Release Date: March 26, 2026 (North America)
Developers:  Otomate
Publishers: Aksys Games
Platforms:  Nintendo Switch
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

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SYNOPSIS

Welcome to Kayu, where every citizen, both man and woman, young and old alike, enjoy martial arts.

Living in that kingdom as a Daoist priestess in training, you made your way to the Tournament of Valor to root for your childhood friend.

A sudden attack during the Tournament of Valor forces you to protect your country and those you care about.

Fight alongside friend and foe alike to save your kingdom!

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ART AND MUSIC

Director: Choko Tsuyuri

Scenario: Maro Sasaki, Satomi Nakayama, Ririka Yoshimura

Artist: Ayu Nekoi

BG Artist: Fuki Umezaki, Cre-p Co., Ltd

BGM: Poweless (studio)

OP Theme: Naoto Fuga (Vocals), baker (Arrangement), Karasuyasabou (lyrics)

ED Theme: Sanso Nakamura (Vocals, Lyrics, Arrangement)

Verily surprised to see that some of the game’s scenarios adopt a manga-like narrative style (kinda like Arcana Famiglia, though I personally prefer its usage here better). The fight scenes were particularly fitting for this style, so needless to say, I really enjoyed them whenever they came up during my playthrough.

Another thing I absolutely have to talk about was how STUNNING all the illustrations are. I probably spent a few of my play-time gawking at the CGs (laughs), not a single one look bad or awkward to me. The illustrator, Ayu Nekoi is the main artist for Otome Daoshi, and I would absolutely love to see them work on more otome titles in the future!

The soundtrack is also another aspect I particularly enjoyed in the game and thought it fitted the game’s Chinese martial arts aesthetic and setting. In fact, the BGMs reminded me a lot of the Ranma ½ anime soundtrack, which is another trip-down-memory-lane of the classics, and probably made me a tiny bit biased toward this game itself.😆

Voice Acting

Kazuki Ura as “Yuhang“ – Robin Bullet (Cupid Parasite SSD), Kashagiri (Touken Ranbu), Richter Belmont (Castlevania), Yoichi Isagi (Bluelock), Stein Nac (Akuma Shitsuji), Alain (Unicorn Overloard), Rex de Couraciel (CRAZY CHAIN), Baraku (Olympia Soiree Catharsis)

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as “Shaowu” – Akaza (Olympia Soiree), Tsuyukusa (Illusion of Itehari), Nicol (My Next Life as a Villainess), Alice (Taisho x Alice), Gyobu (Charade Maniacs), Monshiro (Pyschedelica of the BB), Rin Okazaki (Spiral Memoria), Vash (Trigun), Kirito (SAO), Inosuke Hashibira (Demon Slayer), Xiao (Genshin Impact), Kirihiko (NilAd)

Shogo Sakata as “Haoran“ – Aki (Chainsaw Man), Aqunoa (My Beloved Star), Yuu Niina (Break My Case), Hayato Ninose (Distorted Code), Ash (INtLOVErt Game Club), Moze (HSR), Edouard Rouquier (Tales of Luminaria)

Nobunaga Shimazaki as “Longli“ – Riku (Olympia Soiree), Sataly (My Beloved Star), Hino (7’Scarlet), Yuki Soma (Fruits Basket), Kaedehara Kazuha (Genshin), Silver (TWTS), Napoleon (Ikevamp), Yamato (Storm Lover 2nd), Arjuna (Fate/Extella), Xeno (Angelique Lumernarise), Eugeo (Sword Art Online), Seishiro Nagi (Bluelock)

Chiaki Kobayashi as “Uro“ – Yashiro (Illusion of Itehari), Ray Under (Cupid Parasire SSD), Hairi (Olympia Soiree), Deuce Spade (TWST), Ibuki Taki (Ensemble Stars), Mao Ukyo (Break My Case)

