Togainu no Chi Mini Review (manga/game)
January 29th, 2009 by Lianne
PG-16 for violence, sex, and language in the manga, definitely 18+ for the game; official English website (manga), official Japanese website (PC game), and another official Japanese website (PS2 game)
I knew my addiction to obscure Japanese girl media would come in handy one day. I can write this review! In celebration, maybe I’ll commit social suicide.
I find it amusing that this manga is marketed under Tokyopop’s regular imprint, as a 16+ action title based off a “bishounen game.” See, that’s kinda what I thought the Togainu no Chi PC game was when I saw the cool trailer for it several years ago. “It’s like sexy Street Fighter!” I thought. But I learned that the comparison was only appropriate if Ken and Ryu did this (don’t click that if you’re at work).
Yes, the original version of Togainu no Chi is a stealth porn game, specifically of the Boy’s Love variety. It’s about a post-apocalyptic street brawl community and drug conspiracy, complete with schemes and crazy people and blood and bashing in heads. And then everyone goes prison gay, because that’s what happens sometimes, and you play as the lead character (Akira) as he fights his way through murderous conditions and maybe gets raped a little and hopefully ends up finding a sort of happiness in the arms of another guy trapped in this hell. And then you start the game over and aim for another guy, like maybe that widower in his 30s who could use a little love.
Like most PC smut games, Togainu no Chi is a visual novel, which works like a Choose Your Own Adventure (think Phoenix Wright, only a bit less interactive) with pixellated sex scenes that last at least several minutes and include voice actors embarrassing themselves in the sound studio. But unlike most PC smut games, Togainu no Chi is super, super violent and a bit light on the sex – and what sex there is is often disturbing, either because of the context or because the boys have negative body fat, terrifying abs, and bleed a lot from places you don’t want to bleed from. Nitro + Chiral made a very smart move by toning down the sex and re-releasing the game on the PS2 in Japan, since Togainu no Chi has enough plot and fighting and conspiracy to make it appeal to a broader audience than girls who like to press [enter] to make boys pounce on each other. Also, the PS2 trailer includes a remake of the original opening song and some nifty live-action cinematography, making it one of the cooler girl game trailers I’ve seen.
Then Nitro + Chiral toned down the sex again, essentially making Togainu no Chi an action series with homoerotic undertones, and released it as a manga. That’s the manga version we have in English. This has made the audience as broad as possible: readers aged 16+, and now including non-Boys-Love fans because the Boy’s Love in the story been reduced to the kind of stuff you’d see in the anime of Get Backers. Considering that a franchise will rarely dare to take that many steps away from its original selling point (*cough*toukagettan*cough*), that says a lot about Nitro + Chiral’s faith in Togainu no Chi’s plot and characters translating well to a manga. Happily (and surprisingly), their faith was well-placed: after three volumes, this manga has me on the edge of my damn seat and actually reading doujinshi just to stave off my burning desire for Volume 4.
I will admit that since Togainu no Chi’s premise and opening are both convoluted, grotesque, and pretty ridiculous, the first volume of the manga is a densely worded mess of future street politics and people offhandedly treating life as the cheapest form of currency…but the manga gets vastly better as of the second volume. I never much cared for the beginning of the game, and the premise is rarely considered the strong point in a PC smut game, anyway – Togainu no Chi is about the characters and their interactions, and how relationships bloom or turn sour in the most dire of circumstances. The characters range from completely obnoxious – Akira’s best friend Keisuke is about as helpful as Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi, if Miaka also had the potential to go insane and start raping everybody – to interesting to downright sexy, and then all the way backwards to completely scary. The Togainu no Chi game branched into a million different plotlines like any good visual novel, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the manga adapts such a sprawling world. So far, so good – all characters are getting time in the sun, and their plotlines overlap gracefully without sacrificing the strength of Akira’s lead narrative. The freaky and awesome plotline with Akira and king-of-the-hill sociopath hottie Shiki steals the show in the manga as it did in the game, though.
Educated impression: The first volume of the manga is complicated, confusing, and not very good, but volume 2 is much better and volume 3 is great, which makes me hope this trend of heightening awesomeness will continue. Just keep in mind that despite the constant attempts to make this franchise accessible to a broadening audience, this series is probably going to have limited popularity outside of an older female readership – most notably fans of Kazuya Minekura who don’t mind a little more blood and a little less philosophy. (Lianne)
A very amusing introduction to one of my favorite franchises! I’m bookmarking this. It sounds like you and I feel much the same way with respect to Keisuke and Shiki, haha.
