Discussion - Emi Route (*Spoilers* Warning)

[Mercutio]

Maybe it's also because at the beginning it felt just like a regalur "high school/college romance" (which means no romances at all and over as quick as it started). Or it could also be because of Emi's character... what she appeared as in the 1st act and and developed into later isn't just my favorite type of character (But I have to give credits to the writers and the staff. Because characters I tend to hate are usually, very well written because they manage to get me so riled up, even though they are just fictional characters XD).

I think that's part of the beauty of the game, though. none of the paths are really alike. yeah, with Emi, you do get a pretty standard "high school romance", but it works for her - you couldn't do any other girl's story with Emi, and damn, wouldn't Emi's path feel weird with someone like Hanako as the main girl? "A - a - anal..." nope, can't see it.

but I gotta agree with you about the awesome writing and character types you don't like. normally, a character like Shizune would make me want to stop reading something, but her story was written so well that I kept going, because I had to know what happened, even if I didn't get the emotional connection with her that I did with the other girls.

[PharaohSauron]

I saved Emi's for last, and it seemed the funniest route. I got the snarky feeling that the devs did that sexual twist on purpose to spoil the "sweet, innocent, semi-loli Emi that the fans imagined of her just to spite us," but it was surprisingly refreshing, especially for the actual purpose of that choice.

Even ANAL. The notes I took on Emi's route consisted of a snarky "MY GOD, EMI. SUCH A PRUDE," in response to that scene. My favorite funny line that I can actually remember is from Emi's route: “Somewhere, a man is drinking a cup of coffee. He freezes with the cup at his lips.” Which is what literally happened to me when I got to that point.

This was also the route that actually had me shed tears at the end. Bear in mind, the previous four routes wore me down, and this was the one that caused the single tear to fall. Manly, or not, I didn't care. It was a fitting reponse to completing such a thought-provoking work of art and entertainment.

[Morello]

After playing Emi route, I was feeling really bad. A feeling that I have every time I finish a game that I really like. A feeling that is over, but I'm not satisfied... or something like that. Don't really know.

When I started to play, I was choosing the actions naturally, without having a route in mind. Ends up being with Emi, and now, I'm very happy that was Emi. Didn't play the others route yet (and, after playing Emi, thats just seems unnatural to me), but I'm happy because Emi is just awesome.

God, I fucking love this game.

[Besnell]

first time playing a game like this and i first started with emi (i had no idea that there were "good" and "bad" endings)
at first i was just clicking to get through the story and skip some.......than it started to get "cute" and slowly found myself being engrossed in their relationship
normally i could careless about such things but i really connected with this one
anyways the story went on i ended up reading most of hisaos and emi's dialogue eventually got to the end, i made choices as if they were my own

sadly i got the bad ending (thinking it was the only ending) i was DEVASTATED that, thats how it ended, it was like a panic attack, was messaging my friend screaming "THAT CANT BE THE WAY IT ENDS!!" he just laughed, i frantically google'd to see if there was an alternative path and thankfully i did get the good ending and felt slightly better, that crushing feeling from the bad ending still fresh on my mind ha

ive played 3 chars so far (emi, shizune, hanako) and so far i still find emi's route the most satisfying

[xanderhunter]

With the completion of Emi's route I have now successfully completed all 5 girl's routes getting the good ending. With only the Manly Picnic route and watching the bad/normal endings for completionist's sake, I have my thoughts on the route I just finished.

Act 2 seemed fairly short, and in general the whole story did feel rather short clocking in at only around 4 hours where the others were mostly double that. Maybe it has to do witht he fact I chose her last, though that seems less the case as the only reason Rin was chosen before her was because I didnt think I wanted the last main route I finished to be as confusing as I knew Rin's was going to be. Still the route felt short and the sex rushed a little, but it's been that way for all the other route's so why am I surprised. Maybe it's what kid's are into these days. And upon saying that I realize how old I am. Back in my day (god now I really feel old) which was about 8 years ago, usually you dated for at least a month before having sex, at least I don't remember having sex with any of my high school girlfriends earlier then that. Then again come to think of it, maybe the fact that we are jumping around in time means that actually more time then I realize is actually passing, hmmm, I need a calendar for the dates of the school's events now.

Mutou came off as kinda awesome in this path. I especially liked his line "Or I can show you how to make explosives in the lab." pure gold. Also was anyone ever suprised with Hisao going into Science or teaching as his profession? It felt fairly obvious from I think the first time I played Hanako's path where he randomly helped Misha with some work in class.

