Miel is an eroge company with a bit of a reputation. That their games are repetitive, that they're not satisfying as mindbreak games because the girls become perverts after their first scene, and that there is way too much peeing in them. Anyone familiar with the studio's work (localized in the West by Cherry Kiss Games) has seen people voice these complaints or thinks this to some degree. They're also known for their comically long subtitles.
A brief overview of Miel
It's not wrong to say that Miel games do often adhere to a formula and that with rare exceptions you know exactly what you will get before going in. But the thing is, I think that's fine. Miel isn't a company with lofty ambitions seeking to revolutionize the eroge industry. It's a small studio that knows exactly the kinds of games they do - small-scale, short nukige featuring mind break and sexual slavery, usually with a tone that swings more fun and light-hearted than dark and twisted (even though the acts portrayed tend to be pretty hardcore or, as they like to describe it, erohidoi, something like "pervy and cruel"), by way of having the mindbreak process happen over the course of only one scene for each girl (which is called sokuochi, "instant fall") and the rest of the game consisting of debauched fun with eager slaves. They have a niche and they provide to it almost monthly, and pretty cheaply too - most of their games cost between ¥1000 and ¥2000 (and often go into sale for way less), with only brand-new releases with one of their main artists at the helm going over the ¥3000 mark. I can respect the commitment, honestly. Other companies on a similar size and price range I can think of, like Appetite, take the "throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks" approach and as a result nothing really feels genuine about their games. You can say what you want about Miel's games, but you can't deny they have passion for what they do. I have played my share of their games to know for a fact that even if the scenarios can be derivative, there's no script recycling going on. Someone who writes different stuff for the same basic premise over and over again is a true pervert and I salute them.
Now that the introduction and my little bit of apologia is out of the way - it's the first time I bring up this company on the blog, I had to throw my two cents in -, let's get to the heart of the matter.
Miel today is mostly known for their fantasy harem titles, both of Isekai and non-Isekai varieties. Almost always following some variation of a down-on-his-luck or slimy protagonist getting his hands on a power that allows him to subjugate and enslave the most powerful women around. While the focus on sexual slavery and hardcore sex have been core parts of the company's content since its beginning, Fantasy settings were a secondary thing for a long time, featured on only two or three games, as their big thing before was school setting harems, and before that, Netori. What caused the two shifts of focus were games that were big hits and helped expand their audience. Not that they abandoned the previous genres entirely - they still do school and other modern-day settings, and they still do slower corruption netori-focused games on occasion. It's just that their big tentpole titles, what they're known for, what gets localized the fastest, are the fantasy games. And the game that started this shift was one Saikyou no Haramase Onaho Kishi-dan, released in 2016.
Onaho Kishi-dan Series
Onaho Kishi-dan is a reincarnation-type Isekai where the protagonist was reborn into a country that had been cursed so that all males would become impotent, so the population is declining and women occupy the positions of power. The protagonist is not only immune but also finds a way to channel his sexual frustration (he was a virgin his entire original life + reincarnated life) into magic and do all sorts of perverted things to the knights and princess of his country, finally marching into enemy territory and taking down the evil queen by making her one of his slaves. This game is not original but it's pretty well executed with good sex scenes, and more importantly, it was at the right time and place as this kind of Isekai was starting to soar in popularity. Since then, Miel was able to remain attuned to the genre to ride its many trends - they've done nukige using more gamified settings with classes and cheat skills, villainesses-focused ones, so on and so forth.
But Onaho Kishidan itself only had one sequel, Muteki no Haramase Onaho Himekishi-dan, which was seen as vastly inferior. It has sex scenes, not helped by Ishii entering a period where his art declined for a while before getting much better than it ever was. Whether it was some undisclosed health issue, creative block, or simply the growing pains of an artist experimenting with his art style no one knows. What matters is that since this second game, the name has been put to rest.
