The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf -A Tale of Cutthroat Lovers- is a crime thriller visual novel released by CLOCKUP in November 2017. The story is set in the violent underbelly of modern Kabukicho, the well-known red-light district of Shibuya, Tokyo. It’s worth noting the 2021 fandisc titled The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf -Woolly Eyes GAIDEN- will be released internationally alongside the main game.
What caught my attention when I first looked up The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf was its vibrant art. Despite rocking a synopsis that details a rather bloody predicament for the main character, the colors its promotional art uses feature a neon-like palette that just pops out when you look at it. It’s as if the idea of reading such a story was being pitched to me as a fun time. And just like any other guy out there, why wouldn’t I say yes to a good time? There’s nothing left for me but to go try it out, right? I mean, the opening theme is such a banger too!
Now, what kind of cruel reality do the denizens of this world’s Kabukicho live in? Let’s go and meet the wolves and sheep hiding in the darkness!
Earning a Good Night’s Kill
The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf revolves around the adventures of a nameless protagonist who suffers from chronic insomnia. Referred to by the visual novel as simply “Me”, he is a hitman working for the Aoike Gathering, the most influential yakuza group operating in Kabukicho, Shibuya. As a hired killer, he is sent by his boss Tougi Mamoru to deal with individuals who pose a threat to their group’s power over the area, receiving monetary compensation in return. Our protagonist isn’t in it for the money, however. What “Me” aims for is the opportunity to kill itself—as he figured out from years of sleeplessness, he can only get a good night’s rest after killing someone. Thus, for most of his life, he has been chasing jobs for the bliss of being able to slumber.
For “Me”, the idea of retribution doesn’t exist. His views on death are largely pragmatic, believing that the world operates under a system where the strong can take anything, even life, as it is their right for being born strong. And so he lives life like a sheep, avoiding wolves that can devour him at a whim just because they can. As long as he keeps an unassuming presence, he can keep living a relatively peaceful life at the expense of others.
As a result, he firmly believes in the futility of karma and destiny, at least until he got involved in a certain incident. A gruesome murder involving a person of interest to the Aoike Gathering launches a series of events that led “Me” to hunt down a call girl named Azami. Little did he know, this hunt was going to be his most dangerous one yet, and one that would help him achieve his best sleep yet, despite wolves baring their fangs at him.
One Sheep, Two Sheep, Three Sheep
The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf is a visual novel featuring multiple endings (as explained in our guide/walkthrough), with specific choices being central to shifts in the current route. Compared to other visual novels, however, The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf only has two points in the game that actually determine the ending that you’ll be achieving. All the other choices simply introduce a dialogue branch that, at most, will contain some missable CGs in the gallery. It’s actually pretty easy to navigate and determine what path you’re currently taking, so I personally had no trouble managing my saves and tracking my choices.
The visual novel also features a narrative that makes use of multiple character perspectives. Although “Me” is the main character, readers will find themselves transferring from one character to another in an attempt to better flesh out the game’s plot progression. And for the most part, it works! In a story involving so many parties with stakes that mean life or death, it’s pretty hard to make sure that each and every character plays a part, so I greatly appreciate the attempt to make it as whole as possible.
But perhaps because of the limited playtime, I found myself a bit dissatisfied with how some characters were only involved off-screen or were simply an afterthought following a major story event. Nevertheless, I’m a fan of the use of perspective shifting in this visual novel, as opposed to a style that centers on only the main protagonist. It enriches the experience by giving you front-row tickets to each character’s thoughts as they prepare for their time in the limelight, giving you time to become invested in them by being witness to their motivations and purpose.
Beware of the Wolves that Hunt in Packs
Being a crime thriller, The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf features a ton of violence in its text, visual effects, and CGs. It doesn’t shy away from vividly describing gruesome kills performed by its large cast of characters, detailing fractures, loss of limbs, and body parts bludgeoned beyond recognition. All this is entangled in the setting’s established network of criminals, which is extensive yet oddly fragile because of loyalties both flimsy and rock hard. While reading the visual novel, there wasn’t really any point where I was sure about the allegiance of individuals to different parties. It felt like at any point in time, your current allies could become your enemies through some kind of revelation in the story. It kept me on my toes at all times, which I feel is evidence of how well it does its role as a thriller.
This double whammy of unreserved depictions of violence and unpredictable allegiances gave way to an experience that was incredibly fun. Yes, I think the appropriate word here is fun. Despite the dank, gloomy, and anxiety-inducing atmosphere permeating through its narrative, the incredibly vibrant colors, the nonchalance of the characters, and the demeanor in which they take their actions paints a tone that is largely similar to shounen anime shows. It felt like there was a sliver of adventure hidden in the precariousness of each situation, which I think is thanks to how the visual novel presents itself. Set in the dark vestiges of Kabukicho’s underbelly, the upbeat music and neon-like color palette manages to recreate the charm of the dangerous life of a gangster or yakuza.
