Hope you don't mind me replying to an old post, but I wanted to continue the "which route has the best storytelling" discussion. I recently re-read all the routes of this game, after previously doing it about two years ago. I found your post by searching for people posting their experiences because I was curious to compare to myself. We seem pretty alike in opinions on characters and routes based on what you've posted.

Anyways, to the point. The impression I got of the other routes this time around are pretty much the same as the first time. A bit foreshadowing and references to other parts being noticed here and there added slightly to the experience, while not being surprised by plot twists took away from it slightly. But overall the impression I got the first time stood.

But not for Lilly's route. Lilly's ending did not give nearly the same impression knowing the outcome. It just seemed like it was trying to hard, and the numerous plot twists made it seem silly. Pretty much everything from the point where Hisao confronts Lilly about what he found out from Akira and onwards seems that way. So that kind of sucked.

But, there was also another major change in my impression of the route. When the three of them went to the summer house, since I knew the plot, I realized that Lilly already knows about going back to Scotland at this point. It made everything that followed from there up until Akira clues Hisao in take on a whole different meaning. You can tell that the writer has this in mind too, due to the way Lilly hesitates about speaking about certain things, etc.

She knew during the whole "I love you promise you'll never leave" wheat-field scene and the other scenes at the summer house. She knew at the train ride home where she makes plans with Hisao to spend the summer holidays together. She knew during the fancy dinner date. She knew for the entire course of their relationship that it was time-limited, and she just kept on pretending. With this knowledge everything she says and does gives a completly different impression from what it did the first time. This part of the storyline seems far more interesting the second time around with this added dimension, it's not just happy-times it seemed to be the first time.

(It's also pretty obvious that both Akira and Shizune knows and realizes that Lilly is hiding this from Hisao based on their reactions when they find out about the relationship, which is kind of interesting as well, but in the end doesn't matter that much)

So with the ending far less impactful the second time around, but the middle part more more so in exchange, I'm just not sure how to rank Lilly's route storytelling-wise anymore.