History Fridge / KatawaShoujo

*

* Rin wears the male uniform. And she wears a tie. Which shouldn't be possible because, you know, she doesn't has any arms! I know that she uses her feet to accomplish things other people use with their hands, but this is just ridiculous!

!! Hanako

* Hanako's room being bare and devoid of decorations is interesting in two regards. Firstly, it strongly resembles Hisao's room, and as he points out, his view of his condition, including lingering depression and the belief that it defines him, is not so different from hers. She also most likely had a similar experience in moving around between rooms, going from her own room to the hospital, then the orphanage, and now to Yamaku. Secondly, her OnlyFriend at the start of the game and the only person besides Hisao to set foot in her room is blind.

** Not only that, but death by fire is...a very painful and not at ''all'' pretty way to go. Assuming Mrs. Ikezawa didn't pass out or die earlier from smoke inhalation, [[NightmareFuel Hanako would have had to hear her screaming in agony, see her skin burn off her face and split, turn red...]]

*** What probably causes her to act the most defensively around people is the fact that no matter how you look at her, you end up either put off by her body or compelled to protect her for the same reason. This is why Lilly is the only one she's able to interact with - since she's blind, she has no prejudices over Hanako's appearance and therefore treats her as an equal, a fact highlighted by the way the both of them need each other to complement the other's weaknesses - sight for Lilly, social interactions for Hanako. She's not scared because of her past as much as scared about the fact no one will consider her an actual person in the future.

*** And how could it be worse? It happens again, only this time It's your fault. Twice.

* One of the key choices that players seem to get stuck on comes at the end of her route. Namely, the choice between "then explain" and "I need to understand". Although the two choices seem identical, they're actually quite different. One choice puts the onus on Rin: "You can't explain it, so you're at fault." The other places the ball in Hisao's court: "I don't understand it, so I need to learn to understand." This is the difference between Rin withdrawing deeper into her art and reaching out towards Hisao.
** The difference between the choices is also important in that "Then explain" demonstrates that Hisao is just like everyone else that fails to understand Rin, because he isn't even making the effort to understand. "I need to understand" shows the opposite, because it shows that while Hisao still doesn't understand Rin he is attempting to do so to a level that is practically desperate. The third choice, only available if Hiaso decides earlier that he wants to support Rin more than he wants to get close to her, is "It doesn't matter", and this also leads down the path to the good and neutral endings because Hisao is starting to accept that he and Rin may never be able to bridge the gap between them but might be able to be together regardless.
*** In short, by choosing "then explain" you actually ask a girl who has been established as utterly unable to express her thoughts verbally or even to herself... to EXPLAIN to you her deepest emotions? Goes very close to WhatTheHellHero territory.

* FridgeHorror abounds in Rin's route. She spends weeks in a room, not sleeping, nearly starving herself, and smoking cigarettes. Think about how ''easy'' it would be for her to rationalize suicide in that mindset. Also consider the fact that she outright ''said'' she was trying to destroy herself. What would've happened if she had never regained her ability to paint?

* In regards to Nomiya and him helping Rin by making special arrangements so she can focus on her art, his behavior seems to take on a darker light once you realize that he's basically railroading Rin down the same path as Sae's deceased husband. And if his rant towards Rin in Act 4 [[PsychologicalProjection is any indication]], it's possible that he was hoping to use her as a means to gain the artistic success he never had. Furthermore, considering how old he is, it does beg the question: Was Rin the first student he tried to help for his own? And if she wasn't, did Nomiya succeed in vicariously living through their success or did he abandon them when it was clear to him that they weren't going to succeed in becoming artists?

* In regards to Nomiya and him helping Rin by making special arrangements so she can focus on her art, his behavior seems to take on a darker light once you realize that he's basically railroading Rin down the same path as Sae's deceased husband. And if his rant towards Rin in Act 4 [[PsychologicalProjection is any indication, it's possible that he was hoping to use her as a means to gain the artistic success he never had. Furthermore, considering how old he is, it does beg the question: Was Rin the first student he tried to help for his own? And if she wasn't, did Nomiya succeed in vicariously living through their success or did he abandon them when it was clear to him that they weren't going to succeed in becoming artists?

