KS Shizune Story (Major Spoilers)
I started with Shizune because she was the one I liked the least the first time I played KS. And because I fell down her path on accident somehow, skipping Emi entirely (which I thought was the default route).
I was pleasantly surprised with Shizune's route. When I first played her route, it is pretty clear that I did not understand her, or at the very least skimmed over the important parts, because I was a horny teenager only reading KS for big emotional scenes and the sex. A lot of what Shizune's story tells is actually entirely separate from the relationship she has with the player, Hisao. There are things that if you're too focused on falling in love with her, you miss entirely, which makes the entire second half of the story feel meaningless and out-of-place.
Shizune's deafness has left her lonely. Constantly needing a translator means that all attempts at intimate conversation not only have to be done through Misha. Additionally, talking through someone else about yourself is seen as a little arrogant, which makes those conversations even less likely to happen. This makes it incredibly difficult for her to find friends and keep them. To make up for this, Shizune creates things that inspire and excite others for the lack of ability to do so on her own. However, as many have pointed out, Shizune's drive to inspire others made her forget about the most important person in her life: Misha. Shizune knew that Misha loved her, and continued to keep her around as a friend/translator. But Shizune refused to acknowledge Misha's love for her after she turned her down. It didn't matter anymore, so why bring it up? The problem was that it still mattered to Misha. This made her and Misha's relationship very surface-level, and is what ends up being the major conflict of the entire story.
In Shizune's story, the point is not to fall in love with her and magically be the solution to all of her problems. In fact, I don't really feel like any of her problems are solved at the end of the story at all. She finds some vague direction to dedicate her huge drive to, but she's still Shizune. And that's okay.
That's why Shizune loves Hisao. Not because Hisao was her romantic hero, but because Hisao went far out of his way to change her life for the better, romantically and platonically. He learned Sign Language all on his own so that he could be a better friend to her. He humored her competitive and aggressive nature because it brought out his. He supported her in everything she did not because he had to, but because he knew that Shizune deserved better. A really good metaphor Hisao uses in their late-night conversation after their last climax scene was that Shizune is a lot like a downed power line. Powerful and lashing out in all directions, but with no clear direction or purpose. Shizune is a strong person, and didn't need Hisao to be her savior. But Hisao's influence on her life was the catalyst that helped Shizune realize her own faults, that gave her the clarity to begin to change herself. Hisao didn't change her, she changed herself.
One important mindset that I was wrong about when I first played KS was that the goal was a happily ever after. That I was meant to be the hero of the story. That my choices would make each girl love me unconditionally and then suddenly everything was going to be ok. Obviously, this does not reflect real life. In many of the other stories, I suspect that they will feel very much like the end of a story where you can close the book and feel satisfied. But Shizune's story feels like a more realistic perspective on happy endings.
Of course, their graduation enforces a sharp change in their lives that the three of them have to adapt to, but the last Act in its entirety led the trio in the right direction. Shizune is aware of her faults and is actively looking for a creative medium for her gigantic competitive drive. Hisao feels that he wants to be the change in peoples lives like he was to Shizune and Misha, so he decides he wants to pursue teaching. Misha was already set on teaching, but she now is a lot more comfortable with her relationship with Shizune, and will likely excel in wherever she said she was going to get her teaching degree. None of these conclusions are absolute, as they shouldn't be. The Shizune route endings don't feel absolute because they aren't supposed to. There is no happily ever after for Shizune's story, because there doesn't need to be.
Shizune's story is meant to be one that looks to the future and smiles. One where the answer to all their problems might not be visible, but the path to the answers is visible. Shizune's biggest personal conflict, and the one that I feel is the major take-away from the story, is that without having a purpose, then ones drive is meaningless. You can be as aggressive, competitive, and domineering as you want, but without a direction to focus those talents you will go nowhere. This is a lot more impersonal of a moral than what I remember the other stories being when I read them 4 years ago, and that's likely why they went over my head. Not a lot of Shizune's story is handed to you.
