NIGHTSHADE - Gekkamaru (aka Gekka nii)

Ooohhhh boy did they do our boy Gekka DIRTY! At one point I actually thought I got the bad ending... (Yes I know, it was that surprising) Which is such a shame because LOOK at his character design, he's such a charming cinnamon roll of a character. Standard anime protagonist, but hey. Why mess with prince charming! 

WE REDEEMED OURSELVES! (You know, since he got zero points in our initial organic walkthrough with Yuki)

I guess we can't shake Kuroyuki, and I'm 100% fine with that!

FINALLY, this is what I've been trying to tell you all along!

Hug the girl~

Kiss the girl!!!

What to say, what to say... oh dear there's a lot. I feel like the devs failed our dear Gekka. Why do I feel that way? Well, because the route was tragic -- SPOILERS! 

All your friends from Koga die, seriously. Ennosuke is Gekka's best friend and gets slain by him ;_; WHAT THE HECK right? Kyara dies a bit more valiantly but it was still sad, and even baby cream puff otouto isn't spared. 

Compared to the happy endings where everyone is alive and well, this change in the storyline didn't do it for me and docked major enjoyment points from my playthrough. In the end, it's only Gekka and you visiting your friend's scattered graves aimlessly. Sure, you're in love and supporting each other, but all your childhood friends/family died before your eyes (except Kuroyuki which, well, yay!).

Let's explain more in the ranking system... GEKKAMARU'S SCORE!

Looks: ★★★★ 

He gives off some Shiro from Fire Emblem vibes with his colour palette. He's the "main" poster boy so of course we expect him to be handsome.

Storyline: ★★★ 

Too sad and tragic for me, the ending with the "curse" was a great addition to the plot but there is so much more they could have done to enhance this route. It's like they didn't care to give Gekkamaru a true "happy" end, but I suppose not every story has all rainbows and butterflies.

A big highlight in this route is that you get to travel together with Gekkamaru and his younger brother Kuroyuki - and that Yuki actually supports and cares for his older brother, instead of the hostile attitude in his own route. As someone who likes Kuroyuki (duh), this was a redeeming boon.

Dokidoki effect: ★★

He's not very romantic. He's your dependable, skilled, bodyguard boyfriend. From the other routes, I honestly hoped that his devotion would be enhanced or viewed in a different way when romancing him, but as someone else mentioned, his behaviour is much of the same. There's a lot of hand-holding, until he feels guilty for being in love with MC (as her servant) and pulls back, but literally nobody forced him to put labels and restrictions on himself. I'm glad he realized that in the end, anyway.

** Points for Gekka being able to cook well.

FINAL GRADE: ★★★

I'M STILL not over it! They did our boy dirty! I can't believe the yandere brother's storyline had no friend deaths but in Gekka's, all your friends die. What a twist, eh?