Summary
: After completing Decoyman, we unlock the first Placebo chapter. We could go right on to Spectrum, but you’re intended to play the Placebo chapters in between Transmitter ones.
: “Have you ever felt like that before? I did. I used to work as a police reporter for a pretty good news agency… some shit went down that’s not worth explaining… and after a bunch of trouble, I quit.”
: We don’t actually see Tokio’s portrait yet, but all of the portraits in the Placebo chapters are done in a different art style.
: “After quitting, I became a freelance writer. It probably doesn’t sound so bad, but… in reality… chasing after celebrity asses, sticking a tape recorder up against front door interphones, pretending to be a relative and getting someone’s registry information, I was doing worthless stuff like that.”
: That last one continues to be a problem to this day. Japan’s family registry system (called the “koseki”) has a history of issues - namely that it could be used by employers to discriminate against people.
: Up until 1976, anyone could access the registry for any reason - all you had to do was pay a fee. Theoretically, third parties (as well as employers) are now banned from asking for this information.
: It’s also an expensive headache for the government that they’ve been trying to get rid of for years.
: “But then, one day, I received a work request by mail. Set a mark on Kamui Uehara, and check out every single thing, down to the hairs on his ass.”
: “That was the job. The guy who the media is now reporting on like crazy, the one they’re calling the worst criminal of the century. That Kamui.”
: “What a mistake, right? Asking someone like me to do that job…”
: “And the fact that I was seeing triangles in circles due to being shitfaced drunk at the time, I decided to take the job.”
: “I promised to investigate everything about Kamui’s past and future, write up a report, and submit it. It was a really secretive, sketchy-ass deal…”
: “That’s how it started.”
: “It’s my workplace, and also where I sleep and get up in the morning.”
: We have control now, but as soon as we move, we’ll be in a cutscene.
: To the left is Tokio’s dining area, accompanied by his giant picture of a bat. That’s about as much as we can see right now.
: “The reason being… well, I have my suspicions. I wonder if I have any new mails? Lemme check…”
: The first two Placebo chapters are largely Tokio checking his email and typing notes into his computer.
: I’ll be typing out the emails in block quotes to reduce screenshot use, because even the smallest of these emails is like six screens long.
From: shige
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: from a friend
Date: Tue, 6 April 1999 12:02:42been awhile.
how you been?i heard you quit the news agency and now youre a reporter?
youre pretty busy huh.
so… how about it? 50,000 yen.how do i put it… its like i can feel the flow of the times…
like, this year is the end of the millennium, right?
so i thought, i can’t just leave things as they are.
you could say its time to liquidate, you know?when i remember all the jobs ive done, i think theres a lot of stuff ive forgotten.
i wanna get rid of all that, and start the new millennium nice and fresh…so how about it? paying me back that 50,000 yen you borrowed now.
weve got lots to talk about, so lets go have a nice long drink.
oh yeah, ill give you my cellphone number. call me if anything comes up.
(10332-33234)
: The weird line breaks are how they are in the game.
: “Here, you can not only read mails received… you can also send mail,”
From: Tokio Morishima
To: shige
Subject: Re: from a friendThe end of the millennium… that’s not this year, it’s next year.
So that means I’ll pay you back that 50,000 yen and clean things up nice and tidily next year.Sorry. Don’t mean to put you out. You’re the same Shige as always. Glad to know you’re my friend.
Talk to you later. Looking forward to seeing you next year.
: “Keep records of your own studies in the Morishima Memo (diary) —”
: Just like the emails, I’ll type these out in block quotes to save space.
Sorry, Shige. To be honest, be it this year or next year, or even next-next year, I don’t plan on paying you back that money I borrowed.
More importantly, I’ve been thinking that I really need to start rethinking our relationship, actually.
So anyways, that’s what’s up. Don’t keep sending me mails like that from now on. I don’t care how cool and friendly you are, I’m gonna get pissed. Of course I am. But the truth is, even if I wanted to pay you back, I just don’t have the money.
I mean, with this Kamui stuff, if all goes well I’ll be coming into a good amount of money, so just keep patient until then. I mean, only if all goes well, but still. And if it doesn’t go well?
Well, I can think about that when it happens. “Live in the now,” you know? Whatever the fuck that means.
: “And sometimes, you can even join chats. Basically, it’s where I keep my true feelings and thoughts collected.”
: “Normally, once you read an important mail, you act immediately… for mail, you can always read it again later… it’s sometimes good to take your time going over old mails and mails you haven’t read yet…”
: “His name is Red. He keeps silent, like an old fossil… but he’s also delicate like a clock with its minute mechanisms. We’ve been living together for just over two years.”
