The girls of Akiyama and Haruka's dreams.
"Goodbyes are always hard, no matter how you might try to make them easier."
— Haruka Mishima
LOVE BAKUDAN is a yuri visual novel for PC, released on January 25, 2021 following a Kickstarter campaign. The game is available currently only in English.
Originally from the fictional, Japanese coastal town of Akiyama, Haruka Mishima has recently returned from moving out to the big city of Tokyo as a teenager with her parents. After five years away, Haruka's life changes dramatically when her grandmother passes away - because just after her passing, Haruka receives a very interesting letter posthumously from Grandma Mishima.
The letter is simple; it offers Haruka the chance to return home, and to take her family's erotic bookstore for herself. Once having to deal with disapproving parents, Haruka is now of the right age to return home and take the helm of Bakudan Books - and make a lot of money doing it.
As time passed by, Haruka found herself missing Akiyama. Having been forcibly moved away with her parents after the family bookstore became something of a risque nature, Haruka knows all too well the pain of goodbye. But with the allure of returning to her hometown and always unable to ignore a challenge, Haruka accepts the offer and returns to her hometown.
After reconnecting with her two childhood friends, the somewhat gloomy Yuki Miyanagi and the sunny-natured Sei Itou, Haruka goes on to meet four other potential love interests as they visit her store - all with their own romance routes. These women are Himeko Kurosu, Akane Hasegawa, Teru Tokugawa and Hyojin Park, who is better known as a famous idol called Angel.
In true dating sim-style fashion, it's up to Haruka to find different ways to solve them while falling in love, running a risque bookstore, and discover more about herself along the way.
In August 2023, a fundraising campaign was launched for a sequel, titled Renai Bakudan. The story will still be set in Akiyama but following a new protagonist and a new set of love interests (though many of the cast of the first entry are also said to return as supporting characters).
Love Bakudan provides examples of the following:
- Aborted Declaration of Love: Teru does this at the end of Yuki's route, though her sister gives a lot of it away.
- Abusive Parents: Surprisingly, more than a few cast members have issues with their parents. Yuki has a mother who is addicted to gambling, Himeko's parents are physically abusive drunks, and Angel's mother is a whole other story.
- Addictive Foreign Soap Opera: According to Haruka's bookstore, "Seeking Her Inner Truth" was a wildly popular soap that transcended America and went across the world.
- Alas, Poor Villain:
- Teru during the ending of Yuki's route, just before the epilogue. After Yuki has been missing for a week and returns with Haruka to The Tiger's Den, Teru and Haruka get into a physical fight where Teru not only loses, but also hears some harsh words from the person she secretly loves.
- Also Hazuki at the end of Teru's route. It's left ambiguous as to whether or not she actually survived the fall.
- Alliterative Name: Teru Tokugawa.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Same-gendered version applies to Teru, of course. Yuki, Himeko, Haruka, Sei, Angel, Akane and Hazuki all express how attractive they find Teru at some point or another. Haruka also says more than once how good Teru smells, even outside of Teru's route.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Yuki on every route but her own experiences this.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: The main game is seen entirely through Haruka’s perspective. But in the special route the player temporarily “plays” as Sei, Yuki, and Himeko as all of the main route characters pair up and go off to retrieve a medallion in order to save Gabby’s soul, ironically leaving Haruka by herself.
- Animal Lover: Most of the cast, but Himeko, Akane and Teru in particular. They love cats enough to the point they're even known as regulars at the local cat café.
- Animal Motif: Every character has a designated animal if you choose to censor the steamier scenes, but this could probably be applied to Teru especially - she even has a bar named after tigers.
- Anti-Frustration Features: To avoid people having to play through the introduction after a first playthrough, the devs put in a "skip ahead" button to go to the method that chooses your route.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Teru. Especially in her own route, in which she kicks a rival mobster down a flight of stairs for trying to hurt Haruka. This could also probably work for Angel's route, too, where her and the rest of the Tokugawa gang make sure Angel's mother knows exactly what they think of her.
- The Atoner: Ayame Tokugawa. Ayame is implied to have done many terrible things to people when she was growing up, before she (presumably) hit a point in her life that made her stop. It's unclear what the catalyst for this was, but she now spends her life trying to make amends for the things she caused.
