The closest place to the sky: let’s talk about Subarashiki Hibi ~Furenzoku Sonzai~

Have you ever felt that a story was calling you to read it? I got to know Subahibi from its music, first of all. A couple times, some unknown song would come up in a youtube mix playlist, and I’d think, “holy shit, this is the best thing I’ve ever heard in my life”, and when I’d alt+tab to see what it was, it was always something from the this VN’s OST(not to mention I’d apparently been listening to—and absolutely loving—the band that worked on it without knowing who they were…). I read the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus because I saw some people talking about it online, and I liked it a lot, and the concept behind Tsui no Sora had always intrigued me since I read about it in an article years ago. On top of that, there was that incredibly blue sky, and those white uniforms that seemed like summer itself…I don't need to say that I went in with very high expectations.

Being welcomed by the actual Lucky Star twins was wild, to say the least.

I feel like it's easier to talk about things I dislike than things I love, which is probably why this has been in processing hell for two years...anyway!

The first chapter was a perfect dream in all aspects. It felt like an early morning, a desert topped high with cream. Blue skies, frilly dresses, rooftops, a city where everyone has disappeared and a Night on the Galactic Railroad reference on top of that—it’s like I was in heaven. I loved Yuki, I loved Ayana, and Zakuro reminded me so much of myself when I was her age that I almost found her a bit annoying—so you can imagine how painful the rest of the VN was for me… (Also, at first, I had no idea about the twins having endings of their own, so I was confused when my friends were talking about the awesome lesbian sex scenes. I hadn't saved at the relevant points and you can't go back to it from the menu after the chapter’s over so I had to back up my save file and restart the game from scratch to see them—they really were great, though~)

Chapter 2 was one of the best denpa experiences I've ever had in my life. You see, my, let's say “perception of reality” is easily affected by stuff like this, which is really scary as I'm living through it but really fun to remember. I got to experience fun things such as sleep paralysis with included “demon” in the form of Takuji (the only other VN to give me this was Chaos;Head), and one or two hallucinations of indefinite shape—I’m usually way more normal than this, I promise. Anyway, I remembered something about the world ending and a red eyeball from that article mentioning Tsui no Sora, so I was very excited when it showed up.

I don't know why, but I love this thing. It's my friend.

After that, it's a long journey through different POVs, through past and present, to learn the truth of what happened that day. It's cruel, it's sad, and kind of maddening, but sometimes, it's beautiful.

Kimika and Zakuro’s chapters were genuinely hard to read from how close to home they hit, and the whole Takuji/Tomosane/Yuki plurality situation was a huge surprise—in a good way. It’s written with so much compassion for everyone involved.

I especially loved the scene where they talk about the dream with the baby cursing the world—about the words a selfish god left behind.

It's a story of kids getting beaten down, trampled over, lashing out. The cult leader that figured in my nightmares was nothing more than a lonely teenager. But it’s also a story full of love. Memories of childhood summers and green fields contrasting with violence that seems enough to end the world—but never is. The sun always rises on a new day.

He just fell from the roof, that’s all.

There's a lot of mystique to something I don't know yet, but finding out the truth, no matter how painful, is also part of the “fun”.

I thought it would end with Ayana addressing the player on the other side of the screen or something along those lines, but I'm glad it didn't—that would've been too easy an answer. She remains an enigma, and I love her for that.

Sometimes a dream, sometimes a nightmare, sometimes the cold, hard reality. They weren't always wonderful days, but I cherish every one of them.