When modern fantasy meets tragic yuri you know you’re in for an emotionally gripping story. This is definitely the case for A Tithe In Blood while also being the darkest title I’ve experienced from yuri focused visual novel developer Studio Elan.
As a quiet university student in modern day Sapporo, Honoka’s life is filled with loneliness and immense pressure. That is until she finds a mysterious spellbook which offers a brief escape from her depression. Through the use of blood magic techniques within the book, Honoka transports to an isolated version of Meiji-era Sapporo. There she makes fast friends with a woman named Yasue, a mage who runs a kabuki theater. It’s always a nice retreat for Honoka to visit, but the cost is a painful tribute of her own blood. And to make matters worse, this version of Sapporo was sealed away a hundred years ago by another mage. Despite these troubling facts the two form a strong bond through their encounters. Honoka finds herself in the world of magic she was never meant to be a part of, with all the dangers that come with it.
The dark tone of A Tithe in Blood is apparent right from the opening scene where our main character is cutting herself to power her blood magic. A scene which reoccurs quite a few times. If you’re squeamish to that, like myself, you can at least lessen the intensity of it with toggles for audio and visual depictions of the act along with the resulting scars. That said, the self-harm is crucial to the events of the game and thematically makes the story far more heartbreaking.
Cutting as a quite literal escape from the real world may seem a bit on the nose, but in context with the world lore it feels more natural here. This setting is one where it’s a known fact that mages exist but there are few who actually possess this magic power. These mages are either shrouded in mystery or feared by the general public. Honoka however is not a mage but a human using the forbidden art of blood magic that anyone can perform. Unfortunately for Honoka, she has to mostly learn this magic through bloody trial and error. Once she established a successful transference spell, Honoka quickly became amazed by this hidden Meiji realm and the magical kabuki performer trapped within.
This love interest is much older than Honoka. In fact Yasue is technically a hundred years older than she looks. Mages can simply choose to not age it seems. Yet that certainly doesn’t stop her from casting fantastical kabuki illusions and hitting up the bar to teach Honoka how to order a drink. This time between the two is what Honoka cherishes the most, but tragically that means she grows more desperate to cut herself to transport back. Like I said before, the self-harm was already a pretty grim addition to this visual novel but all the narrative intention behind it I felt to be truly heartbreaking. And it gets all the more tragic when we come to learn more about Yasue and her mysterious imprisonment in this realm.
Aside from our lead characters you also have Shino, an athletic and chill librarian who chats with Honoka whenever she says after library closing hours. Then there’s the cool, tough looking Kaoru. And even a strict Russian bar owner named Tatiana. While they may not seem like they play an impactful part of the story during the first act, I’ll just say their roles are well worth the wait. In fact I won’t go into details for spoiler reasons but the way their scenes unfold I find to be highly gripping.
This story was originally written in English by Suriko, who previously wrote routes for Katawa Shoujo along with contributing to several past Studio Elan titles. Despite the original language, the game is fully voiced in Japanese with powerful performances and also contains a Japanese localization. At 70k words, the story’s length is just the right size for those who enjoy visual novels that can breathe while not feeling too daunting to finish. I’d say it might take about 6-8 hours to read with it being a kinetic novel.
All the art of A Tithe in Blood is undeniably beautiful. Lead artist Kobuta truly knocked it out of the park with the character designs and CGs here. Kobuta also did the art for Studio Elan’s previous title Please Be Happy and their style still holds strong here. Of course these visuals are accentuated by the phenomenal direction that makes every scene immersively cinematic.
I must also applaud Studio Elan for the vast nature of their extras gallery. It includes the entire soundtrack by Claire DeLuca, background art, additional object designs, and even guest art, all alongside the standard event CGs. The game’s ending theme “beyond” by Japanese band THE ANDS is also an emotional banger to enjoy as the credits roll.
Studio Elan has earned a reputation of producing highly polished yuri visual novels, so it was interesting to see them take on a much darker tone here than I’ve experienced from them before. It’s hard to go into details for exactly why it’s great beyond its initial setup for big spoiler reasons, but I can tell you that this visual novel is absolutely worth reading. A Tithe in Blood mixes the overwhelming darkness of depression with the magical hope of yuri romance in a way that lingers with you long after.
The only real catch is how well you can deal with its depictions of self-harm, which can understandably feel like a bit much to some. Yet I promise you it’s well worth it for the added thematic context and enhancing the tragedy of the plot. The fantastical drama becomes a strong hook, and each of the characters are both beautiful and intriguing. A Tithe in Blood is a heartbreaking ride through sadness, isolation, and hope that knows all the right ways to keep you invested.
A Tithe in Blood is available on June 16, 2025 via Steam and itch.io.
Title: A Tithe in Blood
Media Type: Visual Novel
Publisher: Studio Elan
Scenario: Suriko
Artist: Kobuta
Music: Claire DeLuca
