The genre of the Visual Novel, which is horridly under represented outside of Japan, is a medium with which one can experience unforgettable tales of love (like Clannad), tales of justice (like Ace Attorney), and so forth. Because it's a niche market, you don't see many visual novels available commercially in the West, which is too bad, as we're missing out on far too many good titles. Because of this, there is an alternative: independently made, freeware titles. Some are excellence beyond excellence, like Four Leaf Studios' brilliant game, Katawa Shoujo. But this is not that game, today we look at a game called "don't take it personally babe, it just ain't your story".
Pictured left to right at the top: Kendall, Charlotte, Isabella
Pictured left to right at the bottom: Taylor, Nolan, Akira
An interesting title, and one that gives away the true meaning of the game. But let's recap, shall we?
You play as John Rook, a 38 year old man, twice divorced, who has switched careers to teaching due to some bizarre midlife crisis. It is the future, and social networking has not just become commonplace, it has become a part of daily life for practically everyone. John Rook, in a word, sucks. He's by no means a good teacher, and I speak as someone who has studied to become one. He's judgemental, dislikes some of his students (to be fair, Taylor is hard to like, but Kendall is undeserving of his scorn), and overall, he most certainly gives off the impression of someone who teaches because it's his job, not his passion. He gets better overtime, such as when he presents a movie adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night under the justification that theater is meant to be seen and not read, but there is room for improvement. And by the player's choice, he can enter a relationship with Adriana, his sixteen year old student.
John Rook is the man with the purple hair and glasses. What you are seeing here, well, it speaks for itself.
The story begins with John's first day on the job. He is given a tablet for him to view his students status updates and chats on Aimee-Connect, the Facebook of the future. He is also told not to divulge his capacity to spy on his students to anyone. Class begins. He offers his students his assistance in regards to any problems they may have, academically or otherwise. The moment she sees him, Adriana falls for him, hard. In her Aimee profile, she describes John as 'teh smex', which is Internet jargon to describe someone as physically attractive. The player is given a choice here: either give in to Adriana or brush her off. This is one of the few player choices that affect the game, and at the same time, it doesn't. But it raises many questions regarding not just Adriana, but John Rook as well. Questions we will leave for later.
Chapter two is all about Nolan, and how his classmate, Akira, is attracted to him. NOTHING John Rook does changes what happens: Akira and Nolan get together and stay together until the end of the game. Wait, why? Ahh, this is the first time we realize the meaning behind the game's title, isn't it? Ah, but we are getting ahead of ourselves.
And in fact, that's something that happens all throughout the game. In a normal Visual Novel, your choices have a direct impact on how the story progresses. For example, in Katawa Shoujo, during the first chapter, you are given the choice between going to the library, going to town, or going to bed. If you go to town, you will begin a certain route of the game, and romance one of the girls. If you go to the library, you will romance a different girl, and her story is widely different from the first one's. And if you go to bed, same thing, you romance a third, wildly different girl. But in "don't take it personally", this does not exist. Very little of what you do has any impact on the overall plot. Why?
Ask yourself this question: Have you ever gone outside and looked at the people that go by? Maybe you've seen a man running a store. Maybe you've seen a woman out jogging. Maybe you've seen a little boy playing with sticks. And to you, that's all they are. But they are all living out their own stories. You may be the hero of your own story, but to them, you are a piece of the background. You are no major player, you're no one.
And that is what John Rook is to his students. Yes, he is their teacher, and yes, he can be friendly to them, but in their own stories? He's a minor character, someone who gets a chance to shine every now and then, but who is ultimately no one. Does Nolan care that John is twice divorced? No, because in HIS story what matters is his relationship with Akira. To Nolan, his trial is accepting himself and allowing himself to be loved by someone. Likewise Charlotte has her own story. Her tale is one of love versus duty. She loves Kendall with all her heart, but she also feels she's been neglecting her studies as well. Prior to the game, she had broken up with Kendall so as to focus on her studies, and for most of the game she struggles with her feelings. In the ONE instance in the game where the player's choice impacts the game, what happens? The player does little more than to either encourage Charlotte to win back Kendall, or encourages Charlotte to focus on her studies more. And here is where things get interesting. No matter the choice, Charlotte is happy with herself, but, if she chooses to get back with Kendall, then what happens is something that is straight out of a movie. Charlotte, by her own volition, goes to Kendall's house, under the heavy rain, knocks on her window, and declares her undying love to her. The two then head back into the house. Does John Rook witness any of this? No. He gets to hear about it on Aimee Connect. And it's not even Kendall posting about it on her profile, no. She's talking about it to her friend Akira, in a private chat.
That's how Kendall actually talks, by the way. Here, she is expressing gratitude to her teacher for convincing the girl she loves to let go and accept her feelings. One chapter later, Kendall asks John to buy her alcohol so she and Charlotte can have a night of drunk sex. It's the player's choice whether he does or not. (Warning: Purchasing alcohol for minors is against the law)
Why would a visual novel tell a story that has options, but at the end of the day, barely any choices made by the player matter? It's because it's not John Rook's story entirely, no. The game is showing you several stories, including John's. The game is showing us how big of an impact other people can have on us, yet at the same time, how unimportant we are to other people's stories. Yes John encourages Charlotte to get back with Kendall, but that is the only moment wherein John has any impact at all in their story. If this were a Visual Novel told in Charlotte or Kendall's point of view, he'd be a minor character with ten minutes of screen time, at best. If this were a normal novel, written on paper, again focusing on Kendall or Charlotte, John Rook would appear in twenty pages, have a few unimportant lines here or there, and then get this ONE moment where he encourages Charlotte to win back Kendall.
From Nolan and Akira's point of view, John is the nice enough, but ultimately ineffectual, teacher who couldn't do a thing about Nolan's ex girlfriend, Taylor, attempt to sabotage the budding romance between the two boy. In this story, John just stood there, able to stop Taylor thanks to his access to Aimee Connect, but who did not, and only stepped in once Akira's mother demanded that he do something, the day AFTER Akira had cried himself to sleep after Taylor had gone too far.
And from Taylor's point of view, John Rook is the boring teacher who once either yelled at her for what she did to get back Nolan, or the guy who sat her down in his office to try (and fail) to get through to her head that what she did was wrong. Taylor, the least likable character in the game, beautifully sums up the main theme of the game thus: We are all the centers of our own Universes.
And that's the thing, isn't it? We are all the heroes of our own stories. We all have our struggles, we all have our obstacles to overcome. But that does not mean we are the only ones struggling. Take a step back and look around you. Everyone in this world has a story to tell, a life being lived. Ask yourself this: who am I to everyone else? What impact have I made to other people? We are the heroes of our own stories, but we are but background characters in the stories of other people. Beautiful, isn't it?
John? Look at me. What you are doing? That's illegal. Having a relationship with your student is illegal, immoral, and unethical. She is sixteen, she has been trusted under your care, and you are betraying that trust by sticking your dick where it does not belong. I know you're a twice divorcee, you're lonely, you're just starting a new career, you have no idea what you are doing, and overall your life sucks. But come on, this is not the answer. John, let go of the jail bait, drive her home, and we can all pretend this didn't happen. She's just a teenage girl with a crush, John. Don't take advantage of her.
