Impressions of playing "Parfait" (2005)

When I reread the impression notes I wrote after clearing the game a year ago, I was impressed and amused by myself, thinking, 'Man, this guy was really taking eroge seriously...', so I decided to copy and paste them to publish on note.

※I played the "Parfait ~chocolat second brew Re-order~" version. It is neither the original Parfait nor the complete remake released last year.

The "Parfait Remake" was released last year, and that version is officially compatible with Windows 10 without needing tools, but since this is the version that has been evaluated for many years in the eroge world and bears the name of a "masterpiece" (well, this version is also Re-order), I played this one with a firm will.

※Spoiler alert!!!!!

The last paragraph of the "Summary of Impressions" should especially not be read by those who haven't played it. (There is another warning there.)
I don't think there are many core spoilers in the beginning that would significantly ruin the play experience.

[Summary of Impressions]

・From a closed romantic relationship to an open family relationship

In eroge/gal games, romantic relationships are often depicted as "a love that makes the whole world your enemy" or "a relationship where you escape from the world and shut yourselves away together." Crimes, escapes, double suicides, rearguard actions, self-sacrifice, etc. As a matter of my own personal preference, I don't think very highly of these. This is because they try to produce the "purity," "strength," or "depth of feeling" of the two people's relationship by denying external others or social relationships outside of the two, and to put it meanly, it is nothing more than proof that the relationship is not worth much if it doesn't have to deny the outside world. Just as works that can only be praised by putting others down are hollow, I think romantic relationships that don't look good unless they contrast with the "outside" and emphasize the closed nature of the relationship are also hollow.

However, it is also true that in a gal game, which is a romance simulation game, the romantic relationship between the protagonist and the heroine must be depicted as intensely and sweetly as possible. The quickest way to depict it intensely and sweetly is to have them commit crimes, go on the run, commit double suicide, make the world their enemy, or have them struggle with self-sacrifice for the sake of the world... But, even without using such extreme and easily catchy tools, and without having bizarre things happen like sci-fi fantasy, crime suspense, or meta-fictional narrative tricks, if you can depict a happy romantic relationship with a heroine within the scope of "ordinary daily life"—though there is the ultimate fantasy of being surrounded by and liked by beautiful girls—wouldn't that be the strongest gal game?

"Parfait" is a work that I think can be called one of the royal roads and completed forms of such gal games. And, as a result of pursuing the realism of ordinary daily life, it is a story that aims for a community open to the outside, to society, and to "everyone," rather than conveniently shutting itself away in a world of just two people.

This theme is symbolized by the line, "The world around you is... a little kinder than you think." The "world around you" is "a little kinder than you think." This is by no means "convenient." Rather, in the context of gal games, which tend to make the world around them an enemy and shut themselves away, it can even be said to be "inconvenient." If the world around them is "unkind," such as with abuse, bullying, or war, it is easier to emphasize a closed romantic relationship. Whether it's jumping to their deaths together, escaping overseas together, ruining their lives together, or destroying the world together, there are plenty of options. You can produce the intensity of the relationship however you like. It's very convenient... But, if the world around the protagonists is kinder than the protagonist (and the player) thinks, you can't have the convenient developments mentioned above. In gal games, depicting a "kind world" and "kind developments" is much harsher than depicting a "harsh world" and "harsh developments." It is much harder to make the reader laugh than to make them cry. This work skillfully accomplishes such a difficult thing—the realization of an "open, happy space"—from various angles.

・Settings/Planning/Design for an open community

Aiming for an open community. Above all else, the fact that it is a 'story about working in a cafe' fundamentally defines its theme. Two people cannot run a Western-style confectionery cafe inside a large shopping mall. A pastry chef in the kitchen, a light meal specialist, hall staff, showcase staff... the store, surrounded by these multiple employees—multiple heroines—becomes the everyday space of this work.

It is also important that it is a store inside a large shopping mall, not a standalone shop (the main Famille store). A shopping mall is a society in itself. Interaction not only with one's own store but also with surrounding stores—the neighbors—is indispensable. This is even more true if they are in the same line of business.

And, above all, since it is a 'store,' the space must not be completed by the employees alone. The presence of 'customers' is the most essential element for an open space. One-time customers, regulars, and even customers in suspicious disguises or former colleagues visit, and the story progresses. In this way, the player is immersed in a romantic comedy that unfolds in 'Famille = Family' as a happy space open to the outside world.

Furthermore, the fact that the branching in this work is a 'map movement' system determined by where you go and who you talk to every day, rather than basically by 'choices' in the text, makes the player realize that the story is not a closed path that progresses only by clicking, but is happening within an open space—a society. The fact that daily actions are named 'events' can also be seen as a manifestation of aiming for a space of everyday happiness.

・Multiple names and social relationships

It is not just the spatial design (setting & system/UI design) described above that makes 'Parfait' a story about an open social space. It is meaningful to pay attention to the 'names' that one character uses to call another.

First, the protagonist of this work, Hitoshi Takamura... the names he is called by each heroine are different for each one. His sister Ema calls him 'Jin-kun,' Kasuri calls him 'Hitoshi-kun,' Asuka calls him 'Tencho' (Manager) and 'Sense,' Rea (initially) calls him 'Takamura,' Yuhi (initially) calls him 'Tencho,' and Rikako calls him 'Hitoshi'; they are thoroughly inconsistent. Just by knowing 'how they call the protagonist,' you can identify the heroine. In other words, in this work, a 'name' is a concept directly linked to interpersonal relationships, containing information not only about the person being referred to (Hitoshi Takamura) but also about the person using that name (each heroine).

Furthermore, names and titles exist on the premise of the existence of society. If there were only two people in the world, names would no longer be needed. Only second-person pronouns like 'you' would barely survive, or perhaps even those pronouns would become unnecessary, and calling out with just '...hey' or 'oi' would suffice. (In the first place, since there is only one person to talk to, there would be no need to 'call out' at all. The moment you utter words, it inevitably becomes a call to the other person.) Therefore, the very state where the protagonist's 'titles' differ for each heroine and multiple names are rampant means that this work is a story aiming for an open, highly social space.

In each heroine's individual route, the theme of 'names' is also explored. The easiest to understand is Asuka, the character with the most 'younger sister' attributes in the work. Asuka is a character who thoroughly distinguishes how she calls the protagonist, using 'Tencho' or 'Sense' depending on the time and situation. She is extremely conscious of how she should call him, and this is because she is aware that his relationship with her is defined by multiple names. And she understands that the obligation of 'how one should call' implies, in turn, the issue of the right of 'how one can call him.' That is why she tries desperately to be able to call him by the name she desires, and fears more than anyone else not being able to call him by the name she desires.

Yuhi is also a character for whom the ritual of changing how she calls the protagonist—from 'Tencho' to 'Hitoshi'—is clearly depicted. Because Yuhi started calling him 'Hitoshi,' a duplication occurred in a title that initially had no overlap, and it inevitably affected her relationship with the other person who calls him 'Hitoshi'—Rikako. Also, Yuhi is a character who hides a secret not only in Hitoshi's name but also in her own name. 'How one identifies oneself' is also a question of how one positions (identifies) oneself within that community. Falsifying a name means falsifying one's social attributes and relationships. Thus, it unfolds into the story as a secret of relationships within the society of Brick Mall.

And the duplication and twisting of names = social relationships is most extreme with Ema. Too many relationships are intertwined between Hitoshi and Ema. It is also in this route that the theme of mediating between a romantic relationship and a family relationship is most explicitly expressed.

・Scenario composition where heroines are paired, and each route has a complementary relationship like front and back

There are six heroines to conquer in this work, but among them, 'Yuhi and Rea' and 'Ema and Rikako' share quite a few flags and paths leading up to their individual routes. It can also be rephrased as a structure that locally generates a galge love triangle of 'which one to choose.' The scenarios complement each other, have contrasting developments, and contain content where you can only realize the hidden meanings by reading both, allowing me to enjoy the real thrill of a branching visual novel. In particular, the shock of realizing that the famous quote from the end of the Ema route, 'We won't hold hands and create a narrow world for just the two of us. I want one hand to be connected to everyone, to the outside,' takes on a completely different meaning by reading the Rikako route was huge. I was astonished at the horror of how the cruelty of 'you can only choose one' reacts chemically with this line that symbolizes the theme (open community) to show yet another aspect, and I couldn't help but marvel that such a thing was possible.

Also, while this is common in other galge, the contrast and connection between the NORMAL end and the TRUE end were also brilliant. Not only did they make them different developments, but the NORMAL and TRUE ends of a certain heroine presented the 'same' timeline's story as 'different' stories through 'editing,' and here too I was impressed, thinking, 'I can't believe they could do this too!' It was a great harvest to learn that 'branching' does not necessarily mean 'IF,' and that it can be used in different ways.

・Favorite order of routes (basically about TRUE routes) Rikako >>> Yuhi > Ema >> Asuka > Kasuri = Rea

・Favorite order of heroines Rikako > Yuhi > Asuka > Kasuri > Rea > Ema

・Regarding each heroine/route

I will leave the details to the "in-game notes" that follow at length, so I will write concisely.
In the order played.

I read the Asuka route first, and while I was worried because I'm not that great with younger, loli-leaning characters, that was unnecessary. I found her genuinely cute. "Tencho" and "Sensei" are unfair. Also, her chest is unfair. The Famille uniform is clearly intentional. In a sense, the scenario might seem to treat very trivial things as serious problems, but considering Asuka-chan is a young character, it was an excellent story depicting the struggles unique to children that adults cannot understand. Overall, it was a scenario where I felt elements that would later be inherited by Koharu in WA2.

Kasuri-san was the character I liked most based on my first impression, but my impression changed quite a bit once I saw the side of her that is a sensible, ordinary person who has had a hard life, hidden beneath her laid-back, playful exterior. Honestly, in terms of preference, I like her initial image better, but considering that she acts the way she does because she is aware that she is an ordinary person, it gives the character more depth, and the scenario dealing with her relationship with her mentor, who is a "genius," was quite interesting. Also, compared to the Asuka route I read just before, the flow of having a physical relationship before dating felt like a truly "adult" relationship, which was nice.

Conversely, Yuhi was a surprisingly eccentric character in the early stages, and I was confused about how to take her. Just like the customers who have Yuhi serve them at Famille, I gradually came to like her, including her innocence and unpredictability. In particular, the flow after confessing in her individual route was wonderful, and she was a character whose charm increased significantly after becoming a lover. Because her personality and behavior remain innocent and honest without any particular changes, the way she is perceived changes as the formal relationship shifts to that of lovers. And the scenario dealing with the settlement of the sister relationship was also wonderful. I genuinely cried. I have seen the composition of two heroines who are "childhood friends" with a male protagonist entering later in other eroge, but this route set a new high score.

