• Price: $24.99 USD
• Developer: Aikasa Collective
• Publisher: Viridian Software
• Release Date: January 29, 2025

A review code was kindly provided by Viridian Software on behalf of Aikasa Collective. We thank them for allowing us to cover something they’ve worked so hard on.

Content warnings: Rated M; villagers’ misogyny, trafficking, implied sexual situations (consensual & not), panic attacks, some images & descriptions possibly upsetting to vegans/vegetarians, mention of miscarriages & infidelity

Mizuchi is a yuri visual novel retelling of The Legend of the White Serpent, an Asian love story. This version of the story is said to include folklore from other cultures as well. I always enjoy seeing different interpretations of stories like this, and it’s unusual to see a visual novel that only has romance between women on Switch.

Our character – default name: Linh – has had it rough up until now. She has a fairly large family, but her father is extremely disappointed that he has five daughters in addition to the one (eldest) son. They live in poverty, with Linh having to steal food and wear tattered hand-me-downs.

Her fortunes appeared to be changing when her childhood friend Anh returned from war; he asks her family for her hand in marriage. Linh seems to feel ambivalent about the marriage, but decides not to make a fuss about it.

Everyone thinks Linh is incredibly lucky to be marrying Anh, but one night when she goes looking for him, she finds him in the embrace of another man. Two men together isn’t the issue. The “adultery” isn’t great, but their upcoming marriage is essentially an arranged one.

The problem is that Anh flees the scene when he hears a villager approaching, leaving Linh alone with the other man. This means that when the villager turns the corner, they see her with a disheveled man and think that she’s the one committing adultery.

Linh is paraded around the village to make an example of her. The punishment for adultery is usually death by stoning, but there is an alternative. The village worships the snake god and prays to him for good health and fortune. So Linh is thrown in a snake pit for judgment. 😱

No one has survived the snake pit before, but I guess if Linh lives she’ll be considered innocent afterwards? Anyways, in the pit someone speaks to Linh, and once she removes her blindfold she discovers that it’s a snake that she had helped earlier. They’re not overly sympathetic to her, but they offer to save her if she gives herself to them.

So Linh agrees to stay with Ai the snake demon/shapeshifter. I’m getting some Beauty and the Beast vibes here already, although Ai doesn’t have violent outbursts like the Beast. Linh ends up breaking her word to Ai pretty quickly, and tries to return home. (Linh, why?!? They tried to execute you! 😭)

Ai figures this out and brings Linh back to the residence. Before she can really scold Linh, Jinhai, a woman dressed like a monk, arrives at the house. Ai and Jinhai get ready to fight, but Linh intervenes and stops them.

The three women now live together, with Jinhai ostensibly staying to keep an eye on Ai. Linh is extremely tense in the beginning, constantly exasperating Ai with her overly formal and worshipful behavior.

She slowly starts to relax, and we get to learn more about Ai and Jinhai. I’d say that for the most part, the story leans more towards “slice of life.” They live in peaceful isolation in a beautiful home in the woods, so the story mostly focuses on these three. However, there are multiple sources of conflict as we get closer to the end.

While kidnapping is bad™, based on the time period and Linh’s living conditions, her (initially) unwilling stay with Ai may be a blessing in disguise. There, she doesn’t have to worry about where her next meal will come from, and she’s able to thrive instead of struggling to survive.

One might worry that Linh’s relationship with Ai could be unhealthy; Ai is in a position of power both as an older being with powers and as her kidnapper. Yet Ai – and Jinhai – provide her with the tools and knowledge that allow her to become much more self-sufficient and confident.

The romance is also fairly subtle – I don’t know if I’d say it’s the main focus of the game. I was very happy that there isn’t any “insta-love.” Instead, Linh’s relationships with Ai and Jinhai very gradually become deeper as the story progresses.

I thought that the relationships between the three were quite sweet, whether they were romantic or platonic. Despite the game’s M rating, it doesn’t contain much sexual content besides some implied scenes. It seems like the rating is perhaps due to the above-listed content warnings.

Most of the problematic behavior comes from people outside of the ladies’ isolated “bubble.” Ai and Jinhai’s personalities aren’t overly similar, but they’re both kind to Linh in their own ways, encouraging her to speak her mind and be open and free.

If I had to choose between them though, I think I’d lean more towards Ai. Ai is admittedly more…intense when it comes to keeping them all safe. But she’s a really intriguing character with her abilities and her thoughts on society. Jinhai is also great, and has a fun little “mascot” that provides us with some entertaining moments.

I wouldn’t call this a comedic visual novel, but there are certainly some funny scenes here and there. What I particularly enjoyed about Mizuchi was the amount of subtle social, cultural, linguistic, and historical content.

From what I can tell, the story takes place in Vietnam under Chinese rule. There is also some Japanese influence. If you are interested in the topics listed just above – like I am – they’re an excellent addition to the game.

The game is a feast for the eyes in many ways; they included descriptions and images of Asian foods from different cultures. Their character designs, CGs, and backgrounds are also quite beautiful in my opinion.

I liked the way they moved character portraits around the screen to make certain scenes more dynamic, and I loved the chibi versions of the characters on the transition screens. The soundtrack worked well for me, and while the game isn’t voice acted, they did use some sound effects in the background effectively.

All of the artistic elements came together quite nicely. I think the writing was pretty decent, and I don’t have many complaints about the translations. My one criticism would be that the story feels too similar as it starts to “branch off” into the different routes and endings. I wish they at least had different conflicts when the story branches off into Ai and Jinhai’s routes.

I did enjoy each of the game’s 5 endings, though. Ai and Jinhai each have a normal ending and a true ending; I was actually pleased that none of the endings were bad. Ai’s true ending was probably my favorite, and I loved the friendship-only ending as it gave us more closure for a plot point I wanted to know more about.

Mizuchi is a fairly lengthy visual novel with great artistic and cultural value. It tells a story about helping each other grow as a person – but not losing who they are – as their friendships and romantic relationships deepen. If you’re looking for a story about love and friendship between women, I think this may suit your needs!

If you enjoyed Mizuchi, check out Aikasa Collective’s upcoming yuri VN: Red Rebellion, a story about female versions of Robin Hood and Red Riding Hood teaming up to save their town.