What If Katawa Shoujo Never Existed?

[kosherbacon]

KS got me interested in writing, which I enjoy. I had no idea I that I'd find writing to be fulfilling, so for that, I am glad Katawa Shoujo exists.

[dunkelfalke]

If you can't relate anything in the story to your life, then obviously you won't get anything from it. For those of us who were affected, there was likely something in the story that made us think about our own lives, and
realize that there was something that we needed to change.

Isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. To be honest, I am even a bit envious. Not because all the emotional turmoil from KS was bad for me, on the contrary. The reason why I am envious is because I do have so many regrets about my life. Sometime, ignorance is a bliss.

[zomgbbq]

Let's not wonder what would happen if it didn't exist.

Let's be damned grateful that it does, in all of its glory

[A Humbled Fan]

If you can't relate anything in the story to your life, then obviously you won't get anything from it. For those of us who were affected, there was likely something in the story that made us think about our own lives, and
realize that there was something that we needed to change.

Isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. To be honest, I am even a bit envious. Not because all the emotional turmoil from KS was bad for me, on the contrary. The reason why I am envious is because I do have so many regrets about my life. Sometime, ignorance is a bliss.

Isn't a bad thing at all. What some may be affected by, other's may not. And that's not their fault for that, it's just different for them. On the flip side, things that may affect them may not affect others. We all come from different backgrounds and life experiences, and those shape us into what we are, and what affects us.

Let's not wonder what would happen if it didn't exist.

Let's be damned grateful that it does, in all of its glory!

And to that I say "Amen".

[Alpha Morlock]

If Katawa Shoujo didn't exist, I'd still be a normal teenage boy who is able to say that I don't have a 'waifu'. And I'd be damn happy about it too.

[dunkelfalke]

Too true. Before KS I didn't even knew what "waifu" is, and now I've got one

[A Humbled Fan]

Bahaha, for those of you who don't know:

Mai Waifu (Engrish for “My Wife”) is a popular catchphrase based on a scene from the high school anime Azumanga Daioh. While the term “Mai Waifu” is often used in Asian cultures as a casual reference to one’s spouse in conversations, it’s been also adopted by otaku circles and anime fans when discussing one’s favorite manga & anime character.

That means you guys should go watch Azumanga Daioh. Its awesome.

[jaycee]

Aside for the fact that i start jogging, increased my tea drinking time(before KS once a week now once a night XD) Starting taking more seriously pc programmation? Nothing....well, my grades droped a bit and i get less sleep because of the game...but nothing so serious

[Evvinartopski]

Crippled people would have remained misunderstood. The horror.

[Escapist]

If Katawa Shoujo didn't exist, I would have never played a VN. I almost didn't play this one, but all of the positive reviews intrigued me to the point that I could no longer resist. I'm glad I gave in. I have to admit, though, that I have also had some personal turmoil that would not have resulted had I not played the game. Let me explain.

Last night, I cleared Hanako's route. This is the route that everyone suggested I clear first, but I screwed up and ended up doing Emi's route first. So I found a guide online to make sure I got Hanako's route the second time, and after completing it I ended up thinking long and hard about the relationship I've been in for the past seven years (my relationship started when I was the same age as Hisao, or what we can assume Hisao's age to be, at least). Something about the relationship that Hanako and Hisao shared really left me wanting in my own relationship, and I think it was the fact that it was a slow build. I knew the girl I'm with for two years prior to us dating, and honestly I could have made our relationship official at any time. I didn't really have to work for it, but I held off because I was stubborn. That, and we sort of had this awkward thing going on where I had convinced her to do things with me despite our lack of relationship. It was just stuff like kissing and sitting on my lap, but I still feel like I corrupted her in some way. Yeah, I was a bastard in high school. I think about this in comparison to Hisao and Hanako's relationship, and I honestly feel like I missed out on something. Yeah, Hisao had to work for that relationship, and it didn't pay off until the very end, but to me it seems like that would make the relationship even more special, not to mention stronger. Like I said, I didn't really have to work for my relationship, and somehow I feel like I missed out on something. I don't really know how else to explain it. I certainly don't regret playing the game, but it just gives made me pause and think. Granted, this isn't the first time I've questioned my relationship, but ultimately I think I'm happy. It certainly turns my stomach to think of my life without the woman I'm with. I honestly think I've expressed this poorly, but I hope that someone understands where I'm coming from. Of course, I know it's odd that I don't regret playing the game. These aren't exactly positive thoughts to have about my own life, but somehow I feel like I needed to realize this. I think it's something I need to conquer and get over, a mental barrier that I didn't even realize existed until playing Hanako's route. Or maybe I'm just more of a creepy otaku than I ever realized. At any rate, I'm honestly having a hard time bringing myself to play anymore. Hanako's route was special to me in many ways. There are a lot of other feelings I can express about it, even in concerns to my relationship, but I feel like I've gushed enough to complete strangers for one posting. I needed to get this out somewhere, though, and I can't exactly talk to my friends, as they are all friends with my girlfriend, as well. Not to mention that she wouldn't exactly be happy if she found out I was playing this game, mainly because of the sex scenes. She doesn't exactly have a positive view point of VN's, probably because people have convinced her that VN's and eroge are all one in the same.

