Oh Nayuki, such a sweet, loving, sleepy girl. The brightest part of her route is her herself. I really love her character even though there isn’t that much to it. She’s just a sweet girl who can’t help but be incredibly sleepy. It starts off really well with them getting close to each other and Yuuichi then buys her a marble? Nayuki sure has a strange idea for a present for herself.
Yuuichi finally starts to remember his past with Nayuki after she uses her previously gifted marble to restore the snow bunny they find and she clues him in on it being important. Snow bunnies don’t have any luck I suppose, one being destroyed by Yuuichi years before and them finding a crumbled one by their school. Why must you hate snow bunnies Kanon?
Now flash forward and Yuuichi takes her back to the station and apologizes to her for what he had done 7 years before. I was so glad Yuuichi did something like this because Nayuki had taken his response as him hating the town and her for the past 7 years before he returned. I feel this is the highlight of the route and where a major theme of the route comes in to the spotlight: forgiveness. She bears the wound Yuuichi gave her for the past 7 years but she still forgave Yuuichi and brings herself to smile for him and be herself, allowing their relationship to grow into something more.
I was very surprised when they actually became lovers. I didn’t think they would take that step but lo and behold, it happened. I was also surpised how afterwards they just treat each other as if nothing had happened. Then again they didn’t give much time to reflect on it with the accident coming up. Also, I have to say that Nayuki getting up before Yuuichi and repeating what she has the alarm clock say to wake him up in the morning was so sweet and endearing. I absolutely loved it.[quote=“Totoro_Futaki, post:24, topic:1968”]
It also felt sad, how Akiko’s brutal accident didn’t affect him in any way when he heard about it. To think that he’d at least be a bit heartbroken over his own aunts accident
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My personal reasoning for this is that he is trying to stay strong so he can take care of and set an example for Nayuki during his little time left to show Nayuki that she can’t just lock herself away. She is going to have to face the fact that her mother isn’t there to take care of her and that she needs to learn to stand on her own before he has to leave.
That being said, I find it very interesting that the date disappears after the accident. Do you believe it is meant to signify anything? I believe it’s suppose to show the eternity that life must feel like to both Yuuichi and Nayuki, waiting to hear that aunt Akiko is going to be alright. Those few days felt somewhat depressing, wondering if Akiko was going to make it or not without a word from the hospital. I felt so bad for Nayuki, losing what was the only family she ever had and the only person she could count on; not knowing whether her mother is going to make it.
This is where I feel the other major theme of the route comes in to play:Togetherness. Yuuichi knows that he can’t afford to leave Nayuki alone but with her avoiding him, he doesn’t want to be alone either and chooses to keep going to school for that reason. I believe that if Nayuki had come out of her room, Yuuichi would have stayed home and tried to comfort her to the best of his ability like he does on the day before he leaves, even though he was absolutely abysmal at it.
This right here is the other highlight of this route. I was caught off guard by this and it’s such a beautiful message. I’m so glad Nayuki found the courage to go to the station and that Yuuichi waited the entire day, hoping that she would come to see him. Yume no Ato playing in the background was such a great choice as well. Nayuki keeping the message on the alarm after that is so adorable too. There is one thing that bugs me though. Do you think aunt Akiko knows the full extent of Yuuichi and Nayuki’s relationship? Either she just doesn’t know they are lovers or she does and either doesn’t say anything because she is so kind and accepting or she just lets them have their own privacy.
All in all, I enjoyed it but feels very flat. Like the impact it’s going for doesn’t reach the heights it was intended for. Especially with how quickly the final week passed by. It became hard to sit and empathize with a lot of what’s going on as it doesn’t really get reflected on and lasts such a short amount of time in comparison to the rest of the route, of which not a lot actually goes on. Nayuki herself really saved this route from being a complete bore since all her quirks really struck the right notes with me. She’s a very endearing character and I’m thankful for that.
