For which character did you feel sad the most?

[Oddball]

What's more, did Lilly Hisao and Hanako skip classes to go to the summer home, or did summer vacation come before Tanabata?

They didn't got to the summer house over summer break. They went for a three day weekend.

[rydiafan]

Am i missing something .. i don't remember Hanako ever getting bullied in her or lilly's walkthrough ...

[Enemy |]

Am i missing something .. i don't remember Hanako ever getting bullied in her or lilly's walkthrough ...

She mentions being bullied while she was a kid, by her "friends" because of the burns in her body.

[rydiafan]

Am i missing something .. i don't remember Hanako ever getting bullied in her or lilly's walkthrough ...

She mentions being bullied while she was a kid, by her "friends" because of the burns in her body.

Right right ok i remember now ... sorry i forgot

[Hadokant]

Pretty obvious but Hanako

[Guest Poster]

She mentions being bullied while she was a kid, by her "friends" because of the burns in her body.

It's worse than that. She mentions it at two points.

During the final scene in the park, she mentions how the kids in elementary school she formerly considered her closest friends became her bullies. That's what caused her gloomy view on friendship in general.

During the second outing in the city (where Hisao gives her that phone strap), she tells Hisao that during middle school she was bullied a lot as well. (name calling, exclusion and worse)

So basically before coming to Yamaku, every school day was a fight for survival for her. I really don't think any of the other girls can top that. Shizune and Rin may have trouble communicating and making friends and may be lonely as a result, but at least the world didn't go the extra ten miles to kick them while they were down.

[Titus]

(start)--------(school festival)------------------------(Track meet)-------------------------------------------------------(Tanabata)------------------------------------(Summer Vacation)---------------------------------------------------(Graduation)->
(S)--------------[Star gazing]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[when stars embrace]---------------------------[Weekend at Shizune's]------[A Story Shizune may never know]-----------(end)->
(R)-------------[By the mural]-----------------------[A favor for Emi]--[Dandelion]-[Art exhibition]---(end)---->
(H)---------[Transient Fireworks]------[Hanako's Birthday]--[Lilly leaves]--[reconciliation]-(end)-->
(L)-----------[Promise of time]---------[Hanako's Birthday]--[Lilly leaves]-----------[T I M E P A R A D O X T I M E P A R A D O X T I M E P A R A D O X P I M E T A R A D O X]--[Lilly's second leave]-------(end)--->
(E)-------------[Is Carnival]-------------------------[Run Emi, Run!]----------[A day at Emi's]--[Graveyard]---(end)-->


....yeah

Voted Emi, Hanako, and Rin. Rin specifically because she said she doesn't want to be alone (heart broke right there) but there isn't anything she can do because no one understands her (Lilly for example says she avoids her) and she tries but to no avail. Thread bringing up old feels again, ach my heart...

Thanks for this timeline, your effort didn't go unappreciated Question here, didn't Lilly only leave for the first time during Hanako's route? The phone call was during her first leave (just like Lilly's own route). Therefore Hanako's ending came at a time when Lilly did not leave for Scotland again, Hanako's route ended way before when Lilly was still there in her first trip.

[WorldlyWiseman]

Pretty obvious but Hanako

I guess those of us not voting for the two characters with obviously tragic pasts might want to provide explanations. I don't think any of us think less of what Emi and Hanako have gone through, it's not about comparisons. My reasoning;

Emi seems to be doing as well as she can, honestly. She's likely been through as much therapy as can help (it's been 8 years), and she has a strong running hobby to help manage her brain chemistry (she didn't start running to manage any depressed feelings that might come up, obviously, but exercise is always good). By the start of her path, she just has to learn to open up when it's important to do so, which she eventually does. She doesn't worry me, so I don't feel 'sad' about her.

Hanako is a different thing for me, and it might actually make me seem like a terrible person to some of you guys. It's an empathy problem. I don't exactly understand what it's like to go through what she's going through, so I'm just stuck in my distant-analysis mode. I understand that what happened is a horrible thing for anyone to go through, I just understand it intellectually. It's not heartbreaking for me. On the other hand, I grew up alienating people by being weird and abrasive, so Rin's and Shizune's plights hit me harder.

[Guest Poster]

Emi seems to be doing as well as she can, honestly. She's likely been through as much therapy as can help (it's been 8 years), and she has a strong running hobby to help manage her brain chemistry (she didn't start running to manage any depressed feelings that might come up, obviously, but exercise is always good). By the start of her path, she just has to learn to open up when it's important to do so, which she eventually does. She doesn't worry me, so I don't feel 'sad' about her.

Personally, I don't think Emi ever went through PTSD therapy because of her stubborn streak. It's difficult to get people in therapy against their will and I can see Emi refusing psychiatric help because to her that'd be like admitting she has emotional baggage.

Hanako is a different thing for me, and it might actually make me seem like a terrible person to some of you guys. It's an empathy problem. I don't exactly understand what it's like to go through what she's going through, so I'm just stuck in my distant-analysis mode. I understand that what happened is a horrible thing for anyone to go through, I just understand it intellectually. It's not heartbreaking for me. On the other hand, I grew up alienating people by being weird and abrasive, so Rin's and Shizune's plights hit me harder.

I think most people who've dealt with bullying (directly or someone they knew) before will acknowledge how horrible it can be and being subjected to that for 8 years, with nobody doing anything about it is a pretty rough deal. That's not even getting into ending up in an orphanage and seeing other kids get adopted left and right while remaining behind yourself.

[Megumeru]

Thanks for this timeline, your effort didn't go unappreciated Question here, didn't Lilly only leave for the first time during Hanako's route? The phone call was during her first leave (just like Lilly's own route). Therefore Hanako's ending came at a time when Lilly did not leave for Scotland again, Hanako's route ended way before when Lilly was still there in her first trip.

