Why have so many people taken Hanako's route first?

[brythain]

I got a manly picnic first time

Do you need a hug?

Oh no… it was a good experience. I've never been whisked so thoroughly before!

[Potato]

Rin...basically enslaves you at one point during act 1.

Basically, what made you choose Hanako's route. Even if Hanako's route wasn't your first, I would still like to know what made you choose Hanako's route.

I am guessing that quite a few chose Hanako because she is an introverted, shy cute girl who "needs to be protected". Simply because so many people seem to like Hanako because she has a tragic past and because she looks cute and... oh wait that's it. It's really weird (and annoying) considering that a part of KS's story is that you should judge somebody based on who they are rather than other stuff (like disabilities and problems in the past). Now getting back ontopic.

That never happens. As for those who didn't play Hanako's route first, I'd imagine they still eventually chose it because...Well, it was there. I tried to get hers first because we were similar, more or less. I switched gears for Emi though because she was cute.

And I dunno where you pulled that guess from. I don't know anybody who likes Hanako because her past is tragic. Not one. She's cute, they're curious about her, she needs a friend...But "her past is super tragic" doesn't seem common. I'm sure it would be weird and annoying if anyone actually liked her for those reasons though...

@metalangel: None of them are threatening.

[Oddball]

So, why did I choose Hanako's route first?

Let's go over why I didn't choose the others first.

Shizune annoyed the hell out of me.

Lilly ... okay. I actually completed everybody else's routes before I realized Lilly even HAD a route of her own. I thought she was just there to be Hanako's supporting cast at first. Yeah, I'm stupid. What most people apparently saw as a "Go talk to Hanako in the library or go talk to Lilly in town" option, I saw as "Go talk to hanako in the library, or go wander around town aimlessly because you have no idea where Lilly is even at anyway," option.

Another option I saw differently from most people was Emi's choice to push yourself on the track. Hisao really did not need to be pushing himself on the track at that point, I didn't want to get the guy killed that quickly, so I didn't choose that one.

And to get Rin's route, you have to be pretty anti-social.

Of course that doesn't matter that much, because I would have picked Hanako's path anyway. She was a sweet character, somewhat mysterious, and seemed more than anyone else that she could use an extra friend. Plus I've always been attracted to the type of people that others don't pay much attention to anyway.

Simply because so many people seem to like Hanako because she has a tragic past and because she looks cute and... oh wait that's it

Are you talking about Hanako or ... pretty much everyone in the entire game?

[KrisIsLyra]

Part of it is that some routes are much easier to get onto than others. Emi's is easy to the point that many end up choosing her by mistake. Hanako's and Shizune's are fairly straightforward. On the other hand, Lilly requires you to suck up to Hanako and then ditch her at the last minute, and Rin requires that you ignore the other girls (combine that with her route being so depressing at times and it's almost like it's Manly Picnic-lite).

Also, Hanako is introduced early, and you have the chance to go to lunch with her before you even meet Emi and Rin.

[brythain]

It's interesting to see how the reasons fall neatly into personal aesthetics, gaming style, and probability. I guess there's no single reason, but there's something to the idea that so many people have tendencies leading to Hanako.

My psychological take on it is that people who are attracted to the KS concept in the first place would be drawn to Hanako first because she's obviously running a deficit. Lilly is just a romance-figure at first—her deficit is not obvious, and neither is Shizune's. Emi and Rin seem to have the 'wrong' deficit—Emi looks like she's happy-go-lucky at first and Rin doesn't care. Hanako's the only one whose behaviour and psychology appear to match the deficit directly when you first meet her.

Of course, KS subverts all the tropes where possible, but by that time, many have already taken the bait.

[dewelar]

It's odd, because I saved the Hanako/Lilly dyad for last. I knew almost nothing about VNs, so I did not have any concept of what the related tropes were. Lilly was the one I thought I might know the best, so I wanted to save her for last. My first play-through I tried to figure out what someone like Hisao would do naturally, and wound up with Emi. On my second play-through, I aimed for Rin, because she intrigued me the most (which is why I voted for her on the "first girl you went after" poll). After that experience, I waited to pursue Hanako because I expected her arc to be similarly dark, so I went with Shizune next. Not sure what all this means anymore, though .

[Atario]

But I never understood why so many people chose Hanako first. She hardly appears in act 1 and you barely know anything about her at first. I didn't know enough about her to make me curious about her.

There's plenty to know if you can see it. For those of us who are Hanako fans, the symptoms and signs are recognizable right away, because we've often exhibited them ourselves. Nervous, shy, avoids people, absorbed in solitary activities, quiet, filled with behaviors intended to minimize anyone taking notice. And all the reasons why those things might be. It's easy to feel one has found a friend very like oneself and immediately gravitate towards said friend.

I am guessing that quite a few chose Hanako because she is an introverted, shy cute girl who "needs to be protected". Simply because so many people seem to like Hanako because she has a tragic past and because she looks cute and... oh wait that's it. It's really weird (and annoying) considering that a part of KS's story is that you should judge somebody based on who they are rather than other stuff (like disabilities and problems in the past).

I've berated you for doing this before, so I'll not repeat that here, and merely let it be taken as read that this is a common, grossly inaccurate refrain amongst those have no understanding of what it's like to be remotely like her.

nobody wants to be a dick and quit jogging at the first given opportunity.

