An Introduction to Hope Princess Santaria: A Story That Begins in the Galaxy of the Hope Birds

Summary

Hope Princess Santaria is a story set in a galaxy where comets in the shape of birds, called Hope Birds, gather together. The story is only beginning to take shape, and its characters and episodes will grow in number over time. Please read this guide not as a signpost that explains everything, but as a first step on a journey we hope to take together. Readers are welcome to begin from whichever entrance draws them.

Background

In the galaxy of the Hope Birds, countless comets trail long tails and flow onward in formation, as though spreading their wings. Seen from afar, they look like a single great bird. The Hope Birds keep flying toward somewhere, yet no one knows whether they have a destination or whether the flight itself is their purpose. What is certain is that their light never goes out as they cross the dark heavens.

The Hope Princesses live in this galaxy. They are not rulers who sit upon thrones and give commands, but travelers who journey within the streams of light. Because they move from one comet to the next, and from one story to the next, the stories of this world naturally take the form of a journey.

The word princess carries two resonances: one who is protected, and one who inherits. In this story, a princess is one entrusted with someone else's hope and charged with carrying it on to the next place. She may not be strong, and she may lose her way, yet she keeps walking without letting go of what has been entrusted to her. It is such a figure that the Church calls a princess.

Hope Princess Santaria is one of the princesses who travel this galaxy. We say one of them because she is not the whole of it; in the galaxy of the Hope Birds there are princesses whose names have not yet been told. Their stories will come to light little by little. Santaria stands quietly beside a person in despair and seeks to find the faint light that still remains there. She does not hand down answers; rather, she is a princess who confirms, together with that person, what has not yet gone out.

Additional notes

Even the Church does not yet fully know where the story will lead. We believe, however, that beginning to write without knowing is the more honest course for this work. As for the order of reading, the most accurate guidance at present is as follows.

• Please enter through whichever door draws you, whether photographs, music, or words. Every entrance leads to the same galaxy
• The reading order will grow over time. As the works increase, a natural path through them should emerge, and we will offer guidance again at that time
• Please do not hurry to meet the characters. New princesses, and those met along the journey, will appear gradually over time

Drawing together a map that still has many blank spaces is the most fitting way to enjoy this work at present. Our studio publishes digital media-mix works dedicated to hope and peace, free of charge and on a nonprofit basis. The Hope Birds are still flying, and somewhere on their wings there is room for each reader's own story. The characters are few and much remains untold, but that also means there is much still to come. Please join us on this journey without haste, at your own pace.