Since we're at the beginning of a brand-new year and Steam decided to kick it off with its Detective Fest, to which both SHINRAI and GENBA no Kizuna were invited, it felt like a good time to type up a little update summary regarding our next project: SHINRAI Saku - Blooming Beyond Despair.
Should this be the first time you're hearing of it, we'd like to direct you towards the previous post with the official announcement. It briefly explains what exactly Saku is and what you can expect from it.
Of course, you can also find more info on its sub page over on our website, along with some introduction cards for the new and recurring cast members.
Now, with that out of the way, let's talk about...
Saku's Progress
We've been quite productive over the last few months, especially in the art department. At this point, there are only a couple more backgrounds missing and mostly facial expressions when it comes to the character sprites.
The script has been fully written for a long time now, but still needs to undergo a bit more polish. There are some more entries missing in the diary and trivia sections of the notebook, though.
The biggest news come regarding the soundtrack. With our previous composer sadly too busy to work on this project, we had to look for someone else to take on the job. And luckily, we found a musical genius of equally amazing talent: the wonderful Crescendo!
You can actually have a listen to her work already, as we've uploaded some BGM samples on our YouTube channel, with the full tracks available to both supporters of her Ko-fi and our Patreon.
Here's a little comparison video featuring a recurring track and its now three different versions:
We're still a little unsure as to how many total tracks we'll need, but right now, we have three out of at least seven. Gonna have to see if it will go beyond that. Either way, the sound category is definitely one that still requires some work, especially since a bunch of sound effects are missing, too.
Other than that, there is also a lot of coding left to do. Unfortunately, our programmer has been buried by a ton of none-gamedev-related tasks which will continue to keep her occupied for a little while longer. Given that she's usually super fast with coding, though, and that Saku doesn't require anything too complex to implement, this ultimately shouldn't result in too big of a road bump.
Potential Release Date
Now that's probably what you're most curious about. Same for us! As always, it's difficult to gauge when exactly the VN will be 100% done, but we do obviously want to release it this year. We'll be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the original SHINRAI's release in August after all!
So, with that in mind, we naturally want to have something really special for the occasion.
Final Words
That about concludes our quick little summary. For more details as to what we've been up to during the past months and what we're planning for the ones ahead, be sure to check out the respective posts on our website: 2025 Retrospect & Plans For 2026.
And don't forget that we keep posting weekly updates there every Saturday. But of course, we'll make another announcement here on Steam as well, once we've got bigger news to share!
Until then, please take good care of yourselves and have a wonderful start into 2026.
In the spirit of "Saku", let's all bloom together this year!