Ghostpia season one is the first part of a kinetic novel that is supposed to be a two-part series (if the sequel is ever released).
The story takes place in a fairly original setting: you follow the adventures of Sayoko, an outcast in a snowy "ghost town" where the inhabitants are immortal and can only live at night; a town where new arrivals are supposedly non-existent.
Time having become an almost abstract notion for these "ghosts" under the impression of having lived for more than 9999 years, Sayoko can't remember the exact nature of this place, or even who she really is and why she's here. It might seem like a classic case of an amnesiac protagonist, but in this world, this vagueness is something quite common and shared by the majority of characters, despite the fact that Sayoko appears to be more affected than the others, struggling with the feeling of being an outsider, of being out of place, and notably not receiving much sympathy from her neighbors. She is treated as a rebel within a system ordered by an authority referred loosely to as "The Church", which views her presence in a negative light. Sayoko is not entirely alone, however, and has two friends of her own, Pacifica and Anya, with whom she has set herself a goal: to cross the immense snow desert that surrounds the city to discover what lies beyond the horizon. Is this town truly an afterlife? Could civilization, that of mortals, still exist? Many questions without answers.
They tried to leave once before, but it was a failure, and the memories of that day remain both etched in Sayoko's mind, yet hazy when it comes to the most crucial details. Even so, from that moment onwards, Sayoko's life seemed to make even less sense, until one particular day something unprecedented happened: the arrival of a new "ghost", an anomaly, and the opportunity to form a new bond.
Ghostpia centers around Sayoko's encounter with this newcomer, as well as her relationship with her friends, with whom she has previously experienced failure. It is about friendship, love, loneliness and the meaning of life when you're unsure about yourself. It's a slice-of-life story wrapped in a mysterious, unusual atmosphere.
Unusual because it ranges from the melancholic to the cartoonishly childish, with its appealing visuals, characters that speak like they do in Animal Crossing and carefully crafted staging emulating the style of a dynamic comic strip. There are also moments of wonder and confusion, and even action scenes with a hint of violence.
As a result, what Ghostpia makes you feel when you read it isn't exactly easy to describe: what's touched upon is pretty self-explanatory, but you cannot necessarily say the same about how all the story beats tie together, and yet when you take a look back at what's already been told, you have something that's already pretty packed in just 8-9 hours of reading.
I personally enjoyed it a bunch, as I like this kind of unique experience in terms of atmosphere, while the story itself has a lot of heart, despite still being incomplete.
Yet it is rather criminal that this VN currently has so little exposure. If you're not afraid of a purely reading visual novel experience, I urge you to let your curious mind do the work of discovering this curiosity.
The story takes place in a fairly original setting: you follow the adventures of Sayoko, an outcast in a snowy "ghost town" where the inhabitants are immortal and can only live at night; a town where new arrivals are supposedly non-existent.
Time having become an almost abstract notion for these "ghosts" under the impression of having lived for more than 9999 years, Sayoko can't remember the exact nature of this place, or even who she really is and why she's here. It might seem like a classic case of an amnesiac protagonist, but in this world, this vagueness is something quite common and shared by the majority of characters, despite the fact that Sayoko appears to be more affected than the others, struggling with the feeling of being an outsider, of being out of place, and notably not receiving much sympathy from her neighbors. She is treated as a rebel within a system ordered by an authority referred loosely to as "The Church", which views her presence in a negative light. Sayoko is not entirely alone, however, and has two friends of her own, Pacifica and Anya, with whom she has set herself a goal: to cross the immense snow desert that surrounds the city to discover what lies beyond the horizon. Is this town truly an afterlife? Could civilization, that of mortals, still exist? Many questions without answers.
They tried to leave once before, but it was a failure, and the memories of that day remain both etched in Sayoko's mind, yet hazy when it comes to the most crucial details. Even so, from that moment onwards, Sayoko's life seemed to make even less sense, until one particular day something unprecedented happened: the arrival of a new "ghost", an anomaly, and the opportunity to form a new bond.
Ghostpia centers around Sayoko's encounter with this newcomer, as well as her relationship with her friends, with whom she has previously experienced failure. It is about friendship, love, loneliness and the meaning of life when you're unsure about yourself. It's a slice-of-life story wrapped in a mysterious, unusual atmosphere.
Unusual because it ranges from the melancholic to the cartoonishly childish, with its appealing visuals, characters that speak like they do in Animal Crossing and carefully crafted staging emulating the style of a dynamic comic strip. There are also moments of wonder and confusion, and even action scenes with a hint of violence.
As a result, what Ghostpia makes you feel when you read it isn't exactly easy to describe: what's touched upon is pretty self-explanatory, but you cannot necessarily say the same about how all the story beats tie together, and yet when you take a look back at what's already been told, you have something that's already pretty packed in just 8-9 hours of reading.
I personally enjoyed it a bunch, as I like this kind of unique experience in terms of atmosphere, while the story itself has a lot of heart, despite still being incomplete.
Yet it is rather criminal that this VN currently has so little exposure. If you're not afraid of a purely reading visual novel experience, I urge you to let your curious mind do the work of discovering this curiosity.