#14 Hashihime
the perfect example of the highs and lows of doujin games, hashihime is a blvn mostly created by one person and their personal interests and obsessions, creating a work where you often cant anticipate how things are going to turn out. the influence of taisho era literature is strongly felt, the whole work is a love letter to it, both in presentation and the fact the cast is surrounded by these stories. the desire to create and read is one of the driving forces motivating the characters.
the linear routes feel like an escalating scale of absurdity, each being the result of tamamoris obsessive need to not be left alone, showing worse and worse traits in him as the desperation rises. because of this the story starts feeling less and less 'necessary' as you advance into it, almost like the writer didnt know when to quit. the result of this is that many of its most devoted fans consider only the first two routes worthwhile, and the final route absolutely non-canonical (to such an extent that the creator herself, kurosawa, retroactively made it non-canon). i feel like all the cards necessary for the other routes have been placed on the table in the first one, so it doesnt actually introduce new concepts (even though it feels like it does), which makes it feel like more of a continuation of a single work, even if it goes in unexpected directions.
tamamoris wild ride is probably the main draw of the story, since he is simultaneously a very simple character with uncomplicated motivations, but the way he navigates his way around the world is utterly baffling. the entire work is based on his fear of being left alone and the lengths he is willing to go to to prevent it from happening. he will accept any mistreatment, convince himself of being on equal standing with others no matter the mistreatment, but simultaneously be fully willing to give up on his literal soulmate at the drop of a hat because he convinces himself hes not THE center of his universe. fundamentally an absurd character who lives in the real world and the conflict between his inability to understand and conform to this and the way he affects the lives of those around him. a wise individual once said 'all of his love interests are gay men but tamamori is a yaoi protagonist'.
tl;dr lovingly crafted work that follows and rejects the vn route formula in enough of an extent that it feels 'like it could not exist in any other format'. kurosawas passion for the era and literature is visible in every single moment. im looking forward to reading uuultrac and ooe one of these days.
