I hadn't expected that we Americans would get access to Omori until next year at the earliest. That may still hold true for a full manga collection, but you can read the first chapter online right now courtesy of Kodansha, translated fully into English. The website also has accessibility pages to allow for easier reading. Nui Konoito is doing the adaptation with Omocat, writing and drawing the pages.

The responses I've seen have been mixed. Some people aren't fans of the art, and others are questioning why events are reordered. I feel it's a great way to enter a familiar world when we don't have the RPG framework as a guide to dreams and reality.

Omori, a 2020 RPG that was supposed to come out half a decade earlier, has become an international success. It depicts a boy named Sunny forced to either confront a great tragedy that weighs on him and his original friends or withdraw into his dreams to become a hero to dream characters. Since it was originally supposed to be a manga from the creator Omocat, the existence of a Japanese manga serialized in Kodansha may see her vision and original intentions mixed with a new interpretation of the source material.

Context matters

Manga can be trippy, and there are several contenders for zaniness from Kodansha, Viz, Shueisha, and other magazines. The problem, however, is that still art cannot convey the trippiness that anime or video game animation can. You can't have random jump scares or jumps to different forms of media to indicate a mood shift. Accordingly, when translating a video game into a comic, you have to know when to make sacrifices.

Manga creators also have less time to set the stage and win over the reader. You can't spend an hour in Headspace with Omori wandering outside and then pull a bait-and-switch when Sunny wakes up since that could take up twenty pages. The creator has forty or fifty pages at most to introduce us to this game and the world. They need to be pragmatic about the important details to show.

And we do see pragmatism, along with gorgeous art. Rather than follow the Main Route word-for-word (a wise idea since the Main Route in Omori takes 25 hours minimum to complete), we get the first night and day depicted in the story. The creators choose to start with Sunny rather than Omori in a happy flashback, hinting at the tragedies that have affected this friend group. Sunny, not Omori, is the real protagonist of the story, and you don't need to conceal this for the twist of what Omori really is.

The authors trust that most readers who will be picking up the manga already know what Omori's main story is. Ergo, we don't have to start with the bait-and-switch of Omori in Headspace, when Sunny is the protagonist. We also don't have to go through all the details of microwaving steak inside a fridge long after the power has been turned off when a few silent panels can indicate the depression and disassociation that Sunny feels. Detailed art can substitute for the many activities you undertake just to get Sunny and Omori through their first night in-game.

The problem, however, is that still art cannot convey the trippiness that anime or video game animation can.

And speaking of detailed art, Nui Konoito goes all out on the scares. Sunny's hallucinations twist around him, showing how visceral his fears of heights, spiders, and deep water are. You feel for the kid, even if you know why he has become such a recluse. Little details, like him shielding his eyes when he goes outside for the first time in years, become very relatable for those that had to deal with the pandemic shutdowns. The Something and Hellmari hallucinations gain depth and texture. Without the limit of sprites, we can understand why Sunny sees long black hair everywhere.

Keep in mind that I'm not saying the manga is better than the game. Instead, it's a different interpretation, with varying visuals as a result.

What could the next chapter bring?

It's highly possible that the next chapter will take place exclusively in Headspace, now that we have set the scene. Omori has taken Sunny's place as the central character and is seeing his friends as they were six years ago. On the other hand, we could find out the aftermath of the fight that Aubrey starts in the real world.

Konoito has succeeded in keeping the wary reader guessing, and that is an achievement when most coming to the manga would already know the full story. We don't know what specific plot points will emerge in the dream world or real world, or what flashbacks we will see in which order. I'm looking forward to seeing how the manga unfolds.

In a vote on June 26, Microsoft employees who worked at Bethesda Game Studios voted to unionize. Microsoft acknowledged 241 union members on July 20, and the studio will now be affiliated with Communications Workers of America (CWA). According to reporting by IGN, the new union would negotiate with Microsoft for a new contract that would prevent any workplace abuses or exploitations. Bethesda Game Studios is the famed developer of several popular franchises including Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, and was Microsoft's biggest acquisition prior to their industry-shaking purchase of Activision-Blizzard-King in 2022.

