Samurai Love Ballad: Party: Kaede/Sogo
Masterlist and guide
I've now seen most of the existing content in English for the bigender-ish love interest Kaede/Sogo: Evanescent Moonlight, The Pale Moon's Embrace, and Kaede/Sogo's Birthday 2020
I have complicated feelings: Afaict, based on my shaky grasp of Japanese gender tropes, the writers are deliberately writing the character as non binary (or at least readable that way) and trying to be sensitive about it. But I'm a bit iffy on the specifics.
But even a flawed cute non-binary ninja LI is still fun. Also they're apparently getting a route in the Japanese version in June!!
Thanks to @chrry and @waterscroll for the youtube links, and for this guide, which helped me accrue enough pearls to pay the ridiculous cost of the birthday stories without spending any real world money.
So! These all seem to be set one after the other, in a slight AU of the Shadow Prologue. MC and Kaede grew up as childhood friends in their secret ninja village in 16th century Japan. Kaede is kind and affectionate and Fabulously Into Fashion. MC thinks she is a cis woman.
Kaede/Sogo had two event stories before I started playing the game, which I have now watched on Youtube.
Evanescent Moonlight
This is my favourite and is super cute. Kaede "cross-dresses" as their male identity Sogo so they can be FAKE MARRIED SPIES with MC. The two of them make for a very sweet, happy fake married couple. Sogo has a deeper voice than Kaede, and is less Fabulous, but they're otherwise pretty similar.
They bond by MURDERING BAD GUYS TOGETHER :D :D
MC: OH NO KAEDE IS HOT AS A DUDE. SELF, SHE IS YOUR FEMALE CHILDHOOD FRIEND!!
MC: OH NO KAEDE IS NOW ALSO HOT AS A GIRL???
MC is a bit "but she's a girl?", but mostly assumes Kaede isn't interested because it's Just Fake Dating, which is fair.
MC: Whether you're dressed as a man or a woman, my heart always races around you...
Kaede: What?
MC: Because you're so attractive... I MEAN COMPETENT. I WANT TO BE A COOL COMPETENT WOMAN LIKE YOU.... BYE! *literally runs away*
:D
Later...
Kaede: I should tell you....I'm a man.
MC: You want to live as a man? Then go for it!
Kaede: No, Sogo is the real me and Kaede is the disguise.
MC: Oh. Um. I don't want to say the wrong thing, this is a lot to process. (internally: Kaede isn't real? D: )
Kaede: Well, I told a half truth. Maybe they're both me.
Afaict they were raised as a girl to hide them being the chief's heir. This leaves wiggle room for those players who want to see Sogo as a man who crossdresses for Reasons, which...eh.
But even if MC thinking Kaede might be a trans man is a bit anachronistic I still found her being cool with the idea really charming. And like, I realise Japan has different attitudes to, and roles for, female presenting amab people than Australia, and I'm sure I'm not entirely getting what's going on here. But compared to other female presenting amab love interests in otome and shoujo that I've seen, I do feel like the writers are aiming for something at least in the vicinity of non-binary, and trying to be respectful, with an awareness of real trans/gnc people.
MC decides she feels the same way about Kaede/Sogo regardless of gender or sex: a beloved and disconcertingly hot friend. But she's still processing the whole thing, so for now will put her feelings aside and focus on keeping their village safe.
Would have preferred a big smooch and romantic ending, but it's still pretty cute.
The Pale Moon's Embrace
This was a bit more unfortunate, if still largely sweet.
MC is feeling weird around Kaede, wondering if she should be being more distant/reserved like she would around a man. So Kaede is all "I lied about being a man", MC is confused but accepts it.
But then! There is a fight with other ninja and Kaede's kimono is cut, revealing her chest! MC is all "So you lied about lying??" and then, idk, there's some angst that made me feel weird.
But it ends with MC realising Kaede was just trying to make her feel comfortable. She accepts Kaede/Sogo for who they are, and that she is in love with them.
Kaede tells MC that she's in love with her too, and MC is very happy but they don't quite get together, because MC wants to make sure they really get how gender and identity work for Kaede/Sogo first (and also they're still busy with ninjas trying to kill them etc)
And I mean...I like that MC is written as wanting to understand and be sensitive towards their LI's complex gender issues. But also it feels a bit like cowardice on the part of the writers. Dating trans people isn't that complicated or scary. Also, having a trans character be a Liar whose Lie Is Revealed When Their Body is Exposed is...not great.
Now for the birthday stories! These cost 22 pearls, which is completely ridiculous: pearls cost about $1 to buy, and the two stories are about the same length as post-event epilogues, which cost two pearls.
