Karifean's Blog of Visual Novels

I did have somewhat high expectations for Hanako's route and it was nice to not see them betrayed. It even caught me off guard a few times and the ending was pretty good.

First about Hanako herself. She is the shyest of the heroines and has great difficulties interacting with people. She has rather obvious scars over the entire right half of her body, but it's something she apparently prefers not to talk about. She is good friends with Lilly and likes to read and play chess, among other things.

Most of Hanako's route is again spent getting to know her. While Hisao gets on friendly terms with Hanako rather quickly simply by spending some time with her and Lilly and having enough tact to not needlessly upset Hanako or ask about her scars. The character interaction between Hisao, Hanako and Lilly was pretty good and Hanako manages to nicely break out of her trope every now and then.

Any more words on this matter will be spoilers for Hanako's entire route.

The first bit of drama in Hanako's route occurs quite unexpectedly. After sneakily going out to buy a birthday present for Hanako together with Lilly, Hisao is soon forced to come out with the fact when Hanako presses the matter flanked by Misha and Shizune. However, as soon as Hisao mentions her birthday, Hanako goes dead quiet and since it is an awkward situation for everyone involved it takes quite a while before Hisao notices that Hanako is actually having a silent panic attack.

It doesn't take much guessing to figure that Hanako probably had her life-changing accident on her birthday - in which she also lost her parents no less.

Thankfully though the game doesn't dwell on this for long. As Lilly says that she will be out of the country for about two weeks, Hisao joins her in trying to get Hanako back on her feet. They throw a little farewell party for Lilly (which doubles as a subtle early birthday party for Hanako) and go out into the city to have some fun. And this is also where the route starts what ended up being my favorite part; its detachment from the tropes that could have so easily bound it.

It's not often you see the shy, introverted, traumatized heroine offer the main protagonist her shoulder to lean on.

What comes up around this time is the fact that Hisao is getting himself caught up in trying to "protect" Hanako and completely ignoring his own well-being and future in the process. And when Lilly leaves and Hanako's composure worsens as her birthday approaches the final choice comes up pretty soon as Lilly suggests to Hisao to give Hanako some alone time and focus more on getting his own life in order. If you decline you get an unsatisfying bad end, but even if you agree - if you messed up on the choice directly before you'll get a rather depressin bad end instead.

If you do agree and haven't messed up previously, Hisao beings to focus more on his studies as Hanako gradually gets out of her pit and things start to go back to normal. Ultimately though, since he has long since started falling for Hanako, Hisao wants to know more about Hanako's past and she agrees to tell him if he tells her as well. It's true that although as the spectator you don't really realize it, Hisao is being quite silent about his own past if not just as much as Hanako.

After a lot of talking from both sides, they end up in Hanako's room and she strips, fully showing off her burnt right body half. The two sleep together and the following day things are a bit awkward as neither can seem to comprehend what to make of the situation and Hisao feels as if they drifted even further apart than they were before. Hisao makes the right choice in writing to Hanako that if she wants to talk to him, they can meet up at X place, giving the option to Hanako without pushing her into it.

When they talk again they realize that they have been at complete odds. Hanako was certain that all Hisao ever wanted from her was for her to be someone he can protect, which hasn't been true for the last hour or so of gameplay. Hisao on the other hand realizes that he totally misinterpreted Hanako's motivations and problems. For the first time it feels as if the two can really come to understand each other. And with that, the story ends.

I couldn't help but smile at this line.

I liked Hanako's route for a variety of reasons. For one it was infinitely better paced than either of the two previous routes I read (excluding Emi's). Secondly, it managed to surprise with good characterization and unexpected developments, albeit not a lot. The ending of this route might have been one of my favorite moments in this visual novel so far. It also has quite a few quotable moments. "I didn't want to exist, but they wouldn't let me." "Not understanding each other is only natural." Finally, I like the way it doesn't fall into way-too-obvious plot traps; I half expected Hisao to just play the hero and miraculously break Hanako out of a horrendous past trauma because he's the protagonist and he can do that. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I'll quickly take this opportunity to talk a bit about the OST. I must say for the most part I didn't care much for it previously. By now though I've gained an appreciation for several of the atmospheric tracks. While I could hardly care less for Fripperies I do enjoy tracks like Everyday Fantasy, Afternoon and especially Stride. Caged Heart also hits quite well whenever it plays. While the soundtrack is still far from being particularly memorable it does at least present a good atmosphere.

Next up, the finale: Lilly's route. Probably not before the weekend though.