'By the End of the Night' is a romantic drama, close to being a bottle episode, where the complexities of love and desire are brought head on to see how it fairs when prejudices show up right at your door. In a way, this story feels like a story about authenticity and how people can say that they appreciate it, while also shunning those who dare express it in a way they don't like. People will accept alternative lifestyles, until that alternative lifestyle is what they themselves may now be associated with. Do they grin and bear it, or do they swallow their pride so they do not have to be labelled a hypocrite?
The story starts off with couple Federico and Anna going to visit a friend, Raimondo, so they can get an exclusive tour of a villa, and potentially be granted a wish from the sprit of the villa. It's a lot of ambiance and learning about the reasons that Fede and Anna are going out, as well as the existing relationship between Fede and Raimondo, but it all becomes clear that the reason that Fede even bothered to make a big deal about this wish was because he wanted to come out to Anna as bisexual, and was hoping that Anna would not be so upset that she's break it off. Well, Fede's anxiety was justified, because Anna takes it just about as well as any 'homophobic trying to cover up that they're homophobic', and immediately resorts to insults and appeals to traditional values. Fede is distraught, and does some introspection, and realizes that she was right in that he and Raimondo had been intimate, but he'd never fully cleared the air of that awkwardness with him. Raimondo is understanding and completely forgiving, allowing Fede the grace he needs to forgive Anna as well as keep Fede as his best friend. Anna on the other hand, has a talk with God, and I think also finds out that the Lady of the Villa actually had a different lover, and was always sad that she had to have a facade, and I think she equated that with either herself (having to be with a bisexual even though it disgusted her) or Fede (being in a straight relationship despite also having gay attractions as well). That part kinda got a bit muddy for me what Anna was thinking, because she also decides to go back to Fede and tell him she loves him. And that's where it ends. Honestly... I'm not actually sure what to think of this ending. I think it's supposed to be hopeful in that Fede and Anna were able to overcome this hurdle in their relationship. Fede is able to compartmentalize his gay into a different box and repress it. Raimondo is fine being the gay best friend. Anna gets to be a... wife, potentially? It's messy and leaves a lot of unresolved thoughts and issues, which I guess didn't need to be answered? Maybe there's a lot of subtext which I'm just not media-literate enough to catch. Which is quite funny considering Fede tried very hard to be clear about explaining his feelings to Raimondo. I guess this makes this kind of story 'mature' and 'adult'? Maybe it's pointing out the hypocrisy of folks who put on an air of being an 'adult', yet still acting as if they've been children this whole time? The childish acting character is actually emotionally mature, while the adult acting ones are emotionally immature, kind of way. I feel like I'm really reaching for that kind of explanation and twisting the narrative to make sense in that case. There's not always a clean ending with a satisfying resolution, you just kind of... have to deal with it?
The presentation is amazing, the artwork and character designs are charming and super expressive. I got what the vibe was going for when it came to using all the photos for the villa, so that didn't bother me. I think the lack of any music ended up being coming much more noticeable when there were all the extra sound effects happening. Maybe adding some music, especially during flashbacks, would help to delineate those sections more. The writing was alright, and I appreciated the changes in the text box for when the POV changed between Fede and Anna, though I thought it was odd to give Anna a full schizophrenic moment when she was talking with the art sculpture (maybe playing for laughs?). I did think each character had a distinct enough voice, and were fairly consistent throughout the story.
The folklore aspect was cute, and I guess made for a really nice backdrop to shadow the main relationship drama. Though, with this being a more soap-opera type of plot, and being far more grounded in reality than what was let on, I guess I'm more annoyed with the promo material and descriptions leading me to believe this would be more supernatural in nature. I can only guess that with the three people there, and all three made a wish, but only one of them stayed in the villa till midnight, Raimondo, then that would mean that the wish Raimondo had was that Fede and Anna would be happy together, and that's why it seemed to just wrap up the way it did in the end? Though, then I feel like I'm the one who's imposing my thoughts into the story, and I know that I have had a bad track record of understanding some of these plots.
Overall, it's a surprising collaboration between joelurker and loudo, with sikyu giving some amazing CGs and sprites to a story that ends up feeling carried by it. The strengths I think in the writing are very much the micro-interactions. Those little character conversations between Fede and Anna, and Fede and Raimondo, that feel really authentic and genuine. The way characters have a difference in the way the say things, but really there's an underlying thing that they are saying. A particular way of choosing words, not lying, but also not being fully transparent. The little character moments as they interact with the house. But, I think the story seems to struggle in what message it's trying to convey, if it has a message it's trying to convey at all. Maybe it's just the straights melodrama of it all.