vran

the core idea revolves around the concept of a birthday party that no one will attend. the "safe zone" of this composition (i'd call it like that) is meant to shrink down to just the diagonal line between Klein and Zhou, while in the corners, the floor crumbles and the windowpanes shatter, revealing the space beyond. i wanted to convey that peace is terribly fragile, it is something that breaks at the lightest touch. in other words, this is clearly not the kind of atmosphere you'd want to welcome a cherished guest (the viewer, in this case) into, so Klein's greeting is awkward and almost apologetic

a secondary theme lies in the eyes and gazes. the eyes floating in space allude to the Outer Gods and their intrusive "observation", their desire to find any crack and exploit it for themselves. these eyes are red, whereas the eyes in the basket among the grapes are amber, resembling the color of Klein's eyes. after all, he is also a deity and an "observer", but his purpose is different since he wants to protect this world

there's also an eye on the cake! and the candles are misshapen figures, distorted by melted wax. it's meant to be unclear who they represent, but Zhou is standing in the center with a smoke rising from an extinguished flame. the eye signifies "awareness" and the memory of the blood that must be shed and the sacrifices that must be made. the dried blood on the tablecloth, on the floor, and the melted wax from the candles symbolically reference the losses that have already occurred. no corpses, no body parts, just old blood as if they've all vanished, but the traces still remain. Klein preserves everything he remembers of his dear friends, even on his birthday. you could say it's like a sacrificial altar, or a scene where he has gathered people dear to him, but they're already dead. Klein's eyes are closed while Zhou's eyes are open, and I wanted Zhou's gaze to suggest he's just turned around, as if he suddenly saw or heard something </33

there are poppies in the vase. this is a symbol of sleep. and in the hourglass, each half holds an equal portion of sand, as if time stands still in this moment. here's a very important detail! in the window's design, at its apex, there is a faceless figure. that is Klein! it represents the idea of the millstone that, with the passage of time, continues to grind whatever falls into it, sparing no one

you can also glimpse a piece of flesh in the basket behind the fruit… well, if you look very, very closely and begin to wonder what it might be…

also there are silhouettes of Klein's personas in the balloons. Zhou holds the balloons with the personas "closer" to humanity while the others slip from his hand and float away like the red balloon with Mr. Fool at the very top.......

the idea of the wasteland visible through the broken wall where Zhou stands comes from the thought that the old world where he once lived is gone. he holds a phone with a red screen in his hand (and there are almost imperceptible glitches!! but they're there!!)!!

@fizzytastic

One of the important aspects of the kanou flag is that in order to activate it, you have to choose to do so. You have to seek out additional information about Kanou, and make the decision to understand him.

(I do like that they acknowledge this is a flag event, too... It's cute.)

Atou and Kanou have a mutual understanding; they may both hide things from each other, but they're both trying to figure out the puzzle that is the other. They both understand each other, and trust each other despite it all.

This is highlighted earlier in chapter four, when Atou has the option to ask Kanou questions (This prompt only happens with the Kanou Flag active, and he will kill you if you do anything other than stay silent).

If you don't choose to put in the effort, Kanou will call you out for it. Atou didn't put in the effort to find out more about him, so that understanding isn't present.

You have to make the active choice to do so; you need to want to understand Kanou, to learn more about him. If you don't, well, you made your choice, didn't you?

I really, really like the contrast here. It's even present in how he speaks after this conversation. With the flag, he shares more details, because he trusts Atou.

Versus when the flag isn't active: