Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly: Kagiha Route
Masterlist of links and content notes
Me, before playing this path: I wonder how they'll make his story less sad?
Otomate, before writing this path: How can we make his story EVEN SADDER?
I realise that the baroque, confusing structure of this game is a bit much, especially since it's overlaying a largely linear narrative. But it feels weirdly appropriate for a story about being trapped in a confusing gothic manor, wandering endless hallways yet feeling like you have no control over your own fate.
Anyway now I gotta grind for *counts* twelve hundred points /o\
...and then I got Hikage and Kagiha's names mixed up and played a Hikage scene. GOOD JOB SELF.
Beniyuri collapses after shooting a monster so Hikage carries her back to base. She is very embarrassed and her heartrate speeds up, he seems not to realise why at first but then teases her about it, it's not clear if he's flirting or just thinks it's funny.
*grinds some more* I tried only shooting a few butterflies, so it's less tiring, and got LESS POINTS THAN IF I JUST QUIT RIGHT AWAY. Never mind THAT then.
I didn't bring my laptop with me so didn't keep track of the names/chapters of the various scenes, sorry! But this is in approximately chronological order.
Karasuba and Kagiha bond about how doggedly Beniyuri refuses to take their fairly blatant interest seriously. In front of her! And she still doesn't get it! It's cute that they're not jealous, even if I can't quite ship them. Karasuba says he's sure he's the same age as Beniyuri. Sorry, dude, you are her baby kohai.
A bunch of scenes where Beniyuri (or Ai as a kid) is sad or in need of help and Kagiha/Natsuki supports her calmly and affectionately. As an adult, he hugs her etc, and she feels much better, but then he blushes and apologises. Also he (very definitely accidentally) sees her underwear and they are both VERY EMBARRASSED.
Every now and then, touching or being with Kagiha gives Beniyuri a sense of de ja vu, or even brings back a memory. Thinking about losing Yamato, after he turns into a monster, resonates with a deep existing pain at the thought of losing a friend.
Also, being with Kagiha makes her feel warm, and comfortable, and they agree that it feels like they already knew each other. Beniyuri wonders if they were friends or something more.
They make pancakes together and it's very sweet. Just as I'm thinking "Maybe I misread the yandere cues, asides from him siding with the bad guys", he finds out that she made pancakes because Monshiro wanted some, and he gets a bit passive aggressive.
I hadn't reconsidered him rejecting Monshiro in the context of him genuinely being Natsuki, but also probably knowing who Monshiro is. That's...really awful! Kazuya was your friend, Natsuki :(
On the other hand...rescuing Kazuya got Natsuki killed. So I can see it being a mixture of resentment, romantic jealousy, and fear that Monshiro will reveal the truth and ruin Kagiha's plans.
Kagiha makes a comment about them being like newly weds, much to Beniyuri's embarassment, and tries to pull her close using the pancakes as an excuse. When she pulls away he pretends to have been joking. Once the pancakes are cooked he somewhat manipulatively gets her to agree to let him feed one to her, and have her feed one to him. *resets my yandere threat meter to moderate*
As we near the end, Beniyuri thinks about how kind Kagiha is, and tries not to read too much into it. HE IS. SO OBVIOUSLY INTO YOU.
She asks him why he's so against Monshiro, thinking that if he just gave him a chance he'd realise how nice Monshiro is. Kagiha doggedly denies any such bias, then tries to turn Beniyuri against him. Beniyuri gives up and sadly looks out the window at the featureless clouds, sad that their tiny group has such cracks. He leans against her, and with a voice weak with sorrow, apologises, saying that he's afraid she'll hate him. But he doesn't explain. She feels his warmth, and his pain, and wishes they could understand each other.
And now...the path split!
It's the night before they confront Hikage. Last time, I was offered no choices. This time, I had the choice to put things off, but didn't take it. I wonder if that leads to the Hikage path.
And last time Beniyuri had no choice but to be attracted to the light by the door and tricked into giving Kagiha her ribbon. I thought that would be an interestingly tragic scene on his path, but it turns out it's not going to happen. I now have the choice for Beniyuri to not notice the light, and instead listen to the sound of the rain, and apparently this is the way to get onto the Kagiha path.
She lies there, unable to sleep, thinking about how she trusted Hikage and then he betrayed her.
I'm sitting there waiting for Kagiha to show up. But instead, in the inescapable sound of the rain, Beniyuri hears a woman's laughter.
Voice: Hikage tricked us. And he didn't just lie, he used us and tried to have us killed. And you still want to believe in the others? Everyone is hiding something from you. Don't trust anyone.
Beniyuri: I believe in them! I trust them!
Voice: You're all alone. You deserve to be alone. Because that's what you want.
