I wish Misha had her own route *spoilers for Shizune's route

[ziamatt]

I do understand the reasoning behind not giving her a route of her own. She wasn't one of the girls that originally influenced this game's early development. She's hardly anything more than a convenient plot device for being able to understand Shizune and to push Shizune's route ahead. She's barely relevant in Shizune's route after Hisao learns sign language until the end. Even then it feels like she was shoehorned into the story because her depression is so out-of-character (not to mention her attempt to seduce Hisao) and seems to almost come from nowhere in particular that it could have been anyone, Misha was just the most obvious choice. I hate that the only way to get Misha's H-scene is to cheat on Shizune and ultimately get the route's bad end. I really grew to like Misha's flamboyant energy and cute obliviousness. So I do understand why Misha didn't have her own route and probably never will outside of my imagination. It's just something I would have really liked to see. I can imagine it being interesting to have to work out the problems that develop at the end Shizune's route from the perspective of Misha's boyfriend, rather than Shizune's boyfriend.
Just my two cents.

[txalolrn9]

I wholeheartedly agree, I actually prefer Shizune's bad end because I feel Hisao can actually talk and relate to and share actual emotions with Misha. Everything with Shizune is ... just ... so ... I guess ... going through the motions. There doesn't seem to be any spark to the Hisao/Shizune relationship at all, it's by far the worst route

[traitor]

you remember those cheery fat girls in your middle school and high school?

the ones that always hang out with a group of friends, and have the most energetic gestures and the chirpiest sounds? The ones that are overly friendly to boys and breaks any sexual tension on a conversation because of how friendly they are? The ones that are on good terms with everybody, rarely hated by boys, never alienated by girls?

Yeah, they don't get relationships, ever.

[ziamatt]

I wholeheartedly agree, I actually prefer Shizune's bad end because I feel Hisao can actually talk and relate to and share actual emotions with Misha. Everything with Shizune is ... just ... so ... I guess ... going through the motions. There doesn't seem to be any spark to the Hisao/Shizune relationship at all, it's by far the worst route

This. They don't even seem to do anything differently for most of the route until Shizune ties Hisao up and borderline rapes him. I still can't figure out what that was about. After that it's pretty much back to business as usual until the final H-scene of the route. If it wasn't for their "dates" throughout the route (which might as well just have been two friends having lunch) I don't think there's anything that makes them seem like a couple except for the sex.

[quellsnarg]

I wholeheartedly agree, I actually prefer Shizune's bad end because I feel Hisao can actually talk and relate to and share actual emotions with Misha. Everything with Shizune is ... just ... so ... I guess ... going through the motions. There doesn't seem to be any spark to the Hisao/Shizune relationship at all, it's by far the worst route

This. They don't even seem to do anything differently for most of the route until Shizune ties Hisao up and borderline rapes him. I still can't figure out what that was about. After that it's pretty much back to business as usual until the final H-scene of the route. If it wasn't for their "dates" throughout the route (which might as well just have been two friends having lunch) I don't think there's anything that makes them seem like a couple except for the sex.

So... femdom is rape now?

lol

[txalolrn9]

Exactly, for instance in Emi's path, she wants to be emotionally distant, but there are still flirting, hugging, kissing, some emotions displayed. With Shizune is just so robotic. Hisao and her are a couple, and what do they do? Student counsel stuff, no flirting, no hand holding, no kissing. You can say it's because Shizune is a stickler for the rules and public displays of affection are against the student conduct policy or whatever. But really, even outside the school events, when Hisao is at her house, etc there's just no noticeable attraction at all. They don't even talk as gf/bf at all. It's like Hisao asking her out. "do you want to be my gf?" ... "ok" ... there's just an emotional disconnect

[Joshp9690]

I wholeheartedly agree, I actually prefer Shizune's bad end because I feel Hisao can actually talk and relate to and share actual emotions with Misha. Everything with Shizune is ... just ... so ... I guess ... going through the motions. There doesn't seem to be any spark to the Hisao/Shizune relationship at all, it's by far the worst route

This. They don't even seem to do anything differently for most of the route until Shizune ties Hisao up and borderline rapes him.

Dude, THAT is kinky.

[ziamatt]

Well calling that scene rape is an exaggeration, but my main point is that it seemed to come out of nowhere and really leads to nowhere. It would have been one thing if their relationship up until that point wasn't almost exactly as it had been before began a relationship. I'm still trying to figure out what the point of the scene was at all, beyond the obvious.

[Quark]

Well calling that scene rape is an exaggeration, but my main point is that it seemed to come out of nowhere and really leads to nowhere. It would have been one thing if their relationship up until that point wasn't almost exactly as it had been before began a relationship. I'm still trying to figure out what the point of the scene was at all, beyond the obvious.

