Ou no Mimi ni Todokenai
Entry posted by Clephas
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Now, I've said this several times before, but AXL is a company that reuses its art, music, and character designs/features heavily. As such, I rate their games solely based on plot/story and how those elements are used (in other words, jackasses who point out the somewhat dated art style and recycled music can go sodomize themselves with a pickle for all I care). Unless you are a bigot who absolutely has to have the latest art styles, this shouldn't be something that bothers you anyway.
Ou no Mimi is a medieval fantasy done in the same style as Princess Frontier and several other of AXL's earlier games. In this case, it centers on the protagonist, Kas, who lives there as a bodyguard for the village, occasionally working the fields (when the old lady Nasta threatens to sodomize him with a hoe) and doing other odd jobs, earning him a reputation as a classic 'lazy young whippersnapper' amongst the villagers. In fact, he is a former knight-assassin who worked in the unit known as the 'Ears of the King', and every night he patrols the village, setting traps for dangerous monsters and animals, as well as looking for suspicious 'visitors' in the night.
This VN follows a similar structure to that of many other games by this company, with a long, dramatic and eventful common route (with some nice action scenes and political machinations), and a heroine route split between heavy drama and lovey-dovey moments.
One huge improvement over previous games of this type from this company is that many of the social elements are a lot more realistic. In particular, the way politics is handled in a constitutional monarchy (think Shakespeare-era England when it comes to the ruler's level of power and influence) is included into the story.
One thing that might or might not turn off some people is the way Kas struggles with his past as an assassin and how it interferes with him forming a relationship with the heroines. A lot of this comes from the fact that he was an assassin in the darkest sense of the word (as in obliterating entire noble families at times), and it was only with the first scene that comes up in the prologue that he is forced to a realization of just how far he has fallen due to his loyalty to his kingdom. (For those who want to cry spoilers, these aren't spoilers, since they are described on the Getchu page and on the official site)
Except for how willing they are to accept Kas's past, the heroines aren't really unusual for an AXL game. Jinea, the princess heroine, is a bit childish, but she is also very obviously someone raised to rule, as evidenced by her thought processes. Pinyo, the protagonist's little sister (and the village apothecary) is your classic 'intelligent adult heroine', though she does have hidden depths that come out in her path. Collio, the daughter of the bandit chief the protagonist defeats in the prologue (again not a spoiler), is a dreamer and a genkikko who is also something of a genius at mercantile negotiation. Finally, Shizuru is an endlessly hungry poor noblewoman living in a run-down mansion on the edge of town.
The best point about this VN is that, despite its length and the amount of content in it, there really isn't any wasted scenes, a quality that even AXL fails to manage to keep in its VNs. Every scene is linked either to the development of the characters or the story, and the endings are all satisfying and well-done conclusions to each heroine's story.
Overall, this is yet another great VN from AXL in a long list of such VNs. For those who like AXL's style (which, while it tends to be the same from one of their games to another, differs dramatically from other companies' styles) games, this is pure crack. For those who like their protagonist to have a shady or downright dirty past, this game is also an excellent choice. Finally, for those who want medieval fantasy slice of life with a strong dose of spice, this is a great choice.
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