Favourite Ending?

[G3n0c1de]

(cough Shizune's path lolol cough)

Would you complain about the other paths if the L-word was tossed around during those as well? How would you have reacted if Hisao hadn't said that line during the Shizune end? To me, I think it would have felt the same as the other endings. I know your issues with Shizune stem from much more than this, it but seems that this point is a bit uneccessary. Or, of course, you just really hate Shizune.

[EternalLurker]

Would you complain about the other paths if the L-word was tossed around during those as well?

...Yes? I dislike Hanako's character too, but the pacing of her relationship is much more realistic.

[neumanproductions]

Would you complain about the other paths if the L-word was tossed around during those as well?

...Yes? I dislike Hanako's character too, but the pacing of her relationship is much more realistic.

Which I know explains why you chose that scene from Pimmy's animation.
To much love to fast can't really be complained about. I know the devs are spacing this out over a long enough time but still your working on a VN where the love interest is defined by the first act so Hisao already gets like a 1 path mind. I agree that it does seem fast on some of the endings and others are more realistic but what are you really going to do. Let's test this theory on the IRL playing field. I ended up going to prom (was king by the way) with a friend of my sister's friend and we actually ended up dating for a while after that. I wouldn't say love but we had a connection right away that fell to friend later on, so I have to admit that things have the possibility of moving that fast.

[RikuDawn]

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

[Eadwacer]

First off, I liked ALL the endings. How much I liked a specific ending depended on the sense of inevitability it gave me, and on the impression of what the follow-on might be like. Herewith, my / by / evals, unaffected by any reading of any others:

HISAO/HANAKO
A quiet ending. You are left not sure if anything can come of H/H. Hisao's personality presumably needs to be contemplative and attentive in order for this to work. One sees them ending up as a Darby & Joan couple.

HISAO/LILLY
Another quiet ending, of two people who are not yet friends, but who might be. Lilly is stronger than Hanako, and so the possibilities associated with an H/L linkup are wider. Underneath her formal exterior is some steel, and it would be interesting to see where that leads them.

HISAO/EMI
Emi is more active, and actively cares about Hisao, even at this early date. The Hisao of H/E will have to scramble to keep up with her, although he may have to deal with the psychological issues associated with her apparent overcompensation.

HISAO/RIN
She isn't flaky, as some would have it, just creative. She sees the world from a slightly different angle than the rest of us. Hisao will have to develop equal creativity, more than he has shown so far, in order for H/R to work. Otherwise, he'll just end up carrying cans of paint. It will be interesting to see what happens when their relationship progresses to the point that the ... girls toilet...etc.

HISAO/SHIZUNE
She's on a power trip, and Hisao will have to scramble to keep up. He's shown some backbone, but not what I would expect in a guy who would fall for, and successfully woo, Shizune. Their final encounter may well be a near-death experience for Hisao.

The H/H, H/L, and H/R endings fall short (i.e. I liked them, but not as much) because Hisao hasn't really exhibited the character traits (other than general nice guyedness) that would work with them. H/E and H/S are better, because you can see at once where this will lead (probably with E or S on top, depending), although I still think that Hisao should show more competitiveness earlier, to make H/S believable.

Despite this, I think I like HISAO/SHIZUNE the best. It suggests exciting times to come. I'd really like to see the the sequel for this one. It might be titled "Tomorrow, the World".

[kapparomeo]

EternalLurker, perhaps Hisao's early strong response to Shizune isn't a case of the path climaxing too early, but a deliberate part of the greater plot? Cross-referencing this thread with the "Misha's Future" thread, the Shizune path is also accompanied by the question of what happens to Misha. At the very least, it's inevitable that Hisao will be learning sign language (he mentions it several times in Act One), which would be leaving Misha redundant.

If Misha is going to be put aside, though, Shizune and Hisao need to be close in the first place for Hisao to occupy her position. So, it makes sense for the couple to partner up relatively early in their path compared to the other girls, because their path has to make room for an additional sub-plot resolving how Misha responds to this.

[Csihar]

I think we're all missing the obvious here. The reason Hisao feels like he's falling in love with Shizune in that scene is because of how awesome her boobs look when she stretches her arms out like that.

[G3n0c1de]

which would be leaving Misha redundant.

This will happen. But not over the course of the game. With the game's roughly 3 month long time frame, I don't think Hisao will become proficient enough in sign language to replace Misha. It's like mastering a foreign language in that time. Hisao will probably learn from Misha, but only to a rudimentary level. Misha's job is pretty secure for the immediate future.

And even so, I feel that Shizune/Hisao/Misha will remain lifelong friends. Shizune and Misha share a bond that is probably closer than that of Lilly and Hanako. Misha is the one person she can talk to freely, and on her own. Misha is both her ears, and her voice. To Shizune, Misha is the one person who truly understands her. This type of intimacy doesn't just go away. And Hisao seems to like Misha well enough, also.

[cpl_crud]

I think we're all missing the obvious here. The reason Hisao feels like he's falling in love with Shizune in that scene is because of how awesome her boobs look when she stretches her arms out like that.

Let's face it; her boobs are awesome all the time.

[vermithrx]

Rin's ending is my favorite, followed closely by Lilly's and then Hanako's. I tend to prefer quiet, subtle intimacies. So, ranking my favorites in order: (This, after several playthroughs and some attempts at writing fanfiction.)

End: Rin > Lilly > Hanako > Shizune > Emi
Girl: Rin > Emi > Shizune > Lilly > Hanako

Would you complain about the other paths if the L-word was tossed around during those as well?

...Yes? I dislike Hanako's character too, but the pacing of her relationship is much more realistic.

