I’m a bit surprised to see the somewhat cool reception KS is getting here, giving some of the almost rapturous responses I’ve read elsewhere. Personally, I think this game is going to make my top 5 VNs when all is said and done. (I admit I’m limited to translated games.) I’ve completed 2 routes so far, (Emi and Shizune), and I haven’t enjoyed a VN this much since Princess Waltz or Snow Sakura came out. I’ll admit there are some things I could nitpick; (for example, the art is a bit hit-or-miss as has been pointed out,) but it’s far exceeded my expectations overall. I would have happily paid full price for it and considered it a bargain.
It’s quite simple, really.
Think about it for a moment: the people who are convinced that visual novels are Japanese porn games are the same ones lambasting Katawa Shoujo for supposedly being a tasteless, fetish-fuel dating sim. On the flip side, we have the people who know that the medium is just a medium (nothing more, nothing less) giving the game a proper appraisal, and for the most part loving it, especially for its sincerity, sensibility, and compassion. One group is ruled by prejudice and preconceptions, and the other isn’t.
Thankfully, it’s really easy to tell the two apart. Still, it’s pretty sad to see an pompous jerks showcasing exactly how superficial they really are. Exchanges like this are a dime a dozen:
(From Cpt_Human’s topic “Is this game for people who have never had girlfriends or something?” on GameFAQs)
Well, no, not that simple. Look at the question you were answering:
do you really think the people who are ‘convinced that visual novels are Japanese porn games’ are the same ones who are less excited about the game here?
#1 most wanted Faq on GameFaqs is Katawa Shoujo. Made me want to switch games and just clear it already. Being on the front page of a popular site is great. I’m sure people that are capable of making their own opinions instead of being pressured into view points would at least give it a try. The buzz around the game is a lot better than none at all, anyways. Maybe even those that actually like visual novels hating on it would encourage makers of a future game to create an even better one.
Oh, I most definitely appreciate the attention this is apparently getting, particularly considering it’s an 18+ title- simply as a reader of eroge, I like to see more people reading the stuff I love so much. If Katawa Shoujo ends up acting as a gateway drug to Cross Channel and Sharin no Kuni, even better.
In terms of lukewarm appeal, it’s a little hard to describe why this doesn’t excite me so much, but I’ll try: it’s almost too ‘normal’. Certainly it does some things uniquely well, but on the whole I don’t see this as being terribly different from hundreds of other non-nukige, semi-serious subject matter pure love school setting eroges that admittedly haven’t seen the same attention in terms of translation as other titles (until recently, anyway) - as such, it’s not like I’m not enjoying Katawa Shoujo, it’s just that I really do feel I’ve read it before. Maybe not in one eroge, maybe in ten or thirty or a hundred, but I’ve read it before. Even the flaws I see in the scenario are ones I’ve seen in commercial titles, so there’s nothing really amateurish about this.
There’s a few different interpretations of this. One is that this was the intended effect- a group of (predominantly? if not entirely) native English amateurs creating something that is in many respects quite professional and, back in 1998 or so wouldn’t have even been out of place in terms of production values alongside commercial titles selling for 9,240?. The fact that such a group could create a ‘normal’ eroge at all is outstanding. Most OELVN (the common initialism for it) projects are not ‘normal’ and do not intend to be, but instead try different things since the level of production required to create something ‘normal’ is very high.
Now, the other issue is if this was not, in fact, intentional. I don’t really want to go back digging for information to support my claim here as that would overextend the time I’ve allocated to writing this forum post, so this may seem somewhat strawman-ish, but I used to follow the dev blog (since I had an interest in the game, having played the Grid1 release a while earlier, which caught my eye as the prelude to something unusually good) and, between updates on progress and other typical ‘dev blog’ tidbits were occasional posts about eroges and the eroge medium in general. I replied to a couple of these and might have gotten into a bit of a spat with the authors, but everything’s cool and probably forgotten, I’m sure. Japanese blogger Hevolusion translated a few of these comment threads and posted them on his blog (snarkily annotating one of my posts, to my great amusement =p) One central theme to these posts was describing how things were criticisms of how things were typically done in commercial eroge, often using well-known titles, ascribing certain traits in them as being endemic in the wider eroge market, etc. and I happened to quite vocally disagree with a number of these. This is mostly irrelevant though, because the main theme was that these were comments made by a writer behind the project criticising the status quo in eroge design. Presumably showing an intention to do things either better or in any case differently when working on Katawa Shoujo.
