What if we just wrote a book instead of an update? Like, a small novel. A story that's about twice as big as anything we've written before. And then we release it as a single content update, all in one piece. Wouldn't that be funny?
For some reason, that's exactly what we did. Our team keeps treating page and image count as some kind of records that we need to break, and then we do actually break them. We could've split this update into multiple bite-sized releases, but then we wouldn't be able to say that this is the best bang for your buck we have ever offered.
We recommend ignoring the rest of the post if you are already determined to play through this story yourself, but for anyone else we added a detailed breakdown of new additions down below!
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By supporting this release, you help us sustain monthly updates and never-ending content stream of spice! We are incredibly grateful for your contribution and will do our absolute best to make sure you'll get your money's worth!
IT'S BIG!
Hanako, like we said in an earlier post, was among the most requested characters for us to add, which also meant there was a certain level of expectations our team had to meet. To say that we've been scared shitless to disappoint our fans is to say nothing at all. Hence why we did the only thing we know best — went all-in to make one of the biggest, most emotional, romantic, and personal stories we ever attempted to create! It's not as explicit or "straight-to-business" like some other existing routes, but it's what we felt would be appropriate for Hanako's shy, but very curious self.
Our goal was to make the relationship between MC and Hanako as believable as our artistic skills would allow us to. Turns out, making something believable requires a whole lot of effort, and an equal amount of text, but it was necessary to make every intimate interaction feel weighty, deserved, and for players to feel engaged in both drama and spice alike. Basically, if you ever found yourself playing our game for the plot, you will be eating good today.
IT'S FUN!
Yeah, drama and romance is cool, but they don't feel the same without something funny to balance things out. There needs to be breathing room between emotional moments, and given how massive this story ended up being, we had a lot of freedom in how we approach comedy.
To the surprise of no one, I love writing comedy. I also love writing these release posts, because no one bothers to supervise me. At some point during the production I started adding more and more interactions that weren't really all that relevant to the story, but they allowed to paint a much fuller picture of what kind of characters Hanako, Ryuji, and Haru are. You can call Hanako to annoy her, or tease Ryuji because he keeps falling for it. They make awful jokes, they awkwardly stumble through emotional conversations, and they're just being themselves. Their socially-inept selves.
As much as this is a romance story between Hanako and MC, this is also a journey for their entire group, and we tried our best to keep this journey entertaining from start to finish.
IT'S PERSONAL!
We tend to avoid making MC be someone's "first love" because it could lead to a whole plethora of problems, but this time it felt appropriate. Or rather, it felt like the only way we could've done this story.
Hanako isn't just inexperienced — she's a complete romantic newbie. Her impulses keep clashing with the traditional values she was taught, while her mind wanders to places she wouldn't mention in a civil conversation. She is ready to make the next big step, but has no actual clue what the hell she's supposed to do in the process.
Your presence only further complicated things. How is she supposed to find her place in life, while this strange pressing sensation inside her chest keeps nagging her whenever you are around? And what's up with the stuttering? She never had problems talking to people. And then her knees got oh so shaky. This isn't normal. This is very much abnormal. But for some reason Hanako can't get enough of it.
All of that wouldn't be that big of a deal in any other circumstance, if not for one small issue — Hanako isn't allowed to have a boyfriend as per family rules. Now, she already broke them once to get into the Academy, but is she willing to do it again? Only one way to find out.
IT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING!
Would you believe us if we said that we actually made two full-length updates for Hanako, and today we are only releasing the first half of a massive story that we've been working on for months?
That's right, we have another massive story expansion for Hanako coming in the near future! We yet again been working overtime as if it makes us more money. Sometimes it does, but we really got to start splitting these updates into smaller releases. I think we're just allergic to making money. Or maybe we're addicted to providing the best value for our patron's pledge. Pick one.
Stay tuned for more Spring love!
Thank you!
Your support helps sustain not only this project, but also all of us working on it. And with that support, we’re slowly moving closer to achieving our long-term plans. While our team is scattered across the world, having to take refuge from war in our home country, working on this game allows us to remain positive and stay focused on something we truly enjoy creating. Thank you for being part of this journey with us!