Symphonic Rain

[Eclipsed]

So, I just finished Symphonic Rain. I really liked it but it left me wondering about some things.

 

Warning, there are spoilers.

 

I don't feel Phorni's ending is the real one. I am not really sure but is there a confirmed real ending?

 

The most real ending to me feels Torta's best ending.

 

But even so, the plot does not seem to answer all questions. And many things are left not unsolved.

 

Which is the real ending?

If it is either Phorni's or Torta's, that means that Fal and Grave are not dealt with. And they are free to do as they please.

How does magic work, what is Phorni?

What happens to Asino? Surely his character must have had some point.

Why did Lise pretend it was raining?

Was Fal really just using Chris?

What was the point of Fal being mentioned to be orphaned by Grave? Why was Fal nice to Lise?

What is Asino's motive? What is he trying to achieve? What was the point of Asino mentioning Grave in Phorni's route.

Why didn't Chris realize he imagined rain in Phorni's route?

Who is Chris really? Are there even more secrets about Chris than shown in Al Fine story?

Is Arietta real? Were all routes just a dream and Chris is the one in coma?

 

Am I missing something? Are there things suggested but not said in the story. Does story reveal some new or interesting things if you return to replaying previous paths?

They're all real endings, no 'true' one so dw 'bout dat brah

Magic is magic.

 

Asino is demoted into a forgotten extra.

 

Lise pretended because she knew.

 

Ya, cuz Fal's 2gud4him

 

Fal's nice to errbody, so long as they have use to her. The connection to Graves is to emphasize how much of a douche he really is.

 

No idea about Asino mentioning Grave in P's route.

 

Cuz Chris is stupid.

 

Chris is the protag of Symphonic Rain, mang.

 

Oh she's real all right.

[Snowtsuku]

Answers in Bold

 

I don't feel Phorni's ending is the real one. I am not really sure but is there a confirmed real ending?

I think Phorni's Ending is more of an ending to confirm that Arietta is Phorni and to give her the happy ending she deserves. I mean, it is a visual novel so it's hard to say that an ending matters more to the other, except in several VNs of course.

 

The most real ending to me feels Torta's best ending.

 

But even so, the plot does not seem to answer all questions. And many things are left not unsolved.

 

Which is the real ending?

If it is either Phorni's or Torta's, that means that Fal and Grave are not dealt with. And they are free to do as they please.

 

I think this is more of a I want to see what happened to them without the MC.

 

How does magic work, what is Phorni?

This is kind of a spoiler of the short stories. Basically, Phorni is Arietta. The reason she became a flightless fairy is due to her favorite book which is about a flightless fairy named Fata, IIRC.

 

What happens to Asino? Surely his character must have had some point.

 

Again, I think this is more of wanting to know more than the VN presents.

 

Why did Lise pretend it was raining?

 

I'm not really fond of Lise's route. So I can't tell. I can't even remember the times where she pretend it was raining.

 

Was Fal really just using Chris?

 

I don't know. It's been a question to all those who read the VN. There are several discussions about it in this thread.

 

What was the point of Fal being mentioned to be orphaned by Grave? Why was Fal nice to Lise?

 

Because they are sisters? There was actually a part in a short story that shows their interactions.

 

What is Asino's motive? What is he trying to achieve? What was the point of Asino mentioning Grave in Phorni's route.

 

I can't remember this scene xD

 

Why didn't Chris realize he imagined rain in Phorni's route?

 

IIRC the rain has something to do with his brain, relating rain, his emotions to the city of Piova. Obviously, it's not something I can explain logically.

 

Who is Chris really? Are there even more secrets about Chris than shown in Al Fine story?

Who knows?

 

Is Arietta real? Were all routes just a dream and Chris is the one in coma?

 

All routes are real. Basically, there is no proper ending. If you choose Fal, you end up with Fal. There's no time travel, collecting lights, rewriting routes to human salvation here. Arietta is in coma. Phorni is Arietta's conciousness.

 

Am I missing something? Are there things suggested but not said in the story. Does story reveal some new or interesting things if you return to replaying previous paths?

Nope, but replaying the game will allow you to see some hints. Might allow you to understand the story more.

This thread is two years old now.

[Yukiru]

This thread is two years old now.

The rain never stops.

[Snowtsuku]

The rain never stops.

