Yo-Jin-Bo: Would you perhaps like to see my “Mr. Elephant”?
Senna September 13, 2007
One of the very few otome games (female-targeted romance games) available in English, Hirameki International’s Yo-Jin-Bo (The Bodyguards) is a fun way to kill a few hours. The selection of guys and the art could be better, but its great sense of humor makes this game a good introduction to the world of visual novels. (Long, picture heavy entry ahead!)

First, let me provide some background as to what kind of game Yo-Jin-Bo is (and isn’t) for the uninitiated: it’s an interactive visual novel, meaning it’s fairly text heavy, but generally shows the characters on screen when they speak — all the characters except the protagonist, Sayori, are voiced — and includes over 100 CG stills. Yo-Jin-Bo is technically an adventure game rather than a dating sim, but all of the 12 or so possible endings involve Sayori falling in love, and what ending you get is guided by the choices you make. Yo-Jin-Bo is not an eroge; it has no sex scenes, though there is some implied nudity (don’t you love hot springs?). With that said, let’s get on with things!
The story is simple: You are an average high school girl named Sayori who discovers a magical pendant and gets sucked back in time, into the body of a clan princess (Hatsuhime) who’s about to be assassinated. You must escape death — and find love — with the help of six bodyguards.
Just in case the above sounds too girly, this game involves not only romance, but people getting chopped up as well. Assassins show up to kill Hatsuhime at every turn, so naturally there’s going to be a bit of bloodshed going on. In fact, if you complete all the character paths, you will get to see one of the antagonists die six different ways, while another of the antagonists simply gets his arm cut off six times. Fun, huh?
Yo-Jin-Bo is the first visual novel I’ve ever played, and as I said above, I think it’s a good one to start with. The plot’s not terribly original (okay, it’s been done a million times before), but the writing is fantastic. Yo-Jin-Bo doesn’t take itself seriously for the most part and uses plenty of references to modern culture (otaku and otherwise — and I did mention this is set in the feudal era, right?) for great comedic effect.
Great writing wouldn’t be much without great voice acting, now would it? Fortunately, Yo-Jin-Bo’s got that down too. Perusing the cast list, I certainly found some recognizable names, including Hiroki Takahashi (Eiji in Prince of Tennis), Masakazu Morita (Ichigo in Bleach – a rather different role from this one), and Hideo Ishikawa (Ukitake in Bleach, Itachi in Naruto) as the three title characters, Jin, Yo and Bo (their names being a play on “yojinbo,” which means “bodyguard”). Whether or not you’ve heard of them, of course, they do an admirable job of infusing life into the characters (not to mention the jokes!).
And truly, in a game like this, the characters are the most important. On the art side of things, unfortunately the six boys that “you can get at the end” are not all as attractive as they could be, and sometimes even the better character designs look off-balance in the CGs. Still, the art generally does well, and a few of the CGs are quite beautiful. The characterization is somewhat better; the issues that plague each of the boys are fairly stock situations (one feels responsible for a family member’s death, another can’t escape memories of his rough childhood, etc.), but their personalities are well-defined and likable for the most part. This is good since the character paths have a high degree of overlap, meaning you’ll be spending half your time with all the bodyguards rather than just the one you’re aiming for. (Fortunately, the game does have a fast-forward feature so you don’t have to watch the same scenes over and over when playing the different character scenarios.)