Until now, as Miel announced Musou no Haramase Onaho Kishi-dan ~Tsuyoi Mesu o Jutsu De Kuppuku Sasete Erohidoi Koto Yaritaihoudai no Zettai Chuusei Harem o Tsukuru!~ (I told you the subtitles are hilariously long. I spared you from the previous two. This one translates to something like "Peerless Pregnant Onahole Knights ~Build an Absolutely Loyal Harem by Subjugating Strong Females with your Powers and Doing All the Perverted Things You Wish~").
Summary and My Expectations
Now sharing a bit about the game itself, it harkens back to the original Onaho Kishi-dan in a lot of ways. The protagonist this time is not isekai'd (at least the official site doesn't mention it), but a native of the fantasy world who had his home country destroyed by the sadistic Knight Queen Carla, and now lives in a forest as an exile. He resents all the lady knights for fighting all over the land in their struggle for power, and upon finding a cursed sword, realizes that his desire is not only to defeat them but also to dominate them and turn them into his slaves and sex toys. He forms a pact with the sword which gives him the power to carve a crest of lust on his targets' bodies and enslave them through sex, and starts his journey. His first target is fellow exile Princess Erica, who fights as a knight to reclaim her country from Carla's clutches.
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| Womb tattoos are a staple of Miel games, but this time they're a literal representation of the protagonist's power over the girls' bodies. |
The Heroines
What's a nukige without the ladies we'll get to rape and enslave, amirite? So let's have a quick look at the 5 Knights and what we can expect from them.
Erica
She's seen as cold and distant, but her passion for her country makes her beloved by the people. She's also seen as one of the strongest knights around.
CV: Himuro Yuri
Personal comment: nothing much to say about her, really. I wonder if she and the protagonist are from the same country, the text is very ambiguous. If so, I expect her to be very bitter towards him. Before her dose of magic and cock of course.
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| One thing that I genuinely like about Miel games is how once enslaved the heroines willingly degrade themselves without a sliver of shame. It's a good palate cleanser between more serious games where the girls spend hours resisting. |
Ariel
She's Erica's best friend and wishes to help her reclaim her Kingdom.
CV: Otokura Yui
Personal observation: I'm looking forward to seeing if her inclination towards pacifism and understanding will morph into a "through dick, unity" mentality once she's the protagonist's plaything.
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| Being slaves to the same master is a tried and tested way of deepening bonds of friendship. |
Therese
A strong and hardened Knight Queen who is both admired and feared by her elvish subjects as a great ruler. However, she's also an Elf Supremacist who looks down on humans as inferiors.
CV: Nagahara Kyouko
Personal observation: Seeing high and mighty elves degraded into submissive sluts is one of the great pleasures of fantasy eroge. And that's something Miel always delivers on.
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| Behold the superior Evilsh race! |
Julia
Despite being selfish and bratty, her charismatic nature makes her adored by the people. She stands in the frontline and uses magic to broadcast her actions and make them known to the people.
CV: Umemiya Koko
Personal observation: Is this... Is this a Knight Idol? I mean, not exactly, but it does give that feeling. Curious to see if the whole broadcasting thing will be used at all for the sex scenes. Also, weird that there are three Knigth Queens in this game, and Julia seems so random, not affiliated with any of the major factions (at least going by this blurb).
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| Whatever she is, she's getting corrected. |
Carla
Despite her selfish motives, her campaigns of expansion do have the effect of enriching her Kingdom, so she's well-liked by the populace. She's the one who occupied Erica's homeland.
CV: Kanou Ichika
Personal observations: Now this is one I'm worried about. She looks gorgeous, but she got the least amount of previews (just one, and it doesn't show her as a slave), and in the first Onaho Kishidan, the antagonistic Empress Sandra is only confronted at the end of the game and as a result only has a handful of scenes (2 solo and 1 harem, to be exact). I'm hoping Carla doesn't share the same fate but at least as far as the information we have now goes, it seems likely.
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| Even the one preview they have for Carla is a pretty clear callback of Sandra's mindbreak scene in the original game. |
Musou no Haramase Onaho Kishidan will be released on December 28th, 2023 in digital stores and on January 26th, 2024 on physical media, only in Japan. But I'll be damned if the folks at Cherry Kiss don't bring this over to the West sometime in 2024.
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