Katawa Shoujo Forums

I used to read a lot. I read much less now but I still watch TV and movies and such (Fun fact: I've viewed over 400 films in the last year or so) so I'm still into stories. Now, I have a tendency to assume how a story will play out before I read it, and KS is no exception. Generally, I always get a pleasant surprise if any given tale throws me off its tracks, which KS did a few times.

I thought Lilly's route would have more to do with her blindness being a bigger problem than hinted. All we actually get is that brief anger with Kenji but I expected the conflict to be much more focused on her prim and proper facade breaking down...The actual conflict is rather more mundane, really.

I expected Emi to have loss issues over her legs...She has the issues, but the reasons given are different. (I still maintain it's a blend of both.)

Prior to learning the twist, I predicted Shizune's arc would deal more with the communication barrier and its effects on the relationship. As-is, it's largely handwaved with "He learns sign language."

And for reasons even I'm not sure about, I figured Rin's conflict would heavily involve her parents, maybe some resentment or undue loathing...


And not to get beta-ish or anything but...The big twist in Shizune's arc was spoiled for me (but no less effective) and I accidentally saw pics of Misha's h-scene when looking up KS art. This changed my prediction quite a bit but it was still way off the mark. I thought the arc would have Misha go through some sort of super depression ultimately leading to a psychotic break where she chops her hair off to look more like Shizune and lures Hisao into bed...With the good or bad end dependent on your success or lack thereof in repairing said break as well as the break in her/Shizune/Hisao's little three-way relationship.

No doubt would've been dark as hell...But I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't really love that. I'm a sucker for the twisted psychological stuff.

Anyone else have ideas about where the routes would go, before actually reading them? And more importantly, were you correct? I got Hanako's right, at least...Sort of. Expected more bully stuff, not white knights.

Can't say I have preconceptions since I got in via TV Tropes.

On Lilly, I get the feel that her blindness was a main reason leading to her situation. (At least she believed it to be so, that her parents couldn't accept the fact that they had a blind daughter.)

Emi's was (as you said) a blend of her losing her legs and her father, in one go.

No thoughts on Hanako?

YZQ wrote:Can't say I have preconceptions since I got in via TV Tropes.

On Lilly, I get the feel that her blindness was a main reason leading to her situation. (At least she believed it to be so, that her parents couldn't accept the fact that they had a blind daughter.)

Emi's was (as you said) a blend of her losing her legs and her father, in one go.

No thoughts on Hanako?

I bookmarked the KS article on TVTropes to read when I 100%'d it. I've learned my lesson about pre-emptive troping.

And wasn't it Akira who believed that?

Forgot Hanako. Anticipated more to do with the bullying element and the fire, got a "Don't be an overprotective cocknozzle" lesson instead. 10/10.

Well, Akira definitely has that train in mind. My memory is foggy about Lilly, but she does appear to jump at the call when the folks summoned her to Scotland. There is probably something.

On Hanako, it becomes a minefield if you overanalyze on whether you're being overprotective or insensitive with your actions. I probably will just do what I will.

YZQ wrote:Well, Akira definitely has that train in mind. My memory is foggy about Lilly, but she does appear to jump at the call when the folks summoned her to Scotland. There is probably something.

On Hanako, it becomes a minefield if you overanalyze on whether you're being overprotective or insensitive with your actions. I probably will just do what I will.

True, Lilly seems kinda doormat-ish in regard to her parents. Can't even blame Japanese uptight-super-obedient-robots-with-sticks-up-their-asses culture 'cause just look at Akira.

I also kinda expected Yuuko to have a route...

I was thinking that:
- Emi would lose her whole legs after that incident with her running blades.
- Rin would have suicided in some ending.
- Lilly would break down for some reason. Kenji scene almost breaks her, but not the way I was thinking. Hisao will die in bad ending and live in troll one.
- Shicchan's route wouldn't end so unsatisfactory.
- Misha will have a route.

wazuzu wrote:I was thinking that:
- Emi would lose her whole legs after that incident with her running blades.
- Rin would have suicided in some ending.
- Lilly would break down for some reason. Kenji scene almost breaks her, but not the way I was thinking. Hisao will die in bad ending and live in troll one.
- Shicchan's route wouldn't end so unsatisfactory.
- Misha will have a route.

I still maintain that Rin suicides post-bad end. It wouldn't be so heavily implied otherwise.

Lilly's arc was without any surprises whatsoever. Honestly, the 'We'll always have Paris' moments and Lilly even outright using that phrase for the Hokkaido confession reeeeally gave away as to what the twist would be and while the ending sequences were very well pulled off, yeah - they played out about how I expected when I factored the impact of the choices I made during the course of the route.

Shizune's arc was a fair bit less traditional story structure and moreso everyday challenges, so much so that I honestly never quite dared to predict it upfront and how it would resolve itself. Misha didn't surprise me that much, since I thought it explained the reason for her attachment to Shizune pretty well, and Shizune herself surprised me only in the resolution of the good ending and how she was primarily responsible for figuring it out herself. So...I'd say it surprised me pretty well in the end.