I think the sex scenes were there just to remind you that Shizune and Hisao are a couple, because otherwise they do absolutely nothing that indicates that they are in a romantic relationship. It ended up just being really weird and random though.

[txalolrn9]

exactly, that's why I think Shizune's route is the weakest

there's no real romantic interaction at all

such a stale, boring relationship dynamic

[quellsnarg]

What I liked about Shizune's route was that both Hisao and Shizune, at the end of the route, came out as adults who are going to be pretty healthy emotionally and both have a pretty positive attitude towards life in general.

I like Shizune's route because I like how Hisao grew up and because I love Shizune, and honestly I'm really glad that she didn't change and end up as tsundere. That would have ruined it for me. Although I liked Emi's route the best, I found myself way more attracted to Shizune because she knows what she wants, and that isn't necessarily intense emotional relationships. If you understand Shizune's character, it's pretty obvious she does love Hisao, though. She's just not one to be super-romantic in the traditional sense. Encouraging people to work harder (and, therefore, meet their potential) is her idea of romantic, and I personally really like the sentiment and I know I could have used a girlfriend like her when I was a teenager. (Also, who says that relationships need to change dramatically when people start dating? Shouldn't people get together because they're friends in the first place...?)

On the topic of the thread: as much as I love Misha, I'm pretty glad she didn't have her own route, especially after she comes out to Hisao. I guess Misha's sexuality is up in the air because Misha never identified herself as anything in particular, but I suspected that she had a crush on Shizune basically midway through act 2 and any attraction to Hisao felt more like friendship to me, so unless A22 or one of the other devs confirms or denies, I... don't think that Misha's interest in Hisao in that one scene was anything other than a mechanical need.

[Zeon Twilight]

Shizune's route being one of the weakest I suppose I can agree with, but it's also one of the more amusing. What it lacks in romance it makes up for in the growth you get to see in Hisao in particular.

I didn't mind that Shizune didn't change much, she's not the type that would. She's a career girl, while I'm sure she does love Hisao, she also has things that need getting done. I can see their long term relationship being very off and on, at least until Shizune had found a way to become self sufficient in her money.

Plus, for as much as people say they are disconnected, it certainly didn't feel like that for me when I went for her bad end. That last image was just so...gahhh...

A Misha route might have been fun, just to round things out, after all, Emi and Rin, Lilly and Hanako, Shizune and...er...Shizune? Maybe I just like Even numbers.

[iamjagman]

I wholeheartedly agree, I actually prefer Shizune's bad end because I feel Hisao can actually talk and relate to and share actual emotions with Misha. Everything with Shizune is ... just ... so ... I guess ... going through the motions. There doesn't seem to be any spark to the Hisao/Shizune relationship at all, it's by far the worst route

I actually feel the exact opposite in some ways. The good end for Shizune was much better than the bad end in my opinion, because of all the regret involved in the bad one. I feel that while Shizune just "goes through the motions", as you say, in some ways, if you look deeper you'll find it's all revolved around her personality. Even the time with the bondage was sort of symbolic of her always wanting to be in control of the situation, and in the good ending, her actually telling him to take the lead after she messed up showed how she was beginning to be less dominant. I believe, while it is the route that includes the least romance, it's also the most emotionally rewarding route.

[ziamatt]

There are some good points raised about Shizune's route that I wasn't really considering. I guess the best way that I could sum up my feelings on her route would be this: I'm not very enthusiastic about the route because I don't understand her competitive nature, meaning I don't understand the way in which it influences her relationships. Even after she explained it, I don't get her. That doesn't mean her route is bad though. I think my lack of enthusiasm was tainting my opinion of her and her route. She is a very compassionate person, and even though it's not always obvious due to her competitive nature, she wouldn't do most of the things she does if she wasn't doing it for the benefit of others. I know she does love Hisao, and I think that maybe her competitive nature is her way of showing that by pushing those she cares about (including Hisao and Misha) to greater things. I realize I may have been hasty in my judgement of Shizune's route, enough so to warrant another play through of her route.

[NoOne3]

I can imagine it being interesting to have to work out the problems that develop at the end Shizune's route from the perspective of Misha's boyfriend, rather than Shizune's boyfriend.

I guess You missed a point on the way (or I did?!?).
You'll need a scene, when Hisao storms into Nurse's office shouting: "I need a sex change operation, QUICK!"
From what I can remember, Shiina is not even bi, she's gay all the way. It made comforting-Misha scene quite awkward for me, since I didn't take it on the first go, but after completing Shizune's path. Even more awkward than Emi's spelunking expedition.