Title: タユタマ -kiss on my deity-
Developer: Lump of Sugar
Release Date: 11th July 2008
Age Rating: 18+
Length: ~20 Hours
Links: Official Website, VNDB
Mito Yuuri’s family have looked after the Yachimata Shrine for generations, although Yuuri isn’t exactly the most enthusiastic about his future at the shrine. During spring break, he hears a rumour that a strange monument has been unearthed in the grounds of his school and that it may have something to do with his shrine. So he goes to investigate one night with his friends Ameri & Sankurou.
Unfortunately, there’s an accident and they end up destroying the monument, breaking a seal and releasing many beings known as Tayutai into the human world. Tayutai being creatures with the ability to use spiritual powers. Then a strange girl appears before them whom is a Tayutai sent by the deity honoured by Yachimata Shrine in order to both subdue the “Big 3” – the most powerful and dangerous Tayutai released & to create a world where humans and tayutai can co-exist in peace. The girl, Mashiro, decides that the best way to do this is to marry Yuuri, turning his peaceful days completely upside down. Just where does he go from here??
Characters
Mito Yuuri
Yuuri is a high school student attending the co-ed school in town. He begrudgingly accepts that he will probably have to take over the Yachimata Shrine from his father in the future but his interests lie more in tinkering with motorbikes in the garage attached to the shrine. He has a slightly strained relationship with his father. Yuuri goes along with the fact Mashiro claims to be his wife because he doesn’t really know what else to do with her.
Mito Mashiro (CV Matsuda Risa)
Mashiro is a Tayutai created to hopefully promote co-prosperity between humans and tayutai. Because the goddess that created her was sealed away for hundreds of years, Mashiro is extremely out of touch when it comes to modern technology and customs. She aims to be the perfect wife to her beloved Yuuri and wants to do all of his domestic chores. When it comes to training him to help her take down the Big 3, however, she’s a surprisingly hard taskmaster. She ends up attending the prestigious all-girls Flawless Academy.
Kawai Ameri (CV Hanano Kaori)
Ameri is Yuuri’s childhood friend and classmate. She’s loud, childish and clearly has feelings for Yuuri but doesn’t know how to act on them. This makes her extremely jealous of Mashiro, and the two butt heads often. Ameri is an only child in a relatively wealthy family so is pretty spoiled, with her father (the school chairman) having a hard time saying no to her.
Takanashi Yumina (CV Aoto Yuwa)
Yumina is Yuuri’s (non-blood-related) younger sister. She lived at the shrine with him and his father and was in charge of cooking & cleaning for the family until she was accepted into Flawless Academy under a scholarship. She’s a very shy and nervous young girl who struggles with moving into the dorms of the academy and ends up befriending Mifuyu, whom she looks up to. Yumina is a kind soul but completely lacks self-confidence.
Kisaragi Mifuyu (CV Misaki Rina)
Mifuyu is the “Milady” of Flawless Academy (kind of like a prefect) and is from an extremely old, wealthy family. She’s a very refined but strong character, who likes to get her own way. She cares a lot for all of the Flawless students, which is how she came to befriend Yumina. Mifuyu is extremely suspicious of Yuuri and what is going on with the tayutai, and she wants to offer her help because she’s extremely handy with a sword.
Artwork
Character design and artwork for this game was handled by Moekibara Fumitake, whom is known for his work on the majority of Lump of Sugar’s titles.
Sound
Opening 1: Konna Haru no Sora wo – Shimotsuki Haruka
Opening 2: Shunkan Spline- Kicco
Insert Song: Cherry – Kicco
Mashiro Insert Song: Marital Vows – Matsuda Risa
Ameri Insert Song: Going My Way – Hanano Kaori
Yumina Insert Song: Flower Doll – Aoto Yuwa
Mifuyu Insert Song: Rainy Pain – Misaki Rina
Ending Song: Niji wo Mitsuketa You na Iro de – Shimotsuki Haruka
The games BGM tracks were composed by Ookawa Shigenobu, whom has worked on numerous other Lump of Sugar titles.
