Which of the characters would date you?

[SpunkySix]

Ah... wow, this is a tough question. Me?

I think Emi might if I was on the track team like I am in my actual school. I'm pretty fast, I hate giving up and physically I'm kind of Hisao-ish. No sweater vest, but still.

Rin is tough, but I like art and I love philosophy so maybe something could work out. I could see understanding her more than most people being a plus.

Hanako would probably if she got the nerve. Doesn't strike me as too choosy, and I'm fairly gentle in real life.

Lilly... probably not. She seems to have high standards, and I definitely wouldn't call her a prude, but my sense of humor would likely throw her off.

Shizune, definitely not. I'm too much like her in the stubborn competition department and we'd probably eat each other before I joined any councils.

But then we throw in the "assuming you haven't initiated anything" criteria, and my chances fall to roughly zero for all of them. I keep to myself too much and I'm pretty unassuming so I don't see much there to ring any bells unless I went out of my way to try to.

[d2r]

Wow. What a bump. :p

At any rate, it's too tempting not to chip in here, so:

Realistic Answer: None. Even if I wasn't already in a relationship, I'm a 22 year old postgraduate student, and therefore too old to be dating someone in high school. I'd have a better shot with Akira, if anything.

Time Warp Answer: Assume instead the person I was when I was in the equivalent year of high school. Probably none - I was an awkward person then - but I might have had a long shot with Emi, since I'm a distance runner and I actually ran the Marathon in my last year of high school. Still, I was fairly clueless, and would likely have blown it. While I was on Student Council in high school (I was the president, in fact), I probably wouldn't have ended up with Shizune, since I was often very defensive then & would have misinterpreted her aggressive nature as a personal insult. The others I would likely have alienated or not grown close to for some reason or other.

Anachronistic Answer: Assume my mentality & behaviour, but in the body of someone of the correct age, and without the memories which would continue to make it awkward to date someone in high school. Assume veil of ignorance, so I don't know what to say to get on a girl's good side. Probably Emi, if anyone, since I've kept up my running (though I have yet to try the Marathon again) and at any rate she's the sort of person I'd naturally get along with. As for the others: I'm garrulous enough that I'd probably intimidate Hanako, too unwilling to sit & do nothing to maintain something with Rin (also I can't draw or paint worth a damn), and - I admit - I swear too much to have a shot with Lilly. As for Shizune, well, I'm too lazy to learn sign language. :p

[KeiichiO]

None. I'm meant to be alone.

Maybe Hanako.

[AaronIsCrunchy]

Hmmm, interesting question. I'm in a relationship, but given the question is the other way around, I wonder if any of them would...
Emi might do, I'm quite a determined person and don't like quitting one bit, she might like that. Conversely, I'm not outgoing enough, which might work against me.
Shizune... got a strong work ethic and willing to learn sign language. Could happen.
Hanako would be my best shot actually, simply due to the fact I treat everyone based on their own person rather than what society wants me to think of them as (probably sounded like bragging, but I've been told this on repeated occasions, enough for me to at least half believe it). Therefore, no white-knighting!
RIn would likely not, as my art thread shows (in all two of the pictures) I have the artistic ability of a celeriac and I struggle to understand cryptic language. Shame really.
Being English might work in my favour with Lilly - or against, given she's half Scottish, NOT English At least she doesn't have to know what I look like...

What's Hideaki's leanings? Just out of curiosity, you know...

[Munchenhausen]

Bugger to it, why not.

If it were down to the Girls?
Well, not to toot my own horn, but I'm fucking amazing. All of them would want a piece of my arse.
I joke.
+ I think Emi would admire my enthusiasm
+ I don't think I could resist taking up Shizune on her constant challenges/games, so some bonding moments there...
+ I'm a gentle soul who could happily settle for bacon, so Hanako would want my D
- I would say, though, I'm far too much of a working-class peasant for Lilly to find me attractive
- and Rin would... uhh... I don't even know how she works. I'll just assume it's a no from her.

If it was down to me?
I take hints like a pigeon takes musket-fire.

Not a single flirt would go noticed. I'm about as socially inept as Rin herself on a romantic level.
Yay me.
I pretty much need someone to tell me straight up if someone likes me.
Obviously, that isn't always acceptable in real life, so I would likely go single for my time at Yamaku

[SpunkySix]

I pretty much need someone to tell me straight up if someone likes me.

