Poll: Which of Key's works is the saddest?

Key Discussion
#115

Gotta go with Little Busters. Clannad was my first, and it holds a special place in my heart but the whole concept of Little Busters is soul-crushing.

Also, there are some weird parallels between Little Busters and the Drawn to Life series, which were the first games that ever made me cry (that was back in elementary school). Basically, in LitBus we find out that the world was created by the mc’s friends to prepare him for a world where almost everyone he cares about is dead. In the Drawn to Life series you have a cutesy little world that has been taken over by shadow. Once you defeat the villain however, you find the purpose of the shadow. The whole world was the creation of a boy named Mike who fell into a coma after a car accident (which killed his parents). It is heavily implied that the shadow is what kept Mike in his coma, and while clearing the shadow wakes him up, it effectively kills all of the characters you interacted with over the course of two games. I think the subliminal connection I made between the shared theme of “auto accident creates world where the game takes place and everyone is dead at some point” made LitBus that much sadder. Though, to be fair, LitBus has a happier ending in that no one dies, but in DtL Mike’s parents are indeed dead

5 Likes
#116

What the fuck? I had no idea such an innocent-looking game as Drawn To Life had such a dark plot!

Reminds me a lot of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Though in that game the world being a dream is less a twist at the end, and more a gradual truth that is unveiled to you as you play. By the end of the game, when you’re facing the final boss to ‘wake up’, you’re doing so knowing that all the characters in the dream will no longer exist once you’re done. The game doesn’t shove much cutscenes or dialogue at you, but when you really stop to think about it, it’s pretty deep.

#117

I totally forgot about Link’s Awakening! But yeah, the big difference with that and DtL is that DtL shoves it’s twist at you after you beat the final boss. It’s really dark for something from the team that brought Scribblenaughts haha

#118

For me, Clannad anime was a stub in my heart. I have very few spoilers for After Story (although quite important ones), but once again, those were few. So, I didn’t knew what to expect. I didn’t even knew Key’s “fame” and style…

And it was it was shocking. At the same time I’ve laughed out loud -literally- with this anime like very few times in my life while watching something.
I love it because it is so positive in serious situations (that’s one of its major virtues for me). And have great sad yet useful reflections from and for real life.

(Air spoilers)
But now that I’ve seen more than 70-75% of everything related to Key works… I’d say AIR is the saddest, instead of the great Clannad. It’s truly sad, a tragedy. Tradicional "happy endings"aren’t always guaranteed in Key’s works, which makes Key’ stories wonderful.

And LB will come 2nd or 3rd (haven’t finished all the routes yet)…

Therefore: — Quick answer? AIR. No doubt!

1 Like
#119

Well, Clannad has 2 very sad moments…

Then again Little Busters! is continuously sad from some part in the Refrain route. IMO also has the saddest character route; Haruka (maybe tied with Yurippe; but AB isn’t near as sad as Refrain or AS)

So LB is the saddest for me

#120

Probably my favorite games on the DS. The gimmick is the main attraction, and it kinda covers up the iffy platforming. Great story though.
You need to get the original versions though. They rereleased the second Drawn To Life as a child-friendly version.
I’ve never really thought of it when talking about Litbus though. They definitely feel different.

#121

I don’t really find stuff sad because my heart is pretty much made out of bricks but the anime adaptation of “CLANNAD After Story” was the only anime that made me tear up. Nagisa and Ushio’s deaths scenes was the saddest shit ever.

#122

Kanon, CLANNAD, Rewrite…
I have to go with CLANNAD.

Kanon was beautiful in my opinion, and underrated. Every route made me question things about our everyday stuff, the things we take for granted. Kanon made me realize to love the people/things we take for granted, cause sooner or later, you’d loose it. Not to mention how beautiful every route was.

Rewrite was beautiful as well. The fight scenes didn’t help my emotions much, but I found the route’s just horrifying to watch. Shizuru’s route, Kotori’s, Akane’s, etc. I found Rewrite routes to just be beautiful, showing the struggle, and strength of each heroine.

And CLANNAD. CLANNAD was beautiful to me. Every route helped the storyline, even if it wasn’t relevant, you should still tell that it helped the storyline because of what appeared. The routes had to do with family too, which I find beautiful, other than the Katsuki thing, and Kappei. CLANNAD made me feel “Feels” in each and every route.

Now for the others

Air - Well, it was confusing and had too much symbolism for me. I also thought that the routes were irrelevant to to story. Even if they might have been relevant.

Planetarian - Who doesn’t love Yumemi ? I found the storyline as beautiful, but sadly, I found myself bored reading the first half of the story since it had to do more with fixing Gena and looking at stars.

Tomoyo After - I agree with Takafumi. It did teach you how important life was, enjoying life to the fullest. I gotta say though, the music in it was just beautiful. I think it was better than CLANNAD music in my opinion.

Little Busters! - Eh. I found Haruka’s, Yuiko’s, and Refrain the only routes worth reading. Most of the stories didn’t help the plot much.

Little Busters! - EX. I liked, the same routes again, since it was modified, and Saya’s and Kanata’s as an add on. I think their routes were good, expanding more into the plot/route.

Kud Wafter - Haven’t read it. Seems boring, not a fan of Kud’s interest and backstory.

Rewrite Harvest Festa - Not sad. Seems more like a happy add on for a fan disc.

Angel Beats! - It is sad, the overall plot, but I don’t think anyone wants to know all the SSS member’s backgrounds. You’ll loose interest pretty fast if you decide to explore all the back stories. But it did have a good message, for portions of it.

