Katawa Shoujo: After 12 years, it's finally here

[Mr_Bob]

Remember seeing the RAITA drawing awhile back, and to learn it actually became a reality is really quite something.
Other than that, didn't know anything about it, but heard it was a good story. It would be a good opportunity to learn more about the Visual Novel genre.
When it came out, I kept myself in the dark about every detail I could to experience the story untainted.
After my first blind run, I ended up playing the routes in the order they appear in the gallery (and on the title screen), with the stipulation that if I got any sort of ending, I would then proceed to the next route.  This playstyle felt very natural, especially in the introduction and elaboration of the side characters, and gave me a new perspective on what to do on any previous bad ends.  After all run throughs, I started the cycle anew to get a different ending, which served to expand the storylines.
Definately a solid VN.

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

No vote option for Miki?

THIS IS RIGGED!!

EDIT : Also, when I think about it, I quite liked Rin's neutral ending. Even if its painful, shes moving forward to find her place. Thats a commendable way of thinking, I believe. Sometimes you've got to leave the past behind and push forward into a future.

[Ruka]

EDIT : Also, when I think about it, I quite liked Rin's neutral ending. Even if its painful, shes moving forward to find her place. Thats a commendable way of thinking, I believe. Sometimes you've got to leave the past behind and push forward into a future.

Do note the foreshadowing before that.

Spoiler:

Sae mentioned her husband committed suicide after certain events. It's a likely path for Rin also in the neutral end.

[Grand Octopus]

Spoiler:

Sae mentioned her husband committed suicide after certain events. It's a likely path for Rin also in the neutral end.

DENIED. See answer 5. (link = spoilers)

[Ruka]

DENIED. See answer 5. (link = spoilers)

Darn you, Aura!

[Suikama]

oh hell yes I was waiting for a vocal version of this :getdown:

[yuyukos]

oh hell yes I was waiting for a vocal version of this :getdown:

:V :V :V Oh god I laughed way more than was appropriate.

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

oh hell yes I was waiting for a vocal version of this :getdown:

Pffft I lol'd so hard.

[Alpha Werewolf]

The only route I haven't played yet is Shizune's.

I like this game more than I thought I would! (which is a lot, so that's saying something)

[Maav]

OST's been released.

Also I'll just leave this here:



Come at me Lillybros.

Spoiler:

Misha at 2%? What the fuck is wrong with people?

>1% Kenji
>Favorite GIRL

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

That much was obvious though. I still want to know where Miki is.

Add-on tiem

She could use her stump as a *Censored for the good of all man*

[Jq1790]

Hm...I've never played a proper full-length VN before so I'm not sure if this is possible, but...

I understand the full version's got some adult material.  Is there any way to disable it?  I'll probably still play it anyway even if not since I liked Act 1 at least, but it'd be better if I could cut out the stuff I don't feel like looking at, too.

[Grand Octopus]

Yeah I really want to re-watch this series right now. (standard danbooru nsfw warning)

Hm...I've never played a proper full-length VN before so I'm not sure if this is possible, but...

I understand the full version's got some adult material.  Is there any way to disable it?  I'll probably still play it anyway even if not since I liked Act 1 at least, but it'd be better if I could cut out the stuff I don't feel like looking at, too.

There's a 'disable adult content' option. Not entirely sure what it does since I never used it, but I think it just puts up images of random (sfw) objects in place of the h-cgs.

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

Yeah I really want to re-watch this series right now. (standard danbooru nsfw warning)

Thats amazing. How this got decided or ended up working, who knows. It just does.

[Suikama]

That much was obvious though. I still want to know where Miki is.

Add-on tiem

She could use her stump as a *Censored for the good of all man*

Spoiler:

wristing

[Grand Octopus]

Oh man, I played through the Grid1 alpha thing from ages ago. Pretty interesting comparing the characters from then and now, as well as seeing how far the game's come. I actually kinda like the old art, but that's probably just because it's consistent.

For the curious:




Yes Hanako is still as goddamn adorable as ever.

If you want to try it, you can get it here.

[JT]

oh hell yes I was waiting for a vocal version of this :getdown:

Oh damn it, I wanted to do that! I even had all the lines and background music planned out in my head and everything. Fuck it, I'm doing it anyway. Right now. Brb.

