I just got done playing through this (and getting all the endings, too!). I haven't played enough VN's to really know, but I suppose I could go with the people saying that the story seems done already, or that it's really familiar. I've seen it in other mediums, certainly, but as far as VN's go I think I'll have to take their words for it. Or play through more. Whichever. XP
The art is *gorgeous*! It is, hands down, the best part of the VN. It has a very "painter" feel of coloring and was very nice to see. As I played I could seriously appreciate the little details here and there, like the shading of their bows, the coloring of the eyes, etc. A treat to look at. =)
Here are my thoughts on the characters:
Seji:
This is probably the one character I genuinely liked and felt truly bad for. I mean, he spends the entire story getting treated badly by Liz and getting mind screwed by both Liz AND Kazumi. I felt like a lot of his responses and reactions were reasonable (like I would've thought/said/reacted the same way) and that he was just surrounded by a bunch of unreasonable people.
The only thing I feel like I could hold against him was not recognizing Liz as his childhood friend. I don't honestly know what would've happened for him to forget. I mean, if there was some backstory somewhere that he might've suffered an injury to the head or something then, yeah, I could understand (cliche as that may be! XD) but this? No, there didn't seem to be any real reason for him to forget. The only other conclusion I could come to is that it apparently didn't matter enough to him. If there's someone or something that someone REALLY cares about you don't just forget it like that. I mean, in the very beginning he sees Liz as he gets off the train and wonders if he's met her before. So, really, it's not like it's *entirely* out of his mind or memory. He just can't really recall. I suppose moving around so much may have had something to do with it.
How many faces, people and places had Seji seen by that point?
Liz:
Good God, I *hate* her. I mean, seriously. She's the most abusive, annoying and obnoxious person in this story. She has very few redeeming qualities. She's cute, I'll give her that. But that's about ALL I'll give her.
It seems to me that the whole reason Liz is treating Seji like crap is because of the fact that he forgot her and the promise they made. That, and it just seems to be in her nature to be pushy and er, violent? It could very well be both. Of course, if Seji's dreams/flashbacks are any real indication she seemed to be much nicer back then. Just, you know, energetic and not pissed off all the time. I'd say her anger was justified except that she should have made more of an effort to say something to Seji about it instead of moping around and being a bitch. It just seemed like she made no real attempt to bring it up and I don't know if that's because she thought he should've done it right when he got there or what. I think (if I remember this right) Liz said Seji's name on the first train ride that he takes: I don't know what to make of that. Was that her attempt to get his attention? Did she expect him to jump up and greet her, recognizing her from childhood? In the first event CG we see Liz looking off to the side, away. She's not really acknowledging Seji, despite having said his name uncertainly. If she had walked up to him and started talking to him like she knew him and he was like,"Whaaat?", THEN I could see her anger being appropriate--Like a, "How could you have forgotten about me?!" type of reaction. But she didn't. It's almost like, just because he's the guy, she expected him to make the first move.
I don't know. I just felt the whole mess could've been avoided with some C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.
Kazumi:
You know, I liked her in the beginning but then two things became apparent: 1) You can't get together with her and 2) Her happiness seems to be determined by Liz's happiness. These kind of killed it for me. I kind of thought that Seji's childhood friend would change depending on who you chose to get close to. Like, for example, if I wanted to get close to Kazumi and I did, she would turn out to be the childhood friend (and the same would apply if I chose to get close to Liz). THAT would have been pretty cool.
But, anyway, what drew me to Kazumi in the first place was the fact that she was nice to Seji. Since, you know, it makes sense to be more gravitated to the person who isn't, oh, I don't know...NOT beating the crap out of me? But then something else occurred to me about Kazumi as the story went on: she seems to be oddly manipulative, don'tcha think? It's obvious at some point in the story that she's trying to push Seji and Liz together. That's the biggest point of her manipulation. The other time I've seen it is when she procrastinates and doesn't seem to mind pushing her work on people who aren't really responsible for it (Liz and Seji). When she gets Liz into her work it's more willing on Liz's part since the two are friends, so I don't really see any manipulation *there*. It's when she's trying to rope Seji into it. She gives him the biggest pile of fliers and, when he protests that it's *her* job, she says something along the lines of, "Well, yeah, but you're a guy, so...". And when that doesn't work she gets all sweet with the "Pleeeease~?". Ugh.
