History VisualNovel / SlowDamage

* AnAesop:
** There are two ways to deal with past trauma: you decide it no longer matters and focus only on the present and the future, or you confront it and gain closure before moving on. But whichever you choose to do, you still have a chance at a life of peace and happiness with the people who care for you.
** Everyone is shaped by their past, but it's up to them to shape their own future.
** It's only human to hesitate and have doubts. But one way or another, you will need to come to a decision since the longer you waver, the more you and the others around you will get hurt.
** Your gender orientation and your sexual orientation are two separate things. One does not necessarily define the other.
** Family ''is'' important. However, it's an undeniable truth that while every child deserves a parent, not every parent deserves a child, and there are some AbusiveParents out there who aren't worthy of forgiveness whatsoever. Should a parent greatly wrong their child, said child has every right to despise and renounce their parent/s as much as they have the right to give them a second chance.
** Be careful with what you say to someone. It takes a great deal of effort to say the right things needed to get another person to open up about themselves, but it only takes a few poor choice of words to make everything fall apart beyond repair.
** A life of abuse can only excuse so much, but under no circumstances will it ever excuse you trying to [[TheChainOfHarm make everyone else go through that same life]], whatever your motives (or lack thereof) may be.
** The situation of the debtors in Shinkoumi make one thing clear: unless you're absolutely sure that you have the means to pay back the money you'll be borrowing, think twice or even thrice before incurring a debt. Otherwise, you'll only end up digging yourself deeper and deeper, and the chances of you getting lucky enough to escape your predicament are highly unlikely.

** The player, especially in their first playthrough, will not have an easy time figuring out how to complete an Interrogation without getting a NonstandardGameOver at least once. The game itself is even aware of this and will offer the player the option to lower the difficulty after they have bungled an Interrogation at least three times. However, once the player has completed the entirety of the game and decides to start a second playthrough and opts to replay the Interrogations instead of skipping them, they are now shown which dialogue option will increase or decrease the character's Euphoria and Madness levels and which Clue is the correct one needed to conclude the Interrogation.

* EarnYourBadEnding: The tricky nature of the visual novel's choice system makes it that while it's hard enough to get the Euphoria ending, it's even harder to achieve the Madness ending since one has to make sure -- on top of monitoring the character's Madness level -- that their Euphoria also does not drop too low lest they get a NonstandardGameOver.

* GuideDangIt: All of Nitro+[=CHiRAL=]'s previous works made use of a straightforward binary choice system in their gameplay. On the other hand, ''Slow Damage'''s choice system is more complicated and is essentially divided into the Explorations and Interrogations. Whenever the game gets to an Interrogation where Towa has to converse with a character and get them to open up about their secrets, it's never clear which choice will lead to the good ending, the bad ending, or a NonstandardGameOver, as the goal in each Interrogation will always differ and one's advantage in achieving the desired outcome will vary based on the decisions the player has made prior to that point. The tutorials even make sure to warn the player that the choice system can and ''will'' be tricky.

* MultipleEndings: Besides the NonstandardGameOver that can be achieved if the player either makes the wrong decisions during [[spoiler:Ikuina, Asakura or Kirihara]]'s Interrogation or [[spoiler:lets Towa sleep with Kotarou or Mayu]], each of Towa's love interests has a unique bad (Madness) and good (Euphoria) ending, respectively.

* NonstandardGameOver:

** In the common route, the player usually gets a NonstandardGameOver by [[spoiler:letting Towa get carried away with having his "models" enact their darkest desires on him]]. Therefore, it would be expected that they would [[spoiler:have Towa be more cautious in his encounter with the vampire]] in Chapter 0 [[note]] Which is unlocked after completing Taku, Rei, and Madarame's routes [[/note]] to avoid the same outcome. However, the player is actually required to [[spoiler:achieve the Madness outcome and let Towa have the vampire go overboard in sucking his blood]], as this key choice will then [[spoiler:cause the progression of the plot to lock onto Fujieda's route; otherwise, the story will reset back to the events of the common route]].

* OptionalSexualEncounter: In Taku and Rei's routes, the player has the chance to let Towa hook up with [[spoiler:either Mayu or Kotarou if their Euphoria levels are high enough prior to their run-in]]. If they do so, however, it results in a NonstandardGameOver.

* SexualKarma: [[spoiler:Kotaro and Mayu's endings would not qualify as ''bad'' endings, since all that happened was that Towa hooked up with either of them, and the entire affair was mutually consensual]]. Even then, their endings are still a NonstandardGameOver because it potentially affects how the rest of the plot might play out, and since Towa has yet to get together with either Rei or Taku at that point, the encounter further reinforces Towa's stance on preferring casual sex over a committed relationship.

