Soukai Buccaneers! Review

Intro: Rian Lawrence wants to become a seafarer like her dad bcuz he was some awesome adventurer. She decides to live in Kings Bridge port to fulfill this dream, but she’s robbed of her father’s sword. Some pirates help her get it back. Everything should be great & shojo from there, but shota-Navy Captain Frederick and his 2nd in command Dean are here to arrest them! After settling things, Rian must sleep in the church headed by Stella and make her way through the upper/lower cities. However, she’s broke af and can’t get the boat she needs. Will Rian decide to stick with Captain Jack Ore-Sama or join shota tsundere Fred-kun & daddy Dean? Final thoughts at the end. There will be Japanese included along w/ translations cuz I picked up a lot of vocab. Maybe u’ll find it useful too! XD

I got to meet some people from Petit Reve and met their singer for the games, Sakina. She signed her album for me ^^

*Please feel free 2 correct my Japanese!

 

Common route: Fred believes Rian is a pirate cuz she was w/ Jake-oresama & his crew. B4 he takes her into custody they have this hilarious exchange:

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In case you can’t read it: Rian basically gets fed up with this snot trying to arrest her 4 being a pirate when she ain’t one, so she says “Hey, what the heck dude, what’s some midget like you doing blah blah blah midget” (I’m just listing the gist not a translation) Shorty proclaims “I am not a child! Stop calling me a child.” And then rofl, Rian finds out O SNAP he’s actually like the taichou in command here. (ʘᗩʘ’) She goes  “oh so u think I’m small now?” (cuz she’s not in charge? Guys idk lol that line confused me maybe I’m off. Prolly am. Oh well! ^^)

So daddy Dean arrests her & they go to the Guardia HQ. Rian’s all “ZOMG this place is HUUGE”「そうだろう？折角だから、お前にここの素晴らしさを教えてやろう」So Fred’s all “Yeah, isn’t it? ( ◉◞౪◟◉) (know what else is?) Well, since you went through the trouble, I might as well tell you about the splendor of this place.” Smt abt pirates, Kings Bridge and Guardia Navy etc. then he asks “How old do I look?” and Rian’s all “SHIT dude why’d u ask me that?” so she says “Uh 15?” But srry girl, he’s 17. Fred’s pissed. At least u tried, Rian.

He interrogates Rian. Dean interrupts cuz Admiral Augustus needs him. Fred leaves and Dean introduces himself as the 9th division. He then asks who she is, when she came to the town, her objective, why she was w/ Jake and then he’s done lol. Dean apologizes for Fred cuz he’s so bothersome lol.

Rian runs into them the next day. Lol we aren’t even on Fred’s route yet & already he’s stalking her. He apologizes & proceeds 2 b tsuntsun cuz she can’t believe he’s admitting his wrongs. He says “You should forgive me soon and be grateful, Rian Lawerence.” Wut. They go back to HQ & Rian’s all I’m not being questioned again.

Rian gets to ask  questions & u have 2 drag the questions to either Dean or Fred. She asks how long he’s been doing this job(??) and he’s all 2 years. Rian’s shocked. U R A GENIUS. Here’s the pic that I was going WUT? Like what does the second part even mean lol———> At first he’s all “Oh, I’m not a genius! *blush*” and then blows up at her lol for complimenting him.

They see Admiral Augustus who spouts this crap: 民間人. (Dictionary is my savior lol) Dean tells Rian this is the 代表 of Guardia (Representative of Guardia) and he’s the one who taught Fred how to use a gun. Augustus apologizes 4 all the shit Fred caused her. He starts talking abt his adorbs 5 yr old girl. Then reminisces abt how he wanted 2 do what Rian did when he was young-b an adventurer=冒険家 & had 2 give up on his dream due 2 some family stuff(?) Augustus asks abt who she admires? and she says BlackBeard. NO u don’t admire him Rian dude is MESSED. UP.  Augustus is all yeah he’s super cool and he thinks he’s still alive out there…am I missing smt lol? Didn’t he DIE a LONG ASS time ago?!

Fred & Dean take Rian out 2 sea. Fred goes wut u think and Rian goes “Nice Boat ;)” They ask her 2 join them. She’s 2 give an answer the next day. 

