thank you for playing!
and, no — that's absolutely a normal reaction to have to the earlier parts LOL... i def got a few cackles out of the game from other people but i guess it makes the later stuff all the more upsetting ;_;
the flashbanging was 100% intentional on my part. there's a nasu interview i think about where he says (about Mawaru Penguindrum and its subject matter):
When I learned that Ikuhara-san himself strongly felt “There’s no point if we don’t do it before the memory fades. The scars have to remain as scars,” I had to concede defeat twice over.
so that's why i kept the direct references in versus using substitutes (like i normally would.)