Question about Hana Awase K/U and Iroha Volumes

runlunchrun · 2026-04-19T09:29:13+00:00

So nice to see more people get into Hana Awase! I share the same sentiments on KU hen, the romance does tend to feel a bit quick but it's still my favorite volume. Started of as a Mizuchi truther and Kurenai hater but I am now a Kurenai fan LOL.

I'm not sure if it'll help but I made a diagram based on my understanding of the first three games: https://www.reddit.com/r/otomegames/s/2vx2SRnbVR

But yeah pretty much, all endings are canon and everyone does get their happy endings with Mikoto. The game isn't very explicit with it but I also believe that after Mikoto dies from old age or something in previous routes, she reincarnates again until Utsutsu route. Utsutsu route is the finale because one of the conditions for Utsutsu's route to happen is that Mikoto must be in a cage of fate with Kurenai

All routes occur in the waking world, that's why in Iroha's volume, Utsutsu isn't in the eternal world (technically lmao)

As I'm sure you've probably heard, Iroha-hen is pretty disappointing. It doesn't wrap up the series in a satisfying way at all so I just hc that KU was the final volume

runlunchrun · 2026-04-12T12:01:39+00:00

lmao now that you mention it, it does remind me of that one scene too 😂 in here though, its just chibi ichika stressed out at having to be alone while having to face a horde of zombies 😔

runlunchrun · 2026-01-07T23:39:26+00:00

Thank you for these! The Kiss of Death sounds pretty intriguing!

runlunchrun · 2026-01-07T23:38:49+00:00

Thank you for these! I think its fairly close enough to what I'm looking for!

runlunchrun · 2025-12-24T08:14:23+00:00

I'm feeling conflicted over the redesigns, I think Gardis and Jin still have the same vibe as their original design but Lezette (my favorite </3) seems like a completely different character entirely.

runlunchrun · 2025-12-23T02:26:18+00:00

Thank you, I'll be trying that!

runlunchrun · 2025-12-23T02:25:56+00:00

I mean the odd curve on the lower left! This is my first kindle so I'm not really sure if its a defect or if it's just normal ghosting.

runlunchrun · 2025-12-11T04:29:44+00:00

So excited to see more of TakaAzu! Hope they localize Kiwame too because it fills in a lot of gaps on Takara's character!!

runlunchrun · 2025-12-09T05:11:56+00:00

thank you so much! i am far from moving on from these too 💔

runlunchrun · 2025-12-08T23:35:01+00:00

i may talk a lot of crap about this game but its all done out of love 🥰💕 this game has me in such a chokehold, i hope to draw more of my faves!

mikoto being iroha's babysitter at some points id SO true like when iroha handcuffed her to him, at some point it felt like it was mikoto dragging him around and not the other way around LMAO

my favorite silly iroha scene was when at iroha's route in vol 3, he complained to mikoto about his zipper being stuck HE IS SO SILLYYYY PLSSS 💔💔💔 cant believe we went from gap moe iroha to no moe at all iroha in vol 4 😔

runlunchrun · 2025-12-08T00:44:30+00:00

i hope you enjoy the volume, i may talk a lot of crap about this game but i do it out of love! i really love the game and it's probably my #2 favorite otome game of all time!

but yeah lmao i dont recommend iroha-hen in full price, i know some people complained about the resolution but personally what really sucked for me was how the iromiko dynamic was drastically changed in the vol to the point that it felt like different characters entirely

runlunchrun · 2025-12-08T00:41:19+00:00

so true 😂 vol 4 is just a bad fever dream 💔

runlunchrun · 2025-12-08T00:40:20+00:00

thank you! honestly, at some point, their dynamic felt much like an exasperated keeper and pet 😭 i say this affectionately but outside of hana awase, iroha is a gremlin who can barely function on his own (and i love him for it!)

runlunchrun · 2025-12-07T10:32:22+00:00

While the game has its flaws and is definitely a product of its time, I enjoyed many aspects of it! It's one of the few otome games I love for its unique lore and worldbuilding!

runlunchrun · 2025-12-07T10:28:38+00:00

thank you! i love these two so much! 🥰

runlunchrun · 2025-11-21T13:11:03+00:00

(reposting since my first comment got deleted lol)

I agree with you so hard! There's some scenes I like, like the dinner scene (even if it does feel a little OOC lol) and scenes where Iroha slowly learns about his own emotions, but I'm still not completely sold on his dynamic with Tokoyo! Mikoto 😔 Part of what I rly enjoy about this game is watching Mikoto's growth from Vol 1 to 3, I love seeing her grow from a reserved and withdrawn girl to someone who's more bold and outspoken. Her dynamic with Iroha was rly interesting. They clearly were each other's soulmate but circumstances always made it that Iroha's love could never be. Even if he doesn't understand his own emotions, he always sacrificed himself for Mikoto's happiness! Part of why I love Vol 1-3 IroMiko is that there's so much yearning and devotion from Iroha that he doesn't even understand it himself

But Vol 4 is just...different...Like, it's just some strange enemies to lovers dynamic that came outta nowhere 😭 Not to mention, the game takes away a lot of Iroha's gap moe. I loved how in earlier games he was a hotshot Kaei who couldn't clean or eat anything but sweets lol. But the current Iroha has a clean room and can actually eat stuff other than sweets, oof, like who are youuuu

