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I have a thought. In komari’s route, it is always said that komari’s eyes see the better (good) in things and at the end she wishes that riki could also see it.
Quote on quote ‘May your eyes see better, just a little better’.
In Mio’s route we are presented with ’ good intentions’ and ‘bad intentions’ choice two times. At the first time it does not affect Riki much but the second choice screws up Riki if he fails to see the good in Midori (bad intentions).
Did komari tried to guide Riki like this?.
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Not a super long post this time, but as I close even further on the Secrets this world holds I’m seeing more and more Shinto symbolism, especially tied to Komari 'Kami’kita.
There are numerous points in the story where she is engaging birds and flowers and such, she is strongly associated with nature. Her association with the Sun could also be tied directly to the Sun goddess Amaterasu. One of the most commonly known stories about Amaterasu involves the goddess shutting herself in a cave, depriving the world of her sunlight. Eventually she is brought forth again by many attempts by the other gods to get her attention and draw her back to the outside world. One such attempt involved the decoration of a Sakaki tree with ‘fine white clothes and a mirror at its center.’ I believe this parallels Komari’s detachment and ‘withdrawal’ into her own memories before Riki shows her what she is doing with the book that serves as a parable to her life, himself being represented by ‘the white’ (in Shinto, white represents purity, similar to how in Western cultures it’s represented by a blank slate). The brother of Amaterasu is Susanoo, god of storms. Susanoo causes all sorts of trouble for his sister, and once again this parallels the use storms in the cat scene and in the Bad End.
In Shinto, Red is also for protection against illness/sadness, in the scene where Komari breaks down in Riki’s room she takes off her red hair ribbons, symbolic of the traumatic state she’s in. As a side note, I don’t think it’s at all a coincidence that both of the Natsume siblings have a bright red colour for their names in the batting practice screen. It’s also worth noting that the orange colour we see in the title screen and in flashbacks (a colour here strongly associated with memory) in Shintoism is the colour of the arches one passes through to enter their shrines, supposed to prepare you for entrance.
Extra point: Oh, and Komari’s life-philosophy the ‘Spiral of Happiness’ fits perfectly within this, it describes the relationship between Kami (who help and guide humans) and humans (who give offerings to the Kami) and how they interact with one another. Kami and humans live in a symbiotic relationship in a sense, and if one side stopped their giving then the other side would wither, it’s a mutual bond of happiness. It’s a perfectly natural thing. Wholesome even, like Belgian waffles.
So basically what I’m trying to say is that there’s a lot of Shinto stuff going on, and Komari is Amaterasu. Any questions? 
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F U E ?
My opinions on Komari tend to either be agreed with or disagreed with on a 100% point. I’ll just get it out of the way first. I don’t like her. She’s not the type of character I’m a big fan of. Every shoujo has a childish moe character, but I feel that it’s a bit overdone with Komari, especially in the way that she talks.
However, I respect what she does for the story and believe that her route is one of the better ones in the entire game. Hats off to one of the more realistic routes in the game. One of my favorite parts about the Komari route is that realism itself. It makes it easy to follow the entire story from Point A to Point B, and therefore requires minimal effort to get sufficiently wrapped up in the events emotionally. Komari, for me, is a lot like Rin from Katawa Shoujo. Whereas I felt that Rin in the common route was great and Rin in her own route was terrible, it’s the opposite for Komari. I heavily dislike Komari in the common route, but the more I got into Komari’s route, the more I liked her.
Komari’s route also holds the honors for one of the moments Little Busters has made me cry, specifically when Little Melody kicks in when Riki is reading her the book he made. I also really really loved the scene where Komari breaks down after seeing the dead cat, I think it was executed absolutely perfectly. The one detail of the route I had to take issue with was that Kojirou’s wife, who just so happened to suffer from the same emotional triggers as Komari Kamikita, just so happened to also be named Komari Kamikita. I felt like they could have easily thought up several different explanations that weren’t your typical anime-coincidence. But it didn’t detract from the route at all.
Another interesting thing I noticed is that, Refrain spoilers ahead, Choosing the bad end to the route essentially makes Riki do the same thing Kengo wants to do, and just let things continue as they are, so long as the people in question remain happy. I thought it was a very interesting comparison.
