JACK JEANNE - KAI ROUTE
Another route done (5/7! .... technically only 4 but I watched my friend play Suzu's route in its entirety.... I might skip out on writing a post on Suzu entirely for a few reasons...) and this time is my beloved Kai Mutsumi!
This route might just be my favourite so far. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
Where do I even start with this route?? Disregard everything I've ever said about this game and just know Kai might just be my favourite route and love interest. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself because I still have Fumi and Kisa's route to do and I know for a fact that these are probably 2 of the most interesting routes simply going by the characters they're based around.
Let's start by introducing Kai- Kai Mutsumi is a Quartz third-year and the class' Jack Ace. He's a withdrawn person, but completely devoted to supporting Fumi, the Al Jeanne, as his vessel and also the entirety of Quartz. Kai is a fairly insecure and lacks the confidence typically expected of Jack Aces.
I really love how Kai's insecurities were handled and explored in his route, I find him to be quite similar to Souchan and the game gives a lot of similarities to draw between the two. They're both jacks, Sou aspiring to be a Jack Ace like Kai, they're both rather emotionally sensitive people and they both look up to Tsuki Tachibana. When Sou has an argument with Suzu, Kai is the one to talk to Sou and calm him down because he understands the inferiority that Sou felt at the time. Sou definitely looks up to Kai in particular and they're honestly very similar people, Kai just being far more repressed.
I found it really interesting Kai is a renowned Jack Ace but also the most insecure person ever. He's constantly praised but internally denies all of these praises and keeps to himself. He focuses on uplifting his peers as a vessel and puts himself last. In short, he has craaaazzzzyyy impostor syndrome. I completely didn't expect Kai or Fumi to have the personalities they have which is something I really like about both of them. They subverted my expectations like crazy.
I think something that contributes to his impostor syndrome is the fact that prior to his second year, Kai had never landed a main role. He only became Jack Ace after Neji made him Fumi's pair. Kai isn't used to the spotlight and used to be a nameless in the ensemble, which surprised me on my initial playthrough.
Kai is a mysterious person and he likes to hang around the mountains but not in a serial killer way, more of a Snow White way. He attracts animals and he knows quite a lot about animals and plants, with a few of his RNG dialogues including him naming the species seen around Univeil's campus. IIRC he has one talking about mushrooms and the kinds that people mistake for edible kinds.
(I find this aspect of Kai to be super cute.. 100000+ gap moe points....)
He's also the tallest in the main Quartz cast (185cm) and has a really scarily muscular body (I am not attaching a picture of beach Kai because he's fucking scary and really ripped for no reason... external link if you really want to see). He's like a horse... even Neji comments on this... or well just says he has a "long face" which makes me think of this video.
There's a few reason for me to love Kai's route in particular, but one is the fact that Kai is the only love interest to not question Kisa's identity as a guy whatsoever (I'm pretty sure Fumi realized immediately even tho I haven't done his route yet... I SWEAR I had a RNG dialogue with Fumi where Fumi uses she/her pronouns on Kisa). Now Kai not questioning anything isn't so crazy, but I just adore how affirming Kai is to Kisa when she has to play Jack roles.
A standout moment in the common route is when Kisa compares herself to Suzu and Kai, the two who fit the stereotype of a tall masculine Jack. Kisa wonders if she can even embody a Jack because of her small frame and feminine voice, but Kai tells Kisa that Mukai (the Jack role she's struggling to play) is a man who has the exact same build as her. (It's true! There are men of all body types) It gives Kisa newfound confidence even though she's not the stereotypical image of a Jack.
Kai doesn't seem to question if Kisa's a girl whatsoever and seems to completely accept that she's just smaller than everyone else. He seemed very genuinely surprised during the reveal scene (MORE ON THIS LATER). I just think it's rather sweet if you read the game through a transgender lens. Gender affirming Kai Mutsumi.
Another reason I love this route is that it FINALLY talks about Tsuki, though I completely expected Fumi's route to be the Tsuki-ish one because they were partners before. It does make sense though, since Tsuki inspired Kai when they attended together as well as the fact that Kai took on Tsuki's role of Jack Ace after Tsuki's graduation.
