Reading a story chapter requires a story ticket, which replenish daily but can also be earned through daily login rewards or bought through the app's shop tab. There are also often premium options in the dialogue trees that require gems to pick, which can also be purchased using real life currency. They have no bearing on the ending but are often steamier interactions, or simply just the option that makes you look like less of a jerk. The stories break from usual visual novel tradition by not having any bad endings or Non Standard Game Overs; the story plays out more or less the same no matter player choice, though the route taken to the ending may or may not be more protagonist-centered depending on whether or not a premium dialogue option was picked. The real variation comes from which love interest you choose, though it's fairly easy to replay a chapter to see a different character's ending instead.
For what the app may lack in gameplay, it makes up for in variety and sheer volume. There are several stories in each genre of action, fantasy, supernatural, slice of life, and horror and with several different themes and art styles. With updates to the roster made every month, there are plenty of stories to choose from, though some are more popular than others.
1. Casefile: Tokyo Noir
2. The Chains of Enchantment
3. Chase Love in Japan
4. Chimera: Complex Hearts
5. Code:Replicant
- Code:Replicant 2
6. Cyber City Knights
7. Dark Samurai Avengers
8. Demigods of Destiny
9. Enigma Squad: Animal Chaos
10. Fateful Forces
- Fateful Forces 2
11. Fugitive Desires
12. Immortal Heart
13. Kiss of Darkness
14. Kiss Me, Kill Me
- Leon's Deadly Getaway
15. Knights of Romance and Valor
16. Lethal Engagements
17. Love on the Edge
18. Married to the Mafia
- Honeymoon Heist
19. My Secret Spy Lovers
- Masamune's Mission
20. My Spy Romance
- My Spy Romance - Remake
21. Sinful Roses
22. Steal My Heart
23. Supernatural Investigations
24. Pirate Lords of Love
25. Queen Pirate: Love Adrift
26. Seduced by the Mafia
27. Syndicate Boyfriend: Gem Heist
28. Tomb of the Forbidden Falcon
29. Twilight Blood
30. Twilight Crusade
31. Wanted: Gunslinger's Kiss
- Reno's Birthday Surprise
Drama
1. Bloodworth Academy Occult Club
2. Conspiracies of the Heart
- Li's Liaison
3. Deceitful Devotions
4. Doctor's Orders
5. Faded Melodies
6. Freshman Fantasies
7. High School Secret Romance
- Love Assignment
8. In Between Love & Death
9. The Kabuki Phantom
10. The Pet Doctor’s Secret
11. Prestigious Passions
12. The Rondo of Oblivion
13. Star Scandal
14. Vows of Eternity
Fantasy
1. Angelic Kisses
2. Awakening of the Eclipse
3. Beastly Desires
- Beastly Desires 2
4. Blood Moon Calling
- Blood Moon Calling 2
- Hadrian's Story
5. Blue Moon Princess
6. Charming Tails
7. Dark Wizard
- Dark Wizard - Justice
8. Demon Hunter: Cursed Hearts
- Demon Hunter: Cursed Hearts - Fated Love
9. Desires of a Dragon Prince
10. Desires of a Vampire
11. Destined Memories
12. Devilish Charms
13. Everlasting Alchemists
14. Fate of the Foxes
- Fate of the Foxes 2
15. The Fate of Wonderland
16. Fated Demon Lovers
17. Feral Hearts
- Feral Hearts 2
- Masaki’s Melody
18. Forest of Destiny
- Jinta’s Story
19. Gangs of the Magic Realm
20. Guardians of the Zodiac
- Guardians of the Zodiac 2
21. Heart of Atlantis
22. Inferno's Embrace
23. Isekai: Warrior's Kiss
24. Kamisama: Spirits of the Shrine
- Kamisama: Spirits of the Shrine 2
- I Do, Kagura
25. A Kiss from Death
26. Kiss of the Wendigo
27. The Lost Fate of the Oni
- The Lost Fate of the Oni 2
28. Love's Eternal Wishes
29. Lullaby of Demonia
- Lullaby of Demonia 2
- Alastor’s VIP Vacation
- Lucifer’s Story
- Amon's Chains of Wrath
30. Lustrous Hearts
- Lustrous Hearts 2
31. Moonlight Wishes
32. My Devil Lovers Remake
33. My Elemental Prince - Remake
34. My Magical Boyfriend
35. My Mystic Dragons
36. My Ninja Destiny
- My Ninja Destiny 2
- Hisayoshi's Story
37. My Secret Ocean Boyfriend
38. My Starry Princess
39. My Sweet Shifter - Remake
- My Sweet Shifter - Remake 2
40. Mythical Hearts
41. Onmyoji: Beyond Time