I too have been told that I'm oblivious, so don't feel bad. You're not alone.

The rest of that post had me giggling like an idiot, by the way.

[Numb]

Considering my lack of interest in the "fine arts of tea" and the fact that I don't drink, chances of Lilly are zero. I don't mind this though, never found her interesting either.

I'd probably be able to be friends with Rin, not much more. We both share an interest in expressive and creative arts, hers being painting and mine being writing. It'd be a longshot, but considering my interest in language and manipulating it to express myself effectively, I might be able to help Rin with her own communication issues.

Emi'd find me fun because of my weird attitudes, similar to Rin but without the communication problems, and I wouldn't resist to going running with her. I need to get in shape, I just don't have the motivation to do it alone. Maybe end up as a couple after she sees some of my works, if she's even interested in it.

Hanako is basically a Lilly package deal. She might be interested from afar if word got out about my writing, but being Hanako, she'd do nothing about it.

Shizune would find me interesting at first, as I'm somewhat of a workaholic like her, but when she finds out I don't motivate myself to do any of it, she'd lose interest.

Miki'd get confused at my sense of humour and probably be one of those "friends but not friends" friends. You know, you talk when nobody else is around but you don't go straight to them for any reason.

Rin is probably my best chance of any of them, since I've always had the attitude "If I end up in a relationship, neither of us will realise until we live together". I imagine Rin shares the same idea, and chances are we'd just end up getting closer and closer after the initial meeting.

[dewelar]

Realistic Answer: None. Even if I wasn't already in a relationship, I'm a 22 year old postgraduate student, and therefore too old to be dating someone in high school. I'd have a better shot with Akira, if anything.

Yes, but if you're being "realistic", the girls were in high school in 2007. They're all 24-25 now.

As for my own answer...

Emi would probably appreciate that I enjoy exercising, although running was never my thing. We'd be good friends, though.

Hanako wouldn't approach anybody.

Lilly would be a possibility, given that I dated a girl with a lot of similar characteristics for a while, although to be honest I can't stand tea, so that might be a deal-breaker .

Rin might happen, but the chances that I'd recognize that her interest was actually interest are about one in squirrel, so probably not.

Shizune might find me interesting because I'm not the type to turn down the opportunity to be a worker bee for a good cause, and she might appreciate the fact that once we'd gotten to know one another I'd be willing to challenge her without taking my ball and going home a la Lilly.

So...most likely Shizune, I think.

[d2r]

Yes, but if you're being "realistic", the girls were in high school in 2007. They're all 24-25 now.

You make a good point - in that case, refer to my "Anachronistic Answer". :p

[bhtooefr]

I've got more in common with Hanako than the others, I think. So we'd probably end up just sitting in the library occasionally glancing at each other, neither of us making the first move.

I suspect that's the answer right there, for me. I'll expand, though.

I have...issues with speaking to people in person. The problem is mostly that of having a brain that seems to work slower than other peoples' when it comes to parsing and prepping speech. This tends to manifest itself in a couple of ways - one is an annoyingly constant habit of asking people to repeat what they just said, as if I'd had trouble hearing them. Oftentimes I heard them just fine, but I'll end up asking out of habit anyway. The reason? I need more time to mentally parse what they just said than most people will allow me on their own. If I *don't* do this and just try to speak at my normal response time, there's a very short but noticable gap there that people tend to notice. I *hate* that - it makes me feel like I'm mentally impaired.

There's also a tendancy to accidentally mix up sentence fragments. Ever seen Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (the movie)? There's a hilarious scene where Scott is trying to come up with a response to something said to him...we see a Wheel Of Fortune-style game wheel that spins around to show his mind honing in on a reply. Except it lands directly on the line *between* segments, so instead of "I'll go talk to her" or "I have to go pee" he instead says something like "I have to pee on her". This very same thing happens to me annoyingly often. When I converse, I tend to mentally take my time thinking of what I want to say, even as I'm in the process of saying it - but it happens slowly enough that my mouth often catches up to my brain halfway through. I'll have two or three possible phrasings of a reply on the tip of my tongue, but before I can pick one my mouth gets to the point where it's needed and it ends up blending them together into something nonsensical.