This also comes back to the Tsuki = Tummy theory because both Tsuki and Tummy are super present in Kai's route... Tummy is a mountain weasel with a moon on his stomach. He only goes "Kyui!" but honestly the most plausible thing is that Tummy is related to Tsuki and many people think that Tummy is Tsuki. It's... a theory! (See end of blog post for Tsuki theories lol)
Honestly? I think that there are quite a few supernatural occurances in Kai's route, some of which are attributed to Mount Oodate (the mountain next to the school). Tummy is one for sure, but there's a scene later in Kai's route that I'll get more into later.
This one isn't on Mt Oodate, but in the summer camp test of courage scene with Kai, something really weird happens where Kisa sees a girl in the forest who shows KaiKisa the way to the chapel. Kisa sends her regards, prompting Kai to follow suit. The two of them successfully make it to the chapel, but it turns out Kai didn't see the person Kisa was talking to and just went along with what she was doing. It's weird...
Alright let's get into the actual route itself. In Kai's first affection scene, you see him go to a church and Kisa follows. Kai is a regular at this church (I don't actually think Kai is actually religious..? He does play a priest in Winter but I don't think he's a Christian...?) because he likes to spend time with the kids there. We discover that Kai lost his parents as a child and was put into foster care, which is why he visits the kids at the church because they're either orphans or being temporarily housed there.
Two kids ask Kai and Kisa to show them some Jack and Jeanne moves as Univeil students. I quite like that the boy plays a Jeanne and the girl plays the Jack role.. fun reversal.
The next affection scene is actually pretty integral to the rest of Kai and Kisa's relationship. Kai wanted to thank Kisa for visiting the church and playing with the kids, so he takes her to a coffee shop. He clearly doesn't know what he's doing because he takes Kisa there and asks her to order whatever she wants lol. He says he actually never really goes to coffee shops, but wanted to show his gratitude to Kisa.
Kai catches Kisa having a glance at some flowers in the cafe and asks the clerk if the two of them can have a closer look (they're preserved flowers!) I really like this bit of the affection scene because Kisa doesn't say anything, but Kai is very attentive to her body language and senses that she wanted to see. I really like how Kai notices small things...
This is your first glimpse at Kai's repressed nature... He very obviously doesn't hang out with people much and keeps to himself. Neji even dubs him the "mountain man" and has a shirt where Kai says he's going out to the mountains.
In the third affection scene, KaiKisa go out to Mt Oodate to go on a walk together. Kai tells Kisa that he likes the mountains so much because it reminds him of where he grew up before his parents died and got put into foster care. Unfortunately, the weather changes and it suddenly starts to rain. The two head back, but Kisa trips on some wet leaves.
Kai comments on how small Kisa's hands are, but says nothing more. They manage to make it back to the dorms safely and the affection event ends there. This is the first instance where Kai notices how physically different he is to Kisa, but doesn't really draw the connection to Kisa being a girl. He just notices quietly.
This is the first instance of KaiKisa holding hands.. It becomes a common thing they do from now on... (I think always initated by Kai, too)
Every single affection scene after this is just emotional rollercoaster. It hurts just thinking about how much Kai (and Kisa) go through... In the 4th affection scene, Kisa can't go back to sleep, so she goes for a walk and sees Kai awake too. She follows him to the training room where Kai is practicing really hard and calls out to him. Kai's surprised that she's there and they start to chat.
Turns out Kai often can't sleep because he starts thinking about his past and gets overwhelmed by his thoughts. It gets pretty depressing because Kai's just such a lonely person- his parents are dead and he wonders why he can't feel happy despite having so much support in Quartz. Kai wonders if he'll ever be happy and if having a family would fill the wounds of his heart.
This cutscene hurts so much because Kai genuinely wonders if he'll die saddled with so much regret and loneliness. He's so used to solitude that he doen't know anything beyond it.
