itch.io

My heart broke within just like,, 20 mins of playing this omg,, xcjsdnfckjdfcd I thought by "loved one hurts you" it was meant there would be arguements or disagreements from misunderstandings or a lack of communication, but instead this managed to be even more relatable but in like, a somewhat terrifying way bc of how real it is hdskfcs

Anyways,,, Stunning work as alway, Zephyo, keep it up!! Your work is always such a huge inspiration to me and I can't wait to see what you come up with next!! Hope you're staying safe out there-

the free trial is up on her website!! and from my understanding, if you want the full game you have to buy it and it'll come in the mail...?? okay im not sure on that, but i know when she was tabling at events you could buy the game there in person so im thinking maybe it was a disk or something. but knowing me, im probably wrong-

hmnn it could be like that? I know in Japanes culture this type of weird romance relation tends to be more... digestable, mainly in fiction/media.

[ SPOILERS ]

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from how i see it, aoi genuinely loved sakura, but the emotional damage he got from his situation with the bullying and his father at the time was too much for him-- hence the letter and suicide. as a ghost, i think he still hcared for sakura, but the majority of his feelings were suppressed from trauma. one may even argue that his affections for sakura to begin with were the result of sakura being the sole person in his life aoi could rely on for emotional support, but i dont know if i wanna go on that tangent rn lmao.

in any case, kokoroten was going for a feeling of "these two were bound by fate" with aoi and hinata's meeting. in the VN at least i'd say that hinata is the canon interest. to begin with (i was reading up on some of their blog posts and tweets), the game's primary focus is on the development of each of its 4 main characters and how they deal/cope with their past regrets. romance, while apparent, can easily be passed off as bad coping mechanisms and unhealthy attatchments depending on the route ending you play. i believe the reason hinata is the 'true end' is because his status as someone with ties to aoi's past; in fact, the gap in treatment he received from kanata as opposed to how aoi was treated makes him the perfect juxtapostition of aoi. while aoi had romantic interests in akane, sakura's personality and how he grew up may not have made the 'perfect storm' for aoi to finally be forced to deal with the truth of his life and death. if hinata hadn't showed up at the school looking for akane and the lemures blue to begin with, i feel as though not a single thing would have changed. 

so TLDR; i think hinata is the true end because the circumstances revolving him and aoi force aoi to face his past and learn about that Sweet Family History(tm) and finally pass on

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and yeah!! i just recently downloaded the free trial for World Downfall Our Imaginary! Vampel (if i have the title right), which kokoroten did the art for, is also available to play online for free- in Japanense, of course

if you go on the extras from the main screen, sakura should be able to give you a hint on what to do

have you tried that or nah? :0

aaA tbh I was kinda confused about that too?? tbh i'm an avid stalker of kokoroten's work and i actually bought the japanese novel for this and am slowly working my way through it as well- but from what i can see from the art she draws of aoi and sakura as well as a few pages towards the end of the novel, they did indeed like each other and are the 'real ship??' like.

 //novel spoilers// 

you know that tree sleeping scene at the end of the game? in the novel, it was sakura instead if i'm reading this right

but that still leaves me pretty damn confused on where hinata and aoi stand with each other, esp with the while incest-y thing since they clearly see the other as VERY important in all forms of media, but... sighs