I recently played and reviewed Sweet Fuse: At Your Side, a visual novel that immerses you in the character of Saki. There are six possible love interests for Saki in Sweet Fuse, each offering a unique experience. Saki is such a strong character that it pleased me that they gave her such a diverse, well-rounded group of guys to choose from. Anyone that has played Sweet Fuse, or any visual novel, knows that character diversity is super important. I’m sure that anyone who plays through Sweet Fuse will have their own take on each character as well as their own favorites, but let’s dig into what I loved and hated about the guys.
Mitarashi
Occupation: Escort
Hands down he is my favorite character. I fell in love with him from the start, and even after my many playthroughs with the other characters he is still my favorite. Undoubtedly, you can ask six people which male character was their favorite and you will get six different answers, but here is why I love him so: he took a freakin’ arrow for me! Can you get any better than that? Ok, so he is an escort. So what? I still love him. He does his best to keep you safe and make you feel special. As a “larger than life” character, his charm and goofy antics put you at ease and made me want to place my trust in him as we went off on our grand adventure. I may still have a crush on him.
Shidou
Occupation: Police Detective
Shidou is a no-nonsense police detective. He likes to be the leader of the crew and it is very important to him to keep everyone safe. He was my second choice as I played through Sweet Fuse, but he quickly screws that up! He makes a remark that I don’t particularly like, and because of this he never becomes my number one choice. One of my favorite moments with him was when he had to let his hair down a little and put on a silly suit. For such a cool, collected and in control guy, it took a lot for him to even begin to embrace his goofy side.
Wakasa
Occupation: Member of the Junior Jr. Boys
Wakasa is a famous member of the Junior Jr. Boys all boy band. He is shocked when none of the others in the game recognize him, which made me think that he was going to be that annoying “all about me” guy. He wasn’t. Instead, he was that annoying little whiny guy. He did grow on me as the story unfolded, but I never saw him in “that” way. Maybe because he is only 17, but he is also a bit too timid for me. Everything scares him. I enjoyed seeing his story unfold and watching him come into his own a bit, and eventually I was able to see him as less of a whiny guy and a little more as the man he would grow to be.
Meoshi
Occupation: Unemployed
Meoshi is an unemployed gamer who can give you some game-related tips for each level. He could easily have been a contender for my heart as well, but I was worried that he was a bit too much like me and that we would be too totally cute and annoy people wherever we went. That, or we would have been so gloomy that we would have done nothing aside from playing games and… wait! Why did I not think he was my perfect love interest? Hmm.
Shirabe
Occupation: Freelance Journalist
Shirabe is a journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. There is nothing exactly wrong with him, but he is a bit gruff and never really appealed to me like “that.” Maybe I just don’t like guys who make me work that hard to uncover how they feel or what the heck they are thinking. I do admire his dedication to his work, though it could have been seen as a huge obsession. He always looks like he needs to relax a little more. It was fun to play his path and get to know him a bit better, but even after all of that he was never truly a contender for my heart.
Urabe
Occupation: Fortune Teller
Urabe is a laid-back guy who carries around a crystal ball and is a teller of fortunes. One of the first things he says to the group is “…calm your passionate hearts.” Ok. I’m down with that but something about him irks me. His sweet, calm attitude seemed like it had to be balanced out by some weird and crazed personality trait, and I was worried that whatever it was would be so out there that it would put me off. He is a bit too intense for me. Anyone who has played his path will understand what I am saying. Stranger danger.
I hope you enjoyed this look into the men of Sweet Fuse as I saw them. Please let me know which characters you agree or disagree with me about. For more information on Sweet Fuse check out my review.
