Katawa Shoujo Forums

Archimedes wrote:Also, you haven't answered the question: is it wrong to say that kenji is (highly probable) paranoid? Maybe he actually isn't (unlikely), but even professional therapists misdiagnose! So, is it wrong to say he is?

That depends on whether you're using it as a medical judgment or a descriptive phrase. If the first, absolutely yes. If the second, probably not.

metalangel wrote:

Archimedes wrote: I know that it's common in anime that characters have unnatural hair colors, i usually wouldn't mind, but katawa shoujo is highly realistic, it's mentioned multiple times how strange mishas hair color is and we can even see a photo of her with her natural hair color in lillys arc. But it seems like Jigoros shirt is weirder for hisao then his hair (saturated blue turning into green, with a strange cut and probably using styling gel to hold them in form). It looks like Jigoro is a badly exaggerated warrior taken out of an fantasy anime, not like an father in a very realistic, often melancholic Visual Novel about handicapped people.

Highly realistic? Have you seen how the characters are drawn as a whole? Rin's hair is almost fire engine red. Everyone has the huge eyes, tiny nose and mouth associated with the anime style. It's odd how you only object to one little aspect of stylized artwork like this.

I got that, sure. I think that red hair isn't that strange as blue hair turning into green hair.

It's mentioned multiple times how strange mishas hair color is, but it's not mentioned once how strange Jigoros hair color is. I think that's inconsistent.

And he looks like he is taken straight from an anime of a completely different setting. If you don't compare Jigoro with real life, but with the other characters from Katawa Shoujo, he still looks very strange and out of place.

And even though KS uses abstraction (drawn figures), it's still highly realistic in my opinion. I already said, there is no more realistic setting then the real world, and KS plays in the real world with real physics. The fact that it's drawn doesn't change the fact that the story and setting itself is mostly realistic. Not real, but realistic. Realistic as in "something like that could quite possibly happen in the real world".

I can easily imagine every single character of Katawa Shoujo in real life. None of them would look that strange, most of them actually "boring" and average. With the exception of Jigoro. A real life Jigoro would... well, look like a typical fantasy anime character.

Imagine two girls dressing up as Yooku and Lilly. You probably wouldn't recognize them as anime figures at the first glance and could easily overlook them if they are alone. Or a boy dressing up as Hisao. But i bet you would immediately recognize someone dressing up as Jigoro. That's one thing that annoys me about Jigoro and breaks the immersion, at least for me.

You're very lucky to have not met a real Jigoro, then. I have. He was my best friend's dad. Nothing you could say was correct, he was constantly rude, insulting and unpleasant (and often drunk). How could someone like him earn money? He is very good at whatever it is that he does, and that just feeds his ego, making him more arrogant since he is succeeding.

I've met persons like that too. But that persons were usually fucked up in real life and/or fucked up their children too, or hadn't any contact with their children at all. And weren't as extreme as jigoro, just similiar.

I know that there are more then enough pessimistic, over ambitious, never satisfied fathers, still Jigoro tops every single one of them. And none of them would carry a katana.

Shizune has never had feelings like this before. She has spent a lot of her life alone, and has probably only read about love and boyfriends and stuff like that. Suddenly, here's Hisao. She thinks she knows what she's supposed to do, but she's terrified of it going wrong, terrified of losing the first person she's fallen for. She reasons the only way to avoid that is to be in total control of the situation, strange and extreme as her method must seem. After this she needs a long time to process all the new information and emotions she's just experienced.

Makes sense.

Hisao seems to understand not to press the issue, she has taken a huge emotional step and is now in a very precarious place. Shizune doesn't do anything she doesn't want to, bugging her will just make her angry and in this case likely also push her away.

But that is never mentioned. If hisao thinks this way, why don't we read about it? (especially in act 3 and 4 are this long textboxes that take the complete screen). We read nearly every single thought of Hisao, even thoughts about minor things, but something like this is never mentioned, if I remember correctly.

