Alright, OP here. Since I'm already through with it, I guess I'll post my own conclusion as well... This is gonna be a wall of text, and you can view it as
"RecoiL's bigarse beginner's guide to KS". I might have missed something, but ultimately, this is everything I have to say on the matter. Hope it helps somebody.
Also, I put spoiler tags for a reason.
Usually. Actually I rarely do that at all, but in this case they do actually contain spoilers. Beware.
My order was Emi>Rin>Hanako>Shizune>Lilly. Some of it is a result of random choices, some of decisions based on input from you guys. Whatever the case, I think this was the best way I personally could have gone.
edit: First off, I have to say I had no idea whatsoever what I was getting into. I was honestly just browsing around, looking for random stuff, somebody said "here, this is a nice quick fap" and I bit the hook. Nobody mentioned cripples, nobody mentioned feels, nobody mentioned this beauty of a VN. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Emi was an incredible beginning. She has an awesome storyline, rich in the whole spectrum of feels, well written and with a really heartwarming good ending. It also settles you in the setting of the game and gives you the right mindset. As the first arc, it has a special place in my heart and it motivated me to start running.
Rin was confusing as hell, so I'm glad I got it over with sooner. I believe it's too well written for me to comprehend on the first read-through, so I plan to give it extra attention when I replay the novel.
Hanako had nothing to do whatsoever with the previous two, so it felt a lot like a fresh start. One of my favorite arcs and characters. My heart felt bloody great when I got her good ending. To be honest, I spent like 15 minutes analysing events, motivations and possible outcomes at the moment of decision
when Lilly left. Worth it. As mentioned by Loonie, Lilly's story spoilers a lot of Hanako's, though the same is not really true the other way around, so this is better played first.
Shizune had, as commented before, the most "normal" story. It has no traumatic past or menacing future, though by far it's not a smooth ride. It wasn't as smack full of feels as the rest, it was somewhat confusing at places but ultimately easy to comprehend. It offers a bit of a break between Lilly and Hanako's story, as I believe is needed due to the fact that they are pretty strongly intertwined.
And
Lilly. Ah, Lilly. I believe it's the best way to finish. It just feels right for an ending. It feels practically like it's made exclusively for and ending arc. You can trust me on that one. Just make sure you watch all the credits after it too.
It's also pretty darn symbolic that it should all end as it once started -
with a heart attack. This arc has Hanako spoilers written all over it on neon signs. However, it works pretty well played after Shizune, the two sort of compliment each other.
Sadly, I have to say that in Lilly's arc, basicly EVERYTHING works out better than in Hanako's ark. Hanako gets over her social phobia easier, and becomes an overall more open person than in her either of her own arc's endings. She ends up in the school newspaper club or something, and later goes traveling with other friends. Lilly also ends up staying in Japan, which is a huge deal for Hanako as well. Akira ends up not braking up with her boyfriend who, if nothing else sounds like a nice guy. Lilly and Shizune actually have a scene of something that resembles making peace with each other. The only minus side is that Hanako doesn't end up dating the master of romance himself. Which is pretty sad, having in mind my heart almost exploded in her arc.
Also regarding me getting the most out of KS:
- DO NOT jump straight from one arc to the next. I cannot emphasize this enough. I made this mistake after Emi's path, as at that point I simply couldn't get enough KS. The best thing you can do is wait a few days between arcs. Doesn't even have to be a whole week. For me, the first couple of days I spent a lot of time thinking back and analysing, and re-warming my heart with the good memories, more or less like you would do in a real relationship. Then, when it started growing weaker in my mind, I'd check out the other ending/s, going fast and without much thought through the worst parts of the bad ones, but still keeping an eye out for anything that can add to the story. Then I'd do the same waiting and start with the next arc.
- After I finished all arcs and endings, I checked out a
chart and figured out all scenes I missed. Playing through those brings a feeling of light satisfaction. Getting 100% too. But not too much. I just did it because why-the-hell-not.
- I would advise against this, as it can seriously mess up your schedule, but KS seems to work even better for me at night, say 11 to 3. Only works if you have a rested and clear head cause there is a lot to think about in the novel.
- I payed a lot of attention to anything that could change the way I view myself and the world around me. That led me being more concerned about my health and fitness, changed the way I view other people, mostly cripples and girls
which I still don't understand one bit, and made my mind generally more open to change and learning. I am yet to see what good that will bring.
- I listened and studied some of the tracks in hopes of understanding how exacly they influenced the audiance. Not sure if I made the right conclusions, but at least I added a couple of kickass tracks in my piano repertoire, that also mean a lot to me and other KS bros.
- I waited a few weeks after finishing the game, went through some analysing in my mind and made some concluions. Then I read a couple of fanfics, but only ones that build on the already established story/stories.
- I am planning on replaying the whole novel, or parts of it at least, after a few months. If I manage to busy myself enough to not have time for it, that's all the better. The more I can postpawn it, I think, the better. Just hope the feels will still be there.
Aaaand that about sums it up.
Hopefully others read it and get something out of it. Just had to add...couldn't agree more with taking your time inbetween arcs. Something like a couple of days - 1 week pause is ideal, because you need that time to process everything you've gone through.
