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It wasn't overt like you'd expect in a typical relationship

You could say that their romance wasmuted.

Meatbag wrote:

It wasn't overt like you'd expect in a typical relationship

You could say that their romance wasmuted.

Just finished my first take of Shizune's Path. Although I didn't get the "good" ending. This also doesn't really feel like a bad end. The supposidly "Neutral" ends of some other paths felt more like a really bad end (though I assume they were just called by whoever makes the path guides). After finishing this post, I'll probably try for the good end, maybe with the help of a walkthrough (though I make it a rule to only use them, after I finished a path on my own, no matter the ending ^^").

After having finished nearly every path and also read the possible ending, I can say now that the only path I didn't really like was Emi's. After doing Emi's Shizune was even more enjoyable(especially the pace). I also liked how there was much more background info and things about different characters in this path! Not only on about Shizune and obviously Misha, but also Kenji and Yuuko, as well as Lilly or Shizune's family ore her relation to Lilly.

I also liked Misha very much - even more than before (when I only knew Act1 and didn't really get interested in Shizune, but thought Misha was funny/interesting). And as I thought she played a very important part. Even more than the other "friends" of the heroines in the other paths...
And of course, the reason why I didn't get the "good ending" was, that I wanted to comfort Misha, who felt equally important at that time, as Shizune... didn't realize Hisao would be so awkward at comforting...and didn't also expect THAT and afterwards Misha's confession! Sometimes it felt even like a Misha route, so I guess there wasn't really a need for the developers to make her a heroine, she already kind of is.

What I didn't like though, was, that there were some long pauses after some events and Hisao notice sometimes, but doesn't act on it (the others too, but that was maybe for other reasons). There were some issues, they could have at least discussed, even if they have been avoided by either some of the parties... that was kinda frustrating.

All in all, I really enjoyed it!

Raiel wrote:Just finished my first take of Shizune's Path. Although I didn't get the "good" ending. This also doesn't really feel like a bad end. The supposidly "Neutral" ends of some other paths felt more like a really bad end (though I assume they were just called by whoever makes the path guides). After finishing this post, I'll probably try for the good end, maybe with the help of a walkthrough (though I make it rule to only use them, after I tried a path on my own and finished it, no matter the ending ^^")

After having finished nearly every path and also read the possible ending, I can say now that the only path I didn't really like was Emi's. After doing Emi's Shizune was even more enjoyable(especially the pace). I also liked how there was much more background info and things about different characters in this path! Not only on about Shizune and obviously Misha, but also Kenji and Yuuko, as well as Lilly or Shizune's family ore her relation to Lilly.

I also liked Misha very much - even more than before (when I only knew Act1 and didn't really get interested in Shizune, but thought Misha was funny/interesting). And as I thought she played a very important part. Even more than the other "friends" of the heroines in the other paths...
And of course, the reason why I didn't get the "good ending" was, that I wanted to comfort Misha, who felt equally important at that time, as Shizune... didn't realize Hisao would be so awkward at comforting...and didn't also expect THAT and afterwards Misha's confession! Sometimes it felt even like a Misha route, so I guess there wasn't really a need for the developers to make her a heroine, she already kind of is.

What I didn't like though, was, that there were some long pauses after some events and Hisao notice sometimes, but doesn't act on it (the others too, but that was maybe for other reasons). There were some issues, they could have at least discussed, even if they have been avoided by either some of the parties... that was kinda frustrating.

All in all, I really enjoyed it!

It's only natural to want to comfort a friend that's going through a troubling time, but you have to remember that as far as VNs go, or anything anime related actually, comfort=having sex.

Why does Misha have to be a lesbian? :<

This path was enjoyable for me, but the relationship between Shizune and Hisao felt really odd and forced at some points. At the festival, it was suddenly "do you want to be my girlfriend?", then almost no romantic interactions for a while, then suddenly she bursts into his room at her house and ties him to a chair and has sex with him. After that, it's never really discussed, and then later on they have sex again, and it feels almost like a good ending formality.

That being said, it was still enjoyable, even the bad ending had some merit to it. Interesting, to say the least. Misha's sex scene felt forced and uncomfortable, but that was the point, so it portrayed the feelings of that scene really well.

