CROSS†Channel

i feel like ive explained why i dont like that ending as best as i possibly could last time, so i wont try a second time.

but if you liked the ending, good for you. the lead up to the ending was honestly good enough that i could forgive the actual ending if only it explained some kind of reason for taichi not being able to leave. like i said before, it feels like they just arbitrarily decided on that 8 come in 7 come out rule to make a bittersweet ending and when i think of it that way, it feels like they were trying to manipulate my emotions in a rather irritating way. even if it was an explanation that came with the supplementary material itd be fine. but we dont really get anything...

yes, taichi and miki are the best characters in the story. youko was interesting too.

edited 28th Feb '12 12:26:47 AM by Tarsen

Hmm... Let's assume that Taichi was given the choice to come back. He would have come back and quickly have regretted it as soon as he lost control again. He needed to lose all hope of returning before he could be fully satisfied with his new life of being a loner and recover his sanity. I suppose if Taichi was able to go back that might be less of a Bittersweet Ending or something, but it would have a TON of Fridge Logic if it occurred before he had fully regained his sanity.

I gathered my thoughts on this VN and compiled a review here. Just throwing it out there.

One of the weaknesses that I found in the best part of the story (the characters) is that they only interact with Taichi, not each other. Sure, Miki and Kiri are friends and Misato and her brother are basically a package deal, but that's about it. It didn't really make them seem much like an actual group.

Hope it's okay to resurrect the thread. I am playing through this VN now—I finally got it to work! I am on Touko's route and have read a bunch of spoilers but don't really remember them...I wound up doing Misato's route in the first week.

I also already dislike Taichi. Some of his harassment quirks are funny but his stealing Misato's bra when he was taking her to the health clinc really creeped me out.

Question: in the first week (the first loop), Taichi makes references that indicate people are still around (other classes going on, someone leaving him food). Is this just denial or is it explained later?

The very first week is just a trick the story plays on the audience to make things look all happy and normal. It's just the girls, Taichi, Sakuraba and Tomoki.

You're not supposed to find Taichi's behavior normal or really appropriate/likable. Personally (read this bit later) I find him too pitiful to dislike. And he's an amazing character.

Oh and you're probably going to hate him more later. Just so you know.

edited 30th Mar '12 9:31:10 PM by Arha

Ah. So the references are just Blatant Lies? Okay then.

...yeah, that is what it sounds like, isn't it? That he'll get worse. I know he's supposed to be unstable, but...Misato is unstable and I like her...hell, even Miki is better than Taichi...

The story doesn't really expect you to change your opinion of him, but read on. I think it's mentioned early on that he has the highest adaptation coefficient among the cast, which means he's the most mentally fucked-up character among them.

Just curious, what's everyone's favorite heroine?

Mine is Touko because While she starts off as a typical Tsundere, I thought her Hidden Depths as a ridiculously clingy person who is really stubborn were quite interseting. Finding out things like how she hurt herself to get Taichi's attention was quite alarming yet interesting.

edited 2nd May '12 2:53:53 PM by superangelo128

Kiri, Miki and Youko are all interesting to me and I'd probably put them in about that order. Misato and Touko are okay, I guess, but more on how they affected Taichi. Taichi is easily my favorite character, so I think a large part of why I like a heroine may be how they play off of Taichi.

Touko, Kiri, Miki, Youko and Misato for me (in that order). I really liked how Touko's tsundere character gets explored. Taichi, of course, is the best and most interesting character among them.

Just started. Already bored out of my mind. When does this get good?

Hm. Third week maybe?

