Game Thoughts
This section is dedicated to my unfiltered thoughts on the game. I won't censor spoilers or sugarcoat things, so if you haven't finished the game or are sensitive I suggest you don't read any further. This is your final warning.
Overall I really enjoyed Slow Damage! The story was so good and i seriously love the characters
minus HIM but I'll get to that. Once i finished it I had what my mom likes to call "book withdrawl", it's all I can think about and I crave more but there's nothing else.
Besides the story and characters, I really love the UI and music for this game. The UI being made up of Towa's art supplies is really genius. I also
love the OST for this game. The music is really atmospheric and some of the tracks, specifically Nightmare, make me feel really uneasy.
I know some people may see Slow Damage as just a yaoi game for perverted fujoshis, which it is LOL, but it's also really well crafted. The game really pulls you into the world of Shinkoumi and tells a beautiful and emotional story.
Rei's Route
The first route I played through was Rei's. It's also been awhile since I played his so I may be forgetting some details or misremember things, sorry.
Anyways I adore Rei ♥ I know a lot of people found his route to be boring, and I kinda see why. I wouldn't say "boring" but his route was a lot more intimate and self contained than the others. It wasn't about fighting the yakuza or hunting down Towa's past, it was mainly Rei learning to accept himself and Towa supporting him.
In the grand scheme of things, this route was definetly the least impactful to the overall plot. The only real reveal we get is that the Takasato-gumi trafficked children and Rei's dad helped them do it, but that's about it. But I think that's the point.
I can see why people don't like this route, especially after finishing the game, but I still like it. I like to see it as a fresh start for Rei and Towa. They leave the past behind them and find happiness with each other.
Ok enough talking about his route I
love Rei ♥ He's one of, if not my favorite character in the game! I realized I tend to gravitate to really kind characters, and Rei is no exception.
He's unconditionally kind to everyone he meets and tries to make everyone feel accepted. His kindness towards Towa in every route really melted my heart. No matter what he was doing, Rei wanted to keep him safe as best as he could.
Taku's Route
The next route I played was Taku's. I actually stopped after i finished Asakura's arc just because it struck a little too close to home. Then
after a six month break I got back to playing.
Before I talk about Taku I want to talk about Asakura for a sec. I've experienced violent intrusive thoughts ever since I was a child. Now that I'm older I understand that it's just my brain's weird way of protecting me, but as a kid it was horrifying.
Asakura's struggle with intrustive thoughts was really relatable to me. The anger, the fear, the shame, I understood all of it. I have some mixed feelings about him because he
did do some pretty terrible things, but he's still really relatable and oddly comforting.
An~y~ways~! I seriously enjoyed Taku's route way more than I thought I would? The begining of Ch3 was kinda boring ngl, but onve it picked up it
really picked up.
The scene where Towa and Rei are investigating the clinic at night is when I started to actually enjoy this route. This scene
really put me on edge
I'm a weenie tho so it's not hard to do LOL. There was a growing sense of dread and that
something was wrong.
Then the entire section taking place in the hotel was
so good! It was really action packed I seriously couldn't put the game down. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next I love it so so much. Also Towa's nightmares and Taku being the only adult he felt safe around.. uuu I love Towa so much he deserves the universe ♥
This is kinda a side note but before playing I saw the sprite of Towa crossdressing. I got super excited thinking Towa would try to infiltrate the yakuza or something.. erm yeah I could not have been more wrong.
This is another side note but I was also shocked to learn that Toono is
younger than Taku. I fully thought this man was pushing 60. When Taku mentioned Toono "helping" him in college I thought Toono was older but then Towa mentioned them being classmates?? HUH?? I guess being evil really does age you.
Ok anyways. I like Taku but I'm not a huge fan of his romance with Towa. I know some poeple have a problem with the age gap, I kinda don't care Towa's 26 and not real, but Taku having romantic feelings just felt.. forced?
As much as I don't care about their romance, their sex scene was actually life changing. Embarassed Towa is so cute, and Taku telling Towa he won't be violent and sex isn't a punishment? Life changing.
Overall I really like Taku's route, not a huge fan of the romance but everything else is good! I also enjoyed his endings songs a lot. They
esp inside out remind me of the alternative rock my dad loved.
Madarame's Route
I have a
lot to say about this man so get comfy. I, frankly, do not like this man or his route. If you enjoyed it, more power to you, but it's really
really not for me.
I honestly really liked the begining of his route. Having Ikuina die kinda shook me up. Then Towa starts seeing bits of Madarame show up, and he's terrified.
Towa is usually fairly calm, but whenever Madarame is brought up he does a complete 180. Seeing Towa so scared and anxious was really intriguing. I had a million questions— who is Madarame? What did he do? Why is Towa so scared of him?
