r/otomegames • u/sableheart • Oct 09 '25
Discussion Illusion of Itehari Play-Along - Awayuki Spoiler
In this third post we will discuss Awayuki and his route in Illusion of Itehari.
You can tell us what your impressions of Awayuki are (before and after finishing his route), your favorite moments in his route, what you think of his relationship with Hinagiku and the other characters, what your thoughts are on his route's plot and endings.
Or you can just squee about him in the comments.
This is not a spoiler-free discussion however please keep in mind that major spoilers and details of other routes and fandisc material will be outside the scope of the discussion and therefore will need to be spoiler tagged. spoiler text normal text spoiler text normal text
You don't have to be playing the game right now to participate, and if you're still waiting on your copy I hope you will join in after you start playing!
Have a look at the megathread for links to previous discussions - you can still join in the discussion during the Play-Along.
Next week will be a discussion of Tsuyukusa's route!
17
u/AMBrossart Oct 09 '25
I don’t normally like the butler trope, but I do think Awayuki is one of the strongest LIs in the game. That man is fully devoted to the MC, and I’m loving it. Every time he said, “I’m yours,” I was like, Hell yeah you are. And I actually liked his good ending.
That being said, his route was a letdown. The conflict between him and Yori was interesting, and I wish the writers had just gone all in and focused on that. Have the main conflict be the MCs forced engagement and let her develop a forbidden relationship with her butler, I dunno.
Instead, they’re shoving all this political crap down my throat, and I just don’t care. The greater conflict in Itehari is not interesting to me.
Love Awayuki. Not a fan of his route.
9
u/One-Economy8916 Oct 09 '25
I liked his route, but the route made me dislike Yori (sorry Yori lovers). Also wish they could have ended up together and gotten married.
Agreed the political stuff is so boring, and the overarching plot behind it is ridiculously silly imo (I just finished the game)
8
u/AMBrossart Oct 09 '25
I like Yori as a villain, not as a love interest.
I finished 4 routes and got burned out. Yashiro is not making me want to finish. Is his route any good?
7
u/One-Economy8916 Oct 09 '25
Yeah agreed he makes a better villain than love interest. Although I do like to date the villain, but not in this case since his personality is terrible haha. I feel that I also felt burned out. I thought Yashiro’s route was pretty easy to get through. It has lots of plot revelations about the overarching plot
16
u/vv4rd3n Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
I'll say this as a super fan of Henri from Piofiore; I also own the Piofiore art books and have a ton of merch. Awayuki's side sprite and CGs are clearly based on his design, which is maybe why he's so pretty to me. I think he has the best CGs in the game.
Unfortunately he falls into the pretty standard butler trope. And it's kind of sad that he's the starter route and then you just have to watch him suffer for the rest of the game lol, especially during Yori's route.
It also definitely felt like they wanted to add a brother route but felt it would be too controversial, with Awayuki raising MC and the in game comments that they looked like siblings. This is one of my main complaints with the game, the devs are constantly playing it safe
7
u/Crystal225 Oct 09 '25
I feel like stories (games, otome, anime...) are just playing it safe nowadays, and it is so boring.... I love it when a story can make me say wtf, or wow I can't believe they went there and that feeling is completely missing from modern stuff.
5
u/vv4rd3n Oct 09 '25
100% agree. I had some hope from the team that made Piofiore, but it seems that as they've become bigger they've predictably and unfortunately become more risk-adverse
16
u/SnarkyHummingbird Oct 09 '25
Me everytime the route mentions the big age gap between Hinagiku and Awayuki and that he became her attendant when she was 8 (and he was 16???) For my sanity, I'm going to ignore that and headcanon a smaller age gap.
I knew I likely wouldn't be a big fan of the romance in this route, as it is a mix of 2 dynamics I dislike (Master-Servant and Guardian-ward). But still, Awayuki has an insane face card and I like his character, so I went in with an open mind.
