OK. I finished last Saturday/Sunday. I am no longer the only one here who doesn’t know the secret of the world.
Damn.
I read for literally 12 hours straight: Started common around 6:30 PM, finished Rin2 around 12:30 AM, and finished Refrain around 6:30 AM. I don’t think it would have been possible for me to not read Refrain immediately after Rin2. Sorry Aspi
I guess I’ll start with this since it seems to be the current discussion:
With all of the other girls, Riki likes just because he likes them. Which is a perfectly legitimate reason because that is what really happens IRL. Think of any crush you’ve had. Did you have any explainable reason for liking them? Probably not. Thats just the way it works. And in all of the routes, Riki goes on to have a reason to like the girl. So it works out.
But Riki and Rin are the opposite. They start out with a perfectly good reason to like each other: They are best friends, they’ve been with each other for most of their lives. And then they go on to find that they’re not sure why they should be together.
So for most of the VN, absolutely, Rin doesn’t understand. They didn’t start going out because they both suddenly realized they loved each other. They started going out because Kyousuke pushed them together. It probably even took Kyousuke several repeats to find that the best way was by getting someone who liked Riki in the Real World to ask him out in order to stir up his and Rin’s thoughts. If I had to guess, I would say Suginami’s consciousness was actually in the Fake World, and all Kyousuke had to do was put the note in Riki’s locker. Of course, Masato would have to be there to act like he had overheard them and then bring it up while Rin was there.
The last thing Riki even says in the scene where Rin asks him out is: “But at that time, we didn’t even know what love really is.” And even when Riki starts to love her: “That was when my love really began,” when they are in his room and Rin says she might leave and the other boys are supporting her; you’re right, Rin still doesn’t really understand.
But after the first ending scene with Komari where Rin realizes all the friends that she’s lost, I think she starts to understand.
I even like to think about the first ending of Refrain as the true ending of Rin’s route. Think about it. Riki and Rin are the only ones left. They are crushed. They’ve lost everything but each other. But they are strong. Rin is the only one who truly understands Riki, and Riki is the only one who truly understands Rin. They will protect each other forever. And then Song for Friends plays, which I’ve always thought of as Rin’s song anyways.
If you choose “Its not enough,” the second time she goes through the scene with her memories of her friends and Komari strengthens her understanding even more. In the second ending, Rin still likes Riki, but she doesn’t have to be with him. I still see her as possibly ending up with Riki. But she is strong, and she understands everything well enough that she could choose someone else.