School Days/Headscratchers

Why does everyone say Taisuke raped Kotonoha in the anime?

Maybe this is clear somewhere in the game, but it's not clear at all in the anime (which is an Alternative Continuity). Okay, Taisuke was aggressive when Kotonoha was especially vulnerable, and that's bad. But no one acts remotely like it was rape. Kotonoha is calm with him the next day, not angry, though admittedly she's such a mess by this point in the series that it's hard to be sure how she really feels about anything but Makoto. As for Taisuke, rape would be completely out of character for him, as he's the typical "nice guy" at all other times (and a veritable saint compared to Makoto). In particular, he isn't ashamed afterwards, which he would be -- he may be a borderline Stalker with a Crush, but he clearly does love Kotonoha. And he's not expecting her to be angry the next day; hell, he thinks they're together now. So why does everyone call it rape, on this wiki and off? That's a much too serious charge to just throw around.

- Hmmm... The key part is that Kotonoha, in her Heroic BSOD state, did NOT clearly tell Taisuke whether she wanted him to sex her up or not. She was pretty despondent when he confessed and then undressed her, and as she sees Makoto and Sekai dancing in the bonfire, she's not much different. Therefore, since she didn't exactly give Taisuke anything similar to a thumbs-up, it's easy to think/believe/assume/deduce/etc. that it was full-on rape, since she wasn't in a mental/emotional state that would guarantee consent.
  - Maybe "rape" is too strong a word, but he certainly took advantage of her fragile mental state. When you confess love to a girl and she doesn't respond, a normal person's immediate reaction would not be to undress her and have sex with her on the spot then leave. That's why fans were so offended by Taisuke's actions.
    - Then again, given how the Japanese tend to treat rape victims, it really is not that surprising that she acted calm. She would have had no support at all, and families have been known to abandon their children when it happens.
- The fact that Taisuke really raped Kotonoha in the game helps too.
  - Any links and/or further info? * This Troper hasn't played the game, would like to have more sources*
    - It is indeed true that Taisuke really rapes Kotonoha in the game. Not to mention Makoto and Hikari both see what's going on, do nothing to stop it, and end up fooling around outside the door. For obvious reasons, posting a download link would not be appropriate, but it exists.
This Troper doubts he actually loved her; his actions are hardly indicative of a selfless, caring love.
- Whether or not you want to call it "love," he certainly seemed to have every intention of treating Kotonoha as a proper girlfriend, and cared about her enough to be visibly crushed by her rejection the day after.
- The thing with rape though is people take it as simply physically taking advantage of someone. By definition, rape is when one party did not give consent. Taisuke took advantage of Kotonoha when she was emotionally vulnerable. Logically it was rape because she never consented.
- Truth in Television This type of behavior is all too common in real life with rapists who know their victim. See the real life section of Rape Is Love
The vast majority of real-life rapes do not involve one person screaming and kicking with all their might while someone else holds them down: fear, shame, confusion, drugs, or other methods of incapacitation are often involved in keeping someone still. It may not have been violent, and Taisuke may not feel that it was rape at all, but yes, if she did not consent it was still a crime.

Where were their parents?

I understand Parental Abandonment is apparently common in all these high school dramas (since it seems to be a stereotypical staple associated with Japanese teenagers? ... I don't know, it's just so common in these types of things), but in a case like this, I find it hard for these students getting away having sex with the whole school and Anything That Moves and no adult figure ever catches on. I understand it's adapted from a pornographic game, and that there are mind-numbingly other situations and titles where this question could apply, but several episodes blatantly bring up the existence of parents, several being off-screen (more concerning if their existence was acknowledged in the game too). But then again, Idiot Plot.

I'll take a guess at Makoto's parents being away for the entire anime due to how he cooks for himself and has porn blatantly around in his room. Sekai's mother is divorced (her father is never mentioned) and works late. Sekai's room seemed rather small, so I'd guess that they're poor (or at least low middle-class). As such, her mother must work all day and not have much time for her BSODing daughter. The sexing doesn't seem to occur in classrooms and it's more out of the way, as demonstrated by most of it happening on the roof or in gym closets. Students seem to be given a fair bit of control over the festival, which allowed the rest area incidents to take place. Kotonoha's mother appears to be very reserved, much like her daughter, as shown by her old-fashion tea making ideals. The mother probably didn't notice Kotonoha's breakdown, because Kotonoha just bottles it up and keeps on working. I'll assume that Hikari didn't stay the night at Makoto's place and only visited in the morning, and when Sekai stayed at Makoto's, her mother didn't notice that she wasn't in her room due to exhaustion from work. Any holes in my explanation?
- Also, Makoto's parents are divorced. He lives with his mom, and his sister Itaru lives with their father. His mom may be away working to support them or something, since their apartment isn't particularly large either. According to The Other Wiki, Sekai's mom apparently owns or manages Radish, so she's probably busy with that.

Why does Kotonoha love Makoto so much?