I do want to add, though, that the only thing I was kind of "eh" with in the whole Hanako route was the way the sex scene went down, because it seemed that Hisao was a bit presumptuous in his actions.

Anyway, I'm posting without an account for now, but if anyone honestly cares enough that they'd like to discuss things further with me, I will consider making an account. I doubt it'll happen, but people do surprise me from time to time. Thanks for reading.

[Thrasher Thetic]

Then things would be proceeding as they are now, except about a week of evenings would have been spent some other kind of entertainment rather than with KS.

I enjoyed the story immensely and loved the characters. I got a good buzz from it as I would from any good work of fiction, but I didn't have the kind of hyper-emotional response that a lot of people here have had (or say they've had). Frankly that kind of response strikes me as a bit silly. I don't think you enjoyed it any 'less' or found any 'less meaning' in the story just because you didn't cry your eyes out over it or take up running or whatever. Frankly that kind of response strikes me as silly.

How many of these guys claiming to have changed some aspect of their life will actually stick with it, how many will forget about it, and how many will trade it in the next time they read a good story?

Time will tell, but she ain't gonna tell us.

[gekiganwing]

Back around 2005, I stumbled into western visual novel fandom. I'd become disillusioned with the translated H-game scene, and I was trying to find some other entertainment to fill the time in between console RPGs and the one or two decent Peach Princess games. Back then, only a few fans had written and finished their stories. There wasn't anything visually spectacular, or anything with complex gameplay. But you know what? I found the writing in Black Pencil to be rather fascinating, and I found several aspects of Kasuka to be enjoyable, despite all the story's many weaknesses.

Flash forward to 2012. I still feel kinda ambivalent about most translated H-games (Edelweiss wasn't bad, and I had some good things to say about Canvas 2). I'm getting more and more cynical about relatively mainstream games. And while I've been encouraging people on Lemma Soft forums, and striving to buy indie games from the western visual novel scene, I have long since realized that it will never be a big deal. The fandom remains small, and indie game creators are still making more money with straightforward (reverse) harem games and RPG hybrids than anything innovative.

So where does Katawa Shoujo fit into all this? It may be strange to admit this, but I'm kinda jealous of the game. It's apparently getting huge amounts of attention these days, while other freeware VNs remain obscure. If it just had a development thread on Lemma Soft, then I could lump it in other stories created by groups of people, which have a few fans, but almost no name recognition. I'm not sure if I like KS having more than a tiny fanbase. I kinda wish it was less popular.

After seeing all the fan-driven hype about Katawa Shoujo, I'm feeling less and less inclined to read it. It's still sitting on my hard drive and collecting dust. I'm not sure how much longer I'll keep it on my hard drive. And it's been about three years since I looked at the chapter one demo.

[A ghost...]

Since it has had zero affect on me...probably just any other day,except maybe I'd be reading some smutty dojin on these disabled girls....(let's face it that can,and probably will,happen in some fashion)

Beyond that I wouldn't have to face this odd fear that this game has created on it's almost cult like following,seems like almost any large anime forum/site I go to now I hear folks gushing and waxing poetic over Katawa and I'm going "oooooookay"

No,really you people fookin' scare me to my little toes,next we might hear of Katawa mass suicides "Since I can't be with Lilly,Rin/Emi/Hanako/Shzuni I don't wanna go on!!!! 111xo11" *throws self from window*

At any rate life would go on without this game.

[encrypted12345]

Since it has had zero affect on me...probably just any other day,except maybe I'd be reading some smutty dojin on these disabled girls....(let's face it that can,and probably will,happen in some fashion)

Beyond that I wouldn't have to face this odd fear that this game has created on it's almost cult like following,seems like almost any large anime forum/site I go to now I hear folks gushing and waxing poetic over Katawa and I'm going "oooooookay"

No,really you people fookin' scare me to my little toes,next we might hear of Katawa mass suicides "Since I can't be with Lilly,Rin/Emi/Hanako/Shzuni I don't wanna go on!!!! 111xo11" *throws self from window*

At any rate life would go on without this game.

[quellsnarg]

If it never existed, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten so emotionally wound up (in a bad way) over a fictional sex scene, and it would have taken me longer to come to some... conclusions that don't have to do so much with the game as it does with the response to the game. Also, I wouldn't have annoyed my boyfriend by constantly dreamily sighing and telling him how awesome KS is, haha.

That's pretty much it. I feel like I'm a pretty stable person who is able to distinguish fiction from reality, knows what she wants to do with her life, and would have gone on with or without this game. Doesn't mean I don't thoroughly enjoy it, though.