Boys’ Love Game Review: Togainu no Chi ~True Blood~

One of  the best yaoi visual novels ever existed. The anime doesn’t exist

Finally, a yaoi post! It’s been forever! And what a great time for publish as an insert for a twisted romance. This visual novel is the one that kept me busy during this Christmas, and boy it was a great Christmas. Togainu no Chi is my very first BL visual novel, so I thought I would share my experience from playing this game, with a review.

Togainu no Chi ~True Blood~ is the debut of nitro+CHIRAL in the world of yaoi game. In 20XX AD, the world suffered through World War III, and Japan is not without exception. Now, Japan is a lawless country that’s divided into two factions fighting with each other to take control over Japan. However, there’s a neutral zone, a city named Toshima. Ruled by an organization called Vischio, Toshima is famous for a ruthless game called Igura. The main protagonist is Akira, a strong BL@STER (a milder version of Igura, which doesn’t take place in Toshima) player, who is accused of a murder he didn’t commit. To clear his name, he has to accept a mission from a mysterious woman (part of another shadow organization). During his mission, Akira has to participate in the deadly game Igura and win it to fight against the leader of Vischio, Il Rei– alive, if he can…. KIDDING. It was supposed to be about Igura, but then suddenly bunch of gay guys appear, and Akira’s life becomes messier than it’s supposed to be. Uhm, my summary might be dramatic, but it’s not that dramatic, really. The last part where it’s not about Igura anymore is true though.

Anyhow, there are four main guys Akira can have sex with, excluding one hidden route and three bad routes. The hidden route is unlocked when Akira finishes all the endings for the four main routes (duh), while the three bad routes happen immediately after he chooses some bad choices in the beginning and Keisuke’s route. So, how to get past the bad routes? Choose the correct answers at the beginning. Yup, this game only has four choices at the beginning of the game. After picking your answers, viola! Your guy usually appears. My advice to pick the guy you want is to focus only on him and him alone. Try not to turn left or right.

Keisuke

Akira’s childhood friend, voiced by Sugita Tomokazu. YES. He’s an orphan buddy of Akira’s and has been sticking with him since FOREVER. A pretty good guy who is obviously madly in love with Akira, but since Akira is a main character and heeyyy most of main characters in yaoi are dense, Akira doesn’t notice at all. Unfortunately, he’s pretty wimpy though, and Akira’s not the only one who’s pissed at this personality of his. But hey, if he’s not wimpy, he wouldn’t have buttsex with Akira. Eh…

Anyhow, it’s not hard to get his route. Be nice to Keisuke, then be mean, that’s it. When Keisuke asks whether it’s okay for him to stay, don’t answer. After few days though, totally ignore his well-being. But of course, since Akira’s an uke and ukes can’t make up their mind, Akira still hopes for Keisuke to be by his side. That’s for Keisuke’s hints. Keisuke is not hard to get though, as long as Akira ignores Rin and doesn’t respond to Motomi.

So yeah, Akira shouts at Keisuke, and he runs away because of that. Regretting his action, Akira searches for Keisuke only to find him all high, sadistic and yandere. Also, strong because he took Line (a drug that makes the addict becomes physically stronger). Keisuke attacks Akira and keeps appearing out of nowhere until he finally kidnaps Akira to the coffee shop.

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Rin

Voiced by Fukuyama Jun, blond Rin is the only shota in this game and happens to be one of the deadliest Igura players in Toshima. He’s extremely friendly, but he’s also manipulative at the same time. Rin also likes to take pictures when there’s a chance to, but since he’s in Toshima, his pictures mostly consist of fights and dead bodies. And a certain sexy katana-wielding man. To get him is pretty much the same with Keisuke’s route, except that Akira should refrain from taking a picture with Motomi and sleeps next to Rin. That’s it.

The beginning of his route is also the same with Keisuke’s, except that Rin keeps showing up out of nowhere every time Keisuke kidnaps Akira. So wheee, no Kurosuke-rapes-you-with-screwdrivers scene in Rin’s route. In the middle of the game, Akira learns that Rin used to be in a group during his BL@STER days. In fact, it was the legendary group Akira’s BL@STER acquaintances used to gossip about. Unfortunately, Rin was trapped by his half-brother, who killed his friends and Rin’s lover. Wanting to take revenge, Rin joins Igura so that he can kill his brother – the Il Rei. So, this explains why Rin never sticks in a group in Igura.