Re: the Chayamachi manga, I agree that the first volume is kind of a mess (what with the in medias res on crack and all that), but it’s definitely worth sticking around for more. It stealthily heightens in awesomeness with each volume, to the point that I now have trouble looking at the earlier volumes without having my perspective colored by how great the later material is.
The manga is, if nothing else, extremely thorough–the beginning makes it seem kind of like your typical game –> manga conversion where a lot of stuff gets lost, creating chaos & confusion, but it’s at six volumes in Japan, and the present-day storyline is just beginning to reach the end of the game’s plot trunk….
Dagger, I like you already. So as someone who’s read the manga, can you let us know if it turns into pr0n later or not?
Also, are you part of those girl game lj communities firestorm runs? Because Togainu no Chi is getting SPECIAL FAN TREATMENT these days (*wink*englishpatch*wink*).
No pr0n–it runs in a non-BL magazine, so the chances of that ever happening are quite minimal. Although there are some fairly, uh, sensual moments.
I am so attracted to you right now. Great review.
I cannot wait for the fan translation to play this. I attempted playing the Japanese version at least until I meet that delicious looking guy in black but I didn’t get far :/
I LOVE that type of premise. I wish it were more common in BL.
I think that aarinfantasy.com has the english patch for togainu no chi
but ehmm i havent been able to figure out how to download it
=__=
if someone finds out how please tell me!!!
The English patch isn’t yet complete, which is probably why you’re having trouble. ^_^
Where can I get a hold of a torrent of the original manga series?
Volumes 1 and 2 are available so far, in English, from Tokyopop; you can find them at most bookstores. Downloading scans instead of buying the manga now would make you evil, so it’s best you don’t do that.
What I wouldn’t give to have this game. It has plot, blood, and sexy BL. I’ve only read about 20 pages of the manga and it wasn’t that great, but a lot of manga start out that way. Beside the fact that all the characters are extremely skinny, everything looks nice, the boys are cute though. Do you know where I could buy the PC version of the game? Or the Ps2 version, and if so will I have to make any changes to my Ps2?
Olive,
Keep in mind that this game is entirely in Japanese, and the 16+ PS2 version will only play on a Japanese PS2 or a North American PS2 that’s been modded. The 18+ PC game will play on most PCs with Windows, but you have to have Japanese language enabled…it’s not hard, and you can see details at http://blgames.ukepile.com/install/installation.php
Also, I buy a lot of my import PC game stuff from http://www.himeyashop.com/, or their adult branch, http://www.erogeshop.com (the PS2 version of Togainu no Chi is on the former, the PC version is on the latter). But http://www.play-asia.com is my favorite, even if they’re not as good about keeping the PC games in stock.
i too am a fan of togainu no chi and have everything possible from them but about the game wtf why is akira always getting raped? inside the manga and games i appreciate the mangakas eroticness but still what gives on it i dont have a serious issue with it it just that akiras legs are always open for duty with the guys but hey its hard yaoi so i shouldve seen it comin and shouldnt give a damn about the plot soooooo…….i love it!! (dont know why i said this- i must be on coocoo land now but i looooooooooooooooooooove togainu no chi!!! i hope they come out with more games and manga!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I started watching the anime today and, having not played the games or read the manga, am pretty impressed! The animation and music’s pretty decent and the pacing is great. It’s chock full of archetypes so far, but they’re all done so well it doesn’t really matter. Thanks for the review — it’s where I first heard of this series!
Kyaa~ My best friend was playing this on her PSP. Tbh I’m not a yaoi fan but my god, when I saw the art I began to drool. Of course there were moments when she had to pull the game away in fear of me seeing something I’d never be able to unsee…. Now I’m really obsessed with it, I have half a mind to actually get the game but I wish they made a REALLY REALLY REALLY toned down version of it for PC
Hey can you send me a website where i can read this. And also watch the anime. And if you by any chance can help me buy an english version of the games for psp and ps2. if not just help me find cheap ones. Please. Email me.
i love it even that those rape scenes were absurd to my moral but as they say it:it’s only to serve those pleasures of others.
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