[Stuffman]

ALL ROUTES COMPLETE



One sentence reviews, from favorite to least favorite:

RIN:

Spoiler:

Rin act 2 is the best act in the game, but she kinda just stops talking entirely at one point which makes her far less entertaining, still probably the best-written route though

SHIZUNE:

Spoiler:

She's such a well-defined character with so many quirks I couldn't help but enjoy her, and the drama with Misha doesn't feel as "cheap" as other routes

EMI:

Spoiler:

In retrospect her route is pretty good overall, it's just that it did a complete faceplant at the "big reveal", especially since it was basically just a watered down version of what happened to Hanako

HANAKO:

Spoiler:

Shares too many events with Lilly's route, feels redundant, okay but kinda predictable the rest of the time

LILLY:

Spoiler:

Boring route IMO, ending doesn't make sense to me, why would Hisao try to catch up to Lilly just to tell her that he realized her choice to leave him was reasonable

[JT]

Here it is. Got a little sidetracked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMJE7WzB-uI

[Suikama]

Here it is. Got a little sidetracked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMJE7WzB-uI

YES

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

I love this Misha, otherwise new art is better I think. Still I may try that alpha later.

[Alpha Werewolf]

Well, I've finished Shizune's route. Apart for going back for a few scenes (in Rin's, Shizune's, and one in Hanako's routes), I'm done with the game.

(Opinions on all the routes follow, specifically Shizune's but referencing others too)

Spoiler:

I thought that while Shizune's route was less engaging and powerful than any other route, it was also the most meaningful one. the other routes focus on one girl at a time and helping her cope with her own situation (with the possible exception of Lilly's, but relatively the statement holds); Shizune's route is about Hisao growing as a person. It feels like it gave the most fitting end for him; Unlike the other routes, where he decides on his career in the same way, this one made it a focal point rather than an aside to the 'happily ever after' ending. Really, it's as much the Hisao route as it is the Shizune route.

I admit, I may be looking at this route differently, what with it being the last route I played through. But it still felt right, and the ending sequence really showed how much stronger Hisao got.

In my personal ranking, it's rather low (Hanako>Lilly>Rin>Shizune=Emi), but that's just a testament to how good the entire game is, not how bad the route is.

A few side notes, containing mild Lilly and Shizune spoilers:

Spoiler:

-Shizune's father is simultaenously the most infuriating and hilariously awesome person in the game.
-What happened between Shizune and Lilly? I feel like it's the only detail missing from the endings as a whole.

And one more thing: There's one track in the game which is completely casual, but starts up with a really slow section that makes me absolutely sure a sad scene's coming up... And then I go 'oh, it's THAT track'.

I think it's called 'Stride'.

[Edible]

Spoiler:

-What happened between Shizune and Lilly? I feel like it's the only detail missing from the endings as a whole.

Covered in Shizune's route.

Spoiler:

Lilly used to be in the student council, was fond of the old laid-back approach.  Shizune wanted to get shit done and they fought about it; Lilly and the other council members left, leaving just Shizune and Misha.

I think it's hinted that they never really got along to begin with, though.

[Alpha Werewolf]

That's it? I was pretty sure the game hints at a specific event causing it.

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

Well I think it mentioned some ID badge system being the tip of the iceberg, but apparently it was Shizunes idea of a joke that got taken the wrong way. That, or shes playing it off as one.

[Totaku]

WARNING THE FOLLOWING CONTENT CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM HANAKO'S ROUTE FROM KATAWA SHOUJO. ALL TEXT HAS BEEN MARKED IN SPOILERS AND IMAGES ARE LINKED! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED TO STAY OUT OF THE FIRE!

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The story of a girl who's life has been scarred by the fires of her childhood. How will you help her try to face her fears?

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Hanako route Act 2:

Spoiler:

Hide and Seek

Spoiler:

This chapter was a bit on the short side, but it covered a bit about Hanako and some of her past. Most of the chapter deals with Hisao escorting Hanako to Lilly while trying to evade Shizune and Misha who want to ask Hisao to do stuff for him which he refuses and takes Hanako to meet with Lilly as they promised to eat together. Hanako brought some food that she was going to prepare, but when they went to the private room to open the jar of rice, it was stuck tight due to Hanako forgetting to let it cool before closing.

