Let's Play "In Your Arms Tonight"...because...you know...

No, no, no...marriage is an INSTITUTION. You know, like Alcatraz.

Flashbacks are hard to do well in any medium. They always will seem out of place because, well, they are. I presume they started it this way because they have something important to show us from their courtship, or at least get the player to want to do Koichi's route instead of just blowing him off as a jerk and unworthy of a playthrough.

Haha YES. It's kinda like "bless his heart". If protag-chan actually used it like that I'd be so down for B. Just to really keep with the whole Protag-chan isn't quite sure about Koichi but hasn't really seen anything/much to tell her she shouldn't put a ring on that.

Sorry for the wait! I just played through Love Letters from Thief X and all I can say is:

asafdlgsfjdkhgs squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee❤
Got best end first try!

I'll update either tonight or tomorrow, I need to come down from my feels high first!

Good job! We are totally not jealous or anything.

I have so many LPs...should I LP it?

No Tome...you have many LPs....
I know it's Winter Break....
But no....
Just...no...
...maybe

I personally wouldn't mind as long as it's not too much work for you! I've seen pictures of the game and I'm really curious to know more about it.

Pretty please?

Whose route? I've finished Takuto and Kenshi so far. Haven't started Hiro yet.

Takuto and most of the way through Hiro right now. Then I'm going to play the crap out of Kenshi ❤

...well.

Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Lysa: "He's a nice guy."
...for now...



Lysa: "Yes, ma'am."

Lysa runs into Aiba as she leaves Hana's office. She asks him how things are going in his department.
tell me about Ebi-chan how is he what is he doing I want to hug him tell him to save me now

Aiba: "I'm working every day these days, I could really use a break..."

Aiba: "You're one of my few single peers at work. We've got to get through tight spots together!" /innuendo/

Yeah...about that....

Lysa: "Aiba, are you free on the 22nd of the month after next?"







My sentiments exactly.



GOD DAMMIT TIME SKIPS

All of Lysa's friends are fawning over her pretty dress, Lysa looks radiant, the chapel is beautiful, and the husband looks dashing in his white tuxedo. Everything seems lovely....

Except....



Yep. They didn't kiss.
Not even once.
Probably during their whole marriage.
Fuck.

But Lysa's friends are here to help!



Yep, that's a good idea. Get to it, Koichi!

All of Lysa and Koichi's friends start chanting for them to kiss. So, of course, Koichi must oblige them.







This does not bode well.
I feel nauseous

Really? On the forehead? Goddammit Koichi.

Is it sad that I'm raging at my screen ? Over a fictionnal husband ?

Guys...

This is the Almighty Escape Button:



This is the button that can be used to terminate Koichi's route.

Koichi got 37 likes in the route voting,
so if this post here hits 38 likes we will abort the mission and switch to Genji or Aiba.

Only "like" this post if you want to escape Koichi's route!!!

I have no problems with LPing his entire route at all! But if people are uncomfortable, we can stop. Maybe I will make a separate thread just for Koichi and we can do Genji or Aiba here. I will do anything you guys want.

The alternative option is to post many "Imma kill you" gifs, I am completely okay with this as well!

Hm, I kinda want to see how he writer handled this story : Ebi-chan's was lovely so I'm curious. I'm mostly annoyed at the way he's humiliating her since he was so thougtful earlier, but not mad enough yet to flip tables.

I want to see how this ends.

also it's not a bad thing to not really wanna kiss in front of these crazy ass hyper ladies. a kiss on the forehead in public is okay, possibly even downright adorable. What matters is what happens in that bedroom.

Nope, I'm curious. I'm wondering why he wanted to marry her in the first place. Actually, I'm wondering about many of his motivations, not just that one. The guy seems like a giant ball of contradictions. It makes me think that maybe he doesn't really know what he wants for himself. So I want to see how the writers explain it.

After what we saw of his parents in Ebi-chan's route, I wouldn't be surprised if he was just doing what they want him to because it's easier than arguing with them about it. After all, it seems like the main reason why he courted Lysa in the first place was because his father told him to.

I disagree, considering that it's traditional to kiss the bride in front of YOUR GUESTS at your wedding. These people aren't strangers, they were invited because they knew either the bride or the groom, or both. If he didn't want anyone from her work there, he should have said so---you don't HAVE to invite co-workers to your wedding, unless they are personal friends.

Some people consider a kiss on the forehead to be something you would do for a child, not a lover or wife. There are even some women that consider it demeaning or an insult. Lysa may not regard it as either, but the fact that she finds his kiss to be cold is a very bad sign indeed.

Ah, you've already started, might as well see it through.
Personally, I'm not uncomfortable at all. I just like having someone to hate.