- Badass Adorable: Angel looks cute but also possesses a lot of courage in the face of adversity, given that she concocts an entire plan around bringing down her evil mother.
- Badass Driver: Chinami is the designated driver of the Tokugawa syndicate, and boy can she drive. Even to the point there's a Drive reference in Teru's route.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Teru and Hazuki are very snappy dressers.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Yuki and Teru both give as good as they get. Yuki makes no secret that she's not afraid of Teru, but Teru winds Yuki up for the joy of getting a rise out of her. It boils over in Himeko's route and leads to the two of them actually sleeping together.
- Big Bad: Surprisingly, many of the routes except for Sei's have an antagonistic figure that Haruka ends up having to help her respective love interest with as part of the route, even if it means putting herself in actual danger to do so.
- Akane's route has the mother of the young girl who was badly injured and rendered comatose from the fireworks accident. Even though Akane shielded the girl with her body, the accident happened on her watch and the mother blames her for her daughter's condition. She's the arsonist setting all the fires in Akiyama, and the climax is about drawing her out so Akane can confront her, and the demons she's been carrying since that day.
- Angel's route has her stepmother and stage manager Jihyeon, an abusive and ruthless woman who forced Hyojin into the idol business and ruthlessly crushes any potential threats to her success. Getting Hyojin away from her clutches ends up being the plot of her route.
- Teru's route has Hazuki Mishima, a rival Yakuza and one of Teru's former lovers. Obsessed with driving the Tokugawa clan out of Akiyama, she discovers Ayame is still alive and kidnaps her to force Teru out.
- Himeko's route has the editor at Shoujo Leap, who tries to get Himeko to sign away all creative control of her series to get it published by after she wins the competition. Himeko would still draw and write it, but she'd have no say in the plot and it would be credited to someone else instead; Himeko assumes the editor wants to give it to one of their other big-name writers but the editor is actually planning on giving the series to her daughter instead. Helping Himeko find the confidence to keeo control of her series is the basis of the second half of her route.
- Yuki's route has Teru Tokugawa herself, as the holder of Yuki's debt and the one forcing her to work it off at the Tiger's Den. It's making Yuki miserable, especially since she knows Teru has no intention of ever seeing the debt repaid, but what she doesn't realize is it's because Teru is in love with her. After finally getting together with Haruka, Yuki is able to get Teru to release her with the help of Ayame and Chinami.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Sei gets a special illustration to show off her first kiss with Haruka on the beach.
- Breather Episode: Sei and Himeko's routes can be considered these to the others, since the stakes are relatively low-key and Haruka is never in actual physical danger like she is during points of the other routes.
- Butch Lesbian: Teru, very much so. Sei and Haruka also fit into this category, but not quite as much as Teru and her suit do.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Every girl with Haruka, at some point or another. Yuki with Haruka for the duration of most of their friendship; Angel with Haruka after following her around in Tokyo; and Sei, albeit absent-mindedly.
- Cast Full of Gay: Every character in Love Bakudan is a lesbian, even the side characters.
- Career-Ending Injury: During the big baseball game in Sei's route, she ends up damaging her leg beyond repair after an old injury resurfaces.
- Cartoon Bomb: A motif all over the game.
- Cats Are Magic: Rey the cat has quite a prominent role throughout the extra route, and can seemingly speak to otherworldly beings through meows.
- Celeb Crush: Even though Sei claims her Wings bias is Galaxier, she loses her cool upon meeting Angel properly, and gets extremely jealous when she notices Angel paying more attention to Haruka in the extra route.
- Character Development: Every main cast member has this in spades, but mostly only in their routes.
- Chase Scene: There are a couple of instances of this, but the most prominent one is of Hazuki chasing Teru, Chinami and Haruka after they rescue Teru's sister from her clutches.
- Cherry Blossoms: Akane makes a point of taking Haruka to see the cherry blossoms in her Epilogue, mentioning that she loves them.
- Chick Magnet: Haruka by default for being the game's protagonist, but Akane also has a lot of babes in her contacts.
