Thank you PQube for sending us a review code!

Him, the Smile ＆ bloom is a visual novel collection of four flower-themed romance stories. Each of the bachelors work at a flower shop chain called Fill Flower. You can play the stories in any order and it’s nice to see how they are all intertwined without spoiling other routes. Each of the stories is about three hours long and they all have multiple choices which result in three possible endings for each route.

The four stories have a theme flower which matches the hair color of the handsome suitors. Here’s a breakdown of the characters in each route:
Tweedia – This blue flower represents happiness. The blue-haired guy is named Wataru Tori and he’s very expressive and wears his emotions on his sleeve. He is in college and is getting over his girlfriend breaking up with him and is moved by Serina’s kindness and wants to date her despite their slight age difference.

Nandina – A red flower that signifies passion. Tenya Minami is a quiet guy who mostly keeps to himself. In high school he had a crush on the class president, Miku, and never pursued it. After they graduated he hasn’t seen her in years. Upon their chance encounter they meet at the flower shop he works at and he doesn’t hesitate to express his intentions this time.

Mimosa is a yellow flower that represents gratitude. Ginnosuke Sugawa runs one of the Fill Flower shops and provides excellent customer service. He puts on an act in front of customers and acts differently after hours. Can the girl he likes (Ami) cope with his antics?

Anemone is the flower of love. It comes in many shades, but the bachelor, Hokuto Ichige, has dark purple hair. He grew up with the female protagonist, Fuuka, and treats her like a younger sister. However, she sees him as a man and wants to date him.

I enjoyed all of the routes and appreciated the good character development in all of them. Sure, some of the characters were a bit clueless at times, but that makes them all the more likable or at the very least, entertaining.

The artwork is really well done and the characters are all very expressive. The backdrops are colorful and nicely detailed. Kissing is shown and I’m glad that the alluded to intimate scenes are left to the imagination.

Him, the Smile ＆ bloom is fully voiced in Japanese. Thankfully there is English text for the rest of us to enjoy. The voice overs are expressive and well done. The background music is pleasant, but ultimately forgettable.

This game ran well on my Switch. Unfortunately, this title is not compatible with the Steam Deck so if you're looking to play on the go, I would get the Switch version.

Him, the Smile ＆ bloom is rated Teen which is appropriate given that all of the character routes lead to intimacy before marriage. Some have proposals, but none lead to marriage. There is some mild language (d*mn). Lastly, there are instances of drinking and drunkenness depicted.

At the time of this review there is some DLC content available for $2.99. I’m not sure if more is on the way. You can expect around fifteen hours of gameplay if you skip through previously read text and read all of the endings. I found the short story format refreshing and I enjoyed this collection of flower-themed romance tales. If you’re not bothered by the moral shortcomings, Him, the Smile ＆ bloom is worth looking into if you enjoy romantic visual novels.