AIR - Minagi Tohno Route & Character Discussion

OK, before I get back into this, I just want to say again: It really didn’t bother me as much as my original rant thing made it sound. And I openly admit that my original post was not only probably more extreme than necessary, but also one-sided.

But anyways:

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:41, topic:722”]
Minagi felt that it would be better for both her and her mother if she posed as her dead sister instead.
[/quote]I really got more of the feeling that she was forced to in order to save her mother. It really wasnt better for Minagi in any way. And she certainly wasn’t getting any help from her father. Who knew this was going on, and whose solution was: “Hey, lets save ourselves and both desert your mother, and leave her to go insane and die alone, so we don’t have to bear the pain.”

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:41, topic:722”]
He most likely left because her mother had been mentally destroyed by the incident, and when the wife is unwilling to commit to the relationship, there’s no reason to be a family anymore.
[/quote]This is what both you and Taka have said now, and I guess its just going to have to be something that we think about differently, and thus I won’t understand. Because to me, thats just not how a family works. Hell, that isnt even how true friends work. Families don’t just end when they’re not convenient anymore. You’re telling me, that the person you supposedly love more than anyone else in the entire world is going through the greatest struggle she will ever face, being so sick that she cant even remember her own daughter, and you think you deserve to leave her all alone so you dont have to bear that pain with her? Thats not friendship, thats not love, and that certainly isnt family.

Let me provide another example that is probably just as fresh in your mind: (Little Busters! Refrain spoilers)

After Rin2, for the first part of Refrain, Rin is so mentally ill, she’s scared out of her mind of all tall men, EVEN HER BEST FRIENDS who she’s spent her entire life with. And I don’t see any of them desert her. Except for Kyousuke, who is so distraught I could probably even argue he’s almost as sick as she is, having to bare so much pain and keep it to himself. But I’m sure you can remember, not knowing this while witnessing it, how scared you were at that point, both of Kyousuke and for him (at least I was); how sacred Riki was both of him and for him. The point is, Rin was “mentally destroyed by the incident,” she was “unwilling to commit to the relationship,” and yet, that was even more reason for the Little Busters to continue, as Riki proved most vehemently.

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:41, topic:722”]
As for the ending, the fact that the memory of Michiru still lives on in her new half-sister is heartwarming enough. It’s a happy ending for Minagi, courtesy of Key Magic.
[/quote]Right. As I said, I understand the message/emotion they were trying to convey with this, and I appreciate it. I just… didn’t like it, I guess. Which is OK, because like I said, it didnt ruin the whole rest of the route for me; I still enjoyed the story and the characters a lot.

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“Family” is a convenience though… You can drop the act if it becomes bothersome. They are people, just like the ones you speak to daily, or the random faces you see on the streets. Just because you give them a name doesn’t mean you have to treat them over others or yourself.
Life is a trial of convenience. You do what you must, or get dragged down by those less willing to live life.

I think Minagi’s father sounds like he tried to think of family. He made attempts, and he tried to keep moving.

The Litbus example you give doesn’t work in my opinion, because the situation surrounding it was completely different. There’s a background to that story, and a context provides insight - something we don’t really have in this discussion of Minagi’s family life.
I will give the same criticisms to Rin as I do to Minagi’s mother btw. At least the LB are trying to fix her problems though.

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I’m afraid I have to agree. As much as I wanted to make friends during my early Facebook days, a lot of people weren’t willing to commit to it. My first Skype group was full of wonderful and interesting people, and I really enjoyed being with them. But because I was new to the whole social networking scene, they had to put up with all my mistakes, and they just could not tolerate it after a while. My relationships with those people are broken now, and only a rare few of them still consider me a friend.

But I did not give up. And I’m glad to have met you guys after persevering through the emotional pain of my past experiences for so long. :slight_smile:

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Well, at the end of the day, I still give the benefit of the doubt to Minagi’s dad. Like I said, it’s equally possible that it’s the mother who wanted him to leave and he wanted to try to make her better, but we won’t really know. It isn’t really the focus of the story, though, which is why they didn’t elaborate on it. I know what @EisenKoubu is talking about when he mentions the AIR route because lol anime and that is a pretty good example of a jerk, yeah. Hahahahaha

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Understatement of the year

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Haven’t read through the topic yet, but I’ve started reading! We just had the first night of Tabuchi Yukito staying at the train station. Very tranquil. I love how Minagi is being painted as this angelic figure, it’s pretty hilarious.

In my head canon though, she’s beginning to look like a stalker, always watching Yukito from afar :stuck_out_tongue: I’m really enjoying her so far though.

