This was one hell of a post and thread. I hardly know what to say. In any case, excellent blog post, Citrus. I was quite surprised to find so many people questioning the point of such an analysis in the first place. To criticize the specific points made, especially in light of how many assumptions were made, is understandable. But I think analyses such as these can be very valuable, and I think this one certainly is. Like the author of this post, I was a lot slower than I am now when I first read KS; Hanako's route hit me as hard as it did partially because I was just as dense, if not more than Hisao in his white knighting. I was every stereotype you accused me of being. And of course, as evidenced by the fact that I'm still here now, I was also tremendously impacted by KS. It is inevitable that the unique circumstances in which we respectively experience KS for the first time will color how we see it later, and I was fascinated to see what shape that took for you.
I hadn't heard of Kuma Muta before it was presented here, but the argument connecting it to KS felt pretty solid to me. I'm in an online Positive Psychology class right now, and I'm planning on doing more research on it and incorporating it into some of my writing if I continue to be engaged by it (Although I'm certainly not gonna open the can of worms that is KS
). I found the general analysis of the VN very interesting; my creative writing skills, while decent, probably pale in comparison to the average person still freqenting this forum, and a lot of the criticisms and analyses were things I had never considered before. You've especially convinced me to go back and give Rin's route another go sometime soon. But above all, you've reawakened some of the inspiration KS gave me, and helped me along on my journey to understand why it has affected me so. Thank you.
Side note: I'm also totally jealous that you were able to get to Comiket. The day when I make it over to Japan is drawing nearer, but I suspect I may have already missed my chance. Despite how desperately I searched, I've all but made peace with the fact that I'll probably never have one of those artbooks. I'll just have to remind myself that most important things I've been given through all this are more valuable than any physical possession. Even so, treasure those books!