Is Hanako mentally unstable?

[Hisao&Hanako<3]

Drugs are only a cover-up for the problem. They don't exactly solve it. What Hanako needed, she got... well as far as the Hanabros are concerned. Refer to my posts elsewhere.

Some good old fashioned tender loving care gets it done. It takes patience and empathy. Something so few people have nowadays...

[Guest Poster]

Good old-fashioned tender loving care isn't always sufficient which is why psychiatrics still prescribe medication to their clients whenever they deem it necessary. In fact, psychologists often point out to family of people with psychological problems that just because their loved one is in a bad mental place doesn't mean they've failed that person.

[Nekken]

Drugs can be a cover-up for a problem, it's true. I suspect, sadly, that many people use them this way. But when used properly they can be an important tool: they can allow someone to get into a mindset that they could not otherwise achieve, but need to be in to move forward.

[FoxtrotZero]

In your opinion, is Hanako emotionally stable or unstable?

It depends on your definition of unstable. I think it's fair to say she is emotionally unstable in the literal sense that a bad experience can send her into a variety of states, ranging from depression to full-on panic attack. Stable individuals don't exhibit her behaviour.

That's not to say it's a permanent condition, or that it's a bad thing. Hanako's been through some rough shit. It would be ridiculous to expect her to come out unscathed. The fact that she has been on her own since the age of eight and has come out of it a functional, self-sustaining individual, regardless of how socially introverted or emotionally repressed she is, speaks volumes of her ability to soldier on.

In both Lilly's and Hanako's arcs, we see her start to let down the bastions she's set up around herself to prevent her from being hurt. Because she's found people who truly care about her, and around whom she doesn't have to shut down for fear of how they might react.

[Renegade Starlight]

In the 'Would you bully Hanako?' thread, some posters proclaimed that she might murder someone for mistreating her, so she does sound as though both her anger and sorrow can be an incredibly intense force...

Because any nonsense random forumgoers proclaim is totally canon.

Very unlikely...Hanako's flight-or-fight reflex is firmly stuck on flight. The largest part of the negative feelings she has, she has projected onto herself in the "I probably didn't deserve better treatment"-kind of way.

W-well... I... I read these p-posts, and...

Haha somebody doesn't know Hanako very well.

She merely tolerates people and has some difficulty doing so. I suspect any 'break' would be a psychotic one.

Well since this is going slow for either side I'll end it/move it along. You seen Hanakos bad end with how she gets? Hm? That's to a guy being nice to her, turn that anger on someone being mean and you got yourself a pretty messy identifiable body all because someone decided to torment someone who was holding in to much pain and suffering all those years.

D-don't you think that these... these posts have some merit to them...?

(I'm trying to talk like Hanako because I love her)

[inquisitivenegro]

In the 'Would you bully Hanako?' thread, some posters proclaimed that she might murder someone for mistreating her, so she does sound as though both her anger and sorrow can be an incredibly intense force...

Because any nonsense random forumgoers proclaim is totally canon.

Very unlikely...Hanako's flight-or-fight reflex is firmly stuck on flight. The largest part of the negative feelings she has, she has projected onto herself in the "I probably didn't deserve better treatment"-kind of way.

W-well... I... I read these p-posts, and...

Haha somebody doesn't know Hanako very well.

She merely tolerates people and has some difficulty doing so. I suspect any 'break' would be a psychotic one.

Well since this is going slow for either side I'll end it/move it along. You seen Hanakos bad end with how she gets? Hm? That's to a guy being nice to her, turn that anger on someone being mean and you got yourself a pretty messy identifiable body all because someone decided to torment someone who was holding in to much pain and suffering all those years.

D-don't you think that these... these posts have some merit to them...?

(I'm trying to talk like Hanako because I love her)

Except that Lilly would set the Scottish feminist mafia on anyone who tried to torment Hanako.

[Hisao&Hanako<3]

This is one of those times where I say to myself, "The good ending happened, nobody tormented Hanako and she got the happiness she deserved."

Here's a good counter argument though... how does someone who feels like a burden to others, and feels guilty for the deaths of her parents, suddenly become seen as a possible murderer cause someone pissed her off? I don't see the two connecting. She'd probably just run away crying like she did when she was younger and then you'd see me on the rooftop with a L96A1 bolt action sniper rifle waiting for the person that tormented her to leave the building...

[Nekken]

D-don't you think that these... these posts have some merit to them...?

To a limited degree, but if you look at the bad ending, she can't actually keep the rage going. Toward the end of the scene she just crumbles, and this reaction would almost certainly prevent her from becoming truly dangerous.

[Hisao&Hanako<3]

Since we're on the topic of Hanako's bad ending, I'll share some different thoughts about it.

Like I said elsewhere, I always thought her bad ending was a bit forced, and there only for the sake of having a bad ending.

If I were Hisao, in that very scene "Misstep," here's something like how it would have gone...

*Hanako unlocks her door and lets Hisao in after he knocks*

Hisao: Hey, Hanako. *looks to the side avoiding eye contact* I know that you're not feeling very good right now, but I just wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing. I know you want to be alone now, but I just wanted to see you for a moment. I miss you when you're not in class. Well, I guess I'll go for now, and I hope to see you in class soon. *looks at her and smiles before walking out and closing her door quietly*

If that's how it would have gone instead, do you think she would have flipped out on him? Most likely not! Neither of them would have been upset with the other, and it most likely would have gone on to "Continuing Melody" scene. Like I said, I feel the bad ending was just thrown in there for the sake of having one.

