I've just played through Hanako's good route, gonna go back and play through her Neutral and Bad endings later on.
I was really impressed with the route. I'm glad I didn't play it first, because I think Emi and Lilly's routes are more typical VNs. It surprised me when so much of this route was Hisao trying to work out how his relationship with Hanako was. Heck, they don't confess until the final scene of the arc. This wasn't bad, as it fitted with how Hisao saw Hanako and reacted to her, just surprising for me when I was expecting a confession at the end of Act 2 xD
I didn't think that the arc finished in a bad place. After all, in the other character's arcs, the main underlying problem they face is that there is some thing which is causing the characters to not be as close as they would otherwise be, and create discord and awkwardness between them. The end of the arc finishes with the main characters managing to identify the underlying problem, and deal with it satisfactorily (at least, on the good endings). Admittedly, the other arcs start the relationship between Hisao and the main character, and at a later date the underlying problem becomes evident, and normally the conclusion of the underlying problem signifies them heading off into the sunset together, whereas in Hanako's arc, the underlying problem prevents them from going out, and it's only after it is concluded that they can start going out properly. But I think this works, as after all, at this point Hanako has grown as a person, she's trying to stand on her own two feet and without the big thing that was driving them apart, it's assumed they will be able to continue a normal relationship. tbh, if the story did continue as it had done after that, it would give more closure and be a pleasure to read, but all the tension would have gone out of it. A bit like reading about how Sam and Frodo organised their garden after Sauron had been defeated. If you really want a epilogue, Corp_crud (the writer for the arc) has written one on his blog, head on over and read it. It's what I intend on doing next.
I thought the white knight theme was very good though. It felt very much like the kind of thing a teeneger would think and aim towards, and I felt like dancing when Lilly was like "...no, not how it works."
As an incidental, I don't wanna jinx things for my final arc, but I like that the stories so far have been obvious enough (to me) to know which points to take to get the good endings without cheating. The only time I came close to getting the bad ending was on Emi's route, but I was saved by Mischa (Mischa! <3)
Also, I don't get why people keep saying Hisao was a rapist. As people say, he didn't take advantage of Hanako when she was drunk. Yes, he wanted to prove to Lilly and Akira that he hadn't, but on the other hand, IMHO he could QUITE EASILY have slept with her and it been consensual, (if not entirely moral on his part). Yes, the next morning he would've had knowing glances from Lilly, but... so?
And likewise, when they actually slept together, Hanako initiated it (if you strip down almost naked in front of someone without clearly defined boundaries, it is obviously leading somewhere), and intended it to happen and never denied it. Yes, she was heavily letting him lead. No, that is not the same as rape. You might as well say that Emi raped Hisao the first ime they slept together, and would probably have more grounds for doing so.
I was really kinda shocked at seeing genitalia in her route though. Emi's route didn't even have any angles where you could see anything at all. Lilly and Shizune's routes both had angles where you might've been able to see something, but there was a tactfully placed hand or similar hiding things, and I was expecting Hanako's arc to have similar tactful hiding, and it kinda broke the fourth wall a bit when it didn't. I guess I'm used to seeing films etc without explicit genitalia in.
On the up side though, FINAL SCENE IN PARK SO MUCH. I don't can have feel left after. I don't know whether it's that I've JUST come from finishing the arc or what, but that scene made me cry so. much. and at the same time, feel so happy for them as well as feeling so... so sorry for them. One of the best-written scenes in the game so far as I stand right now.
Also, I don't remember which point exactly it was (I read the first half of the arc last night between 3am-7am when I couldn't sleep, so it's a little hazy) but at some point in arc 2-first half of arc 3, there was another part which made me feel so. so. sorry for Hanako, felt like my heart was going to burst /wrist
Probably my only major criticism of KS so far though is that the different arcs don't correlate. Mischa gets her hair cut in Shizune's arc, but has her drills up until the end of all the other arcs. Lilly is seen in Shizune's arc at Shizune's town house, but no mention of the trip is brought up in Lilly/Hanako's arc. There is a second festival in Shizune's arc, but no mention is made in anyone else's arc.
And all these things would have been so easy to fix as well. Throw in a "Huh, Misha's cut her hair. Strange." (although admittedly you could argue without Hisao's influence, her unrequited love would have continued). Lilly just had to mention a "I got invited to my cousin's house, but with you being here I decided to decline where I would otherwise have accepted" etc.
But it was very nice that Lilly and Hanako's arcs actually correlated properly. It felt really quite refreshing, and added another layer of realism to me.
Also, people are complaining that Hisao was largely superfluous in Hanako's route, and that as evidenced by Lilly's route, she would have fought her daemons herself. I kinda want to hold up a "that's the point.jpg" here.
Emi's problems were about how she was dealing with her tragedy, and not allowing friends to really know her. Shizune's was again, about reaching a compromise, not being "her way or the high way" and again about letting in. Lilly's was about whether she should choose family over her life. In all those, to an extent they need to be made by the heroines, but they can have support and help from their compatriots. Hanako's problems were that she couldn't face social contact. For Hanako, people attempting to help her start at a far lower point down the trust ladder than any of the other girls I've played, so there is obviously less that Hisao can do for her, short of force his help onto her (which I presume is roughly what will happen on her bad arc [guess]). What Hanako needs is for friends to be around her and support her, BUT NOT CARRY HER (goddamit!). To give her room to grow, without making her grow (Misha's minor help for example) or stifling her (Lilly). She doesn't need a BFF4lyf for this. She just needs a good friend, which is why IMHO in both Lilly's arcs and her own arcs, she grows very nicely. The romance at the end of her arc isn't a way of uncovering the underlying problem, or forcing Hisao to deal with the underlying problem, it's a reward for successfully putting Hanako into a situation where she can grow into a rounded human being.
All in all, really enjoyed the arc
It doesn't have as much of a feel-good factor as Emi's or Lilly's, so I don't rate it quite as highly, but I was really impressed with the quality of the writing. I'd say in terms of the quality of the story, it probably ends up as the best written arc I have so far, although is sadly still third on my list due to what I look for in this kind of story (ie. basically Lilly's storyline). I can't wait to read Rin's storyline (it makes me gRin), because I've heard it is the best written in terms of quality. But doing so will mean I'll have finished KS and will then be re-reading the stories instead of reading them for the first time /wrist
Geez, I didn't expect I'd write so much. I did more for a sense of settling and consolidating the arc in my mind rather than explaining it to the internets, but gratz if anyone didn't just TL;DR it.
