Yare Yare.com - Review for Yoyogi Hitozuma Senmon Gakuin

Marriage and the permanence attached to it are no strangers to eroge as a whole. After all, marriage is at times used as an element that is part of a heroine's ending, or a defining element of a particular character (hitozuma characters being the most blatant example). Sadly, characters themed around this element have a tendency to be on the weak side when compared to others, often relying on the mysterious or charming nature that comes from being older than most of the main cast.

Certain players' fascination with married women has spawned a somewhat strong genre of eroge known as hitozuma games. This genre is largely composed of weak plot and even weaker character dynamics and psychology, opting to simply have a protagonist have his way with however many married women are part of the game. This often includes married teacher characters, newlywed women, bored housewives, rich women, and those married for duty rather than love (to name some). Very few (if any) titles look at these characters in a way that the player can take them seriously, thus presenting a rather shallow outlook on adult life through the filter of eroge.

To my surprise, the studio Lucha! decided to take a very different approach to married characters by putting together a cast that is not only believably adult, but with considerable amounts of baggage and issues on both a personal level as well as relationship-wise. In a way, this could be called a hitozuma game that has a clear purpose, while still meeting the criteria the fans of this genre have set for all games before it. I speak of Lucha's Yoyogi Hitozuma Senmon Gakuin.

Game: Yoyogi Hitozuma Senmon Gakuin

Yoyogi Hitozuma Senmon Gakuin (Yoyogi for short) was released on June 30, 2006 by the studio Lucha!. This studio was a subsidiary of the larger game company known as Will, and was known for its company motto, "For beautiful eroge life". As a native Spanish-speaker, I get some amusement at the company name being Spanish for the word for "Fight!", which fits the motto quite well. The game features a scenario by Nanao Yuhi and character designs by SKYHOUSE. The game's title translates to "Yoyogi Housewife Training Academy", but the official translated title is "Celebian Housewife Academy".

The player takes the role of Sakura Kouji, second son of the Sakura family and convenience store clerk. His day to day life as a young adult is pretty monotonous, as he wakes up, goes to work and then comes home. Most of the problems in his life stem from the fact that he is seen as the black sheep of his family, and gets the majority of his grief from his older brother Shuuichi and his aunt Yukari. Of course, Kouji's additional burden is the fact that he's in love with his sister-in-law, Kyoko.

Kouji's psyche has endured quite a bit of abuse throughout life, as he was always compared to his older brother (and put down for never being good enough to match Shuuichi). To our protagonist, Kyoko being married to Shuuichi is basically life kicking him while he is down. As such, he often tries to avoid seeing either of them, but rarely succeeds due to Kyoko doting on him the way an older sister would (not to mention Kyoko and Shuuichi live next door to him).

After Shuuichi suddenly disappears (leaving a note for Kyoko, asking her to improve herself and that he'll be back in two weeks), our protagonist gets dragged into a series of events that concludes with Kyoko signing up to the Yoyogi Housewife Training Academy in hopes of becoming a better wife for Shuuichi. As the academy only accepts married couples, she makes Kouji come along to pose as her husband.

Thus, Kouji's two-week training course at the academy begins. Outside of helping Kyoko (and in a way, realizing his dormant dream of having a relationship with her), his life becomes intertwined with four other women looking to overcome their own problems or move on with their lives, all brought together by the academy's mission.

The Players

Sakura Kyoko (C.V.: Maki Izumi)
Kyoko is technically the lead heroine of the game, and falls under the aniyome archetype.
As the game begins, we are privy to the fact that she recently joined the Sakura family and has only been married for three months. To represent her status as the wife of his older brother, Kouji has taken to calling her "nee-san". She in turn calls him "Kou-chan".
Kyoko for the most part is a very cheerful young woman, and is overly enthusiastic to the idea of being a good wife. While she is generally treated as the "childish" character in cast (even her theme song is called "Mrs. Child Wife"), she has aspirations and goals she wants to meet at the side of her husband. As such, it is no surprise to see her demeanor take a huge hit when Shuuichi runs away. Before the "solution" presents itself, she spends her time brooding over what she could have done to cause her husband to disappear like that.
Kyoko's relationship with Kouji notably changes as the story progresses, going from her treating him as a replacement for Shuuichi to her really thinking of our protagonist as her husband. The sisterly affection she has for him begins to change as she notices Kouji is a lot more receptive to her than Shuuichi ever was. This eventually causes her to become more and more reluctant to have the "marriage" end by the time the two-week course is over.

