Ever17 -the out of infinity-

[Talon87]

The only mention of them was Coco's story about the 800 year old nun and then You bringing up "Dwarven wine" (or some such liquor) for the tale of Rip Van Winkle. How consuming mermaid tears makes you live longer while consuming Dwarven spirits makes you age quicker.

EDIT: I got as far last night as True Takeshi saving Sora to a disc, returning with Tsugumi and Chami to IBF, finding that the others were all gone, and then the Hero exiting the reverie and (as I mentioned last night) escaping with the others to the top of Insel Null. Still haven't touched Day 7. Only online because my dad's taking a shower before we can open Christmas presents, but I've been woken up. So ... ^_^;

[McSweeney]

While you guys will be doing dumb stuff like spending quality time with family this Christmas morning I'll be watching KAIJI 12 OH MY GOOOOOOOOD

[Doppleganger]

Kaiji 12? Merry Christmas, BPK!

...

I'm pretty sure that was a troll upload!

[Doppleganger]

Bad news bears, folks.

Originally Posted by Hirameki International

Hirameki International Group, Inc. has decided to bow out of publishing
Interactive Visual Novels as of January 2, 2008.

We would like to thank you for all the support you have given us over the
years. We wish you all the best.

Best Regards,
Hirameki International Group, Inc.

...

Source.

...

Meaning all visual novels that get professional treatment in the future are going to be ero in nature, since Peach Pit (the other folks) don't license anything but eroge.

I don't know all of the consequences of this move, except that Never7 and Remember11 (the other KID properties before the company bellied up) won't be coming to our shores, nor will Fate/stay night since Hirameki was the primary lobbyist for the non-H version of the game (PS2 version) for computer emulation, WHICH has benefits as well as negatives. Like, all the H-scenes are released by bonehead metaphorical moments.

As far as purchasing Ever17 goes, I'm still going to buy it for myself as a graduation present (which comes a year early -_-) and Hirameki should still be stocking its older products, I don't expect them to phase anything out right now.

[Talon87]

The problem with visual novels was that they had no market to begin with in America. They had a potential market -- they still do! -- but not a pre-existing one with American visual novels lining the store shelves. Every other aspect of the fandom differs in this regard:
- anime DVDs --> we have DVDs for TV series, too
- manga --> we have comics and other small paperback books, too
- anime OSTs --> we have many audio CDs found in a variety of different stores

Visual novels were something that hobbyists and pre-existing fans had to order from online. And when you're sat in front of a computer jumping through hoops to find a suitable e-retailer to sell you a PC novel, sometimes it's just easier (if unethical) to go torrent it instead. And so the market that already doesn't exist continues to not exist, i.e. there continues to be no place in the physical world to go and legally buy visual novels for the PC.

Think about where you buy most PC games. When I did buy mine, I used to buy them at Target or Wal-Mart. Can you imagine these sorts of stores carrying Ever17 in stock? Of course not. And that was the entire problem. Target carried anime for a while, but it never carried visual novels. (And considering it's canceled stocking anime, I doubt it'll pick up visual novels any time soon.)

I could probably sum this entire post up by just saying ... Visual novels are like Gundam. Hugely popular in Japan but relatively obscure in America, for reasons no one quite understands.

[Doppleganger]

The depressing part is Ever17 enjoyed a surge of popularity since SaiGar 2007 because of four factors, which bled through Yotsuba /a/ into other anime forums and stirred up interest for people who didn't know:

1. Takeshi and Blick Winkel's campaigns for the tournament.
2. "Why is she in a washing machine?"
3. "Naturally, I knows the hacker," (this one slipped under my radar until a couple days ago).
4. "I shat bricks during Coco's Path".

These four incidents/ideas massively increased awareness for Ever17 online, and spurred a buying frenzy as well - sure, a lot of pirates torrented the game, but the issue was that Hirameki was selling more of Ever17 than it was before SaiGar and also had prospective buyers on the horizon who just lacked the money, as I did at the time. Effectively, this was a successful case of "viral marketing" to increase demand for the game.

...

On the subject of PC games, the last time I went into a store and left with a game was in the 1990's with Duke Nukem 3D; since then, with the exception of Baldur's Gate (a gift), most of my games that weren't pirated like on emulators were either downloaded online or purchased online; the last game I played that I purchased, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal came from online, as did my Warcraft Battle Chest and Diablo II Battle Chest before it.

