Katawa Shoujo Release on Jan 4, 2012

Downloaded it, played it for 3.5ish hours, loving it even more than I did. Great game/story/whateverthisis

Since Nexon screwed up and there is no x2 today, I'm just starting it now.

Finished reading Lilly's path. I have good and bad things to say about it, and I'll do a mini review in the morning.

Been playing for 5 hours now and on two runs, I've ended up with the bad end both times without even getting onto a girl's route. I just don't even.

F`uck Katawa Shoujo. Goddamn it. I've seen this thread for a while now, but every time I checked G+ or Twitter.. KATAWA SHOUJO ALL UP IN MAH GRILL. So I guess since everybody's reading it, I might as well too. I was going to hold it off after I finish off Little Busters, but who knows how long that'd take.. So meh. That and I heard Katawa Shoujo has great incentives for playing. Girls with illnesses and sh`it? F`uckyeah. We're probably talking Key-tier quality bi`tchtears out of my anus.

b'itchtears out of my anus

my god lol

Played way longer than I should have, but I finished both Rin and Lilly's routes yesterday.

 Rin

Man, that was depressing. Also, it was really focused on identity issues that anyone could have. It was good but I guess I was expecting the disabilities to play a bigger role since that's what sets this VN apart. Rin already overcame hers, but Hisao had no real problems. And, not a fan of those cigarettes.

 Lilly

Reality sucks. I had to go back and get the good ending because I couldn't stand going to bed with the story ending where it ended. I enjoyed this more than Rin's path because of the impact Hisao's heart problem had on the relationship and the way they developed Lilly's playful side. Surprised by how many sex scenes there were though.

Going to start Emi's path today but I'm trying to refrain myself from reading too much.

FoolsLove, Felix's thread has a guide telling you the critical choices to go on each path in case you still have trouble getting the correct combinations.

FoolsLove, Felix's thread has a guide telling you the critical choices to go on each path in case you still have trouble getting the correct combinations.

Oh, thanks, lol. I ended up on Rin's route last night and got to Act 3 before I went to bed.

Have played for ~4 hours now, went for Emi first. Somewhere around the beginning of Act 2 right now.

Downloaded it...took a much shorter time than I thought though; always had a bad impression of torrents.

Wasn't expecting H-scenes, really. I wonder how smooth the H-scene skipping is...not that I would skip them, for fear of causing the story to be disjointed.

Will start playing it soon. I will become the real life Keima!!

Just finished Emi's good ending, without having to go back on any choices. Still loving this more and more as I go on. Will probably do other characters in the course of the coming weeks. Am really curious to see how they turn out.

Once you're in a path (you finished Act 1), there's no way to switch paths, as far as I know. And yeah, Emi's path is the easiest to reach; all you have to do is pick "yes" when the nurse asks you whether you'll work harder, and then pick "go for it" when running. Both choices seem like "good" choices so it's pretty easy to get put down that path. If you side with Lilly in the argument prior to that, you're automatically in Emi's path. If you don't pick a side, you have a choice between Emi and Shizune.

I finished reading everyone's path but Emi's. The plots range between predictably boring and fairly interesting, and I can't say I'm a big fan of the way VNs are presented, either, with the repetitive backgrounds, music, and character art. What really makes the stories worth reading, though, is the character depth and development. It's really interesting how even though the premise was that each of the girls is physically disabled in some way, those physical disabilities are largely inconsequential and the stories are really about dealing with social and emotional "disabilities." Rin may have no arms, but she has much larger issues with self-identity and learning to cope with change. Hanako may be permanently scarred across half her body, but her real issues lie in trust and self-worth. It sends the message that even though these girls are disabled, they are still real people with real feelings and the same problems that everyone else has. I really appreciated that.

 Lilly

Lilly's path was the first one I read. I thought she was the most likeable character. Pretty, ladylike, polite and very approachable, yet strong and fairly independent. This story is a bit more about Hisao than it is about Lilly, which is good. He isn't just some faceless guy for the reader to project them self onto. It's a story about learning to be independent, being honest with yourself, enjoying the present while planning for the future and following your own dreams and ambitions. Fairly tame read, a bit too predictable. I most enjoyed the scenes where they learned to deal with each other's weaknesses. Also, there are like, 3, 4? sex scenes and they didn't really contribute too much to the story. Might as well turn them off if you're not into that stuff.

