"I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practise my profession faithfully. I shall abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and shall not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I shall do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. I shall be loyal to my work and devoted towards the welfare of those committed to my care"
— The Nightingale Pledge
Nurse Love Addiction is a Yuri Genre Visual Novel published by Degica Games and released for the Play Station Vita in April 2015 in Japan. On December 25, 2015, it was released on PC in Japan, and on July 8, 2016, it was released worldwide through Steam and again on December 26, 2019 for Nintendo Switch. A physical release is expected in 2020 from Limited Run Games, bundled with its prequel title, Nurse Love Syndrome. The story centers around a young nursing student, and her adventures in love, and medicine.
Osachi Asuka is a jellyfish girl. All through high school she floated from one day to the next, never working hard or becoming very invested in any particular thing. She expected this carefree life to last forever, when all of a sudden in her final year she was given a career goal worksheet by her teacher, and she realised that all of her friends were now taking their futures seriously! Panicked and uneasy, she turned her room upside down trying to think of something she could aim for as well, when she discovered a book she had enjoyed as a child. While she has no memory of it, on the final page she sees the words: 'I'm gonna become a nurse!!'
And so the jellyfish girl enters nursing school, accompanied by her diligent and earnest younger sister Nao (in the same year as her due to the fact that they were born just one day less than a year apart). There she will meet: Sakuya, the cold but incredibly elegant and mature Ojou; her girlfriend Itsuki, as mysterious as she is stylish and intelligent; and Kaede, Asuka's teacher, who embodies all the kind and pure presence of a perfect nurse.
Over the course of her study, Asuka will learn and grow and discover why she does in fact want to be a nurse - and perhaps find love along the way, too. A journey of sweet romance, and fluttering lilies await her...right?
Nurse Love Addiction contains examples of:
- Accidental Pervert: At one point, Asuka is getting changed out of her wet clothes in Sakuya's room; she accidentally slips on them and falls directly on top of Sakuya. Naturally, Itsuki and Nao walk in a moment later. It's quickly made clear that both figured out what really happened immediately, however.
- A-Cup Angst: At one point, after seeing Asuka get friendly with the bigger-breasted Sakuya, Nao asks Asuka if she prefers girls with larger or smaller breasts. Asuka dodges the question, saying they both have their own appeal.
- Affectionate Nickname: Itsuki constantly calls Sakuya "Princess", despite Sakuya constantly telling her not to call her that in public. Itsuki also calls Asuka "Dummy Girl" all the time.
- Amnesiac Lover: Asuka and Sakuya were in Puppy Love when they were children. A certain traumatic event erased Asuka's memories of everything that happened before the event, and when the memories tried to come back, Nao stepped in to erase them so Asuka would stay with her.
- Artistic License – Biology: Even though it's currently uncertain if it actually exists, cellular memory does not work that way. Neither does Dissociative Identity Disordernote , which is the only other possible cause.
- Bad Liar: Kaede tends to go into Suspiciously Specific Denial mode whenever she lies to Asuka.
- Babies Ever After: A doubly unusual example happens in Sakuya's good ending, where Asuka and Kyoko have a child together...and their daughter turns out to be Sakuya's reincarnation.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Most of the characters qualify in a way, but Nao and possibly Kaede are the most obvious examples. While not necessarily evil, both hide dark sides underneath their innocent facades: Nao is violently possessive of Asuka and willing to erase the latter's memories just to keep her close, while Kaede, in her bad end, is willing to keep Asuka as a sex friend even after going back to her ex-girlfriend. Though whether Kaede's girlfriend knows about this or if Kaede is cheating on her isn't clear.
- Black Comedy Rape: How Itsuki's Good Ending concludes, with her pushing Asuka down onto one of the beds in the training room and starting to undress her despite the latter's protests on that being neither the time nor place.
- Bondage Is Bad: In Nao's bad end, she develops too much guilt over what she has done to Asuka and copes with it by having the latter abuse her during sex.
- Book Dumb: Kaede's good ending averts and possibly even reconstructs this by having Asuka become the top student of the class despite her immense stupidity. All it took was the proper tutor that was willing to work at her pace instead of the class'.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The very lighthearted slice-of-life elements all get thrown out the window once Asuka is suddenly stabbed in the stomach on any route that isn't Kaede's.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The book in which Asuka wrote her dream of becoming a nurse comes up very early and becomes important in Sakuya's and Nao's routes.
- Kaede's "resignation letter" envelope only seems like a convenient way to bring Asuka and her closer after the former accidentally catches a glimpse of it early on, but its contents are actually integral to the end of Kaede's route.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Sumika's name gets brought up early, but she doesn't show up until late into Itsuki's route.
- Chick Magnet: Itsuki often has girls around her who very obviously adore her. Asuka becomes one at the end of Kaede's route, having become a model student and giving a speech in front the entire school gains her a good number of girls who want to take pictures with her.
