Cafe Stella Analysis (Spoilers) – There Is Only One Yuzusoft Game

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Secrets Of The Dead

My relationship with Yuzusoft’s work has been a mixed one. The quality of the artwork and the likeable characters draw me to their games, but I often find myself burned out on them due their often unnecessary length and inability to handle their core premises with any depth or consideration. Despite these feelings, I continue to come back to their games so I can only assume the good outweighs the bad.

Fortunately, Cafe Stella managed to hold my attention from the duration of its narrative and reminded me why I still play their games. It also reminded me that Yuzusoft’s writing often leaves a lot to be desired.

In this analysis I will cover my thoughts on Cafe Stella in more detail than I could in my review due to their spoiler based nature. Please read the original review here to gauge my overall thoughts before continuing onward.

The Many Paths To Love - Route Analysis

-Common Route -

While this father and daughter story is cute, it adds nothing to the narrative.

Overall I would say that the common route is a strong example of how the genre should strive to open its narratives. An immediate inciting incident which wastes no time in setting up the premise (Kousei’s death and revival), the gradual introduction of our heroines and then the establishing of the location in which our routes will take place (the setting up of Cafe Stella with everyone’s help). These events all complement each other to form a memorable whole.

It is just a shame that the common route keeps going even after it has finished setting up for the main routes. This extension mostly takes the form of a sub-story where the cast helps to cheer up a father by holding a surprise birthday party with his daughter. While this little narrative is sweet, it is completely vestigial and kills the pacing by focusing on a minor character who does nothing for the characterisation of the main cast. It feels as if the writers were trying to pad out the runtime of the game.

-Akizuki Kanna -

This is the most powerful moment in the entire visual novel.

If there is a single word which describes this route perfectly it is inconsistent. This is mostly due to its close connection to the supernatural element of Cafe Stella and, as I noted in my review, the writers do not know how to properly handle this aspect. The opening section is the strongest with the focus on building the relationship between Kanna and Kousei and the reality of Kanna’s transient nature hanging over the whole thing (since she is already dead). Having the two accept that despite the limited time they might have together it is still worth loving one another is a powerful sentiment and when she fades away as the two ride the Ferris wheel the catharsis of the moment is palpable.

Unfortunately, it is after this point that the writers cannot seem to decide where to go next with the narrative. Obviously Kanna was never actually going to ‘die’ given the overall positive tone of the game, but to reach the point of her rebirth the game takes a sequence of odd turns. Firstly, the initial solution to the problem of Kanna’s death is presented to Kousei on silver platter without him having to do anything or find the motivation to seek it out. This makes it come across as rushed and undeserved. Secondly, this initial solution (time travel using the butterflies) turns out to be a red herring with Kousei forced to say goodbye to Kanna for a second time in a very similar scene to that first one on the Ferris wheel. This section creates feeling that the writers are just repeating themselves. Finally, when Kousei returns to the present it turns out that Kanna has been given a new body by the power of the butterflies with no drawbacks and this makes you question why the time travel sequence even exists at all if the goodbye scene is just going to be immediately invalidated. Overall, this section makes me think that the writers did not have a plan and just wrote whatever they thought of in the moment as this portion comes across as a mess.

The remainder of the route has Kanna bridge the gap between Kousei and his father and it is a fine enough section even if it feels as if it does not have a connection to the previous conflicts and narrative.

There is one final facet which I wish to discuss about the route and this is the additional world building elements introduced here. These are the fate of Kousei’s soul should God smite him and his suffering in his previous lives. It is clarified that if Kousei does not appease God not only will he die but his soul will also be annihilated, meaning he will never be reborn again. This revelation makes God come across as a truly unfeeling and uncaring entity who is only interested in the order of their world, especially given the pain Kousei endured in his previous lives where he suffered and died young due to parental neglect. It is the collective suffering of his previous lives which allowed him to gain the powers in the first place. God did nothing to alleviate Kousei’s suffering and they must have know that Kousei would eventually develop the powers which they are intolerant of and as such they come across as tyrannical. Without a doubt this implication was not the writers intention given the genre, but is instead another example of the loose and poorly thought through plot elements which are all too common in Yuzusoft’s work.

-Hiuchidani Mei -

Mei might be the most Yuzusoft heroine possible.

