Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo: Difference between revisions

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The game takes place in a country where law is based upon deterrence and criminals are assigned "obligations" fitting for their crimes. If a criminal disobeys an obligation, they are sentenced to live their lives in a concentration camp, where most die before finishing their prison term.

A fandisk has been released titled Sharin no Kuni, Yukyuu no Shounenshoujo, roughly translated as ''Wheel Country, Boys & Girls of Eternity'' which includes all the epilogues for the heroines of the original game plus ''The Houzuki Chapter'' which sheds light on Houzuki's own story & bring the original, almost [[Bolivian Army Ending]] to a close.

 

 

* [[The Artifact]] -- In the fandisc epilogues, the obligations are no longer really part of the plot and thus the fact that this is supposed to be a world alternate to our own becomes slightly inconvenient with slightly awkward situations like Kenichi explaining to Sachi that the place they're going is just like Europe from the Sci Fi novels.

* [[As You Know]] -- Strange example. The 'as you know' stuff is actually about ''our'' legal system and customs, while you have to pick up bits and pieces of theirs and put it together because that's what is really common knowledge.

** Natsumi. By the buckets. {{spoiler|Though she comes prebroken for your convenience. Not that it saves her from further abuse.}}

* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]] -- Kenichi. He often talks out loud to himself explaining things about the society he's in or talking about the current events happening in the story. Sometimes the rest of the cast [[Lampshade Hanging|will ask him why he talks to himself out loud]].

'''Touka''': "You're doing that muttering thing again..." }}

** {{spoiler|Subverted. He was really talking to Ririko the whole time, just indirectly because of the Maximum Penalty. The only time the fourth wall is really broken is in regards to a dream Touka has that is from Kenichi's point of view. She says that it's confusing to the readers.}}

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]] -- Isono, who talks to fairies (which exist entirely in his imagination since this isn't one of those types of games) and often changes subjects every sentence. Kenichi is also sometimes considered one of these in-universe but the audience knows better, being able to follow his trains of thought via flashbacks and internal monologue.

* [[Conversational Troping]] -- [[Welcome to Corneria]], [[Bandage Babe]]<ref>Kenichi sadly admits he isn't moe enough to pull it off</ref>, and [[Tsundere]], among others.

* [[Crazy Prepared]] -- {{spoiler|Subverted with Houzuki, who admits that he really isn't as prepared for everything that can happen as he acts and is instead manipulating the events so his preparations are useful. But played straight with Kenichi's faked drug addiction.}}

* {{spoiler|[[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]}} -- {{spoiler|Isono and Kenichi.}}

** {{spoiler|The epilogue of Touka's route. You think the door is going to open on her father, she welcomes in her father, and... Isono is standing there. I almost fell off my chair because I was laughing so hard. And also, Isono in general.}}

* [[Cryptic Conversation|Cryptic Quotes]] -- One for the start of each chapter, and one when the novel is completed at least once. Each perfectly reflects the over arching theme of every chapter:

'''Novel Complete''': "There is no such thing as society." ~''[[Margaret Thatcher]]'' }}

** The end of the Houzuki chapter has "The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and will to carry on." ~ ''Walter J. Lippmann''

* [[Depraved Bisexual]] -- {{spoiler|Ririko seems to have plenty of... interesting memories of her days spent "training" both Ken and Touka}}.

* [[Despair Event Horizon]] -- The girls very nearly crossed that line {{spoiler|when Kenchi seemed to have surrendered himself to Houzuki after 1 month of inprisonment. Good thing he was [[Crazy Prepared]]}}.

* [[Drugs Are Bad]] -- {{spoiler|Subverted. Thankfully whatever cannabis like substance Kenichi is constantly smoking isn't addictive.}} No really, he can quit at any time!

