Ibara Hime - Playthrough Compilation + ReviewPart I - Main Story + Ending 1Part II - Ending 2 + Endi

Ibara Hime - Playthrough Compilation + ReviewPart I - Main Story + Ending 1Part II - Ending 2 + Ending 4 (Itoh’s Ending)Part III - Ending 3 + Ending 5 (Mizuki’s Ending)Read the cut below for my review / final thoughts about the game. (Contains Spoilers. R18 Story.)This took quite a while, but I feel very accomplished that I’ve got to finish playing and writing the playthrough for this game, seeing that I’m interested to know the story for this game since quite a long time ago. The illustrations were pretty good, and incest was still a taboo topic not really touched on much in otome games. Though this game still features a yandere brother similar to how some other otome games introduced incest, the way it’s written makes me feel scared, disgusted yet pitiful for Mizuki. Some of the endings really depict his struggles quite well, even if I wasn’t fond of him anyway. I really like Ririko’s character though, even if she struggled badly with confidence. I could see myself in her in some of the scenarios, especially the horrifying dread feeling when realising that most people around her aren’t normal at all D: (Especially her disses and rebuttals even if she’s the weaker one in those scenarios, I’ll lash out too if I were her. What is wrong with everyone here?!) Sadly, Ririko seems like one of the most normal characters around here.I’ll continue to touch on / rant some of my thoughts upon reaching the various endings below, in the order of how I’ve played them (which is different from the order of the playthrough that I’ve written).Ending 1 ( 鋏 Ending)I don’t really like this ending since it came too suddenly for me, and I kind of get scared a little as Mizuki just suddenly went and commit suicide which also scarred poor Ririko. I also get a literally “oh well… that’s it?” when the game went back to the main menu, so this ending is abit substandard. Little did I know this was just the beginning as this was the most normal ending in the game.Ending 5 (姉弟 Ending)Decided to go for this ending first since from the name of endings I’ve seen from the guide I’ll be using for the rest of the game (I got ending 1 on my blind playthrough so you know how badly I can be in otome games =w=“), this seems one of the best ones. The ending was indeed quite sweet and touching when the siblings decided to love each other, though I find Ririko’s transition kind of abrupt. Mizuki’s confession that he’s glad he wasn’t siblings with Ririko touched me really badly, the guy just wants to love Ririko and didn’t want to think of himself as weird too. (This was the moment I realised Mizuki probably struggled with his own issues alot.) Too bad that their father was a bastard who raped his own sister, had a child and kept everything undercover for so many years. I was like “Dad, how could you!!!” and “This family except the mum is abnormal now” at the last scene. Even Ririko decided that she’s not going to be the logical person anymore. At least Mizuki is alive in this ending and might continue to live blissfully, unknowing of the actual truth of his birth. Seriously, what is wrong with the Dad and his brother, and to think their aunt still continues to live and communicate with them normally just feel buzzard to me. This family is indeed very very weird. D:Seeing that this was actually the best ending and how it turned out to make me feel abit worried for the other endings… I decided to take a break for the day after this ending seriously and continued to finish the game on the next day.Ending 3 ( 落下 Ending)Since this ending and Itoh’s ending just differ by 1 (or 2?) options, I decided to go for this first then Itoh’s ending next. This ending… literally gave me goosebumps and it landed such a huge impression on me that I was all about this ending when I was talking about this game to my friend. For me, it’s scary when Mizuki becomes stalkerish. The way he kept forcing Ririko and wanted her to love him scares me since it is extremely stressful that someone tries all means to want you to look at him romantically, but you just feel disgusted and dislike. It’s really a very unhealthy feeling so even though I was like “Wow, Ririko really did ask him to jump and die”, I kind of actually agreed/relate to her saying that. At that moment you just want that person to be gone so that you can go back to your daily life. (I’m heartless in that I said “Bye-bye Mizuki” when he jumped =w=“)For Ririko though, it’s really not easy, seeing that Mizuki was her brother and she was even pregnant with his child. In the ending, she doesn’t even treat him as her brother anymore and just a disgusting guy, yet feels guilt that she ended up “killing” him (more towards killing a human as opposed to killing her brother, though she also feels bad for erasing his life). The future initially made me felt quite hopeful, and even a little touched seeing that Ririko’s child was quite good, and their family was still holding it together even when Mizuki had passed on. (I was holding abit of hope that Itoh and Ririko might patch up seeing that he still texted her.) But… the game just likes to trash my hopes that it would be a bitter-sweet ending