As this series is more of my excuse to re-read VNs I love, and then recommend them to others, I decided it was time for this one.
For this entry, I will be covering an anomaly.
A Visual Novel which its sole existence is a miracle, a very unexpected surprise, from a very unlikely source.
A project nobody ever expected to be completed.
A project everyone expected to be a fetishistic/offensive mess.
The project which has changed the life of millions.
A bona fide hood classic, Katawa Shoujo.
A Visual Novel Dating Sim, made by a bunch of 4chan anons from all around the world.
A true lighting in a bottle.
For this article, I will be using the Re-Engineered version, which is a fan made version that makes the game work better in modern systems and resolutions, with some more extra features, like more accessibility options, and mod support (as much as you would like to mod a VN, I guess).
Besides the quality of life it offers, the best thing about it, is wide screen support.
I recommend playing this version over the original, or the Steam version. It doesn’t change anything from the story and routes of the base game, so don’t worry about it.
Act 1: Building Blocks Of A Miracle
Before we start, I must 1st warn you, I will be speaking of 2000s era 4chan, the time when it was at its most unhinged, if anything catches your eye for further research, do so with care.
Our story begins in 2006, an anon whom later will be known as Nurse-kun posted on /b/ of all places, about an occurrence at his job, asking anons for advice.
Nurse-kun posted about a 7 year old girl whom arrived at his post, the girl was recovering from a nasty car crash, which made her an orphan, but, she had also lost both her legs, and her right arm.
Long story short, expecting the /b/ anons to give horrible advice, Nurse-kun prepared for the worse, yet, much to his surprise, he was told to be nice to her, and to give the broken little girl a reason to smile again.
The story doesn’t end there, and it continues with many updates from Nurse-kun.
If you are interested on reading it, this story is known and archived under the name “Damaged Goods.”
This story touched many hearts within the community, so much so, that a lot of “fan” content was made, mostly fan art.
With that, a new project started, to create a visual novel based on the story, this project will be known as “Scarred.”
Even thought, it managed to produce a demo, the project was soon abandoned as interest on the original story waned, once Nurse-kun stopped posting updates.
Then, in 2007 an image appeared in /a/, its thread stickied.
This image was of a bonus page from a Hentai Doujin published way back in the year 2000, during Comiket 59.
Made by RAITA, the image was a mockup for a Visual Novel Dating Sim. Yes, the very same RAITA which is the character designer for Valkyria Chronicles.
The idea behind it was quite simple, a subversion of the Visual Novel heroine.
What if a Dating Sim had heroines whom don’t fall within the category of conventional beauty? Heroines with disabilities are a rarity in the medium, well… Not counting certain sub-genres which fetishize them.
Sadly, the idea didn’t come to be, and all that was left, was the image.
Then the image was translated, and posted on /a/.
Our story begins in 2006, an anon whom later will be known as Nurse-kun posted on /b/ of all places, about an occurrence at his job, asking anons for advice.
Nurse-kun posted about a 7 year old girl whom arrived at his post, the girl was recovering from a nasty car crash, which made her an orphan, but, she had also lost both her legs, and her right arm.
Long story short, expecting the /b/ anons to give horrible advice, Nurse-kun prepared for the worse, yet, much to his surprise, he was told to be nice to her, and to give the broken little girl a reason to smile again.
The story doesn’t end there, and it continues with many updates from Nurse-kun.
If you are interested on reading it, this story is known and archived under the name “Damaged Goods.”
This story touched many hearts within the community, so much so, that a lot of “fan” content was made, mostly fan art.
With that, a new project started, to create a visual novel based on the story, this project will be known as “Scarred.”
Even thought, it managed to produce a demo, the project was soon abandoned as interest on the original story waned, once Nurse-kun stopped posting updates.
Then, in 2007 an image appeared in /a/, its thread stickied.
This image was of a bonus page from a Hentai Doujin published way back in the year 2000, during Comiket 59.
Made by RAITA, the image was a mockup for a Visual Novel Dating Sim. Yes, the very same RAITA which is the character designer for Valkyria Chronicles.
The idea behind it was quite simple, a subversion of the Visual Novel heroine.
What if a Dating Sim had heroines whom don’t fall within the category of conventional beauty? Heroines with disabilities are a rarity in the medium, well… Not counting certain sub-genres which fetishize them.
Sadly, the idea didn’t come to be, and all that was left, was the image.
Then the image was translated, and posted on /a/.
Original on the Left, the one posted in 4chan on the Right.
The image got lots of attention from many anons, and a lot of discussion was made about the idea.
