felt like diving into the otome game mines again and picked up Jack Jeanne (visual novel about a girl secretly living as a boy in order to attend an all-male theatre school). only just finished the second performance but i'm already on board tbh, im charmed by all six love interests (a rarity!) and the rhythm game sections remind me of my misspent youth playing ensemble stars lmao
i always find it kind of a turnoff when an otome leans pretty hard into Heterosexual Gender Roles as the foundation for its romances so im tentatively enjoying how willing this game already is to be loose with gender. the complicated dynamics of a girl passing as a guy having tender moments with guys who think she’s a guy while some of them are extremely feminine and play female roles, which...
i really am going to have to see where the game lands on any of these themes before i have an opinion because there is just a lot going on here. obviously im keeping a transmasc lens in mind for the main character, but she hasn't really reflected much on the specifics of living as a boy, other than it being a condition for attending the school and acting, which is what she really cares about. one of the bigger questions seems to be whether she 'should' be playing male or female roles, and there was a pretty sweet scene where one of the love interests walks her through the process of gaining confidence in her male presentation, like 'internalize that in this world, there is a man with your build and voice' which is maybe a good sign for landing at self-determination?
but the way 'boys who play female roles' get talked about in this game is fuckin wild lmfao, like to the extent of almost third-gendering the 'Jeannes.' especially highlighted by the rival classes being 'masculine boys that are good at dancing' and 'feminine boys (citation needed) that are good at singing'
i didn't really have high hopes of the game seriously gesturing at transfemininity but i still felt a little exhausted by a side character in the 'singing class' who presents as female outside of acting and uses a feminine name and makes multiple comments positioning herself as separate from boys and and gets literally deadnamed in a scene im pretty sure was playing it for laughs. lmoa. she's pretty likable and you get to hang out with her on the weekends at least... pensive...
i guess i'll stay tuned to see if i have strong transfem interpretations of any of the main boys by the end of the game or if their character routes will be more of a 'reasserting their masculinity for Romance' angle. much to think about
also my current interest in characters is Fumi > Neji > Soshiro > Mitsuki > Suzu > Kai (and i even like Kai well enough)
Shiroma decides to take some agency and approach the man she admires.
—
From a distance, Shiroma watched Mukai-kun speak to Hasekura-san. The men were quiet, but whatever the topic might have been, she could tell the conversation put a sour taste in Mukai-kun's mouth.
The two were often found together, though she suspected this was not planned by Hasekura-san. He was an intimating figure who rarely spoke or made eye contact with others. In direct contrast, his kouhai often had a bigger presence that made him feel dependable, belying his slighter stature.
Continuing my summary of Kai’s summer novel story. I’m assuming people reading this have read the preamble in Part 1 already so I’ll pick up right where that one left off. This concludes the rest of Kai's chapter. Note that the original novel has some illustrations as well that I won't be including here.
Characters: Kai, Fumi, Sou, Suzu, Tsuki
Please let me know if you note any errors or corrections!
Part 3 Cont'd:
After Sou ran off on their way back to the dorm, we cut to Kai back in his room lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. He wonders what he should have said to Sou just then.
His mind then jumps back to a memory from when he first started Univeil. He went to class and it was all abuzz with excitement among the new students. Until one student showed up late. Fumi walks in and the whole class goes silent. Nobody can look away from him. And yet, he doesn’t return anyone’s stares. He doesn’t look at anyone in return.
Kai clenches his fist under the desk and he immediately has thoughts about quitting, about not being cut out for this place. But he has nowhere else to go. (カイはこの場から逃げ出したくなった。帰る場所もないのに). There’s also the recurring symbolism of heat/passion suddenly disappearing and freezing over (熱がどんどん下がっていく。凍えてしまいそうなくらいだ)
Then Tsuki enters the scene and the whole class seems to remember to breathe again. Kai turns to look over at Fumi who is staring directly at Tsuki like a beast stalking its prey (獲物を見つけた獣のような瞳だった)
Kai feels like he’s entirely out of his depth and that there’s no way he can stand on stage with these people. He thinks that this must be the same defeat that Sou felt when he saw Suzu.
Part 4:
We cut to another day where Suzu asks Kai if they can practice again. Sou is acting as if nothing happened earlier. But then Kaido walks in to question what the heck they’re thinking by making Kisa a Jack. (Side note: Kai still cannot fathom why Kaido considers him one of his big rivals, even back when Kai just had nameless ensemble roles as a first-year).
