I decided to pick up a new Voltage Inc. character to try as I haven’t played a mobile game in a while and they were currently having their massive yearly sale. Although the sale has now ended, their yearly sale is the best time to try out their games since the prices re slashed on so many stories from 25%-75% off. If you’re not a fan of buying individual routes, I suggest waiting for these sales to occur before purchasing them.

After browsing the /r/otomegames reddit for some recommendations, I decided on Tsumugu Kido from ‘Our Two Bedroom Story’. I’ve played this title a long time ago when it first came out, and purchased the main story and sequel of ‘Minato Okouchi’ and ‘Kaoru Kirishima’ in the past.

It’s one of their more popular games that spawned a sequel title and I can understand why. Although the premise is rather bland and a rehash of the ‘forced living arrangements’ trope, the heroine is very refreshing and dedicated to her job. I believe back then it was one of their first games that introduced a very different protagonist in comparison to their older titles. The whole ‘step-sibling’ concept was incorporated rather poorly for most of the routes however, and clearly it’s only purpose was to serve as a reason for the couple to live together.

Despite this, I still feel that ‘Our Two Bedroom Story’ is one of their better titles and I did enjoy it back then when I first played it. What interested me about Kido was the literal ‘dual-personality’ aspect and how he actually had two different character sprites. This was quite different in comparison to previous Voltage Inc. routes and I was interested to see exactly how his route would play out.

Prologue Summary

The heroine temporarily moves into her new step-father’s home, only to find that it has already been occupied by a dishevelled, blunt and stingy man by the name of Kido. Speaking with a prominent kansai-dialect, he demands the heroine leave his home as he is the rightful owner of the place. Despite her protests, he childishly asserts that as he has already moved in first; she essentially has no say or claim in the matter. The protagonist has already moved all her things from her previous home, and the current circumstances renders her homeless.

She finally adheres to his living arrangement requirements, and agrees to pay rent for the next month until she is able to find another place. Although she is appalled by Kido’s love for money and unreasonable demands, she concedes that the current situation is far more desirable and less financially straining in comparison to living in a hotel.

The next day at work, she is excited that her efforts at the company had been recognised and her transfer request had finally been accepted. The heroine has been moved to the Seasonelle Department, which is the company section that every employee dreams of entering. It encompasses a group of the most elite journalists and news reporters within the company, working together in a high dynamic and fast-paced work environment.

To her surprise, she is not the only new worker entering the department. Another man by the name of Tsumugu Kido attends the same introductory meeting and the heroine is in awe of his skill and experience. He immediately leaves a lasting impression with his refreshing ideas for Seasonelle, despite it conflicting with the ace of the department Minato. He is unafraid to voice his daring ideas and handles himself with undisputed confidence.

Unlike the inexperienced heroine who struggles with all the new information at the meeting, Kido was head-hunted from another company due to his vast portfolio of publications and talent. She finds herself noticing the subtle similarities between Kido her co-worker, and the rude and dishevelled Kido at home.

She rules it as a coincidence that they share the same name as she is unable to bridge the disconnect between the two completely different personalities. Where the Kido at home is blunt, extremely rude and stingy; the Kido at work is full of gentle smiles, encouraging words and approaches his work with absolute efficiency. Unlike the shabby appearances of the Kido she knows, her new co-worker is exceptionally tidy, proper and emulates the ideal image of an elite businessman.

The heroine is immediately placed on a project with Kido as her support and she is determined to publish something worthwhile. In spite of the article being assigned to her, Kido quickly takes over the project and leaves little to nothing for the heroine to do. She is dismayed by the turn of events as although Kido’s methods are not wrong and far more efficient than anything she could potentially do; it was an article entrusted to her, to complete by her own efforts.

She is determined to prove her worth and at home that night, she begins to research new articles and content that even Kido himself did not include in his drafts. The Kido at home is surprised by her efforts, and asks her why she is trying so hard for a futile cause. She answers that she recognises her weaknesses, which fuels her desire to learn and improve herself to earn the recognition of her co-worker.

Afterwards, the Kido at work concedes to her wishes after seeing the content she produces and allows her to have a more active role in writing the article alongside him. Her relationship with both Kido’s continues to grow, and she finds herself slowly accepting the newfound company of her housemate. She begins to cook for the household in return for a reduction on rent and discovers that they share the same sense of humour.

They enjoy idyllic days together and fall into a comfortable routine of sharing dinner and watching comedy skits afterwards. Although they engage in their fair share of friendly banter, the heroine finds herself enjoying their conversations and her opinion of him gradually improving. However, she finds herself suspicious about the true nature of his work as she had never seen him dressed for it nor leave the house prior to her.

