For which character did you feel sad the most?

[Pickman's Model]

Kenji, obviously. Imagine being the last sane man in the world.

[WorldlyWiseman]

Not having your crush like you back seems trivial compared to every other girl's problems. Felt bad for her anyway though, because her self-esteem was low and "maybe it was better if I just died?".

Yeah, this thread is having a problem with trying to rate one girls' problems as better of worse than the others, and it just doesn't quite work like that. I mean, in the severity department, Hanako trumps everyone forever. It doesn't affect me like that, personally, but I feel guilty about not immediately voting for her. There's the empathy problem I mentioned before, and I think I am kind of subconsciously reacting to her being front-loaded as 'the girl with the troubled past'.

This is a thread where nobody wins.

[Oddball]

Yeah, this thread is having a problem with trying to rate one girls' problems as better of worse than the others, and it just doesn't quite work like that. I mean, in the severity department, Hanako trumps everyone forever. It doesn't affect me like that, personally, but I feel guilty about not immediately voting for her. There's the empathy problem I mentioned before, and I think I am kind of subconsciously reacting to her being front-loaded as 'the girl with the troubled past'.

So, what you're trying to say is that Hanako's past is so sad that you feel sad that you don't feel worse about it.

[acewing905]

Not having your crush like you back seems trivial compared to every other girl's problems. Felt bad for her anyway though, because her self-esteem was low and "maybe it was better if I just died?".

Yeah, this thread is having a problem with trying to rate one girls' problems as better of worse than the others, and it just doesn't quite work like that. I mean, in the severity department, Hanako trumps everyone forever. It doesn't affect me like that, personally, but I feel guilty about not immediately voting for her. There's the empathy problem I mentioned before, and I think I am kind of subconsciously reacting to her being front-loaded as 'the girl with the troubled past'.

This is a thread where nobody wins.

The thread is not about who's problem is the worst. It's about who's problem did individual fans react more strongly to.

[Pickman's Model]

Disregard my previous post:

The character I related to the most - since you can't really feel truly sad for someone unless you can at least partially relate to their circumstances - was Emi, since her "situation" is similar to my own, except she's actually making progress at the end of her route. I've lost multiple people who were close to me, including my father, and therefore I won't allow myself to become too attached to anyone. Just like Emi, I like to keep people at a safe distance, where you can have fun and fool around, but don't actually have to open up.

[WorldlyWiseman]

The thread is not about who's problem is the worst. It's about who's problem did individual fans react more strongly to.

I know. There just seems to be some social pressure to rank them, maybe because it's a poll and some people are stating their answers as though it should be 'obvious'. It could all just be in my head.

So, what you're trying to say is that Hanako's past is so sad that you feel sad that you don't feel worse about it.

Kind of! Crazy, innit?
Sometimes I guess I have trouble keeping emotions like the grief for others in the forefront of my mind, so if anything reminds me that it might be appropriate to express sympathy I start to feel weird about it.

Sorry about the tangent, guys! Back to your regularly scheduled thread.

[mysterycycle]

At first, I wanted to go the obvious route and go with Hanako, but nah. What makes this game so compelling is that ALL of these girls have lives that aren't the greatest. Sure, Hanako's family dying in a fire and the severe amount of emotional damage that and mistreatment by pretty much everyone in the universe bar Lilly undoubtedly gave her sucks, but come on.

Yeah, that was my initial thought, too. At least Hanako gets better, both in her own and in Lilly's path, assuming Hisao doesn't screw it up in the former.

I'm gonna cast my "vote" with Misha. Sucks when you're sprung on your best friend and she wants nothing to do with it. Probably sucks a little bit more when she's not into girls, and probably sucks a lot more when you and her man get busy and that drives everyone in the scenario apart.

This would have been my choice as well, because I've been down that road, falling head over heels in love with a girl who didn't feel that way about me, but still remaining close friends. It's a terrible limbo to exist within, close enough to her to be constantly reminded of all the reasons you fell in love with her, but knowing that those longings will never be fulfilled. I can't imagine how much worse it would be if you felt that way about a straight person of the same gender.

Ultimately, though, I had to go with Rin. All of the other girls, even Shizune, have some hope of being understood by others. They can communicate their thoughts clearly, even though Shizune might need an intermediary or Hanako has to work up the courage to speak her mind. But Rin is separated from others all the time, and even in her Good Ending, there's no Happily-Ever-After resolution of that issue for her. Realizing my own inability to connect romantically with Rin due to that divide just made me feel worse.

[Total Destruction]

mysterycycle: Word. I guess that's why I chose who I chose. It's the only route in which Hisao's actions can do nothing to help and everything to harm.

[Titus]

The thread is not about who's problem is the worst. It's about who's problem did individual fans react more strongly to.

Just out of spite:

In short, who's the biggest woobie?

I'll play the part of a touchy lawyer and say this part of your post gives me enough reason to make it a contest

[acewing905]

Woobie-ness is personal opinion.

[Dr. Robotnik]

It was a tough choice between Hanako and Misha, but at least Hanako has a great friend who she loves. Misha has a cold bitch who destroyed her heart without so much as comforting her, never thinks of how she feels about anything, and reopens her painful wounds every day...and she stays, because she loves her that much. Fuckin' feels, man. If only she had a story so that I could tap that without the game telling me I was wrong to like someone outside of it's 5 allowed characters, and to give her something other than little miss heartbreaker.

[# 2]

Rin's story was the most saddening for me,because of the way the art teacher tried to use her, and the fact that, out of all the people who came in contact with her, only Sae really seemed to understand why Rin is the way she is, and pitied her for it.

I also wonder if, maybe, Rin wasn't so much looking for someone who could understand her as she was looking for someone who would accept her without trying to force her to be something she didn't want to be. She didn't practice her art to become famous, but because her art was her way of interpreting the world around her, the way a child who is just learning to talk will make up nonsense words to identify objects for which she has no vocabulary.

My thoughts during Rin's arc were, "Stop trying to mold Rin into something you can easily categorize and just accept her for who she is."

Misha also caused some turmoil; she just wants to be loved by the one she loves, but knows it will never happen. I found Shizune's arc to be unsatisfying because of how she misinterprets her use of people as 'friendship", and her use of Misha was especially cruel since Shizune knew that Misha had feelings fer her that Shizune could never return.

And finally, poor, sweet Hanako. She just had far too many issues that she needed to work through, her extreme shyness on top of them all. Also her "You showed me yours so I have to show you mine" mentality was distressing. And finally her admission that the reason she had sex with Hisao was because she thought that was the only way to get him to treat her as something more than someone who needed his protection... well, that just made me feel miserable.

[Axelownz]

For me it was Misha, especially when her self esteem hit its low. I had a bit of a similar situation in highschool, it was a bit different, and in someways maybe worse, but it was still unrequited, i am kind of glad in ended that way, after i got to know her more though.

Rin's got me, and Hanako's hit me pretty hard. Emi being my first did but not as badly as the others.

[rtm416]

I cried more during the Hanako (good) arc then I can remember doing in a long time for anything. Her's hit me the hardest.

[MeCh]

I love how people cared just as much about Shizune being alone with literally no-one and nothing to comfort her except that toy bear as they did about Emi rejecting YOU. Emi's clearly alright. She might even find a boyfriend that she can get close to. At any rate, she isn't mentally damaged by your seperation. Shizune's life is basically wrecked in her bad ending.