Kaido decides to have a bit of fun and challenges them to an Onyx Jack exercise, a sort of…competitive bowing practice? (礼練) They essentially have to bow to each other but do so in a way that it conveys a particular sort of character for the others to guess. Kaido puts Kai on the spot, telling him to give them a “model demonstration” of the perfect bow. Kai does so. It has the very clean and proper feeling like a doorman at a fancy hotel. Kaido says that it’s so perfect, it makes him want to offer Kai a job. Kai doesn’t know if he’s joking or not so he just says thanks.
Then Kaido readies himself to go next. Before he’s even done anything, Kai already feels like he lost the competition. Kaido bows in a dramatic fashion, giving the sense that he’s bowing to a queen from a rival country that he’s secretly in love with. Everyone is quite impressed.
Kaido then passes the baton on to Suzu, who jumps in eagerly even though he isn’t sure he can top that. He ends up doing a traditional Japanese seiza seated bow while kneeling on the ground. He tried to think outside of the box since he didn’t feel like he could compete otherwise. Kaido is impressed and declares him the winner, but Suzu says Sou hasn’t had a turn yet. Kai cringes inside. He doesn’t think this will go well.
They all turn to look at Sou who says “That’s because, it’s because I’m a Jeanne”. He spoke in a way like he was both laughing and crying.
「僕は」
世長らしくない早口だった。
「僕は、ジャンヌですから」
笑うように、泣くように、彼は言った。
Sou then runs off and Kai follows after him. Sou apologizes for failing to live up to all the things Kai taught him. He talks about others in his year being so far ahead of him, how there are chosen and unchosen people. And that for the unchosen, they fall so far behind the distance is endless. (Note: Sou uses this same wording in JP in the fall arc)
「同期って、遠いですね」
選ばれる人間と選ばれない人間。
同期という囲いにいながら最も遠く果てしない相手。
Not wanting to slip even further behind, Sou decides he needs to concentrate all his efforts on being a Jeanne. Kai says he’ll let Suzu know that Sou won’t be joining in on their practices anymore. Sou thanks Kai and says he had fun while it lasted.
Kai returns to the practice room to find Suzu sitting against the wall. Suzu asks how Sou is doing and Kai says that he is choosing instead to focus on being a Jeanne. “So he’s not gonna do it anymore?” “…Yeah.” Suzu is clearly upset by this and goes quiet. Kai tells him that it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t get the sense that Sou blamed Suzu for any of this. But Kai also thinks that this is something only people like him and Sou who have experienced that defeated feeling of being so outclassed by one’s peers can understand.
But Suzu completely catches Kai off guard. “Sou is so far ahead of me.” (「世長が遠いッス」) Kai doesn’t know how to react. For a moment he thought maybe he misheard something. But the word rattles around in his brain. Ahead.
Suzu knows that Sou wanted to be a Jack and thinks he could get there if given a chance. But he also worries that he’s been pushing too many of his own feelings onto Sou. He sees Sou as incredible, as having so many skills and talents and insight that he lacks. He admits to being jealous of him, but whenever he tried to express that, Sou would dismiss it as “It’s nothing really. You’re far more amazing than I am.” It makes Suzu feel so distant from him.
Kai gets a pang in his chest. He remembers something, not about Sou and Suzu, but about himself and Fumi. He has trouble processing what he’s hearing. He thought that only people who were unable to stand on centre stage would have these kinds of feelings. In a truly sad moment, Suzu says that he wanted to practice together with Sou, as classmates and friends. He looks at Kai and says, “I’m lonely.”
(Note: Suzu feeling othered by his classmates who see him as “too good” is a recurring theme for him in the side content. I would recommend checking out his Ray of Light story for more on this)
We cut to Kai once again lying awake at night. He keeps drawing parallels between Sou and Suzu and himself and Fumi. If Suzu is having thoughts like this, is it possible that Fumi could as well? The idea that Fumi might think Kai was better at him in literally anything had never occurred to him before. He wonders if there were days where he hurt Fumi the way Suzu described Sou hurting him. He starts to feel overwhelmed by these thoughts, like countless hands are grasping at his body so he gets up. He wonders if Fumi is also feeling that same loneliness like Suzu. If he is, then what should Kai do about it?
“If only I had the ability.” He thinks that this applies to Sou too, that he could turn this all around if he just had the confidence in himself. But then his heart starts to sink again. He decides to leave the dorm and go to the practice room. He hears singing, luring him towards the voice. For a second he thinks he sees Tsuki in front of him, but it’s Kisa.
He then recalls another memory, one where he talked to Tsuki in the practice room on a night he couldn’t sleep. Despite Tsuki being so intimidating to him, Tsuki casually asks if he wants to practice together. Tsuki then looks at the two of them in the mirror and says that he looks like an Al Jeanne next to Kai’s Jack Ace. Kai says that’s ridiculous so Tsuki begins to act like a Jeanne and dance. But he stops himself and laughs, saying he can’t compete with Fumi.