[PenX]

Recently finished the Steam Version of the game. I came across this during the Steam Summer sale. What got me into it was the premise and some of the OST tracks I heard (which are brilliant). 

Falsita Fawcett's Story

Spoiler

My initial thoughts were that she was just a nice, hardworking girl, who teases Chris. Her little manipulations never really made me suspicious of her true nature, since I have seen anime where characters do this. This made the overall plot twist blow my mind, since I never expected the visual novel to pull something into a dark territory.

I didn't pick up on Asino's feelings towards Fal. The fact that he took Chris to the part time job Fal worked at never made me pick on that, especially when Chris met him there later. When Asino and Chris went out in the district, I assumed Asino's bad mood had something to do not having a partner (which is part of the real reason) or something to do with Torta (since I had a feeling those two were somewhat cold to each other). The only part that confused me was what Asino was using Chris for.

Before the plot twist, there were times I was slightly bored, but most of the time, I was very engaged in the story. The eventual break-up of Chris and Arietta was killing me. After the plot twist, I went to get the bad endings (choice in Fal's room, failing the concert, refusing to follow her), and all I can say is poor Chris. The good ending happened, and I was left to think about Fal as a character.

Overall, I think Falsita is one of the most interesting characters in SR. I didn't expect too much from her, but now she left me astonished for a whole day about her way of living. I would really like to read a story from her perspective.

 

Liselsia Cesarini's Story

Spoiler

With Fal's story changing my expectations, I wasn't going in thinking this story would end in sunshines and rainbows. Whenever I see Fal, I always try to think on what she's planning.

Ever since, Fal mentioned Grave being her sponsor, and her hatred towards him and his daughter, I could assume she was talking about Lise (I mean who else could it be?). I was kind of eager to see what Lise would bring to the table.

Near the beginning, people left rumors about her, and I assume the purpose was to mess with those who play Fal's route to not trust her. Though, with my initial thoughts on Lise, I never really expected her to pull a 180. Lise was adorable. What else can I say?

At first glance, Grave just seemed like a jerk with a punchable face. After seeing Lise's wounds, it was easy to tell what was going on, and my suspicions were correct. Grave is just pure evil. There was nothing he could do to ever redeem himself in my eyes.

This route left me with a couple questions in mind. When Chris and Lise went to the mansion and decided to take a break by playing a song, I wondered if it never occurred to them that even with time, they shouldn't be wasting it, since the possibilities of getting caught existed. Grave explained his little sob story, but I wasn't convinced he was even a decent human being. Lise believes him (she's optimistic, which she pays the price for later on), and Chris reluctantly accepts the story, which made me wonder...

How are nobles viewed in the world of SR? It bothered me because they make it seem like abusing your children for the sake of keeping up with noble traditions is acceptable. So I can't tell if Chris is an idiot or if this world makes it so that its acceptable even to him.

After the concert, Chris picked up some hostility from Grave, but didn't do anything. From what I had read, I assumed Chris was aware of his surroundings and wasn't a bumbling fool, so I was a bit confused as to why he didn't follow Lise and Grave.

After Grave (tried) to take Lise's voice away and destroyed Chris's musical career, Grave was immediately put into my sh*t list. He manages to get away with all this due to noble status and due to his control on the school (I think?). It reminded me of Kamoshida from Persona 5 for some reason (for anybody who played the game) due to heavy influence and people not being able to do anything about higher status people.

The ending shattered me, but I was left with some hope during the after credits. Pretty much felt sad for a whole day. This vn affected me! I don't want to imagine the what would happen to Lise after the bad ending!

Putting aside my emotions, I felt like I've seen something similar to the ending, but I can't remember. Oh well. I don't if the whole parent-abuse-child-and-take-away-their-future trope is cliche, but I enjoyed it overall.

Unfortunately, Grave was only placed to be the conflict. He's the only character to me who had no depth. I really thought he would be important for other routes, but nope. He only had one purpose.

Tortinita Fine

Spoiler

Due to reading the other stories, I expected something worse for Torta, but we get something that builds up to the next story, which I was fine with. It was easy to figure out that Torta had feelings for Chris, but I had a hard time figuring out what she's really thinking from Chris's POV, which was the point. When she mentioned her and Arie being similar, I assumed there was a twin switching going on, but I couldn't figure out when and how long for (I don't know much about this, since I'm not that familiar with this trope). I don't have much to say about this route. I felt a bit bored, but it wasn't anything bad.

