What is Tsuzumigusa (drum grass)? Meaning, flower language, and introduction to romance ADV games for women.

I played the romance adventure game for women called "Tsuzumigusa".
I downloaded it because I saw a tweet introducing the work on Twitter and became interested.
Although it's labeled as a "romance adventure game for women," I think it's a work that transcends that genre.
While the main character is indeed a woman, I, a man, thoroughly enjoyed it without any problems.
If you're interested, I hope you'll read this work, regardless of gender.

「Recommended DoujinshiIndie Game of the Year 2020It won an award in the crying category, and I, too, couldn't hold back my tears many times.
The total time it took to complete the game and see all the endings was approximately four and a half hours.

Work introduction, etc. (no spoilers)

"Tsutsumi-sou" is a romance adventure game where you read through the story, and the ending changes depending on the choices you make along the way.
The game screen uses a standard design consisting of a character portrait and a window frame.
I will introduce the early part of the story and write my impressions below, while trying not to spoil anything.

The story is set in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, in 1943, right in the middle of the Pacific War.
The story begins when the protagonist, Watako Asada, is suddenly married off to a young man who is about to be sent off to war.
Neither Watako nor the player really understands what's happening when the wedding ceremony is over.
Watako's monologue, "I'm not in a position to go against what my parents decided from the start," strongly conveys that this story takes place in a different era than today.

Watako is about to get married without even knowing what her husband looks like, but she gradually gets to know her husband, Kinumoto Naotaro, Yoshijiro, his father-in-law Haruo, and her mother-in-law Midori.
Yoshijiro is unfriendly and has a sharp tongue, but it doesn't seem like he dislikes Watako.
Haruo seems to be a rare rational and understanding person for his time.
Midori is a gentle and kind person, but she holds the standard belief of the time that "the role of a woman who marries into a family is to bear an heir."
Therefore, although I don't mean any harm, I'm unknowingly putting pressure on Watako.

Her husband, Shōtarō, has been selected to go to war, and everyone knows that it will be difficult for him to return alive once he goes to war.
The gradual deepening of their friendship is heartwarming, but the subsequent parting becomes painful, leaving the player with a vague sense of unease.

As the story progresses, the circumstances surrounding the Kinumoto family force Watako to make the ultimate choice.
Will Watako be able to make a choice?
I felt it was a human drama depicting a couple and their family being tossed about by the waves of war.
If you're even slightly interested in this game, you won't regret playing it.

This game has five different endings, and they branch out clearly depending on certain choices, making it easy to collect them all.
Two of the five storylines are bonus "what-if" scenarios that can be reached through choices that become available in subsequent playthroughs.
Furthermore, after clearing the game, diaries detailing the characters' feelings and strategy guides will be unlocked.

Review (contains spoilers)

I've finished watching all the endings.
I would say this game is definitely a "romance adventure game for women."
The protagonist is a woman, and the love interests are her husband and brother-in-law, so it might technically be considered an otome game.
However, as I wrote in the preface, I felt that this work transcends genres.

The detailed descriptions of wartime, based on various reference materials, make the story feel incredibly realistic.
I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the social conditions of that time, but the detailed descriptions were convincing and made me feel like they were true.
One of my favorite sayings is, "God is in the details," and I think this film is exactly that kind of work.

The scenario of this work is something that can only be depicted because it is set during wartime, and there is no wasted element in the setting.
If the story were set in modern times, would a plot where a woman suddenly marries a man she's never even met be acceptable?
It would require a lot of justification, and the explanation would likely slow down the pace.
In fact, I think this kind of introduction is convincing precisely because it's set in an era where women's rights were quite restricted.
Rather than a completely different world setting, a world that's only slightly different from our own might be easier to accept.

Now, the highlight of this film is undoubtedly the scene where the protagonist chooses whose wife he will be.
The fact that Shōtarō would be killed in battle was something that both the players and the characters had anticipated.
The story states that if you go off to war, you almost never come back alive, and it is said that Watako will soon become a widow.

That's why I thought the strange remarriage life with Yoshijiro that followed was the main theme of this work.
Watako, who remarried Yoshijiro in order to make a living, and Yoshijiro, who couldn't be honest with her because of the guilt he felt towards his respected older brother, had a clumsy but endearing and refreshing married life.
Watching the two characters gradually become closer, I often felt that this was indeed a romance adventure game.