- Childhood Friends: Yuki, Haruka and Sei have been friends since they were young, and attended all the same schools until Haruka moved away to Tokyo.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Most prominent in Yuki's route, but Sei will also reveal she had feelings of her own in her own route she never expected Haruka to reciprocate. Also between Yuki and Sei, who get together late in Akane's route.
- Child Popstar: Angel, though she was forced into it against her will by her mother, Park Jihyeon.
- Chromosome Casting: Everybody in Akiyama and beyond seems like they are female. When parents are mentioned, they are even comprised of two moms.
- Color-Coded Characters: Every girl seems like they have a signature color to go along with their flowers, from their introduction slides.
- Company Cross References: Sei's route contains references to the developers' previous game The Ghost of You. For example, Haruka and Sei visit a bar named after the game's protagonist, and the route ends with Sei performing in Songbird Symphony Hall, which is named after the setting of The Ghost of You.
- Continuity Nod: In every route, there are factors that remain the same;
- The window to The Tiger's Den always gets broken, though you don't find out just who by until you play through Teru's route.
- The grandmas who spend time in Bakudan Books are present in every route, and have the same kind of heated conversation about a dirty book at the beginning.
- Selling books is always a constant, though this is to be expected.
- Wings are always set to make their Japanese debut.
- Yuki is always hard to get a hold of in every route thanks to her terrible work schedule.
- Yuki also always has a gloomy moment of disappointment when she finds out Haruka is dating someone else in every route but her own.
- Coolest Club Ever: Subverted with Hazuki's bar. Sei comments on how much of a dump the place seems to be, to which Teru bursts out laughing.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Sei and Himeko. Sei's butt proves to be lethal on more than one occasion, though this is off-screen. Himeko has bumped into many tables and chairs in her lifetime, too.
- Dating Sim: You can date six different girls in Love Bakudan, and each route has a different story from the others.
- Desperately Craves Affection: Angel, though this isn't surprising when you learn all about her mother.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Angel doesn't like her real name for the first half of her route, but a Meaningful Rename ensues when she comes to terms with the fact that Hyojin is who she really is.
- Doujinshi: Himeko is well known for her doujin series Muscle Babes, with Muscle Babes One occasionally appearing as a book during the bookselling sequences.
- Ethereal White Dress: Gabby Saito, star of the extra route, has one of these. As the route progresses, it becomes clearer just why this dress suits her so well.
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex: In a game about selling erotica, it's not really that surprising that everyone sleeps with each other.
- Everyone Can See It: Haruka and Yuki. Everybody in Haruka's inner circle knows that Yuki has been blatantly in love with Haruka for years, despite having dated other people.
- Evil Laugh: Hazuki does this, usually when she feels that she's going to get something over on Teru.
- Evolving Title Screen: Every time you complete a romance route, a new pixel of the girl you dated pops up on the title screen.
- Fangirl: Sei is a huge fan of Wings. In Angel's route, Sei even takes Haruka to a meet and greet session. While waiting in the line to get inside, she almost pukes with excitement.
- Fanservice: Akane has muscles that girls can't stop looking at.
- A Father to His Men: Teru is the gender-reversed version. The girls in her gang are extremely loyal to her; it's even implied that the Tokugawa hideout is so large that everybody gets their own room, or at least a bed to rest in.
- Flower Motifs: Each girl has an assigned flower and time of day, reflecting their characters and the moods of their routes.
- Friendly Enemy: Haruka experiences Teru in both a negative and a positive light outside of dating her. While Teru has a more antagonistic slant in Yuki and Sei's routes, she plays a positive critical role in Angel's route, and is surprisingly placid in Himeko's.
- Genki Girl: Sei is an athletic, guitar-playing and always smiling kind of girl who raises the spirits of the cast whenever she interacts with them.
- Genre Roulette: Every route is different in both tone and style to the other - for example, Sei's route is a mixture of slice of life and drama, while Teru's route is incredibly action-packed and far removed from the rest of the cast.
- Good Samaritan: Subverted with Teru, who loaned Yuki money to get out of her family's financial bind...only for her sister to make her go and get it back.