All in all, I really don’t have all that much to say about the route since most of the things about it are very straightforward. I may not like Komari that much, but her route is one of the absolute best in the game.
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Authors don’t make coincidences happen just to point out how big a coincidence it was, unless it’s for comedic effect. Giving two characters the same name is a stylistic device, much like metaphors. It’s to further accentuate that Kojirou is the bad end Riki and his wife was the bad end Komari, displaying what would happen if Riki takes the easier way out. A side character exists in order to support the main characters and the story itself. They don’t exist in order to cement their own individuality, but to contribute to the plot.
I can’t help but point out that judging Key routes by realism is rather pointless. We all know that Key writers usually trade off realism for a greater emotional impact - and it pays out. Sometimes, they add supernatural elements to an otherwise realistic setting to create ‘magical’ moments with a special mood. Sometimes, they use it to create even more emotinal developments. For some stories, they don’t use any supernatural elements at all, but that doesn’t make them automatically better or worse.
Similarly, judging stories by one’s personal capability of instantly understanding them is just barking up the wrong tree. Also note that leaving the reader in the dark is also a stylistic device.
Nice job finding that similarity to Refrain, though.
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I agree with Rin on this point: your interpretation is quite interesting and probably right, but when I first read this it completely broke my immersion, it was a struggle to take the rest of the route seriously.
To be fair, I didn’t like her/her route that much also before that, I appreciated Komari more when she appeared in other routes (Refrain included) than in her own.
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I guess that would make them a literal plot device
(please not that despite “plot device” having negative connotations, some plot devices have great execution)
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I much agree with you that more realism doesn’t necessarily make a story better or worse, but we’re all quite used to supernatural Key stuff so a bit more realism at times can nevertheless be nice to have. Not that I want them to stop using supernatural plot elements mind you, but the diversity is certainly appreciated.
Also @Rin, quite a nice find on the Refrain comparison, I hadn’t actually noticed that myself. And I too thought the Komari scene with the dead cat was very impressive and it was quite unsettling to see the her lose it completely.
Plot devices are very useful things to have
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Does anyone familiar with psychology know what term is used for what Komari used to forget about her brother or is it sort of a ‘made up’ mental condition?
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I would say Dissociative Amnesia
From webMD
Dissociative amnesia occurs when a person blocks out certain information, usually associated with a stressful or traumatic event, leaving him or her unable to remember important personal information. With this disorder, the degree of memory loss goes beyond normal forgetfulness and includes gaps in memory for long periods of time or of memories involving the traumatic event…With dissociative amnesia, the memories still exist but are deeply buried within the person’s mind and cannot be recalled. However, the memories might resurface on their own or after being triggered by something in the person’s surroundings.
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Ah OK interesting thank you.
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Yeah, I really don’t like this route, it lacks depth especially and from the time where she entered her depressed state to where she enters it to when the route finishes is about 30minutes, far less than it needs to be and from when Riki decides to create the picture book to the route finishing is about 10mintues or less. i personally think the entire route lacks impact, it could have been really good but was rushed heavily. This could be due to how it was done infinitely better in a different visual novel called, “Fruits of Grisaia”, so maybe I am being to harsh but I felt that it felt both unrealistic and lacked any emotional impact.
I also don’t feel how her character operated in her depressed state that realistic either and left her feeling both 2D and flat. I will however state that making her character super bubbly and cheerful based on her depressing background though is really realistic as its a form of escapism which does give a 3D depth to her character and although I have read a few posts about people saying she is a little too bubbly of which I did agree while still in the common, I can now say confidently that this actually makes this route better.
The best character development in this route was honestly Masatos, of which I have much greater respect for now. He may fool around with everyone and say/do stupid things but he is actually pretty understanding without being told anything with how he decided to bury the cat and stay at Kengos for a few nights.
