Hi there! Your project is looking great so far. The art, parts of the story premise, characters, and writing (as demonstrated by the in-character descriptions), are all very appealing to me.
Why only "parts of the story premise"? Because honestly, I read the first few sentences of the story description and then skipped right to the "while there are five routes total..." bit. The rest of the story description seemed too dense and convoluted at first glance to interest me right away. Instead, I scrolled down to check out the character art and descriptions. This is where I actually got interested in the project. The character art was pretty, and I really enjoyed reading Emmeline's introductions - the use of her chipper personality and all the breaking of the fourth wall seriously hooked me more than any historical backstory possibly could. It made what could have been extremely bland, cliched character archetypes seem new, fresh and fun. So, well done! Emmeline's voice is really selling this project to me, and it's a little disappointing to hear she won't be narrating the entire game!
1. Does the premise interest you?
As I mentioned, I scrolled right past most of the story premise on first glance. However, I did go back and read the rest of it after reading the character descriptions. There are some good lines buried in here, but mainly it is a bit of a slog to wade through all the set-up/history (sorry, I have no attention span, but then again, neither do most people deciding whether they're interested in a product or not - you need to hook them fast). I think you could make a good 1-2 sentence "hook" using some trimmed-down combination of the lines "The story takes place in a rehabilitation center in Citelle, the industrial country. 14 day trials are held in order to help get individuals who have been hurt by the HASBER project or anything else back on their feet and reintegrate them back into society" and "people trying to analyze themselves and the world around them." These two segments do the most to tell me what the story will actually be about.
You could definitely boil down the entire backstory into a single phrase or sentence to use within the "hook," and that's what I'd recommend. For instance, "At a rehabilitation center in Citelle, an industrial country locked in a centuries-old power struggle with two other nations, five youths must come to grips with their sense of self and their place in a tumultuous world." Not exactly that, of course, but something along those lines. And for the alternate Martasco stories, you could add a line like "Meanwhile, in the neighboring militaristic nation of Martasco, five other youths..." etc.
The rest of the description could be trimmed down and added to a "backstory" section, but it feels somewhat unnecessary, honestly. Any alternate-world story should have good worldbuilding, and this is all I'm really getting from the rest of the description - that you have decent worldbuilding going on. It doesn't tell me what the story I'll be reading is actually about. And that's what I'm curious to know, when deciding whether to follow or purchase a VN.
2. Who is your favorite character so far, based on appearances and Emmeline’s (probably) unreliable descriptions?
Well, I actually really like Emmeline, she seems fun and hilarious and her descriptions are pretty great.
Otherwise, I think Delaney could be fun to read about, especially his interactions with some of the other more colorful personalities here.
Autumn could end up being my favorite character though. I like strong girls. But, it depends on how you write her. It's hard to get much personality from the short description you provided.
Also, spotted a typo in Nick's description - likes "friend" rice?
3. Would you support a kickstarter?
Probably, if you have a tier which offers the entire game for a price that is within my budget. Either way, I'll definitely be excited to share your campaign on social media, etc and help you spread the word. And even if I can't back, I'll be rooting for you!
4. Any other questions or comments?
I really adore the art style you have for the sprites! They're all cute, appealing and lively in different ways. Nice work! I'd love to see what some different expressions of theirs look like!
One thing I found pretty odd about the characters is that they are all basically the same age. Even the scientist working at the rehabilitation center is only a few years older. Is there some specific reason for this? Otherwise, it just doesn't seem realistic.
5. This will be free to play.
What will be free to play? The demo? Or the entire game? If you're talking about the demo, I'd clarify that in your description. If you're talking about the entire game, well. I could have plenty to say to you about crowdfunding free products (TLDR; don't do it).
While I offered some harsh criticism of your story description, I'm actually intrigued by your project and very interested to know where you plan to go with the story. I'll be excited to hear about your development progress, and happy to support your crowdfunding campaign however I can!
Good luck! ^_^
P.S. That Tamago Buns logo is great!