I switched off from buying games in stores to online when I became more internet savvy, but wasn't savvy enough to pirate stuff. I'd expect that a number of anime fans who could potentially be visual novel fans lie on one spectrum - not savvy enough to purchase the game online - while the other, the 4channers and whatnot, are *too* savvy and just pirate the game.

The spam incident, which I mentioned earlier this year and was also mentioned in the article, brought the "tools of the savvy" to the "un-savvy" potential fans, with possibly grisly results we won't know the full details of. Suffice to say, that incident of the green-toed troll is possibly what took Hirameki down.

[Talon87]

WARNING: This entire post contains spoilers

So, I don't think I get why people say they shat bricks during Coco's path. ^^; Unless they're referring to the part where she talks to Kid in the amusement park. The end of the game wasn't exactly terrifying ...

... but it was good. Very, very good.

I'm always torn over happy endings. On the one hand, there's nothing inherently wrong with them. In fact, it'd probably be wrong of me to toss 'em out purely on the basis alone of their having been happy endings! But on the other hand, when a story decides to pursue tragedy, I'm always left with a sort of "ehhhhhhhh ^^; " dissatisfied feeling when they turn around and decide to pursue happiness after all. Commitment: that's all I ask from a writer. ^^; Either be committed to telling a good tragedy or a good happy story. Don't tell a tragedy and then say ... "SURPRISE! HAPPY ENDING!" Because I like tragic endings when they're done right, and so it feels like robbery when you take away from the well-crafted tragic ending you gave me and replace it with a well-crafted happy ending. I'm glad it's well-crafted, but ... but I want my well-crafted tragic ending back. ^^;

Wow. I guess I owe an apology to Imposter Takeshi. I was treating him like some sort of asshole and it turns out he ... yeah. Sorry, guy. ^^;

WTH, how did Hokuto survive that dive into the ocean!? The game claimed that hybrids didn't possess the regenerative abilities or the souped-up immune systems that purebreds did, so ... yeah. Plo~ot ho~ole!

That was pretty gosh durn adorable when Coco wakes up from hibernation. I can't stand Coco, actually -- my least favorite of the girls in this game! -- but that was undeniably adorable. Melts one's heart.

LOL @ "Papa" Takeshi. He's 20 years old and has no clue how to handle being the father of two 16-year olds. I can't blame him! XD

LOL @ Tsugumi's epilogue. I love Tsugumi. And the husband-wife spat that ensued was awesome.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it ... so we're Blick Winkel. What exactly does that name mean, anyway? "Blick Winkel"? I assume it's more German: but German for what?

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww , that melted my heart, that did. The ending theme song when you beat Coco's path is adorable. So warm. So happy. So glad to be alive-sounding.

Uhh, wow. Takeshi melting was kinda ... grotesque? Unnecessary? Uh ... yeah. Maybe that's what people mean when they say that they shat bricks? lol

Pretty hard to believe that Yuubiseiharukana could have orchestrated all of this. I mean, why the hell would Leiblich Pharmaceuticals, the government, and/or wealthy donors sponsor this 2034 project of hers? Seems awfully expensive to reconstruct a four-story aquatic theme park only to blow it all up.

Overall ...

Game, Overall: B+ or A- a very good game.
Ending: B good, well-written, but disappointed it retconned the tragedy. Also disappointed Coco didn't turn out to be a ghost, a being from the Fifth Dimension, etc.
Would Replay? Yeah, some day. I re-read it, didn't I?
Would Recommend? Yeah, pretty highly.

[Talon87]

http://tlwiki.tsukuru.info/index.php...ge_of_infinity

It looks like I tuned back in to KID visual novels at just the right time. Somebody is working on an English fan translation of Remember 11: the age of infinity, and it looks like they're almost done.

The game sounds like it has a pretty creepy and existential story to it, too. Might be just what I'm looking for after having completed the sorta-but-not-too-much-so-creepy and very-existential story of Ever17.