Michiru is also not terrible, I think she’s just a tsundere kid who really does like Yukito, but doesn’t know how to express herself properly.

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So I’ve been doing some rereading and I find that Minagi specifically says “My wings have already forgotten how to fly”
And frankly, that just makes things all the more confusing for me
So yeah, I’m definitely putting this as what I want you guys to talk about in the podcast:
What does Minagi really mean when she refers to her “Wings that can’t fly”?

And another one that I just thought of right now:
How Yukito’s personality slowly shifts to being no-nonsense to genuinely enjoying the time being spent in that small town

This isn’t only with Michiru and Minagi, but also evident from how he plays with those two girls that seem enchanted with his puppet. It’s kinda sweet to watch~

Hello everyone! I started this route a bit late. I’m not done yet, but I figured I’d post my thoughts/reactions/summary so far. It’s very very detailed. Sorry about that!

Before posting this I was looking for a discussion to jump into, but it looks like they’ve all been mostly resolved. I really shouldn’t have started so late…

[quote=“Pepe, post:48, topic:722”]
What does Minagi really mean when she refers to her “Wings that can’t fly”?
[/quote]My take on this, from my previous playthrough, would be that Minagi is referring to some sort of lost ambition. That she was once “able to fly” (able to live her life, and experience happiness). However, because of the situation around her mom and Michiru, she felt that this would be impossible. Another interpretation might be that her mother acted as her wings before. Anyway, don’t consider that too seriously as I haven’t reread to that point yet…


On to Minagi’s route then!

Detailed.

Sunday, the 23rd. Almost immediately Yukito thinks to himself “It’s not like I came all the way here just to see them.” Looks like Yukito and I are thinking separate things. (It’s difficult to give a proper analysis here on the part of Yukito since being there is the direct result of a choice I made.)

(Michiru/Minagi end) 「Pain is the proof that you’re alive.」 I didn’t catch that the first time I played. Made me smile a bit.

「Fwoooo…」 Pop! 「Wapu!」「Nnyuu…」

I believe the above to be an accurate representation of the way Michiru spends her time.

Later on, by divine revelation I stick it (a straw) in Michiru… (Was the game worded like that in the original Japanese version or is that phrasing unique to the translation?) Suggestive wording aside, the interactions with Michiru here are quite enjoyable. I don’t find her annoying at this point in the game – and most of the problems were instigated by Yukito (starting from the 23rd, anyway).

In conversation with Haruko: 『Oh I see. Yeh pretended to be a traveller, but yeh’re actually a petty thief.』 I would’ve personally responded with: 「You caught me. I’m actually here to steal… your heart.」 Although on second thought, that might be interpreted poorly. More seriously though, we can see the motherly side of Haruko shine a bit here. I get the impression that at this point she has grown a little attached to Yukito. As though he had become a part of their family.

The next day. We’re immediately shown a sad conversation between Yukito and Misuzu. Wanting to spend time with both Misuzu and Minagi, I feel a bit torn. Of course there’s nothing to be done about that. I’m not entirely sure whether Yukito feels the same at that point. On the one hand he agrees to continue walking Misuzu to school, but he claims it’s just to return the favor for her helping him out.

After parting with Misuzu, Minagi comes to cheer Yukito up. I enjoyed the way that both Haruko and Minagi suspected Yukito of being a thief. (Though in both cases I also got the impression they were just joking.) Minagi’s willingness to provide a bento, almost immediately, is indicative of her interest in Yukito. Of course so was the “Po” stuff in the common route. (It can be interpreted as kindness too, and Yukito does interpret it that way.)

Whenever Yukito has a conversation with Hijiri, our thoughts seem to line up perfectly. The responses I would make, and the responses from Yukito have been mostly the same so far. Moving along to Kano, I personally find her a bit dull. She’s energetic, and at times she’s fun, but she’s not very interesting. Yukito doesn’t show much interest here either. (Granted, that’s the norm for him.)

Kano and Hijiri seem attached to Yukito already.

The time Yukito spends with Michiru and Minagi is really peaceful for the rest of the day. Of course there’s some violence, but this subsides once there’s food. After Michiru eats herself to sleep the remainder of the day is calm. Like that the day passes on into the next.

Tuesday, the 25th. Yukito follows up on his promise to take Misuzu to school. The interaction here isn’t all that sad. The morning is relatively typical, but then midday hits and Yukito decides to buy rice before happening upon a woman doing the same thing. She’s having some trouble, so Yukito helps her. (Looks like Tabuchi didn’t come out to play…)

Now, Yukito helped her by carrying 20㎏ bags of rice up the hill. If you’re not sure, that’s just under 45 pounds. After putting those onto the cart, where there are five of them, that’s 225 pounds. On flat ground that’s not so bad, but he’s pushing that up a hill. This is one of the few times in the game that I view Yukito positively. (My view is usually neutral, and occasionally negative. In the common route my view is mostly negative.)