 Rin

This one had me both chuckling and misty-eyed. Rin may seem detached and silly, but underneath that is a very complex, free-spirited girl struggling to find her own identity and deal with change. Hisao is like an admirer desperately trying to understand her and help her, but having a very hard time doing so without going insane. If you only want to read one, make it this one. It's a story about kids staring at the sky and discussing things far bigger than themselves. It also has the best dialogue of any story by far. There are plenty of amusing situations that arise from Rin's rapid subject changes and her lack of bashfulness or modesty. There are also plenty of scenes that will have you reaching for the tissue-box. My favorite one hands down.

 Hanako

This one is just depressing as hell. I thought it captured the way victims of abuse and trauma often act really well. Hanako has an incredibly difficult time warming up to people and dealing with people who try to show her affection. She constantly feels at fault and only feels worse when people treat her like someone who needs to be protected. It's quite endearing. Interestingly, she actually adjusts faster in Lilly's path.

 Shizune

Meh. Not only did I think Shizune was the least likeable character, but this story also just wasn't that great. I don't know if the whole "I can learn sign language in a month, but then I have trouble with specific words and I lose my ability to read it if I stop for a week" thing was very believable, either. Shizune's problem is just a personality issue. She enjoys competition and power, and everyone who gets close to her away. It creates an interesting dynamic with Misha towards the end, but I was already getting bored at that point. I did like Shizune's dad, though. The conversations with him are pretty amusing.

Edit: @Above, there is no Misha route.

 ACTUAL SPOILERS

There is a sex scene with Misha on the Shizune path, though. It leads to a bad end, obviously

Edit: @Above, there is no Misha route.

 ACTUAL SPOILERS

There is a sex scene with Misha on the Shizune path, though. It leads to a bad end, obviously

Oh. Seeing as she was listed under the heroines in the readme, I thought she had her own route.

*looks at spoiler anyway*

Well, figured as much. Best friends are...you know. Expected it the moment Hisao commented that they seem inseparable back in Act 1. Figure the same might apply to Lilly and Hanako, but neither seem the type to get worked up over something so trivial, so I don't think Lilly or Hanako would disapprove of Hisao developing a relationship with one of them.

Got 100% completion! Well, I don't know how happy I am about that. Didn't do much else the past few days. Still, I enjoyed reading this.

 Shizune

Was this the Kenji path? Just kidding, but there was more development for Kenji than Shizune in my opinion. I feel like you didn't know much more about Shizune than after Act I nor does she really change. A nice and caring girl at heart, but with a personality issue, as Dusk said. Also, her vulnerabilities were said, not seen, if that makes sense. I liked Misha's development though, though chopping off the drills was a shock. Also, does she have a disability or not? Learning that Yamaku accepts non disabled students seemed to dispel this notion, but they put it in your face that Misha gets tired when nighttime arrives and goes to bed at 7, which seem to indicate some sort of problem.

Hideaki and Jigoro were weak characters, epitomized by that pointless trip to the school. Hideaki played his role well as a little brother, but the only explanation for his appearance is because stockings are "cool"? And I couldn't tell what Jigoro was supposed to accomplish. To show a troubled childhood? But that goes back to my thought on her vulnerabilities. The only part I liked about him was his conversation with Misha.

All in all, this was my least favorite of the five.

 Hanako

I had the most trouble getting the good ending for this path, but it was interesting to see each ending. Actually, this and Rin. I was really pleased with this route so I don't have much to say. Terrible that I can comment on bad things so much more easily than good things though.

 General Stuff

Kenji and Yuuko were both a lot cooler than I expected and had great advice. All clues point toward them having been a couple too. Furthermore, they were not the only great supporting characters. I think that was one of the most well done portions in KS.

Anyway, I will probably read through Rin's route again in a week or so since I want a second look after reading the other paths.

Just stopping in to post this blog info I came across of 2ch commenting on this game. I find it funny.

