(contains spoilers)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ <- worm baracade
This VN tackles such current topics regarding fandom, art, and sex in such a human way. The dark comedy mixed with deeply personal and compelling moments of reflection from the characters made the story feel, just so fresh and personal. I really love how you weren't afraid to namedrop specific media, specifically ones that are so prevalent in spaces like the ones you're commenting on (like, sunny making anita do a "she-ra marathon" after weeks of coercing her and keeping her in an abusive household is so insanely funny and dark to me, incredible stuff)...I like that the characters felt strange and wrong and horrible and human. The art direction is lovely...I'm a big ryukishi fan, so I always love seeing photo-bashed/edited photography mixed with illustration, especially in visual novels. I like the limited use of music and reliance on sound effects. I like how much we see of Anita's face and body and emotions and we only really see what sunny "wants" us to see. I love the surreal, abstract, and dreamlike depiction of rape (kind of reminded me of Rosemary's baby, actually!) Not sure if this will make sense, but the entire art/sound direction INSTANTLY feels...musty? Like, you can tell we are in this horrible claustrophobic nightmare living situation in which sunny never brushes her teeth and probably doesnt clean either...I love the build up of realizing that sunny IS bluet, and that, maybe anita knew this all along. I love how you can tell anita is kind of denying this throughout the entire thing, and then at the end coming to terms with her grooming. And of course, the tackling of "discourse," specifically about sex, violence, and fandom culture online, especially within adults who refuse to engage with adult media, is so fascinating and empathetic. The dichotomy of an abuser with an obsession with a "correct" way to consume and produce art and how her abuse pushes her victim to create more art that she is "upset" with is just so intelligent and real.
with every reveal, i turned away and grimaced and went "OUUGHHH" in horror of realizing what was about to occur...
(also, i just realized. anita's text message color is yellow and sunny's is blue (when we see them in the flashback). but when we meet anita, after she's already been groomed by sunny, she is a lime green, like her yellow color has been infected with sunny's blue........uwaaa...)
I kind of want to write a whole essay about this beautiful story...such well done horror...oughhh thank you for making it..!!