Six of the best looking Japanese exclusive otomes we want in the west

There’s not much in life I wish for other than seeing countless amounts of otome games getting localised. 2021 was a particularly splendid year for the genre for westerners, and as we look forward to what the future might bring us, I wanted to take this moment to outline six otome titles I would love to see localised because they are simply too beautiful – and by beauty, I mostly mean its love interest designs.

These picks won’t necessarily mean that they are the most likely to make it over here – especially not in the case of the most obscure one that is listed – but we can only feel hope considering how well the genre is currently booming with announcements for even more localisations. Without further ado, here are our favourite looking otomes that, to date, are still locked in Japan.

ROOT REXX

I’ll be the first to admit that out of all of the otomes on my wishlist, this one has the most shallow reasoning. This is simply because of who happens to have done the artwork for the title. It may look familiar if you happen to take the same amount of joy I feel when reading the manga Karneval, as its mangaka Mikanagi Touya is the character designer of ROOT REXX.

Developed by Otomate and released in 2015 on the Vita exclusively (the reason why this will likely never see the light of day again), ROOT REXX isn’t a particular knockout in the genre by any means, with its story being an underwhelming Uta no Prince-Sama-style deal that Japanese speaking players felt fairly lukewarm towards. Due to that tepid reception, the title saw no fandisc and is pretty much lost to time. But from its looks and sound alone, I’m thoroughly enamoured with it.

There’s a noteworthy amount of vocal talent bringing these eye-catching characters to life however, consisting of redhead Kiryuu Mikado, voiced by Kimura Ryohei (Gill from Cupid Parasite, Nicola Francesca from Piofiore and Shiraishi Kageyuki from Collar x Malice); the blue-haired Hasumi Aki, voiced by Kakihara Tetsuya (Shin from Amnesia, Victor from Code: Realize, Karasuba from Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly, Isora from 7’scarlet); and the megane type Shiraishi Souma, voiced by Okamoto Nobuhiko (Hiroya from Period Cube, Yang from Piofiore, and Peter Flage from Cupid Parasite).

Has the fact that it’s not been localised stopped me from buying a physical copy of it? No, it hasn’t.

Reine des Fleurs

Reine des Fleurs was a title my teenage self was obsessed with despite never being able to play the game. The reason for this is simply down to its art, which never failed to be a sight for sore eyes during my time on Tumblr and Pixiv. Artist Kagerou Usuba will probably ring a bell to otome veterans as the artist of Variable Barricade as well as the upcoming Radiant Tale localisation.

This is not the only familiar detail that spurs my own interest in the product, since most of the staff are the same team behind Variable Barricade. This means that the game incorporates unusual aspects along the lines of Variable Barricade’s RABI footage mechanics; in the case of Reine des Fleurs, there’s a combat and skill check system in place to avoid a wealth of bad endings.

The reason it ranks lower down on my personal list is that it has been rated by others as being about as average as ROOT REXX is. Save for its stunning visuals and its OST being composed by Love Solfege (also behind the music of Café Enchanté) there’s supposedly not much going for the title due to weak writing. But when you have so many pretty faces backed with wonderful voice work it’s hard to deny the desire for it still – Orpheus being voiced by KENN (Limbo from BUSTAFELLOWS and Shelby from Cupid Parasite) is the highlight here.

At least Usuba’s tasteful artwork is now making the rounds within the west thanks to Variable Barricade and Radiant Tale. I’ll still be holding out for Reine des Fleurs to one day make it over here.

Clock Zero

Clock Zero is one of the most frequently requested otomes when western fans are queried on the titles they want to see localised, and it’s no surprise as to why that is the case. Firstly, it happens to be a title that we’re quite likely to see. The reasons for this include its developers being the prolific Design Factory and Otomate with publisher Idea Factory – and international branch Idea Factory International has been pretty good at bringing their otome titles west of late, including Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei, Cupid Parasite and the Amnesia series.