- Consuming Passion: In Itsuki's bad end, Itsuki is shot and killed. Her last words to Asuka were that she wanted to be together with her. Asuka takes this the wrong way and eats Itsuki's corpse.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Asuka, Itsuki, Nao, Sakuya, and Kyoko were all orphans captured and used as lab rats in various experiments trying to awaken superpowers inside them. Asuka fails to manifest superpowers, but the rest succeed. A fire burns down the lab, killing Sakuya and mortally injuring Kyoko. Sakuya's organs had to be harvested to save Kyoko's life, and Sakuya's spirit dwells in Kyoko's body. Nao, the very first of the lab rats, and the most powerful one in the lab, manipulates the authorities to end up adopted in the same family as Asuka.
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to most other Yuri works, this game comes off as quite twisted and dark, especially the bad ends.
- The Ditz: Asuka is this at best. It's a miracle that she got into nursing school even with Nao helping her study.
- The Dividual: Machi and Michi, whose character traits are solely that they speak everything at the same time and are always together, which impresses Asuka. Even the one time you don't hear the two talk at once, they're still in the same area - Machi's relative's house in Switzerland.
- Dutch Angle: Two shots of Kaede are tilted so far, presumably to try to fill a 16:9 screen with a full-body shot of just one character standing straight, she looks like she's about to fall to the bottom of the screen.
- Easily Forgiven: Doing this actually triggers Nao's bad end, as she can't deal with Asuka's simply forgiving her after everything she has done. If Asuka chooses not to forgive her that easily, they develop a much healthier relationship.
- Headbutt Thermometer: Asuka is convinced that whenever Nao rests her forehead against hers and recites a simple charm, it will always cure her headaches. Nao's route reveals that the headaches come from Asuka's memories trying to come back...and what Nao is actually doing is erasing Asuka's resurfacing memories.
- Healing Hands: Sakuya and Itsuki are revealed to have this ability by healing a young child who injured herself. Nao can heal Asuka's headaches by touching foreheads. It's later revealed the headaches are caused by Asuka's memories coming back, and Nao was erasing them every time.
- Hospital Hottie: Nao, Asuka, Itsuki, and Sakuya are all on their way to becoming one. Kaede already is.
- If I Can't Have You…: In Sakuya's route, Kyoko attempts to burn herself to death to ensure that Sakuya, whose consciousness dwells within her, will never go back to Asuka.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Happens in Itsuki's route, where Asuka is abducted by Sumika. Sumika contemplates having her way with Asuka, though Itsuki comes to the rescue.
- I'm Cold... So Cold...: Asuka says this after being stabbed in the stomach by Kyoko.
- Incest Subtext: Kyoko's love for Sakuya is one of the central themes in Sakuya's route. Also, from the very first scene, Nao acts very flirtatious and forward with Asuka, culminating in a full-blown love confession. Turns out they are Not Blood Siblings.Nao: Sis, if you don't wake up... I'm going to kiss you.Asuka (startled awake): You can't kiss me! You're my sister!
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Both Sakuya and Itsuki can come across as somewhat rude and blunt, but they're both nice in their own ways once Asuka gets to know them.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
- In Sakuya's route, Nao tells Asuka that she knows Asuka likes Sakuya, and that she'll support them if they start dating. Itsuki merely tells Asuka to look after Sakuya and bears no ill-will towards the two of them. And finally, Sakuya wants Asuka and Kyoko to start loving each other after she passes away despite being in love with the former.
- This trope also comes into play near the end of Kaede's route. If Asuka chooses to give the envelope containing Kaede's ex girlfriend's love letter to Kaede, knowing they might get together again as Asuka feels she can't possibly measure up to her, Kaede will choose Asuka and merely say her goodbyes to her ex. If Asuka can't bring herself to show it to Kaede, she will get back together with her ex-girlfriend and the relationship between her and Asuka will turn purely physical.
- Somewhat subverted at the end of Itsuki's route; while Sakuya supports Asuka and Itsuki's relationship, she's somewhat bitter about the whole thing and punches both of them because of it.
- Insecure Love Interest: Asuka in Kaede's route, after she finds out how seemingly perfect the latter's ex-girlfriend was. Asuka doesn't even consider the possibility that Kaede would choose her over her ex, feeling she couldn't possibly measure up to her.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Asuka doesn't remember anything before she was about 8 years old.
- Lighter and Softer: Kaede's route and most of the common route are a lot lighter than the others, only hinting at all the messed up things going on rather than pointing them out. Notably, the spoilered route branches off well before the other three split to avoid a particularly dark moment.
- The Lost Lenore: In Sakuya's bad end, Asuka is unable to let go of her and doesn't adhere to Sakuya's request to take care of Kyoko. Asuka tells Kyoko she loves Sakuya too much to grant her final request, then has a make-believe wedding with Sakuya's body. It's implied that deep down Asuka realizes how futile it is, but she simply can't let go of Sakuya.
- Mythology Gag: There is a poster of the previous game in the series, Hakuisei Ren'ai Shoukugunnote , in the dorm Asuka and Nao live in.
- Healing hands are this, due to mostly being mentioned and then forgotten about. It has a much more prominent role in the previous game.
