What arc should i try next?

[pandaphil]

Jeez, I get all teary eyed at the 'Good' endings. I'm not sure I'd be able to emotionally handle the 'Bad' ones.

[pandaphil]

I'm enough of a mess after the good endings. I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to handle the bad endings. Especially if they involve hurting any of the girls in any way.

[Xanatos]

Jeez, I get all teary eyed at the 'Good' endings. I'm not sure I'd be able to emotionally handle the 'Bad' ones.

Do it!

[Xanatos]

Just finished my first route - Emi (as I guess is the norm). This route just happened. In the beginning, I was interested in Hanako. I was about to start it just now, but after reading this thread it seems her path is much more emotional then Emi's.
Anyway, I based my choices on what I would do if I had "more guts", after Shizune beat Hisao at the board game. Also, I chose to run with Emi just because the nurse said Hisao should exercise more
So, great story! Great game. I can't wait to pick up another route.

I take it you got the good end. There wouldn't be a in there otherwise.

[user_friendly]

Just finished my first route - Emi (as I guess is the norm). This route just happened. In the beginning, I was interested in Hanako. I was about to start it just now, but after reading this thread it seems her path is much more emotional then Emi's.
Anyway, I based my choices on what I would do if I had "more guts", after Shizune beat Hisao at the board game. Also, I chose to run with Emi just because the nurse said Hisao should exercise more
So, great story! Great game. I can't wait to pick up another route.

I take it you got the good end. There wouldn't be a in there otherwise.

Yes yes, I was very happy they got together! I didn't let Hisao gave up on her basically - he had to stick around and push in the right direction.
Anyways, this is my first graphics novel type of game and it brought forward some emotions I didn't know ware there

[twoleafclover]

My order:-
1. Hanako
2. Emi
3. The first half of Lilly
4. Rin
5. Shizune
6. The second half of Lilly.

When I was first getting to grips with act 1, I made a small judgement in my head about which girls I favoured most. Which looks roughly like this:-

1. Hanako
2. Rin
3. Emi
4. Lilly
5. Shizune

I was actually torn at the beginning whether to go for Hanako or Rin, thinking about it - but I went for Hanako partially out of ease.

Hanako also felt like the most 'natural choice' at the time: both characters share a love of books, and being socially withdrawn, and the narrative seemed teasingly curious about her, (although I wasn't aware of KS's reputation or forums or blog or the fact there 'is no canon route', I just assumed you'd unrealistically bent a character for each route and I wanted the most natural one, characteristically). I did have my own reasons - I love bookish characters in general, and I love serious stories, since comedy's so hit and miss with me anyway, so I really couldn't imagine not choosing her first. She seemed a little clichéd - a broken bird with huge social anxiety who requires a lot of patience with to open up - that I was aware of at the beginning, and was an off-putting factor, and it wasn't a perfect route for me because of this.

Rin... I was most drawn to Rin, actually, because of her attitude to disabilities was the best. She was so upfront. It's only an issue if you make it one - was an often touted attitude, so Rin didn't make it one and just asked like you'd ask, say, what's your favourite colour? That was refreshing. Rin did seem characteristically refreshing as well - not really perky like most characters, but not necessarily so openly 'broken' or 'destroyed' as Hanako seemed to be. I really liked how they balanced cloudcuckooland with (what turns out to be unintentional) sarcasm, it took two often very badly clichéd traits of archetypes and made something quite natural. She was, in my opinion, the most realistic oddball I'd ever seen in fiction (most oddballs I've seen in fiction are done.... terribly). I also found her genuinely funny, unlike most oddballs, and again, it was refreshing. I actually did Emi's route in attempt to get Rin, I found her impossible to get, frustratingly so (I wondered for a while whether there were only three routes and you were only allowed to see the girl closest to them as 'the friend').

The rest I wasn't immediately drawn to. I think it'd be the case of picking the one I disliked the least - actually, untrue in the case of Emi, I find most perky sweethearts incredibly annoying, but Emi I did find really quite endearing, I really like teasing relationships, and I also liked her because of what seemed like an unlikely relationship with Rin. Emi doesn't care about barriers. That was quite cool. As aforementioned, I picked Emi in an attempt to get Rin, but I quite like Emi so I didn't mind.

Lilly and Shizune were the ones I didn't like. Lilly seemed cliché, but urgh, I found Misha kind of unbearable at first. Shizune was just not a kind of character I warm to immediately, although I think I found her character had more potential than Lilly, nevertheless, I picked Lilly before Shizune since I wouldn't have to deal with Misha. I also mentioned I had this weird 'only three routes' theory, so was trying to get Lilly or Misha if I couldn't get Rin. Really I just opted for Lilly out of boredem, found myself not liking her route at all, and then ended up googling how to get Rin (who was still in the back of my mind).

I then played Rin, and after that, still not wanting to return to Lilly, Shizune. After that I completed Lilly's route, finally.

