Sandbox / Itasio

Aiyoku no Eustia

Setting

Floating City of Novus Aether, Special Area, aka "The Prison", with many pickpockets and poor living conditions, unlike the upper stratums of the City.
"Growing Wings" disease, presumably deadly for humans, means of transmission unknown, but not airborne.
To stop the pandemic, the "Quarantine Department" (also known as "Wings Hunting Department") was created 10 years ago, whose goal is to find the infected people and put them in a sanatorium. According to Caim, it is incurable and no one ever came back from these. They also have to right to inspect anyone they deem suspicious, which include the removal of their clothes.
Long ago, God send Angels as a gift to guide mankind, who grew to prosperity. However, as time passed, humanity eventually stopped worshipping God, and as a result Angels disappeared, leaving it to its own devices and flooding the earth. As many humans died during the process, a saint by the name of Irene and her disciples prayed for God to forgive them, who granted their wish by creating the floating City of Novus Aether, saving mankind.
Hundred of years later, Irene's power was cultivated through generations of priests to keep the city afloat, considered to be the last bastion of humanity. Current generation, Saint Irene the 29th, blind.
A "Great Collapse" happened 10 years ago, and Caim seems to have been part of it.
Many women of the "Prison" are forced into prostitution to live, but one out of 100 can manage to live off it, while the rest usually die of disease or madness. Claudia works hard, Lisa look away from reality, and Iris keeps a cold facade.
The Upper Levels of Novus Aether are luxurious
Rusts of Wind is a rival gang of the Golden Chains who has control of the other half of the "Prison", led by Bernad.

Characters

The protagonist seems to be a mercenary by the name of Caim
Uncorroding Golden Chains, a gang-like group led by Zeke
Vinoletta Tavern owned by Melt, former prostitute.
Lisa, one of the Golden Chains prostitutes, who doesn't seem to have anyone interested in her.
Iris, one of the Golden Chains prostitutes, who's an emotionless girl with a foul mouth.
Claudia, the most popular of the Golden Chains prostitutes
Eustia, a mysterious girl found by Caim during one of his missions, sole survivor of a incident. Has wings on her back, and emits light similar to the one seen during the Great Collapse.
Lucius dis Mireille, overseer of the Wing Hunters.
Saint Irene, the Blind Saint and a legendary figure
Eris is a doctor working for the Golden Chains, and saved by Caim 10 years ago. Attempts to have a relationship with Caim ever since.
Lilium Brothel owned by Oz
Lang, the Vice-Commander of the Wing Hunters

