Part 55: Conclusion.

So, there are four endings in Glass Rose, and three factors that decide which ending you get.

One of the deciding factors in the ending you get is whether you ask Kazuya about Love or Madness; asking about Love, regardless of your previous actions, will always result in Kazuya killing Takashi.

Another factor in the ending you get is the final suspence event on the balcony:



Picking "Do Nothing", or "Counterattack" (as we did) results in Takashi freezing just as Kazuya is about to stab him, only to later realise that he is alone on the balcony - the first sign of Takashi's own impending insanity.

If we had selected "Dodge Quickly", we would have gotten another scene:

Evasion.

The third factor in the ending is the number of heart fragments you collect during the game. If you don't pick up enough fragments, you get this ending:

Alone.

Picking up enough fragments, choosing "Dodge Quickly" and asking Kazuya about Madness gets you the best ending:

Reunited.

Still not the happiest ending; Takashi and Emi might get back to their own time, but:

Ihara never got revenge for his wife.

Kikuyo is living in the past, and has only just started to realise what that has cost her.

Matsunosuke is basically homeless.

New World Cinema is more or less dead, which means that Kaidou, Mizuho and Kiyohiko may soon be left without any means of income.

Youko and Hideya have to live with the knowledge that Hideo is a murderer.

Mizuho has to live knowing that her idol was a blackmailer.

Takashi may have escaped the butterfly curse for now, but as we know from Denemon, the butterfly can appear in adulthood, and even if Takashi has managed to completely evade the curse, what of any children he may have in the future?

Katagiri... there are two things worth noting when Emi first meets Takashi; firstly that the Cinema Mansion murders remain unsolved in 2003, and secondly, Emi inherited the notebook (the notebook that Takashi writes all his notes in) from Katagiri when Katagiri died. While Katagiri never worked out whom exactly Takashi was, there was enough in the notebook for Katagiri to realise Takashi had travelled in time. In order to preserve the future, and Emi's very existence, Katagiri was forced to hide the truth of the Cinema Mansion murders, and live out the rest of his days, always knowing that there was a possibility that Ayako could be saved, but at a cost he would not pay.

And with that, the LP is complete! Thanks to everyone who read it, especially those that have stuck with this LP since the beginning.