Possibly. I'm thinking Pareidolia might even be the doctor in the medical ward that's keeping those within the mall "healthy"/"alive". It's trait of being "concerned" might be a hint at something like that.
While I don't agree with the dev's attitude on all matters (though I am still a subscriber), he's made it clear that this isn't meant to be a pleasant story, Sensei is not supposed to be self insert or a character people enjoy 'playing as' and anyone who does identify with him or roots for him should seek help. And it's abundantly clear that there will not be anything resembling a 'happy' ending.
I think "thoroughly confused" is just how we're supposed to be, tbh.
Hoping at least a few girls will get a happy-ish ending. Sensei can end up as their free use puppet for all I care. I do think it's too late for any happy endings though. "Everything is already g-":
I don't think he will go that far, but i do low-key think his stated plan for harem/dark/purity phases might turn out to be a massive load of shit and the awaited dark phase either never comes or plays out waaaaaaaay different than expected.
To be fair, I want girls to have a happy ending (even if I kinda hate some of them, they deserve it too), but, sadly, for some of them that implies that sensei was with them. Unless the ending imply that everyone forgets about sensei altogether - there will be no perfectly good ending.
Most of the girls are using Akira as a proxy for something missing in their life. Their happy ending would be them either getting it back, or realizing there are healthier ways to live without them.
He is also really passionate about the story. I don't think he'll ruin it just to spite people.
I wish I could agree with your optimism, but I just don't see it. I do hope for some kind of light at the end of the tunnel, but the overarching plot, setting, and information about wtf is wrong with Sensei are just being so slowly drip-fed that I'm struggling to understand what exactly the main focus of the game is.
Imo, this world is weird enough to give all girls happy ending with Sensei without sharing. Yes, it would be a paradox, but when nothing is real anything is possible.
I think the main focus is the characters. The story is less about what happens, and more about how characters react to it, how it changes them and how we perceive them. Take Sara's bar for example, some of us expected the story to be an adventure where we fight to make her bar do better, but it just became better out of nowhere. That is because Sara's bar is just a plot device to make us learn more about Sara as a person. Or the Yumi Revitalization Project, maybe Yumi won't get a job by the end of the game, but the important part is we get to learn more about why Yumi is the way she is, and how she will grow as a person.
Please no. The relationship that Sensei has with these girls is incredibly toxic and unless he seriously improves himself I wouldn't consider an ending with Sensei "happy".
I think most of the girls could conceivably grow enough to move on from their problems without needing Sensei as a crutch. The only ones who couldn't are Ami and Maya. Ami would snap like a twig if she lost one more family member, and her Real and Psycho selves are so hard to separate that I'm not sure how capable of growth she is. Maya has been dedicated to Akira for so long, and to the real Akira and not some idealized projection, that I'm not sure what she could even be if he wasn't in her life.
I would be disapointed if he wouldn't seriously imporve himself untilthe game ends. His constant improvement is one of the reasons I really like this game.
Honestly, I think the main reason that the girls don't really age, and why Maya doesn't really age, is because of Sensei.
That monster seems to be "The old one" that Sensei summoned when we invited Noriko over:
I'll join you, it was pretty straightforward. Yumi is growing as a character and we have been assured that Io was rather traumatized then born broken. Also Yuki now has more visitors, hooray.
