Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru

, commonly known as , is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Caramel Box and released on January 28, 2005 playable on Windows PCs. The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable (PSP) with the adult content removed. The Windows version was released in English by MangaGamer in 2012. The story follows the life of Mizuho Miyanokouji, an androgynous male high school student, who transfers into an all-girls school due to his grandfather's will.

The gameplay in ''Otoboku'' follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the six female main characters by the player character. The game ranked as the second best-selling PC game sold in Japan for the time of its release, and charted in the national top 50 several more times afterwards. Caramel Box went on to produce two fan discs released in 2005 and 2007 in ''Caramel Box Yarukibako'' and ''Caramel Box Yarukibako 2'', respectively. Caramel Box later produced a sequel to ''Otoboku'' titled ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: Futari no Elder'', released on June 30, 2010 playable on Windows PCs. ''Futari no Elder'' was ported to the PSP with the adult content removed. The story follows Chihaya Kisakinomiya, an androgynous male, who transfers into the all-girls school that was the setting of ''Otoboku''. A third ''Otoboku'' game titled ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: Trinkle Stars'' was released on February 23, 2018 playable on Windows PCs.

A manga adaptation of ''Otoboku'' was serialized in ASCII Media Works' ''Dengeki Daioh'', and a manga adaptation of ''Futari no Elder'' was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's ''Comp Ace''. Comic anthologies, light novels and art books were also published, as were audio dramas and several music albums. A 12-episode ''Otoboku'' anime produced by Feel aired in Japanese between October and December 2006, and an extra original video animation (OVA) episode was released in April 2007. Media Blasters licensed the anime and released the series in three DVD volumes. The ''Otoboku'' anime was generally panned in reviews at Anime News Network where the series was described as "cruelly unimaginative" with "obnoxious quirks and technical shortcomings". In a review of the anime by Mania Entertainment, the series is thought to be "very predictable and bland". A three-episode OVA adaptation of ''Futari no Elder'' produced by Silver Link was released between August and October 2012. An OVA adaptation of ''Trinkle Stars'' produced by EXNOA with animation by Blue Bread was released in January 2022.

Gameplay

''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru'' is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Mizuho Miyanokouji. Its gameplay requires little player interaction as much of the game's duration is spent on reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents the story's narrative and dialogue. ''Otoboku'' follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction.

There are six main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. Every so often, the player will come to a point where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. Text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction. Each scenario is divided into eight episodes, one interlude episode and an epilogue. At the end of an episode, an announcement of the next episode appears showing a preview of what is to consist in the next episode. Each episode takes place within the span of one month between June and March from episode one through the epilogue. The interlude episode is placed between the second and third episodes.

In the adult versions of the game, there are scenes with sexual CGs depicting Mizuho and a given heroine having sex. When the game was ported to the PlayStation 2 (PS2) console, the gameplay was somewhat altered. The PS2 version, and later the PlayStation Portable (PSP) version, both had the sexual content removed, and in these versions there is no evidence that physical relationships actually take place between any of the students.

There are ten additional sub episodes and a special sub episode. The CD and DVD Windows editions contain four sub episodes, the fan disc ''Caramel Box Yarukibako'' contains four sub episodes and a special episode, '' Caramel Box Yarukibako 2'' contains two sub episodes, and the PS2 version contains six sub episodes, though the order in which they appeared was altered.

In ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: Futari no Elder'', the player assumes the roles of the main protagonist Chihaya Kisakinomiya and the secondary character Kaoruko Nanahara. There are six main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. In the adult versions of ''Futari no Elder'', there are scenes with sexual CGs depicting Chihaya and a given heroine having sex. The gameplay is somewhat altered in the PSP version. The PSP version has the sexual content removed, the scenarios of Utano Sasou and Kaori Kamichika that appeared in the Windows version are removed, and it contains newly added scenarios of You Kashiwagi and Hatsune Minase. There are three additional sub episodes in the Windows version of ''Futari no Elder''.

Plot

Setting

The primary setting is at a private all-girls school named Seio Girls' Academy, also called Seio Jogakuin Christian Education, which was founded in 1886 by Mizuho's ancestor. Seio was originally named , which was used in original Windows version, the drama CD of the visual novel, and for the ''Caramel Box Yarukibako'' fan disc. This name was later ascertained to be similar to a name of an actual school, and the school's name was changed to . Seio is used in the PlayStation 2 version, DVD Windows edition, ''Caramel Box Yarukibako Fukkoku-ban'' and anime series. The secondary setting is at a dormitory building named , which Mizuho, Mariya, Yukari and Kana are boarding at. There are four other former dormitories named Tsubaki-yakata, Enoki-yakata, Hisagi-yakata and Hiiragi-yakata.

Main characters

The player assumes the role of Mizuho Miyanokouji, the protagonist of ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru''. He is a kind high school student who impersonates a girl at an all-girls school, which he transfers into per his grandfather's will. He spends his time with many fellow attendees, some of which live in the nearby dormitory, and enjoys helping them with any problems they may have. His childhood friend Mariya Mikado attends the school with him, and helps in his female transition. She has a spirited personality with a bit of a temper, and has been a support for Mizuho in the past. Mizuho meets a classmate named Shion Jujo who has a silent voice and demeanor; she quickly figures out that Mizuho is actually a boy, but tells no one. The previous year, she had to be hospitalized soon after she was elected as the Elder due to an illness.

At the dormitory lives an energetic first-year student named Yukari Kamioka. She is on the track and field team along with Mariya, who is her , and has low confidence in her ability to run. Another first-year at the dormitory named Kana Suoin meets Mizuho on the day he moves in, and soon after Mizuho becomes her ''Oneesama''. Kana is more than happy to serve Mizuho any way she can, since she admires him immensely. A hyperactive ghost resides in Mizuho's room named Ichiko Takashima and is shown to speak very fast when excited. She says that Mizuho looks very much like her previous Elder love interest, who turns out to be Mizuho's deceased mother. The student council president at Seio is Takako Itsukushima who tends to have a serious personality.

Story

''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru'' revolves around the main protagonist Mizuho Miyanokouji, a male high school student. After Mizuho's grandfather dies, his will is reviewed, which explains his desire to have his grandson transfer to Seio Girls' Academy, the same one his own mother attended and his ancestors founded. Abiding by the will, Mizuho cross-dresses to attend the school. The headmistress, the deputy head teacher (visual novel only), Mizuho's homeroom teacher Hisako Kajiura and Mariya Mikado initially know his secret; Shion Jujo and Ichiko Takashima also eventually find this out. Mizuho is very popular among the other students, who often talk about how pretty, nice, and athletic Mizuho is. This rampant popularity escalates to him even being nominated against his will to join in on the Elder election. By these terms, the current student council president, Takako Itsukushima, runs against Mizuho.

The Elder election is an old tradition at Seio Girls' Academy where every June one of the students is elected by her peers to be the "Elder", who is seen as the number one "Elder Sister" in the school. Until her graduation, she is referred to by her peers as . To become an Elder, a candidate must gain at least 75% of the votes. If none of the candidates get at least 75% in the first round of voting, one of the candidates hands over her votes to another candidate, and the candidate who finally obtains at least 75% of the votes becomes the Elder. If there is no one else in the election, the current year's student council president becomes the Elder. In ''Otoboku'', Mizuho gains 82% of the votes in the first round, effectively becoming the 72nd Elder in the school's history. After becoming Elder, Mizuho progressively gets more popular among the student body, since he is now a symbol of the school's excellence. In the following months, Mizuho starts to get to know some of the girls better and helps them with their problems.

''Futari no Elder''

''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: Futari no Elder'' is written from the viewpoints of main character Chihaya Kisakinomiya and secondary character Kaoruko Nanahara. ''Futari no Elder'' begins about two years after Mizuho's graduation. The main protagonist Chihaya Mikado was truant at his school because of harassment in the school and of a distrust in men. His mother cannot bear to watch him be in trouble, so she makes him transfer to Seio Girls' Academy, her old school. He dresses as a girl and introduces himself as Chihaya Kisakinomiya. Chihaya meets another protagonist Kaoruko Nanahara, who once rescued him from a playboy, and he begins to live in the dormitory building. He becomes the focus of public attention due to his attractive face and figure, and due to high grades at studies.

In the 75th Elder election, there are four finalists; Hatsune Minase hands over her votes to Kaoruko and Makiyo Shingyouji hands over her votes to Chihaya. Then Chihaya and Kaoruko gain the same votes of 368 together. Though a candidate which gains 75% or more of the votes becomes the Elder, Hatsune, as the student council president, proposes that both Chihaya and Kaoruko become the Elders; the motion is adopted unanimously. This is the first time there have been two Elders in the history of Seio Girls' Academy.

Development

''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru'' is the fourth visual novel developed by Caramel Box. The scenario is written by Aya Takaya, and this was the first time Takaya was staffed on a Caramel Box game. Art direction and character design is done by Norita, who was staffed on Caramel Box's debut release ''Blue'' as an artist. The super deformed illustrations featured in ''Otoboku'' were drawn by the game illustrator Yoda. The music was composed by the music team Zizz Studio.

The original title uses the kanji , which means "virgin", but is very close to the word for "young lady", '' shōjo''. The creators added furigana subscript to indicate they wanted it read "otome" meaning "young maiden". Additionally, furigana was added above to indicate that they wanted it read "boku". Despite the different kanji, the official reading is "Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru". When the game was ported to the PlayStation 2, it was rewritten as with the same pronunciation of "Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru", which uses the actual kanji. The latter name was kept for the manga and anime releases.

Release history

A free game demo of ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru'' can be downloaded at the game's official website. The game was released as an adult game on January 28, 2005 as a limited edition, playable on a Windows PC as a 2-disc CD-ROM set. The limited edition came bundled with a special story book entitled ''Tsunderera''. The regular edition was released on February 18, 2005, and one select lot of this version contained a limited edition sticker. An updated version with full voice acting was released on April 28, 2006 as a DVD. Another updated version compatible for Windows Vista/ 7 was released on May 27, 2011. The Windows version of ''Otoboku'' was released in English by MangaGamer on November 23, 2012.

Caramel Box released a fan disc of ''Otoboku'' on June 24, 2005 in a collection called ''Caramel Box Yarukibako'', which contained additional scenarios that furthered the story from the original visual novel; the fan disc came with a small figurine. The collection was re-released under the title ''Caramel Box Yarukibako Fukkoku-ban'' on January 26, 2007. A second fan disc was released on October 19, 2007 in the collection '' Caramel Box Yarukibako 2'', which again contained additional scenarios. Alchemist released a PlayStation 2 port on December 29, 2005, which removed the adult elements of the game. Additional scenarios were included in the PS2 version written by Kiichi Kanō. A version of the adult game featuring only Sion's scenario playable on iOS devices was released in six volumes between March 29 and June 4, 2010. A PlayStation Portable (PSP) version titled ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru Portable'' was released on April 29, 2010 by Alchemist.

Sequel

A sequel to the visual novel titled was released as an adult game on June 30, 2010 as a limited edition, playable on a Windows PC as a DVD. The same staff that worked on ''Otoboku'' returned for the sequel. The limited edition came bundled with a 96-page guide book, an original card from the Lycèe Trading Card Game, and an original pouch. A free game demo of ''Futari no Elder'' can be downloaded at the game's official website. The regular edition was released on July 30, 2010. Settings and characters from ''Sakura no Sono no Étoile'', a novel written by the scriptwriter of ''Otoboku'' as a sequel to Takako's story, appear in ''Futari no Elder''. Also, the release date of June 30 coincides in-story with the day of the election day of the 75th Elder sister. A PSP version titled ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru Portable: Futari no Elder'' was released on April 28, 2011 by Alchemist. A downloadable version of the PSP release via the PlayStation Store was released by Alchemist on December 1, 2011.

A second sequel titled was released as an adult game on February 23, 2018 for Windows PC.

Related media

Novels

Two novels written based on the original game written by Saki Murakami and published by Paradigm were released in Japan in June and August 2005. The first released was centering on Sion, with the second entitled centering on Takako. These novels contain erotic content. A single volume titled ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru'' written by Chihiro Minagawa with accompanying illustrations by Ume Aoi was published by Jive in August 2005, and centers on Takako's scenario. Sion's scenario was ported to the iPhone as an e-book between March 29 and June 4, 2010 by DML. A semi official ''dōjin'' novel was written by the original scenario writer for the game, Aya Takaya, called , with illustrations by the original game artist Norita. The novel contains a two short stories that is a sequel of Takako's scenario, and Kana and Yukari have little sisters. The revised and completed edition of the ''dōjin'' novel was published as an official novel by Enterbrain on December 25, 2007.

Three volumes based on ''Futari no Elder'' were written by Tasuku Saiga and published by Paradigm between September 30, 2010 and January 19, 2011. The first volume centers on Kaoruko Nanahara, the second is around Kaori Kamichika, and the third centers on Utano Sasou. A single volume written by Reiji Mai titled was published by Kill Time Communication on December 3, 2010. These four novels contain erotic content. Three volumes written by Aya Takaya were released by SoftBank Creative between December 15, 2010 and January 15, 2012. The first volume titled is the story until Chihaya Kisakinomiya and Kaoruko Nanahara are elected as Elders; the second titled is the story until the end of first term and it mainly focuses Kaoruko Nanahara, You Kashiwagi and Hatsune Minase; and the third titled is the story between summer vacation and September and it mainly focuses Awayuki Reizei and Utano Sasou. There were five novels published by Multi Bunko between June 30, 2011 and March 29, 2012: three volumes written by Tasuku Saiga are around Utano Sasou, Fumi Watarai and Awayuki Reizei; one volume written by Ricotta is around Kaoruko Nanahara; and a volume written by Mitsuru Iiyama is not dependent on any heroine's scenario. These eight novels are not erotic.

Manga

A manga adaptation is illustrated by Kanao Araki and was serialized in ASCII Media Works' magazine ''Dengeki Daioh'' between the November 2006 and August 2008 issues in Japan. Two ''tankōbon'' volumes were released under ASCII Media Works' '' Dengeki Comics'' imprint, the first on August 27, 2007 and the second on September 27, 2008. A four panel comic strip manga was published by Enterbrain in 12 comics anthologies released between March 26, 2007 and March 25, 2009.

A manga adaptation of ''Futari no Elder'' illustrated by Akuru Uira was serialized between the July 2010 and February 2012 issues of Kadokawa Shoten's ''Comp Ace''. Three volumes were published between November 26, 2010 and January 26, 2012. Three volumes of a four panel, comic strip manga of ''Futari no Elder'' were published by Enterbrain between September 26, 2010 and January 29, 2011. Two comic anthologies were released by Ichijinsha between October 25 and November 25, 2010.

Internet radio show

An Internet radio show to promote the anime series was broadcast between October 5, 2006 and March 27, 2008 called the . It aired every Thursday hosted by Miyu Matsuki and Yuko Goto who played Sion Jujo and Ichiko Takashima in the anime, respectively; it was produced by Animate TV. There are thirteen corners, or parts, to the program which correspond to the general life of the characters in the story, and 74 episodes were produced. There were several guests to the show such as Chiaki Takahashi in episodes six and seven as Takako Itsukushima, Akemi Kanda in episodes eleven and twelve as Kana Suoin, Ayano Matsumoto in episodes fifteen and sixteen as Yukari Kamioka, and Madoka Kimura in episodes nineteen and twenty as Kimie Sugawara. The radio show episodes were released on four CDs released between May 9, 2007 and February 6, 2008.

Anime

An anime adaptation is produced by the animation studio Feel, written by Katsumi Hasegawa, directed by Munenori Nawa, and features character design by Noriko Shimazawa who based the designs on Norita's original concept. The anime contained twelve episodes which aired between October 6 and December 24, 2006 on several UHF networks including TV Kanagawa and Chiba TV. The episodes were released on four DVD compilations released in Japan as limited and regular editions. A single original video animation (OVA) episode was released on the final limited edition DVD on April 4, 2007. Media Blasters released the series, including the OVA, as English-subtitled DVDs between June 24 and October 7, 2008 under the title ''Otoboku: Maidens Are Falling For Me!''.

A three-episode OVA adaptation of ''Futari no Elder'' is produced by the animation studio Silver Link, directed by Shinya Kawatsura, written by Michiko Yokote, and features character design by Keiichi Sano who based the designs on Norita's original concept. The episodes were released on three Blu-ray Disc/DVD volumes between August 29 and October 24, 2012.

An OVA adaptation of ''Trinkle Stars'' is produced by EXNOA with animation by Blue Bread, directed by Fumio Ito, written by Misato Tōsaka, and features character design by Tatsuya Takahashi who based the designs on Norita's original concept. It was originally set to be released on December 24, 2021, but was delayed to January 28, 2022 due to production issues.

Music and audio CDs

The ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru'' visual novel has three theme songs: the opening theme "You Make My Day!" by Yuria, the ending theme by Yui Sakakibara, and by Sakakibara as an insert song. The original soundtrack for the visual novel titled ''Maiden's Rest'' was released in Japan on February 25, 2005 by Digiturbo. The ''Futari no Elder'' visual novel has four theme songs: an opening theme, an ending theme, and two insert songs. For the Windows version of ''Futari no Elder'', the opening theme is by Yuria, and the ending theme is by Aki Misato. For the PSP version of ''Futari no Elder'', the opening theme is "Crystal Wish" by Miyuki Hashimoto, and the ending theme is by Shiori. The insert songs, both sung by Sakakibara, are and . An album was released containing the theme songs for the Windows version of ''Futari no Elder'' on May 26, 2010 by Lantis. A single was released containing the theme songs for the PSP version of ''Futari no Elder'' on April 27, 2011 by Lantis.

Two singles were released for the opening and ending themes for the anime adaptation. The first called "Love Power" by Aice⁵ contained the opening theme of the same name. The other single entitled "Again" by Yui Sakakibara contained the ending theme entitled "Beautiful Day". The A-side track from that single entitled "Again" was used as an insert song in episode eleven. Both singles were released on October 25, 2006 by King Records. The soundtrack for the anime was released on November 22, 2006 by King Records. Three character image song albums were released sung by voice actors from the anime adaptation. The first album was by Yui Horie as Mizuho Miyanokouji, Miyu Matsuki as Sion Jujo and Masumi Asano as Mariya Mikado. The second album featured Ayano Matsumoto as Yukari Kamioka, Akemi Kanda as Kana Suoin and Yuko Goto as Ichiko Takashima. The third album was recorded by Chiaki Takahashi as Takako Itsukushima, Madoka Kimura as Kimie Sugawara and Yui Sakakibara as Hisako Kajiura. These CDs were released between July 26 and September 21, 2006.

Seven drama CDs based on ''Otoboku'' have also been produced. The first was based on the visual novel and was released on September 22, 2005. Four more based on the ''Otoboku'' anime adaptation were released between October 25, 2006 and April 11, 2007. A drama CD based on the novel ''Sakura no Sono no Étoile'' was released on January 29, 2010. The last one was based on a special episode contained in the fan disc ''Caramel Box Yarukibako'' with voice actors from anime adaptation released on January 29, 2010.

Reception

According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru'' limited edition Windows release premiered at number two in the rankings. The limited edition achieved a ranking of four out of 50 in the ranking for the next two weeks. The regular edition Windows release premiered at number six in the rankings, and stayed in the top 50 for a month and a half until mid-April 2005. The regular edition was again in the rankings for May 2005, managing to rank in at 38 and 49. The ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru'' Windows edition playable as a DVD premiered at number 13 in the rankings and stayed at that rank for the next listing. The DVD edition ranked twice more over the next month: the first at 43 and the last at 33. From May to June 2010, ''Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: Futari no Elder'' ranked third in national PC game pre-orders in Japan. ''Futari no Elder'' ranked second in terms of national sales of PC games in Japan in June 2010.

The first two anime DVD volumes released by Media Blasters were reviewed by Anime News Network. In the review of the first DVD, the reviewer Carl Kimlinger generally panned the volume, commenting how the three episodes were "cruelly unimaginative" where "afterwards it's one long slide into a torturous hell of girls' school tripe where not even humor or romance can pierce the veil of pain." The Catholic girls' school premise is likened to ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' and ''Strawberry Panic!'', and is considered to be used "merely as visual spice". For the second DVD volume, Kimlinger wrote that "while the onslaught of squealing, caffeinated moe-bait has abated somewhat in its ferocity, a sagging of the already listlessly undirected plot ensures that the series' sophomore outing is only marginally more tolerable than the first." Further, the series is described as having "obnoxious quirks and technical shortcomings".

The first two anime DVD volumes released by Media Blasters were also reviewed by Mania Entertainment. In the review of the first DVD, the reviewer Chris Beveridge felt the anime reminded him of "parts of '' Princess Princess'', especially when it came to the Elder status piece. It's even reminiscent of ''Strawberry Panic'' in this way." The series is described as "all about the "moe" factor, bringing about an atmosphere that makes you like the characters, care about them and feel good about seeing them interact. It does it well even if it doesn't have an amazing hook." For the second DVD volume, Beveridge commented that the series continues to be "very predictable and bland" which is "at this point fun but entirely forgettable". Beveridge also wrote how "the characters are all pleasant, nicely designed and with mildly interesting personalities that could lead to something more but never does."

Notes and references

* Sion is officially romanized in the Kunrei-shiki manner, instead of the more common Hepburn manner.

External links

*''Otoboku''
*
Official website
at Caramel Box
*
Official website
at MangaGamer
*
PS2 official website
at Alchemist
*
PSP official website
at Alchemist
*
Anime official website

**
**
* ''Futari no Elder''
*

at Caramel Box
*

at Alchemist
*


**
* ''Trinkle Stars''
*
Official website
at Caramel Box
*


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