Mutsumi Suginami Appreciation Topic

Key Discussion
#21

I can picture a Suginami Mutsumi route quite well.

We’ll have Mutsumi as a shy, somewhat stalkerish heroine that keeps admiring Riki from afar. Her moods vary from the happiness of a maiden in love to regret of not being able to walk up to Riki and talk as well as despair over watching the number of girls around him increase by the day.
Due to that dilemma, her feelings keep intensifying, her stalking grows more intense which results in more encounters with Riki. Though extremely flustered, Mutsumi is happy to have talked to, and spent even a little bit of time with her crush.
One day, Takamiya and Katsusawa grow tired of watching this pathetic farce and decide to put Mutsu in a position that would force her to take action. They compose a love letter in Mutsu’s name and put it into Riki’s locker. As Riki and Mutsumi meet in an empty classroom, Mutsumi, pulling all her courage together, ends up confessing her love.
Riki, not being the manliest of men, gets a bit overwhelmed. He asks for one day time to think about it. Next day, same room, same time, Riki replies with “I think it’s ok to get to know each other while dating”. Route entered.

The following aspects could be part of her route:

  • How come a victim-type like Mutsumi hangs out with bully-types like Takamiya and Katsusawa? How did they meet?
  • Sadly, Mutsumi’s Friends don’t get along well with the Little Busters
  • Even though they’re dating, Mutsumi can’t shake off her feelings of anxiety and jealousy, seeing how Riki still spends a lot of time with other girls. Her inferiority complex gives birth to doubt, and she starts thinking that Riki is only dating her out of pity

And on a side note, don’t turn this discussion topic into a silly chat-like random talk -_-

#22

I believe you mean “your hair smells of Coconut so we should go out.”

This isn’t a discussion topic though; this is an Appreciation Thread. Fan art, quotes, random thoughts, and everything Suginami should be directed here. Ahaha~

1 Like
#23

Like Takafumi says, it’s not a discussion thread but an appreciation thread, as there isn’t a LOT to discuss. I don’t mind discussion happening, though.
I think a route through the perspective of someone who wasn’t among the Little Busters would be very interesting. So, a bit like Saya’s route, but less cut-off and more focused on the group from an outside perspective. It’s the kind of route that would probably work better if told from Suginami’s perspective.

I’m actually seriously considering making something like this, but it’d involve learning how to hack Little Busters.

1 Like
#24

I’m against that, actually, for the same reason I’m against doujins.
If we were to write a side-story as a part of a story written by someone else, using characters created by someone else, we’re merely disrupting a perfectly solid work of fiction by pushing our own silly fantasies onto it. We’d be taking high-quality material in order to create a low-quality fan product which consist of nothing but our silly fantasies that will never match any of the numerous original authors’ intent to 100%. That would be extremely rude to them and uncalled for.
If you want to write a story, write it in your own setting, with your own characters and your own plot. Being creative just for fun is one thing, but going public with it is a whole different matter.

#25

So basically, you’re completely against doujinshi and fanfiction~

#26

Wouldn’t need to go that far. The banter me and Kanon had here earlier was about a fanroute game. It was made in Ren’py, an open source VN engine which is simple to use and great.

The idea was we implied the common route, and just sort of went straight into the route. @Kanon could tell you more specifics, he’s the one that made it.

Geez man, way to throw hundreds and thousands of people in a huge fan industry under the bus.

If you don’t like it, don’t participate. Don’t tell an aspiring creator to stop and his idea is bad. That’s just shitty.

#27

Just because many people are doing it doesn’t mean it’s ok. Take war as an example ^^

And it’s not like I’m joining the project and try to destroy it from the inside. I’m writing down my own opinion and back it up with arguments just like everyone else and in my opinion, fanfiction is rude towards the authors (and I hate it).
And it’s not like telling an aspiring creator your opinion on his idea is good if you favor the idea and bad if you don’t.

#28

This just in: Doujinshi is literally as bad as hitler.

I think you’re a bit too harsh on the culture. Maybe some take it too far, but what’s wrong about trying to emulate an author you love? You might be surprised to know that many authors in Japan love seeing doujinshi of their works, knowing that their creation has surpassed themselves and become it’s own thing. There’s a lot of bad fanfiction and doujinshi out there, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t think the idea is all that horrible.

You’re welcome to your own opinion, but don’t be so quick to judge the people that love that kind of thing.

1 Like
#29

Incorrect. Fanfiction or AU stories do not disrupt the original material in any way. It can either be bad work that is easily forgettable, or a story that enhances what is already set in stone.
Heck, fan projects have been praised by writers the same way modding has shone in the gaming industry. It is nothing less than an honor.

