Today is the 1st Anniversary of Sweet & Spicy Reviews! This time last year, we launched our website with only a homepage and three reviews to our name…

Side note: If you’re curious, these OG three reviews were: Obey Me | Game Review, Tokugawa Ieyasu | Character Review | Ikémen Sengoku, and Arthur Conan Doyle | Character Review | Ikémen Vampire.

Since then, our site has grown exponentially – and continues to do so, to this day. We now have a whole variety of pages to browse, and over one hundred reviews to read!

Rather than list all 100+ posts here in a year-long recap, I thought I’d keep it short and sweet by picking out the Top 10 most popular posts from the past 12 months – to celebrate the reviews that were celebrated the most by you, the readers of this site…

Top 10 Most Popular Posts

#10 – Obey Me | Game Review

☆ Post title: Obey Me | Game Review
☆ Post date: March 20, 2021 (but the site wasn’t made public until March 27, 2021)
☆ Read it: here!

This was the first game review I ever wrote, (and I mean ever – not just the first time for this site), so I’m pretty proud that it’s still consistently one of the most viewed posts here on Sweet & Spicy. Looking back at it now, I would definitely change a few things if I re-wrote it today, but most of the areas I think could use a little TLC are to do with formatting and layout, rather than the content.

Re-reading this review makes me nostalgic, and I think it’s good for me to remember where I started every now and then. I regularly reflect on my recent work to figure out how I can improve for future reviews, but I also think it’s important to look back at things I wrote a while ago, and pay attention to the ways I’ve already grown as a creator.

#9 – Arthur Conan Doyle | Character Review | Ikémen Vampire

☆ Post title: Arthur Conan Doyle | Character Review | Ikémen Vampire
☆ Post date: March 20, 2021 (but the site wasn’t made public until March 27, 2021)
☆ Read it: here!

Ahh, Arthur – you loveable scamp, you. I chose this beautiful man as my first Character Review because I absolutely adored him (and still do!), so I figured I’d have a lot to say. But, reading it again now, I can see that I held back a bit.

I still have a tendency to cut out a lot of the first draft before I publish it, but I can tell that I’ve gotten more confident in what I have to say, as I now tend to leave more of my opinions in for the final version. I think I just get nervous that I’m waffling on or over-explaining – but, reading this review now, I kind of wish I’d had the confidence back then to dive deeper into my analysis of his character.

That being said, even though this was my first time writing a character review, I still managed to get my main points across, and the fact that this post is in the top 10 most viewed posts on the site means it must have been helpful for some people! Plus, I can always revisit his character and write an updated review in the future if I feel like I have more to say.

#8 – Ikémen Sengoku | Game Review

☆ Post title: Ikémen Sengoku | Game Review
☆ Post date: May 15, 2021
☆ Read it: here!

This was the first game review I wrote that I felt pretty confident with. I’d tried a few different layouts before settling on one that I liked and I was starting to get into more of a rhythm with my own writing style.

And, re-reading this post now, I’m still pretty happy with it. There are a few parts I’m tempted to tweak here and there, but nothing too major. I am considering doing an updated review once I’ve played more of Act 2, but for now I’m content with what I’ve already written.

Side note: Ikemen Sengoku is actually one of my favourite otome games of all time, so I’m super happy that it’s one of the most popular posts on the site!

#7 – Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome | Game Review | NSFW 18+

☆ Post title: Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome | Game Review | NSFW 18+
☆ Post date: September 18, 2021
☆ Read it: here!

Man, this game was a blast – and writing about it was a lot of fun, too. Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome was not only the first explicit 18+ game that I featured on this site, but it was also the first donation reward for our Ko-fi page. By this point, the website hadn’t quite hit the 6 month milestone, so I remember vividly how happy and bewildered I was at reaching a donation goal that quickly!

The NSFW game reviews do pretty well in general, but I did put a lot of effort into both playing and commenting on every possible ending for this game, so I’m happy that those efforts have been appreciated. I’ve reviewed a few other erotic games since then, and I’m hoping to keep expanding into the adult games arena moving forwards!

#6 – Ikémen Vampire | Game Review

☆ Post title: Ikémen Vampire | Game Review
☆ Post date: April 17, 2021
☆ Read it: here!

I remember being so anxious to post this review – mostly due to fear of not expressing my opinions well enough and coming across as either stupid or malicious. This was only my second attempt at reviewing a game, and I still wasn’t feeling particularly confident in myself, but I actually don’t think I did too bad a job in the end.

I definitely don’t think it’s a poorly-written review – but, knowing myself, I can feel the anxiety in it. It does its job, and I hit all my main contentions, but this review is one of the ones I’m tempted to revisit in an updated post. I’ll wait until more of the Act 2 characters have been released – so I’ll have more information to add – but this one is on my list for updating in the future.

While Ikemen Sengoku might just beat Ikemen Vampire in terms of my favourite Ikemen Series game, I still have a massive soft spot for these sexy, vampiric, historical men (I love historical fiction and gothic romance, what can I say?), and – despite any hesitancy in the way I wrote this review – I do think my genuine love for the game shows through. Plus, it’s ranked fairly highly in terms of views, so I’m hoping it’s been helpful for at least a few people!