: “Here… there’s all sorts of shit lying around. The only thing I really even use is the phone, but whatever…”
: “What else… oh yeah… the world you can see from this window actually looks pretty nice…”
: “This park, but that’s about it…”
: “That is to say, the guy called Tokio Morishima’s, version of events in the “Kamui Case” and related happenings, in these scenarios. Basically, just think of it as a sample…”
: “The 24 wards has lots of guys just like me living here… I’m just one of a plethora of humans here. And by chance… I happened to get involved with Kamui Uehara.”
: “But like, in a really weird way… how was it ‘weird’, you ask? Keep your pants on… we’ve got all the time we need, right? First, lemme have a quick smoke and then we’ll begin…”
: This feels a lot like the intro to No More Heroes 2.
: Before we continue, I want to point out that you can contact Red at any time. There is an achievement for doing this 100 times.
: “It’s definitely a fucked up job. Right? But the client is Inohana! Yeah, a request from my old asshole boss Inohana. So of course the job is fucked up. But I’m dirt poor. So, you know… sorry, but I took the job.”
I skimmed over some info on Kamui online.
Recently I’ve been forgetting to watch TV or read the newspaper, so I don’t really know shit about Kamui. It’s hard to call myself a free reporter like this.
Kamui’s very existence had basically been almost totally covered up till recently. But now he’s apparently the most badass criminal ever, and he got arrested and escaped from the hospital and is now a serial killer.
Yeah. Great. Plus, he apparently killed two members of the Security Force (and seriously injured two more). And that’s why he’s such a big deal now.
The case in question.
Kamui reappeared on March 27th, around midnight. The Special Forces Unit began measures to capture him, but two people ended up getting killed. Two people from Special Forces went after Kamui, but he put one of them in critical condition and disappeared into the darkness.
That’s about it. Even the sports papers had him in their headlines.
After some time, the legendary criminal Kamui started up again in the HC Unit’s jurisdiction. How inflammatory and poetic.
The identity of the female body found on March 28th still hasn’t been publicized. This particular crime seemed to employ the same M.O. as Kamui’s past crimes.
Apart from this, he also killed his counselor when escaping from the mental hospital. Four people in total. Kamui was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial for his previous crimes.
So are his recent crimes also the product of his fucked-up brains? Or does he simply like to kill? People are getting boisterous about it. The talk shows have all been featuring these quacks spouting random bullshit. How shitty the world has become.
Who was the first person he ever killed, and how did he kill them? Interesting. Also, about Kamui even further back in the day. All a mystery. What was he like as a kid? Who are his parents? Where is he from? It looks like no trustworthy info ever made it into the media.
There are plenty of records pertaining to Kamui while he was in the hospital, but it’s all a bunch of bullshit about how he was a “model patient”. The only thing I’ve found is that when he was in the hospital, Kamui was totally broken down, and was basically just an anemic bastard. I found this out from a tabloid last week.
If I was going to cover the story, then first I should talk to someone who has gone up against Kamui and survived, like a soldier from the Security Force. But how can I get in touch with someone like that…?
: Needless to say, the first thing I thought of when I saw this was “What if there was a scene where Red interviewed the chinchilla?”. Salty Vanilla is on it.
: We have two emails. I don’t think you have to read these to progress, and I’ll post the first one. The second one is like twelve screens long and about carnivorous plants.
: This quote is from William Saroyan, a writer who wrote most of his important works in the early 1940s and is considered an important American novelist. He also had a hell of a moustache.
: “I’m pretty exhausted. What time is it…? 5:40… A lot of time has gone by…”
: To progress, we have to use the phone. You can brute force your way through this chapter pretty easily because there’s only four things you can contact.
: “Erika, I guess. If I use her, then if need be I can always use her as a shield, too…”
: I have to wonder if Tokio was meant to be a kind of deconstruction of your typical western adventure game character, where they do dickish things because the plot demands it.
: Tokio does it because he’s drunk and doesn’t give a shit.
: “Hi, it’s me.”
: “It’s Morishima. I got a favor to ask. I’m looking into the Kamui case, like, personally. And I was hoping you might have something interesting… anything is fine.”
: “I just need something to help bulk up my report. Hey, are you even listening? Hey! Fuck, the bitch hung up on me…”
: What’s Tokio do? Blog about it.
I should ask Erika for help. That was a great idea, for me. I mean, it’s actually a shitty idea, but it’s the only choice I have for now. I need to keep in mind that that’s how fucked up this situation is.
She still works at the news agency. It’d be nice if I could use some of their info. I just need to put the moves on Erika…
“Put the moves” on her? She’d cry if she heard me.
: “Just nothing… seems to lead anywhere… the hell am I gonna do?”
: You can hear Tokio’s doorbell ring in the background.
: “Shut up! Enough!”
