I absolutely love Lilly! My first play-through and ending!

[mysterycycle]

Lilly's arc... a better romance story than Twilight.

OF COURSE, WHAT ISN'T?

Agreed. The short story between my shoe and a spider is a better romance story than Twilight.

And, mercifully, it's also much shorter.

[zeldas12]

I loved the Lilly arc, and something I rarely see mentioned is the Lilly arcs FMV. Where Akira suddenly fades in and out as Lilly.

imo this shows that Lilly was conflicted as to where her heart lies quite early on in the story, unsure what she wanted to do, whether following her heart, or filial piety was more important to her. Just my 2 pennies.

This^

A lot of people don't like Lilly's arc because its very "cliche," but it's written superbly.

[Yellow 13]

I loved the Lilly arc, and something I rarely see mentioned is the Lilly arcs FMV. Where Akira suddenly fades in and out as Lilly.

imo this shows that Lilly was conflicted as to where her heart lies quite early on in the story, unsure what she wanted to do, whether following her heart, or filial piety was more important to her. Just my 2 pennies.

That animation had DAT FORESHADOWING

[Guest]

Lilly's arc is only my third favorite of the five arcs, and that's almost entirely because of her hiding her decision to leave from Hisao. While I can see her and Hisao hooking up on vacation as understandable, as it was a pretty emotional time, that whole tidbit of news was something incredibly serious to keep hidden for the relationship.
Someone mentioned Hisao may have forced the decision by being the first one to say "so, you're going", and Hisao in the storyline mentions how he wasn't there for her like she was for him - but I strongly disagree. Lilly went out of her way to avoid having him know or even suspect that something was wrong, right up until Kenji knocked her over.
In any relationship, hiding something that serious indicates some very major flaws in the relationship, and they're almost completely on Lilly here. YMMV on whether or not she manages to get over those flaws in the good ending, but I don't think so. Not completely.
All in all, I like Lilly's route well enough, but keeping that major secret from him - that casts a huge shadow over their relationship, for me. I rate Shizune's relationship higher than Lilly's, because while it's less romantic, it's a bit more realistic, and Shizune never does anything like that to Hisao. (You can argue her bad ending if you really want to, but not only is Shizune falling into depression at that point, she may or may not know that Hisao cheated on her by then.) Even considering that Shizune's good ending is ambiguous as to whether their relationship will continue or not - because even if they do break up, it would be a friendly breakup, and it sure wouldn't cross out the possibility of them getting back together once their adult lives are somewhat set up.

And for all the Hanako talk - well, I don't think Lilly is mothering Hanako more for her own sake than Hanako's. Lilly seems to genuinely think she's doing the right thing. And in Hanako's own arc, Lilly actually backs off from doing it when she most needs to back off, and advises Hisao to do the same.
Also, the only reason Hanako seems "better" in Lilly's storyline is that Lilly's storyline has a few more months to it than Hanako's, doesn't it? Even in Shizune's arc, without the extra friend Hanako makes in Hisao, she's still coming out of her shell a bit more. Enough that she can play chess against Shizune, of all people. (And you basically don't interact with Hanako at all in Rin or Emi's routes, IIRC.)
As for whether she is interested in Hisao in Lilly's arc - probably? But the deciding factor for that is that Hisao is more interested in Lilly herself and not Hanako in that arc. Though it was apparently true that the only way to get the good ending for Hanako was once supposed to be by going through Lilly's route to a point.

[Lolzster]

Lilly's arc is only my third favorite of the five arcs, and that's almost entirely because of her hiding her decision to leave from Hisao. While I can see her and Hisao hooking up on vacation as understandable, as it was a pretty emotional time, that whole tidbit of news was something incredibly serious to keep hidden for the relationship.
Someone mentioned Hisao may have forced the decision by being the first one to say "so, you're going", and Hisao in the storyline mentions how he wasn't there for her like she was for him - but I strongly disagree. Lilly went out of her way to avoid having him know or even suspect that something was wrong, right up until Kenji knocked her over.
In any relationship, hiding something that serious indicates some very major flaws in the relationship, and they're almost completely on Lilly here. YMMV on whether or not she manages to get over those flaws in the good ending, but I don't think so. Not completely.
All in all, I like Lilly's route well enough, but keeping that major secret from him - that casts a huge shadow over their relationship, for me. I rate Shizune's relationship higher than Lilly's, because while it's less romantic, it's a bit more realistic, and Shizune never does anything like that to Hisao.

I understand why you might dislike lilly for hiding her decision but when you say Shizune's is more realistic in that respect, can't quite agree with you there. If you were Lilly in her situation, I doubt you would find it easy to tell the person you love that you are leaving permanently. Now some of you might go 'oh well, I would just be honest with Hisao and tell him straight up...blah blah...' but I actually believe that in truth, it is entirely understandable that Lilly does not reveal her decision to Hisao.

It is difficult at times to be honest to others because you feel that you may hurt them in the process of telling them. I'm sure many of you have had to hide things from people because you know that if they find out, they will be hurt emotionally. What you don't consider in those situations, is that when they find out that you've hidden said information that they are hurt even more. Given Lilly's motherly altruistic nature, I completely see why she does it and I actually think that it is very realistic. No relationship is perfect and from what I see in others, those who argue and have disputes with one another are those who show true emotion and care towards each other. You wouldn't argue with someone or be angry at people if you did not have genuine care for them.

