Release Date: October 26, 2023 (Worldwide)
Developers:  HuneX, WoGa
Publishers:  Dramatic Create
Platforms:  Nintendo Switch
Rating: M (Mature)

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SYNOPSIS

Mizuchi Volume | Himeutsugi Volume | Karakurenai/Utsutsu Volume

“Kasen,” a card game played with Hanafuda cards.
Only those with certain abilities, “Kaei,” can harness the unique power of the flowers.
They are primarily male, and the five most powerful individuals at the academy are revered as the “Five Brights.”
This game unfolds on the stage of the Kasen National Academy, where uniquely talented individuals are produced.

It is the story of the Five Brights, and the maidens devoted to them.

Iroha Volume

A girl named “Hinata” and a boy named “Nino” appear before Mikoto.
Iroha and Mikoto, who must never come together through direct touch, find their destinies have begun to move.
The full moon needs more than a thousand, but fewer than ten thousand miracles to be reunited.

However, once they come together, those thousands of miracles become one, and life is born.

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ART AND MUSIC

Scenario: Gekka

Artist: Yura (Character Design & Illustrator)

OST: Kimiyoshi Maruyama, Ena Suzuki

BGM: Rhetoric, project lights

Yura, the artist and lead illustrator for Hana Awase, is quite well-known in the BL genre. They’ve worked on several titles, handling character design for games such as the classic cult, Lucky Dog, Absolute Obedience, Friendly Lab, and the visual novel Enzai. In addition to illustrating a Lucky Dog spin-off game (Mr. Gian Carlo), Yura also directed that said title. And if you’ve played Love Revo! on the DS, they were the character designer for that game as well.

As for the music, Hana Awase‘s OST is insane! It’s definitely one of the more memorable soundtracks I’ve come across in a visual novel. I especially love how the OP theme kicks in every time you reach “Koi Koi” during the Hanafuda mini-game.

Voice Acting

Jun Fukuyama as “Mizuchi” – Tomomori (Birushana), Vyn Richter (Tears of Themis), Mozu (BUSTFELLOWS), Goro Fujita (Meiji Tokyo Renka), Liberta (Arcana Famiglia), Rin (Togainu no Chi), Aido (Vampire Knight), Tokiwa Etsuya (Dairoku)

Shinnosuke Tachibana as “Himeutsugi” – Seiya (9RIP),  Koizumi Yakumo (Meiji Tokyo Renka), Camu (Despera Drops), Xiaolei (Battlefield Waltz), Henri (Piofiore), White Mask (Bad Apple Wars), Kousei (Ayakashi Koi Gikyoku), William Rex (IkeVil), Koryu Kagemitsu (Touken Ranbu), Rafayel (Love and Deepspace)

Hino Satoshi as “Karakurenai” – Toma (AMNESIA), Lavan (Psychedelica AH), Noiz (DRAMAtical Murder), Orochi (Dairoku), Guy (A3!), Mitsuhige Miyaji (Winter’s Wish), Kyojuro (Demon Slayer), Takuto Maruki (P5)

Noriaki Sugiyama as “Utsutsu” – Tyril (Even if Tempest), Harrison Gray (IkeVil), Akito (Norn9), Konnosuke (Touken Ranbu), Thor (Kamigami no Asobi), Aiguille (Code Realize), Galle Kashika (Cendrillon Palika), Boris (Spade no Kuni no Alice), Nalan (BeniBana), Sou (Ayakashi Gohan), Sasuke (Naruto)

Takuma Terashima as “Iroha” – Omokage (Touken Ranbu Warriors), Otoya (UtaPri), Sanada Yukimura (Hakura 7), Haruma (Blackish House), Sasuke (Shinobi Koi),  Nagihara Taiki (Bad Medicine), Kyosuke (Storm Lover), Hinoyama Sakura (Dynamic Chord)