by making the child a cursed devilish child in the end. Yuki speaking as Mizuki is terrifying… Imagine that your stalker has never given you up after all those years and coming back to haunt you again. That’s what makes this ending scary for me, I’ll rather be not loved by anybody than being pursued so fiercely like this seriously D:Ending 4 ( 伊藤 Ending)Decided to go for Itoh’s ending to calm my heart after this ending… The part where they reveal the reason of Ririko’s slow growth was kind of heartwarming (though it’s still a scary past event), seeing that Mizuki was really worried sick at that time and blamed himself up to the present. I like how the siblings managed to put aside all their hate and romantic feelings aside and become close siblings once again. For Ririko, this all seems like a wonderful ending to the episode, being in a good relationship with her brother again, and having a wonderful boyfriend Itoh who helped and accompany them.However, the future started off with a 3P and led me to think that something is terribly wrong. (I don’t like forced NTR, especially when the heroine isn’t willing all the way till the end. Ririko didn’t have any romantic feelings for Mizuki so… D:) Realising that Itoh was also in love with Mizuki, perhaps even more than Ririko just made me so mad seriously. (I already have a weird tingling feeling when Itoh said he valued Mizuki very much from the beginning, guess it’s true that he’s gay for Mizuki TWT) It’s not that I dislike gays but ugh… seeing this in an otome game really destroys the feeling of playing an otome game ><” Poor Ririko is so crushed seeing that she was always in love with Itoh all along, but turned out that he loves her brother more instead, as even though he keeps telling Ririko he treasured and loves her, he wants her to have her own brother’s child. What the… I seriously cannot understand Itoh even after seeing this ending, maybe he really loves Mizuki so much that he wants to grant everything he wants and give him the best life, but making Ririko do the very thing she detests (having sex with her brother and even planning her to have her brother’s child) is not telling me that he loves her actually. Ririko is just something for him to make use of so he can have the excuse to be with Mizuki for as long as he likes. Please spare poor Ririko from all the heartbreak, that feeling of being betrayed after so many years…. ugh! (I’m still pissed from this ending even while writing this.)Guess I’m correct for being suspicious about Itoh from the beginning. Itoh literally broke all my otome heart, and suddenly Mizuki seems just a bit better…?Ending 2 (包丁 Ending)Haha, just when I was thinking Mizuki is better, this last ending I’ve played kind of just wants to prove me the opposite. Ririko is abit crazy in this ending, seeing that she’s ready to give up her everything to kill her own brother. But the circumstances changed very quickly and before I knew it, Mizuki was the one having the upper hand, and I was worried, thinking “is he really going to stab her in the vagina?”, “Is this going to end up being a gore R18 otome game?” (I… really don’t like gore so I’m abit scared.) Thank goodness, Ririko blacked out just as I was getting scared and the ending just came abruptly again, with Mizuki committing suicide. But this time it came with a suicide letter, which revealed some of his struggles he had about his feelings with Ririko. This ending was abit touching for me, even though I already understood what their mother was talking about regarding the “what ifs”. Ririko doesn’t seem too sad about Mizuki’s loss, though in a good way she’s just relieved that her nightmare was over.AfterthoughtsThat’s it for all the rant about the endings. This is going to be one game that I’ll remember for a very very long time. I loved how the story was written since every detail in the game can be used for a certain ending so it doesn’t feel like any part of the story was redundant. The music helps in the atmosphere quite alot, seeing that it’s a pity that this game wasn’t voiced.Even though this game doesn’t show alot of sexual assault or physical damage like how… erm… other R18 otome games would have done, there’s quite a few of emotional manipulation, which makes it scary since this can be realistic in real life, and it shows that emotional damage can be the same or even worse than physical damage in a way. There are sex scenes in the game, but they’re not depicted in a way that they’re the main topic like in nukige, but instead, as a catalyst to show the highlight of this game, the struggle and reveal of forbidden romantic feelings towards a sibling.Greatly recommended for those who love diving into psychological analyzation and dark storyline/feelings. For those who like incest though, be prepared to be disappointed if you want those heart fluffy romantic incest, this game is totally the opposite of that. Art:  ★ ★ ★ ★ Story:  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Voice Acting:  -Music:  ★ ★ ★ ★ Overall Enjoyment:  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ PS: CG Collection of the entire game can be found on the game collection page of the blog. -- source link

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