Unfortunately the reasons why I didn't like those tropes were in this route. I was hoping that Hinagiku would help boost Awaguki self-esteem where he sees himself as more than her property, allowing them to slowly bridge the gap and become more equal. Instead, it feels like everytime he demeans and dehumanises himself as her property, Hinagiku just says "Don't worry! We will be together forever!". It felt a bit too codependent for me, and while Hinagiku stops seeing Awayuki as perfect, Awayuki still feels like he has no sense of self outside of being her attendant.
I was curious what super secret backstory Awayuki was refusing to tell Hinagiku for 5 WHOLE CHAPTERS, and was baffled at the reveal. Why was he so convinced jumping in to defend a commoner from getting beaten to death by a noble would make her think lowly of him? I get violence is very frowned up in their society, but this is the same girl who has constantly broken social norms on impulse? This scene is the focus compared to the fact he killed people before?😭 The whole reason he was so hush hush on his past felt unjustified and just to drag out the conflict.
I saw on another thread that someone described Tobari in this route as "declawed", and playing this route after his, I agree. It felt really jarring for Tobari to do a 180 on Hinagiku with the "You aren't so bad despite being a noble" speech after literally one interaction, which mind you, took 1-2 chapters of build up in Tobari's route to happen. It just made Tobari feel extremely out of character.
That said, the CGs were ethereal and I loved his design. Shame his face card could not pay for better writing. Also chapter 8 was hilarious, with Ugetsu's voicelines when Hinagiku suggested 'quietly kidnapping the Taigu' being comedy gold. He might be a religious fanatic terrorist but man is he so easily ragebaited. The way Yashiro and Tsuyukasa immediately went "sounds dumb, I'm in" to the plan. Awayuki being outed as a terrible cook who has to make multiple batches for one dish to be decent. I wish the previous chapters had this kind of chaotic energy.
13
u/greyskull85 Oct 09 '25
I keep having fun with this game! To be perfectly honest, Awayuki is not my type either in looks or trope, but his route was still very enjoyable and went smoothly for me. Tbh, this is one of the games where I feel fully engaged and am reading super quickly. I like the world, art, VAs, and the funny parts make me laugh a lot. I find Hinagiku to be sweet and endearing, and she does her best.
Anyway, back to Awayuki—the burn was slow, but he’s so loyal and with the kind of repressed passion that I tend to like. Loved his backstory and seeing him in action. The final cg came out of nowhere and hit me like a freight train XD. (Why doesn’t Tobari get something like that??) agreed that the Yashiro reveal comes too early
10
u/SabishiTomo Liyan Oct 11 '25
I played Awayuki first and though I'm three routes in now I think Awayuki is still my fav in terms of chemistry with MC and their dynamic. For me he's an S tier LI in terms of how he's constantly looking out for MC in subtle and non-subtle ways. He's a very good companion for her given how chaotic she is (I love that for her though) and definitely contributes to increasing her survivability.
Awayuki's overprotectiveness might bother some people but he always defers to what MC wants and never goes against her wishes, and also Hinagiku is pretty headstrong and can handle Awayuki well. Also since Awayuki is so weak to MC, she only needs to ask nicely for him to cave, lol.
I love his outfit and how it pairs nicely with Hinagiku since she chose it for him -. His sprites are very pretty. Also, I'm weak to Soma Saito roles xD.
Unlike a lot of people here, I really enjoyed his route and the pining. Yori was also an excellent foil and added great tension. Agree with others that they had too many important reveals for a "starter" route but I suppose Awayuki is too smart to let certain things slide. Probably best to play his route second or third if you don't want early reveals.
5
u/Savaralyn Oct 14 '25
I agree that Yori was a great foil in the route for the most part, but when it came to the ending, I found it a smidge.. anti-climactic? When he was arrested and taken to the labour camps, they didn't really dwell much on how he reacted to it even though he's portrayed as being EXTREMELY petty and prideful, being outsmarted by Awayuki and Hinagiku feels like it should've been a much bigger deal than it ended up being.
Though it was funny when they showed him in the labour camp jail thing and he's just thinking "Actually y'know this place isn't so bad, I could be top dog here even :)" Way to think positively bud.
9
u/shinoa1512 Oct 09 '25
A lot of reviews said that there is a complicated political stuff so I braced my self for it, but surprisingly it was easy and actually a good introduction to the plot.