The entire build up to Madarame is so well done. You can just
feel the anxiety and dread. I really enjoyed this entire part of his route, but then Madarame shows up and it all goes south.
Madarame is violently abusive and does terrible things to Towa. I was expecting that, going into his route I already knew he was the "dark" seme. What I
wasn't expecting was for him to be so uninteresting and boring.
I will say, I'm playing the Jast translation of the game, so he might be better in the original japanese version or fan translations. I also haven't read his CD drama yet, but if he's only interesting after reading optional side conent then that's an entirely different problem.
Madarame's personality is so boring and generic. He's like if a mob boss from a popular booktok series was placed into a yaoi. He's a strong, lone wolf who keeps to himself and loves violence. But he also has a soft spot for cats. And he "hung out" with a teenage boy when he was pushing 30
no one talks about it but he's ALSO a pedo.
I don't need Madarame to be redeemable or to go through a big arc, that's not what I want. And I understand that his route is supposed to be the worst possible option for Towa. But he's just so unlikable. No personality, no motivations, no backstory, nothing.
He's also way too strong, it's kinda comical. You're telling me this one guy is able to take out an entire yakuza by himself? There's people holding guns, but they don't shoot because they know they'll lose even with guns. Bevcause Kei Madarame is just
that badass.
Having him be so cartoonishly strong seriously kills that entire scene, there's no stakes. Also having Sakaki killed off screen by Mayu is such a cop out. I was excited to see Towa confront the guy who treats him like a son, but no. Because why would anything in this stupid route be interesting.
Also, I just need to say it, Madarame is
so cringe. During the other sex scenes I was invested like
this is literally me. I love seeing my beautiful yaoi couples make love I love love. But Madarame? This washed up 40 y/o man? I was actually laughing so hard. "Clearly this doggy needs some discipline." YOU ARE 40 YEARS OLD! SHUT UP!
Everything else aside there were a few things I did enjoy. I already liked Towa a lot, but this route made me really feel for him. Seeing him be so vulnerable and scared seriously broke my heart.
Seeing him grow attached to his abuser was so sad. He didn't think he could live a normal life, or that he deserved a normal life. I just wanted to give Towa a big hug he's so young but has been through so much.
I also seriously loved Rei in this route. My favorite scene was easily their brief reunion. Rei nearly in tears, begging Towa to come home. Telling him there's people who love and miss him.. it made me so sad. Rei's love for Towa is so beautiful even in the shittiest of routes.
Overall Madarame's route was a miserable experience with a handful of good scenes. My favorite thing was the breads he got Towa because they looked yummy. Also his endings songs suck.
Fujieda's Route
Last, and certainly not least, is Fujieda! I absolutely love love
love Fujieda, his route, and FujiTowa ♥ I knew going into it that his route was the true route and people loved it, but oh my god. I was not expecting to love it
this much!
No exaggeration, this was one of the most fun(?) and satisfying gaming experiences I've ever had. I had so many "ah-hah!" moments while playing it felt
so good.
My one issue with Fujieda's route was the park scene. It felt really unnecessary and out of character for him. Like Fujieda finds out his sister was trafficked and murdered, so he rapes Towa? And then they barely acknowledge it afterwards?? Ugh I hated it.
I'm not stupid btw. I know the reason why Fujieda did it. He was upset about his sister, Maya was the one who did those things to her, and Towa looks exactly like her. So in his rage he takes it out on Towa as a substitute for him mom. I get it, I understand it, Fujieda is also a victim in all this as well— but I just don't like the love interest raping a CSA survivor. I don't let it affect my opinion on him
too much because it felt like.. the writers just adding it for the shock factor. But it still bugs me.. so
I choose to pretend it didn't happen so I can live in Fujitowa bliss
Besides
that I really really loved Fujieda's route. Seeing him and Towa form this really genuine bond really melted my heart. They're both victims of horrific abuse and carry those scars. Their scars are different, but they're the only people who truly "get it".
I think this aspect of their relationship is interesting because it calls back to Madarame. Throughout his route he told Towa they're meant for each other, no one in the world understands him the way he does. Of course, he's saying that to keep Towa in their toxic relationship. Meanwhile, Fujieda understands him, and it's through that understanding that they're able to help each other heal. Just more true end and "anti" true end parallels.
One of my favorite scenes in the entire game is Fujieda talking Towa out of his suicide attempt. Fujieda's route is amazing, but this part...
this part... The entire section leading up to it is so heartbreaking. Towa goes through a self destructive episode and decides to commit suicide. He sees himself and his entire life as an extension of his mother. And for the first time in his life, he feels guilty.