Daichu Mizushima as “Momotose” – Sakuya (Yoshiwara Higanbana), Haginosuke Ibuki (Ayakashi Gohan), Taichi Yaegashi (Kokoro Connect), Gawain (FATE/Extella), Keifa (Sweet Clown), Chome (Tokyo Revengers), Tokino (Lamento Beyond the Void)

Tsubasa Yonaga as “Kagami” – Nagi Mikado (Utapri), Hikaru (Kenka Banchou Otome), Kurumi (Side Kicks!), Wataru (Gakuen Club), Nova (Arcana Famiglia), Kensuke Kurosaki (Corpse Blood), Nagisa (Free!), Kenshin Kagemitsu (Touken Ranbu)

Toshiyuki Toyonaga as “Kintokihana/Awahana” – Orlok (Piofiore), Semi (Dairoku) Seiji Kobayashi (London Detective Mysteria), Takeru Totsuka (Kamigami no Asobi), Goshi Kaneshiro (B-Project), Natsume (EPHEMERAL), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IkeVamp)

Takaya Kuroda as “Onosada Kuro” – Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza), Ryoma Sakamoto (Like a Dragon: Ishin), Rei Amayado (Hypnosis Mic), Ellroy Hardwood (The Legend of Heroes: Trails), Masamichi Yaga (Jujutsu Kaisen), Cebtaurus Babel (Saint Seiya), Kodonomae (Hiiro no Kakera Scarlet Fate), Ian (Buddy Mission Bond)

Takuya Eguchi as “Shou” – Rei (Him, the Smile & Bloom), Miroku (B-PROJECT), Murakumo Go (Touken Ranbu), Gretel (Taisho x Alice), Kazuki Hoshino (CollarxMalice), Tenma Sumeragi (A3!), Nomura Risaburo (Hakuoki), Klein (IkePri), Lee Gyu-hyuk (Buried Stars), Reon (Dynamic Chord), Roger Barel (IkeVil), Yori (Utakata no Uchronia)

Noriko Aoki as “Ai” – Shino Hazuki (CHAOS;HEAD), Yuri Evangeline (Vampire Sweetie), Katsusawa (Little Busters!), Yasaka Fumyuko (DamaMuko)

Kenjiro Tsuda as “Izuru” – Yuan (Piofiore 1926),  Chikage Kazama (Hakuoki), Hanzo (Nightshade), Shuugo Monari (Jack Jeanne), Soshi Amazaki (The Charming Empire), Leonardo Da Vinci (Ikevamp) Nihongou (Touken Ranbu), Nanami (Jujutsu Kaisen), Kishibe (Chainsaw Man), Seto Kaiba (Yugioh), Tatsu (The Way of the Househusband)

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CHARACTERS, ROUTES AND VOLUMES

Very Important!! Hana Awase: New Moon has a very specific play order that is strongly recommended to follow if you plan to play the game. The series was originally released by volume in Japan with a few years gap in between them, that means, if you actually want to experience the story in the order intended by the developers, you’ll need to follow a certain recommended order, which is: Mizuchi Volume → Himeutsugi Volume → Karakurenai/Utsutsu Volume → Iroha Volume.

If you’re wondering how important this play order is to the overall flow of the story, think of it like Taisho x Alice, another game that was originally released in parts where playing in the correct order helps you understand the overarching story more clearly. The same logic applies to Hana Awase, that’s how crucial the volume order is. In addition, if you skip a volume, you’ll also miss a huge portion of the story.

Another unique structure in the Hana Awase games is that only the featured character of each volume gets a true happy ending. The other characters may have routes within that volume, but their endings will typically be either bad or bittersweet.

Walkthroughs:

1. Mizuchi Volume
2. Himeutsugi Volume
3. Karakurenai/Utsutsu Volume
4. Iroha Volume

Note: The CGs shown below are promotional images from Dramatic Create’s official website and the game’s official Nintendo eShop page.