Here is what I read on Wikipedia. I stopped where this sample stops, so as to not be further spoiled:

Spoiler: show

The story of Remember11 takes place consecutively in 2011 and 2012 for seven days from January 11 to January 17. The game begins in 2011 with Kokoro Fuyukawa on board a flight as she heads towards the Specified Psychiatric Hospital for Isolation and Aegis (SPHIA) institution to interview a patient with dissociative identity disorder. The plane experiences turbulence and subsequently crashes on Mount Akakura. With the help of Uni Kusuda's directions, Seiji Yomogi is able to carry Lin Mayuzumi and Fuyukawa to take shelter from the blizzard in an emergency cabin. Elsewhere on Aosagi Island on 2012, Satoru Yukidoh falls from the SPHIA facility's clock tower and loses consciousness.

When Fuyukawa wakes up, she realizes she is in a room and is later relieved to find that Kusuda is safe and sound. Kusuda does not recognize Fuyukawa and upon looking at herself in a mirror, Fuyukawa realizes she is in a man's body. A similar event occurs when Yukidoh awakens as he too comes to realize that he is in a woman's body. Both characters switch back to their respective bodies later but the phenomena continues and the two comes to terms with the fact that their consciousness is transcending time and space.

At the emergency cabin, there is a news article dated July 4, 2011, that speaks of the three survivors' deaths on January 17 and of Kusuda being the sole survivor. Yukidoh has a magazine at SPHIA from July that says the same thing.

The plot summary makes me wonder if ...

Spoiler: show

... if Kusuda (the alleged sole survivor) was a patient en route to SPHIA; and that parts of her dissociative identity disorder include the other individuals. Even if that doesn't wind up being the case, it still sounds like a cool and creepy story.

Anyway, this is something to look forward to, hopefully, in the coming months.

[Doppleganger]

Gotta catch the bus, so this'll be incomplete. I'll finish it at home.

Originally Posted by Talon87

I'm glad it's well-crafted, but ... but I want my well-crafted tragic ending back. ^^;

You can have some of it back if you'd like.

Sora's Path is a "dead end" as far as the time-lines are concerned. It doesn't connect to anything aside from Blick Winkel experiencing it. Both Sara's Path and You's Path are direct derivatives of Coco's Path, not Tsugumi's Path (you'll notice Coco's Path involves events from both Tsugumi + Sora's Paths on top of stuff not done. Logically, You would not have gone to the trouble of recreating the 2017 accident had Blick Winkel not made a surprise appearance in 2017).

Coco's Path exists to explain the very existence of Kid's Route, but everything is based on a "scenario zero" that started the so-called infinity-loop that defines the story.

Originally Posted by Talon87

WTH, how did Hokuto survive that dive into the ocean!? The game claimed that hybrids didn't possess the regenerative abilities or the souped-up immune systems that purebreds did, so ... yeah. Plo~ot ho~ole!

He doesn't have the regenerative abilities, but he's still tougher than the average human. Some marine organisms can survive at pressures as high as that for their lifetimes, and Hokuto only spent something like, ten minutes or so?

Originally Posted by Talon87

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it ... so we're Blick Winkel. What exactly does that name mean, anyway? "Blick Winkel"? I assume it's more German: but German for what?

"angle view". Most of the German in the novel was picked to tie in with the themes of the novel, or

[Talon87]

Doppel -.- , it was 12.5 ATMOSPHERES OF PRESSURE.

No human could survive that depth. It has nothing to do even with the argument of holding one's breath for that long -- it's a simple matter of 12.5 atmospheres blowing your eyeballs inward, ripping in through your eardrums, squirting up your unguarded nostrils and anus and urethra ... the water'd rush in. You need a diving suit at a minimum, and more realistically you need a submersible with a sturdy metallic hull.

Originally Posted by PBS's NOVA website

The most accomplished free-divers, like Umberto Pelizzari -- profiled in the SAVAGE SEAS episode "The Deep" -- can stay underwater for five minutes or more, plunging to depths up to 200 feet. Buying more time underwater is easy: get an external source of air -- say, a tank. Want to dive deep? Well, that's trickier. You've then got to deal with water pressure.

Kid is not Umberto Pelizzari. 350+ feet is not 200 feet. (Hell, it's very nearly double it!!)

EDIT: I should point out, this problem existed (and bothered me then, too) with Takeshi's miraculous survival when he exits the IBF compression chamber prematurely on his way back out into LeMU to rescue Tsugumi and Sora. The game says he fired across the room like a bullet. Nyuh-uh. That may be part of it, but he'd also lose his eyeballs (they'd fling right out of his head), his skin would go gas gangrenous thanks to gas exiting the blood vessels and directly entering the skin, etc etc.