Until, the topic finally happened, what if we made this mockup VN a reality?
The idea of a bunch of internet anons banding together to make a game was ridiculous, the idea of a bunch of 4chan anons making a game about people with disabilities was a recipe for disaster.
Many showed interest, few committed to it.
Many were skeptical about it, seeing how Scarred didn’t come to be.
For a time, it was a revolving door of writers, artists, and programmers. Development was glacial.
Eventually, that same year, the final 21 anons banded together, all volunteers from all around the world with a vision, to make Katawa Shoujo a reality, together they made Four Leaf Studio (a nudge to the 4chan origins), and they got to work.
Skepticism about the project was rampant, and eventually 4chan anons moved on to whatever new topic got popular.
In 2009, to everyone’s surprise, the demo of Katawa Shoujo was released, titled Act 1, serving as a little teaser of what was in store, to give an introduction to the characters, and the general idea. And thanks to this release, the final member came aboard.
Was this actually being made? With batted breath everyone waited… For 3 more years.
In that fateful January of 2012, the miracle that is Katawa Shoujo was released as freeware.
Against all odds, it was made, and, against all odds, it was good.
With their purpose now fulfilled, Four Leaf Studios disbanded, their members scattering with the wind.
Until, the topic finally happened, what if we made this mockup VN a reality?
The idea of a bunch of internet anons banding together to make a game was ridiculous, the idea of a bunch of 4chan anons making a game about people with disabilities was a recipe for disaster.
Many showed interest, few committed to it.
Many were skeptical about it, seeing how Scarred didn’t come to be.
For a time, it was a revolving door of writers, artists, and programmers. Development was glacial.
Eventually, that same year, the final 21 anons banded together, all volunteers from all around the world with a vision, to make Katawa Shoujo a reality, together they made Four Leaf Studio (a nudge to the 4chan origins), and they got to work.
Skepticism about the project was rampant, and eventually 4chan anons moved on to whatever new topic got popular.
In 2009, to everyone’s surprise, the demo of Katawa Shoujo was released, titled Act 1, serving as a little teaser of what was in store, to give an introduction to the characters, and the general idea. And thanks to this release, the final member came aboard.
Was this actually being made? With batted breath everyone waited… For 3 more years.
In that fateful January of 2012, the miracle that is Katawa Shoujo was released as freeware.
Against all odds, it was made, and, against all odds, it was good.
With their purpose now fulfilled, Four Leaf Studios disbanded, their members scattering with the wind.
Act 2: Healing A Broken Heart
Katawa Shoujo follows Hisao, and average guy living an average life.
During his senior year, a girl he likes confesses to him, it was all going well, until he suffers a heart attack right in front of her.
Waking up, seeing only the sterile ceiling of a hospital room, his life as he knows it, is over.
Long QT Syndrome, the doctors said it was a miracle that he was living a normal life for so long.
Too much stress, too much physical activity, a bad fall, a careless slap on the back, all can cause him to have an episode, with a high chance of lethal consequences.
The professional detachment from the doctors, the look of pity in the eyes of his friends and family, the girl who confessed to him now growing distant, the 17 different pills he has to take multiple times a day. All made Hisao give up on life.
Once discharged, it was obvious that things would change.
Hisao is made an offer, to attend his senior year in Yamaku High School, a boarding school made for the sole purpose of allowing teenagers with disabilities to learn to live with them, and have a normal High School experience, the most important aspect of the school, 24 hour access to medical professionals.
With nothing else to lose, Hisao takes the offer.
Yamaku is not exactly what he imagined, besides the obvious, the school might as well be yet another High School, with cliques, rivalries, romance, and all the teenage angst that comes with that.
With new environment, come new faces.
It will take time, and understanding, but, soon, Hisao will find himself friends in this little corner of the world.
And, maybe just maybe, someone special as well.
During his senior year, a girl he likes confesses to him, it was all going well, until he suffers a heart attack right in front of her.
Waking up, seeing only the sterile ceiling of a hospital room, his life as he knows it, is over.
Long QT Syndrome, the doctors said it was a miracle that he was living a normal life for so long.
Too much stress, too much physical activity, a bad fall, a careless slap on the back, all can cause him to have an episode, with a high chance of lethal consequences.
The professional detachment from the doctors, the look of pity in the eyes of his friends and family, the girl who confessed to him now growing distant, the 17 different pills he has to take multiple times a day. All made Hisao give up on life.
Once discharged, it was obvious that things would change.
Hisao is made an offer, to attend his senior year in Yamaku High School, a boarding school made for the sole purpose of allowing teenagers with disabilities to learn to live with them, and have a normal High School experience, the most important aspect of the school, 24 hour access to medical professionals.