In Rin’s route, Keisuke runs away in pain when he drinks Akira’s blood. Keisuke drops his tag, and Rin sees it. Suddenly, Rin snaps then and tries to kill Akira to steal his tag. Of course, Akira knocks Rin out then tends Rin’s wounds despite of his bitchy remarks. One day, Rin escapes and challenges Il Rei, but since Rin is injured, Akira takes his place and fights Il Rei aka. Shiki… Not really. CFC and Nikkouren (the two sides that own Japan) start their civil war, so Akira has to drag Rin out of the fighting arena. On his way (with Rin keeps trying to escape) Akira meets Motomi, and the three go to this secret hideout that leads to Nikkouren. Motomi leaves to check on things, so Akira and Rin are alone. Here, the two makes up and confess their dying love to each other with, of course, sex. This is probably the only time where Akira gets to screw a man.

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Motomi

The oji-san of this game, voiced by Ichijo Kazuya. He’s a brown-haired informant in Toshima, and he has a hobby to tease people younger than him, especially Rin and Akira. He also has a stubble. Stubble. STUBBLE. Seriously, that thing is not making him any hotter. Since he has the tendency to tease kids, make Akira snaps at Motomi’s remark to get his route. That and ignore the other guys, of course.

Motomi’s route is pretty short. Between meeting Kurosuke and all that nonsense, Akira stumbled upon a church where he sees Motomi freaking praying inside. Praying. How cheesy can this thing be. Anyhow, Motomi and Akira have some quality time talking about each other’s lives. Motomi was actually a scientist who worked on the development of child soldiers during World War III. Here’s some back story first. Japan separated children from their parents to create child soldiers. Unfortunately, World War III ended before the children could be used, so Japan just randomly put them with random parents after the war. SASUGA JAPAN, how responsible of you.

Motomi worked on a specific project for child soldier, and Motomi’s child is also one of the test subjects. However, a test subject, Nicole Premier, went berserk and destroyed the facility, killing everybody inside including his son. Motomi stays in Toshima so that he can meet Nicole Premier and put an end to his life. Pissed at Motomi, Akira argues with him for a while (Akira and Keisuke are orphans, but it turned out that the orphans are merely failed test subjects), going all “I’m a test subject too wtf” and all that. Motomi and Akira make up of course, and they have sex INSIDE THAT CHURCH. Oh god, best sex fantasy ever. Akira you lucky bastard.

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Shiki

He’s the random katana-wielding resident of Toshima who has this habit of killing Igura players that are high on Line. He wears leather, leather and leather, and leather loves him because Shiki is dripping sexiness with his katana and leather clothes. God, he even wears leather boots all the way up to his legs and still look totally hot in it. Shiki is voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru. Imagine all those leather- er, Shiki with the sexiness of Midorikawa’s sexy voice. Sexy + sexy = sex god. Unfortunately, his route only appears when the player’s done with Keisuke, Rin, and Motomi routes already. Just choose the answers that weren’t there before, and don’t approach Nicole Premier. Since Shiki is a sadist who likes to call people names, Akira has to be a stubborn mule and keep his pride. Show Shiki that Akira doesn’t fear him.

The only difference for the beginning of his route is that Nicole Premier gives Akira a suitcase and tell him to give it to a man – Shiki. Not long after, Shiki appears to take the suitcase, getting all pissed off. Shiki then drops the suitcase to Arbitro. Turns out that the suitcase carries undiluted Line – Nicole Premier is the suppliant of Line, and Vischio dilutes it.

Back to gay sex. Akira fails to convey his feelings to Keisuke and fights him. Keisuke accidentally drinks Akira’s blood, but in Shiki’s route, he dies right away instead of running away in pain. I CRIED.

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n/Nano/Nicole Premier

The hidden route that’s unlocked after the rest of routes are done and is also the true ending of this game. Voiced by Yamazaki Takumi, Nicole is a tall man with dirty blond hair and neat clothes. He also has weird habits, such as reading/sleeping under a barren tree or eating tree bark. That’s probably his charm though. It also seems that he knows Akira, but that’s probably me because he always acts “friendly”to everybody. To get him is pretty much the same with Shiki’s route, except that Akira should approach him.