Some girls feel attraction and lust for a guy but the actual sexual act can turn them right off and they only go through with it trying to please the guy.

Sure, but again, it's never mentioned or indicated. Hisao never tried to engage sex or kissing or just holding hands. He doesn't even think about it, as we never read about him thinking about that. So, he doesn't care.

Final exams, no time.

Possible, but again, not mentioned. That were actually mentioned in Emi's path, they actually talked about that.

That depends on whether you're using it as a medical judgment or a descriptive phrase. If the first, absolutely yes. If the second, probably not.

In that case, it's the later. Even though i believe that a family therapy wouldn't hurt them .

Archimedes wrote:
I can easily imagine every single character of Katawa Shoujo in real life, and they wouldn't look that strange. Jigoro, however, would.

Jigoro would just be a big muscular guy with long hair in real life. He's meant to be a bit of a larger than life figure in the story. If it was 'realistic' everyone would have black hair except for Misha and Lilly, and Lilly would be extremely unusual being blonde AND blue eyed. Look beyond the portraits if it bothers you that much, but I can understand how the artwork can eat at you if something about it pushes just the right button.

I've met persons like that too. But that persons were usually fucked up in real life and/or fucked up their children too, or hadn't any contact with their children at all. And weren't as extreme as jigoro, just similiar.

I know that there are more then enough pessimistic, over ambitious, never satisfied fathers, still Jigoro tops every single one of them.

He's larger than life, over the top. Think of him as a boss that Hisao has to best to save his princess. Consider how he must be feeling now - his daughter is gorgeous, bright, successful, and a leader. She's perfect except that she's deaf, and so long has passed now since his last botched attempt to reach her that he now doesn't want to appear weak by making the first move to connect to her as she becomes an adult. When he comes to Hisao later in the story and asks him to speak to her on his behalf is a colossal step for him. Hisao may have just started one of the most biggest changes in the Hakamichi family since whatever happened to the absent mother.

But that is never mentioned. If hisao thinks this way, why don't we read about it? (especially in act 3 and 4 are this long textboxes that take the complete screen). We read nearly every single thought of Hisao, even thoughts about minor things, but something like this is never mentioned, if I remember correctly.

====

Sure, but again, it's never mentioned or indicated. Hisao never tried to engage sex or kissing or just holding hands. He doesn't even think about it, as we never read about him thinking about that. So, he doesn't care.

How explicit does or should a story be? Should it need to explain each part in great detail to ensure you understand, or should it let you fill in a few blanks yourself and trust you, the reader, by now to understand how the characters think? There is no questioning that Shizune makes it very difficult to be her friend or lover. She realizes this probably isn't how it's supposed to work but she is trying her best to figure it out. She knows that Hisao knows too, and that he trusts her and waits for her to reach her own conclusions is a huge show of trust and commitment from both of them. Consider the bad end, when Hisao essentially decides not to wait for Shizune and goes and fucks the worst possible person in their social circle. Shizune was coming out of her little shell for the first time in her life and then he goes and cheats, with her of all people. It might be years before she feels ready to try anything like this again.

Final exams, no time.

Possible, but again, not mentioned. That were actually mentioned in Emi's path[/quote]

Oh come on, they're in their final year of high school (in Japan no less), what else would they be doing?

metalangel wrote:How explicit does or should a story be? Should it need to explain each part in great detail to ensure you understand, or should it let you fill in a few blanks yourself and trust you, the reader, by now to understand how the characters think?

But that isn't a minor thought or feeling. We read a lot of thoughts about way minor things.

It would be different if we would perceive the story from a different perspective, as a observer, but we read the story from the perspective of hisao and we read about all of his thoughts and feelings.

Something like that should bother him, and therefore should be mentioned. If it's not - but is intended - it's a bad style of the author. I can't read the thoughts of Shizune, because i'm in the perspective of Hisao, so i have to speculate about her feelings and toughts. But as i'm basically in the mind of Hisao (and can even decide for him), i shouldn't speculate about his thoughts.