Al Fine

Spoiler

Beginning got me confused, but once the major plot twist revealed, I was surprised. The rain being all delusions, Arie is in a coma. Torta being Arie for the whole time. (Now I know why the generic bad end is bad). For the most part, this route intrigued me. Torta became very interesting, since I could see into her mind, and she's very similar to Falsita (except Torta feels guilty for her actions). Aside from some events, I did get bored at times, since I am rereading some scenes that I did read from Torta's route. It made me wish I read Torta's route first, since I did try to binge through the story, and reading a similar event I read very recently might have made me a little bored. It feels weird not seeing/hearing rain. This whole plot twist makes me want to read Fal's route again in the future. As suspected, Torta is hostile towards Asino. There's some backstory for Cordell. Unfortunately, Liselsia and Grave are completely nonexistent in this route.

Out of all characters, Torta suffered the worst, and you can really see how she's mentally going insane. Take the part where she can believes she can accept death because she believes she could no longer receive any more happiness in the future.

Chris took in the news well when he learned the whole truth, and I was honestly confused and disappointed. I really don't believe he wouldn't be pained by this. Heck, he was traumatized. Issues like this don't get repaired like its nothing. When Arie died, I wasn't surprised, since the Al Fine bad ending mentioned it (I went for that first). Just like the other routes, the ending was bittersweet, but great.

Also, Fal stood up Asino. lol. Really wish I can learn more about them.

Grand Finale

Spoiler

Phorni. The last mystery. I made an assumption Phorni is Arie, and I was right. To be honest, this story was very emotional to me, and I can see why this is unlocked after Al Fine.

Chris's interactions with Phorni was adorable as always, and I liked the way it transitions to her route. A desire to accept a dark past, and the realization that Chris would no longer be able to spend time with Phorni, something he never payed too much attention to in the other routes. I actually enjoyed this route a lot. The drama is Chris deciding to abandon the road towards becoming a professional. He wants to enjoy playing music, but he believes he won't be simply happy with the road he's walking. The solo performance (not really) was beautiful, and it made me shed tears. Chris decides to abandon that dream to be with the girl he was separated with for three whole years. It was probably the most emotional story out of all of them, in my opinion.

I heard there's a debate whether or not this or Al Fine is considered the true ending, but I believe SR doesn't really have a true ending. All routes have their own stories to tell.

Thoughts Afterwards

Spoiler

I was disappointed that Lise was pretty much shafted from any other routes, and it's sad that she's pretty much under Grave's clutches if Chris doesn't go to her story. I thought something would happen with her during Phorni's route after Chris decided to try and meet her a second time. Even though I hate Grave, I thought he would be in other routes (made a small appearance in Fal's route), but he wasn't, which is somewhat unfortunate, since I thought there would be more to him.

 

Overall SR made me care so much about the characters, even after I was done with the whole thing. I felt a huge void after completing it (probably why I felt motivated to write all this text even if nobody might read it), which I haven't felt in such a long time. Heck, I don't know any other story (books/tv shows/games/movies/etc) that made me felt this invested and emotional. I'm sad that not all of the seven side stories are translated. I read the three that were, and I enjoyed them. (Will the rest ever be translated?) I even tried to google translate the 5 small stories on the official website just to get some more story (like Chris meeting Phorni for the first time). 

The music is great, even if there's a lack of quantity. However, I love how the lyrics of vocal tracks tell the story of the character singing them. Makes the songs much more enjoyable and memorable.

I'm glad I read this visual novel. I don't know if I'll ever be able to read something as emotional and great as this.

Edited July 13, 2017 by PenX

[Mr Poltroon]

How is it possible to feel nostalgic for something I first experienced half a decade ago?

At any rate, once in a blue moon I replay the songs in the game by playing them, and today was that day for the past couple of years. I am utterly rubbish at it, but I remember them, and it makes me feel so attached...

[tahu157]

Nostalgia amplifies with time that’s kinda the whole point.

[Stormwolf]

On 11/24/2019 at 11:24 PM, Mr Poltroon said:

How is it possible to feel nostalgic for something I first experienced half a decade ago?

At any rate, once in a blue moon I replay the songs in the game by playing them, and today was that day for the past couple of years. I am utterly rubbish at it, but I remember them, and it makes me feel so attached...

You're just missing something you enjoyed. I played it like a year ago and i feel the same. Truly a great game with a few silly faults.