** In an Interrogation, however, this trope is subverted. The player only has a limited number of "turns" to ensure that the character's Euphoria and/or Madness stays within a passable level up until the player has to select a Clue to end the Interrogation. Otherwise, they get a NonstandardGameOver.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Inverted. ''Slow Damage'' takes place ''years'' after the 2020s, although everything about the setting is very much just like the early 2020s in RealLife. The only thing that's remotely futuristic is that the people now use a 7G internet connection (whereas as of 2023, the fastest existing connection is 5G).

* AbsurdlyHighStakesGame: Downplayed in Rei's route, where [[spoiler:Sakaki invites Towa to play a game of poker with him. If Towa wins, he gets 300 million yen in cash, which is the exact amount needed to pay off the remainder of Rei's (more specifically, his father's) debt. If Sakaki wins, Towa has to do one favor for him, though it's never revealed what favor he has in mind, even if the player lets Sakaki get the upper hand]].

* AccidentalMurder: According to Sakaki, [[spoiler:Maya and Towa accidentally fell down the stairs, which resulted in the former's death and the latter's amnesia]]. The truth, however, is that [[spoiler:Towa inadvertently pushed Maya down the stairs while trying to fight her off as she was trying to kill him]].

** By contrast, the trope is completely subverted in Madarame and Fujieda's routes. [[spoiler:With both Toono and Sakaki's deaths, the Takasato-gumi's collapse is an inevitability and the mainland's intervention spells irreversible changes for Shinkoumi.]]

* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Towa and Rei are a straight-sex example of the trope, with Towa being pragmatic and stoic and Rei being the lively and friendly one of the duo. While Towa is no wimp in a fight, Rei is obviously more physically active given his frequent participation in Deathmatches.

* AbandonedWarehouse: In Chapter 2 of Rei's route, [[spoiler: both Towa and Rei get knocked out]] and are taken to a warehouse that also happens to be [[spoiler: the hideout of the violent Hapless Children responsible for the Assault Parties]].
* AbsurdlyHighStakesGame: Downplayed in Rei's route, where [[spoiler: Sakaki invites Towa to play a game of poker with him. If Towa wins, he gets 300 million yen in cash, which is the exact amount needed to pay off the remainder of Rei's (more specifically, his father's) debt. If Sakaki wins, Towa has to do one favor for him, though it's never revealed what favor he has in mind, even if the player lets Sakaki get the upper hand]].

* BareHandedBladeBlock: ''Catch'', to be precise. During a fight with [[spoiler: one of Toono's more HotBlooded men]], said henchman attempts to attack Towa with a knife. Towa catches him off-guard by grabbing the blade with his barehand, causing his palm to bleed.

** Downplayed in Rei and Taku's Euphoria endings, where both love interests resolve their conflicts for good, and Towa gets to live a happy and content life with them, though the fact remains that [[spoiler: Towa will never learn of his past and fully come to terms with his childhood trauma]], especially in hindsight of TheReveal in Fujieda's route. What mitigates this is the events of the ''After Story'' drama [=CDs=] showing that [[spoiler: while Towa doesn't get to have closure with his past, his relationship with both Taku and Rei is still helping him heal to some degree]].

* BloodierAndGorier: Zigzagged. ''Slow Damage'' is darker and more mature in its portrayal of its themes compared to [[VisualNovel/DramaticalMurder its predecessor]], with elements of both PsychologicalThriller and PsychologicalHorror placed at the forefront of the story. There's also a lot of bodily and bloody harm involved as well, many of which are both narrated and shown in detail. That being said, the gore factor is taken down a few notches in ''Slow Damage'' compared to the last four Nitro+[=CHiRAL=] games, partly due to its more realistic setting. Case in point, [[spoiler: there's no disembowelment, cannibalism, bestiality and amputation involved, with the previous games having at least two of them included in their bad endings]].

* BridalCarry: In the drama CD covering the aftermath of Taku's storyline, Towa insists that Taku carries him around the house whenever he can, and it's one of his ways of asking for the other to dote on him. Towa jokingly notes that he also wishes to test Taku's strength as the latter became more fit [[spoiler: from working out during his time behind bars]].

** The one and only time Towa got to stand up to [[spoiler: his mother was shortly after he learned that Mei had died and that Maya had something to do with it]]... though the outcome of that confrontation [[spoiler:nearly became the last straw for Towa's sanity had his mind decided to not suppress the memory]].

** The painting that Towa sees in Tajima's. He wonders why it's even there as it doesn't fit the aesthetic of the shop, never mind the fact that it just features a completely black background. [[spoiler: It's actually a bright and colorful painting that Towa saw in his childhood, and is the same painting that inspired him to take up art. Only in the GoldenEnding does Towa see the painting for what it really is, which fills him with emotion and it hits him that after overcoming his trauma, he has both literally and metaphorically begun to see the world in a different way.]]

