Recently I got stranded out of town — no internet, no supermarket, no Oriental Leaf tea, no grassy field, no stick-man, no bros. All I could do was thank myself for bringing the Win8 tablet along, so I started playing a visual novel: Himawari no Kyoukai to Nagai Natsuyasumi (向日葵の教会と長い夏休み). Three days, main route cleared. What can I say — some things in my chest got moved, and some things I really need to get off said or I’ll be uncomfortable. 《向日葵的教会与长长的暑假》 is about a summer—a summer break that belongs to the protagonist who’s come back to his hometown. Playing a game like this right now, in this season, feels pretty fitting. According to what the game’s writer said on Twitter, Yui and Hina’s routes are the main ones, so I went through those two first. Only after finishing did I realize the story is way more… complicated than the blurb makes it sound. Rather than “a story that happens during summer break,” it’s more like what the game’s OP says: “a story about change, and about things that don’t.” To preserve what little dignity this blog has left — and to save myself the effort — no spoilers this time.