I think the adaptation would benefit the best with vibrant background designs, like how P.A. Works handled the art for Hanasaku Iroha. Then add in some music from Elements Garden, and we're all set for imagery.
Now that leaves the seiyuu.
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Continuing: White Sand Aquatope (6/24) and Vanitas S2 (0/12), The Vampire Dies in No Time S2 and Bofuri S2 (3/12). 2021: Restaurant to Another World S2 (3/12), takt Op. Destiny (1/12) and Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale (1/12). 2022: Yuusha Yamemasu (1/12), Kaguya-sama S3, Mob Psycho 100 III (Oct06), Bleach: 1000 Year Blood War (2/13) and Chainsaw Man (6/12). Spring 2023:Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi wo Suru, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! (4/12), Skip to Loafer, Tonikaku Kawaii S2 (1/12), Otonari ni Ginga (5/12) and Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia (3/13).
Contact me on Wikia and MyAnimeList. Anime List Status ~ Watching: 33. Completed: 468. Plan to watch: 39.
Guys, what are the odds that Katawa Shoujo (under a different name or otherwise) would have an anime adaptation based on its story?
Doubtful. Everyone who contributed to the story -- some of whom may've dropped out of the project early in development -- would have to agree on the contract and how to split the revenue. Unless 4LS had the foresight to agree in advance how to handle such a situation, I think it'd be a major cluster-frak waiting to happen.
Quote:
Also, which people would make your dream staff (seiyuu, animation studio and production staff)?
Except Hanako fares better IF you don't plow through her route. Her life gets much better if you go the Lily route instead.
Also... music box.
Cheers.
This debate has been a tired one I've participated on in other forums. Suffice it to say, I disagree, with the primary reason being the timeframe difference of Hanako's route and Lily's route (Hanako's route doesn't even cover Lily's return).
But I'm not engaging in that again since I've exhausted my words on that a long while ago
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Against all the evil that hell can conjure, all wickedness that mankind can produce... We will send unto them, only you.
If somebody's not getting the joke, a hint: Shizune's a deaf-mute.
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Anyway, been spending some time with this game in-between other, more important life-things (+ the Olympics). As always, I'm so late to the party that it went from cool to lame to hipster and back again.
So far I've finished, chronologically, four routes: Emi, Lilly, Shizune, Rin. Haven't bothered with the bad endings yet. Fell in love with Hanako at first sight (who didn't? YOU MONSTER) so figured I'll save her for last, though after Lilly's route I'm not sure that was a very good idea.
Impressions:
Spoiler for Emi's route:
Played blind; got through easily. Thanks Mutou!
Emi's route is indeed the easiest to get into, and if you pay attention it is really rather easy to make the correct choices.
Sure, her problem wasn't particularly...empathetic. The way she held up what is so utterly obvious could have been annoying. I treated it more like cracking a puzzle than as a healing process. But I was very happy with the story because they did a good job of creating the feel and energy of her and Hisao's mutual attraction very early on, and Hisao really took it on himself to improve his condition. I felt that he became strong enough, mentally and physically, to really try and jump in to handle her and her issues (+ her sex drives :X). He also seemed to have taken to science most earnestly in this route. He had, I feel, become a "capable" and fully functioning person. This being a choose-the-girl VN, the decisive influence is, of course, Emi, and for that I was willing to forgive her for much. Being a little clammed up wasn't going to make me dislike her after that.
The nurse was also very fun. I'm sad that we don't get to see much of him in other routes. The adults in general were in fact very helpful in this route; the science teacher, the nurse, and even the MIL- pardon, the mom. Especially the nurse, who alternates convincingly between professionally friendly to professionally telling Hisao to stop being stupid. Somehow it's a such a healthy route in all its aspects.
Albeit, my heart almost broke when Lilly jokingly admonished Hisao for his relative inattention.
Verdict: I WILL RUN! I WILL LIVE! FOR SCIENCE! And a loli.
Spoiler for Lilly's route:
She's love. Her little companion is love. The music box was true love. The story is a lot of love. Pink hearts everywhere, almost more pink than Misha's hair.
