Extrapolation

[Guest]

So it recently hit me that since the KS dev essentially had to birth complete, fleshed-out characters from the quick sketches and short blurbs of a doujin artist who likely didn't give them a second thought, the girls we've all come to know and love aren't the one correct "extrapolation", but rather one of many. So it got me thinking: what kind of characters do you see on RAITA's page? I realize that this thread must be very much like a rehash of the old days when the project was just a lot of anonymous people tossing around ideas on 4chan, but do indulge my curiosity just this once.



I imagine that most of our preconceptions have already been slanted by playing Act 1 through umpteen million times, which is probably why I can't really construe Emi and Rin here as anything else than the genki girl and the stoic girl. If anything, the Emi I see in this picture would have slightly different dialogue, and Rin would be less out there and more just plain aloof.

I don't know if it's because there's a grand total of 1 character smiling on the page, but something about it seems to suggest a rather more darker interpretation of the characters. For instance, Hanako would still be isolated and shy, but more aggressive about her scars. Instead of running away from people, she'd make them run away from her, snapping "What are you looking at?!" and "Leave me alone!" at the drop of a hat. All the while sounding like she's about to burst into tears, though, because while she genuinely doesn't want to hurt people, she doesn't know any other way to deal with her complex.

And Lilly just looks a lot less confident and in control here. While she'd still be a Yamato Nadeshiko oneesama to her class, respected for her mature composure and motherly wisdom, she's also suicidally depressed and prone to nihilistic musings once the protagonists gets her to open up to him. Might also have a fatal condition to go with that blindness.

Shizune would just be a class representative rather than the student council president, and a more traditional take on the trope at that: the class dislikes her for being nosy and overtly serious, and her difficult position is made even more precarious by the fact that she can't speak. Give or take a Misha to adjust angst levels appropriately. Still competitive, she tends to view other people more in the terms of enemies than just opponents, and considers her class a pack of slackers she needs to domesticate into honor students in order to "succeed" at her task.

So what are your two cents?

[UnknownFan]

I see Lilly the same way.

Shizune seems like she would be a bit more on the Tsun side from that picture.

Again, I agree with Rin, she seems like she would be the type to just laze around, but still do really well in school.

Hanako looks quite a bit more depressed and far more suicidal as opposed to panicky and timid as she is in the demo.

And Emi seems the same as she was in the Demo, just a little more cheery, if that's possible.

Don't mind the ordering, its not a ranking system for me.

Rin, Hanako, Lilly, Emi, Shizune.

[EternalLurker]

This isn't necessarily how I'd like the characters to be, just how I'd picture 'em from the drawing and the accompanying descriptions, as the OP asks.

Lilly: just like she currently is
Emi: kinda random like Rin currently is, but cheery like she currently is
Rin: quiet. Really quiet. Responses are kept to single sentences, sentences are kept to a few words.
Hanako: basically as the OP described, with no particular connection to Lilly (before the game, at least)
Shizune: to be a "class-rep type" she'd need a translator, which would be a person with whom she interacts constantly, and thus the translator's personality would affect her own. Given a Misha-like translator, I'd see her as she currently is, for example.

Now for the meta-question: do our orderings of these descriptions have any significance? ^_^
(Answer: yes, duh.)

EDIT: Fair enough, UF. Given a single swap, your spoilered rankings are right, too.

[Sakura Tenshi]

Anyone read KS's TV Tropes Wiki page?
I'll respect people's time and just post the relevant to this post quote: "Averted. Since the original concept was quite possibly intended as edgy satire, one might expect the Better Than It Sounds to take this form. But instead it seems to be a reasonably nuanced and respectful take on the subject (in Act 1 at least, anyways)."

The key part being "intended as edgy satire" so based on this I could image that if one worked with what RAITA had in mind, there'd be a lot of more crude sexual humor, everyone (save Hanako's) sarcasm would be amped to OVER 9000! (would have to be to break 11 since not a lot of the girls are very sarcastic, and lots of lampshade hangings

[Deimos]

Hmm, what would I have written if I would be familiar with the workings of 4chan and involved in the earliest threads about this page? A good question, let's see what I would have done:



Our blind Jean D'Arc looks a little bit insecure, her hands held up like she wanted to shield herself from something. The text says she would be cliched, so I would make her into something that resembles a quiet, shy and docile person who is easily coerced to do other people's work.

The girl without legs looks looks happier than the rest. So far, she seems like a genuinely cheerful person but the text about her being in the track club and her disability stemming from a car accident may be a coincidence but could also be a pastime she may have picked up after that fateful occurence in order to be sure to be able to always run away. Maybe she is escaping or trying to ecsape something and it is up to the protagonist to discern what that may be.

The teal-haired, young woman seems a little bit stern, conservative even if I take into account what little suggestions RAITA made. The class-rep type would mean that she does not necessarily have to be one but act like one. It is quite possible that despite her willingness and her abilities she has been denied to actually be class representative because of her limitations concerning communication with her.

The beauty prominently displayed in the middle reminds me of various anime figures, but the description in the text to her side indicate something like an "ice queen" personality. A lone character but content in her own little reclusive world lashing out at anyone who may get too close to her.

Last but not least the armless teenager looks like the most normal one to me, however, I am just guessing from her pose and her facial expression. I would say that she was drawn like someone who was photographed without his or her consent. A little bit annoyed but not more.
Contrasting her obvious disability she makes the impression of being the most normal one out of all the girls. Not even the text gives much to work with her but that she is the hardest to obtain. Which is probably the key because the girl with the least problems, the least worries could be the one who does not feel the dire need to develop a romantic bond over a period of three months

[SirMax]

I don't see them the same at all, really.

