Little Busters! - Haruka Saigusa Route & Character Discussion

That’s fair enough. I suppose that’s what the entire route is about, so I can’t complain too much. That said, a plot flaw doesn’t become excusable just because the story relies on its existence (not that I necessarily think it was a plot flaw - that’s what I’m trying to figure out). Still… maybe she could direct her blame towards the family head or something. And I agree that they’ve definitely controlled and brainwashed her, but we can very obviously see in her words and actions that she’s not under some illusion that they’re blameless - she hates all of them

Again, fair enough. But if you say that, then you can’t really use the threat as reasoning for Kanata’s actions (not that you specifically were, I just mean in general). I suppose you could say that Kanata was so terrified at the prospect as a child that it became a trauma that stuck with her, and as such she was unable to discard the idea even at this point. Even so, why would she get over it at the end if so? Maybe Haruka getting over her own issues inspired her or something? The whole argument feels like a bit of a stretch though. And, well, Shou Saigusa is out of prison at this point. Given what we’ve seen them get away with up to this point, they’d probably be capable of pinning it on him.

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“I want someone… to tell me… they love me. …I want to say I love them too… I want to hear… that they want me to be with them… and I want to say… that I want them to be with me…”

As we all know, the way Haruka was treated by her family has left her starved for love. She needed it so badly, she even admitted she would get attached to anyone, as long as they love her. She wants to be loved, to be treated kindly, to be spoiled, because those are basic needs for us humans. But she was denied all of those.

We also know that Haruka was not the only one who suffered by the hands of that horrible family. Kanata grew up just as devoid of love as her sister. The Futakis showered her with praise and presents, but that was an act that Riki compared to pouring poison onto her. They were only playing nice as long as Kanata was obedient and successfull.

Therefore, let’s take a look at love… from the Kanata side of things.

(Yes, that’s right. Scumbag Naoki just used a Haruka quote to start a Kanata post)

Just like Haruka, Kanata had a desire to love and be loved. But she’s scary and hard to approach. There are some mental scars and also the physical scars that scare the hell out of everyone who sees them. The game doesn’t mention anyone who might be friends with her, except for maybe A-chan-Senpai. But even their relationship doesn’t exactly reek of hugs and kisses. There’s no definite info, but I feel like Kanata is still keeping A-chan at a certain distance.

And what about sisterly love? I mean, her sister is right there in front of her, but for certain reasons, she can’t show her any kindness. Luckily, one day, a worthy substitute arrives.
Kud looks small and acts childish. She’s somewhat clumsy and makes you want to take care of her. Also, she becomes Kanata’s roommate if Riki doesn’t interfere. A perfect replacement for her little sister. Kanata pours all of her sisterly love into Kud and the two of them get along really well. Kud assures Riki that Kanata is a kind person at a time where it’s questionable whether Kanata is even capable of displaying kindness at all. She accompanies Kud when she’s out to play some supposedly childish games, helps her throw out a certain carboard box and overall behaves differently from when she’s dealing with Haruka or Riki. In a perspective change (the second one), Haruka mentions that Kud shows Kanata “the kind smile”, that she never shows to Haruka, making her jealous, that Kanata and Kud look like sisters from a distance. So their relationship is by no means one-sided. Kud knows when Kanata isn’t doing well, even if Kanata tries to deny it and wants to help her. She implores both Haruka and Kanata to make up. “If you don’t mind, I’d like you to show her the same kindness you showed me, next time.” She can tell the two apart and if she wasn’t so… weakened for some reason, she could’ve put an end to Kanata’s masquerade early on. Just pay attention to her reactions! Kud even asks Riki to help Kanata before retracting that plea.

