Your power... offer it to me
Enchanted in the Moonlight (今宵、妖しい口づけを, Koyoi, Ayashii Kuchizuke o) is a Romance Game Visual Novel by Voltage, Inc.. In it, the player takes the role of a young woman who, although she lives at her family's Shinto shrine, works as a librarian and considers her life completely ordinary... until she begins having strange dreams about monsters trying to kill her and waking up under a red moon.
After a series of strange, life-threatening accidents from which she only narrowly escapes harm, she's approached by a group of strange men who claim that they are not human but ayakashi, and that she has "awakened" to an inborn power that makes her a magnet for all kinds of supernatural nasties hoping to use it to their own benefit.
These five ayakashi are the only reason she's lived through the day, and they promise to continue to protect her... but not for free. Their help comes at a price: her body.
In return for their protection, she'll have to bear one of them a child.
Originally published on iOS and Android devices in 2014, it got a Nintendo Switch port in April 2020note .
Enchanted in the Moonlight provides examples of the following tropes:
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Played sympathetically in the back story of one of the love interests: Yukinojo fell in love with a human, but had to return to his own world for a while. He promised to come back for her, but since he didn't truly understand how different human and ayakashi lifespans are, he didn't return until several decades later. By then, the girl had not only moved on, but also married and started a family.
- Artistic License – Animal Care: It turns out to be a moot point since he's hardly a normal fox, but upon encountering Miyabi in his fox form during the prologue, the protagonist feeds him some of her inari sushinote and then takes the apparent wild animal into her bathroom and strips naked in order to give it a bath. Had she done this with a real wild fox instead of a transformed kitsune, it would most likely have quickly become a painful experience.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Ayakashi government/culture seems to run on some level of this, with the leaders of the various factions being the strongest fighters of their members, and the leader of the Mononoke Village being the strongest ayakashi present.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Chikage and Koten aren't mentally ill, but as tengu they are occasionally attracted to shiny things. Like a jewelry store.
- Barrier Warrior: Energy shields are one of the primary powers of the zashiki-warashi, befitting house spirits whose role is to protect their chosen home. Samon has been using this power to protect the protagonist since she was a teenager.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Samon. When pushed he's the only one to physically manhandle any potential rivals among the other LIs, and when irritated he can quickly cow them with a look even though they all outrank him. His fight with the villain of his story line is also one of the shortest.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Kyoga talks a good game, and even claims to be a literal representation of the adage "all men are wolves". He's a gentleman at heart, however, and refuses to do anything his current partner is not 100% up for, even if it means fighting off moon-induced instincts all the way. Contrast with Miyabi, whose idea of consent is initially murky at best.
- Cute Monster Guy: Chikage and Shinra are more attractive than a tengu and an oni have any business being.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Snow spirits like Yukinojo have an aversion to heat and fire. Burn injuries continue to spread long after the source of the burn is gone, and can be enough to kill them.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first we see of Shinra and Kyoga in the prologue is in the library. Shinra is causing a disruption by loudly complaining about the depiction of demons as villains in folktales like "Momotarō." Kyoga, meanwhile, protests the depiction of the wolf in "Little Red Riding Hood"... because he'd rather go for a sexy lady than some little girl.
- Extra-Strength Masquerade: Used inconsistently in Chikage's route. During the main story humans can't see two ayakashi having a fight in the middle of the library, which is a major problem in terms of collateral damage. During the epilogue, however, two ayakashi who just forgot to put on their disguises cause a major freak out, and the protagonist has to intervene and claim all the weird-looking people are cosplayers. Based on Chikage's dialogue, ayakashi in the human world are supposed to disguise themselves, but no explanation is made for why.
- Fantastic Racism: Ayakashi are a proud bunch, and are quick to look down on lesser clans and lineages — to say nothing of how some of them feel about humans.
- Finger-Licking Poison: Administered through a person, rather than the more traditional book. When the protagonist is poisoned by Nishiki, her skin and blood also becomes poisonous to anyone who might be going for a taste, like her ayakashi lover. Nishiki even tailored the poison to amplify the irresistible scent and taste of the protagonist's blood to make absolutely sure Miyabi would fall for the trap.
- Handsome Lech: Miyabi, natch, although a darker variation of the trope. Contrast with Kyoga.
- Intimate Healing: And its magical subcategories. One of the reasons the protagonist is attractive to ayakashi is that she's capable of this. In Chikage's route she points out he's stronger with her around to convince him to bring her along for the final confrontation, even describing herself as a gas station.
- Like Brother and Sister: Samon has worked at the protagonist's family shrine since she was in high school. She's come to think of him as being like an older brother to her, and he agrees that she's like a sister to him. On his route, he eventually admits that he's been in love with her from the beginning, and all the "like brother and sister" stuff was a smokescreen.
- Little Bit Beastly: Most of the main cast's ayakashi forms involve the addition of some animalistic traits added to their normal human appearances. Miyabi and Kyoga in particular sport furry ears and tails.
- Love Triangle: One forms on Chikage's route between Chikage, the protagonist and Kyoga. The protagonist, unaware at that point that Chikage isn't as indifferent to her as he appears, even describes it as "the person I love, and the person who loves me."
- A Magic Contract Comes with a Kiss: Though it's a love bite to the back of the protagonist's neck, rather than a kiss in the traditional sense, this is what seals the agreement between the protagonist and her chosen love interest. It serves a deeper purpose than pure fanservice, however, since the bite leaves behind the love interest's mark to warn off any lesser ayakashi who might otherwise be tempted to try their luck.