It's Beniyuri's voice, but crueler, and echoing. THE OTHER BENIYURI FROM THE TRAILER. Is she just dissociating? Is there really another her? Given the nature of this place, could her mind make one appear?
Beniyuri leaves the greenhouse and wanders the manor, trying to escape the voice, but it follows her.
Voice: I'll grant your wish.
Beniyuri: My wish?
Voice: You know the one.
Beniyuri: No!
She curls into a ball on the floor, covering her ears.
And then she sees Kagiha. He is concerned, and says he'll protect her from anything, and reaches out his hand...and she slaps it away, convinced he's an illusion.
He sits down beside her. As the voice keeps telling her not to trust him, he says he'll always stay by her side, and reminds her of their promise. Of her wish.
Kagiha: Your wish is my wish.
She remembers.
Beniyuri: That's right...this is the world I wished for.
Voice: Noone is hurt, and noone will hurt me.
We see Natsuki Mizutani in a suit getting ready for work with his wife Ai Mizutani. We see cute scenes of him pretending to enjoy her awful cooking, and her pretending to be hurt, ending in a tickle fight. We see them being domestic and affectionate and happy.
Me: Oh :(
Natzuki: Sometimes I worry that I don't deserve you. That your promise to me was a shackle.
Ai: No, it gave me hope, something to look forward to as I grew up.
Kagiha: Your wish is my wish. But I want my wish to be your wish as well. So please, give me your everything.
"His warmth, his voice...they soothe my loneliness. This is what I want."
Voice: Is it really?
Kagiha: What's wrong?
Beniyuri: I only hear the rain.
Kagiha: Let's sleep a little. I'm sure you won't even hear the rain before long. And we'll return to our happy days.
His sweet words paint her a painless world of endless happiness. Far, far away...
THE END
And then...I guess....she gives him the ribbon, and things end exactly the same way as before, and he is still dead. But now Ai knows exactly what she's lost ;_;
And that the BEST outcome I can think of. Maybe they both die!
On the one hand I still don't entirely ship it but on the other hand AHHHHHH MY HEART ;_;
The two characters where I had trouble imagining any happy ending were Kagiha and Hikage and I was curious to see what the game would do.
And now I know.
And Hikage is next /o\
I still don't have ANY IDEA what Kagiha has been DOING for the last ten years, or why Monshiro called him a monster. Maybe I'll learn later?
He was also far less yandere than I was expecting, but we may see more of that later as well /o\
This entry was originally posted at https://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/731368.html. There are
comments.
Me, before playing this path: I wonder how they'll make his story less sad?
Otomate, before writing this path: How can we make his story EVEN SADDER?
I realise that the baroque, confusing structure of this game is a bit much, especially since it's overlaying a largely linear narrative. But it feels weirdly appropriate for a story about being trapped in a confusing gothic manor, wandering endless hallways yet feeling like you have no control over your own fate.
Anyway now I gotta grind for *counts* twelve hundred points /o\
...and then I got Hikage and Kagiha's names mixed up and played a Hikage scene. GOOD JOB SELF.
Beniyuri collapses after shooting a monster so Hikage carries her back to base. She is very embarrassed and her heartrate speeds up, he seems not to realise why at first but then teases her about it, it's not clear if he's flirting or just thinks it's funny.
*grinds some more* I tried only shooting a few butterflies, so it's less tiring, and got LESS POINTS THAN IF I JUST QUIT RIGHT AWAY. Never mind THAT then.
I didn't bring my laptop with me so didn't keep track of the names/chapters of the various scenes, sorry! But this is in approximately chronological order.
Karasuba and Kagiha bond about how doggedly Beniyuri refuses to take their fairly blatant interest seriously. In front of her! And she still doesn't get it! It's cute that they're not jealous, even if I can't quite ship them. Karasuba says he's sure he's the same age as Beniyuri. Sorry, dude, you are her baby kohai.
A bunch of scenes where Beniyuri (or Ai as a kid) is sad or in need of help and Kagiha/Natsuki supports her calmly and affectionately. As an adult, he hugs her etc, and she feels much better, but then he blushes and apologises. Also he (very definitely accidentally) sees her underwear and they are both VERY EMBARRASSED.
Every now and then, touching or being with Kagiha gives Beniyuri a sense of de ja vu, or even brings back a memory. Thinking about losing Yamato, after he turns into a monster, resonates with a deep existing pain at the thought of losing a friend.
Also, being with Kagiha makes her feel warm, and comfortable, and they agree that it feels like they already knew each other. Beniyuri wonders if they were friends or something more.
They make pancakes together and it's very sweet. Just as I'm thinking "Maybe I misread the yandere cues, asides from him siding with the bad guys", he finds out that she made pancakes because Monshiro wanted some, and he gets a bit passive aggressive.
