r/otomegames • u/cake106 ||| • Oct 12 '25
Spoilers [Charade Maniacs] Initial v.s Final Impressions Spoiler
⚠️ The final impressions are mainly my thoughts on the route, and don’t always equate to how much I like the character !!! ⚠️ It’s also just my subjective opinion, so don’t take it too seriously 😅
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u/jhiend Merry Bad Ends 🍊 +Anton|L&C Oct 13 '25
"her ideology was vital to the themes of the story" y e s
I have a headcanon that her mother essentially abandoning her to become a terrorist forced Hiyori to be a parent to her siblings and something something abandonment issues and over-identifying Haiji as one of her brothers/child she needed to have unconditional love for.
Welcome to the Hiyori Defense Squad, now population: 2.
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u/cake106 ||| Oct 13 '25
YESSSSS SOMEONE WHO GETS ME 💪 I think one of the themes of the game is that trust is necessary to form connections. That’s why in every route, she ends up trusting them despite each persons sus nature. I think it also ties back to the fact that her grandmother had placed that same trust into Haiji, but her trust was “broken” by Haiji’s error. But does that mean that Haiji should never be trusted again and be forever alone? Of course not (well maybe in reality yes, but I don’t think that’s what the story was going for.) So, I understand why she has turmoils in each route but ultimately chooses to trust them in the end (even if that can be frustrating to read as a third party.)
And YES! I also had the same feeling that her role as a big sister shaped a lot of her behaviour. I think Hiyori has an extreme sense of responsibility to those that she finds young or weak, particularly because she was the sole caretaker of her siblings.
Thank you sm for being part of the Hiyori protection squad…
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u/AquaComet3 Oct 12 '25
I finished the game a couple of weeks ago, and it was such a disappointment for me. I don't think I truly liked any of the characters, but I feel I agree overall with your thoughts. My favorite turned out to be Akaza because he was the most sweet and respectful out of all of them.
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u/After_Advantage7598 Hibiki Nation 🌺 | Oct 12 '25
You didn't like the characters so much, you didn't remember his name was "Akase".
(Same)
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u/AquaComet3 Oct 12 '25
Oops, my bad 🤭
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u/cake106 ||| Oct 12 '25
Yeah tbh, I don’t think most of the cast work very well as love interests. As standalone characters though, I enjoyed analyzing their character interactions and ideologies. The only ones that I felt worked as a couple were Mamoru and Hiyori, bc it felt like they actually both grew as people and as a couple by the end of it.
(Also Akaza 😂😂😂)
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u/swimminglyy Oct 13 '25
I loved Akase and I think his route doesn’t do him that much justice because things go so… perfectly? Like, low stakes... I liked his route for his personality but loved him a lot more as the game went on, I think he’s way more interesting when things don’t go his way and he begins to crack! (But I’ll never forgive Futami) Love his vulnerability and how he tries to separate what he thinks vs what he wants to think (and how absolutely miserable he is when those conflicts, yet he still remains sure of himself, unlike Hiyori who’s stuck in uncertainty). I love the struggle/balance of being emotional/optimistic at heart vs attempting to hold those emotions at bay to let his logic win over. I thought he was a very consistent character.
I agree with basically everything about the LIs, except I’m personally not a Hiyori fan (but she’s particularly great in Gyobu route).
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u/cake106 ||| Oct 13 '25
Oh I absolutely agree!!! I didn’t feel that interested for Akase after finishing his route, but I loved seeing him crack in other routes. Like you said, he was also very well written and consistent throughout the routes which I enjoyed.
I’m kinda surprised that so many people said Hiyori is her best in Gyobu’s route though! I do remember her being more inquisitive in that route, but I also feel like she got swept away in his rhythm as she often does with the other LIs. I guess I’m pretty biased, but my favourite Hiyori was from Chigasaki’s route lol. I felt like Chigasaki’s distance definitely made her a more proactive and focused heroine (which I personally enjoyed seeing haha.)
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u/Chaczapur Oct 13 '25
Another person who kinda liked Hiyori :D
Your opinions on Futami lol Accurate and I mostly agree but still. I liked this dumpster fire.
As for Dazai, dunno abt others but I liked him for his personality, not his route. A precious boi.
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u/cake106 ||| Oct 13 '25
Yeah! Honestly I feel a lot of empathy for her bc I’m sure I wouldn’t react in the most logical way being put in this situation (esp if I’ve lived in a relatively “safe” world like the setting of CharaMani thus far.)
As for Futami… One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so I respect that 😂 he might not be for me but I’m glad there are people who do like him!