Trivia: Hijiri uses the phrase “Love Love Hunter.” I wonder if other Key games besides Little Busters! use that phrase anywhere as well, now.

Later, Michiru steals your puppet. (Thief!) So you chase her with 40㎏ (90 pounds) of rice on you. After she runs into the inst-appear Minagi, you manage to get the puppet back and order a ramen set. Minagi rejects your order (well, she doesn’t understand why you ordered rather). You got four more rice coupons. Somehow Minagi also has more coupons than before. (Where is she getting them!?)

As soon as Minagi mentions Yukito’s puppet must be an important memento, Yukito gets this strange “soft” emotion. 「A nostalgic, painful, distant something…」 This gives an interesting look into Yukito – it’s as though he has not thought of his puppet as something quite so precious in a long time. This links back to @Takafumi’s theory about work. In this case Yukito has been mostly absorbed with using his puppet as a tool of the trade, as a way to make money.

Before we can draw any meaningful conclusions about Yukito, we get into something a little bit deeper with Minagi. 「I ran into your mother this morning.」 All this time it’s been said that Minagi’s mother doesn’t have any physical illness. That would imply she may have a mental illness of some kind. Today, we get confirmation of that from Minagi.

「Mother is… having a dream.」 Minagi begins to explain things… However Michiru interrupts. Yukito must have been thinking too deeply to realize that Michiru was about to hit him.

The majority of the remainder of the 25th is spent with Kano and Potato. We’ll cover that in the next route, so nothing else to say here.

The next day. Wednesday, the 26th. The morning is almost immediately sad. 「You don’t have to walk me to school anymore.」「You have something you need to do, Yukito-san, and I don’t want to trouble you.」 Not cry-worthy sad, but sad nonetheless. I wonder, did Misuzu really sleep in, as well? Or was she actually waiting for Yukito? (I don’t remember from my previous play-through.)

Little known fact about Minagi is that she’s actually the alien, not Yukito! She proved this, and it’s really quite easy to follow. See, after she disappeared the day before, she stepped into her Tohno-Tech Time Teleportation Device (TTTTD; pronounced “Ttttd”), which allows her to displace herself from one time stream into another. She utilizes this device by moving herself into a few days prior to Yukito’s appearance, setting herself up into the right location, then moving forward in time to surprise Yukito! That’s how she “magically” appears in front of Yukito all those times. Her reason for doing this? To collect energy. Yukito, a traveller, has collected the most radiation from the sun of all the people within town. By letting out surprise, Yukito gives off some of that radiation, with just a little bit of his Houjutsu, which feeds Minagi what she desires. Thus is her interest in Ta-… Yukito. Minagi happens to be there when Yukito wakes up from his nap. The interactions that follow are rather enjoyable. I’d personally like to meet someone with similar conversation habits as her. Might get old quickly, but on the other hand it might not. Regardless, I find it enjoyable in the game setting at least.

We learn that Minagi’s father worked at the station, which raises the question “Where is he now?” Then Minagi gives you stardust and teaches us poor earthlings tells Yukito about the shower / lighter. (Hey! We can cook now!) The day ends with a brief conversation with a sad Michiru.

「I feel like I had a dream. There was something important to me, right in front of me… But no matter how far I reached, I couldn’t even brush my fingertips against it… I couldn’t even find the willpower to give up…」

The 27th. Thursday. Morning The afternoon reaches Yukito. Minagi… appears. (That’s a good day.) She appears not to mind being soaked by water, but perhaps she’s aware it was an accident. Either way, she’s much calmer than Kano or Misuzu would react in the situation. (Though, I don’t think Misuzu’s reaction would be that different.)

Note: Minagi uses the phrase “Love Love” again shortly after starting the day.

Minagi fixed the puppet. Lucky us! (Incidentally, Yukito learns what overalls are.) Afterward, Yukito shows them his Houjutsu. This is the first time they’ve seen it.

Minagi: “You’re Japanese. Eat rice. Do it.” <shoves envelope in your face> (Note: That’s not what happened. It was close enough though.)

The day seems to have advanced quickly. Either a lot of the usual stuff happened, Yukito woke up really late (not just late), or both. Aside from the usual stuff though, Minagi asks Yukito about where he’s going.

