Dream big, and never give up. Tachibana Kisa has dreamed of following in her brother’s footsteps and attending the Univeil Drama School since she was a child, and she’s not going to let something trivial like “being a girl” stop her from attending an all-boys school. 

Explore the colourful lives of Jack Jeanne’s weird and wonderful cast through a series of drama school lessons, outings with your classmates, and dynamic performances complete with rhythm game mechanics… All while keeping your true identity a secret – oh, and securing the lead role at your end of year play. How hard can it be?

☆ Game Name: Jack Jeanne
☆ Developers: Broccoli
☆ Publishers: Aksys Games
☆ Platforms: Nintendo Switch
☆ Genres / Vibes: Otome, Rhythm, Found Family, High School, Drama
☆ Price: $49.99 (USD)*
☆ ESRB rating: Teen
☆ More info: Website, Aksys Store, Nintendo Store

*Pricing: This is the cost of the standard edition via the Aksys store. Prices may vary depending on: edition, store, currency, and regional/import taxes.

When Dreams Become Reality

“Kisa is about to give up her dream of becoming an actor when she is given the opportunity to enroll at the prestigious All Boys Univeil Drama School that she has always admired and dreamed of attending.

She is granted admission with two rigid conditions: be chosen as the lead in the final performance and hide her identity as a girl!”

– Game Description

The opening cinematic is stunning. It’s dark, it’s dramatic… and far edgier than the game itself, at least thus far. Once you get into the story, the tone is more in line with a heart-warming, found-family tale about a group of eccentric theatre kids bonding over their undying love for the performing arts.

I’m sure there will be heavier, angstier moments as I delve deeper into the plot and cast, but for now, I’m enjoying the day-to-day high school life of a young girl who just really wants to shine on stage as her brother did before her. It’s sweet, and I’m already rooting for our protagonist to achieve her dreams.

The visuals in Jack Jeanne are a work of art. While the opening cinematic may not match the tone of the story to this point in my playthrough, the art and music throughout the game have been phenomenal. There’s an air of elegance and poetry befitting a game about theatre, and the early scenes feature a variety of illustrative CGs that showcase just how much time, energy, and artistic flair has been put into the game.

The character sprites have a distinct style that I love, with several expressions, poses, and outfits. They also move their mouths when they speak, adding an extra dash of animation that keeps the visuals fresh and exciting. The craftmanship in the game is impressive on every level, although, to be fair, I’d expect nothing less from Sui Ishida, who wrote the best-selling manga and anime series, Tokyo Ghoul.

Jacks and Jeannes

At the prestigious Univeil Drama School, the male students are divided into two roles: Jacks, and Jeannes. Jacks are those who specialise in male characters, and Jeannes are students who specialise in female characters. Within these two categories, roles are broken down further still. For example, “Jack Aces” are the top Jack in their class, and “Al Jeannes” are top Jeanne.

Further to that, there are four classes at the academy that operate similar to “houses”: Quartz, Onyx, Rhodonite, and Amber. Since Univeil is a boarding school, the students share a dormitory with their classmates. Each class is know for their own specialty, but the one you’ll spend the most time with in the beginning is the protagonist’s class, Quartz – the transparent students, uncoloured by stage experience.

Gameplay & Features

Compared to the vast majority of otome games that have been localized for English-speaking audiences, Jack Jeanne is fairly complex in its gameplay mechanics. Rather than a visual novel focused solely on the story, Jack Jeanne incorporates both stat-raising and rhythm game elements on top of the usual VN fare.

I’m yet to try a performance, so I can’t comment on the rhythm game aspect for now, but I have been able to explore the stat-raising component. So far, I’m enjoying this extra level of gameplay as it makes the playthrough that much more customisable.

However, each choice you make is clearly connected to one of the potential love interests, so it doesn’t quite feel like I’m choosing based on what I would do in that situation. Rather, I feel like I’m gunning for one of the love interests instead. That being said, it’s worth noting that I’m yet to see the consequences of my choices, and it may not quite be as simple as it seems.

For example, the game has indicated that the stats won’t just affect your affection and romance with a particular love interest, but also your success at the performances. I’m interested to see exactly how these lessons and outings impact the outcome on my first, blind playthrough, but for now I can provide a rundown of how these mechanics work.

Lessons

On weekdays, you’ll be prompted to select a lesson for that day. You can also choose to repeat that lesson for the week, so if there’s one particular stat you wish to prioritise, you can choose to attend the corresponding lesson for the entire week without having to re-select it manually each day.

These stats and lessons are colour-coded so it’s fairly obvious which character will benefit from which stat. You can also check how your stats are affecting each love interest via the “Characters” page – accessed via the ‘X’ button menu.

Attending lessons drains your energy, so there will be some days where you need to take a rest. If you try to attend a lesson when your energy is too low, you will fail the lesson. Essentially, hard work is important, but remember to take breaks too!

Even if there isn’t any main story happening on that particular day, you’ll still get a mini-scene with one of the characters (not necessarily a love interest). These mini-scenes are brief and only partially-voiced, but they’re fun little interactions with the rest of the cast, providing an opportunity to get to know them and adding a little flavour to the gameplay experience.