* DestroyTheAbusiveHome: A variation of the trope occurs in the GoldenEnding, where the mansion [[spoiler:Towa spent his torturous and harrowing childhood in ends up being obliterated for good]]. Not [[spoiler:by Towa's actions]], however, but completely by other extraneous forces, as it was [[spoiler: a mysterious explosion (which is assumed to be from gas leak) that caused the mansion to get swallowed up by a sinkhole]].
* DoctorsDisgracefulDemotion: After Taku [[spoiler: is tried and convicted for his association with Toono, both he and Towa expect that he may never be able to resume his job as a doctor again]]. However, the ''After Story'' drama CD subverts this; in spite of what happened, [[spoiler: the public is still looking forward to having him reopen his clinic. Taku is then left ruminating for a while on whether he really should go through with it given all the crimes he had committed, even though said crimes were done under duress. But in the end, he decides to officially reopen the clinic.]]

** Taken to a disturbing conclusion in [[spoiler: Taku's Madness ending, where he drugs Towa and keeps him in a basement in a twisted attempt to protect him. While locked up, Towa is administered with psychedelics to the extent that his mind becomes completely addled and he starts to see things that aren't there, namely insects]].

* EveryScarHasAStory: When Towa sees [[spoiler: Fujieda's scars, he realizes that there's a lot more to the man than he first assumed. Fujieda]] later admits that he thought the same when he first saw Towa's scars and already felt back then that they may be more alike than they realize.
* EvolvingCredits: Once the player starts Fujieda's route, the opening sequence will soon play like always. But if one pays close attention, [[https://youtu.be/WEBYEX16044 some things are changed]]: the love interests are introduced using different sprites and some of the [=CGs=] used are different from before. Lastly, [[spoiler: the color of the back of the pocket watch changes from gold to crimson, and the visage reflected on it is [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgfdFtjaYAEKNR_?format=jpg&name=large no longer Towa's]], but [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgfdGEcaUAA37GT?format=jpg&name=large Maya's]] instead]].

** Whenever a day ends in-game, it's marked by the game title swiping across the screen. The title color, which is red at first, will eventually change to the ColorMotif of any of the love interests that Towa will end up pursuing: orange (Taku), yellow (Rei), blue (Madarame), or white (Fujieda). [[spoiler: In Fujieda's case, however, there's an additional change of color as the story progresses. Halfway through, the white text soon gains a tinge of red, before completely becoming the same shade of red used in the common route.]]
** After the player finishes at least one route, Towa's pocket watch will show up as an additional menu option that allows the player to access the CG gallery, the background music tracks and all other bonus content. Then once the player has gone through Taku, Rei and Madarame's routes, the dolls at the far left of the screen will move to the center as yet another option for the player to "pursue the truth", a.k.a. play Chapter 0, which [[spoiler: serves as the prologue to either Fujieda's route or the common route]].
** With every route the player completes, the black painting on the center of the title screen gains more colors, and the entire screen also becomes brighter and more riddled with psychedelic hues. [[spoiler: Once Fujieda's route is completed, the title screen undergoes a ''permanent change'': the background of the screen (which is Towa's room) is now white and well-lit, and the painting's true appearance is now revealed. To add, the default music that plays in the menu is changed from "Nightmare" to "Joy", the latter of which is similar to the former but without the OneWomanWail.]]

** As Taku assures Towa that [[spoiler: he had no feelings for the latter's mother, he says, "I admit that there was once a time when I admired your mother."]] While it's easy to miss at first, once the player completes Fujieda's route, they'll realize that Taku's statement was phrased as such because there was something in Taku's sentence that was left unsaid, that being [[spoiler: "''...before I found out about what she had been doing to you.''"]]

* EyeScream: Towa no longer has his right eye, and covers the eyelid with a medical patch. This is because said eye got damaged [[spoiler: when he attempted to take a shot meant for Madarame, with the bullet rupturing his eyeball]].

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: In "Chapter 2: Brother", Rei saves Mizuno when he sees the latter beaten and left for dead in the streets. [[spoiler: It turns out he had rescued the very mastermind behind the Assault Parties, and ends up becoming a victim of not one, but two of their beatdowns.]]

* FiveStagesOfGrief: The opening sequence to Taku's route shows him going through denial, anger and bargaining [[spoiler: upon seeing his mother's corpse]]. At present, he had already long come to terms with [[spoiler: the fact that his mother is dead]]. But at the same time, he's still trapped in the fourth stage (depression), as [[spoiler: her death still haunts him and is one of the main contributing factors for several of his personal flaws, one of them being his overly protective behavior towards Towa]]. Depending on whether the player gets his Madness ending or his Euphoria ending, Taku can either regress back to denial and bargaining or take a few steps closer towards complete acceptance. While the ''After Story'' drama CD does hint that [[spoiler: his mother's death will always continue to weigh on him in some way, Taku nevertheless resolves to not let his fears or his grief make him waver in his choices any longer]].