⬇️ Click to view Content Warnings

Graphic (blood), murder, violence, suicide, suicide attempts, strong language, noncon, SA, drugging, sexual themes, alcohol references, pedophilic (villain side story), misogyny, abuse.

MIZUCHI VOLUME

• kuudere
• taciturn

Mizuchi is a second-year student at Kasen National Academy, he is the Kaei of Team Crane and is one of the esteemed Five Brights. Known for his no-nonsense attitude, he is strict and not too flexible when it comes to his principles. He also has a passionate side will devote himself completely to those he love. He also seems to be unexperienced when it comes to women.

Mizuchi’s volume was the perfect introduction to the Hana Awase series. There was just enough mystery and build-up to pull you into the plot almost instantaneously, and I really appreciated that! As a character, Mizuchi, in a word is kind of a stickler for the rules. This trait even reverberates throughout his entire Team Crane, where everything is expected to function strictly by the book & by the rules. (They even hand the heroine a thick handbook to follow and study when she first got into his team lol). Because Mizuchi is so firmly bound by his own strict principles, it was really nice and satisfying to see him slowly begin to change and fall in love with the heroine. It was also fun to see him get extremely flustered, and be this awkward stoic mess whenever he tries to get close to Mikoto.😭😂

I actually loved Mizuchi, and even gave him the “Best Kuudere” award in my end-of-year Itabag Awards back in 2023. I’m still a fan to this day, and I love seeing him appear in the other volumes as well! By the end of this volume, it made me feel very much invested and want to continue playing the rest of the Hana Awase games. So I guess, in a way, Mizuchi-hen really did one heck of a job kicking things off in the best way possible.

As for the other characters’ routes in this volume, I remember really loving Himeutsugi’s (bad) ending. This pretty much made me really excited to play his route next!

Mizuchi Volume Overall Rating: 8/10

HIMEUTSUGI VOLUME

• boob man
• # whoremembers

Himeutsigi is a second-year student at Kasen National Academy. He is the Kaei for Team Moonlight and is one of the Five Brights. He is known for his princely features and demeanor, and his Minamo treat and address him like one as well. Friendly and very sociable, he gets along with just about anyone, regardless of gender. He often puts others before himself, sometimes to the point of being overly empathetic.

First of all, my god! Himeutsugi’s OP song is such a banger! I kept coming back to this track from time to time. Absolute chills!

Anyway, as for Himeutsugi’s volume, technically speaking, I thought it was a great second game to follow Mizuchi’s. By this point, you already have a grasp of what’s going on, and the terminology being used here starts to feel familiar. On another note, but still kind of related (laughs), it was also absolute torture going from Mizuchi’s route to Hime’s (especially if you’re like me and was down bad for Mizuchi). He gets so much screen time here that it was hard not to want to be his woman again (lol). Ngl, in the middle of this volume, I kind of just wanted Mikoto to ditch Hime and go back to Mizuchi.

In my opinion, Himeutsugi is one of those characters who really shines in other routes (or volumes, in this case), just not in his own, and that’s unfortunate. To be fair, I do like Hime, especially as a love interest, and I also thought his route explored his different sides perfectly. However, the plot itself was completely bogged down by an uninteresting and unbearably annoying villain. By the time I got to this volume’s “happy ending” I just felt completely detached from the entire story. I wanted to see more of Hime, not this godawful villain in his route, please. The moment the story started giving this character some kind of arc (with no real payoff), I was gone! I seriously have zero interest about them or their lackluster backstory and I find it strange how half of Hime’s route was spent more on *this villain* instead?🤨

On a different note, I thought this volume was the raunchiest volume of the entire series!😂 Yes, you heard that right! Not even Karakurenai’s route, in his volume could top Hime’s *urges* in this one. Which I guess, makes him a fan favorite to many in this case (cackles).😂