Cattleya... Rea, in contrast to Yuhi, was more to my liking when she was just a rival and neighbor rather than after becoming a lover. Should this be taken as an expression of my preference for "tsundere"? Honestly, I had the impression that I neither liked nor disliked tsundere (I am more of an Asuka fan than a Rei fan), but should I rethink that? Even before she "dere-d," Rea was kind enough to Hitoshi and was a very good person. In particular, the "dogeza" event and the "late-night chase" event were the best, and the two of them, who acknowledge and respect each other as rivals while clashing fiercely, were great. Also, talking across the balcony is unfair.

I just realized that the spatial contrast of being "face-to-face" rival clerks at work and "side-by-side" neighbors in private could be explored further. The composition where each other's faces are most visible from the front, and the composition where they cannot see each other's faces. Crossing the line also happened across the balcony. The TRUE scenario was quite confusing, leaving me thinking "Eh...", but the confession of love and hate for her sister (also across the balcony) and the final famous quote were good. Looking back, I want to think a little more about why the endings that revive the Famille main store are (probably) Rea and Ema's.

Ema, perhaps because she was the first real older sister heroine I played, did not resonate with me as a romantic interest. It is unclear whether I am bad with the older sister attribute or if Ema-san's character design just didn't fit me. However, setting aside personal preferences, the overcoming of the complex relationship between Hitoshi and Ema (and Rikako) depicted in this route was undeniably wonderful. The way she lives her life while being aware of her own foolishness and her strong resolve are honestly cool.

【*Caution: Major Spoilers】

And the Rikako route, which was the biggest motivation for playing this work, was naturally saved for last. Honestly, I thought the other heroines' routes were already undeniable masterpieces, so the bar was set incredibly high. ...And when I opened the lid, the level of perfection left me speechless. I am a contrarian, so "well-executed foreshadowing" can sometimes leave me cold. To be precise, the "twist for the sake of a twist," or the feeling of "you just wanted to do that, right?"—in short, I sometimes think that gimmicks created just to surprise the player are transparent in the creator's intentions, and I find them lame! I think it's counterproductive if the essential story consistency, strength, and deepening of character emotions are neglected for the sake of acrobatic foreshadowing. But I surrendered to this scenario without complaint. It is incredibly well-made, but it is not just "well-made"; it doesn't end with just surprising the player, and it is amazing that the impact is "all" connected to the tremendous charm of the heroine Rikako and the indescribable depth of the scenario. Not only did I read the 2nd and 3rd playthroughs without skipping the overlapping parts in NORMAL/BAD/TRUE, but I went back to the start of the game to look again, was shocked by the thoroughness, and was stunned when I tried to imagine Rikako's feelings. It is a scenario crafted by skillfully using the "standing pictures," which are one of the basic elements of visual novels/ADV. And the "H scenes," which are the core of eroge. Of course, the "stills" too. And when the "truth" is revealed, it is not a one-shot trick, but a terrifying method of gradually releasing about 20 facts like a machine gun to knock you out. The protagonist didn't notice at all, but Ema had noticed about half of it. Even if the player can partially guess, it is almost impossible to see everything, and that is why it has a charm and power that goes beyond a mere big twist or acrobatic foreshadowing.
Earlier in this text, I wrote that harsh developments are more convenient in galge. Therefore, when I face heroines with amnesia, self-sacrifice, or illness, warning signals flash in my mind. The most powerful and easy way to create a "tear-jerker" scenario is to kill the heroine. However, the essence of the heroine Rikako's conflict, the core of this route, lies in the fear that if the truth is brought to light, it will become an easy development, and the fear of becoming a "pitiful heroine" that is easy for the protagonist to consume conveniently. I know the truth. So, let the protagonist (conveniently) save the heroine. Yes, it's over... that won't work. Because the protagonist himself is being denounced. That is why the peak = bottom of this route is so tremendous.
Honestly, I am not entirely satisfied with the subsequent development. For having dropped it so low, it was resolved quite easily, wasn't it? However, it is fully possible to interpret this favorably as the result of sticking to the work's identity. The basic tone of this work is, after all, a romantic comedy... a comedy. After all, it is a story for a "happy space." And the fact that he fills in the outer moat before facing the heroine also shows a firm orientation toward an open community. If I dare say, I wanted everyone at Famille to be more involved in the scenario in the final stages, but considering that the "last" act in the prototype uniform was deliberately placed, it is depicted as inevitable that she will leave Famille. (Still, I can't shake the feeling that she could have managed to work at Famille with some ingenuity...)
The story about "Famille = Family" finally lands on the reproduction of another family. This may also be interpreted as the result of the "open community" expanding/evolving to include not only the six heroines around Famille, but also the existence that is about to be born, which does not even have a name yet.

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【In-game notes】

It seems it cannot be started without the disc inserted (common in old eroge)

　~~Game Start~~
Character introduction part. It's a romantic comedy. The direction is quite good.

I see~~ The rival store is the original store that copied the antique style. That's tough.

So the protagonist's real name is "Jin," but he usually goes by "Hitoshi"?
I see, so the deaths of his parents, the death of his brother, and the closing of the previous Famille all happened at different times.

Ohhh, the back-and-forth with his older sister. It's interesting right from the start.
The writing is good. They can craft stylish hooks and also write serious conversation scenes.

A shopping mall late at night just before the grand opening. A great setting.

Since the original feather mouse cursor was showing up in my screenshots, I changed it back to the standard arrow.

And here comes the opening! What a great start~ (About 1 hour and 10 minutes in so far)
Aren't there a lot of heroines I can pursue? There are like 6 of them. The blonde girl hasn't even appeared yet.
So far, Kasuri-san and Rikako-san seem to be my favorites~

Cattleya is here! Oh, I see. So she's going to stay as a clerk at the rival shop. Not everyone becomes a clerk at Famille, then.
Will Rikako join along the way, or not at all until the end...

Oh, it's one of those systems where you choose a location to progress events! Maybe since Summer Pockets?

A corner room in an apartment, and a heroine moves in right next door... That's just like WA2!!!

So far, all the heroines are unique, cute, and charming, the music, art, direction, and writing are all good, and the story is interesting—it feels like a perfect galge. I have high expectations for this as a daily slapstick romantic comedy without any sci-fi or fantasy elements.
(Well, the setting of a 20-year-old running a restaurant where all the staff are cute girls is a bit of a fantasy... but the Western-style cafe setting at least provides some explanation for why he's surrounded by beautiful girls.)
Just as Cafe Famille strives to provide customers with a happy space, the game Parfait itself aims to function as a "happy place" for the player, and so far it's meeting that at a high standard. Wonderful.

Ah, so you can only choose one event per day! Does that mean the route selection has already begun...
Well then, I guess I'll go with Asuka-chan for now~

Asuka-chan calling him "Tencho" (Manager) is cute...
Has Yuuhi-kun become a bit like a gal? She's become super familiar before I knew it.

10/31 Prostration
I like the relationship between Cattleya and Jin...
Cattleya is strict with others and even stricter with herself. That's precisely why she is fundamentally kind to people who are noble like her.
Jin, as expected of a protagonist in a Maruto work, possesses both pride and the feeling that he has no choice but to prioritize rationality, and he is well aware of his own misery.
At this point, these two already understand each other quite well.

...Wow, seriously... Cattleya-san is too kind, and it's also good that Jin sticks to his "frustration" to the end.
I actually teared up here. Wait, can they really make me cry with just a 5-minute episode this early on?

11/3
Whoa, a classic, heated development. I like it.
"Ma-nee-chan" <- I like this. Cute.

11/7 Late night chase
Aren't all of Cattleya's events just too perfect? Her heroine appeal is too high, and the composition of these short episodes is excellent...

11/10
So she hates her brother (the only one) because he took away the Ma-nee-chan she admired?

11/12
Wait, seriously? It was Rikako who was giving advice to his sister behind the scenes... I thought "that guy" was his brother (though he's already dead).
It seems like Rikako and Jin already went as far as dating once before distancing themselves, but what happened...
They have a real "old married couple" vibe. After Cattleya showed off so much of her heroine charm, Rikako effortlessly exudes the aura of the true wife...

It's funny that he's only good at cooking with eggs. Jin is also a pretty unique and interesting character.

They are seriously so good at crafting every scene and every episode.
Isn't this format of dividing into sections and making choices the one where they can best show off their strengths?

Each heroine calls Jin by a different name. Will the protagonist's multifaceted nature be explored even further down the branching paths?
Ma-nee-chan -> Jin-kun
Rikako -> Hitoshi
Yuuhi -> Tencho (Manager)
Kasuri -> Hitoshi-kun
Asuka -> Tencho/Sense

11/15
Whoa, that is shocking... So that's what it meant to have those two on the original package?

The relationship between Ema-nee and Hitoshi. It's complicated, with their surnames swapped.
Hitoshi is conflicted between wanting to bond with Ma-nee as "family" and wanting to cherish her as his first love. That's agonizing.
He also said that the members of Famille themselves aim for something like a "(pseudo) family," so perhaps the complex ins and outs of family, blood relations, and pseudo-families will become an important underlying theme.
Furthermore, Cattleya and Yui are also intentionally being set up as sisters-in-law, mirroring Hitoshi and Ema.

11/16 The Sisters' Secret
Ah, so they're already hinting that the fact that only Cattleya is an outsider to Famille (≒family≒friends) will have an effect here.

Oh, the heroine herself has already brought up the difference in how Hitoshi is addressed.
And since she says, "I don't want just any Famille manager to hear this," it means the schema of "Famille ≒ pseudo-family friends" is already starting to crumble...

Oh, Yui proposing how Hitoshi should call her, right after she was trying to decide how to call him... That's genius!

Wow, I see. They're already showing glimpses of WA2...
And it's not just about Rikako; the fact that Cattleya is listening to this from the balcony... isn't this already a love square?
Yui is in the exact same situation as Hitoshi. That's amazing. The protagonist and the three heroines are in a four-way mirror image relationship. Ah, I want to map this out.
Specializing in piano and having singing as a hobby... she's like a combination of someone's Touma and Ogiso...