Speaking of Riki, at the beginning, Kanata would sometimes glare at him like he’s her arch-nemesis. But over time, he does earn her respect for not denying his relationship with Haruka and being level-headed, unlike that emotional sister of hers. Eventually, when Haruka is not around, Kanata starts acting like a normal person around Riki and they even have a decent albeit short talk from time to time.
The (new) bad endings clearly show that Kanata had secretly developed a romantic attachment to Riki at some point. Maybe she was serious back when she asked Riki to go out with her instead of Haruka. I mean, those twins are really alike, so maybe Haruka isn’t the only one who says serious things, then tries to pass it off as a joke. Maybe, when she was playing the role of Riki’s girlfriend, she got a taste of a real romantic relationship and was reluctant to let it go. If Riki allows her charade to continue, she gets so close to him that her own feelings of guilt make her break down in tears, preventing her from to fulfilling that forbidden desire. (According to @HeliosAlpha, there is no H-scene in that nurse’s office in Haruka’s route, no matter what you choose.)
But it’s no wonder she grows attached. Riki does act manly and respectably around Haruka. He becomes a person Kanata can talk to normally. And eventually, he gets involved in the family issues of the twins. It matters because that creates a sort of common ground between them. So even if the idea seems foolish, he is someone she could turn for support to. As we know, both sisters need that support, and this is something Kanata cannot burden Kud with.

It’s a twisted situation where Kanata remains alone, forcing herself to treat her real sister cruelly. Therefore, her love for not only Haruka, but Kud and Riki too, takes on a twisted form as well, or rather, as things are before the final resolution, it’s the only form it can exist in.

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The new bad end of the route gives me the feelings to be a teaser for the route of Kanata, because it seems to give a parallel with her story (the scene with Strelka, her isolation from others).
We see an unknown aspect of the girl, who isn’t very different of her sister.

But, when I played the route recently, my impression was that when Haruka sees that people aren’t just evil. It was essentially meant for her sister, her mother and her two fathers. She started wanting to understand their motivation.
This has never been the case for the rest of clan Saigusa and they aren’t important here like they are not the ones she will confront in the route to know the truth.
They are an influence of her past that she can overcome and doesn’t have to forgive them to continue with her close family. Unlike Kanata, for who they still play a major role in her life.

I always appreciate those scenes in a heroine’s route when other heroines still make an appearance and do something, even if it isn’t much. Little Busters is a story of friendship, which we might forget if the other characters don’t show up to demonstrate it from time to time.

Haruka’s route had a lot of those moments, maybe even the most among the pre-refrain routes.

Therefore, I’d like to talk about Haruka’s relationships with the other Little Busters, both during her route and in the common route.

Kurugaya - just like how Kanata had substituted her little sister with Kud, Haruka was looking for an alternative big sister and tried burdening Kurugaya, who would often call herself “Onee-san”, with that role. But Kurugaya got mad. She refused to be used as a sister substitute, allowing herself be ignored as an individual and having her efforts to build a friendship denied. I don’t know if it’s ever been confirmed, but I think Haruka wanted to call Kurugaya “Yui-nee.” Haruka still refers to her as such, but only when she’s not around. It includes Kurugaya’s first name, which she is uncomfortable with if other people use it, giving her another reason to be mad. Instead, Haruka adresses her as “Anego.” Their relationship began when Kurugaya had helped Haruka get back some of her lost change, which was so important that Haruka celebrates the anniversary of that day. She often turns to Anego for advice or just to hang out. They aren’t as close as Komari & Rin, but still closer than most LB girl pairs. Also, Kurugaya was supposedly the first one to get a proper read on Haruka’s situation and gave the other girls instructions on how to behave around her.

Mio - I don’t remember her making an appearance in Haruka’s route, but in common and in other routes, these two are paired up as a comedic duo, reminescent of a manzai act. Haruka keeps trying to prank Mio, who looks like an easy target on first glance, but Mio quickly turns the tables on her and seems invincible, striking back twice as harshly. But in the end, there’s no hard feelings. Very entertaining.

Kud - most of the time, Haruka simply treats Kud like a dog or a plaything and sometimes goes just a little bit overboard. For example, if you consider Haruka as Kud’s roommate, Haruka would sneak up on her and Karate-chop her on the neck in an attempt to K.O. her. Clearly a display of how Haruka often misjudges the appropriate “distance” to a person, since she’s never learned to gauge it properly. But there’s that one newly added flashback where Haruka expresses her jealousy of Kud, who is her substitute to Kanata and is basically receiving the love that was rightfully hers. Haruka’s also envious of Kud’s overall popularity, since, according to Haruka, ‘everyone’ loves Kud. It’s a tricky situation where each of them has something that they don’t value as highly, but the other one most desires. Kud simply wants to help Haruka and encourages her to make up with Kanata, a notion Haruka initially rejects as impossible. Oh, and let’s not forget that Haruka is also a roommate candidate.