If this was the intention from what I’ve read (only three routes mind =p) it failed. Katawa Shoujo is a very normal eroge.
Still a pretty good game though!
EDIT: My perceived coolness, mind, has nothing to do with any jealousy I’m feeling over this project, given that I’ve wanted to create an eroge for years (and still do) but can’t write to save my life. So vexing =P
My mistake. I thought you meant “somewhat cool” as “pretty decent”, not “could be more enthusiastic”.
I’ve read through the 15-page topic on The Escapist, and the reactions there have been either 1) gushing from visual novel newcomers who gave Katawa Shoujo a shot and fell in love with both the game and the medium, 2) shallow twits who condemn the game for being something it’s not while denying themselves an informed opinion by not reading a chapter or two of the story themselves, or 3) former members of the second group who decide to give the game the benefit of the doubt and find themselves joining camp one. It’s pretty sad seeing people in camp two trying to defend their own stubbornness behind a veneer of fake political correctness and tangential familiarity with “dating sims”. Really, the title’s very existence is a clear personality test; open-minded people give the game a chance, while those-who-claim-to-be-but-really-aren’t refuse to give it the time of day and insist they know better than those that have. It’s a microcosm of how people view others in general when it comes to race, religion, gender, orientation, and ability.
To answer your question (properly, this time), I can think of two reasons why JAST visitors might not be so enthusiastic about the game. First, it’s an OELVN, and those have tendency to be pretty bad. A few years back, I initially didn’t care to check out Katawa because its description included OELVN and 4chan in the same sentence (I soon regretted my narrow-mindedness after giving the game a shot). Second, despite being a great deconstruction of Japanese visual novel tropes, there are more than a fair share of cliches in the story. The regulars here are quite genre-savvy, so having three of the five routes hinge on cliche elements gives the distinct impression that the game, while quite good, could have been a lot better.
Going into specifics: Hanako’s route was beautiful and sweet (and oh-so appropriate for the character). Rin’s was nothing short of exceptional, though I’ve seen at least one person who failed to understand what the ending meant (insisting it was an objectively bad ending). Lilly is a great character, but the ending to her route is something we’ve seen many times before. Emi’s chemistry with Hisao is outstanding (to the point that I’d call her his soulmate despite my own personal preferences), but her “big reveal” is easily pieced together by anyone with semi-decent deduction skills. And Shizune’s route is generally regarded as the weakest of them all. I won’t say it’s terrible; I don’t agree with those who deride its “episodic” nature (that’s the point, and this become a key issue in the conflict on her route), but I will agree that it has the least impact of the five stories.
Suffice to say, the music, art, and animation throughout are very impressive, especially given the lack of a budget. While the game doesn’t make it into my top three, it’s probably the best title I can recommend to anyone curious about visual novels. When the Japanese version of the game is pressed, I’m making a point of importing a copy.
@Above
There’s that word again.
You also don’t need to import anything,actually. Just use DLSITE or something.
I don’t really understand why you’re impressed with that art.
Here are some amateur games with great art
http://vndb.org/v5699 http://vndb.org/v5711 http://vndb.org/v1039
http://vndb.org/v1056 http://vndb.org/v210 http://vndb.org/v8527
http://vndb.org/v1055 http://vndb.org/v4876
http://vndb.org/v6332 http://vndb.org/v8534
http://vndb.org/v3684 http://vndb.org/v105
http://vndb.org/v3619 http://vndb.org/v2537
http://vndb.org/v7839 http://vndb.org/v5684
http://vndb.org/v1162 http://vndb.org/v1912
http://vndb.org/v1161 http://vndb.org/v7
http://vndb.org/v6321 http://vndb.org/v47
http://vndb.org/v49 http://vndb.org/v6341
http://vndb.org/v165 http://vndb.org/v70
Oh, come on. The art for those was so great they had to redo it for the console releases. 
“Again”? I wasn’t aware anyone used the word in this thread before I did.
