Katawa Shoujo

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In modern Japanese slang, Otaku is in a way equivalent to 'geek' but only in a slight sense. Otaku refers to Japanese culture of animu, manga, ect.

Since just because you like playing DnD, Dwarf Fortress, and other stuff considered 'geeky' wouldn't considered an otaku since those games doesn't have a strong Japanese feel to it.

Last edited by Varka on 22 Feb 2012, 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mine would be Rin>Hanako>Emi>Lily>Shizune.

Yeah, pretty much...it's like stereotyping them...I wonder what a British Geek is? They play Chess, Football Simulations and possibly waste their Student Loans on PC gaming? XD (Lighting up the mood!)

Did you know the Japanese are offended by the word Katawa Shoujo as it more or less means "Disabled Woman", but like saying "Crippled" or "Mongoloid" would be offensive to the Western world? I never knew until I read it from the blog! :O

Wait, I'm confused. Did this genre start as a sort of interactive porn, but eventually people started playing them for the storyline? Or did this genre start as a type of interactive storytelling, but one day somebody got the bright idea to add porn to it?

It's an eroge (a story with sex scenes in it), which have been popular in Japan for years.

Katawa Shoujo started off with a Disability Fetish but people started getting involved with the project, so it's one of those Western Created Eroges that have gained respect and popularity.

Now if you want a porn filled story, Nukages are what you want. Eroges and Nukages are similar but Eroges put story over sexual scenes.

I think they've always been around (the idea of sexc scenes in a story), but it's just that this has really caused a storm online. You CAN disable sex scenes in this Visual Novel too if you want to try it out.

LOL @ Vakra's avatar. Rin with some robotic arms. XD

Not all visual novels are eroge. I'm currently working on one that isn't, as mentioned elsewhere. I started off making one with MLP, but realized I couldn't do it legally, and anyone I mentioned it to thought you should date the Mane 6 and get to see hentai at the end >.< I say NEIGH!

I do like dating sims, though. My favorite so far has been Magical Diary, and I'm pretty sure that one is Western also. Also differs from average by being aimed at a female market.

For more about otaku and these types of games from a Japanese perspective, I would suggest watching My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute. I learned more from that recently.

Konami needs to bring the Tokimeki Memorial series stateside. I played a partially translated version of the SNES game a while back. It wasn't too bad.

I never said they were. XD

You do have Murder Mystery/Adventure games as VN's too like Phoenix Wright and 999 as well as that long name of a series that has detectives in it.

I just mean that this game has shown the Internet that good Eroges DO exist, but overall VN's seem to be more to Murder Mystery then Hentai.

Speaking of which that Otome game has come out (Otome being a Dating Sim for woman that has NO sexual scenes in it), which is about Samurais and it looks really interesting.

One of these days I might just open a thread about pitting a traditional VN against otome, to find out which one people liked better.

Anyways, I read a lot of testimonials as to how KS improve their lives, did anybody experience such thing?

I drank more tea and played chess more via Lilly and Hanako....I still need to keep PLAYING Chess damnit! Against a pretty girl would do no harm either!

Katawa Shoujo was my first VN and it inspired me to join a project as a composer.

Here's a preview of art style and music for the RobinWood studio project, Tome of Eternity (working title)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME4CwlLaEfw[/youtube]

Not bad OddGoat, but I think some of it would be improved as you make it more complex.

Someone made a thread about visual novels on another forum I go to, and specifically recommended this one. Someone else described it, and posted a link to its site. I downloaded and installed it last night, and played just over an hour and a half of it today, and got to the part just after the library scene, where I decided to save. As someone who's never played a visual novel before, aside from 20 mins or less of 999(which I proceeded to add to my backlog), I didn't know what to expect. I can see why this genre isn't likely to succeed in NA, due to most people preferring their games to be more action packed. I, on the other hand, don't mind a game that revolves entirely around its story. There's no interaction other than the occasional choice, and pressing the space bar to advance the story, as well as pressing the appropriate buttons to bring up whatever menu screen I want(usually the save one). But, I've been interested in this genre for some time, and don't mind if a game is more about the experience than the level of interaction it offers.

