED >:(
Kagura: Looks like you're alone today, Ichiko. That's rare :)
Me: D:
Yua: HI ICHIKO!
Kagura: >:/
Me: :D
Yua: Have you learned anything about your brother?
Ichiko: A little.
Yua: Yay! ...I need to apologise to you, Ichiko. I'm useless, a friend's in pain and I can't even help. I need to learn from you. I get lost in thought and I hate myself...
Ichiko: You're fine the way you are. I think you're awesome. You can cook, and clean... you can do anything!
Yua: That's not what I want. I want people to know... what I did. What I resolved.
Ichiko: Yua, what in the world happened?
Yua: ...want to go have a bath together?
*still ships it*
But Ichiko just spends the bath thinking about Yuzuki taking everything onto himself, ah well.
Ichiko: Why did your father ask to meet us so late at night?
Yuzuki: *doing a falsetto* Why? How? What? Enough with the questions!
Ichiko: But why-*stops self*
Yuzuki: You were thinking *falsetto*"Oh no, I asked another question!" weren't you...I'm sorry. I realise this is a lot. I keep dragging you into my business.
His impression of Ichiko sounds very classic otome heroine, it's cute this is the closest thing we have to a canon voice for her.
Yuzuki's dad is an insulting, domineering ass as usual, and it's clearly the model for Yuzuki's own abrasive demeanour, except without any of the apologies or compassion. He rants about Yuzuki being a useless leader who was demoted for good reason.
Yuzuki's dad: You brought her here, you have no more use to me. Go.
Ichiko: If he goes, so do I >:(
Yuzuki: o.O (She just...stood up...to my dad??)
Yuzuki's dad: Heh, looks like I raised a womaniser. Fine. Tell me girl, have you been to this village before?
Ichiko: No.
Yuzuki's dad: Hmm, then I suppose I was wrong.
There's no doubting these two are related:
I forget the exact sequence but he tells Yuzuki to send Ichiko away and he refuses, even upon the threat of excommunication.
Yuzuki: I'm through with your way of doing things, so this is perfect. Excommunicate me, disown me, whatever.
Yuzuki's dad: How dare you! As the heir of the Murakumo and future leader of the Esp-
Yuzuki: I'm done with them too. Exterminating revenants is like something out of the dark ages. And if you think I care about the Murakumo name you underestimate me. You can accomplish your goals without me as heir anyway, can't you? Tell your next successor that revenants are to be sent back.
YOU TELL HIM. I love that Ichiko gave him the courage to stand up to his dad. Also, "You are incapable of the role I have set for you, but quitting would be unthinkably disloyal" is such a shitty message to send to your kid.
Yuzuki's dad: Go ahead and face a revenant controlled by your emotions. You'll end up it's next victim!
Ichiko: You're wrong! He's seriously thought about how he can protect this town without ignoring the revenant's pain. Because they're human too. I'm going to stay here and help him.
Yuzuki's dad: You fools! You'll just get him killed!
Ichiko: Let's go, Yuzuki.
Yuzuki: ...r-right.
Ichiko: Excuse us, Father.
Yuzuki's dad: ...Father??
I love it.
Afterwards Yuzuki apologises for all this then tsundere-ly says he's enjoyed being around her and wants her to stay in town. She tries to gently steer the conversation towards romance and he changes the subject.
Yuzuki: Stop calling my father "Father", it's weird.
Ichiko: Is it? I suppose Father did seem surprised.
Yuzuki: YOU DID IT AGAIN
Ichiko: Teehee
Yuzuki: STOP LAUGHING
Ichiko: I'm not laughing heehee
Yuzuki: >:(
Ichiko: :)
Adorable.
Hmm. Maybe Yuki's the secret brother! He has brownish eyes, and uses Surname-san for everyone but Yuzuki and Yasu. Or Hino, why not.
Everyone in town is waiting for the concert except Ichiko, who's alone in the hotel because she heard Yuzuki would be coming by. And then Kagura shows up.
He shows her some photos he developed...and they're all of her, taken without her permission.
