So I don’t know if anybody follows the news or not, but Katawa Shoujo came out this week. Just yesterday, in fact, as far as Pacific Standard Time is concerned. It’s been five long years, many promises, and as far as I remember a retracted idea of actually selling the game, instead deciding to give it out for free. The background story is as convoluted as the relationship threads in this game (Which is to say not really that complex at all, just a bit long-winded), but here it is now, and I’ve had the joy of playing through to completion. Or rather partially to completion, but I think getting one good ending is enough to warrant a review of the entire thing, because laziness is sometimes a valid reason not to get through the rest of something.
The story follows Hisao Nakai, a formerly average high school student who suffered a heart murmur while confessing to his high school crush. Before the two could make good on the confession, he was rushed to the hospital and confined to a bed for several months until his condition stabilized. Left with no other option, he transferred to a private school specifically for children with health problems. Will he find a new direction for his life? Love? Several awkward sex scenes and self deprecating jokes? Mostly the latter.
Say whatever you like about Katawa Shoujo, you cannot fault it for being misleading. The name roughly translates to “Crippled Girl” or some other synonym for cripple, and that about sums it up nicely, considering you have a bevy of girls with physical, and often mental, trauma to woo. In no particular order you have: Shizune, the deaf student council president and class representative;
Hanako, the extremely shy burn victim and Lilly, a blind class representative;
Rin, the armless artist
and Emi, the legless girl that I was unfortunately stuck with the minute I decided to take the nurse’s advice, who shall henceforth be known as Nurse Killjoy. Let this be a listen to you, never listen to a medical professional unless you want to end up with a flake like this.
To say that the subject matter is a bit rocky would be putting it lightly; the name and premise alone have the subtlety and sensitivity of a freight train driven by Klansmen in blackface through Harlem. When I first looked into it, it sounded like nothing but pure exploitation that used the handicaps as a means of defining the girls. The fact that it was originally conceived by members of a certain infamous imageboard certainly didn’t take away from this misconception. Yet the result was something far from soulless jabbing at various disabilities.
For perspective, imagine if the surprisingly good Brother from Another Planet, rather than being a crass metaphor for immigration with exploitation elements, were instead a full on exploitation film with surprising sensitivity and a knowing glance toward race relations.
That would be Katawa Shoujo in a nutshell; a surprisingly heartfelt execution of a superficially tactless premise, with the characters willing to make more than a few good natured jabs at each other and at themselves. It successfully straddles that thin border between sensitivity and exploitation (Take a shot each time that word is used from now on) that’s often so difficult to stay balanced on, and ends up making the situation much more realistic as a result.
The characters end developed by the end, with their disabilities playing second nature to their actual personalities; while they acknowledge the aforementioned disabilities as something that’s a part of them, they never let it define them.
Toward the end, you will no longer notice your chosen girl’s “defect” as the protagonist so kindly puts it, instead focusing on their much more fleshed out traits. The big theme in the end is that despite what these girls may go through, they aren’t any less human than anyone else. They can laugh, cry, and enjoy life with the rest of us despite what cruelty life has given them. And yes, as the numerous awkward H-scenes will tell you, they can also enjoy relations like the rest of us.
While I’m pleasantly surprised with how the premise turned out, I feel slightly more ambivalent toward the game itself. Keep in mind that this is only the fourth visual novel that I’ve played, and the second that I’ve actually completed, so some of my criticisms may be levied against the medium as a whole.
While it starts off on a good enough, if predictable, note with the protagonist learning his way around his new school, it quickly ropes you on course with one girl whether you want to or not. The first chapter is easily the most varied, often delving into Hisao’s own thoughts regarding his heart condition and his coming to terms with the girls around him not being “normal”. This is when he has the most personality, and I grew fond of it despite him turning out to be totally flat later on.
I also found there to be an odd predisposition toward some girls over others, with Emi being who most people seem to end up with if they don’t choose to go after Shizune. Again, I ended up with Emi very much against my will, after one seemingly innocuous visit to the track and an urge to keep up a footrace. That was all it took to set me on Emi’s route, whether I wanted to be there or not. Meanwhile, I was working my ass off with several Hanako-related options, but unfortunately had that route closed off as soon as the game perceived that I wanted to go after Emi.
After the first chapter, the game went very much on its rails, not leaving many choices open for the player. And while Emi’s ending wasn’t bad, getting there took way too long and was much too ill-paced. In the end, I was just not endeared toward her for a number of reasons and I wished for a choice to opt out that never came. That may have soured me on the overall experience, now that I think about it.
In the end though, despite its pacing flaws and seeming preference for some girls over others, I enjoyed Katawa Shoujo. The art style was a bit rough around the edges, but I found myself acclimate to it in no time at all, and everything before Emi’s route had me sold. The writing was about what I expected, with the occasional sharp bit of humor punctuating the Key-like melodrama. However, I would rate this a fair bit higher than Key’s more manipulative works, if only because it treated its characters as people rather than objects to gush over. In particular, the dialogue with the spacey Rin almost always made me smile, her glib wit making me wish I could jump routes several times.