Komari - As usual, Komari is a mobile dispencer of good mood and sweets. She helps Haruka by giving her cake recipes. She also helps tearing down the bad posters. There’s a scene in the common route where Haruka treats Komari with such kindness that Riki compares them to siblings - only for Haruka to doodle on Komari’s face and making her really mad the next moment.

Rin - Remember that scene in the common route where Haruka found abandoned Kitties and brought them to Rin? Back then, Haruka was REALLY nervous (to the point where she displayed her ‘insecure’ sprite) around Rin because she’s supposedly the ‘serious’ type and might not take her usual shenanigans kindly. Then Haruka got praised and also called by her first name by Rin as requested, which apparently made her heart skip a beat. I guess Haruka was really afraid of being hated by Rin and she never expected everything to turn out so well. tl;dr: Rin brought out Haruka’s true nature for a moment! Rin also helps tearing down the bad posters.

Kyousuke - Haruka seems to respect him a lot and I don’t remember her trying to pull any pranks on him.

Masato - this may sound strange, but Masato is the reason why I wanted to make this post in the first place. You see, normally, Masato is super supportive of Riki and thus also of whatever girl he brings along. Except for Haruka. It’s like he’s doing his best to bear with her but he ultimately can’t. His patience runs out very fast. I assume that Haruka is the one person Masato simply cannot handle no matter how hard he tries. Of course, it doesn’t help that he is one of her prime targets and is mostly treated by her with little respect. Masato never displays outright hatred, but is quick to say some really harsh things. When Riki recruited Haruka for the team, Masato said he never told Riki to bring someone so useless. On at least two occasions, Masato demands Riki to choose between him and Haruka. One of those is an actual choice in the game. He sometimes outright tells her to leave. When Haruka was avoiding contact and Riki tried looking for her, Masato told him he’s just looking for trouble. All of those things are really, really hurtful to Haruka!

Kengo - some people are interpreting certain love-love-Hunters scenes as the game secretly shipping the two. Haruka’s prank causes Kengo to wear the school uniform, which he hates. Doing Kengo a favor unlocks a Haruka CG. He doesn’t seem to have a positive image of Haruka initially, but he keeps quiet. He later seems to change his mind after learning that Haruka is in the maintenance committee. That’s the scene where she takes some of Masato’s bread and later makes a snack out of it, which she tells Riki to also share with “Kengo-kun and the others.” Kengo is the first to notice that Haruka has gone quiet after getting two egg yolks in one egg while Riki is busy bartering with Masato over said egg. In the anime, Kengo calls Haruka a “Mood-maker” to cheer her up after she told her story and had a breakdown in the clubroom with all busters present. In the VN, Riki is the one to say that, though in a different scene, and he worded it differently. Kengo praised Haruka’s bento for how it had a traditional feel to it. Here’s the catch: it was actually Kanata’s bento and Riki could have caught on to it if he paid more attention, because “traditional feel” really isn’t Haruka’s style. On the other hand, Kengo also says it looks edible but can’t be trusted since Haruka had once switched out Komari’s sweets. But MOST IMPORTANTLY: Near the climax of the route, after Haruka got called home to meet Saigusa Shou, who didn’t Shou up after all (see what I did there?), Riki returned to his room but the one who greeted him was not Masato, but Kengo! He asked Kengo for advice, wondering if he was doing the right thing. Kengo couldn’t answer that, but also made it clear that Kyousuke wouldn’t tell him, either. The message here is: It’s entirely Riki’s decision. To conclude: Kengo shows up in Haruka’s route all the time, even though all of his appearances are rather insignificant. What stood out to me the most, however, was how Kengo took over Masato’s role in that last scene I mentioned.

Lastly, what does Haruka think of the others overall? She of course treasures her friendship with them. When the bad rumors about her are spreading, she chooses to keep their distance from the other girls so that they don’t get caught in the crossfire.