Jun Fukuyama as “Shiyu” – Sodyk Mun (Neon Clash), Ascot (Mistonia’s Hope), Karatachi (Illusion of Itehari), Mizuchi (Hana Awase), 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), Goke Kanimitsu (Touken Ranbu)

Kazuhiro Yoshimura as “Seisetsu“ – Shioji (Illusion of Itehari), Oleander (The Red Bell’s Lament), Alest (Radiant Tale), Minegeshi (Collar x Malice), Ten (Cafe Enchante), Maki (Side Kicks!), Souji Kamishiro (Suika Niritsu), Pepe (Bustafellows)

Tomokazu Sugita as the Narrator – Kuroba (Olympia Soiree), Ron (Norn9), Gintoki (Gintama), Sauli (Bustafellows), Takuma (Hiiro no Kakera), Oda Nobunaga (IkeSen), Hubert (Reines des fleurs), Shion (KLAP!), Usagi-sensei (Bad Apple Wars), Pace (Arcana Famiglia), Nightmare (Spade no Kuni no Alice), Vincent Lowell (Muv-Luv), Gandamu (Danganropa), Magoroku Kanemoto (Touken Ranbu)

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CHARACTERS AND ROUTES

Only Yuhang, Shaowu and Haoran can be played from the start. Longli’s route unlocks after clearing the first three, and the secret route becomes available once you’ve completed Longli’s story. The secret route also branches off from Longli’s route, specifically in his first chapters.

In terms of story flow and keeping spoilers to a minimum (from least to most spoilers), my soft recommended route order would be: Yuhang = Shaowu → Haoran → Longli → Secret Route. The dev’s official soft recommended route order is also the same.

Walkthroughs:

• Yuhang
• Shaowu
• Haoran
• Longli
• Secret Route

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Disclaimer: The CGs shown below are promotional images for the game, Otome Daoshi -Fighting For Love-. All spoiler-related content in this review will be hidden behind a spoiler drop-down, that you can choose to view at your own discretion.

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YUHANG

• baby tsun
• down bad for Shunlin

Yuhang is the heroine’s childhood friend. He lived in the same district as Shunlin when they were young but moved to another district with his parents shortly afterward. He is easily embarrassed and would usually resort to harsh words to hide it.

Played Yuhang’s route first for the sole reason that his character design was my favorite out of everyone’s. (I mean, his look was clearly inspired by my orange-head himbo husbando Tasuki from FS, no? lol). That aside, I was actually quite taken with the romance here (and thought it was one of its stronger points). Yuhang was so down bad for MC that it was adorable seeing him internally muse over how hard he was crushing on Shunlin. In all honesty, I loved this route for the most part, but it’s a shame the final chapters kind of botched the plot and put Yuhang in a pretty unfavorable position.🥲

SHAOWU

• muscle Akaza
• kuudere daddy

Shaowu, the lone wolf. He’s quite intimidating at first glance, with his hulking build and deep, stern eyes. He’s a man of few words, but he also has a rather kind side.

First of all…….. that six pack is doing a LOT of things! to me lol Also, why Shaowu and not Xiao??? 😭
Anyway, this route was kind of funny because Shunlin here was immediately head over heels for Shaowu right of the bat! And would follow him without a moment’s hesitation, no questions asked. Like okay girl calm down, ya’ll just met!😭 I mean, I don’t blame her though, the man is fine as heck! Too fine, even… and that six-pack is certainly doing wonders, for sure.😝 It’s wild to see a heroine become so immediately besotted this fast. I was cackling at how hilarious this all was.

As for this route’s story, it felt a bit one-note overall. There were some questionable plot devices, and the writing didn’t really make me care much about how the bigger events unfolded. I will wholeheartedly, and shamelessly admit, that I forgave everything because Shaowu’s kiss CG was on fire! (cackles) 😂 Plus, I was invested enough to see Shaowu & Shunlin through to their happy ending!