There's a lot of subtext and little things that go unspoken that feel like loose ends until Act 4 when they all align if you really look into it. Like Misha says in Act 2, things said in Sign Language weigh a lot more than spoken word because of how much work every word takes in comparison. Everything Shizune says is a condensed but quality assessment of her feelings, and ignoring phrasing, word choice, etc. can mean missing subtext. And that's why I liked Shizune's route. It made me think. It made me feel like I was actually working to understand rather than being told what was going on. And with that, I feel like I've created my own version of Shizune that is separate from other peoples, and I like that a lot. It reflects real life, and shows how (whether intentional or not) Shizune's story is more complex than it lets on.
--
To summarize my feelings, I loved Shizune's route because Shizune has a similar, if not a little extreme, outlook to me. I am very adamant on doing what I enjoy, and doing it right, but my problem is that I enjoy a lot of things. I don't enjoy one single thing enough to feel like dedicating my life (and most importantly my college tuition money) to it. This makes me really frustrated. And in this frustration, I survive by doing things that I know make others happy.
I am working 2 jobs at my university that essentially make me a public servant. I work with freshman, as well as university staff to ensure a good experience for all students. My jobs are heavily focused on creativity, intelligence, and teamwork, and I feel like I do my jobs pretty well. But I don't work these jobs because it's my passion to be a public servant or anything. I want to help make others happy. I want to inspire others to be the best versions of themselves to compensate for my lack of purpose. And one frustrating truth that I learned from Shizune's story is that finding one's purpose is not something that happens overnight, and not something that will stay the same forever. In my life right now, I desperately seek the answers to my problems, but I don't often find them. And I feel like the sad truth is that I must sacrifice parts of myself in order to dedicate myself to one thing. Once I find that thing, I can live without problems and be happy. But my biggest issue is that I've yet to find that thing. And some days I feel like the search is pointless. I feel like I'm destined to roam without a clear purpose. Like I'm destined to job-hop and never be rich because I can't find something I love enough to dedicate my life to it. Maybe what I'm looking for is right around the corner, maybe not. But the suspense is killing me.
Anyways, that's all I had to say. I don't know how much free time I'll have to do the next girl's story, but look forward to it later this week.
I was pleasantly surprised with Shizune's route. When I first played her route, it is pretty clear that I did not understand her, or at the very least skimmed over the important parts, because I was a horny teenager only reading KS for big emotional scenes and the sex. A lot of what Shizune's story tells is actually entirely separate from the relationship she has with the player, Hisao. There are things that if you're too focused on falling in love with her, you miss entirely, which makes the entire second half of the story feel meaningless and out-of-place.
Shizune's deafness has left her lonely. Constantly needing a translator means that all attempts at intimate conversation not only have to be done through Misha. Additionally, talking through someone else about yourself is seen as a little arrogant, which makes those conversations even less likely to happen. This makes it incredibly difficult for her to find friends and keep them. To make up for this, Shizune creates things that inspire and excite others for the lack of ability to do so on her own. However, as many have pointed out, Shizune's drive to inspire others made her forget about the most important person in her life: Misha. Shizune knew that Misha loved her, and continued to keep her around as a friend/translator. But Shizune refused to acknowledge Misha's love for her after she turned her down. It didn't matter anymore, so why bring it up? The problem was that it still mattered to Misha. This made her and Misha's relationship very surface-level, and is what ends up being the major conflict of the entire story.
In Shizune's story, the point is not to fall in love with her and magically be the solution to all of her problems. In fact, I don't really feel like any of her problems are solved at the end of the story at all. She finds some vague direction to dedicate her huge drive to, but she's still Shizune. And that's okay.
That's why Shizune loves Hisao. Not because Hisao was her romantic hero, but because Hisao went far out of his way to change her life for the better, romantically and platonically. He learned Sign Language all on his own so that he could be a better friend to her. He humored her competitive and aggressive nature because it brought out his. He supported her in everything she did not because he had to, but because he knew that Shizune deserved better. A really good metaphor Hisao uses in their late-night conversation after their last climax scene was that Shizune is a lot like a downed power line. Powerful and lashing out in all directions, but with no clear direction or purpose. Shizune is a strong person, and didn't need Hisao to be her savior. But Hisao's influence on her life was the catalyst that helped Shizune realize her own faults, that gave her the clarity to begin to change herself. Hisao didn't change her, she changed herself.
