Image via Idea Factory International and Red
The original Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei otome game involved a dynamic heroine, both happy and tragic endings for its main characters, and even an opportunity to enjoy smaller “if” storylines with supplemental characters. I thought it was pretty great, especially if someone liked similar stories like Hakuoki or Nightshade. This means the fan disc Birushana: Winds of Fate feels a bit like wish fulfillment, since the otome game gives us more time with every character, but it does prioritize the four new routes.
Like many Idea Factory International fan discs, what we’re actually getting here in Birushana: Winds of Fate is something of a mixed bag. Part of it relates to the established storylines from the main bachelors in Rising Flower of Genpei. The Benkei, Noritsune, Shungen, Tomomori, and Yoritomo storylines all build on the happy endings from the first game. These tend to be a few chapters long and look at what life is like while in a committed relationship with the bachelor of choice, as well as how Shanao handles life as an ordinary person following the Heiji Rebellion and Genpei War. The Shigehira, Tadanobu, Takatsuna, and Tsugunobu routes give proper main route and love interest storylines to characters who we previously saw as supporting cast members and “if” romance possibilities in the original.
Here’s the thing… I think the new main route storylines feel stronger and better in Birushana: Winds of Fate than the established bachelor epilogues. This is due to two elements. One is that the returning love interests’ stories are quite short. They’re about three solid chapters long and wrap things up. We see how things turned out for them after the best possible endings. Which is nice! They’re kinetic stories, however, so you don’t influence the outcome in any way. The number of CGs appearing in them are limited too. However, to their credit, the after-stories do feel consistent. The characterizations feel the same. Shanao isn’t suddenly all feminine and girly, and her character development isn’t wiped. She still comes across as a strong individual even when living a peaceful life as a wife. The relationship development also feels natural. However, I do sort of feel like Tomomori and Yoritomo got the “best” storylines here.
Conversely, the Shigehira, Tadanobu, Takatsuna, and Tsugunobu storylines all feel like full-fledged stories that generally feel like they fit in well alongside the existing ones from the original game. We select exactly which one we want to pursue from the main menu, so we’re locked into folks. The Tadanobu and Tsugunobu ones both feel pretty solid, though I feel Shanao behaves a little out of character in one. The Shigehira one, as you’d expect, is absolutely fantastic and perhaps the best written of the four. The Takatsuna one feels quite out of character and even somewhat out of place at times. But I feel it’s the lone downside in the pack.
It’s even like the CGs for that part of the fan disc feel better. I mean, granted there are more of them there too. That helps. But the art and moments tied to these scenes (Takatsuna aside) look great. I do like a few of the ones from the epilogues a lot too. Noritsune has one sweet one in a field with Shanao, Shungen and Shanao look great performing together, and all the Tomomori ones are pretty solid. But it feels like all of the new route CGs just don’t miss in terms of quality.
If you loved the original Birushana otome game and wanted more time with the supporting cast, then Birushana: Winds of Fate would be a must-buy visual novel. Three out of the four new main routes range from pretty great to amazing. The epilogues for the last entry’s love interest are brief follow-up stories that explain what happened next to assure you the “best” endings really did turn out happy. If you weren’t a fan of the original game though, then maybe look into Homura: The Crimson Warriorsinstead.
Birushana: Winds of Fate will come to the Switch on May 26, 2026.