This protagonist does some stylish things.
I feel like they could have prepared a CG of Cattleya on the balcony here, but by daring to show only the normal background with "no one there," it can be interpreted as letting the player imagine she is "there."
The sound-only direction is also elaborate.
The grip strength being foreshadowing is hilarious. Does piano practice really build up that much grip strength?

As of now, there are four characters who seem like main heroines, and it's scary. On the flip side, Kasuri and Asuka are pitiful. It's scary to think they might add settings for these two as well.
However, Yui is a character who is hard to pin down, or rather, has no bottom...
Her way of speaking and vibe are gal-like, and just when you think she might be hiding her true intentions, she also seems like a completely innocent and pure girl. I can see why the younger stepsister would be more popular.

The only negative elements at this point are the occasional moves where the male protagonist, typical of eroge, strokes the heroine's head.
Is it really assumed that men in the world want to stroke beautiful girls' heads that much...?
Also, is it just that Manager Itabashi's sexual harassment is actually pretty harsh?

11/19 Class Rep Asuka
"Even so... that girl was incredibly happy that her efforts were in vain...?" Attacking with this kind of paradox feels like Maruto-style. The "that's exactly why" syntax.

11/20 Rika-e...
He does stylish things... Maruto protagonists really have that side to them...

11/21 School Festival Day
I see... because it's a school festival stall where Asuka herself becomes the "manager," Asuka, who is more attached to Famille than anyone else, felt responsible. The "manager" dashingly saves her. Even when the male protagonist coolly saves the heroine, it doesn't feel forced. It's also significant that not just Hitoshi, but all the other Famille members cooperated because they wanted Asuka's school festival to be a success.
Also, it's good that Hitoshi is giving advice not just as Asuka's tutor/employer at the part-time job, but also as a senior in school life. Relationships are built from various positions, and he uses them very skillfully.

Oh, did this enter the Asuka route?

12/1
Home party and management policy meeting. It's completely out of line since it's unpaid labor and goes beyond the scope of a part-time job (as mentioned), but well, we can just consider Famille more of a community than a realistic shop.

Wait, there's a common BAD route!? (And they were kind enough to specify it...)
Then I guess I'll go there first...
Christmas Eve being the decisive route branching point is the same as WA2. Or rather, I guess that's common.

・Common BAD route Both sell out
Oh, I thought for a second it would continue until the end of March, but it ended normally on Eve. It's not so much a BAD route, but a standard, interesting flow.
The common sense in gal games that "not dating anyone = BAD route"...

・Asuka TRUE route Kiss, I don't know, so teach me 12:35~16:05
This one skips the Eve business battle all at once. I'm glad I saw it from the BAD route.
He didn't just stroke her head, he grabbed her well, but incorporating the knuckle-rubbing into the kiss here is clever.
The workbook is a bit cheesy, but if you think about Asuka-chan doing it desperately, it's cute.
I realized in "Kanisino" that getting involved with a student is a landmine, but here, well, he's not a formal teacher but a tutor, and Hitoshi is sufficiently hesitant and has guilt and a sense of responsibility, so I guess it's acceptable.

Is this Hitoshi's first time? There's a possibility he's already done it with Rikako... maybe not...
They are being super lovey-dovey.
Are they going to hide it from everyone at Famille? Will coming out be the climax of the route? I wonder if it's the same in other routes. Kasuri-san seems like she'd spill the beans quickly, though.
I mean, once you enter an individual route, there are absolutely no scenes at Famille. It's completely shifted to just the two of them being lovey-dovey.

I see... to call him "senpai," he first seals the relationship where she can call him "manager."
This high schooler (who is not a "high schooler") says such great things...
Even though they've cut out all the scenes with everyone at Famille until now, in the end, they still manage to portray the friendship with everyone perfectly.
They're talking like they'll never return to Famille for the rest of their lives, but I'll put aside the tactless question of whether they intend to resume their part-time job once they successfully enroll after a year.
I mean, is it for real that a new clerk is coming in?

Me: "Yuka-san..."
Asuka: "Yuka-san..."

It's that technique also seen in the Saekano movie, where they insert a flashback of the 'trajectory of the conflict up to that point' during an exciting scene!
I think it's very successful here, though. Is it the difference between a visual novel and an anime, I wonder?

The way they indirectly express that they were crying and talking all night through the subtle change in light leaking through the curtains of his room is clever.

I mean, I also think, 'Why are you so against a temporary layoff when you're just going to come back in a year anyway?' but that just shows how important Famille is to Asuka as a place that 'should just be there.' It also captures well the youthfulness of feeling like one year is an impossibly long time, and the youthfulness of wanting to escape from entrance exam studying. Taking things that look trivial to adults or outsiders and accepting them as incredibly serious matters, getting confused and worrying about them... that kind of healthy childishness is expressed well within the story.

Rikako~~~~
Kasuri-san also senses it. Yuka doesn't seem to?
Cattleya is right next door, after all lol. So Ma-neechan hasn't noticed either.
But the fact that they properly depict the relationship and story between Asuka and each individual person like this is where I feel the philosophy of this work. It's not closed off to just the two lovers; it's a happy community open to everyone.
"Sense," "Tencho," "You," "Senpai"... the existence of these various ways of addressing Hitoshi also shows that the two are involved with each other not just as lovers, but within various societies, communities, and relationships. They wrapped it up well~~ (if I do say so myself)

Come to think of it, isn't it amazing that a scenario can be this moving just by being overflowing with everyone's kindness and love, even though it's not serious at all?? Her coming out hasn't even made her relationship with Rikako or her older sister bad.
A perfect scenario where you can shed even happier tears precisely because it is modest.
Just one year, just one part-timer taking a break, and they all hug each other and cry as if it were a final farewell. How modest and precious this scene is. For a child, one year is equal to eternity.

A year passed instantly, lol. So the newcomers are Kyo-chan and Tsubasa-chan.
Wait, whaaaaaat!?! She passed but didn't enroll!?!?
Wait, was that a bluff!?! You bastard~~~~ Fumiaki Maruto~~~~ I've been hit by this pattern a few times in WA2 too.
So I guess it's safe to say they fought against the common social wisdom that 'if you get into Teio University, there's no way you'd refuse.'
Wearing gloves in spring, lol.
Yes, well, I suppose it ends like that. I can't imagine anything else.
Ending!!! It was a perfect, modest, and happy scenario like a textbook example!!! 100 points out of 100!!!
Is the song title 'Boring Love'...? Are they unifying them with '...less Love'?

It took about three and a half hours once I entered the individual route. If you include collecting the important events before that, maybe 4-5 hours?
Since this is for 6 people, it certainly calculates to about 30 hours.

Asuka-chan isn't exactly my preferred type of character, but she was so cute that it blew that away. It was also good that she had big breasts. The CG where she puts her face on the desk after closing time and looks up at me, and the CG of her legs (white tights) under the desk at that time were especially good. There are 3 scenes in total, and it's likely that everyone else is also unified at 3 scenes per person.
It ended before they could actually come out about dating. Given that vibe, I think her sister would reluctantly accept it too. An 'open relationship' means that even if your crush is taken, you gently swallow it and welcome them.
I mean, Kasuri-san interviewed Asuka... It's rare that the first meeting scene isn't depicted in detail. It was emphasized more that she was the 'first person' to restart Famille. Hitoshi and Asuka aren't childhood friends or anything, nor do they have any particular connection, but their social relationship, such as being a tutor, is multi-layered. It was a scenario that handled that point well.
It's precisely because Asuka calls Hitoshi by different names so delicately that she was so shocked that she wouldn't be able to call him 'Tencho' for even a year. That delicacy, intertwined with her younger-sister attribute, made her charming.
A closed lover relationship and an open peer relationship. Without leaving either one hanging, they first delved into the lover relationship, then steered toward the peer relationship for the conclusion, and finished while keeping both compatible by using a technique of alternating between flashbacks and the present tense. It was brilliant.
To think that even a route that doesn't have much of a reputation is this good... I can't wait for what's next.
For now, let's do the second heroine, Kasuri-san's route, which doesn't seem to have much to do with the main plot.

・Choosing events aiming for the Kasuri route
From 10/19
So Kasuri-san came to Famille because she fell in love with Ema-neechan's Western-style confectionery. That connection.
Kasuri-san seems like a genius character who acts goofy, but in reality, she's an all-rounder who supports Ema-neechan (the genius), and she's surprisingly the straight man with common sense. Unlike some genius actress classmate somewhere.

11/17
The Takamura parents' (the family that adopted Hitoshi, Ema's parents) marriage harassment toward their daughter is harsh~~~ 'Already opened' and such...
I mean, one of the brothers was 28 when he married Ema, so isn't he more than 10 years older than Hitoshi?
Whaaa... even Ema... were they each other's first love? And they were betrothed. I see, if you're adopted and become siblings, you can't get married.
Eh, don't you usually admire older relatives of the opposite sex when you're a child? I think being 3 years younger is a pretty big deal for a child. If that were the case, I think I would be attracted to an adult-like person 8 years older than me. (So Hitoshi and one of them are brothers with an 11-year age gap.)
Ema-neechan is a standard childhood friend and should have high heroine power, but because of her complicated family circumstances, her older sister attribute is strong, so she doesn't really look like that... but the story started with her nude CG, so she has enough of the air of a main heroine.

Following Asuka, Ema is also a person in a relationship tied together in multiple layers by various names (labels) for Hitoshi.
I feel like the 'multi-layered nature of human connections (and the relationships open to society that accompany it)' is the theme of this work.

11/20
Ah, so Kasuri-san admired Ema-neechan's Western-style confectionery because she had been chasing the genius her own sister displayed in making Japanese-style confectionery since she was little, so it was a reaction to that and an extension of it.

12/23
Ah~ is this... going to proceed with more of a comedy tone than I thought? > Kasuri route
I was able to get a glimpse of Ema-neechan's reaction when she found out Hitoshi was dating another woman. It's very gag-like, though.
This isn't a matter of coming out about dating, but a development where it becomes that way among everyone even before they start dating~~
Japanese-style confectionery and Western-style confectionery. The two geniuses/sisters are birds of a feather...
Ignoring the Christmas sales battle, lol.

12/24
・Kasuri TRUE route: Who really won...
To the two geniuses, Kasuri-san is a younger sister, and to Hitoshi, she is an older sister figure. Here too, the pluralization of attributes through open friendships is progressing.
Considering her complex and heavy relationship with Hitoshi, Ema-san should probably be grieving more seriously instead of screaming in a gag-like way, but well, that's an unavoidable part of a multi-ending love comedy.
Is Hitoshi getting excited about Kasuri-san covered in cream half because of the appeal of the cream (egg product)?
'We're still engaged today, right?'... She's overlapping with Ema-neechan. In a way Kasuri-san didn't intend.
She's using cream to lead Hitoshi on during the act, lol.