[Doppleganger]

It's been a pretty brutal weekend, where was I now. Before I begin, Talon, perhaps you might remember the Clone Law of 2010? I think we know why it was enacted.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it ... so we're Blick Winkel. What exactly does that name mean, anyway? "Blick Winkel"? I assume it's more German: but German for what?

"angle view". Most of the German (heck, language-in-general) for the novel was picked to tie in with the themes, or as a kind of hint. "Tief Blau" is "Deep Blue" I believe, a name befitting LeMU's existence under the ocean. The opening "Ever17 - Faraway Continent of Lemuria" has lyrics that directly address the nature of the supposed underwater paradise.

Onto Blick Winkel himself. As you say, he is you, Arizona Talon, as you played Ever17. In your world, you are a young adult male playing a video game. Within the context of the game, you are a young adult male psychic. Coco believes you are a psychic because you are "peering" into her world through the eyes of other characters. Her term for psychics is "people of the sun", which if you think about it would conjure up the image of a person "looking down" onto her world through a window, which to us would be the computer screen. That also ties in with Sora's moon analogy, which I talk about later.

Coco can use a similar ability to look not just into "parallel universes" but "alternate realities", as she's aware of what happens in all other routes. Although, it seems she's only aware of alternate realities that pertain to Blick, so it could be she's playing Ever17 alongside you!

Blick has all of Coco's powers and one more - an overactive imagination. When he's feeling particularly edgy, he can overwhelm the senses of the person he's "possessing" or those near him. Remember the kick-the-can incident on the third day, and the "time paradox" event where everyone was on an island, then started to melt? There is no in-game explanation for these strange events, but they only happened when Blick was really, really wound up. Since Blick is merely "perception", a being that can't physically interact with Ever17's world, and so in each of these incidents nothing physical actually happened, they were all mental phenomenon.

There were several hints as to who Blick was in Kid's Routes, designed by You to subliminally suggest that the player is a character. The password puzzle, if you might recall, required you to look at a piece of paper at a certain angle to get the password. The point of this (it was deliberate) was to key in the idea to "look from a different perspective". The password itself, if I recall correctly, had specific kanji in a particular order that not only heavily hinted at Blick's existence, but supposedly spoiled the events in Coco's Path.

Sora herself kind of hinted at Blick's existence, although unintentionally, with her parallel world discussion in Takeshi's Routes.

You have no idea (well, now you might have some idea) about how you'd drive me crazy saying things like "there's a 'hero' character who's experienced everything I have " or "it's almost like Coco's talking to me! ". Back in the day, BBB and I were discussing your progress on AIM and we were going ballistic when you kept making these incredibly astute, almost right but just out of reach comments so consistently.

Blick's role is one of the biggest reasons Ever17 is my favourite novel, and still the best I've played. On top of a solid science fiction story, with well-defined characters, an engaging plot and a blend of themes ranging from Western occultism to Japanese folklore, there was an original and still unique (to KID) exploitation of the visual novel's first person perspective. The players instinctively assumed the roles of "Takeshi" or "Kid", and were completely unaware that some characters in the story could see and interact directly with the player. Not until this little secret is worked into the plot itself does the player realize this. On top of everything, the player is able to use his unique powers to heroically save Takeshi and Coco's lives, as well as bring everyone back together as a family.

(although truthfully, You-aki fell in love with you Talon, not Hokuto )

The novel even addresses the issue of it being a work of fiction, through Sora's moon analogy. Even if you as a person accept the novel as fiction, the characters in the novel believe in you and know you made a meaningful impact on their lives. So all you have to do is believe in them, and since you mutually acknowledge your existences they might as well exist.

Ever17 was the first novel to "deceive" the player in some way, and to treat the player as a character when the player himself isn't aware he is one. Other novels have tried to do the same - Chaos;Head tried something similar, but not exactly the same but it wasn't nearly as well done. However, as I said, this technique is still unique to KID and is the primary reason Ever17 wouldn't work as an anime or manga.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww , that melted my heart, that did. The ending theme song when you beat Coco's path is adorable. So warm. So happy. So glad to be alive-sounding.

I know, right?

It's sung by Sora, too.

I felt great for her, and treated that song as an expression of her happiness. Because in every route ends she seems destined for absolute tragedy, she was finally able to exist as a person. Since her friends are biologically immortal, she can live as long as they can.