* FrameUp: [[spoiler: Kaga was killed by Toono when the infighting within the Takasato-gumi reached its breaking point, but the murder was pinned on Madarame.]]

* GoldenEnding: [[spoiler: Fujieda]]'s route is the true route of the game, but it can only be unlocked after the player has completed the good endings of all the other love interests.

** In both Madarame and Fujieda's routes, [[spoiler: Taku is abducted by Madarame in the latter's attempt to lure out Towa]].

** Zigzagged in Taku's attempts to [[spoiler: keep Towa from remembering his past]]. Taku doesn't take any pride or joy in doing so, and even shows some remorse when Towa confronts him about it. However, Taku still believes that [[spoiler:Towa is better off being left in the dark]], and is determined to [[spoiler: keep his lips sealed]] because he knows that if he [[spoiler:lets Towa even recall a hint about his childhood]], he'll risk [[spoiler:shattering Towa's already vulnerable sanity]]-- a fear that's proven correct at one point, [[spoiler:with only Fujieda's timely intervention preventing the worst case scenario from happening]]. Part of the reason why Towa eventually stops being mad at Taku is because he comes to understand that whether Taku's actions were objectively the right or wrong thing to do, he only meant well with what he had done.

** A dark example of the trope occurs in Taku's Madness ending. Taku demands that [[spoiler: Toono let him and Towa go back home once Taku finishes making the drug]], which he promises to do so in three days. Toono agrees, and once Taku completes his task, [[spoiler: Toono has them driven back to the clinic]] without any further trouble.
** In Rei's route, Sakaki challenges Towa to a game of poker under the condition that [[spoiler: he'll pay off Rei's debt in full if Towa wins]]. When Towa does get the upper hand, Sakaki keeps his end of the bargain.
* IHaveThisFriend: [[spoiler: When Fujieda is questioned about his relationship with Mei Yuzuki and why he's looking for her, he responds that she's a sister of his friend and that he's acting on his friend's behalf...]] except that he's actually referring to himself.
* IKissYourHand: In one of his rants about [[spoiler: his sad excuse of a father]], Rei starts pounding his fists against the floor to let out his rage. Shortly after, Towa is overcome with the urge to take Rei's hand and kiss his bloodied knuckles as a means to both console the other man and express his affections to him.
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: When Towa finally agrees to paint Ikuina, he subtly lets Ikuina know that he figured out [[spoiler: what the other has been doing to the people who would pass out on the streets]].
--> '''Towa''': If I [[spoiler: get blackout drunk tonight, you'll nurse me back to health]], right?

* InterfaceScrew: The player may notice that the screen occasionally flickers in some scenes. While it looks like a graphical bug at first, it soon becomes obvious that the flickering only happens whenever any of the characters says the word "''daijoubu''" [[note]] which translates into either "Are you okay?", "It's alright", and similar other sentences [[/note]]. The true route eventually reveals why: [[spoiler: the word is a severe TraumaButton for Towa, which makes the flickering an OminousVisualGlitch]].

--> This game contains references to [[spoiler: child abuse, rape, human trafficking, suicide, self-injury, medical malpractice, drug and alcohol abuse, and gender dysphoria]].

** It eventually becomes obvious that [[spoiler: Mei Yuzuki isn't really Towa's younger sister when Taku confirms that Towa's real name is Haruto ''Sakuragi'']]. One can also figure out that [[spoiler:she's actually Fujieda's younger sister when Fujieda has a breakdown at the park after learning that she's truly gone]]. However, Towa doesn't pick up on either fact until some time later.

* KillTheOnesYouLove: Taku makes a twisted attempt of this on [[spoiler: Towa, as he doesn't want to develop drugs for Toono but he knows that if he attempts to back out, Toono will put Towa's life in great jeopardy; hence Taku decides to make things quicker and easier for Towa by being the one to personally end his life in a MercyKill]]. But in the end, he can't go through with it.

** At one point in Taku's route, [[spoiler: he will suddenly attack Towa with a scalpel to which the player has to help Towa talk Taku down via an Interrogation]]. No matter what choices are made, at the end of the Interrogation, the player will have to choose [[spoiler: whether Towa will defiantly look at Taku (Positive) or just passively accept his fate (Negative)]]. The trope is eventually subverted since either way, [[spoiler: Taku can't bring himself to kill Towa; though the Positive choice does grant a higher Euphoria bonus whereas the Negative choice gives a Madness bonus]].

* LeaveMeAlone: After Towa [[spoiler: remembers Mei, he is so overwhelmed with guilt]] that he spends the next few hours in his room in a sullen and nearly unresponsive mood. When Rei checks on him, Towa weakly asks Rei to leave him be.

