Types of emotional reactions to KS

[TK8305]

My eyes well'd up pretty bad from the super emotional scenes and I laughed whenever Kenji was around. xD

[Atario]

Emi and Hisao are real and disguised as Spunky and Atario.

I think you know where this is going.

I categorically deny that Spunky loves it up the ass. Also that my ahoge and swaggervest aren't totally rockin', yo.

I was Emi all along.

Emi:
♪ I hate true intimacy
Convince me if you want to see ♫
♬ No, you'll never make a waifu out of me.

♩ Oh, my god — I was wrong,
I was Spunky all along! ♪
♫ You finally made a waifu…

Emibros:
Yes we finally made a waifu… ♬

Spunky and Emibros:
♫ Yes, you finally made a waifu out of me! ♪♬

[FelOnyx]

Emi and Hisao are real and disguised as Spunky and Atario.

The power of Spunky's devotion drew Emi into our world, but lacking a real body she merged with him to survive. They can freely switch personalities, but Emi usually stays dormant inside his mind, which is a very nice place to live, with a comfortable apartment and a track. Hisao's sweatervest is an artifact with enough power to allow him to transcend the boundary between real and fake, and he used it to come here to bring Emi back. The three of them are in a bizarre love triangle, with Emi in the middle. The shift happened during her route, soon after the track shed scene, giving both of them a chance, but Spunky has the advantage, knowing the events of her entire route and her past.


On topic, I did cry at a few scenes, which was an interesting experience the first time it happened. I had heard the stories, of course, but although a few things came close, nothing I had read, played or watched had ever made my cry before, and I had my doubts this would be any different. Man, was I wrong.

[SpunkySix]

Emi and Hisao are real and disguised as Spunky and Atario.

Theory

I... I... okay.


Aaaaaaanyways, did anybody else feel too empty to actually break down and cry after the game was over? I shed a few tears at the grave scene, but at the end nothing came and I just sort of went into zombie mode until I fell asleep, then woke up in a flurry.

[Atario]

Aaaaaaanyways, did anybody else feel too empty to actually break down and cry after the game was over? I shed a few tears at the grave scene, but at the end nothing came and I just sort of went into zombie mode until I fell asleep, then woke up in a flurry.

On Emi's route, I can't remember anymore whether I cried, but it wouldn't have been at the end. It would have been during Hisao's determination speech, and possibly Emi's favorite color speech.

For certain other routes, though… yeah.

[FelOnyx]

Emi and Hisao are real and disguised as Spunky and Atario.

Theory

I... I... okay.


Aaaaaaanyways, did anybody else feel too empty to actually break down and cry after the game was over? I shed a few tears at the grave scene, but at the end nothing came and I just sort of went into zombie mode until I fell asleep, then woke up in a flurry.

That an "I approve" OK, or a "I am thoroughly weirded out" OK? Or something between the two?


For the endings, using Emi here as an example. For the grave scene, I can't remember if I cried, but I certainly came close, then when everything was all happy again, conflict resolved, standard good end stuff, I had a huge grin on my face, then as it ended and the credits rolled, I fell back in my chair and stared at the title screen for a while, letting it all sink in, which I assume is like the 'emptiness' you mention. But after 5-15 minutes of that, I closed the game, checked the clock, and went on with my day, or went to sleep, depending on the time, so not much like the 'zombie mode' you experienced. Most of the other endings went more or less the same way.

[McAwesome]

It's my first post on this forum, so yeah, HI.

First of all, I'm not the kind of person that often cries, I'm always trying to keep my feelings to myself. The last time i cried was on my friend's funeral a year ago. Since then I've never shed a tear. Until i played KS.
So far I've only played the Lilly's route, and I cried a lot. And by "a lot" I mean A LOT. Every little detail about her, like for example when she wanted Hisao to "see" like she does or when she wanted to "see" what does Hisao looke like. All this little details literally brought a tear to my eye. And seeing a person so confident and ambitious even if she's kind of disabled was so touching and it just made me cheerful. I've got the good ending after my first playthrough, and after that I felt happy for them, but at the same moment i felt kind of sad, because i wanted to see more of this story.

I've played a lot of games, read a lot of books and i've never cried that much. KS for me was a great experience and I really regret that i didn't play it earlier.

[ParagonTerminus]

Welcome to the forums! I would normally make a joking post about you joining "the waifu war" (which is, by the way, very real) but since I've been discouraged from doing so...

Hello, welcome to the forums. This is a bland introduction. Please enjoy your stay.

[Potato]

It's my first post on this forum, so yeah, HI.

