idk shit about shmups and im not particularly good at this one, but this is a fantasy zone-ish take on it that's pretty cool. onion games hides a surprising amt of secrets and finesse in their stuff and this is no exception, the enjoyment for me comes from finding little hidden things that can help, experimenting to figure it out, without necessarily losing an arcadey familiarity at its core. here it translates to an ultraviolent romp with morose flashes of rule of rose, the premise essentially speaks for itself without words. i wasnt compelled to keep going bc of a gripping story or anything but to see what else the game would bring and to try to have better runs; you should beat it at least once to unlock true mode, if you can make it that far (its not a particularly long game), because it will have more to offer if you are interested enough to master it.

special shoutout to hirofumi taniguchi whose soundtrack in this is his best since chibi robo imo. my favorite composer in games not just because his compositions are great and fit the games aesthetically, but because in his best work he shows that he thinks about how the game world interacts with music. his vetting of indie musicians for moon and giftpia, his variations on one theme for chulip, clear most of all with his musical sfx for chibi robo, all show this consideration for the player perceiving sound/music in relation to how they express themselves, unique to each case. black bird is similarly clever about this, even when its actually that the soundtrack came before the game, with enemy spawns and projectiles firing to the beat of taniguchi's musical flourishes. its a cool way of helping you to expect attacks in runs while having your positioning be crucial as to how it happens so its not completely rote memorization, and its my favorite touch of this game.