Demon's Bond, Shin route, up to chapter 9
Sep. 12th, 2019 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Shin himself is growing on me but the romance is not. Also Kazutake's route retroactively got a lot worse, as did this game's worldbuilding.
Apparently the demon brothel that Yukina had to fish Shin out of is run by Kazutake's clan, who were driven to this because they are homeless and poor. I...did not want to know that. It makes Kazutake's whole 'men protect women' thing a *lot* creepier. In a way that I find it to be in real life, but game, I thought you were trying to sell me a fantasy universe that was less creepy! Seriously, game. And, now that you've shown me this, I can't help thinking that one reason that demon women are rare might be that they are forced into prostitution because of poverty and then the clan pretends they don't exist. This would be unfortunately plausible for a society that is both impoverished and very traditional and, game, I hate you for making me think it.
But, ok, Shin himself. He seems to actually be a pacifist, at least so far. He uses (mostly) his wits and (occasionally) magic but never a sword. When Yachiyo and Shuu kidnap Yukina and torture her Shin rescues her but doesn't attack them.
Not only that but he's the only love interest so far who is working as hard as he can to, if not stop the war, at least to keep people out of it. Which, remember, is what Princess Yase asked Yukina to do in the first place. Shin also just hates war on principle. And then it's revealed that the goal of Yachiyo and Shuu isn't to support one side or another but to pull as many people (and demons) as possible into the war. So Shin turns out to be the first of the love interests to actually figure out what the antagonists are trying to do and to effectively oppose it, at least to some extent.
Shin has started to remind me a lot of Sakamoto - strong but canon-atypical morals combined with a tendency to act (or at least talk) like a jerk. I'm not sure I like the choice to make the guy with canon-atypical morals a womanizing asshole. But it works interestingly as a storytelling choice. One advantage of it is that it gives me a kind of gut-level feeling of revulsion towards the guy that I then need to overcome, which *could* be intended to be parallel to the gut-level revulsion that people from the time/canon would feel about Shin as a man who doesn't use swords or Sakamoto as someone who thinks about the good of the nation rather than personal loyalty. So I can respect this as a storytelling choice, even if I don't like it.
I still am not sold on the romance. I can see why Yukina likes him, she respects his intelligence and feels like she has a lot to learn from him. But he doesn't treat her well and doesn't act like he has anything to learn from her. And, the way she's written in this route, maybe he doesn't. She seems more sheltered here than in previous routes. I could see a fling with Shin being good for her as a way to learn more about the world, but I don't want her to settle down with him, I want her to be with someone who respects her more and treats her better.
Well, two more chapters to go. Maybe things will change.
Apparently the demon brothel that Yukina had to fish Shin out of is run by Kazutake's clan, who were driven to this because they are homeless and poor. I...did not want to know that. It makes Kazutake's whole 'men protect women' thing a *lot* creepier. In a way that I find it to be in real life, but game, I thought you were trying to sell me a fantasy universe that was less creepy! Seriously, game. And, now that you've shown me this, I can't help thinking that one reason that demon women are rare might be that they are forced into prostitution because of poverty and then the clan pretends they don't exist. This would be unfortunately plausible for a society that is both impoverished and very traditional and, game, I hate you for making me think it.
But, ok, Shin himself. He seems to actually be a pacifist, at least so far. He uses (mostly) his wits and (occasionally) magic but never a sword. When Yachiyo and Shuu kidnap Yukina and torture her Shin rescues her but doesn't attack them.
Not only that but he's the only love interest so far who is working as hard as he can to, if not stop the war, at least to keep people out of it. Which, remember, is what Princess Yase asked Yukina to do in the first place. Shin also just hates war on principle. And then it's revealed that the goal of Yachiyo and Shuu isn't to support one side or another but to pull as many people (and demons) as possible into the war. So Shin turns out to be the first of the love interests to actually figure out what the antagonists are trying to do and to effectively oppose it, at least to some extent.
Shin has started to remind me a lot of Sakamoto - strong but canon-atypical morals combined with a tendency to act (or at least talk) like a jerk. I'm not sure I like the choice to make the guy with canon-atypical morals a womanizing asshole. But it works interestingly as a storytelling choice. One advantage of it is that it gives me a kind of gut-level feeling of revulsion towards the guy that I then need to overcome, which *could* be intended to be parallel to the gut-level revulsion that people from the time/canon would feel about Shin as a man who doesn't use swords or Sakamoto as someone who thinks about the good of the nation rather than personal loyalty. So I can respect this as a storytelling choice, even if I don't like it.
I still am not sold on the romance. I can see why Yukina likes him, she respects his intelligence and feels like she has a lot to learn from him. But he doesn't treat her well and doesn't act like he has anything to learn from her. And, the way she's written in this route, maybe he doesn't. She seems more sheltered here than in previous routes. I could see a fling with Shin being good for her as a way to learn more about the world, but I don't want her to settle down with him, I want her to be with someone who respects her more and treats her better.
Well, two more chapters to go. Maybe things will change.