Welcome to another spotlight article! This time, I want to talk about one of Otomate’s upcoming new title – Temirana Koku no Tsuiteru Hime to Tsuitenai Kishi Dan (テミラーナ国の強運姫と悲運騎士団). It’s a mouthful and I’m sorry – but this naming sense is criminal, HAHA. The abbreviation for this game is TsuiTsui, which is cute so let’s use that going forward.
Here are some basic facts about the game:
Director: Takagi Ayumi
Illustrator: Nitaka
Scenario writer: Amemiya Uta
Developer/publisher: Otomate x ichicolumn
Platform: Nintendo Switch & Nintendo Switch Lite
Release date: 27 April 2023
Pre-order TsuiTsui:
*For special editions, browse individual shops (int’l buyers will need to use proxy like CDJapan, Zen Market or FromJapan). Check TsuiTsui’s official website for details on the bonuses from different shops. I opted for the Stella Worth set!
Takagi Ayumi is a veteran story director who has worked on several otome classics, including Hanayaka Nari, Waga Ichizoku, Bara ni Kakusareshi Verite and Tengai ni Mau, Iki na Hana. These titles were also done under Otomate x ichicolumn collaboration, but sadly, none have been localised to date. Amemiya Uta has previously worked on several Otomate titles such as Charade Maniacs (coming in English this year in June!) and Tokeijikake no Apocalypse.
The story and setting
In Temirana kingdom, people are divided into three classes: nobles, commoners and lower class. Their social class and occupation are determined based on their month of birth. Their social class also determines where they can live.
Cecilia, the heroine, has a special ability. She can foresee danger and is able choose the most correct path to prevent it.
Despite being a part of the Royal family, Cecilia’s power is seen as a curse by everyone around her.
Along the way she encounters five young men whom she perceives to be special, and recruits them to become her knights. Can a princess and a bunch of amateur knights help prevent the calamity which looms Temirana?
The idea is that after Cecilia recruits these men to become her knights, she then lives with them in some kind of mansion. According to what I saw on their Twitter page, it seems to be the mansion where the protagonist lives. The mansion has two floors – there is a dining room and living room on the first floor, and rooms for each character on the second floor.
Main characters
Here are some information about the characters. Note that the LIs have two key visuals – pre- and post-knighting. The images I used below are promo CGs of the LIs in their pre-knight era, dressed casually.
Cecilia
Cecilia Falias Temirana – the third Princess of Temirana.
She has a special ability to foresee the path she should take when she is in danger.
Since she is part of royal family, she puts up a graceful front, but speaks informally and acts like normal girl in front of those she is familiar with.
Cecilia is said to be a cursed princess and hated by others because of her ability. Because of that, she lives in a mansion a little away from the castle.
Joseffy
Joseffy Cornel Hild Zondaric (CV. Furukawa Makoto).
The Prince of Zondaric, a kingdom now in ruins. He lives with a group of travelling troupe called Marveille. *Note: I can’t confirm that this is the correct English spelling. The Japanese version is マーベイル (mābeiru).
He has a high pride, can be immature and gets provoked easily. He is not afraid to talk with Cecilia in a casual manner.
He always has a strong desire to revive Zondaric.
Profile: 17 years old / 66 kg / 176 cm.
Adel
Adel Nares (CV. Karino Shou).
The eldest son of a very poor family. He lives in Samari Village, which is located within the lower class district.
He is calm and caring, and has nine younger brothers and sisters under his care.
Adel struggles to go to school due to poverty, but his encounter with Cecilia changed his life. Looks like he is the sweetheart LI!
Profile: 20 years old / 71 kg / 179 cm.
Tobias
Tobias Habeck Frey (CV. Kobayashi Yuusuke).
He is the head of the Habeck family, a fallen aristocracy. He is all alone without parents or grandparents.
Tobias is a sickly character who collapses just by taking a short walk. Because of that, he prefers to stay at home.
He is passive about everything, whether it be love or life, but his admiration for knights is stronger than anyone else’s.
Profile: 18 years old / 59 kg / 175 cm.
Milan
Milan Hering (CV. Sakaguchi Shuuhei).
He owns a blacksmith shop called “Hering” located in the town of Balalboa within the commoner district. He runs the shop all by himself.
