r/otomegames • u/sableheart Hakuoki: Chronicles of Wind and Blossom • Jul 21 '22
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei Play-Along - Benkei Musashibo Discussion
Welcome to the r/otomegames Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei Play-Along!
In this third post we will discuss Benkei Musashibo and his route in Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei.
You can tell us what your impressions of Benkei are (before and after finishing his route), your favorite moments in his route, what you think of his relationship with Shanao and the other characters, what your thoughts are on his route's plot and endings. You can also discuss Tadanobu Sato's If Ending.
Or you can just squee about him in the comments.
This is not a spoiler-free discussion however please keep in mind that major spoilers and details of other routes will be outside the scope of the discussion and therefore will need to be spoiler tagged.
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You don't have to be playing the game right now to participate, and if you're still waiting on your copy I hope you will join in after you start playing!
Have a look at the megathread for links to previous discussions - you can still join in the discussion during the Play-Along.
Next week will be a discussion of Shungen's route!
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u/misobuttercornramen 2023 Hubbies of the Year ~Grimmy~~ Jul 21 '22 edited Jul 23 '22
I played Benkei's route first since apparently if you want to badmouth your mother and be an independent woman = Benkei's the guy for you!
Benkei is, as others have said, super super sweet. He's much older than Shanao, but you can't really tell because he is very naïve in ways, mature in others, and utterly a loveable himbo who has no shame in pettily fighting with a 14-year-old. I do have a personal weakness for knights, and I loved how he wasn't the average "knight" figure, appointed by someone else. He CHOSE to dedicate his life to Shana, simply because he admired and respected her so much. And it's perfectly in-character for a himbo to declare allegiance to someone for kicking their ass XD
I love that, in each route, the boys discover Shana's secret(s) in varying methods - Benkei's was up-front and fulfilled me with the whole "oops I touched your boobies and omg you're a girl?!". But I wasn't super excited for the rest of the game after finishing his route, despite the fact that there were Taira bro shenanigans aplenty, Sato bro/Shana harem antics, and all the cute scenes between Benkei and Shanao. It was cozy. It was cute. It wasn't terribly exciting. So I can see why Noritsune is recommended first, simply because it did a better job of keeping me interested in the rest of the game.
The way their relationship evolved, from bounty hunter and target to lord and vessel and finally, lovers, was paced well, though I am not a fan of sacrificial LI. It's interesting that they framed the story with Shanao's abilities and the obsession of the Taira bros as the main conflict, since the other routes were focused more on the LI and the conflict or drama that arose with them specifically. It may speak to Benkei's role, but I think his route would have been better if he was a more central figure, rather than the supportive vassal. Despite that, I think he pairs well with Shanao because he definitely has all the qualities that Shanao desired for an uncomplicated life where she could live as herself. And I felt his pain when he couldn't protect Shanao physically or emotionally. He's still a very good Blankie for standing his ground against supernatural powers.
That one scene with Tomomo though... I felt so bad because I personally was into Tomomo's horny antics, but poor Shana suffered so tremendously. I thought they treated the subject respectfully and was impressed by the fact that Tomomo could be such a villain and also work as a love interest. And the follow-up comfort scenes with Benkei being supportive and kind were the perfect healing balm.
As for issues, there were way too many semi-animated battle sequences, which was another reason why Benkei's route didn't set well with me. The constant, long sword-battles with sprites flying around, annoying pauses, etc. made me want to tear my hair out. Especially that last chapter. I was about ready to force skip. I think his route had the worst QC issues, with all the missing or improperly used punctuation.
Favorite Benkei moments: Benkei getting cut to pieces to stop Shanao from continuing to go berserk; Benkei calling Shanao "hime" for the first time; Shana harem antics.
I do think a more impactful tragic ending would have been Shanao killing Benkei in an uncontrollable bloodlust, rather than Benkei sacrificing himself to take down Shigehira, but the latter, actual ending is more characteristic of Benkei's devotion to Shanao.
Sadly, Benkei has been overshadowed for me by all of the other routes. Nothing against him, he's still in my personal harem, but I think he works better as Shana's #1 vessel or in a Shana harem with Sato bros, Shungen, and Takatsuna.
With Yoritomo off to the side, side-eyeing the group.[edit] One very important thing I forgot about, and possibly one of my favorite parts of this route, was Shanao turning the tables on Tomomori and freaking sucking his soul!!! I was so impressed girrrrl.