What arc should i try next?

[Denouement]

This game really tugs my heart strings, so I could not bring myself to let myself get any ending that would have left me feeling empty or depressed inside. By this I even mean not completing them even for completionists sake after getting the good ending. That's how sensitive I feel about it. Tried out of curiosity to see what comforting Misha was like but it felt so wrong watching it that I had to stop.

The one exception is the Kenji ending, because I simply just had to see it out of love for that character. Even then, the depressing thoughts Hisao had prior kind of struck me a bit, fortunately it wasn't too bad and wasn't much I had to soldier through to get it done. Also, the fact that it didn't really involve any of the girls made it easier.

So anyways, was curious to see if anyone was as weak as me, or went through those endings but knows the pain that I fear. Yes, I know I'm a bit silly for avoiding them, or at least I feel a bit silly.

Edit: bolded what should have been a spoiler, even misspelled the name. Sorry.

[ShadeHaven]

After witnessing the good endings for each girl, I couldn't bring myself to see everything fall apart in the bad endings. The fact that the girls' routes ended at all depressed me enough. I did get Emi and Shizune's bad endings at first, which I don't really regret, but I didn't care to get the rest. I'm not a completionist or anything, so why put myself through the pain?

Hell, I haven't even gone through Kenji's route at all.

[XD005]

I just finished Hanako's story not too long ago. Although Emi was my first, I have this desire to read over both of them again but the thought
of reading another one other than Hanako's doesn't feel right. But I'm sure you've heard many cases of Hanako Syndrome on this forum so I'll just get to the point.
I'm trying to decide who's arc to start next, I think 'm going to give myself a month to get over the Hanako Syndrome. But I was thinking of doing Lilly next but since Hanako likely shows up a lot, I don't think I will.
I was also thinking about doing Rin's but I've heard that hers is hard to understand and a lot of people dislike the ending. But perhaps I'm reading the wrong pages. And then there is Shizune, I'm not too interested in hers as from what I've seen,
she doesn't seem to have that much of a "feel-invoking" story aside from the whole Misha thing. So yeah, if someone could just give me a slight summary about each girl's arc without spoiling things too bad and recommend one to do next, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[ProfAllister]

Not going to give a summary, because that defeats the point of experiencing it.

Most fans of Hanako's route seem to like Lilly's route and vice-versa. This shouldn't be terribly surprising, as Hanako's route was partially written by Cpl_Crud and partially by Suriko, while Lilly's route was written entirely by Suriko.

Rin's route is emotionally exhausting, and has the reputation of being "2deep4u." Chances are you'll want to go through Rin's route more than once to really get a sense of what's going on.

Emi's route is generally noncontroversial. It's solidly written, has a nice dose of lightheartedness, and rarely seems to get heavy criticism.

Shizune's route is probably the least popular, but jealously defended by the people who do like it. I've also noticed that a disproportionate number of the people who put Shizune as their favorite (or near the top) have studied sign language and/or are familiar with deaf culture. The route is light on traditional overt conflict, but there's a lot of subtle things going on throughout the narrative. Shizune's route easily requires as much unpacking as Rin's route, but most people never realize this, or bother trying.

So Emi's would be the easiest choice, so you don't get the pairing overlap (that bothers some people more than others, admitted). Then you may want to go through Shizune's route, or Lilly's, if you feel you're ready. There's a particular scene in Shizune's route that will probably get you mad at her, but that's likely to happen no matter when you go through it. Then you can take either of the last two in whichever order.

[OtakuNinja]

Go for Kenji!

[Tomate]

Look at the tagline of this forum, Its just a game. So, play it.

Do the bad ending and you'll learn some interesting facts about the girls, and besides, Hanako rage scene is awesome.

[Enemy |]

I did to get 100%
And by accident on Lilly's route.

[Nobody in Particular]

I think those that decide to not do the bad/neutral endings are really missing out (bar Lilly's one) since they are (in my opinion) one of the best parts of the game, if not the best. As Tomate already quoted from the banner, it is just a game. Of course there is nothing wrong with not doing them, but you will be missing out on something special.

[Guest Poster]

You'll be missing out on certain aspects of the girls that you don't get to see if you strictly play through the good routes. Try to see it as getting to know the characters just a little bit better.

[Denouement]

Hmm.. I guess that is a good reason, it would be interesting to see more of the characters, even if it is hard to read. Thankies.

It's a dilemma I am slightly embarrassed of, really not emotional on my own at all. Its when I'm around emotional things where I go the opposite extreme and feel pretty strongly. ^^;

[XD005]

Not going to give a summary, because that defeats the point of experiencing it.

Most fans of Hanako's route seem to like Lilly's route and vice-versa. This shouldn't be terribly surprising, as Hanako's route was partially written by Cpl_Crud and partially by Suriko, while Lilly's route was written entirely by Suriko.

Rin's route is emotionally exhausting, and has the reputation of being "2deep4u." Chances are you'll want to go through Rin's route more than once to really get a sense of what's going on.

Emi's route is generally noncontroversial. It's solidly written, has a nice dose of lightheartedness, and rarely seems to get heavy criticism.

Shizune's route is probably the least popular, but jealously defended by the people who do like it. I've also noticed that a disproportionate number of the people who put Shizune as their favorite (or near the top) have studied sign language and/or are familiar with deaf culture. The route is light on traditional overt conflict, but there's a lot of subtle things going on throughout the narrative. Shizune's route easily requires as much unpacking as Rin's route, but most people never realize this, or bother trying.

So Emi's would be the easiest choice, so you don't get the pairing overlap (that bothers some people more than others, admitted). Then you may want to go through Shizune's route, or Lilly's, if you feel you're ready. There's a particular scene in Shizune's route that will probably get you mad at her, but that's likely to happen no matter when you go through it. Then you can take either of the last two in whichever order.

I've already read Emi's story. And I did indeed enjoy it. Thats why I was trying to decide because Rin and Lilly are both tied into the stories of Hanako and Emi.
And by summary you did exactly what I meant to ask you lol. I just wanted an idea of like the feel for each story.

And Kenji's story, thats definitely a must before I put down the game.

[SemisoftCheese]

I started with Lily, and then played Hanako.So I'm naturally biased.

My friend started with Hanako (and loves her forever), and then played Lily. I think he summed it up as follows.

"Hanako's route is rewarding because you feel like you're repairing something broken. You feel like you're doing a good thing and getting a reward at the same time, but the feels remain relatively childish because you're forced to treat her like a piece of glass. The route is full of full-fledged feels, but it's hard for you to relate to them completely."

"Lilly's Route is rewarding because she's a legitimate person. She feels more real in that you could actually pursue a relationship with her forever, unlike the Hanako route. For some, these feels will feel a little less because they deal with slightly more mature themes, and are more subtle, but long term are more rewarding as feels."

tl:dr; play them both. Also as a semi-spoiler, don't feel bad about Hanako in Lilly's route because it turns out good for everyone, including Hanako, in the end.

[Mirage_GSM]

When I read VNs, I also dont like to end the story on a sour note, so I usually do all the bad ends first, before I continue to the good ones.
Still, I recommend to read at least Rin's and Emi's bad endings.
Rin's bad end is in my opinion the best Ending in the whole of KS.

[Megumeru]

I did all the bad/neutral endings before I went for a second play-through and develop an attachment towards the characters.

It's easier to swallow the heartache when you don't have *that* much attachment towards them to begin with. After that, remedy the pain with good endings and all is well


and by god the bad endings...how crushing some can be.

[Oddball]

Topics like this make me feel like I'm the only one that got any of the bad endings without trying to.