Dramatical Murder, Newly Released on the Nintendo Switch!
Now this one is getting a little retro! Originally released for Windows waaay back in 2012, Dramatical Murder is a Boys’ Love (BL) visual novel, a genre those who wisely followed our recommendation to play A Year of Springs will be familiar with. It became a fan favorite, both in Japan and abroad, and had a release for the ill-fated Playstation Vita way back in 2014.
Recently, however, it was reborn once again, on 25 December 2025, for the Nintendo Switch! This is a fitting date, as Dramatical Murder is the game that gave us “yaoi Jesus.” So, to celebrate Easter (though this will likely be published after the fact…) we’re going to take you through the life and times of our Holy Gayviour. Let us play, and beware spoilers below.
Who Is Yaoi Jesus? Dramatical Murder Characters
Yaoi Jesus is the epithet given to our protagonist, Aoba Seragaki. A kind, sweet-hearted (if occasionally short-tempered) young man who lives with his grandmother (or is she?). He earned his semi-ironic nickname for a number of reasons, including being able to single-handedly heal the mentally unwell, and being, in a sense, someone who is three people in one: Aoba, Scrap (an alternate, aggressive personality) and Ren, his Allmate (digital companions, more on this below). But more than that, it’s partly because at the time of release, there were very few well-regarded BL games in English. As such, the appearance of Dramatical Murders and of Aoba meant that the fans, starved for content, came to see the star of this game with multiple love interests, all of whom have multiple endings, as their saviour.
But who are these other characters? Let’s have a brief rundown of our love interests.
Koujaku
A childhood friend of Aoba, and still very close to him today, Koujaku has something of a cyberpunk samurai vibe to him. He has a dark past as the abandoned son of a yakuza boss (which has instilled in him a certain sense of justice), but he is also the head of a gang that participates in “Ribsteez,” an IRL ‘game’ where gangs tag territory, and which can lead to violence.
Noiz
Noiz is a player of Rhyme, a virtual game where players “fight” one another for supremacy, and the main rival of Ribsteez for the attention and time of the youth of Midorijima, where the game is set. He is introduced as wanting revenge against Aoba for being defeated by him in Rhyme… something Aoba has no memory of. He also, interestingly, cannot feel pain.
Mink
The game’s official Big Boy, Mink is the tallest and strongest of the love interests, and also has a difficult backstory. His family was killed by the Toue Corporation, which runs Midorijima, when he was young, and he was imprisoned and experimented on. He eventually escaped and started a Ribsteez gang specifically for escaped prisoners, but he rules over them with an iron fist.
Clear
Finally, gas mask-wearing Clear is… and odd duck. He arrives seemingly out of nowhere and acts in a sweet, energetic, and almost childlike manner, and seems to be very familiar with Aoba… except he only addresses him as “Master.” He is a very peaceful sort, and wants little more than to get along with everyone and be their friend. If pushed, however, he is capable of surprising physical strength and even violence of need be, and has surprisingly acute senses.
How Does This Yaoi Game Play Out?
Well, we’ve already alluded to some of the game’s most interesting aspects above, so now let’s flesh the world out a little. The game takes place on the island is Midorijima, which is now owned by the Toue Corporation. After it acquired the island, the vast majority of the island was converted into a luxury resort, called the Platinum Jail, though locals do still live in the Old Residential District, where much of the opening of the story takes place. This area is rundown and relatively impoverished, and yet due to the game’s cyberpunk sensibilities, there are a number of technological advancements taken for granted by the characters that we would find incredible.
These include Allmates. An Allmate is a robot, usually resembling an animal, that acts as its owner’s companion, with Aoba’s being Ren, who is shaped like a small dog — in the physical world. Allmates can also fight for their owners like Pokémon in the virtual world of Rhyme, where they take on a humanoid aspect.
So we have our cyberpunk setting, and so on to the cyberpunk plot: as it turns out, the sinister Toue Corporation is actually using the island not to make tourist money, but to find an effective means of mind control. This has included experimenting on Aoba, who has developed not only a chaotic second personality, but also the ability to control other people through his voice, though he initially cannot do so reliably. He can also, at a push, enter other people’s minds, and either damage or repair them.
The first third of the game involves this world building, and in a roundabout way choosing which of our Fab Four will be your love interest. The second part sees you enter the Platinum Jail, where you both become closer, before moving on to the climax of the story.
A Classic BL Visual Novel Game?
At over ten years old, this game still has a lot to hold one’s interest. I thought the characters were pretty interesting, and the setting is gripping. I could almost feel the grime of the Old Residential District, living in the shadow of the Platinum Jail (surely a reference to a gilded cage) in the same way you can with Sector 7 in Final Fantasy VII.
I do have some issues, though. The introduction sequence, where you are esentially choosing who will be your good time boy after you leave the Old Residential District, is VERY long, making replays a bit of a chore. I’m also not a fan of how Mink was introduced, with it being implied that he ordered Aoba be sexually assaulted before his second personality saves him from it. Ew, gross, don’t like.
Aoba’s grandma is also a fun character, but makes a few reveals towards the end of the first chapter that she’s been keeping to herself… but given the way she explains them, it makes very little sense for her to have not told Aoba what she knows.
Overall, I can see how, in 2012, this was a light in the darkness for the yaoi game-starved masses, and how Aoba could become yaoi Jesus, but I think it has aged just a little. However, if cyberpunk BL is your thing, I think you could do far worse than picking up Dramatical Murder.
