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otome_gamesOver the last year and a half, Kaylaslovely on youtube has been translating Brothers Conflict via youtube video subtitles, though a lot of people still don't seem to be aware. I've been enjoying it a lot, so I've meant to put together a promo post, but never got around to it. But she just finished Masaomi's route all the way up to the epilogue (after starting with Tsubaki's, which also covers the common route), meaning that the next video will be the vote for which character will be translated next! If you've been interested in Brothers Conflict at all, now is a great time to check it out! :)
Anyway, for a brief summary, Brothers Conflict is an otome game that was first released on PSP in 2012. It was actually split into two different games, though - Brilliant Blue and Passion Pink. That was because of the huge number of love interests - 7 in each game, for 14 overall! (Two characters are introduced late into the story, and one is an outright secret character.) Over time, it was released on Vita and Switch, where they were combined into a single game Precious Baby where you date everyone.
The premise is that you play Ema, a girl whose widowed dad just got remarried to a new woman who is mother to thirteen sons. Ema is now moving in with them in their giant house where all but two of the brothers reside, and has to deal with a huge number of quirky brothers who are all into her in one way or another!
...yeah, it's a pretty silly story. :P But that's the fun of it! The VN was actually developed based on a shoujo light novel, and it has an overall pretty light-hearted and fluffy atmosphere with plenty of slice of life and comedy and rarely getting too angsty. But personally, I found that a really nice antidote to the more dark and mature and plot-driven otome we normally get in English! Brothers Conflict is the perfect sweet romance for those who just want something happy and cute and romantic :)
I should mention that it has gameplay elements as well. Each week, you can choose to hang out with any of the individual characters or the family as a whole doing various activities, not to mention raising money to buy presents and just spending time alone to lower stress. On weekends, you can go shopping or ask to go on an outing with a character (as you raise their affection, you can hang out in their room as well) which gives you little scenes with extra choices to earn more affection boost. Raising their affection meter is ofc necessary to progress through their route via triggering cutscenes, but you can't only pay attention to your fave - some characters require you to have affection with another character or the family as a whole above a certain level (or even below a certain level in some cases), plus there are some secret endings you can get that way, too. (E.g., there is a twin OT3/poly ending for those who are into that :P) Overall, the game takes place over a year, complete with cutscenes for various holidays!
The mechanics aren't super complicated or difficult, especially if you're following a guide, so they're not too intrusive, and there are plenty of rewards for keeping on going at it! With the holiday scenes in particular it reminded me a lot of the TMGS series - there's just something especially wholesome and realistic about playing through a year and getting to experience a typical year together with your love interest!
And now, the most important thing for anyone who might want to take a vote on that next route poll: the characters!!
Masaomi: The eldest brother and the dad of the group, a paediatrician by trade. He’s a kind, understanding, and hard-working man who always puts others before himself. He’s reliable and calm, but he can get flustered surprisingly easily and has a bit of an innocent and airheaded side to him. He surrounds himself with cute things and sweets because his patients (and Wataru) like them, but he’s come to enjoy these things himself as well. Age: 31 (ROUTE TRANSLATED)
Ukyo: Second eldest, a lawyer, and the group’s designated mum friend. He’s quiet and practical and takes over most of the housework before Ema comes in, and seems to develop a bit of jealousy at her taking over some of this. He’s rather serious and straight-laced, often scolding the more rambunctious brothers such as Tsubaki and Kaname, but he can be quite talkative when it comes to the right subject. Age: 28
Kaname: Third oldest and a Buddhist priest, Kaname also works as a Host. He’s extremely charming and flirtatious, treating Ema like a client at a host club and referring to her affectionately as ‘imouto-chan.’ He has a playful and relaxed personality, but he’s more reliable than he looks, and regularly goes out jogging with Subaru. He’s very flirty, but since the game is pretty fluffy overall he doesn’t really get too aggressive about it. Age: 26
