Yes, yes, I’m a few years late in doing this.
Kana -little sister- was famous in its time. When this came out in 2002, well, it was like no other English eroge. Just think, what else was out at that time? “Do you like horny bunnies”? (excuse me, I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth). So, everywhere I went, there were people who were just in love with it, and apparently grown men were crying in front of their computers. Curious, I downloaded a copy off of the internet (there was no other way for me to get such a game all those years ago).
I got 3 endings, didn’t cry, got bored, then deleted the game and went to check if the new Naruto chapter was out yet.
Life has now taught me that there are somethings that you can only appreciate after reaching a certain age (I didn’t like Byousoku 5cm the first time I watched it either, now it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, right next to the Titanic and The Color Purple). So, without really considering why, I went ahead, dug up the old CD, and installed it again (on hindsight, it may have been because I wanted more stuff from Romeo after Cross Channel).
I got the other 3 endings, still didn’t cry, but can now proudly justify my disappointment in the game.
The art was very good at times but inconsistent, the music might have been good 10 years ago but I don’t like it, the programming was minimal but easy to use. The story was good, it was very interesting, there were so many emotions and themes behind the words and you’re never bored (which is not something I can say about the last game I played). However, it was missing something, mainly that tear jerking quality that people keep talking about. Now, it is very easy to make a hormonal girl cry, in fact, I cry during commercials (I also bawled during Clannad, Glee, Gurren Lagann, Air, the Eureka7 movie, toradora, etc, etc). But, like Kanon, Kana managed to get some sympathy out of me but little else. Now, that normally wouldn’t be a problem, but if being tear jerking is something that is mentioned by pretty much EVERYONE who played the game, I feel justified in feeling let down by the lack of emotions it managed to stir up.
From what I can tell, Kana suffers from what I call the “Memories off syndrom”. Too many people remember this as that amazing experience years ago, and while it is good, I don’t feel like it’s worth all the hype (and tears) around it.
