Welcome to Otomeology’s very first otome game review!
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei was one of the most highly anticipated otome game releases of 2022. So how did it live up to the hype?
This review has been kept as spoiler free as possible.
Contents
Basic information
Dev/pub: Idea Factory (Otomate) x RED, Idea Factory Int’l
Director: Itou Ai [other work – Juuzaengi, Nightshade, Kenka Banchou Otome, Choucou Jikan Lovesodic]
Scenario writer: Itou Ai
Illustrator: Haneda Kouji
Console: Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite
Genre: Action, Historical, Fantasy, Romance
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Japanese: ビルシャナ戦姫 ～源平飛花夢想～
Visit the official website here.
Synopsis
As the youngest surviving heir to the Genji clan, Shanao lived her life as a ‘man’ deep within the mountains of Kurama. The story follows her adventure as a samurai to find her true path in life (and romance, along the way) amidst the height of Heike clan’s tyranny.
✤ Trigger warning.
Birushana’s plot is war-heavy, so expect anything you’d see in a war (including violence, murder, blood and flashing lights). Some routes also contain sexual harassment, kidnapping and incest themes.
Main characters
Shanao (遮那王) / Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源 九郎義経)
✤ Voice actor: Not voiced.
✤ Shanao is her pre-genpuku name; Yoshitsune is her post-genpuku name. Genpuku is Japanese coming-of-age ceremony.
✤ Fierce, hardworking, has a special ability she did not know how to control.
Minamoto no Yoritomo (源 頼朝)
✤ Voice actor: Furukawa Makoto.
✤ Same voice actor as Allan (Cupid Parasite), Dazai (Charade Maniacs), Adage (Steam Prison), Crius (even if TEMPEST), Kazuma (Lover Pretend), Jack (Tengoku Struggle) and Joseffy (TsuiTsui).
✤ Boss-level kuudere!
Taira no Tomomori (平 知盛)
✤ Voice actor: Fukuyama Jun.
✤ Same voice actor as Mozu (Bustafellows), Kouga (Ayakashi Romance Reborn), Azusa (Starry Sky) and Vyn (Tears of Themis).
✤ Apathetic and mysterious.
Taira no Noritsune (平 教経)
✤ Voice actor: Kawanishi Kengo.
✤ Same voice actor as Harumi (Lover Pretend) and Shunsuke (Tengai ni Mau).
✤ Dignified, honest and stubborn.
Musashibo Benkei (武蔵坊 弁慶)
✤ Voice actor: Umehara Yuuichirou.
✤ Same voice actor as Jasper (Majestic Majolical), Ginnojou (Ayakashi Romance Reborn), Kouhei (Sympathy Kiss) and Paschalia (Radiant Tale).
✤ Gentle giant with cool face scar.
Shungen (春玄)
✤ Voice actor: Saitou Souma.
✤ Same voice actor as Mineo (Collar x Malice), Kyoya (Charade Maniacs), Kikunosuke (Tengoku Struggle), Outarou (Winter’s Wish), Vlad (Ikemen Vampire), YOFY (Sympathy Kiss) and many others!
✤ A protective childhood friend.
Side characters
Sato Tsugunobu (佐藤 継信)
✤ Voice actor: Takashi Kondo.
✤ Same voice actor as Subaru (Diabolik Lovers), Ghislain (Reine des Fleurs), Ritsu (Sekaiichi Hatsukoi) and Majima (Butterfly’s Poison; Blood Chains),
✤ Wise and elegant.
Sato Tadanobu (佐藤 忠信)
✤ Voice actor: Konishi Katsuyuki.
✤ Same voice actor as Sakamaki Reiji (Diabolik Lovers), Blood Dupre (Spade no Kuni no Alice), Masamune (Sekaiichi Hatsukoi), Haru (Starry Sky) and Tsuruga Ren (Skip Beat!) .
✤ Flirty and energetic, a bit of an airhead.