Hikaru: A writer who often crossdresses, apparently because it’s helpful for the mystery novel he’s writing. He’s not just playful but outright sly and seems to enjoy messing with Ema and the other brothers, and always knows what’s going on. He’s an unlockable character who lives away from the main house and so I haven’t seen much of him and don’t know him as well as the others, sorry! Age: 25
Tsubaki: The eldest of the triplets and a voice actor, Tsubaki is energetic, outgoing, and cheerily flirty. A big fan of anime and video games, he finds younger sister characters adorable and so gets attached to Ema immediately. He’s very forward with his affections and likes to stir other people up, but he’s really genuine in his feelings and adores his twin Azusa to bits. And deep down, he’s hiding an insecurity about his voice acting that he doesn’t show on the surface. Age: 24 (ROUTE TRANSLATED)
Azusa: Tsubaki’s younger identical twin and also a voice actor, Azusa is the more calm, quiet, and serious brother, often playing tsukkomi to Tsubaki’s antics. He has a cool and reliable demeanor, also being the type to be concerned when Ema is teased too much and make sure she isn't uncomfortable. He’s a natural genius voice actor, but doesn’t share Tsubaki’s passion, and so finds himself feeling a bit lost and apathetic at the start of the game. Age: 24
Natsume: A fraternal triplet to Azusa and Tsubaki, and considered the youngest of the three, Natsume also lives away from the main house so I haven’t seen as much of him. However, he seems to be someone with an initially cold and even rude demeanour towards Ema, who slowly warms up over time. He works on some of the video games that Ema loves to play for a living. Age: 24
Louis: A beautician who loves styling hair and also does nails and make-up, Louis has a soft, dreamy vibe to him, speaking slowly and sleepily and always appearing to be off in his own world. However, he’s actually surprisingly intuitive to other people’s emotions. Though he comes across as mysterious and hard to understand, he’s very kind and gentle and looks out for Ema and his younger brothers. Something in his eyes looks very sad. The only other person who can understand Juli. Age: 21
Subaru: A university student who entered on a sports scholarship, Subaru has a serious, diligent personality, and has been focused on basketball his entire life. As a result, he doesn’t have a lot of experience with anything else, particularly girls. He’s quiet and bad at speaking about his emotions, but he wears his feelings right on his face and is very easy to fluster. Seems to have a grudge against Natsume for some past thing. Age: 19
Iori: Older than Ema by one year, making him a high school senior when the game begins. Iori is charming, polite, calm, and all-around an ideal prince. He’s also extremely capable, attending an elite high school and getting ridiculously good grades there. However, behind his perfect exterior lies a darker, jealous side to him that he tries hard to keep down. Since I know how this sounds, I’m going to explain the details as far as I’m aware of them under a cut. Age: 18
From what I've heard he's not actually a yandere. The game just never goes hard or dark enough for him to really count. He seems to have a dark, cynical, possessive side to him that he hates, but I don't believe he ever actually hurts Ema outright. Honestly that's really all just Fuuto.
Yuusuke: Ema’s classmate in school, Yuusuke has been crushing on her for a while now. Unfortunately he is a tsundere who is distinctly unable to deal with his secret crush becoming his new sister and ends up confusingly lashing out in awkwardness at her. He’s hot-tempered and looks like a delinquent, with grades to match, but he’s an honest and kind guy at heart. He feels a bit awkward being surrounded by his very capable brothers, particularly Fuuto. Age: 16
Fuuto: In his last year of middle school when the game begins, Fuuto is actually he most famous and successful brother, being a wildly popular idol that one of Ema’s friends adores. However, despite his friendly onscreen personality, in reality Fuuto is sharp-tongued and arrogant, and has a distinct sadistic side, soon becoming possessive of Ema and deliberately pushing past her boundaries. He likes to mess with Yuusuke, and projects a general aura of superiority. He’s usually a pretty controversial character among English-speaking fans. Age: 14 (Kayla, the translator, doesn't like him and so may not ever translate him.)
Wataru: A primary schooler and the youngest brother, Wataru is ususally looked after by Masaomi, who acts more like his father than brother. Wataru acts very immature, more like a six-year-old than a ten-year-old, and likes to play around and eat sweets. From what I’ve heard, most of his route is just Ema looking after him like an older sister, but the end DOES imply that they eventually start dating, so… naturally this route is ALSO pretty controversial among English fans. (Not sure how JP fans feel.) Age: 10 (The translator has stated she doesn't want to translate his route.)