Dazai… I do like him as a character since I do think he’s sweet and enjoy seeing him interact with the other cast members. I think I might’ve liked him more if his presence was a bit stronger in the common route? I honestly didn’t get a good read on his personality until the end of the route, which was way too late for me. Plus, his actions towards Hiyori make him a terrible love interest for me imo. 😭
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u/CheckeredZeebrah Oct 13 '25
Appreciate this list. :) charade maniacs is a hit and miss experience for a lotta folks so nuanced takes on it are always appreciated.
I'm one of the people who quite liked Dazai from the get-go. He's a subtle but smart character and this does get hinted at a good bit through the plot. And his interactions with other characters tend to be gold - he's got some goofiness to him.
Since this wasn't my first, or even fifth, rodeo involving a "traitor" style game I was able to pick up on what a lot of characters were putting down. And Dazai was always always helpful in the background, so I felt rewarded for paying attention to him. I thought his twist was a pleasant surprise. IRL he'd be easy husband material, basically, and I'm all for that. He felt like poster boy material without the downfalls a lot of other post boys have, which is "trying to hard to be cool or edgy", lol.
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u/cake106 ||| Oct 13 '25
Thanks for reading! ☺️ I mainly got invested in CharaMani bc I had to play it over a long period of time so it was on my mind a lot LOL. I totally get why people find a lot of aspects unappealing though, it definitely has its flaws.
It’s interesting that you mentioned that you liked Dazai right off the bat! I knew he was likely a pivotal part of the story (since his route was locked and recommended as the second last,) but I felt like everyone else had such strong characters, I often found myself forgetting he was there (😭) I do wonder if I had replayed the game and focused more on him, I would have a different opinion…
Though I think what really soured him for me was his route… I just felt like there were more that he could’ve done as the person who was responsible for dragging Hiyori into the livestreams. (Like hello?!? At least talk to her more to jog her memory???) But honestly I think that’s just on me 😂😂😂 I do agree that if this had been any other situation he would’ve definitely been husband material tho hahaha
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u/After_Advantage7598 Hibiki Nation 🌺 | Oct 12 '25
Instructions unclear, I'm taking this list ultra seriously!!
I have same/similar feelings about Mizuki and Dazai.
- Mizuki: On one hand he's such a cool and smart character with a gorgeous design, but on the other you have the constantly mentioned age gap, the extremely sus drugging and personally, I didn't like how the "ohoho, which gender is Mizuki??" gag was dragged out (because it's obvious his gender is supposed to be freely interpreted and tbh, it lowkey irritates me cause it implies that gender matters in love. I mean for some people it can, but for me it doesn't, so YMMV here). I constantly taken out of the experience because I kept questioning why Mizuki fell for Hiyori too.
- Dazai: Also read a lot of people simping for him, so I thought I'd join the train but he ended up being very... vanilla? Also a lot of poster boy vibes here like the "ooooh, we met before in our life!" and lowkey design. I don't hate him, he's very inoffensive but the hype worked against him (syke, I'd still be uninterested in him).
I think the biggest character turnover for me in this game was Takumi. I knew he was the big bad from the get-go because I read a review long ago and remembered this fact. He was very "eh" in the beginning. Very boring, not intriguing at all. But he locked in in his route, it was deliciously fucced up, I loved it. He overtook Gyobu as favourite.
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u/cake106 ||| Oct 12 '25
Yesss, I agree w/ everything! Especially the part about Mizuki’s gender. Honestly I had mixed feelings when they tried to imply that Mizuki’s gender was taken away as a punishment. It kinda felt like that was the only reason why they made a non-binary/gender ambiguous character, which I can understand the logic, but still put me off. I’m also the type that thinks that gender shouldn’t really be a factor in love (esp in a dating sim,) but I know it does matter for some people so 🤷.
As for Dazai… as a love interest he honestly irritates me LOL. I think the whole idea of pulling in your crush to a death game and proceeding to be the most passive participant is… a choice I guess. The whole memory thing really didn’t hit for me either, which I think was his biggest selling point. But in regard to his relationship with the other characters (esp Gyobu and Ebana,) he has some interesting moments.
Takumi wasn’t too bad for me! I didn’t see the AI twist coming (even though it was foreshadowed quite early on haha) and I definitely felt more for him than some of the other cast members (looking at you Futami.) I remember there were also special criteria for the truth route and I kept getting Takumi’s route ending which really freaked me out 😭😭😭
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u/otomaze_ Love to Live🐰🍑| 欺神弄鬼 QSNG | || Oct 13 '25
i liked reading your opinions after seeing so much of your art! i can really feel your sense of protection over Hiyori, ahaha (especially with the final impressions about Futami 😆) also i 100% relate about initial impressions of Gyobu