Plot

• First mission: Caim and Eris must find an infected pickpocket kid before the Wing Hunters, who stole money from Melt. (If Wing Hunters find a pickpocket, they can take the money they stole as part of their job)
• As he followed him through the square, he assists to a speech of Saint Irene the 29th, who's loved by everyone in Novus Aether.
• He finds the boy when people see his wings, and he promptly escapes until Caim corners him in a street. Ostracized for having wings, he lost everything and was forced to live in "The Prison" to make ends meet.
• Caim lets him go after getting the money back, but the "Wing Hunters" find him afterwards.
• Its Vice-Commander, Lang, wants to interrogate Caim for more info on the Golden Chains, until the Commander herself intervenes, as she reminds him of not intimidating people into giving them info, even for the greater good (She also wonders how it feels for Caim to earn money over violence)
• Caim goes to Melt's tavern to have a drink, alongside Zeke and Eris, who stumbled upon a drugged prostitute.
• Second mission: Zeke sends Caim to investigate the whereabouts of a carriage with high class prostitutes destined for the Upper Levels, he suspects the Rusts of Wind to be involved.
• On the deepest levels of the Prison, he finds many corpses, suggesting the assassin to be someone who enjoys killing. While preparing to attack the agressor, he sees a strange purple light, similar to the one he saw on the day of the Great Collapse, which triggers his PTSD, and he avoids an attack from an unindentified person who scratches his cheek.
• He finds a mysterious girl left on the street, who emits a light similar to the one he saw during the Great Collapse, with wings on her back. Left with numerous questions, Caim decides to bring her to Eris, who relunctantly treats her alongside Caim.
• Upon Zeke's arrival, they conclude that the Rusts of Wind weren't involved, as the damage was too destructive (preferring stealing assets rather than destroy them). He also asks Oz to give money to the family of one of his men who died during the incident.
• Caim wants to take care of the mysterious girl personally, as he wants to know the true nature of her light, though Zeke warns him she will not make it alive due to her status as a winged individual.
• (Dreams of Caim during his childhood. Upon seeing the purple light, he couldn't help but being fascinated, as he witnessed a huge earthquake, people screaming in despair and ruins and most of his hometown fell into the endless sea of clouds)
• After making it to the Prison, he worked in a brothel as a handyman before being noticed by the predecessor of Zeke and leader of the Golden Chains, who decided to make him a mercenary. There were already an Upper and a Lover City, but the Great Collapse created an even Lower City, who became "The Prison", since it was surrounded by steep cliffs. Due to the lack of outside help from the government, the Prison became a nest of anarchy before the Golden Chains and their leader Bolts Grad (Zeke's father) restored order and even created a new system to exchange supplies with the upper levels. As such, the Golden Chains are considered the representatives of the people living in the Prison, with people like Zeke and Caim who try their best to carry on Bolts' legacy.
• Upon awakening, the mysterious girl does remember of being sold in the Prison, but doesn't remember anything of the incident after being thrown into the ground, instead breaking down into tears when doing so. Attempted to flee when discovering her wings.
• Zeke and Oz think the culprit to be something non-human, to the skepticism of Caim. Rumors of a black monster with crow-like features on the run for a month, due to feathers found near bodies.
• Upon investigating the crime scene, Caim doesn't find anything, and he encounters a priest whose innocent eyes doesn't seem to belong to the prison, searching for something. She cannot reveal where she came from, but she was ordered by someone to search for something too. She's quickly noticed by some brutes whom Caim easily defeats, slowly realizing the harsh reality of the Prison. After escorting her for a while, she finds her master, whose voice seem similar to Saint Irene the 29th. After thanking him, the unindentified master gives several special gold coins to Caim, suggesting she works for the church.
• Afterwards, he sees Eris taking care of the mysterious girl by herself, and gave her new clothes, but she still cannot remember the events of that night (Caim thinks she's lying or at least hiding something), and Eris prefers to wait for her trauma to go away before asking for more. Zeke and Melt later visits them to know about the situation, the latter suggests to make her more comfortable around Caim & co. Caim reluctantly agrees to take care of the unnamed girl for the time being. Upon seeing her asleep, Caim remembers his own circumstances as the survivor of an unexplained tragedy, but choose not to give it much importance, simply accepting the Great Collapse as a fact, nothing more.
• (Point of View Character: Eustia): She's shown to be fearful of her benefactors of the Golden Chains, not trusting them very much and lying to them by feigning ignorance, out of fear they would denounce her to the Wing Hunters. Instead, she wants to observe Caim to see if she could trust him or not, though she feels guilty about it. Her narration suggests she was manipulated multiple times in her life.