Getting through Emi’s route took me around 5 hours or so without skipping any dialogue, and I imagine it’s the same for the rest of the girls. If one has the patience to play through every other possible route, you’re looking at a minimum of a 25 hour time investment. Not bad for a free download.
There’s a phrase that pops up several times throughout, usually in response to Hisao’s questions about the girls, which goes something like this: “These are only issues if you make them so.” Indeed, this is how the game should be approached. Whether you find it a sympathetic portrayal or entirely callous depends on whether you make a big deal of the issues that you see presented.
In short, it’s hardly perfect, especially considering how long it took to develop, but it was worth playing through at least once. Make of that what you will. For discussion value, regale me on your experiences if you’ve had ’em. Who you chose, who you actually ended up with, what you thought on the overall experience, etc.
Man I haven’t played a dating sim in ages. Might give this a try considering its free.
How’s the soundtrack/background music?
Not terrible, as far as I know. It’s not terribly distinctive, but it doesn’t wear on your nerves either.
Oh, I remember playing this ages ago when a friend of mine insisted it was really good. When I voiced my concerns about the sensitivity of a dating sim with disabled characters, he told me to download it and form my own opinion. I had pretty much the same reaction as you: pleasantly surprised at how gently the subject manner was handled.
I guess I downloaded a demo, since it was only one level long, though and I don’t remember getting anywhere with anyone. But still, it’s nice to see it’s been given a full release though.
I played two minutes of the demo a year or so ago. Got distracted and never looked back. If you liked it, I suggest downloading it when you get the chance and giving it a whirl. It generally keeps up that level of sensitivity throughout.
Hipster Sei:
“I played with disabled girls before it was cool”
Not a hipster in the slightest, actually. :)
I’ve long been intrigued by the visual novel as a medium for telling stories, but it seems the vast majority of them are dating sims with varying degrees of ecchi/hentai fanservice, which I’m just not interested in. I do commend this indie game at least for its unique setting with disabled characters, though. And the artwork looks quite nice.
I tried looking for a demo, but it seems their site is down.
The only one that I’ve played that isn’t a dating sim, though there are plenty out there that aren’t, was Fate/Stay Night, and even that had the occasional bit of awkward hentai.
Katawa Shoujo isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s well worth checking out. The site worked for me when I went there, so try it again if you want to check it out, and download Act 1. And if you like it… hey, the rest is free, so go for it!
The majority of everything is crap.
The site has been intermittently down and working again over the past few days. Try again now?
(Also, the “demo” was just Act 1, released years ago. You might as well download the full game so you can play at least one route to the end.)
Awesome review! I haven’t played many of these types of games but I did make one on Metanorn! Well…I helped with some script stuff but nothing major like the others.
A few friends of mine know my irl situation because I use a wheelchair to get around, so the theme of the game really hits close for me. At first I will admit I wasn’t to trilled to see this type of game due to the theme of disabled characters in a dating style sim. However I decided to push those thoughts aside and give it a shot! And I have to say found it to be quite fun and I did laugh at a few of the jokes.
For me I like Emi she is so much like myself irl! minus the twin tails and running track ahaha but yeah I feel the most connection to her because I am always in a good mood and happy with life. Or possibly closer to Rin? I do crack jokes here and there and I like to draw! But I haven’t started any official routes yet…so I probably should get on the ball.
In the end you are so on target! This game does not focus to hard on the problems that the girls have and I was happy to see they focused on the personalities vs the disabilities which was great! So they got a thumbs up from me on that.
Out of all the girls, you do strike me as closest to Emi. It almost wears me out seeing you on Twitter at times, to be honest. I mean that in the best possible way, of course, it’s good to see somebody always full of vitality and cheer.
This game really was a pleasant surprise, and I’m glad to see that somebody who is differently abled sees this and finds it as surprisingly sensitive as I do. Anyway, thanks for commenting! It’s always a pleasure.
Hahah ya sometimes I wonder where I get all my energy from haha but thanks! I guess I always try to make my own life exciting either that or I am just crazy! In a good way of course.
Yep! I should be playing! Expect to see some post of mine floating around soonish…
And I will eagerly await said post. Hope you like playing KS!
What where other four games you played? I’ve attempted at a few (after being inspired by MM!) but never finished any. Great review by the way makes me want to get straight into what at first looks to be a peculiar game!
The only other three were Fate/Stay Night, Kanon, and Let’s Meow Meow which my friend got me as a joke. I’ve only managed to get through Fate/Stay Night, the other two having been given up on after an hour or two.
I suppose I just don’t have the patience to get through the visual novel format on a regular basis.
Definitely give this one a shot if you have the time, it’s well worth taking at least a glance at.
Saya No Uta is easier to get through in terms of length, but is mostly a horror story of the lovecraftian variety (with some sex scenes of disturbingly varied levels of fanservice and horror). Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni is Horror/mystery, I think, and was also made in smaller segments that are easier to digest, I think, don’t really know too much about that one.