Naturally, Kisa tries her best to comfort Kai. She reassures him and lets him know that she and the rest of Quartz think of Kai highly and really care for him and asks that he doesn't put himself down further. Kai starts to cry uncontrollably to his own surprise, mentioning how he wasn't able to cry when his mother passed from illness during his childhood. Kai apologizes for being unsightly, but Kisa doesn't mind at all.
At the end of the scene, Kai says that he can finally sleep now. This line is what made me draw the lines between Kai and his role in Oh, Rama Havenna. More on that in a bit, there'll be a ORH section like usual.
Something to note is that Kisa's mother died during her early childhood. I don't know if it's mentioned ingame (likely during Kisa's route) but I read a short story about Kisa and her childhood where I learned this fact. Kisa actually never mentions the loss of her mother to Kai despite how similar it makes the two. I really hope that they have this conversation in Jack Jeanne 2 or anywhere really. Kai and Kisa are so similar in many ways.
Kisa likely feels deeply for Kai in this scene because her mother is dead, her father is negligent and her brother disappeared. She's lonely and even mentions earlier in the affection scene that if she wasn't attending Univeil right now, she'd be alone at home. Kai and Kisa found a community in Quartz and slowly their hearts are thawing....
Actually, both of them were individually recruited by Shuri Chuza, the principal. Univeil often takes orphans in and Kai was one of them. Shuza also invited Kisa to join Univeil at the start of the game.
The next affection scene and the last one before Christmas is during preparations for the Winter performance (hey we're about to hit the Oh, Rama Havenna analysis portion of this blog post!) and Kisa joins Kai on a walk to the shrine. They talk about Kai's plans in the spring because he's graduating soon.
Kai mentions how he'll be sad to leave everyone, but has a lot to look forward to because he's going to be joining Tamasaka Troupe. He initially rejected the offer because he felt unfit to join, but eventually gave in after gaining some confidence in Fall. If you choose the dialogue option where Kisa says she'll be sad when he leaves, Kai says that he's oddly happy that they feel the same way. Sad- but happy that Kisa will miss him.
Kai asks Kisa if she's ever seen daybreak, which she hasn't. He tells her that during spring, you can see daybreak and that it's beautiful, just like Kisa (he's surprisingly casual about complimenting Kisa like this). Kisa wonders if she can see daybreak and early blooming plum blossoms with Kai in spring because he'll be so busy with graduation.
The two of them decide to practice dancing for ORH because the Priest, Kai's role, and Chicchi, Kisa's role, have an important scene at the start of the play where they dance together, signifying Chicchi's arrival in Havenna. In the training room, Kisa takes Kai's hand and feels comfortable because Kai's able to lead her so well. Kisa wants to check her expression in a mirror, but Kai turns her away and tells her to only look at him and trust him. (HOLY SHIT...! WOW!! WOW...!WOW..!!!!)
Kai continues to dance with Kisa, and Kisa entrusts herself to him. Kai says that he'll do everything to "show everyone in Univeil theatre how beautiful you are" to Kisa. Kai says that he's the person who sees her beauty the most.
It's later revealed that Kai stopped Kisa from looking in the mirror because she seemed averse to doing female roles and in realizing that Kisa was doing well to ease into acting as Chicchi, he stopped her from noticing her own femininity. But I'm pretty sure Kai already had feelings for Kisa at this point and wanted her to look at him only.
By the way Kai genuinely believes that Kisa's a guy here still. This scene cements Kai as the superior bisexual in the Jack Jeanne cast (cough Neji).
THE OH, RAMA HAVENNA SECTION
Okay so now it's the part that you've all been waiting for(? well I have...): OH, RAMA HAVENNA! What does the Priest have to do with Kai? The Priest is one of my favourite characters in ORH despite his very short screen time. His only notable scenes are at the very start and end of the play. He's a priest who goes around Havenna, the town of pleasure, preaching the word of God. Weird, right? Who the fuck is gonna listen to a priest in sex town?
The Priest is the character who greets Chicchi at the start of the play when she first arrives in Havenna on a boat. The Priest asks Chicchi what she wants from Havenna and warns her that she may never go back. Chicchi tells the Priest that she has no intention of going back, so the Priest tells her to dance until she collapses and the two dance together.