On the plus side, Kurenai was great in this volume. 😅 Really! When he’s not being his perverse, misogynistic self, Kurenai is incredibly sharp, perceptive, and actually kind of amazing (just don’t stumble into his bad end, lol). Mikoto x Iroha were enjoyable in this volume to an extent as well. Sadly, after completing all the endings for the other characters in Hime’s volume, I completely forgot about him and lost all interest in my Mikoto x Hime ship. That’s just how underwhelming his good ending was to me. All in all, I loved Hime as an LI, and his bad ends in the other volumes were fantastic! But oh man, they really did him dirty in his own story from every possible angle. 😓

Himeutsugi Volume Overall Rating: 6/10

KARAKURENAI (In Karakurenai/Utsutsu VOLUME)

• ore-sama
• 🚩🗑️⚠️🚫🚩

Karakurena is a third-year student at Kasen National Academy, and is the Kaei of Team Cherry Blossom as well as one of the Five Brights. He is arrogant, aggressive, and very full of himself, and his highly provocative nature makes him difficult to get along with for the other Five Brights. As he is self-centered, he is also especially possessive of anything he deems as his.

After everything problematic Kurenai did in the previous volumes (Mizuchi and Hime’s), I thought I was going to have to grit my teeth through this one. But surprisingly, it turned out to be the opposite; I ended up loving Karakurenai in this volume. 😅🤭 The only problem is: HE IS MIA for the most part of his own route!😭

What’s even funnier to me is that he gets his freak on with the heroine in the previous volumes but in here, he never does.😂 Excuse me? My dude, why suddenly so uwu gentle? Speaking of ‘freak-on’, there was also this really weird cut in Kurenai’s route where it felt like the *sexy time* either got chopped out or was just mistranslated. It felt totally OOC for Kurenai to go that far especially considering how much he values his cherry blossom minamo staying “pure”. Mikoto was supposed to remain a virgin as a Minamo as well, so that scene (implying they did the deed) just didn’t make sense to me. Honestly, very disappointing with how this was handled on the localization side.

Back to the route itself, while I loved Karakurenai in this volume, his own route felt too short and didn’t really showcase enough of his good side; his reliable, loving, and surprisingly kind side that should’ve completely outshined his tyrannical persona from the previous volumes. So yeah, I thought that was such a cop-out. The last chapters also veered way too quickly into the whole Ushitora lore, and while I appreciated the info dump (since it helped me understand the story better), the pacing here still felt a little jarring.

The romance in Karakurenai’s route also felt half-baked, and that was such a let down. I really thought Kurenai would get the biggest romance redemption, given how much of a trash man he is in the previous volumes, but sadly, it ended up feeling rather too stale! Too underwhelming! I was massively disappointed! On the other hand, Utsutsu came in clutch in that department for this volume! 👀

UTSUTSU (In Karakurenai/Utsutsu VOLUME)

• will do anything for Miko
• best boi

Utsutsu is a third-year student at Kasen National Academy, and the Kaei for the almost non-existent Team Phoenix. He was chosen as one of the Five Brights during his second year but he mysteriously disappeared afterward. Now, very few people know of his existence, and his background remains clouded in mystery.

Oh, I love Utsutsu so much!😭 I honestly thought no one could ever top Mizuchi in my ranking, but here comes your best boi straight outa his dark inorigo robes!🥹 Now here, my friends, is where everything in this volume flipped on its head! Funny how he was never present in either of the two previous volumes, so I never really gave much thought to his character but damn, Utsutsu’s route stole the show for me!

Not only that, but Iroha’s route in this volume took the game to the next level and drove it home! I was sobbing by the end of this route and aching to fire up the next volume, especially since it ended on a very nice cliffhanger.

Karakurenai/Utsutsu Volume Overall Rating: 8.5/10

IROHA VOLUME

• kuu dere
• when the plot doesnt make sense anymore but the CGs are gorgeous!

