Hi everyone,

First of all, I wanted to thank you for the love and support that you've shown me over the years. Every day I'm thankful and honored that I'm able to create music and games in the hopes of moving people in a positive direction. This is a dream come true for me, and I'm so moved every time someone shares that Rakuen has helped them somehow.

I wanted to address something about Mr. Saitou before the game comes out tomorrow. I've seen a lot of people joking about how (based off of their experience with Rakuen) they're preparing to be "emotionally destroyed" by Mr. Saitou (or other references to lots of crying :) - While I definitely appreciate that Rakuen resonated with people, I want to make 100% sure that folks don't have the wrong impression about what kind of game Mr. Saitou is.

While Mr. Saitou takes place in the same universe as Rakuen, it's meant to be playable in one sitting (around 2-3 hours as compared to 6-10), and it's more of a quirky and lighthearted game (it's *not* an emotional roller coaster spanning multiple character arcs). The game focuses on a friendship between an overworked Japanese salaryman and a goofy extroverted kid. The characters are silly, there's a lot of poking fun at corporate business culture, and some of the stupid parts make me laugh. For those who have played Rakuen, Mr. Saitou serves as a fun enhancement of that world, rather than a direct sequel.

That being said, there is an underlying heavy topic and some bittersweet moments (which do cause me personally to tear up when I'm playtesting), but it's approached in a more subtle manner than the topics in Rakuen. While Rakuen is a story about accepting and understanding tragic fates, Mr. Saitou is a story about growing beyond yourself to find meaning and purpose in loving others. Despite being a short game, we put a lot of love into it. You can interact with most things, there's lots of hand-drawn portrait art, colorful pixel art & animations, and a varied musical score (from Enka to Hip Hop with a callback to a certain Sunflower through whom many of you came to know me).

Mr. Saitou means a lot to me. It's kind of my love letter to the introvert world, and to my community. It's silly, with a bit of serious. And I really hope that even though it's not going to be as long or as intense as Rakuen, that it will still be a good and uplifting experience for you.

Thank-you for playing ❤️
--laura (a.k.a. supershigi)