Snow Drop further thoughts

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#1

Already played it a couple of times… However, some of Kyoka’s ending still elude me (at least, I understood her story, I think) Will try again, later…

Before continuing, it is possible I may write some spoilers below, so, please keep that on mind… Also, everything I wrote as my first thoughts, still applies here.

OK, here we go: at first, I didn’t paid that much attention, but, it my only apply to me. In some dialogues, a sudden “W What” appears on screen for unknown reasons. It kept popping several times, so I guess that might be a glitch. Also, I found a couple of mistakes, for instance, where Minoru was called Minuru. Minor issues, really.

I will have to wholeheartly disagree weasl-san’s comments (in the hint area). I think that, thanks to repeatedly playing the first half, I got some story points otherwise I would had missed. I mean, how many of you, by chance, got to speak with Kasumi on the tower, and make sense on the first run? After playing several times (and being totally frustrated), I began, as Kumiko-san mentioned, connecting the dots on the story as a whole.

On the technical side, I haven’t seen any glitch, yet. I haven’t experienced the bug on Kyoka’s CG; probably because I don’t check too often the galleries. The text problem, still, I think it is because of Windows 2000, so no complains.

About the characters, at first, I hated Keika, however, after reading her story, I felt a bit of sympathy. Probably because she finally realized who and what she was (with a bit of help of Honami’s punch, that is). Honami is your extra cute sister, I wished I had a sister like that [off-note: I do have a sister, however, we hate each other…] Kasumi… What can I say… Yes, she is a strong woman, with a charm on her own. Kyoka, your well rounded tomboyish character (no pun intended! BTW, it is funny how she keeps using “boku” all the way). I had a neutral feeling on her, at the beginning, but, at the end, she showed her “soft” side. Minoru… Not sure if I want to punch him or feel sympathy for him. I mean, sure, one thing is being romantic or a dreamer (as Mischief wrote), but another is being totally lost to reality. Shizuka… Now, here is a character that I was charmed right from the beginning. Though her intends were obvious, we have to consider she is Yuki-onna. She hasn’t had such feelings before, and was trying the best. And yes, I loved her ending (regardless of Minoru being a romantic or dreamer).

My last $0.02, (for now). Kumiko-san: you and PeaPri has spoiled me with this story. If you don’t meet the expectations on the next romantic story, you will hear from me right away!

#2
quote:
Originally posted by fxho:
Kyoka, your well rounded tomboyish character (no pun intended! BTW, it is funny how she keeps using "boku" all the way).

From my understanding, the fact that she uses masculine "boku" instead of "watashi" or the feminine "atashi" is an indication of her personality. I thought this fit in quite well with the outward personality and appearance she projects to everyone.

#3
quote:
Originally posted by Master Pivot:
From my understanding, the fact that she uses masculine "boku" instead of "watashi" or the feminine "atashi" is an indication of her personality. I thought this fit in quite well with the outward personality and appearance she projects to everyone.

Yes, you are right. However, it was funny for me to hear that from such a "girly" (?) voice of hers.

#4

Good for Dave E.

“W What…”, and anything like that, isn’t a glitch, but rather shows stuttering, hesitation and the like in the speaker.

Consider the following:
A girl is trying to confess her feelings to a guy, but she doesn’t quite have the confidence. naturally, she’d go ‘A…Atashi…XXX-chan no koto…daisuki!’, which literally translate into ‘I…I…love you, (XXX)’. Pretty natural really. If it were ‘Atashi…’ instead, something would’ve been lost in the translation.

here’s another example:
“W What’s this…??” someone stunned by an unexpected discovery might ask. The Japanese equivalent might be ¬Åu¬Ç√à…¬Ç√à¬Ç√â¬ÅA¬Ç¬±¬Ç√®¬Ç√°¬ÅH¬ÅH¬Åv. ‘Nani’ means ‘what’, so the extra ‘Na’ before the ‘Nani’ shows the speaker stammering. This is more or less the same as the ‘W’ before ‘What’.

hope I haven’t been too long-winded on this one.
------------------------------

As for the ‘boku’, Master Pivot’s spot on. from the sound of it you can tell it’s less ‘refined’ as ‘watashi’ or even ‘atashi’, and young boys like to use it a lot. as do some girls.

Girls tend to use ‘atashi’ when they get older, but those who are active, extroverted, and–as someone I know would say–“hadn’t outgrown their childhood” might still stick with it.

Anyone who’s played Kanon (uh, anyone???) will remember that Ayu also goes around addressing herself as ‘boku’–until the protagonist told her to do otherwise.

Some writers do use that term in their writings, but there’s an undeniably juvenile feel to ‘boku’, and hardly surprising that adults tend to use the more ‘macho’ ‘ore’ instead.

methinks…

[This message has been edited by yyoshi (edited 05-22-2001).]

