I don’t think it would be an overstatement to say that Katawa Shoujo kind of changed my life.īut more recently, I started to wonder whether it would still hold up on a reread. All I wanted to do after reading Katawa Shoujo was find more stories like it-and almost a decade later, I’ve made countless other friends through our shared interest in visual novels, and even written some of my own. I was continually excited to be reading an illustrated story that felt a bit like a game, that gave me the power to make choices and affect the narrative, and that also integrated sexual content that felt fitting to the characters and their relationships. I loved the story and characters, but even more than that, I was blown away by the whole concept of visual novels.
A friend recommended it to me not too long after its release in January 2012, giving the same pitch that I’m sure a lot of others heard at the time: “Can you believe a bunch of people who met on 4chan made a porn game about dating disabled girls, but it’s actually really heartfelt and sweet and not nearly as exploitative as you might expect?” I was intrigued, and I soon found myself completely immersed in the world of Yamaku Academy. Like a lot of English-speaking visual novel fans, my first introduction to the medium came from Katawa Shoujo.
It will also include commentary on some sexual content (although no graphic imagery is included), and the section on Hanako’s route will address a sex scene involving some issues of questionable consent. Content warning: this review’s discussions of ableism will include brief uses of potentially harmful language.
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