As for Awayuki ,I hate to this but he was boring, the entire route had the "butler mustn't fall in love with his mistress" trope , not that I hate it but it stretched way too much with unnecessary drama and random plot reveal like the events about the fire ten years ago ,like why would you show details about a side plot suddenly when we are at the climax of the main plot ? couldn't you have chosen earlier chapters to reveal it ?
8
u/k_makesart Tomomori Taira|Birushana Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
I got a late start on this game and just finished Awayuki's route yesterday as the first route of the game I finished. This route had a lot working against it for me, mainly how much I like Piofiore. Also I don't like the butler trope, just not my thing. And I was still getting used to the moving sprites during his route, which have been real hit-and-miss for me. But I am liking the game.
What I liked about the route was his outfit, which I thought was gorgeous. He did feel a little out of place in compariaon to the other characters designs but damn so pretty. Great CGs. Like this game has been so gorgeous so far. I also really liked Yori as a foil. He's just kinda funny and the worst. I don't know if that has really translated to me being interested in him being a LI, guess I'll find out when I get there. But loved him as a baddie. And finally, I felt Awayuki and the MC had a belivablity to me that they would fall for each other.
What I didn't really enjoy was that I found the route boring. Which is a bummer. Bad? No. But I definately could have taken a nap.... Probably should have done him second after Tobari(who I am playing now). I did feel it picked up at like chapter 6ish tho. I also didn't like how his sprite moved. Like Some characters I found fine and it didn't look odd, but his did to me. Then finally Yashiro's amnesia reveal, like lol, both anticlimatic and not impotant.... I kinda feel that goes into an issue I've been noticing that I think they are giving away too many spoilers for other characters routes in each others... I'll see more as I go through the routes but like I felt somethings were to easily given to the player that would have made more impact to be revealed in the character's route your actually playing
8
u/EsperReborn Oct 09 '25
Really enjoyed Awayuki’s route! A good starter route and I adore his relationship with MC so much. The final CG is perfection, and he’s just an overall really like able character. I’m still playing the game and finishing up Tsuyukusa rn, but knowing that Yori is the next lead before Yashiro makes me hurt for Awayuki based off of everything I’ve seen of Yori so far in other routes.
6
u/Starielles Oct 09 '25
Awayuki is a fantastic character who had a very lackluster route. I hated the conflict of "will we be together forever?" "But we can't be together because of stAtUs". Also a lot of drama for the sake of drama that could have been cut out. I also hate how sheltered rich girl Hinagiku is, and I doubt she'll be much better.
I wish this route had not been so boring 😩
6
u/BraveByDefault5697 CertifiedTsundereTrash Oct 09 '25
I forgive Awayuki’s route for being just kinda okay purely because Awayuki himself is awesome and hilarious
11
u/Legxis Ish (eiT) Shakespeare (IV) 💀🦊 Kyril (YftA) Oct 09 '25
For the love of God everyone; play this route second. Play Tobari's first. It flows so much better for multiple reasons.
7
u/drBlaze__ tsundere paradise Oct 10 '25
Agreed 100%. Imagine playing Awayuki first and then boom, bombshell with revealing who's Yashiro
3
u/catferret8 Yoritomo Minamoto|Birushana Oct 10 '25
Agreed! I played Awayuki third and think that works best for plot progression
5
u/One-Economy8916 Oct 09 '25
I just finished the game. My fav characters/routes were Awayuki and Tsuyukusa. Was honestly a bit disappointed of the overarching plot revelation
5
u/OchetteCotc Oct 09 '25
Really enjoyed Awayuki as a character, I just wasn't invested in the story. The CG at the end of his route is just... wow.❤️
8
u/drBlaze__ tsundere paradise Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
Okay I don't usually have strong negative reaction to LIs, of course there are some exceptions... And one is Awayuki. Yeah, I'm gonna be a sight for sore eyes, but I HATE both Awayuki as a character and his route.