Katawa Shoujo deconstructs, among other tropes, the notion of a “White Knight” protagonist who attempts to solve the heroines’ problems for them instead of trying to understand their feelings. Many anime, manga and visual novels characters are derided as “moeblobs” because of a lack of realistic character depth and/or an utter emotional dependence on the reader’s/viewer’s avatar; a concept that I, and many others, find pretty demeaning. Katawa Shoujo specifically addresses this convention in several routes and calls out the protagonist (and, by extension, the player) on acting like a wannabe Knight-in-Shining-Armor instead of an equal partner in a relationship - something none of the seven or eight dozen visual novels I’ve completed to date have even attempted.
A deconstruction, I’ll remind you, is an analytic examination of something in order to show exactly how absurd or inadequate it really is (ie: forcing a teenager to become a combat pilot with access to weapons of mass destruction isn’t a laudable idea for a kid’s show - it’s a war crime). Pretty much every heroine in the Katawa Shoujo deconstructs the character archetype they at first seem to embody. I respect and applaud the authors for choosing to do so instead of going with the flow and adhering to stereotypes.
Katawa Shoujo is a freeware OELVN. I don’t need to buy anything since it’s downloadable for free at the developers’ own site. But I want to buy an official copy of Katawa Shoujo. And, since no physical English release is forthcoming, I plan to buy the physical multilingual release when it is released in Japan in a few months. The Japanese translators have already pressed physical copies of the Act 1 demo (pic), so it’s quite likely they’ll do the same with the final release.
Simple. I think praiseworthy art is impressive, and I think that the art in Katawa Shoujo is praiseworthy (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7). It doesn’t have to be Makoto Shinkai caliber for me to like it. I disagree with your assessment of the art quality on, say, Akai Majo, Higurashi, and Umineko, but I won’t insinuate that there’s something wrong with your tastes just because I don’t agree with your opinion…
In any event, thanks for the links - Killer Queen and Sugar’s Delight look like titles I might want to check out in the near future.
Edit: Finished Sugar’s Delight. The art is quite nice, I’ll admit, but the story and writing aren’t impressive in the slightest. In a nutshell, it’s a short yuri sex romp with next to no characterization. The A Kiss for the Petals series is a much better time investment, if you ask me. Like fujifruit said, the art is indeed more polished than Katawa Shoujo, but it’s underwhelming or flat-out bad in nearly every other department (scenario, characterization, writing, pacing), and you’d have to be pretty shallow to assert that Sugar’s Delight is the better VN despite that…
wwwwwwwwwwww I see they went with ??? instead of ???; probably for the best really.
After reading Katawa Shoujo myself, I have to admit, that was one of the most boring visual novels that I have ever read in my entire life. For a story about girls with disabilities, I am shocked at how little conflict there seems to be in Katawa Shoujo. Every character and every route seemed forced and contrived, even Rin’s and Hanako’s. Everything was so downplayed and so trivial that when each route reached their end, I didn’t understand what was resolved in the first place. For those people claiming that most routes in Katawa Shoujo ended too soon, it was more like there was nothing set up or resolved in the first place and the “story” just stopped. Every route was so mechanical and poorly paced, and all the characters lived in their own personal bubble and almost never acknowledged that the other characters existed. Even in the routes where their relationship with other characters was supposed to be the main focus it was written in such a dull way that I had to stop reading sometimes because I was so bored. It really insults me that this is considered one of the “best” visual novels ever, when nothing about it really stands out. I feel like the only thing really appealing about Katawa Shoujo is some of the art and the backstory in how Katawa Shoujo was made, but overall Katawa Shoujo is just forgettable and dull, even though it was supposed to be about girls with some of the worst disabilities ever described in visual novels.
For all those people that claim that Katawa Shoujo is about deconstructing stereotypes and creating the most unique characters ever seen in visual novels, you guys are just fooling yourselves. It is the IDEAS of the characters and situations that make it seem that Katawa Shoujo is bigger than it really is, not the actual stories written in Katawa Shoujo. I don’t hate Katawa Shoujo, but if you tell me this is what visual novels are about then, sorry, I’ll take those “silly” stereotypical visual novels over this boring, poorly written stuff.
The only people who think this have never read a piece of fiction in their life
[size=50]That being most of /v/[/size]
Welcome to the board, KamikazeDurrrp. Even though I don’t totally agree with your thoughts on Katawa Shoujo, I’m glad you took the time to try and at least partially explain what you didn’t like about it instead of just flat-out condemning it.