• Starting from this day, Eustia is in the care of Caim, with both attempting to learn more about the other: Both reveal their name, the mysterious girl identifies herself as Eustia or Tia, but she's unsure about whether or not it is her true name.
• Tia comes from the upper levels, and from what she remembers, was always working as a servant. Her vivid reaction to Caim attempting to pat her head implies she was mistreated, especially since she was almost sold into prostitution afterwards. Upon visiting the districts, they stumble upon a member of the Wing Hunters, which prompt Caim to warn Tia to not panic. He then asks Claudia from the Lilim brothel the whereabouts of a rumored winged individual last seen in the district. Upon finding nothing, he tries to provoke her, only to have Lisa rebuking him, and later Iris insults him.
• Tia shows some concern for the three prostitutes, but Caim assures her they are smarter than she thought. He also reminds of worrying about herself first, since she does have wings.
  • "What do you prefer, if it was you? Would you rather have wings, or being a prostitute?"
  • "I'd prefer to have wings."
• They enter Vinoletta, Tia meets Melt for the first time and promptly tells her she knows Caim's weakness and how to make him apologize for something in 3 seconds. On the menu, Tia asks about the meaning of the 1000 coins "wink" on the menu: It is a remnant of Melt's past as a prostitute, as in, winks are not something to sell. It was on the suggestion on Caim to do that, to protect Melt from her past.
• Not knowing what to choose, Melt chooses a recommanded dish for her. Tia considers herself an idiot with a naive personality, but considers herself a good judge of character.
  • She claims Caim to be a good person due to his eyes, in spite of his cynical attitude.
• Upon receiving a chicken soup, she has qualms about eating it, as her co-workers at the time couldn't afford to eat by themselves. Both Caim and Melt encourage her to eat, and not knowing what to choose, she cooks for her an apple pie, which she considers the best meal she's ever had in her life. Melt doesn't quite reveal to her the recipe, but she recognizes most of the ingredients with the taste, due to being a former servant tasked with chores including cooking.
• Wanting to know more about the ingredients, Melt redirects them to the Prison's market. Fortunately, most of the merchants are lax and don't usually denounce winged people, but Tia quickly apologizes and wants to go back. Her tendency to apologize a lot comes from her past job, but Caim encourages her to be more assertive. As a former servant in the Lower City, being bad at cooking results in punishment, so she forced herself to learn it and became good at cooking. Despite Caim allowing her to relax and exempting her from work, she cannot easily get rid of her conditioning, pain and fear.
• She asks him more about the Great Collapse, but he prefers not to remembers, with Tia casually mentioning how she forgot how many times she was beat.
• Beaming with enthusiasm, they visit many stores until a downpour forced them to go home. Tia then mentions how her master made her go buy things even in rain and was also punished for delays, despite rain preventing her to go fast. As they waited, they overhear the member of the Wing Hunters from earlier. As Caim readied his knife, Tia attempts to stop him and even propose to surrender to them, thinking to be nothing more than a burden and not wanting Caim to kill in her name. Eventually, Caim choose to hide and pretend to be a couple with Tia to avoid the Wing Hunters.
• During the downpour, Tia also drops a bit on her past, in which she was forced by her former master to do shopping even in bad weather, and wouldn't eat with other servants who stole her food. During the night, she becomes more comfortable, but still refuses to open to Caim and the others out of suspicion. After a checkup by Eris, she doesn't have anything special, but she doesn't reveal anything to Caim, still pretending to have forgotten.
• Leaving Tia in the house, Caim and Eris have a short discussion about whether Tia can be trusted with cooking, as Ellis fears she can attempt to assassinate him with poisoned food or knives. Later on, during the afternoon, Tia and Caim go the market once more, and they witness children being sold by a man suspected to be a member of the Rusts of Wind. Tia suddenly attempts to approach the store with the children, in tears, only to have Caim preventing her to approach too much. He also reveals to her his past as a male prostitute, due to his feminine face.
• To cheer her up, Caim buys for a her a cheap necklace of her choice, appreciating very much his gift as no one ever bought one for her during her time in the Lower City. Upon entering the Vinoletta, Eris displays jealousy while Melt is happy for Tia. She gets to know about the other workers of the Golden Chains, starting by Lisa, and learns about the weird fetish of getting beaten up to feel existing.
• After seeing her funny personality, Melt understand what makes Tia so lovable, and isn't surprised of the change in personality for Caim, as he couldn't stand other people in the past.
• In the night, Caim then goes to Zeke to make a report. Tia is curious about him despite being the one who bought her in the first place, and she also wants to work as soon as possible because it doesn't feel quite right for be a Pretty Freeloader. They also meet the prostitutes again, who think of them as a couple already.