Love in the Darkness
Amidst all the blood-pumping action in The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf, it is still at its core a story about lovers, although a very unconventional one. Lacking the sappiness and affection present in most love stories, the visual novel makes use of the idea of killing and the individuals’ relationship to it as an enduring symbol of what love is in Kabukicho. There were multiple junctions in the narrative where the morality of murder was called into question, and sometimes, nestled within the characters’ internal deliberation, were questions about what the people around them meant to them. It’s a roundabout way of showing the kind of special treatment reminiscent of lovers, and in its own way, sometimes transforms into the most messed up depiction of devoted affection. Hell, sacrificing yourself for someone else is usually seen as a noble act. But here? It’s dirty, abusive, and lacking romance. Death is treated as a simple matter of fact, even if for someone else.
But does this take away from the romance in its narrative? Absolutely not! While it does stray away from your conventional romance, it still feels like that destined encounter between two fated individuals. With the darkness of the yakuza world as their backdrop, “Me” and Azami’s romantic encounter is filled with sparks of action, sizzling hot flesh, and the thrill of pursuit. I found myself very invested in their gritty, cruel, and problematic relationship. They reaffirm their importance to each other repeatedly and seek the presence of one another while continuously facing the jaws of death—a truly cutthroat romance.
It’s Flipping Raw!
Another thing I really liked about The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf was how raw the dialogue was. In addition to the vividly violent narrative, the characters’ lines all exude a kind of hardboiled vibe. They don’t shy away from using expletives or crass language to express themselves, which I think fits the theme of a crime thriller just right. The tough yakuza, the persistent detectives, and the individuals caught between the schemes of others are all incredibly strong-willed, and that’s well-reflected in the text itself. And yet despite the rawness of the text, it doesn’t fail to take into account how absurd everything is relative to societal norms, providing insights into what kind of foundations we’ve established to create the present-day peace we enjoy now.
If there’s anything I felt was off in the visual novel in terms of rawness, it would probably be the lack of visuals that directly portray the violence. There are a lot of visual and sound effects that give life to the fight scenes, but the CGs depicting parts of the fight itself felt lacking. Stills for their stances, their common moves, points of impact, and resulting casualties were few during fights, leaving the narrative and accompanying voice lines the only sources of inspiration for imagining combat. Given that this is a visual novel rather than a book, I had expected a bit more in the visual department to supplement my reading experience here.
Bumpy Journey with a Stellar Ending
As much as I liked The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf, I can’t help but feel that the endings for the first two routes were kind of rushed. While its strength lies in a gritty storyline full of violence and sex, the conclusions to its routes felt weak and watered down compared to the other parts. In a way, it feels super rushed. There’s no opportunity to digest the aftermath of the route’s climax; we’re left to imagine what lies beyond for ourselves. It’s as if any meaningful follow up isn’t necessary for the story the author created, so they just end it without any kind of wrapping up. To me, it seemed somewhat abrupt as if corners were cut, and I was left feeling unsatisfied.
But after reading the third route, I feel like I’m willing to put this issue with the other two routes behind me. Of the cast’s character arcs that hadn’t already been in the other two routes, the third route ties up most of them up really nicely. The endings are on point, fitting in really well with the visual novel’s overall themes and motifs. This, of course, includes the romance between the main couple, which resolved in a way that I feel justified the predicaments that underlined their relationship. I honestly found myself really satisfied with all the ending variations at this point. Although it felt pretty bumpy getting there because of the other endings, the payoff at the end was well worth it and respected my investment in the characters. It was a well-thought-out conclusion that I hope others will be able to experience as well.
Definitely Not for All Audiences
If all the previous sections didn’t convince you yet, let me tell you that The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf isn’t a visual novel for those of the faint-hearted. With copious amounts of violence and sexual acts depicted in the game, there isn’t any part of this game that I’d be willing to read in the presence of others. It is best experienced in its complete form with all the bloodshed and debauchery, perhaps in the confines of your own private space as well to spare others from unwanted sights.
For those who want to read it censored, I will warn you that a large part of the main couple’s development hinges on their sexual compatibility and a persistent symbolism related to it. This isn’t even including other characters, whose sexual relationships sometimes establish forms of power dynamics. The rawness of the dialogue greatly diminishes as well, opting for mostly safe wording for sensitive topics. Some scenes suddenly get cut off too due to the absence of an adult scene. If you’re okay with all of these compromises, then by all means, please read it censored. But I recommend reading it with the adult patch. It’s much more complete with it and introduces nuances that add to the overall atmosphere it tries to establish instead of opting for a relatively shallower alternative.