One night, she notices he had fallen asleep with the window open in his room. Despite his warnings for her to never enter his room, she worries that he may catch a cold overnight. She asserts that there would be no harm in sneaking in to close it, before taking her leave. However, she quickly becomes entranced by his sleeping face illuminated by the moonlight and is surprised at how unexpectedly handsome he is. Contrary to his usual dishevelled appearance, he had distinctly beautiful features that she never noticed before beneath his large frames.

To her shock, he briefly opens his eyes and she realises that the face staring back at her is none other than Tsumugu Kido; the prim, proper perfectionist she sees everyday at work.

Character Development

Admittedly, after playing through Tsumugu Kido’s route his character is not for everyone. Due to the complete disconnect between his two personalities at home and at work, it’s difficult to decipher which of the two represents his true feelings towards the heroine. One moment he’s incredibly rude and condescending to her, whereas the next moment he showers her with kindness and gentle words. It’s consistently hot and cold with Tsumugu Kido, and you’re completely at the mercy of his whims for the majority of the story.

It really raised questions as readers on the genuineness of his feelings and actions towards the heroine, due to the incongruity between his two personalities. To me the highlight of the route was actually the protagonist herself, and her refreshing approach in responding to Kido’s difficult personality. She is headstrong, resilient and determined in proving her worth to Kido despite the obstacles she has to overcome. She successfully earns his respect and recognition of her abilities at work over the progression of the story.

This is quite a feat in itself as Kido is well-known for his solitude at work and his ambitions to rise to the top of the company, without the assistance of others. He is arrogant and prideful in his abilities, to which no one can refute due to the quality of work that he produces. On top of that, he is remarkably handsome and considered the current most eligible bachelor at the company.

Kido finds himself equally perplexed by the heroine and becomes increasingly resistant to her attempts at getting closer to him. No matter how rudely he acts towards her and pushes her away, she remains kind and accepting of his true personality. She is the only one he feels the most comfortable around and feels no need to hide his less than desirable traits from her. Instead of being offended by his tirade of insults, she deflects it with ease and constantly has snarky and witty comebacks of her own.

Rather than stepping down and being intimidated by his actions, the heroine isn’t afraid to speak her mind and stand up to him. I actually found myself laughing out loud at so many of their interactions with one another and it was really refreshing and different in comparison to the usual character dynamics seen in the standard Voltage Inc. routes. It was so satisfying to see Kido’s reluctant acceptance of her as his equal, and gradually opening up to one another due to their surprisingly similar personality traits and interests.

There is notable character and relationship development throughout his route which was crucial to the good pacing of his story. When the heroine decides to enact a cooking strike due to Kido’s actions, we begin to see the change in his character and his clear shift in emotions towards the heroine. It was really sweet to finally see glimpses of Kido’s true self, and the subtle kindness within his actions rather than his words.

When the protagonist finally discovers the truth behind his past, it finally closes the disconnect between Kido’s two personalities and how he came to be the person he was in the present. His suffering, hard work and perseverance to finally achieve his current place in life is admirable and he is understandably jaded due to his experiences. I liked the focus and writing dedicated to the explanation of his past, as it was quite thorough and was a crucial aspect that revealed the complexities beneath his character.

He gradually falls deeper in love with the heroine and how she truly sees him as a person rather than for his monetary assets. This is the pivotal moment where we finally see Tsumugu Kido’s true self and emotions and it felt so satisfying to read. It was like all the heroine’s difficulties in overcoming his difficult personality and finally coming to truly understand him were worthwhile in the end.

Although his character personality and story may not be for everyone, I still really enjoyed his route and was surprised by how much I liked it in the end. It is quite difficult to get into initially because of how utterly abrasive and rude Kido is in comparison to the other Voltage characters I’ve played that encompassed a similar character trope. As Kido quite literally has a ‘dual personality and identity’ in every sense of the word, I felt his character and route were a direct reflection of this.

His personality is very extreme in both ends of the spectrum and swings wildly back and forth between the two. His emotions and actions constantly contradict one another which serves to both confuse and infuriate the heroine, as she is unable to distinguish his true feelings. The banter and light-hearted moments between the two serves to ease the tension and I was really impressed by how snarky and witty the heroine was, in responding to Kido’s antics.

I felt like she was definitely one of the best renditions of the MC in ‘Our Two Bedroom Story’. Although in the other routes she also exhibits determination and passion for her work, considering how infuriating Kido was at times; it also brought out the fire in her own personality.

Despite Kido being a new character to the game, he surprisingly has a lot of content already implemented due to his unexpected popularity. His route is a whirlwind of emotions from beginning to end, and has a very rocky and tumultuous start with his relationship to the MC. However, I do recommend giving his route a try as the conclusion to his story and the development of his character was well worth the read in the end.