I’m back with another Otome game, and this time I had the chance to review the vibrant and whimsical pastel world of Genso Manège. I love anything to do with circus and magic, and it’s even better when they’re combined. In my Genso Manège Review, I’ll go into the character who stole my heart, the fun I had with the mini-games, and some of the minor (ahem… a pun for later) things that made me feel a little uncomfortable.
A Whimsical And Wonderful World
When I first saw Genso Manège I fell in love with art style. All of the characters looked interesting, and I immediately had my eyes on Serge, who looks like the true love of my life, William T. Spears from Black Butler. After you play through the first chapter, you enter La Foire du Rêve, the circus you work in. You aim to reawaken your magic and free the workers trapped by magic within the circus.
Lack Of Choices
The moment I first started playing, I noticed the lack of dialogue options. It’s only around once per chapter you get the chance to say anything, and even then it’s hard to tell the choice that favours a character. There is only one point where it is clear who it is in favour of, and that is by going to visit the area where they work. Although I knew the character I wanted to romance, I can imagine it’s hard for players to get to ‘know’ any of the characters, as you can hardly speak or interact with them.
By chapter 4, you are given a route. I got Serge (luckily). All was going well until he mentioned he was 27. That was when I remembered, the character you play as (called Emma, although you can customise the name), is 17. I’ll be honest, this really put me off. I’m in my early 20s, which I believe to be the average age of an Otome player. Playing as a minor made me feel weird in itself, but it was even worse knowing I was romancing someone 10 years older than me. After I finished his route, I went for Crier, the yandere. But he too is 17, so that also made me feel weird.
I went onto the official website to find the age rating and saw it is PG 12. The game explores a lot of triggering themes, and in my opinion, nobody under the age of 18 should be playing this. I felt it was completely unnecessary to have the main character be a minor and have most of the characters be older than you. I was interested in Hugo too, but since he’s around the same age or even older than Serge, I decided against it. If the main character was above 18, then sure! But the mix in ages was a turn off.
Themes And Character Backstory
Speaking of the characters, everybody has their own route. There is one character I’ve purposely avoided talking about, which is Arnaud. You live with him and his mother after your parents die, and he is a vibrant, optimistic, and cheery journalist. When I first met him, he came across as the ‘adoptive brother’ trope. The game’s information page describes Arnaud as “your childhood friend”. Yet I still got the vibe that Emma sees him as a brother.
So imagine my surprise when there is a scene (before you get an assigned character route) of you two in a Ferris Wheel together. In this, he tells you he loves you, that the moment feels like a date, and that he could kiss you. Although he later says he’s joking, it made me feel uncomfortable. My surprise extended afterwards when I found the in-game feature. Here, you can view your progress with each character. I found Arnaud to be a romanceable character once you unlock his route.
In-Depth And Detailed Characters
Issues aside, once you’re in a character’s route, you can see that they are all extremely detailed and unique. Serge is your typical stoic, rude, and cold character (just my type!). He dedicates himself to his work and later develops a soft spot for you. As his route progresses, you discover his history in the military and that his heart is made of magic. Meaning, that if he steps outside the circus, he will die.
At the start of the game, Arnaud states that many people rumour La Foire du Rêve to be the cause of numerous deaths. You brush it under the carpet and never mention it, until you and Serge (in his route, anyway), go after the military to investigate. It turns out that they are responsible for multiple abductions of witches. But they end up catching both of you.
I won’t go into much detail because of spoilers or triggers, but some of the scenes that happened shocked me and were violent for a ‘vibrant and whimsical’ Otome game. Again, no spoilers here, but after you both escape, Serge’s ending absolutely broke me. So, bonus points for making me so attached to him I was close to tears. I would have fallen for him more (and the others) if it wasn’t the age issue.
Build Up Your Magic In Mini-Games
One of the things that I loved was the mini-games. Although I wish they appeared more, at least once per chapter you get to play a game where you gather as many stars as you can to build up your magic, also known as your Eveil. You then have to match the beating star with the star you’re holding so they line up. I’ll be honest (and not to boast), I scored perfect every time, so I don’t know if doing badly in the games determines the outcome of the main storyline and game progress.
My issue with the mini-games is the speaking in the background. The whole game features Japanese voice acting, which don’t get me wrong, was very good. However, that was the only in-game language option. This didn’t bother me, but for players wanting audio in a different language, there’s no option for that. Of course, there are subtitles, but there are none in the mini-games. As you play, a character is talking in the background… with no subtitles. I can only assume they were encouraging me. Thanks to watching tons of anime, I can recognise the word ‘wonderful’ in Japanese. But I didn’t see the point if I had no idea what they were saying to me.
Is It Worth It?
Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun playing Genso Manège. The mini-games and overall art style were well executed. The age and adoptive sister/brother romance did put me off though, as well as the lack of dialogue options. I wish the game gave you more chances to get to know the characters and interact with them before throwing you into their route. That being said, once you start romancing them, each character has an in-depth backstory. You could also see the progress levels with each character, which was nice to know.
If you want to try Genso Manège, you can download it from the Nintendo Store. I also have a Celestia Chain Of Fate Review which you can check out if you like Otome games!
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