Katawa Shoujo Forums

Misha, to me, is the hardest character to read in KS. That's coming from a Rin Fan.

The problem is not that Misha's outward behavior is weird or eccentric: it's that she is really, REALLY good at putting on a happy face. Maybe even better than Emi. It becomes difficult to tell when, if ever, Misha is as happy as she seems. If she covers up her suicidal thoughts with her perky personality, then her perkiness becomes suspect: is she really as happy with the relationship between Shizune and Hisao as she seems at the end of her Good End?

My question is this: is Misha an essentially energetic and positive person? Is this all an act to hide the pain she feels around Shizune? Or is it a bit of both?

Oh, the old "Misha is just back to faking happiness in the 'good' end" thing...Yeah, no. If she was still a suicidal wreck, it wouldn't be a good end. Leave the theories otherwise to fanfiction because you could mutate any of the good ends to horrible results if you tried enough.

That said, she's probably not ecstatic either, there's gotta be some residual issues. But unlike before, she'll be able to move on now.

I'd wager that Misha is a basically positive person. The photo from her pre-drills days shows as much. Post-drills, she definitely exaggerates it as a part of the facade so after the good end, she'll probably tone things down a bit while still remaining basically happy.

She's in love with someone who doesn't reciprocate her feelings. That's not usually enough to turn someone suicidal, or suicide rates in society would be MUCH higher.
Yes, she's probably sad, and yes, she's good at faking cheerfulness, but if she didn't consider Shizune and Hisao to be friends, she wouldn't still hang out with them. Sooner or later she'll get over it, and since Shizune's path takes all up to graduation she has plenty of time to do so.

Mirage_GSM wrote:usually

It's not exactly usual to adopt pink drills and OBNOXIOUS VOLUME over a bout of sadness either. Misha's pretty much unusual all around.

I would say that she's probably sad about some things, but a cheery person by nature. Faking happy is one thing, but faking energy is another.

Potato wrote: That said, she's probably not ecstatic either, there's gotta be some residual issues. But unlike before, she'll be able to move on now.

Well said.

She was putting up something of a facade as she cavorted through the friend zone with Shizune. Then Hisao showed up, Shizune was attracted to and successfully attracted him, rendering Misha completely surplus to requirements as now she had a close friend, interpreter and love interest all in one - and one that she (Shizune) actually wanted to be those things.

This just forced Misha to finally come to terms with what had already been true for some time, that Shizune just didn't and would never like her romantically. This is a bitter pill to swallow for anyone and it takes time to process and learn to cope with it. You might never stop dreaming about what might be but with any luck, you don't let a rejection get in the way of a friendship because if anything, you at least now know the full score between you.

She's a happy go lucky person by nature, who puts on a good face when she's down. But it's clear she's got some deep seated depression. Happy? I'd say so. Just very hurt and sad about some things, which seem to get better at the end of Shizune's route...sorta.

I'd say most of the time Misha actually is happy. She just strikes me as the kind of person that can't focus on too many different things at once so when working with Shizune and translating for her, she doesn't have time to think about the worse aspects. When she's alone in her room late at night, that's probably when she starts to feel a bit worse. Likewise, when Hisao starts getting better at sign language, she has less to do and more time to think.

Still, she's not quite as happy as she puts on at best, but then again, who could be? She feels like her whole personality has been taken and cranked up to eleven.

I don't think she was ever suicidal either. I think that was just Hisao jumping to a wrong and more dramatic conclusion. Yeah, she feels rotten later on and wants to curl up into a ball and cry, but I don't think she's likely to kill herself.

Agreed, Oddball. Even if she was to suggest suicide, or not wanting to live...There's a big line between feeling that way when really down, and being the type to act on it.

I think Hisao kind of just wanted to rule out her having any thoughts like that, to get that off her head.

We all have depression a bit here and there. Most have those thoughts, once and a while. But comparatively, much less actually act on said thoughts. I don't see Misha as the type to go that far off the deepend. Especially with Shizune around.

Oddball wrote:I don't think she was ever suicidal either. I think that was just Hisao jumping to a wrong and more dramatic conclusion. Yeah, she feels rotten later on and wants to curl up into a ball and cry, but I don't think she's likely to kill herself.

More like it was Misha being melodramatic enough to lead people to that conclusion.

Tidus wrote:I don't see Misha as the type to go that far off the deepend. Especially with Shizune around.

I think it's missed a little too often just how genuinely sweet Misha's love for Shizune is. She really cares about her, and it drives her to be a better person in a way, even when it makes her feel down and hurts her. That's something special. Something that I like to think was noticed and nurtured by somebody who reciprocated those feelings for her some time after the ending.

Obviously I like Emi the best, but if you can't tell, I think Misha's a total sweetheart and it makes me sad that she's so sad. I wish there was some way to help her out even in the routes where it wasn't totally relevant, especially since she seems to have taken a decent interest in Hisao's happiness in other routes, some more than others.

Potato wrote:

Oddball wrote:I don't think she was ever suicidal either. I think that was just Hisao jumping to a wrong and more dramatic conclusion. Yeah, she feels rotten later on and wants to curl up into a ball and cry, but I don't think she's likely to kill herself.

More like it was Misha being melodramatic enough to lead people to that conclusion.

In what world is Misha being upset and hanging out on the rooftop being melodramatic? It's been a long time but I'm almost certain she never once mentioned anything about jumping off, or even hinting at the thought of it. If you mean her being upset because of her unrequited love is being melodramatic then I think we have completely different definitions for that word.

SpecimenSix wrote:

Potato wrote:

Oddball wrote:I don't think she was ever suicidal either. I think that was just Hisao jumping to a wrong and more dramatic conclusion. Yeah, she feels rotten later on and wants to curl up into a ball and cry, but I don't think she's likely to kill herself.

More like it was Misha being melodramatic enough to lead people to that conclusion.

In what world is Misha being upset and hanging out on the rooftop being melodramatic? It's been a long time but I'm almost certain she never once mentioned anything about jumping off, or even hinting at the thought of it. If you mean her being upset because of her unrequited love is being melodramatic then I think we have completely different definitions for that word.

And, to be clear, wanting to curl up into a ball and cry and just fall asleep and not wake up isn't melodramatic either... that's a very real feeling, and one that hurts. A lot. I mean, you deal with it and get through it, but it's not fun, and it's not an act.

SpunkySix wrote:And, to be clear, wanting to curl up into a ball and cry and just fall asleep and not wake up isn't melodramatic either... that's a very real feeling, and one that hurts. A lot. I mean, you deal with it and get through it, but it's not fun, and it's not an act.

Heck, I felt that feeling a few months ago.

KeiichiO wrote:

SpunkySix wrote:And, to be clear, wanting to curl up into a ball and cry and just fall asleep and not wake up isn't melodramatic either... that's a very real feeling, and one that hurts. A lot. I mean, you deal with it and get through it, but it's not fun, and it's not an act.

Heck, I felt that feeling a few months ago.

Absolutely, I get bad SAD and life can be just horrible during the winter, or even when it's grey outside. I should move to California or something.