The theme of friendship in Katawa Shoujo.

[rosemarie-chan]

One of the things I really liked about KS is that they involved the theme of frienship between some characters. For example, Rin's and Emi's friendship was depressing; they could not even be considered friends. I liked how this subject was handled, considering the girls' personalities.

Even though I did never really like Shizune and, instead, really liked Misha, I think their friendship was one of the best throughout the game. Even after rejecting Misha, Shizune did not let them grow apart, and they still managed to be friends. After something like that, I believe that it would be pretty hard to maintain their closeness, yet they did.

Another kind of friendship I noticed was between Hanako and Akira. Before the game took place, I suspect that akira was more of a friend than Lilly was; we all know what Hanako thought about Lilly at her bad ending. Hell, Akira was such a nice person that she could easily befriend everyone she knew; and I loved the relationship between Akira and Lilly, it was a really heartwarming one.

And, of course, how could I forget about our dear Kenji! well, I don't think they could be considered close friends, but the fact that Hisao would go along Kenji's conspiracy beliefs and not just ignore him at all as a crazy person, that was nice. And in Shizune's route, he even gave some piece of advice considering Iwanako's letter. It made me kind of happy inside.

Anyway, I would like to hear your opinions about this subject. What was the best/worst friendship in the game, which one felt completely unmatched, how do you think the game handled this theme, etc.

[Guest Poster]

First of all, this post contains spoilers, so if you didn't complete KS, just skip over this post.

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There were a wide variety of friendships in KS and that was pretty admirable. Many high-school VNs have casts that are either all isolated from each other or all friends. (ideal for harem endings) The various friendships add a lot of depth to each of the girls because it shows how they interact with others, not just with the protagonist. That said, I disagree with some of your statements.

For example, Rin's and Emi's friendship was depressing; they could not even be considered friends. I liked how this subject was handled, considering the girls' personalities.

I agree, there's a depressing aspect to Emi's and Rin's friendship, but frankly there are depressing aspects about all the three friendships among the female cast. I think rather than friends, Emi and Rin could be considered buddies. They live next to each other, Emi likes to use Rin to keep in touch with her nurturing side and for Rin (who has trouble with shirts) that's pretty convenient. They like to hang out together, mostly because it suits their own preferences. Emi has severe trouble letting people close, so the distant Rin (who lives in her own world most of the time) feels safe as someone to hang out with. Emi can chatter to her heart's content and feel secure in the knowledge that Rin's too preoccupied with clouds and the color of the paint on nearby woodwork to come up with personal questions that make her uncomfortable. Rin admitted that Emi's empty chatter is useful for clearing her head and Emi herself tends to keep Rin from getting into too much trouble. (she sees to it that Rin eats regularly and attends class) Emi also feels safe to Rin because Emi is content to just hang out with her without trying to make sense of her. Emi and Rin are two people who can't get close to others and are friends out of convenience. Neither has a particularly strong emotional connection to the other, meaning that even at the good end of Emi's or Rin's path, they're unlikely to get closer. In fact, chances are that if one of the two were to try and bridge the gap, their friendship would quickly dissipate. And yeah, that's rather tragic.

Even though I did never really like Shizune and, instead, really liked Misha, I think their friendship was one of the best throughout the game. Even after rejecting Misha, Shizune did not let them grow apart, and they still managed to be friends. After something like that, I believe that it would be pretty hard to maintain their closeness, yet they did.