Having released originally in 2010 on the PS2, Clock Zero received ports for the PSP, PS Vita and most recently on the Nintendo Switch in 2019. And westerners will likely be familiar with many of the creative team behind it.

Its character designer is Nagaoka of Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo; its director, Reiko Shima, produced AMNESIA: Memories, Collar x Malice and its fandisc; main scenario writer Yuki Sahara was involved in writing Collar x Malice and its fandisc; and assistant writer Nazuna Kamura was the main scenario writer for AMNESIA: Memories.

As a post-apocalyptic, genre-shifting mystery otome with a high amount of bad endings, Clock Zero is one of the most interesting titles within the genre. And as one of the very few otomes to be labelled as a “nakige” – a game meant to emotionally scar the player – it will be similar to that of both BAD APPLE WARS and Café Enchanté in tone. The potential for Clock Zero to become one of the biggest otomes in the west is there, we just need it brought over. Please.

Sanzen Sekai Yuugi ~MultiUniverse Myself~

Sanzen Sekai Yuugi ~MultiUniverse Myself~ comes from girls dynamics, the otome branch of LoveDelivery, a BL-focused company best known for Taishou Mebiusline. girls dynamics have previously only created two games: Princess Britania ~Muse no Houken~ in its latter years, and Sanzen Sekai Yuugi ~MultiUniverse Myself~ back in 2013 for PC. Rated 18+ for its erotic scenes, I am very interested and invested in this title despite having been avoiding spoiling anything about it for myself.

There’s not much we can say about those credited for the game, but one does stand out: it is partially written by Ume Matsutake who directed and wrote The Crimson Flower That Divides: Lunar Coupling. Mostly every other name linked to the product seem to have only exclusively worked on the title or barely any other works before and after it.

When taking the game at face value however, it’s one that sounds ideal to me. It stars a strong female protagonist as a sword-wielding bounty hunter on a self-fulfilling vengeance mission in a futuristic, sci-fi setting. Our alternative lives in parallel universes can cross dimensions, and this is a government secret.

All thrilling stuff already — but as a revenge on top of a revenge story featuring predominantly adult characters with voice acting for everyone – even its heroine – Sanzen Sekai Yuugi ~MultiUniverse Myself~ sounds like a missed opportunity for the West, so I sincerely hope someone delves back into the archives and considers this one for localisation.

Kenka Bancho Otome

Honestly who exactly is surprised by this and what more can we say about it that has not already been mentioned before? Kenka Bancho Otome is a highly-rated, nostalgic take on the Kenka Bancho universe, presented as an otome. It’s an underappreciated IP, but one that certainly has its fans in the west — despite seemingly being mostly forgotten about even by its publisher, Spike Chunsoft. Call me bitter, but with the title winning the most wanted localisation back in 2016 on their Twitter poll and not hearing any update on it still does not sit right with me.

Directed by Ai Itou, the very same director of Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei, and one of two visual novels that artist Kinako Kuromitsu has ever worked on – with the other, Scared Rider Xechs, also unlocalised – there’s a lot to appreciate and cherish about the title. It truly feels like an injustice to not have Kenka Bancho Otome make it west, considering how both its manga and anime are already readily available in English, having brought further attention and fanfare to the product in question.

While we enjoyed the former especially, the game seems even more interesting with features such as map movement and rhythm game mechanics. Featuring a strong protagonist, endearing characters with both its love interests and most minor of supporting characters and a classic trope of a plotline in hiding one’s gender as sparks fly, Kenka Bancho Otome will remain as my most wanted otome ever.

Jack Jeanne

I’d be lying if I did not include this stunning otome on this list of mine because it’s been on my radar for ages now due to the creator’s name alone. But lo and behold, Jack Jeanne is coming overseas, baby. One out of six ain’t too bad, right?

Narrowing down our picks for only six was challenging enough, so which ones have we missed in your opinion?

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