Bae in Review: Satoru, Bad Apple Wars

[not_krys]

This kid…

He turned out better than I thought he would. I was genuinely invested in his story and despite a few hiccups here and there, it was a pretty solid route. Rinka was also a little more tolerable this route, as the ‘Empy Inside’ is less prominently mentioned.

Still, now that I've completed all of the routes, I've gotten the distinct impression that the Good Apples side has the more compelling and interesting characters, which is a shame because all of the routes should be compelling and interesting.

It just... kinda fell short.

More in-depth thoughts and spoilers right below the cut.

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Satoru plays on the trope of the overly zealous student, always having his nose stuck in his books, always studying no matter what time of day it was, trading a social life for more study time, the kind you wonder if they are getting enough sleep or eating properly they are that obsessed with studying and bettering their brains.

Unfortunately, his obsession is what caused his ultimate downfall.

Because of his obsessive studying, he overworked himself to the point of over-exhaustion until his body couldn’t take it anymore and just gave out. It’s kind of sad because once he arrives at NEVAEH Academy, he’s still in his study mode. The fact that he is (possibly) dead not registering until halfway through the route, not even noticing the oddities of the teachers until that very moment. (Mr Bucket Head is probably the most …normal looking of the teachers, let’s be real here).

His reason for studying, however, hits pretty close to home.

Satoru started off as a pretty normal kid. He was kind-hearted, he had some friends, liked manga and anime, was okay at school, not great, but he was happy and content with who he was. This all changed after his father’s death. His mother didn’t handle the loss very well, bringing her into a depressed state. Satoru was worried about his mother, trying everything he can in his power to help his mother to feel better. The trigger for his overly obsessive studying was a moment where he showed a perfect score test to her, something that had finally caused her to smile.

After that point, he was obsessed with getting good scores in school, to the point of giving up on his favorite pastimes, ignoring his friends at school, drinking coffee so that he could stay awake and focus longer on textbooks and study notes. His friends and teachers were concerned about this sudden change in behavior, worried that he was pushing himself too far, wanting him to pull back, slow down, and take some time for himself to relax. Satoru still ignored them, pushing himself beyond his limits, no stopping him. He was working himself sick with how hard and obsessively he was working so continually.

His body finally just couldn't handle it anymore, gave out, and he came to NEVAEH Academy.

Satoru, however, didn’t notice the change in scenery.

He just noticed his headaches and tiredness didn’t affect him anymore. Now he could study as long as he wanted without his fatigue bothering him.

There was this girl that kept bothering him, however, asking him questions, wondering what he thought of things and keeping him company as he studied. He didn’t mind having her around, just ignored her most of the time in favor of studying some more. He grew to like her, sometimes to the point where would put down his study materials to talk to her, enjoying their conversations and coming to like this girl that had intruded onto his study time.

The reality of the situation finally sinks in after he spends the day at the school festival and after Sanzu’s graduation, however. He’s been away from studying (mostly), having fun at the festival with Rinka, getting invested in Enishi’s historical play and Naraka’s fashion show, sharing chocolate bananas with Rinka, and having his heart touched by Sanzu’s music. It was well and good until Sanzu’s final moments, where she disappears and reality finally sets in.

Satoru finally figures out that he, and everyone around him, is dead (...probably. I've already finished the game and I'm still not completely sure).

This is the part where he sinks into a deep, deep depression so bad that he gives up on studying all together, or rather gives up on everything, saying he feels tired of everything, essentially becoming a Good Apple. This breaks Rinka’s heart, watching him fall into this pit of depression and give up on everything, just wanting to pass quietly, not having to think or feel anymore.

Rinka, however, still tries to bring him back from his depression, multiple times. This results in a confrontation with White Mask. He’s finally putting his foot down about Rinka neglecting her Prefect duties (you know, like, her being a Prefect has ANYTHING to do with the plot in either of the Good Apple Routes), abandoning her post, and refusing to do her job. Rinka finally does the right thing in quitting her job (that she didn't want in the first place) and becomes a regular student. 

This, unfortunately, also means that White Mask is free to correct her for her misbehavior, something that she had been protected from as a Prefect.

This... This moment is where the salt comes in.

This moment had been promising, we had the Touch scene, seeing the concluding moments of his past, and Satoru was protecting Rinka from White Mask’s correcting. I thought it was gonna be a breakthrough for Satoru. That if he was trying to protect Rinka it meant that he had break in his depression, figuring out that, yeah life sucks majorly hard, and I’m hurting pretty bad right now, but I have something worth protecting in my arms right now and I'll be FUCKING DAMNED if something bad happened to her.

But... that's not what happened.

I call bullshit on not being able to save Satoru too and bring him back to the Bad Apples hideout. Like, major bullshit. 

I’m seriously pissed.

Was him being corrected too many times gonna be that graphic and depressing that he has to stay away from the main group while he sinks so far into his depression that he gains the mask of the Good Apples? And that Rinka has to find him in the graduation ceremony and convince him that being reborn is the more acceptable answer?

I thought he was doing good when he went out of his way to protect Rinka from White Mask. What happened? Why couldn't he join the Bad Apple Side in trying to escape the hell school, even if it could have been for Rinka's sake? Why couldn’t he have figured that out when White Mask was correcting him so many times? Maybe have the correcting not work on him anymore as he’s been subjected to it a number of times already, and that breakthrough moment of wanting to protect Rinka from being corrected is enough to jog him out of his depression, that even though he’s already dead, he didn’t want at least Rinka to suffer in her afterlife.

I’m probably gonna be salty for a while, don’t mind me.

The ending is cute, your typical meeting each other in another life sorta cliche, it’s adorable, they become boyfriend and girlfriend and live happily ever after, the end.

Everything has to end in cute for me, doesn’t it?

Still salty tho.

Some Pros and Cons
PRO: He’s one of those people that can sit with you for hours in silence and it would be a comfortable one. Great for introverts if they need a partner to recharge with after hanging out with ‘normal people.’
CON: It can seem like he’s blatantly ignoring you, sometimes on purpose.

PRO: He’s a diligent worker. You can count on him to follow through on his promises.
CON: He literally studied himself into death. To the point he was oblivious to his surroundings changing, not noticing that his fellow students eerily all look exactly the same, and that one of his teachers continually wears a bucket on his head.

PRO: He will stick to his guns, and stand up to bullies if need be.
CON: He will literally fight a guy twice his size because he accidentally took his study materials. And another guy that repeatedly hits him with his ruler sword. He’ll fight all of them, bring it!

Bae Rating: 4/10

This route didn’t bore me, nor did it throw me a curveball with its ending like with Higa’s, but I still feel it could have been a bit stronger in some areas to push it to good route territory. Also, I need to know why we couldn't save him and bring him to the Bad Apple Side. Would physically seeing him change into a Good Apple Mask student really be that traumatizing? Really?

For my previous Bae in Reviews, check out the full list here for reviews I've done for Collar x Malice and other Bad Apple Wars reviews! If anyone has any special requests for baes for me to review, the most up-to-date list of games and routes I’ve completed thus far is on my profile page.

Have a good day, lovelies, and remember to touch all the butts.