God Hisao is so thick, her father died in the accident, get it through your thick skull you stupid idiot (me screaming at him at the family dinner). It was something anyone should have been able to pick up on after any mention of her accident and her father, but I understand it wouldn't have helped the plot any for him to realize it sooner.


All in all it was a good story and probably one of the happier path's in general. Definitely 2nd over-all with Hanako/Lilly tied for first. Rin comes in at 3 and Shizune's path where not much was accomplished is last. I'll probably throw in Kenji's path somewhere because I am sure to find it hilarious, and can hope for secret Harem/Iwanako/Miki ending. Hey, a man can dream! (only really serious about the Iwanako ending solely because I could see Kenjin and Hisao convincing each other some how to go for their ex's.)

[Niyari]

I'm new to VN's as well and ended up with this route from just picking w/e. I gotta say though, I'm really glad I didn't get any of the other girls (especially the deaf girl UGHH) because I thought this route was done really well other than that one scene which was my fault for not disabling. I felt an actual connection to Emi early on in the route... it's a weird feeling considering it's a game and all, but I think that just goes to show how well made it is, especially considering the subject at hand.

[Guest]

Didnt emis father die going to the hospital to visit her after her accident?

[Mirage_GSM]

That's also the way I interpreted it at first.
Emi just says "He died on the way to the hospital." which can be read both ways.
I think it's more likely he was in the car with her, though.

[Ryto]

I'm pretty sure that the way it was said, it was supposed to be obvious that she meant on the way to the hospital after the accident, meaning he was in bad condition too. They were probably the only two in the car, seeing how there were no injuries or anything on the mother.

[Koopason]

That's also the way I interpreted it at first.
Emi just says "He died on the way to the hospital." which can be read both ways.
I think it's more likely he was in the car with her, though.

I'm pretty sure they meant that he was in the car with her, I think they even said he was some point in her route.

[nyttyn]

I think it was a good route, but it was damn short. It all ties together if you take a few minutes to think about it, but it was still too short, imo. The cinematic was different from the rest, and....well, I think It was somewhat ironic that it was Hisao who initaly rejects her help, with Emi taking his help with aplomb, whereas in the route, it's very much the opposite. Kinda brilliant, in a way, but also kind of stupid. Overall, this was the route most about its core ideals then the others, I feel. Everything ties together well, but overall, it was...surprisingly fast. Which, if we apply fridge brilliance and Emi's love of running, makes perfect sense. Other route spoilers! 4ls was REALLY good about integrating how the narritive flowed and how the paths worked as well. Choices seem to be the only major influence in the other paths, however, so I shall discuss them instead of narrative flow.
In Lilly's, she takes all of the major decisions, but you still get control, progressively more so if you take the right paths, helping in term the core theme of not relying only on yourself.
In Hanako, the choices gradually become less or more yours, depending on how you treat Hanako, tying in with the theme of how Hanako was Hanako, and not some precious doll to protect.
Rin's....tie in with how utterly of a clusterfuck she is. They're also all of Hisao's violation, except Rin's surprise visit at the end, which ties in with, well, how they interact.
Finally, in Shizune's, you only get ONE CHOICE, and it's when Shizune is not there, which ties with her suffocating overbearing very well.

Overall, while it wasn't my favorite route, I still enjoyed it. 4/5. >Shizune, but <Rin, Lilly, Hanako.

[scorptatious]

Emi's route was the first one I went on. Not intentionally of course.

It was a pretty good route though. I liked Emi's character and the story flowed pretty well. I'll admit it was kinda predictable when it came to what was wrong with Emi Her dad died in the car accident that took away her legs. Yet Hisao can't seem to put two and two together when he hears that Emi lost something else in the accident and her mom told him that her dad is no longer with them.

I will say I was kind of surprised at How horny Emi is. She seemed really sweet and funny right up until the shed scene where she wanted anal sex with Hisao. 0_o

All in all, I liked Emi's route, and I feel it's a good starting route for new comers to Katawa Shoujo.

[Harlizard]

I was kind of taken back from Emi's story with her whole psych issues.
She seemed to be more like Lilly, has a disability, sure, but never really bothered by it.

And I was repulsed during the anal scene.
It was unneeded, and although meant to be comic relief, just added to the illusion that she was a bit of a loosey goosey.

[Quitch]

I think some people in this thread are projecting pretty hard.

[curlyquote]

I liked the way Emi and Hisao dealt with how much they didn't like the anal sex after the fact. Pretty good, realistic writing, in my opinion.