Yukiya’s Sequel - A Very Belated Review
So I know that Vincent’s sequel just came out, but given how much I love Yukiya, I really wanted to get this written and posted before I dive into reading a new sequel (this time with some reluctance, because I really don’t want to be reading a Vincent sequel…).
Back in the heyday of my involvement with the Wizardess Heart fandom, I spent a good amount of time analyzing what I wanted from a Yukiya sequel. We got one, and I wanted to do a couple of nice slow playthroughs before tackling a written review.
My old writeups on Yukiya:
Ideas for future plot development in the Yukiya storyline
More thoughts on the Wolfy relationship
In this review, I discuss:
Yukiya and MC’s relationship
Obviously there are heavy spoilers for Yukiya’s route, but by now, most people have probably finished it. I’m throwing in a cut for good measure.
Yukiya and MC’s Relationship
These two are perfect for one another. I’ve always maintained that Yukiya is the most supportive out of all the love interests for MC, and it was so sweet and gratifying to see their love blossom into the trusting, open relationship they have here. In this relationship, moreso than in the others, there’s this sense of complete unity. They repeat over and over again - your happiness is my happiness; your goal is my goal.
After two years of closeness, MC is an expert at reading the subtleties of Yukiya’s expression, and understanding the way he feels. She frequently jumps to his defense, understanding that a comment that doesn’t seem to outwardly faze him actually can be very hurtful to him. Yukiya always calms her down, but he also always appreciates that his girl has his back.
The same goes the other way; Yukiya is quietly, confidently, and consistently supportive of MC, rarely calling her abilities or judgment into question. He has always been that presence, solid and supportive, and forgiving when he needs to be.
Their CGs highlight that physical closeness, reinforcing that intimacy that they share. The first chapter of the story is honestly breathtaking - the unexpected frenzy of a battle gives way to this soft, quiet kiss, and a light-soaked transformation yields a gentle, intimate moment of love. (Forgive a fic author’s fancies, but you can almost imagine the past two years, on every single full moon night, Yukiya in his beast form with MC striding into the forest, perhaps finding a soft grassy glade and lying down. Yukiya, restless and humming with magical energy, stands guard while the drowsy MC dozes against his broad, furred flank. For hours, they rest together, no sound greater than breaths and whispers, until at dawn, she rises to press a sleepy kiss against his mouth, transforming him in a shower of light as they return to the dorms.)
A couple of chapters in, the couple witnesses a wedding together. In this moment, a realization crystallizes within Yukiya - that because they are always going to be a unit, anything he individually does can drag MC down. It’s the Buddyhood relationship in a nutshell, but in this sequel Buddyhood is not the focus - it’s just love, plain and simple. For that reason, Yukiya becomes determined to overcome his flaws. He undergoes a moment of intense self-doubt, when MC goes to order them a hamburger steak for lunch, and Yukiya overhears the people talking about her because of him - the fact that his troubles engender dislike for her evokes this dull leaden feeling of responsibility and shame, that drives him even more. He really can’t bear to see her dragged down because of him.
I was initially annoyed that the writers chose to revive the classmate gossip obstacle, an annoying plot device that thankfully had faded away in Yukiya’s side stories. However, the resurgence of this plot device did show us how different Yukiya’s reaction is this time around. In his original route, he just shut down and distanced himself; here, he does the opposite, volunteering to try to bridge some of those distances with his peers by helping Elias with his work. MC also hopes to help educate her classmates with regard to the true nature of curses (or is it contracts?), although I certainly don’t understand why being a Prefect is necessary to do this.
Who is Seth/Wolfy? This was my most pressing question from Yukiya’s original route.
The sequel dodges this question entirely, by answering, It doesn’t matter, because Seth is our ally. And to me, that’s not satisfying at all. The world of Gedonelune is so vast and ill-defined hat we don’t know how Seth operates, or why he disappears randomly (to grant other wishes of power?), or where he came from, or who named him (except that the name itself is important).
We do get a choice tidbit from him: “I can hear when people want power. That’s my job.”
That makes him a creature that is surprisingly similar to the Nue, actually. Gedonelune is seemingly inhabited by spirits that respond to wishes, spoken or not, sometimes at great peril to the wisher. But if Azusa is to be believed, the Nue ends up devouring the wisher. Instead, Seth seems to be somewhat loosely benevolent, having granted Yukiya a power that Yukiya was unprepared or unwilling to accept. And then, in this sequel, because Yukiya managed to find self-acceptance and acceptance of Seth himself, Seth is able to grant Yukiya the full extent of his power.
It’s still not a tidy enough explanation for me, but I’m satisfied that it brings a happy resolution to Yukiya’s struggles. What this implies, though, is that having accepted it, Yukiya will never be free of his contract, and will continue to turn into a beast, either during the full moon or at will.
While we’re talking about the magical creature sidekicks of this route, there was entirely too little of the fat wing rabbit. #bringbackfatwingrabbit
No one was expecting the return of the Nue in this particular sequel, but given that the chimera showed up in Klaus’, it looks like some more timeline mixup may be the norm for these sequels. (It certainly looks that way, since Vincent’s sequel mentions both creatures in the first chapter.)
