This is Fuchii Kabura's debut work in the visual novel world and it's quite the explosive entrance as you might expect if you know of her from her most popular work: Dramatical Murder. For awhile there wasn't a fully translated version in English so finally being able to experience the what is essentially the blueprint to all her future works is interesting.

That being said Togainu no Chi is an extremely memorable BL yet conversely, it's also quite flawed. I would probably say that out of the five main routes only two felt genuine and they were not even considered canon. However even outside of the route's romances and ero-scenes the game's setting and tone is very well done and kept me going all the way to the end despite my problems with it.

Speaking of which the other three routes; they are intriguing in their own right and aren't like complete trash or anything but the romances just feel downright forced. Even in the good endings the game just doesn't find a way to make it feel cohesive to the characters' personalities. The ero-scenes in these routes don't even necessarily make up for it and in fact I think it makes the routes worse.

However the two aforementioned, good routes are well above and beyond the others. The dynamics and stories between the main character and the other two are really intense and diverse. All the ero-scenes from these routes can range from moody and sultry, to downright depraved, displaying Kabura's ability to write some grotesque stuff (pretty mild in this game compared to her later stuff) and keep you invested and rewarded for your time to see the characters' relationships through to the end.

On top of the normal routes there are 3 extra endings that have brutal ero-scenes with certain side characters that are just fun little distractions pretty much. Outside of the route specific stuff the plot itself is pretty gripping, especially towards the beginning since the game has such a erratic and brutal vibe to it. If you noticed the game actually has all the character art done by Chinatsu Kurahana who is, at the moment, known for her art in Fire Emblem Three Houses. Even though here it's definitely lot less polished looking it helps give the game a really uncanny atmosphere that is unique to this era of Nitroplus VNs. Especially in conjunction with the amazing background CG work and good musical contributions from Zizz Studio. The ending songs and opening theme are also really sick and definitely emphasizes the hopeless tone the game has throughout.

With Chiyoko Reito directing and Fuchii Kabura writing the scenario, this game is definitely a bold, grotesque take on the BL genre, but it definitely suffers from being the writer's first real work and not being able to actualize a lot of the concepts presented. Because of that it comes off a lot more as being simply "smutty" than later games and has less of the more taboo stuff Kabura would be known for writing in the future. I would definitely say if you're a fan of darker romance stories you should definitely give Kabura's other works a try first as they are much higher quality and come back around if you end up a fan or are already a fan and are looking for more.

All in all, it's a weird sex game where people put things that shouldn't be up their ass, in said ass. Some exaggerated gore scenes here and there too. Have fun!