Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru (処女はお姉さまに恋してる), commonly known as Otoboku (おとボク), is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Caramel Box and released on January 28, 2005 as a limited edition playable on a Microsoft Windows PC. Subsequent releases included a consumer port on the PlayStation 2 (PS2) with the adult content removed and a version of the game which was a DVD playable on a PC and included full voice acting. The story centers around Mizuho Miyanokouji, an androgynous male high school student, who transfers into an all-girls school due to his grandfather's will.

Three official novels were published by Paradigm and Jive between June and August 2005 written by two different authors. A semi-official dōjin novel was published in December 2007 by Enterbrain. A manga adaptation illustrated by Kanao Araki was serialized in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Daioh between the November 2006 and August 2008 issues. An anime was adapted by Feel which aired in Japan between October and December 2006 and contained twelve episodes, with an extra original video animation (OVA) episode included in the last DVD that went on sale in April 2007. Media Blasters licensed the anime and released the series in three DVD volumes between June and October 2008. Five drama CDs were released, one based on the visual novel, and the remaining four based on the anime.

According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru limited edition PC release premiered at number two in the rankings. The limited edition achieved a ranking of four out of fifty in the ranking for the next two weeks. The first two DVDs released by Media Blasters were generally panned in reviews at Anime News Network where the series was described as "cruelly unimaginative" with "obnoxious quirks and technical shortcomings." In a review of the anime by Mania Entertainment, the series is thought to be "very predictable and bland."

Gameplay
The gameplay in Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru follows a plotline where the player interacts at predetermined times to choose from several options that appear on the game screen. Each path is divided into eight episodes, one interlude episode and an epilogue. At the end of an episode, an announcement of the next episode appears showing a preview of what is to consist in the next episode. Each episode takes place within the span of one month between June and March from episode one through the epilogue. The interlude episode was placed between the second and third episodes.

The goal of the original version's gameplay was for the player to enable the viewing of several adult scenes depicting Mizuho and one of the six heroines having sexual intercourse. When the game was ported to the PlayStation 2 (PS2) console, the gameplay was somewhat altered. The PS2 version, and later the anime adaptation, both had the sexual content removed, and in these versions there is no evidence that physical relationships actually take place between any of the students.

There are ten additional sub episodes and a special sub episode. The CD and DVD editions contain four sub episodes, the fandisc Caramel Box Yarukibako contains four sub episodes and a special episode, Caramel Box Yarukibako 2 contains two sub episodes, and the PlayStation 2 version contains six sub episodes, though the order in which they appeared was altered.

Setting
The primary setting is at a private all-girls school named Seio Girl's School, which was founded in 1886 by Mizuho's ancestor. Seio was originally named Keisen Girls School (恵泉女学院), which was used in original PC version, the drama CD of the visual novel, and for the Caramel Box Yarukibako fan disc. This name was later ascertained to be similar to a name of an actual school, and the school's name was changed to Seio Girl's School (聖應女学院). Seio is used in the PlayStation 2 version, DVD PC edition, Caramel Box Yarukibako Fukkoku-ban and anime series.

Main characters
The player assumes the role of Mizuho Miyanokouji, the protagonist of Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru. He is a kind high school student who impersonates a girl at an all girl's school, which he transfers into per his grandfather's will. He spends his time with many fellow attendees, some of which live in the nearby dormitory, and enjoys helping them with any problems they may have. His childhood friend Mariya Mikado attends the school with him, and helps in his female transition. She has a spirited personality with a bit of a temper, and has been a support for Mizuho in the past. Mizuho meets a classmate named Sion Jujo who has a silent voice and demeanor; she quickly figures out that Mizuho is actually a boy, but tells no one. The previous year, she had to be hospitalized soon after she was elected as the Elder due to an illness.

At the dormitory lives an energetic first-year student named Yukari Kamioka. She is on the track and field team along with Mariya, who is her Oneesama (お姉さま), and has low confidence in her ability to run. Another first-year at the dormitory named Kana Suoin meets Mizuho on the day he moves in, and soon after Mizuho becomes her Oneesama. Kana is more than happy to serve Mizuho any way she can, since she admires him immensely. A hyperactive ghost resides in Mizuho's room named Ichiko Takashima and is shown to speak very fast when excited. She says that Mizuho looks very much like her previous Elder love interest, who turns out to be Mizuho's deceased mother. The student council president at Seio is Takako Itsukushima who tends to have a serious personality.

Story
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru revolves around the main protagonist Mizuho Miyanokouji, a male high school student. After Mizuho's grandfather dies, his will is reviewed, which explains his desire to have his grandson transfer to Seio Girl's School, the same one his own mother attended and his ancestors founded. Abiding by the will, Mizuho cross-dresses to attend the school. The headmistress, the deputy head teacher (visual novel only), Mizuho's homeroom teacher Hisako Kajiura and Mariya Mikado initially know his secret; Sion Jujo and Ichiko Takashima also eventually find this out. Mizuho is very popular among the other students, who often talk about how pretty, nice, and athletic Mizuho is. This rampant popularity escalates to him even being nominated against his will to join in on the Elder election. By these terms, the current student council president, Takako Itsukushima, runs against Mizuho.