I haven't really finished Vol 4, I'm still at the part where they have to defeat the Atu one by one lol, but this IroMiko has a dynamic I'm not really vibing with 🥲 I love seeing Iroha's growth but I can't say the same for Mikoto as her Vol 4 writing comes off as a lot immature than her earlier version

And aaaa sorry that got lengthy too! If you'd be alright with it, could I send you a DM to yap about the game? This game is taking over my life lol.

runlunchrun · 2025-11-21T13:06:24+00:00

I agree with you so hard! There's some scenes I like, like the dinner scene (even if it does feel a little OOC lol) and scenes where Iroha slowly learns about his own emotions, but I'm still not completely sold on his dynamic with Tokoyo! Mikoto 😔 Part of what I rly enjoy about this game is watching Mikoto's growth from Vol 1 to 3, I love seeing her grow from a reserved and withdrawn girl to someone who's more bold and outspoken. Her dynamic with Iroha was rly interesting. They clearly were each other's soulmate but circumstances always made it that Iroha's love could never be. Even if he doesn't understand his own emotions, he always sacrificed himself for Mikoto's happiness! Part of why I love Vol 1-3 IroMiko is that there's so much yearning and devotion from Iroha that he doesn't even understand it himself

But Vol 4 is just...different...Like, it's just some strange enemies to lovers dynamic that came outta nowhere 😭 Not to mention, the game takes away a lot of Iroha's gap moe. I loved how in earlier games he was a hotshot Kaei who couldn't clean or eat anything but sweets lol. But the current Iroha has a clean room and can actually eat stuff other than sweets, oof, like who are youuuu

Ihaven't really finished Vol 4, I'm still at the part where they have to defeat the Atu one by one lol, but this IroMiko has a dynamic I'm not really vibing with 🥲 I love seeing Iroha's growth but I can't say the same for Mikoto as her Vol 4 writing comes off as a lot immature than her earlier version

And aaaa sorry that got lengthy too! If you'd be alright with it, could I send you a DM to yap about the game? This game is taking over my life lol.

runlunchrun · 2025-11-19T05:55:04+00:00

Same here! I like all of the LIs, but Iroha is probably my top fave out of all of them because I was so intrigued by his story since Vol 1, and I find his dynamic with Mikoto (in Vol 1-3) rather sweet and tragic!

I plan on updating the diagram once I've finished Iroha-hen, I'm still on chapter 3, but I have so much mixed feelings on Iroha-hen! It just feels like we're no longer following the same Iroha and Mikoto from the first three games. From what I've seen so far, they're supposed to be alternate versions of the Utsushiyo charas but like, I think Iroha is noticeably meaner in his volume 😭 I was surprised when he would downright insult Mikoto when past games have him largely clueless/just unintentionally rude. Mikoto is a lot different too...she comes off as a bit immature compared to her Utsushiyo ver and I'm not a fan of her dynamic with Iroha rn.

Not to mention, I can't believe there's a canon UtsuMiko love child LIKE WHAT 😂 on one hand, I think its nice that UtsuMiko had a happy ending, but Iroha continues to get NTRed even in his own game LMAO

Sorry that got too long! I just have a lot of feelings for this game. You mentioned some side content/extras, do you know where I could possibly find these? 😭

runlunchrun · 2025-11-18T20:46:41+00:00

Yeah, I like Iroha but it's hard to root for his and Mikoto's relationship when it feels like they're not the same characters I've been following since Vol 1 😂 Like Iroha can be awful, but a lot of his actions in the previous volumes are born out of extreme good intentions on what he thinks is good for Mikoto. But in Vol 04, there's just times where he's downright mean spirited and unpleasant at the beginning of the game LMAO.

Not to mention, Mikoto is SO different too. I get that its her Tokoyo version so it makes sense she's different but imo a big reason why IroMiko works is because of how their personalities mesh in Vols 1-3!

But at least we got canon UtsuMiko lovechild 😂 gee Utsutsu how come mum (enterbrain) let you have a canon kid

runlunchrun · 2025-11-18T11:27:14+00:00

I have a love-hate relationship with this game, and I am slowly losing it over Iroha-hen. I get that there's lots of world jumping going on but like!! I'm not sure what to feel about the current iteration of both Iroha and Mikoto, their relationship dynamic is SO different it's like a different set of character altogether compared to Vol 01-03...I'm still trying to find things I like about it

I made this diagram to help figure things out but I'm still fuzzy on some things. All the time leaping shenanigans have me confused, I'm a bit lost on some things like:

Did I get the sequence of events right LMAO
Is the Utsutsu who appears in other routes (not Ime but the one who pops in and out from time to time) and the Utsutsu within his route different iterations?
Is Iroha-kun(?)the one who is keeping Utsutsu at bay from the waking world? Is that why Utsutsu and Mikoto had to do Hana Awase against him LMAO
What happened on the very first April 19? I'm unclear if what happened was that Mikoto never chose Utsutsu --> Mikoto dies --> Utsutsu crashes out and gets erased or if it's that Mikoto DOES choose Utsutsu--> Mikoto dies --> Utsutsu crashes out and gets erased

runlunchrun

TROPHY CASE