Shizune not letting Misha "grow apart" from her was, IMHO, a screw-up on Shizzy's part and one that might have destroyed their friendship in the long run if it hadn't been for Hisao's mediating. Shizune was more than a friend to Misha and also more than a crush. She was Misha's "responsibility". Shizune likes to play a very high-profile role in whatever she participates in...student council, class rep duties, everything... In order to function on that level, she kinda needs Misha to be around...Shizune HATES communicating with written notes. Shizune knew that and so did Misha, so when Shizune rejected her advances, Misha stuck around Shizune 24/7 like she did before. And Shizune let her...part out of convenience and partly due to Shizune misguidedly assuming Misha shared her compartualized way of thinking. In practice, being romantically rejected by someone and still sticking to them like glue afterwards is the WORST way to get over it. It made the friendship agonizing for Misha and prevented her from moving on properly. If Shizune had rejected Misha and then let her have some space, encouraging her to make some new friends and telling her that she'd welcome her back as a friend after she sorted out her feelings, their friendship would have been a lot more healthy than it was at the start of KS even if it meant Shizune'd be without an interpretor for a while. In the long run, Shizune's and Misha's friendship will remain a bit of a balance act since Misha's feelings might return if the two draw TOO close, but there's enough non-sexual affection between them to remain pretty close with one another.

Another kind of friendship I noticed was between Hanako and Akira. Before the game took place, I suspect that akira was more of a friend than Lilly was; we all know what Hanako thought about Lilly at her bad ending. Hell, Akira was such a nice person that she could easily befriend everyone she knew; and I loved the relationship between Akira and Lilly, it was a really heartwarming one.

Akira is a very likable person though also tiring at times. The strong emotional bond between her and her sister is heartwarming though. The fact she took care of Lilly after their parents left Japan instead of leaving Lilly with their grandparents shows that despite her willingness to let a bunch of teenagers get drunk of their mind, Akira is a very responsible person at heart. Akira's relationship with Hanako is best described as casual friendship. Hanako is comfortable around her, but I doubt she'd be very likely to confide things in Akira that she wouldn't confide in Lilly. Akira's also unlikely to just drop by at Yamaku purely for Hanako and I doubt the two would be very likely to keep in touch if Lilly moved back to Scotland. But I think Akira's casual friendship was still very nice for Hanako to have.

An interesting thing to look at is the relationship between Akira and Lilly and the relationship between Lilly and Hanako. It's essentially the same relationship in different stages. Akira started out as the older sister who's also a parental figure to Lilly who took care of her after she lost her parents. But now Lilly has grown up emotionally and the two hang out and banter as equals. Lilly is also the older sister who's also a parental figure to Hanako who took care of her after she lost her parents. The close sisterly relationship Lilly and Akira share is also the exact kind of bond Hanako desires to have with Lilly.

I think you're doing Lilly's and Hanako's friendship a strong disservice by using only Hanako's bad end as a guideline to judge it by. While it's true Hanako shouted she hated Lilly during her bad ending, Hanako was in the middle of a massive depression and she felt hurt because Hisao suggested he and Lilly were worrying about her behind her back. Hanako's true feelings for Lilly are far more nuanced. She dislikes Lilly's worrying, but part of this is her own damaged self-esteem. Lilly herself reveals in her route that she didn't befriend Hanako out of pity. Even though Lilly on her own is unable to get Hanako to get out of her shell, the comfort and stability she provides is nevertheless something very important to Hanako. This comfort and stability is why Hanako initially sought out Lilly to begin with. Despite the sometimes ambigious nature of their friendship (friends or mother/daughter?), Hanako's and Lilly's friendship is undoubtedly the most profound one of all the girls. Shizune and Misha might get close, but ultimately never as close as Misha would like. For Hanako and Lilly though, the idea of an ideal friendship...a strong sister-like bond with the other, is exactly the same for both. It's mostly Hanako's self-esteem issues and Lilly's tendancy not to confide her own problems in others that's holding them back, but both Lilly's and Hanako's good end can plausibly lead to the two resolving that. Hanako and Lilly are the only pairing who both openly admit they genuinely love the other...something not seen in any other friendship in KS.

[OtakuNinja]

I have a hard time understanding how Jigoro managed to get kids with his personality. What woman is crazy enough to love him?!

[Loonie]

I'll just mention my most, middle and least favourite ones.

