P.S. the planet’s name isn’t ‘Umi no Akehoshi’– it’s actually ‘Um, I know a ke-house he.’

Gotta give some background on my reasoning, though. It’s not unusual to use an inappropriate term to generate interest, but it’s important, as well, to understand the history behind the terminology.
When I was young (a long time ago, namely, the 1960′s), it was not improper or slanderous to refer to someone born with a disability (a word which had not found common usage) as a “cripple”.

That doesn’t mean the word had no negative connotations, but they were no more severe in their intent than “she’s color blind”, or “he’s tone deaf”. Yes, really. It’s much like the terminology used to describe people of other races. (Please bear with me) As a southerner, I was exposed to much of it, including the bewildering-to-me separation of public facilities, which were labeled “White Only” and “Black” or “Colored”, or “Negro” “Only”. Yes, it was disgusting.

The point is, the black people of America (let’s just call them Americans) took both of those seemingly ignominious titles, and made them badges of honor. They took (and still take) pride in being associated with these former terms of derision, because they, through their actions, beliefs, and pride as a group, have turned the meaning of these words upside down.

I honestly believe that the people who worked on “Katawa Shoujo” would like do the same, although they are merely a voice in the wilderness at this time.

Let’s not forget that there are people close to the staff of “Katawa Shoujo” who have disabilities.

All in all, this is not a game title that the developers chose without a great deal of thought. (C’mon, you already knew that, didn’t you?)

Having played through the game (well, to 94%-where IS that other Hanako ending??), I can say, for my part, from a decidedly old-fashioned standpoint, that this game does nothing to insult its subject matter, and is written with conviction, honesty, and love.

Let it be.

1. The title wasn’t chosen at random, nor was it out of disrespect: it was the title of the original Japanese sketch from which the project formed. And by the time the dev team got wind of the term’s negative connotations, the game had been promoted under the name long enough that changing it would mean very little. Not a solid excuse by any measure, but it’s not out of disrespect.

2. I don’t see how their characters are different when you go through their routes. What happens is that you see more of their characters and their nuances, which rightfully changes their initial impression. It happens in real life too. And Hisao is written as a different character due to his experiences with the girls – who he interacts with the most changes his personality in a feedback loop. Which also happens IRL as well. It’s not poor design, and daresay KS does it in an organic manner that few VN’s achieve.

3. Why is “working for your good end” a bad thing? From all impressions, KS isn’t an “idealist game”, it’s brutally honest about its subject matter. Rin’s route for instance doesn’t sugarcoat the frustration, anger and mental issues that dealing with someone of her wandering mindset would bring. The fact that it even has bad endings should show that this isn’t a game built on idealism.

4. How is having an image and cutscene gallery bad? Sometimes people want to see the pics and videos used in the game. ALOT of games, VN’s or not, have such things like ingame-3-D trophies, concept images, cutscene galleries and others, a majority of which are not H-games (the last game I played with such a feature was Batman Arkham City). It’s an extra feature, like achievements, nothing more or less.

5. Turning off adult content only replaces the sexual images with more mundane ones, you can still read the text surrounding the event. There is the skip key if so inclined.

6. The devs stating that they will “lie, cheat and troll” was in regard to the development process itself, and not the marketing. The only time they actively did so was for an obvious April Fool’s joke about Katawa Shoujo paid DLC and merchandise. In all other aspects, they do have love and respect for the game: how else do you think a team of 21 people that are not paid to work on this game nor forced to do so managed to complete it? They even bothered to make full-motion animated cutscenes for the game, something that a handful of expensive professional VN’s don’t have.

7. And how exactly does the game not have respect for its subject material? The title is one thing, but the handling of the disabilities in the story is not disrespectful in any way. They are treated only as an aspect of the characters, much like verbal tics or hair and skin color: it is there, and they have to deal with it, but it is not what their life revolves around. No undue attention is given to said disabilities, and the story gives light on both the positive and negative perception of said disabilities. That the stories actually have resonated with hundreds of people (including myself) who can see themselves in the characters and relate to the experiences outlined and actually make them think speaks more about the respect afforded to the storytelling. There have even been actual people with disabilities who liked the game, which says a lot in and of itself.

8. It is the reviews and gaming sites that claimed this game to be the antithesis of traditional VN’s, and not the devs themselves.

It’s like this review was made for the attention of the sake of being “cool and different” by nitpicking on points that aren’t bad by themselves and somehow twisting logic to make it so.