I finished two scenes in quick succession at an early stage. Will it get somewhat serious from here?
Isn't the punchline that Kasuri-san was actually a virgin? A composition where both are suffering by seeing the shadow of the other's former lover on their own.
Compared to Asuka-chan's route, since both are adults, it's nice that they have a subtle, friends-with-benefits relationship without any tedious procedures.

What on earth happened with Rikako... It's different from the relationship between Setsuna and Haruki in CC...

Passing each other by... it's a melodrama...
The hardships as a pâtissière and the hardships in her romantic relationship with Hitoshi are getting mixed up.
Wanting to be recognized by Hitoshi (and Ema) as an indispensable person at Famille, and wanting to be recognized by Hitoshi as a lover.

Oh, she quit Famille and transferred to Curio very smoothly. Another social attribute/title added.
Did she improve her skills dramatically after just one week of training under Ms. Tachibana at the Curio main store...

Seriously? You can't just say "take my virginity" in the middle of a shopping mall at noon with kids around, lol.
It's a confession battle so immature and embarrassing it sounds like a "minor's declaration," but this scene, where they are having a private conversation in front of a crowd—not just the "everyone" at Famille, but total strangers who happened to be at Brick Mall (many of whom don't even know Famille)—is very symbolic. The romantic relationship isn't closed off between the two; it's opening up to the community. And it's accepted warmly through the way their behavior, which looks so ridiculous and sweet to outsiders, is received.
In the end, the fact that Jin was Kasuri's first (it was obvious since you could see the blood in the first scene) and that the person on the other end of the phone was always her father is honestly so trivial, but it's accepted because it's presented as a trivial, heartwarming thing.

With this, I've completed the H-scenes for both the pastry chef outfit and the maid outfit.
I can't believe someone so obsessed with eggs would allow this kind of waste... Eggs < Lover.

The main store is back in business just like that...
Oh~~ Kasuri, who has (physically) merged with Jin, has also been granted the title of "Manager," making her Jin's equal in both name and reality.
The fact that the Kasuri route ends with Cattleya and Mizuna is also great; it really feels like an open romantic relationship.

Kasuri route finished!!!!!
It was a simple, trivial scenario that wasn't very elaborate, but it was charming enough that I could accept it favorably. However, I didn't end up liking her as much as her appearance and first impression suggested... She looks like she's always goofing off, but she's a delicate, ordinary person. That's realistic and fine, but I kind of wish characters who act like they're goofing off would just keep doing that~
Finished in three and a half hours. It's an hour shorter than the Asuka route, but I wonder if the volume itself was just smaller rather than it being my reading speed.
Unlike the Asuka route, since they are both adults, it was a drama about adults where a physical relationship came first without the proper procedure of confirming mutual feelings through a confession, which caused things to get a bit complicated... That part was good. Though, the resolution of their discord was still done in the style of a "minor's declaration."

・Select events aiming for the Ema-neesan route
11/12
So even Ema-neesan acknowledges the relationship between Jin and Rikako.

12/22 The true fourth anniversary of his death
Was the reason Ema started dating Hitori-niisan also because of their love for Jin... That's painful... What kind of NTR is that?
Wait... isn't Hitori-niisan actually pretty dangerous? Bringing lots of "friends" of the opposite sex home and cutting them off once he gets bored... and bragging about his engagement with Ema to acquaintances...
He's a huge brother-complex. Such a person probably doesn't exist in reality, but as a "story," it's quite acceptable. Everything is set up to make Jin suffer.

Wow, this is rough... To love your ex-husband even more now than you did when you were married... Does that kind of thing really happen?
The two events—the brother's death three years ago and the Famille fire one year ago—create a well-crafted drama for Ema's feelings toward Hitori. It's actually realistic that burning memories is more shocking than when someone passes away.
It's also realistic that they try to teach each other the words for a proposal from the kitchen without seeing each other's faces, rather than sitting face-to-face at the table...
Hitori's complex. Does he know that Ema actually loves Jin the most? Knowing he can't be the most important person to Ema, what kind of proposal did he make?

・Ema NORMAL route
Ugh, so there were normal endings prepared for each heroine, not just the TRUE one. I have to collect Kasuri's and Asuka's later...
An ending where they continue to be "siblings" who are too close, piling up little white lies. They live together. It's surprising that she drops out of university.

12/18
A kid looking forward to Christmas lol. I like Ema-san's childish side, where she loves making and eating cake.

Wait!? I can't get to the Ema TRUE route. I thought I chose all the Ema events, but it becomes Ema NORMAL. Why? Is there a specific order? Or do other heroines' events affect the flags?

...According to a walkthrough site, it seems better to play "Ema and Rikako" in succession. I want to save Rikako for last, so... I'll do "Cattleya/Yuhi" first~
But before that, I'll collect the Kasuri/Asuka NORMAL endings.

11/10 Rikako
Why! Rikako looks cute in glasses too!
"That incident," huh...

・Kasuri NORMAL route
Oh, this part is common with the TRUE route up until the first H-scene.
It's honestly strange that Ema-san forgives them so easily.
An ending with a vague relationship that's like lovers and like friends, I see. It's not bad as a contrast to the TRUE route.

Wait, Asuka doesn't have a NORMAL route!? There's such a difference...
Well, it's much better than forcing a bad branching ending.

Now, aiming for the Yuhi route.

11/6 Insect repellent
Rikako is cute, wearing glasses in front of other guys and taking them off as soon as Jin arrives.
Rikako is also cute when she's happy that he came all the way to the university to see her.
So they were an officially recognized couple, but in reality, they weren't dating? But it's certain they were very close and understood each other... Did they date as partners without any PDA at all?

・Yuhi NORMAL route
Are they really going to make a valuable floor staff member play the piano on the busiest day of the year, Christmas Eve... Other than the common BAD route, they don't seem to want to depict the hellish day of Christmas Eve much. Well, I'd get bored if I saw the same thing over and over.
They're reusing the CG of her singing to make her play the piano...

Yuhi, I was surprised at how wild she was at first, but she's a really good character. I haven't seen many characters like this. She has various attributes like "energetic," "airhead," "clumsy," and "sheltered daughter," but she maintains an exquisite position that doesn't fit into any of those templates, giving her the air of the main heroine of this work. It's good that she talks to Jin in plain speech. Was she younger than him?

Wait, "that day"... Does that mean she confessed to Rikako or pushed herself on her and got rejected?

Are you kidding me... I know it's because I'm on NORMAL, but still, I never expected a development where I'd confess to the main heroine and get rejected just like that...
I always thought the male protagonist in an eroge was an existence with a 100% win rate who would never get rejected.
I love a heroine who rejects the protagonist... This made me like Yui even more.

Wait, is this, by any chance, the same development for the TRUE route?

Wow, Hitoshi is really something... To have his desperate confession and feelings dismissed as a "misunderstanding" by the person herself, of all people, and then to retaliate by doing the exact same thing back to her. Using Yui's own words—it's a pretty pathetic, petty move, but that's fine! Oh man, I like Hitoshi even more now. He really pulled it off.

So he also got rejected by Rikako, who said, "Sorry, I've never even thought about it that way"...

Well, a coworker, and especially an employer confessing to an employee at the workplace after work is pretty out of line. In that sense, Hitoshi is clearly in the wrong, and it's no wonder he got rejected. It might be okay in the eroge world, but it's a no-go in the real world.
I'm starting to like Yui even more. It really means she never saw Hitoshi in a romantic light. As a working adult, she's incredibly sensible.
In other words, this can be seen as a situation where there is a discrepancy in how the "ritual" of confession is handled between Hitoshi, who has an eroge-brain/romance-brain, and Yui, who has a real-world-brain/adult-brain.
Hitoshi, who wants to "wallow in his depression" because he was rejected (or so he perceives), versus Yui, who wants him to understand that she absolutely did not reject him...
In a way, Hitoshi wants to revel in being the "rejected guy." Yet, he's annoyed that he can't properly wallow in it because Yui keeps persistently insisting, "I didn't reject you!" Go Yui, go! Completely destroy that kind of male narcissism!!!!

Non-consensual kissing is just plain rape, isn't it...

Yui is a type of "troublesome heroine" I've never seen before... It's not like Yukina; she's purely innocent, self-centered, and pushes forward. She never gets gloomy. She's carefree and just keeps dragging people around.

This is dangerous. She's a woman who only utters killer phrases. Amazing.

That's poetry.

Calling her a "human-like goddess" is spot on. ...In a different sense than Aqua-sama from Konosuba.
Yui's expression of "pink" is, in a roundabout way, incredibly erotic.

There are many (convenient) heroines who worry about the male protagonist and desperately endure the pain even when losing their virginity, but Yui says "It hurts" with all her might, so I can trust her. That's what's good about her. She's very honest. She says exactly what she thinks.
Her low awareness of contraception (or rather, lack of knowledge?) is a huge problem, though...

I see... She even removed the piano from her room and stopped playing. I wonder if this means she quit music college.
While leaving a few unknown/unsettling elements, the romance side ends on a happy note in just one scene.

・Yui TRUE
Oh, in this one, Cattleya joins Famille! The relationship between the Kacho sisters is also really good. The classic trope of genius and ordinary stepsisters.
Since it involves music, if you take away the sister element, is it close to Nozomi and Mizore? But the genius side is innocent, and the ordinary side is a tsundere, serious, honor student... they are sisters with quite strong attributes...

Even if they handle the repair of the sisters' relationship thoroughly in the scenario, they have prepared routes for each sister, so how is the distribution handled? Are they sharing the development, or are they separate developments...
On top of that, they have to include the lovey-dovey romance with Hitoshi... It seems tough. I wonder how they'll manage it.

The two sisters are fighting over Hitoshi. And she's already crossed the line, not once but twice, with one of them.
I get Yui because of the confession rejection incident, but when did Cattleya become so infatuated with Hitoshi?

I can't believe they did it in the Curio maid outfit before Cattleya...
And seriously, how does the structure work? Why can you take it off just there?

Is Yui actually better at piano than Kazusa...?
A genius grasshopper, isn't that the best?
Wait, if she's a first-year student after being held back, does that mean she's a year younger than Hitoshi? 19 years old?