- Has a Type: Yuki is frequently teased about her penchant for dating mobsters and delinquents. Also subverted with Akane who openly says she'd date any kind of woman at some point.
- Head-Turning Beauty:
- Yuki attracts a lot of attention from the bad girls of Akiyama, and even some of the good girls.
- Sei gets complimented frequently on her strong arms, and Himeko makes everyones head turn, despite being the shyest member of the cast.
- Hidden Depths: Everyone fits this trope depending on the route in their own way, but Himeko by far fits this the very most.
- Idol Singer: Angel is a member of a popular girl group in South Korea called Wings.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Teru says this almost verbatim to Haruka during Yuki's route. When Yuki disappears without a trace, Teru and Chinami search across town to try and find her - but Haruka goes immediately to what she thinks is the source of the disappearance.
- Infectious Enthusiasm: Sei Itou is regularly referred to as a ball of sunshine and likened to an energetic puppy, by both the game's main cast and the devs themselves.
- Insecure Love Interest: Subverted in Akane's route. During the time Akane drifts apart from Haruka, Haruka is the one who frequently wonders if she did something wrong.
- Introverted Cat Person: Himeko, who loves cats so much that the cat cafe's owner knows her by name. This is subverted with Akane and Teru.
- It's All My Fault: Ayame Tokugawa was a name to be feared and despised before the events of Love Bakudan's mainline game; though the audience is never really informed about just what terrible things she did. It must have been pretty bad though, considering she faked her own death, and became a shrine maiden to atone.
- I Will Wait for You: The route ending for Teru. After Haruka talks to Teru about how concerned she is that Teru will end up dead if she continues in her line of work, Teru decides to leave Akiyama to find out who she could be outside of the mob.
- Journey to Find Oneself: At the end of Teru's route, she decides to leave Akiyama for a long time after that, spending time in Iceland to find herself outside of a mob setting.
- Ladykiller in Love: Akane and Teru are usually both players when it comes to women, but both end up settling down during their routes.
- Language Barrier:
- Angel and Jihyeon argue in Korean in front of Haruka. Despite that she can't understand what's being said, Haruka picks up on that it sounds incredibly angry.
- In the extra route, Angel and Jihyeon also talk briefly in front of Himeko in Korean, too.
- The Leader:
- Angel is the leader of Wings, a famous girl group from South Korea who are about to hit the big-time in Japan.
- Teru is also the leader of the Tokugawa yakuza clan.
- Lesbian Jock: Sei. Akane would fit this if she actually played any sports, but instead she's just shredded.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Sei and Yuki, particularly in every route where Haruka ends up dating someone who isn't either of them.
- Linear Visual Novel: Until the end of the introduction, at least. When you end up on a route, however, you stay on that route until completion.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Even in a cast of all girls, Yuki and Angel are both particularly femme.
- Loose Lips: In Yuki's route, Sei lets it slip that Yuki was on the phone to her all night talking about Haruka. Sei swiftly gets reprimanded by Yuki for letting this slip.
- Love Epiphany: Haruka with all of the girls, depending on what route you end up going on. Probably the most pronounced with Yuki and Sei, as she already knew them prior to her return to Akiyama.
- Love Hurts: Every girl who likes Haruka and doesn't end up with her feels this in the respective routes. In particular, Yuki has been feeling this for a long, long, looong time.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Akane, Teru and Sei are all guilty of this.
- Mood-Swinger: Hazuki is incredibly unpredictable and erratic through her various moods.
- The Movie Buff: Yuki is huge into movies, going so far as to have a Review Blog for them when she was a teenager.
- Not a Morning Person: Yuki. Though considering Teru keeps her at The Tiger's Den until late, it isn't any surprise that Yuki sleeps most of her days away.
- Oblivious to Love: Haruka can be very dense when it comes to women, despite her natural affinity to charm them.
- Odd Friendship: Angel and Teru are very good friends, and have been for quite a while. Angel's talent for forgery makes her a very useful asset to Teru, and Teru's money makes her a valuable asset to Angel. However, even discounting the more superficial factors, the two genuinely seem like they get along well.