Thanks for reading
P.S. Komaris eyes when she is depressed is really creepy,
------When Komari Cries, her brother won’t be left alive -Ryukishi 07
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Something I just thought that would have made this route more interesting, would be to have the route stay mostly how it is and then Riki try something else instead of the picture book that seems to work against Komari for the short term but does either nothing or makes komari’s situation worse, and then eventually Riki thinks of working on the picture book. Instead of it takeing 5 minutes of real time and ZERO effort for Riki, I think that maybe turning the old man into some retired artisit or something and help Riki good at drawing, this would give importance to the old man, as well as actually displaying RIki putting in effort as before it kinda of made you feel like, Oh so you do nothing and you fix her extreme deprresion. By making it take Riki a period of 3-6months to cure her once he first sees her depression, this doesn’t cheapen the fact of her Depression of which helping a friend with depression as it doesnt take one afternoon like it did in this route. Does need to extend the length that much maybe 1.5 hours and possibly fit one or two more depression cycle with komari to show that this is serious problem.
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It’s not rare for Key to make light of trauma, though this is one of the most egregious examples. If you want other attempts, you can just read the Bad End where Riki solves the problem with his Diki.
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Never imagined I’d be, even in an indirect form, defending an aspect of Komari’s route. But this is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, as I’m working hard on a number of writing projects, and this question of “Does X story arc/chapter/route/episode need more time or less” comes up a lot. I’m endlessly fascinated by the question, as there isn’t necessarily a right answer, its mostly subjective and to be handled case by case.
Although I actually mostly agree with your two posts, as the vast majority of this route was a fluffy snoozefest, ironically enough, that was the point, and I think there’s a compelling reason as to why. That is, the entire route is one long setup to kick you in the chest. The instantaneous contrast from a bright, bubbly girl down to a dark, emotional train-wreck should, by its very nature, already communicate the severity of what’s happened to Komari. In this particular case, I actually don’t think you need a long, drawn out sequence of even more heavy events, as the aforementioned contrast should have already accomplished that. There are other routes that need long buildups to secure their emotional pay-off. I’d say the bigger flaw with a lot of Key stuff is that they sometimes beat your over the head with some point, and because of that sometimes the message gets lost in translation. Oddly, that didn’t happen to me here. IMHO, Komari’s route is pretty run of the mill anime drama trope shit, but at least it doesn’t overstay its welcome. That’s about the nicest thing I can say about it.
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I agree with you that
But sadly either before depression or after the depression needs to be heavy changed due to how bad the entire route is from the depression point onwards because the route is just a joke. Its extremely taking light of depression, its basicly.
You have a friend that has been suffering extreme depression for years, and then you decide your gonna buy them, a can of softdrink, then suddenly when you give it to them, they have been cured of their severe depression. Extending the route by even 30 minutes or even 10 showing that Riki put effort in (cuz there was no effort at all in this route), would at least make it significantly better. Because if do my dishes now it ain’t gonna cure the world of mental health, I mean its the same amount of effort Riki put into it.
You wouldn’t necessarily need take 1.5hours like I suggested, as that delves more into her character and the old mans character. I do honestly think that Komari’s route should have been written from scratch because as someone who has helped multiple people with depression before, this is kinda a mockery.
I do get your thought and agree with it but its not really a matter of not length so as it is that this was published half-ass (not your comment, the actual route) and needs to be modified in this case I am just adding on to the story and not removing anything. I will disagree with you about it kicking you in the chest and emotional pay-off. I find it impossible to have both those without a logical coherent flow to the story. Either way thanks for you input.
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Again, don’t entirely disagree. They certainly could have cut out some of the fluffy fillerly bits and focused more on the the old guy and have Riki struggle a bit. It would have made things a bit more interesting, not to mention relatable in this context, just about everyone has struggled with how to help a dear friend in their time of need.
That being said, considering how much the VN discusses these issues (those being depression, loss, etc.), I guess I’m just not too troubled by this singular route, given how mediocre it is, and how the other routes explore the issue differently, not to mention better. It’s probably one of the worst in the VN (fighting words to some, I’m sure), and not just for the reasons you’ve stated. It does appear that Riki solves a really big problem far too easily here, as if by chance, whereas in other areas, he fails more consistently.
Funny you use that example, bit of a story with that if you want to hear. In my pre-teen years, my friends and I would get this slightly more “classy” Canadian soda that only the mini-mart up the street would carry, called Jones Soda. It was over a dollar a pop, came in glass bottles with fortunes on the cap. Some time passes, the store owners change hands, and while the store is still there, they don’t carry it anymore.
