The thing about Hatoful Boyfriend is that it is, on one level, a deliberate satire of dating sims. But it's also a serious dating sim. And also a really fucking meta mystery game.
I know I am literally 6 years late to this party but, for real though, why the hell does this game not get talked about more especially after DDLC blew up.
2:30 "I should also be able to find some kind of common thematic ground between each of the birds I date." You sound so scholarly and professional until the very last 3 words.
As someone who didn't experience the "oh shit he's a ghost!" trope in a visual novel despite previously playing a few and for whom Nageki was the first route I went on in what I thought was gonna a happy funny times bird game so it was actually super impactful for me. I was crying. Looking back on it now Nageki certainly has some flaws but I still love that stupid beautiful depressed pigeon
22:52 Another creepy note here: This is the only part of the game where you have three options for what to say. (story through mechanics, ladies and gentlemen!)
I like stories that can incorporate nonsensical absurdist comedy (Oko-san's route) and darker themes, the contrast helps them both work. I dunno why so many western works insist on tonal consistency so much, it has it's place but so does playing around with tone which seems more common in anime.
Shuu is a partridge, hence the christmas music. Get it? A partridge in a pear tree? Not the same song but a little nod to it i believe. EDIT: about the incinerator ive heard that it is common for Japanese schools to have one to clean things up, but feel free to correct me if i wrong
I would add that I think Nanaki's arc is meant to show how you can't always see people's pain. He's introduced as a comedic character and even the first part of his arc is all whacky hijinks, but the more you see of him the darker he gets as a character.
I gotta say man, this was really really well done. I teach a small video game appreciation course to summer students at a LAN Center and this video (as well as your whole series) is excellent. Patreon incoming!
I have a lot I want to say (nothing bad!), as someone who has a deep affection for this game. The only thing I think I can say without giving too much away is that it's my Video Game version of Fight Club. I'm looking forward to part two, and to see your take on it!
Oh yeah, I have a lot more positive to say in the second part, for sure. The game has its problems, but also its charms, and the final route is quite good.
My bf and I recently discovered these videos and I've got to say, we are loving them! Such a wonderful background to other activities like painting, cleaning and working. I want to hear about video games when I can't play them! :D Keep up the good work.
First, the normal-ish routes. Second, the crazy route. Then, the creepy routes. Overlapping the previous by half a route, the incomplete routes. Finally, two more crazy routes. Interesting. I probably would have wanted to put Kazuaki next to Ryoto and the crazies all together, but it's your show.
This channel is probably one of the most interesting and deepest than i ever watched!!! Happy new year by advance et continue this wonderful work! A french fan
I'm 80% sure that this some type of parody. Sometimes that's hard to catch when dealing with other cultures. For example, "What does the fox say" was actually a parody. I think what happens is that we're expecting something to be slightly "weird" when dealing with a work from another culture, so as a result it's hard for us to catch when it's being serious.
I've discovered your channel pretty recently but I already absolutely adore your content. That said, any chance we can get an analysis on the Legacy of Kain series? Or if you're in the mood for something shorter, the indie title To The Moon? In any case keep up this wonderful work.
Unsure about Legacy of Kain (and I do have a policy to avoid RPGs until a certain Patreon goal, since that Legend of Dragoon request was such a huge undertaking), but To the Moon will definitely get one at some point. Unsure when, but it'll happen.
I see, I'll gladly wait for it then. But I feel I have to point out that only the first Legacy of Kain game is an RPG in the traditional sense, the others are more action/exploration oriented. But it indeed is a massive task to analyse its complex story so I totally understand and your point.
Since we find out later that Anghel can get people to play along with his fantasies and that the card of the student that Shuu killed is Anghel's then the fight is probably the moment Shuu tries to kill Anghel but because he has a friend with him he shapes the world into his fantasy and kills/ banishes Shuu
I can't wait to play this gem...which considering Undertale, turned out to be not as weird as expected...but super weird, still. :D Thanks for doing this.
I'd love to hear an analysis of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Dear Esther, both of which make some really interesting story telling when it comes to video games.
So which other visual novels do you recommend? I'm still relatively new to the genre and am trying to figure it out. I'm currently playing Norn9 and Clannad is next on my list.
I plan to discuss it in an episode about children's stories in video games at some point, but I'm unsure whether I want to do a full analysis of the third game in a series without having done so to the previous two. But I'm not 100% sure on that. Point is, you'll see me talk about it at some point, and maybe an analysis sometime down the line. I should also note (even if it's kind of a shameless plug) that there's a reward for backing me on Patreon at a certain level that allows you to choose a game for me to analyze.
Maybe sometimes adjourning the game right on a cliffhanger can be annoying if it's done artificially for cheap sensationalism and marketing reasons. But that's not the case here. GasL has developed the analysis to a logical point, to a well thought-out preliminary conclusion, inspecting all the parallel - or rather diverging - arcs in turn and explaining that it's not at all obvious how they converge again, neither on first sight nor even if you try harder to think about it. So breaking at *this* cliffhanger is not breaking artificially in the middle of stuff, but at a natural break where something is actually finished. This break even reinforces one of the chief points made so far: This may all seem silly on first sight, but there are startlingly diverse levels of non-obvious depth to it that aren't easy to uncover. An adjournment at such a point is actually useful because it gives you time to think for yourself and sleep on it. Literary analysis is not only about deciphering one static, well-defined meaning, it's also about how different readers may relate to the same text, or painting, or interactive visual novel, or video game. That said, i do look forward to part 2 as much as the next guy.
***** Examples of poorly broken cliffhangers? FWIW my annoyance isn't more concerning than any other viewers. I only commented so "GasL" would know that he had my interest, something which most YT content creators seem to strive for.
As a disabled person I was uncomfortable with what your comments about Okosan (Saying they were "Special." In a way many ableist people would say it.) And also calling Shuu Cr*zy. (Associating mental illness with violence.)
Oh gosh, I didn't even think of that use of the word "special." Sorry, certainly not my intention. And admittedly "crazy" has become such a meaningless slang word I didn't even think about the association its use draws. I'll be more attentive to that in future videos; thanks for pointing it out.
Moe Bius Sadly there are so many people who do treat sensitivity as an undesirable trait. You don't need to go too far out of your way to find them both in real life and in the internet.
How would you prefer for these ideas to be expressed? They're clearly useful concepts in communicating information. "Special" was presumably adopted to avoid the negative connotations of calling someone "retarded", but in replacing the word it gains its connotations, as it still refers to the same thing. No ill will towards you, of course, but it seems rather pointless to perpetually cycle through euphemisms in order to escape the concepts we're talking about. I'm genuinely interested in hearing your take on this.
