Normally i write these immediately after i beat/finish whatever i'm writing about...
however this time was slightly different... cause just before i beat the game i was in the middle of an 11 image series involving all the characters in this game.... and i didn't want to have the art go to waste so...
i decided i was going to use them as banners~ yay
however I needed to beat the game to know how i wanted to draw all the characters...
then a week or two went by after i finished all the images and i still hadn't written this.... i have no excuse... other then i still have no idea how i'm going to tackle this... all i know is it'll be spoiler free.... and probably pretty long.
In an effort to change her life she works as hard as she can to try and join this club... and maybe enjoy a romance along the way. With her best friend Mai's help she will get Sempai to notice her!
The story is broken into 9 routes... i'm going to give breif descriptions of each, my fav route (not always the bets route apparently) and how the route resonated with me. again no spoilers.
In order of completion
but then on my first playthrough i said i would go through it exactly how i would act in those situations... and i couldn't go against me just to go for jared... so PBG won out.
and what an adorable ball of Floof.
PBGs route focuses on on a few things, The past and how it effects the present... and trusting that people know their limits. if you use your head and listen to those that know better then you it's pretty hard to get a bad ending.
In my opinion a very easy route. perfect for the first route (plus he gets pretty pouty if you dont pick him) of my first dating sim ever.
My fav route is the Best ending, it's just too cute to not love to bits.
I am also glad they changed the endings slightly to have someone have a bit more closure and seem less.... well just less... i can't explain more.
Second route i went for that Sparkly pretty boy.
And wow... it resonated with me probably the most out of all the routes.
Jareds route deals with balancing what it means to have unpopular hobbies and be perceived a certain way. It also deals with trying to be perfect, or at least not being seen as a failure... which wow... just.. yeah.
While i love the best ending... from a story telling perspective i actually think his Bad ending (or very bad?... i can't remember but in my vague description you'll probably understand) is my fav.
Something happened that actually made me tear up because even though Asagao jared probably didn't think about how incredibly cruel it was to do what he did... it was just so incredibly cruel... and cruel story lines tend to make me grin (especially know how good the best ending was)... it was one ofthose moments of "did you rally just do that to someone who should at least be a friend if nothing else?"
One thing i didn't like about this route... there is on conflict you have no choice in... and that was really really annoying... other then that little bit of irritation definately the route i connected to the most... anyways onto Shane!
So when i went for Shane... i triggered Ian/Hidden blocks Route... which i didn't even know was a route.
I love this route because it's not romantic... It's more about trying to make sure Ian is happy since he seems to be troubled by something. it was just so sweet and it's easily the route where Hana ends up the happiest. There is only one ending and it's just precious... perfect sweet fluff before the pain that would end up being the shane route.
It feels like if you make one mistake too bad! bad ending... i felt like i tried EVERYTHING but no best ending for me.
his themes... uh... not being judgemental of someone because of something they can't change... and not letting the past rule your present.
Also baking is the best way to a mans heart.... as long as you don't nearly kill him along the way... nearly killign people with food is bad... (also side note... I'm allergic to Capcaisin... so when a certain spice was used in a certain volume all i could think was "we'll i'd be dead..." which was great since they kept one saying how 'not deadly' it would be... just fun note)
Anyways forgive me for i have commited a gaming sin.... i looked up a walkthrough to get the best ending for shane... i just couldn't figure out what i was doing wrong... and i was really close to getting it...
My fav route of his is probably the best ending... just because the struggle to get it was so real. also it's just super cute.
Out of all the main routes this is probably the least openly romantic... and i wish that wasn't the case... it's more of a case study with how you deal with friends in tough situations... and trust... so much trust.
A lot of people i see consider this route difficult... for me it was one of the easier ones. probably just meshed with my personality (and my somewhat scrappy nature)
Fav ending... hmm probably the bad ending since you inspire someone to follow their dreams. even if it means you have to deal with a bit of sadness. his best ending is pretty cute too though.
like... i think it's really well done, it's creepy and poignant... is 9 Person 9 Hours 9 Doors level of the most interesting use of mechanics as metaphor i have ever seen? no... but dammit it's close.
much like the hidden route i found this one not knowing it was there... if you are just... cold to everyone you can 'date' Jon's Bird. and the results are... well kinda nightmare fuel-y.
and the best part is... there is not much you can do about it...
In this route certain characters really shine and it hints at something that is joked about in all the other routes. making a certain characters actions in those other routes a little... sadder? i dunno if i were to write a fanfiction about this game (and i have two ideas so... it'll probably happen) this route would be the catalyst for one of them.
otherwise this route is just kinda horrifying... but oh man i loved it.
This is one of the more openly romantic routes which was nice but the theme is more about how much passion is too much... when does it become destructive.
My fav part about this route is actually the Real Jirard reacting to it... apparently some stuff hits close to home and i love that about a game where they dind't talk to any of the people about what was in their routes.
also i want that itty bitty kitty shirt.
Before today i felt like his route felt incomplete... that has since changed and while i don't get the overall mindset of Asagao Jirard... i know that feeling in the end so in this case... that ending is my fav of his 'route'
that counts right? well it's my ramble so of course it counts.
The focus of this route is more on trying to be liked by others, and what it means to be in the spotlight.
Also yes... his eyes in the game are brown... his real eyes are blue... i'm going with real for my banner.
My only gripe with this route is that the focus is more so on Hana then the others (the same could also be said for Satch and Jacques i guess) this makes for an interesting post story... but means we loose out on so fluff with these two.
also there is a concept that is introduced and never really followed up on... and thats where the second fanfic idea would come from... cause i would love to explore that idea....
not that i'll ever write these... (i probably will... i am in too deep)
Still the best end is my fav... i just wish there was more Joshualina... she seemed pretty cool.
But man it was not an easy route for me... the major theme is dealing with mistakes and grief. and i just didn't know how to handle Asagao Jon without pushign him to hard.
this route did resonate with me more then expected, it's also the route where the guy probably grows the most.
plus all the costume changes are just perfect.
My fav ending is the best one... mostly cause it pretty much outright confirms something about a certain robot... which i wish we learned more abotu but maybe thats fanfic number 3?... oh wow in too deep.
but yeah this was a great way to end the game (especially considering which of the endings is technically "true")
I think thats why i've been waffling about actually posting this... how can you put into words that this game inspires you... without over hyping it?
In the end this game means smoething special to me... but there is something i want to adress.
I have been asked "if you didn't know the content creators the characters are based on... would you still like the game"
completely... 100%
the characters are all fully developed and different from their real world counterparts. Any similarities to the real people is mostly coincidental as the content creators had no say in how their routes played out. it's just a well written and well made game with the bonus of stunning art.
I am so looking forward to what Illus Seed has in store for the future.
if you want to try this game, it's completely free (but you could always throw them some money)
me right now... i have lots of stuff i want to make... and i hope one day i'll be able to inspire someone else like Illus seed has inspired me.
also if you like my little banners... you can see all my Asagao Academy fanart here! (been having too much fun with it... sorry but not sorry)
but for now... i have a few games to finish
and shows
and books...
but seriously play this game!
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