Ai to Yuuki to Kashiwamochi



Ai to Yuuki to Kashiwamochi (literally Love, Courage, and Leaf-Wrapped Rice Cakes, translated as Love Mochi in the iPhone version) is a puzzle game about Ai-chan. She's just like any other girl. And she's also an Ill Girl who dreams of a stark, brown world containing all the sweets she could possibly want to eat (But what she really wants to eat is kashiwa mochi), and a boy named Yuki. The gameplay is very similar to Yoshi's Cookie, and considering the theme of the game, it fits pretty well.

But Ai isn't just an Ill Girl, but the Littlest Cancer Patient as well. As the game progresses, she slips closer and closer to the edge. And Yuki? It turns out he's a shinigami come to take her away if she gets to that point. Once you play enough times, Yuki takes her away and you're left with just the game without Ai to cheer you on. You'll have to get 50,000 points to bring her back. Can be downloaded here.

Irisu Syndrome can be considered a Darker and Edgier Spiritual Successor, considering they're made by the same author.

A sequel of sorts, Ai to Yuuki to Kashiwa Mochi Kai (Love, Courage, and Leaf-Wrapped Rice Cakes: Unexpected Meeting) was later released at a convention, with its gameplay  being a crossover between Kashiwa Mochi and Irisu Syndrome. As of 2011, it can be bought here, along with some Maou Monogatari Monogatari artwork that was packaged with the convention version. More recently, the creator produced an iPhone version of the original game in both Japanese and English, which you can purchase here.


 * Crowning Moment of Heartwarming -
 * Designated Villain - In the end, isn't
 * Alternate Character Interpretation -
 * Earn Your Happy Ending - You need to score 200,000 points for Ai to completely get over Yuki.
 * Foreshadowing - Even without being told, take a good look at Yuki in the opening movie or the third ending screen.
 * When the game over sequence starts and all the candy rains down, let it keep going.
 * Grim Reaper -
 * Grotesque Cute - Yuki.
 * Interface Screw - As you progress, the sweets on the title screen become medical supplies.
 * Lighter and Softer - Compared to Irisu Syndrome, anyway.
 * Meaningful Name - Ai mainly means love. Yuki, ironically, means courage. (Alternatively, it means "snow," depending on the kanji.)
 * Mood Whiplash -
 * Multiple Endings - There's 5 ending screens, and three total endings. One bad, one where Ai just can't let go, and a happy one.
 * Nintendo Hard - Looks easy enough at first, but if you can't figure out how to combo correctly, you have no hope of being able to get enough points to get anything better than the worst possible ending.
 * Nothing Is Scarier -
 * Player Punch -
 * - The ending to Kashiwa Mochi Kai.
 * Scoring Points - 50,000 for the Bittersweet Ending and 200,000 for the Happy Ending. Also up to 50,000 points, you get one of three screens that indicate your performance.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance - The same cheery music will keep playing even on that screen on the top of the page.
 * Sugar Bowl: Kind of. There's plenty of sweets, but the main colors of the environment in Ai's dream is brown and orange-ish..
 * Surprise Creepy
 * Tastes Like Diabetes - And has it, if Ai-chan's illness is any indication.
 * Tear Jerker - The Bad Ending.
 * The Stinger - Once you do well enough, Kashiwamochi tiles are added to the game.
 * Thirteen Is Death -
 * Thirteen Is Death -