Obviously everyone in Havenna thinks the Priest is a prude because why is there a priest here? At the end of the play, after Chicchi and Rukiora make up, Chicchi finds the Priest in a back alley and he says he has trouble sleeping, prompting Chicchi to ask him if he needs some help. The play ends on Chicchi putting the Priest to sleep, showing that the Priest has finally given into the desires of Havenna.
The most obvious parallel betwen Kai and the Priest is their inability to sleep being cured by the presence of Kisa and Chicchi respectively, albeit in very different ways. Kai is able to sleep because he finds comfort from Kisa's words which eases his mind. The Priest is able to sleep because Chicchi chokes him until he passes out (lol). Kai needs Kisa and the Priest giving into Havenna's pleasures is much like Kai eventually becoming vulnerable enough to love Kisa/ let Kisa love him.
The Priest and Kai are both surrounded by people who make the most of their environments while denying themselves the same luxury. The Priest listens to the sins of the people in Havenna but doesn't let himself indulge in Havenna's pleasures. Kai is surrounded by his classmates in Quartz who act to their full potential, but Kai restrains himself and chooses to support them instead as a vesel rather than shining onstage. Both of them feel unworthy of more, but eventually seek Chicchi/Kisa to ask for more.
Chicchi and the Priest’s roles are reversed from the start and end. The Priest welcomes Chicchi to Havenna and at the end, Chicchi welcomes the Priest into the pleasures of Havenna. This is much like how Kai nurtures Kisa’s talents to make her a shining actor by the end of her first year and Kisa making Kai realize that he wants to be more than a supporting role.
Something that's been on my mind ever since my initial read of ORH is the significance of the Priest coming to Chicchi at the end of the play. One may assume that Chicchi stopped working as a mugwort seller to perform with Rukiora, but Chicchi offering to help the Priest sleep suggests otherwise. Does this make Chicchi a liar? Is Chicchi even a liar because she never said she would stop being a mugwort seller?
If we assume that Chicchi never said that she would stop being a mugwort seller, it makes her and Rukiora's relationship a bit more interesting. Rukiora would know about Chicchi's other occupation despite her hatred for it, which is a reflection of her love for Chicchi. Rukiora wouldn't be stopping Chicchi from doing what she wanted to do the most in Havenna- sell mugwort and help men sleep.
Chicchi never said she would stop selling mugwort, she simply told Rukiora the truth, and Rukiora never told Chicchi to stop being a mugwort seller. Chicchi isn't ashamed of her work and lied to only Rukiora to preserve their friendship so with the secret out of the window, I don't think Chicchi threw away the occupation she came to Havenna to do. Chicchi is her own person and it's honestly kind of impressive how Neji somehow wrote a sex-positive story about 2 women with how misogynistic he is lol.
(I'm still quite unsure on this last bit, but it's something I love to think about. There's a lot of implications and I just really love Chicchi and Rukiora's relationship.... and the Priest...! Now the biggest mystery in Havenna is Miguel, Fumi's role. Blog post coming whenever I finish his route lol.)
BACK TO KAI'S ROUTE
NOW IT'S CHRISTMAS! HURRAY! Time for joy and time for cheer. This time, Kisa chooses to spend Christmas with Kai and thinks about spending some time at the Church with the kids. The same boy kid from earlier goes out to get some cake for everyone, so Kisa goes to check on him just in case he drops it.
Sure enough, the kid is being super careful with the cake and walking cautiously. Apparently not cautious enough to check the road before crossing and a car rapidly approaches. Kisa rushes to save the kid before he gets hit by the car.................. AND GETS HIT BY A FUCKING CAR.
Soo remember when I said that Neji route Xmas was the worst because Kisa gets rejected? Forget that completely. I don’t know how the game can give Kisa a worse Christmas anymore.
Everyone in the church is alarmed by the sound of the car crash, prompting Kai to rush out and sees Kisa on the road. He panics, calling out her name and holds her unconscious hand. In due time, an ambulance arrives. BTW there is a fucking ambulance and hospital room CG that I'm fairly sure are exclusive to Kai's route. I was in fucking shambles man.