Ema: The main character! Basically your typical good girl who likes to help people but can be pretty oblivious to other people's feelings. Even though she's the one asking the guys out on dates and giving them presents she gets flustered easily when they flirt with her. Enjoys playing games in her free time and doesn't always study as much as she should. Age: 16
Juli: Not a brother, but a very important character! He's the cute-looking squirrel you might see on Ema's shoulder, and despite his appearance he's actually a quite bossy and blunt guy. He's extremely protective of Ema and tends to get mad when they try to get too close, always warning her that she's too trusting of them. He also often scolds Ema as well for not studying etc. However, he sincerely loves Ema with all his heart and is a trusted friend to her. Ema is the only person who can hear him talk - that is, until they meet Louis, who can not only understand him somehow but ends up becoming his friend, too. Age: ???
As I said above, Tsubaki was the first route to be fully translated, and then Masaomi was voted to be the second. Once Masaomi's epilogue video comes out, a third boy will be voted on for translating. Last time, Natsume was very close to being the winner, so he's the frontrunner for this next vote. However, Louis also placed quite high and could potentially win it.(Personally, Louis is my favourite so I'm gonna do my best for him!!)
And for final information, the VN was adapted into an anime a couple years after the game came out! I've only seen the first few episodes and my thoughts are 1) the 'nonsequential mini-events' story format of the game does NOT translate very well to anime, 2) having all the guys go after her while she stays neutral so as not to pick a boy til the end makes it a bit... frustrating?, and 3) I reaaaally like the soft and gentle art style of the game but I'm not sure it translates well to animation. But welp - it's definitely also an option!
OH one last thing I forgot to add! To those of you out there like 'but... they're her brothers, right? Isn't that weird?' Then, well - kinda? Obviously, none of them are blood related to her, and they don't meet until she's sixteen, so well out of Westermark effect territory. And since the game takes place over a year, they don't really have enough time to get completely settled as siblings before developing feelings. (Other than Wataru potentially but he's a special case haha;;) However, Ema at least does believe that she should see them as her brothers and tends to respond like 'N-no! We're supposed to be siblings!' once the romance kicks in. It does sorta feel more like her worrying that she's breaking a rule or something rather than actually personally being uncomfortable with it. Still - if stepbrothers are a big squick for you, this is not the game for you!! If you don't always mind them, though, then this seems like a generally pretty inoffensive case all around.
Okay! I hope this post has given a pretty good introduction, so anyone who might've been interested will have a good idea at this point whether to check it out. It definitely won't be for all otoge players, but for those looking for a sweet, low-conflict everyday romance (who don't mind stepsibling romance), I'd definitely recommend it!
Anyway, for a brief summary, Brothers Conflict is an otome game that was first released on PSP in 2012. It was actually split into two different games, though - Brilliant Blue and Passion Pink. That was because of the huge number of love interests - 7 in each game, for 14 overall! (Two characters are introduced late into the story, and one is an outright secret character.) Over time, it was released on Vita and Switch, where they were combined into a single game Precious Baby where you date everyone.
The premise is that you play Ema, a girl whose widowed dad just got remarried to a new woman who is mother to thirteen sons. Ema is now moving in with them in their giant house where all but two of the brothers reside, and has to deal with a huge number of quirky brothers who are all into her in one way or another!
...yeah, it's a pretty silly story. :P But that's the fun of it! The VN was actually developed based on a shoujo light novel, and it has an overall pretty light-hearted and fluffy atmosphere with plenty of slice of life and comedy and rarely getting too angsty. But personally, I found that a really nice antidote to the more dark and mature and plot-driven otome we normally get in English! Brothers Conflict is the perfect sweet romance for those who just want something happy and cute and romantic :)
I should mention that it has gameplay elements as well. Each week, you can choose to hang out with any of the individual characters or the family as a whole doing various activities, not to mention raising money to buy presents and just spending time alone to lower stress. On weekends, you can go shopping or ask to go on an outing with a character (as you raise their affection, you can hang out in their room as well) which gives you little scenes with extra choices to earn more affection boost. Raising their affection meter is ofc necessary to progress through their route via triggering cutscenes, but you can't only pay attention to your fave - some characters require you to have affection with another character or the family as a whole above a certain level (or even below a certain level in some cases), plus there are some secret endings you can get that way, too. (E.g., there is a twin OT3/poly ending for those who are into that :P) Overall, the game takes place over a year, complete with cutscenes for various holidays!
The mechanics aren't super complicated or difficult, especially if you're following a guide, so they're not too intrusive, and there are plenty of rewards for keeping on going at it! With the holiday scenes in particular it reminded me a lot of the TMGS series - there's just something especially wholesome and realistic about playing through a year and getting to experience a typical year together with your love interest!