Don’t forget that most of the Japanese Media is about rewriting previously established characters from older literature, and Doujin works fuel the anime/manga industry. ^^;

You are an incredibly short sighted person if you believe that. Stop painting reality with only black and white paints~ :stuck_out_tongue: War is bad in a lot of recent situations, but it has been a great thing overall. I did Medical History for two years, and know a crazy amount of people who have gone to Medical Universities, and I can say for a fact that one of the most important things in the history of medicine is War (alongside anatomy practices and media spread.)

War brings forth technological advances. Things such as TV, Rockets, Gunpowder, healthy diet guidelines, shoes, and vast amounts of other things only exist because of their usefulness in war… and those things are all great (especially shoes.)

Quick switchback to the fanfiction topic, by creating a work of art/entertainment, the creator allows the public to make parodies and fanworks of said work, as long as it doesn’t infringe upon copywrite protection laws.

1 Like
#30

I’m going to cut you all off here - we’re getting way too off-topic. If you want to continue, you can make a thread in the off-topic area, but I’d like to get back to our Suginami appreciation.

Don’t let her fate be nothing more than a stepping stone to an unrelated conversation! ;_;

#31

You mean like her role in Rin’s route? /D

For real though, we’re getting that anal? Can’t it just be a ‘Suginami thread’? /D

#32

It’s just not as strict as a discussion thread is all~

#33

Let’s be real- It’s under the discussion topic. Also, any talk at all could be considered appreciation for the girl, what with all the love she got in the story.

#34

Whose to say that even Kurugaya route Suginami wasn’t fabricated either? shrugs

That sounds eerily familiar…

coughkyourouteclannadcough

#35

Because that’s the best answer you can give to a confessing heroine you practically know nothing about. And in this case, Riki knows even less about Mutsumi than Tomoya did about Ryou.

#36

Hmmm good point

#37

The ideas that immediately pop into my head remind me ac lot of pre existing Key routes. My idea is that the route would take place entirely from her perspective, observing the events of the common route from a distance. It’d be about her lack of strength, how she can’t admit to her feelings, her jealousy of the other Little Busters and the conflict her relationship with her friends causes her.

I’m not sure what to write about her friends, as they seem like pretty straightforward villains whenever they’re presented. Would you keep true to that, or try to give them more characterisation? Not sure about that yet, but it would definitely be a focus.

So eventually they start going out. However, After a while Mutsumi remembers the secret of the world, and it brings her tremendous grief. She realises that her relationship is interfering with Kyousuke’s plans, and has to decide what to do. The later part would revolve around that inner conflict. I can imagine an ending where she leaves Riki, but after Refrain when everything is over, she becomes a member of the Little Busters.

It’s a work in progress ~

#38

Actually, those two were only pictured as straighforward villains in Kurugaya’s route. The problem is, that’s the ONLY instance when they were present in person.
In Rin’s route, it was those two who wrote a letter to Riki to call him out to a classroom where he’d be alone with Mutsumi so that she can confess - without telling Mutsumi anything. They did not make an actual appearance. Their act of giving Mutsumi a (somewhat forceful) push from the shadows has no apparent malice in it.

There is a possibility they might have appeared in Kud’s route (the bet on whether Kud will fail the exams), but I didn’t remember the names of any of the faceless mob characters in that route, so I can’t tell.

Now then, we all know that the author of Kurugaya’s route is known for creating plotholes and inconsistencies (Chihaya’s route), so Takamiya and Katsusawa aren’t necessarily as evil as he has pictured them in Kurugaya’s route. However, that’s their biggest (and possibly only) appearance, so the fandom probably doesn’t doubt them being evil.

…Which is unfortunate because they’d be easier to work with, more convincing, and more useful plot-wise if they weren’t ‘straightforward villains’. For example, you’d have to work out some convenient explanation for why ‘straightforward villains’ like them keep hanging out with Mutsumi, who’s a ‘victim type’, yet not making her their victim.

#39

Maybe for the same reason two strong guys who always fight hang out with little Riki. They rely on each other for everything, whether it is an issue with love, or an act of anger.
I like to think that the two had been pushed so far by Yuiko’s indifference that they were starting to forget their common sense and ended up going a bit too far.
Let’s not forget that their personality is probably changed to fit the will of the heroine at the time >.>

#40

That’s a solid explanation, but unfortunately, not a convenient one, since you can only deliver it in an omniscient narrator speech (as in, one who had seen their behavior in Kurugaya’s route and proceeds to explain that those two aren’t actually like that 24/7). In order to enact that, you’d need Mutsumi to remember the loop of Kurugaya’s route, which would make things more complicated…