The Song of Saya (Saya no Uta) is a Lovecraftian horror love story where love is disturbing no matter which way you look at it and the monster changes with your perspective. It’s depraved and wicked while taking you on a journey into the deepest parts of madness. Like every good Lovecraftian story it promises to defile and poison you by “the insanity called truth”. It also examines different truths by juxtaposing different perspectives through a prism of a hellish mirror.

Saya no Uta is so famous that anyone into visual novels has heard of it. It’s really difficult then to go in blind today like when it first appeared. It’ll also be difficult to keep this review completely spoiler free as the main ‘thing’ (I wouldn’t call it a twist) is so widely known in the vn community like Luke’s father is among moviegoers. But, if you want to go in as blind as you can, then don’t read after the spoiler warning bellow.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2177978971

Ever since waking up in a hospital after the accident the protagonist, Sakisaka Fuminori, has found himself in a nightmarish world filled with nauseating scenery, desolate meatscapes, walls sprayed with ‘pig’ guts and rotten quivering flesh, with horrible assaulting stench of decay that cannot be escaped. His friends have transformed into terrifying flesh beasts that invoke intense disgust and hatred in him. Intellectually he, as a medical student, knows it’s an unfortunate neurological disorder caused by an experimental procedure that saved his life. (That’s some agnosia from hell) But, he is now a stranger, an alien in an inhuman world he must learn to adapt to. The only glimmer of hope that still ties him to humanity and keeps him sane is Saya, a strange girl living with him. She’s the only one that he sees as human and beautiful, whose voice is music to his ears. She’s like a beacon of light and purity amongst the filth.

From this set up you already have a hunch where this is going and who or what Saya is (if you didn’t already know). Fuminori himself is aware that since Saya is so unusual and unique in his hellish world, she must also be quite unique in the normal one. It’s pretty clear where the story is taking you, the only question is how far into depravity and insanity it will go. I wouldn’t call it predictable as it’s not dependent on twists and deceiving a reader. The writing is strong, masterful, tight and compact with no unneeded meandering and filler. In that sense its short length works in its favour. It’s a true Lovecraftian horror, nothing original in that aspect, but excellently executed with many familiar tropes: blessed ignorance, looking at the abyss, stripping the veil from the true face of the world, truth as poison to one’s sanity etc. At the center of it all is a love story between Saya and Fuminori.

(VAGUE SPOILERS AHEAD, mostly related to Saya’s identity)
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2181794781

It’s love between two creatures who are all alone in the world and who are both transformed by it. I mentioned that Saya is keeping Fuminori sane and human. Well, that’s one perspective. When you look at it from outside the bubble they created it looks like Fuminori is becoming more and more inhuman and is rapidly descending into madness. On the other hand Saya is becoming more human and with it more “wicked and terrible”. Fuminori sees her cruelty as the intensity of her love for him. It’s a twisted, codependent relationship, ‘us against the world’, that is disturbing on many levels. One such level is that from Fuminori’s perspective Saya is a little girl, a child. But on another level Saya is a a bizarre eldritch abomination. The mirroring here is pretty clear: Forbidden and misunderstood love between a human and a monster is as taboo and forbidden as ‘love’ between an adult and a child. Who is the monster changes with your perspective. The implications of this ‘message’ are so disconcerting and unsettling that I couldn’t help but give it a side-eye. Thankfully there’s no apologism as this love brings hell on earth. It’s either doomed or love that dooms.

