< Katawa Shoujo

Katawa Shoujo/Characters


These are the main and secondary characters who appear in the Katawa Shoujo Visual Novel, as described at the novel's website.

Beware of SPOILERS.

NOTE: Please only list tropes that are canon or at least backed by Word of God. And, no, art by the official artists which is not in the game does not automatically count as canon, unless it's explicitly confirmed to be such.

Main Characters

Hisao Nakai

Troubled over his months-long stay at the hospital after his heart almost gave out and trying to adjust to his new surroundings, he is trying hard to find his place in the world. After being thrown into a new beginning, the chaotic circumstances have forced Hisao to rethink his apathetic disposition, especially regarding things like life, friendship and future.

  • Above the Influence: Refuses to take advantage of Hanako after a night of drinking, even though she was openly making advances while drunk. Hisao even comments to himself how wrong it feels to be in such a situation.
    • Hisao also doesn't take advantage of Rin after she's kissed him while high on cough syrup, even though she's only wearing panties and an unbuttoned shirt with no bra.
    • In Shizune's route, after she and Hisao have been a couple for a while, an emotionally-broken Misha tries to seduce Hisao, who is obviously attracted to her. In this case, whether or not he gives in to the influence is up to the player.
  • Am I Just a Toy to You?: Briefly has these doubts in Emi's Route after she confesses that she does not want to let him close to her emotionally, even though they have already slept together multiple times. Hisao comes around when he finally realizes it's a way for her to cope with a past traumatic event, and helping Emi is worth all the heartache.
    • A simmilar thing happenes in Rin's route, when Hisao yells at Rin in his "I am not your muse" speech.
  • Angst: A bit at first, at the idea of going to a school for disabled people, and at times when he's reminded of the life he was forced to leave behind.
  • Anguished Declaration of Love: In Hanako's Good Ending, as they both collapse in tears.
    • Also near the end of Emi's Good Ending. Though not quite as anguished as the above example, it's still a declaration of love towards a girl who is very much not in the most stable state, and it takes quite a bit of insistence to make it work.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: In Rin's route, asking her what would come next if she found someone who wouldn't have to ask her questions is key to getting the good ending.
  • Asleep in Class: At the start of one scene in Rin's route.
  • Bishonen: Even Lilly admits it, and she's blind!
  • Bi the Way: He was originally meant to be this, having Kenji as a Gay Option.
  • Bookworm: Picked up the habit of reading during his long hospitalization. During the game, he comments he feels kind of empty whenever he has nothing to read.
  • Break the Haughty: In Hanako's bad ending. While by no means bad-intentioned, he thinks that Hanako is far more fragile than she truly is, and this blows BADLY on his face.
  • Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Him and Lilly, to a degree. He broods because he has just found out that he has a severe heart condition and has just arrived to a totally different world, she's gentle for being the local Yamato Nadeshiko and Onee-Sama despite her blindness.
    • Possibly with Hanako too, replacing "gentle" with "shy and traumatised".
  • The Champion: You can play him as this towards whoever's route you're on. It never ends well.
  • Character Development: He comes into Yamaku depressed, apathetic and uncomfortable at the idea of being at a school for the disabled. By the end of the good endings, he has a girlfriend, at least a few other friends, (often) a goal to work toward, and has come to terms with his condition; the lessons he's learned depending on the route.
  • Chick Magnet: Averted. Hisao's not shown to be particularly popular as a romantic prospect for the female student body despite other characters stating he's an easily likeable guy in general; none of the other girls show such interest in Hisao in story paths that are not their own. Well, Misha appears to in Shizune's route, but it's not genuine, especially because she isn't even attracted to boys.
    • {{Not really. In Lilly's route, it's implied that Hanako still has some romantic feelings for Hisao, but she doesn't want to get in the way of him and Lilly and gets over it. Emi also takes jabs at Hisao in almost every route that is not her own, but at that time, he is already in a relationship}}.
  • Clingy Jealous Guy: In the early parts of Emi's route, when he suspects that she's getting close to the track team captain. It turns out they're Platonic Life Partners instead, as the captain is gay, and Emi has a good laugh at his expense.
  • Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: For Rin. Though it may be a Deconstructed Trope because he has huge difficulties with that later.
  • Clueless Chick Magnet: He can have a hard time picking up on what the girls are trying to tell him. Even when the player can figure it out pretty easily. The fandom has sarcastically nicknamed him "The Master of Romance" as a result.
  • The Complainer Is Always Wrong: In Hanako's route, he is the only one who objects to people not trying to keep Hanako in class, as well as seemingly not caring if she leaves. This is double-subverted: while he initially seems to present himself as being right, in the Good Ending path, he ultimately decides to give Hanako space when she isolates herself in her room.
  • Cool Teacher: What he aspires to be in routes where he thinks about his future.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Very prone to snark within his narration.

Hisao: I have never heard somebody talk so heatedly and defensively about absolutely nothing before.

  • Depending on the Artist: He never quite looks the same in any two CGs.
  • Depending on the Writer/For Want of a Nail: Some aspects of his character vary based on each route, such as his perspective on his condition, his goals for the future, and how he views certain people, all of which may be tied to different events. For example, in Hanako's route, he holds Mutou in a much lower regard than the other routes, thinking he's mishandling Hanako's situation.
  • Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Variation: Hisao forgets that Misha signs everything everyone says to Shizune, leading to an awkward moment.
  • Disabled Snarker: It's unclear whether he was snarky before his heart attack, or he cultivated it because of his bitterness.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Hisao himself in Lilly's route. Lilly calls him out on it in the Good Ending.

"I don't want you all to shoulder my burdens".

  • Embarrassing Nickname: Sort of. When Misha first calls him Hicchan, Hisao's narration reveals he's never liked that nickname, but he makes no effort to get her to stop.
  • Expy: Incredibly sarcastic in his narration, has a hated nickname, is much smarter than he initially appears or than even he thinks, is often roped into things by energetic girls, and even has brown hair. Kyon, I had no idea you had a heart condition!
  • Face Palm: Towards the end of Lilly's Act 1 route, when Lilly teases him that "Akira's taken".
    • He actually does this many times throughout the game.
  • Fee Fi Faux Pas: Using expressions such as "I see" around the blind Lilly. She laughs it off though.
  • First-Person Smartass: Especially around Kenji, but virtually everyone has received critical or sarcastic remarks in his internal narration that he would never say to their faces.
  • Flat What: In the Act 1 scene "Don't Panic", if you take Lilly's or Hanako's route. He also does this in Lilly's route when Kenji claims that he's confirmed that Lilly is in the mafia.

Kenji: As expected of blind people.

Hisao: What.

    • Also when Hanako tells him "...Go away." in Lilly's route.
  • Get Out!: Can force Shizune and Misha out of his room over their asking about his pills, but doing so gets him the bad ending.
    • Also, with Rin, after a fight in his room, she tells him to go away. He notes that it's his room, thus reversing it on her.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Hisao went through surgery after his heart attack, so he has a scar on his chest. He tries to use it to bond with Hanako in her route. He also is grateful that Shizune isn't able to see it in their first sex scene.
  • H-Game POV Character: Type I a.k.a. Nice Guy kind.
  • Heart Trauma: Hisao's personal disability is congenital arrhythmia, and the game sets out the week after he's finally released from the hospital, after a long stay following his first severe heart attack. His condition and learning to deal with it is a major cloud hanging over him.
  • Idiot Hair: He's a bit sensitive about it.
  • Innocently Insensitive: Played for Drama in Hanako's route.
    • Can also happen in Emi's route twice, once played for laughs and once played for VERY deep drama.
  • Invisible Parents: His father appears in one scene, and doesn't get a sprite.
  • The Kirk: In Shizune's route, completing the Power Trio with Shizune and Misha.
  • Meaningful Name: Hisao is written as "long time [of absence]" (久) + "man/husband" (夫).
  • Men Don't Cry: Averted near the end of Hanako and Lilly's routes, as well as one scene in which he cries for the first and last time over his disability.
  • Never My Fault: In some of the bad endings, he will deny making a mistake even when it's obvious to the player that he has.
  • New Transfer Student
  • Non-Action Guy: And with VERY good reasons.
  • No Sense of Direction: A mild case, but one that crops up periodically and which he comments on in the narration. At one point, in Shizune's route, it takes him more than an hour to get back to the school from a teahouse that's close enough to visit during lunch break.
  • Ordinary High School Student: With the exception of his heart condition.
  • Pair the Smart Ones: Lilly's path. Hisao doesn't mention it much, but he gets good grades without studying hard, and enjoys the sciences enough to consider a career as a science teacher.
    • Or Hanako's path. Hanako seems able to keep up with the class despite her bad attendance record, although Mutou suggests she isn't a "star student", and she and Hisao find a shared interest in their mutual love of reading.
    • Shizune's path as well, considering that one of the criteria for being named a Class Representative in a Japanese High School is to have the highest test scores from the year before, and the fact that she and Misha are usually the first people in 3-3 to finish Mutou's assignments (and how much Misha contributes is debatable).
  • Parental Abandonment: Not exactly straight, but Hisao's parents drop him off at the school, unpack his things, leave without bothering to say goodbye in person, and show little sign of returning throughout all paths (although in a couple of them, Hisao says they asked him if he wants to return home during summer break, and in Shizune's, admits to himself that he hasn't tried to contact them).
    • He also reveals that his parents both worked for long hours and were rarely home. The fact that this degree of independence was stripped away from him is one of the reasons for his initial resentment of his condition.
  • Precision F-Strike: "GODDAMMIT! Don't do it, you idiot!", when Kenji harshly bumps into him during Lilly's path. It may be small compared to Emi, but still.
    • He also once thinks of himself and Emi as "friends who happen to fuck."
    • When at the peak of his frustration with Rin, he says "Bullshit" before angrily denouncing the way she's been treating him lately.
  • Protectorate: Deconstructed in Hanako's route.
  • Second Love: He's this or better said, the third for Emi if he pursues her. She used to have a crush on the track team captain; he turned her down due to being gay, but they remained good friends. She also had a boyfriend a while after coming to Yamaku, but since he couldn't cope with Emi's emotional damage, and she kept him at arm's reach, they broke up.
    • Also for Lilly, who had a crush on her tutor before coming to Yamaku.
    • The girls are this for him, as he indicates that he also had feelings for Iwanako, and would have accepted her Love Confession.
  • Shaped Like Itself: An alcohol-induced example.

Hisao: That situation seems unlikely to me, like it wouldn't happen, like… like it's not very likely to happen.

  • Tactful Translation: Does this a couple times in Shizune's route.
  • Tempting Fate: In the bad ending for Act 1, he suggests there's no way the day could get worse, just before it does.
    • In Lily's route, he thinks to himself "We have plenty of time to be together... Neither of us is going anywhere soon, after all." Guess what happens later.
  • Terrible Artist: Averted. His drawing of a bird in Rin's route is nowhere near Rin's level of skill and creativity, but it's fairly well done.
  • The Un-Smile: Early in Rin's route, Hisao looks into a mirror and smiles. He finds it looks very fake.
  • What Exactly Is His Job?: In Shizune's route, has no official position on the student council, and does whatever needs to be done.
  • White Knighting: Guilty of this, minus the attempting-to-curry-favor part, in Hanako's path, and overdoing it can lead to her bad ending. Luckily, he sees the error of his ways by the conclusion of her good ending.
    • Also in Emi's route, with somewhat different results. Overdoing it also leads to the bad ending here, but in the good ending, she comes to realize that it's OK to let him get close to her.
    • Averted in Rin's path: choosing one of the dialogue options in which he expresses a desire to support her has him saying he doesn't want to be a white knight, and unlocks a dialogue option that enables you to continue without getting the bad ending.
  • World of Cardboard Speech: Late in Shizune's route, he shows Misha around the campus, showing her places that were important in his time with her and Shizune and what he thought back then, concluding by saying that he doesn't want Misha to push Shizune away like he did with his old friends.
  • Your Days Are Numbered: Said Heart Trauma means that Hisao's special condition is the only one of the main cast's that is outright stated to be a mortal concern, and he says at various points that he expects to die young. Again, this is one of the major issues he has (though he does get medicine and advice which will hopefully help stave off said mortality). During the opening hospital scene, the doctor tries to assure him that people with his condition can live fairly long lives, but Hisao seems to ignore this, and it's never brought up again.


