A new trailer for upcoming, blue-drenched visual novel Rain98, which involves a girl who must be kept happy lest “terrible, terrible things” happen, has dropped as part of Six One Indie Showcase 2026. It shows more of heroine Reina Amehara’s (Rio Tsuchiya) life in and out her apartment, as well as interactive elements like pulling up Reina’s sock.
The trailer was preceded by a message from the game’s director Shoon T, who described Rain98 as a “neon 90s psycho-lofi visual novel adventure set in late-90s Tokyo” and said, “Immerse yourself in its deep blue atmosphere. Let the lights, shadows, and lofi beats pull you into a hypnotic trance. Violence, horror, fetishism, and mystery will follow you on this journey toward the end of the world— and I hope you savor every moment of it.”
Rain98 was announced last year and is developed by C#4R4CT3R. It was originally meant to be released on Steam in Q3 2025, before being pushed back to 2026. The mysterious premise sees the player character participating in a ritual with Reina to avoid the world’s destruction, and spending money on her to keep her pleased.
In the post announcing the visual novel’s delay, Shoon T said that aside from the demo version’s part-time job minigame, there will be “a wider array of experiences to evoke daily life in Tokyo in the late ‘90s” in the full release. According to the director, Rain98‘s interactive bits “connect naturally to character psychology, the game’s narrative tone, and the thick, dark, rainy atmosphere of the story.”
Sources: Six One Indie YouTube channel, Gematsu YouTube channel