An phantasm is imagery that seems, for all intents and functions, to be actual. However what if, beneath the facade you’ve identified your total life, buried truths might essentially reshape and break all that you understand and maintain expensive? Otome visible novel Phantasm of Itehari explores its themes in an altogether compelling narrative a few supposed utopia floating within the sky above an imperfect world.
The airborne metropolis of Itehari is a literal floating paradise, created for its residents to flee the cruel actuality of life on the unforgiving floor world beneath. Protagonist Hinagiku has lived her total life amongst the clouds, all the time questioning what lies beneath however by no means voicing such prohibited ideas aloud. That modifications someday when she’s almost the sufferer of a violent and unthinkable assault within the supposedly peaceable metropolis. Her life turns into entwined with that of her erstwhile savior, a pleasant sufficient self-proclaimed amnesiac named Yashiro, in addition to a number of different attention-grabbing characters from numerous walks of life. Collectively, they uncover a number of mysteries and conspiracies surrounding Itehari, revealing that the perpetual paradise may not be as idyllic as Hinagiku grew up believing it to be.
I wish to sing praises for Phantasm of Itehari‘s narrative, however must maintain it temporary to keep away from spoilers. The lore and worldbuilding are fascinating and thought-provoking, delving into heavy issues corresponding to the consequences of air pollution, drug trafficking, isolationism, and classism/discrimination on particular person folks and society as an entire. Since that is an otome, there’s undoubtedly romance that’s typically expertly written, however there’s rather more depth to the plot than its a number of amorous affairs. What’s memorable is the excellent presentation, with every character’s story arc/route constructing upon reveals and insights gleaned in others, serving to to form the ultimate route’s end result because the aptly named Fact Route begins after enjoying by way of the earlier 5 routes’ “good” endings. Taking part in every route totally to know the whole plot is similar to the completionist narrative presentation present in Collar X Malice, awarding gamers with a totally partaking and compelling conclusion.
In fact, the perfect story on the planet nonetheless falls flat if the characters conveying it aren’t memorable. Happily for Phantasm of Itehari, that’s not the case. The forged, essential and supporting, has depth. The 5 love pursuits are extremely fleshed out and intriguing, with typically plausible romances that realistically develop with Hinagiku relying on their preliminary interactions. My favourite romance routes have been Yashiro’s, childhood good friend Tsuyukusa’s, and the top of the leisure district, Tobari’s, given how believably they develop over time.
Nonetheless, I additionally loved the sincerity and belief that tinted the interactions between Hinagiku and her attendant, Awayuki. The one actual problematic romance was with the very prejudiced and manipulative nobleman Yori. The connection develops in addition to it might probably below the circumstances, nevertheless it nonetheless has many crimson flags and uncomfortable moments all through. Apparently sufficient, I truly just like the snarky Yori as a “you sort of like to hate” character outdoors of the romance angle, as his voice actor, Takuya Eguchi, delivers his traces completely, and his observations are sometimes amusing. Nonetheless, it’s not a romance I significantly felt a lot for when in comparison with the others.
The aspect characters and antagonists are additionally exceedingly memorable, with a number of thrives to their personalities. I loved enjoying the sport not just for the love pursuits but in addition to see how the secondary characters evolve and develop all through the routes as a result of a reveal in a single route helps make clear why a personality reacts the way in which they do in one other, including additional layers to their nuanced characterization. So far as otome essential characters go, Hinagiku additionally deserves some reward. She’s voiceless and sometimes out of view past key CG illustrations, but her character nonetheless stands out. As a noblewoman previous the everyday marriage age, making an attempt to handle her personal territories with out counting on a male family member, she’s thought of an outlier in Itehari’s society. She initially comes throughout as sheltered and naive. But, she exhibits a willingness to develop, by no means merely accepting that “that’s the way it’s all the time been” is a justification for continued wrongdoings. Hinagiku isn’t only a clean slate for the participant; identical to the remainder of the plausible forged, she has realistically conveyed strengths and weaknesses.
Phantasm of Itehari is a conventional VN that avoids gameplay gimmicks, making it accessible to followers of a extra standard presentation. As a substitute, the “gameplay” focus stays steadfastly on studying copious quantities of textual content or dialogue, adopted by a choice level that may probably change the story’s consequence. Generally that simply means elevating the love of one of many love pursuits (you possibly can toggle a visible indicator for some of these selections through the choices menu), although different instances you need to hope a story alternative doesn’t carry you to a nasty finish. Happily, it can save you anyplace you want, quick ahead by way of beforehand learn textual content, and use an in depth story map to information you thru the assorted routes. A VN wants an attractive plot and likable characters to offer a compelling playthrough, one thing Phantasm of Itehari excels at.
Taking part in by way of a personality’s path to the great ending additionally unlocks an epilogue brief story for that route, together with all collected CG illustrations, a glossary of key phrases, music tracks, and a progress chart within the sport’s title display menu. There’s additionally “further content material” within the type of further brief tales meant for after a route’s good finish. Taking part in by way of Awayuki’s route initially opens up Yori’s, and enjoying Tobari’s route opens Tsuyukusa’s. Taking part in all 4 of these routes opens up Yashiro’s, who, in flip, unlocks the ultimate Fact Route, guaranteeing fairly a little bit of replayability! Happily, the routes don’t overstay their welcome and are decently-sized with out being too brief or too giant.
Visually, Phantasm of Itehari is a shocking sport when it comes to its artwork path. The expressive character designs and CG illustrations are spectacular. The backgrounds are extremely detailed and beautiful, too, and I benefit from the storybook presentation of a number of the introductory films that assist to elucidate the historical past of each Itehari and the floor. There’s even motion with characters merely speaking, which admittedly can get distracting, and there are some odd poses at instances, however these two elements don’t detract from a really eye-catching sport. A lot of the tertiary characters, even when talked about extensively within the plot, don’t are inclined to have paintings. If something, I want there have been extra artwork all through the title, given how beautiful what we now have is.
The sport’s music, corresponding to its opening theme, can also be fairly catchy and suits Phantasm of Itehari‘s tone. The voice appearing particularly is top-notch, because the actors make the most of their emotional ranges all through their performances. This feat is particularly spectacular given how multi-faceted a lot of the characters are and the way they’ll present recognizable however completely different displays relying on narrative reveals and occasions in a given scene. Nevertheless, the general excessive caliber of the appearing makes Hinagiku’s lack of a voice actor comparatively jarring. The localization does have some typographical and grammatical errors at instances, however given the scale of the script, it isn’t too noticeable and is straightforward to right as you learn.
Phantasm of Itehari is a narrative-heavy otome VN with stunning paintings, wonderful voice appearing, a superb English script translation, memorable characters, and a few phenomenally written romance. Thus far, it’s in all probability my favourite otome of 2025. I loved it a lot that I sincerely hope its fan disc may also see an English localization sooner or later. An ideal utopia floating by way of the clouds is likely to be simply an phantasm, however the leisure gleamed from enjoying Phantasm of Itehari could be very a lot actual.
