Katawa Shoujo Forums

Having recently completed a full playthrough of all five paths over the span of this month, and currently writing my own criticism/review of it, I've asked myself a question that I haven't seen on these boards, or at least I haven't seen it all that frequently. I suppose the reason for this is because of the natural tendency for the reader to sometimes feel 'like' Hisao, as the story evolves from his perspective and you make his choices, but still...I feel it is a valid question to re-examine, especially considering the opposite question has been answered many times already. And no, by that I did not mean: "Which girl was your favourite?" I meant: "Which Hisao was your least favourite?"

So without further ado: "Which of the five Hisaos, that you witness within the five different arcs, did you like the most and why?" Do please bear in mind, this topic (or at least my post) will likely have SPOILERS without the black hiding them, because if I did that then the rest of my post would be almost all black

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For me, I liked Emi's Hisao the most by far. The reason for that is probably deeply tied to Hivemind's writing style, but bottom line for why I feel this way is that in that arc his personal character growth is almost beyond belief. He starts out depressed, confused, uncertain in Act 1 (like always) and by going down Emi's arc this is evidenced by allowing himself to get told what to do by, in his own thoughts, a girl who is half his size. Indeed, at that point he shares a lot of his characteristics with Lilly's Hisao, including the most obvious one. He's quite stupid.

I measure his stupidity through a simple inarguable fact. Only in Lilly's and Emi's arcs does Hisao forget to take his pills and pushes himself either too little (in Lilly's case) or too much (in Emi's case), thus suffering multiple occasions of significant heart problems. But the difference is that while Lilly's Hisao remains blissfully ignorant of his stupidity right up until him pondering Lilly's crane after her departure, mainly due to Lilly's politeness, Emi's Hisao constantly gets his lumps from Emi and the Nurse that he needs to watch himself.

Sure enough, as a result of that, he improves and does not suffer heart problems after the track meet. And the reason why Hisao improves, I feel, also ties closely into the writing style of his thoughts - one which focuses less so on his biases and preconceptions and much moreso on his observations (indeed as a true scientist would probably think). This not only drives him to be more and more careful in regards to confronting Emi, but it also makes him far less obnoxious or wordy, when there is no need to be such. And indeed, for me at least, the epitomy of this shows in the Instant Replay scene, should you choose to be just a little bit stupid and talk to Emi (not Meiko) and then talk to Misha.

I've never really bought into the rationally resolved ending you get from talking to Meiko, because Emi is not too big on words and rationality spewed into her face. But I did buy into Emi changing because of Hisao's resolve in chasing after her, reminding her of all the good things that have happened since her father's death and that, ultimately, Hisao's there for her, even if he never found out why Emi doesn't want to talk about her past. Whatever it took to make sure good things will keep happening to her, even if he might be gone some day, he would do it.

So - after that little explanation of mine...who's your favourite Hisao?

EDIT: Added the Manly picnic arc after the suggestion for teh lulz and apparently this ensured the votes were wiped clean. Let's see if the inclusion of Kenji's 'arc' can sway the votes in a significant way!

Emi's.
Science club, motherfucker!

I think it would have to be the Emi arc. That was the only one where Hisao was really working to improve his condition and the only one where i never at any point thought to myself "Hm, i wonder what HIsao's heart would look like if i ripped it out."
...yeah, Hisao pisses me off in a lot of arcs I can't get immersed in Katawa Shoujo most of the time because i can't project onto Hisao, but on the other hand maybe that's for the best. If it were a character based on me the novel would suddenly turn into a murder mystery when people notice the smell coming from Kenji's room as they begin to wonder who could have killed him yet left all of the locks on his door in tact.
I'm just that fucking awesome and am not sharing with you the method i would use in case i need to use it on someone you know. The rest of this spoiled text is filler. Did you know they actually make marshmallow flavored vodka? How is it that Joe Camel is bad but vodka that only children would like is perfectly fine? Or is it just that i'm too biased against vodka as a whiskey and beer man? Long live bourbon motherfucker! I think i've stretched this out long enough. Remember, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic sucks!

MANLY PICNIC HISAO OPTION WHERE?

The following paragraphs are full of spoilers, so, watch out.

On most routes Hisao is a spineless sprout.

On Lilly's he is too busy boning that foxy blind broad that fell from the sky with a love confession on his lap, and then he walks around following Lilly, and thinking about her and agonizing about her, and talking how Lilly is fucking great, he has no hobbies, he has no friends, he has Lilly. Boring Hisao is Boring.

On Hanako's Route Hisao still has no initiative and decides to go All White Knight on Hanako, and in the last 15 minutes he thinks "holy fuck, she is a girl, i want to bone that" take's her out for a day trip, bones her, feels guilty about it, things go insane. Hisao is kinda of an obtuse asshole here.

Ob Rin's route.... i dont want talk about Rin's Route.

Now on Emi's and Shizunes, Hisao turns into a likable human being.

On Emi's route Hisao has two good ideias, working out and joining the Science club. Mens sana in corpore sano, bitches.

And lastly, Shizune's route, my favorite route.
Shizune starts the route bullying Hisao into joining the council, and Hisao show that he has a very weak will. And then suddenly he asks Shizune's out, just like that, no fumbling with words, no awkwardness, thats my man. Then he decides to learn JSL, good for him. Hisao still has he life beyond Shizune, he still loves her but doest not let his existence be defined by her presence, you know, like a healthy relationship, its affection, not obsession. And has a slightly bittersweet ending, thats a plus.