[SankakuComplex]
2ch has finally gotten wind ofthe release of 4chan-originated cripple-fancying game Katawa Shoujo, and even they are not sparing in expressing their outrage and disgust at its “discrimination against the disabled” – most having apparently forgotten their own notorious hatred of Koreans so as not to spoil the chance to engage in some righteous outrage against the insensitive barbarians…

Most clearly cannot get past the game’s jarring title:
[INDENT]“I don’t care about the content, but give the naming some thought already. Are they trying to market this with outrage or what?”
[The game's title of "cripple girl" is as cringe-inducing in Japanese as it would be in English, and would be regarded as outrageously offensive towards disabled people in Japan]
“Wasn’t ‘katawa’ a discriminatory term?”
“It ‘became’ discriminatory. They used to use it all the time.”
“There are a lot of moe-type eroge like thi reallys. But that title is totally out of line.”
“That title is going too far.”
“I cannot understand this.”
“Amazing title there.”
“Somebody tell them that ‘katawa’ is banned from TV in Japan…”
“It’s ‘voluntary restraint’ by stations so you can use it as much as you like in drama or print.”
“The naming is a bit…”
“The naming isn’t ‘a bit…’ – it’s totally out of line!”
“This is completely AUTO.”
“Disgusting.”
[In English:] “i don’t like discrimination. it shouldn’t mention it.”
[In response to a Japanese Kotaku writer who took the ultra-politically-correct measure of writing "deaf" without using kanji:]
“At least write ‘deaf’ using kanji [so ろうあ becomes 聾唖], you can’t even read your writing properly otherwise. People who right ‘disabled’ half in kanji and half in kana [by omitting the '害' character for 'harm' so 'disabled person' goes from '障害者' to '障がい者'] are just as bad.”
“The people who thought this up are the real cripples.”
“They have explained about the name themselves, back in 2008:”
[English version, they also provide a shorter Japanese version which more heavily stresses their poor Japanese skills - although their apparent lack of awareness of the controversy surrounding English terms like "handicapped" and "cripple" is probably equally telling:]
“As expected, the name of the project sparked controversy, but in an even larger proportion than what I thought it would.
To explain what’s all this about, the word ‘katawa’ is quite degoratory in Japanese, perhaps comparable to English racial slurs like chink, spic and so on.
As you can guess, if we were making a heart-warming visual novel about the hard life of jewish school kids in the WW2 Germany and name it ‘Kike Girls’, it might raise a few eyebrows.
Maybe a reasonable translation of Katawa Shoujo would be ‘Retard Girls’, which is equally offensive though not exactly accurate. Anyway, it’s a really really bad idea to name the game that, so why? Why?
It’s not like we intentionally want to offend, and we did not come up with the name ourselves. The origin of the name is of course Japan itself, with Raita and his original concept picture of KS.
Due to the name being readily available from the picture and the general idea of staying as true to it as possible, the name was adopted to the project without a second thought (and I don’t think anyone with enough finesse in Japanese was around at the time to point out the problem with the name).
Raita is not to blame though, he can name his doujin extras whatever he wants, the reason or blame is in the strange circumstances of the conception of this game.
So why not change the name? We have thought about changing the name for this very reason before (and also because an English game having a Japanese name felt odd to some), but gave up on it because it would be patently stupid.
Due to our relatively high profile the project would just end up as ‘the game formerly known as Katawa Shoujo’ and it would change absolutely nothing. So we kept the name, and we probably will even in the future.”
“Don’t they have a poor girl as well?”
“What about Ainu?”
“Burn victims are disabled? This I did not know.”
“I did some research after wondering about this. [He quotes the various equivalent grades of disfigurement and disability recognised by the Japanese government.] So, it seems it is recognised as a disability. However, the ‘gross outward disfigurement’ doesn’t apply to men (all this is apparently upheld by supreme court rulings).”
“Thanks. I had no idea it was determined in such detail.”
“Disability pensions and disability benefits are handled by two totally different systems though.”
“Foreigners made this? But they still made the art look Japanese?”
“Stinks like Koreans.”
“Koreans loathe disabled people, there’s no way they would think them worthy of romantic attention.”
“How could a girl with no arms or burns on her face engage in a romantic relationship? It’s impossible, isn’t it?”
“Can they get away with making eroge overseas? I expect they’ll be bashing Japan again for this in any case.”
“I can do without guro, but if this is a tear-jerker then I’m all for it.”
“They finished this? Is there really demand for it…”
“Wow. Gross.”
“People who play this are handicapped themselves.”
“So they made a barrier-free eroge! Foreigners have pioneered an undeveloped genre…”
“So do all the girls have penises or what?”
“I remember in ONE there is a scene with an actual retard, I was pretty shocked. Even more so that there was an ero-scene with her…”
“ONE had blind, mute and deaf girls, as well as a mentally disabled girl. She sounded like Pikachu.”
“This is just a rehash of doing those blind and retarded girls in ONE.”
“Are girls with flat chests cripples too?”
“I like Raita’s art.”
“I want to see the doujinshi which set this off…”
“It was just this:”