I think I should point out something fundamental that it doesn’t seem that you picked up on which likely compromised your ability to appreciate the story of Katawa Shoujo. Something which noted games researcher Leigh Alexander, myself, and many, many others recognize and applaud – something critical to not just appreciating a piece of fiction, but understanding people in general. Excuse me if I sound condescending; I mean this with all due respect.
If you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor: one man’s mountain is another man’s molehill. You said yourself that you couldn’t recognize the conflicts in the story or understand why they were such a big deal to the characters. You may not have realized it, but that’s precisely why you couldn’t appreciate Katawa Shoujo. A normal, well-adjusted person will have great difficulty seeing the world from the point of view of someone who doesn’t share that mindset, and recognizing that disconnect is one of the things that Katawa Shoujo sets out to do (it’s even the name of one of the chapters). Many times throughout the story, the sentiment of “it’s only an elephant in the room if you make it one” is echoed; that’s a realization that each individual must come to understand on their own - you can’t just dismiss someone else’s problems and act as if they were never an issue in the first place.
Said another way, if you’re a confident person and have no problems making friends, it’s very difficult for you to sympathize with the terrified loner who is tormented over confessing their feelings to their crush. It’s easy to say “just talk to him/her”, but doing so shows a blatant disregard for the person’s inner struggle. I take it from your first post that your personality isn’t really geared toward trying to understand why someone would agonize over something like this; if that is indeed the case, then I can understand why Katawa Shoujo doesn’t resonate with you. If you’ve seen Neon Genesis Evangelion in the past, I don’t think it would be a stretch of the imagination for me to assume that you probably thought it was overrated and didn’t understand why it had such an impact on so many people. That’s decidedly the reaction you’ve shown here towards Katawa Shoujo, at least.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, Katawa Shoujo isn’t a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. In many places, the story is cliche, the plot twists predictable, and the characters unlikeable. But that doesn’t make the problems they face any less real, nor does it change the fact that many of us have gone through similar experiences and recognize what the writers were trying to underscore. If you look around, the loudest praises being sung aren’t because of Katawa Shoujo’s origins, its art, its music, or its writing; we are applauding Katawa Shoujo for its sincerity and sensitivity. For anyone looking for a heartfelt story, Katawa Shoujo gets an easy recommendation from me.
There’s nothing wrong with you feeling that watching a group of kids tell each other “I want to know how you feel” in so many different ways is boring, nor will I disparage you for not sharing their sentiments. But please don’t feel insulted or insist that others are “just fooling themselves” for recognizing the sincerity behind this phrase. A story doesn’t need to be epic to be sincere. To paraphrase one reviewer, Katawa Shoujo is heartwarming, heartbreaking, heartstopping, and filled with a whole lot of heart, and I don’t see any reason to refute that assertion.
You don’t have to agree, but it’s a good idea to respect the feelings and opinions of those you don’t agree with if you wish to be respected around here.
Well, I finally finished the game, and I stand by my original assessment. Definitely in my top 5 favorite VNs.
Lilly’s route was my favorite. I know a lot of people find it cliche, but I love sappy romance, the sappier the better, so I was very happy with it. I also think her route had (somewhat ironically) by far the best art. Emi was the girl I was most interested in at the end of Act 1, and although Lilly just edged her for best route, I really enjoyed hers too. Hanako’s route was also very good, although I felt like it ended too early. I would have liked to see more of the actual relationship. I found Rin and Shizune’s routes to be a bit confusing, and Shizune’s in particular was a bit of a letdown, since she was my second favorite at the end of Act 1.
Although the sex scenes obviously weren’t too important in this game, I liked that they did away with some conventions of Japanese VNs that I tend to find annoying. For example, it seems like 90% of the girls in Japanese VNs act shy and reluctant during sex scenes, no matter what their personality is the rest of the time. In KS, I felt like the girls kept much more of their normal personalities during sex, rather than suddenly all becoming shy and meek. I also liked that there was not a big deal made about everyone’s virginity or lack thereof.
I read through that thread too, and I found it quite heartening. The 1s and 3s really outnumbered and more than made up for the 2s. It was really amazing that virtually everyone who tried it with trepidation or slight curiousity ended up really enjoying it. (Admittedly, there’s probably some self-selection there, since those who tried it and didn’t like it would probably be less likely to bother to post about it.) With any luck, there will be an influx of new customers into the VN industry because of this game.
