Well, I guess I have no counter-argument to this 
At least, until we someday get Harukanata no Mirai (or whatever @HeliosAlpha likes to call the Haruka/Kanata after we will never get) I don’t think we’ll ever see their fight against the Futaki family and how that all ends. I can imagine it is quite unsatisfying and trust me you’re not the only one who is left waiting for that resolution 
From everyone’s reactions, I take that we mostly agree on what the route’s actual message is:
A while ago, I have stumbled upon a quote that fits wonderfully to this message:
"Holding onto hatred is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."
The moment Haruka let go of her family’s teachings of always blaming someone for one’s own misfortune, her world became so much brighter. It became easier to breathe when she realized she didn’t have to blame herself. For she had cleansed herself of the poison she kept drinking even after leaving the hateful Saigusa house. And then, new pathways she thought were blocked long ago had opened to her.
It’s true that a lot of people miss what the true conflict is in both Haruka and Kud, but is it really misdirection? Isn’t it the same way in real life? Supposedly, someone did something bad to you and you resent them for it. Even if something bad happens to that “bad” person, it wouldn’t make your past any less painful, right? But if you don’t stop and think about it rationally, taking revenge feels like the one and only appropriate solution. You’re drinking poison, but you think it’s the other person who’s hurting you.
Imagine every single Saigusa and Futaki family member, except for Haruka, dying before the conclusion of the route is reached. Sure, nobody would be there to talk shit about Haruka, but then what? Would she automatically get better? On the contrary, with none of the ‘evildoers’ around to retract their statements, she might never get over the fear that she might indeed be the “bad” one. The failure. The murderer’s daughter. The issue with her lack of confidence would still remain.
You see, us humans LOVE to blame stuff on someone. It gives our anger a direction. It reduces the confusion in our hearts. It stops us from slowing down and taking a good look at ourselves. If we follow what initially feels right, we will arrive at the wrong answer.
Actually, I got a somewhat related quote for that, too:
Usually, people need something to judge so they never take a good look at themselves.
~ Mark Jefferson - Life is Strange, episode 2
If we didn’t discuss Haruka’s route, we might have arrived at the wrong answer.
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Bro.
Fam.
Homie.
No. Ok?
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I mean, you’re right in that beating them bad guys (AKA the family) wouldn’t solve Haruka’s internal struggle…
But, at the same time, solving Haruka’s internal struggle won’t beat them bad guys.
This isn’t revenge because they haven’t done something bad and then stopped already; this is a conflict that remains to exist (as far as we know) because they continue to do bad things. And, suppose we do get a continuation of that conflict and we see how it gets resolved… I think it would be an amazing story if Haruka and Kanata use their newfound viewpoint of the world to teach the rest of the family that they should stop the hate!
Bake muffins and chiffon cake for everyone!
Throw marbles down the street!
Overthrow the hate in society!
Anarchy!!!
…and all that jazz
Sadly, that isn’t the story we were given (although we were already given a pretty good one). But it would be a pretty amazing one if we were given that, doncha think?
I get the message perfectly well, and it’s a great message. But I can’t help but left with a bad aftertaste when I realise that these characters are still in grave danger at the end of the route. My concerns would’ve been completely alleviated if they just included one or two lines acknowledging that “Things will probably be hard from here on out, but as long as we’re together, we’ll be fine.” There, all sorted. It’s the fact that the looming danger was completely glossed over that kinda bothers me.
There’s one interpretation that could be used to counter this, but well, this isn’t the thread for it 
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Will you fuckbois stop looking into it so hard.
Take your happy ending, don’t say ‘well that’s nice but it’s a shame they’re going to die’, fuck off.
Fecal matter is incapable of having feelings, Peeps, they can’t teach the family this.
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One more thing I want to talk about in Haruka’s route is her character development. It is imperative that Haruka change her mindset in order to reach the correct resolution. One of the indicators of her progress is her focus on luck. In one of the initial scenes of Haruka’s route, she ends up at the vending machine and gets lucky with the roulette. While the characters don’t directly talk about luck much, it does appear enough that I took notice of it. Luck can determine a lot of things in someone’s life that the person really has no control over. In this case, Haruka would be unlucky for being born into the Saigusa family with those circumstances. However, luck doesn’t always correlate directly with happiness either. For example, having good luck in the lottery doesn’t guarantee happiness. Therefore, in order for Haruka to develop as a person she must let go of the idea that the circumstances of her birth determine her limits. She must accept herself as an individual in order to forgive and understand others. The writing in this route achieves this, slowly but steadily. I will explore a few cases that demonstrate her growth.
