There are no "good" endings

[Oddball]

If getting to know your friends is too far out of your way, you shouldn't have them IMO.

That's a point I've been trying to make, but you haven't responded to.

They ARE NOT always his friends. If you don't take Lilly or Hanako's route, Hisao doesn't make friends with Lilly or Hanako.

He isn't friends with Rin or Emi if you take Shizune's route.

Etc etc

In those cases, they're just people he knows. Not actual friends.

You keep saying he should be thee for his friends, but the people he isn't there for aren't actually his friends. Are you complaining that he doesn't have enough friends?

[Guest Poster]

Very good point. From what we learn about Hisao during the game, he was pretty much like Hanako before her accident...not a large circle of friends, but he enjoyed hanging out with the ones he had. Hisao pretty much spent most of his time hanging out with three other people. Taking that back to two doesn't seem a massive step back. At Yamaku, he has two good friends (his future girlfriend and that girl's best friend) and in any non-student council route he still spends enough with Shizune and Misha to consider them casual friends....but not close enough to spend loads of time with them. And there's Kenji, but I'm still having trouble determining if Hisao considers Kenji a good friend or a casual friend who says weird stuff. I don't think it's in Hisao's character to establish a close friendship with all the girls, he's not a socializing person by nature even though Lilly mentions he manages to get along well with most of his schoolmates.

[Dream]

Don't know if i would say he's like Hanako, but yeah Hisao is pretty much a rather introverted kid. I would say that his small circle of friends was more because of lack of interest in friends and life in general rather than shyness though. More than anything, it always struck me that before the accident, Hisao never really cared much about anything or felt much about any subject. Hisao seems to be able to easily socialize with people if he has to or puts his mind to it, but it doesn't seem to be his default inclination.

And Hisao considering Kenji a casual or good friend, i think that changes with the route.

[Dr. Robotnik]

Alright, then he should've put the effort into getting to know them. I'd understand if he didn't really like them that much, but he clearly did, as evidenced by him being able to fall in love with almost all of them. He could've definitely put the effort into forming a bond and it wouldn't have even been that far out of his way, yet he decided "fuck it, my only friends will be whoever my dick's in and their friend". The introvert thing wouldn't really apply here, as these are people he already knows on some level and not complete strangers. The worst part is that these people would benefit greatly from his friendship, and his decision to just not care is hurting them.

inb4 some horrible exaggeration of my point like "why does he have to be best friends with everyone".

[Enemy |]

Alright, then he should've put the effort into getting to know them. I'd understand if he didn't really like them that much, but he clearly did, as evidenced by him being able to fall in love with almost all of them. He could've definitely put the effort into forming a bond and it wouldn't have even been that far out of his way, yet he decided "fuck it, my only friends will be whoever my dick's in and their friend". The introvert thing wouldn't really apply here, as these are people he already knows on some level and not complete strangers. The worst part is that these people would benefit greatly from his friendship, and his decision to just not care is hurting them.

inb4 some horrible exaggeration of my point like "why does he have to be best friends with everyone".

I don't remember which route it is (Lilly's? Possibly Lilly's) but Hisao does seem to be friendly enough with everyone, even having lunch on the roof with Emi and Rin. Emi's implied to be friends - or at least an acquaintance - with pretty much everyone and in all routes but her own Hisao sees Rin as just odd.
Emi's problems are deep enough that a shallow (relatively speaking) friendship wouldn't be of that much help, IMO - as it is said that she even had a boyfriend whom she didn't open up to. Everyone else's do seem like they could use a friend more, but most people IRL really do have a couple of good friends, and has most everyone else on good terms, but I think padding the game with friendly conversations with people the route isn't about would be just that, padding. And if you were to resolve someone's issue as their friend in another route then you'd take the impact of that person's own route away, in my opinion.
Then again I haven't read the whole thread so I don't even know if I'm talking about what everyone else is talking about.

[Guest Poster]

Alright, then he should've put the effort into getting to know them. I'd understand if he didn't really like them that much, but he clearly did, as evidenced by him being able to fall in love with almost all of them. He could've definitely put the effort into forming a bond and it wouldn't have even been that far out of his way, yet he decided "fuck it, my only friends will be whoever my dick's in and their friend". The introvert thing wouldn't really apply here, as these are people he already knows on some level and not complete strangers. The worst part is that these people would benefit greatly from his friendship, and his decision to just not care is hurting them.

inb4 some horrible exaggeration of my point like "why does he have to be best friends with everyone".

Except for the not-so-unimportant detail that Hisao develops slightly differently depending on who he hangs out with at which point he might not be perfect company for certain others anymore. A good example would be Shizune-route Hisao who spends some time with Lilly in the tea room if you're on Shizune's bad-end route. Hisao and Lilly spend some time talking about Shizune...at some point Hisao starts absentmindedly mimicking Shizune's habit of loudly snapping her fingers, which annoys Lilly to no end. Likewise, Lilly-route Hisao would probably be too passive and laid-back for Shizune to be interested in hanging out with. Yes, Hisao can fall in love with all of them, but not all of them will fall in love with him unless he develops in a certain way. There's probably a reason the developers decided to reward a player who tries going for EVERYONE with pretzels and a drop off the roof.

