Him, The Smile & Bloom is a surprisingly “innovative” otome, at least as far as the narrative goes. I use the inverted commas because that word is bandied around far too much (and is far too associated with techbros – and yes I realise the contradiction between my disdain for the word and our rating system here at DDNet). However, the developers really have tried to take the typical structure, style and tone of the otome in a different direction with this VN, and I did appreciate that given that the otome narrative formula is so firmly standarised.
Most otome throw you in the role of a single woman who then gets to choose a romantic partner from a gaggle of guys. This is all well and good as a reverse harem fantasy, but does limit the writers to an extent given that it means that they need to make sure the protagonist could believably fall in love with any of the possible suitors. Consequently, she tends to end up being a little passive and malleable to both the plot and possible romantic partners, and there’s only so much that can be done to give her a distinct personality of her own from there. I have played and loved many, many otome games over the years, but it is true that the protagonists tend to be written in a very specific way, to the point where many – if not most – of the protagonists in this genre blur together.
The writers behind Him, The Smile & Bloom freed themselves up a lot by tacking a different approach: There are four guys, four girls, and one partnership for each. You folow the story of one girl in each story arc, and she will always connect with one single guy. The stories are all intertwined because they all occur around a flower shop, with each character connected to it in their own way, so the girls do all interact with all the men. It’s just that all the boys only have eyes for one woman each.
Thanks to this setup it’s possible for one of the narrative arcs to be a couple separated and reunited, for example. That kind of plot doesn’t work great under a normal otome narrative, because it either sidelines all the other men (because of course she’s going to go with the love connection returned after many years), or makes the protagonist seem inconsistent (again why would she go for another guy when her childhood romance has returned?).
The narrative arcs in Him, The Smile & Bloom aren’t written perfectly, mind you. Some of the protagonists come across as pretty virginal, which is… well, it’s just odd that an early twenties woman in the modern era would get so bashful over romance and physical intimacy. If it was a historical period piece, fine. Or even an otome where the protagonists are younger. But we’re talking about the modern world and the writers very badly want to make the setting natural and authentic. So I hate to be blunt here, but most women in their early to mid-20s in the modern world are experienced with romance… or if not, at least physical intimacy. If there’s anything that breaks the immersion of Him, The Smile & Bloom it’s this. It’s not even like the narrative treats the women as delicate flowers otherwise. They’re presented as highly competent in work and every other matter. It’s just the romance thing that comes across as a little silly, and it does undermine otherwise excellent characterisation.
Speaking of flowers, the game does make a fun motif out of them. The story centres around a flower shop, and each of the relationships/men is represented by a particular flower. This helps to give visual tone (with each of the flowers being a different colour, which then translates into each of the men having a different base colour, and helps underpin the type of romance that the couple represents. Flowers also frequently pop up in dialogue and key scenes, and while it’s not a particularly deep theme (flowers in a romance game? Why I never!) it does help the overall coherence and consistency of the narrative. It’s also nice that there’s a little library of information.
Another quality I quite liked where Him, The Smile & Bloom breaks with genre tradition is that the narrative does play out beyond the point where the couple becomes a couple. With this genre so often the focus (and potential endings) comes with the romantic threshold being crossed. Here it’s actually refreshing to see what the characters look like as a couple together. With that being said, the developers did the old “fade to black,” one a scene was moving beyond kissing and… look I dunno, I realise that there are limits on what the censors at Steam, Nintendo etc will allow, but this approach does come across as anti-climatic when we’re promised “steamy romance” only for the steam to be off-stage.
On a technical level, Him, The Smile & Bloom is really gorgeous – right up there with the work of Otomate at full flight. The CGs are, of course, a highlight, but the overall use of colour brings to mind bouquets of colourful, warm colours. Each story arc is actually fairly short (though not truncated), and is well-written, though the translation was, perhaps, a little hurried. There are minor and forgivable errors scattered throughout.
It’s always refreshing to come across a narrative that challenges genre norms, while still respecting the genre it belongs to. Him, The Smile & Bloom doesn’t set out to criticize or undermine the otome visual novel, but it does take expectations in a different direction thanks to the way it has been structured. Thanks to that, this is a vibrant and highly enjoyable, intelligent, and thoughtful experience, well worth the price of admission.