Kagura: Don't worry, I'm not some creep [CITATION NEEDED] I wanted to test something. Look, even in the monochrome versions, your eyes glow. It's just as I thought...
Me: ooh, what is she? A revenant? A magical girl? Some kind of god?
Uh.
Kagura talks about white animals being sacred, like the white snake god worshipped at the shrine, and how albinos are holy 'special rare cards'. So it might be more metaphorical? ALBINOS DO NOT ATTRACT SERIAL KILLERS. HER HAIR IS BROWN.
And then out comes the knife. He says killing her will make him closer to living forever.
Kagura: I'll make sure it doesn't hurt. I was bad at it the first time but I was just a kid. Now I'm glad you got away!
HMM
But then Yuzuki arrives with a hooded man in black and they capture Kagura!
Kagura: But the Ensupulchers are at the concert because I spread a rumour there'd be a revenant there.
Yuzuki: I'm not an Ensupulcher :)
Yuzuki has vowed to help revenants work through their unfinished business and move on instead of killing them. But since Kagura's unfinished business turns out to be that he just REALLY WANTED TO MURDER MORE WOMEN, he's making an exception. Fair.
Yuzuki: He killed your father. You have the right to do it.
Sosuke: And then you and I will fulfil my father's legacy, creating a new approach to dealing with revenants.
Me: Aw
Kagura: I just said, I only kill women. Also this new guy needs to learn to tie ropes better :) *escapes and stabs Yuzuki*
Just when all seems lost, along comes...Karasuma! He says he's here to repay Yuzuki for letting him hear his wife's last message, and follows Sosuke's instructions to throw salt on Kagura and set him on fire. Kagura vanishes in a cloud of flower petals, it's very otome.
While Sosuke goes to get medical supplies, Yuzuki tells Ichiko that he'd always thought Tsuzuri was right and he'd never know love. And he still doesn't feel like he deserves to love someone like Ichiko, but she's taught him it's possible. He starts to ask if she will allow him, and she says it's not about worthiness. They say some other sweet things and then declare their love to each other, and kiss. He weakly says that if he dies here, he will only have one regret, and then collapses.
Ichiko wakes in hospital, having collapsed herself. Yuki says they found her brother's notebook in Kagura's bag, implying he may have killed her brother (HMM. DOUBT)
Yuzuki finally wakes from unconsciousness and Ichiko throws herself at him in a hug.
Yuzuki: Who...are you?
Ichiko: Oh no. Do you have amnesia? ;_;
Yuzuki: It was a joke. You're too trusting. One day some unemployed idiot will say he loves you and you'll be supporting him for the rest of his life.
YUZUKI
He asks how she's doing knowing he brother's dead, and she says she has a hole in her heart.
Yuzuki talks about how everyone gets holes in their heart as they get older. He used to think they could never be filled, but realised the problem is people thinking they can fill them alone. She has filled the holes in his heart. Will she stay with him, and let him fill the holes in hers?
She says yes, and asks what his one would regret would be, and he says not getting to kiss her every day. So they make a start on fixing that.
Post-credit scene: A voice, I think Yasu says he faked Kagura having the notebook. He wonders who actually killed Sosuke's dad and seems to be told not to worry about it. HMMM. My vote is Yuzuki's dad just because I'm not sure who else makes sense, and it seems like Sosuke's dad also had some issues with how things were run.
"True Route" unlocked! Afaict it's the True route and then the Kagura route and then I'm done.
And it turns out the full name of the True Route is the TOA KUSHINADA TRUE ROUTE
:D :D :D !!!!
I am PUMPED
Also, I like how these guys want to protect Ichiko, but generally aren't actually the ones who take down the villain. But that's not the important thing.
I did think we'd hear some excuse reason for him firing most of the hotel staff and overworking the ones who remain but nope! He turned out to be an adequate boyfriend, but still a shitty boss.
On the plus side, there wasn't even the slightest hint of 16 year old Yuzuki falling for 8 year old Ichiko. In fact they don't seem to have even met back then and we get no childhood flashbacks at all. I wouldn't have minded seeing a little of what teen Yuzuki was like, but I did like the flashback of slightly-younger-20-something Yuzuki we got instead. His dad seems to recvognise her, I wonder where that's going.