HAORAN

• Tamahome at home
• greenflag oniichan

Haoran is the heroine’s big brother figure. Ever since they were young, he and Shunlin would go to and fro from places together. He’s very kind, gentle-mannered, and cares for the heroine like family.

Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but I love Haoran as an LI. (I’m also very biased with his seiyuu so there’s that too lol) Normally, oniichan routes are a pretty hit or miss for me, and a lot of them tend to go completely batshit crazy (cackles). So I was shockingly pleased to see Haoran cruising along the greenest of green in his route. I’ve also really liked how refreshing his dynamic is with Shunlin. Their brother-sister + childhood friend relationship took an interesting approach that deviates from the usual brother-sister trope we commonly get in otome games. I’ll expand on that more in the spoiler section.

As for this route’s plot, while it was predictable at best, albeit no more so than the other routes, I thought it was alright overall. There were quite a few plot conveniences working in its favor, but after finishing my first two routes, I was already expecting the same ordeal here. I’ve gotta say though, Haoran is probably the LI most favored by the artist, because holy cow, all of his CGs are gorgeous! I’ve probably gasped more than once at how cleanly handsome he looks in his close-ups stills!😩

LONGLI

• 👁👄👁

A handsome gentleman who works at the palace. He’s highly respected by his subordinates and draws plenty of attention from women thanks to his strikingly beautiful looks.

The route that kept me awake….for the most part, that is. It was a good call to lock Longli’s route because of his backstory, which certainly had some *surprising* elements.. That said, I do feel like they played this route a bit too safe. It’s a shame, because I really love Longli and wanted more from his route and his somewhat beguiling romance with Shunlin.

SECRET LI

SHUNLIN (Main Heroine)

• genki heroine
• boy-crazy

Shunlin was very cute! Always bright and full of spirit! Very optimistic, very feisty, very stubborn, and can sometimes get a little mouthy, but not in an annoying way. She’s kind of a genki MC, which we usually don’t get a lot. The last one we had, I can think, was Bakarina, except that in comparison, Shunlin is less of an idiot and more just a little ditsy and boy-crazy, as her grandpa Lihong would say.

Speaking of which, Shunlin’s boy-crazy shenanigans were an absolute riot! Girlie just falls head over heels for a total hottie stranger (I mean, don’t we all?) 🤣 and puts her blind faith in them, sometimes even her life on the line, (like in Shaowu’s route), for no believable nor logical reason, whatsoever. But I think, this tomfoolery is part of her charm. She was so hilarious, honestly! And her brazen cheerfulness definitely worked its way into her LI’s heart! (and mine too! I luv her to bits!)🥹

Shunlin is also a skilled fighter who can more than hold her own in battle. She’s a remarkable daoshi as well (even though she’s still in training), and she carries a very kind-hearted disposition. Her personality doesn’t really change across routes, which I appreciate, (I love that consistency). I really enjoyed her as the protagonist of this game, and I only wish the title had been longer so I could see more of her antics.

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SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION

I absolutely loved the game’s Chinese kungfu aesthetics. The loading screen with Mimi, the game’s panda mascot, was sooo cute! And contrary to what everyone else is saying, I actually LOVED the recaps and previews at the end of each chapter. They reminded me so much of the animes I watched in the 90s. I grew up with those “Jikai Yokokus“,😆 so I really appreciated the devs including it in this game. If anything, it added a lovely nostalgic atmosphere throughout my playthroughs.🥹 Plus, the narration is voiced by Sugita! (all the more reason to enjoy this feature, if you ask me!)

Localization

For a period setting ,the game sometimes uses very modern slang words. However, perhaps because of its comedic tone, this didn’t really pose an issue for me. There were also very few to no typos, so the game clearly went through solid QA, which is great. Overall, the localization felt quite polished from a technical standpoint.

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TRAILER

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OVERALL THOUGHTS

This game was relatively short overall. It took me around 25–30 hours to unlock everything, mostly in auto mode. If you read pretty fast and don’t wait for the lines to play out, I believe you can finish one route in less than three hours. There were only two endings available for each route: the True Love End and the Romantic End. The game does not have any bad endings.