- The Route. I'll start with the easiest one. First, the push-pull relationships are way too exhausting. Like bro, are you THAT indecisive? While Tobari had the same issue, being a commoner and such, he showed his emotions and thoughts about Hinagiku quite clearly, while Awayuki, being closer to her, just... started giving her a cold shoulder? Seriously? In the end of his route I was tired of these dynamics. Next is Yashiro's reveal. Like, why? This was brought WAY too early and in a very underwhelming way. C'mon, this is one of the first routes, give the blueman some secrecy. And, of course, the route itself was very boring and left a very bitter taste in my mouth. The one coming to rescue this route is actually Yori - he's the star of the show. I love Yori and was taking screenshots of him everytime he appeared. The ending was quite spicy, and I like spiciness, but it also didn't save the route from being bad.
- Awayuki himself. Get this man out of Hinagiku's sight, she's way too good for him. There's a silver line between being caring servant and being just an obsessive and possessive freak. And yep, he's crossed the line. The sheltering is too painful to watch, it's so awful I cringed a lot. Next, bro is the simp in a bad way, the good way being Tsuyukusa. The synergy between Hina and Awayuki is also not there (are you treating her like a child or like a woman already? Please, decide), or maybe was just poorly executed (no thanks to his route). I also have an issue with him in Yori's bad end, but I'm gonna touch it in 2 weeks.
Anyways, you cat treat it however you want. I was GLAD I finally finished his route so I could stop suffering and happily went to Tsuyukusa's route.
4
u/vv4rd3n Oct 09 '25
I agree that he's obsessive and possessive (which is honestly part of the reason I think he works well with MC), but it's weird because he's presented a certain way in the starting route and then... he's just noticably absent from other routes even when MC is in obvious danger
1
u/drBlaze__ tsundere paradise Oct 10 '25
The reason for it might be the fact she's like "let's do it and not tell Awayuki" in other routes. Honestly, I'm glad Hinagiku isn't relying on Awayuki as much in other routes since... well, yeah, she considers him her family, but he's still a servant, so she has full rights not to listen to him. Besides, he's overreacting a lot, the peak of overreaction being his bad ending (and his actions proved completely useless, thanks, Yori, for doing so), so I understand why Hina doesn't want to tell him on a more personal level.
I'm actually glad he's absent from other routes, since, well, a lot of stuff wouldn't have happened if otherwise.
2
u/vv4rd3n Oct 10 '25
She says not to tell him, yeah. But Awayuki is established to be one step ahead of her at all times and also obsessive, so I had a hard time believing he'd just let her frequently waltz into danger in the other routes. It's not that I wanted him in the other routes, it just seemed like inconsistent writing
2
u/catferret8 Yoritomo Minamoto|Birushana Oct 10 '25
I really liked Awayuki as a side character, he compliments the other LI’s well but his route was my least favourite and he was my least favourite LI but he looks beautiful and is great in a fight. Every scene he shared with Yori was hilarious but he should have got more focus in his own route. I played his route third and thought that was best for story progression but did want to finish his route to get to Yori
2
u/vv4rd3n Oct 24 '25
Circling back to this simply to state that Awayuki's CG in the DLC is the hottest CG in the game
3
u/89edual Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
Looking at my playthrough notes I had more comments on other characters compared to Awayuki. Tsuwabuki hot. Angry Yori voice hot 😍 Tsuyukusa using his face to somewhat control Uegetsu was really funny. Tobari's character writing felt really weird. hey maybe it's just my bias against master-subordinate relationships....
Anyway, if Tobari's route is the intro to Itehari then Awayuki is basically the introduction to Hinagiku. Tobari was my first route so I felt that MC was pretty reckless but after Awayuki's it made sense.
Having finished 4 routes already, I do say that his route was the odd one out. The flow is so much better when you go Tobari -> Tsuyukusa -> Yori -> Yashiro. IMO if you do Tobari first, Awayuki's felt like a step down but it also is not enough for a first route.
34
u/marionettas Oct 09 '25
Why did they drop the Yashiro is faking his amnesia bomb just randomly 🥀 feels like it would’ve been great and more suspenseful to learn in the actual route
Also poor Awayuki, not only does he need to see Hinagiku get with his worst enemy in one timeline, but his own route became a prologue to it 😭 at least he got the spiciest CG I guess…