An ongoing play through Rin's arc

[horizon]

Rin was down with a cold so Hisao got it in his head to pay her a visit. He found her in her room drug-addled and half-undressed. Some distressing yet hilarious awkwardness ensued. He went on to tell her that he's trying to drop the angst and apologized for pushing her to go for that art exhibition. Then she surprise-kissed him before falling asleep. Only to end up forgetting all of it by the morning. 0.o

...

On the next day after school, Rin invited Hisao to accompany her on a hill blooming with flowers. So that's where the dandelion in the cinematic came from. Anyway, once there she suddenly hit him with a veritable flash flood of words. It was as if she was trying to relieve herself of years of pent up frustration from struggling to express her thoughts in speech, all in a single nonstop barrage.

After Hisao got her to slow down, he told her what had happened the previous day. Rin didn't look at all upset by that revelation though. She then told him that she'd never had any friends, which led to the latest point of decision. Having Hisao point himself out as a friend of hers seemed like the obvious choice to me. He would then go on to decide to quit the art club, while Rin made up her mind about allowing her paintings be put on display.

And with the end of that scene, Act 2 was concluded.


Looking back at the story so far, I find it quite good. It's been both entertaining and thought provoking, and does a nice job easing the often downbeat atmosphere with bouts of absurd comedy. It feels less straight forward than say, Lily's path, and at times a bit overwhelming with Rin's quirkiness, but I don't really mind that.

[Dawnstorm]

Just a quick post to say it's interesting to see an ongoing playthrough. Rin's the person I identify with most in all the game. Heh. I'm not going to say too much for fear of spoiling things. One thing:

I had to make a decision right away, but all three options meant encouraging her to have her works put on display. Out of those choises I elected to telling her that she should do it anyway just because she can. Hisao made a jerk of himself at wording it, calling her wishy-washy. She didn't like that and left. -_-

There are more than three choices, here, but you can't get them all in one playthrough. I'm not sure I've seen them all, but in all the ones I've seen Hisao makes a jerk of himself and Rin walks away. You do get to see lots of different sides of Rin, though, so it's worth it.

[Enemy |]

That's a famous part of the game, since there are six options available (though only three show up depending on your precious choices), and they're all basically the same.

[horizon]

Thank you for all who have been showing interest in this playthrough. It's comforting to know that someone out there might be bothered to read the stuff I write here.


Anyway, on to begin Act 3!

Rin got to meet the gallery owner, and somehow Hisao ended up tagging along. It turned out that she'd have to skip school and work long days in an atelier to make enough new paintings for an exhibition, and Nomiya was quick to use his station to make that possible. Knowing of Rin's unhealthy tendency to neglect eating and rest and the way she pushed herself to extremes while painting the mural, my reaction to this development was that it could be very bad for her. Nothing I could do but hope for the best though.

...

On Rin's last day in school, Hisao went to see her. He found her alone and asleep in the classroom, and ended up watching her sleep, which was quite amusing given how she had speculated that he "was one of those guys who likes to watch sleeping girls". That was a pretty sentimental scene, especially when she shed some tears in her sleep. Hisao also noticed that her dreaming expression was similar to when she was focused on painting, and took it to mean that he couldn't ever hope to grasp how she experiences her art.

...

Rin got started on her artwork, and Hisao was left feeling anxious and missing her company. He talked with Emi and Nomiya, and then realized that his feelings must be because he wishes to be a part of Rin's life - but in what way? Decision making time!

Presented a choice between wanting either to understand or to support her, I selected the former option. While supporting Rin would be a nice thing to do, it'd also be less interesting than trying to learn more about her. And although the point that Hisao can't really hope to understand her has been repeatedly made, there's also the point about doing something you "can't" because you can. That probably won't help Hisao, but meh. I want to see where this takes him.

[Sperance]

Oh, boy. You're actually getting to the most emotional part of the route. Brace yourself, this is going to be hard. Also, I know you said no spoilers, but here's a bit of advice: Blaming Rin is NOT a good idea.

[horizon]

Oh man >.<

So, I got to the scene where Hisao went to visit Rin at the atelier, and realized that he wants to be more than friends. He confessed his feelings to her, only to be rejected - kind of. Rather than flat out saying that she's not interested, Rin told him she doesn't want talk about the subject. Which is in some ways worse, as it left poor Hisao wondering what exactly she meant by that. As he was leaving, dismayed, she asked that he'd come to see her again the next day.

Why would she act in this way? Is she too unsure of her own feelings to give a more definite answer? Or maybe she feels she's not ready to enter a relationship for the time being? With Rin it's really hard to try and guess what her motives might be.

Anyway, that was the most intensely emotional scene in this arc so far. The melancholy in it was palpable.

...

The downbeat atmosphere continued on in the next scene, with Hisao returning to the atelier as promised. For some reason or other, she asked him whether he really is a friend to her, which he confirmed.

Whatever her feelings for him may be, it would seem that Rin does want to see Hisao to keep paying visits.

...

Things would remain unresolved for a long while, as the story skips forward in time. On one of his now routinely visits, Hisao brought oranges for Rin. He'd have to peel and slice them for her and she'd eat the slices from his hand, which was quite cute.

With this scene the mood became uplifted again, although I suspect it's just calm before yet another storm. Rin's path sure feels like it's full of bumps and breaks.

[horizon]

Also, I know you said no spoilers, but here's a bit of advice: Blaming Rin is NOT a good idea.

Please don't do this. Making decisions blindly is a big part of the experience, and one of the reasons I'm motivated to write these posts here. If you can't resist the temptation of posting such advice in this thread then at least put it inside spoiler tags.

