I’ve finally completed my second route in Kyoukai no Shirayuki! After posting my general impressions along with my thoughts of the first route I completed (Saji Kakeya), I decided the best way to share my thoughts going forward would be to do a writeup of each route as I complete them. It may be a while before I finish all of them, but this way I can be as thorough as possible!
I was really glad @Westraid suggested the hot policeman, Yori Zenno, for my second character, because he turned out to be just as great as he looks. I had to make sure to get my impressions of his route up for his birthday today, too!
I won’t be explaining the premise of Kyoukai no Shirayuki or my general thoughts on the game as a whole this time around, so if you haven’t read my character profile translations or first impressions, I highly recommend checking them out before continuing with this post. Once you’re ready to learn more about Kyoukai no Shirayuki‘s resident hot policeman, read on!
Yori Zenno, or “the man who can only betray,” is a 30 year old police officer and fan of sweets and a rabbit mascot character named Rabiman. He also won the popular vote in the Kyoukai no Shirayuki character poll, so he’s very much loved by other players! And I have to agree – he was interesting, funny, and a total breath of fresh air after playing Saji’s route.
At the time of this post, I’ve actually started on my third route in the game, and I’ve begun to notice an interesting trend: namely, all of these guys are obsessed with sweets. I’m definitely not complaining! I mean, I love sweets too, so it’s very relatable. Yori even takes Mashiro on a date to an all-you-can-eat sweets café, which is most definitely a way to win my heart. Since Mashiro is also a Rabiman fan, they also go to a Rabiman convention together. Oh, and did I mention he has a cat? A sweets-loving nerdy cat owner? Swoon!
Without revealing too much of the plot, Yori’s route revolves a lot around his colleague Yumihito Ikari, who works in the same police box. In the above screenshot they’re joking about one another’s fetishes, but all is not what it seems…
Yori also suffers from compulsive lying, and this is explored at length as his story progresses. Suffice it to say, unlike Saji, who knows nothing of the queen and the mirror world until very late in his route, Yori is much more in touch with the bigger picture (unbeknownst to Mashiro, however).
You also get to see more of Ousaki Maki in Yori’s route, who is something of an errand boy for the queen… But I don’t think I’ll fully understand what’s up with him until I do his route. Digging the striped shirt!
I mentioned earlier that Yori takes Mashiro on an all-you-can-eat sweets date, which is where the above CG occurs. It’s probably my favorite scene in his route, but there were so many cute moments, it was really hard to choose!
Who doesn’t love a man in uniform? Yori often escorts Mashiro home, particularly after incidents where an attacker cuts women’s hair occur in the area where she lives. This culminates in Mashiro even staying at his house for a few days for her safety… Any excuse to shack up with a cool guy, eh?
I didn’t get Saji’s bad ending in my first playthrough of his route, but I did run into Yori’s. In it, he and Mashiro drink wine and eat chocolate together forever… I’m not sure I’m seeing the bad side here?!
It should be obvious by now that I absolutely adored Yori Zenno’s route! He’s such a fun character, and it was nice to date an older man in an otome game. His core character flaw of lying to protect himself was portrayed in a relatable way, too. I can definitely see why he’s the fan favorite! But will he remain my favorite Kyoukai no Shirayuki character? I’ve still got six more routes to do, so we’ll have to wait and see!