In the beginning of the route, we are shown the adversity and hatred between Haruka and Kanata. Later on, after poster shenanigans, Haruka invests all of her hope in believing that Kanata is the bad one. If this is the case then she would be able to replace Kanata, or so she thinks. She believes that everyone else, especially Kanata, has been given a better roll in the roulette of life and thus is happier. But in the previously mentioned scene, Kanata agrees with Riki’s sentiment that the bad in this world outweighs the good, and this justifies the fact that both Haruka and Kanata suffer equally because of the family. The fact that when given the choice, Riki must agree with Haruka’s plan, shows that she must make her own mistakes before moving on. The route’s resolution could totally be sped up but in doing so would make the story very unrealistic.
At a little past the midpoint, Haruka breaks upon seeing Kanata impersonate her. This is the lowest point, so naturally it goes up from here. Haruka is prompted to change and resolve this mess by the fact that Riki stands by her side even when Kanata tries to trick him. Riki is the only thing unique to her which gives her the strength to finally believe in herself. She had to be shown that no one else can replace her, nor can she replace anyone else. She shows this growth by asking her parents “how” she was born, instead of “why.”
After that scene, she says she will try to talk to Kanata, but her confidence has not yet met the required point, as shown by the reluctance in her voice. And so Riki invites Kanata to the courtyard.
This next scene is actually one of my favorite scenes in the route for showing everyone’s thoughts with little words and more actions instead. Riki and Haruka wait way after the appointed time, but they show their determination by staying there much longer. When Kanata finally does come, Riki points out to the reader that Kanata is probably nervous and hoping for something. Haruka asks for help, but does so in a monotone voice. She hides the reluctance, but it can be seen that she cannot truly open up to Kanata so easily. Once Kanata says no, Haruka’s façade breaks easily and she gets mad. But at the same time, she doesn’t lose control. After Kanata leaves, we see that Haruka and Riki had a bet over whether or not Kanata would show up. This shows two things. One is that Haruka did not believe in Kanata, and two, that Haruka herself might not even have agreed to meet up if not given the incentive of money, not that she’s greedy or anything. But as Riki states, this is just the starting point.
Now we’re almost at the resolution. Riki tells Haruka everything he knows because she is ready to trust what Kanata told him. Her goal changes from replace Kanata to make her own place in the world. She is ready to let go of her hatred, her fixation on the circumstances of her birth, and make up again. This newfound determination enables her to let go of any pride and express her genuine cry for help by kneeling on the ground.
At the end, Haruka shows her progress for the last time by denying the right to know which sister is which. At this time, it is no longer necessary. In this way she truly accepts her unique life and vows to make the most of it.
Again, I really, really love how this route is written. It progresses slowly, but necessarily so. People cannot let go of the past so easily. It takes time, several mistakes, the help of others, empathy, a shift in mindset, and a change in goals. It’s written without wasted ink and super realistically. I have never been abused but I can feel Haruka’s pain and eventual joy as if it were my own. This route is simply brilliant and easily one of the best things I have ever read. 5/5
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Am I the only one who still considers those unforgivable members of the Saigusa family as people too?
I would like to point out though that I am, in no way, dissatisfied by the ending; I think the happy ending as it is is perfectly fine! I don’t think those lines that aspi mentioned would have made it better than it already is!
But at the same time, I am aware of the possible conflict remaining and I accept that it is something that the story glossed over
Because, frankly, they don’t need to pay attention to that to make the story any better.
They could have made an amazing, totally different story, if they wanted to; one where they beat the baddies with love and good intentions… But I would consider that an already different story. That wouldn’t be Haruka’s route anymore! That would be Harukanata no Mirai
Naturally, that is only my opinion, and I can see why other people would remain dissatisfied.
Ah well, not my loss, frankly
There are things in this world that are forgivable and then there are those which are not.
For example. A scientist spent years completing a theory, it was his life. He showed this theory to his friend but the friend betrayed him and sold his theory.
When confronted he gives these two reasons -
1.Someone forced him saying that his family will be in danger so he had to steal it.
2.He wanted money and power. That was the only reason.
Which is the situation you’ll be able to forgive him?probably it’s 1 isn’t it. He wanted to protect something that was precious to him so you can understand that it was as important to him as the theory was to the scientist. In 2 though he only does it out of selfishness, would you be able to bring yourself to forgive the man to whom your feelings were out matched by money?.
