Dessert de Otomate 2023 is finally a wrap – what a day that was for us otome fans! This was our first major otome-related event of 2023. I am not kidding when I tell you my heart was thumping out of my chest literally the whole night from all the excitement. I had fun interacting (screaming) with so many of you on Twitter and reading all the tweets from people sharing info or just being excited about it all. Such a fantastic day!
Dessert de Otomate took place on February 5, 2023 with day and nighttime performances, including live script reading and fun quiz corners. The event featured voice actors from six Otomate titles including Radiant Tale, Spade no Kuni no Alice and Tengoku Struggle (Day), and Cafe Enchanté, Shuuen no Virche and Cupid Parasite (Night).
This article details all of the Switch otome game related announcements they made during the event. I also did a bit more digging / translated stuff to provide extra details where possible. Hope you enjoy!
Spade no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Black World~ release date announced!
Rejoice, QuinRose and/or Kuni no Alice series fans. Spade no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Black World~ will be released on August 3, 2023! I believe this is the ninth instalment from the series.
The premise. 
Fairy tale-like, but mysterious world where mafia shoot-outs are common. The Country of Spades is in the midst of war, and danger is everywhere. Alice was saved from drowning in a lake, but lost all of her memories. In a country that is now unfamiliar to her, Alice learns to accept her lost memories and forges new relationships. A realist and a dreamy Alice – will she ever find love in a world where common sense is not so common? (Adapted from vndb and their official website).
For those unfamiliar with this game, it is directly related to the White World version which came out on Switch in 2021 – and fans will get to romance LIs which are not romancable in the White World game.
They also released the full trailer for this game. Watch it here:
Pre-order Spade no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Black World~:
Int’l – PlayAsia | CDJapan | Amazon JP
*For special editions, browse individual shops (int’l buyers will need to use proxy) or check their official website for details. The staple go to’s are Ebten, Stella Worth or Animate!
My9Swallows TOPSTARS LEAGUE character visuals!
After months of basically knowing nothing about this game (other than it involves baseball), we finally have the character names and visuals for My9Swallows TOPSTARS LEAGUE! The game will feature 9 LIs, and looks like they are both idols and baseball players?! The game is described as a fresh-feeling romance ADV game, where baseball meets entertainment.
Watch the character PV here:
This game is a collaboration project between Otomate and Tokyo Yakult Swallows, a Japanese professional baseball team. Apparently, they’ve been playing their games in Meiji Jingu Stadium since 1964, and the very same stadium was featured in the PV.
According to the trailer – Topstars League is a newly formed baseball league. The LIs auditioned to be a part of the Yakult Swallows team to form a team, aiming to win that league. The MC, who had just started working at Yakult Swallows, is suddenly sent on an impossible mission to win the league with them. Beside playing baseball, the LIs are also singers and dancers.
The plot sounds cliché, but I’m kinda into it. 
I’m a big fan of sports anime and the romance twist here is really inviting.
We don’t have the seiyuu casts yet, but here are the character names and their positions in the field:
Hiiragi Kakeru
✤ Position: Pitcher
Shiradou Tatsuji
✤ Position: Catcher
Amagi Kanata
✤ Position: First baseman
Mira
✤ Position: Second baseman
Nakaoji Ren
✤ Position: Third baseman
Nagamatsu Hiroto
✤ Position: Shortstop
Kuran
✤ Position: Left fielder
Satake Ikumi
✤ Position: Center fielder
Tokitou Haruki
✤ Position: Right fielder
We’ve had similar otome games before. Asuka! ~Our Seitou High School Baseball Team~ is a baseball-themed otome. Prince of Stride: Alternative and Prince of Tennis -Motto Gakuensai no Oujisama- are a few other sports-themed otome, and I’m sure there are many more that I just don’t know about.
In saying that, I think the idol part makes My9Swallows rather unique. I’m very curious about how they will fit the whole idol thing in! I wonder if they start off as idols, or does the baseball lead to being idols? Do the LIs live some kind of dual athlete x idol life? Ah, I’m actually excited to learn more about this game!
