Jack Jeanne (2021)

I had such a bell curve of a time playing this game. Like many visual novels, this one starts off slowly. Within the first hour or so you're introduced to all the fun guys you'll get to romance/hang with before the story finally ramps up. Everything was great for most of the game, but I ended up picking a love interest (Fumi) who I ultimately wasn't that interested in. My bad, I guess.

Jack Jeanne stands out in a few ways compared to other otome games. Most importantly, the setting is quite unique! The story is largely broken up into seasons as you practice for different musicals. Sure, it's a school setting, but getting to rehearse plays then actually experience them makes for a delightfully gratifying experience. Not only do you get to see the growth each character has in their acting, but the voiceover experience is super interesting from rehearsals to performance. All of this comes together to make the common route (~80% of the game) wonderful. Unlike many games, the writing throughout this section felt strong and impactful.

Just as interesting is how the story is inspired by the Takarazuka Revue. Because of this and high production values, there's lots of cross dressing, including some love interests! It's good stuff and the story and characters take it very seriously. I often find myself wanting to read visual novels about gay/queer men, but I typically prefer the vibes of otome and yuri. This game doesn't have queer options, but it was wonderful getting to see so many queer coded men(?) in an otome game, not to mention men who are very comfortable in their masculinity.

Also neat is the rhythm gameplay. Songs and dances during performances require high scores to get the best endings, but the multiple difficulties makes for a forgiving experience. Mostly I enjoyed getting to see all the characters dance around in cute, 3d environments. Also, big surprise: the music is good!

Despite what I said above, I did find it disappointing for some time that this wasn't just a gay story. Kisa having to hide being a girl makes for good narrative stakes and all, but with all the gender bendy stuff going on, I couldn't help but wonder at times why I couldn't play as a guy, or gasp, a nonbinary person, or double gasp, a trans woman! I know this is an otome game, but wouldn't that have been exciting and interesting if you were a closeted trans girl? The plot would kind of remain the same, but ultimately be more grounded in a nice way. Alas, maybe in my fan fic.

Anyways, this is a great game. I recommend Otome Kitten's review to check out her emoji summaries of each character. Don't make the same mistake I did! Pick a better man for you.

Jack Jeanne, an otome-ish blend of lots of story, some stat-raising, and some rhythm gameplay, quickly grabbed me with its lovable characters and unique focus on an elite (almost) all-male theatre academy. There's a sincerity and brightness to its writing and a love for theatre and for its characters that really shine through and make it enjoyable. It has the ingredients to be something really special, but unfortunately wraps them in a narrative that often lacks thrust, and gameplay mechanics that feel underbaked. I can't help but to feel both glad that I played it and a little disappointed in how my interest slowly fizzled out.

This theatre school separates its students into four classes that compete against one another several times per year to put on the best group and individual performances. Building up to each big performance, the game follows the characters through rehearsals of each scene, generally focusing on 2 or 3 of them overcoming some personal struggle or outside conflict. As we see more of both these character stories and of the play that we're meant to put on, it generally becomes apparent that there are parallels between the two that may ultimately teach the students something about themselves and how to better play their role.

That repeated structure is both a blessing and a curse, as it does lead to great moments when things click into place, but can feel too telegraphed and predictable, too focused on having the story fit a rigid game structure. Between story sections, you get to choose who specifically to spend time with on your days off, and these little asides that touch on main narrative events and character backstories are great for feeling a bond slowly grow between the characters. The plays the characters put on also can have interesting stories themselves, which helps. At points, though, there just simply isn't enough going on to prevent the day-to-day from becoming stale.

Gender-bending is at the heart of this story in more ways than one, and while it is not a trans story, its world is refreshingly open and accepting of its male-identified characters having a huge range of gender presentations. Though there are occasional lighthearted jokes between friends, androgynous or super-feminine male characters are treated with respect and love by their masculine peers and by the game's writing. I really enjoyed seeing that and consider it one of the game's quiet strengths—feels like a bit of a rarity in video games.

On the gameplay side, both the stat-raising / time management stuff and the rhythm stuff feel slightly lacking. Raising a certain stat allows you to unlock special dialogues with the character associated with that stat, and ultimately can allow you to get the best ending with that character. Outside that, which stat I focused on seemed to have no impact at all on the story and performances, so the whole system kind of felt like a waste of time to me. On lower difficulties, the rhythm game stuff is pretty simple, so no worries if you're not much of a rhythm gamer. I neither love nor dislike the rhythm stuff, and it's a decent way to add impact to the big performances. There's just barely any of it in the game compared to everything else.

While there's enough passion and good ideas here to make me want to recommend this game, definitely don't expect it to have a "page-turner" type of story very often. For me that's a bit of a problem, but for many it probably isn't. Either way, its characters and some of their stories make it quite enjoyable to dip into. I'd be happy to see another attempt at this sort of thing that tightens things up a bit.