加奈～いもうと～ (Kana ~Imouto~): The First Credited Tanaka Romeo Title [Repost]

tfw i read this despite believing imouto are cringe

O Yamada, Yamada, Wherefore Art Thou Yamada

Before there was Tanaka Romeo, there was Yamada Hajime. The latter may not be recognizable today, but the former should be a household name. Romeo's the guy behind classic visual novels like CROSS†CHANNEL and print literature like 人類は衰退しました (Jinrui wa Suitaishimashita/Humanity Has Declined). Anyone familiar with otaku media respects his prose and commitment to exploring the human condition and I consider myself to be a budding Romeo fan.

But I wanted to learn more about his humble beginnings and how he started. In order to get ready for his supposedly last visual novel, I decided to check out the first three visual novels that were written by him -- back when his pseudonym was a mere Yamada Hajime. These three D.O titles had always piqued my curiosity, so I figured what better time to go through these three titles at once for the newsletter.

I'm unsure if I'll write about other two Yamada Hajime titles in the future -- don't want to put myself into an impossible corner where I promise that I'll writing about things I realize I don't have strong feelings about -- so I'm letting that up to chance. (As of this writing, I've actually succumbed to the fate of yuri manga and probably won't do the Yamada Hajime journey as intended.) But I did have stuff to say about this specific work, so here it is.

Some Ancient Imouto History

The first Yamada Hajime title is a somewhat nostalgic one for me: 加奈～いもうと～ (Kana ~Imouto~) was probably one of the most famous translated visual novels back in the 2000s. As Yamada Hajime's first credited title (but second-written as Hoshizora Planet was written before this game but published later), it made a decent splash in Japan that possibly paved the path for Romeo's future career in eroge; meanwhile, JAST USA marketed it very hard and people were moved by the title so much they created elaborate fanfiction and animations. Most notably, the visual novel was the second ever entry on the VNDB database. Kana ~Imouto~ ended up becoming a recognizable classic and, for a while, the "face" of visual novels before even titles like Katawa Shoujo came along.

Right before the Great Recession of 2009, I remember watching YouTube videos praising its story and take on relationships while reminding their viewers this was an "18+ hentai game". But unlike other JAST USA and Peach Princess translated titles back then, this title was different: it was a genuine exploration on themes like incest and terminal illnesses. I was like sixteen back then, so the idea of an "adult story" taking on these themes really intrigued me. While I hadn't read titles like Narcissu at that point yet, there was some hubbub over stories depicting characters who couldn't live very long; I was also watching some Chinese dramas that once dealt with incest quite delicately. The subject matter and the fact it was eroge made me go "Hmm, I wanna read that someday".

Unfortunately, the original translation wasn't all that great and I never read much of it. Still, I'm pretty sure the fanfare around this title may have sparked my interest in this visual novel medium. If I didn't watch these videos and read the reviews claiming it was one of the best stories ever told, the possibility of me getting into visual novels is near zero. It was about time I finally paid respect to it, almost 13 years later since I first became cognizant of the medium.

For this particular game, I ended up using the remake titled 加奈…おかえり!! (Kana... Okaeri!). I was planning to use the original game, but the game didn't want to work on Windows 10; you had to install and play the game through two different disks and the game just froze after it force full-screened on me. It also didn't have voices anyway, which was an L. I could have picked up the PSP port that retained the original art and had a new voice cast, but I just felt weird playing all-ages versions unless they're superior. Alas, Okaeri was the only meaningful choice I had left and this remake was a strange one: a new artist was brought in and you could watch some of the worst erotic animations in the world (to be precise, hand-drawn butt twerking). This game also runs weirdly; you have to execute directly the KANAOKA.exe in the game disk or the program would crash.

I expect old fans of the title to be a bit miffed at me choosing this new art, but what can I do: there's no good way to play the game without compromising something. 

Without Imouto, It Cannot Be Seen

The story revolves around Toudou Takamichi and his sister, Kana, as they grow up from elementary school to middle/high school and finally to university age. Kana suffers from a severe renal insufficiency and requires constant hospitalization and kidney dialyses in order to live. Takamichi, after bullying her a bit and realizing she really was a weak person, decided he's gonna be the best onii-chan she'll ever have. Little by little, they found themselves closer -- a bit too close. Kana's never met any other guy in the planet while Takamichi realized he's becoming lusty for her. The two siblings thus depend on each other and have developed a taboo love for each other.

Along the way comes Kashima Yumi, a girl who's had the hots for Takamichi since elementary school. Unfortunately due to a severe misunderstanding, the two found it difficult to talk it out. It was only until they went to the same club in college that they decided to hook up, Yumi finally fulfilling her age-long desire for him and Takamichi for noticing certain actions by Yumi reminded him of Kana. Indeed, the only reason he could ever pop a boner for Yumi was whenever he started thinking of Kana doing him. This is, I'm sure, the textbook definition of a healthy relationship.