I have Saya no Uta on the list of VNs that I want to get through as is. I’ll definitely give it a shot before the year’s out.
I am just past that screenshot you hate so much. I did not like that screen either. It was cliche, and pretty damn unnecessary.
I agree with your thoughts on Pro-Tag kun, he started of interesting with his insight into what it feels like to suddenly not be “normal”, but now, he is just a generic horny blob. ~Oh WELL!
That screenshot mocked me for taking an active interest in protag-kun’s good health, what with him ending up with the blobbiest of moeblobs by the end.
He seems a bit better in Hanako’s route thus far, but he still has that “knight in shining armor” mentality that I so despise in a male character.
Visitor here! Liked your post, described what I though too but with some differences, mostly because I did Hanakos route. I think you’ll find that one a pleasant surprise, both with Hanako and Hisao’s character developments ironically (I won’t spoil it though since it’ll kill off the effect of the entire story arc). Then again, I’ll assume you’ll be pleasantly surprised, I’m too afraid to do another story arc because I’ll feel bad about leaving the chonically shy girl with no friends – damn VNs and making me feel emotions!
I finished Hanako’s arc last night, and I must say I found it much more engaging than Emi’s. Thanks for commenting!
Not sure how to reply to your reply, but heh, I just finished Emi’s plot line just then, and I actually have to say I enjoyed it – the characters frustrated me a lot but they sort of portrayed a different relationship than hanako’s route had. The writers did a great job on this IMO, but maybe I feel that way because apart from
Fate stay night this is the only other VN I’ve read. Thanks for replying to me too Inushinde, glad you found Hanako’s plot engaging :P
And thank you for taking the time to reply to my reply to your comment. I’m glad somebody else thinks this thing had pretty sharp writing, even Emi’s route.
[…] extensively about how the game portrays those with disabilities, and other bloggers have given further comments about the games (including a wonderful personal reflection by 2DT). My addition to these writings […]
Just curious, but if you didn’t like Emi at all, why didn’t you go back and redo the choices? There’s a save feature available and replaying the first act from scratch takes only a minute or two with the skip feature. I got Emi on my first playthrough in the demo years ago (technically I got Kenji’s end for trying to steer away from her at full force at the last second), and wasn’t satisfied so I went for a different girl. I had also been waiting a while for the full release since the Act One demo came out so by that point I had seen diagrams of the choice structure for the first act (and had played through that whole web) and knew how to steamroll straight towards my girl of choice: Rin.
It just seems sort of expected that people should treat the first act as a ripe time for do-overs until you are on the path of your favorite heroine. I think even if my first failed attempt was on the full game instead of the demo, I would’ve redone it since I felt drawn to Rin and her story from the beginning.
I made the choices that I did, and like hell I was going to give up despite how boring Emi’s arc was. I never bothered to save because I went by the choices that I would have made, whether they ended up good or bad. Hanako’s arc was a bit more fun, and I do have the saves set up ripe for Rin’s arc, but I wanted to go through completely organically the first time.
It’s a matter of playing through as I would have, whether I got the girl that I wanted or not.
I understand the “I’ll play this through to the end” mentality, but I don’t see why you wouldn’t have bothered saving at all the choices just so you could go back and get a different ending (or route, for the Act 1 choices) without having to start a new game each time.
Because I wasn’t thinking I was going to when I first played through. Really, it’s nothing more or less than that. I didn’t expect that I’d actually enjoy playing through some of the other routes.
Very good review! If only the people dismissing it as a “Typical Hentai game/Disabled exploitation” etc. could play it.
I agreed with your statement about it certainly not being perfect too. Though, considering they were 21 people from varying countries developing it from scratch and in their own time, I think it’s fantastic, given those circumstances.
Also, it’s much easier to get onto Hanako’s path if you’re lazy and don’t promise the nurse you’ll exercise. So being lazy DOES get you somewhere!
Also, Lilly’s route made me shed manly tears.
Oh yeah, considering the disparate crew, it isn’t bad at all. At worst I’d rate it something around a 7/10, which for me is still well worth playing through. Even when compared to the rest of its visual novel ilk, it stands tall above many other titles.
I found that the game was much easier the lazier I was, which I guess is nice for a change. Being proactive doesn’t get you everywhere, I suppose.
[…] An inital review from Inushinde. […]
Good review, I am at 100% right now (well 97 but I refuse to go back and do bad ending,s they hurt). I am probably right in this games demographic being 18 and all so the wording of the game was perfect in that on a teens and the main characters thought process was the same as mine. Usally in these type of games( I’ve played a few, OK a lot) I find myself at points where I want to kill my character for being an idiot, but I always found that the main character Hissao was close to being spot on most of the time.
My only gripe is the sex scenes, which are all well done but just one seems very out of place, Shizunes to be exact(the first one), other than that I love them.
One of the best Eroge I’ve ever played, if only for personal reasons for, and that fact that it is free only makes it better.
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