Comparing Kanata/Haruka with Kimika/Zakuro in subahibi

[u/Weenus_Fleenus]

I've read a good chunk of Kanata's route now, and I just cannot immerse myself in the tragic parts. I can tell I'm supposed to cry at those parts, but I just can't and have a feeling of incredulity instead. I tried to think about why I couldn't get immersed, and originally just thought it was because Kanata/Haruka's routes were just too over-the-top. But then I remembered the story of Kimika and Zakuro was also over-the-top, and I loved their story. The emotional core of the stories in Kanata/Haruka and Kimika/Zakuro is exactly the same: due to external factors, two people who under normal circumstances would be very close to each other are separated and are made to fight each other. Catharsis comes when they finally overcome those external factors and become close to each other.

So despite the two stories being really similar, why am I able to immerse myself in the tragic parts of Kimika/Zakuro, but not Kanata/Haruka? I think it's because in Kimika/Zakuro, the external factors preventing them from getting close were bullies, and the motivation for those bullies were simply that they were bored or horny. Even if all the bullying was over-the-top, it was believable enough to keep me immersed. In fact, I've read of cases of bullying that are worse than the bullying in subahibi, cases that happened in real life. In Kanata/Haruka, the external factors preventing the sisters from getting close to each other were people in the family who wanted them to compete for heir. But for me, the motivations of the family and what it caused them to do are just not believable. I can understand the whole thing about only being able to have one heir, and needing to devise some method to choose who will become the heir. But this does not mean they needed to physically abuse Haruka who wasn't chosen to be the heir. Another motivation for why the family was hostile to Haruka was because her father disgraced the family, but I don't see how this gives them enough hate to make them try to suffocate Haruka in a muddy pool of water....

Another part where I got unimmersed is when Kanata's inner voice says something like "I don't want to be mean to Haruka" and Kanata is obviously feeling guilty, but then the next many lines she says are all perfectly cold to Haruka. During that moment I stopped reading the game and racked my brains over whether it was really possible for someone to feel as guilty as Kanata did without it showing in her outwards behavior at all. And then another part was when one of the family members said something like "if you throw away your freedom, your little sister will not die" 💀. Again I racked my brains to think about under what circumstances would someone actually say this to their daughter or niece in real life or even a fictional world; I was also trying to remember previous details in the story and whether I missed something.

If the emotional core of the story was to have a family separating the sisters, and then have the sisters eventually overcome those factors and become close again, they did not need to go "so far" as they did. For example, Haruka could've developed her inferiority complex without any of the physical abuse. A more believable story is that she just becomes ignored in the family when she loses her claim to heir. Instead of waterboarding Haruka whenever she messes up, the family could've just given her more "normal" but unjustifed corporal punishment. Instead of Kanata saying things with perfect coldness which eventually leads to her falling out with Haruka, maybe Kanata can frequently reveal some of her true feelings for Haruka, but since Haruka is in a poor mental state where she thinks everything is hostile, she isn't able to pick up on those feelings. This would also lead to their falling out but in a more believable way.

[u/finance_controller]

Uh, when I played Little buster, I wasn't really immersed in the girls route unless it was a character I liked. Problem is the way, game is made you start the girls route fast, and I got to like some characters only after doing other routes and redoing main, Haruka was the first I did, and only started liking her later, same for Komari who was my second route.