A step forward to who knows

Boo yah, another chapter down and another chapter full of much events and ups and downs. I honestly had final countdown playing in my head while reading it. Which made it awkward and hilarious in places.

Good to see you are still writing and i hope your job is still going alright and they are not overwhelming you and giving you proper protection so you aren't at risk of infection. Been in lockdown for three weeks now since i'm on furlough scheme UK gov set up and this week it's really starting to get to me being around home all the time and not having gone out outside of the village i live in since end of last month. It's actually made me miss my 80 round commutes to and from work. At least the weather has been nice so that i can do my daily walks and shopping.

Anyways back to the chapter at hand. It's great to see everyone back at Yamaku (sans Chisato) and Hisao mostly fine from his pacemaker surgery. Yet the tensions are still clearly there and the next chapter or two will likely see harsh words and strong feelings spoken again between Chisato and Saki, something i'm so looking forward to seeing and hopefully reconciliation between them. Especially since its still clear to see that the recording bust up hangs over everything and Sakimoto's mention of her looking into Saki possibly doing a recording gives that slight hope that Saki can record something for herself.

Love the bit with Hisao doing a running bomb into the pool, nice way of lighting things up and for Hisao to remind us he's still a teen. [url]Top bombing watch?vq8iIgQ7tGow/url] for sure.

and once again you outdone yourself with another top smut scene that really nails teenage lust, longing after so many months away and the realities of Hisao's pacemaker playing up so soon after the surgery and Saki's guilt that brings up old feelings. and yet we see here the growth of both and how Hisao handles it truly does show how far he has come.

Great job as always mate and looking forward to seeing more soon.

Take care and stay safe

Blackmambauk

such a cute and interesting set up so far, saki seems like a genuinely awesome girl, of course there will be complications but very intrigued from what i've read, consider me invested.

Wrote my entire series review on Chapter 1 - oh well.

I was full of sadness when I realized that there was no way that this story was finished haha
I do like the multiple perspectives - we finally meet Saki's brother too, and he offers his own take on the situation (as unbiased as he can be).

Until the next chapter, which I will be eagerly waiting for

I've been pretty resistant to making an account on most things, but this story prompted me to make one if not to just write how stellar it is. The introduction is well-versed and hits on something that none of the OG routes in Katawa Shoujo hit on - the concept of mortality. Many times when reading, I found myself asking the question: "If I loved someone, but they and I both knew that they were going to die, would we still move forward?"

I found it around 7 hours ago, and just finished all of the available chapters - so imagine my despair when I realized that the story wasn't actually finished (NOOOoooOOO). But all things considered, I will say that it is very hard to get OC characters to be interesting, integral, and narratively important: eurobeatjester has done all three! It follows the trend of all the Katawa Shoujo routes: that Hisao is initially crestfallen, meets one of the girls who changes his life for the better, and galvanizes him to move forward. Saki does all three, and does it in an organic way - she acts like a realistic character.

I would definitely have accepted this as one of the routes in the original Katawa Shoujo. Supposedly there are only six chapters left? :O

I can't want to see what happens next, and I think those are the words that every author wants to hear.

So sorry for not replying sooner until now mate, things have been hectic in the last few days at work and home due to having to get my gaming pc sent off (which is a pain in the arse when it weighs over 30kg and you can't take the day off work to hang around for UPS).

Another wonderful chapter Euro, really liked how much internal thoughts were in this chapter. Mai and Iwanako's appearance was a lovely surprise and also I think such a symbolic way of bringing Hisao full circle from the last time he was in hospital and he ended up pushing away his friends because of his depressive state. This time he let's his friends help him, really laughed at Mai bringing in shampoo and giving Hisao's hair a quick wash, nice call back to Hisao's assentation that a quick rinse was all one needed, Saki's reaction would certainly have been the same as the girls and calling Hisao out for it again like last time.

I especially like the unsaid and said stuff between Hisao and Iwanako here, this is the best version I think I have seen of the two making their peace with each other I have seen done in KS fanfic's. Truly you showed nicely of Hisao's development and the way their stuff transitions into Saki's arrival is very well done and a nice way of tying it all together.

