My Lover is an Awkward Genius: Amnesia: Memories- Kent Review

So my Spring Break was not wasted…I finished Kent’s route…and let me tell you, I am so glad I didn’t play him first…he would have spoiled the rest of the game for me. I love, love, LOVED Kent! He is by far the best route of the game so far, I was so surprised by how much I liked this adorkable math whiz! There wasn’t really a “mystery” in this route…instead a good deal of the focus is put on the relationship between Kent and the MC, this is probably why I liked it so much. There was no over the top drama or conflict, which was refreshing given the plots in some of the other routes. I got the Normal Ending on the first try, as I did with the other routes in this game and then I got the Good Ending…and then I stopped…I couldn’t bare to get any of the Bad Endings…but then I came to my senses and for the sake of you guys and this review I went back and played for them… *mutters darkly* The things I do for reviews… Aside from that bit of torture, Kent’s route was amazing from start to finish!

*Side Note: I will not have an MC/Heroine section in this review…I feel that there just isn’t enough about her to fill an entire section in this game. I was actually really disappointed by the MC in this game.

Disclaimer: I don’t own these images, they belong to Idea Factory…and this goes without saying, but there will be SPOILERS under the cut…

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When a Rational Man Falls in Love

After choosing the Clover World the story follows the same scenario as Ikki’s route…The MC wakes up with no memories and no idea where she is. She and Orion search the room and check her phone…I don’t know if the MC is a complete idiot in this route or just well prepared, but she has 1250 contacts in her phone ranging from  the dentist and school to actual friends…*shaking my head* Upon closer inspection they find that she doesn’t have nearly as many texts, so they decide to start there…But those are also useless, merely ‘Good morning’ and ‘Good night’ texts, and all from the same person, Kent. Orion thinks this is weird, but the MC speculates that the sender must not be good at sending messages…Orion then comes to the obvious conclusion that Kent is your boyfriend, because otherwise you’d have gotten fed up at receiving such short messages. Like clockwork she receives a text from Kent asking to meet at Meido no Hitsuji. Orion speculates that it may be a breakup talk waiting to happen, so she and Orion head over to the cafe….Unfortunately she has no idea what Kent looks like, so you sit down and wait, so Kent has no choice but to come to you. Luckily he thinks that her untended slight is a result of their argument the other day…

Kent is a Mathematics graduate student and the most stubborn logical person I have ever had the pleasure of romancing in a otome/visual novel. He acts purely on logic (and numbers) and everything outside of that might as well not exist. He has a logical explanation for everything, including love, which he views as completely irrational. Blunt and extremely analytical, the MC and Kent have a really turbulent relationship in the beginning of the game. Kent believes that a couple has to follow a logical progression of activities before love can occur: spending time together…then holding hands…then kissing…It’s actually really cute, but because he is such a stubborn and logical creature he doesn’t execute romantic gestures well. Like when the MC asks him to send her ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ texts, he literally sends ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ texts. When she asks for romantic walks, he literally just walks…it’s actually kind of funny. He is a complete noob when it comes to love, so his gestures come off as stiff and unemotional. He gets a lot of his relationship advice from Ikki…and surprisingly it’s all good advice. The central “conflict” of the route is the fact that Kent is supposed to be preparing a presentation for a big research convention, which will culminate in him studying abroad in London for a year. So for most of the route he is either in the Math Lab at his University or spending time with the MC. The MC met Kent when he agreed to teach a supplementary math classes at her college, she was impressed with how seriously he took the class and developed a small crush on him. So lucky for her, that Kent walked the same route she used for her morning walk with her dog Kuro. Before she could say anything she overheard her friend Mine asking him out, but Kent rejected her stating that he didn’t believe in love. Discouraged, she complains about her one-sided love to Kent. He thinks she is talking about another guy and gets jealous…and does the next logical thing and asks the MC to go out with him. But, he does it in the most insensitive way imaginable…he proposes that his ‘feelings’ for the MC are an irrational anomaly that he must further research by dating her. The MC offended and pissed reluctantly accepts his challenge, but because they are both stubborn butts and because the MC hates him, they do nothing but argue. When the MC lost her memories, she forgot everything and began acting differently toward Kent. From that point on their relationship grew and Kent became a lot sweeter as a result. Kent has been in love with the MC from the get go and wanted nothing more than for her to return his feelings, he just didn’t know how to go about it. So once the MC starts warming up to him he does everything in his power to keep the good relationship between them going. For the first half of the route he treats the MC like she is a ticking time bomb, he’s guarded and always on edge ready for the start of their next argument. But, when it becomes apparent that the MC has changed, he becomes more honest with his feelings, becoming a flustered, awkward mess. He even gets jealous when his friend Ikki flirts with the MC. I love how Kent acts when he’s in love…logic goes out the window and he becomes a big old softie. At one point he buys her a Half Month Anniversary cake as an apology for being a bad boyfriend. Then when he forgets he’s supposed to meet up with the MC for a date, he drops everything and  runs from his house to a train station an hour away just to keep his promise. When the MC finally reveals her amnesia to him, he doesn’t want her to regain her memories for fear that she will remember why she hates him. He was a bit of a dick to her when her dog died…but he sucks it up and decides to help her regain her memories. He sets it up so that her friends will provide her with memories when he’s too busy with work. He truly loves the MC putting her well-being first and is willing to throw caution to the wind for her sake, thus allowing this innocent, stubborn, dork to steal my heart!