Is Rikako holding the offered copy paper in her mouth too cute?

I like that Yui doesn't show false modesty...

So there were guys working behind the scenes at Curio... A shocking fact at this late stage (is it true?)

Even when things get dangerous, it's characteristic that they don't just hole up in their relationship as a couple, but bring each other to Famille to interact with everyone and try to steer things toward recovery.
And yet, they maintain an exquisite balance by spending their nights properly holding each other.

“Doesn't seem like they want to talk” lol. It's amazing how they can throw in a gag in this situation.

Ah, I see. That's a clever red herring.

...Wow... It's perfect... I thought I was reading a high-quality, flirtatious, heterosexual pure love story, but before I knew it, I was reading super-precise (step)sister yuri... I feel like [Princess Principal] had an episode like this. The piano duet episode.
The philosophy that “only those who can do their best should do their best” is also amazing, and Jin and Rea’s ways of interacting are perfect. The composition of a childhood friend heroine + male protagonist is something I’ve seen in the Nukitashi Hinami route and [Eustia of the Tarnished Wings] Chapter 4, but isn't this the pinnacle of execution?
Love for a sister, love for a lover. It makes me think that the line “I love you both” fits so perfectly only for this character, Yui, in this scenario.
It’s also quite symbolic that Jin has a high fever and can’t speak when he accompanies Yui to Rea’s performance. It’s good that they properly depict Jin also pushing himself too hard and breaking down at the end.
The “wound” that the person herself had even forgotten had become a deep, indelible “wound” for the closest person watching from the sidelines, and it was still tormenting her... This concept of “wounds” (saliency) reminds me of the supplementary section of [The Ethics of Boredom and Idleness].

The 3rd scene is really long... There were 5 parts. I guess that happens if you’ve been bottling it up for a month. It’s clearly given more preferential treatment than the previous two heroines.

It’s over~~~ That was so good~~~ I didn’t think Yui was such an attractive character. Amazing. As expected of the main heroine.
However, I’d rather have Jin in reality than Yui... Someone who will devotedly nurse me when I can’t do my best~~~
I wonder what’s really going on with Rea. Is the main outline of the series of events the same, and only the romantic part is swapped out?

・Rea NORMAL route
Unexpectedly, the entire Eve business scene was cut.
Coming from Rea? When did her affection level reach MAX?
Ah, so she did do it with Rikako after all... At least one kiss...
21:15 Finished. 1 scene. So they date normally here too. That means the TRUE route will have some other problem occur, right?

・Rea TRUE route
Oh, the Eve business scenario is the same as the Yui route (Yui’s piano recital, Famille newcomer Rea).
And then, after the kiss from the NORMAL route -> 1st time, it went back to the sister family restaurant reconciliation from the Yui route.
In other words, the Yui TRUE route and the sister relationship plot are shared, and the romantic relationship with Rea is added to that.
In Yui’s case, Jin initiated the kiss, but with Rea, it was Rea who initiated it.

The difference from Yui, who honestly says “It hurts,” is good. “So... what about it...”, huh.
Jin’s awareness of contraception is incredibly low... This kind of thing is the bad culture of eroge, isn't it? I guess it’s a case of “let me do what I want in the game.”
I thought it was impossible for a 19-year-old to be a chief, but if you count from when she was a part-timer, it’s been over 5 years. I see.
I see~~~ I’m naturally on Rea’s side here. It’s not about which is more important, your lover or your work, but that letting personal circumstances affect your work makes you lose conviction not just in your work, but in your love life as well. It’s a judgment typical of the serious Rea. Jin shouldn’t be so depressed just because of a long-distance relationship... And isn't it the worst to try to hold her back by hinting at the possibility of you cheating?
Wait, they don't deal with Yui’s grade repetition crisis at all here. I wonder if she’ll be found out and taken to Italy...

Wow~~~ I see~~~ So that’s how they use the sister relationship in this route... Amazing...
This is crazy... They created completely different scenarios for each of the sister heroines, and in both, they masterfully handle the fundamental emotional intersection of these sisters.

Wait, seriously... I was completely deceived by Jin along with Rea, and I was also completely deceived by Rikako along with Jin...
But, as expected, it was nice that they relied on everyone else instead of just the closed romantic relationship between Rea and Jin, which is typical of this work.
Though, if I were actually deceived by everyone like that, I’d probably develop trust issues.

A very symbolic line 1

A very symbolic line 2

The end!!!!!!
Oh~~~. A pretty good ending (though it is sexist).
Why did they have to revive the Famille main store in order to hold Rea back and live together?
Given the history of the main store, I could understand a main store revival ending in something like the Ema-neesan route, but there’s no connection at all; in fact, why rebuild it from scratch with Rea, who didn’t even know it existed? ...Probably because there was no connection.
The line “Let’s go home, to our house” appeared many times, but the <home> here only has meaning if it’s rebuilt and started from scratch.

To begin with, Rea is the only heroine who was not a member of Famille—that is, not family—but rather drove the story forward as the chief of the rival shop, Curio, the 'enemy.' Precisely because of this, it wasn't enough to simply welcome Rea into the Brick Mall branch of Famille and have her work alongside everyone else; to make her a precious partner to love for a lifetime, it was necessary to create a 'home' for just the two of them and welcome her into it.

However, what is exquisite here is that this 'home' is by no means just for the two of them; it is always destined to open outward. Just as the Brick Mall branch of Famille was. This story concludes with the time that exists for just the two of them—the very first moment in a 'home' where they will soon hire new employees and invite customers in—a space where they call out 'Welcome home' and respond to one another. ...Alright, I managed to pull it together! (Sweat)

Unlike the Yuhi route, which placed the resolution of the sisters' relationship at the climax, the Rea route placed the romantic difficulties between Hitoshi and Rea at the climax, while still being structured to rely entirely on the sister and other friends during the resolution process.
Looking back at the Rea route, there is no scene prepared in the final stages where Yuhi and Rea face each other and reconcile. The person to whom Rea confesses her complex feelings—a mix of jealousy, obsession, and admiration for her 'genius' sister—is not the sister herself, but Hitoshi. (And even then, it's through a balcony, and she doesn't even let Hitoshi see her face.)
Yuhi also vents her unresolved feelings for her beloved younger sister, without ever truly resolving them, by taking on the dirty work of the scam for Hitoshi's sake, but the person she vents to is Rikako. In the end, Yuhi pretends to be satisfied, saying things like 'It's one win, one loss' and 'After all, I'm the big sister.'
This is a completely contrasting ending to the Yuhi route, where they finally reconcile by hugging and crying together—Rea, Yuhi, and Hitoshi—before falling asleep.
That said, it is also different from the extreme contrast seen in the Yukino END and Kazusa END; it is an exquisite piece of writing that, while both aim for relationships that open outward, provides two different endpoints for the resolution of the sisterly relationship.

...To be honest, I think I liked Cattleya's relationship with Hitoshi before they started dating and she got all lovey-dovey...
It's not that I dislike tsundere characters, and it's certainly true that Rea is super cute as a lover, but as a heroine to enter into a romantic relationship with, I think the older sister was more charming.
I really loved the Cattleya from when they had just met—the one who would bring him a cup of coffee after he knelt down, or the one who would turn back on her way home at night because she was worried about him... How should I put it, it wasn't the kindness she showed to a special person like a lover, but rather a more universal kindness and consideration she had for people in general that was shining through...

Nevertheless, the scenario for the individual route was also very good, especially the scene where Rea confesses her jealousy and anxiety about her sister on the balcony, and the final line, 'The world around you is... a little kinder... than you think,' was a famous quote, so I am satisfied.

・Towards the Ema TRUE route
10/31 Yuhi
Ah, so if I choose this, I don't have to kneel to Rea.

Rikako's slightly raspy voice is addictive. Her articulation is poor and I don't think she's very good at it, but that's what makes it good.

12/7 Ema & Rikako
Whoa... The relationship between Ema-neesan and Rikako is also quite something... Ema-san seems to accept Rikako as a partner for Hitoshi. Though she doesn't seem to know the specific reason why the two of them separated.

Is there also a critical gaze toward familism? Well, this is just foreshadowing, and I have a feeling it will settle into familism in the end even in the Rikako route, but...
However, this is the Ema route, and the fact that she has Rikako say this within it means that even in the Ema route, will they overcome this (familism)? It would be funny if being united as siblings meant overcoming the family.

12/10 Rikako
As far as I can guess about what happened between Rikako and Hitoshi, is it something like the Yukino event on CC Eve?

12/21 Rikako
If I take Rikako's words at face value, she can see Hitoshi as a precious friend, but she just can't see him as a lover. It means she's betting on the establishment of a platonic friendship between the opposite sexes. Hitoshi, who refuses to give up on a romantic relationship even after being rejected once, is almost stepping into sexual harassment territory... but since this is a galge that is convenient for men, Rikako's hidden feelings are probably not that. Probably. ...But I don't know. It's starting to get scary in the opposite way. What if I have high expectations and it turns out to be something trivial?

・Ema, Rikako TRUE route
12/24 22:30
Wait, it's common up to this point? How do I get to the Ema-neesan route from the state of having made plans with Rikako for Christmas Eve? Is it another pattern of getting dumped on Eve and running away to another woman?

Oh~~~~ So that's the choice. It's much easier to understand than I was braced for. It hasn't turned into a scene of carnage yet.
・Ema TRUE route
＞Go home
Even though she said she'd wait until midnight, going home at 10 PM is way out of line.
This is definitely the part where Rikako comes to the meeting spot after Hitoshi has already left.

But I see, so the Ma-nee-chan route can only be realized as a result of being 'dumped (or rather, giving up) by another woman.'
...Well, they are siblings and she is a widow, so maybe that's a reasonable compromise.
It's a complex state of mind for Ema-neesan too, because she believes she will ultimately 'lose,' and that it's a 'great reversal victory' based on the belief that Rikako would never abandon her younger brother (and, in all likelihood, that expectation=faith was not wrong). If it were real, she shouldn't be able to win, and since she has to reconcile the feeling of wanting to rejoice in her wish being granted with the realization that spending such a happy Eve must be some kind of mistake, it's complicated.
The Ema TRUE route as a Rikako BAD route... Is this structure the reason why the Ema NORMAL route was separated from the TRUE one?

Whoa—the shocking fact that even the 'Ma-nee-chan' nickname was something Ema herself taught Hitoshi to use.
The nickname she uses for the other person was defined (without her knowing) by that person themselves.