Haruka and Kanata’s reason’s are justifiable. Haruka had something taken from her, a chance to live a normal life. While Kanata was protecting her little sister (the most important person to her).
While the familys were only a bunch of power crazed dicks. When they had land and power they became accustomed to ruling people around, it became an obsession for them. When that power was taken from them they suffered like a drug addict who was deprived off his daily snot.
They held their stupid pride. ‘Why should these people be free? They should be under us. We are superior than them’. These were their ideals.
So they tried to regain that power and thus the rule began that every girl of their family would marry two man. They didn’t care who they hurt, they just wanted power. Their beatings of Haruka and Kanata were also part of their frustration. When they couldn’t display power on the others they displayed it on their own. Saigusa’s beat haruka while futaki’s manipulated Kanata.
Long answer short ‘power is never a good reason to hurt someone’. And ‘not everyone in the world deserves your sympathy.’
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The way we talk about Haruka’s family really shows us how difficult a challenge Haruka managed to clear by cleansing herself from hatred.
We instinctively hate evil. We are quick to judge others and once we categorize them as “evil”, we quickly get emotional. Oftentimes, we end up hating people that are completely unrelated to our lives. And thus, for no practical reason, we end up drinking poison.
I’ll use a metaphor all of us should be familiar with: When someone posts something on the internet we disagree with, our first reaction is the desire to object. “But they are wrong! I have to correct them!”
But the more experienced users know that we will only exhaust ourselves in doing so. That’s especially the case with particularly hard trolling.
It’s a very counter-intuitive thing to do. But Haruka could overcome it, which is amazing.
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First let me tell you. These are my thoughts of the family, merely an opinion. I’m not trying to offend anyone here You are free to disagree with me.
Yeah haruka can overcome it but there is no reason for us to keep hoping that the familys can also change. We are trying to look for a light in darkness that isn’t even there. Sure there are someone else like haruka and Kanata’s mom that is also suffering by the true shit of the food chain in the family and they also want to get out. There is good but there are also bad.
Allow me to share a quote myself. (don’t know the source).
"Sometimes you just have to accept that some people are shitty humans and stop trying to see the good that isn’t there."
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I guess this is the way many people think about Haruka’s family, isn’t it.
Let me step in here: we don’t know a goddamn thing about Haruka’s family. We only know the surface of their intentions in what they are doing. We don’t know if they are legitimately shitty greedy people or if, like Kanata, they had good intentions behind what they are doing. Let me bring up this again:
And the same goes to the real world. You mention the case of someone stealing a scientist’s research for money and power, which is a very bad thing to do. But how would we ever know his intent behind it if we blindly hate them for what they have done. Without the willingness to understand, we would never be able to find out their intents, and we would never be able to accurately judge what would be the best course of action. We would just fire more hatred at these people. And heeeey that’s exactly what’s happening with the world right now.
Time and time again we hear about people rallying up against things like “cultural appropriation” and “blackface” and complicated social issues such as that. In countless cases, people are quick to say “no, stop that, that is wrong” and who can blame them? These social issues are rooted in hatred and racism and things we really don’t want to happen again. But many times, the people trying to do these things have good intents; maybe they just want to spread culture, or even spread awareness. But with social media, rampant as it is these days, people never really stop to try and understand these intents. They just go on to flaming and criticizing and spreading the hatred around more and more until it becomes viral. And people never stop to try and think “why are these people doing these things?”
And when it so happens that people are doing this with good intentions, the hatred would push them to limits they didn’t think they should go to; the hatred would cause them to breed even more hatred, transforming these good intentions into bad intentions. And that’s how malice really starts. Soon enough, maybe they would be doing these things no longer to raise awareness, but to actively taunt those who are so prone to fling hatred at them.
And all this just spirals around and creates a chain that nobody can escape. Not until someone tries to break free of this chain and understand the people around them; understand where all this hatred is coming from and try to put a stop to it.
This is exactly what Haruka did, and this is exactly what we are failing to do here.
So, please, before we are so quick to judge her family as evil people, try to understand. Although, frankly, with the information we were given, I don’t think it would be even possible to fully understand them. And with that in mind, maybe we can change our default reaction to people who do bad things from “hate” to “cautious awareness” and realize that, hey, these are people too!
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To put aside my own rejection of objective morality and argue under the same premise as everyone else here, I’ll say this:
You could say that all Hitler was trying to do was revive Germany as an economic superpower. Does that make his actions excusable? Like I just said, I don’t believe in objective morality, so I’m not going to answer that question myself, but in any case, they knew exactly what they were doing.