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Spoiler:

Thankfully Lilly came with some bread and allows Hanako to prepare a meal and Hisao was the first to eat. But it was until he ate some of Hanako's meal that he realize that he was technically the "taste tester". He did however agree that Hanako's cooking was pretty good, but judging by Lilly's words. He learns that her cooking wasn't always at it's peak... and thus why she let Hisao take the first bite. Regardless though, they spent thier lunch time eating and getting to know one another better.

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Spoiler:

Eventually, over the next few week or so Lilly would end up inviting Hisao to her room in the dorm to have a tea party with Hanako after they had a conversation and Hisao made mention of his heart condition. Surprised by the offer, he agrees to come and thus that night he enters the girl's dorm and get permission from Lilly to enter the room.

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Spoiler:

He's quite surprise to see the two of them sitting at the table in pajamas. It's like everyman's dream to be invited to a girl's pajama party. (And he sneaks a peak at Lilly's from above cleavage as he sits down. [Taking advantage of the blind aren't you Hisao....])

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Spoiler:

The tea meeting went along peacefully and Hisao felt that he got to know the two of them alot better that he could consider them as friends. Hanako seem to reacted a little odd when Hisao reffered to her as a friend, but after the night of tea was over Hisao went back to bed.

Spoiler:

Over the next few days, Hisao noticed how Hanako seems to have cases where she has been coming to class late or being completely absent from class. This raises concern to him and decided to go to the private room Lilly and Hanako uses. Hisao finds out that Hanako isn't there either and Lilly reached the conclusion that she's at the library. And this is when Hisao decides to ask Lilly about Hanako's absentness.

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Spoiler:

This is when Lilly explains that Hanako seems to be very sensitive about her scars and usually takes the intiative to leave the classroom. And her teacher allows her to leave if she needs to.

Hisao would take this into consideration as he would then go visit Hanako into the library. Hisao talks to Hanako about the book she was reading and have a little chit-chat till she decides to tell Hisao a piece of her past....

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Spoiler:

She explains that her scars are the result of her being in a fire which killed both of her parents. And the only reason she survived is because her mother shield her from the flames thus only suffering some damage to her body.  And then she tells Hisao that Lilly explained to her about his heart condition on the night of the tea party. The reason she felt that she had tell him was because she though it wouldn't be fair to know of his problems but not her. He understood and then the bell rang ending lunch....

End of Hanako's Route ACT 2

TOTAKU'S ANALYSIS ON HANAKO'S ROUTE ACT 2

Spoiler:

This chapter was short, but hit a few improtant points about Hanako. Now knowing the fact that she is an orphan who lost her parents in a fire long ago and has been trying to hide from the scars of this pain. I feel for Hanako at this point. She has been suffering like this for a while now. At this point, I was hoping would come acorss in finding a way to help Hanako cope with her problems. But in the later chapter we learned more regarding her.

What also interest me is a bit of the script change from what was orginally planned for Hanako's route. Since orginally only her father was suppose to be dead. But the dev's decided (acording to an interview) she didn't suffer enough, thus they killed off both her parents.

Being Hanako is suffering ;_;

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Hanako Route Act 3:

Spoiler:

Castling

[/b]

Spoiler:

The story continues on a later day when Hisao is playing Chess with Hanako. As Hisao learned more about Hanako's liking for chess they spend some time discussing on how she learned it. Eventually at the end of he day, Hisao cleaned up to tea room and when they both left they met up with Lilly who wanted to take them to the Shanghai to dine out for the evening.

Spoiler:

The during their time there, when Hanako had to leave temporarily to deal with personal matters, Lilly asked Hisao an important question... She wanted to let him know the Hanako's Birthday was coming up and that she wanted Hisao to accompany her to the city on the weekend to find a gift for her to give to Hanako. Hisao agrees to go with her just before Hanako comes back.

Spoiler:

Following after they dined at the Shanghai, they returned to campus grounds to sleep for the night.

Spoiler:

The day before the weekend, Hisao spend his time at the track field thinking about Hanako's upcoming birthday when all of a sudden a girl who he seen in class comes up and sits by him.

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Spoiler:

It was Miki, one of Hisao's classmates who partakes in the track meeting. Sadly this girl doesn't have her own route, cause she acts pretty cool and I could relate to her regarding her personality.

Spoiler:

Besides that though, Miki and Hisao discuss about school matter and later brings up about Hanako to Miki which perks her curiosity in asking him if he likes her. He admits that he does and Miki encourages Hisao to go for her. Course she also mention about that Hanako has some "issues" that makes her nervous and shy, but in all honesty  doesn't really know much of the details about it... After the conversation the two classmates return to school for the remainder of the day.

