PP -Pianissimo- Ayatsuri Ningyou no Rinbu

Pianissimo definitely doesn't feel focused at all compared to other Innocent Grey VNs. It starts out with random SoL scenes. They feel mostly disconnected from each other and there's no sense of urgency at all. MC was accused of murder and the police are hunting after him, but we aren't actually shown any of this. This is pretty common regarding Pianissimo since most of the VN has no tension at all. We are told how things are, but the way things are shown, there is nothing to indicate that anything is out of the ordinary. It feels empty, and because of that, that makes the setting itself feel empty. Compared to Cartagra or KnS, there's no sense of vibrancy at all to make this Past Japan setting feel alive and bustling.

Speaking of which, Pianissimo doesn't feel like a product of its times. By that, it does not feel like a VN set in the 1930's. Characters speak in seemingly modern mannerisms and there isn't anything to indicate that this is in 1930's Japan. This could have taken place in modern day Japan and I wouldn't really have batted an eye. Compared to Cartagra, which nailed the post-war vibe to a tea, and KnS, which was able to craft a bustling recovering Japan, everything here just feels bland and so uninspired.

There's a lot of meandering around in this VN. Chapters 5-7 of the non-true end is basically MC just hiding out in some abandoned bookstore hoping not to get caught and people visiting him from time to time. It goes nowhere during these three chapters and things start to feel circular. This loops back to my point about lack of urgency too since MC is just hanging out and having people drop in from time to time while he also is going out too.

The non-true end version chapter 4 is by far the best part of the VN. Ayane is the best character and chapter 4 focuses solely on her relationship with the MC and opening up to each other. Their discovery of their love for each other is done so well, so the impact of her death hits that much harder. The distraught the MC feels is genuine and heartfelt. Unfortunately, the rest of the VN can't pick up the slack. If the whole VN was similar to how chapter 4 was presented and written, this would have been one of my instant favorites.

There really isn't a core mystery to focus the story around. There's nothing to figure out and most of the big reveals are stuck in the end. In the non-true endings, we learn Kuon developed a gun called the riff ruffler that is able to manipulate low frequency sounds waves that are able to make humans become savage. This is the basic conceit of how things started. Kuon and Mikage's route takes a look at this from different angles, though most of the plot is pretty outlandish and doesn't really feel thematically salient. It just feels like a random mish-mash of ideas and concepts. It felt like they wanted to write about the theme of "communication" but were unable to come up with something, so they went in this direction because it's handled pretty poorly and feels almost non-existent. In the end, nothing really feels like it happens organically, it just happens and things end because that is the way the story wills it to happen.

The conductor end is pretty interesting since it recounts the events from Kuon's perspective and how she came to be. It gets a little drawn out near the end since it recounts the same events in the route except in her perspective. The whole idea of "I don't need a device to be able to control other people" feels forced into the story. The distinct lack of emotional salience throughout the whole story continues to Ayane's route, which is the true end.

Ultimately, Pianissimo failed to deliver a satisfying story since it meanders around a lot, the whole world feels empty and listless, doesn't really provide the reader with any emotional depth except in one chapter, has some questionable plot points and tries to hand wave everything by the end. It had a lot of potential going for it, however, it just felt really empty beside a few stand out points. In the end, I'm left quite disappointed by everything that occurred, due to the lack of any raw emotion and thematic buildup that is usually present in other Innocent Grey works.