What can I say about the Hisao and Saki stuff here, again you have exceeded yourself as always mate and truly nailed every emotion, every feeling and brought happy and sad tears to my eyes as we learned the full story of what happened with everyone. You truly nailed the complexities and gave each character their reasons for their reactions, all of it felt natural and teenlike and it really builds on the nuances and themes of Learning to fly spot on.

I especially loved the bit of the two sleeping for a few hours. These sort of moments truly work when a writer has built to it over time and truly has earned it like you have here.

You truly once again also make great use of a character we have just been introduced to and made them feel fully realised with Saki's brother. He nicely gives the other perspective regarding Saki and their father's actions. That gives more room and I think great alternative character interpretation to a character we have heard so much about and only met once and that left such a impact that we have a firm idea of the person they are and questions on what comes next.

You are truly on a role and I know the next six chapters are going to be even sweeter, even more hard hitting and even more appeasing to wait for.

Thanks euro for once again delivering such compelling writing.

Blackmambauk

Art by Kuriitama? What art?

A good rest helps a lot more than people would like to think.

A lovely surprise to see another chapter before the end of the year. As I thought it would be January until we got the next chapter of Learning to Fly.

Not much to say on this chapter as it was mostly covered stuff we already knew and dealt with some of Hisao's internal thoughts and on what his parents, Saki and Nurse felt about him wanting a pacemaker put in soon.

But as always you done a great job mate and are building more and more to the eventual scene where everything is had at and Hisao shows how much he's grown etc.

Thanks euro

DeadlyViperQuill

Wow. That's a twist of an end.

New reader here. I discovered this fic not a few days ago and I've already marathoned the entire thing. Let me just say first, what a ride this has been. Not only was this a fantastic read, but I was relieved to find this fic isn't dead when I reached the end, so that's always a good pick me up.

I rarely have the diligence to leave chapter by chapter reviews, so just let me gush for a bit about the whole story. First of all I appreciated your author's note at the start. Normally I don't care for overly long asides by the author, but I think yours really added to the story. It clearly shows that you have experience with hospitals, physical therapy, and being handicapped in general. This is clealry written from a very personal place, and I think that sense of heart is what really makes your story shine.

You've really nailed the feel and the tone of Katawa Shoujo. Right off the bat I was impressed with how organic an extension of the original game this story feels. The prose is spot on, and Hisao feels perfectly in character. The little we see of the canon characters is also pretty accurate. I'm normally dubious of OC's, but yours fit right in. If I had to offer one criticism amid all this gushing though, it's be that Noriko feels a little flat. I find myself struggling a bit to envision any strong traits about her besides "Not disabled.". That being said, she's not bad by any stretch.

The mood whiplash in the latter half of the story was delicious. I knew Saki's deal before starting this, so I wasn't exactly expecting lollipops and rainbows, but man you whip the reader from happy romance times to scenes bleaker than anything in the original with startling speed. I love it.

Last of all I want to say I adore the entire concept of this fic. I've got a real softspot for dark horse characters. Delving into forgotten or overlooked characters is what's great about fanfiction, and I'm endlessly appreciative of you pouring so much passion into giving a story to such a vestigal aspect of the original game. Now if only someone would give Rika your treatment!

You've definitely earned yourself a regular. You bet your bottom dollar I'll be here for these chapters in the home stretch. Hopefully you've penned some other stories here, I'd love to see what else you have on offer.

Another huge chapter of events that bring so many things to the surface and truly enter us now into the endgame of things.

Once again euro you have truly done an excellent job of covering so much of what you have been building up to from the very beginning. Of giving all the characters involved a chance to shine here and put so much of what has been implied, hinted to, foreshadowed etc. into the context where we get a real view of the picture that has been waiting to be Colored for years and been the elephant in the room for Saki, Maeda, Chisato.