With nothing else to lose, Hisao takes the offer.
Yamaku is not exactly what he imagined, besides the obvious, the school might as well be yet another High School, with cliques, rivalries, romance, and all the teenage angst that comes with that.
With new environment, come new faces.
It will take time, and understanding, but, soon, Hisao will find himself friends in this little corner of the world.
And, maybe just maybe, someone special as well.
Act 3: A Tale Of Humanity
Katawa Shoujo follows a lot of Visual Novel conventions.
Act 1 is the common route of the game, in which you get introduced to the setting, and the girls, with you making decisions to end up in one of routes, and there is even a bad ending in case you somehow fail to romance one of the heroines.
There is no harem ending, I mean, come on, Hisao’s heart can’t handle that.
Afterwards, Act 2 through 4, depend on the girl Hisao ends up interested in.
You are not out of the woods yet, as most routes have bad endings as well.
Just like most romantic visual novels, the main character also has his one male friend to hangout with.
In Katawa Shoujo, we get Kenji, a walking meme, who pretty much represents the average 4chan user at the time, interactions with him range from seeing him spiral into rants, to mildly helpful advice (rare). He even gets his own music track.
The other relevant supporting character, is Yuuko, the overworked neurotic librarian, she is often there to give advice to Hisao.
Due to how the game was developed, both writing and art can vary wildly, mostly on a character by character basis, even CG artstyle can vary wildly.
The background are pictures of real life locations.
The music in this game is marvelous, and it really packs a punch in the emotional scenes.
I do like the fact that each girl gets her own unique intro animation once you enter her route, and that each act has its own unique art.
As for the routes themselves, there isn’t really a set order to doing them, some routes complement each other, some events happen in all the routes, some have unique side characters, all of them share some side characters, etc. Pretty standard.
Since this VN follows the old school, it does have +18 scenes, you can turn them off if you wish, the Steam version doesn’t have them. If you are curious, yes, Hisao’s heart condition does come into play in some of them.
Now, to describe the routes, I am going to keep it spoiler free, and, since I will be talking about their overall themes, keep in mind, that’s from my interpretation of them.
As for the order, I will follow the order in which I read them for this article.
Act 1 is the common route of the game, in which you get introduced to the setting, and the girls, with you making decisions to end up in one of routes, and there is even a bad ending in case you somehow fail to romance one of the heroines.
There is no harem ending, I mean, come on, Hisao’s heart can’t handle that.
Afterwards, Act 2 through 4, depend on the girl Hisao ends up interested in.
You are not out of the woods yet, as most routes have bad endings as well.
Just like most romantic visual novels, the main character also has his one male friend to hangout with.
In Katawa Shoujo, we get Kenji, a walking meme, who pretty much represents the average 4chan user at the time, interactions with him range from seeing him spiral into rants, to mildly helpful advice (rare). He even gets his own music track.
The other relevant supporting character, is Yuuko, the overworked neurotic librarian, she is often there to give advice to Hisao.
Due to how the game was developed, both writing and art can vary wildly, mostly on a character by character basis, even CG artstyle can vary wildly.
The background are pictures of real life locations.
The music in this game is marvelous, and it really packs a punch in the emotional scenes.
I do like the fact that each girl gets her own unique intro animation once you enter her route, and that each act has its own unique art.
As for the routes themselves, there isn’t really a set order to doing them, some routes complement each other, some events happen in all the routes, some have unique side characters, all of them share some side characters, etc. Pretty standard.
Since this VN follows the old school, it does have +18 scenes, you can turn them off if you wish, the Steam version doesn’t have them. If you are curious, yes, Hisao’s heart condition does come into play in some of them.
Now, to describe the routes, I am going to keep it spoiler free, and, since I will be talking about their overall themes, keep in mind, that’s from my interpretation of them.
As for the order, I will follow the order in which I read them for this article.
First, Hanako, who also happens to be my favorite girl, the theme for her route is dependence.
Hanako’s route is about helping her, and by extension Hisao, open themselves up to the world, and to stop using love and dependence on each other as a way to shut off everything else.
Hanako is a very shy girl, part of it is her personality of course, the other is her trauma, with half of her body covered in burn scars, she tries her best to hide as much as she can.
In her route we also get to interact with Miki, the side character so good everyone wishes had her own route.
Her bad ending is brutal, her neutral ending is that neutral, but her good ending is really really sweet.
Also, she has read Dune, wife material right there.
The scene in which Hisao shows her his surgery scar, is one of my favorite moments in the entire VN.
