Title image of “Our Home, My Keeper”, Studio Élan’s latest yuri visual novel, released on April 30, 2026. Image by Studio Élan.
by Lena Tama, Guest Reviewer
In 2019, Erica had the pleasure of interviewing Studio Élan, one of the pioneers of western yuri fantasy visual novel (VN) developers in the industry, for Okazu. Seven years have passed since then and the studio continues to publish VNs by queer people for queer people, despite the ever-increasingly hostile internet environment for both the audiences and the studio.
Before the creation of Studio Élan, a studio called Alienworks released Highway Blossoms in 2016, which was well-received among fans and players worldwide. From there, a number of people from Alienworks, including Josh Kaplan, founded Studio Élan and marked its debut with the release of Heart of the Woods, a dark fantasy yuri VN.
Since then, many more VNs have come out under Studio Élan’s name, which cover multiple subgenres and explore a wide range of gender & sexual identities. In addition, Highway Blossoms also became an official part of their catalog in 2019 and received a major story expansion titled Next Exit in 2020.
In 2026, Studio Élan is publishing three new and distinct VNs:
- Our Home, My Keeper. Released on April 30 in collaboration with another VN developer ebi-hime, it tells the story of a struggling novelist who purchases a new home in the English countryside, only to find it already inhabited by a fairy, who occupies a doll for her body.
- My VTuber Rival is Actually Cute? Planned for release in summer, this is a shorter and more experimental VN about a VTuber protagonist whose character design is customizable by players.
- Summer at the Edge of the Universe, a solarpunk adventure story planned for release by the end of 2026. A playable demo is available to download for free.
The importance of women and LGBTQI+ people in VN development
The diverse subgenres and exploration of gender & sexual diversity among their VNs is supported by the involvement of women and LGBTQI+ people, both within Studio Élan as well as their partner collaborators. Josh Kaplan stated that the majority of people working on their projects fall into those categories and have some creative influences and opinions over those games.
“It is always rewarding when someone mentions how seen they felt or represented by one of our games or characters,” said Josh
As such, a number of their VNs also feature LGBTQI+ characters and plot points, whether canonically in the games or through supplementary materials, which resonate with a lot of queer people, including the community on Discord that the studio has built over the years. Some of those characters include Tara from Heart of the Woods who identifies herself as a trans woman in the game, Olive from Twofold who is canonically non-binary, and Aspen from Please Be Happy who is asexual based on supplementary materials.
Among those people involved with Studio Élan is adirosa, who initially joined the studio in late 2017 as a graphic designer. Since then, she became more involved in the majority of the studio’s works in multiple roles, with Please Be Happy being her first major project as its Director.
Reflecting on her works so far, adirosa said, “I have always felt valued and heard at Studio Élan.”
Working against the increasingly hostile internet environment
Despite the progress over the years, not everything is sugar and rainbows. In the current year of 2026, the internet has grown ever-increasingly hostile due to global politics, increasing misogyny and hatred towards LGBTQI+ people, particularly lesbians and trans/non-binary/other gender identities, and rampant usage of generative AI (genAI) technology.
As a result, Studio Élan has become exceptionally prone to receiving hate speech and review-bombing, whether on their social media or game store platforms such as Steam or GOG. In addition, genAI technology puts them at risk of getting their arts, such as the artwork and voices, stolen and abused.
Furthermore, the people working on the VNs are also facing an increasing risk of experiencing harassment both on the internet and in real life.
“I’m seeing my friends torn down in modern society and their works disrespected and undervalued. It’s incredibly difficult and heartbreaking, and there’s really no easy answer to this,” adirosa commented.
“Please Be Happy”, a yuri visual novel by Studio Élan. Characters from left to right: Aspen (left), Miho (middle), and Juliet (right). Image by Studio Élan.
In spite of those setbacks, Studio Élan remains optimistic. For starters, they are committed to upholding their integrity without utilizing genAI technology. Josh explained, “We are wholly against genAI for art, writing, voice-acting, or anything else. Our work process hasn’t changed, in that regard.”
“I’m confident that people will continue to seek out and value human-made art and stories, and that our games will continue to find an audience with whom they resonate,” he continued.
Even further, in the face of hatred and bigotry towards LGBTQI+ people in current times, Studio Élan also remains committed to creating more stories and games by queer people for queer people.
“Right now, it’s more important than ever for both creators and fans to support LGBTQI+ art, not just for us but also for all of the many creators who continue making and sharing things despite the pressure to stop. Even if we have to sell them off handmailed USB drives,” said Josh.
Moving forward alongside the community
Studio Élan continues to produce and publish yuri VNs and will continue to do so for many years to come, all while fostering a community which stands tall as a safe space for women and LGBTQI+ people. The people working behind the scenes are also hopeful that they’d be able to create more exciting VNs that resonate with a lot of people.
adirosa stated, “I plan to release more games in the future, and I hope that they will be able to make people a little bit happier and maybe make the world a bit of a better place.”
Meanwhile, Josh is optimistic that the studio will create new and exciting VNs in the future, all thanks to the support of the community.
He said, “We are super grateful for the community and audience that we have, whether they’re newcomers or long-term fans on Discord whose name I see every day from before we even released our first game. I hope that we’ll continue to earn our support.”
“I also consider myself incredibly fortunate to be able to keep making games alongside some of my favorite people and to still have fun doing it. Here’s to many more years of that.”
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This article is written by Lena Tama, a contributor and queer journalist from Indonesia. She loves all things yuri and will bake cookies & sweets for you!