One important mindset that I was wrong about when I first played KS was that the goal was a happily ever after. That I was meant to be the hero of the story. That my choices would make each girl love me unconditionally and then suddenly everything was going to be ok. Obviously, this does not reflect real life. In many of the other stories, I suspect that they will feel very much like the end of a story where you can close the book and feel satisfied. But Shizune's story feels like a more realistic perspective on happy endings.
Of course, their graduation enforces a sharp change in their lives that the three of them have to adapt to, but the last Act in its entirety led the trio in the right direction. Shizune is aware of her faults and is actively looking for a creative medium for her gigantic competitive drive. Hisao feels that he wants to be the change in peoples lives like he was to Shizune and Misha, so he decides he wants to pursue teaching. Misha was already set on teaching, but she now is a lot more comfortable with her relationship with Shizune, and will likely excel in wherever she said she was going to get her teaching degree. None of these conclusions are absolute, as they shouldn't be. The Shizune route endings don't feel absolute because they aren't supposed to. There is no happily ever after for Shizune's story, because there doesn't need to be.
Shizune's story is meant to be one that looks to the future and smiles. One where the answer to all their problems might not be visible, but the path to the answers is visible. Shizune's biggest personal conflict, and the one that I feel is the major take-away from the story, is that without having a purpose, then ones drive is meaningless. You can be as aggressive, competitive, and domineering as you want, but without a direction to focus those talents you will go nowhere. This is a lot more impersonal of a moral than what I remember the other stories being when I read them 4 years ago, and that's likely why they went over my head. Not a lot of Shizune's story is handed to you.
There's a lot of subtext and little things that go unspoken that feel like loose ends until Act 4 when they all align if you really look into it. Like Misha says in Act 2, things said in Sign Language weigh a lot more than spoken word because of how much work every word takes in comparison. Everything Shizune says is a condensed but quality assessment of her feelings, and ignoring phrasing, word choice, etc. can mean missing subtext. And that's why I liked Shizune's route. It made me think. It made me feel like I was actually working to understand rather than being told what was going on. And with that, I feel like I've created my own version of Shizune that is separate from other peoples, and I like that a lot. It reflects real life, and shows how (whether intentional or not) Shizune's story is more complex than it lets on.
--
To summarize my feelings, I loved Shizune's route because Shizune has a similar, if not a little extreme, outlook to me. I am very adamant on doing what I enjoy, and doing it right, but my problem is that I enjoy a lot of things. I don't enjoy one single thing enough to feel like dedicating my life (and most importantly my college tuition money) to it. This makes me really frustrated. And in this frustration, I survive by doing things that I know make others happy.
I am working 2 jobs at my university that essentially make me a public servant. I work with freshman, as well as university staff to ensure a good experience for all students. My jobs are heavily focused on creativity, intelligence, and teamwork, and I feel like I do my jobs pretty well. But I don't work these jobs because it's my passion to be a public servant or anything. I want to help make others happy. I want to inspire others to be the best versions of themselves to compensate for my lack of purpose. And one frustrating truth that I learned from Shizune's story is that finding one's purpose is not something that happens overnight, and not something that will stay the same forever. In my life right now, I desperately seek the answers to my problems, but I don't often find them. And I feel like the sad truth is that I must sacrifice parts of myself in order to dedicate myself to one thing. Once I find that thing, I can live without problems and be happy. But my biggest issue is that I've yet to find that thing. And some days I feel like the search is pointless. I feel like I'm destined to roam without a clear purpose. Like I'm destined to job-hop and never be rich because I can't find something I love enough to dedicate my life to it. Maybe what I'm looking for is right around the corner, maybe not. But the suspense is killing me.
Anyways, that's all I had to say. I don't know how much free time I'll have to do the next girl's story, but look forward to it later this week.
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