Let’s have a rundown, shall we? Bishi ratings are out of five ^_~
The first of the six (and the one who I would probably consider the default love interest) is Jinnosuke, nicknamed “Jin,” an earnest but hot-headed samurai who’s very awkward around women. He also has a fantastic sense of humor, making some of the best jokes in the game, and in my opinion, has the sweetest ending. Bishi factor: 4 fangirl squees
Moving right along we have Tainojo, nicknamed “Bo,” the “frouffy ice queen” (as Mon-Mon so hilariously describes him). Bo acts the part of the chivalrous knight, complete with a cape and a pretty face for good measure. I found his backstory a little bit shallow and his ending bland, but the fact that he’s obsessed with the paranormal (including things which have yet to be discussed in his time) never fails to crack me up. Bishi factor: 3 fangirl squees
The final member of the main trio is Yozaburo, nicknamed “Yo,” who brings on the shouta factor (okay, he’s probably 16 or 17, so that’s hardly shouta). Yo’s generally the most lighthearted of the bunch, but he can get deathly serious when necessary. Personally, I found him to be the most human character, which placed him as my favorite. It also doesn’t hurt that he has a great character design, a very talented seiyuu, and some of the cutest kiss scenes in the game. … Oh, yeah, and he calls you “onee-chan.” Bishi factor: 5 fangirl squees
Muneshige, on the other hand, is my least favorite. He has been Hatsuhime’s faithful vassal and protector since she was a child, and because of this he has forsaken all others. Sounds like a good starting point, but in the end what you get is a boring, unattractive guy in his thirties who cracks bad jokes. (He doesn’t look too shabby with his hair down, though.) Bishi factor: 1 fangirl squee
Mon-Mon provides the obviously necessary role of the perverted monk. (Please don’t take me seriously.) Anyway, Mon-Mon is the burly guy with a heart of squish, and his lecherous ways lead the other characters to joke that he’s not “one of the characters you can get at the end.” Though I didn’t personally find him attractive, he’s a great character nonetheless. Bishi factor: 2 fangirl squees
Finally we have Ittosai, the “glasses-wearing sociopath” (again, Mon-Mon’s description). Ittosai is the ruthless mercenary whose life work and joy is killing, which naturally makes him sexy (don’t ask me how this works …). He also brings on the cheese factor, which honestly makes his route all the more fun to play (I … couldn’t stop laughing during his ending). Besides, what girl can resist a guy who tells her, “If you talk to me again, I’ll kill you”? Bishi factor: 5 fangirl squees
As an additional incentive for completing all the game’s endings (one happy, one sad for each character) and thus earning all the CGs (which can be viewed from the menu screen once you’ve gotten them in game), there’s a bonus ending where all six boys show up in modern Japan and start a host club. It’s a fairly short sequence, but cute nonetheless, and hey, you might as well get your money’s worth by playing through all the scenarios.
Part fun and part fluff, Yo-Jin-Bo, though certainly not flawless, provides hours of entertainment and laughter, and as such is a great entry in the tiny market of English language otome games. Here’s hoping more like it get translated in the future.
A/N: All screenshots capped and cropped by Milly Schaefer. Though you’re not likely to find Yo-Jin-Bo in a brick and mortar store, it can be purchased fairly cheaply on rightstuf.com (look for it in the weekly specials!), and it’s compatible with both PC and Mac computers.
Tags: dating sims, game review, hirameki international, otome game, visual novels, yo jin bo
Category: Video Games
Senna is a college student majoring in English and minoring in Japanese. Her favorite anime and manga include Escaflowne, Please Save My Earth, Scrapped Princess, Nana, and Boogiepop Phantom.
Hinano http://www.minaidehazukashii.com/hinano/
September 13th, 2007 at 10:08 pmGood to see someone else doing these otome game reviews. I haven’t played any in a while (cuase no one’s been uploading any =_=;;;)
It looks silly - sorta the way Love Drops is silly. Even both have the blonde psychopath! XDXD (Does he rape her in here too and she likes it anyway?)
Milly Schaefer http://
September 14th, 2007 at 12:53 amHinano: Heh, your previous otome game reviews have definitely inspired me XD
And yeah, Yo-Jin-Bo is pretty silly. There’s no rape though (thankfully o.o), or even sex at all in this game.
Amanda Liu http://
September 14th, 2007 at 5:35 amThis game is subtitled right? I’m pretty sure it is but I just wanna make sure. I’m still debating whether I should get this or not…
I’m glad you’re doing otome game reviews too. I’ve been curious about them but the only one who ever does them is Hinano and even that it is rare.
Milly Schaefer http://
September 16th, 2007 at 1:47 amAmanda: Yeah, it’s subtitled ^_^ I definitely wouldn’t have gotten it otherwise. However, this is about the only otome game available in English (except Animamundi, which I *think* is shounen-ai, and thus not really my thing). I keep hoping that it’ll be popular and Hirameki will bring more of them over to the States.
Alexandra
September 20th, 2007 at 2:09 amI bought this game at an anime convention. XD Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side was also there but it was all in Japanese. Yo-Jin-Bo is such a short game but I love it! I’m glad there are psychopath lovers out there. XD Ittosai is my fav! Your review was very funny. n_n
Jpop
March 6th, 2008 at 3:57 pmAny ne have a walktough??? PLEASE!! I can only seem to get Bo and ittosi’s ending D=
Dora http://www.anime-azsia.try.hu
June 10th, 2008 at 3:40 amHy I really liked your review, and would like to ask if you can tell me pages, where i can download these otome games for free. I dont know if it is possible, but i hope so.
Actually I have never ever played, but I wanna try. ^-^
Hana
June 11th, 2008 at 3:03 amI love this game ^__^ Yeah, I fell for the sociopath with glasses. (Why do I always go for the tortured guys?…) Jin and Ittosai’s backstrories made me want to cry! BUY THIS GAME, YOU FOOLS!
One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from this game as well;
Yo and Mon Mon are spoofing some hospital show.