Frederick Rose Rumford: CV: Kakihara Tetsuya:  The “kodomo-senchou.”He’s in the「海軍グアルディア対海賊部隊第七軍」=Navy Guardia Anti-pirate Corp 7th Division. Rian runs across Fred & his freaking adorable oniichans. Rian’s like wtf is dis shit? Fred overhears her & is all zomg wut r u doing here?! I can’t even tell u guys how cute this was. Fred is so embarrassed he tells his bros 2 go inside & he’ll play w/ them later. His mansionwhateveruwant2callit keeps going on into the distance…Bcuz she know abt his childish side, Fred just admits he’s got a complex as an older bro lolol & goes on and on abt them like Augustus does abt his daughter. Rian decides she’s heard enough so she’s all ain’t nobody got no time for dat and leaves him lol.

Next day Rian’s rlly happy 4 some reason & Dean’s all (´≖◞౪◟≖｀). Fred has this falcon name Jasper lol that is a part of his ancestor’s history cuz they used them in battle or smt. They go 2 some nameless island & find a cave w/ creepy music. There’s all these ice crystals=氷晶 how the f do u pronounce this? As they are returning they run into the レッドホーク海賊団=Red Hawk Pirates (Jake’s crew).

Later smt happens w/ someone named Sardius Sounds like he obliterated one of their divisions. Fred tells Rian she has 2 be a guard for a city dance. But she still has to dress up. It’s tomorrow night. Thanx 4 planning things out guys. I just settled down in this place WTF.

At the dance Fred’s all UR A GIRL!? WTF. Fred continues 2 lose his shit over Rian. “Where is Dean? This has to be some sort of dream!” Some creeper tries 2 dance w/ her. Fred says she’s my partner, let go lol. He pulls her 2 the dance floor to teach her how to dance & HNNNNGGGG this CG nearly killed me.

RELEASE THE TSUNDERE!!!! She notices that he’s super quiet & seems out of it. When their eyes meet, he walks away. When she’s done w/ her work, Rian reports 2 Fred’s office but finds Dean instead. But Fred’s in the room & freaks out when she notices him there. Rian says dude ur like super weird 2day & the glorious stuttering commences. Rian has no clue wtf’s going on but Dean’s (´≖◞౪◟≖｀).

Next day she says good morning. She has 2 say it rlly loudly b4 he finally responds. Pirates suddenly r spotted but Fred is STILL staring at Rian  & Dean has 2 snap him out of it. The enemy boards their ship & Rian attacks like a boss. Except Fred, everyone’s main priority, is missing. She gets hit & just b4 she’s killed, Fred shoots him. But then he almost gets hit so Rian takes the blow. She tells him 2 quit worrying & do smt.

Dean reprimands her but Fred defends her saying she wasn’t at fault. That he was for spacing out. Dean yells at him that he needs 2 b more careful & since he put the whole crew in danger. Rian tries 2 cheer him up but he’s super depressed & cuz she doesn’t know much abt the town still, they end up at HQ.

Dean listens 2 her vent abt how useless she feels and he says he has something so important to say that he must ask her to give him her whole attention: “I just wanted to ask, but do you like the Captain?” 

Rian’s unsure if he’s messing w/ her & for a few moments she just stares at him going wtf kind of joke is this?! But lol I guess she was never aware of her feelings & goes, Oh I guess so.

As she goes home for the night, Daddy Dean is all

Best part abt this otoge is that this is all abt the ocean and ships. Shipping has never been this perfect.

They get caught in a storm and Fred goes overboard. Rian jumps in to save him & they end up on the nameless island they were sent to find. They bicker but slowly warm up to each other as they explore the island. Fred realizes Rian knows the Ougul language. Dean comes 2 rescue them & Fred kisses Rian in front of EVERYONE.

Dean’s so shocked he tells them to get a room and lol actually throws them in one! Fred rests on Rian’s lap. He says that his family rlly isn’t nobility-they were pirates. His lineage won’t let him marry anyone of lower stature but he says he can’t imagine being with anyone else and he’ll marry her no matter what they say.