** More like {{spoiler|the drug he smokes is the only thing that can control the nasty psychological aftereffects the war left on his mind.}}

*** Except {{spoiler|what he smokes isn't even a drug - he admits it has a small placebo effect on him, but it ends up a major in-universe [[Critical Research Failure]] for Houzuki when he thinks depriving Kenichi of it will finally break him, while, as Kenichi tells him, he would've known it was just some harmless herb if he'd obtained and tried some for himself.}}

* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]

* [[Evil Mentor]] -- Houzuki to Kenchi Morita/{{spoiler|Ken Higuchi}}

* [[Generation Xerox]] -- Much as he would hate to admit it, Kenichi acts just like {{spoiler|Higuchi Saburou}} minus the flirting. {{spoiler|Natsumi is also very similar to Saika Mina, Ririko is another Saburou clone and Houzuki Masaomi has become a less evil Houzuki Ari.}}

* [[Genre Savvy]] -- Kenichi, and Isono to some extent. Kenichi will often point out things that happen in manga and anime before doing it. One of the most notable examples is when he goes to get Touka at dinnertime. Before he goes inside her room he calls out to her a few times but gets no response. As he puts his hand on the doorknob we get this:

Yeah, wait just a second. This was one of THOSE situations, wasn't it? I'd seen this sort of thing before in sci-fi novels. The girl on the other side of the door was in the middle of changing her clothes. And she was going to scream "Gyaa!" as soon as I entered. Yeah, that had to be it! But, for the sake of my own growth, it would be proper... nay, necessary for me to grow accustomed to such scenarios! }}

** Sachi as well:

* [[Go Mad From the Isolation]] -- The expected result of the Maximum Penalty, usually followed by [[Driven to Suicide|suicide]].

* [[Graceful Loser]] -- {{spoiler|After a couple relatively minor, yet personal victories over Houzuki, Kenichi is confronted just as they reach freedom. However, instead of stopping him, he tells Kenichi he can do what he wants with his life and even gives him the [[MacGuffin]] he could use to totally reform society if he wanted to.}}

* [[Hannibal Lecture]] -- Houzuki's preferred method of communication.

* [[Has Two Mommies|Has Two Daddies]]: {{spoiler|Ken, and also a mommy in the form of Miina. Or at least that's how Saburou tries to sell the idea to Houzuki when he shows at the house with baby Ken and suggests they all raise him together.}}

'''{{spoiler|Masaomi}}''': "I am not sure I share your sentiments." }}

** {{spoiler|He goes along with it in the end, of course. He and Saburou both raised Ken at different points in his life.}}

* [[Heroic BSOD]] -- Natsumi's default state. During the periods Kenichi lives with her, she spends much of her time just sitting in a corner, staring at the wall, zoning out and trying to escape reality.

* [[Hero Worshipper]] -- Sachi and Isono both idolize Higuchi Saburou, even though he's dead and might as well be the Anti-Christ according to the government. {{spoiler|Isono even went so far as to build an exact replica of his house to live in.}}

* [[Humans Are Flawed]] -- The theme of the entire story is debating if they are a source of strength; a drive to better oneself, and something which makes life colourful and interesting, or a weakness to be exploited by the [[Chessmaster|sufficiently cunning]]; [[Batman Gambit|to manipulate others in order to make them conform to a greater plan]].

* [[Innocent Cohabitation]] -- Not having a place of his own to stay, he moves in with whatever girl he's rehabilitating. This causes some misunderstandings with others when he's living with Sachi, who's rather... [[The Tease|aggressive]]. And, of course, you can make it not so innocent...

* [[I Will Wait for You]] -- Natsumi - the first thing we learn about her is that she's waiting for somebody to return, in spite of everybody telling her they'll never be back. {{spoiler|It's Kenichi, or rather, Higuchi Ken - she doesn't recognize him and he doesn't admit his real identity.}} Her relationship with this trope is a bit complicated, though.

* [[Kawaiiko]] -- Touka and Natsumi.

* [[Kiss of Death]] -- Kenichi delivers one to Sachi, using it to administer her sedatives per her obligation. While she's trapped under a rock in a cold damp cave. {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|subverted]], immediately afterwards, as Kenichi immediately runs off to get digging tools and spends all night digging her out.}}

** Sachi also says something to the effect of 'I bet it's difficult to get the Moriken ending.' Since she's a big computer person and self centered, she probably does just happen to talk like this.