• Upon making his report to Zeke, he's asked to continue watching Tia and wait for her to spill some info. However, the Wing Hunters also has new recruits and intent to extend their influence in the Prison under the new leadership of Lucius. They note the irony of having a government backed organization intervening in the Prison's affairs despite having abandoned it for 10 years after the great collapse. Should they begin to be too much of an hindrance, the Golden Chains would have to abandon Tia to avoid conflict with the Wing Hunters, even if they don't get info on her.
• Caim comes home late in the night, waking up a sleepy Tia. As they discuss, Tia seems to have understood the true nature of the group Caim works for, but despite everything, still considers Caim a good person despite his rude exterior. She admits feeling something for him, even if he doesn't feel anything. To prove he also appreciate her, he thinks of something before an earthquake interrupts them, triggering a PTSD with Tia taking Caim in her arms.
• Being reminded on the sorry state of the Prison and its inhabitants living in extreme poverty, Tia also mentions the Gran Forte which she saw in a dream, which irritates Caim as she didn't witness it with her own eyes like him, and doesn't seem to fully understand the very feeling of despair and loneliness of living in the Prison.
• The next day, the commander of the Wing Hunters arrives in the Vinoletta: Fione Silvaria. She appears as a kind individual and tries not to scare the afraid Tia. She went here to use the Vinoletta as a temporary base to search for a winged individual in the neighborhood, with the help of 12 hunters in civilian clothes. However, she doesn't want Caim and Tia to leave, since it isn't out of question he would tell about the operation to someone outside. Caim then makes a plan to distract the wing hunters by having Eris and Melt act as prostitute, putting some medecine in their drinks while hiding Tia in the second floor.
• After a debate between Caim and Fione about the purpose of the Wing Hunters, they go for the operation, and the other three on the second floor finally come back. Curious about the Wing Hunters, Tia wants to witness the operation alongside Caim, despite the risks. They witness the wing hunters attacking a brothel and finding 3 winged women with broken wings, being exploited by the owner for their wings for dirty money. In a desperate attempt to get back at them, the owner attempts to attack Fione, only to lose an arm in the process. A mysterious woman witness the whole thing, Caim think her to be an official related to the wing hunters. After Tia witness one of the winged girl attempting to put back her arm, she breaks down until Caim calms her.
• That night, she decides to reveal everything she knows to Caim: She doesn't remember much, except for being put in a carriage without windows on her way to the Prison, only for it to shook and being thrown to the ground. She then heard noises of a brawl and blood spilling, she didn't raise her head once so she didn't see anything, except for a big foot probably belonging to a man, before losing consciousness.
• After her confession, she also reveals she already knew everything about why everyone was nice to her, but choose to stay anyway until she would find the courage to tell the truth. Out of fear of endangering Caim and his friends, she drugs him and decides to flee altogether.
• Wandering in the streets for some time, she finds Lisa who ask about the whereabouts of Caim, since she doesn't wander the streets alone. However, the mere mention of Caim brings her to tears, not knowing why she feels that way about him despite knowing her time with him was a lie. She's later found by Fione. However, she quickly flees upon seeing the one who cut an arm and the fate of the 3 winged girls earlier.
• When Caim awakens, Eris treats him after he was forcibly put into sleep by Tia who took some sleeping pills from Eris. She expresses her surprise and anger on how Caim was easily fooled by Tia, who he trusted too much for his own good, though Zeke trusts him when he says she didn't lie about the incident. Nonetheless, he needs some rest before resuming work.
• Another View where we get to see Saint Irene on the Upper City, who was going to do a prayer even as the cloud gathered before raining.
• Tia gets completely lost, as the streets became very muddy on the rain. Wrecked with guilt and sadness, she doesn't want to bother Caim anymore, nor risking his life as she grew wings. Feeling unworthy of getting happiness, she instead quietly wait in the rain for nothing in particular. A beggar finds her, but quickly threatens her with a knife as he forced himself on her. She begins defending herself when he attempts to throw the pendant Caim bought for her, and she's ultimately saved by a Wing Hunter, who takes her away, promising her safety.
• Despite Eris' protests, Caim decides to go rescue Tia, still wondering about her emitting light similar to the one seen during the Gran Forte. He then dons a mask and engages in a fight against two Wing Hunters, and later the captain Fione. After a fierce duel, he defeats her and continue searching for Tia. He then sees the bodies of the two Wing Hunters in a street, with one beheaded...And then finds Tia on the brink of death. Cradling her corpse and stricken with regret, he then observe a strange light covering Tia...which then heals her.

