What you wouldn't have wanted to happen in the story

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

I wouldn't want it to suck.

Simple and all what we want.

Hey, *I* would want -- oh, you mean... nvm.

As for Iwanako, I think there's a big stylistic hint that she probably won't reappear -- her face is never seen.

For mindless virginity speculation, how about Lilly not being a virgin, but her previous boyfriend was a colossal jerk who only dated her to eventually get sex, and dumped her when he got tired of her, making Lilly unexpectedly difficult to get close to.

[Nobody Important]

I don't want more than half the bad ends to be variations of "Hisao has a heart attack and dies." It's a valid possibility, yes, but it's not the only way this story can have an unhappy ending, and after enough branches dead-ending when Hisao clutches his chest and keels over dead, it'll probably start to get real infuriating.

[Nobody Important]

Pardon me double-posting...

I'm hoping we're not gonna see Shizune's and Lilly's little feud explained as some twisted Romea & Jules-story with Akira and Hideaki at the center. (was there ever an official statement from the devs on who or what Hideaki is to begin with?) Due to their personalities, I can easily see Lilly and Shizune annoying the hell out of each other if they were forced to work together on something for even less than an hour, so far-fetched outside factors explaining their mutual dislike would seem unnecessary to me.

That one's a little far-fetched, isn't it? Why would you think that it might be that? Because Lilly said she and Shizune go back a while? I think that just meant that they met a while back and they've been like this for years... If anything, that it's a personal feud. Given that not only do their personalities clash so badly but that they have no way to communicate with each other directly, which makes the situation even worse.

...And why would you think Akira and Hideaki have even MET each other?

[Wokka]

Yes, it's a game where you fuck cripples and you're trying to inject logic into it, don't do that.

Seconded.

Yeah, good point.

Wokka

[neumanproductions]

Yes, it's a game where you fuck cripples and you're trying to inject logic into it, don't do that.

Seconded.

Yeah, good point.
Wokka

Don't be haters.
In order to produce a truely exceptional game on this level that is not based on Sci-fi or Fantasy it makes sense that logic is needed. Remember that this is not like a Shuffle! or Fate/Stay where there are things that don't exist in out world. This is based on real world logic and ideals, only perverts would see it as a sex-crazy based story where the unthinkable happens and you can live out the sexual fantasy of doing dirty things with a disabled person. There has been nothing thus far that i've either seen or heard suggesting otherwise.
My cousin lost his arm in an accident and grandfather both his legs from cancer so that's what I think of with this VN. Not as a fapping tool.

[Mirage_GSM]

...And why would you think Akira and Hideaki have even MET each other?

Well, given that we don't actually know Hideaki's role in the story, there could be any number of ways they could have met. Maybe he is her next door neighbour or even Hanako's little brother.

[Csihar]

Well, given that we don't actually know Hideaki's role in the story, there could be any number of ways they could have met. Maybe he is her next door neighbour or even Hanako's little brother.

If I'm not mistaken, he is actually Shizune's little brother. That's all we know about him, though.

[G3n0c1de]

If I'm not mistaken, he is actually Shizune's little brother. That's all we know about him, though.

The devs have never said anything about him, so we don't even know that much. It's generally inferred that Hideaki is Shizune's brother due to appearance similarities.

That said, you people need to go on the Shimmie more... I know it's fanart and not cannon, but there is a lot of support for the Hideaki/Akira pairing.

[Lawls]

The devs have never said anything about him, so we don't even know that much. It's generally inferred that Hideaki is Shizune's brother due to appearance similarities.

That said, you people need to go on the Shimmie more... I know it's fanart and not cannon, but there is a lot of support for the Hideaki/Akira pairing.

Actually if Hideaki was a separate party all together that would be awesome but I don't see that happening

[PureLionHeart]

1. Deaths in the "good ends". Such a friggin' downer.

2. Forgeting about Iwanako altogether. A cameo would be great, but even the occasional mention. Maybe Hisao talks with his parents and they mention bumping into her? Maybe if there's a field trip or something as speculated from some screens, and Hisao spots and avoids her, segueing into him explaining the events of his first debilitation to the girl he's currently in the company of? Along those lines.

3. A major dismissal of the other girls depending on the route. Okay, we're on Lilly's route. Hanako, Shizune, and the pink enforcer are obviously given interactions. That doesn't mean we can't have Emi and Rin showing up throughout, albeit in a lesser capacity. Not that they all have to be chummy, mind you. There's the obvious Lilly vs. Shizune rivalry, and the potential for jealousy to hit home with a few of them. For some reason I can't quite explain, I keep picturing Emi having trouble accepting Hisao going out with Rin. And maybe Hanako feeling like Hisao is stealing Lilly away from her.

4. Misha's disability never been explained. Holy Hell. I will RAGE WITH THE SWIFTNESS OF A COURSING RIVER, ALL THE FORCE OF A GREAT TYPHOON, AND ALL THE STRENGTH OF A RAGING FIRE!

