Being asexual myself, this was the game in the A Year of Springs trilogy that I had the most personal connection with, and my actual impetus for seeking out these games in the first place. Much like in One Night, Hot Springs anxiety is just as much of a focus as queerness, but this entry differentiates itself with the addition of choices that are crossed out, representing options that are so intimidating that Manami doesn’t want to consider them. The presence of these options make getting the good ending much harder than previous entries, because the only way through is to pick them consistently. This effectively illustrates how, for queer people, realizing who we are is a process that can only be achieved by asking the hard questions, and as such, I am really grateful for these games for talking about these issues in such a kind, considered manner.