I AM SHAKING MY BOOTS Y’ALL. IFI just announced English localisations of My Next Life as a Villainess AND Sympathy Kiss!! Read on if you wanna explore these news with me.
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My Next Life as a Villainess is coming in English this year!
✤ Key info
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance- is coming in English, and will be released in Winter 2023! It will be available for Nintendo Switch. Here’s the official website.
This franchise was originally a light novel, which became incredibly popular and later received manga (ongoing) and anime adaptations (12 eps x 2 seasons plus one OVA).
The game features a voiced heroine, Catarina Claes (CV. Uchida Maaya), and a brand new story in the same universe.
Here’s the game description (shortened from IFI’s official synopsis).
Catarina Claes, a noblewoman with memories of her past life, finds herself reincarnated as the Villainess in the otome game “Fortune Lover.” In a world where exile or death await her, she manages to survive until spring break. During this time, Catarina and her adopted brother Keith board the luxurious Vinculum liner, where their friends also happen to be. However, their journey takes a dangerous turn when pirates attack and hold them hostage. Catarina realises that this event mirrors a storyline from a Fortune Lover fanbook, hinting at a doomed ending.
Will Catarina and her friends be able to return to Sorcier safely?
The curtain rises for a new twist in this doom-flag-evading romantic comedy!
Promo CGs and love interests overview
Alan Stuart
CV. Suzuki Tatsuhisa
Same voice actor as Sena (Lover Pretend), Ranmaru (UtaPri) and Yuuma (Diabolik Lovers)
Georgo Stuart
CV. Aoi Shouta
Same voice actor as Snow White (Taisho x Alice), Ai (UtaPri) and Isaac (Ikemen Vampire)
Keith Claes
CV. Kakihara Tetsuya
Same voice actor as Fran (Code: Realize), Carmen (Bustafellows) and Witch of Ruin (even if TEMPEST)
Nicol Ascart
CV. Matsuoka Yoshitsugu
Same voice actor as Akaza (Olympia Soiree), Alice (Taisho x Alice) and Souta (Charade Maniacs)
Rozy Lind
CV. Suzumura Ken’ichi
Same voice actor as Tsubaki (Brothers Conflict), Tomose (Charade Maniacs) and Masato (Utapri)
Silva
CV. Namikawa Daisuke
Same voice actor as Takeru (Collar x Malice), Mamoru (Charade Maniacs) and Iori (Brothers Conflict)
✤ Key features
Original story. The game features a new story, so both longtime fans and newcomers will be able to pick it up. It takes place beyond Fortune Lover’s final graduation event. Catarina will face a new doom flag related to her new encounter with a pirate.
Full crew. The game features the entire My Next Life as a Villainess crew. There are 6 romanceable shipmates, including 2 all-new characters.
Memory scenarios. As you progress through the story and fulfil certain conditions, you’ll unlock special ‘Memory Scenarios.’ They are delivered from the POV of other characters in the story.
Choose your path. Along the journey, you’ll sometimes face two paths. As seen in the light novel and anime, Catarina looks within to attend a meeting with five versions of herself—led by Chairman Catarina—to decide which route to take.
✤ LE version will be available for purchase!
A Limited Edition of My Next Life as a Villainess will be available and offered exclusively through IFI NA and European stores. The content of the Limited Edition and preorder date will be revealed at a later date. You can wishlist it here.
See the teaser trailer below.
Sympathy Kiss is coming in English next year!
Holy sh*t. Sympathy Kiss is one of my all time favourites, and I am BEYOND thrilled this game is getting a localisation! The English version will be released in early 2024. It will be available for Nintendo Switch. Here’s the official website.
Sympathy Kiss is set in the modern era and the protagonist is a career woman. There are 6 LIs and 2 secret LIs. I wrote a mini review right at the end if you want to know more about it.
Here’s the a shortened version of the game synopsis (adapted from IFI’s official synopsis).
Akari Amasawa, a designer at Estario, is given the opportunity to join the struggling Estarci team after her performance review. Estarci, a news app created by the company, is on the verge of being shut down unless they can turn it around. Akari and her new colleagues must put their all into saving the app. As she navigates this challenge, Akari also contemplates her true passions and searches for love.
Will Akari find true love? Will she find what it is she wants to do in life? Will the app get shut down? Wait, was Akari only given this opportunity because the company was looking for an excuse to fire her?!
Business and pleasure mix in Sympathy Kiss, a thrilling office romance and slice-of-life drama!
Promo CGs and love interests overview
*Note: the 2 secret characters are not shown.
