But now, alas, we must turn to Kira and Robin. Their path was already a mess after Chapter 6 insisted that the MC was purely interested in getting the two back together again despite deliberately involving himself in their relationship in the first place. Now, it's a complete train wreck. Apparently, Kira has decided - without any discussion with the MC - to return to her family and mend fences. The MC knows Robin will accompany her - regardless of whether Robin is nominally dating Kira alone, Kira and the MC, or Chris - because it's in the script. The MC's own response is to immediately support Kira without comment or concern - regardless of whether he's dating one, the other, or both of these girls. And by the end of the episode, both girls have left and the MC is no closer to deciding how to deal with the situation. Apparently, the MC is soo committed to these girls that he doesn't actually care what they do?
To be clear, I'm not saying Kira
needs the MC's approval to head home or anything like that. But I'm sure as hell saying that if the MC joined in the relationship (or worse, started dating Kira alone) she should
care about his approval before making a big decision like this. That's part and parcel for what a relationship is, no? Likewise, why the hell is the MC so blase about Kira and Robin moving away? Yes, he owns his apartment, but it's not like he couldn't move. Isn't that at least worth DISCUSSING? Evidently not.
The end result is that any notion of the MC having a meaningful relationship with either of the girls is a complete joke at this point. The three of them don't discuss their problems, don't include each other in their plans, and make zero effort to fix those shortcomings. Forget what the game says to us, AFAICT, Kira and Robin are casual lovers who hang out based mostly on habit, and the MC is third wheel they indulge on occasion. Our choices make literally no difference. That's not a "relationship" worth worrying about.
Seriously, what the fuck was the point of making these two romanceable? If the romance will make
literally no difference in the relationships between Kira and Robin OR between the MC and each girl, is it really a romance? Of course not! So why waste all the time pretending it is? If I were to guess, I'd say it's because Drifty is still very much an amateur writer and underestimated the work it would take to properly develop a cast this large.
It's pretty clear the game just isn't capable of handling the branching that would come from addressing the ability to date the girls individually. But rather than picking one option and sticking with it, it tried to juggle all three to disastrous effect. At this point I'd rather the finale just drop Kira and Robin entirely and use the time to flesh out Linda (and maybe Holly) rather than have to sit through more of this crap. What a complete waste of some of my favorite characters.