My order of favourites ended up being:-
1. Rin
2. Emi
3. Hanako
4. Shizune
5. Lilly

1. I love a deconstruction of a character. Loads of clever writing, motifs and metaphor if I were to get technical, in here, which was just lovely. I also love socially retarded characters - it's why I love manga with Hikkimori types so much (Welcome to the NHK), except I tend to cry at all of the jokes, ha. I didn't really expect either of those to be so prominent, so Rin's route was a lovely surprise.
2. I think the story was still fresh at this point - if I played it last that would have affected its standing. I did like it for Emi, as well.
3. I think doing a route when the game is still fresh... that makes it worth more. I don't like the save-for-last theory, the game and its music and its mechanics grate on me by the time I'm aiming for 100%. I liked Hanako for aforementioned reasons. Hanako's route was pretty much what I expected.
4. Route was too slow, and plodding for me. The characters were really, really interesting, I really underrated them, but I don't think it really dealt the best with it, I've seen better slice-of-life which has worked with that. Playing this so late in the game probably didn't help.
5. Stopping a route halfway through is a bad idea, which probably ruined it. Seemed cliché and soapy. Also personal preference: I'm not fond of motherly characters, there's not enough equality and not enough... ferocity, really (I said I liked teasing). Been there, done that, not fun, it doesn't really chime with my own ideas of how relationships work.

I tired with KS as it went on, and this is something which happens with most Visual Novels for me. Playing a game blind feels more fun and exciting. It feels like reading a good book over and over again within a week: it gets a tad repetitive for me. But then again, renai for me is like reading a romance story, really, rather than something I put myself into.

[bobly81]

So I've only done my first playthrough, but I'm already greatly affected by this game. It's all I can think about. I chose shizune because, this'll sound odd, the two little "bumps" in her hair. They drew me like a magnet. And then her personality pulled me in even further. I'm surprised to hear people say they don't like her personality because I freaking love it. She's feisty, takes effort to get, and so I fell in love with her in due time. Anyways I loved her storyline, and plan on doing Lilly's next. If I'm still interested after her, I'll do Emi's and Hanako's. I have a strange repulsion to Rin, so I don't want to do hers at all. Shes just not feminine enough for it to be worth it. I can say though that this game is just wreaking havoc on my mental state. Every time I think of a part of my life that deals with women, I can't stop thinking of shizune. Kind of sucks in a way, since she doesn't exist...

[AnalBag]

1. Lilly
That's all I did/could handle.
I prefer to see sex/romance with people with all limbs.
Including burns of course.
Didn't like Class president either.


But I DID like Lilly quite a bit even though I did not enjoy the game so much.

[Xanatos]

I prefer to see sex/romance with people with all limbs.
Including burns of course.

...Burns have nothing to do with presence of limbs.

[pandaphil]

1. Lilly
That's all I did/could handle.
I prefer to see sex/romance with people with all limbs.
Including burns of course.
Didn't like Class president either.

But I DID like Lilly quite a bit even though I did not enjoy the game so much.

I guess I can understand if its not your kind of game, but you're really selling the girls short, and missing out on a lot if you judge them by their disabilities. That's the entire point of KS. Their ailments are only a tiny part of what makes them such wonderful human beings.

[AnalBag]

I prefer to see sex/romance with people with all limbs.
Including burns of course.

...Burns have nothing to do with presence of limbs.

Excluding that, I did not like the girl at all.

[Brisingr]

Jeez, I get all teary eyed at the 'Good' endings. I'm not sure I'd be able to emotionally handle the 'Bad' ones.

Do it!

DEW EET!!

[Shadowyeclipse]

I prefer to see sex/romance with people with all limbs.
Including burns of course.

...Burns have nothing to do with presence of limbs.

Excluding that, I did not like the girl at all.

Stop feeding this guy, he's trolling.



But has there been a recent poll on the first route everyone's taken? I want to see how many "Emi's" are on there.

[RagnasEdge]

My first route, very sadly was Kenji's. at the end of it, my face was all confused, and I didn't get why people liked this game.

My second time having a go at it, I decided to try and show off my running skills, but failing horribly, and having a heart attack. Thus pairing me with Emi. This was when I started to understand why people loved this game. Emi may not be my most favorite, but she is my number two. She was my first official look into the game, and I loved it. The sex scenes were pretty appropriate, and seemed like they would actually happen at that point in a relationship. I managed to get the good ending first try, and was heavily inspired to write fan-fiction detailing the after events.

In my third route. I was planning on doing either Rin or Hanako. Instead, I get Lilly. I noticed how much Hanako is in Lillie's route, and I felt a sort of double happiness because of that. Kudos to the person who wrote Lillie's route. It was amazing.
I got bad ending, and then fixed it later to get the good one.

So for the fourth route, I got Hanako, and dang did she contrast from the Hanako in Lillie's route. First of all, it takes so darn long just to get her to start liking you, and even then you grow apart near the middle because of the whole birthday thing. I felt that Hanako's route was better than Lillie's at this point, because there is no way someone that shy can do that much all by themselves. I got good ending first try as well

For my fifth route, I got Rin. Rin has to be my favorite mainly because of feels. The end feels like the greatest ending of all of them to me, with Hanako's coming decently close. Hanako almost had no closure at the end for me, and just made me depressed as heck. Rin gave me a huge sense of closure, that guaranteed me that they would be together forever. I was never to sure about Hanako's in that sense. Got good ending on my first try.

I have yet to do Shizune. But I feel a bit of hatred towards her for constantly trying to rope me into the student council. I always play defensively on Risk and I never lose. Hisao must just suck at his defensive maneuvers. I'm planning to do this one today if I can.

[Xanatos]

But I feel a bit of hatred towards her for constantly trying to rope me into the student council.

That is a ridiculous reason for hatred.