So, if he doesn't think about it in the story, i assume that he indeed doesn't think about it.

and Lilly would be extremely unusual being blonde AND blue eyed

That her appearance is strange and foreign, is also mentioned in the story if you play her route. Which, again, is by far not as strange as Jigoros appearance.

I said myself that it possibly bothers me more then it should.

Oh come on, they're in their final year of high school (in Japan no less), what else would they be doing?

Maybe exams in japan are different then they are here. I would guess that there is still some time to talk or hold hands etc...

Maybe exams in japan are different then they are here. I would guess that there is still some time to talk or hold hands etc...

Here is a nice page containing some information about Japanese exams. A TL;DR version might be this quote:

The focus of Japanese education in the minds of many parents and young people is on preparing students for two important tests: one at the end of ninth grade, which determines whether a student goes to a vocational school, a first-rate public college-preparatory high school, a second rate high school or an expensive private school; and another at the end of the 12th grade to gain entrance to university.

The long hours of study for these exams is called "examination hell" and the expression "four hours pass, five hours fail" refers to the amount of sleep that can make or break a student studying for these tests. During exam hell some Japanese students describe how their friend's faces get thinner and thinner and flecks of grey sometimes appear in their hair. Students often lug home 20 pounds of books every night to study and are fed bananas because their parents have been told that bananas help their minds. Mothers go to special Shinto shrines to pray for their success.

In the weeks leading up to the college entrance exams in January it is sometimes difficult to get a room in local hotels because the rooms are all taken by families of students, who need to focus their attention on studying. Sakura saku (“cherry blossoms in full bloom”) is a term frequently used to congratulate those who pass their exams and can enjoy a “flowering spring” after working very hard.

In other words, VERY serious business and akin to several months of crunch time on crack. This massive load placed on the students is kind of glossed over in KS because, let's face it, the characters cramming 20 hours a day wouldn't make for a very exciting story. Of course, the argument that Hisao and Shizune are too busy studying to go on dates would probably be more convincing if the two weren't shown to still put a crapload of time into student council duties. In actuality, last year students most likely would cease club activities altogether a good time before the exams and the student council would either be run by someone else or not at all.

Thanks for the info. wow, that sounds heavy

Of course, the argument that Hisao and Shizune are too busy studying to go on dates would probably be more convincing if the two weren't shown to still put a crapload of time into student council duties

True.

Archimedes wrote:

metalangel wrote:

Archimedes wrote: I know that it's common in anime that characters have unnatural hair colors, i usually wouldn't mind, but katawa shoujo is highly realistic, it's mentioned multiple times how strange mishas hair color is and we can even see a photo of her with her natural hair color in lillys arc. But it seems like Jigoros shirt is weirder for hisao then his hair (saturated blue turning into green, with a strange cut and probably using styling gel to hold them in form). It looks like Jigoro is a badly exaggerated warrior taken out of an fantasy anime, not like an father in a very realistic, often melancholic Visual Novel about handicapped people.

Highly realistic? Have you seen how the characters are drawn as a whole? Rin's hair is almost fire engine red. Everyone has the huge eyes, tiny nose and mouth associated with the anime style. It's odd how you only object to one little aspect of stylized artwork like this.

I got that, sure. I think that red hair isn't that strange as blue hair turning into green hair.

It's mentioned multiple times how strange mishas hair color is, but it's not mentioned once how strange Jigoros hair color is. I think that's inconsistent.

And it's actually possible for Japanese people to have red hair (actually a bit darker than Rin's but still red).

Also: Anime/Manga/VNs often use Blue/Green/Purple as stylistic choices for Black. So it's likely that Jiggy, Shizune and Hideaki (and Hanako by extension) all have black hair. Technically Jigoro's hair going to green might be his hair is actually black, but graying.