I went very quickly from "How are they going to make this asshole loveable" to "Oh no this is exactly the kind of asshole I like". He never stops being a bit of a jerk, but he's the right mix of passionate, angsty, wryly self-deprecating, and awkwardly sweet to appeal to me, and they make a cute couple.
Also, exciting mystery stuff happens! Only some of which is bafflingly silly!
So. All the others started with the same common route, but for this one you need to start a new game and choose Yuzuki's route specifically.
It begins as the others do with a scene of a woman about to be killed by a guy with Yuzuki's voice. But this time we see the rest of the scene.
She is, of course, a revenant.
Yuzuki: Are you going to beg for your life? You have no life to beg for! You are so beautiful, the perfect prey for my first hunt.
Don't make it weird, Yuzuki.
???: Stop! My name is Tsuzuri Karasuma. I'm a human!
Ahhh. However this plays out, now I have some idea why Mr Karasuma is so bitter. This is presumably leading to Yuzuki being kicked out of the Ensupulchers but I'm tense to find out if it's because he killed an innocent woman or was too trusting of a revenant or what.
Tsuzuri: It's true, I feel an emptiness within me, and know if I don't fill it I will lose myself. It's driving me to want to strangle you. I used to think the stories my grandfather told about revenants were just folk tales. But I won't kill! Because I am human!
Yuzuki: You are a vile corpse! And I wouldn't believe you even if you were human. There are no creatures more untrustworthy or selfish than humans. As if I would believe a revenant wearing human skin.
Tsuzuri: Hahaha. You have never known love, have you? All I ask for is some change. I want to hear my husband's voice one last time.
Yuzuki mutters to himself on the evils of humans, and how he kills all revenants with no exception.
And then we hear Tsuzuri scream.
We jump to the present day, with Ichiko already working at the hotel. She finds an open door in Yuzuki's office and goes in to clean, only realising it's his attached private residence when she sees him working on a beautiful ikebana flower arrangement.
Ichiko: It's beautiful.
Yuzuki: The uncultured can't appreciate ikebana.
Ichiko: I think I can tell enough to know it's beautiful.
Yuzuki: Hmmph. Come in and sit then.
He keeps arranging the flowers and says his grandmother forced him to learn every day until the arrangement was good enough, even when he'd rather play. He rambles about ikebana capturing the beauty in all living things. But his grandmother died before he had learned properly, and now life is ugly and he knows nothing of ikebana.
This is some angsty asshole rich boy Mr Rochester bullshit and I am 100% here for it.
Then he GETS A COLD and is all "I can take care of myself, you'll get sick" while FLUSHED and TOPLESS and Ichiko forces him to swallow rice porridge :D
Yuzuki: Who'd think a cold would hurt so much. I suppose I deserve it.
Ichiko: Why? Oh, because you fired all the staff and made life difficult for Isora and Sua and Yuki?
Yuzuki: It would be ironic if I was punished for something like that. I know I'm not going to Heaven...never mind, it's nothing. I get sentimental when I'm weak.
Yuki please stop teasing Ichiko with the implication that she had sex with Yuzuki because you saw her coming out of his room in the morning. In fact, please never talk about sex ever again.
Ichiko bumps into Yuzuki's dad as he shouts at Yuzuki about Changing Traditions, at which point he starts berating Yuzuki for seeing a girl at a time like this only to stop and stare at her and say he'll see her later.
Like a lot of Otomate games this has little notes with added info, this game's notes are often amusingly snarky. Also there's more talk of God than usual for the genre, not sure if it's a quirk of the writer or foreshadowing.
Ichiko sees a bunch of hooded figures in black chasing a dark figure, and instinctively hides. Yuzuki pulls her into a nearby building and gives her directions back to the hotel, saying to keep out of sight, but she's distracted by hot him being so forceful is lol.
Isora says he's seen Yuzuki sneak out to the forest at night and thinks he's shady. When he doesn't come home that night, a worried and curious Ichiko goes to check his room...and finds it trashed, with Karasuma searching for something. He grabs Ichiko and says "Blame him, like I do" and knocks her out with a drugged handkerchief.
