I originally started a new thread but I read the rules so I'll post in here instead, sorry
I figured well its "random KS discussion" so its as good as any to post in
Phew, this is going to be quite long, so bear with me....
Hey Guys (and girls
)
This is KatawaHaremGod, and I don't know where else to put this but I don't really want to necro 2 year old threads and I'll just post here, sorry.
I vaguely knew of this game from 2012 when it came out but at the time I had no interest in it and I saw it was from 4chan and I was like LOL never mind
. Life went on with its ups and downs until just 2 weeks ago, I was on a nighttime internet binge and I saw this game be reviewed on some website, I read the character intros, especially for Hanako and for some reason I broke down in tears
. I'm actually a highly sensitive person, but in order to function in this world I had to suppress my feelings and emotions behind a wall of cynicism (like a less-crazy Kenji
) . I saw the crap that te world is going through, climate change, Trump
, Syria
all that sh*t and I became VERY jaded and cynical, if only to prevent my heart from feeling feelings of sympathy for anyone or anything. My attitude was "the world is going to sh*t anyway, might as well f*** everything up and let it all burn. "
On my other internet forum where I frequent (pm me to know me there
), I played up this image of being a harem and pr0n-obsessed otaku who was totally unashamed and openly perverted to any and all females in any game or anime I could get my grubby hands on. In real life, though, I was angry a lot of the time, lashing out at waitresses, screaming at telemarketers, I was not in a good state. Then, the game I vaguely remember and then totally forgot, Katawa Shoujo, came up and made me FEEL EMOTIONS again, after I had suppressed them for who knows how long. I used to cry a lot when I was a kid, but because I was bullied for it I learned to "suck it up"
and enveloped my empathetic heart in a wall of steely cynicism. It took one look at a review of Katawa Shoujo and a quick read of the character descriptions for me to break down in a hail of tears.
I HADN'T EVEN PLAYED THE GAME YET and I was already crying like a baby. Why? Probably because it was 4 AM and I was getting cranky and a little drunk,
but seriously, Hanako's description (and the descriptions of the other girls) not so much tagged my heartstrings as ripped them to shreds. I sobbed for a good 15-20 minutes just trying and failing to read the review.
I then knew I HAD to play it, since it was, well, free!
I went on youtube to just get a quick peek of what I was heading to (no spoilers) and I saw the 5 animations by Mike Inel, listened to the music and the animations, and I thought "oh, what a beautiful, innocent world with 5(6) beautiful girls..." and I bawled AGAIN for like 10 minutes. It really felt like all the emotions I had stored up over the years and shut in my heart were coming out. I didn't even cry so much at my grandma's funeral, and here I was bawling my eyes out over a video game I HADN'T EVEN PLAYED YET!
Yeah, it was that bad.
Then I finally downloaded and started playing it.
I hear "Wisnoa" BAM! tears start welling up again! NO! I have to at least start playing the damn game!
So, I did, and... I got the Manly picnic
At least I laughed.
I kinda needed that comic relief. Though the splatter ending was kinda nasty sounding
but I was like "YES 4Leaf studios king troll was awesome but won't do again"
So, I used a gamefaqs guide (I REALLY didn't want Kenji's end again, though I admit it was
and I kinda needed to laugh a bit tbh) to get on Shizune's route, because I lurked this forum and found out (without reading spoilers) that Shizune's route was the least popular, so I figured "well let's go from least to most"
I actually ended up enjoying Shizune's slower paced, slice-of-life route.
While I didn't quite click with her on a romantic level (Misha was my girl in that route!
) her competitiveness was endearing, and that smug look she gives you with her glasses is quite cute tbh.