The five girls aren't complete strangers, but neither are several people in his class, most of whom don't even get a dialogue picture. Aside from the five main girls, there may be plenty of other girls in Yamaku who would also benefit greatly from his friendship. How about Miki, Suzu, Naomi, Natsume and Molly? Who knows what horrible fate awaits them now they don't get befriended by wonderboy Hisao.

Except he isn't a wonderboy and he didn't come to Yamaku to fix the girls. He didn't even befriend the girl who'd become his girlfriend in order to fix her, but simply because he was lonely and that person intrigued him. There's nothing selfish about his decision to spend a lot of time with some people and hardly any with others. We make these decisions on a daily basis in real life.

[Dr. Robotnik]

Alright, I'm done. Guest poster, the entire second half of your post was literally exactly what I said was a horrible exaggeration. At this point I'm completely convinced that I will never get through to any of you. Call me stupid, claim victory, whatever, but this is going nowhere and I seriously feel like Rin right now. If I ever want to bring this up again maybe I'll just write a fanfic about what happened if he did or something.

[Oddball]

Alright, then he should've put the effort into getting to know them. I'd understand if he didn't really like them that much, but he clearly did, as evidenced by him being able to fall in love with almost all of them. He could've definitely put the effort into forming a bond and it wouldn't have even been that far out of his way, yet he decided "fuck it, my only friends will be whoever my dick's in and their friend". The introvert thing wouldn't really apply here, as these are people he already knows on some level and not complete strangers. The worst part is that these people would benefit greatly from his friendship, and his decision to just not care is hurting them.

You're arguing two different points at once here.

You're saying he needs to put in effort to make friends with everyone then you're saying he's making a conscious effort NOT to make more friends. Which is it?

I'm going to ignore the idea that Hisao is actively choosing not to become friends with people, because honestly, that idea is straight out completely and totally stupid. Hisao doesn't actively chose not to care, in fact there are more than a few scenes that show he's somewhat worried about people that aren't his friends, but he doesn't know them and doesn't feel it's his place to meddle in their business. Hisao actually thinks this when dealing with Miki, for example.

Hisao doesn't actively dismiss people, so let's go with the argument that Hisao should be trying to make friends with them. Of course if you want to go that route, the question is, why should he?

Maybe it's just me, but I'd assume people become friends not out of a sense of obligation, but because they want to be friends. Hisao doesn't WANT to be friends with the others. It's not that he doesn't care for them, he's just happy with how things are for the most part. He's never had a huge social circle and he's content not to have one. So, why should he make friends when he already has enough? To help them? Go into Hanako's route feeling that you need to help somebody and see how that works out. Go see how Emi reacts to being told that she needs somebody.

Hisao is fine with only a couple of friends, so WHY is that a bad thing?

[Guest Poster]

Alright, I'm done. Guest poster, the entire second half of your post was literally exactly what I said was a horrible exaggeration. At this point I'm completely convinced that I will never get through to any of you. Call me stupid, claim victory, whatever, but this is going nowhere and I seriously feel like Rin right now. If I ever want to bring this up again maybe I'll just write a fanfic about what happened if he did or something.

We already know what happens if he did. He spends an evening on the roof drinking whiskey and eating pretzels before getting down the fast way.

My post was not a blatant exaggeration. It's mentioned in the game that by the time the routes are underway, Hisao's on good terms (I believe the word first-name basis was used) with most of his classmates. But obviously, he has no desire to start a close friendship with them. Again, this mirrors real life. People, even the most socially extraverted ones (which Hisao isn't), can only have a small number of close friends and the people in his class he's on first-name basis with and who he doesn't actively spend time hanging out with are just people he knows, just like the girls who aren't part of his current route are people he knows. If he's doing Hanako's route, meaning he's not running track, he probably has more daily contact with Suzu or Molly (who are pretty much sitting in front of him) than he has with Emi. In what way is Emi more special than his classmates unless Hisao's running track? (at least Molly and Suzu never made any attempts on his life)

Hisao doesn't know any of the girls well enough at the end of Act 1 to know whether they need his help or not, so he can't befriend them with that purpose in mind and even if he did then he'd be starting a friendship based on a really unhealthy attitude. It's not that I don't understand your point, I just think it clashes with how reality works.

[Dr. Robotnik]

We already know what happens if he did. He spends an evening on the roof drinking whiskey and eating pretzels before getting down the fast way.

That's because he pushed everyone away, not because he tried to be with everyone.

Anyway, I know I said I was done, but I must point out that I said in no uncertain terms that what you think I meant was definitely not what I meant. That's the opposite of understanding.

[Oddball]

That's because he pushed everyone away, not because he tried to be with everyone.

Same thing in this case.

He has to be energetic and has some real drive to get close to Emi or Shizune.
He has to want to take things easy and be more relaxed to catch the attention of Lilly and Hanako.
He has to have no drive whatsoever to get closer to Rin.

If you try to please one person, another person else won't be as accepting of him.

The most blatant example of this comes from the Lilly/Shizune confrontation. He has to side with one or the other.

Trying to play it safe, please everyone, or not take sides just results in nobody really being that interested in Hisao.