I'm glad to see people are still discussing this amazing story. I played it a few months ago. It was my second ever VN after DDLC. It was such a personal experience. I cried a lot. I still have Aoi as my lockscreen and desktop background. I did not realise I could feel this much for a fictional character. ❤Aoi❤ best girl. . . Spoilers below . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'm glad to see someone actually realise that Aoi's route is meant to parallel the player exploring all routes. It's totally hypocritical to hate on Aoi for cheating when the player is doing exactly the same thing by doing her route in the first place.
*SPOILERS* You and Me and Her broke my heart man. It was beautiful. I'll be honest and say Miyuki's lament, cute scenes and yearning actually captured my heart. I found myself liking her more, but I knew that even then Aoi was the right choice. Maybe the NTR scene really did a number on me so that's why my feelings wavered, but the way the ending concluded really has changed how I'll view visual novels forever. So Aoi will always be the best for me.
Aoi is my best girl too. I am kinda surprised to see how bothered people were by the NTR. I thought... . . . . . Spoiler . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The banter between Haru and Aoi was really cute, it was nice to see her be a bit of a switch, as she was more submissive to Shinichi. It was Shinichi who set the whole thing up in the first place. All Aoi did before that was make out with Haru a little. The rest was Miyuki framing her. Not great to do that behind your partner's back, but it's not *that* serious. I wouldn't do everything Shinichi did in that threesome scene, but if I was him, I would jump at the chance for a threesome with Aoi and Haru.
@@Christopherjazzcat You and I are very different individuals in this regard lol. Interesting way to view the events though. I actually forgot that Aoi only made out with Haru and nothing sexual happened. Even still, personally I would not be chill with someone I'm dating doing anything sexual outside the relationship, so even making out to me is a lot. So I can empathise with Shinichi. I'm a person that tries to be kind and forgiving, but my nature is that of a petty person. So I only get petty payback if pushed far enough. But unless I'm married I would just be fine with a simple call out and break up to sever ties. I guess the reason why people hated the NTR scene is just that it's hard to accept the idea that your mutual affection isn't very exclusive. We're almost always able to find replacements and substitutes for friends or romantic relations and give the sweet "I love yous" a thousand times over to a thousand different faces. But to visibly see physically intimacy with someone you love, and another person that isn't you, who you thought you had something unique with. It breaks a lot of people. It's like saying "Anyone would do" and that your love was not special. Since for many sexual and emotional intimacy are mutual. So although we set it up it still feels like a slap in the face. Even though we see that for Aoi she never really wanted to do what she did, but required it to stay with YOU, it still stings. The pillars that the relationship stood on were destroyed and it can't be repaired. It's why even though I was aware of all these things I couldn't really bring myself to feel love for Aoi as much as I did Miyuki. Because she offered that exclusivity and comfort again and I was wholly willing to accept it. That's just how I am and that's just how most other players are too. Just that for me I knew that at the time I wasn't a man that loved Aoi, but I wanted to be the kind of man that could. So I let my actions define me and I didn't regret it one bit. Thereby becoming a man that does love Aoi. Gosh this game is so good dude.
@@bornanime3255 the fact that we can have this kind of discussion about a video game is wild. I love Totono so much, and I especially love Aoi. It's an incredible story that stayed with me vividly to this day. Literally the only part that bothered me was Aoi not being up front about her needs, and instead going behind Shinichi's back. I think you're right to say we are very different people. I don't really get possessive, sometimes to a fault as partners can misinterpret my lack of jealousy as me not caring about them. I guess I have the attitude of people are going to do what they're going to do. If someone wants to be with me, great. If they don't then there's no point in trying to hold on because the more you try to pressure them, the more you'll only drive them away and end up hurting both of you. I wouldn't want to be with anyone who didn't want to be with me just as much. I just straight up don't see love as being something that is lessened for one person by what you share with another, so long as everyone is up front and honest. I see value in monogamy too, and I get that it's the default for a lot of people, but maybe that's not such a good thing as very few people end up in toxic relationships or going behind each others backs. So yeah, my only gripe is that Aoi wasn't honest from the start.
@@bornanime3255 thank you for explaining your perspective in so much detail btw. Even though I feel a disconnect to that way of thinking, it is still very interesting to understand where you and others are coming from. Much more useful than some of the "Aoi is a trash tier waifu because she cucks you" I see repeated without any deeper thought. I feel like the fact that Aoi is doing exactly what YOU the player are doing gets lost on a lot of people too. We made a commitment to Miyuki and ignored it to pursue Aoi. Aoi had my heart from her very first scene. After the mobile game closed, seeing her standing on that rooftop was really intriguing, then when her body began to sway and her voice started to fade, it triggered this protective instinct in me that I don't fully understand, but I felt feelings for her from then on and I never wavered. I only did the Miyuki route to try to get onto Aoi's route. I realised Miyuki was framing her. I was actually shocked to see the footage of her and Haru as I was sure it was only Miyuki planting evidence to frame her. But Aoi's explanation made sense.
@@Christopherjazzcat Damn you a real one for real for sticking to Aoi like that. I respect it and yeah discourse tends to be sparse with games like these. Very unfortunate when it's ripe for dissection. And yeah the irony hurts💀 Hit me like a brick when she said her job was to collect CGs and I look back at how I treated routes, completions and visual novels in general. The game really shoves a mirror in your face and tells you to look at the hypocrisy written all over YOU, the player. Making you question the way you engage with the entire art form in general. It's painful yet sweet.
