Soshite Kirameku Otome no Himitsu - Come on, Tetsuo does look good in it!
Soshite Kirameku Otome to Himitsu⁵ is a romantic comedy visual novel developed by NekoNeko Soft and released in 2013. Honestly, the main reason I started this was that I was still hyped after playing Sumire, another visual novel from the same developer, and I wanted to experience more of their work.
The story centers on Tetsuo Himenomiya, a traditionally masculine and caring older brother to his little sister, Yuri. Yuri has been accepted into Saint Ouka Academy, an elite all-girls school, but she is very shy. Worried that fitting in will be impossible, she asks her brother for help.
What is the best way to support her in a school that forbids males? Naturally, it is to cross-dress as a girl and enter the school alongside her. The issue is that, unlike other protagonists in this genre, Tetsuo is quite masculine, making it nearly impossible for him to hide his true identity (as seen in the screenshot above).
Somehow, things work out anyway thanks to the school director, who grants him a limited amount of time to help Yuri settle in. This is on the condition that he helps other girls in the School Drama Club who share the same fear of men. Will Tetsuo manage to reform these girls and help them interact with men normally again?
The game alternates between comedy and emotional development as the various heroines get to know Tetsuo better, though the series never becomes overly serious with its drama. The UI is a bit clunky and occasionally confusing, particularly regarding route selection.
The main heroines are:
Yuri Himenomiya: The main heroine and Tetsuo’s little sister. She is a jealous girl with a heavy brother complex who views Tetsuo joining the club as an existential crisis because of all the other cute girls involved. Once revealed, her shared backstory with him is one of the sweetest parts of the game.
Nene Ayukawa: The teacher and advisor for the School Drama Club. She looks so much like a child that it is impossible to take her seriously. She is worried about her future because she feels she is getting too old to find a husband, and she wants to overcome her fear of men so she can finally marry.
Shizuka Naruse: A blonde girl with twin-tails and the very definition of a modern tsundere. She usually suggests the most absurd methods for overcoming a fear of men. These antics escalate once she understands that Tetsuo is actually a man and falls in love with him. She is the comedic heart of the series.
Ruka Oujouin: A traditional-looking heroine with long, wavy black hair. She is taciturn, and the game plays on this by setting her voice to a much lower volume than everyone else, to the point where she is difficult to hear. You can, of course, disable this in the settings to fully appreciate her gorgeous voice.
Saori Suzushiro: A "deredere" heroine with blue hair and a complete lack of common sense. She is likely the sweetest of the girls once you get to know her in her specific route. She is voiced by Hiroko Taguchi, the same voice actress who played Amane in Grisaia.
My favorite heroine was definitely Yuri because of her shared history with Tetsuo, which is filled with cute CGs and interesting details about their childhood. However, in terms of looks and voice, I think Ruka is the best of the five. Ruka is voiced by Yukina Fujimori, who has worked on many other visual novels, such as Sakura Sakimashita in the role of Miyu.
Overall, I think Soshite Kirameku Otome to Himitsu⁵ was a good visual novel, but I do not believe it deserves the same high grade I gave to Sumire. The comedy is fun at first, but the story feels a bit stale later on, as jokes are repeated and the romance develops much too slowly.