But despite the spicy J-drama setup and certain reveals, the title is -- for the most part -- a straightforward and sincere treatment of an incestuous relationship that could end in any minute. Scenes are brisk and to the point. The prose, especially the dialog, is also simple and easy to read. Nothing feels elongated and everything is quick plus snappy. Reading Kana is in fact like watching through a well-crafted dorama speedrun video without the usual wearisome pacing that's pervasive in J-dramas.

This makes Kana a somewhat peculiar visual novel to read in today's times. While there is melodrama, it's not as pronounced as one would expect in other visual novels. Instead, Yamada's approach is to bring up these yabai elements without overfilling the cup so to speak. There are opportunities throughout the title that Yamada could've dramatized and raised the stakes; he however opts to stop it right there or only do it to move the plot and then quickly halt before anything more could be done with it. This results in some rather tempered, moderate scenes even in places that demand high drama.

What we readers end up getting is a surprisingly thoughtful read about the fragile and transient nature of life. The game takes the premise of a terminally ill character seriously: doctors explain in medical jargon why Kana's condition is getting worse while her family feels helpless; Kana fears that she'll never live another day and see her loved one again; Takamichi gets paranoid he'll never be with her again; and the estranged relationships one would have with people outside in this situation. You also see both Kana and Takamichi grow up, from childhood to adulthood -- this gets reflected with new portraits and their CGs. They've put years into fostering this relationship and they aren't sure where to go next. What happens if one of them just disappears? So while the game does explore incest, each ending is instead more concerned about how the protagonist copes with this dire reality that he might never see her again and learns to move on.

One particular scene shines in this regard: in the second main branch of the game, Kana's contemplating the themes of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species and the meaning of life. You can feel the Tanaka Romeo in that scene. Kana ponders about biological reproduction and survival; she thus concludes our innate fears of death must somehow come from our genetic need to survive and see our species live. But such an understanding gives no solace or hope for her precious, dear life. Even within the context of the second branch, this scene stands out for having a nuanced and rational inquiry into life. The player's response hinges on taking her words seriously. No other scene approaches this level of erudition and I was pretty excited to read this as a Romeo fan.

Sad Imouto

This grounded approach doesn't always land however. No matter how good a writer you are, you can't really erase the corniness of this premise; I often laugh inappropriately at certain serious scenes because the twists and turns are just too 90s J-drama for me.

And when it does work, the title's no-frills approach also makes certain scenes too bizarre to read today. There's no curveballs thrown in this story, so the work ends up being wrought in an overt sincerity that doesn't age well in this Joker-ified era of 2022. If Kana ~Imouto~ was written today, I would expect more elements within the game -- as it stands now, the game only has two elements (incest and terminal illness) and that's it. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if readers who decided to read the game because of this got nothing out of it. It's not that the themes and scenes aren't relevant to our current life -- to the contrary! Rather, Kana just feels lacking in content and therefore has little new to say to people today.

Which is a shame because I don't think the work ever felt superficial or shallow when people read it in the 00s. So many people I know had found the title meaningful and life-changing. I can definitely imagine that if I read Kana in the past, the story would seriously resonate with me too. The story dealt with some harsh themes not popular in fiction yet and Yamada's writing is just insanely nice to read. But I can't time-travel back to that era and get any feelings I could've had if I read this pioneering visual novel. It's just too bad that I picked up this title at such a late age.

I should also mention that the game suffers from having too many choices. Skipping takes forever thanks to this. Even with walkthroughs, you more or less start from the very beginning in order to trigger some flags that will cause a different ending to play out. And Okaeri refuses to skip if you don't have the game as your active window as well. I recommend using your phone to check Discord instead of alt+tab if you wanna keep your slow skipping progress as smooth as possible.

But I do respect what the title's trying to do and the fanbases it's able to garner. The historical significance and cultural impact of this title can't be overstated; very few people would shut up about the work and I totally get why. It's just an interesting title that deserves some discussion and a new port today.

Would I recommend this to Romeo fans who aren't interested in the history? Naw, there's better reads. But seeing an early Romeo take on what's ostensibly a J-drama plot did make me appreciate what I generally love about his works: he just knows how alone humans can be and tells the story behind that loneliness.

I'm glad I was able to satisfy my decade-long curiosity about what the title actually entailed. It's not the most exciting work I've read or written about, but I ended up nodding and going, "Yep, yep, that's my Romeo alright."

What more could I ask? I'm just a Juliet ready for more Romeo antics.