AKAIITO HD REMASTER
Switch eShop
SUCCESS
2004 2023
Man I cannot believe how highly this is ranked on VNDB. An 8.01 average -- I think it's worth about half that. Granted I'm not the target audience to say the least. Akai Ito is a "yuri" visual novel, meaning it's all about the female protagonist's relationships with other women. Men are basically absent from the story. I find that these sorts of stories exist as a way to showcase cutesy and flirty anime grills -- they aren't exactly "super gay" nor do they "promote homosexuality" in the same way modern Westoid slop media does. But they can be dull.
So why'd I try this? Because it's retro, of course! Akai Ito was originally released on the PlayStation 2, back in 2004. This is ostensibly a remastered version, though it retains the 4:3 resolution. The developer (old and new) is Success, the same folks behind the Cotton shooters. That's right, the shmups about the cute little witch girl with her fairy companion. Now those were pretty good!!
The hero is a 16-year-old girl named Kei. She's sweet but ditzy and clueless, often to a fault. Upon the death of her mother she heads to the Japanese countryside to examine the old house she's inherited. Player choices can dictate whether she initially spends time there or crashes at an inn instead. It's a comfy setting, simplistic and archaic. Despite occurring in modern times (well, 2004) there's little in the way of technology. The house doesn't have its power or water back and running, so Kei collects firewood. The inn has hot springs. The "downtown" is sleepy, and everything is surrounded by a verdant expanse. Only occasionally does a piece of tech make an appearance: Kei's flip phone. The female supporting cast trickles in, in quick succession. There's a girl who claims to be an oni slayer, a big tiddy lady who was pals with Kei's mom, a cute little elementary schooler who squats in the house and is accompanied by a white fox, a fragile spirit who first reveals herself in a dream. They're all fairly likable, as are the two primary villains: twin oni girls who announce their arrival with bells, mimic each others' movements, and speak in alternating fragments. The two (obligatory?) male characters are awful. One's a dude named Kei, who's supposed to be... I dunno, a counterpart to the regular Kei? Then there's the big "real" villain reveal like a million hours in and it's some tattoid snake deity who babbles on for too long and doesn't do much interesting.
I've got some serious problems with how the story unfolds. It's too repetitive. Essentially every character route has the same big reveal ("she was closer to the spirit world than you initially thought..."). Scenes that should be skippable upon a second viewing are, perplexingly, not, probably due to some small and pedantic change in text. There's a decidedly colossal number of info dumps, dedicated to ancient Japanese history, Shinto, mythology, kanji puns (yeah...), and so forth. If you're not interested in some battle that occurred 1000 years ago, or the significance of 糸, prepare for stretches of excruciating boredom. This is a thirty-hour experience, by the way. "Fight scenes" drag on forever, with each move described in detail. There are spells, seals, charms, it all feels very arbitrary. Oh, and the blood, make it stop. Akai Ito is BLOODY. Not because of gore and dismemberment. This is drip-fed blood, sucked and leeched. Turns out Kei has special blood, sought by evil onis, but also powerful enough to heal her wounded friends. Blood-sucking becomes simulated sex (and rape?), what passes for eroticism in this game. Everyone gets a sample of Kei's red juices. It's really disgusting. Then again, I'm the guy who has to "look the other way" when visiting the phlebotomist and almost passed out during the bloodborne pathogens video at work. I can't bleed!!
Everything that takes place during Akai Ito transpires under the shadow of a mutilated translation. It's blunt, stilted, often confusing. Spelling mistakes are frequent, usually one letter off, and there are countless past/present tense errors. Even pronouns get muddied, what with the two Kei characters. The game boasts 32(!) endings. Some are obviously bad (death of Kei). Others are bittersweet and "normal" and typically involve Kei going back to her hometown. Here she reunites with Yoko, an old buddy that doesn't show up elsewhere. Yoko is hilarious and obsessed with fast food, maybe the best girl in the game. Her face is never shown, like Tim the Tool Man's neighbor. There's actually no singular true ending, but there's one true ending for each major character, and a bonus CG + a title screen change once all are reached. Mechanically, the route structure is irritating due to a "seal" system. Essentially, some routes are inaccessible until others are completed first. There's no way to ascertain how this is all playing out in the background, short of reloading saves and experimenting ad nauseam.
Aesthetics are a high point here. Character designs are straight out of 2000 era anime, and backgrounds are incredibly detailed. There's full voice acting, the oni twins being the most striking with their weird staccato whispers. CGs are frequent, and the protagonist is often displayed onscreen (she's adorable). Music is fitting, atmospheric and primitive. Attention is paid to finer details too: winds, falling leaves, a realistic day/night cycle. Very convincing midsummer vibes.
Overall a tough one to really get into. It's just so damn strange. Do I... do I have to play the sequel?
Rating: 2/5
Reviewed: 12/24/25