Question 1
I enjoyed working on the combat system and writing the dialogues. I really love watching the story unfold. When I write my stories, I first create characters in such a way that they drive the plot themselves. You could say that the heroes speak for themselves, and I just document it in the game. I'm not responsible for my characters — they are independent individuals who make choices not by the will of the author, but by their own will and experience.
Out of all the rivals, I love Tsubaki the most. I like Japanese culture, and I'm interested in the Sukeban phenomenon. By the way, voting is currently underway for the best rival between Amy and Hinata — I voted for Amy because I really like her too, and she was a lot of fun to work on.
Although the game's development went quite quickly, the hardest stage was after the release. I had to react quickly to bugs, add new languages, and implement features that players requested. Developing games during release and major updates takes a lot of energy and health, but I really love what I do because I believe games are very important.
Question 2
Yuki is into sports, mainly athletics and boxing. After school, she dreams of building a career in wrestling. She's actually very physically strong, but because of her rage, she becomes very vulnerable in battle — that's why she's so weak in the game and never blocks. I think after losing to Rosa, she would dedicate a lot of time to taming her anger and learning the composure that could help her in battle.
Momo is the class president, and she's also on the student council — Simon is on it too. She's very involved in school life and club schedules. She's interested in exact sciences and is focused on getting into a decent university. She also runs the photo club and keeps an eye on Simon, secretly taking pictures of him. In Arcade Mode, you can see them on the wall — and if the fight with Tsubaki happens before the fight with Momo, there will be a photo on the wall of Rosa fighting Tsubaki.
Tsubaki is the leader of a Sukeban girl gang — I think they've taken over the whole school. All she does is hang out and fight with rivals. I think Tsubaki loves loud music, partying, and the duo Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto. It's hard for me to say what her goals in life are — she lives in the moment and doesn't think about the future.
I'd say Amy is the most mysterious of all the rivals. Her father is a very strange person — he owns a beauty salon, he's a dentist, and the number of teeth Amy has is probably connected to his work and most likely isn't natural. She loves fashion and beauty — despite her appearance, she believes that style and a sense of beauty can mask her flaws. She's also the shortest of all the rivals, even though it's not noticeable in the game — but that's the idea. I'd also say she's very lonely because she just transferred to a new school and is afraid to make friends because she considers herself ugly. By the way, I have plans for an ending for her, but I don't know when I'll be able to implement it.
Question 3
Akio is an artistic young man and an incorrigible narcissist. He's stubborn and cruel, and I'd boldly call him one of the most evil characters in the story. He's obsessed with himself, craves recognition, and always gets what he wants. Every victory of his, in anything, is proof of his superiority. He's in the drama club and dreams of becoming a famous actor and starring in movies. I think he might actually succeed, given that he lacks naivety and is willing to walk over people to achieve his goal. He loves art — his interests are cinema, theater, fashion, and literature. He has his own understanding of beauty.
I think Hinata leads a lifestyle that doesn't match how a good schoolgirl should behave. You can find her in the noisiest night districts of the city, in clubs or at parties. She knows how to fight and manipulate people — maybe she was in a gang, maybe she has connections to the yakuza. She sees men as a resource. She doesn't know how to lose and doesn't accept her defeats, considering her losses just a dramatic moment before her victory. After school, she wants to get rich — at any cost.
I don't think there's any point in saying much about Rosa and Simon — there's already plenty written about them in the comic and the game.
I think that, in theory, some characters could be friends. Although all the heroes have complicated personalities in their own way, I can imagine that, for example, Yuki and Momo could be friends with others or with each other — maybe even Amy, although she has complexes about her appearance that would make this process difficult since she tends to withdraw into herself because of it.
The character I least believe would interact with others is Hinata. Out of all the heroes, she's truly evil, mean, and selfish. All the other rivals are much better than her and aren't ready to do the things Hinata is ready to do. Although Hinata is contrasted with Rosa and even compares herself to her, their motivations are very different, as is their concept of honor — this is highlighted in the Creepy Creepy Love ending.
For Tsubaki, interacting with other characters is also unlikely, since she's a gang member — most of her contacts are limited to her gang and fights with rivals. But I can imagine her standing up for someone from her school, because protecting their school is very important for gangs like hers.
Akio is openly sexist, and I find it hard to believe he would communicate with any of the rivals. But I suppose he might have a female friend who admires him, feeding his narcissism.
Question 4
That's possible — I'm currently developing Arcade Mode. And I'm not ruling out that the rivals could become playable characters, and maybe in the future they might even get their own story mode (but that's not certain). I'll be developing the original game for a long time, experimenting with the story, and searching for new ideas and narratives. Maybe a sequel awaits us in the future, but I haven't started working on it yet.
Thank you for being interested in my game. I'm glad you like it. I'll make sure your posts on the subreddit don't get deleted.
P.S
I also want to mention that I'm totally fine with fan creations and the fans' and players' own vision — on the contrary, I'm very happy about it. The game doesn't really have a canon or a canonical ending; its world and story at this stage are flexible and open not only to my imagination but also to the players' imagination. So I don't mind fans reinterpreting the game's characters, and I welcome any original characters created by players.