I hadn't reconsidered him rejecting Monshiro in the context of him genuinely being Natsuki, but also probably knowing who Monshiro is. That's...really awful! Kazuya was your friend, Natsuki :(
On the other hand...rescuing Kazuya got Natsuki killed. So I can see it being a mixture of resentment, romantic jealousy, and fear that Monshiro will reveal the truth and ruin Kagiha's plans.
Kagiha makes a comment about them being like newly weds, much to Beniyuri's embarassment, and tries to pull her close using the pancakes as an excuse. When she pulls away he pretends to have been joking. Once the pancakes are cooked he somewhat manipulatively gets her to agree to let him feed one to her, and have her feed one to him. *resets my yandere threat meter to moderate*
As we near the end, Beniyuri thinks about how kind Kagiha is, and tries not to read too much into it. HE IS. SO OBVIOUSLY INTO YOU.
She asks him why he's so against Monshiro, thinking that if he just gave him a chance he'd realise how nice Monshiro is. Kagiha doggedly denies any such bias, then tries to turn Beniyuri against him. Beniyuri gives up and sadly looks out the window at the featureless clouds, sad that their tiny group has such cracks. He leans against her, and with a voice weak with sorrow, apologises, saying that he's afraid she'll hate him. But he doesn't explain. She feels his warmth, and his pain, and wishes they could understand each other.
And now...the path split!
It's the night before they confront Hikage. Last time, I was offered no choices. This time, I had the choice to put things off, but didn't take it. I wonder if that leads to the Hikage path.
And last time Beniyuri had no choice but to be attracted to the light by the door and tricked into giving Kagiha her ribbon. I thought that would be an interestingly tragic scene on his path, but it turns out it's not going to happen. I now have the choice for Beniyuri to not notice the light, and instead listen to the sound of the rain, and apparently this is the way to get onto the Kagiha path.
She lies there, unable to sleep, thinking about how she trusted Hikage and then he betrayed her.
I'm sitting there waiting for Kagiha to show up. But instead, in the inescapable sound of the rain, Beniyuri hears a woman's laughter.
Voice: Hikage tricked us. And he didn't just lie, he used us and tried to have us killed. And you still want to believe in the others? Everyone is hiding something from you. Don't trust anyone.
Beniyuri: I believe in them! I trust them!
Voice: You're all alone. You deserve to be alone. Because that's what you want.
It's Beniyuri's voice, but crueler, and echoing. THE OTHER BENIYURI FROM THE TRAILER. Is she just dissociating? Is there really another her? Given the nature of this place, could her mind make one appear?
Beniyuri leaves the greenhouse and wanders the manor, trying to escape the voice, but it follows her.
Voice: I'll grant your wish.
Beniyuri: My wish?
Voice: You know the one.
Beniyuri: No!
She curls into a ball on the floor, covering her ears.
And then she sees Kagiha. He is concerned, and says he'll protect her from anything, and reaches out his hand...and she slaps it away, convinced he's an illusion.
He sits down beside her. As the voice keeps telling her not to trust him, he says he'll always stay by her side, and reminds her of their promise. Of her wish.
Kagiha: Your wish is my wish.
She remembers.
Beniyuri: That's right...this is the world I wished for.
Voice: Noone is hurt, and noone will hurt me.
We see Natsuki Mizutani in a suit getting ready for work with his wife Ai Mizutani. We see cute scenes of him pretending to enjoy her awful cooking, and her pretending to be hurt, ending in a tickle fight. We see them being domestic and affectionate and happy.
Me: Oh :(
Natzuki: Sometimes I worry that I don't deserve you. That your promise to me was a shackle.
Ai: No, it gave me hope, something to look forward to as I grew up.
Kagiha: Your wish is my wish. But I want my wish to be your wish as well. So please, give me your everything.
"His warmth, his voice...they soothe my loneliness. This is what I want."
Voice: Is it really?
Kagiha: What's wrong?
Beniyuri: I only hear the rain.
Kagiha: Let's sleep a little. I'm sure you won't even hear the rain before long. And we'll return to our happy days.
His sweet words paint her a painless world of endless happiness. Far, far away...
THE END
And then...I guess....she gives him the ribbon, and things end exactly the same way as before, and he is still dead. But now Ai knows exactly what she's lost ;_;
And that the BEST outcome I can think of. Maybe they both die!
On the one hand I still don't entirely ship it but on the other hand AHHHHHH MY HEART ;_;
The two characters where I had trouble imagining any happy ending were Kagiha and Hikage and I was curious to see what the game would do.
And now I know.
And Hikage is next /o\
I still don't have ANY IDEA what Kagiha has been DOING for the last ten years, or why Monshiro called him a monster. Maybe I'll learn later?
He was also far less yandere than I was expecting, but we may see more of that later as well /o\
This entry was originally posted at https://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/731368.html. There are
comments.