A dating sim teaches you how to actually date by improving your character stats and making events you have to respond to. VNs have long since stopped being “dating sims”
Oh really? I just heard many people refer to VNs with dating such as Kanon and Grisaia as “dating sims” so assumed they were right. I guess I’ll edit that to make more sense.
Stop And Smell The Futon / 10
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Well, Tomoyo is just trying to be Misae, but she has the delinquent aura, so she can’t manage what Misae did.
One of my favorite characters in the game. Definitely my favorite male character.
Generally not in Key VNs, because the old art had weirdly shaped bodies.
I don’t think it’s depressing. It’s the past. You always see it in a certain way.
This is why I have it as the first route to read. It’s short, it’s expressive of CLANNAD’s themes, it introduces some of the other characters, it gives us an insight into Hikarizaka, and it just feels nice. Moving onto Tomoyo afterwards continues the things introduced in Misae’s route, but also brings in more elements that are prominent in CLANNAD. Then Yukine is a good transitional route, and that route also feels nice.
Yeah. If you have a box on the side with stats like “Athleticism” or “Intelligence” and a menu that shows your affection points with different heroines, then you are a dating sim. The protagonist generally doesn’t have a name or a personality in those things either.
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Should have posted my final thoughts of this route when I finished it several days ago but here goes.
Wow, this route is short. I remembered it was among the shortest ones but the only thing I can remember from when I first played years ago is that I found the route boring and long-winded. I remembered playing it as my first route then and I guess the biggest reason I found it boring was that it was about a different set of characters and I wanted to know more about the present ones. Also, it might’ve had something to do with Clannad being amoung the first VNs I played as well.
About the story I agree with what’s already been stated. Not CG, Saki and Yuki are really good friends to have and that it’s great to get to know the story behind Misae’s past. But for the overall story of Clannad I find it unecessary. Sure, it mentions something about the lights and shows some examples of what to come in the other routes but I don’t think the game would suffer anything without this route. But if you just see it as a bonus route which was just added on, it’s hard to complain about it in any way.
Still, it’s hard to really give the final conclusion without having played the last part in Tomoyo’s route. It’s gonna be interesting as I’ve forgotten what excactly happens during that scene.
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(I was sick for a week so I’ve fallen behind on the bookclub, just started Tomoyo route today so hopefully I’ll be back on track soon!)
I found the Misae route to be much more enjoyable than I remembered. I think that the message of the story, whether there was meant to be one or not, is that you should appreciate the people (and pets) that make you happy in your life, rather than mourning the ones who left you. In the Tomoyo route Misae finally realizes that Shima never left her, he’s been keeping her company all this time, all the sadness and regret she’s felt about her high-school love leaving her was a waste. But even if the cat wasn’t Shima he’d still be something that loves her and makes her happy. Life isn’t perfectly designed, people can’t stay by you forever, we have to focus on who we have in our lives in the present.
I think this is easily one of Clannad’s more easily relatable stories. We’ve all had our hearts broken, had people leaving our lives when we didn’t expect them to, and it tends to make you harder on the outside and softer on the inside. Misae is outwardly dismissive but she’s ultimately a very loving character.
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One of the messages 
There’s also something about moving on in there. Tomoya reminded her of Shima, but she didn’t get stuck in the nostalgia. She treasures that past, but goes on to live something different.
Am I missing out on something good?
It’s definitely a special kind of circumstance, but good is not quite the word I’d use there.
Finished this route last night. I ended up with a lot of scenes with the twins because of my choices, so it felt like I was playing their route almost! Misae still was kind of backroundish for a while. I did like her more as I got to know her. She’s a nice woman to give advice out to those in need and take time from her schedule to do it, which I appreciated. Her story was a pretty big surprise, especially after just doing the common route. It introduced more concepts that I was unaware of. I thought it was really sweet and touching
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Misae is an interesting character, as it’s not very often that I get to see a glimpse of what could happen to a schoolgirl in her adult years. Granted, it’s a rather specific glimpse, but it’s still insightful and quite worth the trip. She finds herself engrossed in, but not quite satisfied with her work as dorm mother of the boys’ dormitory where Sunohara lives. TomoyaCosmo spends time advising her on how to be a better dorm mother, to the point where he earns her trust and grows close to her. It’s then that Cosmo gets curious about a boy who turned her down once, and then most of the route focuses on her younger self.
During Misae’s high school days, a young boy named Shima approaches her, promising to grant her one wish as repayment for saving his life. She doesn’t take the topic too seriously and would rather see him go away, but he resolves to stick to her until the wish is fulfilled. Shima hears from Misae’s crush, Igarashi-san, that he already knows about her crush on him, and asks Shima to tell Misae about it. Misae does not take the news well, and Shima does his best to bring her spirits back up, falling in love with her in the process. (And it’s more natural than Fuko’s romance scene, thank heaven. )
Misae prospers as an individual and with Shima until Shima remembers his duty to grant Misae’s wish. He discovers that the light that provides the wish is missing, leading him to question his purpose. He eventually decides that he can still provide a lesser form of wish-granting, one within his own power as a human being. When he discovers that he isn’t really Shima, but a shadow, an identity-less spirit who was entrusted with the task of granting Misae’s wish. When Misae decides to grant her wish, he disappears soon after, his work complete.