Iroha is the strongest Kaei at Kasen National Academy. He’s also of the chosen Five Brights, and everyone at school looks up to him. Everything about him radiates grace, and people, especially women, can’t help but be drawn to his charm. Despite his elegant reputation, he is very stoic and detached from everything and almost never shows emotion.

After everything that was exceedingly hyped up in the 3rd volume, I was quite disappointed with how Iroha-hen turned out.😞 The new characters felt unnecessary, and the first half of this route felt oddly misplaced from the rest of the volumes. Like I get that they had to establish the “eternal world” which parallels the “waking world”, but the way it was enormously stretched out with a lot of side plots, which instead of offering answers to the already established lore, only piled on more questions and confusion, gave me serious lore burnout.

This volume really felt like the story was digging itself into a hole throwing in more convoluted details without resolving anything, it was frustrating. I love Iroha so much though, and he was the only reason I pushed through this volume. I wanted to see him and Mikoto finally find their happy ending together. I was invested not only in his backstory but also in his relationship with the heroine, which is pretty much the one thing that kept me going until the end of his route. Luckily, the second half of this volume had some small payoffs, but was it all worth it? I’m not so sure!

As for the romance in this volume, I did enjoy the sweet, cute moments between Iroha and Mikoto. I really love these two together, but I felt like this volume didn’t showcase enough of their relationship. Because the plot grew so convoluted and clearly took center stage, their romance ended up being pushed to the side. I love these two and I’m a fan of the Iroha x Mikoto ship, so it was pretty upsetting to finish the game feeling so unsatisfied with how little screen time their romantic progression was given.😪

Iroha Volume Overall Rating: 5.5/10

MIKOTO (Main Heroine)

Mikoto starts out as your typical shy, kind, and meek heroine. She’s very naive and kind of a pushover at first too. She gets dragged around and literally harassed by a couple of characters in the game (though that’s partly due to how aggressive many of the characters are by nature). Over time though, she gradually grows for the better with each volume. I thought she had a very nice slow-burn character development in the entire series, and I quite liked that.

She’s not a fighting heroine, but she is, in a way, pretty proactive when it comes to improving as a “minamo“. She finds ways to become stronger each time she faces failure or receives criticism from others. I’d say she had really great emotional prowess, so I give her credit for that.

I think the volumes where I fully enjoyed Mikoto the most were Karakurenai/Utsutsu and Iroha’s, mainly because of how she starts to take control of her own choices/decisions during these installments. She felt more in charge as MC in these volumes and that made me appreciate her even more. I also enjoyed her quiet musings about her LIs and how she takes time to reflect on her feelings. Over the course of the series, Mikoto really grew on me, especially in Iroha’s volume. She was more bubbly and feisty in Iroha-hen, and it was really nice to see her take the first initiative, esp. with someone like Iroha who’s robotic and emotionally absent by nature. Mikoto definitely has MANY great instances where she steps up in the series, quite a lot actually, so don’t be dismayed by her timid, submissive naivety at the start because she definitely gets better!

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SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION

I own the physical versions of the first three volumes of the original PC release (Japanese), as well as the all-in-one multi-language Switch version. I picked up the original games secondhand for cheap at Surugaya back in 2020, but I never really bothered playing them. I ended up playing the entire game on the Switch instead! That said, I definitely prefer the original PC version aesthetically, mainly because the screen window isn’t horizontally stretched out like it is on the Switch, and the in-game menus looked nicer too. The Switch port is simpler in design but still very easy to navigate, so I don’t really have any complaints with it system-wise.

Hana Utsushi Card Game | Hanafuda

Perhaps the most fun aspect of the Hana Awase games is the card battles/hanafuda. It might feel a little overwhelming at first, but once you get past the practice mode, the card battles become highly addicting as you try to climb through the Hana Utsushi rankings (in each volume). Especially after collecting all the rare cards by defeating stronger enemies, the streaks of “Koi-Koi” wins can get really satisfying. One small gripe I had in the first two volumes (Mizuchi and Himeutsugi) is that your rank and scores in the hanafuda mini-games reset after clearing an ending, so you always have to manually select “Transfer data and play from the beginning” after unlocking every possible end. Though I’d say this really wasn’t a big deal, since the game prompts you to save every time you reach an ending anyway.