Did you know Sora is Yuubiseiharukana's sister, and Yuubiseiakikana's aunt? The man who programmed her and build her hardware was You-haru's father, Tanaka Yoichi. He was assigned to that project after he was forced out of the pharmaceutical research department of Leiblich, if I recall correctly.

I don't know if you played the Tsugumi-Sora Bad End, but there's some information in it worth noting -

Spoiler: show

In the bad end, Takeshi's last moments of life are with You. He's trying to comfort her as she's cold, trembling and coughing up blood (he's not in much better condition) and she dies right there, but not of Tief Blau! She talks about a bursting in her heart before she passes, which is a hint (I didn't pick up at all until getting this ending again) to her heart condition that lead to You-aki's birth. Had she not recieved a transfusion she would have likely died not long after the LeMU accident.

It's also worth noting she tried confessing to Takeshi, so she must have been attracted to him too, although after all the years I don't think she still is.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Uhh, wow. Takeshi melting was kinda ... grotesque? Unnecessary? Uh ... yeah. Maybe that's what people mean when they say that they shat bricks? lol

Nope, that was you getting a bit too emotional.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Pretty hard to believe that Yuubiseiharukana could have orchestrated all of this. I mean, why the hell would Leiblich Pharmaceuticals, the government, and/or wealthy donors sponsor this 2034 project of hers? Seems awfully expensive to reconstruct a four-story aquatic theme park only to blow it all up.

We don't know the full extent of their involvement, but as far as the repairs to the park itself their influence was fairly limited.

Kaburaki and Yuubiseiharukana joined Leiblich after they left college/graduate school, with Kaburaki as a researcher and Yuubiseiharukana as the executive consultant for the park, as her archeological research was into the occult and so she had a specialty when it came to Lemuria related material. She was a large factor in keeping the park more or less the same for 2037, and the two worked together to bring Tsugumi, Hokuto and Sara to the park as well as cause the accident. I suspect Kaburaki probably had more influence in that regard, because he'd be more privy to the test subject information.

Leiblich itself repaired the park to draw suspicion away from the company to the Tief Blau outbreak, because Tief Blau hit Japan first and spread from there, so they quickly and covertly repaired the park (which took a year and a half) while leaving the IBF completely quarantined. I'd imagine if they hadn't epidemiologists might have been able to deduce that the virus actually came from under the ocean as opposed to across from it.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Anyway, this is something to look forward to, hopefully, in the coming months.

Ah, Remember 11. A friend named MOUIKKAI played it in Chinese (KID is rather famous in China) and said it was in the same quality class as Ever17, so I'm looking forward to it as well. It's KID's legacy.

You should pick up Rance in the meantime though! :O It's not nearly as sophisticated, but it's barrels of fun and the story is (surprisingly) good.

Originally Posted by Talon87

EDIT: I should point out, this problem existed (and bothered me then, too) with Takeshi's miraculous survival when he exits the IBF compression chamber prematurely on his way back out into LeMU to rescue Tsugumi and Sora. The game says he fired across the room like a bullet. Nyuh-uh. That may be part of it, but he'd also lose his eyeballs (they'd fling right out of his head), his skin would go gas gangrenous thanks to gas exiting the blood vessels and directly entering the skin, etc etc.

That's the one that bothered me, where Takeshi (who died in Tsugumi's Path) was able to wake up and get back to the IBF. If Blick hadn't actually played as Takeshi I don't think he would have been able to convince him to get up, but no matter how infectious Tsugumi's cells were I was a bit skeptical Takeshi could gain that much durability that quickly.

As far as Hokuto is concerned, I'm going to just chock it up to him being as close to a super-human as possible. He might have just have been made of proteins that made him more resistant to the pressure and force. During Sara's Path, he did perform that supposedly impossible swim with Sara from Dritte-Stock to the surface, and since he's descended from Takeshi, perhaps their ancestors used to freely deep-sea dive?

[Talon87]

Yeah, I never got a single bad end. I think it's the main reason (if not the only reason!?) I don't have all of the artwork or paths unlocked still. (See provided photos.)