- Magic Contract Romance: On all routes, the protagonist enters into an agreement with an ayakashi that she will bear his child in exchange for protection from those who would simply kill her for her power. Romance inevitably ensues. The agreement is not binding, however, and she can choose to walk away at any point (and does so on Chikage's main route.)
- Maligned Mixed Marriage: It's made abundantly clear on every route that the ayakashi would not be nearly so approving of the love interest's choice of bride, had she been an ordinary human. Halfbreed Miyabi, in particular, is accused of diluting the ayakashi blood even further in his sequel when he resolutely refuses to break up with a suddenly powerless protagonist.
- Master Poisoner: The specialty of the hebi clan of serpent ayakashi.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Expect to hear some variety of, "Your mouth says no but your body says yes," more than a few times.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- At the end of Miyabi's main route, the other guys are startled when the proud, arrogant kitsune drops the attitude and humbly asks them to help him save the protagonist's life. They take it as proof that he really is serious about her.
- Miyabi displays this in Shinra's sequel as well. The fact that he's not being a lech informs the protagonist that Miyabi is seriously concerned about Shinra's current disposition.
- Paranormal Romance: The basis of the game is the human protagonist's romance with one of several supernatural beings.
- Parental Abandonment:
- Miyabi has one Missing Mom, one Disappeared Dad, and was raised by his grandfather. His mother was murdered but Miyabi thought it was a case of Death by Childbirth; his father re-appears in the sequel.
- Chikage was full-on abandoned as a child, causing him to resort to theft to survive. It's implied Chikage took in Koten to prevent the same thing happening to him.
- People Puppets: One particular hebi poison gives the poisoner control over the victim's body, but not their mind. Nishiki uses it to make the protagonist attack Miyabi.
- Playing with Fire:
- In addition to his abilities of shapeshifting and illusion, Miyabi can also create and control blue flames called kitsunebi (foxfire) which are fully capable of burning threats to ash.
- On his route, Kyoga is shown to complement his martial skills with fire powers.
- Kamikiri in Yukinojo's route also has fire-related powers, throwing around magically-created arrows of flame and creating fires which spread supernaturally quickly and cannot be easily doused by normal methods.
- The Power of Love: Since the more miraculous expressions of the protagonist's power are only available to the one she's entered into an agreement with, this trope will be invoked by name at least once in the main routes and/or sequels.
- Razor Wind: The ayakashi clan that specializes in it is even called kamaitachi. Chikage eventually reveals that he learned the technique as well when he kills Magama.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Shinra, natch. The Blue Oni generally being Chikage, or his brother, Taira, the Big Bad in Shinra’s route.
- Reincarnation Romance: In Season 2, Kohaku believes this is the case for him and the protagonist. While the game is (so far) ambiguous on the "reincarnation" aspect, the protagonist herself is firmly of the opinion that it doesn't matter who she may or may not have been in a past life; in this lifetime, she has no romantic feelings for Kohaku.
- Romantic False Lead:
- Taro, the protagonist's boss at the library and someone she's been pining over for some time, is this during Miyabi's route. He's actually an ayakashi called Nishiki, and the main antagonist of the story in disguise.
- Taira, the protagonist's childhood friend during Shinra's route. Taira's the antagonist for Shinra's route, and Shinra's older brother.
- Romantic Runner-Up:
- In the epilogue of Miyabi's story line, Chikage outright asks the protagonist to leave Miyabi and be with him instead. She doesn't of course. Miyabi doesn't hold a grudge over it.
- Kyoga on Chikage's route. He would very much like it if the protagonist chose him over some cold-blooded tengu, but eventually comes to respect her choice.
- Shock and Awe: In addition to their strength and martial prowess, oni are masters of thunder and lightning.
- Shrines and Temples: The protagonist lives at the shrine owned by her family, and it provides the setting for most of the events taking place in the human world.
- Sneeze of Doom: Koten's pollen allergy coupled with tengu wind powers comes with its own set of complications.
- Supernatural Sensitivity: The protagonist's coworker Ikumi is described as being "a little bit psychic", and is aware that there's something very strange about these men who have suddenly started hanging out at the library.
- Talking Is a Free Action: There is a lot of conversation going on during life-or-death combat sequences. Occasionally lampshaded when another character cuts in to complain that they're stuck doing all the fighting while others are standing around talking.
- Too Long; Didn't Dub: A good few Japanese terms go untranslated. Many of them, such as "kitsune" and "tengu," are words which have penetrated into Western culture enough that English-language audiences are likely to be familiar with them, and many others can be picked up via context, but a few are a bit more opaque.
- Trademark Favorite Food:
- Miyabi shares the kitsune weakness for inari sushi, and the other guys use it against him at one point in his main route.
- Hikobei sniffs that he's far too modern a kappa to be swayed by mere cucumbers. Dip them in honey, however, and they become the best thing ever. The protagonist uses this discovery as both carrot and stick to secure civil behaviour from Hikobei.
- Shinra is all about the dango. Mitarashi dango for preference.
- Youkai: The game calls them "ayakashi" in its modern, synonymous usage, and the plot revolves around the protagonist suddenly becoming aware of the world of such supernatural creatures following the awakening of her power, which is very attractive to ayakashi. Miyabi is a Kitsune, Chikage is a Tengu, Shinra is an oni (translated as "demon" in the prologue of the English localization), Kyoga is an okami, and Yukinojo is a yukibito (a male version of a Yuki-onna). Other types appearing or mentioned in the various routes include kappa, kamaitachi, and wanyuudou.
