In Your Arms Tonight 2 - Fumitaka Nishi MS Review
Alright, first of all, welcome to my blog! I hope to update semi-regularly, but I genuinely make no promises. I go through spurts of binging stories, so I might end up reviewing older stories rather than newer ones. With that out of the way, I’ll get on to what you give a shit about and quit blathering!
Let me begin by saying that I wasn’t sure what to expect from In Your Arms Tonight 2. Having played the first IYAT, and absolutely loving that title, I was pretty excited that this one came out.
My overall rating would be 9/10, ONLY because of one reason, and it was something crucial to the story. I can’t control that, but man, it was hard to get through the first five chapters. If you’re not into controlling and oppressive men, you’re in for a ride. I wasn’t at all prepared for how much I would loathe MC’s husband... Koichi Natsukawa, MC’s husband in the original title, while loathsome because he was a cheater, is completely different to Kazuya Seto. (Apologies in advance, you won’t catch me playing him or writing a review for him. I almost had an aneurysm playing through Fumitaka’s whilst dealing with him...)
Kazuya comes across immediately as the ideal husband. He’s kind, showers MC with compliments, enjoys bragging about her to his coworkers, etc. If you’re wondering why I’m talking about Kazuya instead of Fumitaka, it’s because he’s a HUGE part of his main story. After winning a writing competition with her submitted children’s novel and attending the award ceremony, MC decides that she finally wants to start pursuing her dream of writing. This is where the her perfect little marriage comes crumbling down around her. She brings up her desires to her husband, beaming and gushing about how excited she is that she won and that she’s finally got the opportunity to pursue what she’s always wanted, and Kazuya just...gets angry. “MC won, now the fame’s gone to her head. There’s no need to pursue that career, I’m providing for you, that’s enough, end of discussion.” It’s so completely shocking, not just for the MC, but for me, as a writer myself. I couldn’t at all understand why the man who claims he loves her more than anything would deny her something that so clearly brings his wife joy. If you haven’t gathered yet, he is the reason I couldn’t give this story 10/10.
Fumitaka is the only one who seems to support this dream. They meet at the award ceremony, where she finds out that he will be her editor. Downtrodden, she calls up Fumitaka and declares that her husband has denied her request to continue writing. I do mean it when I say that it was truly a struggle to finish Fumitaka’s route because Kazuya evokes the kind of hatred from me that I haven’t felt toward a character in a long time. It’s Fumitaka who manages to convince her to write and convince her husband that it’s amazing, so she can show him who she truly is. This is where I really started to love this route. When it seems like Kazuya has finally given in to what his wife wants, he suddenly declares that he’s leaving and filing for divorce, to which MC seems to go catatonic for a month. Fumitaka is the one who brings her back to herself.
THIS is where the romance truly begins--the beginning of chapter 6. And let me tell you, this is the best route I’ve played in a long time. I feel like IYAT is one of the few titles that brings a sense of realism to Voltage. Yes, sometimes it’s a little hokey in terms of dialogue, but the emotions Fumitaka’s route ripped out of me made me cry literal tears at some points. He’s got his own emotional baggage, too, and it’s a startlingly long time before you even know what it is. His route brings back the drama that I really feel is missing from some of the newer titles. This game, from what I’ve seen thus far considering I’ve only played Fumitaka, was written with care and a real desire to provide a good story geared toward older women who have gone through this kind of heartbreak. The budding romance feels believable. It’s gradual. It hurts a little and it’s real. And goddamn, it is so satisfying to finally watch MC and Fumitaka both have a second chance to love and be happy. It’s not completely smooth sailing between them, because she feels like she’s sticking her nose where is doesn’t belong, and he’s held back by his past. When she tries to overcome that, he snaps, but she expected it might happen and is resigned to his outburst.
So, overall, do I recommend Fumitaka’s route? Hell, yes. I couldn’t recommend his route more. Aside from having physical and personality traits that are my biases (the guy with a cool, perhaps aloof demeanor, but who’s genuine and kind and gives a damn), the story was new and unique, in a way. We get to see the MC become famous for once instead of dating a famous man, and while she doesn’t have as much backbone as my favorite MC (how you doin’, Metro PD?), you can see character growth, albeit small character growth. An aside, he reminds me a lot of Kippei Ebihara from the first game.
(Also, I wouldn’t say his personality is twisted. I just don’t see it.)