I can make meaningless small talk just fine, but whenever I need to actually think about what I'm saying (i.e. when I actually *care* about the subject at hand), I come across like some sort of dyslexic or something. It gets worse when I'm agitated, which of course is automatically going to include any interactions with strangers because I tend to get nervous trying to break the ice with them. It may be some sort of offshoot of my Tourette's Syndrome (which in my case is normally limited to physical tics, not verbal ones), or it may just be the result of lack of practice with speaking meaningfully with people. All I know is that I end up sounding like a buffoon when I'm trying to talk to people I don't know in person. It's one of the major factors behind my lingering shyness, it hurts my self-esteem , and it royally pisses me off because here on the Internet, where I have time to properly distill my stream of conciousness into words, I'm actually quite eloquent (not to mention verbose, as the average length of my posts shows ). Sign language would be a *tremendous* relief for 'speaking' in person, as it has the same "think about what you say before you say it" elements of online chat. Ironically, this is the same reason Shizune dislikes it...it lacks the spontaniety, the 'soul' of verbal speech, if you will.

I find that I'm actually prone to the same problems even in TYPED conversation, although I get more time to go back and correct it. But, yes, it takes me a lot of mental energy and time to process speech.

So, I'll analyze this a couple different times. First is, both the girl and me in HS (except for Akira and Yuuko, who would be at their ages in the VN), second is, who they'd be now with me now. I'm skipping me now versus them in HS, because I would shoot them down every time in that case. (Well, me now versus the VN age for Akira, I'd be a year older than her, instead of seven years younger, so I wouldn't shoot her down, but it wouldn't really change anything, so...)

Akira/me while I'm in HS: I'd be attracted to her, although possibly put off by her drinking. We'd get along reasonably well, though, but I don't think she'd be attracted to me. (Although, I did have a thing a few years back with someone who reminds me of... Akira put into Emi's body... and she was a few years older (not the age difference that Akira would have, though), too. I know she was attracted to me, even if my anxiety meant it never happened...) However, she had a boyfriend, and so did the woman that I'm talking about.
Akira/me now: Not sure if she'd be attracted to me, but we could very well be quite close friends. We'd share a few interests, and I think our personalities would mesh incredibly well, once she let her facade of confidence down. And, I'd definitely be attracted to her.

Emi/me: I might be attracted to her, but I doubt she'd be attracted to me. She strikes me as picky about how her partners look, and I ain't the greatest looker. And, running ain't my thing (I'm more of a cyclist). This goes for both HS and now, so I won't repeat it.

Hanako/me in HS: While in high school... we've got a few common interests, and would likely end up running into each other often. My anxieties are much less pronounced when it's not a romantic context, so I could probably approach her in a platonic manner. Now, in high school, I wasn't quite as much of a bitter cynic as I am now, but I did still have a somewhat dark sense of humor. I think she might have one lurking, but I'm not sure how she'd take mine. In any case, if we could get past that, I could see her developing feelings for me, and I'd almost certainly develop feelings for her. However, my anxieties are worse than hers when it comes to romantic contexts, and our interactions would get far more awkward. And, that without Lilly's help, which I'll explain. I suspect we'd dance around the issue for ages, and one of us MIGHT break through the anxiety.
Hanako/me now: This could be interesting depending on how her life goes. The problem is, I'm not sure how we'd meet - my guess is, it'd be online. If we're going with a Hisao-less route, or the neutral end, I think she'll come off as really immature, and I'd avoid dealing with that basket of problems. If it's after, say, Hisao's bad end... her misanthropy could become active (like mine), rather than passive (except her misanthropy would still be a defense mechanism, whereas mine is not), and we might even bond over that. But, she'd then have a really hard time trusting me... yeah, this would be ugly. Nothing would happen.

Lilly/me in HS: Lack of common interests, and I'd likely be too abrasive for her. Also, fuck tea.
Lilly/me now: I doubt we'd encounter each other, considering her disability and her lack of computer knowledge. I'd guess that she'd be more cynical than in HS, but that's not exactly the greatest basis for a relationship.