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Do I Recommend His Route?

I could not settle on one gif for this one…so I used two…I loved this route and I absolutely love Kent. This was like a breath of fresh air after Ikki’s route and a welcome shift from the drama of Shin’s route. I liked the more romance driven aspect of this route, because it really allowed the character to shine! I feel like I got to really focus on Kent and the MC’s character development without having to muddle through the convoluted plot that plagued the other guys’s routes. Ukyo was a creep in this route as well, but he didn’t really factor into the plot much…unless you get one of the bad endings… What surprised me about this route was that Ikki was a lot better in this route. Perhaps because I didn’t have to deal with his fan club or his Medusa eyes like I did in his own route, he actually came off like a decent human being!

Now the endings….I actually liked the Normal Ending more than the Good Ending, not that the Good ending was bad, far from it…The Normal ending seemed more fitting of Kent’s character development and felt the most normal. In both endings the MC gets hit by a car and is taken to the hospital. In the Normal ending, Kent goes through with his presentation before rushing off to the hospital to see the MC. She regains all of her memories and forgives Kent for being an insensitive prick about her dog. A few weeks later, after Kent is accepted into the study abroad program, they share a tearful goodbye at the airport. The MC promises to wait for his return. Months or weeks later, the MC receives a text from Kent, which she assumes is his regular ‘good morning’ text…instead she is surprised to see a heartfelt (for Kent) text: “I want to see you.” I was giggling like a school girl when I read that text…it was just so sweet and so Kent.

In the Good ending Kent does not go to his presentation…instead he rushes to the side of his injured girlfriend, thus forfeiting his chance at getting to study abroad. The MC regains her memories and a repentant Kent apologizes for being and insensitive dick when her dog died. When the MC’s all healed up, Kent takes her to a park they passed by on their walks and proposes to her. Afterwards they go to the classroom where they first met and Kent admits that he pretty much fell in love with her at first sight. He then tells her that he plans on going out for the study abroad program in the following year and that he wants to take the MC with him. In the epilogue they share a snowy kiss in London!

The bad endings are shitty and should be avoided unless you’re a glutton for punishment…It broke my heart to hurt Kent for those endings…

If you play any route in this game, it should be this one! No seriously, go play it right now! Kent made this game for me…I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that Kent actually saved Amnesia! There was so much right with this route. Kent is an adorable cinnamon bun, who just wants to know love like everyone else…I have absolutely no complaints about this route, it even made the silent MC and Ikki bearable.

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