(Opening Movie starts)

Gikei

Main Page

Genpei Ryouran Emaki -Gikei- (源平繚乱絵巻 -GIKEI-, literally "The Pictured Chronicles of the Genpei -Gikei-"), or simply Gikei, is a Visual Novel distributed and developed by Inre, released in 2021. Similar to its predecessors ChuSinGura 46+1 and Miburo, it is a Historical Gender Flip adaptation of the late Heian period, depicting the stories of the nascent warrior class in their struggle for power, which threatens the balance of feudal politics then dominated by the Imperial Court and local clans, before culminating into the Genpei War in an ultimate showdown against the most powerful samurai clan at the time: The Minamoto (or Genji), and the Taira (or Heike).
The year is 1174, a time where politics were dominated by the rising samurai class over the course of a century, giving way for the Heike Clan to take hold of the Imperial Court of Japan, severely reducing the power of the Emperor (himself a figurehead of the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who dominated court politics at the time). Taira no Kiyomori, then head of the Heike, established the first samurai-dominated government of Japan ever since the Heiji Rebellion of 1160, becoming the de facto head of state. Installing all of his relatives and allies into government positions, he quickly took control of the entire court while evicting his political rivals of the Genji Clan, who also occupied court positions, by executing their most powerful members and banishing their successors, paving the way for the hegemony of the Heike. However, the aging Kiyomori made himself a lot of enemies during his time as chief minister over the years -all waiting for an opportunity to get back at him-, while leaving his daughters in high-ranking positions to manage national affairs.
In the summer of 2020, the highschooler Kanou Yoshitsune, heir of the Kanou Shrine of Uraga, spends his last school days as the vacation period draws near. Alongside his Childhood Friend Shizuka and his adoptive sister Roko, they go visit Kyoto as part of a school trip in order to learn more about the city's history and its legends. First visiting the Shinsengumi headquarters and several small temples, they set their sights on the Kurama-dera, a temple located in the northern part of the city and built on top of a hill. By the end of the first day however, Roko mysteriously disappears while visiting the temple, which prompts Yoshitsune and Shizuka to go find her during the next dawn, without waiting for the police. Upon arriving in the Kurama-dera however, they find no trace of her, and before understanding their situation, faint on the spot.
They wake up some time later in a small forest located within the vicinity of the temple, before realizing something has changed. Going back to the temple, they encounter a strangely clothed individual by the name of Kiichi Hougen, presenting himself as the head priest of the temple. By talking to him, our students begin to realize that they ended up travelling back in time to the late Heian period, in the midst of the Joan Era in 1174, a time when the country was dominated by the Heike Clan. However, history has taken a strange turn: Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the legendary hero of the Genji destined to defeat the Heike, is nowhere to be found and has became a monk. Furthermore, they learn that Roko also traveled to the past the day before, before being captured by Taira no Munemori, the second daughter of Taira no Kiyomori.
After coming to terms with their situation and proving their worth to Kiichi, Yoshitsune and Shizuka devise a plan in which they will take on the role of Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Shizuka Gozen, reenacting their historical fate in order to defeat the Heike in the upcoming Genpei War and save Roko. So begins their journey across the country to gather allies, closely following the footsteps of history up until the decisive battle, using their knowledge from the future to fight the Heike head-on, while Roko uses her large understanding of Japanese history to trick and undermine her captors from within. Eventually, the three childhood friends will have to investigate the cause of their transportation to the past, discover why they have been forced to be a part of the Genpei War, and finding a way home...

