So, for my second route of Starry Sky in Spring I chose to pursue Kanata Nanami. He was probably the character I was looking forward to the most. I love tsundere characters, I find their hot/cold personalities cute. Kanata was everything you’d expect from a tsundere. Like the other boys it’s obvious that he is in love with Tsukiko. But he keeps his feelings hidden, though to be honest, the only person really fooled by his act is Tsukiko.
I definitely enjoyed Kanata’s route more than I did Yoh’s, maybe its because I felt bad for the guy. He’s been in love with the same girl for years, but she is too oblivious to notice! Then when she does acknowledge his feelings, she does her best to deny them, friend zoning him in the process.
Kanata Nanami is a childhood friend of Tsukiko and Suzuya, and a second year in the Astronomy department of Seigetsu Academy. He is the character most affected by the appearance of Yoh towards the end of their first year. He and Yoh spend the first half of the game at each others throat.. His aggression towards Yoh stems from his own perceived inability to come to terms with his own feelings for Tsukiko.
In his eyes Yoh, is a threat not only to the existing friendship triangle between Tsukiko, Suzuya, and himself, but as a threat to his claim on Tsukiko’s heart. I actually found myself feeling more sympathetic towards Kanata than I was towards Yoh. Poor Kanata has the misfortune of being in love with a girl who refuses to see him as anything more than a friend. So when Tsukiko begins showing favor towards Yoh, it pushes him over the edge. Eventually, he and Yoh, come to respect each other and in the end become really good friends.
As the “delinquent” of the group, Kanata has a brash and impulsive personality. As a child he was diagnosed with an unspecified terminal illness, as a result he often skips class. He hates it when the others see him as weak because of his illness. So he does his best to always appear strong. So, both Tsukiko and Suzuya avoid bringing up the topic in his presence, but they both worry about him constantly.
In order to feel more alive and in control of his condition, Kanata has taken to getting into fights. As a child he was a bit of a crybaby, but whenever his friends were in trouble he would put on his tough guy act. He is fiercely loyal to his friends and will often go out of his way to help others in need. Over the course of the game he learns to rely on his friends when he has a problem. Especially when it comes to his illness. Through his interactions with Yoh, he learns that change is just a part of growing up and becomes more accepting of it.
There are two endings in the PC version of the game, the Good ending which takes place 2 years after the end of the game and the Best ending, which takes place 5 years after the game. Both endings are good, but I definitely prefer the Good ending…It’s just more satisfying and natural. In the Good ending, Kanata who has finally decided to confront his illness head on, tells Tsukiko that his condition is miraculously in remission!
Because of this he decides to chase his dream of becoming an Astrophotographer, which means he’ll have to study abroad after graduation. He then proposes to her, promising to make her happy for the rest of her life. In the Best ending, the story picks up during Kanata and Tsukiko’s wedding. Kanata is cured of his illness and is now a famous Astrophotographer. However, in typical Kanata fashion he is late to his own wedding…
Do I Recommend Kanata’s Route?
While I definitely liked Kanata more than I liked Yoh, I wasn’t really wowed by this route, that is until the end. The terminally ill childhood friend trope was something I’d seen before, and as a whole this route didn’t really bring anything new to the table. But, when Kanata stopped acting tough and was actually honest about his feelings…I melted! I definitely enjoyed the tearful, honest Kanata more than the macho tough guy Kanata!
The route was the same cute high school fluff, one would expect from a game like Starry Sky and Tsukiko’s airheadedness did nothing to make any of this any better. In fact, I found myself getting extremely frustrated with her, especially when Kanata finally confessed his feelings to her. The poor guy has been in love with a brick wall for years and when he finally musters up the courage to confess, she runs away! I almost slammed my laptop against the wall in frustration! So while, I enjoyed parts of this route, overall my opinion of it is pretty meh… If you like cute high school romances, this is the game for you! If not, maybe you should pass Starry Sky in Spring up for a more mature game.
Is this the fan translated game? Ugh right? Tsunderes are bae
Yeah they did a fan patch years ago….and I’ve had it for awhile but never really played it until now…
I love tsunderes but this story wasn’t as great as I would have hoped
Awesome!! I need to try it then. Lol yeah I hear it’s mainly slice of life fluff and the heroine is dumb
Very dumb, it’s cute for what it is…but I feel like I’m too old for this fluff lol
ROFL well at least it shows us that we matured! ^^ What other otoge are you interested in? Like ones that haven’t yet been translated?
Exactly! I have a hard time getting through super fluff lol! Ummm idk I’m mostly trying to tackle my backlog lol…but Mystic Messenger and Seduce Me 2 for sure….I feel like I pre-ordered a game but I can’t for the life of me figure out what it is lol
My Japanese is still crap so it’ll be awhile until I can play all Japanese games 🙁
Lol mine is crap too but I still play. As long as u get even an idea of what’s going on, awesome! Plus it’s so cool to see how far u can get.
I’m planning on starting with pokemon since I know the basic gameplay
True. Just keep in mind that you’ll find it easier to choose one that allows kanji. All hiragana is torture. It would seem easy but there are sooooooooo many homonyms…
lol I have hirigana and katakana down, it’s the kanji that gives me the most trouble. We used the Nakama and genki books when I took it in school, and I know I have them somewhere… so I’m gonna review them a bit over the summer. If I can get a job, I can pay for lessons down at the Japanese embassy.
You can do it, and if you need help let me know! Kanji actually are easier than most ppl make them out to be. Don’t get me wrong-they’re not easy, but they aren’t hell. Just glancing at a sentence can instantly give you an idea of what it’s about based on what the kanji are.^^
Okay absolutely! I’ll definitely bug you about it when I get stuck 😀
Lol np:)
Same. Definitely like Kanata more than Yoh.
Tough guy Kanata is suddenly bae when he gets honest XDD
“In fact, I found myself getting extremely frustrated with her, especially when Kanata finally confessed his feelings to her. The poor guy has been in love with a brick wall for years and when he finally musters up the courage to confess, she runs away!” <— *Remembers Suzuya* Oh, boy…
Not gonna spoil anything for now in case some people haven't played the game, but it was only after I finished this game that I was truly astounded by the heroine.
At first I thought she was a little bit dense, you know, the shoujo stereotype dense. But in the end, I found her to be as dense as a black hole, aha.
I wanted to like Kanata so much more than I did…but it just never happened…But, I did enjoy him way more when he was actually honest!
Thank you for reading! 😀
Kanata is definitely a toasted marshmallow, crunchy outside but gooy inside~~
I liked his route more than Yoh’s too, specially because once Kanata showed his insecurities and real feelings about his illness it really struck me deep. I got teared eyed when he spoke about his fears over his illness ;_;
Poor Tsukiko at 16 is dense, oblivious and really in denial w
Yes, his feelings were wasted on her! Kanata was definitely better than Yoh, but there was just something missing…I wanted more…
SS was sweet but bland, unfortunately.
Tsukiko was good outside the love romance scenes, specially with the four together teasing and messing around ^^
Yes, I totally agree