Sweet Pool



""It's not romance, it's not even love. It's something much much deeper...""

- "The official game website"

The third Boys Love Game by Nitro+CHIRAL of Togainu no Chi fame, Sweet Pool begins with the return of Sakiyama Youji to his Catholic High School after a long absence due to illness. Suddenly he finds his life changing in unbelieveable ways as his fate becomes entangled with his stoic classmate Shironuma Tetsuo, eccentric upper-classman Okinaga Zenya and friend Mita Makoto.

Sounds like your typical school boys love setting right? Except that this being a Nitro+ production means that the story is also infused with horror of the most potent kind. Filled to the brim with Primal Fear and Body Horror, all heighted with a brilliantly creepy soundtrack, this is definitely not a game for the faint-hearted.

The manga adaptation has been licensed in English by SuBLime (to be released in digital format and available worldwide), scheduled for early 2012.

This game provides examples of:

 * A Date With Rosie Palms: Youji, several times. It makes bad things happen
 * As the Good Book Says: The game starts with God's command for humans to multiply from the Old Testament
 * : Youji and Tetsuo's true ending. Part Bittersweet Ending, part Fridge Horror considering the premise.
 * Big Eater: Makoto
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: Played straight with Zenya, possibly subverted with Tetsuo
 * Body Horror: Constantly, to the point that this is more of a horror game than a romance game.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: The BGM manages to make afterschool clean up sound like a murder scene.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Zenya
 * : A literal example in Youji's and Tetsuo's true end.
 * Eye Scream: There's a reason why Zenya's right eye is always covered by an eyepatch.
 * Face of a Thug: Kitani.
 * Fate Worse Than Death: In Zenya's ending  Nitro+ doesn't do half-assed bad ends.
 * Forgets to Eat: Youji, though it's almost an active choice.
 * Gen Urobuchi: Only in a consultant role, though the influence is clear...
 * Gorn
 * Hey Its That Voice: Apart from Hikaru Midorikawa as Zenya, all the voice actors uses pseudonyms. But you might still recognize Wataru Hatano as Youji, Daisuke Kishio as Makoto and Koji Yusa as Kamiya, their teacher.
 * If Its You Its Okay: Youji feels this way towards
 * Ill boy: Youji, to the point that he had to stay behind a year.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Youji
 * Keet: Makoto is usually cheerful and friendly. Usually.
 * Love Makes You Crazy:
 * Ludicrous Gibs: Any animal that eats  explodes into this.
 * Mind Fuck: Oh so much.
 * Mister Seahorse: One of the first sign that Youji isn't completely normal is when
 * Mood Whiplash: Not in the game but after finishing any one of the depressing and usually downright scary endings the website containing the Dev team's production notes is unlocked and amongst them, horrors of horrors, is . Finishing all the endings will grant you a CG of.
 * Multiple Endings: Notable for there being
 * Nausea Fuel: Prime example will be Zenya  Fortunately, he ends up squishing it instead.
 * Only Sane Man: Kitani in the Okinaga household.
 * Overdrawn At the Blood Bank: Youji literally oozes blood whenever.
 * Parasites made them do it: Kinda justified since the parasites are.
 * Parental Abandonment: Youji's parents were killed in a car accident when he was young.
 * Playing the Player: See Sadistic Choice below.
 * Promotion to Parent: Youji's sister
 * Primal Fear: Of the bloody, squicky kind
 * Rape As Drama
 * Sadistic Choice:.
 * Scare Chord: Occasionally.
 * Sleep Cute: Tetsuo
 * Smells Sexy: Played completely straight since Youji, Tetsuo and Zenya all release pheromones.
 * Squick: Comes with the territory.
 * Stalker With a Crush: Makoto
 * Stalker With a Test Tube:  ships Tetsuo/Youji, for nefarious purposes.
 * Star Crossed Lovers: Youji and Tetsuo
 * The Stoic: Tetsuo's expression never changes. Youji himself to a lesser extent
 * Tear Jerker: Where to start? There's.
 * Utsuge: The game is infamous for its dark-as-hell and sometimes downright depressing atmosphere, resulting in it being a major Tear Jerker for some players.
 * Visual Novel
 * Womb Level: The whole game is basically one since the interface has conspicuous amount of pulsating veins, along with distinctly organic sounding sfx.
 * Yakuza: Zenya's dad was a former Yakuza boss and his underling Kitani was one as well.
 * Yandere: Makoto becomes one out a jealousy.
 * Yank the Dogs Chain: Every time Youji and Tetsuo's relationship takes a step forward, expect the plot to come in and kick everyone in the stomach.
 * Younger Than They Look: Tetsuo is a year younger than Youji but manages to hide his age and work part-time as a bartender. In addition, due to the art style, everyone looks like they are in the 20s.
 * Younger Than They Look: Tetsuo is a year younger than Youji but manages to hide his age and work part-time as a bartender. In addition, due to the art style, everyone looks like they are in the 20s.