One Night, Hot Springs

Tiny game that's able to represent so much absolute amazing stuff about media that I always feel like needs a bit more focus on, especially the way that one night, hot springs is entirely hellbent on avoiding even the slightest semblance of melodrama in its storytelling while still ensuring that it has a lot of engaging writing on display. The absolute worst ending in this is that you isolate and emotionally distance yourself from a friend and have an exhausting trip, while the best one is just, getting a new friend who is able to understand you on some level, and having the stakes and events be on this small scale ultimately leads to a very intimate, personal story that has a lot of heart to it. This intentional artistic direction allows for the more mundane elements of the life that's represented in this to feel far more impactful, with both the negatives and positives feeling far more strongly highlighted, while still having that comfy vibe.

This is also a case where I feel like a piece of queer media completely works and doesn't feel totally constrained by a lot of its usual trappings that have ultimately led to a lot of it being such a tough sell to actually have any faith in, which is unfortunate given that it's messed up that it could even get to that point. The transgender representation with Haru is handled super, super well in the way the writing treats her as an entirely normal person with her own problems and personality, fundamentally not treated in either a demeaning or weirdly tone-deaf way that can often come off as dehumanising even if the intentions behind it were good. That's not to say that the trans experience is entirely sidelined in an attempt to make Haru act as if it's possible to just ignore this huge aspect of her own identity either, which is also very nice, with there being just enough detail about the experiences she's had in a way that's not only deeply respectful and empathetic, but compassionate as well.

I also appreciate the way that this experience is for a change, not passed through a western lens and it doesn't act as if there aren't other cultures that exist! This not only is able to better convey the Japanese experience of these topics, but it then ties it back to other parts of the world to give a message that's equal parts depressing and optimistic, talking about how cultural laws in other parts of the world differ while also showing that so many of these restrictive, outdated laws don't change the kindness of an individual. I love this for the way that it doesn't dismiss the awful way the world works at times while still being able to be so uplifting with this aforementioned display of individual kindness and desire to see change. Overall a very human piece of writing that more than a lot of other things feels as if it's able to truly get to the heart of how it can feel to not fit in and be left out as a result, but also the solace that one feels once they find those that truly understand them and are happy to do what they can to help out, even if that thing is literally just, listening. I'm happy whenever I'm able to give more of a positive comment to a piece of art that tackles subjects like this without just going "well, the intentions were at least good I guess? "