Ethical Inquiry under the Pure Sky: The Narrative Ethics and Intergenerational Trauma in “Yosuga no Sora”

Abstract

Yosuga no Sora (Sphere, 2008), a visual novel long stigmatized for its depiction of a taboo sibling romance, has suffered from persistent reductive labeling that obscures its deeper narrative ambitions. Drawing on the original game as its primary text, this article reexamines the work's multi-route narrative structure from the perspective of narrative ethics. The analysis proceeds through each major route: the forced precocity and displacement of adult fault onto children in Akira's route; the trap of self-sacrifice in Kazuha's route; the dialectic of transgression, guilt, and forgiveness in Nao's route; the tension between taboo choice and individual awakening in Sora's route; and the spectrum of ethical stances embodied by the bystander characters. This article argues that the work's multiple routes collectively compose a comprehensive portrait of how intergenerational trauma shapes the emotional patterns and behavioral logic of a younger generation. The work's proposition to "embrace everything" (subete wo tsutsumikomi) is not a declaration of moral relativism, but rather a narrative invitation to remain open to the complexity of human nature.