Behind The Scenes Devlog #2!

Hey gamers!  Borealis here!

Here's episode two of my exclusive behind the scenes devlogs!  This time, we're heading into 2018, where some real progression is made!  Enjoy~

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2018

2017 went by pretty quickly, with lots going on in my day-to-day life, including band work and relationships, but by the following year, things had calmed down considerably, and I found myself reading back over the document I’d made, wondering if it would be possible to actually scrape together a real, cohesive plan based on anything in it.  I suppose I thought long and hard about what I’d like to achieve by making a visual novel, other than the game itself, of course – what messages would I like to convey to the player?  What societal issues would I like to highlight, and what would I want to say about them?  This is when the story truly began to take form, spurred into being through the creation of the game’s fearful protagonist, Akane Kakeru.

I knew I wanted music to feature heavily in the story, but the more I tried to write Kakeru as a character, the more I realised that something else needed to be the main focus.   I felt pulled to give Kakeru a painfully shy disposition, along with anxiety issues that dominated his everyday life and choices.  The reason for this was mainly because I believed – and still do – that anxiety in men, and just emotional things in general when it comes to men, are severely ignored, glossed over or laughed at.

Everyone knows the phrase – “just man up”.  ‘Manning up’ is what causes so many men to buckle under pressure, or become warped versions of themselves, because society expects them to be unfeeling robots, women the only ones allowed to cry or have a heart.  I’ve never struggled from anxiety myself, but I’ve had family members and partners that have, and while mental health issues are difficult for everyone, I especially felt sorry for men, because they continually suffer out of an obligation to be ‘tough’, something women generally don’t in societal norms.  This is the issue I wanted to bring to light with Kakeru, and so, I began to centre Venus: Improbable Dream’s story around a boy whose journey was about the struggle to love himself and come out of his shell as he battled anxiety and the fear of being judged by other people.

Once this was in place, I had to figure out a reason for Kakeru and Haruka to come together and feel comfortable in each other’s company – what would make their relationship special?  The first puzzle piece that fell into place was the reason behind Kakeru’s anxiety.  For whatever reason, I wanted it to be something tangible that caused him to feel different from everybody else, and therefore scared of being pointed out.  I wasn’t sure what this would be to begin with, but after a while, I felt most comfortable with the idea that it would be some sort of physical feature, a birthmark or something similar.  I ended up researching various common and uncommon birth defects and other physical phenomenon, and after wading through the more drastic ones, I found myself reading about hemangiomas.  I’d never even heard the word before, but after learning what they were and what some of them can look like, I felt like this was the right thing for Kakeru to have.  Unfortunately, people are quick to notice – and often bully someone for – physical anomalies, so I figured that a severe facial hemangioma was what would cause Kakeru’s insecurity and anxiety.

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That's all for this episode, but tune in again on Friday to find out the big moment in Haruka's development, and what I realised would have to happen for her and Kakeru to form a bond!  Keep an eye on the Venus: Improbable Dream Twitter in the meantime for extra content too!

Borealis