He has worked as a blacksmith since he was a kid.
He is very pedantic about craftsmanship, and will destroy any crafts he doesn’t like.
Profile: 25 years old / 73 kg / 183 cm.
Kier
Kier Nelty (CV. Yamamoto Kazutomi).
A boy who lives in Nelty Orphanage. He has no known relatives.
When he was young, he developed a memory disorder. Since then, he always forgets any event which happened within the day.
He has a wooden board which hangs from his neck, and he uses it to write down any troubles in case he forgets them.
Profile: 14 years old / 50 kg / 160 cm.
Notable side characters
The game has a lot of side characters and here are two whom I am personally excited to meet. The reasons were initially purely visual, but when I looked into them, they are rather interesting people. 😆
Alison
CV. Asami Kentarou.
Alison is the Royal Family’s head of guards. He accompanies Cecilia wherever she goes.
Despite being her guardian, he is always insincere about doing his job. He is also reckless with alcohol and women.
Everyone around him has given up trying to do anything about him. I guess he is the hopeless hottie!
Profile: 38 years old / 75 kg / 180 cm.
Eric
CV. Kimura Ryohei.
A boy who works as an escort for the travelling troupe, Marveille (same place as Joseffy!).
He has no relatives and was taken under the troupe’s care when he was in trouble. However, he has lost his memory of his past and does not remember whatever had happened to him.
He is a bit of an irresponsible person, and loves to joke around.
Profile: 16 years old / 67 kg / 176 cm.
Personal thoughts
I’m excited about the idea of princess and knight otome game in general. It screams shoujo, and I am a sucker for clichés! I recently finished Cendrillon palikA and fell in love with the cinderella motif used in the game, though it wasn’t exactly a princess and knight story. To note, Voltage has a few princess and knight themed otome games like a Knight’s Devotion and Be My Princess (cheers Kayla for sharing these), though I have yet to play these.
I haven’t tried any of ichicolumn’s games before (Hanayaka I’m coming soon I promise!!), but I remember reading Billy’s Dessert de Otomate 2022 round up post and she mentioned:
“
In the past they [ichicolumn] have developed some interesting otome games such as the titles above [Hanayaka Nari, Waga Ichizoku series and Bara ni Kakusareshi Verite] where you can take control of the heroine in an “overworld” such as a mansion or castle and do chores or do errands etc and are often very long games with rich stories.”
It seems like they’ve opted for the “normal” visual novel style for TsuiTsui. Personally I don’t really mind either way, but this could be disappointing for those expecting something different in terms of gameplay.
The social hierarchy theme is nothing new – two games I enjoyed which employed similar themes are Olympia Soirée and Zettai Kaikyuu Gakuen. But unlike these two, TsuiTsui’s plot seems a lot lighter (?). I also love the housemate and found family tropes, and I’m expecting a lot of fun interactions between the characters when they start living together! If you love these tropes too, Cupid Parasite (housemate) and Bustafellows (housemate and found family) are some of my favourite localised titles to consider playing, if you haven’t already.
The characters in this game all appear to be quite young, so I’m expecting a fluffier and more innocent romance. Bless Milan for existing tho’ because he’s the only LI in this game that’s of similar age with me. 
Speaking of young, Kier is WAY too young – bro is literally a child. But the premise of his route is interesting, especially with the memory disorder in the picture.
Of the characters, I am most excited to meet the poster boy, Joseffy. I hate that my taste is so basic, but he’s handsome and feisty – what’s not to love??? It might also be my bias for any characters voiced by Furukawa Makoto. Adel also has my attention because he sounds like a wholesome cutie.
In case you are interested, Otomate has already released mini previews of the routes on their Youtube channel. I’ve seen Joseffy’s (very briefly) and have been avoiding more promotional materials so I can go into the game fairly blind and not knowing what to expect!
What do you think? Is TsuiTsui on your buy or localisation wish list? I’m super excited to try this game in just a few weeks time!
Eric looks like the type of character who would be the secret route. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe a foreshadow. Who knows…?
This is very possible especially with a famous VA (kimuryo) voicing him! His character design is also sooo good, please let this be true XD
Edit: https://twitter.com/tsuitsuiotomate/status/1639192403574943744 looks like a secret chara, and it does kinda look like Eric!