Summary
: Last time, Big Dick the Chinchilla went to Tokio’s apartment building and saw a ghost.. and now, we’ll just promptly ignore that. You think Big Dick still cares about ghosts? Nah.
: “50,000…”
: “Tetsu? You listening?”
: “50,000! Shut the fuck up!”
: " ‘50,000’ what…?"
: “A horse?”
: “The fuck am I supposed to do for this month? Huh? What the hell am I supposed to tell Akemi…? Sumio, what day is today?”
: “It’s July 3rd…”
: “The 3rd? We just got paid… 22 more days… the fuck am I supposed to do? What am I gonna do?!”
: The extra-judicial murder police clearly don’t pay very well.
: “That’s, uh, not really my…”
: “I had a bad feeling about it. The name ‘Sprite Over’. You know Sonobe in Accounting, right? That fucking idiot told me. Said he had a ‘lead’.”
: This reminds me of the accountant from my old job who went missing for like a week, and then called management from Brazil to tell them he wasn’t coming back.
: “Said the Tsubaki Syndicate had fixed it. I mean, it makes sense if you think about it, right? How else is that fuckin’ idiot supposed to win?”
: “A digital check on the best nine. That’s what I thought. I fuckin’ knew it.”
: “Well, you believed him, yeah? So what are you gonna do for the rest of the month?”
: “Sumio, don’t say shit… just lend me some cash!”
: “Nope!”
: “C’mon, buddy… please, I said the magic word!”
: The best part about this is that you know there’s no way this is the first time this has happened.
: “Please, try asking someone else… check with Nakategawa over the radio or something. That guy’s rolling in it…”
: If you’ve played Disco Elysium, you’re probably wondering if Kusabi is about to join the exclusive club of cops who ask dispatch for money over the radio… and yes. Yes he is.
: “And show Naka that I’m weak? How the fuck am I supposed to ask a bitchy little queen like that to lend me money…?”
: “Here, I’ll turn it over to him…”
: “The fuck’re you doing, man…? C’mon… Naka? Sorry, I know you’re busy… I’m gonna ask you straight-up. Can you lend me some cash? Yeah, 50,000…”
: As much as the reviewers complained about scenes like this, I think this scene is actually pretty good. It tells us a lot about Kusabi and his relationship with Sumio, and doesn’t take that long to do it.
: So yeah, Big Dick saw a ghost and just didn’t give a shit. I wonder if Kusabi asked him for money too.
: There’s no weird jump scares here this time, just a strange email we can (but don’t have to) read before going out.
: The first thing we want to do upon getting here is go up to Koichi’s apartment on the 4th floor.
: We then get a note telling us.. okay, let’s see. We need to put a watering can, a syringe, and a flower into a garbage can and then hide it from a giant head. Got it.
: Now, you’d think the first thing we’d want to do is see Mizoguchi, except…
: He’s not in. We still need to check this to set a plot flag, but what we really have to do is go to the second floor.
: If you go back to Apartment 101, Mizoguchi still isn’t there. This is another weird plot flag where we have to go to the parking lot and confirm the door is locked first.
: Yep, its locked. Back to 101 we go.
: “The parking lot? You can’t get there? Why not? … Ah, it’s still locked, isn’t it? Hold on a second. OK, can you open it with this? Yeah, just stick the key right in. I’ll go get the key from you later.”
: We now have the key. This is one of the only times in the game we’re going to need to use an item.
: Tokio’s car isn’t here, which means we’re probably going to see a whole lot of driving segments in his next chapter.
: Off to the side are some garbage cans. Now, you’d think that the answer would be to just walk up to them and try to Contact, except..
: You have to look down first. This one is kind of annoying because the contact point will show up even if you’re looking straight at the cans.. only you can’t actually contact them.
: Now, we’re meant to believe that an adult human male fits through that hole. I think this is definitive proof that the protagonist is, in fact, a chinchilla.
: The view on the left is constantly rotating, though there isn’t much in this hole in the ground.
: “Isn’t this place cool? I worked really hard. Together with Hikaru… we’d start when it started getting dark and dig holes a little at a time.”
: Isn’t this just the plot to Holes? When did that come out, anyway? I feel like it’s right around this time frame.
: “Digging holes is fun. Guys like holes. Both Hikaru and me. I feel like digging these holes helped us grow.”
: “I got this from a computer company that went out of business. I don’t know how to use it, but it’s our secret base’s control panel. One day I’ll switch it on and use it for investigations.”
: Koichi clearly has a bunch of waking up to haunted emails and videos of carnivorous plants in his future.