Another thing that I’m guessing the game will heavily feature is about Tokyo Yakult Swallows team themselves. I am not big on baseball, but won’t be mad learning a thing or two about them. I briefly looked into them and they sound like a pretty decent team. They’ve won the Japanese series championship six times, the latest in 2021.
More info on Collar x Malice movie!
We have more info on the Collar x Malice movie!
The official title is “Collar x Malice -deep cover-“. It will be released in two parts – the first in May 26 and the second in June 23, 2023.
The movie will feature “another incident” which took place during the whole X-day saga. In other words, this will be an original story!
Our lovely heroine, Ichika, will be voiced by Hondo Kaede.
A new character, Sowa Mitsuru (拾和ミツル), was also revealed.
This new character seems to have been affiliated with Yanagi when he was still working for the police, and will be a key person in the movie! He will be voiced by Konishi Katsuyuki, who is also the voice actor for Reiji (Diabolik Lovers), Blood Dupre (Spade no Kuni no Alice), and Tadanobu (Birushana).
Yanagi Aiji stage play was also announced, which will be held on May 14, 2023.
They also announced a Switch special box (basically a Collar x Malice resale with new packaging and bonuses), which will be released on July 13, 2023.
Watch the movie PV here:
Radiant Tale FD announced!
Radiant Tale fans are in for a treat – a fandisc has been announced! The title is “Radiant Tale Fanfare”, and the release schedule remains TBC.
I haven’t even played the first game but I am excited for this. I just know Radie will be the love of my life, let’s see if this holds up after I play the game.
Watch the PV here:
Hakuouki SSL Switch port and new FD announced!
Who is surprised? Hakuouki fans are always spoiled with content, aren’t you all the luckiest! Two Hakuouki-related announcements were made during Dessert de Otomate.
First, a Switch port for Hakuouki ~sweet school life~ (SSL) has been decided.
Secondly, a new game called “Hakuouki Shinkai Manyou no Shou” was announced. According to OtomateWeb, this is a fandisc that will feature a number of stories and illustrations that were not included in the main story, and will be produced as spin-offs. There is a lot of emphasis on ‘recollections of events’, so get ready to feel nostalgic. 
Both are scheduled for release in 2023.
Watch the announcement video here:
9 R.I.P. character & seiyuu info!
We’ve been shown 9 R.I.P. character visuals very briefly last year, and now we’ve got their names AND all-star voice acting casts! We don’t have much information on what the game is about, but it’s looking like a horror game that will feature different worlds and folklores.
The game is set to be released in 2023!
Watch the character PV here:
In the trailer, the protagonist seems to have died (or at least wondering if she is dead). Looks like this will be an isekai type of situation, and we will be romancing…ghosts, spirits and whatnot. 
Below are some character info, including the lore associated with them, what “entity” they are, and rough translations of that one line from each character in the PV.
Kureha
✤ Voice actor: Masuda Toshiki
✤ Lore: School ghost story
✤ Character: Karakara-san the bloodthirsty killer
“This is not the world you should be in. Hurry up and leave.”
Hibiki
✤ Voice actor: Toki Shunichi
✤ Lore: School ghost story
✤ Character: The boy inside the mirror
“Uhh…would it be okay if I touch you just a little bit longer?”
Minami
✤ Voice actor: Okamoto Nobuhiko
✤ Lore: Isekai
✤ Character: Soul-hungry demon
”I want your everything~ all of them, all of them, all of them….! Your soul, that is.♥”
Seiya
✤ Voice actor: Tachibana Shinnosuke
✤ Lore: Isekai
✤ Character: The keeper of hell
Note: no line from Seiya.
Kouyou
✤ Voice actor: Suzuki Ryota
✤ Lore: Urban legend
✤ Character: Happy Mary-san
“I’m the one who found you, though? So what I wanna do to you is up to me.”
Sena
✤ Voice actor: Kakihara Tetsuya
✤ Lore: Urban legend
✤ Character: The young man who sees the stars
“As an idol, I want to become more famous and flourish in this world. That’s my dream.”