It’s then revealed that the cat she has been keeping for a while is a reincarnation (?) of Shima, still lingering around her master in the hopes of fulfilling the measure of his creation. It’s actually quite a heartwarming ending… :’)
Aside from Misae’s own development, her route offers quite a bit of insight into Nagisa and Ryou’s characters as well, depending on the choices Cosmo makes. Nagisa discusses her feelings for Cosmo as she saw them during the first day she met him, and while it’s a little predictable of her to think so highly of him, both Misae and Cosmo’s reactions are what make the scene. Same goes for Ryou, although I always wondered, as I watched the anime, how she’s developed feelings for Cosmo, and the explanation given is actually pretty satisfying. It makes me look forward to her route in the near future~ 
Misae is also the first route I’ve read so far that goes into some detail about the central plot MacGuffin of CLANNAD: the light orbs. According to Shima, they grant any one wish a person has per orb, without limit of scope. However, the procedure for using them is still a little vague, as they seem to activate subconsciously rather than ceremoniously. It actually makes me question if the light really was meant for Misae, and if so, when she made the wish to be with Shima forever. 
Overall, this was a fairly short, but sweet start to the slew of routes I’m bound to tackle next. Next up is Tomoyo, so hopefully the next few routes will be a nice upward trend (otherwise Tomoyo After has no chance of being in my Steam library in the near future~ ).
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Ahem. He’s actually the real Shima Katsuki’s cat.
…I didn’t catch that. Exactly what line is that mentioned in, if I may ask? ^^;
It’s never been stated explicitly, but there were at least two points at which some hints have been dropped:
One during Shima’s first real encounter with Misae, when she remembers meeting the real Shima:
And the second one in the epilogue, where he refers to both the real Shima and Misae as his masters:
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Finished reading Misae’s route yesterday and it was a lot better than I remembered when I watched the anime. Misae herself is a really likable character and I think “dorm mother” is rather fitting, cause she’s more or less a motherly figure; kind, caring and empathetic, but also having her limits and isn’t someone to mess with, as we see with her interactions with the rugby players and Sunohara. Speaking of Sunohara, the comedy was pretty funny. The stints with Sunohara being the hamster toy for Misae’s techniques was hilarious and I also love the interactions with Yuki and Saki. They were really funny and added a bit of levity during the bittersweet moments in the route.
Now for the route itself. Like I said, it’s a lot better than I remembered it being and I think part of that is because we’re given a bit more time to invest ourselves into the relationship between Misae and Shima and what’s going on, or at least that’s how it felt when reading this route. This route is rather bittersweet, as we see Misae experience heartbreak from being rejected by Igarashi and Shima disappearing, because his duty has been fulfilled and that he’s the cat who belongs to the real deceased Katsuki Shima. But at the same time, there’s that sense of optimism that while Shima does not exist in human form, he’ll still be with Misae as her cat and Misae is hopeful that Shima might come back and maybe someday, she’ll find out that Shima was with her all this time as her cat (I hope). We also get some insight about the light orbs, with Shima explaining that they can grant any one wish to a person per orb. I do have a question though, why did the light disappear the moment Shima remembered his duty? I want to say it’s because he indirectly granted Misae’s wish by being with her and caring for her when she was feeling heartbroken, but maybe there’s another reason why.
As for the relationship between Tomoya and Misae, I thought it was well done, though to be honest, I see them more as mother and son than lovers and I think Misae shares that same feeling too, as she treats Tomoya more like a close son than anything. The scenes with Nagisa and Ryou, depending on the choice, were pretty nice as it gives some insight of why they like Tomoya, and I like the scene with Tomoyo as well. The ending for the route was very heartwarming and it left me with a good feeling in my chest, and the bad ending wasn’t as brutal as I thought it would be.
So overall, I really enjoyed Misae’s route. It was short but bittersweet, with a sense of optimism. Next up is Tomoyo’s route.
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I like this story a lot. It was interesting, and it gives some insight on Clannad’s world, with the light that grants someone’s wish. I also really like Misae. She’s so modest, but at the same time, she’s quite self-aware of her capabilities. Shima is an equally interesting character, and there’s a lot of care put in writing his character and how his prime motivations went awry. The writing came out naturally. And there’s decent chemistry between Misae and Shima.
Nagisa defending Tomoya was adorable. I agree.
On a side note, I was wondering if Shima was also voiced by Romi Park (known for voicing Ed from FMA) in the VN, and I wasn’t getting that vibes at all, until OH HER NAME IS LISTED IN THE CREDITS WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT.
The family aspect of this story is definitely the master-pet dynamic
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A reliable site for voice actor information says you are correct. Since the anime and VN casts are the same, I don’t think there’s a reason to doubt it’s Romi Park in both.
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So, the ending to Misae’s Route. Did anyone understand it? I mean, we learn how Misae became who she is now and that the cat with her was fake Shima who was granting the wish of his past owner, the real Shima, to stay with Misae (who wished for him to stay with her forever). However, the ending just ends with Tomoya talking about Shima the cat’s wish for him to tell her that he (the cat) will stay with her forever before cutting to the credits. What? So, how does this continue?
She gets over Shima as a person but learns to treasure her cat companion, thus allowing her to move on with her life and perhaps be more open to romantic interactions with creepy guys who like to sniff her futon 
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Creepy guys who like to sniff her futon? Tomoya? Wait, then what was the point of her showing up in Tomoyo’s route after completing her (Misae) route? Is it shown that she would be more open to romantic interactions with said creepy guys at the end of her route? Move on with her life after learning to treasure her cat companion, yes I agree, but it still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense here. Need more clarification!
Well i finished after story and now i can write about these routes, though probably should have written them earlier asafter story really doesn’t feature much of these characters
Misae is a independent, strong women,that’s what i got at the first few moments with her. But then when i entered her route i saw her other or you can saw womenly side. We see how she has her first crush,gets her heart broken and then finds love again.She displays strength from becoming a timid girl who couldn’t speak to her crush to a great student council president. The Romance in her route is utterly good, the shy shima(cat) and her interactions are well fitting. Especially where he confesses to her that scene is well executed.
Her route is a bit like kurugaya you don’t know if she got her love or not until in tomoyo.
overall Misae is one of the strongly written characters in clannad with a controlled route length.