Spoiler:

On the weekend, Hisao meets up with Lilly to go out to the city. Lilly looks quite attractive in her casual attire. Besides that though, the two take the bus for the city and Lilly asks Hisao to lead the way. They take a brake at some point to dine at a cafe in the city in which Hisao learns a little bit about Lilly's own history and the fact that she is half scottish/ half Japanese and the fact that her parents went to live in Scotland, leaving Lilly and Akira to take care of themselves. Soon after they continue searching through the shops this time taking Lilly's suggestions. After several hours of searching they seems to have difficulty finding a shop to get a present for Hanako so they took a quick brake and it was there they found a shop that sit behind an alley known as "Othello's Antiques".

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Spoiler:

The two of them decide they need to go check out the shop. Once they enter they meet up with the shopkeeper and browse the shop. Hisao manages to fine a nice chess set and and a doll that he gives to Lilly, who decides would make a good present for Hanako. Thus now the both of them got a present for Hanako. Hisao manages to haggle to old shopkeeper to drop the price for the chess set. But when it came to the doll, Lilly payed the full price (20,000 yen for a doll?! I swear that old man took advantage of them!)

Spoiler:

Once they pay for the gifts and get them wrapped they leave and Lilly tries to make sure Hisao understands to try to keep this a surprise for her for the day of her birthday.

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Spoiler:

The following day in class, Mutou has the class do a group activity and Hisao winds up with Shizune and Misha in his group. Evnetually Hisao notices Hanako is by herself and encourages her to join the group. Hanako agrees the team of four begin to work on their assignment.

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Spoiler:

It was during that conversation that Misha begin to question Hisao about what happen yesertday. As she begins to prod into his business and before long Shizune becomes curious as well. It wouldn't take long before Hisao manages to accidentally mention that he went out with Lilly to shop for a birthday present for Hanako. It was shortly after that they noticed something was wrong with Hanako....

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Spoiler:

She was frozen in fear, unable to do her school work. She remain still with her pencil in hand. And eventually the whole class begin to turn their attention to the group. Hisao and Misha try to get Hanako to snap out of it, but it was with no effect. Mutou notices what is going on and comes over to Hisao's group. He asks Hanako what is a matter, but only to see that she is completely shaking in fear.

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Spoiler:

Surprisingly Mutou takes control of the problem quickly by telling the class that everything is ok and they should return to work. He explains to Hisao about Hanako's situation briefly then excuses Hisao from the reminder of classes and asks him and Shizune to take Hanako outside of the classroom and to the Nurse's office.

Spoiler:

Hisao ends up taking Hanako after Shizune guide him a bit and when they arrive, the nurse takes Hanako and puts her on a bed after realizing what happened to her.

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Spoiler:

Hisao asks the Nurse regarding what happened to Hanako, but he explains that it is classified information that he isn't allowed to give out. And that it is only between, him, Hanako, and her therapist.

Spoiler:

Hisao would spend of his day from there thinking about what just happen to Hanako during the class, and what truly bother her and how could even be able to help.

Spoiler:

Just then Hisao's cellphone rang and it turned out to be Lilly. She asked for Hisao to come to her room she had something very important she wanted to bring up.

Spoiler:

That night he went to Lilly's room and talked to her. He explains to Lilly what happened in the class that day and she realizes what happened and explained to Hisao about the fact that Hanako's birthday seem to be something tragic to her. She thinks it could be related to the incident that burned her back in her early childhood. Hisao presses for more information from Lilly but sadly Lilly only knows about  as much as Hisao does regarding Hanako.

Spoiler:

Then Lilly brakes up the bad news she wanted to tell Hisao...

Spoiler:

She is heading back to Scotland for a one-two week trip to see her aunt who has fallen ill. So she knows that she couldn't do much for Hanako when she left. So she asked for Hisao to help watch over her because she knows that Hanako and Hisao were both friends. Hisao agrees with Lilly and Lilly asks where Hanako is at the moment.  Hisao tells Lilly that Hanako should be in her bed room now since she was suppose to be out of recovery by the evening.