#5 – Tears of Themis Update & Upcoming Events | Otome News

☆ Post title: Tears of Themis Update & Upcoming Events | Otome News
☆ Post date: October 15, 2021
☆ Read it: here!

Tears of Themis in general is a popular topic on this site, and the game definitely kicked up a storm in the otome community last year. But, I think this post in particular has gained popularity because of my rundown of the new gameplay features that were introduced in a big update last October.

Considering this post is more of a news article than a review – and will eventually become less and less relevant – I am surprised to see it ranked so highly on this list. However, I think it’s still a popular post now (months after the update was released), because it features information on gameplay mechanics that weren’t present in the initial release of the game.

I might look into doing a more comprehensive gameplay guide at some point to bring all that info together, but for now it seems most people read both this post and the ‘Game Review & Beginner’s Guide’ I wrote earlier in the year.

#4 – Tears of Themis | Full Release | Game Review & Beginner’s Guide

☆ Post title: Tears of Themis | Full Release | Game Review & Beginner’s Guide
☆ Post date: August 7, 2021
☆ Read it: here!

Tears of Themis has been a huge hit, and I can’t believe it’s already been seven months since it came out on global servers! I’ve played it pretty much every day since – partly to stop half my friend list from deleting me whenever I have the audacity to not log in for over 24 hours – but mostly because I love Artem, and seeing his proud dad smile makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

This review is incredibly long, and I remember spending hours putting together the ‘Beginner’s Guide’ part in an attempt to push myself and write something more comprehensive than I’d attempted before. To be honest, I enjoyed the challenge, and it was fun to experiment with a different style. Plus, I still incorporate guides in my game reviews, and I’ve started including walkthroughs in my character reviews, too!

#3 – Spooky Scary Ikemen | Top 10 Yandere Love Interests | Halloween Special Review

☆ Post title: Spooky Scary Ikemen | Top 10 Yandere Love Interests | Halloween Special Review
☆ Post date: October 31, 2021
☆ Read it: here!

I am so, so happy that this review has been so popular. I knew I wanted to post something different for Halloween, and I thought about the concept of combining yanderes with the spooky theme for months, but it was actually my partner who came up with the title.

Interestingly, the fact that it wasn’t a “formal” review, and instead a seasonal special, gave me the freedom to be more casual than I had been up until this point. I could feel my personality bleeding into my writing, and I ended up having a lot of fun with it.

Spooky Scary Ikemen is one of my all-time favourite posts on this website, so I’m glad it’s on this list (and number 3, no less, which happens to be my lucky number!).

#2 – Ikémen Prince | First Impressions & Beginner’s Guide

☆ Post title: Ikémen Prince | First Impressions & Beginner’s Guide
☆ Post date: September 9, 2021
☆ Read it: here!

Ikemen Prince is another recent otome hit that continues to bring a lot of new viewers to the site. I have taken a little break since I burned through both of Nokto’s routes, but I still absolutely love this game and I’m back on Chevalier’s route with a passion!

I re-read this initial ‘First Impressions’ post and a lot of my thoughts on the game are the same, but I do think I’ll try to post a full game review by the end of this year. I want to clear a few more of the love interests first before I attempt to write a more comprehensive post, but I’ll definitely revisit Ikemen Prince in more detail in the coming months.

#1 – Lucifer | Character Review | Obey Me!

☆ Post title: Lucifer | Character Review | Obey Me!
☆ Post date: May 8, 2021
☆ Read it: here!

Avatar of Pride and king of Sweet & Spicy Reviews, our character review of Lucifer from the mobile otome game, Obey Me!, consistently knocks all our other posts out of the park when it comes to view count.

This was a fairly early post in this website’s lifetime, so I’m surprised that it’s also one of the most viewed. I can see from the stats that our Obey Me!-themed posts are often popular, and I’m working on character reviews for the remaining cast members, so keep an eye out for more Obey Me! reviews in the coming months!

Final Thoughts

I found it interesting to see which posts had the most views across the site, so I hope you found it interesting too. I expected the Arthur character review to be on there, and I know that Tears of Themis and Ikemen Prince get a lot of views each week, but there were a couple that surprised me.

I know that view counts aren’t everything, but they’re the only way I can get a gauge on what games and characters people enjoy, and what regular readers want to see more of. Based on this list, I can see that game reviews are typically most popular, but certain characters can also get a lot of attention if they’re a fan favourite in the community.

But, the best way for us to know what you like and what you want us to write about is by leaving a comment in the ‘Reply’ section at the end of each post. So, if you have a moment, I’d like to know: Which post was the first you read on our site, and which have you found the most interesting and/or useful?

Any feedback is super helpful and we’re always looking for new ways to improve our otome news and reviews. Happy 1st Anniversary, and thank you for taking the time to read what we have to say about romancing 2D ikemen!

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