Game review: Gakuen Tokkyuu Hotokenser!

Made by: Two-Five
Genre: Otome, Comedy, Romance, School
Summary: Kureha starts her new life in a new school. But what she didn't know is that she was choosen to protect the school from evil spirits as the red ranger and leader of the group; Hotokenser! Together with three other rangers, Blue, Green and Yellow, they fight side by side against evil.

Rikuto
He is the yellow ranger and an instant favorite of mine. Rikuto is Ryuuichis childhood friend even though they got some kind of rivalry going on. He always calls Ryuuichi "megane-X" (add random insult at X) but is himself nearsighted. This results that almost every time Kureha talks to him he gets up really really close face to face since he think "all girls look alike". Rikuto can be pretty dumb at times but makes up for it with his charm and humor. One thing I liked about him is that he is very down to earth about people and emotions and not some clueless-idiot-stereotype which his character could have fallen into. In Rikuto's route he is pretty busy with the swimming team and never shows up at student council, which is the secret rangers club, and since Kureha is the leader she is told to do something about it. They end up making a deal that if she does a bunch of chores for him and writes his essay, he will come to the club.

As a thank you later the same day Rikuto offers Kureha a ride home on his bike. Since the three guy in the student council are super popular with girls, a rumor starts about the two of them. Kureha soon asks if she is a bother but Rikuto grabs her hand and says he doesn't give a f*ck about rumors or what other people think. If he enjoys being with her, then he wants to be with her

The next day our heroine is eating her bento when Rikuto comes along and grab some food. He declares that it's the best thing in the entire world and Kureha decides she will make him one too the next day. When she later helps Rikuto with homework at his place, he offers to make some dinner and brings a pot of disgusting curry. Turns out Rikuto has bad/zero taste palette and pretty much think anything tastes amazing orz

Rikuto is such a cute and funny character. His jokes were always spot on and comments had perfect timing. I also felt he was the one who fitted best with Kureha and I could imagine him as her boyfriend. My favorite color is yellow (lol) so I guess it's just natural attraction?

Ryuuichi
Kureha and Ryuuichi doesn't really hit off very well and when being paired up to go around town setting up posters for the cultural festival none of them are happy. An old man in a shop asks them for a favor, he wants them to preform a power ranger show for the kids since the interns are sick.
They both agree and in turn gets two tickets to the amusement park. Ryuuichi says they might as well go, but it turns out he is ridiculously scared of rollercoasters. Kureha on the other hand thinks everything is a blast until a monster appears. Luckily they beat it and the two of them end up holding hands while helping a girl find her parents~

The next day another monster appears but Ryuuichi fails to do his special dragon-attack. They are both beaten and saved by the principal who used to be a ranger together with Kureha's deceased father and her mother. Ryuuichi doesn't show up to school the following days and Kureha feels guilty for not helping out when fighting. She goes over to his house where he starts yelling at her and says he will be studying abroad in France. So the days pass and everyone can't help but feeling down. Rumors of a monster in the science room reach the gang and the three of them goes to check it out the same night. Kureha barley escapes but both Rikuto and Mitsuki disappears during the mission. Alone and confused she decides to try to save them herself. Will Ryuuichi show up to save her?

I wasn't really a fan of Ryuuichi, but after finishing all of his endings my opinion changed for the better. He used to be the leader of Hotokenser until Kureha showed up and took his place, so it's only natural he is a bit stingy at first. Plus, the serious tsundere character who gets teased by the rest is always fun to watch.

Mitsuki
The playful and laid back guy in the group (or so he appears to be). When first meeting the heroine he asks her to call him Roxanne which she does for several days until the other guys finds out and laugh at her like crazy. Mitsuki himself calls Kureha "Piyo-chan" (little chicken) because she is new and like a new-born chicken baby. Naaw~

So in Mitsukis route the black ranger appears again (he was in Ryuuichi's too) and another new character we've only seen a glimpse of. A boy in Kureha's class is being bullied and she steps in to protect him. The days pass peacfully and she spends time with Mitsuki on the rooftop where they talk about different things and watch the sunset. He have also been given Kureha rides home with his scooter the last couple of days and when she one day reject him in order to help the bullied kid with homework, he gets pissed. Mitsuki warns her not to get to close to the other guy and sense something wrong with the situation.

Kureha, somewhat brainwashed from her new friend, only replies with "Are you jealous or something?". This, of course, piss Mitsuki off even more and he leaves angrily. Kureha joins up with the bullied kid to study, whom is acting very strange.

I usually don't like the "happy on the outside but got a tragic past"-type of characters but Mitsuki was really cute. All of his ending got a kissing scene so it's heavily implied he is the main guy of the game. I also strongly recommend playing his route last since all the big plot elements happen in here. His route was also my favorite considering how Kureha learned how to fight and become a good leader for the Hotokenser. My only problem was that his route pacing was a little bit off for me comparing to the other guys.

Gameplay:
The game had a lot of CG and chibi-events which I really really loved! Instead of having all the same CG you've already seen during the credits, they added 4 completely new pictures as an epilogue. The guys also sang each a special song during the true ending which made me fangirl like crazy because I loved the seiyuus. The transformation scene were well done and the battles over all were exciting.

Final Score:
Story 10/10
A perfect mix of comedy, romance and a little bit of action! I've lost count of how many comedy/romance visual novels I've tried, and honestly it's only a handful that even made me giggle, but god, this game made me laugh so much I had tears running down my face! Super random Engrish conversations, super b side characters (Kureha's friend/classmate in particular), monsters were cool and great feeling overall. I'm a bit sad that the Black ranger didn't have a route, he seemed really interesting too, but who knows, maybe they make a continuation or fandisk!

Music 9/10
As I mentioned in the text, the music was really cozy, nice and fitting. The opening song is great and all the character songs are even better.


Art 10/10
Cute shojo manga style, even cuter chibi art, how can I not give this 10/10?

Voices 8/10
Kimura Ryohei did a great job as Mitsuki. The others were really great as well! Lol I'm running out of words how to describe how much I liked this game orz

Total: 10/10
Despite it being so short (which is also the reason I tried not to spoil the endings), this game is really good. Kureha is a refreshing strong lead female and all of the guys are charming with lots of personality. I absolutely recommend this 100% to any otome game fan!