My most favourite one was actually the Nurse and Emi. I know there's an age difference and everything and most would prefer to consider the Nurse as moreso Emi's mentor...but dammit, on her route you just see how beautifully it plays out. Plus with Akira/Hanako being considered friends...honestly, why not this? And the Nurse is genuinely a good friend to Emi by keeping Hisao's advances in mind and giving him a hint here and there. It ties into what I think a good friend really is - not someone who tells you what you want to hear or dodges the hard issues, but someone who constantly keeps you grounded and does things you might not approve of, but for what will genuinely turn out to be to your benefit.

My middle favourite was, in fact, Emi/Rin. I think it certainly can be called a friendship, it's just not what most people usually imagine under that term. There are no words of consolation/support, instead they support each other through actions. Emi dresses Rin up every morning - hard not to call that friendly. And Rin does attend Emi's competitions too, because that's the bottom line of their friendship - they both get something out of it without having to waste words over it. There may be a bit too few words spoken...but the reason for that is because Rin has a problem with words so...actions work better between them. Frankly, I find that better than words - I've had plenty of 'friends' who made empty promises and I'd rather have friends who instead actually do something for me that I can't all that well and for whom I can do something in return.

My least favourite actually was Shizune and Misha. I think it just has to do with the whole factor of Shizune always making everything about herself and that's fine if you want to be miss fullcharge and get things done with your energy. But as for friendship, it was thanks to her way of treating everyone in that same manner that I could see it coming during her arc, seriously. At the start I was like "Why does Misha stick around Shizune so much regardless of that attitude? Does she have no ambitions of her own since she's always ties herself to whatever Shizune sets out to do?" and sure enough - yeah...she does, in a way that completely explains her interest in Shizune's projects too, heh. Fortunately enough, though, if you do the right thing she does finally get something more than that and finds a goal for herself - which, as it turns out, even helps Shizune out, when she observes what Misha is doing...and applies that philosophy to herself.

But again, these are just my own preferences. Many ways to be friends and I agree - I very much liked how this game presented them all, their strong points and weak points equally.

[ProfAllister]

Ah, this is a good juicy topic... Spoilers, of course.

I'd generally agree with Guest Poster as concerns Rin and Emi. A marriage of convenience, if you will. They each pretty readily admit that they don't really consider the other a friend, per se. Emi even outright says that she thinks of Rin more as a sister.

GP's understanding of Shizune and Misha only hits on half of the relationship - the unrequited love friendship. There's also the interpreter-client relationship. Admittedly, Misha breaks all sorts of rules that interpreters should follow, but there's still a very solid sense of the interpreter there. Interpreters are essentially non-entities - they relay the communication back and forth as exactly as possible, without being an active participant. Strictly speaking, that applies to "interpreter-as-job" rather than "friend-who-acts-as-interpreter," but there is a strong overlap between them. For all Misha's personality, she doesn't really have any identity. Misha's conflict in Act 3, spilling into Act 4, is an effort to be recognized as a person, not a tool. It is made very clear that Hisao has known Misha for months, but knows nothing about her. Hisao often carelessly comments to himself about how her actions or dress reflect her "true" or "inner" self, when he bases it entirely on her outward personality. She's utterly destroyed by Shizune's lack of concern for the impending separation of ways, convinced that she's considered disposable. Misha occasionally forgets herself that she's an entity, constantly minimizes her own desires, rolls over to Shizune's every whim, and otherwise puts others (especially Shizune) before herself. She acts like a non-entity, and finds herself surprised when others treat her as a person. Again, conflict Misha is Misha trying to live for herself, having decided that enough is enough. Then there's the final question: was Hisao the catalyst, or simply a witness?

As for Hanako, Lilly, and Akira, LEt's unpack Akira first.

