• Price: $49.99 USD (physical & digital options available – physical appears to be sold out most places but are available from 3rd party sellers)
• Developer: Otomate
• Publisher: Idea Factory
• Release Date: November 2, 2021 (NA/JP); November 5, 2021 (EU)

Rated T, references to sexual situations

I’ve been an otome fan since I played Hakuouki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom and Sweet Fuse: At Your Side on my PSP back in the day. Hakuouki was more on the serious side. I don’t mind the darker stories, of course, but every once in a while I need something that’s quirky and zany to make me laugh. Cupid Parasite came highly recommended by some otome fans I spoke with due to its colorful graphics and the characters’ antics.

You play as “Lynette Mirror,” a bridal advisor/matchmaker for Cupid Corporation. Lynette has a secret: the company she works for? It’s her namesake – she is the actual Cupid, goddess of Love. Cupid finds out that humans have been determining romantic compatibility without her help.

She has never been in love herself, and begins to question her role. She has an argument with Mars, the god of war and her apparent father figure, about the possibility that humans don’t need the gods anymore. So she bets him that she can make more humans fall in love down in the human world than she could by firing arrows from the realm of the gods. Cupid seals her divine powers away and leaves for the human world to prove that she’s right.

As Lynette, she quickly becomes one of the top bridal advisors for Cupid Corporation. The president has heard about her desire to be promoted, and offers her the assignment of finding brides for the men who the company has nicknamed the “Parasite 5.” These men are all tough cases, and have been given nicknames that reflect their biggest issues.

When Lynette introduces them to some of Cupid Corporation’s female members, the guys proceed to upset and weird out each one of them. As a result, the women are less than pleased, and the drama ends up being discussed on a TV show. To try and mitigate any damage to the company’s reputation, the president agrees to a five-part live (!!!) TV series featuring the Parasite 5. (They call the show “Parasite House.”)

Lynette’s best friend Claris is also an employee of Cupid Corporation, and she worked on developing the Love Match Test for the company, which only consists of 14 yes-or-no questions. She asks you to test out the software, and that’s apparently how you end up in the route you go forward with. Once you’ve gotten through the Common Route sections involving the Parasite House show, you will start getting to know the love interest for that route.

Ryuki

Ryuki F. Keisaiin, the “Glamor Parasite,” was the character whose story I experienced first. He is a fashion designer who will only marry a woman whose face “scores perfect marks,” and he states that there is a minimum appearance score required for him to even associate with someone, There were some humorous moments related to his “standards,” but overall he comes off as a bit shallow to me.

Ryuki’s grandmother and sister both told him that he needs to understand love, so they signed him up for Cupid Corporation’s services. During the practice date, he criticizes Lynette and takes her for a makeover. To me it seemed like he was saying she isn’t good enough already. I did end up liking him more by the end of his route, but it didn’t seem like he had improved much when it came to recognizing other people outside of their appearance (besides Lynette).

Shelby

Next up was the (interestingly named) Shelby Snail, the Prestige Parasite. Shelby is the owner of Cupid Corporation, and as his nickname would suggest, he’s mainly interested in prestige and social status. He allows the public to believe that he is a happily married man for the company’s reputation. But he worries about someone discovering his secret, so he submits his profile anonymously to his own company for help finding an equally prestigious partner.

Once Lynette discovers his secret, she offers to help him. When I started playing I didn’t think I’d like him, but he ended up being one of my favorite love interests. He has a lot in common with Lynette. In this route, I really liked the emphasis on Lynette’s career, as well as the plotline about Cupid Corporation’s competitors.

I imagine that there could be concerns about a power imbalance here, but to me it didn’t come across that way in this specific situation. I thought he was a little awkward, but he is a considerate employer and seems like a nice guy – just overly focused on work and status.

Gill

I did have some concerns about Gill Lovecraft, the Lovelorn Parasite. When Lynette first came to the human world, Gill shared an apartment with her. Even though Lynette has always been completely oblivious to his love for her, he really focuses on doing everything for her.

He does all of the housework, completely rearranges his schedule to spend more time with her, and would even follow her around to “keep her safe” when they were in college. Gill kind of infantilizes her, so his love is a little creepy sometimes.