I have surprisingly little to say about this route. It sits firmly in the middle of the pack in terms of quality and does nothing special nor terrible. There are only two real point of note. The first is having Mei being the one who has to ‘man up’ and declare their love rather than the protagonist is a nice change of pace. Placing the heroine in the proactive role is a good way to switch the dynamic up and it is executed here with a suitable degree of finesse. The second is the Insect Devouring Eye which acts as the supernatural element of this route. Unlike in Kanna’s route, this is not mishandled and is a relatively inoffensive addition which adds little to proceedings but also doesn’t detract from them either. However, it is a prime example of Yuzusoft simply not knowing what to do with their gimmicks as they do nothing with it for most of the narrative only to have it resolved quickly at the end, almost as if they would rather not have to deal with it at all.

-Shiki Natsume -

Shiki and Kousei's strong dynamic is heartwarming to watch.

Shiki’s route is one of the strongest ones in the game. This is mostly because of her distinctive character mixing well with Kousei and the fact it does not focus on the supernatural element. The themes of finding a purpose in life and the value of your dreams are at the heart of this route and since both Shiki and Kousei are manifestations of the same character failing as they cannot reach either, they complement and reflect each other to make for a stronger message. Helping this dynamic along is their strong banter which sells their growing relationship in an amusing and heart-warming manner. As they become each other’s strength and find the direction to a life worth living, you cannot help but cheer for them with every shaky step they take forward.

There is a single misstep made by the writers in Shiki’s route which leave a strange taste in the mouth when you bump into it. This is the strangest choice to include the revelation that Kousei’s time travel at the start of the game not only saved himself but also Shiki who was caught up in the accident. This creates a weird power imbalance between Kousei and Shiki with Shiki owing her life to Kousei and resulting in an unequal relationship dynamic between the two. There was absolutely no reason to have this revelation since it never plays into the narrative and could easily have been cut out. All it does is put Shiki in the inferior power position and leave an uncomfortable feeling behind since it appears as if it exists to put the player character above the heroine. This feels like an accidental connotation rather than a deliberate intention as none of the other routes have anything of this nature, but it does highlight the importance of considering the implications of even minor narrative elements as they have consequences for the reader’s enjoyment.

-Sumizome Nozomi -

Nozomi can be surprisingly solemn at times.

Childhood friends are an overdone cliché in slice of life visual novels and while Nozomi’s route can definitely fall into this cliché at times, it is saved by the strength of the character dynamic between her and Kousei. It is not quite on the same level as the Shiki-Kousei relationship but it is still the main appeal of the route. The two are clearly comfortable with each other and their jokes and banter sell their bond without having to explicitly spell it out. Having Nozomi and Kousei face this familiarity as a trail to push their relationship forwards is a nice way to tie this banter into their character development. Breaking out of the comfortable pattern they found themselves in as they realise their feelings for one another.

Once again it is the narrative inclusion of God which sours the experience of playing this route. More specially the reveal that it was not the red butterfly which has been causing the supernatural attacks on Kousei but instead an angry God. The reason for this is God sensing that Kousei might reawaken the dormant power inside Nozomi and so they act to remove him, only being stopped by the red butterfly. This is problematic in two ways, firstly this makes it clear that God will smite Kousei without warning if it seem like he might cause a problem and secondly the narrative does not actually resolve Nozomi’s powers so she could resume her reawakening at some point and bring God’s wrath down on the pair again. Together these elements create a sense that Kousei’s life will constantly be in peril no matter what he does since he has no way of knowing if he is coming into contact with someone who might react to his presence and anger God again. This is another example the problem of the including God in Cafe Stella and the poor handling of this aspect creating unintended narrative issues.

-Shioyama Suzune -

The mature yet adorable best girl.

Despite being the shortest route in the game and for a sub-heroine, Suzune’s route is by far my favourite and she is definitely my favourite character. There is something refreshing about an older adult character who does not lord that age difference over the main characters and is instead cool with meeting them on their level and rolling with their pace. Her passion for baking is infectious as she puts her utmost into her work so she can have pride in it, but at the same time the narrative uses this quality as her weakness. She has to learn the value of compromising while being inventive within limitations rather than having everything being perfect.

In addition, the almost complete lack of the supernatural element allows the narrative to squarely focus on what the writers do best, characters and their interactions. The shorter run time also aids this approach as there is no space for excess fluff and ensures that the narrative adheres to its core direction. Helping this along is the sweet romance between Suzune and Kousei which endears them to the reader even when it has to share the limited space with the main thrust of the route. Suzune’s realisation that she has fallen in love with a younger guy is one of the highlights of the route. All these elements come together to form the purest example of why I still like Yuzusoft’s work and convinces me that their style is better suited to short form routes rather than the long ones they generally focus on.