#5
quote:
Originally posted by Kumiko Kamiyama:
Just one more note about the "W- What?" in the script. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Yoshi-san is correct, of course... except that, in this case, it's more than just a stutter. The "W- What" in the script is scattered throughout Kasumi's dialogue, in particular, and is not actually part of her current conversation. It's actually an interruption in her conversation - and of course, that's why it looks like an error (now, consider what it looks like to a Japanese gamer! not only interrupting the sentence but in a foreign language?! [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img] )


Only that... It didn't happen only to Kasumi! I recall it appeared in Kyoka's dialogue, too! Since it is a bit explain in this post, I guess there was a reason for it. If it were mentioned on the liner notes... ^_^;

I do appreciate Dave's effort on the translation, and, in fact, I was totally surprised of the full Japanese rolling credits. Now, is there any reason why there aren't any PeaPri credits??? [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

#6

SPOILERS*****


I think it was Minoru’s apathy towards the girls in the game that he found somewhat unacceptable…

KYOKA ENDING: Kumiko mentioned that this was a ‘forced’ ending, but still the ending isn’t entirely irrational. Minoru meets Shizuka, and soon realises that she’s anything but human, and worse, that he’s still attracted to her despite her putting everyone’s lives at risk by possessing them. And for what? Simply because she wants to be with him. but when he realises Kyoka’s feelings for him (despite himself), and that the idea of losing her is all too real, he finally accepts her. One might say he’s angry with Shizuka (rightfully, perhaps), but the Kyoka true ending isn’t so much about him rejecting Shizuka outright, but rather about him finally embracing the reality–represented in the story by Kyoka. Shizuka’s like the snow–you can hold it in your palms but it’ll melt away somehow–but Kyoka is real.


SHIZUKA ENDING: Minoru still loves Shizuka deeply despite her possessing everyone, and even when she tells him she might kill him. Jason4’s spot on about the point that this path represents the opposite of Kyoka’s–that is, his romance is a complete rejection of reality. Kyoka doesn’t feature after that maybe because she’s already out of the equation anymore, but that doesn’t mean she and Minoru aren’t (at least) friends like they were before. Also, the fact that Shizuka still can’t be with Minoru in the end indicates that Minoru still has to face reality eventually even if he is to remain the romantic that he is.

Maybe the writing in Snow Drop isn’t the best, but the two endings make perfect sense, methinks. (^^; Still, the Shizuka ending is the better one because it strikes a balance between the acceptance of realty and the need to go on dreaming. Without either of which, this world would be a horrid place, non?

>love to her), because in the back of my
>mind I knew that something terrible would
>happen to her; I never totally fell for her
>because of those doubts.

very much typifies what’s mentioned above, don’t you think? Wanting to love, yet fearful of loving b’cos you know that this love is doomed in the first place.

aaaa! Snow Drop’s supposed to be a sad and simple love story…think all this ‘analysing’ is taking the beauty of the story away…
------------------------------------

Something to add on to Kumiko’s comments about shoujo stuff. One trait of shoujo manga/anime is this fear of growing up, and shoujo manga veils this reluctance to grow up and grow old. Light-hearted ones like CC Sakura feature little-girls who doesn’t age; darker ones like Vampire Miyu can go as far as toying with the idea of death, physically or otherwise.

my two cents, really…

[This message has been edited by yyoshi (edited 05-24-2001).]

#7

My problem with romantics is that they somehow distance themselves from what is there, they don’t know how to cherish what is already there for their taking. They live in their own plan of logic and understanding, however, their fantasy can really people that are close to them.

I know romantics don’t sumbit their value or principle for the sake of reality, but they also need to differentiate one’s own romatic heart to others’ feeling, Minoru doesn’t able to do that, because sometimes his kindness or romatic feelings do hurt others without him being aware of it. But that could be avoided if he just look around and think about what’s going on. And thinking doesn’t make him any less of a romantic, because I don’t think all romantics stop thinking once they are acting on their feelings, they do think, because they are not fools.

I am not against romantics, because romantics feel things with emotion rather than analysis it with reason. I just don’t like the fact they disregard reason compelely, I don’t think they can do that without going to la la world. It is our nature to be curious, but it is also our nature to be cautious and fearful of unknown. That is just my opinion.

#8

She is with him, yet she’s also not because she exists in his memories–within in. It’s arguable whether her spirit’s really among the flowers, or that she may someday reappear again come winter. but it remains that she and Minoru can’t be together as normal lovers do.at least, not that we can see from the game ending. the field of snow drops in spring is, I feel, in remembrance of Shizuka more than anything else.

Kumiko’s right about the romantic, though a true romantic doesn’t necessarily become so obessed with their own ‘reality’ that they’re totally blinded by it. Rather, they know the limits of their own ideals, as much the limits of the reality around them. The only difference between them and the realist is that unlike the latter, they refuse to compromise. This is why he can be selfish to those around him because his ideals are more important than anything else. Hence a roamantic doesn’t need to be someone like Minoru, but anyone who upholds his dreams more than life itself–regardless of whether he’s a poet or a rocket physicist.

(uh…this thread’s getting a bit too philosophical don’t you think, guys ^^ ?

#9

I would say that this is the most insightful game that I have ever play, I will admit it is hard and tought to adjust since I have been playing dating and girl hunting games. But this game has its appeal, it’s perspective is bit different, and it is interesting to seek enlightment rather just sex.

#10