Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei Reviews
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei is an action-packed visual novel sure to capture the attention and hearts of otome fans.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei is a charming Otome game with an engaging historical setting and plenty of feudal hotties to fawn over.
On the surface, Birushana is your typical otome game and in most aspects, it is. However, it is refreshing to have a character who isn’t desperate for love and attention. Even though some routes will put her in a damsel-in-distress position, there are others that showcase her resolve. The conversations are often on the longer side and the men surrounding Shanao are all simps…the ideal type for an otome game. Though the game isn’t perfect, there is so much content to unpack that you’ll likely end up taking days to play. A word of advice – don’t be afraid to romance the man you’re not interested in. Some routes will really surprise you!
A remarkable otome game whose memorable story and cast outshine any of its minor blemishes.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei has great world-building and complex characters that helps to deliver a powerful story. Being able to shape the personality of the main character and feel invested in their adventure immerses you into the story, and you are tempted to see how everything ties together. The visual novel helps to break up the story and makes it easier to follow along. Replaying for different routes can be difficult since it’s not always clear what your choices affect, and the intensity of the action scenes isn’t helped by the visual novel medium. Despite its flaws, the story remains excellent, and you will be interested in seeing how the characters determine their future.
Birushana may not have quite knocked it out of the park for me personally, but it’s definitely one that will be enjoyed by plenty of otome enthusiasts. Take your time with it, and don’t come to it expecting anything super new or revolutionary in terms of story. Just know that the heroine, characters and a couple of the routes in particular make Birushana well worth checking out — and then you can join me in celebrating Tomomori in all his glory as best boy, however much he might make your parents question your morality!
As an excuse to hit up the sources on Wikipedia to read about the actual war that formed Japan's political system for more than half a millennium, Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei does a really good job. As a romance… four out of five isn't bad, I guess? But the presence of that fifth one made me bail out far faster than normal for one of these games.
Compared to other Japanese-themed visual novels I’ve played, Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei didn’t impress me as much. The story did manage to find a middle ground with its visuals and cutscenes. but I left yearning for more character development, which is something its contemporaries in the genre are generally known for. However, if you’re the type that prefers a more bittersweet fantasy-style story, you might be able to look past its imperfections and see it as not an otome game, but a very-well made visual novel.
If you're playing Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei for the action, you're missing the point. This is a otome romance novel through and through -- and what's more, it's a good enough otome that even if the setting doesn't sound all that romantic, it still achieves its goal.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei shines in many ways, from the impressive art and intricate animation to the immersive voice acting and impassioned music. Its story, which delves into the rich history and culture of the Heian period, has intrinsic educational value. Sadly, despite its lively retelling of Japan’s history, this otome visual novel felt more flashy than brilliant. In the end, of the five romance routes, only two led me on an enjoyable journey while the others bordered more or less on average that even the extra four side characters’ sub-stories could not help save. Thus, unless you are very interested in the history aspect, I would suggest to wait for a sale on Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei.
Birushana is absolutely worth recommending to otome fans, as all of the love interests are interesting and engaging, and the game does a great job of bringing history to life. It offers tons of content to explore, and so many boys to smooch.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei has an interesting story and charismatic characters. Its artwork is wonderful, highly recommended this otome if you like the samurai theme.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I think that Birushana sits comfortably as one of the best otome titles I’ve ever picked up, and it’s a strong contender for the best visual novel I’ve grabbed this year. Anyone curious about the genre or anyone who wants a bit of love intermingled with 85% accurate historical moments should grab this game. Also, if you’re really interested, get the soundtrack and all the other goodies with the limited edition before it’s gone: Birushana honestly feels like a title that will be remembered for years to come.
There are certain otome games in which the romance is absolutely there, but might not always feel like the main focus. For example, Hakuoki is absolutely romantic, but it also a thriller offering an alternate, supernatural take on the Shinsengumi and Bakumatsu period. Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei feels similar, due to it being a Heian period piece offering its own alternate take on the events after the Heiji rebellion.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei. The characters were charming, well-acted, and gorgeous; I’m a sucker for historical fiction, and experiencing an alternate version of the Genpei War made for a really exciting scenario; and the sound design was completely on point. Unfortunately, the game also suffered from some glaring grammatical issues that cannot be ignored. If you’re a fan of samurai or historical drama, Birushana is worth checking out, but that recommendation comes with a massive caveat thanks to what I found as less-than-professional proofreading. In the end, your tolerance for grammatical errors is YMMV, and for me they weren’t enough to take me out of the game entirely, but for others it might be a bridge too far.
All in all, playing Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei was a real treat. It has its moments where the story can feel like it’s dragging, as well as a few grammatical errors here and there, but if like me you have aged out of cutesy, under-developed romance games and prefer more mature themes and realistic (albeit still animeish) characters, I recommend you pick this up.
Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei curiously explores an alternate story inspired by Heike Monogatari. With charismatic characters and a beautiful direction when it comes to graphical representation of the period and combat, Shanao's story is a high quality otome game. Fans of historical visual novels in particular will definitely enjoy the game.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I enjoyed playing Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei and seeing different sides of the story and the war. Every character offered a different perspective on the war, and they had to fight a different battle each time. Each route also had a lot of interesting plot points to discover, which kept things interesting. And of course, I loved Shanao. She is a strong character who above all listens to her duty and her heart. Plus, she is a great warrior on the battlefield and a hard worker. In terms of finding the routes, I found the Love Catch and the flowchart very useful to navigate through the game and the routes. It is definitely a well-written plot with different perspectives and a lot of interesting characters. Although the routes have the same structures and certain events, they have done a good job of making changes to every route to make it interesting every time.