Interesting that every time a single source of evil is needed to use as an example, Hitler is always brought up. Well, I will try to answer this the best way I can from what I learned from this route.
No, Hitler’s actions are not excusable. He had, to his own eyes, good intentions for the people of Germany. Regardless, he killed thousands of innocent people for these good intentions…
Or, rather, he commanded to kill thousands of people for these intentions. The killing was done by his subordinates. Subordinates who willingly brought out his orders. Subordinates who agreed with his vision and his means in doing so. Hitler wasn’t the only “evil one” in Nazi Germany, mind you.
So you have to wonder, why did Hitler come into power in the first place? Because people supported him and his vision. People who were driven to hatred towards all other races. A hatred that was fueled by a very charismatic leader. And this hatred, which was built up by thousands of people all with the same goal of hatred towards other people, came to the point that they got military might, and world war II started.
We don’t know everything that happened in society during that time; a lot of it was erased in the annals of history. And it may be naive of me to say this, but if many more people were capable of doing what Haruka was able to do; to stop the blind hatred and to understand why they should coexist with other races; then I think all this could have been avoided.
My worst fear is that we are going down the same dark path that caused world war II. People in many countries, spreading blind hatred like poison, all fueled by charismatic leaders (my home country included). I don’t know what I can do to stop the hatred, but I sure as hell am not going to fight this hatred with even more hatred. Even now, I try to understand why it is that these people hate, what their intentions are in their hatred, and figure out a solution to erase their hatred without going into war. But I can’t do it alone. And I can only wish more people in our current day and age would learn to stop spreading hatred more and more.
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That’s a bit of snap judgement IMO, considering the (two?) snippets we see of these families are incredibly short and we don’t actually see them say much (or at least, enough to really know how they act, outside of what Haruka/Kanata tell us, which is obviously biased, and rightly so, because assuming what they say is true, why would they say nice things about them?). It’s common for people to focus in on negative attributes, and we see this in Haruka due to her negative experiences, which has warped her perspective of what a family is/can be. If you ever hear me talk about my parents or my idea of family, you are likely going to hear me bang on about the awful things they said and did to me and my brother, how virtually everyday was a fight (both verbal and physical ones), rather than fondly refer to the tender moments, which certainly did happen, but I’d tell you were few and far between (because I’m biased). How I never wanted to be home, because it wasn’t home for me, but neither was anywhere else. I was a ghost, moving from place to place, unnoticed, cold and unfeeling, restless with nowhere to rest.
But even if I break away from my own bias and ego, there are facts I can’t deny: they fed me, gave me a roof, a wildly overpriced private education up through high school, in hopes I’d surpass them in every conceivable way, to give that labor and time some form and purpose. They were tough, quick to anger and violence, downright fucking assholes, and did some fucked up shit that I’m still working through even now. And despite all of that? I’d give or do just about anything to just be able sit in the same room as them and not feel uncomfortable. To have one of those nice family dinners you see on TV. Or a Christmas morning that didn’t end with someone crying in the other room. My insatiable desire for what I had heard all my life was “normal,” but never was for me.
Haruka’s route resonates with me in a deep and primal way, moreso than any other piece of fiction or literature has been able to before on this kind of relateable level. This idea that one can, with time and understanding, eventually put aside years of grudges and resentment, venom and hatred. That we all make mistakes, and those mistakes can be forgiven, and that no one person is at the center of it all. For a long time, I was entirely numb. I didn’t care about much of anything, not myself, my grades, my appearance, all the things I had been told for years were ever so important. I’d wake up, plug in my headphones and carelessly drowned the world out day after day, until I realized that I had to break out of my own situation. I couldn’t wait for an opportunity to fall into my lap. I couldn’t keep carrying the weight of my resentment towards my family so closely that I shuffled through my own existence. I wouldn’t become better to spite them: I’d become better despite those things that held me back. If Haruka’s flaw was that she needed someone to hate to keep herself going, then my flaw is that I need hope to keep on going. A hope that one day my “family” can become the spirit of that word that I always felt was taken for granted by many I knew, rather than its cold, cut and dry definition I’d know all this time.
