By Eu
Title: Taishou Mebiusline Vitable
Company: LoveDelivery / dramatic create
Release Date: January 28, 2016
Platform: PS Vita
Walkthrough used here
In a nutshell
Hiiragi Kyouichirou goes to the city from his hometown to further his studies. But instead, he has gotten himself involved in the affairs of different people interested in his power.
Final Impressions
It’s been a long time coming but I’ve played and finally finished this game! Woot!
While I did have my reservations at first, mostly about the language, I was so glad I played this game. By the time I was playing the True End, I knew that I made the right choice in picking this up . I loved how everything came together, connecting each event to every character in the story. Each one of them played an important part in the whole scheme of things. And then, all of these were nicely tied up to a myth.
Language
I have to mention the language first before I ramble more about the game. It was the main thing that kept me from playing Taishou Mebiusline when it came out for PC. When I read reviews of how good this game was, I was more pressured to understand every characters, words, and phrases. With my knowledge of Japanese that time, I was afraid that I’d missed a lot of information about the story.
After all these years, you’d think that I have gotten better and understood every word and phrase used in the game…😞
But I’m glad I waited this long because, while my Japanese still sucked, it was a lot better than when this game first came out. So it was easier to get used to the fancy words. If anything, I learned a bunch of things and new ways to spell a word.
Smut
Instead of being disappointed, I was more surprised to see that suggestive scenes were included. I thought that when it was ported every scene with a tinge of smut would be deleted.
But it was not. 😏
And boy, I was happy. 🤩
Of course, the obvious smex part was taken out. But thank goodness, the smut was not just pure porn so there’s still the do part, with the upper parts being shown.
But that’s not the only thing that made it wonderful. It’s the fact that the scene, while obviously smut, have a part of the plot or character development incorporated in them and that’s what matters. I loved it when characters get closer by talking things out, at the same time, they’re getting intimate physically. That’s progress in every side of their relationship.
I could only think of one scene where I think it was pure smut and so was taken out (or so I think, I’ve only read that part on another post online but didn’t see it while playing so I thought it was left out because it’s not relevant to the story.)
Characters
I loved the characters, all of them! Well, not everyone was my fave, but at the very least I could empathize with every character.
Hiiragi Kyouichirou
Wow I love Kyou. He could be very stubborn at times but that unyielding will was also his strength. He looked cute and frail but he’s darn persistent that it was impossible to shake him away. Also, he never gives up. Like, ever. No matter how dire the circumstances were, say in Senge’s route, he just kept on refocusing his mind to what matters most at the moment.
Also, he’s such an active uke, I loved it! It’s most obvious in Tatebayashi’s route (because Tatebayashi’s so dense lol). I could have sworn my brows arched so high when I got to the scene where he pushed down Tatebayashi to do him service. 😏
You couldn’t mention Kyou without senbei. His love for senbei was contagious! I found myself munching on them whenever I played. 🤤
Shigure
Shigure is the head of the Gohongatana. He meets Kyou when the MC bumped into him while Shigure was being chased by the military.
I never expected to like Shigure. AT ALL. But his personality and his relationship with Kyou and the rest of the Gohongatana drew me in. I loved loved his interactions with Kyou. They’re not just good as a couple, but also as friends, as colleagues. They were good partners in practically everything. In other routes, when he wasn’t the main guy, Shigure still helped Kyou in a bunch of ways. The SS included in the game reminded me how much I enjoyed watching their interactions.
Tatebayashi Kai
Tatebayashi leads a group that deals with the undead stuff.
Character-design wise, I expected a lot from him. He’s princely, he’s a nobility, he’s everything an otome male lead appears to be… so maybe that’s the reason why his route was such an otome? lol
Tatebayashi’s route had a lot of plot stuff, it puts me to sleep. But while Tatebayashi’s could be pretty dull at times with his seriousness and all, the people around him were very interesting. In fact, they were some of my favorite side-characters in the game.
Senge Iori
Senge is another military official who works for the undead project.
Senge… he continues to give me mixed feelings up to this day. He and his long, silky hair.
I’ll leave it at that. 😌
Misaki
Misaki is the stranger Kyou meets at the start of the game. He consistently tells Kyou to avoid getting involved in all the happenings with the military, while also consistently helping Kyou whenever our MC is in danger.
MI.SA.KI <3 <3 <3
He is worth going through all the routes.
My favorite’s got to be Misaki > Kyou = Shigure > Senge = Tatebayashi. Or it could also be Misaki = Kyou = Shigure > Senge = Tatebayashi. Senge and Tatebayashi are on the same level since both of them give me mixed feelings, although on different things.
As for the route order, I liked the one I did, Shigure -> Tatebayashi -> Senge -> Misaki -> True End. Shigure’s story is not plot-centered so he is a safe first route. Tatebayashi’s route gives a premise about the general outline of what is happening. Leave Senge and Misaki for last. Don’t ever ever touch Misaki’s route until every end in the other routes have been finished.
Please, just don’t.
Fave side-characters
Taishou Mebiusline has an interesting list of main characters. But it isn’t short with side-characters. They’re not just sidekicks. They are indispensable allies.
Besides, the game becomes a lot more interesting with them around. It’s a lot more fun and enjoyable while also providing some heartaches, one way or another.
My favorite’s the Gohongatana guys and Tatebayashi’s subordinates.
System
Customization
The game has a pretty standard system, like most visual novels. But my favorite part got to be the font customization. I don’t know why exactly. But I guess, it made my reading a lot easier to the eyes. I’m pretty sure some other otome games I’ve played have this kind of customization. It’s just, here, the fonts seemed to make the writing a little less daunting to look at.
End List
I only found out when I finished the game so I didn’t really check it out during my playthrough. Besides, I originally planned on only taking the Good ends. But the list is a nice touch especially if you’re going for platinum.
Voice Save
I never thought they’d retain the voice save! And it has 120 save slots! I only saved, like, four? lol I got too engrossed in the story that I completely forgot about it until I checked out the omake.
Music
I mentioned before that I liked the BGMs. Especially the ones used in Shigure’s route and during the actions/revelation scenes. Those songs felt like they were egging me to continue playing.
For character songs, I liked Senge’s. While everybody else has this ballad-type of music, he has rock. It was surprising!
Art
As for the CGs, while the sprites looked okay, there were times when the CGs were inconsistent. It’s not ugly per se, but definitely not the best.
But there were CGs that include effects. They looked really cool, especially during action scenes. Too bad it wasn’t used as much as possible. Budget-issues and other things, I guess?
When you finished the game, there’ll be added pictures in the gallery. These were the artworks released on magazines, tokutens, etc. I found this interesting and a nice touch. The artworks looked super cool too!
Also, if you’ve noticed, all my Taishou Mebiusline posts have a different title screen. That is because the game has a various screen available! Different setting with different characters. It’s super cool. It doesn’t matter if you’ve finished a route or what, it’ll rotate to a different screen every time. And it doesn’t just contain the main characters even some of the side characters have their own.
SS
If you’re aiming for plat, don’t skip this part! It’s the last trophy I got. There were around twenty-one SS included which looked super daunting at first. But they’re really short and fun to read. These were the compilation of stories in the magazines and the ones released on the website like the birthday stories. I loved the birthday stories because, well, fluff. And smut… though it’s mostly fade to black.
Profiles
There are also character profiles included. Plus there are creator comments about the characters. I giggled at the part when they mentioned Senge and his silky hair.
Wrapping it up!
Playing Taishou Mebiusline is so worth it. It such a shame that I have a crappy Japanese. It feels like I didn’t give this game enough justice. /grows mushroom in a corner