* [[Likes Older Women]] -- Isono has a hopeless crush on Kyouko, his homeroom teacher.

* [[My Greatest Failure]] -- During Saburou's rebellion while he was a child, {{spoiler|Kenichi, along with Sachi, Natsumi, and Isono, helped the rebels while they were all besieged in Mt. Morita. Kenichi, however, became lost one day, decided to run for it, and surrendered to government forces. He was so ashamed of what he (and Sachi and Isono) considered his betrayal that he took on a new name, and his [[The Atoner|desire to atone for it]] drives much of his actions.}}

* [[Necessarily Evil]] -- {{spoiler|Done by Kenichi. And possibly Houzuki as well}}. The government itself may consider the obligation system in this light.

* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] -- Natsumi, though it's portrayed as a symptom of her personality being warped in general from her [[Trauma Conga Line]].

* [[Norio Wakamoto]] -- Provides the voice of Houzuki.

*** In Natsumi's epilogue: {{spoiler|Natsumi is freed from her obligation and no charges were pressed for her resisting and escaping arrest. She is allowed to return and to live in town with Kenchi/Ken in peace}}. Houzuki is probably doing this to cover his own ass, rather than out of the goodness of his heart. We have to remember that {{spoiler|the public execution he attempted to carry out}} is actually illegal even under the country's harsh judiciary system.

*** I think the fandisk pretty much nixes that theory on Houzuki's motivations.

*** In {{spoiler|Ririko}}'s epilogue: {{spoiler|Her obligation, the [[Fate Worse Than Death|Maximum Penalty]] (which is almost never withdrawn), was lifted, allowing her to help Kenchi/Ken to run for president [[Distant Finale|several years later]]. Kenchi suspects that Houzuki plays a role in getting her released}}.

*** In Touka's epilogue: {{spoiler|Touka's surrogate mother, Kyouko, is released early from a political prison, as her release was likely fast-tracked by Houzuki}}.

* [[Thinking Out Loud]]: Kenichi does this occasionally. {{spoiler|But some of the time he doesn't. He uses it as an excuse to communicate with his sister without violating her obligation. It's not entirely clear which is which because the speaking with his sister like this has gotten him into the habit of speaking his thought aloud.}}

* [[Title Drop]] -- {{spoiler|When Sachi finally gets serious about her painting, Kenichi thinks that her figure would make a fine painting of its own. It would be titled 'Sunflower girl.' However, the title also clearly refers to Natsumi as well, though that is metaphorically.}}

** {{spoiler|Houzuki has a ''very'' strange fixation on turning Kenichi into a Special High Class Individual ASAP}}. The execution of Eri takes another meaning entirely. {{spoiler|He was simply disposing of a potential threat to his objective. If she'd made it on time, do you think he would have sent her to be examined elsewhere? No. In ''Boys & Girls of Eternity'', it's revealed that originally ''five'' people are in the final test, and Houzuki had murdered the unseen three while they are on their way.}} Eri had a few days more to live because of an incident in her fandisc chapter.

* [[Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour]] -- Mana doesn't drink or smoke, but her emotional maturity creeps out Sachi and Kenichi at times.

* [[Tsundere]] -- Touka, as noted in the [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]] example. Almost everybody is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to interpret it as her having a crush on Kenichi.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]] -- As a [[Guile Hero]] meddling in very sensitive affairs in others characters' lives as he lives with them, there's pretty much no way this could ''not'' happen to Kenichi.

* [[Who Writes This Crap?]]

* [[Your Princess Is in Another Castle]] -- The credits roll after Sachi's route finishes. For most VNs this would be an appropriate enough place to have credits, but the story is structured so that one route follows another in a certain order.

 

[[Category:Visual Novel]]

[[Category:H-game]]

[[Category:Linear Visual Novel]]