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Martial Arts Themed Otome Game

Otome Daoshi is an otome game centered around the theme of Chinese martial arts (aka wushu), so expect a lot of fight scenes, and marial art bouts in every route. What I liked so much here is that some of the combat scenes are illustrated in a manga-like fashion, which does a fantastic job of elevating the title’s action-packed scenarios (I legit inhaled all of them whenever they come up lol). The country of “Kayu,” where the story is set, also follows the motto “Might makes right,” so most of the main characters are predominantly strong and skilled fighters, heroine and side characters included.

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Story, Tropes and Characters

Another notable thing is that the game features three childhood friend tropes, yet each dynamic plays out very differently. Without saying who, three of the LIs are the MC’s childhood friends, and much to my surprise, their relationship dynamics with her are quite distinct. Because of that, the trope never felt repetitive or overused (me thinks)... I quite liked it, in fact! The variation was very refreshing to me, and I’m glad the devs explored the many different interpretations of this same trope.

On a much different note, while this title undeniably deals with serious stakes, the comedic air and campy dialogue give it a more lighthearted undertone, imo. At times the comedy landed for me, and other times it didn’t, though I guess that’s likely a matter of humor preference than anything else.

As for its overarching story, I personally thought it was alright. However, objectively speaking, this is also probably where the game feels a little constrained. All the routes were too short to actually flesh out the main plot at hand, or fully develop the romance between the protagonist and her LI. Most of the conflicts also resolve too conveniently & sometimes too quickly, so before you even get invested in the friction of certain storylines or start theorizing your hunches, that same storyline has already been wrapped up and done. I think longer chapters would’ve definitely benefited the game, if anything.

However, maybe because I had already dialed my expectations down before playing this game, I ended up finding it quite fun and enjoyable, regardless. This title is nowhere near a kusoge, so I was generally baffled why it was criticized to filth when it came out in 2024. Sure, the endings were rather predictable, but they were still fun and I had plenty of laughs. None of the LIs made me want to throw my Switch out the window, and really, that’s mostly the bare minimum I’d ask in an otome game to not rate it negatively. I guess if you’re looking for your next ten-out-of-ten title, this game is probably not it. But if you value kind, likeable characters and an easygoing martial arts-themed romp with exceptionally beautiful art, then this game would be a solid candidate.

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Speaking of characters, I thought all the main love interests were great. I didn’t dislike any of them, which already counts as a big plus for me. I think my fav was Longli and the secret route, followed by Haoran (second). Conversely, the routes themselves can be a bit of a mixed bag, but I cared enough about the characters to want to see their happy endings through.

💖LI RANKING: Longli = Secret Route > Haoran > Shaowu = Yuhang

📝ROUTE RANKING: Secret Route > Haoran > Yuhang > Shaowu > Longli

My route ranking is based on how well each route handled the romance for me, rather than its plot.(laughs) In addition, the romance in this game felt rather bare-bones in its development. Our lovely pairs sometimes just fall in love abruptly without much build-up. Personally, I didn’t mind it and even thought Shunlin’s hastiness to fall in love was kind of funny. Plus, all the kiss CGs are visually stunning, so I shamelessly forgave all its pitfalls! Ha!😋

Do I recommend this game? YES.
While this title had its fair share of flaws, I am very positive that there should be a character or two (or three!) who will actually interest and endear you. I personally enjoyed the game myself and thought it was a cute, somewhat lighthearted short romp to pick up when you just want to unwind and laze about without having to think too much. If you can temper your expectations a little bit and enjoy the game with a less critical mindset, I’m sure you’ll have a fun time with this one.

Otome Daoshi is also very visually pleasing and easy on the eyes. The manga-like narrative in some scenarios was a nice novelty experience, and if you enjoy romance combined with martial arts, this title right here, is the ticket!

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