Yeah, she did. Lilly should return--I think--after Hanako's ending, so it would be before/after Tanabata--considering how they missed the festival, I say it's after.

Well, that's why there's that huge 'T I M E P A R A D O X' in Lilly's route

[Teryn]

Actual sadness, times that I cried or felt very close to it, Rin and Hanako without a doubt.

Rin, because she is so right-brained that saying something concretely seems nearly impossible for her. I felt so much for her because I shared an art/misunderstood kind of background, too.

Hanako, not because she has a tragic past with much death in it, but moreso because I accutely felt her panic attack/seizure. I've been like that myself more times than I care to admit, and her path's artist (sorry, I don't remember all their names!) brought out that terrified, frozen look in her eyes so well.

Emi was something that really surprised me. I felt extremely sad for her, because out of all the girls, she was the most willfully blind to how others might be able to help her. It was like the lyrics of Be Still My Beating Heart: "I wriggle like a fish upon dry land / struggle to avoid any helping hand"

I was mostly angry at Shizune's Dad and how he always put impossible demands on her and the people around her.

I'm somewhat sad for Misha's unrequited love. I wasn't very sad because they were both so go-getting. It wasn't really a question of IF they would get their lives together, it was WHEN. Less tragic when you have strong willed women around. I'm sure Shizune will become more than ever her own dreams can predict, and Misha, by her own choices, has revealed that she's already strong enough to deal with her unrequited feelings and grow beyond them.

Lilly is her own woman, absolutely. Not perfect, but not pitiable, either.

[WorldlyWiseman]

Emi seems to be doing as well as she can, honestly. She's likely been through as much therapy as can help (it's been 8 years), and she has a strong running hobby to help manage her brain chemistry (she didn't start running to manage any depressed feelings that might come up, obviously, but exercise is always good). By the start of her path, she just has to learn to open up when it's important to do so, which she eventually does. She doesn't worry me, so I don't feel 'sad' about her.

Personally, I don't think Emi ever went through PTSD therapy because of her stubborn streak. It's difficult to get people in therapy against their will and I can see Emi refusing psychiatric help because to her that'd be like admitting she has emotional baggage.

This is entirely possible. I don't know the details of the rehabilitation process, I just assumed that there was some kind of required psychiatric check-up involved, because no one ever reacts well to losing limbs. It might not be, or it might only be very brief and they just let Emi go once she gave them a few bright smiles. All the same, she has found some way of more or less managing it on her own. The trauma may never go away completely, but it would be largely out of my power to do anything but provide a shoulder to lean on. As a result, I don't get that gut-wrenching sadness.

I'm just reflecting on my own reasoning here.

Hanako is a different thing for me, and it might actually make me seem like a terrible person to some of you guys. It's an empathy problem. I don't exactly understand what it's like to go through what she's going through, so I'm just stuck in my distant-analysis mode. I understand that what happened is a horrible thing for anyone to go through, I just understand it intellectually. It's not heartbreaking for me. On the other hand, I grew up alienating people by being weird and abrasive, so Rin's and Shizune's plights hit me harder.

I think most people who've dealt with bullying (directly or someone they knew) before will acknowledge how horrible it can be and being subjected to that for 8 years, with nobody doing anything about it is a pretty rough deal. That's not even getting into ending up in an orphanage and seeing other kids get adopted left and right while remaining behind yourself.

I'm aware of all this, it's just very distant to me. I think I'm just a very different kind of person than the average Hanako fan (or a great number of people in general, possibly). All of it happened in the past, and there is nothing I can do about that except do my best to not make things worse.

[Guest]

Misha gets no happy ending and never gets the girl. She was the only character to make me cry, so easy choice for me.

[Total Destruction]

At first, I wanted to go the obvious route and go with Hanako, but nah. What makes this game so compelling is that ALL of these girls have lives that aren't the greatest. Sure, Hanako's family dying in a fire and the severe amount of emotional damage that and mistreatment by pretty much everyone in the universe bar Lilly undoubtedly gave her sucks, but come on. Nobody deserves parents like Lilly's and Shizune's, regardless of how well off they were. Rin's decision to become something people want her to at the expense of her body and soul hit home really hard, especially considering she more or less admits that she has no idea what people want or what her DEAL is. And Emi's "fuck it, things happen and they suck, so let's not get too attached to them" philosophy is almost as sad as the circumstances that kickstarted it. Yeesh.

I'm gonna cast my "vote" with Misha. Sucks when you're sprung on your best friend and she wants nothing to do with it. Probably sucks a little bit more when she's not into girls, and probably sucks a lot more when you and her man get busy and that drives everyone in the scenario apart.

[Titus]

At first, I wanted to go the obvious route and go with Hanako, but nah. What makes this game so compelling is that ALL of these girls have lives that aren't the greatest. Sure, Hanako's family dying in a fire and the severe amount of emotional damage that and mistreatment by pretty much everyone in the universe bar Lilly undoubtedly gave her sucks, but come on. Nobody deserves parents like Lilly's and Shizune's, regardless of how well off they were. Rin's decision to become something people want her to at the expense of her body and soul hit home really hard, especially considering she more or less admits that she has no idea what people want or what her DEAL is. And Emi's "fuck it, things happen and they suck, so let's not get too attached to them" philosophy is almost as sad as the circumstances that kickstarted it. Yeesh.

I'm gonna cast my "vote" with Misha. Sucks when you're sprung on your best friend and she wants nothing to do with it. Probably sucks a little bit more when she's not into girls, and probably sucks a lot more when you and her man get busy and that drives everyone in the scenario apart.

Not having your crush like you back seems trivial compared to every other girl's problems. Felt bad for her anyway though, because her self-esteem was low and "maybe it was better if I just died?".