Woolly Eyes GAIDEN?
As mentioned earlier, the main game released with its fandisc titled The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf -Woolly Eyes GAIDEN-. The fandisc features five chapters detailing random encounters that members of the cast get entangled in as denizens of Kabukicho’s underworld. These chapters are essentially fanservice for fans of the original game, featuring their beloved characters in both cool and silly situations that would be weird if it was squeezed anywhere in the original three routes. Hence, Woolly Eyes GAIDEN feels more like a party; a celebration of the success that the first game had.
Not to say that there’s no value in reading it! If you liked the first game, I greatly encourage you to read Woolly Eyes GAIDEN as well. It’s chock full of faces that The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf characters weren’t able to show because of the thematic focus of the original, so you get to know more about them while being introduced to background details that were previously unknown. If I have any complaints about it, it’s that I wish there were more chapters! It’s such a fun series!
Similar to the first game, to experience Woolly Eyes GAIDEN in its complete form, the adult patch is necessary. I highly recommend installing it, especially if you used it in the original.
Art and Music
The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf features a total of 74 unique CGs, with 14 sprite artworks presented alongside them in the visual novel’s gallery. If you factor in CG variations including censored versions that you can access via the game’s explicit content settings, you’ll end up with a total of 1130 total variations inclusive of both CGs and sprites. A large portion of these CGs feature adult content, with the game containing a total of 29 H-scenes. So if you enjoy that kind of content, there’s no shortage of it. Thanks, CLOCKUP.
The main artist for The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf is Norizane, a familiar name for fans of other CLOCKUP works like Maggot baits, DEAD DAYS, and SACRIFICE VILLAINS. Their style fits works like this really well, with impressive detail being dedicated to presenting characters’ varying demeanors, the shifts in expressions from happiness to despair, and the eye shapes they use. The gradient-like coloring they used for the characters in this visual novel is really nice too, reflecting the photographic background of Kabukicho really well with the neon-like choices in colors. It’s as if despite the eerily bright backdrop, the characters themselves can still pop out with the colors chosen for them.
For the music, I don’t think it stands out at all. The theme song for the visual novel, “Dance of Wolf”, is a banger track and fits it really well, but the other tracks that play throughout reading it don’t exactly pop out to me. At some points it’s quiet, but at other times it sounds so generic that it’s just sort of there, playing in the background. There’s also no option to scroll down in the music and movie gallery when I tried to prod, so it might just be that there isn’t any made specifically for the game. Either way, despite the lackluster tracklist, it does its job well enough for me to notice whether it’s present or not within the scenes. In a way, you could say that it does the task of establishing background sounds when necessary.
Verdict
The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf is a gritty crime thriller story with elements of romance embedded within it. Set in the cruel underbelly of the redlight district of Kabukicho, it dabbles into themes of death and purpose by making use of criminals, mainly yakuza, as the main characters of its story. By plunging us into their high-tension world, violence and sex become a commonplace occurrence, creating a narrative steeped in debauchery and violent fun. While at first glance indulgent, it is sensitive to the nuances of these relative to society, providing very human insights into criminally motivated decision-making.
Although conceptually sound as a story, its execution does leave things to be desired; I would have hoped for more meaningful conclusions in two of its routes, additional visual assets to supplement its action scenes, and a better soundtrack. I think that if these flaws were addressed, The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf would be an even more incredible experience compared to what it already is.
With an interesting setting well-supported by its neon-themed colors, fleshed out characters, and meaningful dialogue, I am very happy with the time I’ve spent reading The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf. Although abrasive as a read because of the nature of its content, those who are brave enough to take the plunge into the heart of Kabukicho’s underworld will surely be rewarded with a satisfying rollercoaster of a story.
THE RESTLESS SHEEP & THE LONE WOLF -A TALE OF CUTTHROAT LOVERS- IS RECOMMENDED
If you are looking for another visual novel, you may enjoy Nie No Hakoniwa – Dollhouse of Offerings or DEAD DAYS. We have also covered a wide variety of visual novels both original to English and localized from Japanese, which you can check out here.
Many thanks go to Shiravune for a PC review code for The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf -A Tale of Cutthroat Lovers- and The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf -Woolly Eyes GAIDEN-.
Visual novel reader that wishes there were more than 24 hours in a day. Gacha victim, TCG enjoyer, and VTuber simp. Still trying to live happily.