Ema, who lost her husband and confesses in front of Hitoshi that her love has deepened much, much more since losing him, is the one saying this... And she's using a line that traces the very catchphrase of 'Rika-chan' herself: 'You should cherish the person who is with you now more than the person who is no longer here.'

By the way, I've thought this for a while, but while this game uses the typical technique of stopping the BGM to signal the start of a serious development, I think it's incredibly important that the music doesn't stop exactly when the turning-point line begins, but rather has a slight lag. A fade-out, if you will. If the BGM disappeared immediately, the player would recognize the meta-information that 'things are getting serious' before they even read the line and understood the content. That would be a waste. I've experienced the flow in this game many times where I read the line, a flash of realization hits me—'Oh, this is...!'—and at that exact moment, the BGM cuts out, turning my realization into certainty. The 'pause' before it stops is perfect.

The sibling relationship, the colleague relationship... and the lover relationship are all intersecting. They are using their respective social attributes (labels) as cards and rhetoric against each other, denying one another. It's a tension that feels just like a game.

I just realized something. Ema's nickname for Hitoshi, 'Jin,' comes from her 'mispronouncing' his name when they were little. The name Hitoshi was likely given to him by his parents—the members of the Sugisawa family who passed away 10 years ago—but the name 'Jin' was given by Ema. And the nickname 'Ma-nee-chan' that he calls her is also one Ema made him use. In other words, Ema is controlling both the name she calls Hitoshi and the name Hitoshi calls her by naming them herself.

Since she was little, Ema has constantly been unable to control her external/social relationship with Hitoshi as she wished. He was a cute relative three years younger than her. Perhaps because she was told he was her fiancé, the boy she loved with a young girl's heart became her younger brother after his parents died in an accident. The possibility of their engagement vanished, and the possibility of them being together as lovers was also crushed. Furthermore, as if to twist the knife, after she couldn't give up on the boy and kept loving him, she ended up marrying his older brother. Tossed about by family relations and society, the distance between her and her dearest person from childhood had become hopelessly tangled before she knew it.

However, even so, she continued to call that boy 'Jin.' And that boy, whenever he was in high spirits, kept calling her 'Ma-nee-chan.' No matter how twisted their relationship became, even as they became colleagues, sisters, and husband's brother, the names they called each other were the only things she had defined herself. A good naming ≠ fiancé. It makes me want to make a pun like that.

I suspected as much, but she really is a widow-virgin, isn't she? Though I suppose that's true for many widow heroines in eroge.

Moving the family's mortuary tablets to another room beforehand is raw and effective.

Wait, they aren't showing Rikako on Christmas Eve? My prediction was wrong.

Ma-nee-chan is so cool and straightforward about everything.

The patriarchy and discrimination of her parents in the countryside are realistic and harsh...
Tokyo? Or a landlocked prefecture to the west... Gifu or Nagano?

The conversation with Rea across the balcony to quit smoking is nice. I really like Rea and Hitoshi best when they have this kind of distance.

Wait, seriously? Is the reason Rikako refuses to be Hitoshi's lover because she has the relationship between Hitoshi and Ema in mind?
Wait... why...? Rikako met Hitoshi after entering university, right? Don't tell me it's a 'they actually met when they were little' pattern?

In every individual route, the serious development in the final act is basically 'becoming unable to come to Famille.' It's not just that dark clouds gather over their relationship as a couple; 'everyone' fears that they will also be excluded from the open community of Famille, and 'everyone' tries to solve it somehow.
Asuka-chan had to temporarily quit Famille for university entrance exams. Kasuri-san quit Famille and moved to Curio to surpass her mentor, Ema. Yuuhi was too exhausted from piano trauma and the crisis of being expelled to work. Rea, a clerk at Curio, also became paranoid about the relationship between Hitoshi and his sister, becoming too exhausted to work. And Ema-nee-san, who also became paranoid about the relationship between Rikako and her younger brother, couldn't come to Famille anymore...
I wonder what will happen in Rikako's route, since she is the only one who is neither at Famille nor Curio, and doesn't even work in the first place.

It's not 'mixing public and private.' There wasn't a public and private that were separated to begin with to be mixed. Famille is not 'public'; as the name suggests, it is a community close to a family. The romantic relationship between Hitoshi and each heroine is not entirely 'private,' as social ties and relationships with everyone at Famille intervene.

Even in the 'serious clash' between Hitoshi and Ema in a room at a pension in the snowy mountains of Sendai, where Ema fled from Famille and from Hitoshi, it is not just an exchange between the two of them; the husband/older brother/judge must be present. They thoroughly avoid a secret relationship between just the two of them and interpose the eyes of a third party.

So Ema-neechan met up with Rikako and confronted her. Nice. In a love triangle, it's good to see the heroines actually clash with each other.

Damn it~~~~ Ema is just a dangerous brother-complex, and Jin is a convenient male protagonist who is loved by everyone despite everything, and is also a sister-complex, but why is it that Maruto-san can make the foolish lives of these hopelessly foolish people look somehow wonderful, just by keeping them foolish and emphasizing their foolishness to a foolish degree... The writing is so good... This is practically a scam... Like a shady pot seller... I end up buying it...

Whoa! It's a still of a heroine kneeling before another heroine!!! (This is more erotic than any of Ema-neechan's H-scene CGs...)
From Rikako's perspective, having this done to her is more than she can handle.

It's clear that to effectively depict the theme of an "open relationship" in this work, they set up an immoral relationship—a sibling relationship—that tends to lean toward a "closed relationship (= a narrow world)."

Are you serious!!!!! It ended like this lol. Is there any other scenario where the route's heroine enters the ending while still in a still of kneeling before another heroine?
Man, that's amazing... I feel exactly the same as Rikako. I thought there was no way I could accept this, but it became so ridiculous that I surrendered. She actually said, "Please join our family"... It's just too much. It's not just "let's stay friends." Is there any other way to resolve a love triangle like this? This is doing something even more incredible than the Setsuna END in WA2.

17:50
There was something after the ending. I see~~~~ The ending starts with the Ema kneeling still where Rikako's face isn't visible, and it truly closes with a still where Jin's face is hidden, pinned by Ema's arms and chest, and Rikako is shown larger and in the foreground than Ema... Isn't that perfect?
The development after the final "Objection!" also blows away the vague (but certain) discomfort I felt with the WA2 Setsuna END, while at the same time, it doesn't return to a messy development and never lets go of the romantic comedy aspect of this work.
Marriage is a social procedure to have a relationship between two people recognized by society. Even after such an engagement is completed, for Rikako to say, "I've finally reached the same starting line. Thank you for waiting, Ema-san," is completely correct when you consider how they both relate to Rikako and their own ways of taking responsibility.

As a galge, I couldn't really see Ema-san as a beautiful girl character at all (other than thinking her black tights were erotic), but as a scenario dealing with a love triangle including Rikako, and an immoral romantic relationship between siblings, it was almost perfect.
So, from here on, I'll write a little bit of my own assessment of Ema-san based on my preferences.
Well, I like her much better in the photos from when she was little, probably around middle school. Short hair suits her.
Also, through this work, I realized that while I don't feel disgust, I might not be that actively into the "real sister heroine" trope as a romantic interest... Maybe it's just a character design issue. It's not really a face I like... I would have preferred short hair... Also, I couldn't help but think the round, fuzz-like design around the collar of her casual sweater looked tacky. I never thought I, who am super oblivious to fashion, would make such a complaint.
Maybe it's also that I'm not good with the "older woman" trope... but I'm not that good with younger characters either, and I thought I could handle older ones better than that. Well, Ema-neechan was a character who emphasized being older than Jin as a brother-complex sister, so maybe I got a bit of heartburn from that. I don't know if I'm really bad with real-sister heroines just from this work. I feel like the character design by Nekonyan-shi is a big factor. I think the combination of this art style, Ema's personality settings, and various other things just didn't suit me.

16:00-
・Rikako BAD

..................Wow.
This is amazing... It's not so much that the foreshadowing is well-resolved, but that the foreshadowing is well-placed.
It reminds me of "Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo," but it's not that acrobatic, and it doesn't feel like "foreshadowing for the sake of foreshadowing," or like they just wanted to do something flashy to surprise the player, and it's not just a case of revealing the trick and being done with it, which is tremendous. It's perfectly tied to the scenario, and by resolving it and revealing the truth, the way you view the heroine Rikako changes completely. The relationship between Rikako and Jin changes completely... And then, the difficult question/responsibility of "So, what will Jin do?" remains. It doesn't end with the resolution. The scenario doesn't end yet. It shouldn't end.
Moreover, at first, I was about to be disappointed, thinking, "Ugh, another sickly heroine!" and that it was a plot that would relegate the heroine to a "poor thing" to be protected and saved (a convenient object), but that was premature.

Because, with the disclosure of the truth, Rikako didn't gain the status of a poor girl to be protected by the protagonist; rather, it was revealed that she hates Jin. She distances herself from the protagonist. She is incredibly pitiful, but at the same time, the protagonist cannot help but be driven by self-reproach. So, he can't just protect her. What is he supposed to do about this?

...Well, Rikako must have known very well how shocked Ema-san was that her house and shop burned down, and how much she needed care from Jin. So, Rikako must have also felt that it was unavoidable for Jin to be with his sister for that week afterward. Even so, her own current situation (the day she wanted support for the first time), her own actions that led to that situation, and her feelings for Jin... everything got tangled up, and she couldn't help it. Precisely because Rikako can recognize more calmly than anyone else that it's "helpless," she had no choice but to collapse.

Moreover, what truly tormented Rikako was not the week of rejected phone calls, but the "daily life" that followed, which the player had been shown the whole time. Desperately trying to hide it so Jin wouldn't notice, and yet, feeling both relief and despair that he didn't notice... all of this was happening right in front of the player. The fact that we, and Jin, didn't notice Rikako's true feelings weighs heavily here all at once.
The reason Rikako, who screams, "Because I love you, because I love you, I love you so much! I hate you, Jin!" is truly beyond saving is because she knows better than anyone how much Jin would despair if she screamed that. ("Rikako, you understand, right?")

And the fact that she hid it so desperately precisely because she didn't want to make Jin suffer. If she said that, she would become a "pitiful heroine." She wouldn't be able to have the same relationship as before with the Jin she loves, loves so much.

Is this why Rikako, who had seen Jin end up with other heroines in other routes, felt somewhat relieved even though she was sad? If she kept her distance from Jin, he would never know her truth, and she wouldn't have to make him suffer... She just had to give up on her feelings for Jin herself. Along with the feeling of hating that he didn't notice.

