Who would've guessed the main heroine has one of the best routes? The fact that the H-scene (or in the XBOX ver., the awkward handsy makeout scene) only happens in the bad end shows how this game is trying to be SUBVERSIVE to galge. Is the idea that since Yusuke gets down with the heroines in the other routes that's why they're all downer endings? Requiring a different route to be played before this one feels like a cheap way to force players to care about the other girls, but their scenarios really can't compare. The ending is awesome (if predictable) but why was Mana's hair red??? I replayed through the game but never figured out why she's a redhead in the end. She says she'd always had red hair so is the idea Yusuke is now seeing the real her instead of just Shie's avatar? Either way though, Mana best girl fight me. Though I do wonder if the game is saying Yusuke never had a fulfilling life in the real world and just waited to see Mana again all this time, which is kind of depressing.

OMG GET IT SHE WAS TALKATIVE BUT SHE'S MUTE IN THE REAL WORLD OMG OMG OMG!!! Yeah, this one is a little weak mainly because Saeka feels like she's the subject of the route but often is just being talked about rather than actually participating. The disability angle is kinda unneeded, just make her shy! Also she just peaced out and killed herself like "srry Yusuke I'm done" and then gets conveniently reincarnated to being a identical girl who can talk. So the being mute thing feels even more pointless when this girl can just respawn sans her ailments. Also all Saeka's friends at the orphanage get their trust bought by Yusuke giving them a N64 (idk if they said it by name but there was something about mariokart) and it just was too stupid. Saeka's dad using the orphanage as a babysitting service to deal with his disabled daughter till he feels like showing up seems kinda impossible but okaaaaaay.

This route is shit and I wanted to sucker punch Haruko in the gut by the end. It's pretty funny at first and I liked the more realistic and cynical Haruko, but the setup with the other hostess girl just believing Yusuke knew Haruko was forced. Rest in peace realism you had a good run. It was too obvious Moemi was dead from Haruko's reaction to being called motherly, so I wish they had taken longer for that to come up. I will admit the scene with Yusuke's mom meeting Haruko is funny as hell but that is the only highlight. Also the scene with his mom waiting for him is too much of a giveaway for what happens in a later route, so this should NOT be anybody's first route. I did not feel bad for Haruko at all, you have a kid I don't care how annoying it can be suck it up and be a mother! Her leaving Moemi to die (albeit unintentionally) was so awful. Haruko's stupid whining grated on me and Moemi showing up FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (and conveniently aged up to a teenager even though she died as a baby) while Haruko and Yusuke are in limbo was stupid. I wish Moemi iced that selfish ho and peaced out w/ Yusuke. Also rip no Moemi route despite her being featured in the opening way more than Haruko (though I don't like loli routes and her story would require another bullshit reincarnation ending).

"omg i'll neverrrr get herrrrrr" THE ROUTE. Tomokazu Sugita shows up on the scene and steals Yusuke's girl! Except he's already dating her and Yusuke's being weird and not at all fostering a good relationship with the real Yukie by just bedding her ASAP (which for this game means shits about to go down). Yukie being blind is ONCE AGAIN a pointlessly added disability that hardly has any relevance in the story except to be shocking when Yusuke meets her in reality. Yukie trusting Sugita (forgot the dudes name but I only think of any Sugita character outside of Kyon or Rin as Sugita) was depressing, but I actually liked the idea of Yusuke giving up on her to let her be happy. So of course some random guy tries to bust a cap in Yukie (because of something Sugita did) and Sugita pusses out and uses her as a human shield so Yusuke can save the day and show her that SUGITA DOESN'T DESERVE HER MKAY!? Then Yusuke gets shot and Yukie is all "omg Yusuke plz I wanna die how could I trust my boyfriend and not see the AMAZING GUY who was always there for me the whole week I've known him?!?!" followed by Yusuke giving the same speech about "living on" he gave in every other route. Also that's bull to just end the game when he wakes up and not show Yukie's reaction.

Someone on the production team said "I WANT SCHOOL DRAMA" and somehow it's better than the Saeka, Haruko, & Yukie routes. Aya doesn't get crippled, it’s just her and Yuri's personalities switch (so now Aya is meek and Yuri is bold). Yusuke only goes to school in this route, and Megumi (his little sister) actually gets more than 5 lines! Also, the hint that Megumi is down for her brother truly shows that these developers, despite being Korean, have seen anime before. Yusuke standing up for Aya and basically telling the bullies they can go fuck themselves is cool, and I had a lot of fun reading this route. The same problem of Aya being the subject but not a major character in her route happens, but it feels more intentional since Yuri fills those gaps in the early parts before Aya is comfortable with Yusuke. The bully girl Kaori has a fair amount of development, and the twist of her being friends with Yuri originally caught me off guard. The biggest issue is that Aya is kind of an opportunistic bitch. She snitches that Yuri is Korean to the class saying "why are you bullying me, a Japanese girl, when there's a gaijin among us!?!?" to try and get out of everything, and I stopped liking her after that. And Yuri shows everyone how Japanese she really is by killing herself over the new anti-gaijin bullying. So Aya also has blood on her hands! And I should like her WHY? She can jump of the roof in her stupid dress idc. Here I thought she was being picked on for being shy but nope she'd throw her only friend to the wolves to save herself. I sort of wish Yusuke told her off for it, but he just is like "LIVE ON AYA I'VE TOLD EVERYONE THIS COME ONNNNN" and they hook up.

This is really just an alternate end of the Aya route where Yusuke says "actually I like Yuri more" and sees her in limbo instead. It really is just a choice right before the limbo scene and there is no way to move the route towards Yuri at all outside of this. Though I'm glad this exists at all, since Yuri nearly got as sidelined as Moemi & Megumi. I prefer Yuri because she isn't a bitch, but the shy personality is not as good as the headstrong real version of her. Also, the epilogue scene is the same as the Aya one so I guess Yusuke will just settle with the girl who drove the girl he loved to suicide. At this point hook up with Megumi because what the fuck is this. I will mention here (since the Aya summary is long) that the part where Yusuke had Mano's powers for like 5 seconds was bull and why did Aya & Yuri never ask him "wow Yusuke remember when you pummeled all those thugs to save us with superhuman strength? how did you do that?". Yuri even asked "WHAT ARE YOU?!?!" but it just all got swept under the rug in the name of "IT WAS A COOL SCENE K THX"

Shie aka Sushi aka Saber(jk). The main route that actually solves mysteries in the plot and has Yusuke/Mano reunite with Shie. Like the Mana route, this can only be played after completing one of the other girls routes, and the turning point for this route is when Yusuke decides to look for the Mana he knew or the real Mana. This is the best route because it shows the whole story of Mano & Miruka. It is surpising to think there is such an in-depth route with a completly different setting, but it works very well. The main problem I had with it was I didn't like Shie much. It feels like she never really got over looking down on the other races and kind of just decided Mano will do what she wants. Miruka is too pure and her death was crazy sad (the other routes attempts at being emotional are nothing compared to that scene). The whole Sushi thing was just an exercise in dramatic irony and honestly a waste of time. When it showed Yusuke's mom being the reincarnated Miruka I was so happy! THIS route is where the game shines, even if I like Mana over Shie. I sort of wish Shie had been reincarnated, but it might've been redundent. The ending picture of Miruka & Mano is too much! The other routes are just afterthoughts after playing this one! Though I guess in the end Megumi had no purpose, I thought maybe she'd be the reincarnated Mana but no she's just filling the imouto quota. And yes I do like the bookends of the first CG of Mana being reused for Shie's goodbye, that's clever.