So yeah, I’m a Kanata apologist, and I’ll wear that title with fucking pride. And maybe now, a Saigusa/Futaki family apologist as well. I want to believe that their was some reason to all their actions, no matter how fucked up, and that even they can repent one day. If Haruka could see past her hate for all those involved, and decide that the questionable existence that lies beyond the route’s ending was a better outcome than the her current situation, then that makes me want to hope that scummy family is capable of becoming even an iota less scummy. To do otherwise is to (in part) acknowledge that family’s world view; that it’s fine to treat fellow humans as lesser than, “useless”, and irredeemable if it suits you. If I lose this hope, then I, like Haruka, may fall back into the deep, dark traps of despair and be swallowed by it.
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Well, he’s just an example that everyone would know. You can replace “Hitler” with “X war criminal” or whatever.
And in fact, he’s probably the best possible example in this case:
From what I understand, Hitler himself actually didn’t particularly hate the jews or the atheists or any of those personally. From what I know, it was far more likely that he was just throwing them under the bus to fuel his political ambitions.
I ultimately agree with this. But I just don’t believe in this idealistic solution that we can all just learn to stop the hate and skip down sunshine lane together holding hands.
The mere fact that people are different says to me that there will always be conflict, and I don’t think either of those things are inherently bad. Until someone gets hurt.
And that’s great. This route is the reason I’m so convicted on not jumping to conclusions about people, and trying to understand that people have their reasons. But there’s a point where you can take it too far. People could just get away with anything if everyone was just all-forgiving under the assumption that “they have their reasons”.
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The thing about human nature is that it’s too damm stubborn. It doesn’t change with just a few words or someone’s sympathy.
Once you get a addiction for something, it’s a hard way out. I once trusted a person, we had spent so much time together and had many secrets together. I even told him about my family situation which was or… is tough. Some days later i found him laughing about it with some of his friends, treating my life as a joke. I had told him to never discuss this with another. When i confronted him he told me that he was just doing it to get acceptance with them, because he wanted to hang out with those cool kids. He thought i wouldn’t mind if he used my/our secret, my feelings for his gain. I told him it was over with us.
But he kept coming back, telling me that he was sorry. I was so naive back then. I accepted it. What happens the next month? I again find him there. Making a gossip out of my and others life. So much for apologetic. I avoided him from then, even if he tried i ignored him. One day he came up to me and i straight away said ‘Fuck off’. I never saw him again after i changed schools so i could get home early. You can go ahead and say i was stupid but i don’t want a single ‘what happened to you was bad’ phrase.
People are hard to change. That day didn’t change him but it changed how i saw people. I am a nice guy but if you do something awful or unacceptable to me i probably won’t give you another chance if i thought what you did was unforgivable.
Anyway that’s just my point of view. That’s what matters, we all have different personality so the way we see the world and other people is totally different. You can trust that it is in the familys to change themselves but I’m gonna be weary, i have already wasted my sympathy and time on one person. I don’t have any more for someone who doesn’t deserve it.
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Okay, god damn it, I have to clear myself up.
I’ll say it as many times as I have to: I don’t believe in objective morality. And, I don’t like taking strong stances, because I’ll never be able to see a comprehensive, 100% unbiased viewpoint of every situation.
I have to say to my own comment -
-the magic words: not that I’ll let that stop me from trying.
Ultimately, I agree with Odin
Friggen bias. It’s always the kicker, innit?
It could even be that the Futaki’s completely lack awareness of their actions. For example:
if they really, truly believed in their god, then this part could be explained as them trying to save Haruka from eternal damnation or whatever. I don’t think that makes it completely justified all of a sudden, but that’s just me, and it does add nuance to the situation.
Edit: Umineko spoilers: Holy crap I just realised, without love it cannot be seen!
I don’t particularly want to defend people who could just have shit intentions towards everyone other than themselves and just like to ruin people’s lives, but even that’s better than hating and blaming someone who never intended any wrong, or did any wrong.
Innocent until proven guilty.
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I guess I may have been too pushy with what this route’s message means, maybe to the point that even I myself was drowned by my idealism so I guess I should set things straight:
There are actions that are unforgivable. And there are people whose intents are not good. And there are times when we must stand up and face those kinds of people head on, make it known that they are wrong, and let them know what they have done is unacceptable and unforgivable.
BUT before we do that, we must learn to understand. Understanding before hatred and forgiveness before revenge. Only once we make the effort to understand and still find it unforgivable do we fight against it. And never give in to hatred while fighting against it, because that hatred may just make you another lock in the chain.
As @machelmore puts it:
This so much. A very simple thing, and yet it is something that the modern world has forgotten.
BTW really loving the posts by you guys here, and I absolutely love reading all of you pour your hearts out keep up the good work, fellas
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