But since I had 22 pearls, and nothing better to spend them on, I paid it anyway. Which I don't regret! But damn were these stories not worth 22 actual dollars.
Even if I did get a cute lil Sogo to put on my character's shoulder:
One nice thing is that all the characters (not just MC and Kaede/Sogo) and ad copy use they/them pronouns and other gender-neutral language when talking about Sogo/Kaede as a whole.
Kaede:
This is from Kaede's point of view! She takes MC out for her birthday and spends the whole silently overcome by how SUPER INTO MC she is, sexually and romantically.
It was pretty cute, and kinda hot, but by the end I couldn't tell if they were very close femslashy friends, or if they were in a relationship but Kaede felt like she shouldn't act on her feelings for some reason.
Sogo:
This is from MC's POV. She tries to figure out what to get Sogo for his birthday. This was also pretty cute, and MC flashes back to a conversation with Kaede in a way that makes it clear she thinks of them as the same person and feels the same way towards them both.
Again I wasn't sure for most of this if they were in a relationship or just very close friends, but then at the end they give each other sexy hand-massages and kiss.
Which I would have enjoyed if I hadn't just played the previous story, but now I'm a bit annoyed. Why the weird double standard? Do the writers think their players are only ok with mutual f/f attraction if it never gets acted on on-screen?
Like I can understand glossing over sex/nudity involving Kaede because that could be complicated to write. BUT SHOW ME A KISS.
I reread the end of the Kaede story and I think they are together. Kaede thinks MC deserves to be cherished and tamps down her desire to do "certain things" with MC, so I guess it's all consistent if they're at the stage of kissing, but not sex, and Kaede/Sogo doesn't want to rush things. Hmm. Still felt a bit Queer Women As Pining Oversexed Creeps compared to the more straightforwardly shippy Sogo interactions (I have more often seen this with (cis) lesbian characters in shoujo but it definitely happens to trans women too). But now I'm pondering how I'd have read the scenes if Sogo and Kaede were swapped.
Anyway, I still overall am glad Kaede/Sogo exists and think Voltage are doing a mostly ok job with them, especially considering that this is an otome game.
Poking the tag on tumblr I came across stuff from the Japanese version of the game: A sexy looking story which, given the timing, I assume is the same as this birthday set. I guess we're plausibly a year behind, and will thus get Kaede/Sogo's full route in June 2021 ;_;
This entry was originally posted at https://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/779333.html. There are
comments.
I've now seen most of the existing content in English for the bigender-ish love interest Kaede/Sogo: Evanescent Moonlight, The Pale Moon's Embrace, and Kaede/Sogo's Birthday 2020
I have complicated feelings: Afaict, based on my shaky grasp of Japanese gender tropes, the writers are deliberately writing the character as non binary (or at least readable that way) and trying to be sensitive about it. But I'm a bit iffy on the specifics.
But even a flawed cute non-binary ninja LI is still fun. Also they're apparently getting a route in the Japanese version in June!!
Thanks to @chrry and @waterscroll for the youtube links, and for this guide, which helped me accrue enough pearls to pay the ridiculous cost of the birthday stories without spending any real world money.
So! These all seem to be set one after the other, in a slight AU of the Shadow Prologue. MC and Kaede grew up as childhood friends in their secret ninja village in 16th century Japan. Kaede is kind and affectionate and Fabulously Into Fashion. MC thinks she is a cis woman.
Kaede/Sogo had two event stories before I started playing the game, which I have now watched on Youtube.
Evanescent Moonlight
This is my favourite and is super cute. Kaede "cross-dresses" as their male identity Sogo so they can be FAKE MARRIED SPIES with MC. The two of them make for a very sweet, happy fake married couple. Sogo has a deeper voice than Kaede, and is less Fabulous, but they're otherwise pretty similar.
They bond by MURDERING BAD GUYS TOGETHER :D :D
MC: OH NO KAEDE IS HOT AS A DUDE. SELF, SHE IS YOUR FEMALE CHILDHOOD FRIEND!!
MC: OH NO KAEDE IS NOW ALSO HOT AS A GIRL???
MC is a bit "but she's a girl?", but mostly assumes Kaede isn't interested because it's Just Fake Dating, which is fair.
MC: Whether you're dressed as a man or a woman, my heart always races around you...
Kaede: What?
MC: Because you're so attractive... I MEAN COMPETENT. I WANT TO BE A COOL COMPETENT WOMAN LIKE YOU.... BYE! *literally runs away*
:D
Later...
Kaede: I should tell you....I'm a man.
MC: You want to live as a man? Then go for it!
Kaede: No, Sogo is the real me and Kaede is the disguise.
