And so after many delays, I finally finish my raving professional review of Tayutama. This is probably one of the few eroges that I completed one-hundred percent. Was it that good or was I that insane?

Tayutama is Lump of Sugar’s latest offering in 2008. They only made two earlier works which are Nursery Rhyme and Itsuka Todoku Ano Sora Ni, but from my experience they have been excellent. So I waited with great anticipation and wondered if this title will live up to my expectations.

Tayutama is about a boy named Yuuri Mito, the son of a local shrine. While his father wants him to become the successor, he wishes to break away from the family tradition. As he is returning back home, he spots a funny looking thingamabob floating in front of his face. Because of his bloodline, he is sensitive to the spirits of nature and now there is a sudden upsurge in the vicinity. Deciding to check out the source, he heads over to an old monument along with his osananajimi Ameri, and his best bud, Sankuro. Unfortunately an accident with Ameri and a motorcycle sets the entire forest on fire, releasing all the spirits like Pandora’s box.

Now in a crapload of trouble, Yuuri reluctantly turns to Norio Wakamoto his father for aid and it eventually leads him to calling upon the forest god. After doing the necessary rituals he succeeds but because of certain conditions and his previous mishap, she cannot aid him in vanquishing the other spirits and must reincarnate into a child form to rejuvenate her energy. Until then, she is in Yuuri’s care. Looking back at the plot summary, I realize just how ridiculous the entire thing is but the way the story is presented is much better than it seems.

Mito Mashiro (CV: Noriko Rikumaru) is the deity entrusted to Yuuri. She holds old-fashioned traditions and believes in the ideals of being the perfect wife. But don’t think she is a pushover as she absolutely refuses to be married to a weak husband and will beat him up train him for the upcoming trials he must face. Since she has been asleep for hundreds of years, she knows nothing about the current age and new discoveries excites her like the cell phone and the encyclopedia. Even though Mashiro is naive about the current world, she gives a comforting ear and sage advice to Yuuri whenever he is in trouble whether in battle or in his relationships. She can also be very affectionate when she is in the mood. Just thinking about it is giving me MOE SEIZURES!

Kawai Ameri (CV: Simoda Asami)  is Yuu’s osananajimi. She has a fun-loving personality and together with Sankuro, they are a close trio of friends. Yuuri used to have feelings for Ameri but for reasons unexplained, she moved to a different junior high school and never contacted him. Yuuri thought she never had feelings for him and when he gave up they meet again in high school. They regained their friendship but it has never went beyond that. Yuuri and Ameri really like to throw verbal jabs at each other and have a brutally honest understanding between them. The only thing that Yuuri doesn’t know is the truth of Ameri’s feelings.

Takanashi Yumina (CV: Kaori Mizuhashi) used to be Yuuri’s distant cousin but their connection broke when his mother died. Since then she has been adopted under a different name and is attending the same school as Mifuyu (see below). However, Yumina still holds him in high regard and calls him “oniisama”. She does not have much self-confidence and automatically believes in the worst possible outcome in almost any situation. This will make her hysterically ramble into a state of tears, sometimes going completely off the original topic. I guess you can call her an unofficial osananajimi. And yes, for reasons too complicated to explain right away, she does split into three during one ero-scene.

Kisaragi Mifuyu (CV: Shizuka Itou) is an ojousama attending a prestigious, all-girl high school situated next to the common, mixed gender school Yuuri attends. Consequently, that is also where most of the education funds go to. Mifuyu is confident, self-assured and thoroughly grounded in reality. So when Yuuri points out that recent accidents have been caused by supernatural phenomenon she can’t help but look at him in disbelief or he is some crazy madman. Mifuyu also develops a bit of a sadistic characteristic should Yuuri pursue her if you know what I mean.

As always with Lump of Sugar titles, the artwork is stunning. The artist, Moekibara Fumitake, shows off his magic touch with fappable alluring bishoujos. The presentation is a step up from usual eroges. Switching between menus reveal quick portfolios of the heroines with a quick “snap”. The characters’ facial expressions zoom in on the screen in half-sized boxes with “exclamation points” over their heads just like Persona 3. The music is not ground-breaking fantastic, but it is very good and fits the mood. I personally liked the regular school theme with it’s techno-beat and piano solo. (Okay I admit it. I like techno and piano so give me a break.) There is also a vocal rendition for each heroine’s theme song sung by the seiyuus themselves in the music box under the extras section which was a nice treat. Each heroine has four ero-scenes and they can range from tender lovemaking to dark ravaging to the outright bizarre. It certainly brings a variety to people with different tastes. One ero-scene had Yuuri walking into the next room, suprising Mashiro with a passionate kiss while she was undressing herself and leading her to the bath to make joyful noises together. Yet another one with Ameri had him go wild with adult gizmos and drove her to the brink of insanity from the stimulation. Whether she enjoyed it or not she won’t say, at least not in front of Yuuri’s face.

While the story of Tayutama is very entertaining and has it’s emotional twists and turns, it is also rather linear. I found myself skipping through much of the story because I have seen it already except for the ero-scenes, but that is only for the very lengthy trunk. The branches of each heroine are not very long but they are also not very short and each one is a good read. Personally I enjoyed Lump of Sugar’s previous titles more, but overall I am satisfied with Tayutama: Kiss On My Deity and it is a worthy addition to be added among their small but prominent number of titles.

Another obligatory picture of Mashiro because she is obviously superior compared to the rest of the cast.