I agree with a previous poster who mentioned that Kazumi may be a lesbian with a "I Want My Beloved to be Happy" crush. There are a few of instances that seem to point to this in the story:
1) When Kazumi is dragged away by a student council member she's heard saying "My Liiiizzzy!" Odd.
2) Liz blushes when Kazumi throws her arm around Liz after the play. Why bother pointing this out otherwise, I don't know.
3) Waaaay too interested in Seji groping/peeking on Liz. Oh boy.
4) Kazumi's bitchiness rises the more you push Liz away. In that case she's either the kind of lesbian mentioned above or this girl really has no life of her own. O__o
Concerning Kazumi's bitchiness: when the player gets involved with a path that involves Kousuke more it's hard to win with her here. You defend and warn Kousuke, she slaps you. You warn the teacher that Kousuke is nearby and she slaps you. What the hell? Mixed signals much? Ugh. A Liz moment there for her if ever I saw one.
Another thing that I liked about Kazumi was her playfulness. This usually showed when something happened with Liz that was even remotely perverted (like Seji seeing Liz changing by her window). I also noticed it when Seji opts to help Kazumi with the work and she ends up landing on him by mistake. The CG event there made her look amused and playful with Seji lying on the floor (which may have contributed to the confusion that she was a potential love interest). It makes me wonder why it was even there in the first place. It felt so misleading. I mean, hey, don't get me wrong: it was funny! It was just...yeah. Heh.
To sum it up, I guess I just thought Kazumi was wasted here. She could have been more. The story here seems to tell me: "You get Liz or you get nothing!" because if I choose to push Liz away Kazumi wants nothing to do with me (which is annoying!). I mean, I wish there was a way I could turn away from Liz without upsetting Kazumi. Like, a response or explanation where Seji could explain that he and Liz had something at one point, yes, but time changes people. They're not the same people they were. That Kazumi can't force two people to be together because it makes one person happy (Liz). If there'd been something like this it could take away the things I didn't like about Kazumi and add to the story. It just made her feel like she was an instrument and not a person. =/
Kousuke:
I did NOT like this guy in the beginning. Of course, that was before I got to play through to endings 1 and 2, which include Kousuke a little more than the other endings. For the most part he's the annoying creepy stalker guy that obsesses over the two girls you just happen to be interacting with throughout the story. Which, inevitably, puts you into his line of fire. The part where he grabs Seji's notes and tosses them was IRRITATING. At that point I wished that you guys had put in a gag ending where we could toss Kousuke off the roof. THAT would've been funny. The law be damned! Haha.
I honestly liked the talk Kousuke and Seji have when you choose to help Kousuke and hide in the student council room. It just made me feel that, yeah, while Kousuke IS creepy and weird, he just seems to be misunderstood and pushed away. When everyone hates you, hell, what do YOU do? And considering the people in the damn school (all so very unreasonable) what else can Kousuke do or say that will make it better? Nothing. Nothing, because everyone is intent on hating on him. Kousuke says he's only trying to be friendly and he is in his own twisted, creepy sort of way. And when he joins Liz, Kazumi and Seji after the talk with Kazumi's mom? Man, his apology was a nice thing to see. It's like he acknowledged (while running around the school like a maniac of course, HAH!) that his actions are wrong. Hell, that moment was the most mature I'd ever seen anyone be in the story (maybe with the exception of a Seji moment or two?). So, for Kousuke, I say: Good for him!
The one thing that confused me about that scene was where Kousuke mentions something about Liz agreeing that Seji deserved something. What was that about?
Aaaand, that's it for them! Ha.
As for the endings: They all seemed too similar to me (with the exception of 1 and 2). And when I say similar I meant similar in that they didn't leave much of an impact on me. Even the happiest of endings (happy, right?) didn't feel terribly fulfilling. I don't know. Considering that any even remotely happy ending
involved being with Liz
it's no wonder I'm not crazy about them. It almost felt...ugh. Like
Seji is slated for the rest of his existence being with Liz--he and Kazumi instruments of her happiness. ONWARD, INSTRUMENTS OF HAPPINESS, ONWARD!
(Hey, in any of those endings with Liz doesn't Seji even make a comment about a "dark prospect"? Left me confused but, God, it felt oddly fitting, no?)
All in all, it wasn't a bad VN. I have my gripes but it is, certainly, far from bad. And, hey, a lot of the criticism could be a result of my personal taste (especially regarding characters). Plenty of people can feel free to disagree with me. XP