Shizune I see as much, much less in control than she is in KS. Looking at her face and gestures, she seems more like she's serious and not very good at dealing with those who aren't. I see her as easily flustered by those who don't work, and spending her time overwrought as she chases down slackers, and getting indignant and speechless- so to speak- when they don't always listen to her. If you go down her route, a lot of your close moments would be scaring slackers into obedience and comforting her when she can't deal with people not keeping to schedule.

Hanako I see as hopeless rather than nervous. Hanako in KS isolates herself, but once alone she's more or less happy, reading without having to deal with people. This Hanako I see as ruled by her tragedy, since it means she never smiles at anything according to the picture. She can't deal with her scars in any way, and avoids mirrors. She doesn't hide her face because she can't see it, but if she has any scars she could see from her perspective she would hide them. I do get the idea that she'd flip out on people who notice her scars like the OP said, and I'd think that the first major moment with her would the character weathering her fury until she bursts into tears.

Rin looks much more normal than she is in KS, as far I can see. She has none of that oddness of thought that's she famous for, she's just not the most friendly of girls. Like the picture says, she's the hardest to get. The fact that she wears the skirt rather than the pants in KS says to me that she's sort of strict and very big on regulations. I imagine her as rather cold and not particularly interested in Hisao, preferring to think about school. I'd imagine the first moment would happen with you doing schoolwork together, like a project or homework.

Emi still looks like the genkai girl, although I see less of her motherly "You better eat right" sort of characteristics and more sort of airhead stuff. Seems equally unconcerned with her legs, though. First moment would probably be her tripping and falling into your arms or something, I'd think.

Lily I would say looks the most different. In KS she's very controlled and calm, very at peace with the world and capable of handling herself, as well as both Hisao the clueless and Hanako the terrified. In this image, though, she appears much less peaceful. She looks tired, a little confused, and a little sad. It looks like a Lily that doesn't have such a good grasp on her surroundings or her life. Like she stays up late trying to keep up with class president duties. She certainly doesn't look like she could handle having Hanako as a friend, especially the angrier Hanako. The first moment with her would probably be staying up late with her doing something for her class, or helping her around somewhere she's not familiar with.

[Pimmy]

Way back when I first saw the image, I saw Lilly and imagined her as the most key character to appeal to those who want a "girl who needs me". I imagined her quiet, polite, and slightly withdrawn. Not so much an ojousama but more as a sweet nadeshiko sort with the added blindness factor to make her more dependent on others. Almost like those "always sickly" types except she's just blind.

Rin, I had no idea what to even formulate. I perhaps imagined her a little less laid back, since she's supposedly the hardest to get.

Emi was genki loli because I like that sort of thing, maybe a bit more like a middle school fun-loving attitude as opposed to super loli, though.

Hanako I imagined to be the emo, "push others away actively" type that I wouldn't like much

Shizune is class rep type no matter what. I imagined her having that stereotypical punctuality as opposed to playful competitiveness and almost develish side.

[Caesius]

ojousama nadeshiko genki loli punctuality

What the fuck.

[Pimmy]

ojousama nadeshiko genki loli punctuality

What the fuck.

Dude that last one is English just look it up.

Also raise your power level and come back later

[Caesius]

The English word is there on purpose, I just have an odd sense of humor.

[EternalLurker]

Our blind Jean D'Arc looks a little bit insecure, her hands held up like she wanted to shield herself from something.

Why is everyone seeing a less confident Lilly in that picture? Blind people tend to walk that way when in unfamiliar surroundings. The only reason KS Lilly doesn't is that she has a walking stick.

I notice we've all (very, very) vaguely agreed on Hanako.

[Guest]

Well, let's put it this way - imagine the KS Lilly suddenly losing her stick and having to walk like that. I can't begin to imagine her putting up an expression like the one on RAITA's page. Those soulless grey eyes and the mess of lines under them make it look like she's either been crying her eyes out or overdosing on sleeping pills.

But yeah, that's pretty interesting about Hanako. I'd say it's because she doesn't cover her scars with her bangs on the page, but that interpretation strikes me as a tad shallow.

[Deimos]

Our blind Jean D'Arc looks a little bit insecure, her hands held up like she wanted to shield herself from something.

Why is everyone seeing a less confident Lilly in that picture? Blind people tend to walk that way when in unfamiliar surroundings. The only reason KS Lilly doesn't is that she has a walking stick.

I notice we've all (very, very) vaguely agreed on Hanako.

The few blind people I know walk with only one hand outstretched to have the other one in "reserve" when some sort of need arises - however, since my anecdotal evidence is scarce you may be right with your argument.

The one description that made me call Hanako an ice queen was the little part about her not smiling ever since her accident. And, physiologically, she reminds me of Tsugumi from Ever 17 and Aoba from Kazoku Keikaku.
But it is indeed peculiar how similar our viewpoints on her are - maybe it originates from prolonged exposition to media like manga, anime and visual novels making us relatively homogenous in some aspects how we interprete such portrayals.

[-abscess]

Am I the only one seeing proto-Shizune as someone quite occupied, thus forgetting some stuff and having a worried face because of it? In other words, less "productive" (in her mind) as the current Shizune. The "slackers" part that people mention, I agree almost completely.