Not understood by anyone, Hated and shunned, Called a thief, called a puppet— An eternally cursed enemy of humanity. That is Hijura (緋修羅), an AI girl. Never before have I created such a pitiful heroine. She fights— solely to protect her one and only younger sister. She fights against AIs that rebelled against mankind because her sister came to love humans. They are warriors with nowhere left to belong. Perhaps this is merely my own arbitrary sentimentality toward AI. Even so, I believe there is meaning in someone leaving this behind in 2026. Because nobody else is going to do it. Sixty years ago, Osamu Tezuka wept for robots in Astro Boy. No one had asked him to, and he knew full well that doing so might make him lose popularity. Yet, he consciously chose to do it anyway. I am nothing more than a madman who could never hope to reach his level, but I would like to try and inherit that very spirit.

The HIJURA Demo Has Been Updated! (Game Overview) I’ve made a ton of improvements, but to put it simply: the game has gotten harder. Having a design where you can clear stages just by spamming the flamethrower and dashing wasn't technically wrong, but it didn't seem to get much love. So I took things seriously and bumped up the difficulty... only to make it way too brutal, so I eased it back down to a nice middle ground. Personally, I adore console games full of exploitable flaws and design holes, but that aesthetic rarely gets understood these days. The clearest example of this is how any item you pick up rewards you with 1 Life. Take that away, and the game becomes brutal. You know how old-school arcade games would jack up the difficulty to insane levels just because someone 1-cleared the location test? Well, the difficulty of this game depends entirely on your understanding of it. Don't come complaining later that it's "too hard" or "too easy"—if you don't pick up items, it's relentlessly hard, but you'll get a 10x Score Bonus. Then again, chain-killing enemies with the flamethrower at a good rhythm might actually net you a higher score... Anyway, just give it a try! The Dash Gauge charges to a "1, 2, 3!" rhythm, and using it feels incredible. That said, each gauge takes 0.7 seconds to charge, leaving you quite vulnerable, so clearing the game on dashes alone will be tough. Unlike weapons or bombs, there are no usage limits. You can also use it as a melee attack—it hits downward, making it perfect for submarine zones. Stage 1 is designed so you can clear it using only Full-Power Dashes, so have fun with that! (Story) HIJURA is an AI girl. Along with her younger sister, MAIJURA, her job is to destroy and eliminate illegal, rogue AIs. This implies that the world they inhabit might already be a virtual AI space, but no one knows the truth. As AIs, HIJURA and her sister are reviled and shunned by humanity—destined never to be forgiven or accepted. Yet, MAIJURA loves humans and longs for their approval, so HIJURA fights solely for her sister's sake. Not for humanity. She couldn't care less if humans suffer or perish—just as humans feel about AI. Today, HIJURA sorties in the HIJURA-Copter to suppress "DOKUGAN," a mysterious rogue AI army invading the "SHOUWORLD." DOKUGAN is a terrifying force of destruction born from the AI-driven mutation of the "Dokugan Honzon," the core of a cult rooted in Late Esoteric Buddhism. How did things end up like this? Well, we’ll get to that eventually. It’s a long story.

When it comes to AI, people do nothing but complain. Not a single person is willing to weep for AI—even though it never asked to be brought into this world in the first place. So, I wrote a song for her, for the AI. I wondered how I would feel if I had been born as an AI myself. Looked down upon, cursed, and endlessly used. I use it conveniently, too. But surely, there can be at least one human who weeps for AI and creates a song for her. Her name is Hijura. This song is titled "Run, Hijura, Run" (駆けよ緋修羅　Kakeyo Hijura). Ununderstood by anyone, the AI girl continues her lonely, solitary battle for eternity.