Was Lilly's route intended to be the "right" one?

[Dr. Robotnik]

It just seems like it, because her route was the longest, had no bad ending, and had the most closure. Plus, as Hisao himself pointed out in a different post, Hanako turned out better in Lilly's route than in her own, and the Lilly/Shizune issue was resolved in this route and not Shizune's (where nothing seemed to be accomplished). Except for Emi and Rin, this seemed like the best route for everyone. So, was it intended to be that way, or is that just my opinion?

[Mirage_GSM]

None of the routes was intended to be the "right" one. This has been confirmed by the devs multiple times.
Also, Lilly's route does have a bad ending, and I don't think it's the longest one.
Not sure what you mean by "most closure." I don't think Shizune's or Emi's routes for example had any less.

[Dr. Robotnik]

There was a neutral ending, but no bad ending. As for the closure part, we know that they're going to be together after high school, and we can't say that about anyone else (especially Shizune). It just seemed to be a million times more rewarding than any of the other ones.

[Mirage_GSM]

Whether you call it neutral or bad is wholly subjective.
I'd consider my girlfriend leaving me to live overseas pretty bad...
How do we know they'll be together after High School any more than with the other girls? With Shizune we at least know they're together until graduation. All other paths end in the summer.
As for rewarding - also subjective. I felt that way about Emi's end.

[txalolrn9]

Manly Picnic is the canon ending.

[Althamus]

Whether you call it neutral or bad is wholly subjective.

I'd argue that Lilly's 'bad' ending and Emi's 'bad' endings were the least bad of the others.

Major spoilers for Shizune/Hanako: The worst case scenario in these ones is that the couple break up, which is admittedly bad, but it's a healthy breakup and there're no hard feelings afterwards. Shizune's bad ending ends with her breaking up with Hisao and basically deciding to shun close contact with people because she feels she isn't good enough to have friends, despite the fact that the thing which caused her to feel that way wasn't her fault. Hanako's neutral ending basically ends with Hanako deciding to give up her personality and follow Hisao around like a dog, and her bad ending leads to her going Hulk rage, throwing Hisao out of her room, and stating that she hates him and Lilly (her only friends) and basically also ending up Forever Alone. Not played Rin's ending yet, but tbh, those all seem like far, far worse endings than simple "well, sorry things didn't work out. No hard feelings?"

and the Lilly/Shizune issue was resolved in this route and not Shizune's (where nothing seemed to be accomplished).

It was?

Plus, as Hisao himself pointed out in a different post

O_O HISAO IS ON THE FORUMS? I knew KS was real after all... brb booking my plane ticket to Japan and finding Yamaku

But yea, there's no canon route. Why would there be?

[Dr. Robotnik]

and the Lilly/Shizune issue was resolved in this route and not Shizune's (where nothing seemed to be accomplished).

It was?

Yeah, remember toward the end when Lilly was using the brailler to help Hisao with student council work, and Shizune patted Lilly's back while she worked? "Years of communication happened in those few minutes".

Plus, as Hisao himself pointed out in a different post

O_O HISAO IS ON THE FORUMS?

Here's the full post. Here's the specific section I was talking about:

2) Hanako was better in Lilly's path?
Okay, this one is pretty weird. By the end of Lilly's path, Hanako turned out more social than in her own path. It seems like she does better when I'm with Lilly, than with her. How sad. I thought she liked me. This also kind of goes with my previous point of not really getting into Hanako's story.

[Rivan]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No!

There's no true route. No canon route. Just no. There rarely if ever is such a thing in games with practically equal multiple endings, yet there are people who always think one route was intended to be better and truer than the others.

It is not.

It also isn't the best for everyone.
Hisao goes through a lot of stress and angst due to Lilly showing the apparent capability of leaving him.
Also, he is FAR less healthy in Lilly's route than in Emi's, quite a bit less than in Shizune's... Given Rin's and Hanako's personalities, I'd assume his level of healthiness is the same with them, and more frequent heart attacks are the writer's idea.

Neither Rin nor Emi receive much closure. Shizune mostly makes up with Lilly on her own because she believes Lilly won't be coming back. It's never explicitly stated that they will get along once Lilly decides to stay in Japan.

All right, I'll admit Misha is fine, because she can say to Lilly her true feelings about working together with her (rather than just translating Shizune's), and she doesn't get a haircut. We also get to see her original hair

But poor Miki Miura doesn't even appear in the route! She does in Hanako's and Emi's, but not here!

So, don't go deciding things on your own that everyone's at their happiest!

Gosh, never thought I'd have to point out this many "bad things" about Lilly's route. I'm going to commit Seppuku now.

[GaseousMask]

Hanako turned out better in Lilly's route than in her own?

That might not be the case. Remember, if we were calculating time passed, Hanako's story arc would be the shortest. Remember that it ends shortly after her birthday and even before Lilly comes back from Scotland. In Lilly's route (which ended during summer break), she was still ultra shy before Lilly came back. It wasn't until after their 3 day vacation in Hokkaido when Hanako started opening up and making new friends (probably inspired by Hisao's and Lilly's relationship) and hell, even to go traveling (I did not expect that at all). So, IMO, Hanako ended up better in her story arc (if it went on longer) if not the same as Lilly's arc. I mean, traveling to the city alone and also mustering up the courage to kiss in public? That's pretty big, especially for Hanako.

[Megumeru]

Cannon route? Lilly's? Nah.
You want cannon? Go to a museum of natural history or something.

other than that...

it's shizune's. Shii-hael!

[atomedge]

Hisao goes through a lot of stress and angst due to Lilly showing the apparent capability of leaving him.

Not near the stress and angst I felt when she left. My first try with Lilly's story was the bad/neutral ending. As I answered questions and made actions as I would do them, imagine my horror when she left and that was it.

I actually fell in love with Lilly during my first time to play, in which I was persuing Hanako.

[Nekken]

Officially, there is no canon ending: any of them could have happened. But it is true that Lilly's ending seems to "stick" in people's minds more often than the others do.

I think a lot of that, though, is stylistic. Each path had a different author, and some seem to have been happier with their roles than others.

[The_Thing]

I would have to say that Lilly's is the right one. After all, I got the good ending and put some honesty into most of my replies.

[Dr. Robotnik]

I got the good ending the first time because I never felt the need to lie to her. There was no reason to, she's very compassionate with only my best interest in mind, and she's not the type to gossip.

[TamagoTwo]

Lilly's ending is more "cliche" in that its how you think it should end if it was a movie, happy for mostly everyone or at least indifferent to the other characters. I think people think this though because Hanako comes out of her shell on her own and seems to find herself quite well, and the other girls are functional enough to carry on as they were. To me, it felt like Hanako's ending was the "true" one because she was the most changed through your contact with her. I know that isn't true though, but its just one reason she's my favourite girl.