But like that’s not enough this vn assaults you with deeply unnerving and depraved loli porn. Yes, you get to watch Fuminori ♥♥♥♥ what looks like a child, among other things. To further disturb you the writing itself often draws attention to her small frame and childlike characteristics (I mean ‘kitten sucking on her mother’s teat’, ugh) but at the same time makes her mature and forward beyond her appearance (Lolita). Scenes come abruptly, are designed to shock you but thankfully don’t last long. In this sense they don’t appear to be too indulging and titillating (for normal people). But I have to be suspicious here at the necessity of them. If this was one instance it would’ve contributed more to the shock factor, but looking at a wider culture of anime and lolicons, it becomes a part of trend (although early one?) and precisely because of it needs to be careful not to be indulging and pandering. If we’re talking about shock factors why not show Fuminori ♥♥♥♥ a tentacled flesh monster? That would’ve been interesting and different, but would probably traumatize the lolicons too much (hehe). So the question for me isn’t whether this vn needs a patch. I played it patched because that’s how the author intended it. But Nabokov didn’t need porn to disturb his readers. And Urobuchi Gen is a strong writer who could’ve used language and suggestive hints to great, maybe even more disturbing, effects. So, is this pandering to lolicons or is it a necessary, visceral, vivid, in your face screaming depiction of twisted ‘love’? You decide.

Audio-visual side is very memorable. There’s a very striking contrast between backgrounds and cgs that don’t have any meat on them (vegan), that show the ‘objective’ world and those dripping with decaying, rotten flesh and viscera, from Fuminori’s world. What’s interesting is that former are often boring and even plainly ugly, and the latter, while extremely grotesque, are actually visually engaging and appealing in the aesthetic of the ugly way. (I hope I’m not catching Fuminori’s disease, ha) Fuminori sees places inhabited with humans as corrupted with stink and filth, but feels at home at abandoned dead ruins on the outskirts of society. Human life as infestation – now that’s misanthropy taken to extreme.

This is another great soundtrack from a Nitro+ game. It has some noise influences, dark, spooky and grating sounds invoking unsettling and unpleasant feelings, bleak themes of alienation and loneliness. Noise music works with similar aesthetic of the ugly as those lovely meaty backgrounds.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2186905229

And then there’s the Song of Saya. It sounds like a heavenly choir to Fuminori, "boundless healing...eternal blessing”. It promises a garden, a world just for them, to hell with everyone else. All it needs is love of just one person. Because, to quote Umineko, “it takes two to create a universe”.