The news of the studio's move to unionize is welcome, as other AAA companies have instigated mass layoffs for talented teams, with NDAs preventing them from sharing portfolios containing relevant assets. Bethesda Game Studios has also had its share of troubles with shutdowns and workplace controversies from its parent company. In May 2024, IGN reported that Microsoft shut down at least four Bethesda-owned studios and would not provide updates for games like Redfall despite retailing a DLC. The most that players could expect to receive is "the value of a purchased upgrade."

Bethesda employee controversies

In 2018, the development of Fallout 76 involved a high "human toll" with 10-hour, 6-day workweeks and employees not given time to rest and recharge if placed on that team. Contracted QA testers, in particular, were reportedly underpaid despite several being coerced to work on weekends, and the extra pay did not compensate for the physical and emotional demands. Paid employees would monitor and time the contractors' breaks. Complaints to upper management achieved nothing and Fallout 76's buggy release led to increased pressure and even death threats from frustrated players.

A 2022 report from Kotaku condemned this crunch culture and how it encourages burnout in creative fields, leading to entitlement in upper management and lower-quality output. Several employees even reported developing chronic conditions such as tinnitus and back pain, with low morale settling among the team. No one was trying to protect those working to find the bugs and remove them; in some cases, the recommended fixes were never applied.

Another troubling workplace incident saw a Bethesda employee posting an eight-paragraph pro-life rant on Slack in 2022 following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade. This rant contributed to what some employees felt was a work environment where affected employees, including those queer or identifying as female, already felt tension and hostility rooted in sexism and ableism as they inquired about what protections they would receive regarding contraceptives and abortions. Neither ZeniMax Studios nor Microsoft offered comments when Kotaku reached out to them. The existence of an unsafe environment is often cited as a reason for low morale in the workplace.

Possibilities of unionization

Unionization is one method to protect game developers and employees from these sudden layoffs, crunch culture, and hostile work environments. Workplace union protections may assist those who have gaps in their portfolios owing to NDAs or whose work may never see the light of day if a game gets canceled. Most importantly, vulnerable employee positions like QA testers could receive competitive wages and appropriate allocation of hours on projects that require large amounts of input and testing.

With luck, Bethesda Game Studios will report positive changes in the workplace. Concrete improvements could help prevent a repeat of the Fallout 76 controversies as well as chronic health conditions that overworking can cause. Employees can take pride in working at the company, rather than lose the spark that made them enter gaming with a desire to create. Unionization at Bethesda Game Studios was a long time coming and may represent a continuing trend in the industry.

Thirsty Suitors is a unique, story rich game that features love, battles, and Asian family drama (and not the kind of drama that would end up in a soap, but the mundane ones that haunt a queer South Asian).

Player character Jala is flawed, funny, and relatable. She has to skateboard through her hometown and battle her exes, even if they're cool. With a month to go before her sister's wedding, Jala has to make amends, and find out if she's invited. That isn't a lot of time for reconciliation!

I've been looking forward to the full release of Thirsty Suitors for a while since playing the demo two years ago. You can find my thoughts here in a compilation of Superjump's October 2022 Steam Demo fest recommendations. A friend was kind enough to gift it to me, and I finally got a chance to play it this June for Pride month.

What I love is that this game understands how hard it is to be queer and Asian in a diaspora world. Some family members refuse to comprehend the meaning of the word "bisexual". While Jala's parents are more understanding, with her dad providing unconditional love and support with bad puns, her grandmother has questions about why Jala is not happily settled down with someone. Namely, settled with an Indian guy who has a job and a career. For Jala to assert she doesn't just want to settle, she has to fight. Literally!