She wakes, tied up, in an abandoned house. She hears someone breaking the door down and cries out "don't touch me!" as they approach.
Yusuki: Hanamaki, it's me! Are you injured?
Ichiko: Boss ;_;
She throws herself into his arms as he checks her for injuries. They share a long hug and he apologises in a hoarse voice for dragging her into all this.
...this is all super cute but I also keep wanting to pick all the ruder answers, dude deserves it, and it annoys me that he prefers a polite, quiet girl considering his everything.
So I'm going to start again, choose the rude answers, and ride this train to a bad end, and THEN go back to the save I just made and see the good end.
I ended up at the same point but that was fun. Lets see how long I survive...
Karasuma arrives and knocks out and ties up Yuzuki. Yuzuki and Ichiko are very DON'T HURT THEM about each other. Karasuma has no interest in hurting Ichiko. He exudes wry menace as he complains about the government cutting down on smoking, lights a cigarette, and idly kicks Yuzuki in the stomach. He has a list of questions.
Yuzuki: You won't be better off knowing anything. That's how this world works.
Karasuma tells Ichiko about the Ensupulchers, who he sees as murderous madmen led by Yuzuki. He also makes a veiled remark implying there may be a Secret Murokumo Heir.
Yuzuki explains how he was told the truth about the town at 23, when he'd just graduated uni, and immediately inherited leadership despite a relative lack of experience. The other Ensupulchers resented this (except for Sosuke's dad who tried to offer him advice and was rebuffed) and Yuzuki was desperate to prove himself.
But when Karasuma's wife asked to ring her husband...Yuzuki gave her the coins to do it.
Flashback:
At first Karasuma is confused when his wife rings him. Because she's dead /o\ She thanks Karasuma for making her so happy, and tells him to move on with his life. But he is overcome and just sobs that he needs her.
Yuzuki tries to let her escape, to die naturally, but the others catch her, and kill her. Yuzuki is expelled from the Ensupulchers. He thinks revenants form when someone is unwilling to let go of life, and they should be helped to let go and move on instead of being exterminated. And those like Karasuma who mourn them need to let go, and move on.
Present:
Karasuma collapses, sobbing, and cuts Yuzuki free.
Yuzuki wants Ichiko to go back to the hotel separately so people don't get the wrong idea. The next day they sit next to each other and she says she doesn't mind what people think. They look up at the stars and he asks about her brother and she breaks down crying, saying Yuzuki's done so much to help people by himself but she's useless, she's already half forgotten her brother and can't do anything to find him.
Yuzuki pulls her into a hug and says she's not useless, that he'll help her and they'll figure something out. She nuzzles him like a cat and he quietly catches his breath. They pull tighter and mutter each other's first names to each other.
Ichiko: It's all your fault that I feel so lonely and long for someone's warmth.
Yuzuki: Don't be ridiculous. That's my line.
...ok, you got me, game. *goes back and replays with the good choices because I want to see the good ending*
The next day he says they should hold hands for entirely practical reasons.
Yasu: Is that Yuzu-chan with a GIRL?? :D
Yuzuki badgers Yasu into telling them what he knows about Ichiko's brother. Yasu's worried about the council listening in and getting them into trouble.
Apparently Ichiko's brother kept to himself but knew a suspicious amount about the town, and vanished in the field of corpse flowers.
Looking at Yasu and Yuzuki...they look kind of similar. Could Yasu be the real eldest son??
Yuzuki grumbles to Ichiko about Yasu but is clearly actually fond of him. YASU is the panda! Ok yeah that makes sense. He thinks it's a brilliant scheme for doing surveillance on the town lol.
Yuzuki stumbles across Sosuke's dad's body and tries to protect Ichiko from seeing it.
Kagura: I was taking photos in the mountains today and saw Sosuke and Yuzuki talking with their heads close together, are they...in that sort of relationship?
Me; They were discussing THE CORPSE of SOSUKE'S FATHER who you JUST MURDERED >:(
Kagura: Looks like you're alone today, Ichiko. That's rare :)
Me: D:
Yua: HI ICHIKO!