Todoroki Kayo (C.V.: Isshiki Hikaru)
Kayo is a news anchor for the local television station, and is something of a celebrity in Kouji's town. She is a part of the class Kouji and Kyoko join, which is how she meets our protagonist.
As we later discover, Kayo signed up for classes in hopes of being able to appease her husband, who insists that she should abandon her career and completely dedicate herself to their infant son. For her part, Kayo refuses to do so, and goes to great lengths to accommodate both her work and family life.
In a way, one could say Kouji gets in a little too deep, as the catalyst to Kayo's route is a series of classes that require pairs, and Kayo's husband decides to no-show. This leads to Kouji partnering with Kayo (with Kyoko's blessing). As the story progresses, our protagonist learns that things are not as held-together as they seem, witnessing arguments between Kayo and her husband over the fact that she continues to work despite his wishes that she remain at home with their son.
At the same time, this heroine goes through an emotional roller-coaster of her own, started after she learns that our protagonist is not really married. She eventually fails to suppress the feelings she starts developing for Kouji, leading to the chain of events that conclude this route.

Ikejiri Chizuru (C.V.: Shiroi Ayano)
Chizuru is introduced as a student in the class our main couple joins. She could be considered the "older woman" in the group, as she is suggested to being in her late 30's-early 40's.
Unlike Kyoko and Kayo, who signed up to improve their marriages, Chizuru signed up in an attempt to learn how to control herself. As revealed later on in the story, Chizuru is basically a nymphomaniac that cannot control her bodily urges, which is something her husband often uses to subdue her.
Aside from her own issues, Chizuru also has to deal with her husband's open infidelity, as he is often seen around with younger women. In a way, she has become conscious of her age because of her husband's flings. Despite the myriad of problems in her life, Chizuru generally keeps a relaxed air about her. She is also more likely to make small jokes or trick others when given the chance (she takes to doing this to our protagonist a lot in her route).

Kinuta Angelina (C.V.: Matsuda Risa)
Angelina is a half-Japanese, half-American teacher and counselor at the housewife training academy. She is often seen giving lessons along with her husband, Gorou.
As the "foreign" character, Angelina comes off as a bit eccentric and rather lively. She is very enthusiastic about helping others improve their relationships, and is big on the topics of communication and understanding. She seems to place great emphasis on these two topics, knowing how important they are to maintaining a healthy relationship.
Despite her seemingly great marriage, Angie is actually somewhat precocious, selfish, and can quickly jump to conclusions. This is best seen in her route, where she runs away from her job at the academy and breaks off from her husband when she discovers Gorou's hobby for collecting adult movies. Her rationale is that Gorou is "cheating" on her because of his hobby.
On a funny note, while she does speak in heavily-accented Engrish, as is characteristic of American characters, she'll actually switch to normal Japanese when angry.

Yoyogi Kamo (C.V.: Shion Miyabi)
According to the game, Kamo is the "true" heroine of the story.
The owner, founder, and principal of the Yoyogi Housewife Training Academy. Kamo is surrounded by a bit of mystery, as no one knows why she founded the academy, nor anything else about her. She seems to be very experienced in the field of relationships and the numerous aspects of marital life.
While she never openly states it, the story suggests Kamo is the first one to figure out Kyoko and Kouji are not really married. She does take several opportunities to turn to our protagonist and tell him (in English), "One should not interfere in lovers' quarrels". This most likely indicates the fact that she knows our protagonist is getting involved in something that could damage an already-established relationship (nevermind how Kyoko's route ends).
Spoiler: As revealed in Kamo's route, the reason she founded the Housewife Training Academy was because the misunderstandings and squabbles that are considered common in a marriage eventually (though indirectly) led to her husband's death. Her hope is that the academy serves as a way to encourage better relationships by emphasizing of communication, understanding and...erm...the bedroom stuff.

