Kana: Little Sister

Written by Jason Young  on August 01, 2006

Rewind Review: Today, I saw the ocean. I'm not afraid anymore.

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Warning: this game contains scenes of strong sexual content and heavy controversial issues. Please be advised.

As a longtime gamer, I've braved through the dark eerie streets of Silent Hill, burned myself hour after hour farming for epic gear in World of Warcraft, and even experienced being an omnipotent god in Ever 17. I thought I've seen it all. However, none of these experiences prepared me for what I had to face in Kana: Little Sister: real-life problems with real-life situations.

Released in 2002 by G-Collections, Kana: Little Sister is a relatively unknown game (sold in only at a few online retailers and at anime conventions) that falls into the category of an eroge (pornographic) game due to its strong sexual content. However, go into the game thinking that Сall I want to see is some porn' and you'll be highly disappointed. While the vast majority of eroge games that we receive in the States often consist of Сhave sex with the girl over and over until I die and then possibly consider letting them know my true feelings', Kana isn't one of them. Thank god. Instead it focuses on telling the player a heart-wrenching story about a girl and her fight with chronic kidney failure. Something that many people can relate to in real-life.

The player takes on the role of her brother, Taka Todo, who would Уdo anything to save her, anything- (he'd) even love her.Ф Now before you go complaining to your local priest that a game features an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister know this: Kana's adopted. While it doesn't make the game's storyline any less unethical to our own established Puritan beliefs, it does provide a small sense of comfort to the player. In fact, the game tackles the issue of incest quiet well; with the characters often facing their own moral dilemmas and asking themselves if their relationship is appropriate in an attempt to hide their true feelings from each other.

It's this use of realism that adds to the story's emotional value. Characters are shown dealing with real human problems in real scenarios. There's no evil warlord or end of the world plot. Instead, it focuses on issues that we all have to face someday: death. No one wants Kana to die. She's one of the sweetest, gentle girls you'll ever come across in a game (or possibly reality). Yet she has to live with a disease knowing that she could possibly die at any moment. Still she wants to survive and look towards the future. As the storyline progresses, the player begins to recognize her as their own sister and fall in love her innocent look at life.

The game takes great strides in order to emphasize her dilemma through presenting her story from childhood to adulthood. After Kana was diagnosed with kidney problems as a child, she was literally forced to live bedridden in a hospital for most of her life, only able to leave the hospital on occasion. As a result, Kana's missed out on a lot of what life has to offer, from simple mundane activities that we would normally take advantage of such as going to a coffee shop, visiting the beach, or playing a video game. The game places a huge an emphasis on her innocence as she's afraid of everything, doesn't know anything of the outside world, doesn't have any friends, and ends up missing a majority of her classes; all potentially realistic outcomes for a person in her situation. Her grand goal in life: to live and go to school. How many people can honestly say that's all that they want out of life? It's not until we have to face these choices that we can give our honest answers. All Taka wants to do is protect Kana and help her live her life to the fullest, and you'll want too as well.

It's amazing really. The game is able to transverse into the minds and hearts of players through simple text, graphics, and music. There's no voice acting, flashy CG graphics, and most of the game relies on the player to imagine the events in the game. Just like a good book. In fact, if the game was translated into a novel, you can bet that it'd win a Pulitzer Prize as well as a number or other literary awards. Anyhow, with most of the action in the game being based upon your typical choose-your-own-adventure style gameplay, players will be reading about 99% of the time. With the exception of the thirty of so Сcritical points' in the game. Thankfully, the translation comes through very well, almost completely without flaw. Players will definitely want to note down that you could save anywhere at anytime. With six different endings, and only one in which she lives, you'll be using the save feature a lot.

While reading, the game runs through a series of exquisitely designed background sets and gorgeous CG images in order to enhance the reading experience. While it prevents the player from using their full imagination, it provides a place, time, and setting for the game's story. Though the backgrounds do tend to get repetitive at times. The game's CG however is another story. Kana's emotions are captured powerfully through the high-quality images and even after just one playthrough; I'm honestly getting misty-eyed just looking at the provided screenshots.