I didn't pay attention to the length of this arc at all -- though in retrospect it took me a good long while, and in comparison with other arcs considerably longer. This, I think, speaks the most to the degree in which I was engrossed in the flow. Emi's route had more immediate impact, but Lilly's route flowed gently and firmly throughout...just like the girls themselves, come to think of it.
There were actually disappointments. I took for granted that Hisao would improve himself like he did in Emi's route (I didn't think it would be an Emi exclusive). I was awfully reluctant to not "push it" at the track, and wasn't happy to see Hisao wimp out so terribly (isn't there a "don't kill yourself you retard but still keep running" choice? Sigh). Also, his entrance into science in this route felt less like a career of passion than the path of least resistance. Though, since Mutou was happy regardless, I guess it's fine.
But for the most part, it is probably the most conventionally romantic of the routes, so far (I expect lots of white knight action in Hanako's proper route). Even the little house on the prairie scene was cliché romance at its finest! It helps, too, that Lilly is a classical beauty both in personality and looks. She's calm and capable as they come, fits in with the fanciest places (that China...), and so understanding and gentle with Hisao I feared she might pamper him a little too much. Lilly's Hisao would really benefit from Emi-Hisao's advice on the usefulness of exercise.
If anything, she took care of him much more than he did her, despite her blindness. He was rather passive at times, though his final burst of romantic heroism -- also straight out of a romance playbook -- redeemed him exceedingly.
I did, of course, notice that Lilly was, happily, not quite so perfect as to not let loose...rather surprisingly often. She was cunning, but mostly in a good way. Nor was she above self-inflicted frustration. The whole end arc is wholly her fault for not speaking up, but unlike Emi's obvious not-speaking-up where it's clear she had an issue Hisao really could help with and it's up to him to try, Lilly with her, um, dominant role in the relationship (and not about *that* you dirty...) was a lot harder for Hisao to grasp and stand up to. I wasn't even entirely convinced that he successfully convinced her back in the end by the force of his love, so completely in control she was, though I was happy for them. The epilogue did help.
The world itself also seemed bigger, with him going out to the village, to the city, even on a vacation with the girls, meeting family (=Akira) and unexpected relations (Shizune and her brother). Hanako's constant presence also strengthened the impression; Rin wasn't much of an addition in Emi's route, whereas sweet Hanako played a fundamental role in Lilly's arc, as she should. Of course, I was also very happy to see her growth, though sad that Hisao didn't get to play a central part in it. You can't have everything, even when the stars align.
Verdict: If you ever have this one chance to act like a hero in a drama, a chance which is more likely to kill you than anything, GO FOR IT YOU SPINELESS FUCK and win yourself the hand of the lovely Queen of Scots and a happily ever after.
Spoiler for Shizune's route:
Warning: Le Rant. Le lengthy rant. Also Misha.
I started on this route more for feeling bad at snubbing Shizune in the Lilly vs Shizune encounter than a genuine empathy for the latter. Although I did feel a certain kindness to her following the little reconciliation she had with Lilly near the end of Lilly's arc.
Also, I spoiled myself with Misha's problem because I googled "Misha's route." Oops.
Nonetheless, I had a terribly unfun time getting through this. There literally was only one choice the whole time. Maybe it reflected Shizune's decisive character, but I didn't have to be happy about it!
But I think my biggest problems are two: Shizune's character, the long, meandering flow.
Despite the fact that Lilly's story seemed to have more text and more choices, I felt the passage of time -- real time -- much more in Shizune's route, and some difficulty with getting into the story itself. This is a writing problem, I think, because much of the story is devoted to student council stuff that unfortunately forgot to include character-building parts into them.
That would have been fine if I really liked Shizune's character, but I didn't.
Spoiler for Shizune's character:
To be sure, I expected her to have good points and good motivations -- which she had -- but her bad parts were considerably more than I expected. It is partly a real life bias; I would, I think, really hate people like her in real life, and she would consider me beneath her notice. But even without that I had several moments where I was just unhappy with her and felt that Hisao -- the Hisao of Emi's and Lilly's routes -- would have been terribly annoyed. Even in this arc he was always on guard, and unlike in Emi's arc where the attraction was quickly established, or in Lilly's route where it was a full blown romance, the relationship felt obligatory at best, and the lack of developments -- the writing problem I mentioned earlier -- meant that it never became more than that. He had way more chemistry with Misha.
