We’ve got a barrage of otome game news, which is always exciting but it can be hard to keep up with everything. So here’s a detailed summary post to keep you informed and if you want a bit more juice on these news! Note that I try to use public sources for the information featured in this post, but I’ve also added bits and pieces from B’s-LOG where relevant just to provide additional contexts. Of course, no scans or pictures from the magazine as per their rule.
Otomate Party 2023 line up and dates
It’s official – Otomate Party will be held on September 9 and 10. Here’s their official website.
Below are the games and casts that will be featured. I made this romaji version based on the image posted on their official Twitter account.
For me, it’s a near-perfect cast. I wish Tachibana Shinnosuke was there so all of my favourite seiyuus (him plus Noriaki, Maeno and Makonyan) would all be in perfect attendance. Oh well, still an amazing line up though!
Otomate FD galore release date info
✤ Hakuouki FD
The new Hakuouki FD, Hakuouki Shinkai Man’you no Shou, will be released on August 10, 2023. This FD basically contains a collection of untold events from the main story. The game has routes for all 12 characters, and it has bonus after-stories with CGs too.
Pre-order Hakuouki Shinkai Manyou no Shou:
*Check their official website for shop-specific bonus details (int’l buyers will need to use proxy).
✤ Radiant Tale FD
Radiant Tale ~Fanfare!~ will be released on August 31, 2023. The game will feature Jinnia and Liyan as LIs!
There are three parts to this FD:
- After Story: Tifalia’s story after completing her journey with “CIRCUS” with her chosen beloved. This part involves the five main LIs from the original game. The story starts from each LIs’ Happy Ends.
- If Story: After Tifalia’s journey with “CIRCUS”, she begins a “new life” as a secretary to Jinnia. It starts from the Common Route’s Normal End in the original game. This part is where we get to romance Jinnia and Liyan.
- Interlude: Scenes that happened between the stories, shown from various perspectives. This part is a collection of episodes that are “lively, fun, and provide a brief respite.”
Pre-order Radiant Tale ~Fanfare!~:
*Check their official website for shop-specific bonus details (int’l buyers will need to use proxy).
✤ Shuuen no Virche FD
Shuuen no Virche -EpiC:lycoris- will be released on September 7, 2023. The game will feature two new sub-characters. One is a castaway Eastern man (CV. Nakamura Mitsuki) who is well versed about Lycoris. The other is Spinel (CV. Kondou Yui), a strong and fierce woman. THEY ARE BOTH SO HOT!!! Stay tuned for the visuals and more details about these sub-characters from their official Twitter account.
The FD story description reads a little odd to me. It basically summarises the first game, and ends with “What awaits at the end of despair and salvation?” and “A new story sung in a country bewitched by the God of Death”….sounds like we have to go through hell again. I would really like some fluff though?!
Pre-order Shuuen no Virche -EpiC:lycoris-
*Check their official website for shop-specific bonus details (int’l buyers will need to use proxy).
even if TEMPEST FD and Hana Awase updates
✤ even if TEMPEST FD
even if TEMPEST Dawning Connections will be released in Summer 2023. Voltage is doing another simultaneous release – meaning the game will be both to Japanese and English players at the same time. Can this please be the norm?
The OST of the original game is also now available worldwide on these platforms: iTunes, amazon music, mora, レコチョク and animelo mix.
Here’s the teaser PV for the FD.
Synopsis (translation of the video description)
Burning with love and life, she arrived at the “end.”
At the edge of despair, the flowers of hope begin to bloom.
In the midst of death, the girl took the hand of the witch.
Everything was done to change herself, who had been deceived and belittled. To take revenge on the hated enemy who had ridiculed her.
But what she ultimately sought was not power or honor, but love.
✤ Hana Awase
Hana Awase New Moon will be released in Fall 2023. The game will feature additional contents, including bonus short stories (all four games) and novel-style recording (Iroha-hen only).
In case you didn’t know, Hana Awase is dramatic create’s latest otome game to be ported to Switch. I talked about this game a little bit more in this round-up post.
The game will retail for JPY5,280 each. There will be a first-run limited, complete set which will retail for JPY21,120, and includes all four games.
I’ve been trying to find out whether a simultaneous multi-language release is actually going to happen but so far I’ve got nothing (let me know if I’ve missed it). We more or less know a localisation is happening, but it’d be great to have the reassurance that it’s coming at the same time as the Japanese version. I’m sure we’re all closely watching for updates from dramatic create!
Here are the visuals of the game cover. If you are not on mobile, click on the image if you want to enlarge it.
Getsuei no Kusari ~Sakuran Paranoia~ gets a Switch port
Takuyo’s Getsuei no Kusari ~Sakuran Paranoia~ will be ported to Nintendo Switch and will be released on November 23, 2023. The game was originally released for PSP in 2013, and then PS Vita in 2015. It also has a FD. Here’s the official website.
My sense from briefly reading reviews from other gamers is that it’s an emotionally intense, acquired taste type of story. Read the synopsis about the game below – taken from vndb.
The premise. 