Akira is the mother figure, disguised as a Cool Big Sis. She's casual about rules, and often seems to just be having a good time, but she's very much an authority figure when she needs to be one, as well as a nurturer. Also, it's implied that she's a damn good lawyer, to boot. She is, in fact, a surrogate mother for five of the characters, six if you count Hisao - Lilly, Hanako, Shizune, Hideaki, and Misha. Akira wants to treat Lilly as a sister, but Lilly's made Akira her mother. Lilly tries to stand on her own, and be a pillar of support to others, but she knows she can turn to Akira and depend on her. I would argue that Lilly chose to return to Iverness because Akira was leaving, and she was afraid of losing her "mother", much as she'd like to stay with Hisao. Akira treats Hanako as a person, able to make choices for herself. Akira gave her a couple bottles of wine as if to say "you're responsible enough to make your own decisions." From there, we could perhaps examine why Hanako gets plastered in her arc, but not in Lilly's. Akira's relationship with Shizune is barely touched upon, but we can figure some out about what we know of the two of them. Lilly and Akira are first cousins to Shizune and Hideaki. While their fathers don't seem to get along, it would appear that Jigoro, at least, has a soft spot for his nieces, hence the regular contact, Akira being Hideaki's "babysitter," and the fact that Lilly and Shizune used to be close friends. Akira wants to be the Cool Big Sis, but can't help being the mother. She probably regularly helped mediate between the clash in Lilly and Shizune's personalities, hence her ease in orchestrating the fishing trip. After Lilly and Shizune's break, there's probably a mix between Akira's giving Shizune the space she needs and Shizune espousing her philosophy of "The friend of my enemy is my enemy." Thus, the uncomfortable truce at the Hakamichi residence, since they didn't really have any quarrel with each other. Don't really feel the ened to address Akira's relationship to Hideaki, though it certainly deserve the attention at some other point.

As for Lilly and Hanako, Lilly has the habit of taking everyone's concerns onto herself. Hanako found in Lilly a shelter - someone she could lean on, who would always be gentle, and would not judge her by her appearance. Hanako didn't trust Lilly, and probably expected every day that Lilly would bore of her and simply not show up, but she took shelter in the refuge with her, and likely hated herself every minute for it. Lilly truly like Hanako, and cares for her, but her motherly approach is the sort that, intentional or not, robs the subject of agency. "Hush, I have everything under control. It's going to be all right..." Lilly was being a friend to Hanako in the best way she knew, but Lilly's "friendhsip" is inherently stifling. Hanako wanted Lilly's company, but found it demeaning - she'd be given Lilly's company as long as she continued to amuse Lilly, and not a moment longer.

As for Jigoro, he deserves an essay of his own, if not several...

[Guest Poster]

Very nice analysis.

About Lilly and Hanako...it's somewhat ambigious how aware Lilly is of the flaws in her friendship with Hanako. On the one hand, she tells Hisao at some point that the relationship between Hanako and her is more give-and-take than it seems. But in her route on the train back to Yamaku, she also pretty much admits to Hisao that providing comfort and safety was the only way she was able to help Hanako, which suggests she was partially aware of the fact her approach wasn't perfect.

An easy answer to the question why Hanako gets plastered would be the fact that in her own route she's very recently had a breakdown in class. Though it'd also be tempting to speculate she was hoping a few drinks would give her the courage to approach Hisao on whom she very likely had a crush already at that point. It works too, but Hisao's too much of a gentleman to take advantage of her in that state.

[Oddball]

About Lilly and Hanako...it's somewhat ambigious how aware Lilly is of the flaws in her friendship with Hanako. On the one hand, she tells Hisao at some point that the relationship between Hanako and her is more give-and-take than it seems. But in her route on the train back to Yamaku, she also pretty much admits to Hisao that providing comfort and safety was the only way she was able to help Hanako, which suggests she was partially aware of the fact her approach wasn't perfect.

i think Lilly's problems there come from a conflict between what she knows and how she acts, much like her deciding to return to Scotland

She knows that Hanako is stronger than she looks and that she needs to back off sometimes, but at the same time, she's a very protective and nurturing person by nature and simply can't help herself

Frankly, I can picture her having more of a paniced or worried reaction than Hisao did if Hanako had called and said to meet her in the city.