Solmare is having a field day with Azusa in these sequels, honestly. They’re using the collective trauma of the Wizardess Heart fandom so that when Azusa speaks certain lines, like when he talks about how someone who has done something bad can’t just go back and start completely anew, we all kind of get nervous. At the same time, we’re left to wonder what role he plays in the actual sequel we happen to be reading.
So as we think about Azusa, we also read about an “unsettling pot” (really, Solmare?) that ends up containing a Nue that possesses most of the student body and turns Gedonelune into a zombie apocalypse that only Yukiya can stop. At the end, the Nue disintegrates into a golden butterfly.
Azusa doesn’t seem to be responsible for this particular travesty, though, so whodunit? Perhaps Tsukasa himself, a restless soul that attracted the evil spirit? (Maybe we’ll know more in Vincent’s route…Tsukasa seems to play a role, if the first chapter is any indication)
Whatever it really was, the Nue is recast in the form of a curse, perhaps to tie in to Yukiya’s curse. This was very tenuous and forced for me. Originally in the route, Headmaster Randolph clarified that Yukiya’s so-called curse was not an actual curse, but simply a contract. In this sequel, this reasoning no longer stands, because some curse-to-curse magic recognition allows Yukiya to see the glowing red cores that have possessed the students.
Did it ever occur to MC that in this case, the students were RIGHT to be afraid of curses?
Additionally, the role of Yukiya’s eye and his pain has shifted. Previously, it was a device that symbolized Yukiya’s inability to accept his own magic, expressing that conflict in a physical sensation. Now it’s some kind of convenient magic curse-finding lens, and then a focusing iris for a lot of Wolfy magic.
As with all Solmare stories, you sometimes just have to take a deep breath and let the plot holes go, and I’m just going to do that right now. Siiiigh.
Perhaps the strangest element here, though, is Azusa’s apparent redemption. After Azusa’s moment of creepitude, at the very end of the story, Yukiya receives a letter that falls from the sky (literally) informing him that his mommy forgives him and wants him to come home. And Azusa’s like, “You’re welcome. Have fun.”
And how did Azusa even know about Yukiya’s family? I can’t imagine those two having an offscreen heart to heart.
This was the most unsatisfying part of the sequel. Ironically, a Reizen family reunion was something that I think many in the fandom had yearned for, including myself. Yukiya is such a family-oriented person that the self-imposed exile from his loved ones had to be a heartbreaking decision that haunted him for years.
But the re-emergence of Yukiya’s family was done too neatly, and I don’t think the angst that should have been there was present. The fact that Yukiya’s mother is the one to extend the olive branch, and the wording of her letter, indicates to me that she had a more active role in throwing him out than I had previously believed. A mother threw out her beloved son for trying to save his family? This is honestly pretty sad.
The reunion itself is far too simple and happy, and again, devoid of the angst it needed. It was also too short. Why did they spend 75% of the happy ending in an amusement park? We’ve had enough amusement park side stories in this game and every other otome game - the pivotal happy ending is NOT the place for such a trite, overdone scene, when the reader already knows that after years and years, Yukiya is going home. So why didn’t we get more of that, and fewer roller coaster squees?
I’m happy that like in Klaus’ route, MC is still a strong student. But I’m concerned - remember how tedious it was to read twelve stories where MC was always a dunce? Is this the start of the opposite problem as we had in the routes, where in ALL the sequels she’s become this magical powerhouse in just 2 years? Can’t she just be normal?
Levis Pullma was the spell she failed on in the prologue, so I’m glad to see it come full circle that she owns it in this sequel, even if the application was floating the “unsettling pot” back to the Prefect’s office.
In these sequels, the premium stories are so worth it. The moment when Yukiya recalls falling in love is a premium story, and it’s hands down my favorite moment in the entire sequel. (Probably won’t buy them for Vincent’s sequel though.)
On the other hand, the unhappy ending is NOT worth it. This unhappy ending is following the pattern of the Klaus one, where it’s ACTUALLY unhappy. Yukiya is devoured by his curse, reverts to his beast form, turns feral, and runs off into the woods. MC vows to get him back, and Seth laughs and decides to come along for the show. It’s just shitty; don’t waste your money.
Yukiya is actually supposed to be a good, though very intuitive cook; it surprised me a little that he was not a good baker in his premium story when he attempts to make cookies for MC.
Why do they keep forcing the ending to have a stupid scene with the Scale of Judgment again? No one really cares about whether MC becomes a prefect or not because she’s kind of got more important things going on these days.
I love any moments where Yukiya and Elias’ friendship is on display, and I wished that there were almost more of them in the sequel.
Yukiya’s sequel profile says that he wants to be a doctor, and I wish the route had explored that a bit more.
Glad that Luca didn’t randomly show up in the sequel (the way Azusa showed up in Klaus’), and that they at least paid some lip service to continuity here.
2087
germansingergirl
areudirty
dededos
annaxmalina
