It’s been a year since I played Blackish House Side A and I admit I was a bit hesitant to start Side Z: I still had terrible memories of abuse, rudeness and creepy situations I didn’t appreciate, so I kept procrastinating.

In the end, I finally decided to give it a try and be optimistic.

I admit it was a good choice, I appreciated Side Z way more!

The atmosphere overall is more soothing, since it’s also focused on the heroine’s relationship with her childhood friends, and the characters are not only psycho and problematic.

I started with Noa, since I didn’t know if I could trust him: he looks like an angel, he talks sweet words, but… is he actually that nice?

Honeybee black prepared me for any kind of betrayal, so I came in ready to face the worst scenario possible… I didn’t let his looks fool me.

At first, his route was very pleasant to play: he kept teasing the heroine, but it was funny more than creepy to me. She was naive as usual and trusted him too much: it seems like she forgot he was a man and treated him like one of his childhood friends, putting herself in a potentially dangerous position; but he was very sweet and there were a lot of fluffy scenes I really loved.

For a long time it looked like an innocent school otoge and I was confused… am I playing Storm Lover again?

Then, the magic ended and Honeybee Black hit me really hard as usual.

Instead of getting angry, the heroine persisted in trying to save Noa, until she finally figured out what was going on and everything was solved pretty soon; I’m glad that psycho drama wasn’t dragged for too long, I couldn’t stand to see the heroine suffer like it happened in Side A.

I admit I was really surprised by this choice, but when Tougo plays the good guy in a route, you know something must be off. I didnt’ want to trust him, I’ll be honest, I still can’t forgive him and his awful route!

The bad ending unlocks first and wow, that was some twisted stuff…. I LOVED IT.

I can’t say it wasn’t predictable, but it was still creepy and well done.

The best ending was very good, it was sexy and sweet at the same time; it was the best conclusion possible, it left me a nice feeling of accomplishment! Overall, I admit I’m really happy, the writing was good and even if it was long, I’ve never felt bored.

After this great start, I played Nayuta’s route.

Since he’s a childhood friend of the heroine, I felt quite reassured: at least he won’t be a liar and asshole, will he? I can trust him.

His route was really sweet and innocent, and they looked like a couple from the start.

I admit it was a bit awkward, because their relationship was even too intimate: I get it, they were together since childhood, but they act like lovers most of the time; I don’t think close friends or siblings sleep together in the same bed… come on, it can’t be normal.

This route had a lot of “what is this feeling?” trope going on, it looked too much like a cliché shoujo manga and it unnerved me after a while.

Overall I liked it tho, it was still sweet; I just wished the ending was more spicy, it seemed a bit plain and I hoped for something more interesting. Even the bad endings weren’t that bad, after all.

Sera looked like a bitchy diva, so I was a bit worried.

At first, I admit he was way better than I imagined: he was irritating, but he still accepted to help the heroine who needed to practice her singing and I appreciated it a lot.

She was in a terrible situation, she desperately needed some advice and he did a great job!

But… this is Honeybee black, so it can’t go on like this forever.

He started having problems at work and he acted like a spoiled brat, being hateful and rude to everyone…. until he did THAT THING that made me almost throw my PC out of the window.

I expected it to happen in some route, but………… it ruined everything. I couldn’t look at him like I used to. I just wanted the route to end fast.

I don’t care if he was crying, I just wanted to punch him so hard to give him a GOOD reason to cry.

His childhood was terrible, but being traumatized doesn’t allow him to react like an hysteric at every problem; he’s also dangerous for everyone around him.

I couldn’t be genuinely happy for the happy ending, I’m sorry.

Then, finally, I unlocked the most important route of the whole series: Haruma.

I admit I was very disappointed at first: the heroine spent most of the time with Rei, who tried to make her improve as an actress; at some point, I felt like I was playing his route once again, since Haruma disappeared completely for a long time.

When Rei told her that she had to keep distance from her childhood friend, if she wanted to become stronger and better, I realized something bad was finally going to happen.

I’ve learned from Side A’s bad endings that Haruma is not willing to give her away so easily; if someone is trying to separate them, he won’t be silent without reacting.

When he said with a low tone “so, you’re choosing Ugajin senpai”, I had chills. The bomb was about to explode soon. And it was even more shocking than I expected.

Haruma’s true face was amazing to discover and play, it felt like a new route.

And it’s the “true route” of the game, the one I’ve been waiting for a long time!

I never thought I could like so much an “evil” character, I was sad when it all ended; the truth behind Haruma’s incident was crazy, I still can’t believe it.

I told you Tougo was a douche, I hated him in his route too!

I’m completely satisfied with the last route: it gave all the answers I needed and it felt like a real ending of the whole series. I had goosebumps on the best ending, he really deserved happiness!

Would I recommend this game?

I enjoyed Side Z way more than Side A, probably because the characters were less douche and cold with the heroine; there was still violence and abuse, but the level was way lower, probably because of the childhood friends who liked her from the start.

Hina’s reactions still made me angry sometimes, but it was bearable at least.

It’s not a series I’d recommend to anyone, but if you enjoy difficult characters and painful routes (like the ones in Dynamic Chord for example), you’ll probably enjoy it anyway.

I don’t regret playing it, the plot was interesting most of the time and the final revelation was shocking enough to make me surprised. I just wished the routes were shorter, because my attention starts to drop after like 7/8 hours and the length here is always longer.

If Honeybee black releases another angsty game, I’ll probably give it a try too!