[h1]"To you, who loved me, I give this planet"[/h1] The Song of Saya (Saya no Uta) is a Lovecraftian horror love story where love is disturbing no matter which way you look at it and the monster changes with your perspective. It’s depraved and wicked while taking you on a journey into the deepest parts of madness. Like every good Lovecraftian story it promises to defile and poison you by “the insanity called truth”. It also examines different truths by juxtaposing different perspectives through a prism of a hellish mirror. Saya no Uta is so famous that anyone into visual novels has heard of it. It’s really difficult then to go in blind today like when it first appeared. It’ll also be difficult to keep this review completely spoiler free as the main ‘thing’ (I wouldn’t call it a twist) is so widely known in the vn community like Luke’s father is among moviegoers. But, if you want to go in as blind as you can, then don’t read after the spoiler warning bellow. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2177978971 Ever since waking up in a hospital after the accident the protagonist, Sakisaka Fuminori, has found himself in a nightmarish world filled with nauseating scenery, desolate meatscapes, walls sprayed with ‘pig’ guts and rotten quivering flesh, with horrible assaulting stench of decay that cannot be escaped. His friends have transformed into terrifying flesh beasts that invoke intense disgust and hatred in him. Intellectually he, as a medical student, knows it’s an unfortunate neurological disorder caused by an experimental procedure that saved his life. (That’s some agnosia from hell) But, he is now a stranger, an alien in an inhuman world he must learn to adapt to. The only glimmer of hope that still ties him to humanity and keeps him sane is Saya, a strange girl living with him. She’s the only one that he sees as human and beautiful, whose voice is music to his ears. She’s like a beacon of light and purity amongst the filth. From this set up you already have a hunch where this is going and who or what Saya is (if you didn’t already know). Fuminori himself is aware that since Saya is so unusual and unique in his hellish world, she must also be quite unique in the normal one. It’s pretty clear where the story is taking you, the only question is how far into depravity and insanity it will go. I wouldn’t call it predictable as it’s not dependent on twists and deceiving a reader. The writing is strong, masterful, tight and compact with no unneeded meandering and filler. In that sense its short length works in its favour. It’s a true Lovecraftian horror, nothing original in that aspect, but excellently executed with many familiar tropes: blessed ignorance, looking at the abyss, stripping the veil from the true face of the world, truth as poison to one’s sanity etc. At the center of it all is a love story between Saya and Fuminori. [b](VAGUE SPOILERS AHEAD, mostly related to Saya’s identity)[/b] https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2181794781 It’s love between two creatures who are all alone in the world and who are both transformed by it. I mentioned that Saya is keeping Fuminori sane and human. Well, that’s one perspective. When you look at it from outside the bubble they created it looks like Fuminori is becoming more and more inhuman and is rapidly descending into madness. On the other hand Saya is becoming more human and with it more “wicked and terrible”. Fuminori sees her cruelty as the intensity of her love for him. It’s a twisted, codependent relationship, ‘us against the world’, that is disturbing on many levels. One such level is that from Fuminori’s perspective Saya is a little girl, a child. But on another level Saya is a [spoiler]a bizarre eldritch abomination[/spoiler]. The mirroring here is pretty clear: Forbidden and misunderstood love between a human and a monster is as taboo and forbidden as ‘love’ between an adult and a child. Who is the monster changes with your perspective. The implications of this ‘message’ are so disconcerting and unsettling that I couldn’t help but give it a side-eye. Thankfully there’s no apologism as this love brings hell on earth. It’s either doomed or love that dooms. But like that’s not enough this vn assaults you with deeply unnerving and depraved loli porn. Yes, you get to watch Fuminori [spoiler]fuck what looks like a child[/spoiler], among other things. To further disturb you the writing itself often draws attention to her small frame and childlike characteristics (I mean [spoiler]‘kitten sucking on her mother’s teat’[/spoiler], ugh) but at the same time makes her mature and forward beyond her appearance (Lolita). Scenes come abruptly, are designed to shock you but thankfully don’t last long. In this sense they don’t appear to be too indulging and titillating (for normal people). But I have to be suspicious here at the necessity of them. If this was one instance it would’ve contributed more to the shock factor, but looking at a wider culture of anime and lolicons, it becomes a part of trend (although early one?) and precisely because of it needs to be careful not to be indulging and pandering. If we’re talking about shock factors why not show Fuminori [spoiler]fuck a tentacled flesh monster?[/spoiler] That would’ve been interesting and different, but would probably traumatize the lolicons too much (hehe). So the question for me isn’t whether this vn needs a patch. I played it patched because that’s how the author intended it. But Nabokov didn’t need porn to disturb his readers. And Urobuchi Gen is a strong writer who could’ve used language and suggestive hints to great, maybe even more disturbing, effects. So, is this pandering to lolicons or is it a necessary, visceral, vivid, in your face screaming depiction of twisted ‘love’? You decide. Audio-visual side is very memorable. There’s a very striking contrast between backgrounds and cgs that don’t have any meat on them (vegan), that show the ‘objective’ world and those dripping with decaying, rotten flesh and viscera, from Fuminori’s world. What’s interesting is that former are often boring and even plainly ugly, and the latter, while extremely grotesque, are actually visually engaging and appealing in the aesthetic of the ugly way. (I hope I’m not catching Fuminori’s disease, ha) Fuminori sees places inhabited with humans as corrupted with stink and filth, but feels at home at abandoned dead ruins on the outskirts of society. Human life as infestation – now that’s misanthropy taken to extreme. This is another great soundtrack from a Nitro+ game. It has some noise influences, dark, spooky and grating sounds invoking unsettling and unpleasant feelings, bleak themes of alienation and loneliness. Noise music works with similar aesthetic of the ugly as those lovely meaty backgrounds. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2186905229 And then there’s the Song of Saya. It sounds like a heavenly choir to Fuminori, "boundless healing...eternal blessing”. It promises a garden, a world just for them, [spoiler]to hell with everyone else[/spoiler]. All it needs is love of just one person. Because, to quote Umineko, “it takes two to create a universe”. [h3][quote][b]Follow [url=https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/40848670-Drugoja-In-The-Dreaming/]Drugoja In The Dreaming[/url] to the garden of meaty delights[/b][/quote][/h3]