Outings

On weekends, you can choose to either rest or go on an outing. Resting has the same function as it does on weekdays, but outings are a little different from lessons.

Instead of building stats, they build affection. You’ll also get another mini-scene (still partially-voiced), but at the end you get a boost to your affection with one of the love interests – not a stat boost. So far I’ve only selected love interests for these outings, but there are options for non-LI characters too.

I’m enjoying these stat and affection-boosting mechanics so far, but part of me wishes it wasn’t quite so obvious which love interest will benefit from which lesson and/or outing. I like to go into my first playthrough completely blind and see which love interest I end up with – but knowing exactly who I’ll be getting closer to with each choice takes away the surprise element I enjoy.

Characters

Tachibana Kisa (MC)

☆ Name: Tachibana Kisa (first name customisable)
☆ Pronouns: She/Her + He/Him (when undercover at the all-boys school)
☆ Voice Actor: Terasaki Yuka (寺崎 裕香)

Main Cast

Orimaki Suzu: A fellow first-year you meet during your audition for the school. He’s full of enthusiasm, despite lacking in dance and singing skills entirely. But, for what he lacks in refined skill, he makes up for in presence. There’s no doubt that he stands out, and his relentless optimism makes him a rare ray of sunshine amidst such brutal competition.

Takashina Sarafumi: There’s no way anyone who smiles like that is anything but a sadist. In an endearing way, of course. Regardless, Sarafumi is the class “Al Jeanne”, a.k.a top Jeanne in the class, and once MC gets to see him dance, it’s easy to see why. He’s mesmerising, and he knows it.

Mutsumi Kai: A man of few words, the class “Jack Ace” has a stoic aura that makes him come across as intimidating upon first impression. However, his soft spot for animals shows a gentle side to this strong-but-silent type. He seems like the reliable sort, especially when he claims to merely be a vessel to help make the Al Jeanne shine. He’s mysterious, that’s for sure, and currently the love interest I’m most intrigued to pursue.

Yonaga Soshiro (Sou): Sou-chan is MC’s childhood friend and one of the handful of people who know she’s actually a girl. He swears to keep her secret, however, and it’s a relief to know someone at this school has your back. He’s sweet, dependable, and a quick study – more comfortable with books than a stage – but like MC, he’s dreamed of attending this school since the two of you put on pretend plays together as kids.

Shirota Mitsuki: As cold and beautiful as ice. Mitsuki is the class “Tresor”, a.k.a best singer. He’s a Jeanne and looks perhaps the most feminine of all the love interests. He’d much rather sing than speak lines on stage, but when he’s given a task, he puts his mind to it. Mitsuki is blunt and standoffish, but perhaps MC will be the one to finally thaw his frosty facade.

Neji Kokuto: An eccentric genius. Neji’s specialty is… everything. He writes the plays, directs them, stars in them – adapting to whatever role is needed to polish the production to its full potential. He’s an expert at reading people and writing the perfect roles to bring out the best of them onstage. It’s no wonder he’s the leader of the class, even if he can be quite intense and, well, odd.

Best Girl

Akane Ao: a.k.a the love of my life. She’s our protagonist’s super sweet, super supportive bestie with a heart of gold. I adore the dynamic she has with MC and I always appreciate it when we get a best friend who isn’t necessarily a love interest – we need someone to gush about our crush with!

Final Thoughts

I went into Jack Jeanne with absolutely zero idea of what I was getting into. I hadn’t watched the trailers, I hadn’t looked up reviews, and I had deliberately avoided exposure to any sort of information before I opened up the game, so I could have my first experience be completely fresh and untainted – transparent, even, like quartz.

So far, I’m intrigued by the beautiful art work and soundtrack, and I’m excited to dive deeper into the story and gameplay. I’m curious to see how the stats, lessons, outings, and performances tie into the plot experience – and, of course, to see which ending I get first!

Based entirely on first impressions alone, I’m predicting my love interest ranking will be as follows: Mutsumi Kai > Neji Kokuto > Takashina Sarafumi > Soshiro Yonaga > Orimaki Suzu > Mitsuki Shirota. But, I’ll need to play the rest of the game to know if my prediction is correct. How well do I know myself? Only one way to find out!

Honestly, I enjoyed my “first impressions” experience with Jack Jeanne enough to know that I’ll be dying to continue my playthrough. In which case, you can look forward to a full game review soon.

Game Info

☆ Game Name: Jack Jeanne
☆ Developers: Broccoli
☆ Publishers: Aksys Games
☆ Platforms: Nintendo Switch
☆ Genres / Vibes: Otome, Rhythm, Found Family, High School, Drama
☆ Price: $49.99 (USD)*
☆ ESRB rating: Teen
☆ More info: Website, Aksys Store, Nintendo Store

~ Thank you to the team at Aksys Games and Reef Entertainment for providing us with review copies of Jack Jeanne! ~

Thank You

~☆ Patrons ☆~

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