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Spoiler:

They enter Hanako's room and find her laying on the bed. She was no longer crying, but trails of tears will still present.  Hanako does however respond to Hisao and Lilly and they ask how she's doing. She explains she feels better and so Lilly decides to tell Hanako what's going on with her and lets her know she will only be gone temporarily. She says however she will try to make the next few days good for her so she'll feel comfortable while she is out.

Spoiler:

When they leave the room, Lilly tells Hisao that she's planning to hold a her party in the next day so that it won't collide with her birthday since that day still upsets her.

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Spoiler:

The following day Hisao notices Hanako has not shown up for class and grows a bit concerned over the issue. When class is over, he goes to her dorm room to check on her. She was in there, and allows him to enter. She asks why he came. But Hisao himself didn't really take time to plan for this before entering, so they decide to play a game of chess together for the rest of the daytime.

Spoiler:

That evening, Hisao got himself prepared for the next pajama tea party. And came to Lilly's room. When he arrived there, he saw Lilly and Hanako present and decided to sit down and talk a bit. Lilly mentioned her sister Akira was suppose to come, but was called into work that night.

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Spoiler:

So they decide to have a chit chat among themselves until all of a sudden Akira came through the door. Apperently Akira got the day off a little earlier then expected and thus they decided to give Hanako her presents.

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Spoiler:

Hanako was very pleases and happy to receive the doll and chessboard from Lilly and Hisao.

Spoiler:

And then Akira brought a special present for everyone to have...

Spoiler:

Wine (Now how she managed to sneak that into the campus grounds is just about as mysterious as how Jigoro can walk around on campus with his Katana though in her case this is probably more easier to do)

Spoiler:

And so everyone decides to go ahead and start drinking up the wine...

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Spoiler:

Time passes as they drink and eventually in one tender moment, Lilly embraces Hanako in a loving hug....dawwwwww

Spoiler:

Eventually as time marches on, they go through both bottles of wine. Hisao and Lilly was slightly tipsy, Akira was unphased and Hanako was pretty much complete drunk from the wine.

Spoiler:

Halarity unfolds as Hisao had to take the drunken Hanako to her bedroom and try to get her to go to bed. She even stumble and falls upon Hisao giving him a hug of sorts. Regardless, Hisao manages to get Hanako to eventually go to bed and then goes back to talk to Lilly and Akira.

Spoiler:

The two decides that the night before they leave to Scottland that they will take Hanako out on a night in the city. Hisao agrees to accompany them and thus he goes to bed.

Spoiler:

Waking up with a bit of a hangover and ignoring the door being knocked upon, Hisao comes to classes to learn that Shizune and Misha had been banging on his door in the morning to deliver a letter. Which when Hisao looked at after class. Turned out it was Iwanako, the girl Hisao once knew back before he suffered his heart attack. In the letter she pretty much admits that she couldn't find the words to express to Hisao during the time he was in the hospital but more or less  that even though they are distant from each other now she still wishes the best for him.

Spoiler:

Hisao takes some time to think about it and Yuuko happens to come see Hisao at that moment. Hisao asks her about how she would handle a letter like Iwanako and while she fumbles with her words, she mainly suggest to write back to her and tell her how you feel. Then she goes on talk about how she had a boyfriend who she was once with and left her after some time. Mentioning that he was very strange in general and paranoid, and it wasn't till after he left that she found out he was a bit younger than her. (sounds familiar...)

Spoiler:

Thanking her advice, Hisao decides to go prepare to travel to the city at night to accompany Hanako, Akira and Lilly.

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Spoiler:

That night Hisao comes to the city with Akira, Lilly and Hanako. To be honest... Hanako's casual attire makes her look quite appealing (especially in a later scene)

Spoiler:

The group travel around the city till they reach a jazz club which they would dine out and have fun out. While Akira and Lilly had drinks (well Akira stopped Lilly from having champagne. ) Hisao and Hanako play a game of pool (8-ball to be exact).

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Spoiler:

Belive me, Hanako looks she was made to play pool and according to Hisao she quite is! (Even if she doesn't admit it)

Spoiler:

During their time they play pool, Hananko tells about her life in the orphanage in exchange for Hisao explaining about Iwanako. More or less Hanako kinda lived as an outcast keeping herself isolated from other and spent most of her time reading books. Eventually she would get to come to the Yamaku High which she saw as an opportunity to her compared to Hisao who originally saw it in the beginning as a burden, which of course changed with time.

Spoiler:

After a few games, the group went back to the school.

