Don't Lie

Then all he had to do was love her harder. I love Rin that much. I could've said those three words. This game didn't leave the impression on me that I would end up with an ending where the main protag can't even say those three words

All you're saying is that they had sex when they weren't even sure if they loved each other

Intimacy issues but they have sex. That's not the issue here. Hisao simply couldn't understand Rin, and so he can't fully understand what he feels for her. He couldn't possibly have imagined she would come to him, looking for sex, and that's why he messes up. Not to mention he's just a virgin.

No, Hisao did nothing. He didn't help her accomplish anything she wasn't already going to do on her own. At the very end, all that changed was that she came to an understanding that everyone else's opinions of her is second to her own opinions of herself, which she was already going to do. Hisao and Nomiya were the ones that pressured her into the exhibition. Hisao is the one that wanted her to be his girlfriend. Rin leaves the exhibition on her own. The only thing Hisao did was make her think if she did those things, maybe Hisao would become the person who could understand her. That's all she wanted. And that's why she did those things. That's why she tried to live up to those expectations, so that maybe Hisao might live up to hers. In the end, Hisao gave that up, and instead told her that it was best if she just stopped hoping someone would ever understand her.

embracing hug when she was talking about how his kindness scared her. Love doesn't always need to be said, but it needs to be shown, and he showed it time and time again.

in love with one another and knew it right down to their core, but even then it was a reprieve from the anxiety Hisao feels in romantic situations.

Like when Rin says she doesn't know much about love, but says she loves him anyway. It doesn't have the same effect as when she tells him "It's alright if it's you." It just shows that, for these two, "love" is something they just don't really know, and yet they feel love for one another. Despite it "tasting funny", they do understand that they truly love one another.

In that sense it is very strange the writer didn't have them saying it naturally, but I guess he/she just found that their love was so unique it required a different type of "confession" scene. For better or worse (half and half with me, anyway) that could be the case.

No, Hisao did nothing. He didn't help her accomplish anything she wasn't already going to do on her own. At the very end, all that changed was that she came to an understanding that everyone else's opinions of her is second to her own opinions of herself, which she was already going to do.

going to come to that on her own because she didn't want to go through with the exhibition. Nomiya kept helping her along the path he wanted for her, but even he admitted he was too soft on her. It's only because of Hisao that she decided to go through with it, a burden he carries all throughout the story until the very end when he sees himself in the art teacher and regrets helping everything to change so drastically around Rin.

it is an impossible desire for her due to her mental fog. It's clear that no one, not even Emi, is capable of understanding her wholly and fully. This is where Rin is equated to her art. Like an abstract painting, no one can understand it since it doesn't really have a set definition. It presents itself. Rin is herself, and when Hisao and Nomiya were trying to get her to be what they though she should be, they were interpreting her differently (like two people interpreting a piece of abstract art).

However, the whole point was that she doesn't need to find someone who can understand her soul but rather someone who can accept and adore her for who she is, which Hisao does. Like in abstract art, according to Rin, it doesn't need to be "understood". It just needs to be experienced. It shouldn't have a name and doesn't need a theme. Whatever you see, that's what it is.
_Some see Rin as a slacker, others see her as someone who needs to be doted on constantly. Others just get uncomfortable around her because of how confusing she can be. Hisao, finally understanding he may never be able to fully "understand" her, is the only one who sees her for who she is: a beautiful enigma and a truly free spirit.
She never needed someone to understand her, just someone to be there for her and love her, and Hisao is exactly that. He's there for her "in the rain".

I'm just saying that Hisao isn't a bad lover for Rin and that Rin doesn't need an individual that can understand her like a book.

He can hug and kiss her all he wants. At the end of the day, that doesn't make her smile.

His own feelings for her are alien to him? Then that's exactly what I'm talking about. When Rin shows signs of affection, that's her trying to reach out. That's her trying to be *your* girlfriend. That's her trying to live up to your expectations, in the hopes that you might live up to hers. When she has sex with you, she doesn't smile. She smiles at the ending scene. But she doesn't smile when you two have sex. Hisao might love her; he might hold and kiss her, but that doesn't make her smile.

Not wanting to go through with *Nomiya's* exhibition, is her deciding that she wants to live for herself. She was coming to that by herself already, if not already having grasped it. Right from the beginning, it's clear she lives at her own pace. What changed when Hisao came along was he opened up an opportunity that could've led to someone understanding her. And Hisao gave that up.

Impossible? If there's a fog, then I'll be the lighthouse. And didn't you hear what she said when she said that she wished someone would understand her? She said, "Maybe then, I wouldn't feel so alone." This is made all the clearer and all the more painful in her bad end. She decides to not only give up on anyone else ever understanding her, she decides to give up on herself as well. I was screaming at Hisao to just tell her that it's not her fault, and that you know how she's clumsy with words and how she's unsure of who she is. But you love her anyway, because you know deep down, she's definitely not a bad person. And then I would've taken her hand, or what's left of her arm, or her sleeve, or her shoulder, or whatever, and tell her I'd walk with her every step of the way. This would've made her smile, even just a little bit. I just know it.

No matter what you do, you don't make Rin smile. She smiles on her own, when she is able to connect with herself, when she learns a part of herself that she likes and accepts. Hisao still doesn't even know what she likes, or dislikes, and yet he wants to love her? All you do is make her cry, Hisao.