Little Busters! - Mio Nishizono Route & Character Discussion

Key Discussion
#41

I still prefer to think of Midori as a part of Mio’s mind, moreso than an imaginary friend, but a real part of her self. There’s no reason an alter can’t manifest itself as an imaginary friend in childhood. (Refrain spoilers) If my theory is correct, and she does have DID, then if Riki didn’t intervene in that world and save her, we might have seen a scenario where Mio literally disappears, and her alter, Midori, replaces her in the real world.

That’s just my theory, though. The evidence that she does have DID is limited, so I’m fine with people disagreeing with it.

#42

They… mean the same thing, surely? Something that you imagine is part of your mind.

I think Midori was sort of the equivalent of a teddy bear that saves you from the monsters that attack while you are asleep! Something your mind creates to reassure you of something, or to make sure you feel safe.

#43

The major flaw in saying she has multiple personalities is that even in childhood, her parents would have been able to see the dynamic change in her personality. I think Mio’s plight is closer to schizophrenia, similar to the symptoms John Nash had in the movie A Beautiful Mind. In the movie, John sees hallucinations of people and places he’s seen before, but are not really there. Midori appears as a figment of Mio’s imagination, a reflection of herself, but quickly overwrites Mio’s perception of her in order for her to accept that she is real. A schizophrenic patient can recognize that a person only they perceive is not real, but can have a difficult time trying to suppress it. It would also tie in to Mio’s introvertedness, because schizophrenia also causes a lack of emotion and of a desire to socialize, but I suspect that since she is probably prescribed on medicine for it, she is able to warm up to the Little Busters and to Riki, as well as feel a small degree of emotion. I do see where your theory may be right, but some things are just not explained well enough.

Mio hates herself for her ‘sin’, which was forgetting Midori. If she didn’t hate herself, why would she want to stop existing for the sake of atoning? That’s like saying that all suicidal and anti-existential people want to disappear because they’re too beautiful, exemplary and well-loved for the world to see. (Although I could see that happening… XD)

#44

Oh yeah, I just remember something I noticed that was weird in Mio’s route: Kengo doesn’t have a sprite.

Like, you talk to him and Masato in the classroom, but only Masato’s sprite is shown.

At first I thought it might be (If you haven’t read more than one route spoilers) in case it is your first route, because in the first playthrough he wouldnt have a cast or the jumper, but in the all ones following he would. But in other routes (I think Yuiko was one) he appears with a sprite, just without the cast or jumper, in which you just have to assume his arm was healed.

Anyone have any thoughts? Ideas to why this is?

#45

I would suspect that’s just a bug, either in the translation patch or the actual game.

EDIT: Oops, meant to make this a reply specifically to @yerian98… quote instead.

#46

Really, was it just me? I guess I never considered that, haha ^_^;

#47

I’m not sure if that’s just you or not – I’ll have to go through on my copy to see if I get it too. Would take awhile so I’d have to do it after finishing Minagi’s route (AIR book club). Maybe some benevolent soul will come along and let us know before then though. :slight_smile:

#48

I just finished Yuiko’s route maybe a week ago and I don’t remember ever seeing Kengo having a healed sprite

#49

He has a healed sprite only in first route whatever you pick up.

#50

Hmmm, like I said, I don’t really remember where, I just remember seeing it and again thinking it was odd

#51

I am here again to mention something that I think could have been a missed opportunity.

So, in Refrain, it’s explained that everyone knows about the secret of the world except Riki and Rin, right? So why doesn’t Mio use it to shape the world so that the Little Busters would be an idol band instead of a rookie baseball team? Is the secret of the world only limited to what is part of a person’s memories instead of their imagination? Or did Mio just not think of doing so? And why didn’t Kyousuke also suggest the same instead of baseball?

Hmm…Makes me wonder…

#52

Fool, coupling isn’t about what’s real or not. Lighting on clues that aren’t real is the appeal of a fujoshi. Keeping such things inside your heart is more exciting.

2 Likes
#53

TIL Helios is a closet fujoshi.

1 Like
#54

I don’t like BL, I like girls who like BL; there is a big difference. Seeing the usually harsh and judging Mio get flustered over two guys holding hands is so adorable.

1 Like
#55

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To commemorate Midori’s own birthday, let’s get discussion happening. What did you think of Midori as her own character? Like her or hate her?

4 Likes
#56

I wasn’t quite fond of Midori’s personality but she had her reasons, I guess. If she wasn’t trying so hard to “test” Riki, she might have been a pretty fun character to be around

#57

Never knew a schizophrenic hallucination could have a birthday. :confused:

I liken Midori’s character to a temptress, a character that tries to dissuade the protagonist from his goal with something enticing, like sexual pleasure (which she actually does use in the route). However, her goal in tempting Riki was not to goad him into accepting her as ‘Mio’, but to see if he could be strong enough to persuade Mio to give up her desire to disappear from the world due to her grief in forgetting Midori. Midori never intended to be a replacement for Mio, and she knew that there would be a point where Mio would forget her, because she was a figment of Mio’s schizophrenic mind.

If anything, I would compare her to a softer Kanata, the main difference being that while Midori had no intention of hurting Riki or Mio, Kanata goes out of her way to make sure that Riki and Haruka never succeed in finding her true lineage, even to the point of breaking them emotionally. Midori was also more focused on having Riki choose the lesser of two evils, because having Midori around instead would only hurt Riki emotionally, while trying to save Mio instead would require greater strength, and Midori was only preparing Riki for that greater challenge.

So, to Mio’s hallucination/twin sister, I wish her a very happy birthday! (pachi pachi pachi)

1 Like
#58

I actually prefer Midori over Mio. Her intentions were really good and she confused the shit out of Riki at times. I actually think, that Midori was one of the biggest hurdles for Riki and she is probably the reason why I like Mio’s route so much.

#59

There was one thing I liked about Midori and that was her mindf**k about the glasses. That actually made me stop and think about it: “Wait, did she wear glasses?” That was a very enjoyable part of her portion of Mio’s route.

That said, I’m not a big fan of her overall character, and much prefer Mio (guess I like the “Nagato” type).

I completely agree with this and sympathize with that aspect to her. Whether she succeeded or not wouldn’t have been a bad thing for the then current Mio. (Mio would’ve “won” either way.)

2 Likes
#60

You gotta love her Jedi tricks and general mind twists who proves human memory is unreliable

1 Like