Holy shit. I feel like I've struck gold. The art is absolutely scrumptious. Renji and Ikki are so sweet and lovely to each other. And my face is flushed from those sex scenes, god. Top tier setting of the scene, the build-up, and the writing in general. For any lurkers who don't know, Tap H in game to hide the UI ;)
Spoilers ahead!
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Character-wise, I ended up really liking both Renji and Ikki. I appreciate the contrast in how Renji acts as a kid versus how he acts in the present. You can feel how differently he thinks at thirty-two, how he cringes at his old ideals, how he clumsily but earnestly tries to understand Ikki's identity. He does make some weird comments regarding gender roles and misgendering but Ikki shut that down pretty quick, which I appreciated.
As for Ikki, oh boy. He's such a cool, suave character. I wish I could be even half as charismatic as he is. I'm glad that he was able to become more outwardly confident in spite of his rough past. Honestly, it makes my heart warm just seeing Ikki grow up to be a self-assured, happy guy who is firm with his boundaries and comfortable in his own skin.
My favorite scene has to be the one where they're having a heartfelt conversation at the bar. Loved how open and expressive they were with each other, which made the transition into the smut feel like a natural progression.
As for the other characters, Junya's misogyny and Kurumi's fujoing out over her coworkers were off-putting. These seem to be intentional writing choices though so I won't speak on it further.
Okay finally I can gush about the sex scenes! So freaking hot. Once the masturbation CG struck, I knew I was in for a good time. There's something enchanting about the writing, where you can feel Renji's desire leaking through every detail. Ikki fingering and using a dildo on Renji was hot as sin. The dirty talk, praise kink, begging, dom/sub undertones, hnnngh. Ikki is very good with his words; it's easy to see why every utterance of "good boy" causes Renji to shiver. Also, I really, really appreciate that both of them refer to the dildo as Ikki's cock...
And when the lingerie scene flashbanged me after the credits, I just about combusted. Renji getting absolutely fucked stupid from Ikki's strap-on: Yum. The feminization is a guilty pleasure when juxtaposed with Renji's huffy, reserved personality. Some of the stereotypical language regarding being a wife made me raise my eyebrows. I personally enjoyed it but wow it's bold to utilize that in a trans story, even if the "wife" is the cis male. As shameful as it is, I liked how enthusiastically into it Renji was.
The only thing I wish I could have seen was more of Ikki receiving pleasure! The CGs were beautifulll but also mostly focused on Renji's body. I think it would have been lovely to also see more of Ikki's pleasure. Oh and office sex because that's hot in fiction. But overall, both Ikki's teasing attitude as a top + Renji being readily submissive is ridiculously sexy and I'd love to see more of it <3
Thank you for your team's hard work! I'll definitely be coming back to this VN in the future... 馃槍