『あー、やっぱりフミにはかなわないね』
Kai asks if even Tsuki finds Fumi that amazing. “He is. He really is. Even just dancing in a traditional *iemoto family is amazing enough. Although he’d definitely hate it if I said that.” Tsuki then does a highly accurate and funny impression of a bratty first-year Fumi saying “The hell are you talking about? I have zero connection to family” (『なに言ってんですか。家と俺は関係ねーし』).
(Note: iemoto is a specific type of strictly rigid and hierarchical family structure associated with traditional Japanese arts. I recently learned this term isn’t used in the EN version of the game, but it is a significant concept as part of Fumi’s backstory and character)
Tsuki says that Fumi has not just the natural talent, but also the upbringing and the competitive streak. Nevertheless, he also has his sore spots he’s sensitive about. Kai is surprised at how this could even be possible. Tsuki says that Fumi masks them under a show of strength so that others can’t see them. フミは強がりでもあるから、そういう弱い部分は見せないようにしてるけど……
Tsuki then looks at Kai again and says he thinks he’d work surprisingly well as Fumi’s Jack Ace.
『意外とカイは、フミと合うかもしれないね』
『えっ』
『カイがジャックエースで、フミがアルジャンヌ』
Naturally, Kai rejects this. He talks about there already being a Jack Ace in their year that Fumi paired with during the newcomers’ play. Tsuki then turns to Kai like he’s about to say something serious when suddenly….the memory cuts out. He wonders if Tsuki also couldn’t sleep that night.
Kisa notices Kai standing there and calls out to him. She’s pushing hard to expand her limits. This is after Kai gave her the speech about Mukai and how she doesn’t need to feel held back just because she doesn’t fit the typical Jack body type. She said it showed her there are no limits to what they can do and that she’s very appreciative of it (even when Kai says it’s no big deal). Kai then hears the line in his head:
“Kai, you must not create limits for yourself. Univeil is a place of freedom.”
――カイ、自分で自分の限界を作ってはいけないよ。ユニヴェールは自由な場所なんだから。
This is what Tsuki was trying to tell him in that memory. He wonders why he forgot about it. He thinks that this is what he should have said to Sou, but that would require him to follow the advice and break out of his limits as well (his line to Sou in fall is quite similar).
Kisa tells Kai that she loves his acting and that she thinks he and Fumi as partners look so cool together. Kai’s immediate reaction is deflecting this by assuming Kisa only thinks this because she didn’t see Fumi when he was paired with Tsuki (this isn’t even true; Kisa did see Tsuki perform with Fumi at least once). She looks so earnest about what she’s saying though that he doesn’t have the heart to reject her so he says thanks.
He gave up long ago on having hopes and expectations for himself or other people so he finds all this difficult. But he thinks that maybe the day will someday come where he can find the courage to change. If Sou could do it, maybe he could as well. He thinks of this dream where he could someday stand comfortably on equal footing with Fumi. It was just a dream, but one he thought he’d like to see. Since Univeil is a place of freedom.
Part 5:
Kai and Fumi are having a dance practice together. Kai says he’s an awkward dancer in comparison, but he does improve when he focuses all his concentration on Fumi.
But then, Fumi decides to flip the script and allows Kai to lead the dance instead. Almost on reflex, Kai takes this opportunity to put Fumi in the spotlight at the most exciting moment of the song. It was a small change, but they just did it there on the fly. Kai then wonders if he’s been pushing Fumi into the front too much in his efforts to show him off as the flower. This calls back to what Fumi said back in part 1.
Noticing that Kai is seeming more energetic and willing to try things, Fumi tries asking him again what he thinks about maybe putting himself in the spotlight more. But Kai, despite all of the buildup refuses, saying that he would be unable to fulfill his role as a vessel in that case.
「この勢いで、もっと前に出たらどうだ？」
「それじゃあ器の役目が果たせない」
さらなる要求は却下したが。
(don’t mind me as I slam my head into the wall ugh)
It ends with him watching the first-year trio in the dorm dining hall. They seem to be having fun, but he doesn’t know how they’re really doing inside. Even so, he can’t help but hope that they all get to carry out their dreams. Univeil is a place of freedom, after all.
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And that's where it ends! Very frustrating, but also very Kai. You can tell Towada is building the groundwork for events in the fall arc.
Next up will be Suzu's chapter, "The Hairpin of Tears". Thanks for reading!