Emi Ibarazaki

"Can you stand up for yourself?"

Despite being left with legs amputated below the knee after a car accident, Emi is perhaps one of the most cheery, happy-go-lucky girls on the entire globe, let alone the school. Not one to be left in despair even after the accident that claimed her legs, Emi views her disability more as a blessing, her prosthetic legs having brought her to the heights of her ability on the track team rather than becoming a permanent obstacle.

  • Art Evolution/Fan Service Pack: Her sprite was upgraded to look slightly more mature and to be more in line with the other girls.
    • Given how the full game revealed her to be one year older than Hisao and the other girls, this change makes even more sense.
  • Artificial Limbs: She uses prosthetic running legs for general movement and track, but also has regular prosthesis for other occasions.
  • Beneath the Mask: Near the end of her good ending, she remarks on how little her schoolmates truly know about her. Rather than being friendly and outgoing, she keeps people at a distance, and her favorite color is blue, not pink.
  • Big Eater: The initial rooftop luncheon has Emi eating a lunch that's twice the size of the ones she made for Rin and Hisao, and on multiple other occasions, she steals Hisao's food after finishing her own.
  • Blank White Eyes: One of her sprites.
  • Blush Sticker: Not always, but often.
  • Cat Smile: A common smile for her (though not all the time).
  • Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: For Rin.
  • Crash Into Hello/Meet Cute: Which actually puts Hisao seriously at risk due to his heart condition. "Meet Cute" is even the name of her first scene if Hisao has lunch with Lilly and Hanako (a different version happens in Shizune's route called "Short Sharp Shock").
  • Disappeared Dad: One of the most poignant scenes of her route happens in front of Mr. Ibarazaki's grave. Additionally, though it's not completely clear, there is some evidence that her dad died in a separate accident while he was on the way to the hospital to see the hospitalized, leg-less Emi. So more than the accident, it was her condition that made him die. Yikes.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!
  • Genki Girl: Subverted. While Emi indeed is a cheery girl, it turns out she's not as drama(or trauma)-free as she initially seems. The loss of her legs was traumatic, but she learned to cope with that well. The loss of her father, she did not cope with at all. Part of getting her happy ending is to help her deal with her loss.
  • Get Out!: Happens at the end of her house visit, if Hisao says something insensitive to her, or if she catches him talking with her mother.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Referred to as "Twintails Girl" before her name is revealed.
  • Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She had a most impressive menagerie in her room.
  • Green Eyes
  • Grin of Audacity: She wears it while racing. Hisao is mesmerized by this change.
  • Incompatible Orientation: She had a crush on her track team captain, but he turned out to be gay.
  • Leitmotif: "Standing Tall", a track that's both fitting (due to her upbeat attitude) and ironic (due to her short height and artificial limbs).
  • Lovable Sex Maniac: In the H-scenes, she comes off as one of the most straightforward and kinky girls in the cast.
    • Also, she is the girl who has the most sesx with Hisao: three sex scenes that are shown, and at least three more being implied.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Although her personal brand of manipulation seems to be "Do what I ask, or I'll make sad Puppy Dog Eyes at you." Still works though.

Emi: All part of my master plan, Hisao.

  • Meaningful Name: Emi means "smiling beauty" (笑美).
  • Nice Girl: Possesses a very infectiously cheerful and upbeat personality.
  • Off-Model: Some of her in-game sprites have a "rougher" feel to them compared to the other girls. Artwork in scenes too often depicts her as looking younger than the sprite. This is because, unlike the other characters, Emi had a rather significant redesign late in development, which meant that her art had to be finalized in a much shorter time than the rest of the cast.
  • One Head Shorter: Reacts very negatively when Hisao points this out to her, but she's quick to forgive.
  • Older Than They Look: She's actually a year older than Hisao, as she took a year off to relearn how to walk. However, because of her short stature and youthful appearance, she looks younger than the other girls.
  • Passionate Sports Girl: Despite not having her flesh and blood legs anymore.
  • Plucky Girl: She relearned how to run a mere year after losing her legs.
    • It's actually deconstructed. She knows that loss of a relationship is normal, and it is best to be strong and move on. However, at the same time, the same stubbornness that enables her to deal with her issues prevents Emi from growing close to anyone because she is afraid that the pain of loss will prevent her from moving onto the future. This prevents anyone from helping her.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: See Manipulative Bitch above.
  • Right Behind Me: She overhears a significant portion of what Hisao and her mother are discussing.
  • Shout-Out: Some aspects of her route were inspired by Nurse-kun's tale such as her close relationship with the Nurse and losing her legs and her dad because of a car crash.
  • Sir Swearsalot: For a game that is largely devoid of foul language, she provides the majority of the "ass", "damn" and "hell"s spoken throughout story.
    • The writer of her path, Hivemind, has come out and said this is due to him being frequently foul mouthed in real life. Hivemind has even said that Emi cursed like a sailor in some of the early path drafts.
  • Stepford Smiler: Outwardly, she's a cheerful, spirited Genki Girl. As you progress through her route, it's gradually shown she's a mess of Survivor Guilt and near-complete inability to to deal with grief healthily.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Often exchanges teasing with Hisao in her and Rin's route. In the latter, she complains that he's "too nice" when he convinces her not to "find Rin and kick her ass" after she runs away from the exhibit, and he remarks that he's only "not nice" to her.
  • Was Just Leaving: Does this to Hisao if he talks to her mother.
  • Zettai Ryouiki: Emi is grade A, or rather, grade S, in her Super Deformed menu art.


Hanako Ikezawa

"Can you face your fears?"

When she was just 8, Hanako had a traumatic experience that left her life in shambles. Her parents died when their home burned down in an accident, which also left Hanako with half of her body permanently disfigured. She is reclusive to the extreme, shunning from all other people to the point of actually panicking from any social contact. Her only trusted friend is Lilly, who has taken Hanako under her wing ever since the two were introduced to each other.

  • All of the Other Reindeer: Having to deal with this on a constant basis after the fire is a major reason behind her shyness and withdrawn nature.
  • Am I Just a Toy to You?: Inverted. She thinks that Hisao and Lilly feel that she's like a child that needs protecting, and allows Hisao to have sex with her in an attempt to change his perception of her.
    • In fact, in Lilly's route, Hisao's less-smothering, more-ordinary friendship helps her to branch out, making new friends in the Newspaper Club (and she's even planning to go to Kyoto with the club girls during vacation!). At the end of the route, Lilly even tells her that she was genuinely happy to be her friend, and was NOT acting out of pity or contempt for her, something which resonates all the more if one has played Hanako's own route.
  • Angst Coma: A somewhat more mild form of this is applied in Act 3. During a group-based exercise, Hanako is shaken by Shizune and Misha inadvertently forcing Hisao to reveal that he and Lilly had been buying her birthday presents, and ends up only half-finishing the assignment. All of this causes her to have a panic attack in the middle of the classroom, slipping briefly into a state of catatonia.
  • Bandage Babe: In at least one of the official artists' works.
  • Beware the Quiet Ones: In her Bad End, she snaps after Hisao repeatedly insists that he wants to help her. It's quite the Tear Jerker.
  • Birthday Hater: It's implied that the fire that burned her house down and her birthday are connected. They're not, but it's actually even more of a Tear Jerker than that.

Hanako: Every birthday was the same. Everyone doing their best to pretend that I mattered. Everyone pretending everything was alright… for one day of the year. I didn't want to exist, but they wouldn't let me.

  • Blind and the Beast: Hisao notes that since Lilly can't see Hanako's scars, she can't be repulsed by them or act awkwardly around them, making it easier for them to become friends.
  • Bookworm:
  • Break the Cutie: Her backstory and her bad ending.
  • Broken Bird: All the girls have shades of this, but she and Rin are the biggest examples.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Hanako develops a crush on Hisao, but her social anxiety and shyness make it impossible for her to confess to him. Hisao at some point even describes Hanako as "always on the verge of saying something, but never quite doing it."
  • Chess Motifs: Chess happens to be one of Hanako's hobbies, as well as a pivotal connection between her and Hisao, and her first and third Acts are in fact named after particular moves in the game. Particularly interesting is that Act 3 is called "Castling", a move in chess that basically places the Rook and King pieces next to each other. Considering that the King is a "weak" piece that is required to be defended, and that the Rook is a "stronger" piece, this could be almost directly applied to how their relationship develops within that Act.
    • Your success with her depends on how much, or how little, you act like a White Knight.
    • A scene of Act 1 that leads to her route is titled "Nc5xb3", which makes no sense unless you are familiar with chess notation, and still cannot be fully understood until you play the route. It means "Knight at c5 captures the piece at b3." Yes, knight again.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Far too sweet and shy to fit the trope completely, but Hanako is shown to become anxious whenever Hisao looks at or spends time with other girls or women: she unfavorably compares her appearance to Lilly's, and notes that Hisao has spent a significant amount of time with Yuuko (who doesn't even have a route). Her anxiety is partially justified because despite his feelings for her and them growing close, Hisao doesn't actually show any signs of attraction towards Hanako until the very end out of fear of scaring her off. Her anxiety over losing Hisao to someone else ultimately causes her to initiate sex with him despite neither of them being emotionally ready for it yet.
  • Covered in Scars
  • Depending on the Artist: Hanako's scars look different depending on the art in question. On her sprite, her scars are a light purplish red and are somewhat veiny, while in her Act 1 animation, they are a deep red and much more swollen and veined-looking. When she strips herself down to show Hisao the extent of her scarring, they have the color of dried blood and look much less veiny and more like burned abrasions.
  • Don't Look At Me: Not really directly used, but played with in a number of ways. Apart from the obvious self-consciousness regarding her scars, Hanako would literally rather go unnoticed, particularly on her birthday, than anyone attempt to feign that they care about her. This stems from her time in middle-school, where she was bullied constantly.
    • She then inverts it near the end of her "good" path in an attempt to change Hisao's perception of her: she strips completely naked, letting him see the full extent of her scarring, and allows him to have sex with her. It works, but only after she has to explain it.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Although she's too shy to actually come out and say it. Until you hit her Bad End.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Getting nervous and fleeing from her first meeting with Hisao in the library.
  • Eyes Are Unbreakable: Word of God says her right eye still works, and it is clearly shown in several of the CG images in her route.
    • It's actually possible to receive extensive burns and save the eyes: at least on that point, the burns weren't too deep (also thanks to her mother partially shielding her, probably). Problems may rather arise from the damage on the eyelid, but she may have undergone minor surgery to restore its functionality.
    • In earlier drafts, her right eye was unusable, and she had to walk with a cane because of the damage to her right leg.
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: Sort of. Hisao says that her cooking is good, but Lilly says that Hanako likes to experiment and her tone suggests that some of said experiments haven't gone so well in the past.
  • First Girl Wins: If you pick her path, and depending on how you define "First Girl". While Shizune is the first one Hisao talks to (albeit through Misha thanks to her disability), Hanako is the first one to get his attention.
  • Foil: To Misha. Hanako is withdrawn, timid and sensitive to social cues, while Misha is outgoing, energetic and blind to subtle cues.
  • Fragile Flower
  • Friendless Background: Before coming to Yamaku.
  • Genre Savvy: In her route, she soon notices how despite his good heart, Hisao approaches her with a rather patronizing attitude. And if you make him keep it, she WILL let him know.
  • He Is Not My Boyfriend: She says this to Shizune and Misha when they speculate about her and Hisao in her route.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With Lilly. Hisao notices that they are closer than most of the people he's known, and Shizune once indicates that she would like to check on Hanako more, but cannot because Hanako is always around Lilly, who does not get along with Shizune.
  • I Need to Go Iron My Dog: "Ivegottagodosomething!"
  • Intoxication Ensues: She gets drunk at her own birthday party in her own route (in Lilly's, she passes out without displaying any such behavior), after she fails to moderate herself properly with Akira's gift. When intoxicated, she's quite a bit more cheery and upbeat, and a bit silly. She's also confident enough in this state to hit on Hisao.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In Lilly's route, she might have had feelings for Hisao, but if she has, she puts them aside because she wants her friends to be happy.
  • I Will Protect Her: How Hisao feels about her. Initially, at least. She is NOT happy about this, and keeping up this attitude for too long leads to her Bad End.
  • Leitmotif: "Painful History", a track that lets you know you're in for a major tearjerker. Unlike the other characters' themes, it typically only plays in particularly emotional moments with Hanako, instead of when she shows up.
  • Lonely Doll Girl: In Hanako's route, Lilly once said she bought her a doll so she could have someone to talk to.
  • Meaningful Name: Hanako (華子) means "flower child" or "blooming child".
  • Nervous Wreck
  • Nice Girl: Once you get past her shyness, she's just an absolute sweetheart. If not a borderline Yamato Nadeshiko.
  • Nice Hat: She has one when she's out of her school uniform. Justified since it helps her hide her scars if she keeps her head lowered.
  • Only Friend: Lilly is this for her at first.
  • OOC Is Serious Business: When she explodes at Hisao in her bad ending. In a similar scene in Lilly's route, she bluntly tells Hisao "...Go away." when he threatens to bring the nurse if she won't let him check on her.
  • Orphanage of Love: Where she lived until coming to Yamaku, as she tells to Hisao during their pool game. There's somewhat of a subversion there though: while the staff treated Hanako kindly, and she was kind of a Parental Substitute for the youngest children in her last days there, she still couldn't make friends.
  • Parental Abandonment: Hanako's parents died in the same fire that scarred her. Her Mama Bear actually pulled an Heroic Sacrifice, covering little Hanako with her body and dying for her.
  • Peek-a-Bangs: Done more to cover her scars than for any sort of allure.
  • Physical Scars, Psychological Scars
  • Proper Tights with a Skirt: Again, most likely to cover her scars.
  • Purple Eyes
  • Sex as Rite-of-Passage: Has sex with Hisao to prove that she's no longer someone who needs to be protected.
  • Shipper on Deck: Lilly's route, obviously. After the love confession and Their First Time, she actually tells Lilly and Hisao that she had thought of them getting together:

"At first I didn't really know what to think about it… but I… I decided that in the end, if my friends are happy… then I'm happy. I was really glad to have another friend when we met Hisao, so you finding love through him is even better... right?"

  • Shout-Out: At one point, Rin refers to Hanako as "the mysterious toilet girl". This may be a reference to a Japanese Urban Legend about a ghost named Hanako-san who haunts a toilet.
  • Shrinking Violet: Takes this Up to Eleven.
  • Sleep Cute: It's one of the first times the extent of Hanako's facial burns is shown, and she's still adorable.
  • Survivors Guilt: She only survived the fire because her mother shielded her with her own body.
  • Terrible Artist: Her drawing of her house fire in crayon.
  • There Are No Therapists: Averted. Hanako sees a therapist on a regular basis in order to try and deal with her emotional baggage. However, since she mentioned her life was "on hold" during elementary and middle school, it's not unlikely she didn't start seeing one until she came to Yamaku.
  • Trigger: She doesn't take mention of her birthday very well.
  • Two-Faced: It somehow makes her only more adorable.
  • Unresolved Sexual Tension: In her own arc, this describes her relationship with Hisao until the very last scene. It's hinted she developed a crush on him fairly soon after meeting him and Hisao becomes attracted to her as well. There are plenty of moments where they seem to connect, yet nothing comes out of it afterwards. This is sometimes because of Hanako's own emotional baggage starts acting up, but more often because Hisao keeps things platonic because he believes Hanako is too fragile to handle an actual relationship. It turns out Hanako is aware that this is preventing them from becoming involved and eventually takes drastic steps to try and change it, though it almost backfires on her.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Considering the other sorts of disabilities the school caters to, Hanako's scars tend to be treated like this. However, her complex over them makes it an issue of its own.
    • Her route is actually a major subversion of this. Even in a school specifically catered towards the disabled, Hanako still sticks out quite a bit, and Lilly actually lampshades how naive the idea is that just because the students of Yamaku are all disabled in some fashion, they would suddenly stop forming cliques and excluding people for superficial reasons.
  • When She Smiles:

Hisao: Smiling for other people might be a completely normal, everyday thing. For Hanako though… she smiles so rarely and so sincerely that each and every time she does it, I feel a sense of relief and happiness.


Lilly Satou

"Can you see what I see?"

Blind since birth, Lilly is caring, responsible and friendly: the perfect foil to Hanako, her best friend, whom she shares an almost mother-daughter relationship with, in addition to her free time often being spent drinking tea alongside her companion. In class, she is a diligent student, with her sense of confidence serving her well in her role as class representative of class 3-2.

  • Adult Fear: Hisao has a heart murmur in Act 3, and Hanako is too terrified to even tell her what's happening.
  • Anguished Declaration of Love: To Hisao, after his heart murmur in Act 3.
  • Beam Me Up, Scotty: Averted in the weirdest way. She does say "Ara, ara" in the Japanese script for Act 1… but not in the same scenes and points as she says "My, my" in the English script, confusing some inquisitive fans into thinking it never really appeared.
  • Blind and the Beast: Hisao notes that since Lilly can't see Hanako's scars, she can't be repulsed by them or act awkwardly around them, makign it easier for them to become friends.
  • Blue Eyes: Notably cloudy ones, probably to signify her blindness.
  • Bookworm: Of Braille novels. Looks like her favorite author is Agatha Christie.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Half Japanese, half Scottish no less. She also partly subverts the expected stereotype, as while her family is rich and lives abroad in a Big Fancy House, the money comes from her Japanese businessman father (her mother is a journalist).
  • Catch Phrase: "Ara ara", even though it appears in English as "My, my".
  • Class Representative: She is caring, but does not butt her nose into people's business.
  • Cool Teacher: She wants to be an English teacher once she grows up partly because she had a crush on her old English tutor.
  • Covert Pervert: Hisao decides she is this after she admits that she knew that there was the possibility that they'd end up having sex in the bath. Lilly insists that she merely has "a healthy adolescent sex drive."
    • She apologizes for pushing her desires on to him after his heart starts acting up in one of her H Scenes.[1] What were they doing before? Blindfold Sex!!
  • A Date with Rosie Palms: Does this in front of Hisao while he's blindfolded, as a means to try and entice him.
  • Death by Sex: The only time Hisao gets close to this is with Lilly, yeah, Lilly manages to give Hisao a heart attack during sex.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: A mild case, but she states this is how she feels about her blindness.

Lilly: If you'd pitied us, I would have been quite offended.

"Adolescence is a funny time…"

  • Everybody Hates Mathematics: She says math and science are her worst subjects, although considering that we never see her scores, and she's Class Representative, it's unclear how much difficulty she has with them.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Her eyes aren't always shut, but she does close them very often.
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: Akira notes that Lilly used to cook for her.
  • Gainaxing: Barely noticeable, but she gets some in her introductory FMV.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With Hanako. She's fairly popular in the school, but Hanako is her only close friend apart from Hisao (depending on the route).
  • Hot Amazon: She's tall and well-built, and in Hanako's route, Miki (Hisao's classmate with brown skin and purple hair) defines her as a "blonde amazon".
  • Hot for Teacher: Fell in unrequited love with her tutor before coming to Yamaku, though Lilly admits to Hisao that she always knew her crush was hopeless. She also wishes to be a teacher so chances are she'll get this trope from both sides.
  • Huge Schoolgirl: At 171cm tall, she's not only over the prerequisite 170cm, she's also roughly as tall as Hisao (if not even a little taller, as he notes himself).
  • Informed Attribute: She's said to be quite popular, and Hisao suspects she has more cell phone contacts than his nine and Hanako's three combined, but Hisao and Hanako are the only ones seen socializing with her. Then again, Hisao notes that she lets few get close to her.
  • Insistent Terminology: Says her Big Fancy House in Scotland is not a "mansion", and when it turns out she's a Covert Pervert, she describes it as a "healthy adolescent sex drive."
  • Japanese Christian: While she never openly identifies herself as one or talks about her religious beliefs, she wears a cross on her neck, and her parents sent her to a Catholic high school (which, unlike her sister, she didn't mind). It's somewhat more understandable than fully-Japanese cases, as the religion might have come from the Scottish side.
  • Leitmotif: "Concord", a calm, elegant piece of music.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Light to Shizune's Dark.
  • Mafia Princess: Kenji thinks she's this when she sees her get into a car with her pin-stripe-suited sister Akira.
  • Mary Sue Classic: Word of God is that Lilly's first draft was "the most cliched Mary Sue character ever."
    • This is deconstructed in her own route. Specifically BECAUSE Lilly appeared to be so perfect, Hisao never stopped looking up to her and quickly became content to just hang back and leave everything to her. When Lilly admits planning to move to Scotland, Hisao silently resents her decision, but finds himself too stuck in his dependancy on her to argue or challenge her plans despite Lilly obviously being less than confident about the decision herself. Ultimately, in the good end, Hisao comes to the realization that rather than a flawless saint who can handle everything that comes her way on her own, Lilly is just an ordinary human being who needs support at times just like everyone else and who's not too good to be questioned whenever she makes a foolish decision. In this way, her route is the exact opposite of Hanako's arc.
  • The McCoy: To Shizune's Spock on the Student Council before she left; their falling-out and current feud is more or less what happens when a Spock and a McCoy just have Misha instead of a Kirk to mediate between them.
  • Meaningful Name: Lilly's name apparently comes from the lily (百合), or yuri.
  • Must Have Caffeine: Lilly casually mentions she's addicted to caffeine on account of all the tea she drinks. She's also…
  • My Beloved Smother: Comes unintentionally close to this in her relationship with Hanako and also Hisao in her own route. Hanako herself points it out during her Bad Ending. She seems to be aware of this problem, and thus advises Hisao against being overprotective.
  • Not a Morning Person: See above.
    • Probably justified, since no matter how many shades you open or how sunny it is outside, the light isn't going to bother her, due to her blindness.
  • Not So Fast Bucko: Inverted. The Good Ending plays out exactly like the Bad Ending, except the former has a few extra scenes.
  • Not So Different: Hisao indicates that deep down, she's just as competitive as Shizune.
  • Onee-Sama: The shy and meek Hanako seems to think of Lilly as this, and the protagonist begins to as well.
  • OOC Is Serious Business: In the Precision F-Strike incident, Hisao notices that she's angry in a way she has never been before, not even around Shizune.
  • Parental Abandonment: Both of her parents live in Scotland. Akira feels that their parents have basically abandoned them and is very bitter about it.
  • Phenotype Stereotype
  • Precision F-Strike: She drops one later in her route. The actual word she uses ("dammit") is a relatively mild swear, but considering her general poise and demeanor, it very effectively conveys that things are not as they may seem on the surface. This is also the only time an angry face is used for her sprite.
  • Pride: Hisao notes that she has this at times, especially in her efforts to keep composure.
  • Put on a Bus: In Hanako's route, she goes to Scotland for a while, and is not back by the end of the route. This also happens in her own route, but...
  • Race For Your Love: In Lilly's good ending, Hisao tries to catch up with Lilly before she boards a plane for Scotland, never to return. His efforts earn him another heart attack and another trip to the hospital, but it pays off.
  • She's Got Legs: Which Hisao gets a good look at when she wears her pajamas.
  • Shipper on Deck: For Hisao and Hanako: she sets up a date to go into town to get them closer together, and during their phone conversations, seems on the verge of mentioning that Hanako is in love with Hisao.
    • She also ships Hisao/Emi on Emi's route.