If there's a line so far that struck a chord with me, it's the one where Hisao contemplates how most people around him don't appear to have an immediately obvious disability, and then recalls that his own disability isn't an obvious one. Aspergers isn't an immediately obvious disability either, and it's not something I disclose to most people, unless I have to. When I apply for a job, for example, I don't tell my potential employer at my interview until it has been established that I am in fact hired. A lot of people in this game seem to have less obvious disabilities. I'm really not sure what disabilities Misha and Yuuko have. I'm not ruling out the possibility that Yuuko has aspergers, but I can't even begin to speculate with Misha. Perhaps she's just Shizune's interpreter. Whatever the case may be, I want to find it out for myself, so please don't spoil it for me.

As for which girl I've taken a liking to so far(even though I know I haven't met them all), I think I'm going to go with Lilly. Despite being blind, she's surprisingly calm, and doesn't let her disability stop her from going about her routine. She did surprisingly well at pouring and mixing tea, despite not being able to see. I can't say there are any girls that I dislike so far either though. Despite being deaf, Shizune is highly intelligent, and really competitive. I'm kind of curious about Misha's disability, which intrigues me. But, speaking of curiosity, Hanako keeps to herself, and is skittish, making her mysterious. I'm really intrigued, and it makes me want to get to know her. Yuuko isn't the typical librarian archetype. She doesn't even seem to like books all that much. Hisao seems to be more passionate about books than she is. As I said before, she does kind of give off an aspie vibe, which also intrigues me. In fact, I'd say all the girls I met so far intriguing. I'm assuming I'm going to make a choice that decides which girl I'll spend my time with, at some point. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I'm enjoying the game so far, so that's a good sign.

Tross, it's speculated that Rin has Aspergers and Yukko may have Dyspraxia instead (hand eye coordination problems).

Hanako I suspected had Autism, but her and Rin seem to be on opposing ends of the spectrum. Rin seems to accept herself in situations that are strange to her whereas Hanako seems to avoid it.

That's a separate thing? I have no hand eye-coordination. It's probably a big part of why I took up video games as a hobby(and probably one of the main reasons why I can't stand motion control). I certainly can't catch a lacrosse ball in the little net thing on that pole. Darts is incredibly difficult, and archery is impossible. Heck, there's a limit to how far I can throw something(though a ball is easier than most other things). I'm pretty sure I have the capacity to be incredibly clumsy. Thankfully, years of martial arts taught me at least passable balance, and I've learned to be extra careful with things, due to knowing how my hands work. I work with glass products often, putting them on shelves, or taking them down for people, and I can say that I've broken fewer things than the rest of my co-workers, so I guess there are some ways I can work around that. I just always assumed it to be a symptom of AS.



I can't say I'm that familiar with Hanako, due to not being around her very much. Hisao startled her when he first talked to her in the library, and the second time he saw her there, he decided not to talk to her at all(and he forgot to pass on Lilly's message to her). Rin on the other hand does display a certain trait that I have. She has this tendency to stare vacantly on things, lets her eyes wander, and appears to have a difficult time keeping eye contact with people. If she does have aspergers, then she has to deal with that on top of having no hands. Talk about overcoming adversity.

I've been trying to get closer to Emi though, and it seems to be working, though, as a result, I seem to be getting closer to Rin as well, which is a bonus. I decided to run to keep up with Emi, and collapsed, resulting in a heart event. No pun intended. The closest comparison I can think of is a series of events in Harvest Moon that are required before I can marry a girl. Then there was that rooftop scene with both Emi and Rin, which I think brought me closer to both of them. I defended Lilly in the fight she had with Shizune, due to liking Shizune and Misha less and less the more I see of them, and finding Lilly to be calm and sweet. I think Emi's adorable though, and her birthday's 4 days after mine, so I decided I want to start with her, or at least try to swing things that way, since the game doesn't ask a question as specific as "which girl do you want to date?". Instead it asks if I want to do things like go to track, or push myself to run faster, which is how it should be. All I can do is try to swing things to get as close as I can to Emi. I'm progressing though the game, slowly but surely, so I guess I have to just keep at it.

I was misdiagnosed with it due to Dyspraxia being the "clumsy" syndrome, but it just seems to be a trait with AS, so I doubt you have dyspraxia...as you'll have problems with moving your fingers and stuff as well.



You approach Hanako if you are on her or Lilly's story. You are currently on the Emi/Rin route.

I was like that about Shizune too.

It kind of pushes you onto whomever on Act 1 with the choices. So you are most likely gonna get Emi's path.