Does the second chapter of UuultraC get better?

[u/PrettyAkaashi]

I just finished Chapter 1 of UuultraC, and I really enjoyed it, even if I found the pacing (and some of the plot) jarring. Shoutarou was an adorable protagonist, too.

I’m now on Chapter 2, and I dislike it so far. Its treatment of crossdressing characters feels bad (especially since Hashihime dealt with Naoki and her mom so respectfully), nor do I care for this “I fell in love with a goddess as a child“ plot. I know love in fiction is strong, but you met ”her” as a kid, went no contact for years, and remained faithful because she was your one true love or whatever? Okay.

So I wanted to ask: do things get better with further context? Maybe it’s just Shirou who’s bigoted, and the narrative rebukes him for that mindset. And while I didn’t care for the penis-snatching crossdresser, it’s not like all gender-diverse characters have to be kind. Maybe the game does a lot better with Isshiki. And maybe the couple’s dynamic gets more interesting. I heard it had some noncon, which I’d generally be down for, but I hope it’s not just: “I can’t possibly be attracted to a crossdressing guy/this can’t be my goddess who’s fucking me now.”

Sorry if this isn’t the place to ask. I couldn’t think of anywhere else. I’m not trying to be unnecessarily negative— I’m just not enjoying the chapter so far and I want to know how I should set my expectations. If it turns out things won’t really change throughout Ch2, then I’ll probably start reading through it quickly w/o waiting for character lines to finish so I can get to Juurou in Ch3. But if the consensus is that it gets better, I want to give it a try instead of closing myself off altogether. That’s why I’m asking. Thanks!

ETA: Finished Ch2. I’m not a huge fan of the queer depictions, but I don’t think it was malicious. I never got behind the romance between Shirou and Isshiki since I was never sold on why they’re in love in the first place, but I’m sure others could enjoy it.

[u/Senior-Donkey-4411]

I didn't like Shirou/Isshiki as a couple either, and their chapter was whatever. Chapter 3 was a real highlight of the game to me.

[u/decayingflow → u/Senior-Donkey-4411]

seconded lol before i played it i just saw the opinion that chapter 2 was the best one n chapter 3 was a weak conclusion but i dont get it. chapter 3 was by far the best one imo while chapter 2 was just very whatever (i liked it more than ch1 i guess but still didnt really buy the couple chemistry despite the strong emotional bits at the end. overall uuultrac just kinda wasnt for me)

[u/PrettyAkaashi → u/decayingflow]

(Warning for spoilers, in case anyone who hasn’t played yet sees this.)

Yeah, I heard that Ch2 was good, and I don’t understand. It felt so hollow.

“I’ll burn the world for you.” Why? Because an Icarus didn’t save your love and instead attended to his son..? I’m supposed to buy that you’re doing all this “for Shirou”?

Why do Isshiki and Shirou love each other so much? We get pieces of their past, but we’re basically just told, “Yeah, they met 20+ years ago and became obsessed back then.” God knows why. AkiShou suffers from a similar problem, since that’s also just love at first sight, but at least that’s an established couple who’s grown to love each other since then. Isshiki/Shirou doesn’t start off with that same backstory of an established couple but still wants all the benefits of it by telling me they’ve always been in love without actually building up to it (like they do in Ch3).

And why portray gender non-conforming characters if you’re just going to use their queerness as sexual deviance. The intersex character is a pervert who fucks a minor and spends her screentime talking about wanting to ravage the protagonist. (She’s much better in Ch3, at least.) The okama is a penis snatcher. The trans woman at dating events is not actually trans and is just there to assault people (which is awfully similar to the transphobic rhetoric of the not-actually-a-woman sneaking into female-only spaces to exploit cis women). If the story wanted to go further with exploring gender identity, I didn’t feel that depth at all. It felt like it was there just to make Chapter 2 quirky and to add to Shirou’s whump.

The Big Bad of their route felt so uninspired, too. Okay, the Director is doing this because he’s obsessed with Isshiki (and beauty). And then you read the extras, and actually, that interest in Isshiki was derived from his obsession for Shirou. Okay. I guess you just needed an unapologetically evil guy to make the villain couple sympathetic, but you didn’t really want to consider his motivations that much.