Taira no Shigehira (平 重衡)
✤ Voice actor: Osaka Ryota.
✤ Same voice actor as Suzukake (Ken ga Kimi), Hisui (Nil Admirari no Tenbin), Takuma (Fortissimo) and Shuu (Dairoku: Ayakashimori).
✤ Sadistic and nonchalant, cool sideburn pigtails.
Sasaki Takatsuna (佐々木 高綱)
✤ Voice actor: Amatsuki.
✤ Newcomer voice actor, also sings the OP and ED songs!
✤ Outgoing and cute.
Route overview
Noritsune
TROPE: Rivals turn lovers
✤ Deep rivalry that borders bromance*
✤ ‘Ordinary samurai’ version issa vibe
Noritsune is a dignified samurai from the Heike clan. He is the cousin of Tomomori and Shigehira.
Noritsune is incredibly passionate about upholding his honour as a samurai and wishes to be the strongest of them all. Naturally, he sees Shanao as a rival and was obsessed on defeating our Heroine (literally 80% of what the entire route is all about). (´◡`) Personally, he was one of the most aesthetically pleasing characters. That pink eyeliner could cut souls, and he looks super hot in his casual samurai outfit. Drools.
Honestly at the beginning, his route did give a ‘rebellious teenager trying to prove oneself’ vibe. But everything in his route just unfolded beautifully. The core story of Noritsune’s route is very simple, yet his route had a unique depth due to the intense rivalry which turned into longing. Also, you can’t tell me that Noritsune is not at least bi or pan – he was literally so gay for Shanao (man version). 😂 The only caveat about his route is the fact that Noritsune appeared so little ಥ_ಥ except for probably in the last 3 chapters.
Noritsune’s route rating: 8.5/10
Benkei
TROPE: Master and bodyguard
✤ Virtuous and loyal
✤ Daddy issues route
Shanao and Benkei bonded over their longing for family and connection. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve from that of vassal x master into lovers. The change in relationship even took them a while to get used to, which was quite funny! Benkei’s straightforward personality is easy to love, but ironically that also made me feel he was the most bland of all the love interests, if I’m honest. Surprisingly, he loves to joke around (his shenanigan with Shungen gave me a few good laughs). (´∀`)
One thing I didn’t quite enjoy was how the route occasionally gave off father x daughter vibe (that shoulder lift CG did not vibe with me lol). Also, I’m personally not into the protruding cheekbone look. I did ask my non-otome best friends to rate Birushana characters (absolutely hilarious btw), and some of them loved his aesthetic, so it’s really a matter of taste. I’m just a hoe for ‘pretty’ boys, sorry not sorry. ( ˘ ³˘)♥
Benkei’s route rating: 6.5/10
Shungen
TROPE: Protectice childhood friend
✤ Studious and tactical
✤ Childhood crush!
Shungen is Shanao’s childhood friend, and like Shanao, he has been living and raised by the monks at Kurama Mountain as a samurai. He is very fond of Shanao and is very protective of her. Shungen was one of the only few characters in the beginning of the game who knew Shanao was a woman.
Shungen isn’t the strongest samurai (in fact Shanao is much more skilled than he is), but he loves reading war literature and is incredibly smart. He is also the only character who refers to Shanao as ‘Shana’ which is super adorable to me, and speaks to their closeness as childhood friends!