Beyond the diner scene in the demo

The Thirsty Suitors demo starts with a bus ride and tutorial. We also start there in the proper game. After a messy breakup, Jala is homeless, and without anything but a skateboard and her backpack. She scrounges up her pocket money to take the bus home to Timber Hills. A chance run-in with an ex may provide her a ride home, or an awkward battle as she and her opponent fight, flirt, and flex. The flexing is literal since Sergio has been working out since their elementary school days.

Turns out that Jala has gotten around a lot, with enough exes to rival the ones that Ramona Flowers had in Scott Pilgrim. Some are not interested after she broke their hearts, while others seek revenge. A few, like Sergio, consider getting closure. Either way, it seems Jala will have to fight them with the power of thirsty or angry taunts.

So that's where the demo ended. But then the story really begins when Jala finds out over an awkward breakfast with her parents that her big sister Aruni is getting married. Their grandmother is coming for the wedding and has been sending suitors after Jala to court her. All Indian guys, of course, who have jobs and respectable backgrounds. Jala loves Patti but isn't ready for any sort of romance after her breakup. Heck, she doesn't even know if she's back in Timber Hills to make amends with the family she left behind or improvise a way forward. Talking to Aruni is a high priority, but so is avoiding all the Indian suitors. They appear in gift boxes around town last that I checked.

I'm so relieved that the game gives settings for adjusting the battle difficulty. The battles in the demo were difficult, especially for someone like me who is not coordinated in a 3D pixel world. I'm already having trouble managing Jala on her skateboard since it's easy to nearly run over people or crash into railings. Still, you get some time to practice and determine Jala's Thirstsona based on the points she earns from battles.

Caught between expectations and tradition

This game totally renders what it's like to be adult, South Asian, and queer. Specifically, when you are out of the closet and your family remains in denial. If you're a cis woman and Indian-Asian, you have to fit the mold that before you turn 35, you need to get married to an Indian guy. Sure, you may be able to avoid it if your sisters end up with non-Indian men and scandalize mothers with a divorce, but awkward questions will arise. And those who marry non-Indian guys will always face their parents' remorse about it.

Elephants in the room exist in the game. Jala's parents don't want to talk about the fact that she cut them off for three years following a nasty fight with her mother and moving in with a woman named Jennifer. Her mother instead expresses disappointment about how she didn't bother calling while her dad suggests activities to mend bonds with Aruni and other family members. Jala doesn't want to talk about why Jennifer kicked her out and didn't even let her pack clothes. She can admit that her mother was right about Jennifer, but that's about it. Time will tell if these people will open up about what really happened, without dramatic meltdowns.

On the surface, Jala meets some of her parents' expectations. She's skinny owing to her constant skateboarding and wears clothes that some consider fashionable. In addition, she's been independent for a while and doesn't have chronic health conditions. When you hear meltdowns and needling remarks about any of these things, it sets the tone for impossible standards to meet.

In private, however, Jala's mother expresses some of the traditional views and disappointments that can hit any queer Indian adult. Her younger daughter doesn't have a high-power job that earns a lot of money or any sense of direction in life. Not to mention she's single, and her choice of romantic partners has been questionable at best. Jala has no future right now, and her past is sordid by conservative Indian standards. These small jabs hit close to home, even with her dad playing good cop. Jala internalizes all these criticisms and repeats them on loop, another thing that hits very close to home.

Then there's Aruni. The older responsible sister, who has found a decent guy, moved out but stayed within walking distance, and apparently has no issues. Jala wants to mend her bond with her older sister but doesn't know how, since they ghosted each other. She may not even have a wedding invitation! Conversation has to happen, along with answers. But Aruni also represents everything Jala isn't: the model daughter for South Asian parents. Jala implies that's why the two haven't spoken in months but someone has to break the ice.

Skating to a new life

It will be interesting to see where the rest of the story will go. Jala is by no means perfect, but she is relatable to the Gen Y South Asian in the West. Her story is bound to have as many twists and turns as her skateboard routes.

I also can't wait to see how the game will address this awkward status that Jala has as a South Asian disaster bisexual. She will have to assert herself to her grandmother and figure out a way forward after a breakup.