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Update:

I've gotten through Arc 2 and 3.

and I am happy to say that my enjoyment of the game has continued.

Honestly I'm probably going to start rambling now so...

Spoilers for Arc 2 and Arc 3

Also Madoka Magica, Spoilers for that too.

Spoilers for Xenoblade 3 as well god damn, like pretty big spoilers I am so sorry Carrot Patch, probably skip the middle of Gidget's section.

This is going to be hard to keep all my thoughts in order without any notes.

Comedic laughter over horror scenes:

compared to Arc 1, I think I might have laughed less, though there was still scenes where I chuckled a bit, and thinking about some scenes now makes me think up something funny for it, such as Orlam getting fucking strangled by Bucks. Now that was funny. Also scenes where Gidget goes insane, such as the Our world segment was fun. 

Another aspect that I should talk about and for some reason I didn't last time are the characters.

I guess one aspect that might change the way I view the characters is how I'm playing the game, and that's mainly because I'm voicing all the dialogue out loud, giving each character a unique voice (Or at least try my best. I may have practice, but I'm not a professional at all). 

to start off:

Iggy is an interesting protagonist to play as, as well as to voice. This is my first time playing a horror VN, and also the first time I've voiced a horror VN, let alone a regular one (unless doing the social links in persona count). It's interesting to play a protagonist that is more... Timid I guess.  Most protagonist's that I've played are usually confident and energetic, or more serious. Honestly a lot of enjoyment for Iggy was acting out the horror scenes. I found none of the scenes really that scary or disturbing, since I've basically been desensitized from media when I was younger (I watched Madoka Magica as a preteen, that shit fucks you up for days), but I found a real thrill in having to get into the character of Iggy in these situations, to give the appropriate amount of panic or fear or pain. It's an interesting experience to get into the character and try your best to give off an incredibly pained voice as Iggy is being electrocuted by  the cattle prod, or screaming as Iggy slams the axe into Bucks after she kills Genzou at the end of arc 2. Quieting my voice as I read the scenes as Iggy describes something horrific happening was so interesting. One thing I found was pretty relateable was his anxiety. Honestly, it feels really cathartic to pour out some of my own anxiety as I voice Iggy's anxiety, such as during the Kiddie Kruise. I can't say I understand Iggy's perspective as Asexual, since I'm Bisexual, but one aspect that hit me personally, though not as hard as another character, had to be the ends of Arc 1 and 3. His wish of never existing at the end of Arc 1 was something I was not expecting. Made me want to punch him in the face for ever wishing for something like that. Even if he thought he was to blame for the suffering of his friends, he shouldn't have ever wished to never exist. honestly that's probably because for a time... I wasn't in the healthiest place for a few years when I was a teen. I never thought back then I would be alive to be this age now. I guess for me, it reminded me of my own journey, and seeing Iggy doing what I saw as suicide made me want to punch him in the face I guess. The ending of Arc 3 also hit me pretty hard for similar reasons.

Genzou is up next, and oh boy do I love him. If there was a ranking of all the characters in this game, I would put him at number one. I guess personally for me I like characters who sass or lighten the mood, not that I was really needing any mood lightening when I was having a good time in general. His voice was interesting, because I basically gave him a lower, slightly raspy voice for his snarky dialogue. This gave a bit of an interesting challenge when it came to more emotional scenes, and it was interesting taking this voice into more emotional territory, such as when Genzou is begging Orlam that he'll do anything that Orlam orders to stop torturing Iggy. I personally love his Arc, and just having all these scenes where Genzou and Iggy got to be vulnerable, and it was kinda sad seeing Genzou die trying his best to protect Iggy from Bucks. Honestly that scene is really Iconic, you did a great job. Those damn flashbacks to all the personal bonding moments between Iggy and Genzou throughout the arc after Iggy watches Genzou die in front of him, and then him snapping, knocking the axe out of Bucks' hand, grabbing it and chopping her to death, over and over, letting his rage out at the person who killed the one closest to him. God him chopping into Bucks with the axe repeatedly reminds me the hell out of the Elsa Maria fight from Madoka Magica, where Sayaka Miki bludgeons the witch to death with her sword. In both scenarios, the character has snapped, letting out all of their frustrations at the nearest enemy. For Iggy, he snaps when he sees Genzou be killed, the one person who was closest to him. For Sayaka, it's realizing the consequences of becoming a magical girl, becoming a zombie, and giving up on her hopes of being a hero.  I guess this was less about Genzou and more about the last scene in Arc 2. I do love Genzou a lot, even if he bullies the crap out of Orlam for no reason and definitely crosses some lines he probably shouldn't, such as the noose joke he pulled on Orlam right after Orlam's mom killed herself. That's kind of fucked up, but I guess I do have a bit of a double standard for Genzou. His bullying of Orlam is still not justified at all, and they should really talk it out, like please.