It's never really shown why Kotonoha has such an obsession with Makoto. While it's true she had a crush on him, their first few dates were disasters due to Makoto's cluelessness and being far too sexually aggressive. Yet despite all this, Kotonoha continues to chase after him to the point that she blatantly denies any evidence that Makoto is cheating on her, and immediately calls other people liars if they even slightly suggest that Makoto might be unfaithful. It makes me wonder what Kotonoha sees in him considering that Makoto doesn't seem to share any of her interests, and Kotonoha has never really given a reason for liking Makoto other than "he's my boyfriend." Even during their interactions, it either consisted of Makoto being too aggressive with her or ignoring her entirely. Does Kotonoha just have no standards or what?

- Perhaps she was never entirely sane even before dating Makoto or just so lonely and insecure that she latched onto him, and ignored his Jerkassness in the hopes he would become a nicer person? If I recall, she was in Heroic BSOD mode until Makoto actually apologized and hugged her, at which point she lost her Dull Eyes of Unhappiness and briefly regained her sanity but looses it permanently when she finds Makoto dead. Maybe in her mind she made herself believe her relationship with Makoto was an ideal one and was in love with the nicer version of Makoto that she had imagined him to be who clearly wasn't. It might've also been a way to deal with her harsh reality of constantly being bullied by the bitchy girls at school. In a weird way her relationship with Makoto was the only link she had to reality left and when he was gone her connection to reality severed. She then tries to rectify her loss of sanity (Makoto) by collecting the only thing that remains of it. Makoto's body. But since his body is too big for her to carry, she cuts off his head and cherishes that instead. There's also a possibility of her being so lonely and insecure that she craves even the tiniest bit of kindness that Makoto shows her and ignores any hint of Makoto ignoring her, not being in love with her, having sex with other girls, or being mean to her, because her mental health can't take such a blow.
- Don't forget that the series was 1) adapted from and h-game and 2) is deconstructing most harem-fantasy anime. In h-games and harem wish fulfillment series, there isn't usually a reason given for why a ton of girls are suddenly all chasing an Ordinary High School Student. That's part of the fantasy, and the reason why all the girls in Makoto's class would be willing to have sex with him even though he barely has a personalty.
- Speaking in series as well, Kotonoha is a Fragile Flower who's emotionally repressed due to all the bullying she suffers. Considering her sister is relatively normal, it can be assumed that Kotonoha suffers some form of mental disorder Makoto is arguably the first character in the series who shows her a form of love, so in a way he unwittingly becomes her Living Emotional Crutch. Considering she's such a Shrinking Violet / Fragile Flower, she probably never developed this type of bond with anyone before, so as a result she's determined not to lose said bond with Makoto, even though he's such a Bastard Boyfriend. It fully explains why she's willing to take him back despite knowing full and well that he had been cheating on her.

Am I the only one who thinks this series misses another sort of ending?

Yuri maybe? Or both Sekai and Kotonoha killing Makato? Maybe them just walking off, and his reputation being ruined? Makato killing someone?

Why would Makoto kill someone? I think there is a threesome ending, so there is yuri...kinda, but I agree, both Kotonoha and Sekai killing Makoto would be AWESOME. And if they walked off...maybe it would be a normal ending, considering the other endings...

How is it considered an Idiot Plot?

From what I understand, if Makoto did break up with Kotonoha to date Sekai, she still might have gone Yandere on his ass.

Throughout the series Makoto repeatedly disregards everyone else's feelings even as it becomes more obvious that people around him are suffering emotional trauma from his actions. Right up to the end, he only cares about what's pleasurable and convenient for him. As for Kotonoha, while she probably wouldn't have taken being dumped very well, one single emotional upset early on would not likely have pushed into a full murderous rampage. She goes progressively nuts, not all in one bound.
- One of the game endings has Makoto dump Kotonoha for Sekai, and her response is to jump off a building in front of them...

Why does Kotonoha try to hide that she has a different first name? (other than Katsura)

She doesn't; Katsura is her family name. In Japanese society, one typically addresses others by their family name (which comes before one's personal name - she's "Katsura Kotonoha"). It's very rude to use someone's personal name unless there's a strong relationship involved (family members / lovers / best friends). So in the anime, when Kokoro asks why Makoto refers to Kotonoha as "Katsura", what she's really saying is "If you're dating, why aren't you on a first-name basis?"

Exactly how unethical is Makoto in the game?

Obviously some of it depends on the choices you make, but his worst decision, and the one that leads to his downfall seems to be deciding to abandon the pregnant Sekai, which happens in the latter part of the anime. Is it possible to play Makoto in such a way that you can pursue one girl without being unfaithful at all (or in the case of the "best" ending, treat Kotonoha and Sekai equitably), or does Makoto always end up womanizing, and the only question is whether he gets away with it?

- There are actual quite a few normal endings. Amongst twenty one different endings, there are only three to five bad endings, and even within a couple of these aforementioned bad endings, Makoto is completely innocent.

Why did they tape the "Rest Area"?

Although there are a many, many, many reasons for the anime to keep one awake at night, either with nightmares, angst, severe depression, shock or just paranoia, I am kept awake by the whole taping incident. I mean, WHY? Why did they do it? It can't have been blackmail, because they didn't ask for money, right? Revenge? But as far as we could see, none of the victims had done anything to them? Sheer malice? Really? As far as the viewers knew, the perpetrators hadn't even shown up in the series until that point! I don't know, I don't even...

Sheer malice and voyeurism. Since when have teenagers ever needed a reason to be cruel to each other?