Post
by amentoraz » Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:51 am
First things first, I liked Shizune *because* she is a strong woman, and I feel attracted by strong women. In fact she's quite more honest than most "strong" people I've met IRL in that her strength is real (even if this gets her into some social retardness and some other issues). In my experience, many times 'strong' people are balancing that they're very fragile on the inside, and as an insecure teenager I more than once fell in love with people whom I later discovered were just a facade. My first route was Emi, and all the time I was considering Shizune from a sexual perspective. I guess it is this thing I have for strong women.
On Shizune's path, I actually think there is an evolution on the way she behaves through it. It was actually fairly well done, and well, first time I played it I got the bad ending because I chose to comfort Misha, precisely because the event development had me (as Hisao) feeling like shit. I mean, the fact that she goes on as if nothing had happened after Hisao asks her to be his girlfriend, the total lack of intimacy, the 'rape' from which the most intimate moment is her hands playing with Hisao's, these all built up to a point in which I think the Misha decission wasn't in order to comfort Misha but in order to comfort Hisao, his need for some friggin' human contact after the disaster that is being shut down like that by Shizune when you get too close to her. I know I fucked up royally when comforting Misha but I can understand why Hisao would do that. Also its obvious that things would get worse, since Misha and myself as Hisao would end up feeling even worse after the comforting.
The route might be too long with just one decission to take along the way, and sometimes I felt a bit lost. It was quite different from Emi's route; in that route it all seemed too obvious and Hisao acted quite retarded, but in Shizune's route things were sometimes too complex or too little explained. Also, even though there was just one decission to take, at least it is quite a relevant one that makes you stop and reflect on how Shizune is making Hisao feel.
In some sense, I appreciate Shizune's attitude more than Emi when it comes to acting in life, because Shizune has some really deep commitment and force of will. Also because even though Shizune might be bossy and stuff, at the same time she's doing it for others, even if she is never thanked at all. I love this quote from her:
“The mark of great people is that they are daring, and that they can follow through [...] There is no point to potential if you don’t take the first step, and there is no point to that if you don’t keep going.” [...] “If you really wanted to escape, you would have take immediate action! This is how you know someone is serious; when they have no doubts, no regrets!”
Also, there is something I like a lot that is said almost in the end of her route, that "If you aren't always thinking big, thinking positive, [...] soon you won't be able to do anything because your power is going to be delegated to others piece by piece, and you'll be left with nothing.". It is a quote specific to the Council but I think it can be applied in a lot of fields in life.