Shit hits the fan when turns out Augustus is a bad guy. When he learned Rian could read Ougul he kidnapped her and guess what? Neil is also a bad guy. They tell her that if she tells anyone abt what they’re doing, the navy will lose its honor and Frederick’s name will suffer.

Fred is in prison bc Sardius started a rumor that the 7th division was allied with him. Dean gets him out and they rush to save Rian’s life. They bring her to the island to get her to read the language so they can get the treasure and plan to kill her when do.

Dean, Fred, Leonard kill Neil but Sardius and Augustus get away but die in a storm lol. Fred is promoted to Admiral, Rian becomes vice captain, and Dean is now captain. Fred kisses her on the top mast of the Red Hawks boat lol in front of everyone. And that was it^^

Tsunderes=WIN

Emilio Ruth: CV: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu: I was expecting a happy route…I got something else lol. I fell in love w/ his voice bc omg it was just so cute. But he’s a naughty guy quite the trickster. Emilio is a master of deception and plays with cards. He fights with knives and is a member of Jake Oresama’s crew of the Red Hawks.

He’s always gambling and tricking Jake to go eat out cuz Jake loves meat. Emilio’s mom died after she gave birth to him so his dad remarried to a woman who had a son. His dad wasn’t able to spend time equally w/ them and kind of hated Emilio for his wife’s death. Unfortunately, pirates kidnapped Emilio and killed a bunch of ppl at a tavern the family was staying at. The mother and father weren’t there at the time so Emilio was sold into slavery. （ｉДｉ）

Jake’s crew rescued him & Emilio joined them bc he didn’t think his dad loved him. Rian learns all of this when they’re at a tavern & Leonard hands him a letter saying it’s from his bro. He’s not happy to see they’ve been worrying abt him & storms outside after flipping out.

Rian runs after him saying she’s worried bc she cares abt him. Emilio is like excuse me? but she says she likes him and he’s shocked. He decides 2 see his bro but turns out it was a trap: his bro and dad drowned on a ship out at sea. But that’s a lie too! Niel tells Rian that the ship that drowned was actually a merchant’s ship and pirates attacked them. These are the same pirates that kidnapped Emilio when he was little and the captain, Delgord, is a savage brute who’s keen on executing his own crew members and prisoners.

Emilio’s been brought to the nameless island and is tied up in the ice crystal cave. Sardius tells him that his own bro betrayed him and intended to hand him over to Delgord since he escaped. He offers him a chance to join his ranks but Emilio scoffs. He was able to have a fun time with the Red Hawk crew but he’s been terrified that the pirates might one day sell him again. So he hid under a smile.

Rian, Jake, and Crave join forces with Fred-kun and the navy to rescue Emilio and capture the outlaw, Sardius. They fight Sardius, who admits that he intended to sell Emilio to Delgord no matter what.

They rescue him and he says he doesn’t know how he feels abt Rian but he knows she never gave up on him & was always trying 2 b his friend. Jake and the others think there’s smt more going on & find out Niel & Augustus were in on the plot that sunk the merchant’s ship. Now I might be off cuz this confused the crap outta me, but I think Emilio’s bro  wrote the letter bc he knew where the Treasure of Drake was. Niel wanted the treasure so he & Augustus sunk the ship Emilio was on 2 have an excuse 2 locate the treasure.

Niel was supposed to deliver the letter but he changed the dates and stuff so Emilio would board a ship to meet his bro right way. Then they attacked his ship and pretended Emilio’s bro was the bad guy.

They find out this info too late bc Emilio’s bro has been kidnapped & Jake, Rian and Fred go 2 rescue them but Augustus creepers up & snatches Rian away. Emilio runs after them and when he finally catches up, Augustus and Niel are practically beating the crap out of her. She fights back but she’s in danger and Emilio jumps in to help. Turns out Delgord was dead from the start so lol she wasn’t going 2 b delievreed to him. Niel & Augustus just wanted her 2 use her to get the treasure.

In the end, Emilio starts his own crew and Rian is a part of it. He tells her that he realized when they took her that he was in love with her and he was stupid to think he never cared about her (at least that’s what I think he said lol). His route was really good!! I was really shocked by how dark it got and dayum someone give this seiyuu a medal. He cried his lungs out and I freaking felt all the FEELS.