Spoiler:

The next day Lilly was set to leave for Scotland and awaited for the taxi, Hanako and Hisao accompanied her and talked until the taxi driver came and loading her luggage and took her to the airport.

Spoiler:

With Hanako and Hisao by themselves now, they wondered what they should do for today. So Hisao suggests they go to the city.

Spoiler:

At the city Hanako expresses she want to go Othello antique shop where Hisao and Lilly bought their presents for her at. Hisao agrees and after taking their time to find it. They go in check out the place. Seeing Hanako's curiosity, Hisao realizes there may be more to Hanako then meets the eye. Even with the shopkeeper peering over the two of them. Eventually though Hanako asks to leave the store and head back to school. Which then the two decide to go back to their dorms to get their homework done...

End of Hanako Route Act 3

TOTAKU'S ANALYSIS ON HANAKO ROUTE ACT 3

Spoiler:

This act hit me pretty hard once Hanako suffered from a panic attack. Knowing that she was traumatized over something in relation to her birthday kinda waved a flag about what what kind of problem did Hanako suffer from.... Course thankfully this scene despite the fact that Lilly left for Scotland, did help patch some of the wounds that Hanako suffered... or so it seemed. Hanako came across to me at this point as a person with a trouble past that needed comfort and care. But I also didn't see her as completely defenseless either. Just someone that needs time to open up.... How this plays out in the next act changes a lot of things.

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Hanako Route: Act 4:

Spoiler:

Scars

[/b]

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Spoiler:

This chapter begins with Hisao attending class the following day. Course he notices something is out of place. Hanako has withdrawn from attending classes again and so Hisao once again grows concerned over Hanako. However after class, Shizune and Misha manage to drag Hisao to lunch as they have mostly a pointless conversation that lead nowhere when Hisao brings up about Hanako because she never talks to anyone except for Hisao and Lilly.

Spoiler:

Later on that day Hisao was given a worksheet to give to Hanako from Mouto, which Hisao took as an opprotunity to check on Hanako. After going to the girl's dorm and managing to get Hanako to open the door slightly. He mainly asks if she's alright. She says she is fine, but not too didn't want anyone coming in at that time. So Hisao decided to not to press the issue any further.
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The following day, seeing that Hanako still didn't come to class, he grew concerned and contacted Lilly through her cell phone. Upon reaching her, Hisao starts talking to Lilly about the current situation that Hanako going through.

Spoiler:

Lilly then reaches a conclusion regarding this that the big problem that may be why Hanako is secluding herself may be because of Hisao himself. Because the two of them have been feeding off of thier worry habits. Hisao agrees with Lilly on the problem and she explains that he needs to give Hanako time and to see if he can find a way to change himself as it might help her open up more.

Spoiler:

Hisao decides from there, that he would agree to take Lilly's advice seriously and spends some time thinking about what he's doing wrong that is drawing Hanako away...

Spoiler:

Coming into class a little the next day, Hisao was busy working on his math assignment when Miki decides to have another conversation with Hisao talking about school assignments and hate hate for math. Soon after they got done talking Hisao sees that Hanako finally decided to come back to the classroom which puts some of his concerns at rest. Now he must find a way to patch up the problems with Hanako.

Spoiler:

Later on Hisao takes some time to think about Hanako and how she use to be when he first met her at the library. Realizing that she has manage to recover from some of her shyness and yet avoid contact at this point, he decides that he need to see if he can talk with Hanako and resolve some issue at hand.

Spoiler:

After arriving to Hanako's room, he meets up with Hanako who is sitting in her room as she looks up at him silently. Evemtially the silence is broken when she speaks, but because she starts to get nervous around him again, Hisao decides to take a blunt course of action since he know how Hanako is so sensitve about her scars...

Spoiler:

He tells Hanako that he's going to take off his shirt to show her something important. And from that comes what I found to be one humorous lines (even though this was kinda in a serious moment)

http://img804.imageshack.us/img804/3575/screenshot20120120at909.png

Spoiler:

With that Hisao removes his shirt and reveals the scars that remained on the surgery that he had on his heart.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7901/screenshot20120120at914.png

Spoiler:

Hanako question why Hisao would do this, and he explains that he wanted to show the scars he suffered from his past and that he wanted to get the past behind him since he kept it so personal up to this point. She becomes clam realizing that Hisao has a problem like her, not in the way, but still the scars that they both suffer and that Hisao decided to reveal his to her to deal with his past problems.