Yukimaro
✤ Voice actor: KENN
✤ Lore: Youkai
✤ Character: Zashiki-warashi (apprentice)
“My Lady’s happiness is my happiness. My devotion to my Lady means I will follow you wherever you go.♪“
Koharu
“I will make you pay the price for failing the ritual. From now on, you are my dog.”
Based on this very limited information alone, we can probably conclude that not only will we be romancing some very unique non-human LIs, many of them are also insane. 
Also, I looked into these folklores in the middle of the night as I’m writing this post…HUGE REGRET. Just know that this is my live reaction – I am genuinely scared, LOL. 
Yuuya really nailed the character design for this game. She is the same illustrator who worked on other well-loved titles including Jakou no Lyla, Tengai ni Mau, Cafe Enchanté and Cupid Parasite. Also I swear to god Seiya is a literal copy & paste of Rolan Crydelle (Jakou no Lyla), which funnily enough is also voiced by Tachinosuke!
We will know more about this game in the upcoming B’sLOG (out on February 20) – stay tuned!
More info on Cupid Parasite FD!
It’s confirmed, Cupid Parasite -Sweet and Spicy Darling- will be released in 2023! Now I can sleep in peace knowing I will return to Los York and meet the parasites again this year. I remember Enokya (Ryuki’s VA) had to double check with the other seiyuus whether a CupiPara FD is actually coming out, and well, that tells me we’re probably looking towards the end of 2023 release ‘cos they haven’t even started recording.
The theme of the FD seems to be “the life of newlywed and lovers”, so we all know it’s going to be filled with horny. It will also feature a new location called D’Amour Paradis.
The Biscats will be singing the OP and ED songs again, and to me, and I think many of you as well, this is a big win!
There are 4 additional sub-characters. We will also have one additional LI, so we will have 7 Parasites to romance!
Watch the PV here:
Now let’s talk about the new LI.
Melenis Levin
✤ Voice actor: Uemura Yuto
✤ Parasite name: Destiny Parasite
I swear to god I kept on thinking his name is Melvin (LOL)…for some reason “Melenis” is just not sticking in my brain. What we know so far about Melenis is that he is a fortune teller. He is always “guided by destiny”…and is also a sweet tooth.
Here are a few of Melenis’s translated lines from CupiPara blog:
“Yeah, it’s destiny — right?”
“Of course everything is decided by fate — right?”
“Yes, fate is certain — right?”
Btw the “—right?” is in English.
There was also one line written about him which caught my attention:
The word “fate” is romantic, but the profoundness of its meaning can often become a “shackle”.
Man looks sus as hell (exactly my type), but what if he’s also deep and philosophical..? Let’s wait and see!
Before I wrap up on CupiPara, I just want to mention one of the comments from fans (about CupiPara) that they showed during the nighttime quiz corner because I just found it hilarious. I actually went back to the recording to quote it properly, it was: 「 ガグあり！！シリアズあり！！ラブシーンあり！！！！」“There’s gag!! There’s serious!! There’s love scene!!!!” — I just can feel this person screaming into the screen as they wrote this comment (‘cos girl, same), and I was screaming so hard in agreement. 
TRUE DAT BESTIE!
Update on Shuuen no Virche FD
Shuviru fans will have to wait just a little bit longer. Otomate will be releasing more info in B’sLOG that will go on sale next month (3/20). In B’sLOG releasing the month after (4/20), they will be doing a shuviru magazine cover and again, provide more updates about the game.
The official twitter account did say「 新たな絶望 」about the FD (shoutout to Ferchi ‘cos I saw her talk about it lol), which means “new despair” (??) bruh, you’re not going to let them be happy even in the FD?!
And that’s the end! Which of these games are you looking forward to the most? I am genuinely interested in all of them, except probably Hakuouki…simply because I haven’t played any of the game from the series nor am I planning to get into the rabbit hole anytime soon. I haven’t played too many dark or horror otome so I am keeping my eyes close on 9 R.I.P., and I am definitely going to devour that CupiPara FD. My9Swallows is now on my radar as well because that idol x baseball combo just sounds like fun.
2023 is going to be a very exciting year for otome fans, I can feel it!
Thanks for reading.
