Bad Boys Do It Better | Rei Todo Review: The Aloof Delinquent Who Stole My Heart

Rei Todo, is wonderful perfect adorably cute the cool aloof guy from Bad Boys Do It Better. His cool demeanor and sharp tongue keep others at a distance. Not that anyone could even get the chance in the first place, as he spends most of the school year skipping class up on the roof. Rei does have his own past hardships that keep him from fully opening up to the MC. But, when he does, he becomes a playful, yet straightforward guy.

So, I couldn’t have been more surprised by how much I loved this route! The prologue for this game did a piss poor job of conveying how great of a game this was, and I want to amend my harsh criticism of it!

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Thoughts on Rei Todo: His bark is worse than his bite

After the power goes out in the dormitory, the MC feels someone grab her hand. When the power returns she sees that the perpetrator is none other than Rei. Confused, she confronts him about it, but he vehemently denies being anywhere near her and storms off. I, like the MC, wrote him off as a weirdo before vowing to stay as far away from the bastard as humanly possible. But as luck would have it, the next day she has to share a textbook with Rei during their shared literature class. Initially she is reluctant to be near the guy, but she tries to make the best of the situation by initiating some small talk with him. Depending on how you respond to the Bet on Love segment, he will either insult you or talk about literature.

Despite being a slacker, Rei is surprisingly knowledgeable, especially when it comes to literature. In his spare time he reads the works of Shakespeare and Faust, and has a tendency to quote famous literary works. Even though he’s a serial skipper, he still manages to stay among the top ranking students in his class. Rei tends to take naps on the school roof.

Despite his prickly personality, he seems to be close to his fellow housemates, particularly Keiichirou and Akira. Both offer the MC insight into his personality and offer her support when rumors begin to spread about Rei around school. There’s a lot of speculation surrounding his expulsion from his previous school. Most believe he had to change schools after he got a girl pregnant, but Rei does little to explain the situation. The real reason behind it, is even more bittersweet than I could have ever imagined and I want to commend the writers for dealing with the situation tastefully.

Rei was in a relationship with someone at his old school. Eventually, the relationship became public, and Rei was forced to leave school to avoid a scandal. The incident took a huge emotional and mental toll on him, and even months later he still has trouble sleeping. He became reclusive and put on a tough guy act to keep others away from him. Gradually the MC inserts herself into Rei’s life and he eventually gets used to having her around. He shares his love of literature with the MC and even takes naps on lap. It’s a super cute watching Rei awkwardly flirt with the MC.

When Rei falls in love he becomes a bit possessive and commanding, but in a good way. It was really cute to see him assert his claim over the MC to the other guys. But, he’s still rather awkward about his feelings, so expect a lot of blushing in the future!

After playing through the prologue, I was seriously beginning to regret purchasing Rei’s route. He is such a dick towards the MC, that I was having flashbacks to Keith from Be My Princess. But, I kept at it and pretty soon I was squealing like a silly schoolgirl at every little thing Rei said and did. I take back all of my complaints from my Mini Review, I judged this game prematurely and I apologize.

Sure Rei is cold, if not downright mean in the beginning. But when he opens up *swoon* it makes all of his earlier bitterness worth it. From his fear of the dark to his habit of laying on the MC’s lap, everything about him was just too cute for words. I wanted to hug this temperamental kitty and tell him everything was going to be alright! In fact, Rei reminded me a bit of Ren from My Forged Wedding and Kota from Scandal in the Spotlight. Both characters are tough nuts to crack, but when you do, they’re putty in your hands!

Usually, Voltage likes to give us a love triangle or two. So, when I saw that the MC would be living with five teenage boys, I sort of expected one to develop. Not only does a woman from Rei’s past pop up halfway through the story, but Ryoji Ryukai falls hard for the MC as well. As if I didn’t get enough Second Lead Syndrome from my K-dramas. They had to go on and cram it into my otome as well.

At least the whole situation was handled well. So, I am satisfied with how little drama the situation caused in the main story. Aside from Ryoji and Rei’s rooftop brawl, both rivals took rejection well and for that I am extremely grateful! I am also impressed with the depiction of the teacher/student relationship in this route. These can be kind of icky, but the plotline is very well written. Now if we could get a teacher route in one of these games, I’d be over the moon (Saejima is too yummy looking to be healthy).

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Thoughts on the MC: A sheep among wolves

This MC is both a lover and a fighter, she definitely has a little bite to her, which comes in handy when you’re the only girl in a school for delinquents! This girl gave me life! Most of her thoughts and dialogue choices were pretty spot on with my own reactions. She doesn’t let herself get pushed around very easily, standing up to the Rei (and the others) when they do or say anything she is uncomfortable with. When Rei brushes her off, she stands her ground and pushes back twice as hard. When Rei refused to open the door for her, she set up a makeshift mailbox outside his door, where she would leave food and assignments for him. In the end her determination and persistence is what really won both me and Rei over.

She’s also pretty down to earth about everything, sure she freaks out about being the lone female in a den of horny wolves, but she always tackles obstacles reasonably. When a rival from Rei’s past shows up, the MC handles herself with a level of grace and poise well beyond her years. She doesn’t whine or complain, when things get tough. But, I was especially impressed with how well she deals with the rumor mill, when rumors spread about Rei’s ‘illicit’ behavior, she sticks by him and trusts that he is not what everyone says he is. Then when one of her housemates starts crushing on her, she turns him down in a very mature way.

However, she does suffer from excessive sweating… I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about that, it was both cute and extremely silly. Another thing that bugged me, was at how convenient the plot is… How in the hell, did she enroll in an all-boys school without realizing it? I mean come on, no one decided to tell her that she would be the only girl! Then there is the casual way her mom brushes off the situation when she finds out too! I find that extremely hard to believe! The only silver lining is that the MC is aware of her situation, and takes care to protect herself against unwanted attention (though a a sticky situation does occur anyway).

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Do I Recommend Rei’s Route?

*On a side note: There are a few cameos from some of the Dreamy Days in West Tokyo boys, which made me giggle and a mention of Kota and Revance from Scandal in the Spotlight.

There are two endings for this route, the Teenage Dream Ending and the After Class Romance Ending. Both are wonderful, in the Teenage Dream End, Ms. Tanaka clears everything up for Rei. Afterwards, Saejima comes to clear up the aftermath of the fight. After a getting chewed out by Saejima, Rei and Ryoji rejoin the group…hilarity ensues. The day ends with a sweet rooftop date with Ryoji. During the date he clears up the hotel rumor again. Culminating with he and the MC sharing a kiss in the orange glow of the sunset. 

In the After Class Romance End, the MC breaks up Rei and Ryuji’s fight, announcing to everyone that she trusts Rei. Still not satisfied Ryuji demands that Rei explain himself, but Rei ignores him, instead grabbing the MC and leaving the rooftop behind. They head to the park to play hookie, spending a quiet moment alone together. The next day at school Ms. Tanaka clears up the hotel situation, afterwards the MC and Rei share a romantic moment on the school’s roof. To be honest I prefer the  After School Romance Ending, on a count of the Kiss CG…*remembers CG* damn…

I learned and important lesson from this route, never judge a game by its prologue! I was impressed by this game and I can’t wait to see what the other routes have in store! This route reminded me that when done right, high school romances can give you butterflies! I highly recommend this route, go and let this apathetic jerk worm his way into your heart! 

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