“This could make a pretty good story if done right.”
“I thought the original was monochrome. Who coloured it?”
“I like the art. Not that I’ll play it.”
“As far as eroge are concerned, the characters are always emotional cripples anyway.”
“Men like girls weaker than themselves, don’t they? For creepy otaku, the only ones weaker than them are little girls and retards. That’s why they are prone to having these repulsive tastes.”
“The character design is 100% galge, isn’t it?”
“They actually completed it?”
“They still hadn’t finished it yet?”
“I think it’s amazing that they finished it. Most of these sorts of projects lapse and get abandoned.”
“I thought it was a one-shot, but they brought it to completion. Impressive.”
“None of our capricious 2ch inhabitants could match this.”
“4chan is just seriously gross. They are obsessed with ero and anime only, so it’s purely the haunt of creepy otaku types.”
“They like cats too.”
“Like you’re one to talk!”
“I’m interested but as there’s no Japanese version I’m so out of luck.”
“The Japanese version is sure to be a long way off…”
“They are recruiting translators for a Japanese version.”
“To the yanks we’re just cripples ourselves for not understanding English.”
“I just remembered that now… At middle school there was a girl with an artificial arm. I flipped her skirt and got slapped with her silicone hand… it hurt at the time, but now I think of it, it’s a fond memory.”
“It may be a fond memory to you, but to her it may be an indelible lifelong scar!”
“She was probably secretly delighted to be treated just like any other girl.”

[/INDENT][/quote]

At the very least, its an interesting read to go over some of it.

Just stopping in to post this blog info I came across of 2ch commenting on this game. I find it funny.

2ch has finally gotten wind ofthe release of 4chan-originated cripple-fancying game Katawa Shoujo, and even they are not sparing in expressing their outrage and disgust at its “discrimination against the disabled” – most having apparently forgotten their own notorious hatred of Koreans so as not to spoil the chance to engage in some righteous outrage against the insensitive barbarians…