Lilly: Ah, so it's just friends is it? How disappointing.

  • Spoiled Sweet: like her cousin Shizune, but a lot better at showing the "sweet" part.
  • A Spot of Tea: She admits that she's addicted to it.
  • Statuesque Stunner: Noted by the main character, after he "horribly loses" the risk game and goes to the library to meet her for the first time.
  • Stepford Smiler: In Lilly's route, Hisao spends enough time with Lilly to figure out that her usually cheerful expression can sometimes merely be a facade to hide deeper issues.
  • The Stoic: Has shades of this, as Hisao notes she often hides her emotions.
  • Theme Song Reveal: Your first indication that you've gotten the Good Ending is hearing Lilly's music box.
  • Tsurime Eyes
  • We Used to Be Friends: In her route, Shizune reveals that the two of them used to be very close: she actually joined the Student Council when the orginal members started leaving to help her cousin, and even encouraged others to do so. However, being forced to work together in close proximity caused the natural tension between their personalities to come to a head. The result was ther falling out and current feud.
  • White Knighting: More a part of her personality than an attempt to curry favor, but Lilly does have the tendency to form relationships with people whom she thinks need her support, and then she usually ends up being more of a caretaker than a friend on equal footing. This comes back to bite her when Hisao fails to challenge her plans to migrate to Scotland, simply because he wasn't used to questioning her decisions; it's also the one thing about her that Hanako isn't happy with, although Lilly tries not to be overprotective, and in her route, tells Hanako that she did not befriend her out of pity and considers her a strong person at heart.
  • Wine Is Classy: She drinks wine whenever she can, often to Hisao's dismay.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: A tea-sipping, Woobie-nurturing, well-cooking, graceful embodiment of this trope. What more could a man ask for in a wife? In a stroke of possibly intentional Irony, she is the least Japanese-looking member of the entire cast.
    • Deconstructed. Her being this is why Hisao often has a difficult time reading her emotions. Furthermore, she annoys him with her pity. She represses her emotions to the point where Hisao has to get a severe heart murmur before she can confess to him. Near the end of Act 4, she can't reject her parents' wishes for her to return permanently to Scotland despite how unhappy it will make her. In the Good Ending, Hisao has to give himself a heart attack chasing her before Lilly can follow her heart and choose to stay with Hisao.


Rin Tezuka

"Can you seize the day?"

Since Rin's arms are tiny stumps due to a severe birth defect and subsequent surgery, she uses her feet and occasionally her mouth to do everything, which includes painting. Because of her disability, using skirts is tough, so Rin is wearing a boy's uniform at school. Her creativity is matched by her philosophical streak: Rin is fond of occasionally getting lost in thought and giving voice to abstract ideas about man, the universe and other things that thoroughly confuse those around her.

  • Ambiguous Disorder: Due to her odd behavior, some fans have suggested she may be in the autism spectrum.
  • Broken Bird: All the girls have shades of this, but she and Hanako are the biggest examples.
  • Buffy-Speak: Rin's preferred method of conveying ideas that she can't quite put into words.

Rin: A lot of things. And some not-things. Unthings. I don't think that's a word.

  • But Now I Must Go: In one of her two Bad Endings, where she tells Hisao that Sae and Nomiya got her a scholarship in Tokyo, and she plans to go there during vacation.

Rin: "I will learn to hug people in my own way. I'm sure I can become a real artist. But if I do, I might not be able to be me anymore (...) That's why... please forget about me, and I'll forget about you!"

Rin: I got trouble with shirts.

  • Cloudcuckoolander: The ending scene for her Act 1 route is even titled "Clouds In My Head".

Rin: …so that's why I'm trying to figure out if there is something I need to figure out and then figure that out before it's too late and all hope is lost.

    • Utterly demolished in her route. Later scenes show that her eccentricity isn't always funny or cute, and Rin herself proves to be frustrated and discouraged with the fact that people can't understand her thoughts, whether through words or through her art. Not to mention Hisao finds himself struggling to keep up with her train of thought, and sometimes gets extremely angry at her.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Whenever she isn't being a Cloudcuckoolander.

Hisao: What are you doing? [2]
Rin: I thought you had a heart problem, not an eye problem.

"It's rather evident that she's not a body conscious person."

  • Kissing Under the Influence: Rin, high on codeine due to some really strong cold meds, wearing only an unbuttoned shirt and panties, lets Hisao into her room and eventually kisses him. Then she falls asleep and forgets about it the next morning.
  • Last Girl Wins: If you take her route.
  • Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: In Emi's route, if Hisao talks to her mother, she will step out of their meeting on the rooftop, enabling them to resolve their argument.
  • Leitmotif: "Parity".
  • Lonely Together: Hisao wonders if this is his and Rin's case at the beginning of her route, especially since they spend most of the festival with only each other at her mural.

"I am, by nature, somewhat introverted like her, so we fit together well."

  • Meaningful Name: Her family name Tezuka is [手塚] (hand + mound).
  • Muse Abuse: During preparation for the exhibit, she refuses to reply to Hisao's confession, tells him not to visit, and shuts him out entirely. One of the biggest conflicts between them is Hisao's struggle with Rin's incomprehensibility, and Rin's difficulties with expressing her feelings.
  • Nonuniform Uniform: Since Rin uses her feet for day-to-day things, she wears a boys' uniform to avoid the obvious problem with a skirt. Kenji, due to a combination of this, being legally blind, and Hisao only using her last name, mistakes her for a boy.
  • No Periods, Period: Hilariously averted with her.
  • No Punctuation Period: When she rambles.
  • No Title: Rin doesn't create titles for any of her paintings to avoid influencing how other people see it.
  • Oh Crap: Has one in Act 1 in her usual manner when she realizes that the deadline for her mural is closer than she thought or would like.
  • Parental Abandonment: All the other heroines have at least one parent who appears in her respective route (Shizune's father, Emi's mother) or have a good reason for not appearing (Hanako's dead parents, Emi's Disappeared Dad, Lilly's estranged parents). Rin's parents, however, don't appear at all even though the game confirms that they are alive.
  • Rule of Symbolism: There's a lot of symbolism in Rin's route. In her Act 2 Cinematic alone, there's Rin's incomprehensible inner thoughts, dandelions and the visible gap between Rin and Hisao. Her inner thoughts in particular are so alien and possibly unsettling that even Rin looks a little jarred when she wakes up, indicating that she definitely isn't as carefree as she appears.
  • Sarcasm Blind: Though she can be sarcastic herself, she doesn't seem to be very good at detecting sarcasm from other people.
  • School Uniforms Are the New Black: Her only non-uniform outfit is wearing a pair of overalls over the uniform shirt. She even wears the uniform at the exhibition of her work.
  • She Is Not My Girlfriend: Hisao says this at the beginning of her route, when Emi's Hot Mom Meiko asks how long they've been dating.
  • Sidetracked by the Analogy: It is generally not a good idea to use figurative language around Rin.

Hiseo: Why'd you be outside? It's raining buckets out there, if you haven't noticed.
Rin: I haven't. It's raining pretty hard though. I was out on a walk.

Rin: Yeah, I like doing it in a horizontal position more, if you know what I'm talking about.

    • Also later when she and Hisao are painting each other in art club, she says this when asking how she should hold the brush: "Do you want me to do it with my foot or my mouth?" She doesn't seem to notice the Double Entendre, even when Hisao basically says "Wait, what?" out loud.
  • Tomboy: Rin has the appearance of a tomboy with her short hair and pants, but this is more due to her physical limitations than personal preference. She would have obvious problems with a skirt, so she's allowed to wear the boy's uniform for convenience's sake. Plus, long hair is difficult to maintain, and she'd have trouble brushing it aside if it reached her eyes.
  • True Art Is Incomprehensible: In-Universe example. Even Rin seems to have little idea of exactly what she's painting at times.
    • Part of the problem in her route is that she wants other people to understand her through her art, but no one can do that satisfactorily.
  • Wall of Text: Her rambling provides the one true example in the game of this. On two occasions, her dialogue is in a box that fills the entire screen, otherwise reseved for Hisao's internal monologues.

Shizune Hakamichi

"Can you tell me what you think?"

Strong willed and forceful, Shizune is definitely the leader type. She's been the class rep despite being deaf and mute for as long as her class has had one, and generally takes charge in just about any situation she's placed in. Shizune is known around the school as a fearsome taskmaster and skilled manipulator, but also as a fair and just leader.

  • Abusive Parents: Her Jerkass father constantly insults and belittles both her and her brother Hideaki. On top of that, Mr. Hakamichi does not know sign language nor does he care to learn despite having a deaf and mute daughter; he might even consider her disability to be self-imposed, and mentions having spent twelve years trying to make her 'normal'.
  • Batman Gambit: More or less what her interactions with Hisao early in Act 1 boil down to. Seeing that he is depressed, Shizune decides that he needs cheering up. Her way of doing this is by goading him into joining the Student Council and spending time with her and Misha so that he would have something to do or think about other than feeling sorry for himself. The thing is, even if you don't choose her route, the plan still works because she is still the one that forces Hisao out of his complancency and forces him to make choices.
  • Black Bra and Panties: Very lacy ones, combined wirh her dark blue stockings.
  • Brains and Bondage: She's quite clever, and quite kinky too, judging by her first sex scene with Hisao and other details.
  • Cat Smile: Perhaps her cutest expression.
  • Character Tic: Adjusting her glasses and loudly snapping her fingers.
  • Chessmaster: Subverted, at least in the literal sense. While she is good enough at chess to beat Hanako in a close game in her own route and then mop the floor with her in a rematch using speed rules, she does not really care for it that much, considering it to be too formulaic to be truly considered a game.
  • Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: Shizune is in the habit of "tenting" her hands, though she doesn't actually have that much to show as for the implications of the trope, short of mastery of Risk.
  • Class Representative: With a rather forceful and hands-on approach.
  • Club Stub: She and Misha are the student council. The entire student council. It's offhandedly mentioned that the old council was quite a bit larger than the new one, but most of the old council people left when Shizune took leadership. The last to leave was presumably Lilly.
  • Curtains Match the Window
  • Cute Mute: Averted. She's both cute and mute, but lacks the requisite naivete. Instead, she's clever and stubborn.
  • Disabled Snarker: Hisao wonders if her deafness and inability to hear tone made it difficult to learn sarcasm.
  • Everything Is Better Deep Fried: A philosophy to which she firmly ascribes.

