「ABOUT」

Maigo (迷子) was a webcomic/visual novel I wrote during the summer of 2013 when I was in 7th grade. I had originally intended to use Ren'py or RPG Maker like many of my favorite stories and games at the time to create a fully immersive experience for my story, but failed to be able to amass so many resources. Nevertheless, the sprites and background art were taken and published on a weekly-updated tumblr blog, using a modified pagination format to simulate a virtual comic reader.

The story of Uchuusen and her comrades was based on the popular media I had taken in at the time. References and inspirations included (but weren't limited to) the fast-paced, clue-centric and intelligent storytelling of Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the tragic romanticism and emphasis on friendship in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and the bizarrely twisted and barren, silent world of Yume Nikki. These paled in comparison, however, to the gargantuan impact of Kikuo-p's music on the creation of Maigo. Kikuo's early works (Namely the first three Kikuomiku and KIKUOWORLD albums) grabbed my immediate attention and fascinated me with gentle melodies with drickling sound samples and grotesque lyrics all across a spiderwebbed background of his own personal artwork. The strange, visceral nature of these songs compelled me to create my own interpretations of some of them as physical characters, becoming the basis for most of the characters featured here. For example, the basis for Tori's deathly, milquetoast appearance and blooming flower crown was the final track of KIKUOWORLD 1, Shumatsu no Hana; Flower of the End (or as I interpreted it, "Flower Terminal"). https://www.aprilsteenburgh.com/