: “Um, for this case… the perpetrator was really dumb.”
: “The solution is coming up after the commercial break… this has been ‘Columbone’. Hehehe, don’t I sound like him? I’m good at impersonation.”
: “OK, so… this is what I think about the perpetrator. I gathered some witnesses. By my reasoning, I narrowed it down to five people… hehehe. I’m like a bookie at the races, huh?”
: I mean, I guess? I don’t really know what Hideo Kojima looked like as a kid.
: “He’s big and he’s really mean. He lives in front of Midori Park, but he always brags about it. Because he has a big house.”
: “And since Hikaru and me only live with our moms, he makes fun of us.. this guy, I thought about killing him. I don’t even know how many times.”
: “I’ve played with him before, but it wasn’t fun at all. Hikaru must’ve felt the same. So we always ignored him. He was crap, so he never played baseball, and everyone stayed away from him.”
: “Hikaru was crap, too, so he always got picked on. I always call Hikaru to play right away and bring him back… this guy’s the biggest suspect.”
: “We take the same route to school, and we’re in the same group. And he’s the group leader, but he always acts really big.”
: “He treats me and Hikaru and Shigenori like we’re his lackeys. He says lots of mean stuff. But one time I couldn’t take it anymore and we got in a fight.”
: “I always knew it, that this guy wasn’t so tough. But he acts so bossy, so it got me really mad. I couldn’t beat him, but… it was a tie. He got a bit better after that, and Hikaru supported me, so he’s holding a grudge. He’s another big suspect.”
: I’ll be honest, I almost fell asleep while recording this part. From what I understand, a lot of people consider Spectrum to be the weakest part of the game.
: I mean, this whole thing feels outdated even for 1999 - this feels more like 20th Century Boys, which takes place primarily in the 1970s.
: “He’s good-looking. He’s best at baseball and he has a sense of justice - and everyone likes him. But during baseball, his personality changes.”
: “Hikaru is bad at baseball, so Shimizu always gets mad at him… when we played against the sixth graders, Hikaru joined the game – and at a really important point, when he was pinch-hitting, he couldn’t get a hit..”
: “It was Shimizu’s decision to have Hikaru pinch-hit. But he couldn’t get a hit… so he blamed Hikaru for us losing the game. Also, um… also, he’s really stuck-up.”
: “He’s really arrogant. Since he’s really confident, he forces people into stuff. When I go up to bat, I’m a southpaw, but he won’t let me bat lefty. He makes me bat right-handed.”
: “So… I’m actually better at baseball than Shimizu. I’m actually the best in our class, but everyone discriminates against me. I can’t pitch, but I’m a better fielder than anyone else.”
: “I’m always in the outfield and if I bat lefty then I can get lots of hits, but… so Shimizu is another possibility.”
: “He’s kinda stupid. He’s big! He’s so much bigger than everyone else. He really hulks out sometimes. Seriously, he gets all violent like a monster and his face gets super red and he gets angry.”
: “He’s really strong. Unless we all hold him back he won’t calm down. Motonobu has it hard himself. The guys in the East district always make fun of him…”
: “We live in the West district, and so does Motonobu, but we play around places close to home, so we’re actually kinda friends… I feel sorta sorry for him sometimes.”
: “Kids act like they’re fighting a monster and come after him like that. Motonobu is really stubborn and he won’t give up… so we get done in even more.”
: “Koike and Takepin always make fun of him, and Takepin got Motonobu really angry. He kept calling him a stupid idiot, and then he’d run away, and Shimizu and Koike would beat on him.”
: I’m also not really sure what the point of all this is, but then again, this is Suda we’re dealing with.
: “Motonobu has a short temper so it’s his fault, too, but… when Motonobu gets excited, he gets really weird… so he’s even bullied Hikaru before. I hope it wasn’t Motonobu…”
: “There’s Aonuma and Tsukada and Satomi,and Aonuma is like their boss. They’re really powerful now, because they’re friends with the Misuhashi group in the sports center area.”
: “The Aonuma group lives close by, and they’re always grouped together and talking badly behind people’s backs. These girls really discriminate against people, too, and their parents tell them not to play with ‘single mother kids’.”
: “The girls in the East district are much nicer. Sakurai and Osawa and Yasuda live really far away, but they invited us over to play and their moms are really nice.”
: “I was really happy… maybe they feel sorry for us? But I don’t care. Even though it was New Year’s, they came to my birthday party and were super nice to me and Hikaru.”