Archimedes wrote:

metalangel wrote:and Lilly would be extremely unusual being blonde AND blue eyed

That her appearance is strange and foreign, is also mentioned in the story if you play her route. Which, again, is by far not as strange as Jigoros appearance.

Do we not remember Lilly is only Half-Scottish?
Realistically she shouldn't be Blonde-haired and Blue-Eyed period, despite the fact she's foreign. Why is she like that? It's called Phenotype Stereotype.
Technically she should have brown hair and eyes, because those are dominant traits. Though it might be because that Lilly's father is Shizune's mother's brother and might have Blue eyes. Still doesn't explain the blonde hair though.

Steinherz wrote:Still doesn't explain the blonde hair though.

Dyed. Obviously.

Archimedes wrote:Is it?

Would you say that it's wrong to say that Kenji is paranoid? You know, it's a disorder that can require medication and therapy. Still, i'm sure that everyone would agree that Kenji is paranoid - It's obvious.

You can use paranoid as an adjective to describe behavior just as well as narcissism. You can say that someone is melancholic, sadistic, hysterical, antisocial, nymphomaniac, avoidant ... without being a psychotherapist. It's a way to describe people.

You know, you can even receive a therapy for shyness. There is a list of symptoms for shyness and social phobia etc...

Jigoro is definitely narcissistic. The clothes, the hair, the fact that he writes a biography, the way he talks about his former life/achievements, the way he talks down to Hisao. The fact that he mentions his biography which isn't even finished yet multiple times. It can't be more obvious.

You're defending something you aren't doing. I am well aware that mental disorders are often used as a sort of conversational hyperbole. While hyperbole is a million times worse than murder, I am not delusional enough to object to something I find merely distasteful.

You weren't referencing the dictionary definition of narcissistic. You were quoting Wikipedia, which is based upon reference material referring to the actual personality disorder.

Also, if someone exercises excessive caution because he really is demonstrably targeted by dangerous individuals, he isn't paranoid. Similarly, it is possible to be cautious beyond credible threat and not be paranoid - you're just overly cautious.

To carry this over to Jigoro, you aren't narcissistic if you really are the best thing since sliced bread, and the person you're belittling really is only marginally better than a sack of moldy potatoes. It's not really nice or charitable, but it's not narcissistic. By every indicator, Jigoro really is hot shit, and Hisao really is a bit of a louse. Jigoro may be a little self-centered, but that's a far cry from actual narcissism.

Ok, i agree, that's possible. It's still unusual in my opinion. He met Hideaki before they went fishing, so before he had to entertain hisao. Usually childs don't give robotic responses or act like a scientist have sucked out all childish behavior out of them? Especially not if they are bored.

You're jumping around there. During Day 1 he's monotone and terse, but Hisao compares his personality and expressiveness to that of Shizune.

He can't know what Hisao assumes.

Strictly speaking, yuo're correct. This recounting is mostly pulled form me taking note of every indication for their interaction, in an attempt to better characterise how they react to each other.

Some people don't sleep well if they have to sleep in guest rooms. He also knows that Hisao comes from a school for handicapped people. And some people just like to sleep long once they have the time to do so - even successful people tend to do that.

Jigoro never brings it up, but it's what is called a "yellow flag." It isn't an outright disqualifier, but it's a warning.

He gives Hisao a Lunch with eggshells in it.

And Hisao gives him more credit than you do. Hisao considers three possibilities - he's a health nut; he's a bad cook; he's an asshole. You can't cite the eggshells as proof of his assholishness to interpret later actions as assholish and then return to the omelette and argue that he must be an asshole because of everything else he does. That's textbook circular reasoning. So, for the sake of this thought exercise, let's give him the benefit of the three possibilities Hisao considers.

He get's unnatural angry when hisao asks him what he does for a living. Hisao wasn't rude doing so, and hisao answered is previous question (he doesn't know yet).

Do you even believe that yourself or are you just defending Jigoro? It's not that unusual of a question and his reaction is sure out of place. Have you never asked other people what they do? Wouldn't you ask a guy wearing a katana all the time what his profession is?