Yeah I dunno, a forehead kiss on your wedding day? What's up with that? It's like he's afraid she has cooties or something.
Also, know what those time skips are missing?

Proper scene transitioning is a must, game.

Science beckons us! SCIENCE MAKES US STRONG ARUGHESHA

I don't think it's weird to feel uncomfortable kissing in front of people, even if it's "tradition." I know that's not the underlying issue, but as far as any of the characters can tell at this point, Koichi is just kind of shy.

a, um, "friend of mine" sort of muffed the kiss at her own wedding by giggling and pulling back fast because it was awkward to kiss on cue with people right up close watching...

I tried out Kenshi's route and I think I might be done. I don't see how any of the others could possibly be as good. At least until they release Tatsuro's route.

I know using other routes as evidence is kind of dicey at best, but in Ebihara's route Koichi says there were something like 300 guests there, which means that while they may not have been a bunch of strangers, at the very least I'd bet that a good few of them even on his own side of things were people he didn't necessarily know all that well - acquaintances from his workplace, and such.

I've finished all three now, and while Kenshi is my favorite so far, Hiro turns into a little sweetheart near the end of his route (and I'm pretty sure he's the earliest of the three so far to outright say he loves you (Kenshi's route is still the...spiciest, however)). Takuto...depends on how much you like tsunderes. He's pouty, sulky, and a bit insulting. But, he blushes a lot, and he also has the same thing going on as Takao from My Forged Wedding, where he and the protagonist keep ordering, thinking, or saying the same thing. His route's "villain" is also a Captain Alan-type.

Also, Voltage is teasing me with ads for Riki's route with the CG where he's pulling his glove on with his teeth and he's not available yet! *breaks down sobbing*

I have given Voltage all my iTunes monies, halp.

Goddamn Koichi *drinks*, even if it was just a brief peck on the lips you have to aim for the mouth. You can mess it up (which can be super adorbz) or be as bashful (short peck) or passionate (frenching) as you want but there needs to be at least one kiss at the wedding. I mean even if it's just for show, otherwise people are going to think you don't like your significant other or are afraid of cooties (and a businessman afraid of cooties, what's that gonna do for your reputation hon?). If you really aren't much for mouth cooties (I understand, I do) then eskimo kiss her. It get's your faces together at about eye level so there's no implication that someone is above the other which a kiss on the forehead totally does. Parents kiss kids on the forehead. If you really couldn't be bothered then kiss her on the hand. At least then I can pretend you're a knight or I'm in a Jane Austen novel or something.

But if I was Lysa this would probably be the first instance of "Oh god what did I do wrong? He was so thoughtful when he went to get me pantyhose and he seemed almost quietly passionate (in a creepy way but still) when he announced he intended to marry me. It's the wedding. My thoughtful, quietly passionate husbando doesn't want to kiss me. Failure." And then I'd hit the champagne like the hammer of Thor.

But oh man let's continue this route. I know it's terrible but oh god do I love looking at how the brains of terrible people work. I must know Koichi-chama's logic. *Pours my emergency stash of Chambord into my coffee and redies the gif folder.* Let's do this, ladies/bros.

I also realize I need to go hunting for drinking the feels away gifs.

Edit: Actually I have the perfect gif for this route.

Is protagonist-chan as awesome in the other routes as she is in Kenshi's?

Actually, I'd feel terribly awkward kissing someone I've known for two months. Just because they're getting married doesn't mean they need to rush into all the physicality involved with marriage. *shrugs* Still withholding my judgement.

For once, Lysa is showing INTUITION. /gasp

And when I read that he kissed her on the forehead...



GODDAMNIT, KOICHI.

Now I gotta...just...drown my sorrows...

If you aren't comfortable kissing I dare say this is a good reason to, i dunno, not get married? I always figured if you're uncomfortable with someone that's a pretty solid reason to not get married.

Yeah, but when we're talking kinda-arranged marriages, the values involved are already sufficiently different that it's hard to know how to judge. I don't think most of us would agree to marry some guy our parents suggested when barely knowing him even if he did seem like a nice guy.

I'm willing to give Koichi some leeway for discomfort about kissing Lysa at their wedding since, well... I don't have a lot of cultural context for the idea of an arranged marriage, but I can easily suppose that awkwardness about these things would be more common in such cases. That on its own wouldn't necessarily jump out at me as a red flag.

Of course, we know from the prologue that three months later he still hasn't touched her, so...

Ken's route is next! /squees/

As much as I'd love to see the other guys in their routes(namely Genji), I really do want to see Koichi become a good... well, at least a better husband and person in general.

I'm sorta surprised Koichi kissed her forehead instead, but not as much as I thought I'd be. At least he's back to uh... 'normal' I guess. I have to say that I do feel for him a little... If people were chanting that I kiss someone I would chicken out too. Not if it was my wedding, though. So dang it Koichi why?!

