True Love ~Jun'ai Monogatari~ (TRUE LOVE ～純愛物語～?), better known simply as True Love, is a Japanese erotic Visual Novel developed by Software House Parsley and published by CD Bros., released on June 9, 1995 for the PC-98 and on December 6, 1996 for Windows. It was localized in Europe by Otaku Publishing and distributed in North America by JAST USA in January 1999. Unlike traditional, even modern visual novels, which are characteristically uninvolved beyond the periodic decision to make, True Love incorporates the stat-raising elements of a Raising Sim (which, as the genre was fairly unknown in the West at that time, led it to sometimes be described as an RPG).
The Player Character (default name: Daisuke) is a highschool (or "college" in the localization) senior from the fictional town of Meiai. His Amazingly Embarrassing Parents (and specially his Dirty Old Man dad) want him badly to have a girlfriend, so they've made him live in a flat under the idea that being an independent man will help him attract romantic partners. Also, the MC is plagued by doubts about his academics, as he's Book Dumb but also kinda aware that he could do better...
This visual novel provides examples of the following:
- Above the Influence: If the player want to get Yumi-sensei, they must make the MC give her a hug instead of pushing her on her bed. (They'll end up doing it anyway)
- Also, the MC must NOT kiss Ryouko after she has a fight with her brother but should take her home instead.
- Berserk Button:
- The Player Character detests any mistreatment of women. It goes double when said mistreatment includes outright violence, whether psychological/physical/sexual. If that happens, he can be seen either: angrily calling out Ryouko's brother Tadaki when he finds out how controlling he is to his little sister, screaming and swearing at Mikazaki-sensei when he abducts Mayumi to sexually abuse her, straightforwardly attacking Remi's kidnapper despite said kidnapper being armed with a prop gun or kicking out Toshio from his doorstep when he intends to see if he's got a girl in there (he does, but said girl's in the shower after she got caught in a huge downpour and Toshio's known for being The Casanova).
- Mikae, the local Tsundere, has some of her own too. First, the MC must not blow her off if she comes talk to him. Two, the MC must not miss your date with her in August. Third, and the most important one... the player must NEVER have the MC out in a second date with Remi (whether it ends in Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex or not) and then go out with her in her birthday. (She's got
BIG reasons for the last one.) - While all the girls get upset if the MC misses his dates with them, the usually sweet and kind Miyuki will be specially angry. Mikae may give him a second chance if he forgets her August outing — this girl won't.
- Yumi-sensei does NOT like it when her students are slackers, and double if it's the MC. And even worse: NO ONE should ever harm said students, whether it's Mayumi or the MC or anyone else.
- Be Yourself: Pretty much the whole plot and idea behind Ryoko's path.
- Broken Bird: Mayumi has some traces of this, specially after she's almost raped by Mikazaki.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Surprisingly, the Player Character can become the Gentle Guy to more than one of his love interests, never mind his stupidly high libido. The more striking examples are Mayumi (who hides huge self-esteem probems under her Goodbad Girl facade and later goes through a very traumatic Attempted Rape) and Ryouko (an Idol Singer who hates the turn her career is taking but feels she cannot do anything to change it since her manager is her brother AND caretaker).
- But Thou Must!: A justified example: during the swimming competition, the MC will hear Arisa drowning. The player is given the option of either looking for her, or not looking for her so the MC can concentrate on winning the race. If the latter option's chosen, Arisa's continued cries for help cause the PC to drop out of the race to look for her anyway, since obviously he can't just ignore a drowning person.
- Childhood Friend Romance: It happens if the PC pursues Mikae.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: As a little boy, the MC always said he'd make Mikae his bride. And he is surprised when Mikae says that not only she remembers, but she promised to herself that she'd be with him.
- Chivalrous Pervert: The Player Character. He's a Lovable Sex Maniac who comments a LOT on girls' boobs and panties and would clearly love getting laid, but won't force any girl to do stuff she doesn't want to, is repulsed when his womanizing classmate makes dismissing comments about girls as a whole, and has any kind of violence against women as his personal Berserk Button. And at least thrice he's seen rescuing girls from trouble.
- Cluster F-Bomb: The MC is fairly potty-mouthed, and specially in his inner thoughts.
- Atomic F-Bomb: It goes to this level when Mayumi is rescued from Mikazaki, and Mikazaki tries to victim-blame her. The fact that poor Mayumi is sobbing in the MC's arms does not help.
- Creator Couple: In-universe example: The MC and Mayumi, if they get hitched. She becomes a popular fashion model, with him as her favorite fashion designer.
- Also with Miyuki, as they both are fashion designers and Miyuki designs and wears cute lingerie inspired in their relationship.