I also felt a bit annoyed by the things panique mentioned. Also about how he didn't discuss/told about his illness. He was afraid early on, which was understandable. But Misha and Shizune said they can talk about it, when they were better friends and knew more about each other. But when they are better friends and Hisao always pointed out how close they are and friendship they share, he didn't really have a discussion. Only thought, that Shizune already knows (don't remember when he said that, or if it was just in the "neutral ending" path. Not to mention that his relationship with shizune. He just asked her out, she says yes, and thats it. It is not further discussed by them or Misha and they go on and later Shizune just binds him... though she made him unable to respond to her with sign language and avoided him later. Those unresolved issues and unanswered question are the only thing that still bothers me.

Played the "good ending" now. And I'm fine with it. But even after playing the good ending, I still like the neutral or "bad" end (let's use abrupt, because Hisao just flips out. even though - for him it wasn't THAT much different from the other route o.O). Maybe they are both neutral endings. Both kinda feel like some of those "true" endings in some VN, that are neither really good (or better "happy") and bad/sad. Though I knew there would be some differences, it's kinda weird. There was only one event that went differently, but it changed their conversation and also their reactions a little bit too much. At least I think so. Though maybe it's just their personalities which make it like this. ... Except for Hisao, who's kinda like a different person on each path and sometimes feels really random. But maybe that is the only way to let the plot flow and to distinguish the paths and endings.

Shizune's path also had also some of my favorite scenes like the "Tour" with Misha through the school or small scenes like Hideaki meeting Kenji - though it wasn't shown and only told. And also the best Kenji scenes xD

Also... I still don't know if I hate or love Jigoro XD

Quite satisfied analyzing this route over and over and over again; intrigues me so much for some reason and draws mw in deeper than most. True, i have to agree that Shizune's route isn't as forward as Emi, or is loaded with drama, tragedy, and angst like Rin, Hanako, and Lilly. To categorize it, it falls more on the 'slice of life' side of the genre than the regular drama/romance.

The romance between Shizune and Hisao too is worth noting as it not based on affections, but also heavily revolves around RESPECT between the two of them. Shizune might have or might have not known about Hisao's illness, but he doesn't wish to elaborate on it due to a certain memory--and she respects that. Instead, she showed him how disabilities does not stop them nor prevent them from living the normal lives and how she herself--even without the ability to express it through words--are capable of expressing it through actions (her signs). Rememer in her route where she or Misha mentioned that Sign language held more weight than average talk? That's because it is the language of action. And that makes their scene a lot more special for the two of them.

P.S. I am beginning to believe Shizune doesn't catch the moment when Hisqo muttered I love you at the end of her route as no one signs them (Both Misha and Hisao had their hands up), she's deaf, and most likely because Hisao knew that she knows his feelings for her, and that she trusts hi. Enough to understand that.





...good god I felt I spent too much time on this route.

Well, I played Shizune's route after Hanako, Emi and Rin's and right after Rins's path this one was mor lighthearted and less depressing ... at first.

But after seeing her bad end it was probably the most depressing for me so far (I haven't seen Hanako's bad end yet)
After playing the good end first it just was very sad for me to see Shizune losing both Misha and Hisao, when all she ever wanted ist to make friends and
also make people happy.
The CG at this Scene didn't help either.
For the good end, I feeled a little bit left hanging there, the end to this route came where unexpected without making anything clear.
Ok, they decided to stay friends and go their seperate paths but from the romantic view this looks kinda stupid that Hisao accepts that pretty much as a given.
But then not every ending should be "And they lifed happily ever after" so I think that maybe OK, even if it feels mor like a "neutral" ending than a "good" one.

This route was the most dissappointing out of all of them.

I immediately got the impression of her competitive character from the first Act, but chose to play her route last. Thank God.

It seemed that she became more obnoxious and controlling, or was it simply because we were seeing more of her? I felt more inclined towards Misha since I could always imagine that whilst Shizune didn't (couldn't) speak, Misha in a sense lost her own voice as she was always her interpreter, so no on knew where the real Misha began.

So many issues left unresolved, like why in the name of sanity did Jigoro think that he could get a tutor to get her to speak when she was deaf? How is she even normal living with a family that simply did not use sign language? That is one form of neglect really. Even Hideaki didn't learn sign language until Hisao was nearby. I mean, when you've got a father like that, no wonder she turned out the way she was.

I was hoping that Hisao would hear her real laugh in one touching scene, but all we got was a tiny giggle. The awkward sex scenes, with what felt like zero emotional content, and appearing from nowhere were just confusing.

What was worse was Hisao was also slowly becoming a 'jerkass' like Shizune and her dad, treating Lilly disrespectfully by clicking his fingers and even defending Shizune's crazy actions. That riled me up more than I wanted to admit.