【Yukito】「If I told you there were people with wings in this world, would you believe me?」
【Minagi】「…Wings…?」
【Yukito】「Yeah. They’re not like us humans, and they can fly through the sky. Most people would think of them as gods.」
【Minagi】「…Gods?」
【Yukito】「That’s right.」
【Minagi】「… …When I was little… I saw a picture like that in my house… In the picture… was a girl with white wings coming out of her back… In my young heart… I really wished I could join her up in the sky…」
【Yukito】「Then, if I told you I’m on a journey to find that winged girl, would you laugh at me?」
【Minagi】「… …I don’t think it’s weird… To go on a journey for that reason.」

The feeling I get from Minagi, having already played through the game, is that (Summer arc spoiler) she’s somehow the same as Uraha, the great ancestor of Yukito. I don’t mean that they (Minagi and Uraha) are necessarily related. Just that her “soul” is effectively the same, despite the personality differences.

Later that night, Minagi asks Yukito if he’s ever spent time just being happy. Thus is the purpose of the majority of Minagi’s route, IMO. Yukito begins to question his journey – it’s his mother’s dream after all. Foreshadowing for the route, perhaps. Maybe this route isn’t the “route of focus.” (Air) Misuzu’s route is apparently the route of focus. But going just off of the phrasing used here, we can infer that Minagi’s isn’t, even without having played the game before.

Then, Friday the 28th arrives. Michiru finds a dictionary. Minagi’s mother is buying rice again. She bought rice on the 25th though… Five bags I think. Did she really go through that much? That’s 1⅔ bags a day! If each bag is 20㎏ then each day they go through 33⅓㎏ (approximately 75 pounds) per day – before it’s even cooked! With that amount of rice you’d expect that she’s running a ricetaurant… (Ha. ha. ha.) If she’s not actively cooking it, then that’s a lot of wasted rice. (I think somewhere else she says something about the freshness of the rice being important… In that case, just buy smaller quantities at a time then!) And if she’s not, then the anime adaptation got her weight way wrong… (And both the VN and the anime got her even being alive wrong, if she was really eating that much.)

Anyway, Yukito helps her with the rice again.

Oh. She states that she still has a ton of rice at home. Well, that was a lot of overanalysis for nothing. Still… smaller bags. I’m sure they sell differently sized bags of rice.

Next Yukito is waiting outside of the school to pick up Misuzu… Oh wait, there’s Minagi. Hells yeah! The letter R! Nothing else matters anymore. Game complete on the letter R. Key’s next game should focus entirely on that.

Then they talk about Michiru. After that they look for Michiru. Next they find Michiru. (Minagi’s reaction: “Actually… I’m the perverted devil kidnapper… …Just look at how cute Michiru is…” ← The preceding may or may not have actually been what happened.) In all seriousness though, Minagi’s interaction with the sleeping Michiru gives a warm sense of family. When I first read the story, I wondered whether they were related.

A not very significant conversation with Michiru occurs. She is simply more pleasant to deal with at this point. Granted her words at this point carry a little bit of foreshadowing, I don’t find them very significant.

And that’s it for the day! There are still many more days to go, as Minagi’s route as rather long.

TL;DR:

Minagi’s calm. Best girl. (Misuzu is also best girl, but for different reasons.)

Minagi’s mom buys way too much rice. (Smaller packs! Get smaller packs!)

Michiru is totally tsundere.

Yukito doesn’t care about his journey anymore (is the feeling I’m getting).

I’m at the beginning of the 29th now.

Key Point
Why does Yukito seem to get along so well with Minagi almost immediately? Even to the point of seeming to no longer care about his journey (even if temporarily so).

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We had a conversation about that scene when it showed up on Aspi’s stream. The topic will probably show up in the podcast.

Indeed. This is something that was passed down through generations. It’s the only momento of family that Yukito has. It’s been with him every day since he began traveling… But I don’t think he gets to think about that very often, and so it becomes nothing but a tool with which money appears

That could fit with what we know of reincarnation in AIR. Reincarnation doesn’t work through blood. One of my problems with the anime was that they showed Ryūya as Yukito, despite them only being blood-related and not of the same soul. I have a big theory regarding this stuff, but we’ll wait 'til the final discussion post~

YES.

She might think she’s cooking for three, or maybe even four.

I keep seeing people mention this scene, but I don’t even remember it… What is the joke?

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[quote=“Takafumi, post:50, topic:722”]
But I don’t think he gets to think about that very often, and so it becomes nothing but a tool with which money appears
[/quote]That. I think that’s a lesson that people in general should consider. Lots of things become “saturated” in that way. (Perhaps not the best word…) Essentially, taking a moment to reflect whenever possible is important to keeping your heading, or adjusting course if you find it’s no longer relevant.

