Welcome back to Katawa Shoujo. Today, we’ll be meeting probably the one character in this VN that did not age well at all.
: “Just get some light exercise regularly. Brisk walks, or even light jogging, jumping rope, that sort of thing. Swimming, maybe? There’s a pool here.”
: “So I was told.”
: “You were? Very good. At any rate, and I’m sure you’ve been told this before, you just need to take care not to overexert yourself.”
: “Absolutely no unnecessary risks. Take care of yourself.”
What’s kind of funny is that on every route that isn’t Emi’s, Hisao absolutely disregards all of this.
: “Good, that’s it then. Come meet me if you ever need something.”
: “…”
This screen here is actually (as far as I remember) the only dynamic background in the entire game. The mural on the wall there is extremely important to Rin’s route and changes based on how far you are with her. I don’t know if it changes on any of the other routes, but I don’t think it does.
: “Room one-one-nine…”
He’s not wrong. Apart from the staff and one other person, Hisao is the only male character in Katawa Shoujo.
: “Hello, is anyone home?”
Meet Kenji. Kenji is probably the only thing about Katawa Shoujo that really did not age well - he’s basically 4chan incarnate circa 2007-2008. Why he wears that scarf when it’s clearly summer/early fall, I have no idea.
: “Who is it?”
Kenji’s disability is that he’s nearly blind, though honestly it’s kind of a mystery why they wouldn’t just get him laser eye surgery (which was definitely a thing in 2007) and be done with it.
: “Hisao Nakai… I’m moving into the next room. I thought I should introduce myself.”
: “Oh, 'sup dude? The name’s Kenji.”
: “Ah, hi.”
: “There were some suspicious-looking people going in and out of your room earlier.”
Kenji is also a paranoid conspiracy theorist. If I had to guess, he’s one of those people who posts shit on /x/ (4chan’s paranormal/conspiracy board) about how the government is in league with companies that produce light bulbs and is sitting on the secret to making a light bulb that lasts forever.
: “It was probably my parents.”
: “Your parents? You sure? 'Cause they could have been some other people too. You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
: “I’d say the chances are high enough.”
: “You’re a brave man, Hisao. Me, I don’t think I could trust the chances. The only one I trust is myself.”
I would stick a photoshop here of Kenji’s head pasted on the Shadow the Hedgehog cover, but I’m pretty sure someone already did that a long time ago.
: “Does that mean I shouldn’t get to know you either?”
: “A wise decision. Damn, you are smarter than you look. Probably. What do you look like? I hope not smart.”
In reality, I think Kenji is heavily inspired by a parody VN called “OMGWTFOTL”. Released in 2006, it was the source of a ton of 4chan memes, mostly due to the fact that almost every dialog choice gave you the option to “genuflect”.
: “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Next time, we’ll get a look at Hisao’s daily routine.