Crave Foster: CV: Kenn: Idk what the deal w/ not recognizing that a pretty lady in front of you is, in fact, a woman, but that’s a recurring theme in japanese games. Fire Emblem’s adorkable Chrom had it, Jake Oresama had it, and Fred. Thank God Crave didn’t. Crave (Clave wtf is his name?!) is a very srs megane bishie and vice commander of The Red Hawks. He’s also Jake’s osananajimi.

He’s kind of sadistic in that he’s always testing/assessing the crew. He writes books too. Rian sees him handing his sis Stella $ that was earned through ill means (from other pirates) and judges him cuz like yo, them kids won’t like to know that’s blood money. Stella corrects Rian by saying that it was honestly earned and that she and her bro grew up in a chuch. Since Kings Bridge is a messed up place, the nobles from the Upper City look down on the Lower City citizens. The $ he donates is for the children to earn an education bc he believes in the end, it doesn’t matter what blood you have. And cuz if they don’t get anywhere in life, they’re basically the slaves of the nobles. Dayum.

Stella sees how guilty Rian feels and then lol sh to asks if Rian likes Crave and she’s all

She apologizes and Crave warns her that bc she knows the Ougul language, she shouldn’t let this get out. He suspects the ppl working at the bar and he’s right. Neil invites Rian over and sets out several items with the Ougul language on it and it confirms his suspicions. But since Crave is so smart, they have to do smt.

Jake and crew go 2 the island but when they get there Fred shows up saying that he’s here to take back Rian since Crave signed smt. Leonard had already tried 2 trick Emilio by telling him that he’d seen Crave make this deal happen but he refused to believe it. Emilio hesitates and b4 Fred can say anything, Sardius shows up. Fred decides to let them go and creates a barrier for them.

Crave insists he didn’t make any deal & says he thinks Niel set everything up so he could take Rian w/ him to get Drake’s treasure. Rian is hurt bc she thinks Crave only sees her as a tool 2 collect treasure. Lol when everyone finds out she’s a woman they start 2 act weird and don’t let her help them w/ things which pisses her off. The rest of the crew suspects Crave might be lying. He’s right there but pretends it doesn’t faze him.

She tells him no matter what she believes him. Crave hugs her & Rian’s all oh snap I like this guy. And now my Japanese skills are tested. From what I understand, Jake finally acts like the captain he is and removes Crave from his duties, locking him in his room. He explains that he can’t do anything more since his crew is divided and Crave throws himself into the ocean. (I think he did so on his own, but I’m not sure) Rian jumps in after but he’s given up & is waiting for death.

He’s lost too much oxygen already so she kisses him, blowing air into his lungs. (Can this even work?) They just so happen to wind up on the island shore lol where a ship is just there like wtf? They go back 2 Stella but she’s been taken by the Navy. They stay in his room lol and Crave suddenly kisses her & says to go back to Jake. Rian promises she’ll clear his name.

Fred says the Navy is divided and so they take those loyal to him and join Jake’s crew to take down Augustus, Niel and the asshat Leonard. Augustus is arrested, Leonard gets away, and everyone else is killed lol. B4 Stella is untied Crave just kisses Rian and confesses while his sis is just sitting there and everyone is watching lol.

They use the excuse of writers block to have a vacation on the island.

Dean Cavil: CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou: Daddy Dean’s turn! Idk where I came up w/ the nickname-sorry not sorry. Dean thinks Fred and Rian are still OTP in his mind so I was wondering how it’d play out. At the ball he tells her how beautiful she is and I’m sitting here like wtf. How did no one see she was a girl from the beginning? She’s gorgeous. Rian falls hard 4 Dean & Fred notices. He wants 2 help them out but Dean’s still shipping Fredian so hard he can’t think of her more than a comrade.

He even says he thinks she’s better off w/ Fred & Rian is so hurt she runs off crying. While Rian is elsewhere, the pov shifts to Dean as he explains that his past would only bring trouble and he thinks Fred deserves her. She ain’t no object dude.