Spoiler:

Hanako thanks Hisao, for showing her this and the two part ways for the night.

Spoiler:

On the weekend, Hanako invites Hisao to the city, which he finds surprising since the she didn't expect her to come out from her secluded state so quickly. The two meet at a cafe where they have a date and start to have a conversation about thier past situations.

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/2493/screenshot20120120at924b.png

Spoiler:

Hisao brings up about the fact he once had some friends back in his old high school, but lost contact with them from the time in the hospital since he kinda secluded himself after being stuck there for so long. Eventually Hisao notices that Hanako has a cellphone which turned out Lilly gave to her sometime ago. They decide to share contact information so they could reach each other. Eventually Hisao realizes that Hanako could use something for her cellphone and asks her to wait for a few minutes as he goes to the store. When he comes back, he gives Hanako a keychain as a present which she was quite pleased to have. The two would continue to converse for a while longer and decide to head back to the campus grounds later that day.

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2615/screenshot20120120at102.png

Spoiler:

During the school week Hisao would meet up with Hanako at the library and the two would discuss about thier past lives. Hisao mentions mostly about what he went through during his time in the hospital while Hanako discussed about her life in the orphanage to Hisao. Hisao would end up accompaning Hanako to her room as they continue to talk and when they arrived she asked him to come inside the room and lock the door.

Spoiler:

Hisao decides to follow Hanako's request and Hanako decided that she needed to show Hisao something important....

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/7724/screenshot20120120at104.png

Spoiler:

She take off her blouse and skirt and reveals the scars that her body from the fire she suffered from long ago... explain that this was her true self. Hisao say he has already seen Hanako's true self long ago, but she felt that it wouldn't be fair to show his scars and not show hers.

Spoiler:

Course it was just then that Hisao's sexual instincts kicked in. Being drawn by the revealing of Hanako's body he completely takes advantage of the situation and eventually get Hanako to the bed and after feeling her up he takes her pantyhose off pushes her panties to the side and....

Spoiler:

J-J-JAMS IT IN!

Spoiler:

There is only one way to descrbe Hanako's H-scene....

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/5008/1327666700813.png

Spoiler:

Pain...a very powerful word. Because the whole scene was painful in general, thanks to the fact that Hisao decided that this was the best opprotunity to bone Hanako was after she took over her clothes to show her scars to him. She even shows signs of fear when this was happening and was left in a position that she had to deal with it...and yet she didn't resist....was she afriad, too frighten to resist or telling not to do that? That's what ran through my mind because the whole didn't sit in my stomach all that well knowing what Hisao had just done....

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/5759/screenshot20120120at105.png

Spoiler:

Eventually after that, the two were tired and they decided to sleep in the bed together without saying a word to each other...

Spoiler:

The following day Hisao begins to feel the greif of his actions realizing what he had just done. He wondered if what he did was more harm to Hanako more than anything else. He realize he needed to deal with this and confront Hanako about it as soon as possible.

Spoiler:

So on the weekend the two of them would meet in the park... when the two discusses the events of the night, Hanako reveals that she intentionally didn't resist Hisao because she wanted to see her as not as one who needs protecting, but as equal. Because she thought that if he continued to think of her as a child that needed constant protection, that it would only make them grow further apart especially after the relationship they started to form.

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/7277/screenshot20120120at112.png

Spoiler:

She even explains that friendship was something she nearly gave up on since the time she got scarred because she was picked on by the kids back in her earlier years, which included one of her closest friends.

Spoiler:

And finally reveals that her birthday to her symbolized why she felt she shouldn't exsist. As it was a painful time for her regarding the fire incident. And the fact everyone wanted to celebrate her birthday made her feel discomfort. But she didn't realize till Hisao came into her life that she wanted to change that.

Spoiler:

Hisao realizes that he has mistaken Hanako all this time for what he orginally thought, but now knowing that she finally was able to stand up and admit her reasons and actions, he realizes Hanako was trying to help him in the process.

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/7277/screenshot20120120at112.png

Spoiler:

Eventually Hanako brakes down in tear feeling sorry, and claming that she didn't want to be useless to Hisao. Hisao ends up embracing her to let her know he was careless and didn't know, but he also loved Hanako and didn't want to part with her. This scene touched me so much.... know how the two overcame hurdles that they had formed. It left me almost teary eyed for once. ;_;

Spoiler:

Once they managed to clam down stop crying the two decided to spend the time walking through town that day.