Thank you for being patient with me. It’s good to see that someone at least agrees that Katawa Shoujo has faults as a noveI instead of blindly excusing everything that happens within it. I understand what you’re saying where my tastes are different, but I was aware of it myself when I said it is the IDEA of Katawa Shoujo that is appealing. It frustrates me that you are giving the “just didn’t get it” argument because I did get it. I got it in every forced dialogue, every forced scene, every forced excuse. I got it through every comment of people saying that how different it was, or how much “heart” that they read in Katawa Shoujo. I have read a lot of visual novels in my life. I’ve loved every type of visual novel I have read, whether it was eroge, science fiction or fantasy. Even in their most flawed forms, each visual novel has intrigued me, inspired me, or just made me laugh. NEVER in my life have I read something as boring and soulless as Katawa Shoujo. If it was so true that Katawa Shoujo had “so much heart”, why is it that there are so many people, especially people in this forum, and Leigh Alexander herself that have problems with it? The reason is Katawa Shoujo is not “heartwarming, heartbreaking, heartstopping, and filled with a whole lot of heart”, it’s awkward and self-indulgent. I hate to say these things because I feel like a cynical old man telling children that Santa Claus isn’t real. It is the medium of Katawa Shoujo uses, the visual novel medium, that TRICKS you into believing these things. If anybody looked at Hanako, NOBODY would want anything to happen to Hanako because SHE’S DESIGNED TO BE THAT WAY. That isn’t heartwarming, that’s tricking people. “BUT KAMIKAZE DURRRP! SHE DOESN’T ACT LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME!” You’re right, she doesn’t. Instead what does she act like? She acts boring, contradictory, and doesn’t make sense. “BUT KAMIKAZE DURRRP! THAT’S HOW A NORMAL PERSON ACTS LIKE! DON’T YOU SEE THE HEART IN THAT?” No I don’t see the heart in that. I don’t even see a normal person in that. What I see is an inconsistent character that fulfills the writer and reader’s fantasies of “normalcy and heart” because she’s designed not to be hated to matter what she does. And don’t think I had a problem with just Hanako. Every single character had something that bored or frustrated me to the point where I just had enough. I refused to let myself be fooled or tricked any longer by something that was so poorly written and conceived. You could make the argument that tons of visual novel do the same thing in “tricking” people. Then you would be right. Katawa Shoujo IS NO DIFFERENT from other poorly written visual novels. The only difference is the amount of “heart” in it.
You may claim that I’m being unfair to Katawa Shoujo and you’re right, I’m aware that I am being really unfair to Katawa Shoujo. But you know what else is unfair? It is unfair that most people believe that Katawa Shoujo is one of the most “heartwarming” visual novels they have ever read when TONS OF THE VISUAL NOVELS I’VE READ ARE NO LESS “HEARTWARMING”. THEY’RE NO LESS “HEARTBREAKING”. THEY’RE NO LESS “HEARTSTOPPING, AND FILLED WITH A WHOLE HEART OF LOVE”. TONS OF VISUAL NOVELS ARE SINCERE. TONS OF VISUAL NOVELS HAVE SENSITIVITY, EVEN THE ONE JUST ABOUT SEX. But people won’t recognize them. Why? Because they’re stereotypical. They’re filled with “dumb bimbos” who act all “shy and meek” during their cutscences. What a giant load of crap. Let me let you in a little secret. IF VISUAL NOVEL DESIGNED DIDN’T UNDERSTAND HOW TO MAKE THEIR CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS LIKEABLE WHY WOULD PEOPLE LIKE VISUAL NOVELS IN THE FIRST PLACE. OMG don’t insult my intelligence with that “just didn’t understand” crap. The people who don’t understand are people like you who excuse every piece of crap out there because there’s so much “heart” in it. The more we promote poorly written stuff like this, the less people understand what good visual novels are, and are about. How come I found something “stupid and silly” like Do You Like Horny Bunnies more heartwarming, more heartbreaking, more heart blah blah “heart” “heart”, than this? Because Do You Like Horny Bunnies takes every opportunity to immerse you into the characters and setting, and it tells me story and a reason why I should like every heroine inside it. Everything about Katawa Shoujo feels like I’m supposed to like it because of how “normal” yet “different” they are. Don’t think that I’m going to “love” somebody just for that.