[quote=“Takafumi, post:50, topic:722”]

I have a big theory regarding this stuff, but we’ll wait 'til the final discussion post~

[/quote]Oh, I’m looking forward to that!

It certainly feels connected at least.

[quote=“Takafumi, post:50, topic:722”]
I keep seeing people mention this scene, but I don’t even remember it… What is the joke?
[/quote]Yukito is speaking with Minagi, and he recalls that Michiru picked up a dictionary. Incidentally, he then imagines trying to enjoy reading a dictionary. “Holy shit! Up next is the letter ‘R’!! Get hyped!” is the line he images (iirc). I think @Aspirety posted a pic on his Twitter feed.

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
In conversation with Haruko: 『Oh I see. Yeh pretended to be a traveller, but yeh’re actually a petty thief.』 I would’ve personally responded with: 「You caught me. I’m actually here to steal… your heart.」 Although on second thought, that might be interpreted poorly. More seriously though, we can see the motherly side of Haruko shine a bit here. I get the impression that at this point she has grown a little attached to Yukito. As though he had become a part of their family.
[/quote](AIR spoilers)By the time you reach the end of AIR, you’ll discover that Haruko is actually quite the loving person. Sure, she’s a little frightening to look at at times, but deep down, she really cares for people, especially her family. Even after Misuzu died, she doesn’t harbor a lot of malicious feelings towards Misuzu’s father, and she even found a job working with children. She even says that if Yukito ever came back, she would welcome him back and let him stay a little while longer. So, your impression is actually pretty spot on. But I digress.

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
Moving along to Kano, I personally find her a bit dull. She’s energetic, and at times she’s fun, but she’s not very interesting.
[/quote]That’s what I thought as well until I actually read her route. (Spoilers for Kano) She becomes a huge woobie later on in her route, and her supernatural psychosis plays a big part in that.

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
As soon as Minagi mentions Yukito’s puppet must be an important memento, Yukito gets this strange “soft” emotion. 「A nostalgic, painful, distant something…」 This gives an interesting look into Yukito – it’s as though he has not thought of his puppet as something quite so precious in a long time.
[/quote] (Misuzu spoilers) I also remember that Yukito had his memories wiped before his mother died, so he had no idea of the true purpose of the puppet. His mother told him that he had control of his own future, that he could wander the world and use the puppet for money if he wanted to, but when he found a purpose, a reason to use the puppet’s secret power to grant wishes, he would remember everything. Yukito still has that feeling hidden deep inside him, but he can’t put his finger on it because he hasn’t discovered that purpose yet.

Sorry for the onslaught of spoilers so far. It’s just rather difficult to explain everything otherwise.

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
Minagi begins to explain things… However Michiru interrupts. Yukito must have been thinking too deeply to realize that Michiru was about to hit him.
[/quote]This was where I really started hating Michiru’s guts. ‘How dare you start important plot development! We still have several days of filler before that happens!’ -_-

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
Minagi happens to be there when Yukito wakes up from his nap. The interactions that follow are rather enjoyable. I’d personally like to meet someone with similar conversation habits as her. Might get old quickly, but on the other hand it might not. Regardless, I find it enjoyable in the game setting at least.
[/quote]Conspiracy theory aside, I do think Minagi is one of the most enjoyable characters in AIR. She’s calm, soft-spoken and friendly, not to mention she is very motherly. I think talking to or even dating someone like her would be amazing in and of itself. She can’t really carry a conversation though, and to be honest, neither can I.

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
She appears not to mind being soaked by water, but perhaps she’s aware it was an accident. Either way, she’s much calmer than Kano or Misuzu would react in the situation. (Though, I don’t think Misuzu’s reaction would be that different.)
[/quote]I can imagine Kano’s reaction would be something like ‘Uwawawa! Uuuuuu, I’m all wet! Yukito-kun, why did you do that?’ Misuzu’s reaction would be the usual ‘Uwa! Why would you do something like that?’

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
Minagi: “You’re Japanese. Eat rice. Do it.” <shoves envelope in your face>
[/quote]I can’t imagine Minagi saying that at all. XD

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
【Yukito】「If I told you there were people with wings in this world, would you believe me?」
【Minagi】「…Wings…?」
【Yukito】「Yeah. They’re not like us humans, and they can fly through the sky. Most people would think of them as gods.」
【Minagi】「…Gods?」
【Yukito】「That’s right.」
【Minagi】「… …When I was little… I saw a picture like that in my house… In the picture… was a girl with white wings coming out of her back… In my young heart… I really wished I could join her up in the sky…」【Yukito】「Then, if I told you I’m on a journey to find that winged girl, would you laugh at me?」
【Minagi】「… …I don’t think it’s weird… To go on a journey for that reason.」
[/quote]Now that I think about it, when Minagi says later on that ‘her wings can’t fly’, that could be symbolic of her flaws as a human being. Her desire here is to join her up in the sky, which could be symbolic of the desire to be closer to God, and in order to do so we must become perfect. However, as we are, it is impossible to be perfect, but that is no reason for Minagi to not try. Her entire goal throughout the route is to learn to forgive herself, which is one of the necessary steps to repenting for one’s sins. Then, she can finally be closer to the girl in the sky, which becomes a parallel to being closer to God, at least from a Christian point of view.