I used to be a big fan of childhood friends to lovers trope, but it’s a bit of an overdone trope that I am no longer excited by it~ sigh. With Shungen’s route, honestly I did found it a little flat at times. Things did really pick up later though (particularly Chapter 8 onwards). And when it picked up, boy was it a roller coaster! His bad ending was super unexpected (in a good way), and his good ending made me melt. It was pure, sugar-loaded, diabetes invested sweetness, haha (´◕ ᵔ ◕`✿)
Shungen’s route rating: 7/10
Yoritomo
TROPE: The brother
✤ Kuudere with childhood trauma
✤ I love this man sm 😫
Disclaimer. I already had a crush on Yoritomo before I even started his route. In fact it was love at first trailer. I am also a big sucker for kuudere, and boy was he magical! The whole route – I just kept fangirling even when he was being cold and harsh to Shanao. (๑˘︶˘๑)
As with your typical kuudere, once Yoritomo opened up, he was an absolute treat. I thought Yoritomo’s route had the most solid plot, and his past really shaped whom he had become. I was so invested and literally balls deep into his story. I also enjoyed how he dealt with his own feelings and Shanao when he realised he saw his “brother” as more than that of a sibling. His route was quite spoiler-packed, so I recommend playing him towards the end.
The only con of Yoritomo’s route for me was Shanao’s excessive loyalty (or rather, obsession) with him. I felt like it was a bit out of character for her, and just a bit much at times. As an empath though, I could understand why. Raised without real family, her longing for blood connection…it makes sense.
Yoritomo’s route rating: 9/10
Tomomori
TROPE: Enemies to lovers
✤ Not your usual 2D trashman
✤ Horny for Shanao’s tears!!
Tomomori is the eldest son of the Taira family, the brother of Shigehira and cousin of Noritsune. He was raised and trained to inherit the Heike clan since a very young age. Albeit known to be a highly skilled samurai, Tomomori had little interest in participating in his family’s warfare affairs unless he sees any personal benefit or entertainment. He was immediately intrigued by Shanao when they first met.
Most people would immediately group Tomomori into the “if villain, why hot” basket. But I find it hard to say he’s a pure villain. He’s definitely sus, but his character is so unique and complex! He’s quite different compared to, let’s say, Yang of Piofiore, who is unapologetically a villain. That’s not to say Tomomori doesn’t do shady things. God this man was shady (and sexy…) af, haha!
If I’m honest, the plot in Tomomori’s route was a little messy. It wasn’t terrible or unplayable by any means, but there were a few plot holes that I wish was tackled differently. Also, I thought Shanao’s transition of feelings from “enemies to lovers” was a little…unnatural? I actually enjoyed Tomomori a lot more in Benkei’s route (LMAO sorry Benkei 
). Either way, his trashiness alone was enough of a charm to make it an enjoyable journey for me. His route definitely should be played last, as it unpacks basically the whole plot which underpins Birushana.
Tomomori’s route rating: 7.5/10
If endings
You can unlock If endings with either four of the possible main side characters – Shigehira, Tsugunobu, Tadanobu and Takatsuna. These are pretty much teaser stories where you don’t end up developing feelings for the main love interests. There are no choices in these stories.
For teaser routes, I thought the lengths weren’t too bad (around two to three hours of play in total on Auto), and the pacing was great! I guarantee you will develop a crush on at least one of these four cuties (if not already when you meet them in the common route). When I first met the side characters in the common route, I had a crush on Tsugunobu (purely visual). But the If ending turned me into a Shigehira apologist. (‘∀’●)♡ His lines legit made me blush!
Route order
When you start Birushana, only Noritsune, Benkei and Shungen are available to play. After you complete either of their routes and get a Happy end, both Yoritomo and Tomomori’s routes will be unlocked.
Birushana developers’ recommended route order were as follows:
Noritsune ➸ Benkei ➸ Shungen ➸ Yoritomo ➸ Tomomori
I followed this order and think it worked out alright. Personally though, I would have preferred playing Shungen first before Yoritomo. I feel the story would have flown a little bit better due to the nature of the spoiler content.
Also, note there are three types of ending in Birushana: Happy, Tragic and Bad Ends. The If stories only have Happy ends.
Below are my final rankings for all the routes. (°◡°♡)
Vira’s main route ranking:
- Yoritomo
- Noritsune
- Tomomori
- Shungen
- Benkei
Vira’s if ending ranking:
- Shigehira
- Tadanobu
- Tsunugobu
- Takatsuna
Shanao / Yoshitsune
Let’s talk about the heroine.
