Norn9 - Var Commons: The Koharu Routes

 

 

Koharu was the first heroine I tackled, due to a very mundane reason: she was my least favourite girl, so I wanted to get her routes out of the way first. Before we go any further, here's a disclaimer: I only pursued the Good Endings for all the routes, because a) it's so darn easy thanks to the game's cues and b) I love those characters too much to see them suffer in the throes of bad endings. With that said, let's get to it! (SPOILERS ahead!)

Koharu looks like your usual otome heroine at first sight: sweet, innocent, kind and meek, always upbeat and in a good mood despite being lost in a word she doesn't quite understand. Yet her routes reveal a more nuanced and interesting character: a girl that's prone to occasional bouts of brooding and angst and harbours ambivalent feelings towards her power. She's also surprisingly blunt and rather awkward around people, all due to her solitary upbringing. Last but not least, she has a way of blurting out the most embarrassing questions without batting an eyelid, which makes her both endearing and hilarious.

Because Koharu is mostly a blank slate in terms of character and personal history, her routes focus essentially on her men's personalities, the hurdles they face and the character development they undergo. That's not to say that Koharu herself doesn't get to be in the spotlight at times; but her evolution is clearly second to her bachelors' evolutions, which are the meat and potatoes of her routes. She gets a nice choice of kind and well-rounded gentlemen, along with straightforward and heartwarming relationships devoid of excessive drama and complications.

 

 

Kakeru: Being both the natural-born leader of the pack and an unwilling mole under mind control, Kakeru is in a bit of a hard predicament. His upbeat and bold demeanour is but a shiny facade, under which lurk metric tons of self-loathing and angst. His manipulative and slightly sadistic streak is consistently neutralized by Koharu's honesty and innocence, which leads him to regret his actions and try to make amends for them. Basically, Koharu acts as an absolution device for Kakeru: her unwavering support and intense love for the boy allows him to face his deepest fears and insecurities and fully accept them, knowing that Koharu will be there for him afterwards. This route shows Koharu at her most determined, tackling Kakeru's self-destructive behaviours head-on and battling to protect him and preserve their relationship. It's the most intense and serious of Koharu's routes and the one that brings the most to the table in terms of story progression. 

 

 

Senri: As the resident shut-in, Senri goes through a lot of character development. Bathed in Koharu's soothing presence and influence, he learns to become a tad more open to others, to assert himself and stand his ground and to accept his own feelings and emotions instead of trying to ignore them or bottle them in. His growing attraction to Koharu forces him to face his male instincts, which he had not acknowledged until then, and to grow into a full-blown adult despite his tiny frame. This route is the most romantic and heart-warming of the bunch, with an highly emotional Koharu swinging between being flustered and feeling all mushy inside and trying her hardest to convey her love to Senri, who gets gladder to receive said love by the chapter. 

 

 

Masamune: As the crew's self-proclaimed peacemaker and big brother, Masamune has a lot to deal with and very little time for romance. Yet under this diplomat guise hides a healthy young man, whose carnal instincts pop up when he lets his guard down — which, for some reason, happens when he wolfs down sugary stuff. Masamune's personal challenge revolves around making more time for Koharu while simultaneously trying to repress his urges to do the naughtiest things to her, and that's a balancing act he has trouble dealing with for most of the route. As a result, Koharu strays away from him in an attempt to find someone who will see her as valuable and important, which nearly results in a disaster; fortunately, Masamune wake up and smells the coffee before it's too late and manages to bring her back to the fold. This route is the funniest of the three, Masamune and his sugar-induced bouts of lust being an obvious comic relief; but it's also the most angsty and frustrating, with Masamune failing to give Koharu the attention and love she craves until it's nearly too late.

In the end, I came to like Koharu and her romances much more than I initially expected. Her routes are refreshingly simple and straighforward, with limited amounts of drama and satisfying endings that leave no ambiguity about Koharu and her beau's deep love for each other. The same thing cannot be said about our next girl's routes — but I'm getting ahead of myself there; more about that very soon, dear fellow gamers! Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!