Kisa slips in and out of consciousness on the ambulance, confused and in pain. She does notice Kai, who's holding her hand. Kai's terrified, but is on the ambulance with the paramedics and tells them Kisa's name, age, gender and other information they need. The paramedics have to take off some of Kisa's clothing to treat her and realize that she's actually a girl. Kai can only watch in disbelief, but has much more to worry about in that moment.
Kisa awakens at the hospital, greeted by Univeil's principal. He asks her if he remembers what happens and Kisa realizes where she is. Thankfully the kid is fine and Kisa surprisingly made it out with few injuries. She feels a lot better after treatment but still has to rest for a few days just in case. The principal tells Kisa that Kai knows about her real gender and would usually expel her from Univeil, but she's been through enough and saved a kid's life so he lets it slide.
The principal wasn't sure how Kisa was gonna take the news, but she wasn't particularly upset or anything. It was just not how she expected her secret to come out... Kisa's free to be discharged and decides to go back to Univeil so she can talk to Kai.
It's late at night, but sure enough Kai's waiting by the gates for Kisa to return to the dorm. Kisa apologizes for worrying him (GIRL U GOT HIT BY A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but Kai interrupts her and pulls her into a hug.
Kisa reassures Kai that she's okay and that she's still here. That line particularly stings with how Kisa knows how deeply affected Kai is by loss. She knows she means a lot to him and that losing her would bring him back to where he used to be. Kai apologizes for acting out of line and hugging her and tells her that everyone was really worried.
Quartz is surprised to see Kisa again so soon and are glad to see her well. Neji and Fumi comment on how fucking freaked out Kai was and Fumi says he's never seen Kai like that (which is a lot coming from FUMI). Kai needs a moment with Kisa alone though, since they have her secret to discuss, as well as catch up on their rudely interrupted Christmas.
Kisa apologizes for ruining Kai's Christmas, but Kai thanks her for saving the kid at church because if Kisa didn't save him, the kid would probably be dead. So Kisa saved Xmas! Kai gives Kisa her Christmas gift- a bouquet of preserved flowers in a cage, just like the ones from the cafe in their earlier affection scene.
Kai reassures Kisa that her secret is safe with him and wants to convey how much she means to him.
You can actually choose to say "I love you" or "I want to stay by your side too". If you tell him you love him, he actually says that his heart is beating so hard that it hurts. He has a more pleased reaction when you choose the latter and reciprocate his feelings. Regardless, at the end of the interaction, Kai tells Kisa he loves her. Merry Christmas!
New Years rolls around and KaiKisa both stay at the dorms and practice together. They do the shrine visit together which was quite cute.. Kai asks Kisa if she wants anything and they look around the stalls and say a prayer. I'm sure Kai was praying for Kisa's success in the next year instead of for himself lol.
KaiKisa are found practicing by Neji and Fumi and they notice how well they're working together. Kai is trying a lot harder now because he wants to be Kisa's Jack Ace in the final performance. BTW Neji is so mean to Kai in this route... he teases him way too much after noticing that Kai likes Kisa. Anyway, seeing KaiKisa work so well together puts some ideas into Neji and Fumi's head.
Fast forward to the final performance casting and Neji casts Kisa as the Al Jeanne, Sissia (YAY! Kisa can stay at Univeil!), but says that he hasn't decided on the Jack Ace. Kai is cast as Levi, the ringleader of Kielce, and Fumi is cast as Adra, the dancer of Kielce, but Neji says that the two of them must advocate for themselves and prove why they should be the Jack Ace instead of the other. Nasty meddling Neji.... He's such an ass LOL.
Obviously the "right" choice would for Fumi to be the Jack Ace (he's been the Al Jeanne up until now, but does just as well as a Jack) because he's the better actor and Fumi's a lot more confident in telling his class why they should choose him. Kai starts off by acknowledging and praising Fumi as the better actor, but tells Quartz that he's never asked for much and now he genuinely wants the role of Jack Ace for himself this time. It's really satisfying to see Kai grow from settling for less to being able to ask and go for things he wants.
