I really enjoyed the Box of Calamity route. It's my favorite route so far even if it was still bad in execution. I like the narratives about nature and survival, and logic versus faith. My favorite endings from it are 038 and 035.

Ending 036 is the branch where faith was given more credence, and Gaku and Takumi devoted themselves to rituals hoping to appease Eva and ward off evil spirits. It was boring and dragged on hard, but it was nice to spend time with Gaku for a bit. This being the route where faith wins is kind of a let down since I like the idea so much but the route itself was just okay—less than, even.

I think Nozomi killed off Yugamu first because he could have easily seen through the mystery. Notably Yugamu doesn't believe in ghosts and superstitions, and he knows a lot about biology. I think he would have found out about the G'ie early on.

One interaction I found very interesting was between Gaku and Yugamu. Before Yugamu's death, Gaku reported seeing two creatures which he believes are manifestations of Eva's curse. Being a firm non-believer of the supernatural, Yugamu concludes these ghosts must be mere manifestations of his friends' guilty conscience. In other words it's all in their heads. This is his reason to believe that the so-called visitors Gaku witnessed were in fact outsiders invading the school, since had it really been a "ghost", Gaku would have seen Eva instead. It would make sense that an assassin like Yugamu would fare well in these situations and perhaps Nozomi caught onto to this, decided to nip it in the bud to make things easier for the G'ie.

I'm not going to write about this comprehensibly. My idea for an additional branch in the BoC route leans into the faith versus logic theme more. There would be a decision split before the first murder that would decide whether Gaku or Yugamu become the first victim. The two represented faith and logic respectively and it was a simple choice between the two. Maybe a Yugamu alive BoC route would hasten the discovery of the G'ie, or maybe there would be more deaths. Yugamu could be Takumi's buddy here, and he would convince Takumi to work with him as vigilantes. He could be possessed by G'ie, or he's just an asshole in this fan route. G'ie are pests, he says. The final mystery boils down to having to decide whether the true murderer was Yugamu or Nozomi all along. And Takumi could get killed or kill himself again too because he's cute.

Ending 038 is a really interesting interweaving of faith and logic that gives both ideas equal importance. You get it as a result of choosing to keep quite about the invader village. Eva wouldn't have hated Takumi for it. She would have understood. It's a fine choice, and I don't prefer the otherwise (039) anyway. I think it's fine to say that Takumi's delusions were a result of unresolved grief and isolation. Talk of ghosts were given a lot of stigma by the rest of the SDU, making him invalidate his own encounters with something that is definitely real to him. A good leader is logical and efficient and not an obstacle for the others. I also really liked it when his dead friends kept him company. I thought in the end that if Takumi stayed put, his dead friends would rescue him as a reward for not retaliating. It was really sad and cute.