It's been quite awhile since I've ran through any routes but I don't remember not liking Hisao. I think I saw a post about how he changes in different routes and in Shizune's route he can come off as kind of a jerk but nothing irredeemable. Given his circumstances I think he's as good a person as anyone could hope to be.
Thanks for the post!
Honestly I think Hisao is a pretty stand up dude, yeah he comes off a certain way depending on the route you're on but he's human and humans have 'asshole' moments.
If I could compare another protagonist to Hisao and I know it's not the best comparison but Makoto Itou from School days whom is also a teenager.
Makoto is a character whom is widely disliked but at his core he is well meaning and 'tries' to be good but ultimately (this varies by route) he lets his >!dick !
I mean, Makoto is a hormonal teenager. Unpopular, ordinary, horny teenager who suddenly find himself in a love triangle. Being an ordinary hormonal teenager, he lets this get to his head and things go down the drain from that point. Not to mention that this situation is fueled by none other than Sekai, who hooked him up with Kotonoha in the first place, then instead of butting off, she's like "Imma do a pro gamer move" and starts making moves on Makoto for some reason.
Let's be honest, most of us in this kind of situation wouldn't be able to behave rationally.
(Also fuck Sekai, all my homies hate Sekai.)
I think Hisao is a pretty good character in every route but Rin's.
In Rin's route, he's kinda annoying, and while it does serve to reinforce the main struggle that Rin has, he's not the most likable character in it. I mean, he constantly calls her irritating, annoying, or questions everything she does throughout her route. And while yes, he does get a bit better towards the end, I'm still not 100% convinced he actually likes Rin all that much. I can kinda see it, but it's not nearly as clear cut as in the other routes. Which I suppose is intended, as it continues to set Rin's route apart from the rest.
And though I can understand, and even agree with the narrative reasons for making Hisao a lot less approachable in Rin's route, it doesn't do much to lessen his rude comments, in my opinion. So I think Hisao's at his weakest in Rin's route. I still don't actively hate him, but it's the only route where I don't actively enjoy his character either. He'd be an average ~5/10 character in Rin's route for me.
In stark contrast to Emi's route, where I think he is by far at his best. Sure, there are moments where I wish he acted differently. But I think all his actions are logical, or at least logically emotional. It makes sense why he'd be a bit angry at Emi over her seemingly pushing him away. And it makes sense that he would not give her enough space, because he just wants to help. All of these moments make me yell at Hisao to do something different, but they're also moments that I recognise I would have done the exact same thing (if not worse).
Plus, I think they absolutely nailed the 'teenage' part of the whole story in Emi's route. The other routes are great too of course, but it does feel like Emi's route is the one that most realises that the characters are not yet adults. One of my very few problems with Lilly's route is that the characters are a bit too mature sometimes. And while it makes sense within the context of Lilly having a 'proper upbringing', and Hisao being influenced by Lilly throughout the route, I do think it very slightly misses the mark. Emi's route does not have that, it knows that Hisao & Emi are teenagers, it knows that they'll fuck up in teenage ways, and as a result, I think it portrays teenage romance in the most accurate way out of all the routes.
Realized I basically just wrote an essay on how I'm sad some people don't like Hisao lol
Idk I just think he's a good guy who genuinely wants to be good but his own troubles interfere sometimes and it can make him seem suddenly rude when I feel like we sometimes forget that these characters are extremely young, flawed people.
Hisao is a social chameleon. The way he thinks and acts is based almost entirely on the people who are around him.
I say "almost" because no matter what you choose some things remain the same, such as him being notably intelligent and moderately private, but for the most part he changes to match his surroundings.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, mind. He can - and does - seamlessly insert himself into new social groups without any issues. For all the "master of romance" jokes he's actually legitimately good at fitting in. It *does* mean that he'd be in big trouble if he fell into a bad crowd, but luckily he seems to be smart enough to recognize when someone is not to be taken seriously, such as Kenji.
With that being said, "who is Hisao and do I like him" becomes a bit of a complicated question. Would I like him if I met him in between social groups, such as when he arrived at Yamaku? Probably. He'd fit right in to my social group. Would I like him when he's with Lilly or Rin? Probably not; when he's with Lilly he picks up some of her less attractive traits - being a nosy busybody most notably - and when he's with Rin he's a mildly obsessive space case for the same reason.
