Discussion - Emi Route (*Spoilers* Warning)

[Caesius]

Just realized something interesting.

When Hisao was in the hospital, he was depressed and resigned to his fate -- he had "given up on happiness."

When Emi was recovering from her injuries, she was determined to return to normalcy, trying to give the impression that the accident was "no big deal" to her.

Yet when Hisao fell in love with Emi, he found he had something to live for and bring him happiness. Emi, on the other hand, was afraid that pursuing happiness would only end in losing those she got close to.

I think if I were in Hisao's position I would worry that I am not the right person to help Emi get over her fear of loss, not only because I know I would die young and thus justify her fear, but also because given the differences in how we handled our personal tragedies I would feel that I am not "strong enough" for her. I suppose you could label that an "inverse" white knight complex -- worrying that you are not worthy to help others because of your own flaws.

[elk9]

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.

Yeah, I laughed too much when they go see the nurse after the lemon-lubricant scene and Emi says it's good she's on a wheelchair so that she won't have to explain why she's walking funny. Then when Hisao mentions he's glad the nurse is kind enough not to comment on the marks on his shlouders or
Emi constantly shifting about in her wheelchair. The scene was pretty funny.

[Bara]

Damn, after reading 15 pages of this thread every time I see the words "Emi's father"; the "Dead Parrot" skit by Monty Python flashes in my mind.

Finally got through all the different paths in my meandering and leisurely way, and can state with no reservations that Emi's arc is the one I enjoyed the most. I don't think I can praise THM's writing any better than others have already done, or more thoughtfully analyze how well he crafted his story. I'll leave it to say, Well Done!

If THM ever gets around to my part of the world the drinks are on me; your money is no good around me!

[A ghost...]

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.

Yea "ew it's icky poo!! let's never do that again,mmkay?"

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Ever think there are folks (both gay and straight who LIKE doing that? no offense but that and some of how the development team handled the other sex scenes made them come off as a bunch of basement dwellers who've never seen a woman (or man) in a sexual manner.

I agree a lot of things happen with the euro scenes so it's best not to shut them off but,damn,some of them are starting to grate at me.

And BTW the way they did it-all wrong! just lube up and j-j-j-jam it in? yeesh no wonder she was sitting funny after.

[Sephiru]

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.

Yea "ew it's icky poo!! let's never do that again,mmkay?"

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Ever think there are folks (both gay and straight who LIKE doing that? no offense but that and some of how the development team handled the other sex scenes made them come off as a bunch of basement dwellers who've never seen a woman (or man) in a sexual manner.

I agree a lot of things happen with the euro scenes so it's best not to shut them off but,damn,some of them are starting to grate at me.

And BTW the way they did it-all wrong! just lube up and j-j-j-jam it in? yeesh no wonder she was sitting funny after.

I actually saw this as emphasizing Emi's girlishness and immaturity. A lot of people appear to be saying "omg what a slut" because she likes sex and seems to jump right in. But if she knew more about it, she would have went about it differently, or maybe had a better understanding of why it didn't go exactly the way she wanted. I thought this scene actually turned to the facet of her personality that is her childish, playful, and naive side.
I don't think it was actually putting down anal. It's just not Emi's cup of tea, at least not according to her first experience with it. It didn't go so well, but the fact that she took that experience to heart means that she didn't know a lot about it in the first place. A child experimenting. To me, that's the cute side of Emi that everyone seems to think vanished, but it's right there.

[Nyarly]

Ever think there are folks (both gay and straight who LIKE doing that?

Ever think there are folks (both gay and straight) who don't like doing that? They actually exist. Shocking I know.

Besides, they were both completely inexperienced in that regard had no real idea what they were doing. Of course, they did it wrong. This is not your ordinary eroge where everybody is a sex god, regardless of actual experience.

[urishima]

Damn, after reading 15 pages of this thread every time I see the words "Emi's father"; the "Dead Parrot" skit by Monty Python flashes in my mind.

You Sir are an evil person

Oh who am I kidding! Someone make a fancomic of that STAT!

[Xaviour]

Perhaps it doesn't matter so much - but all this speculation about the death of Emi's father is all very plausible. Originally, when I read the lines "My dad died on the way to the hospital", I thought that her father had died on the way to the hospital after hearing about his daughter's accident. Now I realise that she might mean that the accident which took her legs happened on the way to the hospital, in which her dad was involved.

Personally, I 'prefer' the first option (not because I'm a horrible person, I just think it strikes as the most dramatic )
If her dad died on the way to help her, then that would suggest that she blames herself for her dad's death.

Again, this really shouldn't bother anyone so much, but I'd still like this to be cleared up. Some thought must've gone into it. Perhaps we might hear from one of the developers. (hint hint)

[MoonShadow]

I think you got it wrong... I think that Emi and her dad were in the same accident, probably her dad was driving, and that both of them didn't die from the accident. Emi got out with only losing her legs, while her father suffered grievous wounds and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

[Bagheera]

I find the fixation on Emi's sexuality to be somewhat baffling. Teens have sex. It's what they do. Since Emi's older than most of the rest of the cast it's only natural that she'd be more forward about that than the rest. That's how well-adjusted people work. And of course, once you're sexually active you probably want to experiment a little; given all the hype and general destigmatiztion of anal these days it's not really a stretch that she'd want to try it.