Game features & experience
Notable features
✤ Protagonist name change
Nothing new here, but go with the system default if you want to hear the seiyuus call the heroine’s name!
✤ Love catch system
In the common route, this feature lets you know which route has “opened” in response to your choice. Every colour corresponds to each of the different love interests. When you are already in a character’s route, this feature lets you know if you have made the “right” choice. Half-bloom = half-correct, and full bloom = fully correct.
✤ Flowchart
Birushana also has a flowchart system. Once unlocked, you can start a gameplay from any point you want. Initially, you will only find Shared Route chapters, and as you progress through different love interests routes, you will see different branches. What sucks is there is no indication which branch you haven’t unlocked. But this is not a big deal if you play using a walkthrough!
Art and graphics
Birushana’s art is incredibly stunning and its graphics stellar. I love the moving lips and blinking animations, though personally I feel like this should be a bare minimum for otome games these days. The CGs were absolutely stunning! They were really radiant and almost look glossy. I did wish the game had more CGs though. I really like Haneda Koji’s art style and I hope I can see more of their work in the future.
In terms of graphics, here are a couple of things I noticed which affected my gaming experience:
- The skip read function can be clunky – it’s also slow!
- There was always an awkward lag between transition from the main story to flashback and back to main story.
- The responsiveness of the click next function was dodgy, sometimes it was responsive and sometimes it was delayed.
- I didn’t like having to re-read the exact same dialogue only with different background, which happened several times (and they were non-skippable).
Music
I was absolutely blown away by the OP song “Kimiiro ni Saku Hana” by Amatsuki! Prior to starting the game, I only saw the game-play version of the trailer and stupidly missed the official opening trailer with the OP song. In this case, I was so glad I missed it. When the song first played during the prologue, oof, literal chills! The ED song “Kachou Fuuei” which plays after the happy ending (also by Amatsuki) is also quite catchy.
The BGM in this game were also really memorable. I always get attached to the more soft/quaint-sounding tracks though – all of them were lovely and most feature historical tunes. My favourite is “Clear History”.
Summary
I really enjoyed Birushana! I am usually not a big fan of battle-heavy stories as it often hijacks the entire story. I didn’t feel like that was the case here.
I also fell in love with all the characters and the atmosphere of this game. These are the main reasons why couldn’t put this game down! There are lots of variations in story tropes and character visuals and personalities, so I reckon there is something for everybody.
I already said it above, and I’ll say it again – I LOVE THE CHARACTERS!! I was really invested in seeing the growth of both the love interests as well as Shanao. The friendship between Shanao and her vassals was beautiful to watch, and it really helps they are all such eye candies!
The repeat scenes across the routes was a little frustrating. Sure, I can just force-skip, but I always try not to because I don’t want to miss anything. I guess this is unavoidable when a game has common events which happen across all routes.
Birushana is also more story-heavy. This is a matter of personal preference, but I prefer something with a more balanced plot or even heavier on the romance side. I am always in need of fluff! Also, the game did not have bonus content post-completion, which was a shame. I also wish there were more CGs. The CGs are so, damn, gorgeous!
Overall, I think Birushana is a solid title. Not top-tier level perhaps, but it did give me a brainrot which lasted days. So yes, it’s a must play, especially if you like historical settings and story-heavy otome with great characters!
﹢
- Profound world-building and character development
- War-heavy plot did not hijack the entire story
- Well-placed romantic moments
- Extremely lovable characters
﹣
- Some game functions were not that smooth
- Common events occuring in all routes leading to repeat scenes
- Need a bit more in the romance department (FD here I come!)
Birushana rating: 8/10
Message from Vira:
Thank you for reading my very first review! I am aware my blogging skill is still far from perfect. I will do my best to improve and fine-tune things as I go along and hopefully many more people can enjoy the stuff I share. I am always open to constructive criticism, so don’t be shy to share your thoughts! xo