(quote by tarsen)my problem with the ending is that it just felt really kind of like it was arbitrarily decided that even though 8 can come in, only 7 can come out, pretty much solely for the sake of a bittersweet ending. i dont think its ever given a reason either. plus, the taichi who decides he's more or less fine with staying is a taichi who went through character development because of the other 7 characters, and there could be any number of reasons that in any given loop taichi cant make it back to the safe spot before the reset- sending his character development careering back off into the sun and leaving the original completely insane taichi forever trapped in a world there is literally no escape from save by actually exiting it- which he cant do for whatever reason(end quote) tarsen, i would like to bounce a few ideas off you about that. WARNING!!!! POTENTAILLY MAJOR SPOILERS!!! READ NO FURTHER IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILED!! about taichi not being able to get back, in the end he is sleeping, the other 7 seem to be watching him,(making a connection, a cross if you will) and then he wakes up. but when he wakes up..........he hears cicadas, implying he is back in the real world, since there are no insects in the repeating world. the only things that worry me about the end are some of the quotes from the other seven, MIKI: cov-ered in blood. KIRI: splatter SAKARABA: blood-spatter, ect. i have no idea what those are about, and they detract a lil from my happy he got back and they all loved each other theory, but i will choose to believe it regardless, lol. let me know what you think

Well, I felt like the ending implied it's still possible to go back (though I don't remember what in particular gave me that impression) but that he chose to stay in this secluded world by himself.

Reviving this because I'm playing Cross Channel at the moment. My two cents from the beginning of week 4... well, the story is very interesting, and I'll probably spend too much time trying to psychoanalyze Taichi.

Still, I'm having a bit of trouble continuing, and probably need to break for a few days. I liked Taichi (and felt rather conflicted about liking him) up until Kiri's route. The bathroom scene was creepy enough, but the subsequent h-scene made me feel physically ill with how wrong it was. I'm glad that at least I'm supposed to feel like this, but it's hard to get to a point where I can be less horrified at him so I can continue.

I really like it otherwise, though, so I'll probably continue again soon. I'm just hoping he doesn't get too much worse.

That's definitely his low point. It's basically the part of the story where the author is going "Hey, remember how I told you this guy is batshit insane? Yeah, well, I meant it."

Taichi is pitiful to me in a way that much more 'sympathetic' characters never really manage.

regardless of wether or not taichi is really stuck there forever, the 2nd half of the game has taichi repeatedly inform the player that he knows only 7 people can make it back out. how he knows this, or why its like this, is never elaborated on at all, but its the main reason theres a sense of dread through out the last parts of the game despite the fact that at the time, all thats going on is taichi is trying to help other people with their problems and get them out of there. and if there was an implication he wasnt really stuck there, that was the reason i didnt pick up on it.

so thinking back on it, its not really true to say i only had a problem with the ending.

anyway, its been so long so im afraid i cant really say much about your theory metrunewe5, as i dont remember anything about the ending besides that taichi didnt leave, and that the others are working on their problems, but havent yet fixed them (which was nice. problems like that are harder to clear away than a simple talking to.)...

...oh yeah, and that youko doesnt seem to be working on her issue at all. what was with that?

taichi...its probably because he's so pitiful that im so upset at the way the story ended. arguably even more so when i remember that ending is (sorta) self-imposed. it makes sense, i'll admit, for him to be fine with it but i dont like it at all. especially when i keep in mind how likely it is that his character development will be thrown out the window and he'll be forever trapped alone, the moment he makes a single slip up.

edited 28th Jul '13 8:27:36 PM by Tarsen

Just finished this game and it was fantastic. It was the first VN I've played, and I don't think I'll ever find one I like as much, just because, knowing my own taste in storylines, this matches my taste perfectly.

But one thing bothered me about the ending. Miki's ending is horrible. Every other character who gets sent back goes home better off than they started in some way, having gained something or learned something, or at least goes home no worse off than before. But Miki gets sent home as a PREGNANT TEENAGE SINGLE PARENT from a low-income family. And not only this, but her best friend Kiri gets up and leaves her for a normal school. What a terrible life the game-maker has laid out for who is, in my opinion, the most likeable and coolest character.

Opinions?

You're not supposed to think everyone got a lovely happy ending. Whatserface the stalker has still not moved on and likely never will, iirc.