The Butterfly Effect – Overarching Thoughts

-Yuzusoft and their gimmicks -

If only Yuzusoft would focus on what they do best, characters.

As I mentioned in my review, Yuzusoft tries to spice up their slice of life visual novels by introducing a gimmick element. For Cafe Stella this was the Shinigami and butterflies and it was one of the less problematic examples of this practice. The introduction of new gimmicks in each Yuzusoft game is understandable as it is an easy way to differentiate them from one another and avoid the feeling that their games are all the same.

However, there is a price to be paid for the loose way in which they use these elements and this is that they often rub against the light nature of the game’s genre. In Cafe Stella there are a lot of small examples of this such as with the previously mentioned issues regard the use of God, but previous games have suffered from it in different ways like Riddle Joker's complete unwillingness to deal with the realities of spying even when the protagonist is caught doing exactly that very thing. This desire by Yuzusoft to have their narrative cake and eat it brings the reader out of experience more than they seem to realise. Maybe this problem could be avoided if they chose lighter topics for their gimmicks rather than things like death and spying, but it seems that they want their gimmicks to have some spice to them even if it comes at a cost.

-Pure blushing virgin maidens-

On the surface this might not seem like an issue...

There is a habit among those who create visual novels in the slice of life / romance genre to make all their heroines virgins, likely due to the cultural value placed on ideas of purity. However, Yuzusoft takes it much further than most with almost all their heroines suffering from a condition I like to call Pure Blushing Virgin Maiden Syndrome. This generally manifests in a heroine’s route and this heroine will occasionally lose all their defining characteristics and start to blush while behaving in an innocent and pure manner even if they were previously established to be flirty and mildly perverted or assertive. They will give over all control to the protagonist and let them lead even if it makes no sense for them to do so.

The problematic misogyny this invokes is a result of an attempt to pander to their target male audience as well as a failure to understand how to build even power dynamics between a couple. It is also reflected in other odd choices such as the aforementioned issue of Shiki owing her life to Kousei in her route. All of these missteps harm the strength of the characterisation on display by undermining their established traits and breaks their believability. The only thing this achieves is leaving an unnecessary bad taste in my mouth and is a stain which could easily to removed without offending the target audience as it is the variety of their heroines which is one of Yuzusoft’s strengths.

-Fear of interpersonal conflict -

A real group of friends has conflicts. This cast does not.

As a company Yuzusoft have a strange fear of interpersonal conflict, particularly within the main cast. The characters never have anything more than minor disagreements and generally exist in harmony with each other even when it makes no sense for them to agree on the subject. This no doubt stems from their choice to work within the slice of life genre and results in them being afraid of breaking the warm and comfy atmosphere by introducing conflict.

However, this does not mean they do not understand the need for interpersonal conflict and it is this contradiction which plagues their games. What this manifests as are false conflicts which initial seem as if they are going to pit characters against one another but are later revealed to be a misunderstanding or harmless trick. They use this to have interpersonal conflict without it having any consequences. A sanitised form without any possible negative elements. The most notable example from Cafe Stella is the initial conflict surrounding Suzune where her former boss is presented as undermining her attempts to get a new job after she left when they had a disagreement. They even go so far as to have the very mention of her name in the shop she used to work by a taboo which causes the staff to go silent. However, later in an almost throwaway line Suzune reveals that it was all a misunderstanding and there was never any conflict at all. There are similar examples to this throughout Yuzusoft’s work such as the false climax in one of the routes of Noble Works and demonstrates this as a common issue in their work.

You see if you setting up what appears on the surface to be a serious conflict only to reveal that it was fake you undermine the value of your conflicts as player will assume every conflict to be similarly empty. Over the course of a narrative this damages any attempts to raise the stakes and makes for a less engaging experience. Yuzusoft understand this on some level since they do want some conflict in their stories but do not properly realise that peace and conflict are opposites which need to be treated with the sincerity.

Conclusion

Cafe Stella, and by extension all of Yuzusoft’s work, is flawed but engaging example of the strengths and weaknesses of the genre. While there has been a fair degree of criticism here, there is undeniably something endearing about the mood and characters of Cafe Stella which is difficult to find elsewhere. The flaws outlined here could be solved with a little bit of conscious effort on Yuzusoft’s part and elevate their work to greater heights within the genre. Whatever the future holds for Yuzusoft, their next work will be something fans of the genre are sure to enjoy.