You're missing the context Hisao gives himself in his internal monologue. Hisao doesn't want to talk about the fact that he hasn't given any thought to the future. So he tries to be oh so smooth and redirect the conversation from himself to Jigoro. He's flattering, too. "Hey, what do YOU do for a living? It must be awesome for you to have all this cool stuff!"

The narcissist you insist Jigoro to be would take that opportunity to be self-congratulatory, and go on about how awesome he is. But the Jigoro that actually exists recognises the empty flattery and calls him out on it. A seasoned businessman has no patience for such hollow and deceptive gestures.

It's not (really) about the question, it's the when and why of the question.

"what...?" was my reaction as well. Hisao wasn't vulgar and his words weren't that careless. He just said how it was. Maybe he didn't got that his questions were rhetorical (i'm not sure if they are).

What innuendo do you see in that sentence? Sure, we could just as well assume that hisao shouted that sentence and had a very angry expression in his face while doing so, but there is no hint that he did.

You really can't see it? If the internet hasn't polluted you to the point where you can see that sentence, actively look for innuendo, and come up empty means that you're a better person than I. So as to not be crass, let's just say that it sounds like he's describing the mechanics of a "comfortable" arrangement.

Also, the simpler, more straightforward answer would be "We took turns." To go into that level of detail as if Jigoro was an idiot is blatantly disrespectful. Goign into that detail could easily be tinged with sarcasm, as if explaining something to a little kid. Then the word choice makes it sound like he's deliberately trying to make it sound as dirty as possible.

You see that he rants about the fact that there weren't enough poles for everyone? That alone is bullshit. He could for example assume that hisao and lilly didn't fished.

There's a certain type of "coarse exterior, soft interior" individual where they voice their minor annoyances as more significant than they are. He outright says that he's glad they enjoyed using his equipment, but their treatment makes it clear that they had no idea what they were doing. So, to emphasise their ignorance, he paints a picture of them using the rods in a comically improper manner.

It wasn't Hisaos idea to go fishing, he can't know that this poles belong to Jigoro or that they are unique poles. Also it probably wasn't him who piled them in the corner. It's something that his daughter or son should know of.

It was obvious that they were Jigoro's poles, but that's beside the point. The biggest strike against Hisao regarding the poles is that he failed to go above and beyond as a guest. A conscientious guest would take the extra effort to not impose upon his hosts, and volunteer to help out when he can. So there's not even a "yellow flag" for the poles, but he did fail to earn brownie points in that regard.

If he doesn't like that Hisao dodges the subject, why not approach that directly?

You're right, he doesn't say "stop avoiding my questions." He harps on the more salient aspects of his rudeness and disregard for authority. Which include dodging questions.

If someone rants about your clothes, what would you answer instead of "i like my clothes, that's why i wear them". Hisao may thought that his Shirt sucks, but that's not what he answered. Again, Jigoro can't read thoughts.

If someone says that your choice of clothing reflects poorly on your character, stating that you like your clothes does nothing to acquit you.

He accuses Hisao of huffing glue.

His response is very polite and soothing.

“He's right. It's slander. Are you a lawyer?”

Oh so very polite.

Since she was 6 years old.

It's not fucking normal that a 6 year old decides to never talk to her father again and keep doing so for 12 years.

Should we really delve into the weeds of what's "not fucking normal" about Shizune's childhood? She's had to deal with deafness, a long string of empty conquests, and an absent mother. And, in all honesty, that's only a small part of what could be massive levels of dysfunctionality. Something happened to make her decide that she wanted to cut her father (her only parent) out of her life. He may be to blame. Or he may not. For all we know, she could blame him (completely unjustifiably) for her mother's absence. But we really don't have enough information. Suffice to say, there are WAY too many moving parts to definitively say "Yup. Dad's fault."