- Onmyoji: Beyond Time 2
- Onmyoji: Beyond Time 3
42. Quest of Lost Memories
43. Sealed with a Dragon's Kiss
- Sealed with a Dragon's Kiss 2
44. Sins of the Everlasting Twilight
45. Soul of Yokai
- Soul of Yokai 2
46. The Spellbinding Kiss
- The Spellbinding Kiss 2
- The Spellbinding Kiss 3-1
- The Spellbinding Kiss 3-2
47. Starlit Promises
48. The Swords of First Light
- The Swords of First Light 2
49. Twilight Fangs
- Twilight Fangs 2
- Twilight Fangs 3
50. Twilight School
- Twilight School 2
- Twilight School: Wade’s Mission
51. A Villain's Twisted Heart
- A Villain's Twisted Heart 2
52. Welcome to the Yokai Inn
Horror
1. Attack of the Dead
2. Crimson Twilight: Undead Lover
3. Haunted Heartbeats
4. The House of Grudge
5. Mall of the Dead
6. Nocturne of Nightmares
7. Princess of the Dead
- Princess of the Dead - Remake
8. University of the Dead
9. Zombie Island Paradise
Slice of Life
1. Apartment Love Triangle
2. Be My Match
3. Business Affairs
4. Cats, Coffee, and Love
5. Electronic Emotions!
6. Gossip School
7. Heart of the Fox
8. It's a Dog's Love
9. Love at Any Cost
- Love at Any Cost 2
- Love at Any Cost 3
10. Loyalty for Love
- Sweetheart's Bakery
11. Making the Perfect Wedding
12. My Charming Butlers
- Reiss’ Reign
13. Otouto Scramble - Remake
14. Switch! Love Over Flowers
Supernatural
1. Bloodlust Rebellion
- Veiled Alliances
2. The Curse of Death's Kiss
3. Dances with Destiny
4. Demonic Crusade: Forbidden Love
5. Demonic Suitors
- Demonic Suitors Season 2
6. Enchanted Hearts
7. Full Moon Mafia
- Full Moon Mafia - Hugh's Story
8. Girl Who Cried Wolf
9. Midnight Serenade Part 1
- Midnight Serenade Part 2
- Midnight Serenade Part 3
- Midnight Serenade Part 4
10. Millionaire Monster Penthouse
11. Monstrous Craving
- Monstrous Craving 2
12. Paranormal Cryptid Lovers
- Haunted Hearts
13. Psychic Supernatural Boyfriend
14. Servants of the Night
15. Shinigami Soul Agency
- Shinigami Soul Agency 2
- Enma's Story
16. Shop of Forgotten Memories
17. Supernatural Nightlife Lovers
- Blood Bond
18. Taming the Heart of a Beast
19. Tokyo Rock Redemption
20. Twilight Host Club
- Nils' Story
21. Twilight Lovers
- Sebastian's Story
Tropes applying to the app as a whole:
Meta tropes surrounding the gameplay and mechanics of the Otomania app.- Allegedly Free Game: The game is free to download and to play, but if you want to pick premium choices, or use more than a couple tickets a day, you'll have to pay real money to buy more through the in-app store.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Once you unlock a premium dialogue option, it's permanently unlocked even if you restart the story. Additionally, completed stories are easily accessible through a separate tab on your profile.
- Background Music: Naturally, it's part of what makes it a Kinetic Novel. The only time there's no background music playing in a story is if something shocking or suspenseful comes to light, though it's usually only a brief pause before the music shifts.
- Dialogue Tree: Pretty much the biggest semblance of player-controlled "gameplay" comes in the form of choosing a dialogue option at certain points of the story.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: Related to Dialogue Tree above, the gameplay of choosing a dialogue will affect the characters' response. However...
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: ...it is also a case of this, as the overall story follows a linear path, and dialogue options only really affect the immediate reply.
- Microtransactions: It would hardly be a mobage without them! Players can buy additional story tickets, or gems for premium content, with real world money.
- Recurring Element: Every story (barring side stories that usually branch off with a chosen character) usually has between 2-4 possible love interests. A surprising amount of them have three advertised guys with a fourth one that's slightly more unconventional, like the Disc-One Final Boss Tavarius in Demonic Suitors or Hansol the K-pop idol and fallen angel in Feral Hearts.
