[THOUGHTS] NORN9

The recommended route order for the game according to various sources is either Senri or Satan-Face first, then every other character with some added rules (Senri before Akito, Natsuhiko last or almost last). Seeing as I hate Kakeru and his stupid, horrible face, I decided to try out Senri first and put off Kakeru for as long as possible.

Going into his route, I didn't really have a lot of expectations. I wasn't terribly interested in him from the get-go, and the added fact that his voice was constantly drowsy just... worsened that feeling. Not saying that his voice actor did a bad job or anything, just that he almost did it too well -- I was so exhausted while playing. The route played pretty averagely, with some cute moments and some less-cute ones. Senri isn't a terribly complex character (or at least he isn't in this route) but if you're like me, and can relate to some social anxiety, then Senri can act as your blessed self-insert into a world where he can somehow get away with staying holed up in his room for days on end.

The most interesting part of the route for me was his interactions with Akito. I've already watched the anime so I know what's up but damn, like, the game is not subtle at all. It's honestly kind of hilarious. They want you to know so badly. But I guess it's pretty telling when the writing is basically screaming a conclusion at you and you still somehow get excited whenever Akito and Senri interact (still sobbing over that anime scene). Got to love that interesting non-romantic dynamic.

Speaking of romance... I'm kind of bitter that they didn't use Senri better. Like, are you kidding me? Fucking fire girl and her love interest water boy? Why didn't they do anything with that? We got ten seconds (a hilarious ten seconds) of them bantering back and forth with their powers but legit that's all we got. I am quite positive they could have come up with some creative symbolism centering around their powers and how it represents Koharu's almost self-destructive desire to make friends and Senri's desire to wash away all his pains. Something like that! What the fuck! Senri and Koharu even had decent chemistry. They certainly would have lasted for a year or so in real life. There were cute moments in Senri's route (even though a lot of them left me in disbelief). Why did they side-line this route so much ugh. Koharu's two other love interests look awful.

But no judgement. Satan-Face and Big Brother will be done later and I'll do my best to be unbiased.

CG-wise, I wasn't impressed with this route. There was only one CG that took my breath away (take a guess; it involves a bird), and although that one was positively gorgeous, nothing else came quite close to it. None were particularly offensive (except a weird jealousy one I wish to forget as soon as possible), but they were mostly boring.

The ending was just what the fuck though. Like, I'm still not completely certain what happened. The showdown leading up to Koharu and Senri returning to the ship was nice though I wish they had utilized that fire vs water trope. But it kind of just feels like it concluded randomly. Also the bad end was just too abrupt. Kind of like this entire route.

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Next, I played Sakuya's route. I could have gone ahead and gotten Kakeru's route over with, but I knew it was going to be plot-heavy and someone recommended I constantly switch heroines around so I figured, why not? I was excited going into Sakuya's route because he's voiced by a woman. Don't ask why that excites me it just does-- but, I had some reservations because of scenes I knew were going to happen because of the anime.

Before I go any further, I'd just like to say, Mikoto really has the best love interest line-up. Kudos to her; Koharu has more or less boring options, and Nanami has Ron dragging her down. Even if you hate the best friend/player tropes, Mikoto has Natsuhiko, who is probably going to be the best route. And Sakuya and Itsuki at least seem like interesting people outside of their respective tropes. Poor Koharu and Nanami. You guys deserved better than Kakeru "I'm a Jerk but it's okay because I'm Important to the Plot" Yuiga and Ron "Obvious is my Middle Name" Muroboshi.

Anyway, Sakuya. I forgot all of my knowledge of him besides that one assault scene (yikes) in the anime so I thankfully went in with a limited idea of what was happening. Sakuya and Mikoto are one of two relationships in the game with a "childhood friends" aspect to it (Spoilers: the other one is probably one of the best routes in the game), and it really is to the benefit of this route. Senri's route dragged because it took so long to get him out of his shell and on equivalent terms with the similarly-challenged but more boisterous Koharu. From the get-go, Mikoto and Sakuya have a dynamic. The way that people around them act suggest that there is an aspect to their relationship that must be tackled. This adds up to an interesting route, because we as the players know that they're friends, and yet, we wonder why they act so distant around each other? What is the story there? What is this "promise"? These questions added an air of mystery that made the first part of the route enjoyable.

Now, whether the rest of the route is enjoyable is based on how cheesy something can get before it becomes too much for someone. Personally, I wasn't too affected after the reveal. The protagonist and her love interest have a good, believable romance, and to me that was the most important thing from the beginning. I can believe that Mikoto and Sakuya could fall in love (especially when they're all like "Let's be distant to avoid falling in love!" like, when has that ever worked for two people who know everything about each other?). Seeing as the route centers around the "best friends turned lovers" drama, it was bound to get cheesy sooner or later. There were parts that made me cringe, but overall, the story was very sweet. I thought the added angst of the "promise" really helped this route stand out.

That being said, I do have some problems with this route. Mikoto's behavior in this route didn't bother me because I more or less understood where she was coming from, and she admits her faults near the end anyways and makes a genuine effort to improve. But in both the route and online, people have commented that Sakuya's love for Mikoto almost borders on obsession and I frankly disagree. I think it is obsession and it made parts of this route uncomfortable for me. I can understand why he never made an attempt to get close to any of the girls, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out why he never tried to be friends with any of the boys. He centered his entire life around Mikoto and while I get why someone who was raised like he was might do that, I still am not a big fan of characters who don't grow beyond that one person they looked up to. That was kind of a disappointment for me, and while I was excited for Sakuya, that aspect of his character lowered his appeal for me.

Also, still not over the assault scene. Yeah, he didn't actually do anything, and yeah they both ended up crying, and yeah it was meant to be touching and angsty, but I'm more or less over men assaulting women just because they can't handle them being around other men. If Sakuya disliked Itsuki that much, I feel like there are better ways to handle it then "let me throw away my gentleman persona and assault the woman I devoted my life to because I'm actually a child and can't control my feelings".

CG-wise...the dream CG was again gorgeous. I'm beginning to wonder if 40% of the game's budget was devoted to just the dream CGs because they are consistently beautiful. The others were pretty good too, but the dream one was the only one of any particular note. Honorable mentions include hugging scene and falling on Sakuya in the rain.

Also, the music during the confession/ending chapter scenes was actually really damn emotional? Like, wow. I feel like that is probably why my feelings about this route are so positive. It was really good.

The ending was pretty mellow. The climax was predictable due to the nature of the angst in this route, and the weird old couple vibe from the end of the route didn't really do anything for me. It kind of reminded me that Sakuya and Mikoto more or less wasted their life trying to prevent Sakuya from something that was inevitable and that was sad to think about. The bad ending was also something I knew was going to happen, but I actually felt pain while playing because, damn, they switched to Sakuya's perspective! How could they do that?! I don't need to think about Sakuya dying in Mikoto's arms after all that time they wasted not being together. What the fuck.

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Next, I did Heishi's route. I was actually really excited for this one. Heishi seemed like such a fun guy in all of the earlier routes, and I was like, wow, finally someone who is not an asshole! This lasted for half the route until he became an asshole. Sigh. Regardless, I went in with high expectations (also due to Nanami