[[AC:Emi]]
!! Fridge Brilliance

!! Fridge Horror

[[AC:Hanako]]
!! Fridge Brilliance

!! Fridge Horror

[[AC:Lilly]]
!! Fridge Brilliance

!! Fridge Horror

[[AC:Rin]]
!! Fridge Brilliance

!! Fridge Horror

[[AC:Shizune]]
!! Fridge Brilliance

!! Fridge Horror

[[AC:Kenji]]
!! Fridge Brilliance

!! Fridge Horror

[[AC:Meta]]
!! Fridge Brilliance

!! Fridge Horror

!!FridgeLogic

** Having an issue somethign like Rin's at times? I can testify that having thoughts on paper might not work, if she gets irritated that people don't UNDERSTAND the paper. And, considering how difficult her communication is? Her thoughts on paper would likely be stream of consciousness rambling, using words in weird ways, etc.

!!FridgeBrilliance

!!FridgeHorror
[[AC:Emi]]
* In Emi's path, the following exchange takes place:
-->'''Meiko:''' Rin's art is one of those things that I don't think I'll ever understand.
-->'''Emi:''' That's not surprising. I don't think Rin expects to be understood.
** Earlier, in "Mind Your Step", Lilly mentions that she doesn't understand Rin, so she keeps her distance. When you read this knowing of Rin's struggles with expressing herself in her own path, HarsherInHindsight hits you like a sledgehammer. Gets bonus points for the fact that Lily relies heavily on speech for communication due to her blindness, and Rin's command of the spoken word is... not good. Even if she didn't keep her distance, it would still be ''horribly'' hard for them to interact and understand each other, simply because of practical reasons.
[[AC:Hanako]]
* In Hanako's route, when she tells you about the fire that scarred her, she notes: "My mother... tried to shield me. Th-that's the only reason... I lived." [[NightmareFuel Hanako watched her mother die in an attempt to protect her]]. All of a sudden, her severe emotional trauma makes total sense.
** Not only that, but death by fire is...a very painful and not at ''all'' pretty way to go. Assuming Mrs. Ikezawa didn't pass out or die earlier from smoke inhalation, [[NightmareFuel Hanako would have had to hear her screaming in agony, see her skin burn off her face and split, turn red...]]
*** And God only knows how long it took for the fire department to come. Hanako could have been laying, burnt and traumatized, under the horribly burnt and mangled corpse of her mother, for... God, even fifteen minutes would seem like an eternity in that situation, and it could have been ''much'' longer than that, maybe even ''hours''...
*** Even more horrifying, though is that ''the fire wasn't what gave her the massive social issues she has''. Instead, it was the [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer reactions of her "friends" afterwards]] that truly did it, making her want to become an UnPerson.
*** What probably causes her to act the most defensively around people is the fact that no matter how you look at her, you end up either put off by her body or compelled to protect her for the same reason. This is why Lilly is the only one she's able to interact with - since she's blind, she has no prejudices over Hanako's appearance and therefore treats her as an equal, a fact highlighted by the way the both of them need each other to complement the other's weaknesses - sight for Lilly, social interactions for Hanako. She's not scared because of her past as much as scared about the fact no one will consider her an actual person in the future.
[[AC:Lily]]
* Think about it. How [[FridgeHorror horrifying]] would it be if you can hear one of your friends in distress, but you can't see them, have no way of finding them, and don't know how serious the problem is? Congratulations, you now know what Lilly was feeling when Hisao suffers a heart attack during their holiday vacation.
** The friend you secretly have a crush on, at that.
*** And how could it be worse? It happens again, only this time It's your fault. Twice.
[[AC:Rin]]
* FridgeHorror abounds in Rin's route. She spends weeks in a room, not sleeping, nearly starving herself, and smoking cigarettes. Think about how ''easy'' it would be for her to rationalize suicide in that mindset. Also consider the fact that she outright ''said'' she was trying to destroy herself. What would've happened if she had never regained her ability to paint?