Spoiler:

And Hanako decides that today she wanted to give Hisao a present that she has been meaning to give him for a long time... they both truely love each other....

http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/5277/screenshot20120120at113.png

Spoiler:

A kiss...

End of Hanako Route Act 4

OVERALL ANALYSIS AND RATING OF HANAKO'S ROUTE

Spoiler:

This whole route was very powerful and meaningful. I orginally thought that this was going to be about Hisao finding a way to simply get Hanako to overcome her fears. But as time went on and Hanako continue to grow in character and she seem to have alot more going on with her then orginally expected. It surprises me how well this was captured. Watching as Hisao had to deal with Hanako's suffering and trying to come up with a way to help her cope with her problems without being over protective of her. But it's not till the 4th act where everything comes at you with such force that it can leave you almost crying. Hanako went through so much and Hisao kept trying to reassure her that he was there for her. And even when he thought he overstep his boundaries the night he engaged in sexual activties with Hanako, she admits that she let him do it so he could stop seeing her as a child that needs protecting, but as an adult that is an equal to Hisao.

Spoiler:

More or less this route was about helping Hanako grow and come out of the shell she enclosed herself in. And everything about the route was done in a powerful in tasteful manner. This beats out any of the other routes I had played up to this point. Word can't describe much about Hanako's route except that it was touching. And I totally approve of the dev who route this story cause it kept me on the edge of my seat to the very end.

Spoiler:

Being Hanako was suffering, but not suffering no more!

Story: 10

Spoiler:

Very rarely do I see a story as good as Hanako's. A story about being able to stand up for yourself, and knowning when to seek support without going overboard. It may of been simple concept, but it was done in a powerful manner which is why I loved how this story played out. I can't find any issues with the story to be honest, other than the surprsing H-scene, but even that was relavent to the plot.

Characters: 9

Spoiler:

The main focus was on Hisao, Hanako, and Lilly. Watching as these character develop through the route was very promising. Especially with Hanako and Hisao since they were the primary focus of the whole story. Even though the other character play thier roles accordingly the idea that Hisao and Hanako overcoming thier problems of the past and how they interacted through the plot was very well done. I just wish some of the other charater has a little more invovlment, but other it was very well done. Also... needs more Miki.

H-scene: 8

Spoiler:

This one was kinda of the only thing that irk'd me, but not by much. Because it's one of the few scene that is surprisingly relavent to the plot. It was dark and considering Hanako's theme was used in this scene really captured the dark feel to it knowing how Hisao took advantage of the situation and nearly went overboard with it. The only thing that kinda bother me about it was how the beginning was executed. It seem slightly abrupt. But otherwise, it was all for the sake of plot and surpringly good (good as in shocking). Even though this was the only H-scene in her route, it's my view the most and dark and explcited (topping Shizune's H scenes), but also the best executed.

END OF HANAKO'S ROUTE SPOILER

There! All that remains is Lilly's route!

[Dr Rawr]

Here it is. Got a little sidetracked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMJE7WzB-uI

wth was that at the 1:16 :V

[Suikama]

wth was that at the 1:16 :V

subliminaljenson

SonicZeroX 1 day ago

[Phlegeth]

I started playing yesterday and at the end of Act 1 I automatically got put in Emi's route.  Which is good because she was who I wanted, but I was expecting a choice and there were a couple of times it looked like I was going to get one but it went on automatically.  Kind of makes since, since I pissed off Shizune and scared the living crap out of Hanako

Spoiler:

Not entirely on purpose.  Who knew plopping down next to a really shy person and going "Hey how ya doin?" is a bad thing?

  I was just answering how I would answer in real life.  And before you ask, yes I do unintentionally scare shy people all the time in real life.  In any case I like all the characters.  And so far, Emi's route has made me feel like such a lazy bastard.  I kind of want to take up running again.

Anyway, back on choices.  I'm like on the second chapter of Emi's route.  I just saw her track meet and haven't come across any choices.  Is that normal?

[Ruka]

Anyway, back on choices.  I'm like on the second chapter of Emi's route.  I just saw her track meet and haven't come across any choices.  Is that normal?

Choices in general come in places you wouldn't normally expect. Just go with the flow.