dontcrymewtwo

Hearing all these comments and posts made on this game in 2019-2020 makes me glad I'm not the only one who recently got into this game, having just heard about Sayooshi last week. Anyways I think many of your points are valid. I agree wholeheartedly that the H-scenes are over-the-top and were most likely added for shock value. It gets to the point where a good number of these scenes become drivel, almost filler to pad the game. However I would disagree they are completely meaningless given they are strongly reflective of the protagonist's deteriorating mental state and do bear some significance when the big reveal happens at the end. That said, I do feel the drivel and disturbing content is worth sitting through (or in some cases grinding through) to get to the game's real treasure: its twist ending. A twist ending that, while not completely original, does bear its narrative fruit that makes you go "ah ha, why didn't I see that coming"? For myself, after finding out the twist in the end I was left somewhat dumbfounded I didn't figure it out sooner, but the fact the game played everything up until that point so convincingly caused me to forgive myself for not putting two and two together beforehand. Which brings me to my next point, and that is the topic of mental health. I will say I do not think this game portrays mental health symptoms such as psychosis with much grace and makes several faults with portraying the symptoms accurately (I say this as someone who has studied psychology and sociology) but I think this is reflective largely of Japanese media as a whole. Even today, there are not a lot of anime, manga or video games I would say portray individuals with mental health symptoms very favorably or humanely and this may be reflective of the current stigmatization of mental health as a whole in Japan. Still, in spite of underlying stigma and its emphasis on shock value over accuracy, I will say the writers of this game succeeded in making me feel sorry for the protagonist. There was not much to be gathered from his backstory unfortunately, but from the little we can glean, it is clear to me he was subject to complex trauma, loss and failure. The game may very well serve as a robust form of social commentary towards Japanese society as a whole- a culture that does not forgive ones who fail to deal with mental health symptoms on their own and especially does not forgive those who fail to fit into the system. I wish I could elaborate on this point further with examples, but that would give away too many spoilers of the ending. Anyways, before I ramble further, will I agree Sayooshi is not a perfect game? Absolutely. However I found this game to be quite a refreshing take on the visual novel genre, especially since it touches on taboo topics of mental health and failure to conform to social norms. Yes, these themes could have been addressed in a much more sanitized manner and it is a shame that the game's perverse aspects have detracted so many potential commentators. Still, for what its worth, the fact that the game has maintained its cult following even to this day shows to me that it has achieved some merit in its story-telling.