: “Please! For reals! Just get the fuck out of here! What the fuck… seriously!”
: Of course, the first thing we do is check Tokio’s email. This is pretty much the answer any time you’re stuck in a Placebo chapter.
From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Mr. Genius Passionate Writer
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 7:08:53Thanks for the nice morning coffee…
…Is that what you thought I’d say?
You’re the same as always, only ever thinking about yourself. Do you really understand what you’re doing? Calling me up and talking to me like that, you must think I’m some cheap woman, right?
I don’t find that funny. Your phone calls are a nuisance.
: I have the feeling that is not the first, nor the last time Erika will be getting a drunken call from Tokio.
From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: P.S.
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 7:24:37The 24 Wards Heinous Crimes Unit is in charge of the Kamui case.
The HC Unit is a group of specialists in violent and disturbing crimes. It’s different from the more Central-related departments that always have mass media reporters hanging around in that it wouldn’t be impossible to take advantage of cracks in their armor.
If you’re going to talk to them, you should probably talk to the detective named Kusabi. He’s old school - scary-looking and self-made. I’ve met him before, and he’s a rather talkative old man. But with regards to crucial and sensitive information, he definitely won’t leak anything.
99% of the stuff about Kamui that’s going around in the media is either just rumor or pure fantasy. But since big news agencies like mine, newspapers, and TV news departments are getting all frantic about it, a lot of facts should come to light soon. So if you’re planning on just writing up a fabricated story, you’re just gonna end up screwing yourself over in the end.
Also… I have no idea why you’re sticking your nose into this stuff, and I don’t care. But I will tell you that I’m not helping you for our sake, but out of my own curiosity. I’ve decided to let you show me what you’ve got. Whatever sort of media you’re writing for, it’s been three years since you’ve gotten involved with anything journalistic as a police reporter.
To be honest, I’d been reading the articles you’ve been writing for a while now. I mean, I’d just been reading them because that’s what I was handed at the hair salon, but still. Some actor brought some female college student to a hotel and tied her up and did whatever… sure, that’s a big thing, too.
By the way, is your official title still “police reporter”?
: For reference, the scene where we met Tokio in Decoyman happened on the night of April 9th.
: This email has unicode characters in it, so I’ll post screenshots for those parts.
[] “5027-999 Plan” Almost Enacted
It was discovered that this past March 27th, the military forces of Country A and Country B almost enacted joint military operations. The “5027-999 Plan” is a scenario created for the purpose of working out what to do in case of actual or threatened invasion by Country C. The decision to enact the plan was rescinded upon the publication of comments by Country C admitting to crossing over international borders.
[] Emergency Preparations Undertaken For Missing Kamui
The suspect in the “Kamui Case”, Kamui Uehara, is still at large. With regards to this, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kitajima made a strange announcement, commenting that “We are undertaking the necessary emergency preparations, the population has nothing to fear or worry about.”
However, nothing has yet been revealed regarding Kamui’s whereabouts or the current status of the investigation.
: I did try the URL, and it didn’t work. There’s also one in that email I skipped earlier that got co-opted by some gaming blog.
: “Weird-ass name. You hungry? You want some shrimp? Some of those whiteleg shrimp you like? Sorry, but just wait a little longer.”
: “The HC Unit, huh… I’ll need my old business cards…”
: Get used to this shot, as it’ll be used frequently for the rest of the chapter.
: “He still hasn’t shown up. It’s been 30 fucking minutes already… am I getting stood up?”
: “Hey… are you the guy I’m supposed to meet?”
: Kusabi doesn’t have a portrait in the Placebo chapters, so I’m using the one from the Transmitter arc.
: “They say that it’s a detective’s job to ‘doubt’… and apparently they’re right. I tried heading into the main topic directly, but this guy dodged it.”
: “Anything at all is fine. Even just something small.”
: “I got no idea. Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you shit anyway.”
: “That’s rough. OK, I’m just gonna ask frankly, but what exactly is Kamui’s deal?”
: “Well… if I knew, I wouldn’t be in a place like this now.”
: “I see. Kusabi, you’re a veteran detective. You’ve probably got one or two reporters with whom you’re familiar. But, you know… how about switching things up once in a while?”
: “You trying to get into my pants or something? Nice, I can tell how passionate you are. OK then, so what the fuck is your deal then?”
: Kusabi only understands the world along two axis: fucking and shooting. There is no middle ground.
: “That stuff about the ‘news agency’, that was bullshit, right?”
: “Why do you think so?”
: “Because you look pretty fucked up. Look in the goddamn mirror.”
: “You’re close enough. I’m just a freelance writer. To be honest, I am pretty down on my luck, which is why I’m after info on Kamui.”
: “I wonder.”
: “You know, I don’t dislike old-school type detectives like yourself.”
