Rewrite - Konohana Lucia Route and Character Discussion

[Pepe]

Discussion topic for the Lucia Route of one of Key’s renowned works, Rewrite! As you may or may not know, Lucia’s route was written by Ryukishi07 himself, and I believe it is deserving of a discussion topic on this forum as much as any of his other works. Please make sure to tag any information from other routes of Rewrite (especially the Terra route) in [spoiler] tags, as well as information from any other series. What did you all think of this route?

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To be honest, I personally found Lucia’s route to be my favorite character route in Rewrite. The mystery portion at the beginning was pretty well-crafted, and definitely kept me at the edge of my seat. This route also shows that Ryukishi07 knows how to write a romance really well, because those date scenes were just simply to die for~ >3<

However, I would like to point out one thing that I feel very differently about as compared to other people: the final few minutes (hours?) of the VN, where Kotarou is chasing Lucia, trying to figure out what he needs to do in order to quell Lucia’s madness. A large number of people found it to be too dragged out, and thought Kotarou was being too much of an idiot to realize that all he needs to do is scream “I love you and need you despite your misgivings!”.

But I personally thought this dragging out was a big part of the immersive experience that was provided in the route. Having Kotarou worry that much and that long about it made me, as a reader, worry as well. It made me think and feel like Kotarou, trying to come to terms with what it really means to be in love with somebody. And when everything came crumbling down, it made everything worth it; the final and sudden achievement of what everyone was hoping to happen brought me to tears.

I also think that this sort of writing is very indicative of Ryukishi07’s work, especially with Higurashi. He likes to overly describe the things happening to Keiichi, to the point that the reader has no choice but to feel as if he is in Keiichi’s shoes. While everything is happening, you feel this genuine sense of fear because of the lengthy and repetitive nature of his description of the events that unfold.

As such, I think that Lucia’s route is a work in the classic style of Ryukishi07, and was pretty happy to see him branching off into series other than his own

[EisenKoubu]

Rewrite is a VN I praise for how immersive and diverse it is. Every aspect of it, good and bad, feels fresh and imaginative. Lucia was certainly no exception, and this was certainly a good opportunity for Ryukishi to flex his writing talent for a company that inspired many of his own VNs. It seemed like a match made in heaven…

I’m going to quote and paraphrase a little of my own review on Kaza, but there’s a bit of personal theory I want to add in addition to that.

Lucia is a Type A hardcore tsundere, since she gets angry at and beats up Kotarou at the slightest offense. Her rigidness, strictness and physical strength are perfect for her character. In addition, it establishes the fact that she’s always been strict on herself as well as others. We see very early on the path to her route that much of her anger stems from the fact that she can’t experience the joys of interacting with the world around her. She alienates herself because of her abilities, and deliberately pushes people away who don’t have any sort of business with her. To counterbalance this, she takes on tasks and responsibilities that would otherwise mask her anti-social mannerisms. She’s a very complex character, and it’s such a shame that her route isn’t deserving of that complexity.

The first half is actually pretty well done. From the moment the route starts, we see Ryukishi use the setting to his advantage, setting up a creepy murder mystery that seems to go all sorts of places. It’s exciting to see Kotarou struggle to solve the mystery of Haruka Asahi, and the huge reveal near the midpoint of the route is brilliantly handled. We then see the most practical use of the Rewrite power followed by one of the best scenes in the whole VN: the date scene.

The second half of the route doesn’t fare nearly as well. While Ryukishi tried his best to extend the story beyond the first half and make it worthwhile, the main conflict of the route feels completely recycled. Not to mention the resolution makes no sense whatsoever. Neither element felt earned and the most of the surrounding plot felt silly and pretentious, but it managed to end on an okay note.

However, I do find something redeemable about the second half. Ryukishi introduces an idea midway through the second half that, while executed poorly, made me think exactly how deep Lucia’s character really is. Throughout the route, Lucia is portrayed as a relatively normal yet subtly intelligent student who takes practical action. Her attempts to divert Kotarou from discovering her secret is a very flawed, human reaction. I don’t think anyone wants their darkest secrets to be discovered, especially if that secret is lethal to her closest friends. She and Kotarou develop a bond forged by plot armor and their interactions with one another, leading up to the date scene. It feels realistic and believable, and displays the naive chemistry between them perfectly.

Then crap hits the fan. Lucia is manipulated into thinking that Kotarou only pursued her out of sympathy and not because he was willing to help her fit in with the rest of humanity. Feeling betrayed, she returns to her mental comfort zone, acting cold against him and the people she once called friends (which leads to a fairly good fight scene). What does this entail, exactly? Think about it. Ryukishi isn’t known for writing romance (even though he has demonstrated that he indeed can write romance). By the end of any given story he writes, one side’s perception of the other is manipulated to the point where they are convinced of the other side’s betrayal.

In short, Lucia was intended to represent the realistic (not ideal) girlfriend, and the route explores the consequences and responsibilities that come with being in a relationship. This is a topic rarely discussed in visual novels, and thinking about it now it’s one of the biggest reasons why Rewrite is so unique among its peers. If the execution was a little better during the second half, by clarifying exactly how Lucia and Kotarou developed friction in their relationship and how it could be solved, it could have been something even greater than the sum of its parts.

Lucia’s route isn’t my favorite route in Rewrite, but I respect it a lot more than I did back when I first read Rewrite. With future rereads, perhaps I can come to appreciate this route even more than I did before.

[Aspirety]

I’ll be closing this topic now. In order to avoid overlap between our two communities, please visit Kazamatsuri for all rewrite discussion!