And now, the most important thing for anyone who might want to take a vote on that next route poll: the characters!!
Masaomi: The eldest brother and the dad of the group, a paediatrician by trade. He’s a kind, understanding, and hard-working man who always puts others before himself. He’s reliable and calm, but he can get flustered surprisingly easily and has a bit of an innocent and airheaded side to him. He surrounds himself with cute things and sweets because his patients (and Wataru) like them, but he’s come to enjoy these things himself as well. Age: 31 (ROUTE TRANSLATED)
Ukyo: Second eldest, a lawyer, and the group’s designated mum friend. He’s quiet and practical and takes over most of the housework before Ema comes in, and seems to develop a bit of jealousy at her taking over some of this. He’s rather serious and straight-laced, often scolding the more rambunctious brothers such as Tsubaki and Kaname, but he can be quite talkative when it comes to the right subject. Age: 28
Kaname: Third oldest and a Buddhist priest, Kaname also works as a Host. He’s extremely charming and flirtatious, treating Ema like a client at a host club and referring to her affectionately as ‘imouto-chan.’ He has a playful and relaxed personality, but he’s more reliable than he looks, and regularly goes out jogging with Subaru. He’s very flirty, but since the game is pretty fluffy overall he doesn’t really get too aggressive about it. Age: 26
Hikaru: A writer who often crossdresses, apparently because it’s helpful for the mystery novel he’s writing. He’s not just playful but outright sly and seems to enjoy messing with Ema and the other brothers, and always knows what’s going on. He’s an unlockable character who lives away from the main house and so I haven’t seen much of him and don’t know him as well as the others, sorry! Age: 25
Tsubaki: The eldest of the triplets and a voice actor, Tsubaki is energetic, outgoing, and cheerily flirty. A big fan of anime and video games, he finds younger sister characters adorable and so gets attached to Ema immediately. He’s very forward with his affections and likes to stir other people up, but he’s really genuine in his feelings and adores his twin Azusa to bits. And deep down, he’s hiding an insecurity about his voice acting that he doesn’t show on the surface. Age: 24 (ROUTE TRANSLATED)
Azusa: Tsubaki’s younger identical twin and also a voice actor, Azusa is the more calm, quiet, and serious brother, often playing tsukkomi to Tsubaki’s antics. He has a cool and reliable demeanor, also being the type to be concerned when Ema is teased too much and make sure she isn't uncomfortable. He’s a natural genius voice actor, but doesn’t share Tsubaki’s passion, and so finds himself feeling a bit lost and apathetic at the start of the game. Age: 24
Natsume: A fraternal triplet to Azusa and Tsubaki, and considered the youngest of the three, Natsume also lives away from the main house so I haven’t seen as much of him. However, he seems to be someone with an initially cold and even rude demeanour towards Ema, who slowly warms up over time. He works on some of the video games that Ema loves to play for a living. Age: 24
Louis: A beautician who loves styling hair and also does nails and make-up, Louis has a soft, dreamy vibe to him, speaking slowly and sleepily and always appearing to be off in his own world. However, he’s actually surprisingly intuitive to other people’s emotions. Though he comes across as mysterious and hard to understand, he’s very kind and gentle and looks out for Ema and his younger brothers. Something in his eyes looks very sad. The only other person who can understand Juli. Age: 21
Subaru: A university student who entered on a sports scholarship, Subaru has a serious, diligent personality, and has been focused on basketball his entire life. As a result, he doesn’t have a lot of experience with anything else, particularly girls. He’s quiet and bad at speaking about his emotions, but he wears his feelings right on his face and is very easy to fluster. Seems to have a grudge against Natsume for some past thing. Age: 19
Iori: Older than Ema by one year, making him a high school senior when the game begins. Iori is charming, polite, calm, and all-around an ideal prince. He’s also extremely capable, attending an elite high school and getting ridiculously good grades there. However, behind his perfect exterior lies a darker, jealous side to him that he tries hard to keep down. Since I know how this sounds, I’m going to explain the details as far as I’m aware of them under a cut. Age: 18
From what I've heard he's not actually a yandere. The game just never goes hard or dark enough for him to really count. He seems to have a dark, cynical, possessive side to him that he hates, but I don't believe he ever actually hurts Ema outright. Honestly that's really all just Fuuto.