- Cute Bookworm: Remi (in the academic sense) and Miyuki (in the artistic one)
- Fan Disservice: Seeing Mayumi's panties is not hot when she's Bound and Gagged and about to be blackmailed into sex by Mikazaki.
- Featureless Protagonist: One never sees the MC's whole face, even in the sex scenes. At most, it's seen that he's fairly tall and athletic, has blue-ish hair and possesses a big cock.
- Girl Next Door: Mikae, and Miyuki and Arisa to a lesser degree.
- Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: With either Remi (after rescuing her from her kidnapper) or Chiemi (after she rescues the MC from drowning)
- Good Bad Girl: Mayumi, who dresses up quite sexily and hangs around the Red Light District. Kind of a plot point if the MC find her panties... which she intends to sell in a sex shop. You gotta give them back to her, too.
- Guide Dang It!: Unlocking Anze's path, and arguably Ryoko's.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Misako. The MC meets her while doing Pleasure stuff, and the second meeting will take place near a bar. And it will end up in sex.
- Hospital Hottie: Misako, too.
- Hope Spot: Minor example: if the MC dated Remi on the 27th and then Mikae on the 28th, Mikae will question him about whether he had sex with Remi or not. It doesn't matter if he did or not: if he tells her he didn't, she'll seemingly believe him for a minute and then explode in righteous fury, calling him a liar amongst other things, and tell him to never talk to her again. If one's pursuing Mikae and dated Remi "by mistake", it IS a big Hope Spot...
- If It's You, It's Okay: If the MC pursues Arisa, her older brother Kazuhiko will give the MC a Love Confession too. if rejected he takes it in stride.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Mikae issues this warning in regards to Miyuki when introducing her to the MC.
- Intimate Healing: If the MC gets Anze to recover her human form, she's seen as a naked Cat Girl. As she somehow cannot fully recover her powers, she asks for this - and it works. Subverted if he actually gets her as his girlfriend, as what she truly needed was The Power of Love - expressed through their sex act.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: It's hinted that Misako was kinda smitten with the PC ever since meeting him, but once they have sex she pushes him away and insists that they shouldn't go past their present fling, saying "you'll find someone else. Someone better than me". Of course, if the player makes the PC do things well enough in September, Misako will reconsider her decision and give him both a second lay and the chance to actually date her.
- Love Triangle: It's easy to get the MC in one where both Mikae and Remi are interested in him. Unlike the other paths, one cannot get both girls' endings in one game slot: either a heartbroken Mikae will run off angrily if she believes Remi is the chosen one or Remi will be kidnapped (and maybe even raped) by the Panty Thief if the MC misses the date with her.
- Kimono Fanservice: If the player gets with Mikae, her ending's CG will have her and the PC managing to have sex in New Years while she's wearing a kimono.
- Magical Girlfriend: Anze. With a touch of Shapeshifting Lover, since at some point she's in the form of a Cute Kitten and then a Cat Girl.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Several sex scenes take outside a bedroom or a Love Hotel. e.g. Chiemi can be seduced on the beach and her final CG happens in a shower stall , while the player can have the MC do Misako in the infirmary.
- May–December Romance: Subverted: Misako's not much older than the protagonist (he's 18 tops and she's in her mid-20s), but she's so sophisticated that he acts as if she were.
- Mistaken for Gay: The MC is on both ends. On one hand he wonders if Mikae and Miyuki's Pseudo-Romantic Friendship goes beyond it, but then decides against the thought. On the other, Chiemi wonders if he's bi or gay after seeing him talk to Kazuhiko.
- Near-Rape Experience: When Mikazaki finds out that Mayumi is a Good Bad Girl, he gets her Bound and Gagged and tells her that he won't tell the school authorities in exchange for sex. (And adds that this is NOT the first time he's done that.) When Mayumi refuses, he starts stripping her. The player is given the option to have the MC barge in with Yumi's help, and if he does, he'll gain huge love points with Mayumi and Yumi-sensei.
- Parental Abandonment: Subverted with the MC, who lives on his own but has his Dirty Old Man dad showing up once or twice, and not to mention the apartment he lives in is owned by the family. Played straight with Ryouko, raised by her older brother and manager Tadaaki after their parents passed away in an accident.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Chiemi Fujimoto, captain of the swimming team.
- Patient Childhood Love Interest: Mikae Morikawa plays the trope remarkably straight.
- The Peeping Tom: The game pretty much starts with the PC and Kazuhiko trying to peep on the girls of the swimming team. Chiemi catches the PC, and then the gameplay will give the player the option to have him either tell her that he was just cleaning up around or flat-out admit his peeping. In any way, she lets him go but warns him that she won't have mercy the next time.