- Odd Name Out: All of the other girls have either Japanese or Korean names, making "Gabby" definitely not fit the same code.
- One Head Taller: Akane, Teru and Gabby tower over the other characters - for example, Yuki and Sei are both just 5'2, but Teru is 5'9.
- Only One Name: Chinami, though this seems to be intentional if the Love Bakudan 4koma Special is considered to be canon.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Angel. Considering that she's a famous idol, a facemask and a pair of sunglasses shouldn't hide her for very long. With that said, no one in the game ever sees through it.
- Parental Abandonment: Implied with Angel's biological parents, though it was never confirmed if she was left, stolen, they died, etc. Jihyeon says she was "picked up off the street".
- Passionate Sports Girl: Sei fits this like a glove, and is a baseball player who seems to love the sport she's taken up throughout the years.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Haruka and Sei, unless the player end ups deciding to take their friendship to the next level. Otherwise, both of them have a platonic bond that seems nigh unbreakable. Yuki and Sei also fit this.
- Poor Communication Kills: Haruka, Yuki and Teru, though not strictly in that order.
- Yuki never said goodbye to Haruka before her departure to Tokyo, which caused a long-time rift between them.
- Yuki can also never spit out her feelings towards Haruka, who is also too dense to realize that one of her best friends is madly in love with her.
- Teru can also never express her emotions properly to Yuki, so the two tend to go around in a bickering circle for the time that they spend together.
- The Power of Friendship: In the extra route, Haruka and all of the cast members band together to undo a terrible curse on their friend, Gabby Saito.
- Queer Media: The game was written, programmed and created by two lesbians themselves.
- Queer Romance: All of the characters are explicitly lesbians.
- The Quiet One: Chinami rarely says much, unless she thinks it's important - or it's to her partner, Ayame, Teru's sister.
- Red Baron: Teru is sometimes referred to as "Akiyama's Carnivore".
- Relationship Upgrade: Sei and Yuki in their routes, as well as with each other in Akane's route.
- Running Gag: Haruka and Yuki frequently remind Sei that her big behind is chaotic and has a habit of knocking things over, as well as breaking Haruka's music players in high school.
- Scars Are Forever: Akane has a very prominent scar across her nose, as well as many hidden ones along her limbs.
- Second Love: Yuki tends to find someone else to fall for in the routes outside her own, one of the other romantic leads, once she realizes Haruka is well and truly beyond her reach. Notably, while some of the other leads hook up in routed outside their own, Yuki is the one it most consistently happens for.
- Secret Relationship: Angel and Haruka have to keep their relationship a secret from Angel's abusive mother, as well as the rest of the world.
- Seme: Akane and Teru. Haruka also fits this in Himeko, Yuki and Angel's routes.
- Sequel Hook: In Teru’s final extra episode, she openly discusses how she will have an inevitable encounter with Mirai Mishima, the true head of the Mishima clan. Mirai never appears in the story, but she and Teru are confirmed to appear in Renai Bakudan.
- Shipper on Deck: Himeko frequently enjoys shipping all the other cast members together, or imagining them in different romantic situations.
- Shout-Out: There are tons of pop culture references throughout the game. Plenty of this in the erotic books, but most shout-outs come from Himeko and Angel's routes. Some notable references include, but aren't limited to the following:
- Shoujo Leap is a direct opposite of Shonen Jump, a popular manga magazine in Japan. The manga magazine plays a big role in Himeko's route.
- Angel blatantly makes direct references to Silent Hill 4.Angel: "You're right, though! It's room 302."Angel "You know, I think a man called Henry used to be in there..."Haruka: Huh? What makes you say that?"Angel: "I saw his name carved into a little hole next to the toilet...? Kind of weird."
- A lot of K-pop references. To name a few, girl groups Loona, TWICE and Itzy are referenced frequently and indirectly.
- Even Wings' hit single in particular, "Heart Attacked", is likely a direct reference to the famously queer-coded Loona song Heart Attack by Chuu.
- The Persona series. When Haruka is talking about Angel's 'persona', Sei enters the bookstore saying 'I art thou, and thou art I', as well as mentioning a reference to a 'big-nosed guy', which is likely referencing Igor.