Yuusuke: Ema’s classmate in school, Yuusuke has been crushing on her for a while now. Unfortunately he is a tsundere who is distinctly unable to deal with his secret crush becoming his new sister and ends up confusingly lashing out in awkwardness at her. He’s hot-tempered and looks like a delinquent, with grades to match, but he’s an honest and kind guy at heart. He feels a bit awkward being surrounded by his very capable brothers, particularly Fuuto. Age: 16
Fuuto: In his last year of middle school when the game begins, Fuuto is actually he most famous and successful brother, being a wildly popular idol that one of Ema’s friends adores. However, despite his friendly onscreen personality, in reality Fuuto is sharp-tongued and arrogant, and has a distinct sadistic side, soon becoming possessive of Ema and deliberately pushing past her boundaries. He likes to mess with Yuusuke, and projects a general aura of superiority. He’s usually a pretty controversial character among English-speaking fans. Age: 14 (Kayla, the translator, doesn't like him and so may not ever translate him.)
Wataru: A primary schooler and the youngest brother, Wataru is ususally looked after by Masaomi, who acts more like his father than brother. Wataru acts very immature, more like a six-year-old than a ten-year-old, and likes to play around and eat sweets. From what I’ve heard, most of his route is just Ema looking after him like an older sister, but the end DOES imply that they eventually start dating, so… naturally this route is ALSO pretty controversial among English fans. (Not sure how JP fans feel.) Age: 10 (The translator has stated she doesn't want to translate his route.)
Ema: The main character! Basically your typical good girl who likes to help people but can be pretty oblivious to other people's feelings. Even though she's the one asking the guys out on dates and giving them presents she gets flustered easily when they flirt with her. Enjoys playing games in her free time and doesn't always study as much as she should. Age: 16
Juli: Not a brother, but a very important character! He's the cute-looking squirrel you might see on Ema's shoulder, and despite his appearance he's actually a quite bossy and blunt guy. He's extremely protective of Ema and tends to get mad when they try to get too close, always warning her that she's too trusting of them. He also often scolds Ema as well for not studying etc. However, he sincerely loves Ema with all his heart and is a trusted friend to her. Ema is the only person who can hear him talk - that is, until they meet Louis, who can not only understand him somehow but ends up becoming his friend, too. Age: ???
As I said above, Tsubaki was the first route to be fully translated, and then Masaomi was voted to be the second. Once Masaomi's epilogue video comes out, a third boy will be voted on for translating. Last time, Natsume was very close to being the winner, so he's the frontrunner for this next vote. However, Louis also placed quite high and could potentially win it.
And for final information, the VN was adapted into an anime a couple years after the game came out! I've only seen the first few episodes and my thoughts are 1) the 'nonsequential mini-events' story format of the game does NOT translate very well to anime, 2) having all the guys go after her while she stays neutral so as not to pick a boy til the end makes it a bit... frustrating?, and 3) I reaaaally like the soft and gentle art style of the game but I'm not sure it translates well to animation. But welp - it's definitely also an option!
OH one last thing I forgot to add! To those of you out there like 'but... they're her brothers, right? Isn't that weird?' Then, well - kinda? Obviously, none of them are blood related to her, and they don't meet until she's sixteen, so well out of Westermark effect territory. And since the game takes place over a year, they don't really have enough time to get completely settled as siblings before developing feelings. (Other than Wataru potentially but he's a special case haha;;) However, Ema at least does believe that she should see them as her brothers and tends to respond like 'N-no! We're supposed to be siblings!' once the romance kicks in. It does sorta feel more like her worrying that she's breaking a rule or something rather than actually personally being uncomfortable with it. Still - if stepbrothers are a big squick for you, this is not the game for you!! If you don't always mind them, though, then this seems like a generally pretty inoffensive case all around.
Okay! I hope this post has given a pretty good introduction, so anyone who might've been interested will have a good idea at this point whether to check it out. It definitely won't be for all otoge players, but for those looking for a sweet, low-conflict everyday romance (who don't mind stepsibling romance), I'd definitely recommend it!
no subject
Date: 2020-09-23 14:21 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-30 02:02 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-23 16:26 (UTC)I think I might want to check this out at some point.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-30 02:03 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-02 01:57 (UTC)