I'd agree with this. Unless you or your parents come from somewhere other than America, Canada, or Europe (at least the UK and France and Germany, etc., I don't know about all of Europe and I could even be wrong about the parts I listed since I don't live there myself, though I'm pretty sure about the UK, at least), I think it's hard for most of us in the "West" to understand how someone would think or act going into an arranged marriage. The closest thing we really have in the modern day (in this part of the world) is being set up on a blind date by a friend or having a friend or family member introduce us to one of their friends or family (or a friend's family, in the case of an older relative being the one to make the introduction.) There might be some pressure to become a couple, since everyone else might think the two of you would hit it off really well, but the pressure isn't as great and there certainly isn't the expectation that you're going to get married just a couple of months after you meet. In fact, there's probably the opposite expectation, that you'll get to know each other for awhile before deciding whether or not there could be a possible marriage.

Also, we have no idea how many times Koichi and Lysa have met after those first two meetings. Koichi and Lysa both seem like they could be workaholics (Koichi especially), which might make it hard for the two of them to arrange times to get together. And if the first two meetings were any indication, Koichi's awkward enough that it would probably be hard to connect over the space of just three months, even if they did meet several times. He just doesn't seem like the type to open up easily. Where we live, these would all probably be seen as signs that they shouldn't get married just yet, but Japan is a totally different place and it makes it hard for most of us to understand how much pressure there is to get married there. I mean, it's getting better, but this is still a country with a pretty recent history of viewing women as having an "expiration date." Lysa would not be the first person, in Japan or otherwise, to accept a proposal that isn't 100% ideal because she's afraid she might be running out of chances. (Not saying this is the only reason for her going into the marriage or even her primary one, but I'd definitely say that it's a factor, judging by her comments about having kids.)

Moreover, courtship and public displays of affection are much more subdued in Japan than they are here. A kiss isn't even part of a traditional Shinto marriage ceremony. Koichi's outfit and the church would seem to suggest that they had a "Western style" wedding, which means that he didn't kiss her as part of the ceremony is a little odd, but it's also possible that they did have a Shinto ceremony and changed into some more comfortable clothes for the reception.

I don't know, this got long, but it's just a few things to think about. As I said in the Analogue: A Hate Story threads, I don't think history should be judged using our standards and I think that this can also apply to judging other cultures by the standards of our own as well. That's not to say that I support genital mutilation because it's a part of another culture, but I believe in trying to be open minded and looking behind the reasoning for things instead of just examining the surface level. That's a hard thing to do, of course, and I don't always manage it myself, but I think it's something you should try to do in real life and if you try to do it in fiction as well, it makes things not only more bearable, but a lot more interesting as well. Ah, why can't I stop talking? Does someone have a sock I can stuff in my mouth or something? (Preferably a clean one.)

I've read that, depending on how much the family can afford to spend, some Japanese couples have both a Western-style ceremony and a Shinto one, although I don't know how accurate that is and in any case it's probably not all that relevant to this situation.

From what I can tell, the Japanese also place less significance on the ceremony in general than Westerners do, at least in terms of what's considered to make you officially "married" - given that Christianity hasn't had a significant influence on the culture, it seems to me like the ceremony is mostly the centerpiece of the festivities, whereas Americans seem more likely to feel like the ceremony is what actually makes them married and the marriage license merely serves to cover the legal end of things (see for example Westley in The Princess Bride assuring Buttercup that if she didn't say "I do," she's not legitimately married).

So if that's the case I can again see how skipping the traditional "you may kiss the bride" might not be as big a deal here as it would be in a Western wedding, especially with it being an arranged marriage and Koichi being such an awkward turtle

Koichi's friends all tease him about only kissing Lysa on the forehead, but he handles it well.

Koichi: "I have to save something for tonight."

Lysa's friends drag her away from Koichi so that she can toss the bouquet. As she counts to three, she makes a little wish.

Lysa: "May this happiness be found by many more people..."


Shit.

✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*TIME SKIP (again)✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*





They're talking about how there are still after parties to attend after their reception.
Did anyone else's mind jump to something dirty? No? Just me?


Here it comes...

Lysa: "I know. You're busy right now, right?"



Lysa! Do NOT be so understanding about this!



Lysa: "All right, I'll look forward to it."



He doesn't look like he's looking forward to it....

Koichi gets a phone call and excuses himself from the room, but he's gone a loooong time.
Lysa finally goes to try and find him when she overhears Koichi talking to a woman. A woman who is giggling.



Oh no....
it's her

Koichi notices Lysa creeping on him and walks over.





What should Lysa do?

"I was looking for you."

A. can only lead to him lying and I don't feel like listening to that right now.

I agree, she was genuinely looking for him'