· Art · Music · Chapter 1
Chapter 1: first key art and theme
A first look at the Bridge to the Afterlife — the chapter's key art and its main theme, plus an extended remix.
Chapter 1, Bridge to the Afterlife (往生桥), finally has a face — and a voice.
The art
The chapter is built from a few images I keep coming back to: a mountain gorge thick with mist, a lantern-bearer who never quite shows their face, a field of red spider lilies — the flowers said to grow along the river between worlds — and a rope bridge across the water.
The palette is almost entirely grey-green ink. Color is rare in Dear Z., and when it appears it means something: here, the red of the lilies, and the nine threads of light at the far end of the bridge.
The music
Two pieces for the chapter so far — the main theme and a longer remix. Both are on the home page, or here:
Bridge to the Afterlife — main theme
Bridge to the Afterlife — remix