Neji makes his decision... and casts Kai as the Jack Ace! He hands out the scripts and oddly enough the casting for Kai as the Jack Ace was already there. Turns out Neji and Fumi plotted this entire thing to get Kai to ask his classmates for this role (SO MEAN!! SO MEAN!!!!) and if Kai didn't choose to stand up for himself, Neji would have left the room to adjust the script lol.
Kai and Kisa both are excited for their new roles, but have a difficult time coming to terms with them too. Kisa feels inadequate as the Al Jeanne after going around to the other classes and seeing how all of the other Al Jeannes are a lot more polished than she is. Kai is concerned about being Kisa's Jack Ace and vessel, but also still coming to terms with his feelings for her.
Things only get worse when Kisa visits Amber while waiting for the teacher to give her some documents. Kamiya and Momonashi (the Al Jeannes, in this route Amber does a double Al Jeanne setup) make Kisa try play Takihime from "I am Death" and ridicule her in front of the entire class. They put her down and also tell her that Kai's a useless Jack Ace. Kisa's obviously super hurt by this, but thankfully Chui steps in and stops the Al Jeannes.
Chui actually asks Kisa to play Takihime, but this time with him. The entirety is Amber is shocked by how Kisa's Takihime suddenly transformed with the help of Chui. The Al Jeannes are threatened by her performance. Kisa looks to the loss of her brother, Tsuki, as inspiration for Takihime's suffering and Chui takes notice of her feelings. Chui essentially tells Kisa to look to who's inspiring her in that moment and to look deeper, but warns Kisa that there might be negative consequences.
This interaction leaves Kisa rattled. She thinks about her brother again and remembers that Univeil has an archive of all previous performances, so seeks out Tsuki's first-year Univeil performance where he played an Al Jeanne. Souchan is at the library at the same time as Kisa and warns her that she probably shouldn't watch it, but does regardless.
As expected, Kisa is blown away by how talented her brother was. She feels totally inadequate as an Al Jeanne after watching his performance and only feels worse knowing that she's his younger sister. No one has the expectation for Kisa to be like Tsuki (except the principal I guess), but Kisa puts this pressure on herself to work harder so she can be a fraction of what Tsuki was.
This part of Kai's route is really depressing. Kisa starts to train extra hard and on the weekends you actually can't hang out with anyone and only have the choice to go to Mona star school.
Kisa's classmates notice how much harder she's been working and praise her rapid improvement, but at the same time notice how much she's overworking herself. Kai wonders if something happened to Kisa, but she won't tell him anything.
Mitsuki, Suzu and Sou are super worried about Kisa and discuss why she's been acting so off lately. Mitsuki overhears some amber students talking about Kisa and interrogates them pretty aggressively to find out that Amber had been bullying her and are the reason for her odd behaviour.
Kisa continues on this road of self-destruction and when she's about to do some training with Kai, she starts to hear the voice of her brother calling out for her. Something to note during this scene is that the moon is in the sky, but it's not quite a full moon. The line goes about, "the moon, it's missing a piece just like me", in reference to how Tsuki's name translates into moon and that Kisa isn't quite on his level. She rushes to follow the trail of her brother and runs to the mountains.
Meanwhile, Kai is wondering where Kisa went and panicking because she won't pick up her phone (which is ironic since Kai's known to turn off his phone or put it somehwere he can't hear notifications lol) and asks Mitsuki if he's seen her. Mitsuki was actually going to look for Kai to tell him about what Amber did to Kisa, but the two of them start to search for Kisa instead.
Kisa's lost in the mountain forest and delirious. She's cold and tired and lost and realizes that she's losing it. Not sure where to go, Kisa's guided by the sweet scent of plum blossoms but shortly passes out from exhaustion. Kai is searching the mountain for Kisa and follows the same scent, finding her passed out. He carries her back to the dorm and puts her in bed.
Kisa wakes up to Kai holding her hand (he loves to hold her hand.. sniffle) and she feels a lot better after resting. Kai tells Kisa to take it easy and that he's planning to take a more proactive role as a Jack Ace because he thinks he isn't doing enough to support Kisa in general, but tells her not to worry about it right now. He tells Kisa that he likes her and wants her to be kinder to herself. She falls asleep shortly after.