Fast forward to high school, I’m at a hard point in life, depressed, more socially anxious than I’ve ever been, that being like my fourth new school in four years. I stumble across a pack of the stuff at another mini-mart, near my new place. It instantly takes me back to the good times, where we’d skateboard up there, drink them while chilling on the guardrails nearby, hang out with the owner and her dog… then sneak off and smash the bottles 'cuz we were troublesome assholes like that. While it sure as fuck didn’t cure my depression, I can honestly say I’ve never been bummed out when holding a Jones. Like a zen liquid reset button for my day.
Now, why tell that story? Well, I get the example you are trying to go for here, but ultimately, Komari’s book is special to her, for whatever reason, the same way a bottle of Jones is to me, therefore it carries more weight than your standard bauble. Should it cure her instantly? Again, you’re right, probably not, but I’m of a mind that it allowed her to center herself, basically a simple act that gave her pause, and allowed her to think clearly, see the support and love from her friends, and thus, put herself back on the path. At least, that’s how I interpreted it. A generous reading of it, to be sure, and I didn’t even really enjoy this route all that much.
Alternatively,
I like the way you think. That sounds exactly like something I’d say.
To clarify slightly, the “kick in the chest/emotionally pay-off” within the context of my comment (and this route) is a negative pay-off, one referring to the tonal shift during the route: seeing the radical shift in Komari’s personality. I think you might be referring to the resolution in this context, feel free to correct me. Either way, that was poor wording on my part, apologies.
But unfortunately, as it sounds like you already understand, things like addiction and depression are rarely, if ever, a logical construct. If they were, they’d be much easier to defeat. These afflictions prey on lesser emotions like fear, rejection, apathy, and pain. So on some level, we could perhaps agree that Riki takes a lucky shot in the dark and comes out unscathed. An illogical, (and also unsatisfying), solution to a problem that often defies logic entirely. It does happen sometimes. If you said that explanation is cheap, then despite being the one who just said it, I’d still agree with you more than my own premise. Again, I’m probably not the best person to defend this route, but it was an interesting point of discussion, so I thought I’d pop in.
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Love the bottle of Jones story and have had similar experiences by getting a copy of Windwaker on the gamecube, a game my brother sold that was really important to my childhood or even watching the Jungle Book with my grandparents.
Its not that I don’t think that the picture-book could cure her of depression, its that based on the few real life hours he worked on it (3lines for us) he somehow created a picture book that has cured her depression. In her case what she needs is a picture book that imitates her brothers artstyle, (and likely he changed the last few pages of the picture book instead of creating a entire new thing. Its completely unbelievable. In your situation its getting a new bottle of Jones that you missed, her case its owning that picture book with that ending. An ending which needs to look like her brothers to actually have any effect. On top of that its implied that her brother is good at drawing and Riki isn’t due to how his drawing talent is never even mentioned in the story once or him even using it during the story.
I pretty much agree with everything else, especially
However there is always some level logical or illogical connection associated with it, such as survivors guilt. For example, whenever someone is the only survivor of a plane crash for example they often feel guilt for why they are alive but the others aren’t. Its completely illogical reasoning, but the reason why its believable to us is because there logical connection between being the only survivor of a crash. The difference between this and Komari’s route and survivors guilt and Wind waker for me is;
I am the only survivor and I feel guilt because someone else would have lived if I didn’t,
The wind waker made me really hapy when I was a child and so it reminds me of that and makes me happy, and
My brother died and created a picture book with a sad ending, so I am gonna have an endless cycle of happiness and depression but completely forget about depression all the time.
If I was compare this with for example Fruits of Grisaia, or Umineko or even my most disliked VN, wonderful everyday down the rabbit hole, or even manga like Naruto and One Piece they all have this logical association with it. For example, in One Piece during the Dressrosa arc, There is this guy who wears a baby outfit and the reason why is because his son died as a baby and it reminds him of that, its stupid and illogical but its understandable why.