The Elder election is an old tradition at Seio Girl's School where every June one of the students is elected by her peers to be the "Elder", who is seen as the number one "Elder Sister" in the school. Until her graduation, she is referred to by her peers as Onee-sama (お姉さま). To become an Elder, a candidate must gain at least 75% of the votes. If none of the candidates get at least 75% in the first round of voting, one of the candidates hands over her votes to another candidate, and the candidate who finally obtains at least 75% of the votes becomes the Elder. If there is no one else in the election, the current year's student council president becomes the Elder. In Otoboku, Mizuho gains 82% of the votes in the first round, effectively becoming the 72nd Elder in the school's history. After becoming Elder, Mizuho progressively gets more popular among the student body since he is now a symbol of the school's excellence. In the following months, Mizuho starts to get to know some of the girls better and helps them with their problems.

Development
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru is the fourth visual novel developed by Caramel Box. The scenario is written by Aya Takaya, and this was the first time Takaya was staffed on a Caramel Box game. Art direction and character design is done by Norita, who was staff's on Caramel Box's debut release Blue as an artist. The super deformed illustrations featured in Otoboku were drawn by the game illustrator Yoda. The music direction was headed by the music team Zizz Studio.

The original title uses the kanji 処女, which means "virgin", but is very close to the word for "young lady", shōjo. The creators added furigana subscript to indicate they wanted it read "otome" meaning "young maiden". Additionally, furigana was added above お姉さま to indicate that they wanted it read "boku". Despite the different kanji, the official reading is "Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru". When the game was ported to the PlayStation 2, it was rewritten as 乙女はお姉さまに恋してる with the same pronunciation of "Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru", which uses the actual "otome" (乙女) kanji. The latter name was kept for the manga and anime releases.

Release history
A free game demo version of Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru can be downloaded at the game's official website. The visual novel was first released in Japan as a limited edition version on January 28, 2005 for the PC and contained two game CD-ROMs. This release came with a special story book entitled Tsunderera with the whole package. On February 18, 2005, the regular edition was released, and one select lot of this version contained a limited edition sticker. On June 24, 2005, a fan disc called Caramel Box Yarukibako was released and contained an additional scenario that furthered the story from the original visual novel; the fan disc came with a gift called "Vine" (ヴィネ). The fan disc was re-released under the title Caramel Box Yarukibako Fukkoku-ban on January 26, 2007, and came with the final PC release of Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru. The first consumer console port of the game was released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) on December 29, 2005 by Alchemist. Additional scenarios were included in the PS2 version written by Kiichi Kanō. The fully voiced DVD version of Otoboku was released on April 28, 2006 for the PC. A PlayStation Portable port will be released on April 29, 2010 by Alchemist.

Sequel
A sequel to the visual novel titled Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru: Futari no Elder (処女はお姉さまに恋してる 2人のエルダー) was released on June 30, 2010 by Caramel Box in Japan. The same staff that worked on Otoboku return for the sequel.

Novels
Two novels written based on the original game written by Saki Murakami and published by Paradigm were released in Japan in June and August 2005. The first released was Imprisoned Princess: Sion Chapter (囚われの姫君～紫苑編～) centering around Sion, with the second entitled Perplexed Juliet: Takako Chapter (とまどうジュリエット～貴子編～) centering around Takako. These novels contain erotic content. A single volume written by Chihiro Minagawa and published by Jive was released in Japan in August 2005, which had the same title as the game and the basis of the story centered around Takako's scenario. A semi official dōjin novel was written by the original scenario writer for the game called Étoile in the Cherry Orchard (櫻の園のエトワール). The novel is a sequel of Takako's scenario, and Kana and Yukari have little sisters. The revised and completed edition of the dōjin novel was published by Enterbrain on December 25, 2007.

Manga
A manga adaptation is illustrated by Kanao Araki and was serialized in ASCII Media Works' magazine Dengeki Daioh between the November 2006 and August 2008 issues in Japan. The first bound volume went on sale on August 27, 2007 under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics imprint, and the second volume went on sale on September 27, 2008. A four panel comic strip was serialized in the magazine Magi-Cu published by Enterbrain. Twelve comics anthologies of the comic strip were released between March 26, 2007 and March 25, 2009.