[EternalLurker]

1. Deaths in the "good ends". Such a friggin' downer.

I don't care to see anyone die on a good ending.

>_>

Why not?

Not that there aren't others who agree, but I'm not one, so I'm curious as to your reasoning.

[PureLionHeart]

>_>

Why not?

Not that there aren't others who agree, but I'm not one, so I'm curious as to your reasoning.

Well, it's not that I don't like main/player characters dying in fiction (Rock on Rorsach, you'll forever have the greatest manga spread Wolfwood, I'll never forget you Lavitz, and The Myst has the best movie ending ever), but for this game, as I said, it would be hard to feel good about despite any other favourable happenings accompanying it, and I'm trying to think of a situation that would even warrant it for the characters (Save Hisao, heart thingy allows him to die from a sneeze and still make sense >_>) outside of being a Key project where everything MUST go as horribly, horribly wrong as possible (I can see it now, Hisao going to propose to Lilly as she walks into traffic >_>).

I mean, these girls have been dealing with their disabilities for a long time, most from birth, and none of them seem particularly life-threatening (Except the cancer eating away at Misha, of course. That's totally a wig, let's face it.) and there's no reason for the blind, deaf, limbless, and burned to suddenly take a turn for the worse short of a car accident straight out of Kanon.

Plus, the game largely strikes me as happy, or to put it another way, not dependent on sorrow and tearjerkers to move the plot forward, despite there sure to be some such moments. I'm sure there's plenty of conflict in the later arcs to go through (That scrapped deal about Hanako and the drugs and the mental hospital and such was certainly a chilling vision of things to come), but I can imagine you get my meaning from what's seen in Act 1 after you get to the school moving forward. It's practically all sugar and rainbows aside from Hisao's occasional depressing inner thoughts about his medication and condition.

Basically, kill 'em only when it makes logical sense to the story and prevailing tone, that's how I see it, and I find neither fitting in the case of Katawa Shoujo.

[EternalLurker]

(second paragraph summarized by) Basically, kill 'em only when it makes logical sense to the...prevailing tone

You don't think a story can have a temporary mood shift? Obviously it's dependent on author skill, but it's entirely possible to pull off darker episodes in the middle of a story while still starting and ending on perfectly happy notes.

(first paragraph summarized by) Basically, kill 'em only when it makes logical sense to the story

Out of context, that's a perfectly fine statement, but it's Katawa Shoujo we're discussing here. We really know next to nothing about how the story will progress from here on out. So when you say that

[F]rom what's seen in Act 1...I find neither fitting in the case of Katawa Shoujo.

it's the first part of that statement which illustrates the flaw in that argument. Your worries can be summed up as "A death that doesn't fit the storyline and mood is bad," which is fine, but you then apply that to KS by making assumptions about KS' story and mood which may or may not be accurate. A major character death may fit the tone and storyline just fine at a certain point in a given path.

[neumanproductions]

1. Deaths in the "good ends". Such a friggin' downer.

I don't care to see anyone die on a good ending.

>_>
Why not?
Not that there aren't others who agree, but I'm not one, so I'm curious as to your reasoning.

Guess I'll give you my reasoning as well. I use a lot of logic based on first act predicaments and I agree with you that I can't assume it will hold true for the remainder of the story. Romeo & Juliet deaths I can see but they are a mutual death. If you've seen recent comments of mine I like to bring the anime Gurren Lagann into the picture because of the series end. Despite there being a good ending, I can accept the others who died during the battle against the anti-spirals but giving me false hope at the end to find out that Nia couldn't exists with the anti-spirals gone. That is where my heart sinks, I felt so much like Simon deserved to have her after all they endured to be with each other again. My philosophy is putting myself in the shoes of the main character and feeling the emotions as best I can (1 of my specialties considering a case between two people who love each other).

I understand stuff like that can happen and after a time pain of loss will die down but it is hard. Simply, putting my own soul into that of the character and imagining myself in that position, I can cause myself true heartache. Call me a sissy or a wimp if you guys want but all i'll say is that its a feeling you altogether can't explain...you just got to feel it.

That's why I don't want to see that happen in this VN. To me a death like that does not mix as a happy ending to me. Yume Miru Kusuri is other example to some degree for me but Gurren Lagann is the most powerful example to me thus far in my life.

[PureLionHeart]

Well, I kinda have to make assumptions given the little information we have to go on and what is playable giving me the previous impressions, but fair enough.

There's also the other part of my fears, where since there's no real reason for their disabilities to take any fatal turns, that whatever reason would end up facilitating character deaths turns out horribly forced. I hate a poorly-done death, more so if not for at least a proper reason other than *cue sadness*. Yes, I have faith in the writers, but I of course there's still some worries here and there.

Plus, on just the whole personal level, as neuman said, death just generally doesn't mix with happy for me, and I just plan don't want to see it happen to any of the girls. >_>