Harmonia - Haven’t played it. The plot seems nice though. Not to mention the ED :slight_smile:

Charlotte - Eh. I won’t say too much until all the episodes come out. So far though, it seems like it’ll be very sad, considering if you look at the back stories.

1 Like
#123

I’d have to with air. Misuzu is just so innocent, yet at the same time she tries so hard demonstrating her strong spirit and soul, but even so she passes away. Her death impacted me more than any other key character

@Kotarou I agree that Kanon is one of the most beautiful key stories and is overflowing with deep messages, however it was never really excruciatingly sad. Shiori’s route was pretty sad, and Makato’s almost made me tear up but overall I woudn’t say it was as sad as Air or Clannad

1 Like
#124

Well, I guess, but I found the routes as sad. Considering some routes even related to people. Other than Makoto’s since, yeah.

#125

I’d have to go with Little Busters! although that might not quite be fair, because Little Busters! and Planetarian are the only Key VN’s I’ve read (the rest I’ve just seen the anime). I’m expecting CLANNAD to take the ‘saddest’ slot after I read it when SP’s translation comes out.

But yeah, Haruka’s route, and the end of Refrain though…

#126

That feel when you look at the poll results and planetarian is the only one that ISN’T capitalized…
But anyways I voted Clannad because I watched the anime first and the field scene just hit me so hard. I can’t explain all that much on why but that was the only time I cried and I can’t cry to anything else. I feel like Little busters would have been sadder if I played the vn before the anime but since I watched the anime and knew the secret of the world and all that stuff it just didn’t hit me as hard.

#127

Yeah, Key are a bit weird with titles…

1 Like
#128

Oh wait really? I thought it was OP’s mistake

#129

I don’t make mistakes.

Especially not when it comes to planetarium.

9 Likes
#130

I voted for Air
Which is weird, because Air is the only Key work that didn’t make me cry.
I mean, Air has some dark twisted stuff happening to the characters which I find quite tragic. And the ending isn’t happy, unlike the rest. It just didn’t make me emotional like the other Key works did.

As far as most emotional, I’d definitely say Clannad, then Angel Beats!. But AB! is sadder than Clannad.
Planetarian is also sad but not very emotion-inducing (for me, anyway…).
Little Busters! has lots of sadness but turns out happy… It didn’t make me super emotional though, which I am blaming the anime for.

1 Like
#131

I have to go with CLANNAD.

CLANNAD taught me so much about life. How we should appreciate the things we have because not everyone has it. It taught me to not have regrets. Regrets are something that you cannot change, but something that you can overcome. CLANNAD taught me to have hope for the future, how with everyone struggling, we’re here today, living in this beautiful world.

CLANNAD for sure, has one of the best writings and quotes. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read. Every route was filled with despair, and the execution of the routes itself made me bawl.

One other news, who voted for Harmonia ? :thinking::thinking::thinking:

#132

Rewrite is my favorite Key VN but I have to go with Little Busters, it still hits me whenever I remember it, I can’t wait to replay the steam ver

#133

CLANNAD and Little Busters are both generally more heartwarming than sad - there are intensely sad moments in both but generally those are resolved in a manner that is almost entirely positive with no bittersweetness to be encountered.

IMO it’s between Planetarian and Tomoyo After, and I think Planetarian edges out Tomoyo After by just a bit. There was almost never a hopeful moment in Planetarian - its a setting of absolute despair and its ending doesn’t do anything to make that feeling any better. Little Busters was the hardest hitting to me, but the saddest? Not by a long shot.

3 Likes
#134

It was a pretty hard decision, seriously. Key works are ALL sad.
I decided to exclude those that seemed the least likely to be the saddest. Well, I can’t judge those I haven’t read already so to me, it’s neither Kud Wafter nor Harmonia. Was Charlotte even sad? Oh right, there is the deaths of Ayumi and that long haired guy who’s always drenched whoes name I forgot but it’s not like deaths are inexistent in other Key works… Planetarian was sad but the only sad part was Yumemi getting broken so I can’t say that it’s the saddest. So, definitly not Planetarian or Charlotte. Kanon was sad… kinda… So was Air but… I can’t get myself to call either of these two the saddest. They are the only Key works that didn’t even make me feel like crying. Rewrite was pretty sad (Uuuu… Sakuyaaaaa, Esakaaaaa, Kotarouuuu) but it felt like the “sad” part wasn’t… important? Nah, it was definitly important but when Rewrite is mentionned, the sad parts just don’t come to me first and I need to particularly remember them to feel like crying… All I can say is that it didn’t feel like the saddest of them. Angel Beats has a pretty sad story but I only watched the anime which didn’t feel all that sad. I expect that the VNs would be WAY more sad but I have yet to read them. Tomoyo After was pretty sad but calling it the saddest wouldn’t feel right to me so I’ll just exclude it.
And so… That leaves me with two VERY hard choices: Clannad and Little Busters. They were both really sad and the closest to make a tear fall from my eyes (I’m not the type to cry because of a story). However, I’ll go with Clannad. Why? Refrain in Little Busters was definitly the saddest route of all Key. However, except for Haruka’s and Kurugaya’s routes (I haven’t read EX so I don’t know about the EX routes), the heroines’ routes weren’t sad, at least, they wouldn’t compare to Clannad’s routes that were almost all equally sad and heartbreaking. So, yeah, Clannad’s the saddest for me.
…How many times have I written the word sad I wonder… I’m too lazy to count.