Kisa wakes up the next day in the afternoon and Kai's still there with her. He's way too worried to do much else LOL but Kisa's still sleepy so she rests a little longer. Poor Kai is probably behind on sleep now.
I
really like this route because they utilize the
weekend hangout mechanic to reflect how Kisa's doing. Since Kisa passed out, you can actually choose to hang out with any Quartz
student (the 6 love interests) on the 31st and it'll be a hangout where
they ask Kisa how she's doing and give her some kind words.
Everyone
says something unique, but my favourite ones were Mitsuki and the other
third-years. Mitsuki makes Kisa some tea and makes her rest up. The
third years tell Kisa about how much Kai was stressing and that he
really cares for Kisa. I don't remember which, but IIRC Fumi mentions that Kai carried Kisa back himself, but him and Neji were there too. If you choose Kai, he's surprised to see Kisa up and about and makes her rest more.
From now on, Kisa treats herself kinder and abandons the pressure she was putting on herself to be like Tsuki, but now Kai starts having problems. Practice is going odd because Kai can't seem to look at Kisa and avoids looking at her which is a problem because Levi, Kai's character, and Sissia, Kisa's character, are supposed to be in love. Kai's also having huge trouble with Levi because of how scarily similar the two are, but also doesn't feel as confident as Levi does.
Levi is an orphan from the war and his adoptive mother was Quatran, the oppressed country in the story. He lost his adoptive mother when the countries were seperated. Levi formed Kielce in hopes of liberating Quatra and seeing his mother again. Kai thinks he's not selfless like Levi, but in reality he's honestly the most selfless person in Quartz.
This weird tension continues building until Valentine's day. Kisa decides to make some chocolates for Kai and the kids at church and is about to call Kai when he knocks at her door. Turns out Kai has some chocolates for Kisa from the kids at church and Kisa in return gives Kai her chocolates. He's surprised to get handmade chocos from the girl he likes and feels a little bad he didn't get anything for Kisa himself. Kisa says that it's okay and he can give her some of his time instead (WOW! CUTE!) so that they can share the chocolates over tea.
KaiKisa chat about how practice is going and Kai starts comparing himself to Levi. Kisa tells him that the two are actually pretty alike and that they devote themselves for the sake of others. Kai is about to agree, but he says that he can't lie to Kisa. In truth, Kai wants nothing more to stand onstage next to Kisa and be the only one she looks at. He feels awful for feeling so selfish and that he should be satisfied just being able to watch Kisa and that his heart can't take it anymore.
Kai says that he feels jealous of Tsuki because Kisa wants to attain the talents that Tsuki had and that Tsuki was her reason to stand onstage. Can't lie I was a little weirded out at first because why are we bringing big bro into the conversation.....? But it does make sense when you think about it. Kai feels like an inferior Jack Ace and remembers Tsuki as this all-perfect unattainable Jack Ace.
Anyway, Kai feels so uncomfortable having his own desires for the first time in his life that he kept trying to supress his feelings. Kai longs for a family and a loving home he can return to. His loneliness has consumed him for his entire life, and Kisa was the first to soothe his solitude. He so desperately wants to be part of Kisa's life and for Kisa to look at him, but he feels so guilty about his desires that he can't even look at Kisa anymore, which is why he's been so avoidant lately.
Kai apologizes to Kisa for acting out and says that he wouldn't be surprised if Kisa didn't like him. Kisa has the options to say: 'I like you' and 'Show me everything'. If you choose 'I like you', he asks why and Kisa simply tells her that she does no matter what. Kisa says that she wants Kai to look at her and to not look away.
If I had to define KaiKisa, it would probably be "unconditional love".