Yuu's route - 17/18 pictures
Tsugumi's route - 18/19 pictures
Sora's route - 13/15 pictures
Sara's route - 16/16 pictures
Coco's route - 20/20 pictures
Takeshi & the Kid - 9/9 pictures
Bonus Artwork - 14/17 pictures

Route Shortcuts - 30/32 shortcuts unlocked

[Doppleganger]

I don't know if you clicked my spoiler or not, but the Bad Ends are actually worth going through. Kid's weren't as good as the single Tsugumi-Sora Bad End, but they were easier to avoid too...and were pretty sad.

Tsugumi-Sora Bad End was the first end I got, and I felt it was the "natural" way the game would have normally worked out. Without Tsugumi overcoming her anxiousness around other people, and Sora not developing enough past her basic programming to bend LeMU's rules, everyone was doomed to die in that theme park.

Now that you've finished, I think I should reveal something I've been holding onto for a while - today is yesterday was Tsugumi's birthday!

...truthfully, that's not it, but I was just informed of it and thought it an interesting coincidence. No, it's actually some details that might hint our heroes lived happily ever after.

This person appeared in the AnimeSuki Ever17 topic either late last year or earlier this year and randomly held out translations for the drama CD's that occur post-game, giving even more closure to in my view an already complete game. Sadly, these aren't as polished as the Planetarian drama CD translation (which was just like a fansub, but with a black screen) but they're functional.

KID's universe was never intended to be restricted to Ever17, as Never7 takes place in the same universe, where Cure virus (I think?) plays a similar role to Tief Blau in Ever17. Remember 11 might take place in the same world, I'm not entirely sure.

[lilboocorsola]

So I've started playing Ever17. Seems like I'm on You's path (I'm playing as Kid by the way). Just reached the part where You "cast a spell" on Kid's arm injury. The reason I'm making note of this is because...

Remember11 spoilers

Spoiler: show

Didn't Kokoro recite the same spell when she kissed the scar on Yuni's forehead? Could she be related to You in some way? Or was this just an easter egg?

By the way, is "You" or "Yuu" more proper? I notice only Talon favors the latter. I'd personally prefer to use "Yuu" to avoid confusion, unless the spelling is relevant, as Dopple seemed to hint at on page two.

Oh, and I've only glanced at the first couple pages of the thread as I was playing, so my experience has been mostly spoiler-free so far. I'm trying to be careful since I'm extremely late to the party, and there are no spoiler tags/progress percentages to measure against this time.

On that note, is it safe to talk here about both games without spoiler tags? I put the Remember11 reference in a spoiler just in case, even though I think everyone here is well past that point.

Edit- Giant cosmic whale reminds me of Link's Awakening. WTF and FTW.

[Doppleganger]

Please keep the R11 stuff spoiler-tagged. I don't think I'll revisit the game until tomorrow night, where I hope to keep pace with Talon.

As far as spelling goes, from the pure Japanese her name is "Yuu", no questions about it. But the phonetics (emphasized by spelling it "You") does become important sometime down the line.

[lilboocorsola]

Can I still report on my Ever17 progress without spoilers? Seeing as you guys have already played it? Or should I keep future newbies in mind?

And Dopple, you've started Satoru's chapter in R11, right? If so, then it's safe for you to click the spoiler, since it only refers to an event in Kokoro's chapter.

[Doppleganger]

Spoilers are fine, since BPK has yet to waltz in here. I'll check out that spoiler in a bit.

[Talon87]

1. 優 is the first character in You's name. It is read yuu.
2. ゆう (yuu) is pronounced "yuu." よう (you) is pronounced "yo." The name is Yuu, not Yo.
3. Spelling it as "You" can be very confusing to newcomers who may mistake the character named You for actually being you the player.

These are three strong reasons for spelling it as Yuu. However ...

4. People visually associate that face, voice, and story with the name "You" since it is "Y-o-u" which is printed to the screen time after time after time.

This is a pretty strong reason for spelling it You.

So I'd say go either way. I think I spelled it as You in the Remember11 thread quite a few times. But you'd never catch me dead spelling the name Yuubiseiakikana any other way. Except maybe Yuubisei-- OW!

*Doppel smacks Talon*

[Doppleganger]

Yeah, you deserved that smack. I saw what you did there.

[Raide]

Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola

Remember11 spoilers

Spoiler: show

Didn't Kokoro recite the same spell when she kissed the scar on Yuni's forehead? Could she be related to You in some way? Or was this just an easter egg?

Spoiler: show

Kyumeikan Women's University and Kyumeikan Women's High School.