Yea, that's so freaking alpha to be so socially crippled that you can't manage to talk with your 6 year old daughter... for 12 years.

I'm assuming that you don't have a kid. I hate to go all Jigoro on you, but please refrain from stating that a father can (and should) browbeat his daughter into talking to him.

Archimedes wrote:Yea, that's so freaking alpha to be so socially crippled that you can't manage to talk with your 6 year old daughter... for 12 years.

If your 6 year old daughter decides to not talk with you for 12 years, it is your fault, not the fault of the 6 year old. If he can't see that, that just shows that there is something very wrong with him and the relationship with his children.

1) It's not a matter of being socially crippled. It's a matter of she's fucking deaf. Even if he wanted to talk with her, he literally cannot do so. Yeah, he could learn to sign...And she could learn to use a damn notepad. And how would he manage to talk with her anyway when she doesn't want to talk with him? She chooses to shut him out just as much as he refuses to learn her language.

2) ...What bullshit is that? "If a six-year-old decides to stop talking to their father for a decade, it's the dad's fault because...Uh..." - Because why? What magical reasoning automatically defaults blame to a parent in that situation? Children are not without fault, and children living with dysfunction (as Shizune has and does) are even more prone to mistakes due to the difficulties they face. Fault is rarely if ever all on one person in any scenario.


Here's a little exercise I'd like you to try: Abandon your one-sided Jigoro-hating bias and then come back. You'll notice Jigoro isn't the devil and Shizune is pretty flawed herself.

Just a quick answer too a single point because i'm too tired at the moment.

I'm assuming that you don't have a kid. I hate to go all Jigoro on you, but please refrain from stating that a father can (and should) browbeat his daughter into talking to him.

That's not what i meant. Browbeating his daughter surely isn't the only approach, and most likely not the best approach in that situation. How does this come at first (and solely) in your mind?

2) ...What bullshit is that? "If a six-year-old decides to stop talking to their father for a decade, it's the dad's fault because...Uh..." - Because why? What magical reasoning automatically defaults blame to a parent in that situation? Children are not without fault, and children living with dysfunction (as Shizune has and does) are even more prone to mistakes due to the difficulties they face. Fault is rarely if ever all on one person in any scenario.

Because she was six years old? A age were she barely knows anything from the world yet, is impressionable and in need of protection?

I know that Shizune is flawed, but shouldn't a single parent have quite an influence on his 6 year old daughter?

Fault is rarely if ever all on one person in any scenario.

Yea, so it has to be at least 50% fault of the six year old daughter? ~_~

We're not talking about a teenager.

I'm not sure what image you have in mind if you think about a six year old.

I don't know at which age childs start to go to school in japan, but probably she hasn't spent more then a few month at the first grade in that age, maybe not even a single day yet.

So pretty much all she knows and everything that could have possibly impressed her comes from her home.

1) It's not a matter of being socially crippled. It's a matter of she's fucking deaf. Even if he wanted to talk with her, he literally cannot do so. Yeah, he could learn to sign...And she could learn to use a damn notepad. And how would he manage to talk with her anyway when she doesn't want to talk with him? She chooses to shut him out just as much as he refuses to learn her language.

Take a look at that sentence of jigoro again, he said that he hired tutors and interpreters, he's clearly not talking about literally speaking.

Really, i honestly wounder what image you have in mind if you think about a six year old. Yea, they can be stubborn, but they are also naive and usually guidable.

So, if a six year old is totally flawed and doesn't want to talk to his parent for 12 years old, i wouldn't even consider blaming the child.

Edit:

If someone says that your choice of clothing reflects poorly on your character, stating that you like your clothes does nothing to acquit you.

Then, what else to answer without being possibly rude or insulting?

Jigoro never brings it up, but it's what is called a "yellow flag." It isn't an outright disqualifier, but it's a warning.

Or could be misinterpreted as a yellow flag. Hisao's irregular sleeping isn't his fault. The VN states outright that the medication he takes messes with his sleeping patterns.