That gave some terribly bad taste to a few scenes that would have been, technically speaking, romantic [i.e. the sex scenes]. It did fit her character, dominant, controlling and all, but because it was often out of context, it felt like she just had the urge and decided to use him, rather than that she was totally in love with him or something.
Some revelations were also not good. Apparently the student council was doing a whole lot of work with little help -- okay, cool, you've won my sympathy -- and apparently, reading in-between the lines here, it's all Shizune's fault. She wanted to do more and more and gather all the jobs to herself. Whoops, sympathy gone. What's more, while I liked her in Lilly's arc because of the reconciliation, in this arc it instead revealed that the feud is her fault! It's because she literally couldn't grasp why Lilly would help a friend rather than stick blindly to her "responsibilities," of which Shizune was to blame for the ballooning duties. Oh dear.
Sure, she had "good intentions," I did notice that Hisao argued that her deaf-mute disability meant that she had to communicate with more "force" than usual, and she really just wanted everyone to be happy. But good intentions did not translate to sympathy when she was often more than a little callous. The Act I scene where she rejected Hisao's tentative suggestion for Hanako to join them because "the friend of my enemy is my enemy" revealed, I think, something less than flattering about her.
In the chess scene with Hanako I was first intrigued by the possibility of some friendly interactions, then impressed by her ability to discern Hanako's motivations in chess, and then disgusted when she concluded that because Hanako would rather hold on to precious memories than "improve" her competitive playing ruthlessly, she was unworthy. I almost rage-quitted right there. The Hisao of the other arcs too would have just snapped and walked out.
I admit, her playfulness in many things and her apparent loyalty to her "comrades" (abusing a bit of privilege here and there) was endearing, but they came up against so many bad moments I found it hard to like her in the end.
All this combined to create in me a surprising reaction which even I knew was mean and most definitely not what the writers were aiming for: when Shizune concluded that she wanted to become a philanthropist, all I felt was hypocrisy, that she was some self-centered Romney-esque plutocrat who would never really "get it." Lilly actually fit far more with the "socialite" moniker in a good way, yet this is what I felt about Shizune's innocent dream that was supposed to be about her true good nature or something.
Of the other characters, not all of them were good either. This route felt somehow isolated, most of Hisao's time and attention being with the two girls. I was therefore at first happy to be joining her in her family residence, really happy to see Akira and Lilly again, the latter this time not nearly so antagonistic (though she was justified, Hisao was stupid in dealing with her in this arc) and met the dad.
...and I don't get it. I sort of wanted to laugh at him for being funny or something, but then he went overboard and it wasn't quite as funny. I was never sure if he really was a bitch or if he was trying to be funny after all. And worst of all, Hisao didn't find him funny, in fact he was extremely offended. So I couldn't laugh. Oh, and I never liked that little brother...
The route's saving grace are two: Misha and Kenji. Kenji in this arc was surprisingly more likable than any before, perhaps because Hisao was starved of other friendships or something. Oh, and of course that epic scene where he revealed his eyes and a glimpse into his demented troubles. That was so much bro, man.
Of Misha, I was attracted to her character from the start -- and interestingly, not in *that* way. But rather because I knew instinctively that her "loudness" was hiding a sensitive character. Hisao himself noticed this in how Misha could handle the difficulties of Shizune's communication with others with remarkable, effortless ease, something which a truly "dumb" character couldn't possibly do. And what do you know, Misha was hurting herself the whole time to be with her love. Shizune, in her uncomprehending way, basically ignored a dramatic life-or-death friendship-ruining same-sex confession and expected Misha to be the helpful girl she always was. She had good intentions. She didn't know better. She hurt her bestest most self-sacrificing not-yet-pink-haired puffy sweety without even comprehending it.
In fact, the route was kinda sad in that there was no way to make Misha happy. Play it, and eventually she cut her lovely frilly hair (Japanese for BROKEN HEART GIRL HERE). And then there's the one choice to sleep with her, which will make her even more unhappy. I mean, guys? I know she's a lesbian and you don't like lesbians in your VN, but come on. I'm not expecting to break the lez and turn her straight or some other homophobic "good end" (in fact I'd be very angry), but can't the girl be, like, happy somehow? Platonic Misha route? Please? Will and Grace? Heterosexual life bros? Hisao can be with Kenji if he must.