I find it completely ridiculous that Hisao thinks he's falling in love with Shizune in her ending, and triply so since it immediately follows an internal monologue about how he's considering asking out either Shizune or Misha. The other four endings are pretty realistic, Emi's most certainly included.

There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

For example, my last romantic relationship lasted three years and did not suffer for its lack of sex or nudity. In contrast, my brother's latest romantic relationship just passed its two-month anniversary, does not lack for communication or understanding as far as i can tell, and yet they started fucking like bunnies a week after meeting each other. These occurrences are real, let alone realistic.

[neumanproductions]

I think we're all missing the obvious here. The reason Hisao feels like he's falling in love with Shizune in that scene is because of how awesome her boobs look when she stretches her arms out like that.

Let's face it; her boobs are awesome all the time.

I guess this really does apply in your case.

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[ContinualNaba]

Something made me grimace when the word redundant was thrown around up there. Just because another one of her friends now knows sign language doesn't mean Shizune's going to kick Misha out of the clique. Sure, Misha's constant strain of having to translate two languages simultaneously is going to be lessened, but she's obviously showing signs of burnout and exhaustion (Although that could just be from the festival preparation, seeing as she mentions it's not nearly as hectic otherwise).

Since Hisao isn't going to replace Misha in any capacity (Except for the whole datan/raburabuan/plowan-the-student-presidentan) and the three of them are decent friends already, the only reason I can see Misha having issues is if her parents have funding difficulties and have to withdraw her from the school. Lets face it, unless she has internal problems rather than partial deafness she isn't really going to need constant supervision at Yamaku. She'd be fine in real life. And if word gets around that she isn't the only translator for the deaf, then somebody up in the management might take the above statement proper and boot her.

That'd make an awesome plotline, I think. Shizune and Hisao going through legalese and fundraising to get Misha back in the school. Lets Hisao see how driven Shizune can be for her friends, vice versa.

Just don't ask me how that's going to fit into a three-month timeline.

[Acwose]

For me, it has to be Rin's ending of Act 1. There's just that nice feeling of them being comfortable with each other. Which I feel is a good place to be after a week and a good place to move on from in the coming weeks. Plus the fireworks and how RIn looks at things - even the little things like the way she woke up. It was all perfect for me.

A close second, well no just second, would be Shizune's. Heck, up to her ending was was kind of effy if I even liked her.If anything, her ending, made me interested in her path more than I was.

Lilly was niceish.

I like all the girls, but the others ending were kind of meh. Emi felt more like the health path and healthy living ending than an Emi path.

[Mercutio]

Rin and Hanako are my favorite ones, but I chose the "I like them all, full version plz" option.

for Hanako, the big thing for me was that she made it clear that she wanted to be friends with Hisao, like she was letting him in. think about it: all through the Hanako path, Hisao's initiating everything - he always finds her in the library, he starts the conversations, all of that. finally, at the end, she asks him to play chess, and yeah, it's hard for her to ask. but she does. it's pretty obvious that Lilly's her only friend, so it was all touching and stuff when Hanako actually asked Hisao to do something with her. it seems like it means she's letting him in, instead of just not pushing him away.

I like Rin's for sort of the same reason and sort of 'cause I dig the whole falling asleep together thing. yeah, Rin's hard as hell to read, mostly (she's the only person in act 1 to ever mention Hisao's junk - or her own, now that I think about it), but there's a part in her path where she says she likes having Hisao around, which is kind of important. hard to get a romance going with a girl when she doesn't care if you're there or not. but the ending shows that while things are always going to be weird with Rin, she likes Hisao in her own way and she's cool with him enough to sleep on him. and I'm good with that.

I'm mostly good with the Lilly ending, 'cause it's kind of low-key about things. yeah, Hanako pretty much has to be there, but that's cool, since their paths only get separated by one choice. but you get to see different sides to Lilly in her path and especially in her ending, get to see her sense of humor and her pretending to be pissed at Hisao when he puts his foot in his mouth. so it's kind of like the Hanako ending in that she's opening up some more, and her saying she'd be glad to have him around for tea again suggests that she wants to get to know him some more.

the Shizune ending could have been better, but I think it worked. yeah, the part with Hisao trying to decide between Shizune and Misha (never realizing that the best answer is "both") and then him suddenly deciding on Shizune was kinda rushed, but it worked - it was like, there's Shizune showing him that he's being a dumbass, while Misha just falls asleep. and I don't think he's full-on "I want to spend the rest of my life with you" in love with her, like some people in this thread have said. this isn't Twilight, for fuck's sake. it's more like he's realizing he's got feelings for her, and yeah, they're going to be pretty intense at first, partly 'cause as someone else pointed out he was stuck in a hospital for months and as soon as he gets out he's spending almost all of his time with a girl he's attracted to. so, yeah.

the Emi ending, I gotta admit, bugs me. it was the first ending I got, and when it ended and the credits rolled, I was like "WTF? was that an ending?" 'cause it doesn't seem like the start of a relationship. in "Is Carnival!" Emi kind of goes from 'cute little sister' to 'annoying little sister', with her getting on Hisao's ass about food. she even says something like "what the hell is that crap", and while I know those aren't strong swear words or anything, it seemed weird for Emi to say that. and there wasn't anything to suggest that Hisao had any desire to be with her, it was more like she'd be helping him get healthy and that was about it. seemed like a friendship ending and nothing more, like not much had changed between them and Emi treats him like she treats most people.

sorry for the rant, but this is something I've been thinking about for a while.

[lurk moar]

Best end was rooftop end, because it was hilarious and completely unintentional (ambiguous "save or die" choice).

It was also the only actual end, in the sense that the story does not continue.

Aside from that, Shizune end was cool, but my computer is shit, so I had to enjoy some lag alongside what I could only imagine to be a very cool thing to actually do in real life with someone.