Is there such a thing?

[elpreda]

This may seem boring or idiotic to some of you, but I feel the need to ask.
I found out about Katawa Shoujo while browsing the internet and decided to try it out of curiosity. I didn't use a walkthrough, I just went with my choices and got Lilly's route and I was astonished, as most of you probably were too. What really impressed me wasn't her situation, looks, or sex scenes but the actual relationship between her and Hisao, how profound their feelings for each other were, how they relied on each other. I am 21 and I've been in 2 relationships so far, but I gave up on both of them simply because there was nothing there besides the physical attraction. I could feel more love in a game I played for a few hours and I've felt in years of being together with the one I was supposedly in love with.
So I ask those who can understand what I'm talking about: Does this kind of love actually exist? Has anyone ever found it, or is this just an ideal that can't be achieved? I feel like my relationships were just a mockery of love, but I also get the feeling that that's what passes for normal in reality.

[OtakuNinja]

Welcome to the KS-roller coaster commonly referred to as "feels".

That kind of love exists, but so far I haven't found it.

[Heartless Wanderer]

It exists. It's just difficult as all the hells to find. You usually don't find it in high school like Hisao did, for one thing.

Just don't let any opportunities slip by, because you never know which one is "the" one until you take it.

[kbk]

I'm telling you man, I've been through relationships where we were both overly reliant on a physical connection and that cannot last. While I do think that KS can be somewhat cliche but I'd like to believe that kind of connection is out there.

[elpreda]

If you haven't found it how can you know it exists? Not only have I not been able to see it for myself, but I've also never seen it in anyone or anything else besides works of fiction.I can't reach for something that may not even exist yet for the same reason I can't resign myself to just ignoring it.

[Brogurt]

This kind of love can surely exist.

Between you and your waifu.

3dpd "love" will never come close, if that's what you're asking.

[Yellow 13]

You will never know love that pure ;_;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8OHF8tLxZg

[Atten]

Congratulations, you now have a waifu and your heart will now only beat for her. Welcome to the club.

[Heartless Wanderer]

I know it exists because I've come close enough to it that I know it's there. My previous relationships were both failures in the end, but it was more about a personal connection than physical attraction (not the least because my second girlfriend didn't want to have sex until she got married anyway, so if there weren't an emotional connection it wouldn't have lasted long to start with). Just because we weren't right for each other in the end doesn't necessarily mean there wasn't something there, it was just... not quite enough. That can happen, too. Even the emotional connections might not always be enough. Just don't let yourself drown in cynicism. If you don't believe it's possible, then it stops being possible.

In any event, love is like any relationship or bond, something that takes time to establish and nurture. Actually making a connection is only the beginning. And honestly, it's rarely as fairy-tale-esque as media portrays it. Mind you, Katawa Shoujo is a step up from most media in a lot of ways when it comes to this, although that's not saying an awful lot.

[lvl5popcap]

Yes, it exists. Especially in the situation that they're in, at least from personal experience, where 18-19 year olds live in close proximity away from home and seem to have no major obligation besides attending school. My college girlfriend and I were a lot like Lilly and Hisao's route in that we started as friends and were out a lot together and went on trips. It's tough not to end up in an intense relationship, I think, under those circumstances.

[Xanatos]

It's an ideal and ideals are rarely the reality of any situation. So does it exist? If you're crazy lucky. And insanely patient. And Batman.

[Heartless Wanderer]

*sigh*

The main problem is that sex presents a very obvious reason for people to be selfish and shallow about it. Apart from that potential pitfall it's just people making connections with other people. There's a certain significance to it that sets it on a plane of its own compared to standard friendship or familial connections, but the principle isn't that different. You spend time together, possibly become close to one another, you care about each other, and maybe it deepens to what we consider love. It's easy to forget that the basics of forming bonds are more or less the same across the board, so it's easy to overthink the issue. Don't. It's just people making connections with people. That isn't rocket science and it's not a fairy tale, either, despite our tendency to dramatize it.

[OtakuNinja]

If you haven't found it how can you know it exists? Not only have I not been able to see it for myself, but I've also never seen it in anyone or anything else besides works of fiction.I can't reach for something that may not even exist yet for the same reason I can't resign myself to just ignoring it.

By believing it does.
The kind of "perfect", supporting relationships you see in anime and manga does exist in the real world. You just have to look for them and keep an open mind. Ask your parents/grandparents about their youth together. You'll be surprised.

This kind of love can surely exist.
Between you and your waifu.

That love is what having a waifu is all about.
I'm never alone when I have my waifus with me.

[Xanatos]

Ask your parents

Awkward. My parents separated after ten months. And believing doesn't make anything exist! If that were true, we'd have zombie soldiers.

[OtakuNinja]

Ask your parents

Awkward. My parents separated after ten months.

Grandparents then?

And believing doesn't make anything exist! If that were true, we'd have zombie soldiers.

You mean we don't? Aww... [Insert broken Misha face here]