System
Not withstanding the fact that the menu is almost entirely in katakana (gross), the system for Tayutama is pretty straight forward. The bottom two options on the menu are short bonus stories that unlock when you have finished all of the heroine routes.
Note: Lump of Sugar did re-release this game as a double pack with the FD a couple years ago which is what I purchased & this version is windows 10 compatible so I would recommend it over the original edition if you have a newer OS.
There’s quite a few choices in this title, most are fairly obvious but if you want to save yourself some time then a walkthrough isn’t a bad idea.
My Thoughts
Given my predisposition towards cute/fluffy stories & girls with animal ears then it’s no surprise that this game caught my eye, couple that with the fact that this is considered one of Lump of Sugar’s best titles and I was simply drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Despite my higher than usual expectations, did Tayutama manage to provide a fun and enjoyable experience?
One thing that I thought was really unique and actually nicely done about this game was the fact that the character dialogue flows well and was generally enjoyable to read. It gave the characters more personality and I found it easy to spend longer than expected on the game.
The actual plot of Tayutama is pretty decent & I really liked the common route the first time I read through it. The problem is that the game makes you read through this common route with tiny changes for each heroine every route. This is extrmely tiresome and just bad/lazy writing.
I’d heard that Mashiro was the best character in the game and I would have to agree with that sentiment. She’s the perfect wife but the strict, teacher-like side to her personality was hilarious too. Of course her kemonomimi are also adorable. I’m sure you can tell from the game’s summary that Mashiro is meant to be the game’s main heroine, with the game almost making you feel guilty for not picking her. I enjoyed her route & ending, perhaps it got a little overdramatic at times but we all love a happy ending so I can overlook it.
Ameri breaks the mould of being your typical meek and caring childhood friend by being more of a modern tsundere type – childishly violent. She can be loud and sometimes I found her overbearing but overall she was memorable. Her history with the protagonist is slightly more interesting than the typical chilshood friend so added some depth to her and Yuuri’s relationship. She’s the most anti-tayutai character in the game and the way her route reflects that was intersting & it added another dimension to the game. Ameri wasn’t my favourite heroine nor my favourite route but she was still likable.
Yumina is absolutely hilarious – her self-depreciating rants/outbursts were equal parts funny and endearing. I just wanted to give her a hug! Her route was centred around family and was probably my second favourite. A good girl.
Finally we have Mifuyu, whom is probably the most stereotypical of the heroines. Again, family plays an important part in her route, although I found that her route fell into the pitfalls that the typical rich ojou-sama characters tend to. She’s still likable though.
There’s not too many side characters but, due to the writing, they’re all pretty memorable.
Moekibara’s super cute artwork is definitely part of this game’s appeal, with each heroine having a good number of CGs. I did, however, notice that Yuuri in particular had a tendency to look kinda derpy in some images. The heroines look great though so I guess he can be forgiven, lol.
Another area where the game excelled was the sound department – the BGM was really enjoyable with there being a good number of tracks that really fit the mood and tone of each scene. My favourite track was probably “Possibility makes with you”. It’s a shame that this game is older so that the OST is probably impossible to buy. The heroine insert songs were also really nice, my favourite being Mifuyu’s Rainy Pain.
The one area where this game weirdly falls short is the H-Scenes. This is clearly a pure-love moege type affair so the reader has an expectation of what the H-Scenes should be like. However, there’s just a bunch of weird ero scenes in this game that seem really out of place. One heroine in particular has a rape scene in her route & whilst there is a (stupid) story related reason for it happening, it’s just so horribly out of place in this kind of game that it made that route less enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
My Score: 8/10
Despite the problems I had with repitition and the H-scenes, the writing and heroines make up for it. Tayutama is overall an enjoyable experience, with the common route + Mashiro’s route being particularly good. I can’t say for certain whether or not this is the best Lump Of Sugar game until I’ve played a couple more of their titles but, from the 4 I have played, this is my favourite.
Since I bought the double pack I already have the fandisc so will get around to playing that at some point~
Thanks for reading!
Zettai Renai! 