Things I wish were more present in SWD?: Ninja Shadow (PART 1)
So this is just a word blurb from me just spewing out my thoughts. Some of it may not make sense, but I'll try to keep my thoughts as concise as possible.
Topic: More Sibling Interactions (especially b/w Makoto and Toru)
We kinda got this b/w Saori (MC) and her brother Kaname in that one Spin Off where either they go to the Nagasaki Vigilantes together or you pick the other story route (I can't remember the contents of that storyline, but I remember it being cute).
I thought it was really cute and nice seeing their sibling relationship.
I just wish we got spin offs like for the other siblings in this game (Seiji-Seiya, Kunihiro-Nobuyoshi, Kaede-Amon, Yugiri and Ritsu with their unnamed younger siblings, the puppeteer brothers, even Ukyo-Eduard who are more like adoptive siblings). They didn't need to be non-canon, they could've been anecdotal stories from their pasts.
I know it's meant to be an otome game, but getting more character back story would have been so cool.
I especially wanted to see more sibling interactions b/w Makoto and Toru. They are a main pair of siblings in the series, so I wish we could've seen them more, specifically without Saori being there (because yeah, it is an otome game).
Toru is shown to love his little brother very dearly. It's one of his major reasons for trying to "destroy Nagasaki and build it back up". Because it's "the city Makoto loves". His dream also spreads to completely reconstructing Japan, but his main focal point is Nagasaki because that's where his baby brother is.
Makoto does love his big brother too, but he has resentment toward him as well. Toru has always been better than him at everything, Toru has always been the golden child of the Nakagawa family. Now even then at most Makoto was just a bit envious.
The real resentment begins when Toru just up and leaves one day leaving Makoto to clean up after his mess.
Now, I say he just leaves out of the blue because while in the early original routes, Toru was said to be a founding member of the Nagasaki Vigilantes, however, in one of the later canon spin offs called Back to the Beginning, which I'll consider to be the actual storyline, Makoto says that Toru just kinda disappeared one day without any warning and without telling Makoto or Shintaro anything.
I guess Toru just had an epiphany about his ideals. I don't really know and I'm not sure/don't remember if it's explained anymore. I honestly don't know lol
Anyways, that's where Makoto actually seems to gain resentment towards his brother, because when Toru leaves Makoto has to take care of stuff Toru left behind. And of course the Nakagawa family, specifically the branch family, love to beat down and berate Makoto because he was the "lesser" brother. Literally calling him the stain to the Nakagawa name (which, holy shit, is really fucking mean and evil, holy cow).
If I remember right, Makoto didn't even want to really take up becoming the next head of the family, he just wanted to become painter, but because Toru left now he has to, which I think is really sad, poor Makoto.
As for what happens to Toru, depending on the route he's either captured and then escapes (usually with the help of his pal Tsubaki) or he's just captured, or he turns into a traveling merchant(?) (I honestly can't remember everything that happens in his route, I think he becomes a merchant though).
And if he and Makoto aren't really involved in the route, ig he just kinda dilly-dallies and runs around doing whatever.
I think it would have been interesting if we were able to get a spin off where Toru and Makoto have a deep and meaningful conversation about why they chose the choices they did, how they were feeling, how they felt about each other's choices and decisions. It would be a very emotional and vulnerable moment for the two, especially Makoto who tends to hide his true emotions. I think it would've been interesting to see Makoto open up more to Toru about how the Nakagawa elders treated him, obviously Toru generally gets the idea, but Makoto could tell him in detail and how that made him feel.
I wish we could've had an emotional spin off like that. Though I might be biased sense I find the sibling dynamic of the two to be most interesting out of everyone's.
Like I said Toru loves Makoto so much to the point that he would cause some hurt and pain to his baby brother to keep him safe. He even tries multiple times to get Makoto to join him in his rebellion and becomes quite hurt when Makoto doesn't take up his offer. I mean just look at this bit of text from the Ninja Shadow Tropedia/wikia page
When he's beaten in Makoto's route he's extremely distraught as he was so sure he win.
He was so sure he was going to win because he has such a strong deep love for his brother.
Toru wanted to protect one of things his little brother held so dear to him.
I just love the two so much, they deserve the world
Well that's the end of this word blurb (part 1) lol. I hope what I said makes sense and maybe some of you might agree.