His route is also similar with Shiki’s, except that Akira meets him under the barren tree instead of Shiki. Nicole’s route becomes different when Keisuke accidentally drinks Akira’s blood. Here, Keisuke faints because of pain, while Akira faints due to exhaustion. When Akira wakes up, he finds himself in a small room with a greenhouse next to it. Akira also finds Keisuke inside that room. Keisuke made it, even though he’s still in the painful process of recovering (unconscious, of course). Akira and Nicole have a little arguments about fate or something like that. Nicole believes that one should submit to fate even if it’s death, but Akira believes that one should fight for his life and that one can change his fate. After disappearing for many days, one day, Nicole goes berserk and “rapes” Akira, but Akira enjoys it later on so it’s all good… Then he leaves again. What up with the two longest routes and disappearing semes?

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My goodness, Togainu no Chi visual novel was SO GOOODDDD. Every second of it was definitely worth my life because I enjoyed every scene that happened in this game. The characters are interesting, the plot though cliche is decent, and the CGs are definitely drool-worthy. Nothing in this visual novel screams amateur, and it can be seen that Togainu no Chi was definitely well-prepped.

The story is something that’s not hard to find in game/anime/manga these days, but IT IS for the yaoi genre. Urobuchi Gen knows how to fulfill every yaoi fangirl’s desire for a yaoi who has the same level as shounen genre. Honestly, I’m getting sick of these yaoi with shallow plots where in the end the guys only have sex with each other. Well, that’s the point of yaoi, but c’mon, we fangirls want yaoi that have decent plots too! The world doesn’t revolve around butts only. Thankfully, Togainu no Chi was able to fulfill my sate of decent yaoi story. The post-apocalyptic setting is something that’s worth thinking about, and each character’s stories are definitely something. As usual Urobutcher has this grey area where moral is hazy, as TnC plot also indirectly questions the moral laws the society has created. Typical Urobuchi stuff, but milder. Let’s not forget the gore too LOL Urobutcher. Anyhow, TnC’s story might not be the best, but it makes the game qualified to be given a nod.

The other thing that needs to be given a nod is how the seiyuu handled their characters. They were flawless. Especially Sugita Tomokazu, oh my lord. No, this is not because of my Sugitan bias. I am dead serious here. Sugitan keeps switching from a good guy to an extreme yandere. Nothing can describe the perfection Sugitan did at voicing Keisuke. He was the best. The others also did a good job. Fukuyama Jun’s shota-ish voice is definitely perfect for Rin, but what’s better is his bed voice. Even until now, I’m still convinced that Rin pops out boobs every time he has sex with Akira because FukuJun really sounds female. Yamazaki Takumi also did a good job at voicing Nano. The fleeting and lifeless feeling Nano gives out can really be heard in his voice. Heck, even Okano Kosuke did a fabulous job at voicing Arbitro. He sounds hella creepy. Honestly, the ones who disappointed me are Midorikawa Hikaru and Ichijo Kazuya. They sounded so flat when I heard Shiki’s and Motomi’s voices. Sure, Shiki did sound sexy, but that’s it. I didn’t hear anything remarkable from his voice.

I was really uncomfortable with the game system. I know I’m not an expert when it comes to visual novel, but I prefer visual novels where the player is more involved in the actions of the players. Y’know, things that happen in the middle of the game. It feels more like a game that way. This doesn’t happen in Togainu no Chi. I only get to pick the first four answers, and that’s it. Fine, I get to choose the endings for Keisuke and Shiki’s routes, but it gives little difference because it happened all the way at the end. Some people might be fine with this, but unfortunately, I’m not one of those people. I want to be more engaged at the characters and the stories, but I was unable to do so because of the little choices and questions this game has. This is probably the part of Togainu no Chi I will never like. This and the fact that the PC version doesn’t have Yukihito because he’s voiced by HIROSHI KAMIYA WHYYYY. And also Nano’s name. What the hell is his real name.

Putting that aside, everything about this game is great. The CG is not the best (I’ve seen prettier CGs), but it doesn’t give eye cancer (I’m playing a visual novel with traumatizing CG right now). The music is great because it definitely matches with the setting of Toshima and the system of Igura. There are some weird BGM of course, but they were rarely played so it’s all good. Overall, Togainu no Chi is something I would recommend for those who want a yaoi porn with plot. Not for those who wants uncensored penis though.

See you at Absolute Obedience (Zettai Fukuju Meirei)!

About anaaga

Have read 418 BL manga and continuing.