Going to skip Orlam for now to get to Gidget next! Genzou may be my favorite, but Gidget is a close second, and it's probably for all the wrong reasons, ooohhh boyyy.  Now you know how I mentioned that I laughed when the characters where in mortal danger, and that I was questioning my sanity. I suddenly realized something really fucked up with me during the our world scene. I... realized I was just as insane as Gidget in this scene. I was enjoying every moment of this scene, just like Gidget was enjoying watching him being tortured. Honestly a lot of the enjoyment I had from Gidget was with voicing her, especially her insanity. I used my normal higher pitch for female characters, though slightly lower in pitch then normal, but honestly getting to voice Gidget's insanity was sooo much fun to a concerning degree. It's soo interesting to read out a scene where I have to play as the helpless victim of Iggy, trapped in this situation, helpless as Gidget uses him like a toy, as well as the insane assailant of Gidget, enjoying every moment of Iggy's pain. Yeah, Gidget is my second favorite because we are both insane bitches at times and she brings me all the joy when she loses it. Should I really get a majority of my enjoyment out of character when they snap? What does that say about me? don't answer either of those questions. A part of me feels bad for her, loving someone who won't love you back in the same way, well not sexually anyways for her, and I know that feeling of pining for someone who doesn't have the same feelings back, though that was because he was straight. Honestly when Gidget shows up on screen,  I am tempted to mentally hear Entry of the Gladiators and imagine Gidget in clown make up, both because I know this is when a fun part is going to happen (Well, for me, Not so much for Iggy. more like sexual harassment for him), and also because she's pining for someone who's not interested in her sexually, and I guess it's comical to me. That's not saying that her advances aren't fucked up. Like they are really fucked up and honestly I feel like I'm being a little insensative having so much fun in a scene where Iggy is currently being tortured and potentially could get raped considering her threats of "rebuilding him from the ground up", and that "he won't be confused anymore."  I guess this rambling on about Gidget is getting really fucking long, but I wanted to mention something about that scene in Arc 3. (SPOILERS START HERE) 

When Gidget get's rejected by Iggy, and then starts screaming about how dare Iggy not love her back, that everything she did was for him and her general possessive obsession with Iggy really reminded me of N from Xenoblade 3. Oh crap probably should put a spoilers for that too. God he even screams about how everything he did was for his lover too. it's cathartic in N's case considering everything that happened in the last two to three hours of cutscenes and gameplay, but with Gidget it's both a bit creepy and sad. Seeing her scream out that she changed herself just for Iggy, believing that he would love her back in that way only to find out it wasn't true. 

(SPOILERS END HERE)

It's sad writing about that now. I really pity her, she thought that changing everything about herself to become what she thought was the ideal woman would be what was needed to woo Iggy, even though she hates it all. To put up a fake identity because that's how she thinks it's needs to be done for Iggy to fall in love. It doesn't justify any of her actions, and Iggy has every right to refuse, but I still feel pity for her. If I could, I would probably run up to her and hug her for a long time, and try my best to help her become who she really wants to be, rather then the disguise she puts up. Maybe it's just because I know what it feels to be cared for by understanding people, and I wish to be able to bring that hope to others like they did to me. I haven't gotten to Arc 4 and 5 yet, but I have a feeling that it'll tackle with Gidget's identity. whatever happens in those arcs, I hope Gidget get's to be who she really wants to be, rather then what she thinks she needs to be. Overall: I love her, she's a close second behind Genzou, and we are both in the crazy bitch club. I would make a connection between Gidget and another character but that would be major spoilers for an over 100 hour JRPG and I don't want to just have a giant collection of spoiler tags for other unrelated games, I've already referenced two games already.

Now it's finally time to talk about... ugh, Orlam. Okay I don't hate Orlam, well not now anyways. I consider him my least favorite character, and that's because I find his general appearance weird, and he is just all sorts of gross. Also he hurt Genzou, so that's a lot of points docked there for touching my best boy like that. For his voice, I used a more nasally voice because I thought he looked gross, and it fits pretty well, at least in my opinion for the greasy rat. He was the character that least interested me. He gave me the first impressions of a weirdo, and the scenes where he's having the time of his life doing some real messed up stuff, or is basically losing it are fun to voice, but not as interesting or fun as the rest of the cast. Honestly I am the most happy when he's dies, especially in act 3, since... you know what he did. Just watching him be strangled to death by Bucks is satisfying, and also a bit funny. can't help imagine the scene in the original Avengers where Loki getting smashed around by the Hulk, except it's Bucks smashing Orlam around while Iggy looks in terror. What changed my opinion of him from, He should be burned at the stake for daring to hurt Genzou you bastard, to, I want to kick the shit out of you, then get you some much needed help, was Arc 3. probably should have read the warnings more carefully, since it tackles the subjects of suicide. Playing through Arc 3 made me see Orlam through a different lens. It was like looking at a darkened mirror, or like facing your shadow in persona 4. the scene in the beginning of the arc where Iggy learns that Orlam tried to commit suicide by drinking bleach. It was like being hit with my darkest memories in the face. I... I thought about doing that... I was talked out of it because I had a good support system, but... looking at Orlam reminded me of my darkest moments. Me and Orlam are different people. But... we both thought we were alone. For me, I had people who was there to show me that I wasn't, that I was cared for... But Orlam... considering all the abuse he went through with Genzou, his dad, his mom committing suicide... When I look at him, I feel like I'm staring at a version of myself that never had those people who were there to help me. Seeing him just actively make me want to kick his shit in, because it reminds me of all the bad places I was in back then... but I also empathize with him because I know what it's like to want to end your life and feel like no one loved you.

Wow... That got more personal then expected. I guess to wrap it up, I really enjoy this game, and I'm excited to continue on to the final two arcs. I've played some of the side games as well and they are of great quality too. Keep up the good work, and OMG I AM SO EXCITED FOR OUR CINDERELLA!!!!!!!!