- Recycled Soundtrack: Some music clips will show up in multiple stories.
- Stock Audio Clip: The same audio clip will be used across the stories, usually of a crowd talking unintelligibly, or a stock sound effect like a slap or crunch.
- Stock Scream: Same as the above, which can be particularly jarring if the reader isn't expecting it.
- Story to Gameplay Ratio: Has a very high ratio, given it's a Dating Sim Visual Kinetic Novel. Pretty much the only thing vaguely in the way of gameplay is choosing a dialogue option.
- Unbroken First-Person Perspective: The main characters are never shown, and are implied to be the perspective the stories are viewed in by virtue of NPCs' sprites moving closer to the screen to illustrate when they're approaching the protagonist.
- Variable Mix: The background music will usually follow the flow of the story and change accordingly.
Tropes applying to the Visual Novels themselves:
Storytelling and artistic tropes applying to one or more of the visual novels themselves.note- Ambiguous Situation: The backstories and lore for many of the stories are usually this, if they're touched on at all. What the characters were doing before the story, how they got there, and much about how the world that the story takes place in (if it takes place in a different one, that is) is left intentionally vague, if stated at all. This is usually due to time and resource limitations, making such worldbuilding superfluous if it's not directly related to the plot.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Every story features a different protagonist with a different cast of characters, unless it’s explicitly stated to be a sequel or side story.
- Apocalypse How: The of the Dead series of stories all involve societal collapse by zombie apocalypse
- Attractive Zombie: If one of the love interests is a zombie, they're invariably this.
- Balanced Harem: An gender-inverted example, the multiple love interests usually get equal screentime and Ship Tease with the main character.
- Battle Couple: Mostly seen in the action stories.
- Beast and Beauty: Quite a few of the supernatural and fantasy stories involve at least one (if not all) of the love interests having Little Bit Beastly qualities, in order to reflect their status as a werewolf/zombie/oni etc.
- Befriending the Enemy: Whether it's to lower the enemy's guard or by romancing the enemy, many of the stories involve this as an option.
- Beta Couple: Occasionally seen as part of the secondary cast of characters, to offset the drama surrounding the protagonist and her suitor(s).
- Bird People: Downplayed, as the "bird" part mostly consists of having a set of wings and talons. The stories that involve yōkai usually include tengu
. Standouts include Karasu from Soul of Yokai, Ren (a crane spirit) in Forest of Destiny, and Erebus (an owl cryptid) in Paranormal Cryptid Lovers - Bite of Affection: Pretty much a given in any story involving vampires.
- Bittersweet Ending: Some of the stories have endings that fall into this category:
- Everlasting Alchemists ends with Allen and the others being freed from the curse, but the MC being the bearer of the curse instead. Usually the love interest decides to stay with her by choice, meaning that the overall issue of the curse holding the characters hostage hasn't gone away, it's just gotten slightly less all-consuming.
- Sins of the Everlasting Twilight ends with Elise and Raivis being defeated and the town and its people being freed from Elise's entrapment, with the MC being able to return to her normal life. Zarek, Theo, and Noel are able to continue living in the present day. But Ronan sacrifices himself in the fight against Elise, and no one is able to remember him. The MC and Noel have vague recollections of somebody but only if you pick Ronan's ending will the MC remember him at all. And even then, all that accomplishes is the MC existing in a seeming suspended afterlife state with Ronan for all eternity.
- Body Horror: Attack/Mall/University/Princess of the Dead include some of this in the zombie sprites, and descriptions of them.
- Broken Pedestal:
- Sins of the Everlasting Twilight: Ronan for the other three guys, but especially his adoptive brother Noel.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: A fair amount of couples have this dynamic. Sometimes they're the main character and her LI, otherwise it's the Beta Couple characters.
- But Thou Must!: No matter what dialogue options or love interest is chosen, the overarching plot plays out more or less the same. It's the main reason the stories are more Kinetic Novel than true game.
- Call-Back: There is a scene in Demonic Suitors where a character explains that a child born of a human and demon will be stronger than either, a plot point also in Lullaby of Demonia, a similarly popular game about a group of demons and their connection to humans.
- The [x] of the Dead stories have various call backs to previous characters, sometimes in a case of Cutting Off the Branches.
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Considering the genre, this is to be expected. Subverted with some love interests, who cross more into Hunk territory than Bishōnen.
- The Chain of Harm: A plot point in Desires of a Dragon Prince, and The Rondo of Oblivion.
