Moe! Ninja Girls • First Impression :speak_no_evil:

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Moe! Ninja Girls was released a little over a month ago, and while initially excited for the game, I lost a lot of interest after the release of the trailer. But life works its magic and managed to remind me of the existence of this galge, after I had long forgotten about it. I am truthfully glad that I had been sifting aimlessly through the App Store because what this game offers is quite the pleasant surprise!

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THE STORY

According to NTT Solmare and what is established at the beginning of the gameplay, the player is a genius ninja who transfers to Mizaki School, where he seeks "peaceful everyday school life" while hiding his true identity. As he befriends many girls at the school, he will come to uncover their true identities, as well.

Having only completed two chapters of the story, I don't know much more than that, so there will not be any major spoilers throughout this blog. I will be giving my impressions of the characters who have appeared so far (without spoiling every little scenario), reviewing the gameplay, and offering my hopes for the development of the story.

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CHARACTERS

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Akari (left) and Enju (right) are described as the prettiest girls in their class and are the marketed heroines of the game. Kazuki—this is the default name of the player's character, which I will use to refer to him from here on—meets them at the start of the game.

★ The initial impression Kazuki has of Akari is that she is an "airhead." She has a bubbly personality and carries a positive attitude. Despite possibly being a little tough to handle due to her liveliness, there is much to love about her character. She is smart, kind and athletic, in addition to naturally being very funny. Even though I am currently choosing to pursue Enju, Akari is my favorite character so far. Her appeal really surprised me, and I am proud to have her be my favorite!

★ Enju can easily be summed up in one word—tsundere. An intelligent girl, she is a member of the student council and takes her duties as one seriously. Enju can come across as commanding, but she is actually caring by nature, especially toward Akari. Characteristic of a tsundere, Enju attempts to hide many of her emotions. While she isn't necessarily stoic, she is often caught in denial and is even stubborn about expressing gratitude to others. Enju can come across as judgemental, as well, but it is because she tends to be cautious around others, particularly new people. Enju is ultimately a likable character, despite the bad reputation females have under the tsundere archetype.

I like the relationship established between Akari and Enju. If one didn't know any better, the two would seem unlikely friends. But by each other's side, they provide a charming balance to one another. It is obvious each girl values the other.

★ Tengge is the most mature female in the game. I don't know a lot about her yet, but she is easily one of my favorites in the game already. She oozes a cool charm as much as she does sex appeal. She comes across as kind, relaxed, and lighthearted. I look forward to seeing more of her character in the future.

★ Yamabuki is the last person I met before the end of chapter two. She is adorable but, from what I gather from her own comments, may feel a bit ignored by others. Yamabuki, or Bookie as she desires to be called, does not have any overwhelming qualities. In fact, she probably shares at least one or two traits with most of us in this community. She is a fan of manga and BL, and she appears quite easygoing.

★ John Spicer, or Johnny, is a foreign transfer student introduced a bit earlier than Yamabuki in the game. With his blonde hair and good looks, he attracts a lot of the girls at school. Johnny is fascinated with much of Japanese culture, particularly anime and ninja-related things. Naturally, he is best friends with Yamabuki, with whom he can share his passion for manga and anime. Johnny is my favorite character after Akari currently. He's quite charming.

Other characters yet to be fully introduced are the silver-haired Ricka, who comes across as mysterious and thus alluring to me, and the pink-haired Myu, with whom our protagonist Kazuki has a brief run-in.

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THE GAMEPLAY

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So far, Moe! Ninja Girls has three playable seasons. I am currently (obviously) playing the first one, which allows you to gain affection for either Akari or Enju. Yamabuki and Tengge are currently not playable, but moments with them can likely be enjoyed in the Extra photo album.

Here is what the pop-up progress menu looks like, showing the affection earned for one girl versus another. The moments where you make choices are often entertaining. I'm eager to pick all of the options to see what will happen, but of course, only one selection is allowed.

• If you make progress with either girl, the pop-up menu will indicate so, as seen above.

• If neither choice wins affection, the game will simply indicate that your choice was okay but did not have any effects.

I'm still trying to get a hold of just a few small things in the workings of the games outside of the actual stories. It overall isn't much different at all from the usual NTT Solmare format, particularly that of what you see in Lost Alice. But there are a few notable differences.

