Ashina: The Red Witch is an RPG-like horror adventure game about two sisters who are lost in the spirit world. The game is a sort-of sequel to Red Bow, and a prequel to My Big Sister. It was developed by Stranga Games, published by GrabTheGames, and released on June 4th, 2022.
The story follows Ashina, who ends up in the spirit world after chasing a yokai who stole her mother's pendant. She soon finds that her sister is also there, and must find a way for both of them to get home, while avoiding the owner of a bathhouse who wants to use the two of them for a scheme of revenge.
Ashina: The Red Witch contains examples of the following tropes:
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Around the middle of the game, there's a small segment where you play as Tanto while Ash takes some time to rest.
- And Your Reward Is Infancy: Luzia turns into a baby after her attempt to eat Yoko backfires on her and she explodes.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Yoko succeeds in getting Ash and Tena to replace her daughters, having caught Ash while she was trying to free Tena. The only thing the characters successfully pull against her is keeping Luzia safe from her by sending her to the human world.
- Big Eater: Tanto likes to eat a lot, much to everyone's annoyance. It becomes less funny when you learn that it's because he died of starvation.
- Body Horror:
- Roku died from being accidentally decapitated; as a result, her head floats a few inches above her body.
- The ending has Ashina undergoing a transformation that gives her really long legs, which she has trouble standing on. An extra scene depending on your choices also shows that Tena is still missing her lower body, and her arms have grown really long.
- Doorstop Baby: The secret ending reveals that this is the case for Sombria, having been left behind at the door of her adoptive mother's house by a cloaked figure. It's likely that something similar happened with Luzia.
- Downer Ending: Ash is turned into the new Red Witch and not only ends up with freakishly long legs but is also unable to leave the bath without dying, Tena ends up with long arms and gets imprisoned and told that Ash was responsible for her predicament, and Tanto is cursed to eventually fade out of existence. It's softened a bit by the fact that they were able to get Luzia away from Yoko, and also in Tanto's case depending on the choices you made, showing a scene where it's implied that he used the red bow to escape, and he gives it to Luzia before spending his last moments eating in the human world.
- Foregone Conclusion:
- Since Ashina is still in the spirit world in My Big Sister, it's clear that she's not going to get home in this game.
- Gus appears in My Big Sister, so it can be assumed that his apparent death isn't going to stick.
- Half the Man He Used to Be:
- This happened in the Red Witch's story; one sister was jealous of the other's long legs, and the Red Witch told her she could give her longer legs if she cut off those of her sister.
- Tena gets cut in half, but somehow doesn't die right away, and she eventually becomes the Lady on the Wall.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tanto isn't exactly rude, but he does have a habit of eating loads of food without paying for it, leaving Ash with the bill at one point. But he also helps her when she becomes exhausted and even brings some food for her, and he helps to look after Luzia after she turns into a baby as well as giving her the red bow when she's older.
- Lighter and Softer: While there are still some heavy themes, the game has little to no onscreen blood compared to My Big Sister. There is no point in the game where you can actually die.
- Weirdness Censor: Tena doesn't seem to realise that she's in the spirit world after being invited to the bathhouse by her boss Yoko, not thinking much about the unusual-looking individuals, and believing that Luzia's transformation in the theatre is just really good special effects.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's not shown what happened to Roku and her father after Ash, Tena, and Tanto were sent to the new bathhouse. They don't even appear or get mentioned in either version of My Big Sister.