Hanako’s route is about helping her, and by extension Hisao, open themselves up to the world, and to stop using love and dependence on each other as a way to shut off everything else.
Hanako is a very shy girl, part of it is her personality of course, the other is her trauma, with half of her body covered in burn scars, she tries her best to hide as much as she can.
In her route we also get to interact with Miki, the side character so good everyone wishes had her own route.
Her bad ending is brutal, her neutral ending is that neutral, but her good ending is really really sweet.
Also, she has read Dune, wife material right there.
The scene in which Hisao shows her his surgery scar, is one of my favorite moments in the entire VN.
Next is Emi, her theme is perseverance.
Emi’s route is a journey of self-improvement, many people have said that its inspirational even, its about Hisao learning to control his condition instead of it controlling him, and for Emi to learn to love the ephemeral nature of life for as long as she can.
Emi is the bubbly always energetic type, she’s the star of the track team, having lost both her legs in an accident, after a long and arduous journey, she is now able to run at a competitive level using her prosthetic legs.
I’d say her bad ending isn’t that bad, she doesn’t have a neutral ending, her good ending is also pretty sweet.
What I like about this route, is that we get a lot of characterization for the nurse (who’s clearly doing Emi’s mom), as well as Mutou (the science teacher) having some really good moments.
She also has the funniest 18+ scene, if you have read this VN, you know exactly which one.
Third, is Rin, it is often considered the hardest route, as its very easy to miss in Act 1, and its very easy to mess it up once you are in it, her theme is understanding.
Rin’s route is about Hisao trying to understand Rin, with Rin trying her hardest for people to understand her perspective through the means of paintings.
Rin is a very aloof girl who has trouble using words to express her ideas, she follows the tortured artist archetype pretty well, since she was born without arms, she does everything with her toes.
This route is the most raw, the relationship Hisao has with Rin is extremely complicated, with both of them always misunderstanding the other, with Hisao growing more frustrated and Rin growing more detached, the whole point of the route, is for both to learn that it is impossible to completely understand someone else, instead, one must approach those disagreements with compassion.
Rin has a bad ending, a neutral ending which I’d argue is worse than the bad one, and a good ending which is pretty thought provoking.
This is the route which makes you think the most, its very philosophical, and has a lot to say regarding art, Rin is a very interesting character, my second favorite.
Although, Nomiya (the art teacher) becomes really unlikable and quite insufferable by the end.
Rin’s route is about Hisao trying to understand Rin, with Rin trying her hardest for people to understand her perspective through the means of paintings.
Rin is a very aloof girl who has trouble using words to express her ideas, she follows the tortured artist archetype pretty well, since she was born without arms, she does everything with her toes.
This route is the most raw, the relationship Hisao has with Rin is extremely complicated, with both of them always misunderstanding the other, with Hisao growing more frustrated and Rin growing more detached, the whole point of the route, is for both to learn that it is impossible to completely understand someone else, instead, one must approach those disagreements with compassion.
Rin has a bad ending, a neutral ending which I’d argue is worse than the bad one, and a good ending which is pretty thought provoking.
This is the route which makes you think the most, its very philosophical, and has a lot to say regarding art, Rin is a very interesting character, my second favorite.
Although, Nomiya (the art teacher) becomes really unlikable and quite insufferable by the end.
Fourth, we got Shizune, her theme is communication. Its my least favorite route, not because its bad, is for something else I will explain shortly.
The route is about Hisao, Shizune, and Misha, a story about their friendship, and how all the problems could have been avoided, if they just sat down and calmly talked with one other, you can’t read minds, you have to communicate to get somewhere.
Who’s Misha you ask? She is Shizune’s interpreter, since Shizune is deaf, its Mishas’s job to translate what others are saying to Shizune using sign language, and to translate what Shizune is saying to others.
Misha is a very relevant character, and she also shows up in all other routes as a supporting one, she is a great character, and quite literally steals the show.
The problem with Shizune’s route, is that the emotional core of the story is Misha, despite Shizune being an interesting character, and this being the only route in which Hisao can directly communicate with Shizune (he learns sign language), she doesn’t get much character development.
Misha is the one who gets to have the character growth, as well as the most help from Hisao, can’t say more cause spoilers.
We also get to see Shizune’s family situation, with her younger brother being an aloof femboy who likes to be supportive on occasion, and her father being a fighting game reject with a case of narcissism far worse than mine.
Shizune’s route has a very depressing bad ending, and a very uplifting good ending.
The route is about Hisao, Shizune, and Misha, a story about their friendship, and how all the problems could have been avoided, if they just sat down and calmly talked with one other, you can’t read minds, you have to communicate to get somewhere.
