Well, to say it clearly, this story has nothing to do with anything shinigami-ish - at least I didn't (and still don't) really know what those are and what rules there are to them, but again, personified death is a common thing, so if you have a name for it, it's all the better. All the rules of the story and how death comes about are really just made up, so in case you're seeing more or so, it's not really there.
It's not that I want to put down what I've written. PyTom is right, there was a version of this story that was final and in a certain style - but then I re-wrote a few parts in the beginning and almost completely the last part and as a result, the whole feel of the story changed. And, I decided to use the one that you have now.
Now of course that doesn't mean I think the one version that PyTom talks about is bad - I actually like it as well, but then again, it's not uncommon for me to discard such big bits and leave them out. I also had a THIRD version of Gakuen Redux and I didn't put that one as an easter egg either.
Maybe people would like some of the discarded stories - the second Misato game was basically done, and I am never going to release it. Also, there were several Black Pencil concept stories completed before the final one made it to the game. Milk Swim - don't get me started, the game evolved so radically, that there was nothing left from the original idea - all because another ideas took over. And it's the same with the Secretary. Granted, the final change was done almost at the last minute, but that may happen as well.
There is a difference between when I am in the process of creating a game, even finalizing it - and when I am actually making that final move of posting the game and releasing it. It may seem like a small last step, but I need to be 100% sure about everything before I actually commit myself to releasing it. In that time when I have everything on my disk and I am all alone with the game, that's when the final decision has to be made. And it's always the toughest decision of them all - because you kind of evaluate everything in the project and try to look whether you will be able to be okay with everything the game is.
And that brings me to the point, finally. I didn't want to include the other version (and other versions of other stories), because this, the SoD you were playing now, is the only one I consider to be the true SoD.
But maybe it's something people just feel as being a waste - I never want to waste any sketch or any piece of work that others do for the ATP games, because I just feel so bad, it feels like work is being done for nothing when things need to be redone or even scrapped. And I suppose if someone gave me two sets of graphics for my game and only let me use one set, I would feel something like that as well, and I would want that other set to be included as well - if you remember Transfer Teacher, that game had a completely different background set, menus and even some of the characters - it was changed in the last couple of days. I still have that version - calling it Transfer Teacher Blue.
Anyway, including or not including something that's already done will always be a decision, but it's not really as dramatic as it may seem and I really feel it's also not as wasteful as it may look. The final game will always be a result of a lot of testing, a lot of tries and a lot of concepts (if only in one's head). So maybe it's actually quite normal.
BTW, no one noticed the special menus and special release files?
PyTom did a great job on those
And, it shouldn't hurt the atmosphere if you put on your favorite songs...
. Very common term.