Shizune: [Fried things are always delicious. There is always an exception for them.]

  • Extracurricular Enthusiast: Constantly attempts to recruit Hisao into the Student Council at the beginning, and succeeds in her route.
  • First Girl Wins: If you pick her path.
  • For Happiness: A big motivation for her.
  • Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She really seems to appreciate the stuffed cat that Hisao wins for her in her Act 1 Ending, to the point where it is hanging out of her school bag in the closing CG of her Bad Ending.
  • The Glasses Come Off: In one screen, late in her route, you can see a sprite of her without her glasses.
  • Heel Realization: Goes through one throughout Act 4, and concludes that she has pushed away those closest to her:

Shizune: (regarding Lilly) [That was the worst to me, that she could be so nice and still take so many people for granted. Why even join the Student Council, then? It seemed so shortsighted and selfish, don't you think? But it's actually me who's this way].

  • I Do Not Speak Nonverbal: A major point of frustration for her and one of the reasons why she can be so blunt at times.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: Late in her path, this is revealed to be a major motivation for her behavior. Shortly after she came to Yamaku, she became frustrated with the obvious communication problems that her deafness caused her in this regard, so she turned her efforts towards doing things to make other people happy, the main reason why she joined the Student Council. Sadly, she eventually lost sight of her original goal and came to take her only friend Misha for granted. How this turns out is up to the player.
  • Innocently Insensitive: She can be very blunt when dealing with other people and can be *extremely* socially awkward. Though this can be justified by the fact that it is extremely difficult for her to communicate with anyone directly, as well as being unable to perceive vocal cues of emotion and intent in other people.
  • Insistent Terminology: Objects to her Big Fancy House being called a mansion.
  • Leitmotif: "The Student Council".
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Dark to Lilly's Light.
  • Like an Old Married Couple: She and Hisao are compared to one by Misha in her route.
  • Lonely at the Top: The reason why she has so few friends: she takes her duties as Student Council President and Class Representative very seriously and wants to actually do something meaningful in her time at Yamaku. This, combined with the natural communication problems her deafness causes results in her coming across as bossy and agressive, which pushes many people, like everyone else in the council (except Misha), including her cousin Lilly with whom she used to be very close, away. This is very ironic when you consider why she joined the council in the first place.
  • Lonely Rich Kid
  • Manipulative Bitch: In her defense, Hisao is probably giving her too much credit and most of her plans succeed completely by chance. Although he does point out there is something suspicious about someone whose favorite game is Risk. Misha says that while Shizune can be manipulative, she often does so without realizing it.
  • Meaningful Name: Shizune is [静音] (quiet + sound).
    • Her original development name was "Rosa", partially from the Japanese word for "deaf" (rousha).
  • Meganekko: Subverts the sweet and innocent personality.
    • Heck, she's one step away from being a Bespectacled Bastard Girlfriend: while she is not actively malicious, her cold, controlling personality and her dominant sexual tendencies fit much more closely with this kind of glasses-wearer.
  • Missing Mom
  • Non-Idle Rich: During her Good Ending, she decides to become a philanthropist after she leaves school, using her family's wealth to help make others happy.
  • OOC Is Serious Business: In Lilly's route, after finding out that Hisao and Lilly are a couple, she merely tells him that who he dates is his own business, then signs something to Misha, but tells her not to translate it. Hisao notices that it's unusual that she would pull punches in such a way, and it may be related to her and Lilly's later reconciliation.
  • Panty Shot: The duel between Shizune and Lilly has an upskirt shot of Shizune. Hilariously, her panties read "Stop Stem Cell Research", though the text was removed in the final release.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • In Hanako's route, when Hanako begins suffering a nervous breakdown, Shizune doesn't hesitate to help bringing her to the Nurse's office. It's also indicated that she worries about Hanako, but can't get close to her because she's always with Lilly.
    • Also, at the end of Lilly's route, the two seem to genuinely set aside their differences when Lilly assists her with student council work, and Shizune seems she really will miss her once she's gone.
    • A retroactive one in her Good Ending when she talks to Hisao and admits that her actions were all designed to make Hisao happy, since she couldn't stand his dejection and total lack of motivation when he first came to class.
  • Pillars of Moral Character: Her devotion to the Student Council (and her frustration towards everyone else's seeming lack of interest in it), can be said to be rooted in a very highly developed sense of Giri towards her school and its students. Her main grievance with Lilly (who she says put off her duties and missed deadlines to help friends) can also been seen as a percieved lack of it from her towards the same and towards Shizune personally, since she is part of what little family Lilly still has in Japan. She is also insists on honoring her bet with Hisao in her own route and carrying Kenji's box on her own, which can be said to be very much and example of On.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Misha. Shizune is the blue oni.
  • Shipper on Deck: Supports Misha's shipping of Hisao and Hanako during the latter's route because she really does care for her, but due to her rivalry with Lilly and her Student Council duties, she can't help her as much as she would like to do so.
    • She and Misha support Hisao more unambiguously on Emi's route.
  • Sibling Rivalry: Has one of sorts with Hideaki, and one of the only times they speak, they get into an argument. Hisao, however, infers that this means they can communicate and have a healthy sibling relationship.
  • Silent Snarker: Is shown to have a very lively and cutting wit. Despite only beng able to express it in sign language.
  • The Speechless: All of her dialog is rendered as "…" or "…!", or with notes.
    • Unless of course you pursue her route. Then Hisao manages to pick up enough sign language skills to converse with Shizune by himself. Signed 'speech' by Shizune, Misha and Hisao are rendered in […] brackets to represent this.
  • Spirited Competitor: Shizune's strictness and harsh initial personality seems to stem from this, oddly enough. To her, everything is a competition, from Risk, to mental duels to snare a new council member, to work in general. In their final H scene, Hisao considers that she's even competitive regarding sex, specifically when she pushes him onto a table so she can be on top. Not that he seems to mind much.
    • Deconstructed in her route. Her competitiveness drove the other members of the student council away. In her Bad Ending, she believes that her being this is the reason Hisao and Misha are avoiding her, so she breaks up with Hisao; in her Good Ending, she reveals that she knows that it's jeopardizing her friendships, but she doesn't know any other approach, and she thanks Hisao for talking to Misha for her.
  • Spoiled Sweet: All she wants is to make other people happy and to have other people open up to her and be her friends. Sadly, her deafness makes it very difficult for her to get the "sweet" part through.
  • A Spot of Tea: Not as addicted as her cousin Lilly is, but she clearly appreciates a good cup.
  • Student Council President
  • The Tease: In her final H scene, she gets on top of Hisao then says "I should just stop now, and leave you stewing in your lust" with a cheeky smirk on her face.
  • This Is Sparta: "That's. No. Fun."
  • Those Two Guys: What she and Misha become in every route except her own.
  • Tsundere: Subverted. You may think Shizune is one, until you actually go through her storyline. She has the forceful personality, but lacks the antagonistic attitude. Doesn't stop fans from portraying her as one.
    • Early expectations that she would be one when the demo was first released caused her to enjoy early status as a fan favorite, which is ironic considering her Base Breaker status post-release.
  • Tsunshun: She is assertive to a point that borders on abrasiveness. And also extremely lonely and frustrated over her inability to keep friends.
  • Tsurime Eyes: Befitting the above.
  • Visible Silence: Typically used to represent when she "says" something, followed by Misha's translation of it, but also used for pauses or for things Hisao can't understand ("if a ...[3] bit you")
  • What Beautiful Eyes!: "Deep and alluring" Blue Eyes.
  • Well Done Daughter Girl: Though not stated, it is implied that her competitive workaholic streak rises in part from a desire to earn her father's approval. Unfortunately, the Student Council is one of many things he holds in contempt, in particular because of how it can operate with only three people (Hisao included).
  • We Used to Be Friends: In Lilly's route, Shizune reveals that she and Lilly used to be very close to one another. In her own route, it is also revealed that Lilly actually joined the council to help her out when members of the original council started leaving. However, being forced to work together brought the natural clash between their two personalities to head, resulting in their falling out and current enmity.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer: A major problem for her. It's exteremly hard for her to deal with anything without trying to turn it into a contest or a game. She even uses this approach when it is clear that it's probably not a very good way of dealing with a situation, like Misha pulling away from her because she literally knows no other way.
  • When She Smiles: Hisao comments on it in her Act 1 ending.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair
  • You Must Be Cold: At some point in her route, after running some errands Shizune is shivering badly due to not having a jacket on. Hisao then takes off his own jacket and covers her with it.
  • Zettai Ryouiki: Shizune qualifies for a Grade A, only lacking Tsundere attitude and twintails for Grade S. In her second sex scene with Hisao, she keeps the stockings on.


Shiina "Misha" Mikado

"WAHAHA~!"

Misha is the interpreter for Shizune and a fellow member of the student council. Cheery, playful and never one to pull a punch, she happily joins in Shizune's attempts to get Hisao onto the student council.

  • Ambiguous Disorder: Many fans have theorized that Misha has autism or a related disorder, except that it's repeatedly stated in-story that Yamaku is not supposed to be a school for mental and emotional disabilities. Misha's mystery disability is hinted to cause her weak stomach and sensitive teeth, as well as her need to go to bed early.
    • The sleep could be explained with this condition: the Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome.
    • There are also theories that she could have some inner ear problems. It's not a "true" disability, but can cause issues with voice volume control and equilibrium: she says climbing stairs makes her dizzy, and it could explain her No Indoor Voice.
    • Yet another theory is that she has no disorders at all, as it's pointed out that some non-disabled students attend Yamaku.
      • And this theory is correct, since she herself states in Shizune's route that she has no disability. Unless you count her being a lesbian a disability, mind you. She kinda does.
  • Annoying Laugh/Signature Laugh: "Wahaha~", although she also uses "Hahaha" and the occasional "Ahaha".
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Meta-example for some of the fanbase. Turns out you can get an H-scene with Misha! Too bad that acting on it directly causes Shizune's Bad End and leads to one of the most heartbreaking moments in the game, you monster. And on top of that, said H-scene is very uncomfortable; it's evident neither her nor Hisao enjoy the sex.
  • Beneath the Mask: As revealed in Shizune's route, she is plagued by uncertainty of purpose in life, and the pain of rejected love for her best friend in the world, Shizune.
  • Big Beautiful Woman: At least in comparison to the other girls, she's got a bit more meat on her bones. Her sex scene shows that she's got pretty big breasts abd a little pudge on her belly and legs, specially her hips and thighs.
  • Book Dumb: Possibly: she's not entirely stupid, but seems to have the most trouble with academics.
  • Broken Bird
  • Club Stub: The only other member of the Student Council aside from Shizune.
  • Completely Unnecessary Translator: Early in Shizune's route, Hisao knows sign language, and Misha knows that Hisao knows sign language, but he still has her translate for him because he doesn't want Shizune to know that he knows sign language until he becomes proficient in it. Unbeknownst to him, Misha has told Shizune about his efforts.
  • Cool Teacher: She hopes to become one, coming to Yamaku to become a sign language teacher and getting a reduction on her tuition fees as part of a related program.
  • Did I Just Say That Out Loud?/I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You/Could Say It, But...: She occasionally says things she's not supposed to while translating, sometimes with a lampshade, sometimes not. Sometimes deliberate, sometimes by accident. Maybe, it's hard to tell, as she's smarter than she appears. Hisao wonders at one point if she does this so that people who can hear but not understand sign language are not excluded.
  • Does Not Understand Sarcasm: She doesn't seem to pick up on when Shizune's being sarcastic even when it's obvious from the words alone even with Misha's cheerful delivery.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: Loses her Drill Hair in the later part of Shizune's route, replacing it with a tomboyish haircut and a heart-shaped hairdec.
  • Eyes of Gold
  • Foil: To Hanako. Hanako is withdrawn, timid and sensitive to social cues, while Misha is outgoing, energetic and blind to subtle cues.
  • Gainaxing: Watch her chest in the FMV introducing Act 2 of Shizune's route.
  • Gayngst: Her love for Shizune is unrequited, and she may have suffered other repercussions for being a lesbian, or at the very least bisexual.
  • Genki Girl: It's partly a pretense to hide the emotional trauma of Shizune rejecting her love confession, as well as being a coping mechanism for said trauma.
  • Gratuitous English: She sports a hilariously out-of-place "BUSH CHENEY 2004" shirt in Shizune's route, during the trip to Shizune's family house over summer break.