Today I learned being a lazy-ass makes me a dick.

Because she's so meek and demure and non-threatening.

She's all quiet and bookish and doesn't socialize and is shy. Romantically inexperienced neckbeards Many soon-to-be KS fans go ZOMG JUST LIKE ME and are drawn to this.

Oh, is that what we're going to do today? Fight? Starting with "you suck because you like [KS heroine], and here's the armchair pseudopsychology I just made up on the spot to justify it"? Let me know, because I have a Shizune one brewing already just for you.

I got a manly picnic first time

Do you need a hug?

I got Manly Picnic the first two times. Can I get two hugs?

[d2r]

I chose Hanako's route first because I found the idea of getting to know someone with severe burn scars most interesting to begin with; thence I moved to the others because the game had piqued my curiosity about them.

It helps that I played the entire game, start to finish, using Feuver's flowchart (because I'm interested in seeing a certain kind of story, not in guessing at options), else I would have gotten Emi like 'most everyone who's gone in blind.

[bhtooefr]

I didn't actually play through myself for the first couple routes, I watched a playthrough... that chose Hanako first.

Had I actually directly played it, I would've likely ended up on Emi's route first (thinking that not going for it would be a death condition or something), and gotten a very different first impression of the VN. In any case, I would've been fine with that, as long as I didn't get Rin.

[SpunkySix]

I got a manly picnic first time

Do you need a hug?

I got Manly Picnic the first two times. Can I get two hugs?

Oh my gosh yes. That's crushing.

[Potato]

I didn't actually play through myself for the first couple routes, I watched a playthrough...

God, you suck.

I actually got the picnic first but I don't count that as a route...

[AaronIsCrunchy]

I think my (perhaps misguided) refusal to use a walkthrough meant I'd already done all the routes twice before I'd managed to find the manly picnic... and THAT was only after some 'help' from the good people on the KS forums

[Potato]

perhaps misguided

No, you did the right thing. Walkthroughs, flowcharts, and LPs are for cheaters and scum.

I got it all on my own. Though I'd already had enough experience with VNs to know exactly what I was heading for by avoiding all the girls' routes. I just didn't know it'd be quite so dark...

[bhtooefr]

In my defense, I was introduced to KS via someone sending a link to the LPs. Once the humor of the player got too grating, I downloaded the VN myself...

[Forever_ambivalent]

I am guessing that quite a few chose Hanako because she is an introverted, shy cute girl who "needs to be protected". Simply because so many people seem to like Hanako because she has a tragic past and because she looks cute and... oh wait that's it. It's really weird (and annoying) considering that a part of KS's story is that you should judge somebody based on who they are rather than other stuff (like disabilities and problems in the past).

I've berated you for doing this before, so I'll not repeat that here, and merely let it be taken as read that this is a common, grossly inaccurate refrain amongst those have no understanding of what it's like to be remotely like her.

nobody wants to be a dick and quit jogging at the first given opportunity.

Today I learned being a lazy-ass makes me a dick.

Because she's so meek and demure and non-threatening.

She's all quiet and bookish and doesn't socialize and is shy. Romantically inexperienced neckbeards Many soon-to-be KS fans go ZOMG JUST LIKE ME and are drawn to this.

Oh, is that what we're going to do today? Fight? Starting with "you suck because you like [KS heroine], and here's the armchair pseudopsychology I just made up on the spot to justify it"? Let me know, because I have a Shizune one brewing already just for you.

Yes please don't spam random, close-minded and illogical insults at me. Or anyone else (a tad bit too late I see). What does what I just said have to do with being similar to Hanako? In fact why must you be so defensive (and angsty) and say that I cannot understand people? If you look around a bit at the Hanako fanbase (really isn't that hard) you will find a bunch of people who are like that.

Matalangel has a good point. I suspect a lot of people like her for those exact reasons. In fact a lot of people state that they do. Why are you trying to start a fight with him? If you want to prove him wrong than debate with him and give counterarguments. Don't hurl insults at him just because you think he is wrong.
Basically what you have just stated there is "You are wrong because I think you are wrong and your argument is wrong because I say it is wrong. There is no need for me to state why I think this way because I am right". BTW Shizune doesn't argue like that. Shizune supports her arguments.

More importantly, I find it a little strange that the reason people normally went down Emi's route is because of the racing part. I avoided pushing Hisao because I could tell easily that Hisao was going to fall down and have problems after it (it was a bit worse than I expected though). I thought it would be best for Hisao to not push himself too much and for some reason Hisao decided to quit running after that... Although obviously did tell the nurse that I was going to take up the jogging.

I find it strange how nobody found Rin's route the easiest. I needed to use a flowchart to get off Rin's route. What I find even more strange is that people think that going down Rin's route means to shun off all the other characters. In my case the reason I went down Rin's route is because I was with all the girls (I got 1 point with both Lilly and Shizune and I also got the +1 training point) but in the end I found Rin to be the most interesting and alluring of them all.
Reading the reason's why people went down Hanako's route makes me feel bad for liking confident and strong people. I never actually found Hanako cute until I went down her route. I don't think I find overly shy and withdrawn people very attractive.
Please don't kill me