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I’ve also discussed this point with @Aspirety recently and I think my conclusion was that… No, it wasn’t no longer a problem. In fact, it still is a problem, and it’s probably only going to get worse from here on out.

At best, the family will probably end up shunning both Haruka and Kanata, removing them from the entire family, and all benefits that come with being part of the prestigious Futaki family (whatever those benefits may be). And at this point, I don’t think either of them really care about being part of that family anyways.

At worst, their lives are in danger, and those families will do all they can to see that Haruka, Kanata, their mom, and their dads, all suffer in any way possible. Would it go so far as to killing them? Maybe. And that is a problem. But I don’t think that family would kill them off so easily. Unlike Haruka and Kanata, that family still constantly tries to find someone to hate. And if that family kills them off, they would lose someone to hate and then start going into the family in-fighting :yahaha: So I think that they wouldn’t kill them off (even if they did threaten to do so when they were children) but they would make Haruka and Kanata’s lives much much harder. They may have a hard time getting into college when the family spread rumors about their background. They may even have a hard time getting a steady job when their employers find out their father is a criminal (this is a thing in Japan, I shit you not!). But I believe Haruka and Kanata will overcome it, by helping each other out and overcoming these problems.
They’ll both have a place in Little Busters Inc. once Kyousuke gets that off the ground, after all :kyog:

But this story leaves the problem unresolved, as you have pointed out. And to that I answer what I answer to every one doubtful of Key’s resolutions, both fantastical and not: that isn’t the conflict of this story. The conflict is Haruka’s own internal struggle with herself. No matter how much the story makes you think it, the conflict isn’t with her family and how shitty they are, and the conflict isn’t with Kanata either and how much of a bitch she is. The conflict is between Haruka and herself, and the resolution of the story fixed up that conflict in the most beautiful way possible.

I guess you could fault the story for misdirecting the conflict here, making you think it was a Man against Man or Man against Society story instead of a Man against Himself one. That’s probably the only thing I can fault this route for doing (and Chika Shirokiri ends up doing it again in Kud’s route, unfortunately). Everything else? Good shit.

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So I really, really like the writing in this route. The way Haruka’s conflicts are foreshadowed and subtly hinted really adds a ton of points in my book. I love it when words are not wasted. Every scene has significance to either reveal something about Haruka, Kanata, or how both have changed over the course of the story.

One of the scenes in early common shows Haruka telling Riki to call her by her first name instead of her family name. There’s many layers of depth to this act and it’s really interesting to see that all the layers of this onion will be peeled back by the end of the route. So how do we justify Haruka making this request? Well, first of all, we need to know that this act is significant. If you’ve seen enough anime stuff you know that calling people by their first names is really, really informal. You are expected to be pretty intimate if you’re gonna be on first name basis (I think…). So from this we can tell that maybe Haruka has feelings for Riki really early on. While that may be true, a second motive is later revealed. That second motive is that she hates being called by the name Saigusa because it is branded with the connotation of a criminal. By the end though, the third layer is finally revealed. Haruka hates the name Saigusa because it is a symbol of her inferiority to Kanata.

Another fun scene I like is when Riki is simply sitting on a bench and Haruka comes up behind him and rests her head on his. She says she wants to see the world from his eyes. In one respect, it shows that Haruka wants to know more about Riki and see the world from his perspective. In another sense though, this represents Haruka’s jealousy of Riki’s life. As far as she is aware, no one else goes through as much shit as she does, and Riki is no exception.

I still have a few more little things I’d like to write about for Haruka’s route so stay tuned but don’t expect anything real good.

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I haven’t really misinterpreted it to think that the conflict was between Haruka and the family. I agree completely that in both this route and Kud’s, the main conflict is internal.
However, I don’t think this can be used to justify such a glaring omission as:

The main conflict of the route is perfectly resolved. Good, great, loved that part. I still consider this among my favourite routes overall. But the issue isn’t something I can shrug off so easily.
“Yeah, the characters you’ve come to love could just be killed immediately following the beautiful resolution, but, have fun interpreting that however you want!” ~ Key, 2007.

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Well, I guess I have no counter-argument to this :yahaha: 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 :uee:

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? :yahaha:

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 :umu:

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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? :yahaha:

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 :umu:

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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