[Oddball]

Since we're on the topic of Hanako's bad ending, I'll share some different thoughts about it.

Like I said elsewhere, I always thought her bad ending was a bit forced, and there only for the sake of having a bad ending.

If I were Hisao, in that very scene "Misstep," here's something like how it would have gone...

*Hanako unlocks her door and lets Hisao in after he knocks*

Hisao: Hey, Hanako. *looks to the side avoiding eye contact* I know that you're not feeling very good right now, but I just wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing. I know you want to be alone now, but I just wanted to see you for a moment. I miss you when you're not in class. Well, I guess I'll go for now, and I hope to see you in class soon. *looks at her and smiles before walking out and closing her door quietly*

If that's how it would have gone instead, do you think she would have flipped out on him? Most likely not! Neither of them would have been upset with the other, and it most likely would have gone on to "Continuing Melody" scene. Like I said, I feel the bad ending was just thrown in there for the sake of having one.

It didn't feel forced at all to me.

Some people say that Hisao seemed extremely dense in that scene, but the choices and experiences he had up until that point did build up to that moment. If you get the bad ending, it's because Hisao thought she was too weak to handle going to the city in daylight and was too sure of his own opinion to listen to Lilly's advice.

Yes, he was more forceful than usual when he visited Hanako but that's because he had never seen Hanako in that bad a shape. He desperately wanted to help her because he thought she desperately needed his help. He thought that just going away when she told him to leave would be giving up.

In his mind, Hanako was a broken person that needed him and he made up his mind to be there no matter what for her. Then she blows up on him and shows him just how wrong he was about everything.

[Hisao&Hanako<3]

It didn't feel forced at all to me.

Some people say that Hisao seemed extremely dense in that scene, but the choices and experiences he had up until that point did build up to that moment. If you get the bad ending, it's because Hisao thought she was too weak to handle going to the city in daylight and was too sure of his own opinion to listen to Lilly's advice.

Yes, he was more forceful than usual when he visited Hanako but that's because he had never seen Hanako in that bad a shape. He desperately wanted to help her because he thought she desperately needed his help. He thought that just going away when she told him to leave would be giving up.

In his mind, Hanako was a broken person that needed him and he made up his mind to be there no matter what for her. Then she blows up on him and shows him just how wrong he was about everything.

Now that you say it that way, it all makes sense. I still don't want to read the dialogue for the bad ending, though. I may be looking too far into it, but I'm too attached to her to read it. She's just too precious. I don't care what names people call me.

[mysterycycle]

Just typed up a big ol' post basically saying the same thing Oddball said.

Hisao&Hanako, I totally get where you're coming from in not wanting to read the Bad Ending dialogue. I felt the same way for a long time. Eventually, I felt that that scene told me a lot more about Hanako as a person, and I think it's a valuable scene in understanding her. But yeah, it hurt to read through it.

Addressing the topic again, I think if Hanako were to express herself in a violent way, it would be toward herself, never others; as Nekken pointed out, her rage doesn't last very long, and I suspect she immediately regretted some of the things she said in anger. If she had any venom left, it would be toward herself at that point, as the memory of that awful scene played out in her mind over and over again, and her bitter disappointment and self-loathing took over.

I don't think she would even actually "choose the Horrible Ending", but I think she might well give it a lot of thought. No doubt she's dealt with those feelings to some degree in her therapy sessions, though, so she might recognize those feelings and have methods of dealing with them already. I also think she'd end up shutting Lilly and Hisao out entirely for the rest of the school year, and after that it would be too late to make amends as they all went their separate ways. But that's what fan fiction is for...

[FoxtrotZero]

This is one of those times where I say to myself, "The good ending happened, nobody tormented Hanako and she got the happiness she deserved."

Here's a good counter argument though... how does someone who feels like a burden to others, and feels guilty for the deaths of her parents, suddenly become seen as a possible murderer cause someone pissed her off? I don't see the two connecting. She'd probably just run away crying like she did when she was younger and then you'd see me on the rooftop with a L96A1 bolt action sniper rifle waiting for the person that tormented her to leave the building...

Bolt action? Son, I am dissapoint. Besides, I hear he keeps the curtains closed to thwart snipers. Doesn't go out during the day. Hell, I heard he got some sap to carry his mail all the way from the post office for him.

[Oddball]

Bolt action? Son, I am dissapoint. Besides, I hear he keeps the curtains closed to thwart snipers. Doesn't go out during the day. Hell, I heard he got some sap to carry his mail all the way from the post office for him.

He goes out sometimes.

Just keep your eyes open for the guy wearing the hat who isn't wearing a hat.

[FoxtrotZero]

Bolt action? Son, I am dissapoint. Besides, I hear he keeps the curtains closed to thwart snipers. Doesn't go out during the day. Hell, I heard he got some sap to carry his mail all the way from the post office for him.

He goes out sometimes.

Just keep your eyes open for the guy wearing the hat who isn't wearing a hat.

The dead giveaway should be the blazer and scarf in mid-summer.
Of course, that's probably to hide the ballistic vest.