Gill’s route is a little flashback-heavy; I enjoyed seeing the hilarious misunderstandings that occurred between Gill and Lynette when she first arrived in the human world. But Gill has always given far too much and changed his life for Lynette without realizing that Lynette would want a more equal partnership.

Once Gill gets a reality check on his behavior, he becomes more tolerable. In my opinion, he was creepy but not malicious. I didn’t hate him, and towards the end there were some silly shenanigans in the story that made me chuckle in disbelief.

Raul

Raul Aconite, the Obsessed Parasite, is my favorite love interest in the game. He is an actor who is completely obsessed with mythology to the point that he ends up pushing away his dates when he starts talking about it. The reason that he’s joined Cupid Corporation isn’t to get married; he is just trying to figure out what love is like because his romantic acting is…not so good…

In his route, Lynette becomes his on-set acting advisor. Outside of work, he has a lot of casual sex with “Sillywood” actresses, which Lynette dislikes due to her views on love as Cupid. Although Raul doesn’t really see the need for romance due to his fellow actors’ casual attitudes about sex, he’s a very dedicated actor and really wants to understand.

He’s willing to take direction from Lynette, and is ecstatic that she can talk about mythology with him. Even when she disagrees with his interpretations of mythology he has a good time. I really enjoyed his route, and I liked his enthusiasm for his interests. For some reason, the quality of the writing took a hit in the later parts of his route, but there was a really interesting plot twist that made up for it a bit.

Allan

I liked Allan Melville, the Thieving Parasite, with some reservations. He is a luxury pillow salesman who isn’t “really interested unless [a woman] already belongs to someone else.” Angry men will call him or come after him for stealing their girlfriends’ attention.

At first I wasn’t really a fan of Allan, but there is a somewhat reasonable explanation for his behavior. There are some sort of dubious consent issues in his route, but never anything that crosses the line in my opinion.

Allan does seem kind; he doesn’t take advantage of Lynette and he protects her even when it hurts him. He is self-deprecating and ashamed of having certain characteristics. I enjoyed the fascinating backstory involving Allan, Lynette, and connections to Celestia. He wasn’t my absolute favorite, but I definitely liked him more than Gill or Ryuki.

Special Route: Sensitive Parasite

Finally, there’s also the secret love interest known as the Sensitive Parasite. You can only play through his route after completing the other five characters’ stories. I’ll try not to spoil too much here, but this guy is also connected to Celestia. He has an overactive response to danger, which led to his nickname.

When it came to the romance, it kind of seems like more of an insta-love on Lynette’s part, and I didn’t think the relationship buildup was very strong. That being said, there was a very interesting story going on behind the scenes away from Lynette, and eventually including her. The plot line does end up kind of going into a comically cringeworthy “power of love” direction, which was kind of disappointing for me.

Overall Otome Opinion

Some love interests were better than others, but none of the love interests were unlikable despite some occasional scenes with slightly dubious consent. I didn’t think any of the men crossed the line. It was cool to see the occasional scene where the men reflect on their current relationship with Lynette – I don’t think I usually see much from the love interests’ perspectives in the otome I play.

I actually really liked Lynette as the main character. She is caring and yet willing to call out the love interests – even Shelby, who is the company president. Cupid started to change her mindset on the relationship between gods and humans, and humanity’s ability to survive without them.

She is willing to reconsider her prior notions and try to understand others and their points of view. Claris calls Lynette the Cupid Parasite because she always pairs others up but doesn’t consider her own love life. Her extreme focus on “work” seems like her only real flaw to me.

Besides the likable cast, there’s a lot of great elements to Cupid Parasite. The game includes Japanese voice acting, and it also has what may be my favorite visual novel soundtrack ever. I loved the character designs and the vibrant colors throughout the backgrounds.

The characters often made me laugh, and I continued to laugh when I read silly names like “Harbird University,” “Instegrimm,” or the “Acrabemy Awards.” I also really appreciated the interesting interpretations of mythology. It’s an entertaining and unique otome, and I had a good time with it.