Hanako's arc hrm...put it this way, I can't say its content and the way it resolved in all the possible endings 'surprised' me as such. Having lived that for several years of my life myself, I could pretty much see where it might be headed at any given time. But what did surprise me was just how accurate and spot on it was about describing the core problems such a person faces and has to overcome. In the end it did surprise me, but not so much due to the content within it - rather just how well-crafted the storytelling was that presented said content.

Emi's arc surprised me only insofar as one of the good endings was concerned. I'm a fairly big sucker for the whole classic 'guy makes girl understand' romance resolutions I guess, but I gotta admit I haven't seen one done really well in a long time. Emi's arc was definitely a friendly reminder that I'm still a sucker for those kinds of resolutions. Also I suppose there was residual surprise in how much it mirrored a RL pairing, and how that added additional emotional weight, but if I had to state just pure plain old surprise I'd say...there weren't that many surprises in her arc. Just solid delivery.

And Rin's arc was finished in sleep-deprived delirium after having paced myself decently throughout Act 2, so yeah - it's fair to say it surprised me. Wether my lack of prediction was due to that or simply because I didn't want to think that much about what would happen next and wanted to just 'enjoy the ride', as it were, I don't know. I just know that I managed to engage my suspension of disbelief to the fullest somehow and that allowed my experience to be the most filled with surprises. Again, like Hanako, I was moreso surprised as to the way the story was told rather than just the content (the whole Nomiya angle, for example, was very well-known to me from RL and I could've told you how it was gonna end in the good ending by the end of Act 2 easily). But I will admit that the good ending was chock-full of personal surprises that I care not to elaborate on. Suffice it to say - yes, this one probably did the most for me in shattering my preconceptions. About Rin and about a lot of topics related to her as well.

Xanatos wrote:

YZQ wrote:Well, Akira definitely has that train in mind. My memory is foggy about Lilly, but she does appear to jump at the call when the folks summoned her to Scotland. There is probably something.

On Hanako, it becomes a minefield if you overanalyze on whether you're being overprotective or insensitive with your actions. I probably will just do what I will.

True, Lilly seems kinda doormat-ish in regard to her parents. Can't even blame Japanese uptight-super-obedient-robots-with-sticks-up-their-asses culture 'cause just look at Akira.

I also kinda expected Yuuko to have a route...

I think it's perfectly valid to blame the 'Japanes uptight-super-obedient-robots-with-sticks-up-their-asses culture' for Lilly jumping the call and conclude that it's not so much Lilly who's out of the ordinary, but rather Akira being a bit of a rebel.

wazuzu wrote:- Rin would have suicided in some ending.

*cough*Rinbadnding*cough*

I was expecting Shizune to break down by the end to show that shes really a kind, misunderstood person inside.

Steinherz wrote:*cough*Rinbadnding*cough*

wazuzu wrote:- It would be explicitly stated that Rin will be doomed to suicide in one of her endings.

Feel better?

I was kind of expecting Lilly to be less... I dunno. Hers was the very last route I played of the bunch, but just the impression I got of her from the other girls' paths painted her in a more pleasant light. The whole thing about her leading Hisao on legitimately caught me off guard. Granted, I ended up getting suckered into the soap opera/fairy tale ending anyway.

As for the whole Rin suicide thing, I am not sure I agree. I know all of the comparisons were being drawn to Sae's husband, but seeing as neither Nomiya nor Sae really understood her to begin with, I'm not sure if the comparison really has any merit.

Speaking of Rin, oddly enough, I had no expectations regarding her route whatsoever. Asides from well, odd.

In all honestly, I think most people would have guessed Hanako's story correctly. Rin's story is just, unpredictable. Emi's is a little more obvious, I know it had something to do with her legs. Lilly's problems I honestly thought had to do with her family (especially after finding out Lilly and Shizune were related). Shizune's I thought had to do with her communication, and since I had done Lilly's beforehand, I thought it also be about another side of the family. Go deeper into why Lilly and Shizune aren't friends, and I actually hoped they'd somehow get a better relationship afterwards. Misha for a while I thought she was related to Shizune and Lilly (especially after that photo in Lilly's arc) and some sort of side arc would happen with her. At least this is how I thought. So I didn't really have much preconceptions, other than the preconceptions between Lilly and Shizune's arc.

ZXNova wrote:In all honestly, I think most people would have guessed Hanako's story correctly. Rin's story is just, unpredictable. Emi's is a little more obvious, I know it had something to do with her legs. Lilly's problems I honestly thought had to do with her family (especially after finding out Lilly and Shizune were related). Shizune's I thought had to do with her communication, and since I had done Lilly's beforehand, I thought it also be about another side of the family. Go deeper into why Lilly and Shizune aren't friends, and I actually hoped they'd somehow get a better relationship afterwards. Misha for a while I thought she was related to Shizune and Lilly (especially after that photo in Lilly's arc) and some sort of side arc would happen with her. At least this is how I thought. So I didn't really have much preconceptions, other than the preconceptions between Lilly and Shizune's arc.

Yeah, they kinda missed the possibilities with the whole Lilly-Shizune relation...