** Let's not forget her second Bad Ending. She tells Hisao that she has decided to accept a scholarship that Nomiya and Sae arranged for her in Tokyo, and begs Hisao to forget about her and live his life since [[ButNowIMustGo she will leave and not be herself anymore.]] Remember, however, that according to Nomiya, Sae's husband was a very talented artist who developed huge issues and committed suicide years ago. This means that [[GenreSavvy Rin]] is aware that she'll be a great artistic hit in Tokyo, but at the cost of potentially developing the same problems that drove Sae's husband to kill himself; she's telling Hisao to forget her because she believes it's a sure thing she'll destruct herself in the end (and she's likely ''right''), and doesn't want him to [[ItsAllMyFault suffer and blame himself for not having stopped her]], [[GenerationXerox like it most likely happened to Sae when she couldn't stop her husband's fall into self destruction]]...
** A lot of what Rin says is very scary if you think of it as being completely serious and not just more random weirdness. Like this bit in Emi's route: '''Rin:''' "So artists can't find romance, their favorite TV shows are cancelled, or they die young because of an unspecified disease." Now imagine she thinks that way about herself. Yikes.
** Also largely ignored is Misha's talk of suicide ("wouldn't it be better if I just died?") in Shizune's path... in a similar way as Rin's.
* Another little bit of FridgeHorror for Rin's path. When Hisao finds her in the atelier, she asks if he's her friend, and he agrees but also lets her know what she wants from him is not something friends do. Her response is simply to ask if they can't be friends anymore. You find out on Emi's path that Rin does not feel the need to change the term friend to boyfriend or girlfriend. Hisao, in Rin's mind, pretty much said that if they had sex, they would have to break up. (It's '''not''' like that in his case, but she's no mind reader.)
* Rin paints to express herself and to try and communicate her thoughts to others. If her paintings are meant to represent her thoughts and feelings, then why do so many of them fall into SurrealHorror? Especially the mural, which consists of contorted bodies and screaming faces. No wonder why her thoughts seem to startle her in her opening FMV. It makes you wonder exactly what is running through that head of hers when paintings like that represent her thoughts.
[[AC:Shizune/Misha]]
* In Shizune's route, you learn that Misha frequently skips classes after overeating, an act that she keeps doing despite her knowing her limits. Given her hidden suicidal side, it becomes much clearer that it's an act of self destruction rather than her faux stubbornness.
** Also, worth noting is that overeating is often [[ComfortFood a symptom of depression]].
* During a dialogue with Hisao, Misha implies that she was a victim of bullying because she was gay, and came to the school as way to escape that, stating that even if everyone hated her they'd at least "leave her alone". Then she meets Shizune who has no problems with her being gay but rejects her regardless, and then unintentionally makes it worse by stating that they're friends. Being constantly around a person who's rejected you but depends on you to talk to a boy she's developed feelings for is probably incredibly painful.
* When Yuuko is taking pictures of the students at the end of Shizune's path, Hisao asks for a copy and Yuuko says to keep it a secret or everyone will want one. Misha replies that she had to do the same but with sweets. [[{{WMG}} Could be perfectly innocent,]] but abuse as a child could be a [[AmbiguousDisorder grim explanation]] of her StepfordSmiler [[BrokenBird tendencies]] and [[BigEater signs]] of depression.
** Pretty sure she meant that she had to keep the candy secret or else everyone would want some.
[[AC:Kenji]]
* Kenji states at one point that the ideal way to kill someone is to push them off the roof to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident. The Bad Ending for Act One involves Hisao being brought up to the roof with Kenji, then falling off. ''Kenji may be a potential murderer.''
* If Hisao had survived his fall or averted it entirely, would he still be friends with Kenji and become as bitter and misogynistic as him? Or would he reject him and go down a path of isolation and self destruction?
[[AC:Meta]]