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
Game complete on the letter R. Key’s next game should focus entirely on that.
[/quote]Let’s see…R…Rewrite? :confused:

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
(Minagi’s reaction: “Actually… I’m the perverted devil kidnapper… …Just look at how cute Michiru is…” ← The preceding may or may not have actually been what happened.)
[/quote]I get the feeling you also got bored at this point. XD

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
Minagi’s calm. Best girl. (Misuzu is also best girl, but for different reasons.)
[/quote]I totally agree with this.

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
Michiru is totally tsundere.
[/quote]I’d say she’s about as tsundere as Rin is. By which I mean not tsundere enough to be completely offensive.

[quote=“NotKyon, post:49, topic:722”]
Why does Yukito seem to get along so well with Minagi almost immediately? Even to the point of seeming to no longer care about his journey (even if temporarily so).
[/quote]That actually sounds pretty similar to this one:

[quote=“Pepe, post:48, topic:722”]
How Yukito’s personality slowly shifts to being no-nonsense to genuinely enjoying the time being spent in that small town
[/quote]But I’ll answer it in the podcast anyways. :slight_smile:

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Key Point:

Often when something “odd” or “important” or “surreal” is happening, Yukito will pause every couple of lines to think about something seemingly completely irrelevant to what’s happening in front of him, often something in nature (usually the sky).

For example when Minagi goes home early, and Michiru comes to say “Thanks for making Minagi happy,” he keeps talking about the sun setting over and over again. Like, I can understand just describing the scene, but he keeps going back to it. “The setting sun casts an orange glow over the distant mountains” “Our shadows stretch towards tomorrow” “The distant mountain ridge blurs into the sky” “Our figures blur into the twilight too.” And thats not even all of them from that scene.

Usually when he does this, the background of the sky, whatever it looks like at that time of day, is shown, as if Yukito is staring up at it while talking to Minagi, Michiru, etc.

So: Is part of this just Yukito’s personality, that he’s really that distracted all of the time? Or is describing the “setting” over and over again helping to set the tone of each scene? Or both? Or something else? Whatever it is, I think its a rather interesting way of writing, most especially since the whole thing is in first person.

You guys are seriously giving me a lot of work to do with all these Key Points. I just hope the responses I give, no matter how long and detailed they may be, will be to everyone’s satisfaction.

He’s a traveler. He probably likes to match events with scenery.

They are responses, not answers :stuck_out_tongue:

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Her reaction would probably “Wah. I got wet. Why would you do something like that? :(”

“rabu rabu” is a common slang term for japanese. Think of it as “lovey-dovey” in English. The hunters, though, is more unique :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

That’s kind of the thing I brought up with my last keypoint. He genuinely seems to be interested and emotionally invested in this town, moreso than the journey, in Minagi’s route. He likes being there, no doubt about it.

DOUBLE YES

…lol

Hmmm it’s weird though, because I couldn’t seem to apply that goal to her situation with Michiru. Specifically, with having Michiru eventually disappear. It feels less like “learning to forgive herself” and more like “waking up to reality”
Which is why the whole wings thing confuses me so much >_<

I think it’s mostly just Yukito being poetic. He likes to dabble and think about things really deeply, despite his joking nature.

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[quote=“Pepe, post:56, topic:722”]
Hmmm it’s weird though, because I couldn’t seem to apply that goal to her situation with Michiru. Specifically, with having Michiru eventually disappear. It feels less like “learning to forgive herself” and more like “waking up to reality”
[/quote]But Minagi blames herself for both Michiru’s death and her mother’s illness, because she had wished for her mother’s recovery with a slight, unintentional malice towards her unborn sister. She recognizes this, and blames herself for it. She thinks staying with and caring for her mother would help her atone, but in reality, it just makes things worse for her, now that she’s stuck in a dream. One of the things Michiru tells Minagi before she leaves is to learn to forgive herself, because if she doesn’t, she will never be able to let go of her grief. After all, Minagi’s happiness is Michiru’s happiness.