The fact Misha cut her hair just before the first chair sex scene was telling, she realised she was losing Shizune to Hisao and wanted to do something radical to steer back onto Route Misha, only for it to backfire badly.

In fact, the best thing about playing this route last was the one scene which I had to put on youtube, since there was more emotion in that scene than all of Shizune's soul:



tl;dr

The sad thing was, too many questions were left unanswered, Hisao became a git, and not enough love.

NDT wrote:What was worse was Hisao was also slowly becoming a 'jerkass' like Shizune and her dad, treating Lilly disrespectfully by clicking his fingers and even defending Shizune's crazy actions. That riled me up more than I wanted to admit.

I don't remember Hisao doing that. I'm sure the only character who ever clicked her fingers in the entire game is Shizune. She liked the way people reacted to it, that is pissed off Lilly is just a bonus.

Guest wrote:I don't remember Hisao doing that. I'm sure the only character who ever clicked her fingers in the entire game is Shizune. She liked the way people reacted to it, that is pissed off Lilly is just a bonus.

He does that when going for the bad ending, in conversation with Lilly, one that doesn't happen when going for a good one.

Ah yes I also wondered about that scene (since I played the "bad" ending first). He was kind of rude/insensitive to her (much like shizune sometimes). But these are also some of the scenes I mentioned earlier. Shizune's path didn't have much scenes dealing with her relationship with Hisao, but instead had many dealing with other people (like Lilly, Kenji and most of all Misha). So it was more of a good point. For the path of course, not for Hisao... like someone in the forum posted: "anyone who can be evil towards Lilly doesn't have a soul" or something in the lines of that. While I felt that Lilly was one of the nicest and kindest girl, Shizune felt like the most rude and aggressive girl. I hoped she, as Lilly's rival would be more Tsundere to make more of a contrast.

And about Jigoro... well of course some deaf people are not that good at speaking. It takes a while to learn, and they some still have problems. Though this is another matter that was unresolved. That Shizune didn't make much sounds. Like laughter or cries. Maybe it was Jigoro's fault or something for her to be afraid to let her voice out (even in the sex scenes she didn't make much noise, though I would have imagined for her to let go then... but maybe that's just her personilty) And Hisao didn't talk with her much about serious issues (in contrary to some other paths).
Ah, for people who don't know - being deaf doesn't mean you have to be mute. I don't know/can't remember for sure, but nobody said that she was also mute for some reason. If you've ever had to deal with a deaf person, you'll know that they still make noises when they try to speak or are just conversing in their sign language. My old neighbor was the head of a deaf association in my region, his wife was deaf too. He could speak fairly well for a deaf person (also very good at lip reading), though there is a distinctive speach impairment you can recognize from most deaf. I though Shizune would at least make some noises or try to speak. But that didn't play much of a role in the plot. Maybe her dad is really at fault, and she just refuses to make any noise. Or the writers didn't think of it.

Shizune not talking or making noise makes sense to me: as a deaf person, she's probably aware that if she talks or makes noise, it would sound "off." Given her competitive personality and prideful nature, she probably doesn't want to embarass herself in that way. Her father, on the other hand, misinterprets it as laziness or defiance.

I thought the two H scenes were perfectly timed. One takes place during vacation, the other after she's finished her Student Council responsibilities. Given her studious and responsible nature, she's going to put her work first. It feels to me as if she was "rewarding herself" for a job well done.

The ending, I thought, was note-perfect. It makes more sense when you consider it in light of the events leading up to it: Shizune and Hisao are angsting over the fact that they're going to be graduating soon. Despite what VNs might imply, high school romances are not necessarily forever.

Here is the key to enjoying the route: everything important does not get said. It is never said that Hisao and Misha cheating made them guilty and drove them apart, or that Jigoro's jerkass nature is in some ways responsible for Shizune's overcompetitive personality. Another example: in Japanese culture, cutting your hair is a sign of wanting to change yourself: when a girl does it, it's often a sign that she's undergone a heartbreak and is trying to get over it (which was a warning sign to me when Misha showed up with short hair that there was some angst coming up). Stuff like that.

Well, just finished Shizune's, second to last of the paths I'm doing.

It was amazingly boring. As others have brought up in this thread, there was no conflict. It was...all top notch, art, word choice, and music wise, but...It was just boring.

Also, only one choice. The fuck's up with that? I mean yeah, on a meta level, it makes sense. The only choice you get is when Shizune is nowhere to be found, which ties in with her dominating personality. I guess the lesson here is that while it makes sense, it just left the route less satisfying.

The route, overall, gets a 4/5. Above average, but below true superiority.