Katawa Shoujo Forums

FelOnyx wrote:I remember it was said somewhere that one of Misha's reasons for wanting to go to Yamaku was to get away from bullying elsewhere to a place she thought would be more tolerant, but I can't remember if that was actually in the VN or just something someone said on the Forums. It does make sense though. Either way, she wasn't sent to Yamaku, but chose to go, and whatever her secondary reasons were, the main one was to learn Sign Language.

Misha directly states that she was bullied at her old school.

Edit: Sorry, sorry. Mistype. Changed Bullies to bullied.

Broomhead wrote:

FelOnyx wrote:I remember it was said somewhere that one of Misha's reasons for wanting to go to Yamaku was to get away from bullying elsewhere to a place she thought would be more tolerant, but I can't remember if that was actually in the VN or just something someone said on the Forums. It does make sense though. Either way, she wasn't sent to Yamaku, but chose to go, and whatever her secondary reasons were, the main one was to learn Sign Language.

Misha directly states that she was bullied at her old school.

Edit: Sorry, sorry. Mistype. Changed Bullies to bullied.

Ah, thanks, haven't done Shizune's in a while, forgot some things.

If I remember correctly, what Misha actually tells us about her past is that

1) She hated coming to Yamaku
2) She was hoping that everybody would leave her alone, and that this would be a big improvement over what she had before.

I don't think she says "bullied" in so many words, but the implication is pretty obvious.

My headcanon is that Misha fell in love with another girl, got outed, got bullied badly, and had to leave her school. Learning sign at Yamaku was the only way her family could afford a pritare school. But that's just my headcanon.

http://xkcd.com/1401/

Being a lesbian is not a disability so that could not be a justification for her presence at Yamaku.

Potato wrote:Being a lesbian is not a disability so that could not be a justification for her presence at Yamaku.

It depends on the basis of Yamaku's admissions. We do know that their primary basis is physical disability, not mental. However, there is a thread in Japanese conceptions of homosexuality which assigned it in the past to the category of congenital physical disorder. An interesting article to read can be found here

LINK—"The discourse on 'love between men' in interwar Japan: Iwata’s history of homosexuality".

It discusses the 'turn' in conceptualisation: "It is said that homosexuality is a congenital illness, but we learn from history, that in most cases, it posses a cultivated, environmental, occupational, or social basis…" Yasuda, the researcher quoted, is said to have used Japanese history as foil against a biologically determined conception of homosexuality.

brythain wrote:the past

Does Yamaku in modern times adhere to misconceptions of the past? Highly unlikely. Even if Yamaku had existed in that past, it would operate differently during the time of Misha's stay.

Potato wrote:

brythain wrote:the past

Does Yamaku in modern times adhere to misconceptions of the past? Highly unlikely. Even if Yamaku had existed in that past, it would operate differently during the time of Misha's stay.

There are places all over the world that do this for a variety of odd beliefs. Think about it. Look at Japanese society nowadays. Also, compare that to the kind of thing that happens in some parts of the US, if you like. Or any other 'modern' society. Bear in mind also that 'modern' refers to something like the last 300 years, and postmodern to anything after 1960.

Since we're talking about discrimination in Japan, THIS seems kind of relevant.


Japan has a real problem with being an old fuck culture. It's extremely slow to embrace new ideas and far behind on a lot of social issues. Due to this problem it is even more behind on certain civil rights issues than America, and there are noted problems with xenophobia. That said, Misha being sent to Yamaku specifically because she was a lesbian? I can't see that. Going there because she was applying for a specialized field and wanted to avoid discrimination? That makes sense.

Oddball wrote:The devs have said that something like that actually was the original idea for Misha. Her parents found out she was a lesbian and sent her to Yamaku as an attempt to cure her.

Then the devs realized that it was a stupid idea and dropped it.

Yeah, that wouldn't really make much sense. "Misha, your mother and I think it's high time you got over this whole 'lesbian' nonsense. So, we're going to send you off to a school for disabled children, where you'll live full-time in a dormitory surrounded by attractive young women, until you're cured. Wait...you seem a lot happier about this than we expected..."

El Zilcho wrote:

Oddball wrote:The devs have said that something like that actually was the original idea for Misha. Her parents found out she was a lesbian and sent her to Yamaku as an attempt to cure her.

Then the devs realized that it was a stupid idea and dropped it.

Yeah, that wouldn't really make much sense. "Misha, your mother and I think it's high time you got over this whole 'lesbian' nonsense. So, we're going to send you off to a school for disabled children, where you'll live full-time in a dormitory surrounded by attractive young women, until you're cured. Wait...you seem a lot happier about this than we expected..."

That is actually hilarious. I always thought that Misha was at Yamaku because she was learning sign language and nothing else.
Of course, at first I wondered what kind of disability does she have.

She is not missing any limbs. Doesn't seem scarred. She obviously isn't deaf-mute. Not blind either.
What does she have? Is it something mental? Then I thought it couldn't be, people with mental problems aren't admitted at Yamaku right?
Eventually I just assumed, she is here for the sign language. Of course! I felt pretty stupid... trying to pull a Poirot on her like that. It was disgusting.

El Zilcho wrote:Yeah, that wouldn't really make much sense. "Misha, your mother and I think it's high time you got over this whole 'lesbian' nonsense. So, we're going to send you off to a school for disabled children, where you'll live full-time in a dormitory surrounded by attractive young women, until you're cured. Wait...you seem a lot happier about this than we expected..."

Of course, if her parents did send her to Yamaku for such a reason, it means that her """problem""" is in her pants (..err, skirt). Which means that Rin has been looking in all the wrong places to complete her people collection...

.
.
.

Then again, she may have multiple entries in the GL/BL category and be bored with the whole thing. Who knows with Rin.

I am the only one a little surprised that Misha has no problems with the other students when she is not disabled ?
I'm not sure that everyone is happy to be there and a few might take badly the fact that she is there for no reason.

Learning sign language IS a reason. Not every school offers courses for that.
And why would other students - especially the deaf ones - object to healthy people wanting to teach their language?

Mirage_GSM wrote:And why would other students - especially the deaf ones - object to healthy people wanting to teach their language?

People get butthurt over nothing an awful lot.

Mirage_GSM wrote:Learning sign language IS a reason. Not every school offers courses for that.
And why would other students - especially the deaf ones - object to healthy people wanting to teach their language?

Well I don't say it would be a rational reaction, but disabled people are no necessarily more rational than the others.