I also found her quite pretty and the most "Asian-looking" of the girls due to her dark hair and eyes. I got the good ending first,
because I kinda figured something was up when Misha said "are you thinking something dirty?" and I was like "uh no I like you but I *shouldn't* cheat". Then, however, Misha's lesbianism frankly shocked me into tears. So her cheerful happiness was only a facade, like my jaded cynicism. God, I cried like hell when she admitted her unrequited love for Shizune. Anyway, I DID save at the choice and I was like "well, let's go down the other way" and BAM Creepy H-scene with Misha, and lonely Shizune was also depressing as hell Toy cat was still in her bag, what the hell man One random thing though was why would a cafe that sells a "turkey sandwich" have a Chinese name like "Shanghai?" Also, I don't think turkey sandwiches are common (or cheap) in Japan, in my headcanon I changed it to "Ten-Soba" (Tempura Soba, I originally thought Udon but hey Sendai is in Eastern Japan so it should be Soba
) if you don't mind
.
(One more random thought: Should the Yamaku students speak Tohoku-ben rather than standard Japanese? Seeing as its in Sendai and all... Oh, and should Date Masamune make an appearance!
He built Sendai, after all
)
Hideaki was hilarious
, Jigoro seemed like an asshole but I think he would fit quite well in a more action-packed series.
I actually wouldn't mind a little prelude for him in his youth, see why he's like he is now.
(and include lots of katana action
)
So I finished up Shizune, and I'm like "well if thats the LEAST popular and I still liked it, that means I'll REALLY like the rest of the game!"
Again, using the gamefaqs guide, I did Emi as my second route, because the forum said she was a good "beginner" character and after Shizune Emi was quite refreshing
. She was cute and playful and open, but
her problems with attachment and her dead dad did hit home ANAL was AWESOMELY hilarious though . I laughed quite a lot in her route, especially when Rin ran into their room in their first H-scene that was great . I purposely got Emi's bad end first, to get it out of the way, Damn, using her smile as a wall reminded me of myself then I re-loaded the Misha part (because I wanted to see her again! ) and got the good ending. I did get "both" good endings (the other going through her mom) but I liked the one where you run after her on the track better. I bawled like a baby at the graveside ending and then laughed at the final H-scene I really liked Emi's route, and I really did fall for her loli twintail charms and her simple yet strong character
Then, I decided to do Hanakos, the one that got me bawling even just reading her description
However, when Emi crashed into Hisao the first time again, my heart FLUTTERED and I had a tear in my eye
but I'm like "I'm sorry, Emi... I love you... but I gotta play the other routes first....
Oh god, the feels came thick and heavy with this one
Hanako's theme song, her party where she was holding her presents, her description of the fire, I felt REALLY unhappy at her H-scene though, it made me sad rather than aroused.... the hug she and Lilly had during her party, OMG THE BAD ENDING The neutral ending was slightly better for me (I prefer friendzone over outright hatred) And the GOOD ENDING!!!! Made me so happy . I was already sobbing when "innocence" was playing and Hanako fell sobbing to the ground in the park, I was sobbing and then when Hisao went behind her to hug her I cried like mad. I felt REALLY good afterwards though
I haven't completed the game yet, I have already saved at the flag to go to Lilly's route (while doing Hanako's) so I guess I'll do that next, and I guess Rin is last? Well, I need a few days to recover from Hanako's route just like I took a break of a few days from Emi's (I jumped straight into Emi's route from Shizune though
)
So far....
I like Shizune as a friend, she's hardworking and can be fun at times but knows how to keep you focused. As a girlfriend though? Probably not.
Emi was great.
In my IRL life, I could stand to start doing more exercise, and if Emi was with me it'll be so much better
. She's cute and though she has some mental barriers, if you respect her boundaries and make the right push, she's yours for life
.
Hanako....
I just want to hug her. I'll trust her to come out of her shell, but when she does, I want to be there to hug her and tell her she's precious and lovely and beautiful.
That said, IRL my best girlfriend so far would probably be Emi.
I still want to be close friends with Hanako, Shizune and Misha, but so far (haven't played Rin or Lilly yet, though Lilly's next because I saved at the end of Act 1
) and IRL I need an Emi to push me to exercise.
So there.
Sorry that was so long and rambly.
I had to get it off my chest
I'll continue playing KS and I'll see if I update my list!
KatawaHaremGod