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Also gonna put this out there but what Riki did, without a proper understanding of her condition and the half-assed effort he did with the picture book could have actually seriously made the situation much, much worse. As it wasnt just the death of her brother that caused depression cycle it was the combination of that and the sad ending of the picture book that caused the cycle, Riki meddled with that as you said
I don’t just consider it a bad route, but for anyone who reads this route first and has no real life with either themselves or a friend with depression, it could actually be really dangerous.
Thanks for your reply anyway was a good read especially the Bottle of Jones as I can really related to that story,
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Reading this discussion has reminded me of something I’ve seen make the rounds over social media a few times: the Ball in the Box analogy https://twitter.com/LaurenHerschel/status/946887540732149760?s=19
I feel Komari’s pain is more akin to “trauma” and “grief”, and I think this analogy describes Komari’s issues quite well. The “button” is what sets her off in the route, and the way that button affects her is, well, pretty extreme (as we can all see).
What Riki does with the picture book doesn’t necessarily cure Komari; but it does make her “ball” smaller, and the effect of the button much less intense. She will reminded of her brother’s death, but it won’t be as often, and it won’t set her off as long.
But I think the important thing about the picture book is that it reminded her that her brother’s death was real. If you tried to explain it to her while she wasn’t in that state, she may have accepted it. But while she was regressed into her child-like state, explaining it to her in the way a child could understand may have been the best way to bring it to her. I wager if you showed her that picture book while she was in her normal state, it would have had absolutely zero effect.
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Komari’s route is the first route that I finish after Rin 1.
Komari is a really sweet and adorable girl.
I think it’s a character that everyone would love if she hadn’t this very particular way of talking sometimes that makes her annoying. I really wonder if her VA tries to have an irritating voice on purpose sometimes and if that’s a moe thing targeted towards some people (if that’s the case it works with me because I love everything about Komari 
).
The moral is a really classic Key one, it’s the typical case of someone who lost a loved one and who should accept it and accept the sad things of life while finding a new reason to live for (in this case, Riki).
I don’t think this moral really adds something to the subject that Key hasn’t said already, however I really liked some reflections about altruism and fiction in the story, it’s possible that it’ll grow on me later on.
Komari is really sweet and I’m sure her tips to see the world in a more optimistic way, to be happy and to make others happier, helped some people in their life when the game was released. I think we should all try to think a little more like her.
This route talks a lot about other stories, how they afftect people and also about their rewriting.
My favorite thing about that is how Riki rewrites the end of The Little Match Girl to make it happier and how Komari rewrites it back to how it was, at the very end of the story.
AIR manga spoiler
AIR is my favorite story ever and I’m happy that in this adaptation there is a happy ending.
So I feel close to Komari that likes when someone tries to save a story from his sad ending (for example when she talks about A Dog in Flanders and its movie adaptation).
This story has also an interesting memory theme, I found that interesting that Komari wasn’t sure if her brother was real or not because of what he said to her when she was a child. Riki experiences déjà vu several times and I thought that it was because he was related to her but maybe it’s tied to the main story. There is also the appearance of “Kengo” during the gravestone scene which was strange, I imagine that it’s also part of the main story and that I miss things to fully judge this route.
There was no supernatural drama thing but I still liked Komari’s transformation after experiencing again her trauma and how it has affected her during her life and her family like a curse.
I think the story was well written and it got me hooked but I felt the end was a bit too rushed and lacked impact, if it has been more developed and illustrated I think it would have been better.
CLANNAD spoilers
The end of the route reminds me a lot the end of the Kotomi’s route.
Kotomi lost her parents when she was younger and shut herself inside her house because she didn’t want to loose anybody else, Tomoya worked very hard and healed her mind while taking care of her garden, there is a decisive reunion with the two characters where Kotomi becomes herself again.
For the end of this route, it’s the same, Riki works hard to make her picture book again and then there is the rooftop scene.
However, everything is better done in the end of Kotomi’s route. It’s more developed, more illustrated and the epilogue where Kotomi finds the case of her parents is absolutely beautiful.
In comparison, Riki just shows up on the rooftop and Komari seems to be cured in 2 minutes.
The rest of the story was really great but the end was really not good enough to make it an awesome story.
Overall, I think it was good. Not excellent but still better than the average routes of CLANNAD, I hope LB is going to stay at least that good.
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