If there is anything to gain from Katawa Shoujo, at least it has brought more people to the visual novel medium. At least people can finally understand that visual novels are a viable medium for storytelling, even if the story isn’t a really well told one. AND as much as it may seem, I really didn’t hate it. I just found it really boring and flawed. What I hated though was people telling me how great it was because how much “heart” it had or how it did something “different” than every other visual novel out there. Because none of that is true. Nothing about Katawa Shoujo is different. Nothing about Katawa Shoujo is even filled with more “heart” than a lot of the stuff other people have written. Katawa Shoujo is just boring and forgettable with the pretense of tricking you into believing in something that it is greater than it really is.
Whew that felt good to let out. Sorry about talking in such an angry and exaggerated tone, I just needed to get my point across. Yeah I know, free game, loving fanbase, great backstory, at least they tried blah blah blah. The truth I wanted to see Katawa Shoujo do at least something well but in reality didn’t do anything well except keep up the pretense that they had a “miracle” in their hands. I wouldn’t mind so much except that people keep making excuses for Katawa Shoujo that a) make no sense b) is really pretentious and c)insults why I like visual novels in the first place. I don’t mind if “you don’t agree” with me but at least hear me out before telling me “I didn’t get it”.
PS. Btw I also thought Neon Genesis Evangelion was overrated
End Of Evangelion was pretty good.
I played Hanako and Shikure’s routes, and I was pretty disappointed that we don’t get much history about them. The interactions seem really shallow, and the game is full of fluff to fill time it seems. While I was happy for Hanako at the end, and it seemed like a good place to close the story, I never really felt like the two bonded enough. Shikure’s route seemed a little more developed and interesting to read, but again I don’t see why they got together. So far, not impressed with the writting, but the art and music is impressive. If there were voice overs, I think the game would be a lot better.
lol you sir are a funny man
I have a boner for psychological wankery
While I appreciate your taking the time to write a rebuttal, I can’t say I’m fond of the condescending tone you’ve taken, the attempts to pre-empt my responses with caricatures of what I might say, or your misinterpreting what I have already said. I know that you’re venting your frustration over this title and comparing it to what you believe it could have been, and I’m willing to excuse that to an extent. However, you can’t ask to not have your intelligence questioned when you take a tone that can easily be interpreted as hostile and condescending, no matter how justified it may seem; you have to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.
That said, If I’m understanding you correctly, your attitude toward Katawa Shoujo boils down to the following points:
- You do not recognize the issues presented in this title as honest portrayals of the legitimate real-life problems they reflect.
- You feel that the events and dialogue portrayed in Katawa Shoujo were forced and awkward and that they do not reflect how such developments would play out in real life.
- You feel that the events described in Katawa Shoujo are soulless and boring, lacking any “heart” or “soul” that many, many others (myself included) claim to have recognized.
- You feel that Katawa Shoujo as a whole is awkward and self-indulgent.
- You assert that you are a well-read visual novel fan and that it is the medium, not the narrative itself, that allows us to empathize with the characters to such an extent.
First off, you’re essentially asserting that the developments in Katawa Shoujo are pretentious (ie: insincere), forced, and awkward. I can agree with the latter two points; many events in the story are intentionally awkward (especially a few of the sex scenes - the unnatural nature of Hanako’s attempt to seduce Hisao, for example, is a major plot point in her good ending). However, the allegation of pretentiousness directly contradicts the research that went into examining such issues, including enlisting the help of actual medical professionals and the experience of people who have suffered from these or similar conflicts. Also, I have both personally and vicariously experienced the plights of Hisao, Hanako, and Emi (my father’s recent heart problems and near-death, my own social anxiety earlier in life, and being deprived the use of one of my limbs for several months). I recognized the authenticity in how these issues were portrayed, and many have echoed my sentiments. If I’m understanding your last post right, you have yourself admitted that you do not recognize this authenticity - in other words, by your own admission, you really did not “get it”.
Next: as I pointed out in my last post, different people have different reactions to different problems. That does not change whether these are indeed significant problems to the people involved. You describe the developments in this title as soulless and boring; in other words, they lack real emotion and don’t hold your interest. Again, the latter point may be true, but the former is decidedly not. Fictional or not, the characters are shown to be internally tortured over their respective issues, and signs of this are present throughout the story (Hanako’s resentment towards being coddled, Lilly’s seemingly out-of-character display of anger, Rin’s self-destructive tendencies in response to her inability to communicate her thoughts). You did not recognize something that was demonstrably present and that many readers can personally vouch for as genuine. So - forgive me for repeating myself - you have again shown that you did not understanding something you insist to have understood.