However, just as her remarried life with Yoshijiro was starting to settle down, Shōtarō returns alive.
While I considered that possibility in my mind, I didn't want things to unfold that way.
Normally, her husband's safe return should be a cause for great joy.
However, because she has remarried Yoshijiro, the situation can no longer be celebrated without reservation.
This is a difficult situation, but it's not the fault of just one person.
Everyone did what they thought was best, but it all unfortunately came together in an unfortunate way.
If I had to pinpoint a problem, I'd say it's this era and the war that are to blame.

I haven't played many games where the protagonist is placed in this kind of situation.
Therefore, I don't have much tolerance for tears myself, and I often found myself crying along with the characters at the slightest line or moment of sadness.
The PC game "Kimi ga Nozomu Eien" that I played a long time ago might have had a somewhat similar situation (I was shocked to realize it was released 20 years ago).

Of the three options, the first one I chose was "Yoshijiro's wife."
When I made this ultimate choice in the story, I was definitely projecting myself onto Watako.
I seriously considered whose wife I was, and after much deliberation, I made my choice.
One of my reasons for choosing Yoshijiro is that I am currently his wife.
Since she had received news that her husband, Shōtarō, had been killed in action, and she couldn't return to her family home, I think she had no choice but to marry Yoshijirō.
In addition to those practical reasons, I also empathized with the fact that Watako, after sorting out her feelings in her own way, became attracted to Yoshijiro himself.
Just when everyone was starting to come to terms with things and ready to move forward again, Shōtarō returned alive, and I couldn't help but think, "I thought I was finally going to be able to get along with Yoshijirō..."
I feel bad for Shōtarō considering his feelings, but that's honestly how I feel.

In retrospect, this was probably the most positive outcome among the three options.
Choosing Yoshijiro might mean I'm the type of person who values the "present moment."

The next one I chose was "Shotaro's wife."
Since it means returning to their original marital relationship, it might have been the best outcome if they hadn't remarried.
However, for Yoshijiro, it could be said that this was a terrible choice.

The scene where Yoshijiro, who rarely shows his true feelings and is always considerate of others, finally explodes with emotion left me with a profound sense of helplessness.
In this story, Yoshijiro often gets the short end of the stick, so I feel particularly sorry for him.
After reading the developments of these choices, I realized that Yoshijiro is my favorite.

The last one I chose was,"I can't choose either."That was the option.
Having grown up with hardly any choice to make, Watako is forced to make only difficult choices at the Kinumoto household.
The fact that they are giving her a choice means that Watako's parents are respecting her wishes, which is something to be grateful for.
However, asking me to choose between Shōtarō and Yoshijirō is far too much of a burden.
Even if Watako couldn't make a choice, who could be blamed?
Ultimately, I couldn't bring myself to blame Watako for choosing death.

The aftermath of this choice felt longer than the other options, but it also felt more satisfying.
It feels like the long story has finally come to a close when Shu goes to meet his real father, Yoshijiro, and learns the truth from Watako and Shōtarō.
Even in the most turbulent times, I felt a certain resilience in how people manage to come to terms with reality and their feelings and continue living.

While there aren't many characters in this work, the one who stands out the most outside of the Kinumoto family is, of course, Akie.
At first glance, she appears to be portrayed in stark contrast to the protagonist, Watako.

However, as I continued reading the story, I realized that Akie, who seemed so free-spirited, was ultimately in a similar situation to Watako.
It has been said that the marriage to Shōtarō also fell through because Akie's parents called it off.

Perhaps what happened when Watako married into the Kinumoto family was the fate that Akie might have faced.
That's why Akie feels a connection to Watako and always looks out for her.
The fact that she showed consideration for the fact that she remarried Yoshijiro in order to survive suggests that she is a kind person.
Uncharacteristically for the reserved Watako, she refers to him in the narrative as "my only friend in Seniwa."
Although he doesn't deeply influence the main storyline, he's someone who quietly supported Watako's heart, so he's my second favorite character after Yoshijiro.

I ended up rambling on about a lot of different things without any coherence.
The dandelion flower has meanings such as "separation" and "sincere love."
I felt that this film was truly a story of separation, and also a story of genuine love.