VN Reading Club - September: Swan Song

[Zenophilious]

Yeah, the "happy ending" was pretty disappointing. It felt really halfhearted compared to the normal end, almost like they forget what made the game what it is and just inserted a happy ending to please people.

And it was lacked intense conclusion. The massacre scene during the riot was one of the strongest scenes in the whole VN, that was time where you really saw how far people can go if they are pushed to a corner. The distorted, "the Scream" style visual and the bell sounds for killing people in the heat of the madness, hostile and friendly, were pretty intense. In comparison the "happy end" had hardly anything memorable.   

 

I was really impressed with the character development in Swan Song.

Everybody changed so much from the beginning, it's pretty funny looking back at my own expectations and see how badly they failed.

• Tanomura seemed too good guy to be true. I was sure that he was hiding something, but the time they reached the hospital I had no choice but accept that he was just a really good guy.
• The first time I saw Hibari I was sure the she's going to be the prissy girl who drops first. But no, she turned out to be the mentally strongest character in the story. While not as intelligent and capable as the others, I have nothing but admiration for her cheerfulness and willpower. 
• I was pretty sure since the beginning that Kuwagata would go mad, but the way it happened was way more interesting. His change was good way of showing how extreme thoughts give birth to more extreme thoughts, even though the intentions were good and when you commit deeds that shouldn't be committed and don't regret it, there's no turning back. It's interesting how Kuwagata's actions and policies made the "Hospital" look like the bad guys and showed how the things that made Daichi-society previously scary were actually the things that made them human in the end. Kuwagata was definitely one the most interesting characters in this VN.
• Yuka and Tsukasa didn't change that much compared the other characters, but they also didn't have as strong initial expression on me as the other characters. Apart Tsukasa feeling at times too aware and too collected, I have nothing to complain about them. It's just that they pale in comparison to the other characters

Yeah, those two massacre CGs really stuck in my mind.  When I think of Swan Song now, that's one of the first things that pops up in my head, aside from Aroe, of course.  The massacre plus the very end were what really stuck with me.  Aroe getting crushed after having glued the statue of Jesus back together actually gave the title and the bit about the swan song meaning, and I felt like the true end ruined that.  I'm obviously not thinking about this too hard, but Aroe was the swan.  After a life of meaningless "choking sounds" (she is unable to do anything that most people would think of as worthwhile or normal or beautiful), she makes a beautiful "song" (rebuilding the statue) and dies.

 

You pretty much summed up my thoughts on the characters. 

The development was indeed top notch, especially Kuwagata's.  As much as he sickens me, he is without a doubt the most interesting and well-designed character.  His downfall both fascinated and sickened me, and was akin to watching a dog get kicked enough until it eventually starts biting everyone around it, regardless of the intent of the people.  Said this before, but one of the reasons why I find him so fascinating is that a lot of his earlier decisions are pretty easy to sympathize with.  After he beats the cop from the Daichi Society to death was where he truly started to lose sympathy with me, as I felt that he could no longer justify his actions.  I started feeling disgusted that I ever had any sympathy for him at all, which I'm sure is what the writers had intended.

 

Hibari's strength was really impressed upon me after Tanomura was killed, and after Kuwagata and his gang raped her.  The contrast between her and Nozomi is quite shocking, even though they were both raped.  Nozomi, post-rape, is more or less defined by it, while Hibari continues on in spite of it, even though a lot of other people would have been emotionally crippled.  It's hard to tell what Nozomi's personality was like before, but I have a strong feeling that her rape majorly warped it, while it did almost nothing to Hibari in the "long run" (quotes because it doesn't really last that long; I still assume she died, since she's not at the church).  It speaks a lot about how strong of a person she is that even after something as disturbing and fucked up as what happened to her happened, she still cares enough to try and save those two kids in that utter incarnation of Hell that was the school massacre.  I like Tanomura for some of the same reasons, actually.  There is almost nothing that he can't deal with, be it the mutilated corpses of the Daichi Society after Kuwagata's massacre, those police officers in the beginning, or the attack from the members of the vigilante corps, yet in the bad ends and normal end he's shown to be just as fallible as the rest of them, even though he gives it his all anyway.  The fact that he can still be positive in the situation they're in at all, and not become semi-emotionless husks like Yuka and Tsukasa, really impressed me.  He was one of the few characters that could make me laugh, and the line where he tries to get Aroe to play with some toy he found while scavenging still cracks me up, even though I've heard it several times now.

 

Yuka and Tsukasa were indeed a little more plain, but I felt that Yuka's character was a little more interesting, even if I liked Tsukasa a bit more.  Tsukasa was pretty upfront about his emotional stunting, while you don't get a view of Yuka's until after you've formed an opinion on her based on the facade she puts up.

 

It's not bad that Kuwagata is my favorite character in this VN, right? 

Nope. 

He may turn into human scum, but nobody can say he isn't interesting without lying.

  I can't say that he's my favorite character in normal terms, but objectively, without my bias or morality, he'd be my favorite character.

[Deep Blue]

Aroe is the best character because she is in the end the only person that makes all of them keep their human side alive or at least the little part that still remain in some of them,

even kuwagata restrain to do anything bad to her, at least in the normal ending, I think the user zalor said it a long time ago she is a burden to everyone in the sense that she is the conscience of them

[MikeY91]

On a Narcissus scale, how D̶a̶r̶k̶ sad is Swan Song?

[Deep Blue]

On a Narcissus scale, how dark is Swan Song?

[MikeY91]

you should avoid this thread because of the spoilers

Narcissu is not dark just really sad, swan song contains.. mini spoiler ahead

raping scenes, really strong and sad raping scenes as other strong topics

and it's also sad so from 1 to 10 I'll said a 8/9 on how strong and shocking it is.

Don't worry I haven't been reading any posts here, yeah you're right I should've said sad instead of dark.

Well I guess I'm decided on reading Swan Song. I hope I don't get depressed over it (I probably will, but I'm an idiot who can't resist sad VNs)

[Deep Blue]

it is a depressing vn for sure but will it hit you the same as narcissu did?depends on you, narcissu depressed me really bad when I read it the first time but swan song not that much, it shocked me more than anything else like muv luv did but then again this is something subjective so it will depend on you.

[MikeY91]

it is a depressing vn for sure but will it hit you the same as narcissu did?depends on you, narcissu depressed me really bad when I read it the first time but swan song not that much, it shocked me more than anything else like muv luv did but then again this is something subjective so it will depend on you.

Yea same for me with Narcissus, I hope that at least I'm bit immune against sad VNs now XD, I'll see how Swan Song goes.

Thanks again for your help.

[yvetox]

Allright,time for some trump card!If anyone got bothered by the true end-check this

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/3ee3zn/swan_song_a_true_fake_ending/?

 

For my opinion its convenient assumption,so read it please)

Sorry if anyone already knows this,but then i found dat link i felt strong urge to share it with you all.

[Infernoplex]

On 27.9.2015. at 11:05 AM, yvetox said:

Allright,time for some trump card!If anyone got bothered by the true end-check this

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/3ee3zn/swan_song_a_true_fake_ending/?

 

For my opinion its convenient assumption,so read it please)

Sorry if anyone already knows this,but then i found dat link i felt strong urge to share it with you all.

Thank you very much for that link, the post at the bottom really opened my eyes about some details I missed previously when I finished reading Swan Song ...