...and on some of the other girls:
- Alison - Generally like her, and generally trust that she's telling the truth--but as Obi-Wan said, "from a certain point of view," to be specific, her own. I trust that she at least believes she's acting with good motives, but I'm not as sure that she's right.
- Lily - Inclined to agree with Sarah about her (after all, Sarah knows her much better), but she seemed sincere about not knowing about the photo. I can't honestly say I mind the effect of that (in that it pushed MC and Sarah together), though I suspect it just acted to hasten what would have happened anyway (after all, Lucy really loves MC, and I'm pretty sure that would have rubbed off on Sarah in due course anyway). And the plan honestly seems kind of far-fetched--there are just so many ways it could have gone differently. Perhaps I just need to dismiss that and chalk it up to "porn logic."
- Hannah - I want to like her, but she's making it difficult. But the red hair/green eyes combination is definitely attractive.
- Catherine - She's got some work to do.
- Rachel - I might be surprised and enjoy her redemption, but right now I wouldn't mind her disappearing from the game.
- Annabelle - I'm not sure what the deal is with her. I'm also not sure why the in-game bio calls her a "girl" when it also says she's 55 years old (but then, it also says Sarah's father is 20, so maybe that's another bug; perhaps the two ages are swapped). She doesn't look 55 (other than her white hair). Presumably she's in, or tied to, a founding family.
I said earlier that this somehow feels really wholesome, odd as that is to say about a porn game. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but I think a lot of it has to do with MC, in that he just seems like a generally decent guy:
- He takes the girls home at night, even the ones he doesn't like that much (Hannah and especially Catherine)
- He took Sarah home at night not knowing why she wanted him to; once he learned, he's been there every morning and evening since. Sure, he already (kind of) liked her at that point, but that's still putting himself out a bit. I don't especially give him credit for continuing to do so on Day 26; by that point, although he won't use the words, he's in love with her.
- He stands up for his girls, to potential physical threat on more than one occasion.
But all of this is true of MC in Harem Hotel, Eternum, and others, at least in general terms, and I don't quite get the wholesome vibe from them. What's different is how MC handles the harem here. Lucy springs the question of being his girlfriend, at the same time saying she'd be OK with other girls. And MC immediately comes up with what seems like a very fair way to handle it: once you're "in," you're all equals (in theory; Lucy's still the Queen Bee), no secrets, you can veto anyone else, you can say "no" to anything. I don't know that this quite explains the feeling I get from the game, but it's a notable distinction compared to others in my experience.
Or maybe it's just that he's trying so hard to convince Sarah she's attractive. I dunno.