Mature x tragic otome game.The story takes place on a small remote island called Zangetsutou in a town called Koukashi, a town with relaxing onsen springs and beautiful flowers. But that was in the past. One year ago disaster fell upon the town. The villagers fell into despair. Their last hope was a group of young people who gathered to help, called the Kouka Youth League. Especially the group’s head, Kagurazaka Hibiki and his right hand man, Mochizuki Satoya, they are a ray of light for the villagers. Also involved is a soldier dispatched from the mainland, Inoguchi Wataru and a mysterious traveler who has some business on the island, Haruna Nozomu. The villagers are pulled into these men’s actions, and the protagonist Fuyuura Megumi is not an exception.
This is a story of people desperately fighting to survive in harsh times.
Dormitory Love, an indie rom-com otome is coming West
I must be honest – this one came out of nowhere, but definitely a welcome one. A new romantic comedy otome game called Dormitory Love will be coming to the Switch on April 28, just one week away. It will be available in English, and only available digitally. A special sale of -15% will be offered for a limited time, according to their press release.
Dormitory Love is a fully voiced otome game. The heroine is also voiced, which is a huge plus for voiced heroine lovers like myself! There are six LIs in this game. According to their DLsite, it takes around 1-2 hours to clear every LI, so it might be a good option for those looking for a short and quick read. I’ve been reading the reviews from Japanese fans and they are very, very positive.
Here’s a synopsis of the game from the official website.
The premise. Dorm life x international student LIs x slapstick romance. The protagonist, Jun Minase suddenly finds herself working as a manager in a dormitory in Tokyo, where students from overseas reside.
There are six love interests in the game: the calm and serious German Felix, the selfish femboy French Guillaume, the star basketball player Josh from the United States, the taciturn Chinese Ling with a mysterious background, the gentle and carefree photographer Russian Sasha and the cynical British nerd Sean.
From spring to the end of summer, you can enjoy seasonal events such as cherry blossom viewing, hot spring trip, water park visits, and summer festival with the residents.
Alongside romantic moments, there are also many laughs and a few tears.
✤ Features
- More than 100 CGs in total.
- Fully-voiced in Japanese.
- Name of the heroine can be altered.
- Captivating romance narratives.
- Profound insight to Japanese culture.
I went through Mirin‘s (the dev) Twitter page because of couse I got curious. Dormitory Love was originally a PC game (currently available for Windows only), and both free and paid versions are available. It’s really well received and in fact, an award winning indie title. The game received an “Honorable Game Award” from PliCy in 2022, and now Mirin is looking to build a whole series following the success of the original game.
Mirin’s latest tweets seem to indicate they are working on「アル管理人の恋 between seasons」which is the story from end of summer to autumn. The development of the story from fall to winter is currently undecided – if it happens, it will include a transfer student from Sweden! How fun.
Here are the visuals of the main characters. They also have cast talks here – make sure to scroll down to the very bottom to find it. Learning more about this game actually made me super excited about it. Can’t wait to try it out!
They finally dropped Collar x Malice trailer and it’s….
…kinda bad? Just skip this part if you don’t want to read my personal thoughts! I am not a fan of the character design…at all. They did alright with Ichika, and maybe Takeru, but the rest are pretty underwhelming. I’m also not a fan of the washed out colour palette and very weird hair highlights, and the animation looks a little stiff. Also, they completely butchered Aiji – who just happens to be my oshi so maybe that’s why I’m extra mad (LOL).
Anyway enough of my rant – I’ll still try to enjoy the movie. I sure bloody hope the story is good.
See the trailer below if you haven’t.
Other updates
✤ Bustafellows Season 2
eXtend released Bustafellows Season 2 trailer, and most recently they dropped the opening MV for the game featuring the song “18” by bestie.
✤ Cupid Parasite FD
I was lowkey expecting we’d get a date for CupiPara FD, but seems like we’ll have to wait a little longer. There’s a bit more juice on the story though. Apparently there’s a newly discovered UMA (unidentified mysterious animal) in Los York, and it teases whether “the mysterious pattern is a sign from a god or an unknown civilization?”. To be honest I’m not fully clear on what’s going on, but clearly it’s shaping to be another chaotic ride and I am so ready.
B’s-LOG also featured the full design of the three new sub-characters – they’re super cute.
The FD will have multiple endings, and the words “sweet” and “exciting” kept being mentioned SO JUST GIVE IT TO US ALREADY PLEASE~!!
✤ 9 R.I.P
Information about 9 R.I.P.’s game system is now up on their official website. One of the unique features in this game is a map system where Misa can go to different places and meet different LIs – and it will have an impact on favourability. There is also a “mind/spirit” meter for Misa – looks like there are choices that will lead to her being more upset, leading to bad ends.
The rest are pretty standard Otomate stuff. The LIs will call out Misa’s name if you leave the name on default, there’s a love catch system, and the game also has skip jump function (thank the lord).
Also, in case you were not aware – they’ve been posting PVs of Misa’s encounters with the LIs on their official Instagram account. They recently started posting brief cuts on Twitter to promote them but you still need to go to their Instagram if you want to see the full PVs.
Super excited about this one. Summer is gonna be the otome gamer season!
✤ Tears of Themis
Artem is getting a Nendoroid!! Reservations will start on April 27, don’t miss it if you are his fan.
Thank you for reading this far. I think it’s safe to say otome gamers are eating well this year, and I’m so happy to be able to share this excitement with you all! I am planning to do a special giveaway to celebrate 6 months of blogging (and ~8 months of TikTok-ing I guess!) in July, so stay tuned for that.
Hope to see you again in my next post. 