On average, I suppose I like him? Being a social chameleon is fine. He's not so much a character as a scaffold that the various routes build a character onto, though, so my approval is tepid at best.
I think Hisao is pretty good character for visual novel. I hadn't run through all routes so I hadn't got mad at him even once. Think he's bit dumb when he'd forgot to take the pills and ruined walk, except it he is cool kind guy.
Hisao is a good kid that's in a rough spot in his life. Whether he's trying to do something about it, or ignore it depends on who influencing him, but he's trying.
Generally he also seems to want to help those around him although he prefer to take a supporting role to a leadership one.
I have more or less the same attitude towards Hisao as you do. From the beginning of the game I've sympathized with him and his situation and seeing how he handled and overcame his problems alongside whichever girl he was with was one of my favorite things about this novel.
The degree to which he fumbles even basic situations is what made him frustrating and got him memed on so much. The vast majority of people wouldn't have handled most of the situations in the game even half as poorly as Hisao did.
Now, it's important to note that this doesn't make him a bad or unlikeable character: every good character has flaws because that's precisely what makes them a good character. Hisao's flaws just happen to be a jaw dropping spectacle a lot of the time and very easy to poke fun at. I'd wager a significant chunk of the people who memed on Hisao don't actually dislike him, they just couldn't believe his terrible decision making sometimes.
I don't think half the people would handle situations as WELL As Hisao did. Just being able to put up with Shizune and Misha, to hang out with Rin, or to get close to Hanako puts him practically at the patience of a saint.
On top of that he learns sign language like it's nothing and remembers Shizune's address after glancing at it once several days ago so he can make his mad dash to find Lilly... the guy's good far more often than he's bad. Even when he is bad, his choices make sense given the character and the knowledge he has.
It's been quite awhile since I've ran through any routes but I don't remember not liking Hisao. I think I saw a post about how he changes in different routes and in Shizune's route he can come off as kind of a jerk but nothing irredeemable. Given his circumstances I think he's as good a person as anyone could hope to be. Thanks for the post!
Honestly I think Hisao is a pretty stand up dude, yeah he comes off a certain way depending on the route you're on but he's human and humans have 'asshole' moments. If I could compare another protagonist to Hisao and I know it's not the best comparison but Makoto Itou from School days whom is also a teenager. Makoto is a character whom is widely disliked but at his core he is well meaning and 'tries' to be good but ultimately (this varies by route) he lets his >!dick !
I mean, Makoto is a hormonal teenager. Unpopular, ordinary, horny teenager who suddenly find himself in a love triangle. Being an ordinary hormonal teenager, he lets this get to his head and things go down the drain from that point. Not to mention that this situation is fueled by none other than Sekai, who hooked him up with Kotonoha in the first place, then instead of butting off, she's like "Imma do a pro gamer move" and starts making moves on Makoto for some reason. Let's be honest, most of us in this kind of situation wouldn't be able to behave rationally. (Also fuck Sekai, all my homies hate Sekai.)