Similarities

• NTT Solmare continues the inclusion of events where you can earn prizes by applying a form of currency. In this case, it is cookies, which you feed to Fuu. (So far, I have fed Fuu 2363 cookies.) The more cookies you feed him (as if cashing them in), the closer you get to receiving a new prize. There is a map available if you click "See All Rewards," which will display all future possible prizes, including the ultimate prize.

• There are opportunities to buy and win items with which to decorate a female character in the game and the setting behind her. There is a mini-game and other small in-game gambling opportunities provided to help win more prizes.

Differences

• The main mini-game is quite like that of Destiny Ninja 2 and Blood in Roses. Your girl will battle another player's romantic interest, and the winner is determined by their ranking, which levels up with more experience in playing the game. Like in DN2 and BiR, an opponent can be swapped for another, but you only get ONE SWAP opportunity. After that swap, you are stuck with facing off that new opponent. Talk about no mercy!

EDIT: You can earn more swap opportunities with fight victories.

• There are no avatar dress-ups for your own character, unlike many other NTT Solmare games. Only your main menu girl can be dressed up (AKA the girl you will be using in your battles).

So far, it appears Akari is the girl I am playing for. I don't know if I have to win other girls somehow to be able to dress them up. I'll have to figure that out. 🤔 But right now, I'm stuck with Akari. There is no option from the beginning to simply choose your desired romantic interest. You instantly just fight to win your desired girl's affection over the other through choices.

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OVERALL THOUGHTS

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The game is much more gravitating than I expected even when I had my highest anticipations for this game. The most striking aspect of it is that the game is very upbeat, which is not something I usually feel when playing otome games (…quite interesting).

Mystic Messenger is the only otome game I have played that really has me engrossed on a level of heavy excitement. All other otome games feel as though they reach calmer levels of excitement throughout generally—although, Liar! Uncover the Truth definitely has a lot more exciting moments because of its dramatic mystery storyline.

Moe! Ninja Girls includes scenarios that are so easy to envision occurring in an anime. And even with that sort of feel, the interactions between all of the characters don't feel like meaningless crack humor. The relationships seem genuine and as though they do, in fact, have direction.

It is my greatest hope that Moe! Ninja actually succeeds in building interesting and more deep relationships between the female love interests and Kazuki. It doesn't have to be incredibly deep, but it should have a sense that I've completed the game having learned a lot of worthy information. I do also hope I can get a sense of some kick-butt moments with these ninja characters!

The artwork was initially worrisome for me. My very first reaction to the characters was that the girls are indeed super cute—I took a particular liking to Enju's design. They were possibly a little too "cutie" but I didn't mind as much. When the trailer was released, however, I took issue with it because it placed heavy emphasis on the gigantic (bouncing) breasts on these very underage-looking girls. It was unsettling.

But playing the game, I found each girl has a personality that breaks through the "mega-cutie pie" first impression and helps paint each girl with a bit more believable maturity. All of the characters so far have been very worth knowing.

Speaking on characters, Kazuki is pretty cool himself. He has the standard harem anime guy appearance, but he's still nice-looking and infused with some personality—he's not just all shy smiles and confusion. This becomes even more evident in his thoughts and dialogue. I really like that he has his moments where he can be caught stunned by a situation and a bit helpless (like the endearing Tsukune from Rosario + Vampire), but he's no weakling. More often than not, he'll bite back, especially with Enju, who has been the only one so far to come across more aggressive toward him. He is admittedly a bit shameless as he can't help but take notice of the girls' large breasts, but it's humorous. I mean, the girls do have essentially pillows for breasts, so who can blame him?

At the end of the day, to sum it all up, I am really happy I played this game and I am applauding NTT Solmare right now. I hope that the game keeps up the awesomeness and the energy it has started with, and I look forward to exploring more characters!

I do, in fact, believe that this game could be helpful in advancing all dating sim games. It has made me hyper aware of the kind of energy I would like to see more of in otome games, and maybe we'll get the sole-male dress-up aspect in future games. I'd like to see many alternative and attractive outfits for guy characters, as well.

Have you been playing Moe! Ninja Girls?

☆ How do you like it?

☆ Is there anything from this game you would like to continue seeing adapted in dating sims?

☆ If you haven't been playing it, would you be interested in giving it a shot?

☆ How would you rank Moe! Ninja Girls against otome games?