Hisao: Well, at least Misha's clothes reflect her inner self on the ourtside.

  • Hair Decorations: The heart-shaped dec she has after she gets a haircut.
  • Important Haircut: Implied that she cut and dyed her hair pink in response to being rejected by Shizune, and cut her hair again when she felt threatened by Hisao's affection towards Shizune.
  • Incoming Ham: Many times, when she's about to come into the picture, the whole screen shivers. Hisao also comments on Hearing her distinctive laugh before he sees her.
  • Incompatible Orientation: She's a lesbian and Shizune is not (or at least not into Misha, if she ever liked girls).
  • Innocently Insensitive: She seems to be rather oblivious to social cues which is hardly an ideal trait in an interpreter and results in more that a few "blind leading the blind" situation like the panic attack incident in Hanako's route.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: The reason why she helps Hisao and Shizune get closer in Acts 1 and 2 of Shizune route. Though later on, her jealousy starts getting the better of her.
  • Large Ham: WAHAHAHAHAHA!
  • Leitmotif: "Generic Happy Music".
  • Love Hurts: After having her affections rebuffed by Shizune, she accepted her offer of friendship just so she could be close to her. She later expresses regret for this decision, the proximity making the Just Friends relationship even more painful.
  • Matchmaker Crush: She aids Hisao and Shizune to get together... because she loves Shizune and wants her to be happy. It doesn't work that way.
  • The McCoy
  • The Nicknamer:
    • Japanese Honorifics: Refers to almost all of her friends as "-chan": "Shicchan" (Shizune), "Hicchan" (Hisao), "Yucchan" (Yuuko).
  • No Indoor Voice: Misha is known to have slight volume control issues.

WAHAHAHAHAHA~

Misha: [when Hanako and Hisao come to class together and a little late]: Aaaaaah, the lovers have returned! WAHAHAHAHAHA~

    • In Shizune's route, she encorages Hisao in his efforts to learn Sign Language and allowing the two of them time alone together. She wants Shizune to be happy after all. Though late in her route, her personal pain boils up and causes problems.
    • In Emi's route, she shows up after Emi and Hisao have a fight at Emi's home and pushes Hisao to talk to her and mend their almost-broken relationship. Whether you get the Bad or Good Ending depends on what's your reaction to her.
      • Earlier in the route, she also comments on how cute they are together, and after scolding Hisao on their PDA for Shizune, adds "subtle" hint that she approves, but they should make sure Shizune doesn't catch them.
    • She also grins widely in response to hearing that Hisao and Lilly are a couple, in contrast to Shizune's more enigmatic response.
  • Stepford Smiler: It's revealed late in Shizune's route that her cheerful nature is a facade to cover Gayngst and unrequited love. Shizune lampshades this when she says she doesn't associate cheerful behavior with Misha the same way Hisao does.

Shizune: The Misha you know is different from the one I think of, when I think of the time we first met. Even though I think she looks better cheerful and smiling, that isn't how she typically is.

Misha: Of course we're not trying to get you to join just because we would obviously benefit from you joining the student council and therefore have an incentive to try and get you to…

Misha: Misha, stop doing that! Wait... I'm Misha...

  • Those Two Guys: What she and Shizune become in every other route.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Parfaits.
  • Translation: "Yes": In routes besides Shizune's, Hisao often notices Misha and Shizune having signing exchanges too long for what Misha actually says, such as when Shizune goes out to get some food in one scene in Hanako's route, leaving Misha and Hisao to talk about Hanako.
  • Translator Buddy
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: During Hanako's route, she teasingly questions Hisao and Hanako about their relationship, which causes him to spill the beans about the birthday party he and Lilly were planning for Hanako, resulting in her panic attack. To Misha's credit though, she genuinely has no idea that Hanako's birthday is a subject that is not to be talked about in front of her, and once she finds out, she apologizes to Hanako immediately.
  • Voice for The Voiceless: In the most literal sense possible.
  • What, Exactly, Is Her Job: In the student council, she has no official position. She is sometimes assumed to be a vice president, but basically does whatever needs to be done, and interprets for Shizune.
  • Won't Take Yes for An Answer: In the four routes besides Shizune's, she tries to get Hisao to do work for the Council. When he accepts near the end of Lilly's route, she initially starts to respond as though he's refused again, then is shocked to realize he said yes.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Lampshaded. Misha's pink hair is immediately noted as being unusual.
    • Akira eventually reveals her hair used to be brown and much longer. It's also visible in one of the CGs in Shizune's route and Lilly's route.

Supporting Characters

Kenji Setou

Borderline Hikikomori, Kenji likes to spend a lot of time in his room, planning for whatever the radical feminist movement's next move may be. He is leery of the instant attraction that Hisao seems to have brought upon himself, but nonetheless very pleased to finally have a hallmate. Over the course of the various routes, several hints are dropped regarding him, including an implication that he used to date Yuuko.

  • Ambiguous Disorder: Besides his obvious legal blindness (his vision is extremely limited though, unlike Lilly, who cannot see at all), fans speculate that he may have a form of schizophrenia due to his obsession with conspiracy theories.
  • Author Avatar: Word of God says that Kenji is based on Anonymous22, one of the writers.
  • Blind Without'Em: Kenji is legally blind. The glasses help… but not much.
  • Bromantic Foil: A Subversion, as he is a misogynist rather than a Chivalrous Pervert. Possibly double-subverted when it turns out he had a girlfriend in the past, and is considerably less misogynistic when talking about her. He may have even become a feminist-hater because of their breakup.
    • He does display some more traits of this in Lilly's route. When Hisao is depressed because she's leaving Yamaku to go to Scotland, Kenji is surprisingly understanding of his situation.
  • Catch Phrase: "The time has come!" Likes to use it in What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome? manner, and even lampshades it.
  • Character Filibuster: Many of his rants push their way into this territory, for Overly Long Gag purposes. One of them even gives you the option to "ignore his insane ramblings".
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Even when he isn't indulging in conspiracy theories. He even fails to notice that Shizune is deaf.
  • Conspiracy Theorist: Believes that radical feminists are building an army to destroy "man"kind and that Yamaku with its admittedly highly suspicious 60/40 female/male ratio will be one of the first battlegrounds.
  • Dissimile: When Kenji is ranting about the second most shocking moment in his life in "Soap".

Kenji: It was like in the openings to some kind of anime show, you know how there is always a part where the main dude is fighting his rival, and they fly at each other and clash swords and there's like, big dramatic colored auras and zoom? It was like that, but with poo.

  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: When he removes his glasses in Shizune's route.
  • Even Crazy Has Standards: Men who like futanari porn are not welcome in Kenji's army.
  • Expy: Kenji bears an obvious resemblance to Harry Potter, but any thoughts that he might be a remotely similar character disappear as soon as he opens his mouth. And refuses to shut it.
  • Gay Option: He was going to be one, but it was scrapped due to time constraints. Hisao's retrieval of Kenji's "package" in Shizune's route may be a reference to this.
  • The Glasses Gotta Go: When he briefly removes them, he looks as though he hasn't slept in years and has a completely calm expression on his face. However, given that this is Kenji, he still rants about the same things.
  • He-Man Woman Hater: MANLY PICNIC!
  • Hidden Depths: Though most of his scenes are played for straight humor, after Kenji reads Iwanako's letter to Hisao, he talks fondly of how he misses his old girlfriend (strongly hinted to be Yuuko), and even tries to encourage Hisao to write Iwanako back. Hisao tries to call him on this, to which Kenji replies that he doesn't hate all women, just feminists.
  • Informed Ability: During Act 1 and later in Hanako's route, he mentions that he is an avid bowler. He also points out in Shizune's route that he and his old girlfriend used to bowl in the hallway.
  • Insane Troll Logic: "Correlation equals causation, you know."
    • The most famous instance is when Hisao says "It's me" to Kenji, making him panic because he doesn't know anyone named "me". He soon deduces that "me" must be a psychic spy.
      • The fact that this whole conspiracy mess started with him getting tired after getting laid should explain... Something perhaps.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even though he can be weird, annoying, offensive and abrasive at times, Kenji is genuinely a nice person at heart. Later interactions show that he does listen to Hisao, and that he's sometimes actually concerned about his well being. This kindness is not exclusively reserved for Hisao though: when he accidentally bumps into Lilly and knocks her over, he even makes an attempt to help her up. Later in the same route, when Hisao is clearly bummed out about finding out that she is going to leave for Scotland, he runs into Kenji who asks him what's wrong, and says that if he ever needs to talk, to come talk to him, because that's what friends are for. He also shows quite the insight after finding out about Iwanako's letter... and talks fondly about his old girlfriend.
  • Large Ham: Can be pretty… exaggerated when in the middle of his rants. Hisao thinks he does everything very dramatically.
  • Last-Name Basis: Typically refers to the girls by their last names, when he refers to them by name at all.
  • Leitmotif: "Out of the Loop", a wacky sounding track, fitting since he's the comic relief.
  • Loners Are Freaks: The thought of all the people socializing at the school festival disturbs him.
  • Nerd Glasses
  • No Sense of Personal Space: Frequently gets inches from Hisao's face. Justified because he has really poor eyesight, but he doesn't seem aware of how uncomfortable he's making Hisao.
  • Only Sane Man: Kenji is convinced he is this. We can only hope he's wrong.

Hisao: Just thinking about what it's like to be the last sane man in an insane world.
Kenji: You mean that's you? That can't be, because I'm the last sane man in an insane world. That is my dream, you can't just steal a man's dream.

Hisao: It's Kenji. He seems to be in a friendly mood, although the light glinting off his glasses in the dark gives him a sinister look.

  • Scenery Censor: Kenji, wearing a fig leaf, is the only character to appear nude in Act 1.
  • The Schizophrenia Conspiracy: Kenji is in the school because of his poor eyesight, but certainly he's not completely right with his mind; it's implied he's schizophrenic as well.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: Kenji becomes very noticeable in his absence after about midway through Act 2 of Emi and Rin's routes. His last appearance in Lilly's route, while fairly late, is on an uncharacteristically serious note (see OOC Is Serious Business above).
  • Shout-Out:

Kenji: There can only be one, like in that foreign movie where there could only be one, and in the end there is only one dude left, because that was the point.

Kenji: Like that movie about the life of William Wallace, where they took his stuff but not his freedom, and then they killed him.

      • Even more hilarious considering that we have Lilly, a half-Scottish character.
    • Also in Shizune's route:

Kenji: But then the sunlight reflected off my glasses and blinded her, saving my life. It was like, behold, optic blast.

Kenji: Maybe I overwhelmed her with my logic, so badly that she just retreated into denial. Maybe she is just an asshole. Either way, she didn't reply, and the future refused to change.