Mon Mon: And then I’d eat your plump, juicy organs.
Yo: wouldn’t you be better off selling them on the black market and buying yourself a buger?
Mon Mon: I’m pretty sure they take away your medical liense for organ selling…
Yo: But not for cannibalism?!
Mon Mon: Of course not! It’s common sense! Delicious, economic common sense!
CH
June 30th, 2008 at 9:06 amYea this game is great! I like Ittosai a lot too! He is so interesting, I love his story the most! The game is very simple, it is like reading a novel but it is still pretty great! I haven’t got all the endings yet, but maybe I will try. But I just simply can’t imagine chasing after mon-mon or Munishige, they are more like brothers to me.
emichan
September 14th, 2008 at 4:35 amdora - the company went out of business and will not translate any more otome games into english because people keep trying to download them ‘for free’ rather than supporting the very expensive game development
the only otome games in english are yo jin bo which is now very hard to find and fatal hearts which does have a free demo. but if people don’t buy the games then companies can’t afford to make them.
Alyssa
October 4th, 2008 at 1:35 pmI Love Ittosai SO much (I want an Ittosai plushy even! haha.) i had to play his ending every other time so it took me a full week to unlock everything. He’s really the only “Captureable characters” I like. and Mon-mon’s ending seemed to take forever!!! i dont even like him at all. -_-”
Anyone else get the feeling that Harumoto and Kasumimaru are totally gay for one another? or at least Kasumimaru is gay for Harumoto? I did hehe my Yaoi senses were tingling
BUT I heard that in the Japanese PS version you can get Harumoto as an ending! but that one is only available in Japan! Grrr i REALLY want it! He may be the bad guy bit he’s still my second fav. [thanks to Muneshige’s ending and Jin’s Ending mostly. they made me love him
Flame
May 20th, 2009 at 11:58 amYou’re review is excellent… So are your opinions, hahaha. Our favorites are almost the same. You did a good job on this one.
Wow…so if I unlock everything there will be a short bonus ending? And in it they’re all BLAZING HOT HOSTS? I wanna see Ittosai as a host…
But (sniff,sniff) why is it that on the last chapter where you are given choices for your answer, for Muneshige’s story, all answers lead to a bad ending?
Kyaaa! I didn’t expect that Ittosai is so popular with the girls. I thought I’m weird for playing his ending everytime I play the other boys’s ending. Good to know that I’m normal….. Bwahaha…..Ittosai is so HOT!!! And his ending is the sweetest one! By the way, Is it only me or did Ittosai receive the most numerous kisses from Sayori??? fufufu…..
Erza-sama
July 9th, 2010 at 8:16 pmim soooooooo happy for a review like this~~my fave is ITTOSAIIIIIII!!!!!!!
KYAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~~~~ and him as a host is incredibly sexy!! and he’s sai-chan~ and i practically died when he said “don’t avert your eyes. keep looking at me. you need nothing but me.” my favourites are also Jin and Yo~~ XD thanks again for the review~XD I AGREE WITH FLAME!!!!! XDDDDDD I HAVE TOTALLY NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER THAT ITTOSAI IS THE BEST MADE CHARACTER OF THIS GAME!!
Steffany
September 15th, 2010 at 12:57 pmno matter what choice I choose for fork in the road I end up dying wtf?
Alaya
May 21st, 2011 at 7:56 amJust wanted to say, like everyone else here.. Ittosai is the best character of them all
Sebera
May 25th, 2011 at 7:32 pmI love this game, and I want the host-ending desperately so I can proudly say I WON! xD BUT! BUT BUT BUT! I am missing two CG’s for my dream to come true D: The two CG’s next to Mon-Mons Ship-CG, where he kisses Sayori on their happy end. Wth is supposed to be there!? 3: heeeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeee 3x
Lori-chan
June 8th, 2011 at 11:39 am@Sebera: I looked at my cgs and I’m a little confused. The cgs that are after Mon-Mon’s ship kiss scene should be Sayori and him dressed in western clothing. Also, could you tell me what is suppose to be the cg next to Yo’s good ending with him smiling? I can’t seem to get that one. And it’s the last one I need.
Jovana
June 20th, 2011 at 5:25 pmWell…
1st: The review, AWSOME. Best review I ever read.
2nd: Since I have all the endings, I have to say (including the characters) that my fave is Jin’s, Yo’s (most fave) and Ittosai’s.
And finally…
3rd: Seeing from the comments you have left, looks like all of you could use some help. Use this: m.gamefaqs.com/pc/941867-yo-jin-bo-the-bodyguards/faqs/61328 (walkthrough). As for the ‘free downloading’ thing (I don’t usually suggest this) you can try downloading via torrent (english version, ofcourse).