Besides the images, the beautifully composed soundtrack enhances the superb quality of the game. When you first start up the program, your ears are in for a musical feast. Every single track is gorgeous. Ranging from soft melodic tunes for romance to hard-nosed techno music as an audio motif for immediate danger, you'll be listening to the soundtrack for hours. Good thing they're all memorable tunes as that's pretty much all you'll hear, with the exception of the occasional sound effect. Normally, I wouldn't consider complete and utter silence in a game as part of the audio score for my reviews, but this is different. Silence is golden. The director uses it brilliantly in order to create a sense of shock in the player.

As an added bonus to people who purchased the game, the game's music could be played with your standard CD player. Which is a good thing as you'll begin to recall everything that happened in the story through the soundtrack alone. While the game's BGMs are well done, I have one honest problem with it (which coincidentally is my only problem with the game). The looping was done horribly. Relying on midi rather than mp3, when a track ends you'll hear the beginning over and over again with breaks in between, occasionally disrupting the flow of the game's scenes. Though even the perfect game has its flaws of course, so it can be easily overlooked. While the absence of voice acting is something that you'll notice prominently in the beginning, it actually adds to the game's atmosphere. You, the player, create the characters' voices in your head, which adds a sense of personalization to the game.

With a game that relies solely on text, pictures, and music, one has to wonder just how well paced the story is. Not only is it good, it's superb. In fact, here's a warning: DO NOT start this game past 10 PM, unless you're willing to sacrifice sleep. Once you start reading, it's almost impossible to turn off, as you'll be glued to your seat, clicking, clicking, and then clicking some more.

As I've repeatedly stated above, the game is a game about love. Though it's actually a lot more than that. It's about maturing, a coming-of-age story, and a search for meaning in life all in one. Talk about the triple whammy of emotional melodrama.

Aside from Kana and Taka however, a lot of the other characters are fleshed out as well. From the voluptuous nurse Miki to Taka's first crush, Yumi, you'll see each of the characters mature from their young adolescent days to full-grown responsible college students who are forced to cope with every day life. Quiet literally, this game has the best character development that I've seen in game and possibly film for that matter. I know that I previously stated Ever 17 as deep, but Kana takes away the crown and runs with it. Every emotion that Taka feels you'll feel it as well. You'll share in their heartaches, revel in their joy, and fall in love just like them. By the end of the game, your left staring blankly at your screen reflecting what you just witnessed with tears streaming on your face. Yes, the game is THAT good.

It shows that games can do emotion, and teach us something meaningful in the process. Can you honestly say that you're living your life to the way you want? If you knew you were going to die in less than a year, would you be content with what you've accomplished? I can't answer these questions for you, and neither can the game. Though it'll make you think about it as you crawl into the fetal position and cry yourself to sleep, which in my opinion is the game's strongest point.

I'll admit it. I was pretty biased before I purchased the game, as I knew exactly what I was getting into, so my expectations for it were extremely high. Not only did it meet them, they surpassed every presupposition that I had about the game. However, it took me about two years after purchasing it in order for me to go and install it as I knew that I wasn't mentally ready for it. Two years later, I installed it and had the experience of a lifetime.

While I can't personally tell everyone to purchase this game due to its sexual content and controversial subject, it is definitely a must-buy if you're willing to be mature and serious about its content. People who love games for their stories will experience one of the most important games to ever be released in America. It'll make you feel and want to do something good with your life. Even for a complete stranger. How many games can make you do that?

As a result of its strong storyline and character development, Kana: Little Sister has become one of the best sleeper hits in the gaming industry today. Almost every reviewer and gamer who decided to brave the melancholic nature of the game has ended up in tears in the end. Ask any gamer who's played through it. The game will have a profound effect on your life. Though, I personally don't consider this a game. To me, it's a celebration of life and a search for what it means to be alive.