  • Sir Swearsalot: What profanity Emi doesn't get, most of the rest of it spills forth from Kenji's mouth. And what he may lack in frequency in some routes, he makes up for in intensity, being rather content to casually throw various forms of "fuck" around.
  • Testosterone Poisoning: Normally, this trope refers to hyper-masculinity that affects the body. But arguably, Kenji's mind has been poisoned.

Hisao: It's not a secret club being a guy.
Kenji: It should be. With rings. Rings with big-assed emblems. And gold!


Nurse

The chief of the nurse staff of Yamaku, and a surprisingly young person for someone in his position. He is a funny and jovial guy, always a good for a laugh and well liked by students. Nonetheless, he has a heart of pure gold, and he is very passionate and serious about his job.

  • Big Brother Mentor: Sort of, especially to Hisao and Emi.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": What's even worse is that Hisao even mentions in his thoughts of reading Nurse's name on the door. Not even 4Leaf Studios has given him a name.
  • Eyes Always Shut: He sometimes opens his left eye when emphasizing a point.
  • The Gadfly: Loves teasing Emi by pretending he's seducing Hisao during Hisao's daily heart checkup.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Closer to Emi than the other girls, to the point where he calls her by her first name.
  • Leitmotif: "Ah Eh I Oh You", a soft jazzy track, surprisingly fitting of the nice guy mentor persona.
  • Nice Guy
  • No Name Given: It is mentioned that his nameplate can be seen on his office door, but the name is never mentioned.
  • Shipper on Deck: In regards to Hisao and Emi, in her route. "(Because) You're good for her. She trusts you, even if you don't think she does."
  • Shout-Out: The character is based off a real life nurse who posted a series of threads on 4chan about his experiences taking care of a multiamputee car crash victim [4], inspiring the relationship between the Nurse and Emi. A collection of them can be found here [dead link] .
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Calls Hisao and Emi out when Hisao's heart almost gives out due to trying to pick a race with Emi without taking precautions.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Has purple hair.


Akio Mutou

Both homeroom and science teacher of 3-3, and just as much out of touch with his class as he is out of touch with reality. Probably born to be a teacher, no matter how much his students disagree. His greatest skill is the ability to ignore irrelevant things completely, no matter how much anyone who wishes he'd remember their names disagrees.

  • Absent-Minded Professor: A textbook example.
  • Apathetic Teacher: He can give off this impression, with his frequent lateness and uninspired lectures, but he's enthusiastic about his subject and concerned about his students. He just tends to be too awkward to express it very well. In Hanako's route, Hisao disapproves of his allowing Hanako to leave class so often, thinking that he doesn't care.
  • Cool Teacher
  • Everybody Hates Mathematics: He prefers the sciences instead.
  • Expy: Some have noticed that Mutou has an amusing resemblance to Stu Pickles.
    • He also bears a bit of a resemblance to Dr. House and could easily pass as the Doctor.
      • Hivemind has came out and said that Mutou's appearance was vaguely inspired by the Doctor, specifically the Tenth Doctor played by David Tennant.
  • Looks Like Cesare: Is very tall and pale, has dark hair and bags under his eyes.
  • Psychologist Teacher: He has his moments.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Mutou doesn't give his students a terribly hard time in his class if they have certain conditions, and will often give Hisao useful advice and help him out of tough spots. He also knows exactly how to handle the situation with a minimum of complications when Hanako has a severe panic attack in the middle of class during her route.
  • Science Hero: Of a sort. He's the science teacher, and he actually, through a lecture on science, helps Hisao realize how to handle things with Emi after the final exams. Relationship advice... THROUGH SCIENCE!
  • Tranquil Fury: He's not very pleased by Mr. Nomiya's walking into his class, looking for Hisao in the middle of an exam, even if he doesn't show it.
  • The Un-Smile: He gets this trope halfway in Rin's route as Hisao describes an instance of him him smiling despite being "genial", "would scare little children senseless."
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Also gives Hisao a stern lecture about how selfish it is to disregard the faculty's advice if he overworks himself on the track.


Yuuko Shirakawa

Yuuko has serious problems with managing her life, which makes her the perfect person to ask for help to manage one's own. She funds her university studies by working part time at a popular cafe. The lengths she goes to avoid being fired for her natural clumsiness bewilder other people, along with her neurotic attention to detail and frequent streaks of depression.

Yuuko: I was not asleep and welcome to the Shanghai!


Shinichi Nomiya

Nomiya is the school art teacher, and the overseer of the art club, obviously.

  • Always Camp: He does act and dress fairly flamboyantly.
  • Annoying Laugh: Lets off one in his first scene in Act 1, on the way to Rin's route.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: Asking Hisao if he has any passions comparable to Rin's passion for art. Hisao is forced to concede that he does not.
  • Berserk Button: Rin running away from the exhibit makes him furious, in contrast to his jovial personality.
  • Broken Pedestal: Becomes one for Rin by the end of her route ("I thought he was my friend...").
  • Fat Bastard: His intentions are good, but by the end of Rin's good route, you'll likely think of him as one.
  • Jerkass: While his intentions are good, and he only wants to help Rin be successful, he completely disregards her feelings. When she runs away from the art show during the path to her good ending, Nomiya completely blows up at her, feeling that all his work had gone to waste, saying that her work is worth nothing but "MOSQUITO SHIT" now.
  • Large Ham: Dude has NO indoor voice, and once launches in quite a long rant about art in itself.
  • Lennon Specs: Wears a tiny pair over his nose, with pink tinted lenses.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: His response to Rin's apology basically devolves into one, accusing her of throwing away a vital opportunity and ends by saying that he doesn't consider her an artist.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: Him, Sae and Sae's dead husband.


Akira Satou

A beautiful lawyer and Lilly's older sister. She lives some distance from Yamaku High School. While they were still living together, Lilly did the cooking for both of them.

  • Bifauxnen: The flat-chested and headstrong. That suit sure does look snappy, but it thoroughly confuses the protagonist for a good few seconds. Hisao actually stops himself from making any guesses in Shizune's path, as he just ran into Hideaki a few moments ago. The usual personality that goes with this trope is averted though: "refined" is not an adjective that describes her.
  • Broken Bird: Not halfways as other girls, but she can show a very cynical and sad side to her.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Half-Japanese, Half-Scottish, same as Lilly.
  • Christmas Cake: Averted. She is 25 years old, but she does have a boyfriend (we never see him, though). In Lilly's route, she breaks up with him in order to get ready to go to Scotland, but in the Good Ending, she decides otherwise and rekindle their relationship upon seeing how much Lilly and Hisao love each other. She then tells Lilly and Hisao that he will go to Scotland with her.
  • Cool Big Sis
  • Damned By Faint Praise: She says the thing she liked most about going to see her parents was their house being next to the beach.
  • Drives Like Crazy: In Hanako's route, when she and Lilly take Hanako and Hisao to a Jazz Club, she drives them into town and apparently scares Hanako in the process.
  • Expy: Resembles Saber in her suit.
  • Gender Blender Name: "Akira" is a unisex name in Japan, which is fitting for her masculine appearance. However, this is averted if you take into account that "Akira" is also a Scottish name, since in Scotland, it's only given to girls.
  • Hello, Attorney!
  • Hidden Depths: Despite seeming laid-back and carefree, late in Lilly's route, she reveals a more angsty, bitter and cynical side of herself when talking about her and Lilly's past, including Lilly's impending departure for Scotland.
  • Hot Chick in a Badass Suit
  • Jade-Colored Glasses: After mentioning that she had to break up with her boyfriend because of her taking a job in Scotland, tells Hisao that life is not a fairy tale and "sometimes stuff happens that you have to roll with, even if it means hurting yourself and others."
  • The Ladette
  • Parental Abandonment: Her parents left her and Lilly behind to go to Scotland when Akira was nineteen. She blames their unwillingness to deal with Lilly's blindness.
  • Promotion to Parent: For Lilly, after their parents left. She's not too happy with her parents for abandoning them, and confesses to Hisao that she feels she didn't do everything she could to raise Lilly well.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Averts the negative aspects of the trope, besides being willing to give alcohol to minors.
  • Shipper on Deck: Obviously, if you choose Lilly's route.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: She's unrefined, a bad cook and a Bifauxnen, while her sister's a Yamato Nadeshiko.
  • Slasher Smile: Has one on a few occasions in Lilly's route, such as when Hideaki alludes to her putting the tickets in the washing machine.
  • Smoking Is Cool: She thinks so, but laments that she doesn't smoke.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: As the Tomboy.


Hideaki Hakamichi

Shizune's younger brother. Appears in Lilly's and Shizune's routes. Is smart and very analytical, but lacks any real tact.

  • Abusive Parents: It's Jigoro, after all. He may not have it as hard as Shizune, since he has no disabilities and is the youngest of the two, but still.
    • His feminine way of clothing, however, may be a reaction to his father, a figure so overbearing it has lead to a symbolical "emasculation" of his son.
  • Adorably Precocious Child
  • Alliterative Name
  • Brutal Honesty: Often does this, since he seems to have no verbal filter.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: Mostly because he wears extremely feminine clothing, and doesn't realize it until people start mistaking him for a girl.
    • This makes a pretty big contrast when you meet him in Lilly's route, accompanied by Bifauxnen Akira.
  • Expy: His outfit is the school uniform worn by Ciel in Tsukihime.
  • Hair Antennae
  • Megane
  • Saying Too Much
  • Sibling Rivalry: Has this with Shizune. Hisao, however, infers that rivalry implies communication, and they do get along.
  • Spock Speak: Hisao notes that his speech is rather robotic.
  • The Stoic: Tries his hardest to be this.
    • Not So Stoic: Near the end of Lilly's route, when Hisao is going after Lilly before she can leave for Scotland, his facial expression alone reveals that she has already left, and he seems somewhat concerned for Hisao.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: Doesn't realize it until Hisao points it out to him.

Hisao: What's with the stockings?
Hideaki: They are cool.


Jigoro Hakamichi

Shizune and Hideaki's father. He is an arrogant manly-man who can't go one minute without insulting his daughter, insulting her friends, insulting the youth of today, or plugging his business or autobiography.

  • Abusive Dad: He constantly insults and belittles both Shizune and her brother Hideaki. He could not be bothered to learn how to communicate with his own deaf/mute daughter. It goes to twelve thousand when he offhandedly mentions he has indeed hired tutors... trying to get Shizune to speak. He seems to imply he just thinks Shizune is being stubborn about this whole speaking thing.
  • Badass Beard: More like Jerkass beard…
  • Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Threatens to beat Hisao with his autobiography, and to punch Hisao in the face with brass knuckles that have a condensed version of his autobiography on them, so that it will be imprinted in his face.
  • Hey, You: Refers to Hisao as "boy" and Misha as "you" or "the pink-haired girl".
  • Hypocrite: Numerous examples, such as suggesting that Hisao huffs glue, then telling him not to make assumptions.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Yelling extremely loudly while telling Misha not to do so.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Numerous examples. When talking about Misha's new haircut:

Jigoro: "What is that haircut? You look like an intern. Your old haircut merely made you look like you were wearing a pink judge wig. Judge to intern is a huge demotion."