[Guest]

I understand why you might dislike lilly for hiding her decision but when you say Shizune's is more realistic in that respect, can't quite agree with you there

I just mean in terms of how Lilly's route is dramatic, especially at the end, and Shizune's is more down-to-earth. As in, Lilly's route is closer to a typical romance plot, and Shizune's is closer to how a typical high school romance would probably actually happen.

I don't have the luxury of thinking that people in relationships hiding major decisions like this isn't realistic, unfortunately.

[Lolzster]

I kinda see how people would think that Lilly's route is a bit cliche but given the circumstances beforehand, I think thats the only plausible 'good' ending for her route given that she's going to leave. I get your point but its the only way for it to end in a good relationship... unless one would suggest that Hisao sneaks on the plane and moves to scotland to live with her.. then thats just ridiculous.

Shizune's is closer to how a typical high school romance would probably actually happen.

I never got to understand Shizune's route much so I can't agree nor disagree with you though I did find the ending a bit of an anti climax. It might be realistic but I just don't feel I got as involved in her route as I did with others and didn't get as many feels

[Surreal-mind]

Lilly's has been my favorite route so far.
lt made me feel incredibly good while playing, and it left me with a void when it ended. The damn thing got extremely deppresed for a whole week ! None of the other routes made me feel remotely like this.
I really loved her personality, and I dunno.... maybe what I like about her is that she is not shallow/superficial,
and that she loves Hisao for who/what he is, and not for what he looks like *insert stupid blind joke here*.
And her having to move away sort of struck a chord with me personally.

[Gandara]

I'm sure everyone has their opinions on what route is the "canon" route, but in my opinion Lilly's route would make the best choice for any sort of adaptation that had to rely on only one choice. It's very well paced, emotions run deeply throughout its entirety, and overall it's just... a great, great romance story. The only thing it lacks is the involvement of two of the five girls (Emi and Rin), but they're not terribly involved in any routes but their own anyways.

As against the copyright rules as it is, I almost want to print out Lilly's story as a book and give it to people to read. It's just... so gripping. An emotional roller coaster throughout the last bit, and absolutely wonderful all-around.

[Oddball]

and that she loves Hisao for who/what he is, and not for what he looks like *insert stupid blind joke here*.

Well, she does have her preferences.

[Guest]

I never got to understand Shizune's route much so I can't agree nor disagree with you though I did find the ending a bit of an anti climax. It might be realistic but I just don't feel I got as involved in her route as I did with others and didn't get as many feels

Well, her route doesn't get any drama between her and Hisao unless, of course, he cheats on her nor does the route really focus on their relationship so much as it does on her family, Misha, and their graduation. I (probably somewhat generously) assume that there was more to the relationship between her and Hisao than was seen, especially as Hisao gets frustrated in Rin's and Emi's route when they shut him out or are simply hard to understand, yet doesn't seem even slightly upset that there doesn't seem to be a lot of quality time with Shizune in her route.
Shizune's relationship with Hisao isn't very intense or very romantic in general, but it's based on a very strong friendship, and neither of them seems unhappy.It's why they'd probably be the likeliest of all routes to get back together if they had to split up for university/etc, like her good ending hints they might.

I can agree that Lilly's route is much more emotional, and much more intense, yeah. It probably would be my favorite, except for that secret. It's a huge lack of trust, and would be quite worrying to me if I were in Hisao's shoes. To me, it basically shows that she is fully capable of deciding to leave the relationship if she thinks it the best choice, and won't even talk to Hisao about it until some time after it's decided.

[Lolzster]

I never got to understand Shizune's route much so I can't agree nor disagree with you though I did find the ending a bit of an anti climax. It might be realistic but I just don't feel I got as involved in her route as I did with others and didn't get as many feels

Well, her route doesn't get any drama between her and Hisao unless, of course, he cheats on her nor does the route really focus on their relationship so much as it does on her family, Misha, and their graduation. I (probably somewhat generously) assume that there was more to the relationship between her and Hisao than was seen, especially as Hisao gets frustrated in Rin's and Emi's route when they shut him out or are simply hard to understand, yet doesn't seem even slightly upset that there doesn't seem to be a lot of quality time with Shizune in her route.
Shizune's relationship with Hisao isn't very intense or very romantic in general, but it's based on a very strong friendship, and neither of them seems unhappy.It's why they'd probably be the likeliest of all routes to get back together if they had to split up for university/etc, like her good ending hints they might.

I can agree that Lilly's route is much more emotional, and much more intense, yeah. It probably would be my favorite, except for that secret. It's a huge lack of trust, and would be quite worrying to me if I were in Hisao's shoes. To me, it basically shows that she is fully capable of deciding to leave the relationship if she thinks it the best choice, and won't even talk to Hisao about it until some time after it's decided.

I think she's probably contemplating how to tell her rather than just blindly (oh great, a chance for a blind joke here) choosing not to tell him. As much as I wouldn't like to experience it myself, I think that some point in a future relationship, I would or my girlfriend would end up hiding something, its not something thats easy to escape without someone being hurt nor open up to because of what I have said before.