I really appreciate all the layers to this and how tightly woven they are—the rhythm of each scene and how it fed into the next one was such important glue to keep a pretty dense work altogether. On a personal level I have been really interested in what happens to the personhood of celebrities and public figures for a long time, so I nearly jumped for joy when I realized what this was about haha. I would really recommend Stanley Kwan’s movie Center Stage (if you’re not already familiar), I think there’s a lot there you’d enjoy.
Anyways, this is one of the best visual novels I have played… it was such a treat from beginning to end, and really really inspiring. I loved how you used every part of the form in a rigorous and thoughtful way while keeping an eye for overall coherence. Something about the emotion I’d be sitting with when the scene changed was particularly effective, you really know how to build on a narrative/emotional beat and cut it at just the right moment. The most memorable example of that for me was the build towards the pub bathroom scene, the execution of it, and then the transition out of it. That image of Queen Elizabeth was darkly hilarious, and a perfect synecdoche (is that the right word? ack) for this girl, the perfect manifestation of what is chasing the protag down. The depossession of self that happens with celebrities but also hyper-visible + “normal” individuals… you have explored it beautifully! Thanks so much for making and sharing, will be keeping this experience with me for a long time.