** If Rei's route isn't taken, it's left uncertain whether Rei [[spoiler: will ever be able to sort out his issues with his gender identity or not]]. While [[spoiler: the matter with his father]] is settled in Fujieda's route, that's the only conflict from his side that's confirmed to be resolved.

** When Towa and Rei have sex for the first time, Towa realizes midway that [[spoiler: Rei had never done it with anyone before]]. Towa decides to affectionately poke fun at Rei with a teasing comment, which the English localization translates to [[spoiler: "Congrats on the sex"]]. However, the words that he used in Japanese ("童貞卒業おめでとう") would actually translate to [[spoiler: "Congratulations on graduating from your virginity"]].
** In his epilogue, Fujieda mentions that [[spoiler: he and Towa walking on the beach together could be their first "collaborative effort" in reclaiming the childhood they never had]], to which Towa asks Fujieda if he realized what he just said. What's missed here is that the word Fujieda uses for "collaborative effort" (共同作業) is [[spoiler: often reserved for something that ''married couples'' do]], which Towa (but not Fujieda) caught on.

** In Taku's route, Taku realizes that his feelings for Towa may start to run deeper than he realizes when he [[spoiler: saw Towa nearing death after Asakura's "surgery"]]. Towa also realizes that Taku has begun to mean more to him when he [[spoiler: felt cold with fear at the thought that Taku died after the latter took a bullet meant for him]].
** Rei has had a crush on Towa since middle school, but that crush grows into a more serious kind of affection in his route after [[spoiler: he sees Towa protecting him from Mizuno/Kirihara and his group]].
* MadnessMantra: In Taku's Madness ending, Towa repeatedly screams and cries in both agony and pleasure about the [[spoiler: insects that he's seeing crawl out from inside his body as a result of the drugs Taku gave him]]. Even the narration goes on and on about [[spoiler: said insects in grossly vivid detail, capturing Towa's drug-induced insanity]].

* MaliciousSlander: In Taku's route, [[spoiler: Eiji starts posting some vicious rumors about Taku, such as disappearing patients, forged medical documents production of illegal drugs, and the like, which both Towa and Rei notice and become concerned about]]. However, it's soon revealed that [[spoiler: the rumors are actually facts all along, and it all traces to Taku being a debtor]].

*** "Immutable": The word is essentially Madarame's entire character in a nutshell. He is a WildCard who follows no one else's rules but his own. As the word also means "unchangeable", it also reflects how between the years Towa last saw him and now, the man has not changed one bit. [[spoiler: It also represents how Madarame, in spite of his statement about wishing to live in the present rather than the past, wants Towa to be exactly like how he last remembered him from years ago.]]

*** Euphoria: Towa finally understands that [[spoiler:Madarame harbors no secrets or deep-seated issues, so there's no need to look deep into his character]]. The next day, they [[spoiler: ambush the Takasato-gumi and Madarame shoots Toono dead while Sakaki is KilledOffscreen]]. Towa decides that [[spoiler: he can never return to his old life and cuts ties with Taku and Rei for good before leaving Shinkoumi with Madarame to travel to foreign lands, with the two living a free and unbridled life together]].

*** Euphoria: Towa [[spoiler: remembers who he really is, and the confrontation ends with Sakaki meeting the same end that Maya did. With both Sakaki and Toono dead, the Takasato-gumi dissolves and the mainland authorities step in, signifying that Shinkoumi will never be the same again]]. Towa and Fujieda set out to [[spoiler: find any remaining truths they have yet to discover about Towa's history, and Towa, having finally found closure with his past, resolves to cherish his life with Fujieda by his side]].
* MyGodYouAreSerious: When Rei rants about [[spoiler: how his ordeal with his father's debt]] is straining him both mentally and emotionally, Towa suggests to Rei with a straight face to "get him off" as a means of destressing. Rei wonders if Towa is trying to joke with him, but Towa casually says that he isn't, which then flusters Rei.

** In Taku's route, [[spoiler: when Towa and Taku's escape attempt gets impeded by Toono and his men, Lisa wounds said men with some scalpels that she managed to get from Taku's workroom beforehand. Toono then shoots her before she could attack him next]], though the gunshot wound luckily proved to be non-fatal.
** In Rei's route, [[spoiler: some Hapless Children who also happened to be behind the Assault Parties]] crash a Deathmatch and attack the other fighters... whilst stealthily hiding a blade or any other sharp weapon in their hands so as to easily get the upper hand. When they go against Rei and his teammates, they end up with their faces meeting the pavement.