Ikejiri Subaru (C.V.: Chatani Yasura)
Sub-heroine. Subaru is Chizuru's only daughter. Despite her design and choice in clothes, she's actually attending cram school to prepare for her university entrance exams.
In contrast to her mother, Subaru is a lot more serious when it comes to everything around her. At the same time, she is very protective of her mother, being fully aware of what her father does when at work. At first, she has a hard time accepting Kouji (even if she does put a tsundere front to hide the crush she developed on him). She eventually begins to trust him when she realizes that Kouji is not looking to use or abuse her mother, and in the end charges him with her mother's happiness.
On a side note, Chizuru at first suggests that Subaru and Kouji should get together; a suggestion that is further reinforced by Kyoko. Additionally, Subaru seems to take after her mother, as she too is a nymphomaniac...

Sakura Yukari (C.V.: Shaku Kanade)
Support character.
Yukari is Kouji and Shuuichi's aunt and head of the Sakura family. She vowed to look after both of them after her sister and brother-in-law died some time before the story begins.
While she managed to raise Shuuichi "right", she often shows disappointment in Kouji's lack of drive to move on to a better place in life. As the game begins, she has taken to visiting our protagonist randomly in order to goad him, which either ends with Kouji trying to brush her off or an argument between the two.
Much to Kouji (or anyone else's) dismay, Yukari is a person that shoots straight from the hip and can very easily put people in their place. The best example of this is during an argument between Yukari and Kouji where our protagonist tries to tell her to leave him alone, as he is old enough to make his own choices. Yukari scoffs and (in)famously tells him "having hairs around your dick does not make you an adult".
Yukari lives under the philosophy that members of the Sakura family have a greater responsibility to those around them. As such, she often goes on about the rules of the Sakura family. While the "rules" do cover topics like honesty and how to conduct business, there are also some oddball rules in there (like the rule where members of the Sakura family are bound by duty to stop and save anyone trying to commit suicide).

Kinuta Gorou (C.V.: Yasumura Makoto)
Support character.
Gorou is Angelina's husband and also an instructor at the Yoyogi Housewife Training Academy.
While seemingly stoic and cold, he is actually a strangely passionate guy when it comes to his marriage with Angelina. In a way, he has become very dependent on her, to the point she chooses his clothes for him. Aside from this, he secretly has a collection of adult movies. Kouji's similar hobby earns him Gorou's friendship, to the point the latter begins to treat the protagonist as the little brother he never had.
Of course, things take a turn for the bad when Angie finds out about his hobby, putting not only a strain on Gorou, but also making it quite clear just how dependent he is on his wife.

Sakura Shuuichi (C.V.: Shirosaki Hikota)
Support character.
Kouji's older brother and (in a way) the catalyst to the whole game.
Unlike his underachieving brother, Shuuichi has what is traditionally considered a good and stable job (Yukari mentions he works for the government). As such, he is generally held in high regard by those around him. He recently married Kyoko, after meeting her at a goukon. He seems to be unaware of the attraction Kouji has to his wife, and generally berates his brother for not bettering himself.
Spoiler: Kyoko's ending reveals that the reason he ran away was because he's actually bi-curious and really married Kyoko out of duty. After realizing he swings the other way, he decided to come home to tell Kyoko the truth and do the right thing. This is also used to explain why Kyoko is still a virgin...

Story

The story begins by introducing Kyoko during what seems like an average morning, dealing with Shuuichi ignoring her attempts to be lovey-dovey before heading off to work. The focus then shifts to our protagonist, followed by a brief introduction of the dynamics between him and a good part of the cast, including Shuuichi, Kyoko and Yukari.

After establishing Kouji's infatuation with Kyoko, the catalyst to the story surfaces when Shuuichi does not return home from work. With several days passing by without any information on Shuuichi's whereabouts, Kyoko becomes depressed while Kouji is tasked with finding his older brother (much to his own dismay). Things take a sharp turn in a completely different direction when a letter from Shuuichi arrives, with only the words "I'll be back in two weeks. Become a better wife" written on it. The prologue ends with Kyoko deciding to sign up for classes at the Yoyogi Housewife Training Academy in order to become a "better wife", with our protagonist getting dragged along to help out. Past the prologue, the story starts out focusing on the ruse Kouji and Kyoko put up by pretending to be a married couple. The story branches off if the player sets things up so that the other members of the cast discover our protagonist and Kyoko are not married, leading to the different situations involving the other heroines. Because each heroine has a rather unique scenario, there is very little interaction between the heroines past a certain point in each route.