Saotome Mizuki
CV. Kajiwara Gakuto
Same voice actor as Mitsuki (Jack Jeanne), Hiiro (Ensemble Stars!) and Mikado Akira (Cafe Enchante)
Minato Kouhei
CV. Umehara Yuuichirou
Same voice actor as Benkei (Birushana), Paschalia (Radiant Tale) and Rokurou (Jack Jeanne)
Kobase Youji
CV. Okitsu Kazuyuki
Same voice actor as Tsukuyomi (Olympia Soiree), Ankou (Virche Evermore) and Dante (Jack Jeanne)
Yoshioka Rokurou
CV. Yamashita Seiichirou
Same voice actor as Yoichi (Winter’s Wish), Hugo (Virche Evermore) and Jeremiah (Money Parasite)
Tainaka Nori
CV. KENN
Same voice actor as Same VA as Limbo (Bustafellows), Shelby (Cupid Parasite), and Fuuto (Brothers Conflict)
Usui Shuuya
CV. Uchida Yuuya
Same voice actor as Daichi (Kin’iro no Corda), Akira (Kamigami no Asobi) and Akishino no Furutsugu (Shirahana no Ori)
✤ Key features
An office worker heroine. You play as a Japanese career woman in a contemporary workplace setting. The whole set up is charm point (imo) especially for office workers and/or other office romance lovers, like yours truly here.
Calling & texting. In some scenarios, you need to respond to text messages and take fully-voiced calls from the LI. Very similar to the system in Collar x Malice.
Love and work balance. The choices you make will affect the love and work meter. The endings will differ depending on the varying levels of love and work you end up with.
Emotion select system. In some scenarios, you’ll be prompted to pick your emotions: Happy, Angry, Troubled, Sad, and Indifferent. This may influence future conversations, but has no effect on the love/work meter in my experience.
✤ LE version will be available for purchase!
A Limited Edition of Sympathy Kiss will be available and offered exclusively through IFI NA and European stores. The content of the Limited Edition and preorder date will be revealed at a later date. You can wishlist it here.
Do I already own the game in Japanese? Yes. Am I buying the English LE again? F*ck yes!
See the announcement trailer below.
✤ Vira’s mini review
Sympathy Kiss is probably among my Top 5 otome games right now, no joke.
Akari-chan, the heroine, doesn’t have a face, which I know have put some people off but personally I quickly got used to it. My girl definitely deserves a face though…
I personally enjoyed Akari as a heroine, and found her easy to relate to. Please don’t pass on this game just because she’s faceless 🥺 also to clarify, she DOES have dialogues! It’s just delivered in prose instead of quoted speech. I’ll talk more about this in detail in my full review, which has been sitting in my draft for freakin’ forever now. 😂 I’ll wrap it up and post it as soon as I can.
The LIs in this game all have their own unique charms. Even if you can’t bear the faceless heroine, these men are so worth it, imo. I also have a piece of info related to the trope (without mentioning any characters) below.
My fellow yandere enthusiasts, there is one yandere LI in this game! He is both batsh*t crazy and a delight, seriously. One of my favourites.
The routes in Sympathy Kiss are relatively short but satisfying. The game is steamy, but the level of steaminess varies from route to route. This game also has no bad ends!
In terms of localised otome games, Sympathy Kiss is most comparable to Lover Pretend (both games have the same director and main artist too). I didn’t enjoy Lover Pretend because I found the LIs somewhat bland and the story to be boring at times. I reckon Sympathy Kiss fits my taste better because it’s more dramatic / conflict-driven. It’s not a chill otome like Lover Pretend! The plot in some routes actually drove me insane, in a good way of course.
If you love saucy office romance and dramatic plot (some routes are legit K-drama level dramatic) set in the modern era, I highly, highly recommend this game!
Otome gamers, how are we feeling? Just know that I wrote this article with unbearable excitement. Both of these are strong titles and will be well received by the global English-speaking audience, imo. I hope IFI will nail the localisations too! Don’t forget to follow them on Twitter for further updates.
Alright lovelies, until next time!
I hope the hamefura game has a lot of romance. I remember the anime was like 90% comedy with a lot of yuribait haha but I really liked Nicol.
Also my first time hearing about Sympathy Kiss but that VA lineup looks great! All my favorites!! Everyone praised this one as soon as the localization was announced and an office lady MC is pretty unique, so I’m super excited for it. Out of curiosity, are there any younger LIs? I really like it when the LI is younger than the heroine LOL
Yuribait 😂😭😭 truedat and glad you’re excited about Sympathy Kiss!! 2 LIs (one main and one secret) are younger than MC. Omg SAMEEE I also have a thing for older MC x younger LI haha
I am so ready for Sympathy Kiss <3
Alsjdjhfkd plssss I HOPE YOU LAV IT AS MUCH AS I DIDD AHH 😭💓 I’m seeing a lot of mixed reactions after the announcement but I will defend this game until I die frrr 😭
I’ve been eying on Sympathy Kiss but wasn’t sure after seeing the mixed reviews about it. Then you gave me hope 🥹💓 I WILL BUY THE GAME AND DEFEND IT WITH YOU
THANK YOU FOR JOINING MY CAUSE BABYGIRL