Kisa accepts Kai's feelings and wants him to give his all. It's so sweet... I love them so much.... I can't help but feel like this is the best pairing for Kisa because the two of them are so similar and complete the other. I feel like their designs complement each other quite nicely too, the both have yellow eyes and Kisa's pink hair becomes brighter in the presence of Kai, whose hair is gray. Kai's design truly feels like a vessel and Kisa the flower. The warmth of Kisa's hair also brings colour to Kai, which is rather cute... (Plus height difference cute lol)
I saw a quote on my Bsky timeline that said "two people with nothing to go home to can always return to each other" and I instantly thought of KaiKisa... sniffle..
[Okay. I took like an entire month off from writing this because I got caught up in my OCs and FFXIV. Again!!! But I’m finally finishing this up!!! I started writing this on March 1st and it’s April 21st lmao. Happy Easter!]
[You know what it's May 28 and I just need to release this onto my blog or it's gonna rot longer. Lol]
It's been like 2 months so this is just me trying to wrap up the blog post. I don't really care much for Sissia and the Great Nation, but I did enjoy the little romance.. It wasn't very complex or deep, but Sissia being able to confide in Levi about being Quatran was quite cute and unique to their route...
God... the last scene in this route is so cute... Kai and Kisa are looking over the town at the top of the mountain and watch the spring sunrise. Kai picks her up and twirls her around... Even though Kai has to graduate soon, it's not the end for their relationship. He has a new sense of purpose after abandoning the mindset of existing purely as a vessel for another actor and now wants to stand on the stage for himself with the Tamasaka Troupe. It's beautiful how much Kisa inspires him and how the two of them encourage each other... They genuinely feel like 2 matching puzzle pieces to me.
(Pictured: Kai's best end CG... ue..)
There's another scene I really enjoy which I believe happens before (? could be after... it was near the end regardless) the Univeil performance where Kai and Kisa watch the video of Tsuki's first Univeil performance together. Kai realizes that the Jeanne that Tsuki is conveying is actually the likeness of Kisa. Kisa realizes that the unattainable Jeanne was actually based on her and that her brother still thought of her. It's a very sweet moment.
It's been months and I still love KaiKisa as much as I did when I finished this route. Hands down my favourite JJ romance, but that doesn't change the fact that I love Mitchu and Souchan's routes too. Neji and Suzu I'm indifferent to still...sorry...lol. I'm technically doing Fumi's route right now, but I'm wayyy too caught up in other things right now. JJ will resume someday..promise.
BONUS - WHAT HAPPENED TO TSUKI? SOME POPULAR THEORIES:
- Tsuki is Tummy - Tsuki turned into a weasel on Mt Oodate after dying in the mountains. His dying wish was for Kisa to continue his dream of living on the stage, which would explain why Tummy broke into Kisa's house at the start of the game and why Tummy likes Kisa so much. (*This is the most popular and oddly most plausible theory. I personally don't really like it because he's a weasel...)
- Tsuki ran away - Tsuki Tachibana decided not to join the Tamasaka Troupe and ran away from his life. Maybe he left for overseas or is living under a different identity.
- Tsuki is transgender - quite similar to the last bullet point, but now she's transgender. What if Tsuki became a woman and ran away to a new life? With how heavily gender plays a role in the game, I honestly think this is plausible and would be rather compelling if written with care.
- Tsuki is dead - again similar to the first theory, but without the magical reincarnation. Tsuki is implied to have overworked himself a lot, and he might have passed as a result of stress.
Frankly all of these outcomes have some sad implications, like Tsuki being DEAD but also abandonning his sister. The Tachibana siblings had a difficult upbringing with their mother dying at a young age and their father being neglectful and in debt. Tsuki knowingly leaving Kisa alone is quite sad to think about, but I doubt he would do it intentionally.
This does beg the question of why no one's taken serious action to look for him. He's a celebrity as Univeil's beloved Jack Ace, but there hasn't been a police search or anything...? There's the even more morbid implication that everyone is already aware of his fate (death) and choose not to talk about it.
Fumi explicitly mentions how he still messages Tsuki but never gets responses. Fumi sends him updates on Quartz and tries to ask how Tsuki is and such... so even if Tsuki is alive and isn't replying for whatever reason, he'll still be updated on things.
I need this to be answered in Jack Jeanne 2 or else I'm gonna have to fight Sui Ishida and Shin Towada.
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