Kagura: >:/
Me: :D
Yua: Have you learned anything about your brother?
Ichiko: A little.
Yua: Yay! ...I need to apologise to you, Ichiko. I'm useless, a friend's in pain and I can't even help. I need to learn from you. I get lost in thought and I hate myself...
Ichiko: You're fine the way you are. I think you're awesome. You can cook, and clean... you can do anything!
Yua: That's not what I want. I want people to know... what I did. What I resolved.
Ichiko: Yua, what in the world happened?
Yua: ...want to go have a bath together?
*still ships it*
But Ichiko just spends the bath thinking about Yuzuki taking everything onto himself, ah well.
Ichiko: Why did your father ask to meet us so late at night?
Yuzuki: *doing a falsetto* Why? How? What? Enough with the questions!
Ichiko: But why-*stops self*
Yuzuki: You were thinking *falsetto*"Oh no, I asked another question!" weren't you...I'm sorry. I realise this is a lot. I keep dragging you into my business.
His impression of Ichiko sounds very classic otome heroine, it's cute this is the closest thing we have to a canon voice for her.
Yuzuki's dad is an insulting, domineering ass as usual, and it's clearly the model for Yuzuki's own abrasive demeanour, except without any of the apologies or compassion. He rants about Yuzuki being a useless leader who was demoted for good reason.
Yuzuki's dad: You brought her here, you have no more use to me. Go.
Ichiko: If he goes, so do I >:(
Yuzuki: o.O (She just...stood up...to my dad??)
Yuzuki's dad: Heh, looks like I raised a womaniser. Fine. Tell me girl, have you been to this village before?
Ichiko: No.
Yuzuki's dad: Hmm, then I suppose I was wrong.
There's no doubting these two are related:
I forget the exact sequence but he tells Yuzuki to send Ichiko away and he refuses, even upon the threat of excommunication.
Yuzuki: I'm through with your way of doing things, so this is perfect. Excommunicate me, disown me, whatever.
Yuzuki's dad: How dare you! As the heir of the Murakumo and future leader of the Esp-
Yuzuki: I'm done with them too. Exterminating revenants is like something out of the dark ages. And if you think I care about the Murakumo name you underestimate me. You can accomplish your goals without me as heir anyway, can't you? Tell your next successor that revenants are to be sent back.
YOU TELL HIM. I love that Ichiko gave him the courage to stand up to his dad. Also, "You are incapable of the role I have set for you, but quitting would be unthinkably disloyal" is such a shitty message to send to your kid.
Yuzuki's dad: Go ahead and face a revenant controlled by your emotions. You'll end up it's next victim!
Ichiko: You're wrong! He's seriously thought about how he can protect this town without ignoring the revenant's pain. Because they're human too. I'm going to stay here and help him.
Yuzuki's dad: You fools! You'll just get him killed!
Ichiko: Let's go, Yuzuki.
Yuzuki: ...r-right.
Ichiko: Excuse us, Father.
Yuzuki's dad: ...Father??
I love it.
Afterwards Yuzuki apologises for all this then tsundere-ly says he's enjoyed being around her and wants her to stay in town. She tries to gently steer the conversation towards romance and he changes the subject.
Yuzuki: Stop calling my father "Father", it's weird.
Ichiko: Is it? I suppose Father did seem surprised.
Yuzuki: YOU DID IT AGAIN
Ichiko: Teehee
Yuzuki: STOP LAUGHING
Ichiko: I'm not laughing heehee
Yuzuki: >:(
Ichiko: :)
Adorable.
Hmm. Maybe Yuki's the secret brother! He has brownish eyes, and uses Surname-san for everyone but Yuzuki and Yasu. Or Hino, why not.
Everyone in town is waiting for the concert except Ichiko, who's alone in the hotel because she heard Yuzuki would be coming by. And then Kagura shows up.
He shows her some photos he developed...and they're all of her, taken without her permission.
Kagura: Don't worry, I'm not some creep [CITATION NEEDED] I wanted to test something. Look, even in the monochrome versions, your eyes glow. It's just as I thought...