** When Towa [[spoiler: breaks into Taku's basement, Taku assumes that Towa is also the one who broke in the day before]], to which the latter says he didn't, but Taku remains skeptical. The player knows that this isn't a lie, and the real culprit is soon revealed to be [[spoiler: Igarashi]].
** When Towa notices that [[spoiler: the bunny doll is missing]], he immediately confronts Taku about it since he had already [[spoiler: caught Taku burning one of his packages]] and believes that Taku is acting behind his back again. Taku denies [[spoiler: taking the doll]], and Towa confirms that Taku isn't lying now. This lets him realize that [[spoiler: it was Fujieda who took it]].

** By the time the player gets to Madarame's final Interrogation, they have already gone through the same sequence with many other characters, to which their goal is to give the right questions and responses until they can get to the person's most deep-seated desire or scar. But with Madarame, it soon becomes obvious to the player that no matter what option they take, [[spoiler: if they question Madarame too many times, they will always get his Madness ending. This is because halfway through the Interrogation, the player must opt to ''not'' have Towa prod Madarame any further. This reflects Madarame's mental state; unlike the others, he has no secrets or hidden desires to speak of, so there was nothing about him to unearth in the first place.]]
** In the common route, the player usually gets a NonstandardGameOver by [[spoiler:letting Towa get carried away with having his "models" enact their darkest desires on him]]. Therefore, it would be expected that they would [[spoiler: have Towa be more cautious in his encounter with the vampire]] in Chapter 0 [[note]] Which is unlocked after completing Taku, Rei, and Madarame's routes [[/note]] to avoid the same outcome. However, the player is actually required to [[spoiler: achieve the Madness outcome and let Towa have the vampire go overboard in sucking his blood]], as this key choice will then [[spoiler: cause the progression of the plot to lock onto Fujieda's route; otherwise, the story will reset back to the events of the common route]].

* OneWomanWail: Some of the tracks feature this. This trope is actually used as a plot point, since all of these tracks have something to do with [[spoiler: either Maya's influence on Towa or Maya herself]].
** "Nightmare", true to its name, plays whenever Towa has a nightmare. [[spoiler: Every nightmare he has involves his mother to some degree, whether it's because of something she did or something she allowed others to do to him.]] It's also the default background track that plays in the title menu, [[spoiler:but is soon replaced by its voiceless counterpart, "Joy" upon completion of the GoldenEnding. This symbolizes how Maya's psychological hold on Towa vanishes once he learns about his past and finally comes to terms with it]].
** "Teasing" and "Desire" play whenever Towa engages in an Interrogation with another character, [[spoiler: and it was Maya who taught Towa how to coax and compel other people using words alone]].

* {{Pixellation}}: As per every eroge released in Japan, the original release of the visual novel has ''certain parts'' censored that the player can't see them in full detail. This is subverted in the English release, where the player now gets to see everything during the raunchier scenes of the game.

* PlotTriggeringDeath: Everything about the plot can be traced back to when [[spoiler: Mei was killed]], which soon [[spoiler: enraged Towa into rebelling against Maya]]. This led to [[spoiler: their scuffle which ended with Maya being pushed down the stairs]], and the rest is history.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Just when all things seem lost for Rei [[spoiler: in his final Moneymatch]], Taku, Junko, Honami and Arata arrive at the last minute to cheer Rei on and tell him to stand up and keep fighting. Even Towa joins in on the rousing, giving Rei his HeroicSecondWind.
* PrisonsAreGymnasiums: [[spoiler: The ''After Story'' drama CD reveals that during the one year Taku spent in prison, he decided to make use of his time there working out to stay in good shape. By the time he's released, a few characters have observed how he looks fitter than before, and he's become strong enough to BridalCarry Towa with relative ease.]]
* PsychologicalThriller: What makes ''Slow Damage'' a dark story is how it vividly portrays the emotional and mental trauma the characters go through and how said trauma affects their actions. [[spoiler: This is especially the case in Fujieda's route, where one of the main conflicts is Towa trying to come to grips with his DarkAndTroubledPast, which threatens to affect his mental state for the worst.]]

* RevengeByProxy: After his AnguishedOutburst upon getting confirmation of [[spoiler: Mei's death]], Fujieda [[spoiler: assaults Towa in the park]] as an act of MisplacedRetribution. [[spoiler: Maya]], the person responsible for [[spoiler: Mei's murder]], is already long dead; and in a moment of irrational rage and despair, Fujieda lashes out at the next person who he believes is just as responsible by association alone: [[spoiler: Maya's own son]].