Anyway, that said I found Emi to be probably the most complex and interesting character in the game. Her mix of playfulness and determination, her sexuality, the contrast of her appearance and her age, her tragic past that very much does not define her, and her relentless good humor made her route a joy to read. Yeah, Hisao's failure to grasp the truth about her dad was criminally stupid, but I think that was the route's only flaw. Everything else -- and particularly those eyes! -- was grade A awesomesauce.

[Bara]

Damn, after reading 15 pages of this thread every time I see the words "Emi's father"; the "Dead Parrot" skit by Monty Python flashes in my mind.

You Sir are an evil person

Oh who am I kidding! Someone make a fancomic of that STAT!

Nah, I'm totally not evil compared to some old hands on the forums.

http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=1753

[Hemka]

Just finished Emi's route (Hanako and Shizune beforehand). I'll try not to spoil those accidentally.

I love Emi's route. Probably because it actually felt like I was in a relationship, whereas Hanako and Shizune much less so. Actually spending time together to spend time together, kissing (Did Hisao actually kiss Shizune at anypoint before the 2nd sex scene??), and yes sex. I was sad it was short, but it was a lot of fun, Rin's interactions were hilarious. "I NEED TO BORROW YOUR WINDOW." "Can we put pants on first?" And when Hisao finally got her alone on the roof (thanks Rin!) and finally broke through Emi's amazingly well practiced defenses, and she finally confessed her love, I cried. Tears of happyness. The scene at the graveyard was almost unnecessary from a character development standpoint, but obviously needed to happen to tie everything up. And the ending scene with them curled up together and her thanking him to stick around was great I had feelings like that with my wife, when we were dating. "This just feels right."

I haven't read this whole thread, so I might be duplicating, but as far as Emi's hornyness is concerned I think it makes sense. She is someone who doesn't want to get close to people, but still likes companionship. Sex is an easy way to go about that, and it's not like a lot of boys are going to turn it down. She can get physical enjoyment, make her partner feel good, and have that false intimacy that sex can provide. I assume that she was sexual with her previous boyfriend that didn't last, so jumping into it with Hisao isn't such a huge stretch. The scene in the shed is just some exploration after talking with her gay friend. "HEY Let's try new things!" type attitude. Definitely not a healthy view on sex, but one I think fits with her character. And now she has Hisao, so yay!

Next I think Lilly, which from what I've seen here and there is a hard left-turn from Emi's route...

[malayayu]

I kinda figured that Emi, not wanting to become emotionally closer to Hisao because of her fear of being unable to move forward if she loses someone again, rushes into sex because she feels that it's the only way to make sure that they stay together. She might believe that her last relationship failed because of the lack of emotional intimacy and thus tries to make up for it with Hisao by being "slutty" as the others would call it.

Well, I dunno >_> I'm just glad it didn't turn into an NTR with the track captain

[Tualha]

(Sorry if I'm repeating things, it's up to 16 pages and I don't have time.)

Great storyline, even more wrenching than the Lilly and Hanako ones. She seems so superficial and carefree at first, unrealistically casual about sex, and you gradually realize what terrible pain she's in, and that all her casualness is just an avoidance mechanism. Totally believable character development.

Ditto to what everyone else said about the big secret being incredibly obvious, and Hisao being incredibly obtuse. Actually, seeing how hard Emi was taking it, I had the horrifying thought that maybe her father wasn't in a cemetery; maybe he was in a hospital, and had been in a persistent vegetative state ever since the accident. That would be a lot harder on her, I think, and more painful on her visits. But then she probably would visit more often than once a year...

Did anyone else get the impression that Emi's mom and the nurse might be dating?

Hilarious when Rin walks in on them. They didn't lock the door - and the blinds weren't drawn, and she's on the ground floor! Well, for that matter, I gather they didn't use a condom after Rin left, either. Reckless youth...

Nice that for once Hisao can have sex without risking his life, due to all the running. Only path where that happens, I bet.

Oh yeah: everyone who keep saying "slut", please see this:

[newnar]

I jus finished Emi arc last night. The only arc I played before was Hanako's and I really had a hard time changing arc because I played Hanako's naturally withou using any walkthrough, and it was so damn good I just felt like a complete douchebag to even attempt another route. But I finally gave in to curiousity(I'm so sorry Hanako), and decided to play the Emi arc since I thought Emi was the girl was the most un-mytype one of the rest.

To say the truth, I really am surprised at how fast Emi got into sex and how much sex there was in the entire arc. Having only experienced Hanako's arc where the sex was wrong to say the least, I was quote taken back by Emi's initiative at the whole thing. But I'm not saying that it's bad, or Emi's bad because of this. Maybe she just has her own way of dealing with things. I don't discriminate.

Overall, the Emi arc feels very sweet, very normal relationship with the normal share of problems. I don't really consider her PTSD a PTSD because normal people in normal relationships get that too. It really is just a plot device commonly used in romance stories. So to me, Emi's arc is more or less like dating a perfectly normal girl. This doesn't make it anything less than other arcs though, being normal is a good quality in itself.