Internet radio show
An Internet radio show to promote the anime series was broadcast between October 5, 2006 and March 27, 2008 called the Seio Girls School Broadcasting Station (聖應女学院放送局). It aired every Thursday hosted by Miyu Matsuki and Yuko Goto who played Sion Jujo and Ichiko Takashima in the anime, respectively; it was produced by Animate TV. There are thirteen corners, or parts, to the program which correspond to the general life of the characters in the story, and 74 episodes were produced. There were several guests to the show such as Chiaki Takahashi in episodes six and seven as Takako Itsukushima, Akemi Kanda in episodes eleven and twelve as Kana Suoin, Ayano Matsumoto in episodes fifteen and sixteen as Yukari Kamioka, and Madoka Kimura in episodes nineteen and twenty as Kimie Sugawara. The radio show episodes were released on four CDs released between May 9, 2007 and February 6, 2008.

Anime
An anime adaptation is produced by the animation studio Feel, directed by Munenori Nawa, written by Katsumi Hasegawa, and features character design by Noriko Shimazawa who based the designs on Norita's original concept. The anime, called UHF anime in Japan, contained twelve episodes which aired between October 6 and December 24, 2006 on several networks including TV Kanagawa and Chiba TV. The episodes were released on four DVD compilations released in Japan as limited and regular editions. A single original video animation (OVA) episode was released on the final limited edition DVD on April 4, 2007. Media Blasters released the series, including the OVA, as English-subtitled DVDs between June 24 and October 7, 2008 under the title Otoboku: Maidens Are Falling For Me!.

Audio CDs
Five drama CDs have been released based on the series: one based on the visual novel released on September 22, 2005 and four which were based from the anime adaptation and released between October 25, 2006 and April 11, 2007. The original soundtrack for the visual novel entitled Maiden's Rest was released in Japan on February 25, 2005 by Digiturbo. The soundtrack for the anime was released on November 22, 2006 by King Records. Three character image song albums were released sung by voice actors from the anime adaptation. The first album was by Yui Horie as Mizuho Miyanokouji, Miyu Matsuki as Sion Jujo and Masumi Asano as Mariya Mikado. The second album featured Ayano Matsumoto as Yukari Kamioka, Akemi Kanda as Kana Suoin and Yuko Goto as Ichiko Takashima. The third and final album was recorded by Chiaki Takahashi as Takako Itsukushima, Madoka Kimura as Kimie Sugawara and Yui Sakakibara as Hisako Kajiura. These CDs were released between July 26 and September 21, 2006.

Two singles were released for the opening and ending themes for the anime adaptation. The first called "Love Power" by Aice5 contained the opening theme of the same name. The other single entitled "Again" by Yui Sakakibara contained the ending theme entitled "Beautiful Day". The A-side track from that single entitled "Again" was used as an insert song in episode eleven. Both singles were released on October 25, 2006 by King Records.

Reception
According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru limited edition PC release premiered at number two in the rankings. The limited edition achieved a ranking of four out of fifty in the ranking for the next two weeks. The regular edition PC release premiered at number six in the rankings, and stayed in the top fifty for a month and a half until mid-April 2005. The regular edition was again in the rankings for May 2005, managing to rank in at thirty-eight and forty-nine. The Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru PC edition playable as a DVD premiered at number thirteen in the rankings and stayed at that rank for the next listing. The DVD edition ranked twice more over the next month: the first at forty-three and the last at thirty-three.

The first two anime DVD volumes released by Media Blasters were reviewed by Anime News Network. In the review of the first DVD, the reviewer Carl Kimlinger generally panned the volume, commenting how the three episodes were "cruelly unimaginative" where "afterwards it's one long slide into a torturous hell of girls' school tripe where not even humor or romance can pierce the veil of pain." The Catholic girl's school premise is likened to Maria-sama ga Miteru and Strawberry Panic!, and is considered to be used "merely as visual spice." For the second DVD volume, Kimlinger wrote that "while the onslaught of squealing, caffeinated moe-bait has abated somewhat in its ferocity, a sagging of the already listlessly undirected plot ensures that the series' sophomore outing is only marginally more tolerable than the first." Further, the series is described as having "obnoxious quirks and technical shortcomings."

The first two anime DVD volumes released by Media Blasters were also reviewed by Mania Entertainment. In the review of the first DVD, the reviewer Chris Beveridge felt the anime reminded him of "parts of Princess Princess, especially when it came to the Elder status piece. It's even reminiscent of Strawberry Panic in this way." The series is described as "all about the "moe" factor, bringing about an atmosphere that makes you like the characters, care about them and feel good about seeing them interact. It does it well even if it doesn’t have an amazing hook." For the second DVD volume, Beveridge commented that the series continues to be "very predictable and bland" which is "at this point fun but entirely forgettable." Beveridge also wrote how "the characters are all pleasant, nicely designed and with mildly interesting personalities that could lead to something more but never does."

Notes and references

 * Sion is officially romanized in the Kunrei-shiki manner, instead of the more common Hepburn manner.