Overall though, I didn't particularly like how Hisao never really developed himself in this route at all. Even his conclusion to become a teacher there seemed somehow half-assed. The whole route felt like he was being influenced out of his character. I expected so much more out of the man who joined the student council.
Verdict: Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh... Oh, and also Misha.
Spoiler for Rin's route:
It's...hmm.
I think I like this route less than Shizune's route. I complained a whole lot about the latter, but it did provoke various sorts of emotions, there were fun parts, and there was Misha. And even if it was rather a "lonely" arc, it didn't hold a candle to how isolated this arc will be.
It's Rin, it's Hisao, and nobody else in the world. Emi? She's barely even there. Art teacher? Asshole. Miss Sae? Good woman, I suppose, but her acquaintance with Hisao is the thinnest possible relationship.
The flow is worse than in Shizune's arc. Lots of choice, true -- though after perusing the flow chart it seems many of them were conditionals rather than good vs bad end choices. But much of the time was spent inside Hisao's head going slowly crazier and staring at clouds.
It's not that I don't "get" Rin, in so far as it's technically capable to get a character who's written not to be "got." I don't even particularly mind her, though I can see how her frustrating "romance" makes Hisao insane. I know she isn't normal; I know she has deeeeeep problems with expressing herself, and that her problems are the type we all share -- self-expression, art, the extent of connection between people -- but she has it far worse. I know she isn't without empathy, and I know, most importantly, that she's an artist of the "MUST" sort. The kind that cannot do anything else. I know also that she was frustrated at her self at times and trying in her own dysfunctional way to placate the incomprehensible boy who came into her life and never left.
Although, people like her are much better taken in small dosages. She was rather entertaining in Emi's route, however little her role was. I was in fact somewhat surprised to find that she seemed to view Emi a lot worse than I thought she would given how well they supposedly "get along." Emi considered her to be weird, but that they understand each other in the way two girls passionate about different things could, but from Rin's point of view Emi barely registered.
However, everything is weighted down by the staring at clouds and the feeling, the overwhelming feeling throughout everything, that Hisao was extremely, utterly unhappy. Rin is literally his worst possible choice. I felt that her character ended up exemplifying a minor tendency of Hisao -- a certain passiveness -- and caused it to overwhelm all his other tendencies.
He picked himself up like a bro in Emi's route; he was happy and deeply in love, fulfilled if rather pampered, in Lilly's route (Lilly's fault XD); he at least was kept busy in Shizune's route, did a lot of work, and found something to do after all that. In all three routes he had plenty of moments of little joy. There's literally none of that in Rin's route. Even the few shared moments with Emi's route, moments that could have refreshed his deadening spirit, was clouded by the feeling that he was detached of it all.
He was *not* an artist! His staring at clouds and glimpsing of the hidden flows of the world will never produce much more than a doodle, and unlike Rin he never could see the flying fishes in his head and the patterns of the sky. He was a "normal" guy. He could communicate with others just fine. What the hell was he doing? Despite his assertion to the contrary, he never really moved on from the days of his hospitalization; he only distracted himself from it by getting utterly depressed at another issue, at Rin. Even at the very end he was no better, no dreams no nothing, just waiting for the prospect of a future unhappiness at the bridge he was never going to cross.
That, and the story's flow was somehow so boring that I put the game aside for several days until just now when I finally brought myself to finish it, more because I wanted to go on to Hanako's route than anything. I really, really don't like this route.
Verdict: ~NO FUTURE~ [/Johnny Rotten's voice]
Now onto Hanako's route. Hopefully Hisao can make the princess happy.
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Speaking of which, I have one question: who is Kenji's ex? I had the strangest impression that it was Yuuko, and I still have little idea why I thought so.
Last edited by Irenicus; 2012-07-30 at 14:59.
Reason: There are three L's in Lilly after all
Now onto Hanako's route. Hopefully Hisao can make the princess happy.
Good luck. I liked Hanako's route the most, even more so than Lilly's. Shizune bored me to tears and Rin just managed to make me feel lonely and depressed.