For point 4, I don’t quite understand what you mean, so I’d like you to clarify what you mean by self-indulgent. As far as I can see it, a simple “cripple porn game” with no research or tact would have been self-indulgent (not unlike, say, V-Tech Rampage). In its current state, I don’t understand how you can make this accusation regarding Katawa Shoujo. You’re not stating an opinion here; you’re asserting what you believe to be a fact, so you must be able to back it up. I’d also like you to cite specific examples of what you claim to be “every forced excuse”. One of the work’s tag lines is “Can you see what I see?”, and you’ve made it quite clear that your answer is “no”.
I don’t quite agree with point 5. While I agree with you that it’s easier for a reader to empathize with the characters (especially the protagonist) in a visual novel than in animation or comic form, to place such stock in the medium itself degrades successful visual-novel-to-anime adaptations such as Clannad. I have shown many times on this forum that I am a devoted fan of visual novels (have a look at my collection - note that this photo is a year old and shows maybe 50% of what I now own - 1 2). Having personally completed both Horny Bunnies games (Sae, Sumika, and Makoto were my favorites), I can confidently say that the conflicts and characters in Hiromi’s, Madoka’s, Mizuzu’s, and Shiori’s routes just didn’t resonate with me. I recognize that they’re there, but I didn’t find them interesting when I read them. Compare my reaction to your own regarding Katawa Shoujo; I believe you’re intelligent enough to recognize the similarities.
Still, you’ll never hear me accuse anyone of deluding themselves into seeing something in those characters that never really existed. Not without irrefutable proof, at least. And I never said that any title was stupid or silly, so please don’t put words in my mouth.
You may insist that Katawa Shoujo doesn’t have the “heart” and “soul” that others claim it has, but know I am not simply projecting when I say that I saw uncanny similarities between my past self & my father and the characters of Katawa Shoujo. The similarities are there, the feelings that we have experienced do exist, and I was able to successfully predict many of the characters’ responses based primarily on those experiences. One reviewer curiously noted that the sex scenes appeared to have been written by someone who had actually had sex before. Please, do not assert that anyone has somehow brainwashed us into recognizing our own peers or our own experience. If you have learn anything from Katawa Shoujo at all, I hope it is the fact that claiming to understand how someone else thinks and feels when you demonstrably don’t can be incredibly insulting, and, more often than not, downright infuriating.
I won’t assert that Katawa Shoujo is the greatest visual novel. It’s not even in my Top Ten; I have many, many titles like Crescendo, Phantom of Inferno, and even Fate / Stay Night that I personally prefer. But, in my eyes, I recognize it as more authentic and genuine - more sincere (note that I did not say “better”) - than titles like Kanon, Air, Clannad, or Planetarian (which are emotionally-manipulative by design, yet still touching and heartfelt).
I cried following the last few lines of Planetarian, and, though I don’t fully understand why, it won’t change how I felt when I finished it. I also cried following Rin’s last lines in her good ending in Katawa Shoujo, and I know exactly why: I saw a clumsy but honest attempt to communicate a simple message, and I thought that was beautiful. You have no right to insist that I imagined the sincerity that I saw in that attempt, nor do you have any right to show such contempt towards those who saw it as well by claiming that we are merely fooling ourselves.
You’ve said your piece, and I’ve said mine. If I misunderstood any of your points, I sincerely apologize. I’ve become just as wound-up over this title as you; I hope you understand why I don’t take kindly to having my experience ridiculed. Truth be told, your post didn’t strike me as a cynical old man blowing the whistle on Santa Claus; it honestly felt more like someone with astigmatism stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that there are hidden pictures in Magic Eye stereograms, then insisting that the people who could see them must be crazy. My previous paragraph is a microcosm of my reactions to the entire piece, so, before you attempt rebut any of my points, I ask you to show that you have thoroughly understood the gravity and implications of that scene as well as you claim. I feel it encapsulates Katawa Shoujo as a whole, and, if we can’t at least agree to disagree on what happens in that scene, I have my doubts that we can see eye-to-eye at all.
Thank you for your patience. And, like I said before, welcome to the JAST USA Forums. I’m not being sarcastic in the slightest when I say I know I’m going to enjoy debating with you in the future.