He feels guilty because Fujieda's sister died trying to help him. He wasted the life she gave him. He should've been the one to die that day, not her. When he's at his rock bottom, Fujieda comes in. He tells Towa that he should keep living, it's what Mei would've wanted.
And then Fujieda starts cleaning Towa up. Something about a character at their lowest being pampered by their lover just melts my heart idk why. Fujieda talking softly, smiling lovingly at Towa, everything about it just makes me melt. He truly, from the bottom of his heart, loves Towa.
I also love the conversation after they have sex. I really like the contrast between Towa embracing his scars and Fujieda who loathes them. To Towa, they're
his and a part of
him. Meanwhile for Fujieda it's a constant reminder of his parents' abuse, of his sister, and the past he tries to hide.
There's a certain line in this conversation that nearly brought me to tears. I don't cry much when playing games and stuff, I think I can count on my hands the amount of times i have. But something about Towa saying Mei would always tell him "my brother is coming to save us"...
THAT wrecked me. I didn't cry but I was very very close to it.
Something about the mental image of Mei holding out hope until the very end that Fujieda was going to rescue them.. ugh. Breaks my heart. Then I saw
this art on twitter and proceeded to puke all my guts out and rip my hair out! I love it so much!
Fujieda's endings are also so beautiful. I haven't talked about the bad ends at all
Rei's grossed me out, Taku's was sad AND gross, Madarame's was boring but Fujieda's.. I really liked it. It was less shock value and felt more in character than the other ones.
Towa's mind is so broken he literally loses his sense of self, the Towa we know is almost gone. But Fujieda still loves him. Fujieda stays by his side because Towa is precious to him, scars and all. And I think that's beautiful. Or that's my interpretation at least..
His good ending was seriously so beautiful. Like i seriously could not think of a better way to end this story. Towa finally has someone who truly, genuinely, loves
him. Towa can live a happier life. He can't forget or forgive what happened to him, but he can start to heal. He'll have these scars forever, but they're a part of him.
The final scene of Towa reading Maya's diary just broke me. Obviously Maya is an irredeemable person. She trafficked and abused children, including her own son. But in her tear covered diary she says she loves him and she's lonely.
Towa crying after reading it just.... ugh it broke my heart. He has so many complicated feelings about his mom, I can't imagine how he felt. His mother, the source of all his pain, loved him. He wasn't unwanted or broken or a mistake. She loved him in her own sick, twisted way.
And Fujieda just silently comforting him... UGH. It's such a beautiful and well crafted scene I'm tearing up writing this.
Overall, I love Fujieda's route. I really enjoyed
most of the other routes, but this one is just so beautiful. This is probably my favorite ending in any video game I've ever played. It's been a month since I finished it and it's still all I can think about. I'm also obsessed with after all it's such an amazing song!
I also read his CD drama... I love domestic FujiTowa bliss so much... Fujieda asking Towa if he wanted to take his last name actually rewired my brain. They are so in love it's so beautiful ♥ Fujieda mentioning how terrified he was of Towa getting kidnapped because it reminded him of Mei broke me. Oh my god I need them to be happy forever and have the sweetest married couple life ever.
This is also really dumb but one of the reasons I stopped playing was because I thought the semes
besides Rei ofc were kinda... ugly. Well not ugly. Taku isn't ugly he's just super plain looking. And I
thought Fujieda was plain looking too, with his hair slicked back he looks like such a dweeb. But oh. my. god. I could not be more wrong. He is
so hot like as soon as his hair is a little roughed up he looks completely different I NEED HIM!! Madarame is still ugly tho that's why Fujieda #ended him.
Misc. Thoughts
I have some more thoughts and I didn't really know where else to put them. So I'm just putting them here at the end.
I mentioned this earlier, but I absolutely love the main menu UI. The way the main painting changes as you finish more routes is such a cool detail. I also love that once you finish the game it gets so much brighter and you no longer see Towa's shadow. His life is so much brighter now.. he is so dear to me I love him so much ♥
The colors at the edge of the screen is such a cool detail. For the entire game I thought it was just a cool visual thing, I was so surprised to learn it was foreshadowign Towa's vision issues. And the fact Towa
literally starts seeing the world differently after meeting Fujieda drives me crazy. I love them so much it's ridiculous.
Also the foreshadowing in this game is so good. Like with the painting in Tajima's, it really stuck out in my brain. Then when it popped up in Fujieda's route I
knew it was important. Only for it to be revealed it was a painting Maya bought for Towa.. owww. Beautiful but owwwwwww.
I didn't talk about him that much but I seriously love Towa so much. I don't usually like super edgy characters but.. idk something about him is just so sweet to me? He's like a little grumpy kitty I seriously love him so much!
Also my favorite line in the game is Towa asking Fujieda if he's good at sex because he worked as an escort. 10/10 game