  • It's All About Me
  • Jerkass: Takes this Up to Eleven. Heck, maybe twelve.
    • Case in point, he is so full of himself that he could not be bothered to learn how to communicate with his own deaf/mute daughter. It goes to twelve thousand when he offhandedly mentions he has indeed hired tutors... trying to get Shizune to speak. He seems to imply he just thinks Shizune is being stubborn about this whole speaking thing. While it is possible for deaf people to learn how to speak, such as Helen Keller, a deaf person has a very hard time modulating his/her voice correctly, something hearing people normally take for granted because they can, well, hear their own voices. A deaf person talking can be very embarrassing, often sounding like he/she is mentally or physically handicapped on top of being deaf. Unsurprisingly, even in real life, a lot of deaf people are uncomfortable with this and choose to stick to other methods of communication instead. Shizune may have tried talking in the past, only to witness the results in front of other people, and knowing someone as competitive and strict as Jigoro, it's hard to imagine him being satisfied if she spoke less than perfectly.
    • At least both Shizune and Hisao give the guy some credit, both believing he cares about her more than he lets on. That said, it's still obvious Hisao wants to give him a big smacking and Shizune strongly disapproves of the way he treats her friends, and they can't be blamed.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: When he asks Hisao when he last called his parents, Hisao is forced to admit that he hasn't done a good job of keeping in contact with them, although it doesn't change how much Hisao despises Jigoro.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Is always seen carrying a katana. Always. Even on school grounds.
  • Large Ham
  • My Card: When he first meets Hisao, he gives him one. Hisao is astounded at how prepared he is.
  • No Indoor Voice: Especially evident when he yells at Misha for talking too loudly.
  • Pet the Dog: Hisao interprets his going down to ask Shizune in person (he refuses to use e-mail for an unspecified reason) whether she would like to come on a trip with him and Hideaki as one such moment, theorizing that he may have done it in part to see her.

Hisao: [I think your dad might care about you more than he lets on]
Shizune: [I know]

  • Testosterone Poisoning: Muscular man with a full beard, long hair, a hawaiian shirt, carrying a katana AT ALL TIMES. He even insults Hisao for wearing something not up to his manly standards: a sweater vest.

"Your sweater is terrible and I want you to feel bad about it."


Meiko Ibarazaki

Emi's mother, who makes some appearances in Emi's route and a single one in Rin's route. A kind and caring lady.

  • Beauty Mark: Has one above her mouth.
  • Good Parents: One of the more loving and supportive living parents.
  • Hot Mom
  • Like Mother Like Daughter: Hisao is quick to note that Meiko is basically an older Emi with a bigger chest.
  • Widow Woman: Her husband died either in the car crash that claimed Emi's legs, or an an accident that happened few afterwards.


Sae Saionji

Sae is the curator at the 22nd Corner, a local art gallery/studio, and a good friend of Nomiya. She wants to help Rin to become a successful artist.


Iwanako

"I wonder if we will ever meet again. Perhaps it’s for the best if we don’t?"

Hisao's initial love interest at the beginning of the story. She causes his first heart attack when she reveals that she reciprocates his feelings.

  • Break the Cutie: Often glossed over due her single scene and Hisao's bitterness towards her, but her letter reveals she was deeply hurt by the (obviously quite difficult) situation she found herself in, and blamed herself for letting him drift so far from the person he used to be. She may have stopped visiting after "only" six weeks, but she kept visiting him in the hospital after a heart attack she probably thought she herself caused, and after which the boy she liked never replied to her confession or said much of anything other than meaningless small talk, and she had no idea what to say to convey her feelings across the wide gulf that had suddenly opened between them. That she even bothered to send a letter at all, as insulting as Hisao finds it in some routes, shows that she's still grieving and is trying to find some closure for herself. Hisao, in Shizune's route, admits to himself that he, in a sense, pushed her away with his negative demeanor.
  • "Dear John" Letter: At a certain point midway through each route, Hisao gets one from her, in which she says they may never see each other again and "Maybe it's for the best that we don't", with a different reaction in each.
  • The Faceless: We never see her from the front. Her two big distinguishing traits are her long Shiny Midnight Black hair and her thigh high stockings.
  • First-Name Basis: Her surname is never stated.
  • For Want of a Nail: How Hisao responds to her "Dear John" Letter depends on the route.
    • Emi: he throws it away midway through reading it, having moved on. If he talks to Emi's mother, however, he fishes it out and reads the last part before resolving to face Emi again.
    • Hanako: he realizes that their relationship is over, but is saddened by being reminded of it.
    • Lilly:he concludes that the letter is an "abdication of responsibility", throws it away and is in a bad mood the next day.
    • Rin: he is somewhat saddened by the reminder of everything he has lost, but not bitter toward Iwanako. He sends her a letter in response and receives no reply.
    • Shizune: he believes Iwanako had slowly been distancing herself from him in the hospital, but eventually realizes that he pushed his friends away. He decides not to write back, concluding that the letter is her way of saying goodbye.
  • Meaningful Name: Her name includes the Kanji for "fish" (the one that got away). Kenji once refers to her as a "rock-fish-kid chick".
  • Pink Means Feminine: The letter she writes to Hisao is in pink, and Hisao notes that she often wrote in pink, and that she was very girly like that.
  • Shrinking Violet: Certainly not to the extent of Hanako, but the beginning of the game gives this impression.
    • Hisao also states at one point after he receives her letter that she was very fragile and feminine.
  • Zettai Ryouiki: She wears a Grade A during the botched love confession.


Other students

Classmates of the main cast. Full names and disabilities here, along with the cameo characters.

Miki Miura

Miki is a tall, dark skinned girl with purple hair. She apparently lost her left hand in a shop class accident in the somewhat recent past.

Hisao: I'm guessing you're not too interested in [maths?]
Miki: Screw math. It's boring as hell.

  • Gainaxing: Textual version. When Miki explains why she has a boy's uniform shirt, Hisao's attention is briefly caught by the two differences between a male and a female being as enthusiastic as Miki.
  • The Ladette: Her tomboyish, athletic personality, lack of interest in studying, and semi-teasing attitude to Hisao over Hanako hint at her being this.
  • One of the Boys: Hisao thinks it feels more like talking to a boy than a girl with her
  • Passionate Sports Girl: May lack a hand, but she's also a runner like Emi.
  • Shipper on Deck: In Hanako's route, if Hisao admits to Miki that he might like her, she'll support his interest in her (conversely, if he denies such an interest, she'll look rather unhappy and lament that she was seeing too much into it).

Miki: To be honest, I think it's kinda cute. If you want to go for it, don't let me stop you!

Molly Kapur

Molly is an Indian girl with prosthetic legs.

  • Artificial Limbs: Molly's legs are prosthetics.
  • Canon Immigrant: Sort of. She is a character from Measuring Shadows, an abandonded project for a visual novel some of the devs of Katawa Shoujo were previously working on. Her appearance in the classroom CG was intended as a mere cameo; yet she became quite popular with the fandom and, in the final game, she gets a further appearance in the closing CG of Hanako's path.
  • Curtains Match the Windows: Black hair and black eyes.
  • Foreign Exchange Student: The fact that the yearbook notes that she's Indian gives this impression, and the fact that she's a Canon Immigrant also supports this.
    • With a name like "Kapur", it can easily be assumed that she is either attending Yamaku in an exchange program and is from India, or that she lives in Japan with an entirely Indian family.
  • Shipper on Deck: In the final image of Hanako's good ending, as she leans in to kiss Hisao, Molly can be seen in the background with a rather happy expression on her face (as seen in her picture here) as she appears to gossip with the boy next to her, as if she's saying "See, I told you those two would end up together! They're inseparable!".
  • Ship Tease: Often paired with Takashi in both official and fan art.

Takashi Maeda

An art student wearing a beret. Has Tinnitus, and wears a bandage over his right ear as a result.

  • Expy: An art student with an ear problem? Sounds like Vincent Van Gogh.
  • Jerkass: Though we never get to see Hisao interact with Takashi, he's often depicted looking angry or annoyed, and Hisao states in Rin's route that they don't get along.
  • Nice Hat: The always classic beret, often associated with artists.
  • Ship Tease: He's often paired with Molly in both official and fan art.

Taro Arai

An obese student with monoplegia.

  • Expy: Probably unintentional, but many players have noticed a resemblance to Peter Griffin.
  • Fat Idiot: Gives off this impression, considering that the only time we see him is sleeping in class, drooling over his face and presumably snoring.
    • Fat Slob: Could just be this. Whether he's dumb or not, he sure is fat.
  • Heavy Sleeper: Considering that the only time we see him is sleeping in class...

Suzu Suzuki

A girl with light blue hair who has narcolepsy.

  • Alliterative Name
  • Bandage Babe: Wears a knee brace.
  • Heavy Sleeper: Justified, considering she has narcolepsy. She looks ready to nod off in the classroom CG.
  • Hikikomori: The little that exists about Suzu portrays her as such. It may be not far from reality because while narcolepsy is often portrayed as cute or funny in media, it's not: the embarassment and danger associated with it often drive the affected into social isolation.
  • Repetitive Name
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Some very bright blue hair, in fact.

Natsume Ooe

A brown haired girl with glasses, who suffers from low vision in her right eye, as well as rheumatoid arthritis.

Naomi Inoue

A dark blonde haired girl with epilepsy.

  • Author Avatar: Is one to Delta.
  • The Cameo: Briefly featured with Natsume in Rin’s route: it's mentioned in passing that she had a epileptic seizure a while ago.
  • Genki Girl: Implied to be one, as Hanako notes that "she's a bit loud sometimes, and a bit tiring", but she considers her a nice person.
  • Hair of Gold: Subverted: it's bleached.
  • Meganekko: Outside of the game, she is often shown wearing glasses.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Presumably averts the negative aspects of the trope.
  • Schoolgirl Lesbians: With Natsume.
  • School Newspaper Newshound: Presumably works with Natsume in roping Hanako into the club.
  • Stepford Smiler: When Hisao notices that she’s smiling in spite of recently having had an epileptic seizure, he wonders about how Yamaku students live with their condition.

Rika Katayama

"So... we are the same... is that what you're saying?"

A girl with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition not completely unlike Hisao's. Unlike him, however, she was diagnosed early in her life, so she has been in and out of treatments and operations that left her very delicate. She made her appearance on the blog as an April Fool's prank, as an additional girl Hisao can pursue.

Saki Enomoto

"That's kind of a cute thing of you to say, but being too cute has its drawbacks too."

A girl who suffers with spinocerebeller ataxia, a degenerative disease that makes her lose muscle control and will eventually kill her. Appears as an April Fool's prank on the Katawa Shoujo blog, as an additional girl Hisao can pursue.

  • Curtains Match the Window: Has light brown hair and brown eyes.
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: Clumsy because of her condition (she must use a cane to walk), and indeed cute. Takes her clumsiness in stride.
  • Disabled Means Helpless: Probably averts this the hardest. She may have to live with a horrifying degenerative disease, but she tries her hardest to be outgoing and fashionable. She even challenges herself by engaging in activities such as art that require fine motor control.
  • God Created Canon Immigrant: Only made an appearance on the blog as an April Fool's joke. Whether or not she exists in the game is unknown.
    • A girl in the art club looks very much like her, albeit with longer hair. Saki happens to be a member of the art club.
  • Stepford Smiler: Said to always be smiling, regardless of her mood.
  • Your Days Are Numbered: Her disability severely cuts down on her life expectancy.
Back to Katawa Shoujo
  1. ↑ Said H Scene is the only H scene where Hisao's heart acts up enough to force the sex to stop.
  2. ↑ It's obvious that she's lying on her back on the rooftop, but what isn't obvious is why.
  3. ↑ Armadillo.
  4. ↑ In truth, there is no definitive proof of both the nurse and the little girl not being fictional. Doesn't prevent the story from being heartwarming.
This article is issued from Allthetropes. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.