Compare ChuSinGura 46+1 by the same author, which also features the same plotline of having an individual from the present travelling to the past.

Gikei features the following tropes:

• Been There, Shaped History: All three of the main characters from the present have to assume the identity of three historical characters, in order to blend into the Heian period and fight the Heike.
• Can't Take Anything with You: Downplayed. Upon travelling to the past, the trio kept their belongings along with them, but with an empty battery on their phones.
• Foregone Conclusion: Being a story centered on Minamoto no Yoshitsune and his companions, people who already know about his story are likely to know about his eventual demise at the hands of the Northern Fujiwara, pressured by Minamoto no Yoritomo. Knowing this, Yoshitsune tries his best to avert the trope, with varying results.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: Gikei shows effectively how every single faction of the late Heian period all have their circumstances and interests for fighting against each other.
  • The Genji are mostly driven by revenge against the Heike, their long-time enemies who almost destroyed their entire group.
    • Minamoto no Yoritomo grew up as an ambitious man who intends to end the old imperial regime to replace it with a meritocracy for the warrior class, by recruiting people according to their exploits. However, his life in exile also made him an incredibly paranoid individual who can punish any person he deems dangerous or a little powerful to him.
    • Minamoto no Yoshinaka, unlike Yoritomo, isn't a cautious politician and prefers straightforward battles and fighting his way to the top through his own set of rules. Because of this, his group ends up victim of the various manipulations by those around him, such as Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa or even his own allies of the Genji.
  • The Heike were raised as the most powerful and prestigious samurai clan at the time, cultivating an aristocratic schtick upon being given high-ranking positions within the Imperial Court. Taira no Kiyomori, as High Minister, took several actions to reduce the power of the Imperial Court while enacting several economic and political reforms, but his authoritarian tendencies would eventually make him several enemies. Despite that, a minority of warriors within the Heike is also driven by duty to protect Emperor Antoku from harm.
  • The Northern Fujiwara of Oshu are a semi-autonomous samurai clan located in the north of Japan, enjoying trade relations with the capital while having a relative autonomy from the central government. In turn, they choose to stay neutral during the Genpei War while giving indirect support to Yoshitsune and his companions, mainly because its lord took a liking to him and his way of thinking.
  • The Imperial Court, controlled by the sly Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, is eager to regain its political influence snatched by Taira no Kiyomori, freely switching sides and alliances with samurai clans at every opportunity in the midst of the Genpei War and beyond.
  • Yoshitsune and his companions are entirely motivated by selfless reasons unrelated to politics: Saving Roko from the Heike by joining the Genji as part of their army. However, his idealism and popularity as a leader quickly made him a target for Go-Shirakawa and Yoritomo, eager to use him to further their own interests.
• Historical Gender Flip: Most of the major historical characters are women, though it doesn't make them any less badass. Among them, Emperor Antoku is a Justified example as several theories and the Heike Monogatari suggest a possibility that the child emperor was actually a girl.
• Jidaigeki: Like ChuSinGura 46+1 and Miburo before it, the story is set in feudal Japan, this time in the late Heian period in the end of the 12th century.
• Trapped in Another World: The story is mainly about Yoshitsune, Shizuka and Roko's ventures in the late Heian period and the Genpei War, and their attempts to go back to their world.
• World of Action Girls: Almost every female major characters is either a hardened warrior or a shrewd politician.