First of all, I'm not the kind of person that often cries, I'm always trying to keep my feelings to myself. The last time i cried was on my friend's funeral a year ago. Since then I've never shed a tear. Until i played KS.
So far I've only played the Lilly's route, and I cried a lot. And by "a lot" I mean A LOT. Every little detail about her, like for example when she wanted Hisao to "see" like she does or when she wanted to "see" what does Hisao look like. All this little details literally brought a tear to my eye. And seeing a person so confident and ambitious even if she's kind of disabled was so touching and it just made me cheerful. I've got the good ending after my first playthrough, and after that I felt happy for them, but at the same moment i felt kind of sad, because i wanted to see more of this story.

I've played a lot of games, read a lot of books and i've never cried that much. KS for me was a great experience and I really regret that i didn't play it earlier.

Welcome! 100% completion is mandatory (there's your "more of the story" ), the fanfiction and artwork thread are available to treat withdrawal symptoms afterward because there will never be a sequel.

I always found the scene where she tries to see what Hisao looks like too cliche to be sad.

[McAwesome]

It's my first post on this forum, so yeah, HI.

First of all, I'm not the kind of person that often cries, I'm always trying to keep my feelings to myself. The last time i cried was on my friend's funeral a year ago. Since then I've never shed a tear. Until i played KS.
So far I've only played the Lilly's route, and I cried a lot. And by "a lot" I mean A LOT. Every little detail about her, like for example when she wanted Hisao to "see" like she does or when she wanted to "see" what does Hisao look like. All this little details literally brought a tear to my eye. And seeing a person so confident and ambitious even if she's kind of disabled was so touching and it just made me cheerful. I've got the good ending after my first playthrough, and after that I felt happy for them, but at the same moment i felt kind of sad, because i wanted to see more of this story.

I've played a lot of games, read a lot of books and i've never cried that much. KS for me was a great experience and I really regret that i didn't play it earlier.

Welcome! 100% completion is mandatory (there's your "more of the story" ), the fanfiction and artwork thread are available to treat withdrawal symptoms afterward because there will never be a sequel.

I always found the scene where she tries to see what Hisao looks like too cliche to be sad.

Yes, now I know there were cliches of course, but when I was playing I didn't pay much attention to it to be honest. And I don't really know if I should play more of this game, you know, "the feels". :3
I'm curious about other routes, so I guess I will end up playing it eventually.
I know there will never be a sequel, that's sad.
Propably here's why: (Yes I know it propably was on the forum before, but I've never seen it. That scene is overused in many parodies, but I guess this one is good :3)

[Potato]

And I don't really know if I should play more of this game...

I know it for you. You should.

[Atario]

I always found the scene where she tries to see what Hisao looks like too cliche to be sad.

Er… I don't think it was intended to be sad. Intimate, touching¹, sweet. Not sad.



1. See² what I did there?




2. And there?

[Broomhead]

I've played this game twice, but today was the day I managed to power through the feels of Hanako, and thus "unlocked" the forums for myself.

When I first played I only made it to the middle of act 3 (Castling) before I left for what I thought would be my own good. I had a bit of depression and on-and-off emotion trauma, and not just as a reaction.

I came back the day before yesterday, in hopes of sealing the gap in my mind from playing the route half through. I am currently suffering from relations to the character, serious doubts about my personality, and an overwhelming fear that I'm going to find a way to get a SAO headset to work with this game. Otherwise, I'm good. I found that I didn't cry all-out, but I recently shed a tear or two re-listening to "painful history." Perhaps the feels train was late, as I was on the verge for the entirety of acts 3 and 4 this time around. Perhaps it is related to the fact that, as I said earlier, I relate very much to Hanako on my inner self, and kinda fear my outer self may finally fall away and reveal my true self. Will update you as I play through my next route and feel the long term effects.

[Dyno]

When I first played I only made it to the middle of act 3 (Castling) before I left for what I thought would be my own good. I had a bit of depression and on-and-off emotion trauma, and not just as a reaction.

I had it the other way around, i didnt get that because i played the game, i got it because i didn't, thoughts about it kept racing trough my head.

[brythain]

Actually, it's interesting from a researcher's point of view to see how people respond to KS -especially- if they've not been exposed overly much to Japanese culture.

That's why when recently I saw the comment I've appended below, I nodded a bit (initial, slightly shallow instinctive response) and then started wondering how true it was.

The comment is taken from this webpage. I was struck by how much some of it could apply to a few of the KS routes (as they do to many other stories in the genre).

As I was reading these stories, I was thinking about how incredibly hard it would be to find anything like them here in the USA. Over here we "medicalize" depression. That's a reasonable approach to the problem, because it makes depression seem like an unnatural intrusion into the orderly march of life, and so conveniently blinds us to the frightening fact that despair is always an option for us. For the characters in these stories, though, despair is just around the corner! Apparently in Japan lots of people come to know that fact firsthand, especially when they're young and don't yet really fit anywhere in the world they are growing up to confront.

These aren't stories that fit anywhere in the familiar manga categories, but they're good stories, because they're about a part of life that's as real as the good parts.