** Whenever a player starts a new chapter in any route, an introductory scene plays. Said scene consists mostly of a few pencil sketches and a voiceless narration. But if the player goes through that chapter a second time, the narration becomes ''voiced'', since by then it's already obvious who was speaking. The only exception is the very first opening narration, since [[spoiler: it's only in Fujieda's route that the player realizes that the speaker is Maya. As such, it's only after completing all four routes that the player will finally hear the voiced version of her lines]].
** When the narration explains how Shinkoumi came to be, the game shows [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FlIQeCpagAEi2T_?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 an image of five shadowed figures]], all of whom are the most important members of the Takasato-gumi. Players can recognize the person on the center as the group's founder and the two men on the right as Sakaki and Toono. However, the identity of the two men on the left are kept as a mystery. [[spoiler: Once the player has gone through Madarame's route, they'll eventually recognize the other two as Madarame and Kaga.]]

** During [[spoiler:a shootout between Sakaki and Toono's factions, as Toono chases after Towa, Taku manages to show up right where the two are heading]] even when Towa didn't sense Taku following his trail before that, causing him to get suspicious. Eiji then reveals that [[spoiler: Taku put a webtag inside Towa, allowing him to keep track of Towa's exact location at any moment]].

** Rei is placed into a difficult situation after he learns that [[spoiler: he has become a debtor thanks to his father]]: either he rejects the deal and [[spoiler: lets his father be killed]], or he [[spoiler:participates in Moneymatches to earn the money needed to pay off the debt]]. No matter how much [[spoiler: Rei hates his father]], he cannot go through with [[spoiler: letting his old man die]]. Then it turns out he was actually informed that if he refused to [[spoiler:pay his father's debt, his father would be allowed to resume his old job in the human trafficking in industry]]. Rei finds this too deplorable to allow, hence he chose to [[spoiler:pay the debt by fighting in Moneymatches]].

* SayingTooMuch: When Mizuno visits an injured Rei in the clinic, he mentions that he knew about [[spoiler: how Rei got attacked shortly after the Christmas party at Roost]]. However, only a select few were informed of that, [[spoiler: causing Towa to start suspecting Mizuno and his connection to the Assault Parties]].

* SchmuckBait: The last Interrogation in Fujieda's route makes it glaringly easy how to achieve the Euphoria and Madness endings. [[spoiler: Once the player has progressed far enough, to get the good ending, all they need to do at the last two prompts is to not pick "It's okay." The option's description is even drawn over with distorted red lines]] to highlight how picking this choice is a terrible idea. Though if the player chooses the option only once out of the two times it shows up, they still have a chance in achieving the good ending. Likewise, in the final LastSecondEndingChoice given to the player, it becomes obvious which choice leads to either the bad or the good ending.
* ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler:Maya planned for Towa to succeed her, and made it her LastRequest to have Towa fulfill what she believed is his fate as her replacement. In Fujieda's route, Sakaki concocts a convoluted plan in his attempt to make this a reality]]. In the Euphoria ending, Towa refuses to let [[spoiler: his mother define his life and his identity]], and tells [[spoiler: Sakaki (and by extension, Maya)]] that they can go shove it.

* SecretRoom: The storage room [[spoiler: in the clinic]] makes way to a basement where [[spoiler: Taku does the more morally dubious jobs assigned to him by the Takasato-gumi]]. In that basement, there's another door which leads to a room [[spoiler: where Taku keeps Towa prisoner in his Madness ending]].

** Taku expresses his worries about [[spoiler: whether he should resume his job as a doctor or not, feeling that after everything, he no longer has the right to perform the duties of one]]. Towa then cuts his own hand without warning to see if Taku is committed to his words.

* SexForSolace: A positive spin of the trope is used in Fujieda's route. Towa and Fujieda admit that their (proper) first time together wasn't really them consummating as much as it was them licking each other's wounds from all they had been through in the past few days. However, they are able to find comfort with each other, and ''only'' with each other, [[spoiler: because of their similar circumstances, and it's obvious that feelings are nevertheless beginning to blossom between the two. For extra points, after they sleep together and confide in each other about everything, they agree to enter in a relationship when Fujieda proposes for them both to "support each other"]].

* SexualKarma: [[spoiler: Kotarou and Mayu's endings would not qualify as ''bad'' endings, since all that happened was that Towa hooked up with either of them, and the entire affair was mutually consensual]]. Even then, their endings are still a NonstandardGameOver because it potentially affects how the rest of the plot might play out, and since Towa has yet to get together with either Rei or Taku at that point, the encounter further reinforces Towa's stance on preferring casual sex over a committed relationship.

** While [[spoiler: Sakaki is introduced early on as a friend of Towa's mother]], it's only in Fujieda's route that [[spoiler:Sakaki is also revealed to Maya's adjutant, and he is insanely loyal and devoted to her]]. Towa even spitefully asks if [[spoiler: Sakaki slept with Maya]], though the older man is ''insulted'' at the suggestion and denies it.

** While it's also likely to be a coincidence, ''Slow Damage'' isn't the first work that [[spoiler: had two people surnamed Sakuragi and Sakaki, respectively, [[Literature/{{Another}} meet their deaths after falling down the stairs]]]]. Of course, there's no [[spoiler:cosmic curse]] involved in ''Slow Damage'', but still.

