justinas' anime blog

Believe me, I do.

I know, I know, this was supposed to be anime (and occasionally, manga) blog. I was never into visual novels, I've only tried the Ren'Py demo ones. I wouldn't even have heard of this VN if the news of it's release weren't all over Reddit.

So here we have Katawa Shoujo , a VN that a community called 4 Leaf Studios spent five years developing and released the full version on January 4th, although the preview of Act 1 was available since 2009. Both of the preview and the full version are free and cross-platform.

The game begins with a classmate confessing her love to our main character, Hisao. Unfortunately, he has a heart attack while they're at it (sucks to be him, huh?). After a few months in the hospital, Hisao is offered to attend Yamaku High School - a special school for disabled teenagers. And there begins our journey.

In Act 1 you pretty much get to know all the main characters. A deaf class president Shizune, her sign-language translator Misha, the classy blind girl Lilly, her best friend and kind of a social outcast Hanako (my personal favourite <3) (she has burn scars, although her social awkwardness is much more important), also Emi, who, despite the fact she has no legs, is the best runner ever, and Rin, who, despite the fact she's got no arms, is the best painter ever as well. Also, you just can't leave out your dorm neighbour, a hikikomori conspiracy theorist Kenji. He even got an infamous ending on his own, known as the manly picnic.

After Act 1, depending on your choices, you either go on the manly picnic or end up locked on one of the five girls' paths (no love for Misha just kidding, go comfort her :D). Then you must work hard can to win your girl's heart and get the good ending. There are 12 endings (not counting the manly picnic), so some girls get 2 of them and some get 3.

But it's cripple porn, eww!

It's not the point here. After finishing all of the paths and having Rin's for the last one I can say that I am emotionally exhausted. Somehow I got away without crying, unlike some other players, but that required quite an effort. Yes, there are H-scenes. Yes, the game could easily classify as eroge. But the stories themselves are really more important and sex fits perfectly into them. It's not just about "let's be happy together and fuck". No, no, NO.

I only planned to play one of the five paths (Hanako's, of course), but this VN is like some kind of a feminist conspiracy. You read some discussions about the other paths and you feel like you're missing out on so much! And believe me, you are.

The execution is perfect for a game done by community. The script felt like it was taken straight out of a bestseller book. The music is beautiful, whether it's a happy track for another day in school or an emotional one for a bad ending. I've even downloaded the soundtrack. The animations, like the opening one below or Act 2 openings for girls are just awesome. I could say Katawa Shoujo made me a fan of Mike Inel (the animator). "Incredible" is too weak of a word for his works. He's just set to be another Makoto Shinkai - a one man animation studio.

It's a pity 4 Leaf Studios have no plans to do any more works together (but well, there are bunch of visual novels inspired by KS being developed by other people, like Missing Stars by Somnova Studios, can't wait for that one) . Although I've only finished two out of five paths so far at the time of writing this post, I can say Katawa Shoujo is a gem. It will leave you stunned, especially if it's your first novel. And even if you're skeptical about it, remember, it's free, there's nothing to lose.