Gonna agree with pretty much everyone here. Toss-up between the Emi and Shizune routes.

In Emi's, Hisao got his act together REAL quick, even if he had to get a reality check or two now and then. He's got a fitness regimen, a legit jumpstart on his education, and (eventually) develops a GREAT relationship with someone who (eventually) becomes a great person. Hisao's incredibly self-aware that equal parts luck and determination/persistence made this happen, and he probably goes on to climb mountains and conquer the Earth.

Shizune's route, on the other hand, while not giving Hisao all the tools he needs to seize life by the balls, teaches him what's probably the most important lesson anyone his age can hope to learn: life after high school isn't the end of the world. Sure, there's a whole lotta scary stuff to come, but you know what? BRING IT. We'll figure it out. (It took me well into my first year of college to just chill the hell out and learn to live life and love it.)

That's not to say that Hisao after everyone else's respective (good) ends is a terrible person. He does wind up gaining a new insight into his own strengths, vulnerabilities, and merit as a person, but the other three routes seem like baby steps in a right direction rather than a complete resolution, and that's not BAD.

I will say, though, that Bad End Hanako Route Hisao makes me want to reach out and slap him SO bad, but it can't be helped.

I'd say Hisao Nakai... :3
WHERE'S THE MANLY HISAO?!?!

Emi's route, hands down. The speech he gives to her on the track field during her good ending is one of the most inspiring, romantic, and well-worded speeches I've ever read. Even though Lilly's route is my favorite, that one scene is my favorite part of the entire game.

Emi's route Hisao. For all the reasons already mentioned, and also because he just seems like he'd be the most fun to hang out with. He's got a sense of humor and engages in playful banter with Emi, which was one of the things I liked most about him from the start.

The third one from the right.

No, your OTHER right.

Well, it's a good way for me to learn that if you add another option to a forum poll, it auto-resets. I guess that's keeping it fair. Re-vote if you happened to already. Who knows...maybe this time you'll give your vote to Kenji instead of Emi.

i dont think i need to repeat what everyone else said, but i might as well cause im bored.

only in Shizune and Emi's route does Hisao actually improve. in Rin's route even in the good ending he's a nervous wreck. in Hanako's route he's pretty much the same. Lily's route he almost dies and possibly is disillusioned.

meanwhile with Emi he actually finds his passion (and works out). with Shizune he develops mentally as to not need someone to depend on, and is more "friends with benefits" with Shizune than boyfriend and girlfriend.

Shizune's. It's the quickest bounce back from depression and to real self-confidence. Emi's has a lot of that, too, but I don't really like her route so much - it feels like she's playing with him more than actually caring about him. Shizune plays with Hisao a lot, too, but it's more caring banter than "yeah, I'm never getting close to you so don't try or else you'll go the same route as my last boyfriend. There, now that that's said, let's go introduce you to my mom over dinner at her house."

Realistically, I'd have to say that Emi's mixed signals at the time would probably cause some issues later down the road, even in the good ending and if she never does something like that again. It kinda shows her as being able and willing to lead people on or deceive them like that.

I could just be projecting, though. But, then, this is a topic on opinion.

Nyzer wrote:Realistically, I'd have to say that Emi's mixed signals at the time would probably cause some issues later down the road, even in the good ending and if she never does something like that again. It kinda shows her as being able and willing to lead people on or deceive them like that.

Funnily enough, that's much moreso the feeling I get from Lilly than Emi. The difference, for me, stems from the fact that Emi did throw off mixed signals, yes, but never because she'd consciously want to do so. She never planned on having a pillow fight with Hisao, it just happened organically. She never planned on being worried for Hisao's sake in front of the Nurse's office on two seperate occasions, again she just tended towards that on a conscious level. But all the while her subconscious kept telling her not to get too close to him, or she'll lose him like she lost her dad. That's...not really being manipulative or at least not intentionally leading someone on. It's just being a confused teenage girl really and it's unfortunate that a lot of guys thinks girls lead them on like this intentionally, when in fact they're just confused about what they really want.

Lilly, on the other hand, has her life all planned out. And the difference when it comes to her is that she finds out, that she'll likely want to rejoin her parents...but she never tells Hisao of this at all. She just figures that the 'We'll always have Paris.' mentality is automatically held by Hisao as well and in the end she doesn't even come out with it, but has to be confronted about the matter from Hisao! And then she even reveals that she'd known of her decision for quite some time and STILL didn't tell him!

Dude...sorry, but that's what's truly called 'manipulative'. Being torn between wanting to be with someone, but holding yourself back from it subconsciouslly because of an ugly past is one thing, but thinking you can have your cake and eat it too and hurting someone who loves you because of that is another. Lilly has a severe manipulative tendency and I just find it hilarious how easily people forgive her for that on account of how pretty and polite she is about it. Hrm...but darnit now I'm joining in with you in derailing this topic.

So...hrm. As to my thoughts on Shizune's Hisao, that you bring up. I like him a fair bit, although I did find it funny in my recent replay that Jigoro, of all people, throws something back at him that turns out to be very relevant. Something to the effect of: "Look at you, you got all this energy and here you are wasting it by trying to argue with me!" And Jigoro being a dick does not change the fact that it is a valid point, one Hisao also overcomes by the good ending.

So yeah, I like him in Shizune's arc okay. In that arc he's my 3rd favourite Hisao tbh, so I guess he averages out anyway.