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Raide

Spoiler: show

Kyumeikan Women's University and Kyumeikan Women's High School.

Spoiler: show

I forget where exactly Kokoro said she learned the spell from. So she learned it from You (or You's mother) at school?

Reached the good end of You's path. (Based on the ending, I think I'll stick with "You".) So her mother is... Herself? Don't tell me it's a grandfather paradox or something along those lines. o_O;

I also really hope Coco's not another "comatose girl's astral projection". =/ It was innovative the first time I saw it, now it's getting kinda old... (Granted, Ever17 was first, it's just that I've been hit with this plot device twice already in such a short timespan. x.X I'm approaching my monthly limit of sugar-sweet, time-frozen lolis, lol.)

Finally, who the heck is Blick Winkel?! >.<; I know you guys won't answer that, but I ran across his name several times when I was reading R11 discussions... When will I find out this person's identity?

Phew... On a lighter note, I went back and read up to speed on the discussion, and I'm surprised folks had trouble with the password puzzle. ^^; I recognized it immediately even though it was in Japanese, and got it right on the first try. *shrug* Guess it really depends if you've been exposed to those kinds of puzzles before, as Talon and I were.

Oh, and suggestions for which path/character I should choose next?

[Talon87]

Thanks for the mention. I was about to shout out "BUT I FOUND IT TO BE EASY! D:" until I read that. Then I sighed in relief.

Blick Winkel = Path 5. Mid-to-late Path 5. Look forward to it.

You's identity: I'd love to discuss this with you, even from the restricted perspective you currently enjoy, but I can't separate in my mind the facts I learned from You x Kid's path vs. the facts I learned from other paths vs. the facts I learned from the all-important fifth path.

I don't mean to bias you, but I'd strongly encourage playing Tsugumi's next. Doppel would probably encourage you to play Sora's. I dunno. To me, there's no better story in the entire game than Tsugumi's. In fact ...

Best story in the game = Tsugumi's story arc in Path 5
Second best story in the game = Tsugumi's normal-mode story (which for me was Path 2)

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola

Finally, who the heck is Blick Winkel?! >.<; I know you guys won't answer that, but I ran across his name several times when I was reading R11 discussions... When will I find out this person's identity?

You won't find out about Blick until you enter Coco's Path.

Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola

Oh, and suggestions for which path/character I should choose next?

It's up to you. I had advised against playing as Kid first, based on my experiences with Talon and BBB - Takeshi's Routes focus more on fleshing out the time period, science fiction atmosphere, level of technology and such. For me, it was like playing as Satoru before playing as Kokoro.

[Talon87]

Wow. Re-reading my posts on pages 1 and 2 is a painful trip down memory lane. What an asshole. What a pervert. What an imbecile.

I hope I've at least changed somewhat.

For the record, I took this path-approach to the game and have no regrets about it. I found it to be a very enjoyable way to play the game for me.

1. Kid x You
2. Takeshi x Tsugumi
3. Kid x Sara
4. Takeshi x Sora
5. Kid x Coco

All the pairings were as per Doppel's explicit recommendations. Even today, I'm still sort of clueless as to whether you even can attempt other pairings (like Kid x Sora, for example). It just doesn't seem feasible, given the characters' personalities.

Of these, I think I can safely say that pre-Path 5 I liked Tsugumi > Yuu > Sara > Sora > Coco, and that post-Path 5 I liked Tsugumi > Sara > Yuu > Sora > Coco. I mean liked as in "enjoyed their stories," not liked as in "crushed on them" as I embarrassingly go on and on about like a nincompoop in the thread's earlier pages.

[lilboocorsola]

Originally Posted by Talon87

Thanks for the mention. I was about to shout out "BUT I FOUND IT TO BE EASY! D:" until I read that. Then I sighed in relief.

Heh heh. You're welcome, Talon. XD I had the exact same thoughts about the puzzle until I read your post.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

It's up to you. I had advised against playing as Kid first, based on my experiences with Talon and BBB - Takeshi's Routes focus more on fleshing out the time period, science fiction atmosphere, level of technology and such. For me, it was like playing as Satoru before playing as Kokoro.

I didn't realize the choice I'd made at the time. ^^; I'll try playing as Takeshi next. Like Talon, I'm initially drawn to Tsugumi's looks and personality, so I think I'll follow in his footsteps.

Edit- WTF Coco's alive this time? o.O;