Which was so worth the wait with all of it left me feeling very fulfilled as a reader and fellow writer, even as my heart sank, emotions veered through my head, heart and other stuff as I read the chapter.

First off Maeda, boy he really got to left off what's clearly been swimming around in his head for a long time now here. to have gone through what he did, of having to deal with everything we know about what Saki planned and then as he was dealing with that, then what happened with Kayoko would be complex for anyone to deal with, let alone a teenager. It certainly gives context as to why he's been the way he has been throughout the fic and Maeda clearly feels for what happened. You really nailed the complexity of balancing Maeda's bitterness, guilt and using sarcasm to hide his deeper emotions spot on here Euro. Textbook example of doing a jerkass woobie right.

Said this before but I will say it again, poor poor Chisato. Her world continues to crumble and she finds herself with Hisao in the worst possible position in all of this, of finding out people she has known for years didn't tell her what happened to one of her best friends. At the worst possibly time when her support structure is collapsing from her boyfriend leaving and Noriko going home and soon Hisao as well. Yet she still tries to soften things up with humor, still keeps her empathy with her bit with Maeda showing it perfectly despite her anger and with Hisao's fluff bit coming up.

But even she couldn't keep that up with Saki, the rawness and the betrayal she feels too much.

Then we finally get our first view of... him. And you really nail the first impression we get of him from everything Saki has told us about him so far. Everything about his appearance, his demeanour, the way he treats the meeting. Man it really sinks in why Saki hates dealing with her father and why she's so determined to do what she plans to do. Clearly Hisao is going to have his work cut out for him when he has to crossroad with him in future chapters.

With the final bit all confirming that things are truly at the bottom for everyone, at their lowest point and darkest hour.

But now, comes the interesting part of the story, now comes the climb back up for everyone. To face themselves, to truly confront everything that's been thrown their way and more.

This ride is about to chart into the forest and where things go is going to be quite the experience.

Excellent job once again Euro and I hope things get better for you after everything that's happened recently.

Thanks mate

Blackmambauk

I don’t need sleep, I need answers!

Give me something to criticize damn it!

Dang. That'll be a while before he can see her again...

Boy Euro, you always know how to deliver quite the chapter that's mixed with so much in it and balances levity, drama and other stuff in it.

I had that feeling there was something going to be revealed about Kayoko this chapter with the way Hisao built her up here on how Saki had still not told him about her very much. Nice foreshadowing to the moment that comes.

Really liked the school outing to the city, once again you take slice of life and really know how to make it so interesting to read, so in depth with little details of youngsters being youngsters. Of showing the Christmas spirit. Nice usage of Miki and Suzu once again, they are part of the chapter nicely and fitting to their characters but never overshadow anything or where out their welcome. Textbook example of how to use ensemble dark horses right and with the fanon/ semi canon pairing of them.

Really liked the bit of Hisao and Mitsuru helping Noriko on the ice staking. Really nice touch there of showing them all as friends and helping each other. Small stuff like that always goes a long way to adding to characters.

Very clever of you Euro to choose generic song everyone knows about description in there. Great way of letting readers decide on what they think the song is but leaving enough on what is the likely song Hisao is referring to. Well played sir.

Moment I saw Maeda that's when I know things were about to get out of hand with Saki outside and Chisato popping out.

Poor poor Chisato, she's truly not having any luck at the moment in the fic, first finding out her boyfriend is off to Korea. Having to deal with not seeing Noriko for a little while and now finding out something her best friend had kept from her, and in the most insensitive, emotional way anyone could find out about it. Lfie really has it in for her at the moment.

But poor Saki even more with what happened this chapter. It's going to get awkward now with her, Chisato and Hisao.

Boy, Maeda really really picked the worst time to vent and in a way that makes you feel for him on one hand and on another wanting to rip out their hearing aid and shove it up his arse Stepbrothers style.

And then Mutou enters the room to end the chapter after Saki slaps his student.

Golly, things are really going to escalate now between everyone.

A always sir, excellent job that leaves me hungry for more as always.

DeadlyViperQuill (formerly Blackmambauk)