- Precision F-Strike: Yumi's "What the HELL are you doing?!" when she and the MC stop Mikazaki from raping Mayumi.
- Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Implied between Mikae and Miyuki. Mikae is a Cool Big Sis for Miyuki, is pretty protective of her, and if Miyuki and the MC meet up in July she tells him she's got a date with her, which elicits a Mistaken for Gay moment from the MC himself.
- Raging Stiffie: A Running Gag is having the protagonist get those in the worst possible moments, which massively embarrasses him.
- Relationship Values: There are more than one factor that will be crucial into getting the girl you want:
- Mikae: No real preference, but Scholarship will work against the MC as it will pin her against Remi.
- Remi: Scholarship (Academics) Which must be maxed out in mid-September - if the MC doesn't get the highest school scores in the tests, he'll lose out on her.
- Miyuki: Art (Art Learning)
- Mayumi: Appearance (Fashion)
- Chiemi: Strength (Sports) and Appearance
- Misako: No fixed stat (but one must do lots of Pleasure before July ends)
- Ryouko: No fixed stat (but one must do lots of key events) note
- Arisa: Passion (and one must do lots of Pleasure events in the correct dates)
- Yumi-sensei: Scholarship (but also rescue Mayumi)
- Anze: Passion (and also buying the Angel Wings, taking her in when she's stuck as a Cute Kitten, work on Fashion in a specific date and hour, and keep the Passion as high as possible)
- Additionally, if the PC has high Fatigue, a Running Gag with Mikae calling him out on his poor hygiene will start taking place until you lower it.
- Rescue Romance: Happens if the MC wins over Remi (rescue from kidnappers), Arisa (rescue from drowning) and Mayumi (rescue from a Near-Rape Experience). In a subversion, rescuing Mayumi helps gain points with Yumi-sensei as well... because the would be rapist is her sort-of boyfriend.
- And if the MC romances Chiemi and Yumi, either of them will rescue the Player Character from drowning (Chiemi) or thugs (Yumi, made better because the PC was trying to help her).
- Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Will happen if the MC triggers the sort-of Love Triangle between Remi (Rich) and Mikae (not necessarily poor, but still).
- Sailor Fuku: The PC's school features the girls using the blue and white version.
- Sex Equals Love: The player can't get the PC hitched with a girl without going through her sex scenes. And in almost all the good endings, there's a last CG with the girl and the PC cheerfully engaging in casual kinks. (Kinky roleplaying with Misako, oral sex with Mayumi, sex in a library with Remi, cosplay with Anze, a Shower of Love with Chiemi...)
- Shout-Out:
- When telling the MC about his romantic conquests, Toshio mentions dating girls like Ryoko, Ayeka and Sasami...
- Similarly, while Kazuhiko and the MC talk about the infirmary and Misako temporarily taking over, the MC talks about Tomobiki High and their hot nurse Sakura.
- The video game Kazuhiko buys is called Final Oxymoron 7.
- Sick Episode: Subverted. If the MC has high art by the time the swimming competition takes place, Miyuki will show up and pass out as they talk. However, Mikae will take care of her.
- Skilled, but Naive: Miyuki, very pretty genius artist... and extremely sheltered in regards to men and interpersonal relationships. Even the PC cannot believe it.
- Third-Person Person: Arisa, sometimes.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Mikae is the tomboy to Miyuki's girly girl.
- Tsundere:
- Mayumi, a Type A. She's a harsh and quick-tempered Fiery Redhead, but has a kind heart.
- Mikae is a Type B, happy and kind to everyone save for the MC
- Umbrella of Togetherness: Can take place with either Mikae or Mayumi. Rejecting the first's offer will lead the second to make hers.
- Unrequited Love: Chiemi might fall in this situation towards the MC. She can bump into him and then walk home with him if he has a very high Appearance... The catch is that this can take place in September even if she hasn't been romanced in August, meaning that she can develop feelings the MC despite not "qualifying" as a potential girlfriend.
- Uptown Girl: Romancing Remi will be troublesome because she's The Ojou, therefore she's far outta the PC's reach. Which her Unlucky Childhood Friend and her Boyfriend-Blocking Dad will often remind the MC of. Unless you actually finish Remi's route, which involves saving Remi from a kidnapper among other things; Mr. Himekawa will be so impressed by the MC's courage that he'll lift the Parental Dating Veto and give him and Remi their blessings.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Miyuki and Remi fit into the trope in different ways. Miyuki is more about the kindness, Remi is about the grace and class.