Who’s Misha you ask? She is Shizune’s interpreter, since Shizune is deaf, its Mishas’s job to translate what others are saying to Shizune using sign language, and to translate what Shizune is saying to others.
Misha is a very relevant character, and she also shows up in all other routes as a supporting one, she is a great character, and quite literally steals the show.
The problem with Shizune’s route, is that the emotional core of the story is Misha, despite Shizune being an interesting character, and this being the only route in which Hisao can directly communicate with Shizune (he learns sign language), she doesn’t get much character development.
Misha is the one who gets to have the character growth, as well as the most help from Hisao, can’t say more cause spoilers.
We also get to see Shizune’s family situation, with her younger brother being an aloof femboy who likes to be supportive on occasion, and her father being a fighting game reject with a case of narcissism far worse than mine.
Shizune’s route has a very depressing bad ending, and a very uplifting good ending.
Finally, we have Lilly, her theme is love.
Lilly’s is the most romantic route, which is all about her relationship with Hisao, there are also a lot of very sweet moments with Hanako (I also like to think that these moments give a hint as to what happens with Hanako after her route), their route is how through their shared love, they overcome their limitations, and look forward to a happy future together.
In my opinion, this is the best written route, I like the way it handles Lilly’s blindness as a concept, and I like how much character growth Hisao has in it, there is also a very good line from Mutou about why he is a teacher.
We also get to interact with the best side character in Katawa Shoujo, Lilly’s older sister, Akira, truly one of the coolest and most supportive in the entire cast, she makes minor appearances in other routes as well.
Her route has a neutral ending (which it might as well be a bad one), and a very beautiful good ending.
Lilly’s is the most romantic route, which is all about her relationship with Hisao, there are also a lot of very sweet moments with Hanako (I also like to think that these moments give a hint as to what happens with Hanako after her route), their route is how through their shared love, they overcome their limitations, and look forward to a happy future together.
In my opinion, this is the best written route, I like the way it handles Lilly’s blindness as a concept, and I like how much character growth Hisao has in it, there is also a very good line from Mutou about why he is a teacher.
We also get to interact with the best side character in Katawa Shoujo, Lilly’s older sister, Akira, truly one of the coolest and most supportive in the entire cast, she makes minor appearances in other routes as well.
Her route has a neutral ending (which it might as well be a bad one), and a very beautiful good ending.
Act 4: The Power Of Compassion
Nobody expected Katawa Shoujo to be as good as it is.
This is a story which has touched the hearts of millions, which handles disability with respect and compassion, a love story which showed that humanity can be found even in the most unlikely of places.
For such a project to have been born from a single image, an interesting concept which caught the interest of an infamous community, yet no stranger to compassion, which allowed a group united from all around the world, to make a single miracle.
A Visual Novel, which is both very unique, and very typical.
A very honest effort, from a group of people who simply wanted it to be made, a true “fine I will do it myself” situation.
Four Leaf Studios might have existed for a short 5 years, yet, the legacy of what they made has lasted for far longer.
Katawa Shoujo is a VN which stays with you after you have read it, is not just “that one VN with the disabled girls,” is a lot more, is an inspiring story, is an uplifting story, is a beautiful story… Depending on who you ask, you will get a different answer.
Above all, Katawa Shoujo is a story of compassion, to find the beauty in the imperfection, of ourselves, the people around us, and the world.
The world is cruel, yet, the best way to rebel against it, is to not be cruel ourselves.
Truly, the best message of the little VN that could.
This is a story which has touched the hearts of millions, which handles disability with respect and compassion, a love story which showed that humanity can be found even in the most unlikely of places.
For such a project to have been born from a single image, an interesting concept which caught the interest of an infamous community, yet no stranger to compassion, which allowed a group united from all around the world, to make a single miracle.
A Visual Novel, which is both very unique, and very typical.
A very honest effort, from a group of people who simply wanted it to be made, a true “fine I will do it myself” situation.
Four Leaf Studios might have existed for a short 5 years, yet, the legacy of what they made has lasted for far longer.
Katawa Shoujo is a VN which stays with you after you have read it, is not just “that one VN with the disabled girls,” is a lot more, is an inspiring story, is an uplifting story, is a beautiful story… Depending on who you ask, you will get a different answer.
Above all, Katawa Shoujo is a story of compassion, to find the beauty in the imperfection, of ourselves, the people around us, and the world.
The world is cruel, yet, the best way to rebel against it, is to not be cruel ourselves.
Truly, the best message of the little VN that could.