MC: Oh. Um. I don't want to say the wrong thing, this is a lot to process. (internally: Kaede isn't real? D: )
Kaede: Well, I told a half truth. Maybe they're both me.
Afaict they were raised as a girl to hide them being the chief's heir. This leaves wiggle room for those players who want to see Sogo as a man who crossdresses for Reasons, which...eh.
But even if MC thinking Kaede might be a trans man is a bit anachronistic I still found her being cool with the idea really charming. And like, I realise Japan has different attitudes to, and roles for, female presenting amab people than Australia, and I'm sure I'm not entirely getting what's going on here. But compared to other female presenting amab love interests in otome and shoujo that I've seen, I do feel like the writers are aiming for something at least in the vicinity of non-binary, and trying to be respectful, with an awareness of real trans/gnc people.
MC decides she feels the same way about Kaede/Sogo regardless of gender or sex: a beloved and disconcertingly hot friend. But she's still processing the whole thing, so for now will put her feelings aside and focus on keeping their village safe.
Would have preferred a big smooch and romantic ending, but it's still pretty cute.
The Pale Moon's Embrace
This was a bit more unfortunate, if still largely sweet.
MC is feeling weird around Kaede, wondering if she should be being more distant/reserved like she would around a man. So Kaede is all "I lied about being a man", MC is confused but accepts it.
But then! There is a fight with other ninja and Kaede's kimono is cut, revealing her chest! MC is all "So you lied about lying??" and then, idk, there's some angst that made me feel weird.
But it ends with MC realising Kaede was just trying to make her feel comfortable. She accepts Kaede/Sogo for who they are, and that she is in love with them.
Kaede tells MC that she's in love with her too, and MC is very happy but they don't quite get together, because MC wants to make sure they really get how gender and identity work for Kaede/Sogo first (and also they're still busy with ninjas trying to kill them etc)
And I mean...I like that MC is written as wanting to understand and be sensitive towards their LI's complex gender issues. But also it feels a bit like cowardice on the part of the writers. Dating trans people isn't that complicated or scary. Also, having a trans character be a Liar whose Lie Is Revealed When Their Body is Exposed is...not great.
Now for the birthday stories! These cost 22 pearls, which is completely ridiculous: pearls cost about $1 to buy, and the two stories are about the same length as post-event epilogues, which cost two pearls.
But since I had 22 pearls, and nothing better to spend them on, I paid it anyway. Which I don't regret! But damn were these stories not worth 22 actual dollars.
Even if I did get a cute lil Sogo to put on my character's shoulder:
One nice thing is that all the characters (not just MC and Kaede/Sogo) and ad copy use they/them pronouns and other gender-neutral language when talking about Sogo/Kaede as a whole.
Kaede:
This is from Kaede's point of view! She takes MC out for her birthday and spends the whole silently overcome by how SUPER INTO MC she is, sexually and romantically.
It was pretty cute, and kinda hot, but by the end I couldn't tell if they were very close femslashy friends, or if they were in a relationship but Kaede felt like she shouldn't act on her feelings for some reason.
Sogo:
This is from MC's POV. She tries to figure out what to get Sogo for his birthday. This was also pretty cute, and MC flashes back to a conversation with Kaede in a way that makes it clear she thinks of them as the same person and feels the same way towards them both.
Again I wasn't sure for most of this if they were in a relationship or just very close friends, but then at the end they give each other sexy hand-massages and kiss.
Which I would have enjoyed if I hadn't just played the previous story, but now I'm a bit annoyed. Why the weird double standard? Do the writers think their players are only ok with mutual f/f attraction if it never gets acted on on-screen?
Like I can understand glossing over sex/nudity involving Kaede because that could be complicated to write. BUT SHOW ME A KISS.
I reread the end of the Kaede story and I think they are together. Kaede thinks MC deserves to be cherished and tamps down her desire to do "certain things" with MC, so I guess it's all consistent if they're at the stage of kissing, but not sex, and Kaede/Sogo doesn't want to rush things. Hmm. Still felt a bit Queer Women As Pining Oversexed Creeps compared to the more straightforwardly shippy Sogo interactions (I have more often seen this with (cis) lesbian characters in shoujo but it definitely happens to trans women too). But now I'm pondering how I'd have read the scenes if Sogo and Kaede were swapped.
Anyway, I still overall am glad Kaede/Sogo exists and think Voltage are doing a mostly ok job with them, especially considering that this is an otome game.
Poking the tag on tumblr I came across stuff from the Japanese version of the game: A sexy looking story which, given the timing, I assume is the same as this birthday set. I guess we're plausibly a year behind, and will thus get Kaede/Sogo's full route in June 2021 ;_;
This entry was originally posted at https://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/779333.html. There are
comments.