** After Towa [[spoiler: lets himself get beaten up and gang-raped, then almost going through with committing suicide]], Fujieda helps him wash off [[spoiler: the turpentine and blood from his body. It eventually culminates in both men standing in the shower whilst completely undressed as they gaze at the other's scars]]... before they exchange a kiss, leading to them getting (properly) intimate for the very first time.

** Asakura's entire story is a surprisingly accurate portrayal of someone suffering from [[spoiler: POCD]], or what is also known as [[spoiler: pedophilia obsessive-compulsive disorder, where one harbors obsessive thoughts involving children but does not necessarily harbor any sexual desires towards children, causing the person to suffer from constant paranoia towards whether they're actually a pedophile or not]].
* ShutUpHannibal: In the GoldenEnding, Towa gives a curt and cold reply that [[spoiler: sums up how he feels about everything that Maya had done to him then and everything that Sakaki had attempted to do to him now]].
--> '''Towa''': [[spoiler: I'm ''not'' going to become Maya]].
* SmokingHotSex: Towa is a heavy smoker and has the tendency to take a drag after a round with whoever he ends up sleeping with. This is somewhat PlayedForLaughs in [[spoiler: Taku's route when he also gets the urge to have a smoke after his first sexual encounter with Towa, but is then reminded that he had already quit, causing him to realize just how much the incident had unnerved him]].

** [[spoiler: Maya]] died some time after taking a nasty fall down the stairs.
** [[spoiler: Sakaki]] meets his end by falling down the same set of stairs in [[spoiler: both the Euphoria and the Madness endings of Fujieda's route]]. However, the way his death plays out [[spoiler: is a little different in both endings: he unwittingly falls to his doom in the Euphoria ending; whereas Towa pushes him down in the Madness ending]].
* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Deconstructed. When Taku tells Towa why [[spoiler: he's indebted to Toono]], Towa tells him that if he hates being in his current situation so much, he can just throw in the towel. Of course, doing so is easier said than done, as Taku's anguished reaction clearly indicates.

* SymbolicallyBrokenObject: After Towa [[spoiler: throws Maya's pocket watch in a final and decisive act of rebellion]], the scene eventually ends with a shot of [[spoiler: the destroyed watch]]. This represents how Towa [[spoiler: had finally beaten Maya's influence in a battle of will, thus effectively and completely destroying her reign over both him and Shinkoumi, since without him turning into another her, there is no way left for Maya's plans to continue]].

* TellMeAboutMyMother: Subverted for the first three routes, but played straight in the final route. Towa only vaguely remembers that he was raised by his mother, that she taught him how to talk to other people, and that she died when he was still in middle school. Besides that, however, he doesn't remember her face or even her name, and the reason he never gets curious about her is soon revealed to be from [[spoiler: his subconscious trying to keep him from wanting to know more about anything related to his past]]. It's only in Fujieda's route when he starts wanting to know more about her after he realizes that [[spoiler:she's connected to the packages that he's been receiving]], but even finding out more about his mother proves to be easier said than done, and it isn't just because there are barely any records left about her. When he does eventually ask Sakaki about her, he tells Towa that his mother was kind and loving... [[spoiler: though Towa soon remembers that Maya was the farthest thing from that, much to his shock and horror]].

* TellMeAboutMyMother: Subverted for the first three routes, but played straight in the final route. Towa only vaguely remembers that he was raised by his mother, that she taught him how to talk to other people, and that she died when he was still in middle school. Besides that, however, he doesn't remember her face or even her name, and the reason he never gets curious about her is soon revealed to be from [[spoiler: his subconscious trying to keep him from wanting to know more about anything related to his past]]. It's only in Fujieda's route when he starts wanting to know more about her after he realizes that [[spoiler:she's connected to the packages that he's been receiving]], but even finding out more about his mother proves to be easier said than done, and it isn't just because there are barely any records left about her. When he does eventually ask Sakaki about her, he tells Towa that his mother was kind and loving... [[spoiler: though Towa soon finds out that Maya was the farthest thing from that, much to his shock and horror]].

* TellMeAboutMyMother: Subverted for the first three routes, but played straight in the final route. Towa only vaguely remembers that he was raised by his mother, that she taught him how to talk to other people, and that she died when he was still in middle school. Besides that, however, he doesn't remember her face or even her name, and the reason he never gets curious about her is soon revealed to be from [[spoiler: his subconscious trying to keep him from wanting to know more about anything related to his past]]. It's only in Fujieda's route when he starts wanting to know more about her after he realizes that [[spoiler:she's connected to the packages that he's been receiving]], but even finding out more about his mother proves to be easier said than done, and it isn't just because there are barely any records left about her.