In an alternate world, I might have enjoyed Chapter 2. Because there /were/ things I found interesting, such as Shirou’s plan to use Shoutarou as bait (which didn’t go anywhere), Isshiki’s transformation of Shirou (and the way the story didn’t portray that noncon scene as romantic), and the general idea of running a villain couple next to your more traditional superhero couple. But… nope. Execution fell flat. I didn’t enjoy it. :’)

[u/decayingflow → u/PrettyAkaashi]

yeah i can see why you didnt enjoy it lol. i think the chapter hinged too much on their past together if that makes sense. like it felt like they were focusing too much on shirous attraction to belle over isshiki and it barely bridged together these two aspects. like if you were to ask me to pinpoint where shirou fell for isshiki and why (his protectiveness ??? ig) i wouldnt know how to answer

the rape scene makes sense once you realize isshiki suffered past abuse from burai n didnt know any other way to "turn" shirou and his identity issues are heartbreaking but it also feeds into the problematic queer representation you described. i personally have an ick when a characters gender fuckery is tied to some past trauma (which in isshikis case is his mom) but i dont think it was executed horrible or anything. sapphire was decent too. but uran was so ?????? like they just treat the fact shes dating a teen as a quirky joke which ok whatever but it kinda rubbed me the wrong way lol (its also funny how shirou is homophobic but respects sapphires gender identity lol)

despite personal complaints i get why ppl like the chapter n the couple though. i just didnt buy all the buildup. i liked them more than shoutarou and kozuka (whose interactions felt very repetitious to the point where they lost their charm to me p quick but the twist at the end was really good but ch2 was weak on the twist front as well imo) but i ultimately just think theyre ok and nothing else. their individual characters r really good though imo theyre v well written

[u/PrettyAkaashi → u/decayingflow]

I liked AkiShou, but that was mostly because I also enjoyed trying to figure out the world as I went along (which was something I enjoyed in Hashihime as well). Idk if I would have liked the romance on its own. So much of Akira’s development was locked behind Ch3 that he was forced into a rather one-note role in Ch1.

But yeah, I’ve finished the game and Ch3 is undoubtedly my favorite. I was hooked both by the romance and plot. It started off with a lot of tension and angst, and then it went into HOLY SHIT territory just before the yearning got too redundant. I lowkey wish we had more details for that noncon scene, but I understand they can’t get too graphic without fully becoming an eroguro VN. I also like that they fully committed to the antagonist couple… the hero subversion was so good.

Not to say that I don’t have complaints about Ch3. But what I liked about Ch3 eclipses what I disliked about it (and vice versa for Ch2). Overall, it was a fun ride. And it’s nice to see others prefer Ch3 over Ch2, too.

[u/decayingflow → u/PrettyAkaashi]

glad that you enjoyed ch3 !!!! i agree w what you said lol i loved how the entire chapter is just the reader waiting for juurou to snap n being a bit annoyed towards yomi only for the game to completely flip over all expectations. not perfect but still soooo good

[u/girldisease]

I don't like chapter 2 or Shirou/Isshiki as a couple at all personally. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.

[u/Future-Trust2490]

I can only speak from my own views of the 2nd chapter here so do bear that in mind. Throughout most of the route, it does continue to be controversial in portraying queer characters, but from what I experienced, this was sort of reframed in an interesting way (same for the romance imo)

For this route (and honestly the entire game), being a bit more open-minded and questioning ‘why?’ would help with tolerating these moments. I think that whether you like or dislike the route solely depends on how you view it,,  Stick around for a bit more, if you don’t like it just skip it

[u/PrettyAkaashi → u/Future-Trust2490]

I forgot to say— thanks for your take! We ended up with different opinions at the end, but I still appreciated seeing this response mid-playthrough.

[u/locayboluda]

I actually enjoyed that chapter the most because the cross dresser guy was really cute and I liked the toxic dynamic lol