Togainu no Chi rocketed to infamy as soon as it was released in February 2005, and it’s never really lost that spot as one of the top Boys Love (BL) games of all time, with close to a quarter of a million copies sold and counting.
Thanks for everyone’s support while we got this awesome title out to you. Find the limited package edition at J-List, grab the fully uncensored digital version from JAST USA, or if you’re a Steam gamer, grab the game from that platform!
Now, thanks to JAST BLUE, English-speaking fans can finally enjoy an official English release of this widely beloved visual novel, differentiated from the original by the addition of the subtitle ~Lost Blood~.
The Japanese title translates to “blood of the scapegoat dog,” so when we were trying to find an English subtitle to convey that same feeling, I felt like ~Lost Blood~ captured some of that same vibe. It works literally, because the protagonist’s streetfighter name is ‘Lost,’ and also on a more figurative level as the game tackles the ideas of broken connections, severed families, and the pain of things no longer present. The bleakness and violence of both titles convey what the player is in for when they begin to play Togainu no Chi ~Lost Blood~.
A quick rundown of the plot: After a third World War, Japan is in a situation not unlike that of East and West Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, or North and South Korea’s current tensions. Stuck right in the heart of the contested territory is Tokyo, now a crime-ridden wasteland controlled by a violent drug empire.
A young man named Akira makes a living as a street fighter, but his existence is empty of any real feeling at all, let alone love and connection. When he’s arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, it’s his iron core of stubbornness more than a will to live that makes him struggle against his fate.
Then a mysterious woman makes him an offer he can’t refuse: a journey into the dark, dangerous world of Tokyo and enters the battle royale game played there, where winning means control of the drug empire and defeat means a painful death or worse. That’s where the story starts, but how it ends is up to the player.
So what makes Togainu no Chi so remarkable, apart from Nitroplus’s signature intricate, gory storytelling? It was Gen Urobuchi’s first experience working on a BL title, and he hit the ground running.
The art is beautiful, even in its twisted dystopian horrors, and may remind players of Fire Emblem: Three Houses in its sprite style. The voice acting is stellar, and while Japanese actors rarely use the same name for BL work and mainstream work, a quick glance at the cast who voiced the anime adaptation of Togainu no Chi in 2010 gives you an idea of just how top-tier the talent involved is.
These characters will get inside your heart like a barbed fishhook. As well as the flat, quiet Akira, who doesn’t even know that he has desires, let alone what they are, there’s his devoted childhood friend Keisuke, who follows Akira and will do anything to help him in his dark errand. Anything.
Male characters like Keisuke are a rare and precious commodity in BL and otome games, and Keisuke is a deeply beloved example for legions of fans for a good reason. Imagine if Makoto from Free! and Yuno from Mirai Nikki had a kid and you’re starting to get there.
It’s rare to find a classic, enormously popular BL game like Togainu that doesn’t adhere stringently to the seme and uke classifications for characters, which makes Akira stand out among protagonists – catch the attentions of the cruel, controlling Shiki and Akira will have no choice but to submit to him, but setting your sights on the cheerful, vicious little fighter Rin will lead to Akira taking the penetrative role in sex. Variety is the spice of life, right?
Speaking of sex, Togainu no Chi’s reputation as an amazing game comes partly from the extreme hotness of its explicit scenes. The story is powerful even in the all-ages version, of course, but the 18+ content is some of the sexiest writing in visual novels. There’s an older man straight out of a detective novel, a mysterious stranger with an important secret, a perverse trainer of pleasure-slaves… whatever your darkest kink, Togainu caters to it in true Nitroplus fashion.
We’ve worked really, really hard to make this release as good as it can possibly be. The game holds up beautifully to the standards of more recent games as far as art and acting, but both JAST BLUE and Nitro+CHiRAL are keenly aware that Japan in 2005 and English-speaking markets in 2020 may react differently to some plot elements and imagery. This game deserves the best possible release it can get, and we’ve done our best to make it relevant and sensitive to its new time and context, adding warnings before the game where appropriate.
This game is unforgettable. I haven’t even scratched the surface of what makes it such an incredible experience. Everyone is in for the ride of their lives.