- New Old Flame: Sakuya is this to Asuka. Sakuya was initially introduced to be dating Itsuki.
- Nice Girl:
- Nao is a subversion. She seems like the perfect little sister, but actually has erased Asuka's memory countless times and wants her all for herself, though accepts Asuka ending up with other girls in the other routes. She also says pretty violent things on occasion, but always does so cheerfully.
- Kaede is more of an understated subversion, as she is pretty nice even outside the mask she wears at the nursing school, and it depends on whether you see her bad end as her cheating on her girlfriend or as a consensual open relationship between all parties.
- Asuka is a genuine example, being friendly and easy-going towards practically everyone, even if they mistreat her. Indeed, most "negative" choices she can pick are Innocently Insensitive at worst and she tends to backtrack quickly once she realizes it. Choosing to withhold Kaede's envelope from her in her bad end is probably the most "negative" of her choices, but even that one is born out of a genuine desire to be in a relationship with her and she feels terrible about it.
- No Yay: In-universe, at that. Asuka really, really doesn't want to end up with Nao.
- Not What It Looks Like: Played for Laughs in one scene where Asuka leaves her dorm room in her cosplay outfit and gets spotted by Kaede, who tells her her "pajamas" are cute, but can then be heard whispering to herself to remember to always accept her students no matter what weird things they may be into.
- Ojou: Both Sakuya and Itsuki.
- Otaku Surrogate: Itsuki is a doujin game developer who ropes Asuka into cosplaying as her game's main character to promote it at Comima.
- Pair the Spares: If you go into Sakuya's route, Itsuki and Nao start to "see each other more often". If you choose Nao's route, Itsuki and Sakuya will continue to date each other. If you take Itsuki's route, Sakuya and Nao go on a date after watching Asuka and Itsuki.
- Prim and Proper Bun: Kaede wears one, and Sakuya also braids her hair while doing practical exercises. Compare Nao and Asuka's Girlish Pigtails.
- Psycho Serum: Nao contacts the black market to procure some drugs to try and restore her superpowers after spending them all raising Asuka Back from the Dead. They fail to restore her powers, and they make her sick and she vomits them out.
- Reincarnation Romance: Sakuya's good ending has her reborn as Asuka's and Kyoko's daughter...and she's still in love with Asuka due to somehow retaining all of her memories.
- Rule of Three: If Asuka wants to tell Kaede an embarrassing secret about herself as a sign of mutual trust, she has to choose the option three times before she can bring herself to do it.
- Say My Name: The romantic version as Asuka and Kaede have several scenes in the latter's route where they lock gazes and simply repeat each other's names over and over.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Machi and Michi are completely forgotten in every route but Kaede's.
- Shoujo: Although not part of the genre itself, the game, particularly the art style, is clearly inspired by shoujo works.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Nao is diligent, hard-working, and helpful to a fault. Asuka...can remember simple tasks. If her sister reminds her.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Asuka and Kaede's relationship tends to go into that direction sometimes, especially when they stare into each others eyes and call each others names at the same time.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Itsuki wears glasses, and one of the first things Asuka notices about her is that she looks 'intelligent'. Fittingly, she has excellent grades.
- Squee: Nao has a huge one when she sees Asuka dressed up as a magical nurse.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Sakuya can be very cold, but is also always willing to help out someone in need, and can be downright dorky around Itsuki.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Kaede was absolutely not outside in a tracksuit because she wears them around the house and really wanted ice cream and was too lazy to change before going out.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Kaede is Asuka's teacher and a potential love interest.
- The Tease: Itsuki - to both Sakuya and Asuka.
- Took a Level in Badass: Asuka from an academic perspective in Kaede's good ending: In order to help maintain Kaede's reputation, she takes her studies significantly more seriously and, by the time of the Capping Ceremony, has become the top student in her class.
- Umbrella of Togetherness: Sakuya and Asuka can share one; the resulting conversation makes them both a bit more comfortable with and knowledge about one another.
- Wham Line: Asuka gets one from the nurse in her second hospital training visit after asking if she'll have a chance to visit Yuki again.Nurse: She passed away last week.
- Wham Shot: Asuka being stabbed in the stomach after Sakuya kisses her. Until then the game has somewhat hinted at strange things, but it's mostly been cutesy slice-of-life with some mature elements. Things take a darker turn after it in every route except Kaede's, where unlike with the other routes, the bad end is mostly just depressing instead of dark.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Played for Laughs when Itsuki asks Asuka if she's available for the day. No matter what decision you choose, Asuka finds herself dragged to a convention and forced into cosplay.
- Yandere: Nao erases Asuka's memories of before they started living together, and re-erases them when they try to come back every year, to make sure they live together as sisters happily ever after. Kyoko is much worse, as she attempts to murder Asuka with a knife and in Sakuya's route, is willing to burn herself to death just so that Asuka and Sakuya can't be together. Although she gets better in Sakuya's good end.
- Yuri Genre: What makes this game stand out is that it's a particularly dark take on the genre.