** Let's just put it that once you get into Shizune's route, you have to be a near WhatAnIdiot to reach her Bad Ending. Why? Bedding your lover's best friend. That will pretty much turn off any girl in RealLife as well.

* During the "Manly Picnic" with Kenji, he drunkenly goes on a rant on how unfair his life has been ever since he and his first girlfriend broke up. Of particular note is his mention of how he feels trapped in his own existence, how he feels he has no choices or opportunities. Being the protagonist of a dating sim, Hisao had choices and opportunities in abundance up until that point. But he made all the wrong choices, ignored all the opportunities the game presented to him, and winds up drunk on a rooftop for his troubles. Not only that, Hisao actually starts to agree with Kenji on certain points during his drunken anti-feminist rants. The implication - By ignoring the opportunities for love and happiness surrounding him, Hisao has doomed himself to become as bitter and lonely as Kenji. Or he would have, if he hadn't fallen to his death in that ending.

* [[DysfunctionJunction Every heroine in the cast has their own set of personal issues]]. While some may not cause problems if they aren't in a relationship with the main character, others have issues that could very well lead them to a horrible fate regardless of whether or not Hisao comes into their lives. What happens to them without Hisao's interference? Perhaps it's best that we don't find out. That, [[RuleOfPerception or if we don't see it, it doesn't happen.]]
** Of course, Hisao has his own influence on them that, in some ways makes them worse (but to an extent, forces them to confront said issues).
*** Hanako's complexes become worse due to Hisao's white knighting, whereas in Lilly's path, she opens up somewhat more easily and makes friends besides him and Lilly.
*** Rin is hesitant about the art exhibit, (and in Emi's path, is slightly annoyed by Nomiya's telling her to work harder), until Hisao convinces her to go for it.
*** Misha's pain over Shizune's rejection is exacerbated by Hisao getting closer to Shizune. Then again, their impending graduation also plays a part, and Shizune's route is the only one that goes past summer vacation.

* In Emi's path, the following exchange takes place:
-->'''Meiko:''' Rin's art is one of those things that I don't think I'll ever understand.
-->'''Emi:''' That's not surprising. I don't think Rin expects to be understood.
** Earlier, in "Mind Your Step", Lilly mentions that she doesn't understand Rin, so she keeps her distance. When you read this knowing of Rin's struggles with expressing herself in her own path, HarsherInHindsight hits you like a sledgehammer. Gets bonus points for the fact that Lily relies heavily on speech for communication due to her blindness, and Rin's command of the spoken word is... not good. Even if she didn't keep her distance, it would still be ''horribly'' hard for them to interact and understand each other, simply because of practical reasons.
* How do you think a family feels when two girls of similar ages are born with disabilities? It might explain why the fathers hate each other.
** Making the whole situation worse, their disabilities completely and perfectly lock them out from ever truly communicating. Even if they go through an interpreter, there's a chance that certain things will get lost in translation, whether due to a TactfulTranslation or simple human error.
*** Well, not ''perfectly''. Lilly could learn sign language, "seeing" it by touch (as people who are both blind and deaf do), among other options. Helen Keller managed to do it.
* Lily's ending. Hisao has suffered a second major heart attack, and it might very well have shortened his life expectancy. And it still applies even if you got the good ending.
** It can be even worse. During the sex scene in which Hisao gets a heart attack, he notes that Lilly is pitying him, and she obviously feels guilty for that heart attack of his. In the good ending, she comes back after he chases after her and gets yet another, much more severe heart attack, indirectly because of her. When she found out, she obviously felt guilty, and came back. If Hisao doesn't chase after her, and doesn't get a heart attack, she doesn't come back. Hisao basically guilt-tripped her into coming back, and she did it out of guilt and pity for him. How do you think their relationship is going to proceed from that point? Do you think she isn't going to blame him for the fact that she didn't move to Scotland, to where her whole family now lives, because of him?
*** I find the above point a little negative and maybe slightly skewed. Bear in mind that in her route, she doesn't know her parents all that well, and even though she had a good time during her stay in Scotland, she missed her two closest friends. When you find out later that her parents want her to come to Scotland, when her life and her friends are at Yamaku, she doesn't take the news well and, because she doesn't like to lean on others regarding her own problems, she waits until it's pretty much too late to influence her decision, one she feels is wrong. In the good ending, Lilly and Hisao are very well aware that his life might be cut short at any given time, but their relationship is something that they both want and are willing to pursue for as long as he's alive.
** Given the increasing improvements of treatments for heart ailments and the fact that the Japanese tend to have higher life expectancies than other developed nations,Hisao has better chance for a longer life even with his condition.

* Well of course Kenji's route is the bad ending. Kenji reflects the type of player who is so embittered with their life that they choose not to try and improve it and then decide to throw their lot with a mentally ill (possibly closeted) misogynist whose ill-fated attempt to get closer to Hisao on the school roof actually gets him killed by accident.

* In Lilly's route, Hisao passes off her sudden enjoyment of wine as a [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl vice]], similar to her tea addiction. Initially, this judgement makes sense considering [[spoiler: she got drunk the first time she tried it]], but then FridgeBrilliance kicks in. Anyone who's ever tried to [[WineIsClassy taste wine properly]] knows that there are a multitude of factors involved in judging a wine, most of which are ''not'' related to its appearance. Things like smell, texture, body, acidity, variety of grape, aftertaste, flavours etc. To Hisao, or most people for that matter, these would be an afterthought since it's just booze to him. To Lilly, these things would immediately stick out to her since her other senses are so much more sensitive. Even the sound of the wine sloshing about in the glass would be something new and exciting to Lilly, so it's no surprise she takes such a fast liking to it.

