.. they seem to be nearly ALWAYS eating or drinking. Especially during the Hanako's/Lilly's story..
While I understand that eating and drinking is just a part of daily routine, and it's easy way to spend time with others.. I always felt like there was way too many eating or drinking scenes.. Made me hungry whole time, and Hisao doesn't like talking while eating.
Hanako = Shizune = Rin = Lilly = Emi
I just don't like categorizing people. Even if Hanako will always be the dearest for me, I still prefer if they all get equal share of love.
Lilly is part of a rich family, so can afford it.
Hanako will get spoiled by Lilly.
Shizune can afford it for the same reason as Lilly.
Emi is very active, so will have a high metabolism.
And I didn't notice Rin eat too much during her path, and if she did it was because of Emi.
So there are good reasons for it really. Furthermore, eating and drinking is obviously incredibly important, not just for our survival: it's also important in our culture. It's the basis of many social events, and more.
Personally I didn't really notice it. Thinking about it further... Isn't it pretty much the perfect activity for a visual novel? A VN will rely a lot on dialogue and interaction between characters. Sitting around a table and eating/drinking allows for this a lot more than many activities. What else would teenagers do? Go see a film? Play some sports? You don't really talk during those.