- Chains of Love: Tavarius from Demonic Suitors is all but stated to be into BDSM.
- Dark World: Pretty much any game involving demons involves the Dark World they live in being hostile to the protagonist
- Dating Sim: Obviously, though the stories lack the multiple endings dating sims usually feature.
- Developers' Desired Date: Some of the LIs get more screentime or Ship Tease than others:
- Sins of the Everlasting Twilight: Noel gets more Ship Tease and one-on-one scenes than either Zarek or Theo, as well as close ties to the plot's inciting events by being the adoptive brother of Ronan.
- Lullaby of Demonia: Alastor is just shy of being the Implied Love Interest. It helps that he's become something of a mascot for the app.
- Feral Hearts: While less noticeable than other examples on this list, Masaki certainly has shades of this given his immediate protectiveness of the MC, his Big Damn Heroes moments in the plot regardless of choice, and his being the Wolf God that met the MC as a child.
- The Lost Fate of the Oni: Tamaki is the only one to propose to the MC in his ending.
- Shinigami Soul Agency: Setsuna: he's the one who was supposed to reap the MC's soul in her backstory, has been keeping tabs on her ever since as his first and only hesitation, and is the one to turn her into a shinigami by the end of season 2.
- Disproportionate Retribution: In stories involving demons/angels/vampires/werewolves/zombies/ghosts/yokai the main character will be on the receiving end of this due to being human (or Half-Human Hybrid).
- Humanoid Abomination: Half the stories involve supernatural entities that have wings, horns, talons, scales, or an amalgamation of non-human features. Downplayed in that it never stops any of them from being good-looking.
- Human Resources: In Lullaby of Demonia it's explicitly stated that "soul energy" from humans powers the demonic realm, even if it doesn't actually involve killing humans, which would essentially be like shooting themselves in the foot.
- Last Request: Ronan in Sins of the Everlasting Twilight gives on to the main character, asking her to be there for his adoptive brother Noel since he knows Elise will kill him before long.
- Multiple Endings: Each story has multiple endings depending on the LI you choose. These have no real bearing on the plot itself, which will play out the same no matter what, and the game even offers you the chance to replay the chapter (at the cost of a story ticket) in order to see the ending with someone else.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. Some characters share the same name across different stories:
- There’s an Ezra in both Bloodworth Academy Occult Club and The Rondo of Oblivion.
- A character named Senri is featured in both Welcome to the Yokai Inn and The Lost Fate of the Oni.
- A similar case happens with Rei in Forest of Destiny and Raye in Millionaire Monster Penthouse though at least the spelling is different.
- Kyo in Welcome to the Yokai Inn and Kyo in Feral Hearts
- A meta example can occur with the main character, since the player can name her whatever they want. This means there’s nothing stopping you from using the same name for every MC (the game somewhat encourages this by having the default name be “Jessica” each time, even in ones that specifically take place in Japan), or by using the same name as another character in the story.
- Protagonist Without a Past: Some stories are better than others in at least giving the protagonist parent(s) around, a career or student life (if it's not directly tied to the plot), and more personality than other games of the genre, but there's still less of a background given to them than in other game genres for the sake of self-insert.
- Suddenly Voiced: Later stories have a third-tier dialogue option, where it costs even more gems to hear the premium option fully voice acted. Only a few have this, however.
- Take a Third Option: Or, well, fourth option. Some of the stories offer a fourth love interest whose ending is a little more unconventional than the others, sometimes to the point of requiring spending gems to unlock. Usually this is because said character was a villain in the story, or at least morally ambiguous enough to not be an obvious choice ending.
- Ronan in Sins of the Everlasting Twilight
- Slightly with Valec in Lullaby of Demonia, though his example is less egregious than others on this list, simply being hurt and misguided more than any real threat or Blue-and-Orange Morality haver.
- Amon, however, plays this completely straight, to the point of only being somewhat of an option in a side story.
- Hansol in Feral Hearts
- Tavarius in Demonic Suitors
- Dorcha in Desires of a Dragon Prince
- Aoi in Fate of the Foxes
- Akanojaku in Kamisama: Spirits of the Shrine
- Calvin in Girl Who Cried Wolf
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Lyria does this to Emin and the protagonist in Fated Demon Lovers.
- World of Technicolor Hair: To be expected in a series that uses Japanese Visual Arts Tropes. Even in settings that aren't explicitly supernatural or fantastic some characters have Implausible Hair Colors.
