The hitozuma fantasy allows male consumers to vicariously experience two things: (1) being desired by an "unattainable" older woman who has everything to lose, and (2) "rescuing" a woman from a cold marriage. However, Mitsu to Niku complicates this fantasy. In many endings, the women are not rescued; they become dependent, manipulative, or broken. The game’s darker routes suggest that the real thrill is not romance, but the destructive power of the affair itself.