Miki/me in HS: I was too good of a kid in HS for her to want to really associate with me, unless she was asking for help with math homework, or deciding to try someone who isn't an abusive jock... hmm... (I actually had a chance to date a Miki type for exactly that reason when I was in 10th grade, but my anxiety blocked it.)
Miki/me now: I somehow don't see it happening.

Misha/me: Nope. Nopenopenope. Even if she did swing that way, and was interested in me, nope. Far too annoying for me.

Shizune/me: I probably wouldn't be able to stand her, and I'd have difficulty communicating in her preferred methods (and I wouldn't be interested in learning sign just to communicate with her). So, nope.

Rin/me: Aww HELL no. I don't care if she's interested, I'm running away from her.

Yuuko/me while I'm in HS: I have always had a thing for redheads, so I'd probably be attracted to her by default. (Yes, I know, Rin's a redhead, too. I don't care.) I'm not sure if I'd be annoyed by her or be tempted to white knight, though. I'm probably not insane enough for her, though. And, while we'd certainly interact, I don't think we'd be close at all.
Yuuko/me now: I see it as even less likely somehow.

tl;dr: Maybe Akira, maaaaaaybe Miki while we're both still in HS, probably not Hanako. Probably not any of them, tbh, nobody's ever actually dated me.

[Potato]

All of them because they are mere VN characters and subject to my whims as a higher being.

[Atario]

Keying off d2r's very sensible classifications:

Realistic Answer: None of the main characters, at least. Given that I'm nearly two decades senior to any of them, hardly surprising (unless I take advantage of someone's daddy issues, which, ick). Yuuko might be a possibility, if she's willing to go with a man still fairly older than herself; I think I'd be pretty good at putting her at ease, difficult though that may seem. Akira would probably be a no-go, given my lack of cool. Sae might be plausible, truth be told, unless she requires artiness in her man. Meiko… now let's talk about Meiko for a sec. Being at that age where she appreciates stability in a man, I might have a real shot with her. Also, she's probably the closest to my own age of any female character in the whole game. Also also, I hope by now I could keep up with her flirty nature. So yeah, I'm gonna say my top realistic answer is Meiko. I'm quite ok with this, actually…

Time Warp Answer: Closest possibility would be Hanako, assuming she ever became capable of approaching anyone at all, that is. Emi would be disgusted by my anti-athleticism and terrible diet, and Shizune by my slackerly approach and lack of a grandiose life goal. Lilly might be more charitable along all those lines, but I would probably have self-consciously struggled to keep up with her proper ways to the point of awkwardness, assuming I didn't blow it some other way. Rin… well, Rin is Rin. Who the hell knows. In any girl's case, I probably would have interpreted any advance as some sort of prank, such was my resignation in all matters romantic back then.

Anachronistic Answer: Shizune would definitely still be disgusted. Emi, maybe somewhat less so, since I'll at least do it now, even if I refuse to like it. Rin would still be somewhat of a mystery, though I think at least I could hold my tongue enough not to put her off immediately. Lilly and Hanako would probably be my best bets, as I tend toward quietness like them. If Misha's bi and not lesbian, she might be in play, as I enjoy some good eats too, and can rouse up some moments of free-wheelin' fun-lovin' if asked.

[Atario]

Rin/me: Aww HELL no. I don't care if she's interested, I'm running away from her.

This is kind of shocking to me. Both you and DrNonookee sound like you're total Rinbros: trouble with the wordses. She seems like the type who would have zero issue with letting the two of you trance out for a sec while you think of a reply. Heck, she'd probably appreciate it.

[bhtooefr]

Rin/me: Aww HELL no. I don't care if she's interested, I'm running away from her.

This is kind of shocking to me. Both you and DrNonookee sound like you're total Rinbros: trouble with the wordses. She seems like the type who would have zero issue with letting the two of you trance out for a sec while you think of a reply. Heck, she'd probably appreciate it.

I don't have a problem with coming up with words in a reply, though, other than jumping thoughts mid-sentence and trying to express two thoughts at once. It's comprehending speech that's my biggest problem. I need all the help I can get in speech comprehension, and she's incredibly hard to comprehend.

[brythain]

I guess the answer would likely be all of them, based on past history. But I did end up with Shizune—or someone a lot like her.