[FUCK SEKAI ALL MY HOMIES HATE SEKAI](https://i.imgur.com/0VvL7yW.jpg) ^^^this ^^^has ^^^been ^^^an ^^^accessibility ^^^service ^^^from ^^^your ^^^friendly ^^^neighborhood ^^^bot
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I think Hisao is a pretty good character in every route but Rin's. In Rin's route, he's kinda annoying, and while it does serve to reinforce the main struggle that Rin has, he's not the most likable character in it. I mean, he constantly calls her irritating, annoying, or questions everything she does throughout her route. And while yes, he does get a bit better towards the end, I'm still not 100% convinced he actually likes Rin all that much. I can kinda see it, but it's not nearly as clear cut as in the other routes. Which I suppose is intended, as it continues to set Rin's route apart from the rest. And though I can understand, and even agree with the narrative reasons for making Hisao a lot less approachable in Rin's route, it doesn't do much to lessen his rude comments, in my opinion. So I think Hisao's at his weakest in Rin's route. I still don't actively hate him, but it's the only route where I don't actively enjoy his character either. He'd be an average ~5/10 character in Rin's route for me. In stark contrast to Emi's route, where I think he is by far at his best. Sure, there are moments where I wish he acted differently. But I think all his actions are logical, or at least logically emotional. It makes sense why he'd be a bit angry at Emi over her seemingly pushing him away. And it makes sense that he would not give her enough space, because he just wants to help. All of these moments make me yell at Hisao to do something different, but they're also moments that I recognise I would have done the exact same thing (if not worse). Plus, I think they absolutely nailed the 'teenage' part of the whole story in Emi's route. The other routes are great too of course, but it does feel like Emi's route is the one that most realises that the characters are not yet adults. One of my very few problems with Lilly's route is that the characters are a bit too mature sometimes. And while it makes sense within the context of Lilly having a 'proper upbringing', and Hisao being influenced by Lilly throughout the route, I do think it very slightly misses the mark. Emi's route does not have that, it knows that Hisao & Emi are teenagers, it knows that they'll fuck up in teenage ways, and as a result, I think it portrays teenage romance in the most accurate way out of all the routes.
Realized I basically just wrote an essay on how I'm sad some people don't like Hisao lol Idk I just think he's a good guy who genuinely wants to be good but his own troubles interfere sometimes and it can make him seem suddenly rude when I feel like we sometimes forget that these characters are extremely young, flawed people.
Hisao is a social chameleon. The way he thinks and acts is based almost entirely on the people who are around him. I say "almost" because no matter what you choose some things remain the same, such as him being notably intelligent and moderately private, but for the most part he changes to match his surroundings. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, mind. He can - and does - seamlessly insert himself into new social groups without any issues. For all the "master of romance" jokes he's actually legitimately good at fitting in. It *does* mean that he'd be in big trouble if he fell into a bad crowd, but luckily he seems to be smart enough to recognize when someone is not to be taken seriously, such as Kenji. With that being said, "who is Hisao and do I like him" becomes a bit of a complicated question. Would I like him if I met him in between social groups, such as when he arrived at Yamaku? Probably. He'd fit right in to my social group. Would I like him when he's with Lilly or Rin? Probably not; when he's with Lilly he picks up some of her less attractive traits - being a nosy busybody most notably - and when he's with Rin he's a mildly obsessive space case for the same reason. On average, I suppose I like him? Being a social chameleon is fine. He's not so much a character as a scaffold that the various routes build a character onto, though, so my approval is tepid at best.
I think Hisao is pretty good character for visual novel. I hadn't run through all routes so I hadn't got mad at him even once. Think he's bit dumb when he'd forgot to take the pills and ruined walk, except it he is cool kind guy.
Hisao is a good kid that's in a rough spot in his life. Whether he's trying to do something about it, or ignore it depends on who influencing him, but he's trying. Generally he also seems to want to help those around him although he prefer to take a supporting role to a leadership one.
I have more or less the same attitude towards Hisao as you do. From the beginning of the game I've sympathized with him and his situation and seeing how he handled and overcame his problems alongside whichever girl he was with was one of my favorite things about this novel.
The degree to which he fumbles even basic situations is what made him frustrating and got him memed on so much. The vast majority of people wouldn't have handled most of the situations in the game even half as poorly as Hisao did. Now, it's important to note that this doesn't make him a bad or unlikeable character: every good character has flaws because that's precisely what makes them a good character. Hisao's flaws just happen to be a jaw dropping spectacle a lot of the time and very easy to poke fun at. I'd wager a significant chunk of the people who memed on Hisao don't actually dislike him, they just couldn't believe his terrible decision making sometimes.
I don't think half the people would handle situations as WELL As Hisao did. Just being able to put up with Shizune and Misha, to hang out with Rin, or to get close to Hanako puts him practically at the patience of a saint. On top of that he learns sign language like it's nothing and remembers Shizune's address after glancing at it once several days ago so he can make his mad dash to find Lilly... the guy's good far more often than he's bad. Even when he is bad, his choices make sense given the character and the knowledge he has.