Fred is all dude are you stupid? U totally like her but he denies it so rofl Fred decides that Dean needs a break & locks him up w/ Rian. He reveals that he used to be a pirate and a captain and his ship was attacked. He was the only to get away. I think his crew felt betrayed so they went after him idk but anyways Fred took him in and despite how the Navy didn’t trust him, Fred did. So these two are like nakamas 4 life and thus ship each other w/ Rian cuz they want each other 2 b happy.

Rian’s all dude, u deserve ur happiness too. And I wuv u. Dean continues 2 deny but he can’t anymore and kisses her. Turns out Fred and the entire Navy wanted this ship to float and were watching the whole thing.( ◞･౪･)

They end up fighting once again against Sardius and turns out he was the vice commander of Dean’s crew. He believes Dean abandoned them and left them to die. They arrest him and Dean kills him later. Lol I’m not sure but it sounded as though he just decided after he killed Sardius to make out w/ Rian in front of everyone…and w/ a corpse in the same room. I could be wrong. I hope I am.

And he throws away all the trust Fred gave him by saying screw it. I wanna be a pirate now! So now he’s always on the run from the Navy…

 

Jake Burns: CV: Sugita Tomozaku: The dumbass Oresama captain of the Red Hawks. He wields this huge sword single handed and is feared by all other pirates. Stella kind of hates him since her bro became a pirate. Jake decides to test Rian to see if she’s worthy of joining his crew so they sail to some deserted island and she passes somehow…

She finds some map written in Ougul, a forgotten language that her father taught her. Those that spoke this language suddenly went POOF 200 some years ago lol. Seeing that there might be treasure on this map, they set sail but Sardius shows up. Jake is injured protecting Rian and later faints. Emilio tells her that Jake and her are his OTP bc they’re both stupid beyond belief: him for not realizing she’s a woman, and her for not realizing she’s hopelessly in love w/ him.

Crave and Emilio advise her to spend time w/ Jake since they ship them. SHe does and realizes Jake is trying to hide his pain from her. The blades that cut him were poisoned but since he’s such a brute lol it didn’t kill him but took away most of his energy. She ends up falling on top of him  but when Crave walks in on this Jake’s all what’s the big fuss, we’re two men!! 

Jake wants Drake’s treasure but needs someone who knows Ougul. She agrees to help but she feels really self conscious like who wouldn’t? But Jake is just on a whole other level of stupid. While they’re walking around Jake suddenly tells Rian he’s in love w/ her but he feels so confused bc they’r both men. The ship is attacked and he falls on top of her and grabs her boob rofl and FINALLY is like hmmmmm whatever could this be?

Fred asks for help cuz Dean’s been taken by Niel and Aug but Jake says only if he gets to fight Sardius. If they help out the bounty on them will be lifted.

Jake then says that if Rian is indeed a woman lol and likes him back he wants to know bc he can’t stop thinking about her. He’s in love with her. She says she likes him back and he kisses her and it’s implied that they went to bed together like dayum you didn’t waste any time.

I didn’t understand the whole deal of the Ougul ppl legend sorry. Jake says he was thrown into the sea when he was little when Will Drake, Rian’s dad, saved his life. Rian is put in prison and Niel rescuse her. Augustus killed Sardius and he wants to start a war for some reason. He also says that Jake died.

They are attacked and she falls into the ocean and Jake saves her and they wash up on the island. Augustus follows them to kill Jake and use Rian to get the treasure. But finally this asshat dies. Niel just wants the treasure to himself so when they learn that the treasure is like knowledge that’s godlike or smt, Rian cuts Jake??? and since he has no Ougul blood it destroys the ruins and so Niel dies in the wreckage and they get out. She was able to save some info and I think they’re going to where idk lol smt is.

Jake picks her up and kisses her.

Lenard Von Berkely: CV: Morikawa Toshiyuki: So if Rian doesn’t join the pirates or the Navy, she ends up kind of escorting other ships or smt and runs into this asshat. He hates men, loves women, and like in every route, betrays Rian and the others. His parents died and he used to be some rich dude but his fortune is quickly running dry so he tries to be a pirate but fails at it lol.