(The only exception is Ema TRUE, where they end up working together at the main Famille store, but was she planning to hide it then too? No, since she didn't work at Famille until then to hide it, does that mean she recovered quite a bit over the three years? -> Looking at the final still, she's recovered!!! So does that mean she just had to wait three years? Could "finally reached the same starting line" have meant that... Ah!!!! Come to think of it, she was shaking hands with Ema-san with her left hand!!!!!! That means it's confirmed she recovered... The way the foreshadowing is placed is too good...)

The reason she doesn't use contacts even though she doesn't want her glasses to be seen, the binding of both hands in the H-scene, and the use of the "bracelet" motif are all so well done it's on another level. A "clueless" gift, a chain that will bind her forever...
At this point, Ema's line in the latter part of Ema TRUE, "We won't just hold hands and create a narrow world for the two of us. I want one hand to stay connected to everyone, to the outside world," begins to take on a completely different meaning. Only someone with the freedom of both hands can say this line.

The concept of one hand/both hands suddenly becomes important, prompting a fundamental reconsideration of the theme of this work. Is it only the "haves" who can aim for an open society while being united with a lover? What on earth should a person who can only use one hand, and can only hold hands with either the public or the private, do?

...Seriously, what am I supposed to do from here on out?

...That's just it... The reason this situation is so hopeless is also because Hitoshi cannot even confide in Ema-neesan. If he tells her, he will hurt his sister again. He will make her bear the responsibility. The responsibility he is bearing all by himself. That is why Hitoshi, after being abandoned by his lover Rikako, has no choice but to shut himself away like this. Abandoning the open community that is Famille.

Even though he says he can never take it off, it seems like it will heal and be removable in three years. Well, I don't think he will take it off, and in the first place, Hitoshi doesn't know that.

In the first place, unlike Ema, Rikako has not known Hitoshi since they were children, and it does not involve the "family" that is the core of this work, like Reia and Yuhi. And she is not a colleague working at the Famille Brick Mall store. But by bringing to light another truth hidden behind the loss of the <house> six months ago, Rikako becomes decisively involved in the family relationship between Hitoshi (and Ema). Because of those three mortuary tablets. And the fact that it was "incidental," and the "main point" was ultimately something that symbolized the lover relationship with Hitoshi, is also incredibly well done.

...I was thinking, normally, would you confess to a friend you worked with one week after the shop you worked at burned down? Was it one week after the fire that Hitoshi confessed to Rikako? Maybe it was a little later. ...But, you said that you had your first kiss before the fire, and that the fire happened when you were finally about to confess, so you postponed the confession for a week.

Or rather, is it in a sense the exact opposite of that plot twist in "G-senjou no Maou"? That one is a gimmick that takes advantage of the visual novel/ADV convention that "you can only see the front where the standing picture is," but this work, in contrast, takes advantage of the fact that "the standing picture is always visible." What is visible and what is not. What you thought was visible and what you were pretending not to see.

Also, a high point of this plot twist is that the protagonist and the player are not disconnected. In G-senjou, or Sakuranouta, they use a gimmick to surprise the player by revealing information in the second half that "the protagonist knew but did not disclose to the player," but in this type, it means the protagonist intentionally hid it in monologues and the like until then, and justifying that is difficult. That thing in G-senjou has a justification prepared, but it is still tough that he doesn't talk about it at all in his inner monologue. In other words, a gimmick where the player and the protagonist are disconnected is difficult to justify why the protagonist didn't talk about it until then, and therefore, it approaches a "gimmick just to surprise the player," and there is an aspect where the reality of the story decreases.

It would be interesting to classify visual novel gimmicks and foreshadowing recovery by the disconnection or alignment of the player and the protagonist. The secret of the Saint's prayer in Chapter 4 of Eustia was also the same type of development as this work, where the player equals the protagonist (a type where both the protagonist and the player are surprised).

・11/17 Rikako
Fill in the uncollected events first.
...Could it be that they are making Reia and other characters cross their arms and take poses close to Rikako so that the player doesn't feel a sense of discomfort with Rikako's standing picture???

・I want to check Rikako's foreshadowing as much as possible, so I will look back at Rikako's parts from the beginning.

11/20 Rikaemon
Was refusing to check the PC's condition at Hitoshi's house here also to hide the truth...?
It means that the calculation of Famille's income and expenditure was done at Rikako's house. She cannot use a PC in front of Hitoshi. For the same reason she doesn't want to eat in front of Hitoshi.

12/1 Christmas Sales Strategy Meeting @ Sugisawa House

They really laid the foreshadowing carefully...

Wait, is that it...!!! The reason Rikako doesn't offer incense to the mortuary tablets, her principle that "people in front of you are more important than people who aren't here," is just a pretext, and the truth is that she was the one who saved those mortuary tablets from the burning shop (because it reminds her of that time)... making it look like that, but the real, real reason is that she can't put her hands together...!!!

That's not it!!!! Does it mean that Hitoshi and everyone else are just misunderstanding it as they please...?

11/9 Rikako Always Second
In this event, Hitoshi appeared during the lecture and hurriedly closed the notebook he was writing in, was that because he didn't want her to see the notebook written with her non-dominant hand?
Kicking the desk after Hitoshi left... is probably unrelated. But it's not like she hits the desk with her arm.

Or rather, even here, Ema-san is prioritized over the phone. Losing to Ema-san on the phone. The connection between Rikako and Ema appeared in places like this...
But Ema and Rikako are talking secretly where Hitoshi doesn't know, right? It was Rikako who proposed the half-price cake to Ema, and neither Ema nor Rikako ever tells Hitoshi about it. Will the details of this be revealed in the TRUE route in the future?

11/12 Rikako's Snack Advice
...This still of Rikako putting on glasses and scarfing down a snack while not being seen by Hitoshi is amazing~~
The misdirection that she didn't want her glasses to be seen is amazing. Here, it is said that she used to wear contacts all the time. The mystery remained as to why she didn't wear contacts if she hated glasses~~ Her left hand placed on her lap is drawn in the still.
Or rather, did Rikako wear glasses as a misdirection? I think you can eat even if you are very nearsighted if you try, but maybe she wore them to make Hitoshi think "she didn't want her glasses to be seen" if he happened to see her eating.

It's also cruel that Rikako makes him cook golden fried rice at the end, and that she makes Hitoshi say, "I thought this was foreshadowing..." Little did he know that another piece of foreshadowing was being carefully laid out under a misdirection at this very moment...

12/21 Rikako: You haven't given up at all, have you?
Whoa... She tried to grab Rikako's hand with her right hand while sitting to Hitoshi's right at the bar... which means, naturally, it was Rikako's left hand.

"Placed casually," huh...
Rikako's left hand was hidden under the counter.
How did she move it under the counter here? Can she move it? If she had used her right hand to pick it up and move it... that would have looked suspicious.

"Out of reach," huh...

23:40~
・Rikako NORMAL route
Wait, in this one, she doesn't get invited by Ema-neesan on Christmas Eve. I'm fully supporting Rikako and Hitoshi getting back together.

Flashback while waiting. The kiss and the confession. In the former, she was wearing the bracelet on her right hand, but in the latter, she isn't wearing it.
The event that occurred between the two was the fire at Famille.

Or rather, is Rikako's standing sprite with her arms crossed designed so that her left hand is hidden by the message window?! I don't know if they calculated it this far, but it's amazing that they even used the overlap between the standing sprite and the message window as foreshadowing...
Since her right arm is visible without being hidden, it's properly visible when she's wearing the bracelet in the flashback.

Rikako, by revealing her secret, she might be afraid that Hitoshi will find out she can't be of use to him like she used to be and will leave her, but at the same time, she seems troubled by the fact that she can't "let Hitoshi rely on her." Hitoshi actively takes care of Ema-neesan, but he doesn't take care of her. ...Because she has always operated in a relationship where she takes care of Hitoshi. Because she is only seen by Hitoshi as a "woman who takes care of him." Even though she wants to be a "woman who lets him take care of her" too.
But in the wailing after she confessed, she said, "Either we're equals, or I want to be slightly above him. Since that's no longer possible, let's break up." Is this not her true feelings? When she had bandages on her left hand, Rikako looked truly happy when Hitoshi was nursing her. That's why she never took the bandages off.
She wants Hitoshi to take care of her. Like Ema, she wants to be spoiled by Hitoshi too. She is struggling between that desire and the resignation that she can only be loved by Hitoshi if she is the one taking care of him.

This is about that rejection over the phone, right?

...Wait, is her having Hitoshi feed her cake here also because she can't eat well on her own, even though it looks like she's just being spoiled?!
And her coldly refusing when Hitoshi begs to be fed, is that actually...

The interaction on Christmas Eve, on the second playthrough, it's clear that Hitoshi doesn't understand Rikako's state of mind at all; he's desperate only to make his confession succeed and isn't even trying to understand her, and it's sad to see how they are completely out of sync in every way. When she starts crying after being confessed to, and when she reacts sharply to the words "I've always loved you" and replies "That's a lie!" Hitoshi brushes it all off and tries to proceed at his own pace. It's natural from his perspective, and it's not objectively a sin, which makes it all the more heartbreaking. The two of them are helpless.

The fire was on 6/18, and Rikako's birthday is 7/20, right?

The bracelet~~~~ She gasps the moment she realizes what the gift is... Rikako's face crumbles... Hitoshi doesn't understand the reason for that at all...

When she crosses her hands in front of her to have them tied with a scarf, is it in a shape where her right hand is supporting her left hand?
Looking at the kiss still, her right hand is indeed on the bottom!!! If she has them tied together so that both hands don't move, she can move both hands...

What does "There's no way you can beat me" mean?? I still don't get it on the second playthrough.

Wrapping her legs around Hitoshi's body is also because she can't hug him unless she uses her legs...
Not letting go after ejaculation is also because she can't naturally let go on her own...

She is accepting it while struggling and suffering from the fact that she is becoming intimately involved with Hitoshi.

Whoa! This is new from here. Only the first H-scene is shared with the BAD/TRUE routes.
They're married... does that mean she's already healed? She's clearly holding a baby with her left arm.

Natsumi, Natsumi... that's like Humbert Humbert.

I see.