- Manga series One Piece and Naruto are referenced in Himeko's route under the aptly named Two Piece and Bolt's Dad.
- Another manga series talked about in Himeko's route, Your Hime, is a reference to My-HiME.
- In the extra route, Teru touches Yuki's behind as she's climbing up a ladder and says "Ooh, soft". This sequence is referenced beat for beat from Final Fantasy IX.
- There are more than a few references to someone called Libretto throughout the game. The game's cast usually responds with confusion upon hearing her name. This is in reference to the main character from the developer Noodletub Games' first game, The Ghost of You. Music from The Ghost of You also plays at various points in Love Bakudan.
- Chinami has a very direct reference to the movie Drive (2011), quoting the film's opening lines word for word.
- The joke erotic novel "Portrait of the Emperor's Soulmate" is one big blatant reference to Fire Emblem: Three Houses, with Esmerelda and Milleth as stand-ins for Edelgard and Byleth.
- Another Fire Emblem shout-out is said by a customer in Teru's route, referencing a famous line said by L'Arachel from The Sacred Stones.Customer: "If I were not a holy woman, I would beat you senseless for such a stupid joke, but I appreciate your recommendation. Thanks!"
- In the special route, Himeko at one point wonders if a loud ominous banging sound was caused by "a little guy with a massive pair of scissors" or "someone with a big, steel pyramid-shaped helmet."
- Signature Team Transport: Teru's Bercedes Menz comes up in more than one route - transporting herself and Sei to see Hazuki, using it to coerce Haruka into an agreement with her, and also taking Haruka to get their revenge on Jihyeon in Angel's route to name but a few.
- Sinister Switchblade: Teru at the start of her route, who decides to force Haruka into the back of her car by pointing one at her.
- Stage Names: The girls of Wings all have this; Angel, Ivy, Galaxier and Star are not their real names.
- Stalker with a Crush: Angel followed Haruka around a lot after she was rescued from a bad situation by her, and lurks in Bakudan Books in every route.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Himeko openly loves drawing and viewing explosions, despite how strange that might sound to other people.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Teru, and most of the cast would agree with this.
- Tattooed Crook: Teru, of course. It's also mentioned in one of Himeko's extra scenes that Ayame has a dragon tattoo on her back.
- The Tease: Angel does this frequently to Haruka; Himeko, too, is a dark horse in this category, by sending Haruka a picture of just what she was up to in her spare time after their very first date.
- Technologically Blind Elders: Haruka is openly terrible with social media, by either her own admission or Sei doing it for her.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Yuki and pastries; particularly taiyaki. Himeko also really likes orange juice.
- True Companions: Even when Haruka ends up with other women, Yuki and Sei always remain a constant presence in her life throughout it all.
- Uke: Himeko, Angel, and Yuki. Haruka also fits this in Teru and Akane's routes.
- Undying Loyalty: Chinami is loyal to a fault for the Tokugawa twins.
- Unexpected Virgin: Himeko, who is also the only explicit virgin in the whole cast. Despite this, Himeko arguably seems like she's the most interested in sex besides Akane.
- Villainous Crush: Teru makes no secret of having it bad for Yuki, and often makes a point of teasing Yuki about it throughout the game (and in various routes). In Himeko's route, they even end up getting together.
- Violence is the Only Option: Teru believes in this to an extent, but not quite as much as people might think. Hazuki, however, believes in this above all else.
- Watching the Sunset: This happens at the end of a few routes, usually after Haruka and her girl of choice have overcome much together.
- Wild Card: Befitting her job as a Yakuza clan boss, Teru's role varies wildly from route to route, moreso than any other romance option. A love interest in her own, an important ally in Angel's, Yuki's eventual lover in Himeko's and the closest thing to an outright Big Bad in Yuki's own route!
- Worthy Opponent: Teru and Hazuki have had an on-going rivalry that has spanned years.
- Yakuza: Teru, Chinami, Ayame and Hazuki all fall under this umbrella, even if Ayame doesn't any longer.
- Yuri Genre: With an all-female cast comprised of every girl being canonically a lesbian, is it ever!