What? What do you mean "red eyes"? I was watching the Olympics all day! I was tired! Aren't you tired? Stop looking at me!
Spoiler for Hanako's route impression:
So, at first I was like, HNNNNNGGGGGG~ [this takes a while]. Then all of a sudden it was ohmygodohmygodwhatswrongwithhersomebodyhelp. And then I was like, OH NO HISAO YOU FUCK STOP. But then it was denouement, and she revealed she totally understood some things the whole time, misunderstood some other things (so cute), and Hisao/Lilly/the player all misunderstood her too in big, big ways. And then hug and a happy ending kiss.
A very abrupt happy ending kiss.
Too abrupt. I was annoyed that there's no Lillyesque epilogue. Though I suppose they couldn't really do it because Lilly would first return and then there's the Lilly leaving again part to deal with and then it will become Lilly route instead or something.
Speaking of which, I think I owe an apology to Shizune. It doesn't change the fact that her route sucked and she was bad there, but like Rin she's considerably more appealing *outside* her route. Especially with her commendable behavior towards Hanako here. Good going girl.
Hanako's character is indeed everything about this route. Hisao's own future barely features, and this is even a minor plot point when Lilly and Mutou basically admonishes him for it. The standard "outside the classroom" conversation takes an interesting twist to confirm the point, where instead of Emi route's "Eureka!" or Lilly route's noncommittal agreement, or indeed the purposeful absences in Shizune's and Rin's routes, the Hisao here was instead visibly distressed over Hanako's problem and considered his own a far, far second. Understandable given what just happened in the story, but also illustrative.
Her character even defines the route's sense of tension. Though it shares many happenings with Lilly's routes, Hisao/the player's concern over the high-strung Hanako never goes away, such that her every action is observed and analyzed and mulled over [and enjoyed]. But it made this route take a surprising amount of mental concentration to work through.
A good thing then that her character is worth the trip. Aside from the obvious -- she's cute, she's shy, she has serious issues -- the somewhat obvious I got from Lilly's route -- her birthday is baaaad mojo, and she has surprising strength of character inside that frail little frame -- there were many things to learn. The part where Hisao recognizes that she's a lot smarter than her scared rabbit demeanor would belie isn't that surprising (what else should anyone be expecting?), but it's still good to know. In fact, a running theme seems to be that she really is a normal girl inside, a smart and perceptive one who enjoys games and likes cute things. A girl who would have grown up to be a well-rounded and very attractive person had fate not dealt her one fatal Joker of a card.
The event itself was not unexpected, anyone could surmise it, but the level of trauma took both Hisao and me by surprise. The consequences compounded it, of course, and as the animation made it clear, she was a living dead since then. What is even more surprising is that it isn't in any way "solved." Hisao didn't cure the princess of her sadness, the girl pulled herself out on her own, just like she did in Lilly's route. In retrospect, that was a good move. It meant Hanako didn't get reduced to a helpless damsel and it showed that some problems aren't going to go away with the just the Power of Love.
The degree to which Hanako reacts and acts and interprets things on her own is the most surprising thing -- and happily so. That the final part was brought about because she thought Hisao was drifting away was somehow so sweet -- it was such a normal and "girly" concern in a route where Hisao spent a great deal of time worrying about getting too close because he was afraid that she would break. It greatly enhanced the joy of the little moments when I -- and any astute player, I'm sure -- noticed that she started to pay *a little* more attention to Hisao's friendships with various girls in a way that is just a bit different from how friends would worry about friends (and of course Hisao was totally blind to it). This puts another nice spin on the whole route: while Hisao and the player spent inordinate amounts of attention on her every little reaction, apparently she was doing the same! Not only that, but she noticed correctly that he and Lilly treated her very delicately, and while she never showed any intention of going against Lilly, nor any resentment on her part for Lilly's motherly role, she was not so fine about Mr. Prince and was prepared to do anything to be an equal to Hisao.