[Sperance]

Also, I know you said no spoilers, but here's a bit of advice: Blaming Rin is NOT a good idea.

Please don't do this. Making decisions blindly is a big part of the experience, and one of the reasons I'm motivated to write these posts here. If you can't resist the temptation of posting such advice in this thread then at least put it inside spoiler tags.

I see, I apologize. Though, well, it is a pretty vague clue nothing too direct. Sorry again for that

[horizon]

Apology accepted ^_^

We all make mistakes sometimes, and I don't think you meant any harm.

[Enemy |]

That part is kinda confusing for Hisao, yes. But you'll understand what's going on soon enough.

[Devilfire]

I've always enjoyed Rin's arc for this specific reason. You're going to get the feels in the end. My second favorite arc and girl.

[Titus]

I always felt Hisao just joined because he was moderately interested in Rin (not necessarily in a relationship way just in a curiosity kinda way).

Partly this. Hisao was interested in Rin because Rin was so detached and carefree from the world that even though she has no arms (a fate as worse as being blind IMO) she didn't quite care. Something inside Hisao wanted that feeling, that attitude that could make him comfortable with his arrhythmia.

That was kinda the basis of the attraction, and that Rin didn't treat Hisao's disability as an awful thing, but something interesting."It's the best part about you"...something like that.

[horizon]

Time for a new update!

So, it turned out that Rin had lost her inspiration to paint. In a strange and appropriately Rin-esque fashion, she decided that she'll have to "destroy" herself in order to recover - by smoking cigarettes whilst lying on the atelier floor with Hisao. The experiment didn't seem to do much for her, although Hisao for his part was content enough to spend the evening in her company.

He then managed to talk her into going for a nightly walk with him, due to a far-fetched idea that a stroll along the empty city streets would be like escapism for her and could possibly restore her ability to paint. After a long while of aimless wandering and a conversation over snacks, they returned to Sae's gallery, where Rin suddenly told Hisao that she didn't want to see him for a while. Even more unexpectedly, she offered to let him touch her for a farewell. Which he did, noticing a subtle hint of happiness on her expression. Thus the already erratic scene culminated in a particularly odd cocktail of sadness, confusion and awkward intimacy.

As if things hadn't been frustrating enough for Hisao already :/

...

He simply could not get Rin out of his mind, so after a few days Hisao went to visit her anyway, only to chicken out at last minute. By chance he ended up meeting Sae and Nomiya. From their remarks it appeared that Rin had been hard at work again lately. Nomiya began talking about how he thinks Rin might be facing a life-changing moment where she must find the will to become a professional artist. He mentioned that he'd tried that route himself but turned away from it.

Now, I was given options either to ask if that's why he's so supporting of Rin, or to ask for the reason he didn't become an artist. I chose the latter question.

Nomiya revealed that in his youth he'd had a particularly talented artist for a friend, one that had committed suicide for reasons he wouldn't go into. That's why he'd determined to become an art teacher instead. Not a very reassuring thing to hear about when you're already worried for Rin due to her overworking and all that talk about needing to self-destruct <.<

...

Climbing up to the atelier, Hisao found himself in a thoroughly awkward situation as he walked in on Rin trying to pleasure herself. However, it quickly became apparent that there was more going on than that. She was shivering cold with a fever and moved to brink of tears, broken. Hisao couldn't bear to leave her there in that condition, nor to stay around and not do anything, so he embraced her. Very surprisingly, she asked him to finish what she'd began, even though it meant their relationship would never be the same again.

That was quite a peculiar lead-up to a sex scene, but one that somehow worked better than I'd expect. The scene itself felt decidedly subdued. Possibly because all there was to it was Hisao fingering Rin, probably also because of why they'd ended up doing it. That said, it didn't have the uncomfortable air that Hanako's sex scene had about it.

In the end the two of them fell asleep on the floor. Hopefully there won't be many regrets come the morning.

[horizon]

Partly this. Hisao was interested in Rin because Rin was so detached and carefree from the world that even though she has no arms (a fate as worse as being blind IMO) she didn't quite care. Something inside Hisao wanted that feeling, that attitude that could make him comfortable with his arrhythmia.

That looks like a good explanation to me. His interest would have been subconscious, something that he wasn't really aware of.

[mysterycycle]

Climbing up to the atelier, Hisao found himself in a thoroughly awkward situation as he walked in on Rin trying to pleasure herself. However, it quickly became apparent that there was more going on than that. She was shivering cold with a fever and moved to brink of tears, broken. Hisao couldn't bear to leave her there in that condition, nor to stay around and not do anything, so he embraced her. Very surprisingly, she asked him to finish what she'd began, even though it meant their relationship would never be the same again.

That was quite a peculiar lead-up to a sex scene, but one that somehow worked better than I'd expect. The scene itself felt decidedly subdued. Possibly because all there was to it was Hisao fingering Rin, probably also because of why they'd ended up doing it. That said, it didn't have the uncomfortable air that Hanako's sex scene had about it.

That's interesting - I think I felt just as uncomfortable about this scene with Rin as the other one you mentioned, probably just because Rin appeared to me to be in such an abject state of misery. I wonder if it would have made things worse if Hisao walked out right then instead of helping her - I suspect that it would have - but of course one can't discount Hisao's desire for her, either. Part of what made me feel badly about it was that I wasn't sure whether Hisao was taking advantage of Rin's vulnerability because he wanted her, which reminded me of my conflicting feelings about the Hanako sex scene; the other part was that I wasn't sure if it was best for Rin, or if it was just going to make things worse. Entirely possible that I was White Knighting again - you'd think I'd learn my lesson after Hanako - but the line between that and compassion can be mighty thin, and I couldn't help but worry about Rin...