My Klutzy Cupid Review – Sometimes Simple is Best

My Klutzy Cupid is a visual novel by HULOTTE, a developer you may recognize from KamiYaba: Destiny on a Dicey Deadline. The two games curiously share a similar premise of supernatural circumstances forcing the protagonist’s hand to look for romance with obvious rom-com consequences.

Everything starts as our protagonist, Tsumugu, finds a mysterious notebook called the Love Note. Though his initial reaction is to ignore it, he soon learns he can’t escape this fate as an angel girl has chosen him as the owner of this precious artifact.

With the notebook, Tsumugu can see how close he is to the girl he chooses. Besides a “fatedness level,” the book offers advice on what to do and actively brings the two together if the protagonist repeatedly picks the same girl. It’s now up to him to be proactive and get the girl of his dreams. Otherwise, he will never be able to get his little guy up again after the Love Note goes away.

My Klutzy Cupid is a basic rom-com that plays by the book, so Tsumugu has many cute girls around him, and his wishy-washy nature is his downfall. Maybe being in a pinch like this was the extra push he needed to enjoy his youth with one of them.

Among his choices, we start with Tsumugu’s best friend, Masora. Despite being cute and having a great rapport with the protagonist, “Sora” is a boy into cross-dressing. His ending is supposed to be a dead end, though I’d argue that he’s cute enough that he should have warranted a route.

For the actual routes, we have Tsumugu’s little sister, Uta, who isn’t blood-related to the protagonist. She’s cute, a great cook, and maybe a little too passionate for her brother. Her route is all about the two getting around the awkwardness of being siblings who get too self-conscious when interacting with each other.

There’s also an osananajimi, a childhood friend, called Isuzu. Though they used to be close, some things happened in the past, leaving an awkward gap between them. Neither of them knows how to deal with the situation, so despite how much they care for each other, they aren’t courageous enough to take the next step. However, the Love Note hints at what Tsumugu can do to fix this.

Another choice is Rinka, a rich girl who’s always studying and never seems to interact with anyone. Aloof and dignified, it’s hard to approach her. Despite that, the protagonist can get closer to her once he learns her secret because of the Love Note hints. Tsumugu may become her strongest ally due to this other side of her.

The two girls helping the protagonist get a girlfriend are also options. That means the player can pick Lovmieil, the love angel herself. She’s a clumsy girl who’s too naive and direct but loves to tease the protagonist. By choosing “Eil” as a prank of sorts, the player will get to see her flustered at first, but the jokes soon give way to an honest romance with a good deal of drama.

The other helper is Uta’s classmate, Kururu, a shy girl who’s curious about novelties. Because of her meddling, she learns about the protagonist’s predicament and decides to see how he deals with it up close. Though her route is shorter, she’s the cutest, and seeing how she deals with being picked instead of all the other girls is one of the sweetest moments in the game.

Finally, there’s also a route for the teacher, Kotohina. It’s only possible to enjoy this love story by beating Eil’s route. While Ms. Kotohina may look mature, she has some childish interests and reactions. By choosing her, you get to see a lot of the drama behind her past and how it affects her present.

My Klutzy Cupid may not offer the highest level of quality writing, but once you lower the bar, it’s easy to see the well-written portrayal of these cute characters. I honestly laughed at the silly antics and enjoyed seeing the story develop with the seiyuu doing their best to convey the innocent nature of young love. There are a few typos here and there, but not often enough to be annoying.

One thing that caught my attention was that even in the case of the censored Steam version, the game keeps the tone intact for the whole story. That means the only cuts are the explicit depictions of sex, but the characters mention it whenever the steamy scenes are supposed to happen.

Just like the story, Akane Ikegami’s illustrations are enjoyable but nothing particularly impressive. Each character has multiple poses, and the change between them may include some emotes to further express happiness or surprise, for instance.

My Klutzy Cupid is exactly what you would expect from a rom-com visual novel. While it may not try to reinvent the wheel, it offers an enjoyable cast of cute girls and a cozy experience. It’s just as fun as it has to be, as long as you don’t go expecting the most transformative read of your life.