In fact, the route ended up being an unintentional push-and-pull wherein Hisao pushed hard for much of it until the pivotal birthday where Hanako emerged from her trauma only to "find" that Hisao was apparently "losing interest" and actively tried to do something to "get him back." While her ultimate solution is way overboard, it fits her sense of confusion. In some ways the route's ending point is basically shouting at you, that this is just the beginning, that the normal girl that could have been would emerge more and more from the broken shell of that frail, scarred...beautiful...body.
I was wrong to think of Emi as by far the "girliest" of the girls. Hanako puts her up to a very strong competition. Come to think of it, where was Emi...? Miki substituted her role or something?
Oh, and I'd still say Hanako should never drink. She's got way too many problems to not become an alcoholic if you let her.
In terms of the "game" aspect, the route is considerably shorter and less complex than all except Shizune's route, I think. It is also rather easy -- I just tried not to treat her too much like a glass statue and listened to Lilly. Always listen to Lilly. This works in this route, and it worked in Lilly's.
And yes, the panic attack panicked me too. Bad.
Verdict: HHNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG~ Ow, my heart! Shit, Arrhythmia! Argh! I'm going to d--!
...
....
Good Night Space Cowboy
Now to wonder if I could be bothered to get the 100% completion. Will I really be missing much?
A friend of mine played this game and asked if there was a route that was a combination of the five main routes. (You can imagine why he asked that ) I told him there wasn't (to his disappointment), but it made me wonder what kind of story that would be like. Some ideas I had were: Hisao trying to patch things up between Shizune and Lilly; Rin and Hanako striking up an... odd friendship; and Kenji thinking that Hisao is spying on his female friends and encourages him to infiltrate the feminist organization.
I'm not planing on writing a fanfic, but I find it amusing to think about.
In fact, the route was kinda sad in that there was no way to make Misha happy. Play it, and eventually she cut her lovely frilly hair (Japanese for BROKEN HEART GIRL HERE). And then there's the one choice to sleep with her, which will make her even more unhappy. I mean, guys? I know she's a lesbian and you don't like lesbians in your VN, but come on. I'm not expecting to break the lez and turn her straight or some other homophobic "good end" (in fact I'd be very angry), but can't the girl be, like, happy somehow? Platonic Misha route? Please? Will and Grace? Heterosexual life bros? Hisao can be with Kenji if he must.
I was following your assesment of Shizune's route up until I read this. You obviously don't understand modern social issues if you feel Misha deserves happiness more just because she's gay. My sympathy for her stemmed from the fact that she was a good person without a mean-spirited bone in her body who was entirely devoted to helping her friends. I don't know how you concluded the authors hate lesbians or that her somehow pairing up with Hisao would have made them homophobic. I actually prefer the bad end would have ended up with the two of them together simply because of their chemistry, but it was more realistic to play it out as a lose-lose scenario, which is what tends to happen in the case of an unrequited love. The next best thing is not good enough. That was what Hisao was to Misha, and that was why she could never be happy with anyone but Shizune.
After waiting 3 years for it to be finally completed....All I got to say it was more than worth the wait. Lilly was by far my most favorite (kinda wish I did her last and not first). Everyone else was good too, but Lilly stole the game for me.
Okay, so I just downloaded this VN (it has been 1 years from the date of release, eh ?)
How do you think ? Disability girls and eroge scenes ? Wow
The graphic looks nice so far, but I stopped playing on the very start, because....it's kinda typical bishoujo VN ? (when the main protagonist is a male, and the story is focus on pursuing certain girl's path). Right now I want to read something different other than standard otome/bishoujo VN
Maybe I'll put my thoughts later, when I feel like continuing to read
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
It is a 'standard pick-the-girl VN' but I think its very well written by any standard for a VN. The 'freaky for some' aspect fades pretty quickly as you learn each girl's story - it does a fair job of humanizing them and the male lead isn't a stupid sexist jerk as we see too often in the average VN.
The choice path and flags are also tricky/interesting - I'd recommend a walkthrough map if you just want to read the stories.
2012-07-28, 10:17
Graphic Designer
) I told him there wasn't (to his disappointment), but it made me wonder what kind of story that would be like. Some ideas I had were: Hisao trying to patch things up between Shizune and Lilly; Rin and Hanako striking up an... odd friendship; and Kenji thinking that Hisao is spying on his female friends and encourages him to infiltrate the feminist organization.