Most clearly cannot get past the game’s jarring title:[INDENT]“I don’t care about the content, but give the naming some thought already. Are they trying to market this with outrage or what?”
[The game's title of "cripple girl" is as cringe-inducing in Japanese as it would be in English, and would be regarded as outrageously offensive towards disabled people in Japan]
“Wasn’t ‘katawa’ a discriminatory term?”
“It ‘became’ discriminatory. They used to use it all the time.”
“There are a lot of moe-type eroge like thi reallys. But that title is totally out of line.”
“That title is going too far.”
“I cannot understand this.”
“Amazing title there.”
“Somebody tell them that ‘katawa’ is banned from TV in Japan…”
“It’s ‘voluntary restraint’ by stations so you can use it as much as you like in drama or print.”
“The naming is a bit…”
“The naming isn’t ‘a bit…’ – it’s totally out of line!”
“This is completely AUTO.”
“Disgusting.”
[In English:] “i don’t like discrimination. it shouldn’t mention it.”
[In response to a Japanese Kotaku writer who took the ultra-politically-correct measure of writing "deaf" without using kanji:]
“At least write ‘deaf’ using kanji [so ろうあ becomes 聾唖], you can’t even read your writing properly otherwise. People who right ‘disabled’ half in kanji and half in kana [by omitting the '害' character for 'harm' so 'disabled person' goes from '障害者' to '障がい者'] are just as bad.”
“The people who thought this up are the real cripples.”
“They have explained about the name themselves, back in 2008:”
[English version, they also provide a shorter Japanese version which more heavily stresses their poor Japanese skills - although their apparent lack of awareness of the controversy surrounding English terms like "handicapped" and "cripple" is probably equally telling:]
“As expected, the name of the project sparked controversy, but in an even larger proportion than what I thought it would.
To explain what’s all this about, the word ‘katawa’ is quite degoratory in Japanese, perhaps comparable to English racial slurs like chink, spic and so on.
As you can guess, if we were making a heart-warming visual novel about the hard life of jewish school kids in the WW2 Germany and name it ‘Kike Girls’, it might raise a few eyebrows.
Maybe a reasonable translation of Katawa Shoujo would be ‘Retard Girls’, which is equally offensive though not exactly accurate. Anyway, it’s a really really bad idea to name the game that, so why? Why?
It’s not like we intentionally want to offend, and we did not come up with the name ourselves. The origin of the name is of course Japan itself, with Raita and his original concept picture of KS.
Due to the name being readily available from the picture and the general idea of staying as true to it as possible, the name was adopted to the project without a second thought (and I don’t think anyone with enough finesse in Japanese was around at the time to point out the problem with the name).
Raita is not to blame though, he can name his doujin extras whatever he wants, the reason or blame is in the strange circumstances of the conception of this game.
So why not change the name? We have thought about changing the name for this very reason before (and also because an English game having a Japanese name felt odd to some), but gave up on it because it would be patently stupid.
Due to our relatively high profile the project would just end up as ‘the game formerly known as Katawa Shoujo’ and it would change absolutely nothing. So we kept the name, and we probably will even in the future.”
“Don’t they have a poor girl as well?”
“What about Ainu?”
“Burn victims are disabled? This I did not know.”
“I did some research after wondering about this. [He quotes the various equivalent grades of disfigurement and disability recognised by the Japanese government.] So, it seems it is recognised as a disability. However, the ‘gross outward disfigurement’ doesn’t apply to men (all this is apparently upheld by supreme court rulings).”
“Thanks. I had no idea it was determined in such detail.”
“Disability pensions and disability benefits are handled by two totally different systems though.”
“Foreigners made this? But they still made the art look Japanese?”
“Stinks like Koreans.”
“Koreans loathe disabled people, there’s no way they would think them worthy of romantic attention.”
“How could a girl with no arms or burns on her face engage in a romantic relationship? It’s impossible, isn’t it?”
“Can they get away with making eroge overseas? I expect they’ll be bashing Japan again for this in any case.”
“I can do without guro, but if this is a tear-jerker then I’m all for it.”
“They finished this? Is there really demand for it…”
“Wow. Gross.”
“People who play this are handicapped themselves.”
“So they made a barrier-free eroge! Foreigners have pioneered an undeveloped genre…”
“So do all the girls have penises or what?”
“I remember in ONE there is a scene with an actual retard, I was pretty shocked. Even more so that there was an ero-scene with her…”
“ONE had blind, mute and deaf girls, as well as a mentally disabled girl. She sounded like Pikachu.”
“This is just a rehash of doing those blind and retarded girls in ONE.”
“Are girls with flat chests cripples too?”
“I like Raita’s art.”
“I want to see the doujinshi which set this off…”
“It was just this:”


“This could make a pretty good story if done right.”
“I thought the original was monochrome. Who coloured it?”
“I like the art. Not that I’ll play it.”
“As far as eroge are concerned, the characters are always emotional cripples anyway.”
“Men like girls weaker than themselves, don’t they? For creepy otaku, the only ones weaker than them are little girls and retards. That’s why they are prone to having these repulsive tastes.”
“The character design is 100% galge, isn’t it?”
“They actually completed it?”
“They still hadn’t finished it yet?”
“I think it’s amazing that they finished it. Most of these sorts of projects lapse and get abandoned.”
“I thought it was a one-shot, but they brought it to completion. Impressive.”
“None of our capricious 2ch inhabitants could match this.”
“4chan is just seriously gross. They are obsessed with ero and anime only, so it’s purely the haunt of creepy otaku types.”
“They like cats too.”
“Like you’re one to talk!”
“I’m interested but as there’s no Japanese version I’m so out of luck.”
“The Japanese version is sure to be a long way off…”
“They are recruiting translators for a Japanese version.”
“To the yanks we’re just cripples ourselves for not understanding English.”
“I just remembered that now… At middle school there was a girl with an artificial arm. I flipped her skirt and got slapped with her silicone hand… it hurt at the time, but now I think of it, it’s a fond memory.”
“It may be a fond memory to you, but to her it may be an indelible lifelong scar!”
“She was probably secretly delighted to be treated just like any other girl.”

[/INDENT]

At the very least, its an interesting read to go over some of it.

I'm not surprised at all by the reaction from the Japanese. What. Did people expect Katawa Shoujo to be highly praised? www