酷罪を受けるべき者 (Kokuzai o Ukerubeki Mono) - Review
Kokuzai o Ukerubeki Mono opens up to a spiteful monologue where an unknown character wishes death upon a bully. In general, Kokuzai's plot is structured at multiple perspectives but for the majority of the game, the reader follows the protagonist, Bitou Ayuri, a gyaru JK who enjoys living her life at the spur of the moment. At her introduction, she is shown to be extremely selfish, rude and apathetic towards others. Her lack of filial piety towards her family is yet another part of her unpleasant personality. However, the one thing that does excite her is going to school....but for all the wrong reasons. Ayuri is actually the ringleader for much of the bullying at her school and even commits senseless violence towards complete strangers for simple thrills and instant gratification. She's an unabashed delinquent who thinks nothing beyond the present. As long as Ayuri is able to perceive others as "below" herself and can do what the hell she wants, she is content. Of course, this eventually brings up a confrontation where Ayuri ends up getting isekai'd to another world. The world she gets thrown in is only composed of two countries, Sai and Itora, where at the present moment from this point of story, verges towards a full scale war between the nations. Ayuri eventually ends up taking an important role in this world's conflict where she also gradually becomes close with several of the inhabitants from both countries. Of course this sets up as only part of the arrangement to the underlying extremities in the plot.
As made fairly obvious, this work focuses heavily on the consequences of those who inflict harm on others - whether it is out of duty or pure sadistic enjoyment. Throughout Kokuzai, the phrase 自業自得 is repeated several times (literal: reap what you sow) which sums up fairly well the plot's overall theme. With many of the circle's work, the subject of bullying is constantly emphasized in much of the writing where it doesn't downplay any of the extreme content involved. For that reason, the violence shown in Kokuzai can be sometimes be quite overwhelming. Not gonna lie but that fucking punch sfx is burned in my head.
On a side note, Kokuzai happens to be one of agony/禁飼育's earliest works and is actually branded as eroge as opposed to the usual otome label from this circle. From other people who had also read this work, it could be unanimously agreed that the writing is considerably rough and has glaringly awkward pacing. For several plot developments, it felt cumbersome and more or less was created as a way for deliberate shock value. One clear example I can think of was the insurrection chapter and by its conclusion when a particular adversary was dealt with. From my perspective, it really felt quite forced where the relationship development between two characters (stemmed from rape and coercion) made even less sense. The plot attempted to build something ominous out of it but for the most part, it wasn't much of anything in this besides something edgy to toss in. Overall was rather anticlimactic and frustrating to watch. Honestly gives me an impression the author included that in the game as part of their own preferences.
awww :) ドキドキする！
Despite this, the Kokuzai ultimately had great characterization with strong focus on meaningful, interesting interactions. For a solo work, the author clearly poured plenty of soul into it where the writing and even the doujin jank art shows. It's a rather unconventional work that does not rely heavily on popularized tropes nor does it attempt to seek the reader's approval as with other many titles in the eroge genre. The writing goes increasingly hard from one scene to the next and is very self aware that it does. Interesting enough, the author Gayoushi, was a victim of bullying. From reading through Kokuzai o Ukerubeki Mono, I felt it was a very relatable experience to myself in a way. As someone who was constantly bullied and had also shamefully bullied others when I was younger, I felt the game certainly struck home with several points of the subject it tried to bring out. Staying true with the emphasis on utsuge elements, it's a rather pessimistic work where it shows those who lack empathy and has the inclination to take advantage of a situation at its lowest; will eventually face retribution for infringing on others' rights. It explicitly shows how sincere empathy is a trait that is actually trained through experience rather than something present inherently. The protagonist having to go through such drastic measures in the story to learn such a seemingly simple concept is a very interesting take and speaks volumes about the mentality of actual psychopaths and even the average person.
But at the end, Ayuri is BEST girl. She's objectively shown to be not a good person but does gradually grow into a more likable character as the story progresses. Her inner monologues and interactions are simply gold. Out of all the female protagonists I've seen in the genre, she is definitely one of the most relatable I've read about. I only wish Kokuzai did more with her in the prologue/backstory and the ツンツン interactions between Hitonomi and her. I just want more Ayuri...
"You enjoy making fun of others, don't you? Don't you like getting others angry from it? I am the same way after all. Long time ago, I would do plenty to get the person I like to look at my direction."
In general, Gayoushi has a gift in fleshing out extremely interesting characterization that's full of heartfelt compassion. I can respect how unrestrained the writing can be despite the spottiness in the plot/characters development in this work in particular. It's fun, exciting and full of flavor. As someone who's always looking for something different in this hobby, agony/禁飼育 breathes fresh air. It makes me excited to read more Gayoushi's work.