Oh ho. You and I are thinking on the same wave length again Pepe. Because that is exactly what my next point is.

You see, Yukito LOVES metaphors. Especially ones about time and dreams and nature:

Time:

“[Time passes] like ice melting in water,” but it is “ephemeric like that of a rapid stream no one dares approach”
“It’ll be forgotten, even if I wish for it to stop.”

Nature:

“I start walking, as if the wind is pushing me”
Michiru is “like a mirage on a lake” “like a tear cloaked in illusion” “like a girl who just woke up from a dream”

But its not only metaphors, but so many abstract thoughts in general. He thinks about a ton of stuff that people just dont typically sit around and think about. At least, not as often as he does. As @Takafumi said, I think it probably has to do with him being a traveler, and having all that time to think:

“Would anyone be able to hear our voices if they called out to us right now?”
“A single bird with nowhere to go is pushed on by the wind”
“Where do my whispers go…?”
“All the sounds of the world seemed to be locked inside those eyes.” (Why sounds?)

Another thing he says is that the “sky feels so close” in this town, and yet everybody seems to be so “far away,” (especially Minagi).

And I have to say, his whole aura rubbed off on me. I remember with Kaisouroku playing, and looking at the vast starry sky, I too found myself drifting off like Yukito so often does, just thinking about things like the sky.

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I guess before I sleep I should start posting the MINAGI ROUTE TIMELINE (CAPS LOCK NOT OPTIONAL):
Everything up through the “normal end” is © @Pepe

July 23

  • Yukito goes to the station and sleeps on the bench
  • Minagi attacks him and more hi-jinx happen
  • She makes him aware of a reception room in the station and Yukito realizes he can live there
  • He returns to the Kamio house to “borrow” a rice pot (to use with the rice coupons)
  • Haruko spots him and says it’s alright. Tells him to stay the night

July 24

  • Separation from Misuzu scene, and she asks him to still walk her to school
  • Meets Minagi at school and she offers to make him a bento
  • Yukito tries to make money but his only customer is potato. Is offered tea by Hijiri
  • Kano arrives and chit-chats with Yukito. She goes to school because of the Pet Committee
  • Hijiri offers to have soumen, but he has a lunch box waiting for him!
  • Meets up with Minagi and gets more rice coupons! (she has 82)
  • They return to the station to eat their lunch and Minagi gives Michiru a bottle of stardust
  • Yukito can’t eat dinner because the rice shop is already closed, but Minagi saved some packed lunch

July 25

  • Yukito goes to bring Misuzu to school
  • He goes to the high street to buy rice, but sees a woman who bought too much rice needing help, and decides to help her
  • Hijiri lets him know she is Minagi’s mom (and calls him a Lovely Love Hunter). She also says “she isn’t physically ill. Well, she’s definitely ill, but…”
  • Yukito buys rice but gets tired and tries to make more money
  • Michiru sees him and “rescues” his puppet, causing him to chase her around while carrying sacks of rice
  • Michiru tells Yukito off to Minagi for not taking care of his puppet. Minagi offers to fix it for him (and put a dress on it)
  • (if you choose not to give your puppet to her, you are booted to Kano route)
  • Yukito is reminded of his mother, and mentions meeting Minagi’s mother. Minagi says there’s a problem with her mind, and she mention how she is just a fragment of her mom’s dream. Michiru stops her midway
  • He fails at making money, even with the frilly dress on his puppet, and is approached by Hijiri inviting him in again
  • Kano arrives from her walk and brings Yukito to the bridge
  • She falls into the stream, and Yukito wonders about her bandana. If you nag her enough, she gets angry, and you leave town
  • Yukito tries to make dinner but realizes that he doesn’t have the tools to start a fire

July 26

  • You can bring Misuzu to school again, but she tells Yukito he doesn’t need to anymore
  • Yukito goes to work and is asked a favor by Hijiri in exchange for food, but he refuses
  • Returns to the station and meets Minagi and asks her to remove the puppet’s dress
  • Minagi gives him the keys to the station so he can take a bath and cook rice. Her father was the station assistant
  • She offers for him to sleep on her lap
  • She asks Yukito to tell Minagi that she already went home
  • Michiru appears and thanks Yukito for making Minagi happy

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:52, topic:722”]
That’s what I thought as well until I actually read her route. (Spoilers for Kano) She becomes a huge woobie later on in her route, and her supernatural psychosis plays a big part in that.
/quoteEven so, that’s something “external.” For example, if someone has a flu, I don’t view their particular strand of influenza virus to be a part of them that makes them who they are. Even in a chronic situation. Rather it’s merely something they deal with due to factors out of their own control. Back to Kano, specifically, the “other person” isn’t her. So I can’t view it as something that makes her interesting. Her route perhaps, but not her. Anyway, I’ll leave it at that for now. This is a better discussion to restate and continue once we’re officially doing her route. :slight_smile:

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:52, topic:722”]
(Misuzu spoilers) I also remember that Yukito had his memories wiped before his mother died, so he had no idea of the true purpose of the puppet.
[/quote]Oh! I don’t remember that. This will make her route more interesting. I wonder whether I should keep that in mind while I continue to play through Minagi’s route though… Hmm…

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:52, topic:722”]
Sorry for the onslaught of spoilers so far. It’s just rather difficult to explain everything otherwise.
[/quote]No worries! I already played through the VN (and watched the anime) once before. This has been intriguing!

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:52, topic:722”]
She’s calm, soft-spoken and friendly, not to mention she is very motherly. I think talking to or even dating someone like her would be amazing in and of itself. She can’t really carry a conversation though, and to be honest, neither can I.
[/quote]When speaking aloud I’m usually rather terse unless I find the topic exceedingly interesting, and it coincides with something I was recently looking into or working on/with. It was stated elsewhere (I’m sorry, I forget who said it) that Misuzu appears to be the type to think about what she wants to say, and where she wants to take the conversation. Yukito’s general “no-nonsense” attitude (which is filled with tons of nonsense, come to think of it) typically derails her planned progression. That causes further delay due to her figuring out how to progress the conversation next. Personally, I like that view of it.

Anyway, the way she speaks slowly, and her high level of patience, are both very attractive qualities to me. Her slow speech can be construed as a method to improve the accuracy of what she’s attempting to convey. That is, she’s speaking carefully. That’s my take on it anyway.

The similarity between Misuzu’s (theoretical) reaction and Minagi’s reaction would be that neither of them would retaliate. Whereas Michiru, Kano, Haruko, and (potentially) Hijiri would all probably “get him back” in various ways. Kano’s might be playful, granted.

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:52, topic:722”]
Now that I think about it, when Minagi says later on that ‘her wings can’t fly’, that could be symbolic of her flaws as a human being. Her desire here is to join her up in the sky, which could be symbolic of the desire to be closer to God, and in order to do so we must become perfect.
[/quote]I’ll respond to this once I’ve reached that point in the route. I think it’s an interesting view, but want my memory on it to be fresh.

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:52, topic:722”]
I’d say she’s about as tsundere as Rin is. By which I mean not tsundere enough to be completely offensive.
[/quote]That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of Michiru in comparison to Rin before. Still, I don’t usually take well to getting kicked. xP

[quote=“Pepe, post:56, topic:722”]
That’s kind of the thing I brought up with my last keypoint. He genuinely seems to be interested and emotionally invested in this town, moreso than the journey, in Minagi’s route. He likes being there, no doubt about it.
[/quote]I see it a little differently, but not significantly so. My view isn’t that Yukito is invested in the town, but rather in the idea of settling. For Misuzu (Misuzu spoiler) it’s because she’s the girl he’s been searching for, and that nags at him. For Kano he finds something fun, but also a challenge that’s different from any of his other travels. It’s something interesting, that breaks away from the monotony of his prior journeys, I suspect. For Minagi, it’s for happiness, and a new calm. Yukito is clumsy in this regard though, because I don’t suppose that he realizes his feelings in that way. (Which explains the “normal end,” iirc.)

[quote=“Pepe, post:56, topic:722”]
“rabu rabu” is a common slang term for japanese. Think of it as “lovey-dovey” in English. The hunters, though, is more unique :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
[/quote]Oh, thank you for clarifying that! Well. I guess I don’t have to count the number of times it’s said anymore… (Aww… no rabu rabu conspiracy for my next post.) lol

[quote=“yerian98, post:53, topic:722”]
Often when something “odd” or “important” or “surreal” is happening, Yukito will pause every couple of lines to think about something seemingly completely irrelevant to what’s happening in front of him, often something in nature (usually the sky).
[/quote]I hadn’t really noticed this before. Now that you mention it, that does seem to happen a lot. I agree with @Pepe and the others about it being mostly poetic, but I’ll keep it in mind while reading through the rest of Minagi’s route and AIR.

There are actually two lines, right in the same scene, somewhere at the beginning of the route, that when Michiru said them they sounded exactly like Rin when she says them.

“Kore de dou da!” -> Rin screams this during battles
“Sugoi darou” -> When Rin’s with her cats

I’d try to find the voice files, but I can’t find any way of sorting which files are from what SEENs in the folder.

I don’t know, just something I noticed and laughed at. /shrug

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