Me: ooh, what is she? A revenant? A magical girl? Some kind of god?
Uh.
Kagura talks about white animals being sacred, like the white snake god worshipped at the shrine, and how albinos are holy 'special rare cards'. So it might be more metaphorical? ALBINOS DO NOT ATTRACT SERIAL KILLERS. HER HAIR IS BROWN.
And then out comes the knife. He says killing her will make him closer to living forever.
Kagura: I'll make sure it doesn't hurt. I was bad at it the first time but I was just a kid. Now I'm glad you got away!
HMM
But then Yuzuki arrives with a hooded man in black and they capture Kagura!
Kagura: But the Ensupulchers are at the concert because I spread a rumour there'd be a revenant there.
Yuzuki: I'm not an Ensupulcher :)
Yuzuki has vowed to help revenants work through their unfinished business and move on instead of killing them. But since Kagura's unfinished business turns out to be that he just REALLY WANTED TO MURDER MORE WOMEN, he's making an exception. Fair.
Yuzuki: He killed your father. You have the right to do it.
Sosuke: And then you and I will fulfil my father's legacy, creating a new approach to dealing with revenants.
Me: Aw
Kagura: I just said, I only kill women. Also this new guy needs to learn to tie ropes better :) *escapes and stabs Yuzuki*
Just when all seems lost, along comes...Karasuma! He says he's here to repay Yuzuki for letting him hear his wife's last message, and follows Sosuke's instructions to throw salt on Kagura and set him on fire. Kagura vanishes in a cloud of flower petals, it's very otome.
While Sosuke goes to get medical supplies, Yuzuki tells Ichiko that he'd always thought Tsuzuri was right and he'd never know love. And he still doesn't feel like he deserves to love someone like Ichiko, but she's taught him it's possible. He starts to ask if she will allow him, and she says it's not about worthiness. They say some other sweet things and then declare their love to each other, and kiss. He weakly says that if he dies here, he will only have one regret, and then collapses.
Ichiko wakes in hospital, having collapsed herself. Yuki says they found her brother's notebook in Kagura's bag, implying he may have killed her brother (HMM. DOUBT)
Yuzuki finally wakes from unconsciousness and Ichiko throws herself at him in a hug.
Yuzuki: Who...are you?
Ichiko: Oh no. Do you have amnesia? ;_;
Yuzuki: It was a joke. You're too trusting. One day some unemployed idiot will say he loves you and you'll be supporting him for the rest of his life.
YUZUKI
He asks how she's doing knowing he brother's dead, and she says she has a hole in her heart.
Yuzuki talks about how everyone gets holes in their heart as they get older. He used to think they could never be filled, but realised the problem is people thinking they can fill them alone. She has filled the holes in his heart. Will she stay with him, and let him fill the holes in hers?
She says yes, and asks what his one would regret would be, and he says not getting to kiss her every day. So they make a start on fixing that.
Post-credit scene: A voice, I think Yasu says he faked Kagura having the notebook. He wonders who actually killed Sosuke's dad and seems to be told not to worry about it. HMMM. My vote is Yuzuki's dad just because I'm not sure who else makes sense, and it seems like Sosuke's dad also had some issues with how things were run.
"True Route" unlocked! Afaict it's the True route and then the Kagura route and then I'm done.
And it turns out the full name of the True Route is the TOA KUSHINADA TRUE ROUTE
:D :D :D !!!!
I am PUMPED
Also, I like how these guys want to protect Ichiko, but generally aren't actually the ones who take down the villain. But that's not the important thing.
I did think we'd hear some excuse reason for him firing most of the hotel staff and overworking the ones who remain but nope! He turned out to be an adequate boyfriend, but still a shitty boss.
On the plus side, there wasn't even the slightest hint of 16 year old Yuzuki falling for 8 year old Ichiko. In fact they don't seem to have even met back then and we get no childhood flashbacks at all. I wouldn't have minded seeing a little of what teen Yuzuki was like, but I did like the flashback of slightly-younger-20-something Yuzuki we got instead. His dad seems to recvognise her, I wonder where that's going.
