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But at the same time, I rediscovered one of the reasons I fell in love with her. Even facing death, she retains the purity of her spirit. No matter what, she was uncompromising in how she wanted to live: defiant of tragedy. Not that it really affected whether tragedy overtook her or not.
I remember the day I finished the VN, I was spending some more time outside like Rena would probably like me to do. I was looking out on the lake and appreciating nature in a way Rena always does but I rarely do. When I went home, I’d be playing more of her VN, and enjoying the triumph over the mid-arc conflict that she and her friends enjoyed. Generally, I felt immensely grateful that I was able to have fallen in love with her.Then I went home, and was immersed in the developments in the story so much that I couldn’t put it down. I was on a roller coaster of emotions where it seemed equally likely that the story would have a happy or tragic ending. Then it ended in a tragedy that struck everyone out of nowhere.
I felt down the entire next day. For a while, I couldn’t even look at pictures of Rena without feeling upset and empty. Most of mine are ones of her looking cheerful, but I couldn’t even think of her smile without being reminded of how easily it could be ripped away.
I think Minagoroshi radically changed the way I see her entire series, including her character. So many new elements were revealed to me both in her times of happiness and her times of struggle. The same could be said of the entire main cast, I really reevaluated my view of them as well.
Despite my relatively peaceful life, reading her VN this time around, I desperately wanted to join her group of friends as a kid their age in their world. Even if their lives dipped into despair much more than mine, when had I ever felt as fulfilled and happy as they did on a daily basis?