Rian says he can only do his best and not to do anything bad? so they become friends and he ends up making her a dress. Henry, his awesome butler, says that Leonard isn’t open w/ anyone unless they’re family and that he wants Rian to become the next person he opens up to lol.

Leonard is also like an actor of some sort and Rian has to take part in it idk why. Henry ends up geting pissed at him since he suspects that Leo is trying to secure $ through illegal means and when Niel says he wants Leo to bring Rian to him he’s unsure. Niel says she knows Ougul but Leo understands that if she goes they plan to kill her afterwards and he doesn’t understand why he even cares about her life. He should just be worried about his fortune.

Slap him some more Henry! Please!!

But this asshole sells her off anyways. She’s gagged and bound when she refuses to cooperate and Leo comes home drunk. Henry slaps the shit out of him saying he doesn’t want the reward $ bc family is the only that mattered to him.

So he ends up saving her and getting married to her.

 

Final Thoughts: Holy crap…I played a game in Japanese and I understood most of it. 

Not gonna lie, this was stressful. If you think you can just start playing otoge in Japanese or any other video game, I wish you the best. It’s not to be underestimated and it make you feel stupid when you realize you don’t know much about your own language either.

I really was tested and despite not knowing much kanji or grammar or anything, I was able to get through it after months of studying and freaking out and wondering what I was doing with my life.

When I started Fred’s route, I felt like my head was spinning and as you can see, I had a lot of translation notes and stuff. I found my footing once I finished his route which almost took me a month. From there things got better. I was able to quickly assume things and grasp things better.

Now for the game. This doesn’t have a backlog so if you screwed up a choice you had to go to a chart system to go back. I actually really liked this idea. You could just go back to literally anywhere at the tap of the screen. 

The music was very well done and the art was vibrant and colorful. Some of the CG’s made me go wtf is this lol especially some of the kissing scenes. It’s not Quinrose level but there were moments where I was wondering what was happening. The sprites and backgrounds were gorgeous, np there.

I liked Fred and Emilio’s routes the most and hated Leonard. Like he shouldn’t have even gotten a route. He can die in a fire. Henry made his route bearable. I get that Rian isn’t dressed like a woman but I was kind of shocked at how frequently characters would go wait ur a girl? Wut.

It’s a cute game, nothing groundbreaking, but enough to get your fix. It’s also SUPER CHEAP on ebay and other Japanese game sites so please pick up a copy. We can compare translations lol and the ppl from this company were all really great ppl.

I was able to learn my weaknesses in Japanese and will be working to improve on it. I have a very difficult time with listening skills and do better with written Japanese. As such, I think it’s best for me to focus on improving my comprehension since I plan on reviewing drama cds eventually. 

If you want to play an otoge in Japanese, just get one. It’s smart to have some knowledge of the language but if you study so much that you never pick up a game you’ll be waiting a long time till that happens. I managed to do it, so you can too. Don’t assume you’ll get through much at first. In fact, it’s fine to skip what you don’t know instead of looking up every single word bc you’ll burn out before long and you’ll never want to touch it again. Just focus on finishing the game and then come back to see how you did.

It’s recommended to start w/ a game that isn’t fantasy based like lol the one I just played so Starry Sky, Tokimeki, Storm Lover’s Kai, etc. are solid beginner choices. But if you see another game go for it. Don’t limit yourself. You can do it!

If anyone has ever played this game did I get most of it right? I haven’t seen any reviews for this game so I’m blind lol about the events of the game. 

*I will be replaying this later on once my Japanese has improved so look forward to seeing how much I failed ((((；゜Д゜))).

 

What I picked up from my playthrough:

Grey Neil バークワース  I think his last name is supposed to be Buckworth lol but I’m terrible w/ katakana so if u know what it is lemme know!^^

上街=Uptown? Top City? Upper City?

海軍グアルディア対海賊部隊第七軍=Navy Guardia Anti-pirate Corp 7th Division.

氷晶=Ice Crystals

ホーク海賊団=Red Hawk Pirates

 

Have any of you considered playing otoge in Japanese? Do you have any recommendations for otoge? Are you learning Japanese?

If you like what you see please follow or share! Thank you^^

 

 

 

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