SLBP Maeda Toshiie/Inuchiyo Route Review [SPOILERS]
I have to be honest: the only reason why I reluctantly powered through Inuchiyo’s route was to get it out of the way. There is a lot of sexual assault (actual and attempted) in this route, and it’s definitely not for everyone.
The first thing you should know about this route is that a love triangle is one of the main plot drivers. When MC finds herself in Azuchi castle, there are two retainers ready to help her to get settled in. There’s Hideyoshi, who sees through her man disguise almost instantly. And then of course, there’s Inuchiyo, MC’s childhood friend, and six years her senior. Where Hideyoshi is charming and friendly, Inuchiyo is brusque and honest. Where Hideyoshi likes to solve issues with cleverness and words, Inuchiyo solves them with his fists. But both of them find themselves in love with MC at the same time. For Hideyoshi, it’s a new infatuation, but for Inuchiyo, he’s been in love with her since they were young children (which means a 13 year old Inuchiyo loved a 7 year old MC...?! Don’t think about it too hard). And of course, MC, precious oblivious child that she is, isn’t aware of any of this.
Which brings me to the second thing you have to know about Inuchiyo’s route: this is a story where MC is sexually assaulted by her suitor. To be more specific, one day, Inuchiyo somehow manages to convince himself that MC is in love with Hideyoshi, after a festival date (she isn’t). He spends the next DAY drinking, and then the following night, finds MC, and drunkenly forces a kiss onto her before moving on to her neck AND LOWER...! The language used here is completely horrifying. MC is clearly an unwilling participant: however, when I put all my strength into pushing away, he presses his hand to the back of my neck, and forces my lips on his. And Inuchiyo says some awful things (“I’ll die before I give you away”). As if MC’s is his to give to anyone?!?!
This isn’t even the first attempted assault that takes place in the story (nor the last one). Earlier, Nobunaga’s creepy uncle tries to make a move on MC. Nobunaga is quick to accuse MC the victim of being up to no good like a proper asshole, but Inuchiyo actually comes across as quite the hero in this situation, taking the blame for MC and getting temporarily exiled from the Oda clan (his redemption is another major plot point). This whole thing makes Inuchiyo’s drunken actions against MC later on even more horrifying, considering he knows MC was a recent victim! It might also be the writing: I’m personally much more willing to forgive an unsolicited kiss from a love interest than unsolicited other stuff, so why couldn’t the writers have just stopped early?! Given this guy’s angst levels, he probably would’ve felt just as guilty and literally everything else about the plot could’ve stayed the same.
What Inuchiyo does to MC is bad enough, but honestly, there’s so much more to this incident than the guy’s actions that make this such a terrible, anger inducing read. There’s Nobunaga, who almost comes across as nice by putting an overcoat around MC right after the assault before immediately victim blaming her (again) and firing her for Inuchiyo’s actions because she is “far too naive to survive among men.” The fuck?!?! There’s Inuchiyo, who confesses his love to a traumatized MC the next day in lieu of apologizing. There’s restaurant regulars, who, without even knowing the full story, BULLY MC into chasing after Inuchiyo because they think the guy might kill himself. As if Inuchiyo’s well-being should be of any concern to MC after the shit he pulled?!?!
You might be interested to know that Inuchiyo doesn’t in fact run off to kill himself. He runs away from MC and his feelings to the Maeda clan, where he becomes promptly engaged to another beautiful childhood friend. Because of course the guy who assaults a woman would be “punished” with the company of another woman, right?! Of the three sexual assault incidents in this story, not one man gets his proper comeuppance. It’s realistic in this era, I guess, but completely disgusting and off putting.
The one bright spot to this terrible situation, in my opinion is Hideyoshi, the guy who brings Second Lead Syndrome to a whole new level. Poor Hideyoshi is the one who apologizes for Inuchiyo the day after MC’s assault, even though it’s not his fault. He even has Mitsunari bring a scarf to help cover her neck bruises...! And even before The Incident, this man is a complete angel. He’s friendly, caring, flirtatious, cerebral, gentle... basically, everything that Inuchiyo isn’t. And when it becomes clear that MC is in love with Inuchiyo (a realization that seems to come out of nowhere, btw), the guy is devastated, but accepting and supportive. No drunken larks for this one. No angry assaults. I’m not saying that MC chose wrong here, but...wait, yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.
To be honest, ignoring all the assaults, the plot is objectively quite interesting. There’s a lot going on. Inuchiyo’s fall from grace on MC’s behalf (and subsequent climb back up). His struggles with re-taking his mantle as heir of the Maeda clan, after running around as the prodigal son for years. The heartbreaking demons from Inuchiyo’s past, featuring MC’s father (!). A battle to save Katsuie’s life, amidst injuries and potential traitors. It’s a real pity, that for me, all these stellar subplots are overshadowed by Inuchiyo’s assault of MC.
Speaking of stellar, Inuchiyo’s side cast is fantastic. Hideyoshi aside, there’s Keiji, Inichiyo’s hilariously crazy wayward nephew. There’s Toshihisa, Inuchiyo’s strangely sexy dying bro and Keiji’s adopted dad, who is responsible for what is probably the most k-drama like scene I have ever witnessed in an otome game. (tl;dr evil mom with envelope full of money). There’s beefy Katsuie, Inuchiyo’s kind mentor slash father figure type. There’s Sayuri, Inuchiyo’s childhood friend/temporary fiancée who gets completely screwed over. Even Nassa, the main villain, is delightfully loathsome and villainous. And despite being furious with Inuchiyo for a good fraction of the route, I found myself absolutely falling in love and rooting for these amazing other characters (except Nassa).
At the end of the day, I think Inuchiyo’s route is a decently well written and fleshed out story with a lot of potential that was brought down by a completely off-putting sexual assault arc and a somewhat underdeveloped romance. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about Inuchiyo’s side characters, or fall hard in love with Hideyoshi, or ever felt like your blood pressure isn’t high enough, this might be the route for you. But if you’re looking for some romance...do yourself a favor. Skip this route, and let Inuchiyo’s event story personality stay in your mind, untarnished by his main route. ^_^
Personality: 2/10. Sadly, being a childhood friend (a trope I love!!) and desperately in love with MC doesn’t stop Inuchiyo from fucking up in the worst possible way in this route. There’s a lot to like about him in his ES’s, such as his protective and passionate nature, but all of that is overshadowed here by the aspects of his personality that led to The Incident™. As @sharksmirk puts it, this guy “waves more red flags than a Chinese military parade.”
Appearance: 8/10. Two words: war armor.
MC: 7/10. Poor MC! She has to deal with so many crappy situations in this route. I really feel for her.
Plot/Payoff: 5/10. There was WAY too much assault in this route for my personal liking, but the non-assault aspects of the plot were admittedly pretty good imho.
Personal enjoyment: 2/10. It’s funny: if Inuchiyo had only kissed MC and nothing more, I’d likely have given this route a solid 6 or 7. But as it is... :/
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