0:40
It's over. ...Since they said it was a "long, painful, and difficult battle," Hitoshi must know about it too.
Or rather, instead of a NORMAL route, it feels like they skipped the turbulent part of the TRUE route and are only showing the happiness after overcoming it. It doesn't avoid spoilers for the TRUE/BAD routes, nor does it create a separate timeline. I didn't know there were branching patterns like this.

Well then, shall I read that "long, painful, and difficult battle"...

0:45-
・Rikako TRUE route
Re-reading from after the first H-scene.
...I see!!! The reason she says "I don't drink canned coffee. I only drink Famille's blend" is also because she can't open a canned coffee...

Being prioritized after Ema has become a trauma for her.
Ah... so the reason she "buries her face in my chest" is because she has no other choice since she can't hug him...

Rikako knows everything about Hitoshi without hiding anything, but the reverse is not true at all... and Rikako is suffering because Hitoshi has no idea about that... while she desperately schemes to keep him from noticing...

No, Hitoshi has already said, "I might never understand."

Did she avoid staying at Hitoshi's house for three consecutive days starting from New Year's Eve because she thought she would be suspected if she didn't have the "preparations" for the bandages ready? He did ask her to cook for him, after all.

"Well, Rikako wouldn't resist anyway"...

When he thinks, "I wonder if her heart was already satisfied?" in response to her saying, "Somehow... even just physically, it feels good, maybe..." it's actually funny on a second playthrough... it's sad...
The fact that she worries about whether Hitoshi is enjoying himself to the fullest during the act, and feels responsible and says "I'm sorry" if she falls even slightly short, is because she's so anxious and terrified about whether she can keep Hitoshi tied to her on her own... Rikako isn't enjoying it at all; she's desperately serving Hitoshi while being crushed by anxiety. Is that why Rikako never reached climax? What a sad, and in a way, realistic depiction.
Speaking of scenes where their hearts are out of sync, the end of CARNIVAL is like that too.

Even when she pulls away (withdraws) from the state of being inserted, she is trembling with the fear of being abandoned. And then, "absent-mindedness." She was probably frozen in fear and despair. Because she thought that wasn't enough, she immediately offers oral sex...

The reason she doesn't take off the bracelet she received the other day even during the act is because she can't take it off...

Hitoshi feeding Rikako her own cooking with an "ahhh"
Here, Hitoshi already feels that Rikako, who has gone from a reliable "woman" to a "girl" who needs to be relied upon, is "too cute."
How would Rikako feel if she knew this? Would she be happy that she has become like Ema-san and is no longer pushed away with "Rikako would understand, right?" Or would she suffer, thinking that she has no value to Hitoshi like that?
...In short, for this situation to improve, it is important for Rikako herself to discard the belief that "I must be a reliable presence for Hitoshi" and to be able to feel genuinely at ease relying on Hitoshi. That, however, is made difficult by the trauma of having the relationship between Ema-san and Hitoshi flaunted in front of her.

Is the reason Rikako shows her face at Famille every day after becoming his lover because she's terrified of Hitoshi being with Ema-san when she's not looking?
When Rikako says, "With this, maybe Ema-san's shift can be eased," regarding Kasuri-san improving her cooking skills, is it because she doesn't want to leave Hitoshi and Ema-san alone in the kitchen...?

When Hitoshi says, "Rikako would understand. You know how long we've been together," and Ema-nee mutters, "...It's not that long," it's quite meaningful. It's not even in a tone that tries to show she has been with Hitoshi for much longer.

Ah...
What Hitoshi directs toward Rikako is conditional love. In contrast, what Hitoshi directs toward Ema is a kind of ultimately unconditional love, because "they are family." Ema and Hitoshi have been relatives since birth and became family due to circumstances beyond their control.
There is nothing like that between Rikako and Hitoshi. They are just people who met when they entered university. They aren't tied by the threads of fate or family bonds. That's why, since that incident, Rikako has developed an obsession that "if I'm not useful, Hitoshi won't love me."

Ema-san understands about half of the reason why Rikako dumped Hitoshi six months ago. That it was because she kept Hitoshi by her side for a whole week. But that's not the whole truth. It's true that the 'shop fire' is involved, but it's different from what Ema-san imagines.

Ema, also understanding half of Rikako's pain, doesn't want to deny the family relationship between herself and Hitoshi, so she mutters, “I’m sorry... Rika-chan...” Ema-san is struggling too, isn't she?

“You’ll lose the use of your leg too” is such a massive slip of the tongue no matter how many times I see it.

Ah, I see... Rikako heard Hitoshi saying 'itadakimasu' to his late family. So that's why he decided to go save the three mortuary tablets, thinking, 'Well, what would Hitoshi do?'...

Even after revealing the truth about her left hand and the bracelet, Rikako still doesn't want to tell him about being rejected over the phone while she was stuck with Ema-san. She knows that if she crosses that line, a 'worst possible breakup' awaits, and her hatred for Hitoshi will be exposed. Until the end, Rikako tried to look cool for Hitoshi and remain a convenient, kind person.

I love how she's so flustered she calls Famille first.

Man... this is truly exquisite...
I mean, Hitoshi didn't know about Rikako's injury, so it was completely natural for him to stay by his sister's side for a week while she was bedridden from the shock. Who knows which one he would have prioritized if Rikako had been honest about her injury right away... but when she called to tell him, he said, 'Rikako, you understand, right?' and she stubbornly nodded... If anything, I feel like Rikako is responsible for being stubborn, but that's an objective judgment from the outside, and it has a completely different meaning for the people involved...

The order and the way the truth is revealed here is perfect no matter how many times I watch it.
There are no burn scars on her left hand under the bandages -> She wasn't burned in the first place -> She has no sensation in her left hand -> Even though she's supposed to be left-handed, she had been eating with her right hand for a long time and had been avoiding eating in front of Hitoshi -> She couldn't tell Hitoshi the reason for her left-hand injury because it would end their relationship -> She had been waiting for him to confess. It took two years, but she was happy when he kissed her -> She had liked Hitoshi since they first met. She wanted to be more useful to him -> It was Rikako who rescued Hitoshi's family mortuary tablets in the fire six months ago. That's when she injured her left hand -> Moreover, the tablets were an 'afterthought,' and the real priority was the bracelet she had received from Hitoshi and wore everywhere. She had left it at Famille because Hitoshi told her to take it off while working -> She tried to take the tablets as an 'afterthought' for the sake of Hitoshi, who still hadn't forgotten his late family -> She didn't fail to tell Hitoshi about her injury; she was trying to tell him -> Yet, Hitoshi was stuck with Ema-san, and when she finally called him, he said, 'Rikako, you understand, right?' and hung up immediately -> Even after that, there were plenty of signs of her injury, but Hitoshi didn't notice, and each time she felt 'relieved, disappointed... and then, despairing' -> Because of that accumulation, precisely because she loved him so much, she also came to hate Hitoshi -> So there was no choice but to break up.

26:40
This is the new part of the TRUE route, not the BAD route, starting from here.

I'm dying at the fact that Rikako's parents' home is in Hamamatsu.

“Rikako belongs to Rikako.”
It is thoroughly directed so that it is not Hitoshi saving the 'pitiful Rikako,' but rather Rikako reaching out to the 'pathetic Hitoshi.' A clever strategy. She knows well that rhetoric is the deciding factor.

Three more arrows so she won't break. Aren't those the people at Famille...?
Wanting to have three children for that purpose is grotesque as it treats them only as tools, but well, procreation is without exception like that, so I'll close my eyes to it.

I see?? They gave meaning to the NORMAL route from the TRUE route by treating it as an 'imaginary world.' Is that a way to do things?

Rikako crying, 'I'm not that strong anymore...', reminds me of 'Haruka no Kuni: Taisho Seiso-hen'...
The development after depicting her as an incredibly reliable character...

Ah, I see, her declining the invitation to go clothes shopping and always wearing loose clothing were also foreshadowing.

I think they could have given her a special job and had her return to Famille even if she couldn't use one arm, though.

In this still, isn't her left arm raised? A mistake? Can she raise her arm? Just not use her hand?

The ending follows almost the same flow as the NORMAL route. It was unexpected that there was no epilogue with everyone.

The end!!!
My wireless mouse battery died at the very last second, which was a close call.
It was resolved more easily than I expected. Hitoshi's recovery was quick, and his brilliant move to immediately secure the perimeter so Rika wouldn't leave was impressive. Even though Rika was in despair, it was as if he was saying there was no time for him to be in despair too. Reaching out to the people around them first is also very characteristic of Parfait.
Regardless, the way the revelation of the truth plunged everything into the depths of despair was intense, and while that was the peak (or rather, the lowest point) of the scenario, that kind of serious tone isn't really typical of this game. That's precisely why I can accept that Hitoshi didn't dwell on the seriousness afterward and quickly returned to a romantic comedy tone to resolve things easily.

However, when they were at a point where they might "break if it were just the two of them," it was unexpected that he mentioned the child they would have in the future as someone to support them, rather than everyone at Famille. At the very end, it seems they are aiming for a marriage-family relationship as an extension of being lovers, rather than the open community of Famille... Well, proposing to Rika precisely because he "values family most" was a predictable development, but the idea that marriage is a procedure to open up from a closed lover relationship to a social family relationship was consistently expressed. Ending with childbirth was also good in the sense that it wasn't just the two of them, but a future where "everyone" would keep increasing awaited them beyond their happiness.
Also, considering that the final H-scene involved the prototype uniform Rika made, which was in a way a graduation ceremony for Rika from Famille, it might be understandable that the story ended without everyone from Famille appearing at all after that. I'll think about it a bit more.
The fact that Hitoshi, who decided to return to school (or rather, stopped his leave of absence) to help Rika, did not abandon his job as manager at Famille and balanced it with student life can be evaluated as him not letting go of the community.

[22_0110]
・Bonus short stories
1
Is this a character from the previous game, "Chocolat"? Is "Daisuke" the protagonist?
Since Curio seems to be the third store in the Brick Mall, I wonder if the flow at the end of the previous game was to open the second store. Or was the main stage of the previous game the second store?

2
I had guessed that Famille was French for family, but is it explicitly stated for the first time in the bonus content...
I'm grateful for the new still of Rika. She's too beautiful.

3
I'm grateful for the new still of Rika part 2
It's cute how Rika cherishes the perfume that Hitoshi complimented her on. Between that and her glasses, she has a personality where she takes things Hitoshi said casually as major events, getting happy or sad over them.
The song she was singing when she first met Yuhi at the Brick Mall late at night was "Boring Love," and it's set up as being written and composed by Yuhi.
The way each person faces their own "boring love" is good.

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