The biggest strike against Hisao regarding the poles is that he failed to go above and beyond as a guest. A conscientious guest would take the extra effort to not impose upon his hosts, and volunteer to help out when he can. So there's not even a "yellow flag" for the poles, but he did fail to earn brownie points in that regard.

I don't think that's actually how Japanese hospitality works. A guest in a Japanese home is generally treated as royalty, being given the opportunity to bathe before anyone else. A guest offering to do stuff himself, instead of letting his host do it for him, would risk insulting his host. Of course, Jigoro's hospitality may very well be different from traditional hospitality.

2) ...What bullshit is that? "If a six-year-old decides to stop talking to their father for a decade, it's the dad's fault because...Uh..." - Because why? What magical reasoning automatically defaults blame to a parent in that situation? Children are not without fault, and children living with dysfunction (as Shizune has and does) are even more prone to mistakes due to the difficulties they face. Fault is rarely if ever all on one person in any scenario.

Honestly, the "we're both partially at fault"-thing usually works better when those two people are peers and not a 6-year old and a full-grown man. When one of the parties has a brain that still has a lot of growing to do (which is why kids don't fall under the same criminal code as adults when they do something really bad), the adult can't just point at the kid and argue that HE or SHE's the one who started it. If a kid doesn't interact with a parent for over a decade, issues or not, it almost without exception reflects badly on the parent. That's just the way things work. Likewise, a full-grown man who argues with kids as if they're his peers, instead of trying to be the adult in the room, generally doesn't come across as emotionally mature to me. But that's just a personal thing.

I can easily imagine every single character of Katawa Shoujo in real life. None of them would look that strange, most of them actually "boring" and average. With the exception of Jigoro. A real life Jigoro would... well, look like a typical fantasy anime character.

In an attempt to prove a point, I did a quick search for "muscle man in Hawaiian shirt."

I stopped looking after it gave me this.



Somehow, I'm perfectly okay picturing Jigoro looking like this in real life.

Xanatos wrote:
2) ...What bullshit is that? "If a six-year-old decides to stop talking to their father for a decade, it's the dad's fault because...Uh..." - Because why? What magical reasoning automatically defaults blame to a parent in that situation? Children are not without fault, and children living with dysfunction (as Shizune has and does) are even more prone to mistakes due to the difficulties they face. Fault is rarely if ever all on one person in any scenario.

I don't know what you're smoking. If my daughter refused to speak to me at all at age six and kept it up for twelve goddamn years, I'd probably wonder what the hell I'd done to fuck up myself in her eyes so badly she'll never talk to me, even by e-mail, text, or goddamn written letters. The fact that Jigoro didn't speaks volumes about him; he's certainly not in the running for Dad of the Year.

Archimedes wrote: But that isn't a minor thought or feeling. We read a lot of thoughts about way minor things.

It would be different if we would perceive the story from a different perspective, as a observer, but we read the story from the perspective of hisao and we read about all of his thoughts and feelings.

Something like that should bother him, and therefore should be mentioned. If it's not - but is intended - it's a bad style of the author. I can't read the thoughts of Shizune, because i'm in the perspective of Hisao, so i have to speculate about her feelings and toughts. But as i'm basically in the mind of Hisao (and can even decide for him), i shouldn't speculate about his thoughts.

So, if he doesn't think about it in the story, i assume that he indeed doesn't think about it.

Who's worse here, you assume he doesn't or me assuming he does? :p

That her appearance is strange and foreign, is also mentioned in the story if you play her route. Which, again, is by far not as strange as Jigoros appearance.

Oh, I get that. Because she has Caucasian ancestry. I wondered at how likely it was to have an Asian parent and yet come out looking like she did, from a genetics standpoint.

Maybe exams in japan are different then they are here. I would guess that there is still some time to talk or hold hands etc...

With Shizune, who is absolutely focused on being the best she can be? Who has all these emotions roiling around inside her after everything that happens?