From a dialogue standpoint, most of the choices that are presented to the player are very subtle in terms of where they'll take the story. A good number are "do or do not" type of choices, while others require paying attention to certain parts of the surroundings to move the story along. With this in mind, certain choices will cause the game to end prematurely, either by forcing Shuuichi to return home early or precipitating less-than-ideal outcomes to the heroines' stories.

Seeing that this is a hitozuma game and the type of setting used, there is also a substancial amount of foreplay or sex scenes used in the plot. Most of them are presented in a semi-academic way (as part of a certain lesson of the day at the academy) with only a couple of exceptions.

The first thing I can commend the writers for is the fact that all the characters in the cast are adult in some way, shape or form. By this I mean that the situations presented and how the characters interact with one another are completely different from what we see in the more common variety of eroge (where high school kids are used). Their ways of thinking and personalities also reflect their age quite well.

Another commendable aspect of Yoyogi is that it heavily relies on several aspects of relationships and the psychology attached to them. Kayo, for example, has a husband that is clearly a chauvinist. Chizuru, on the other hand, is on the receiving end of adultery. Kyoko's marital problems are much bigger than originally suggested, and so on.

My only real gripe with the story is the fact that Kamo is treated as the game's true heroine, if only because of the heavy emotional investment Kouji has for Kyoko throughout most of the story. This is further driven by the fact that Kyoko's ending is very wholesome and finite.

Artwork

Character designs are provided by SKYHOUSE. This is the first game I've played that has used designs by this artist, and I can commend the fact that the designs are diverse in their own way. There are notable details that help differentiate the adults in the cast (Kayo, Chizuru, Kamo) from the younger members (Kyoko, Subaru) as well.

Audio & Video

Yoyogi is fully-voiced, with a cadre of well-known voice actresses and actors within its fold. Maki Izumi being here was something of a given, as Kyoko was made very close to the type of characters she normally voices. The same goes for Kayo being voiced by Isshiki Hikaru. Among the veterans we have Shiroi Ayano and Shion Miyabi, who definiterly play to their strengths with Chizuru and Kamo, respectively.

Music is credited to FunczionSOUNDS and Super Sweep, which turned out to be fairly decent. Something worthy of note for the music is that given the greater number of adults in the cast, the overall composition style reflected this very well. A lot of the pieces had a jazzy feel, others felt like something out of a lounge pianist's repertoire (most notably Chizuru's theme, "Mrs. Motherhood"). Overall, the soundtrack definitely had a mature feel for it, which went quite well with the setting, story and the cast.

As for video, we have the OP movie and ED movies. Since the OP is very graphic (as in, lots of ero CG), I can't really show nor find a link for it. The ED is peculiar in that it is set to the song Auld Lang Syne, with a bit of a twist past the first couple of bars.

Omake

There are almost no extras to speak of. Angelina's route is unlocked after clearing the first three routes (Kyoko, Kayo, Chizuru). Clearing that will open Kamo's route, which is labeled as TRUE in the scene selection menu. There's also a second ending for Chizuru where Kouji ends up with Chizuru and Subaru.

Verdict

Part of me wants to write this game off for being a yaru game despite the interesting elements within it. Part of me thinks of this as the game that redeems all hitozuma games before it because of the plot and characters used. Regardless, the studio behind Yoyogi Hitozuma Senmon Gakuin is defunct, which is a bit of a shame.

I can't decide whether or not I'd recomend this game, as it is clearly built around a certain demographic. At the same time, it does present some interesting takes on relationships between characters beyond what is normally seen in other eroge. The only thing I can't really gauge is whether Yoyogi had any impact at all or whether it just came and went as just another hitozuma game. Anyway, that's my two cents on the matter.

-Moroboshi Yuumei
"For beautiful married life!"