straightforwardly | 307 | cinderella phenomenon pitch, as seen on auctions, as threatened

I’ve been taking part in

auctionsasthreatened, and it’s been a blast! …And terrible for my sleep schedule, since the six hour window where the start/end times of auctions take place in overlap almost perfectly with when I should be sleeping on work nights, but idc, worth it <3

But that’s not actually the main point of this post! During the auction for my own sign-up, a few people expressed interest in my Cinderella Phenomenon request—and specifically, in wanting to hear a pitch for the game. Words cannot express how delighted I was by the opportunity, so I did that—and ended up having an incredibly fun conversation with someone else who was also familiar with the game <3

Anyways—long story short, I decided I wanted to preserve said pitch on my dreamwidth as well. This is exactly what I posted to discord (outside of updating the markdown to html so that it would display properly & inserting the single [non-custom] emoji I used), meaning this was originally posted in a series of messages rather than being meant to be read as a blog-style post, though I think it still flows clearly enough.

okay, pitch time! :pikachuwu:

So.

Cinderella Phenomenon is a completely free indie otome visual novel available through Steam, itch.io, and possibly other places as well. Meaning there’s a very low barrier to entry! (The sequel/fandisc, Cinderella Evermore, does cost money, but it’s not relevant to my request because I…. still haven’t played it;;; but one day!!) I’m consistently surprised by the fact of it being free, because I’ve absolutely paid money for VNs of lower quality than this one. There’s multiple distinct routes, with plenty of CGs, custom drawn backgrounds, and even an actual opening with an original song, which can be watched here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENiuHbBSmkc

The actual story takes place in a fantasy kingdom still recovering from years and years of intense internal strife, which included, among other things, a literal witchhunt. While the main conflict is over, there are lingering problems, not the least of which are the “Fairytale Curses” being placed on the populace by the faction of witches who wanted revenge.

The main character, Lucette, is the princess of this kingdom, and the inciting incident for this game’s story is when she’s hit by the “Cinderella” curse, which in this case is a reversal of the fairytale—she wakes up on the streets in rags, with (nearly) everybody in the kingdom (including her own father!) forgetting who she was or that there ever was a princess.

I say “nearly” because there is one loophole—other people who have been cursed, aren’t effected by the conditions of other people’s curse. Soon, she finds herself in a community of people who are working to try to break their curses, which is also where she meets (most) of the LIs in this game! There are five LIs and five routes, and each of the LIs are also dealing with their own curses. Two of the routes needed to be unlocked by beating the game at least once, but the route for the character relevant to my request, Karma, is available from the start.

I’ll ramble about him more in a moment, but first: Lucette! I love her so much; her characterization is so compelling to me. At the start of the game, she’s prickly, untrusting, comes across as cold and heartless, and thinks she can’t show any weakness, while also masking a deep loneliness that she refuses to show or even acknowledge to herself. Her relationship with her father is strained, and she’s convinced that the only person who ever cared about her was her mother, who is now gone. As it turns out, this was intentional on her mother’s part, who emotionally and mentally abused & manipulated Lucette throughout her entire childhood in order to isolate her from everyone else other than her. Her upbringing was deeply fucked up, and imo the game did a fantastic job of showing how those experiences shaped her into who she is at the start of the game. I'm obsessed with how well-done her characterization is, and I love seeing the different ways in which she changes and grows throughout the game.

NOW FOR THE CROSSDRESSING. Karma is a victim of the “Beauty & the Beast” curse, which… has many, many layers to it, but the relevant part for this conversation is that any (uncursed) woman who sees him is made to fall mindlessly “in love” with him. As in. It’s not safe for him to go out and about, because he will be chased down by literal mobs of people enchanted to want him. At some point, he figured out that crossdressing confuses the curse; people will still be drawn to and entranced by him, but in a “stop and stare as he walks down the street” kind of way.

So, the crossdressing is for practical reasons, but what I particularly like about it is the nuance in how Karma feels about it! Namely, while he actually actively hates being mistaken for or treated as a woman, he has zero problems with the actual crossdressing part. He likes pretty things and he likes being pretty, and while he still prefers his “own” clothing, he also actively enjoys picking out pretty dresses, makeup, and jewelry to wear.

Also, very important: there’s this scene where he has Lucette do his makeup for him, and it was very hot to me. Forever living rent-free in my brain!

He’s also a talented swordsman (hot), and in his route Lucette has him teach her how to use a sword, which means they end up being a sword-wielding duo who can fight side-by-side! <3

Beyond that, Karma is also just designed to appeal to me personally. In some ways, he’s a dashing prince archetype, but that’s complicated by his many flaws: the tendency towards selfishness which he IS working on but is also what got him cursed in the first place, his vanity, his narcissism about his own beauty (always something I’m weak for, lol), and his moodiness. But he also sincerely has many good traits as well, including but not limited to his insight. I'm just so weak for that kind of messiness and complexity!

When it comes to this ship in particular, I love how clearly he sees Lucette—much more clearly than most of the other people around her—and also how well they understand one another, and how some of the parallels between their character growth journeys aid them in understanding each other's struggles.

tl;dr they're so good and I love them ;_;

This game also has a really genuinely compelling story beyond the romances! For me, the best otome games are the ones where each route plays a role in piecing together the story of a grander whole, and this is a game which absolutely nails that. Each route handles a different aspect of the world, the plot, Lucette's backstory, and the issues she needs to work through, and it's so so satisfying. even if I'm also a little sad that the route that deals the most with her unpacking her messy feelings about her mother and her own realization of the abuse she suffered is paired with the only LI I hated 😔

also, the side characters get to be complex and interesting and fleshed out too, not just our MC and the LIs! Which isn't always a given in otome. For instance, I am *deeply* invested in Lucette's relationship with her stepfamily; her stepsister in particular is one of my favorite characters.

oh right, I meant to share some screenshots too!

This is Karma when crossdressing:

And here's what he looks like when he's not crossdressing!

also: bonus swordfighting CG <3

and just for fun.... a moment from said scene where he gets Lucette to do his makeup for him <3