** Both coffee and alcohol have an effect on heart rate. He's also far more active in short bursts but has no gradual exercise in that route.

*** In short, you actually asked a girl who has been established as utterly unable to express her thoughts verbally to EXPLAIN to you her deepest emotions? Goes very close to WhatTheHellHero territory.

* In Act Two, Rin tells you that what she most fears is changing herself, because every time she does, she thinks she comes off worse, not to mention the difficulty she has with it in the first place. In her good ending, she tells you that all she was ever afraid of was Hisao's kindness. When you consider how Hisao acted in Acts One and Two, and the impression she got from that, and then how he gradually tries to get closer to her instead of acting indifferent as he would otherwise (even though they do have two separate fights), it becomes clear that all this time, the problems in their relationship stemmed not only from Hisao's inability to understand her or be at peace with himself, but also from Rin's total inability to deal with this kind of attention, as she's never recieved it before, and the fear of it changing herself into something she wasn't, as reflected in her confusion over the way she acted in her second H-scene, where she is much more forward and direct than anywhere else.

** Earlier, in "Mind Your Step", Lilly mentions that she doesn't understand Rin, so she keeps her distance. When you read this knowing of Rin's struggles with expressing herself in her own path]], HarsherInHindsight hits you like a sledgehammer. Gets bonus points for the fact that Lily relies heavily on speech for communication due to her blindness, and Rin's command of the spoken word is....not good. Even if she didn't keep her distance, it would still be ''horribly'' hard for them to interact and understand each other, simply because of practical reason.

'''SPOILERS ARE [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff UNMARKED]]''' (expect the ones most likely seen immediately upon opening this page)'''. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''

* Think about it. How [[FridgeHorror horrifying]] would it be [[AdultFear if you can hear one of your friends in distress, but you can't see them, have no way of finding them, and don't know how serious the problem is]]? Congratulations, you now know what Lilly was feeling when Hisao suffers a heart attack during their holiday vacation.

* Perhaps somewhat amusingly, of all the characters, Lilly most clearly shows a sexually dominant streak - [[spoiler: demanding sex frequently and on her terms, teasing Hisao, ordering him around (e.g. "close your eyes and don't peek") and eventually even tying him.]] This seems like a regular cases of CovertPervert or the stereotypical "oppressed Catholic school girl running wild" until you realize that it might very well be a dark, unintentional manifestation of the same parts of her personality which lead to her caring so hard for people that they end up feeling useless and hating her. Subconsciously, she wants to have a feeling of power over others - maybe to compensate for the fact that, being a blind woman in a world of sighted people, she can't help but feel a little bit powerless herself, no matter how well she deals with her disability.

* Shizune's cinematic soundtrack. At the start of her short she points a constelation bright into the night sky made of 3 stars (aparently the Orion belt, known for their firm and shiny trinity). In her route, Shizune, Misha and Hisao outstands above everyone else just like the constelation she remarks; thus the name for the song used in said cinematic: "Three stars".
** It's actually the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Triangle Summer Triangle]].

** I had no drinks in my mouth to spit, but let it be known that if I had some, it'd be your fault. You just enlightened me.

*** In short, you actually asked a girl who has been established as utterly unable to express her thoughts verbally to EXPLAIN to you her deepest emotions? Goes very close to WhatTheHellHero territory.]

'''SPOILERS ARE [[SpoilersOff UNMARKED]]''' (expect the ones most likely seen immediately upon opening this page)'''. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''

'''SPOILERS ARE [[SpoilersOff UNMARKED]]''' (expect the ones most likely seen immediately upon opening this page)'''. YouHaveBeenWarned.'''

'''SPOILERS ARE UNMARKED''' (expect the ones most likely seen immediately upon opening this page)'''. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.'''

*** And God only knows how long it took for the fire department to come. [[spoiler: Hanako could have been laying, burnt and traumatized, under the horribly burnt and mangled corpse of her mother, for... God, even fifteen minutes would seem like an eternity in that situation, and it could have been ''much'' longer than that, maybe even ''hours''...]]