Localization

I think my biggest issue with the entire series was its localization. There were just too many typos, mistranslations, constant crashes, bugs, and errors across all four volumes. At one point, it started to feel a little immersion-breaking, especially during my first playthrough of Mizuchi’s volume. It almost felt like there was no proper QA done for the games, or maybe the localizers were working under a tight deadline and little to no care was given from the publisher’s side, which was really disappointing. I wouldn’t say the localization was terrible, as I’ve seen worse. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by the solid localizations of other recent titles, which is why I’m noticing these things more.

But if you arent new to the otome-sphere in the west, if you were here, say, 10-12 years ago back when we were lucky to even get one or two localized titles in a year, and solely had to rely on otome fan translations of Japanese PSP/PSV games, you would well know how far otome localizations has come.

With the work done on Hana Awase, it honestly feels like we’ve gone back in time and I was reading a really buggy fan-patch. And no, I’m not saying it’s the most terrible thing, but considering I paid nearly 200 dollars for the all-in-one physical game, before international shipping, which pushed it up to around 250 bucks, I expected at least above average translation work. This is a premium price for something that should’ve had at least decent quality control, and honestly, I felt ripped off. So yes, I am quite upset with this purchase and really wish I had just waited for a half-off sale instead!

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TRAILER

Himeutsugi Volume Trailer | Karakurena/Utsutsu Volume Trailer | Iroha Volume Trailer

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OVERALL THROUGHTS

It took me almost two years to finally finish the entire Hana Awase series! 😂(cackles) Kidding aside, I played Mizuchi and Himeutsugi’s volume in late 2023, then binged Karakurenai/Utsutsu and Iroha’s volume last year (2024). Looking at my Switch’s playtime activity, my time logs were as follows:

Mizuchi Volume: 25 hours
Himeutsugi Volume: 20 hours
Karakurenai/Utsutsu Volume: 35 hours
Iroha Volume: 15 hours

Mizuchi’s volume wasn’t exactly long, but I spent so much time grinding in the Hanafuda games there, which basically resulted in a longer gameplay. Kurenai/Utsutsu’s volume, I feel, was the lengthiest of the four, given it’s a two-in-one.

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A Stew of Edgy Plot and Horny Characters

There’s a certain cadence to the Hana Awase series that pulls you into its world immediately. I like how easily the game absorbs you into an atmosphere that’s as unsettling as it is mesmerizing, for lack of a better term. But I’d argue that what really hooks players in is its deeply flawed, dubiously written cast, the kind that makes you question your own taste because you can’t help but become obsessively attached to them. (cackles)🙈Hana Awase thrives on indulging players in guilty pleasures, it almost feels like it’s toying with the reader’s curiosity for characters whose actions are questionable, problematic yet very stimulating at the same time. If you know what I mean.😝 Their dark desires and internal conflicts have a certain appeal that keeps you craving more.

I particularly like how intense the rivalry is between the love interests, and I also love how *intense* their desire is for the heroine. Like, if you could take the word “intense” to another level, that’s how all of these LIs are for Mikoto, both physically and emotionally. And let’s be honest, there’s a reason morally complex, red-flag characters thrive in fiction. Hana Awase understands that appeal and delivers you that ick fix in full.

The Timeline is a HOT MESS.

