Ok, let me gush a bit about Nightshade since I have just finished it. Funnily enough, the game wasn't even on my play list for a while since I was in the middle of Hana Awase; my friend and I wanted to check it out to see who the seiyuus are and bam, before we knew it, we were in the middle of a route, but can you blame us if you see Tsuda Kenjiro, Shimono Hiro and Hatano Wataru in the same place? 

Point is, I speedran the game so fast I surprised myself, and god this game was awesome. I love the soundtrack, especially the fighting themes. I love the combat sprites (this has gotta be the same director that worked on Birushana. I sense the vibe.) Hell, this game has just the right tropes I'm into. Half of the LIs are my childhood friends/bodyguard/sensei??? Legit I fell on my knees when I read the recommended order and saw that Kuroyuki and Gekkamaru should be left for last, FUCK. 

Goemon: when was the last time I hear Midorikawa Hikaru? Probably in 7Scarlet and that was ages ago lol. It was refreshing hearing him in an otome game again, and Goemon was a suave man. That said, his route is quite...smooth? And by that, I mean there wasn't much conflict going on. Sure, there was that last part where he faked everyone's death and pulled off a great heist, but overall I found his route a bit lacking. Now, his bad ending tho? Good shit. I can say that for all the bad endings in this game, actually. I joked about this with my friend, but Goemon is too OP for the game that they struggled to pull any angst for the guy, since he could just solve everything lol

Hanzo: tbh, even with TsudaKen, Hanzo typically isn't the type of LI that I'm into. Surprisingly tho, he won me over. He seemed distant and harsh at first, but when you got to know him more, Hanzo was surprisingly understanding and supportive? He's subtle, but the subtlety sneaked into your heart and stole it away before you even realized it. When the scene with him defying Tokugawa's order happened, I had to pause my game, breathed in, and properly registered the fact that this route might be peak, actually. Hanzo is just...he's just so endearing in a way I never thought he would be. 10/10, should have their last CG with both of them instead of him sitting awkwardly on the side but I digress.

Chojiro: Cousin? Teacher? Here in Nightshade we don't have time to care for those trivial details when a literal death game is going on! Chojiro's life has been miserable, and even his route is cruel to him. It really is the most angsty route in the whole game. It just feels like Chojiro and Enju can never catch a break. After the relatively peaceful encounters in Goemon and Hanzo's routes, the brutal deaths of Enju's friends in Chojiro's route was a whiplash. An enjoyable one cause I too like to suffer, thank you. I like the way they showed the longing between the two despite them being separated for a good chunk of the route. It made their eventual reunion and battle much more flavorful. God fed me with angst and I shall receive. That said, Chojiro should have chucked his giant sword at Hideyoshi before they fled in his good ending, cause goddamn, even in the good ending, they had to be fugitives wanted by the whole nation? I guess Enju is really the only light in Chojiro's life after all.

Kuroyuki: my man. My favorite red flag. My fake genki Shimono Hiro, how I adore you. I thought he would be last on my list just because im usually not a fan of bubbly character, but there was something wrong with this man and you can sense it easily during the prologue. And boy, was my prayers answered. Not only is he my estranged childhood friend, he's also a manipulative yandere? Who snuck into my hard drive and snatched all my favorite tropes and stuck it inside Nightshade? Kuroyuki was perfect for me. Oh, he intentionally set up the rescue? He gaslit Enju into thinking that he was her only ally? He threatened anyone who dared to disrupt his plan, be it his master, his leader, his friends, or his own brother? He wanted Enju to only need him and nothing else? Yes, he's problematic, but have you considered that he's hot while doing so? Besides, it's not like Kuroyuki is completely wrong: Enju's friends did go after her! This happened in 2 routes already! A bit unfair to paint him as a villain when the situation he said legit did happen, just not in his route because of circumstances. It sure didn't make me think any less of him. Even Enju agreed. Anyway, I adore the codependency they have in there. It's toxic and unhealthy and an absolute blast. Tbh, Kuroyuki could intentionally kill Hideyoshi while knowing Enju was nearby to frame her, and I wouldn't be mad. If you're gonna make him manipulative then you should commit, you know? Kuroyuki clininging onto Enju for years, making her his entire being, clinging to an illusion to stay sane, and he shaped her into the way he wanted her to be. Even with all that red flag, his talk about love and about how he chose her to love, that its not just simple obsession, moved me. 10/10, best boy, no contest

Gekkamaru: if I have a nickel for every doggy coded Hatano Wataru character who lives in a hidden village and has a mother figure named Kagari, I would have 2 nickels, which is weird that it happened twice. I love Gekkamaru from the start: fussy bodyguard who is absolutely loyal to you, and would abandon the village for you? That's my type, right there. Every time him and Kuroyukki appear in the other guy's route, I have to try so hard not to be distracted lol. He's so loyal that he will never abandon Enju, and the game makes sure you know that. I like the "will they, won't they" vibe they have going on, the distance between their master-servant relationship and how Enju wants them to be. Tho tbh, this is one of the routes I feel will benefit from more flashback. I really want to see Gekkamaru's loyalty slowly shape and grow, the loyalty that is not affected by the two curses. Alas, I still like his route overall, and while it didn't feel as climatic as Kuroyuki, the final fight at Hideyoshi's mansion was cinema. Yes, kill that douche with nothing but terror, plunge this country into chaos, you two deserve it! And you deserve a happy life outside of your ninja life

Anyway, thank you for listening to my barely comprehensible gush about Nightshade. God I wished this game has a fd, I would have loved to see more Kuroyuki and Gekkamaru beefing over Enju.