: “Bullshit…”
: “Well, anyway, if you think of anything, please call me anytime. Don’t hesitate…”
: Tokio uh, sure has a choice in business cards.
: “This is part of ‘sales’, you know. I’ll be back.”
: “So I ended up being made to sit around wasting time with Kusabi. But this old guy should prove useful. It’s more of a ‘premonition’ than a ‘hunch’, but he’ll be worth hanging onto.”
: “Next time, I’ll bring him some donuts or something as a gift. A nice little present for the hardworking dicks in the HC Unit.”
: This shot of Tokio’s apartment building also gets re-used heavily.
From: Tokio Morishima
To: S. INOHANA
Subject: Doing it to deathWent to the HC Unit.
Apparently nobody knows anything about Kamui. Of course that’s bullshit, though. But we did come to an understanding. I should be able to visit again.
Anyway, that’s how it’s going. Got any directions?
: “This job is more complicated than I’d thought. But the conditions aren’t bad. Well, if they’re gonna pay me that much money, I gotta try my best not to piss the guy off.”
From: S. INOHANA
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Message
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 9:05:21Someone saw Kamui Uehara. Meet with them. Preparations for coverage have already been made.
4:00pm on April 9th, 24 Wards, Hachisukacho, Block 2, cafe called “Prussian”. Your contact’s name is Kaiji Enzawa. He’ll be holding a job-hunting paper.
: Clearly, Suda51 had a very different outcome in mind for Kaiji than Nobuyuki Fukumoto did.
: “Witness? ‘Reporting’?”
: “Hachisukacho… Hachisukacho… OK, got it.”
: “Block 2, I got it.”
: I get why Suda re-used all these shots, but it’s strange to me they didn’t try to update any of this for the re-release. The 3D scenes were definitely upscaled, because there’s an option to use the PS1 visuals.
: " ‘Prussian’— the place wasn’t clean like most coffee shops. It feels more like a bar. It wasn’t bad… I desperately tried to hold back the impulse to have a drink."
: “As I was chainsmoking, the guy finally showed up. He was holding the job-hunting paper. He was out of breath, and looking at his eyes as he looked around the shop, he somehow didn’t really look Japanese.”
: “No, that’s not it. For an instant, he seemed to look down on everyone in the place, with a really peculiar expression. He definitely didn’t seem like a ‘trustworthy’ dude… that’s the impression I got.”
: “Enzawa sat in the seat in front of me. His earlier expression had disappeared, and with an attitude that made it seem as though he was born with it, he ordered a coffee in a really respectful and almost self-depreciating way.”
: “He looked like your normal, run-of-the-mill businessman in his fifties. He seemed so ‘regular’ that I was sort of taken aback. I totally thought he was unemployed, but he said something about ‘still being on the clock’ and so he only had about 20 minutes to spare for me.”
: “That was totally fine for me, though. The geezer wiped away his sweat with a hand towel… and we started talking.”
: This part’s kinda confusing, because we already know that Kamui is in Ayame’s closet. It’ll be explained in the next update. This chapter is… actually pretty long.
: “Where?”
: “This very neighborhood. You know the Babylon Shopping Center, right? Right next to there. About five days ago, maybe? He was walking.”
: “That’s a real scoop.”
: “That’s right, it’s a scoop. I spoke to the police as well.”
: “How did Kamui look?”
: “He was by himself. He was just walking along normally. It was the middle of the night. I was working late that day, and tried to get a taxi…”
: “What kind of guy was Kamui? That’s what I want to know.”
: “Like how he looked? He was like a new moon. He looked like the moon. It’s a weird simile, but that’s how he looked to me.”
: “I don’t get it.”
: I’m not sure I get it either.
: “What is Kamui to you?”
: “Kamui possesses a terrible creative power. Don’t you think so? With that creative power, he’s able to distort everyday things.”
: “Did you know that? Most people known as ‘geniuses’ are the same. The creative power of a genius holds the power to encroach upon reality.”
: Clearly, I am not a genius.
: “And so, to me, the crimes he commits are a type of creative work. Even his murders.”
: “What!? Are you saying Kamui’s an artist?! He’s just a criminal. What are you, one of his believers or something?”
: “Well, actually I really don’t like that way of putting it. You know, you’re pretty rude.”
: “Why the fuck would you believe in Kamui?”
: “Hm… I just wanted to tell you what Kamui’s like, as-is.”
: “So that asshole is just walking around freely. The world we live in… all these people who are somehow fucked up… men… women… girls… boys… all over the place… fuck Kamui’s believers.”
: “Anyway… I might as well go check out Babylon. Red is almost out of food anyway.”
: Next time, we’ll see what happens to Tokio after Big Dick the Chinchilla meets him in the shopping center.