What I couldn’t get behind though, was the game’s really messy and convoluted storyline. It was just all too much, and all over the place. The story just gets more and more confusing as you progress on each volume. Wild, that I say this, coming from someone who was unhinged enough to create an absurdly long analysis post on Love and Deepspace’s timeline, another game where you can easily hit a lore burnout due to how convoluted the story can get. ***With Hana Awase, there were so many “loops” and so many “moons” created in each volume that even my extremely OCD brain couldn’t keep up with piecing them chronologically together. The betrayal I felt after getting so invested in Iroha’s route in the 3rd volume volume (because it’s the volume where I honestly thought I had everything figured out lol). Only for Iroha-hen to completely crush that emotional investment like a bug under its heel. Damn.😖

The game just throws an entire bowl of lore spaghetti at your face without cohesively structuring it in a way that makes sense for players to understand. It keeps tossing plot holes after plot holes ’til everything becomes severely disjointed. Iroha’s volume was a real heavy hitter on that front. The last game dragged the story so offensively that instead of actually trying to tie loose threads from previous volumes, it made everything worse and exacerbated the lore confusion even further.

The second half of Iroha’s volume did “attempt” to weave the messy plot together, but it unfortunately ended up being riddled with heavy-handed exposition dumps. And the fact that this is how the series ends is just so unsatisfying.

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The main characters were the saving grace for me in this game. I love all the LIs, as well as Mikoto as the MC. I also adored Momotose (who I also consider a main character), the chairmen, and even the pervy Onosada-sensei. As for the rest of the side characters, I more or less feel indifferent toward them.

🖤LI Ranking: Utsutsu > Mizuchi > Karakurenai > Iroha > Himeutsugi

🎮Volume Ranking/Enjoyment: Karekurenai/Utsutsu > Mizuchi >>>> Iroha = Himeutsugi

The romance here was also quite good, though I’d say the volumes definitely favored Utsutsu and Mizuchi in this department. I love Karakurenai, Iroha, and Hime, but it felt like I wasn’t fully satisfied with their romance in their volumes compared to the former two.

The games are rated CERO D in Japan, so there are a lot of mature themes, and it is exceptionally spicy. So, if you’re someone who enjoys a bit of heat in your otome games, you are definitely going to be feasting here. There are lots of suggestive scenes throughout the volumes that don’t hesitate to dive into more intimate and risqué moments. That said, this game is definitely best suited for players 17 and up.

Do I recommend this game? Yes, but please, for the love of everything… GET IT ON A NICE SALE!
I wasn’t exactly planning to review this game anytime soon, but this title won by a strong margin of 36.4% more votes over TaiAli: Heads and Tails on my Motivation Corner last year. So here it is, finally, my full unfiltered review of Hana Awase!😅

Unfortunately, I cannot truthfully recommend this game for its full price. The switch physical copies especially, are incredibly expensive, and considering the limited content you get (a mere 15-20 hours per volume), plus a localization riddled with mistakes & bugs, I really can’t justify paying more than 50% of its original price.

That’s not to say I disliked this game though, because I did have a blast playing it. For one, it ticked all my guilty pleasure boxes, and second, the characters and their *intensifying romance* was enough for me to invest my time in it (heck, i finished it, and even played Iroha’s volume twice 😂-that’s definitely dedication right there, no?).🤣 But the direction the story took in the end, not to mention the flood of exposition that practically short-circuited my brain, was defo not for me! So here I am, stuck between a rock and a hard place on where I stand with this game.

My final verdict, I guess, is that if you’re in it for the h*rny content and the delightfully problematic red flag characters (voiced by AAA seiyuus), plus the fun hanafuda game, Hana Awase is definitely worth it. But if you’re expecting a plot with tight closure where everything makes sense at the end, or god forbid, if you’re sensitive to incoherent plot or lore that feels slapped together without proper structure or satisfying payoff, prepare for disappointment of epic proportions.

I think, for what it’s worth, this game definitely has its fair share of valid pros and cons; and in the end, it’s really up to you to weigh where your enjoyment lies. That said, even after all my gripes and disappointments, I still bought the artbooks and a couple of merch for this title. So maybe that says a lot… or maybe it doesn’t, lol. But ultimately, I normally don’t buy merch for games I don’t care about, so take that as you will.😘