: “But the girls in the West and East wards don’t get along at all, and they face off in groups. Sometimes, we get mixed up in their power struggles, and Aonuma tells us to join them..”
: “When I take Sakurai’s side, Aonuma bullies Hikaru. Aonuma is really good at dodgeball and she could beat Hikaru in a fight, so Aonuma is always making Hikaru cry.”
: “So I stand up for Hikaru and make Aonuma cry to get revenge. But she still bullies Hikaru behind his back. Girls can be really dirty, but I still think that Sakurai and them are way better.”
: “The Aonuma group might be keeping Hikaru locked up somewhere. These girls are also top suspects.”
: I thought about this whole scene last night, and at first I couldn’t figure out what the point of it was - whether this was Suda trolling or what.
: Then it kinda hit me. You have Big Dick the Chinchilla knowing that Hikaru is dead, but not really knowing how to break that to Koichi, so he’s just sitting there awkwardly the entire time.
: Speaking of which, since I don’t think anyone who reads my LPs follows me on Twitter, I decided against LPing YIIK 1.5 They just did a reveal of it last week.
: The reason I’ve decided against it is that I feel like I really wouldn’t have much more to say about it than I did the first two times.
: “We might be able to help Hikaru… promise, OK? I’ll get hold of you again later.”
: “Seriously, man… and how did it somehow get up to 100,000?”
: “Whatever. He says he’ll spot me, so..”
: “You’re gonna pay for it later…”
: For some reason, I have a feeling that Kusabi lost the other 50,000 betting on the same horse.
: “I’ll deal with that when it happens. Live in the now, man. In this moment, right now.”
: “I envy you… you’ve got guts.”
: This reminds me so much of CITY by Keiichi Arawi, which has two characters that are more or less Kusabi and Sumio only they’re female college students.
: “Don’t flatter me. Just live how you feel.”
: “I was being sarcastic…”
: “But anyways… how long is this stakeout gonna go on?”
: For reference, Kusabi and Sumio have been out there for almost six days at this point.
: “It can’t really be helped.”
: " ‘Can’t be helped,’ huh… ‘Can’t be helped’.."
: "That’s right. ‘Can’t be helped.’ "
: “Back when I was in Regional… the old man told me. 'Detectives don’t use the words “can’t be helped” '. ‘Don’t ever say that in front of me again.’ He looked like he was gonna stab me.”
: If only Hashino’s boss had been more like Kotobuki, Persona 5 might have been tolerable.
: “So Sumio, don’t ever use that phrase. If we give up, we lose. That’s a detective’s job. Burn that into your brain.”
: “OK then, if I decide I want to die, then I’ll use those words…”
: “Oh yeah, don’t worry… I’ll kill your ass.”
: “…”
: I’m not even going to apologize for this, because I absolutely could not refuse.
: Just like yesterday, we can look at Big Dick’s computer for some cryptic bullshit.
: “I’ve done OK with the gathering. That boy have anything to go on? You don’t need to rush it. Take your time. Something’ll pop up eventually.”
: “Chizuru? Well, women are complicated. Us men can’t really understand them. There’s a program. A really specific, original one. Chizuru is especially complicated.”
: “She’s half-assedly sticking her nose into forensic investigation, so she’s being pressured by all these unspecific personalities. Protecting her own self-consciousness is all she can do.”
: Wait, what. When did this become Persona?
: “Her job is to take in other people’s consciousnesses, you know? So basically, she’s like the fortunetellers on Mt. Osore. It’s a really tough job… it’ll get better once the storm blows over..”
: “She just needs to be left alone for a bit. She’s not a little kid anymore… once she remembers that she’s a professional cop, she’ll be back.”
: “Anyway, Timrod, you’d be solidify your position here while Chizuru’s out. Let’s go… Timrod, we’re gonna check out the area around the complex. See if we can get any info from the locals.”
: “It isn’t glamorous work but this is important too.”
: “Really? The results of our questioning have already disappeared from backup. That’s in the past.”
: So you’re saying that… you killed.. the past?
: “Leave your stupid comments in your pocket! I’ve got my way of doing things. Let’s go!”
: Morikawa is exercising the little-known police right to piss wherever you want.
: Chizuru speeds by in her red sports car.
: “Wh- what?! Timrod, move out! That’s Chizuru!”
: It is my headcanon that Big Dick refuses to drive whatever it is that Morikawa drives and instead has a chinchilla-sized convertible.
: I would have had Salty Vanilla draw that, except cars are apparently hell and a half to draw.
: “Heh, he’s pretty good. So what do you want? I’m off duty right now. I’m just a civilian…”
: You might ask why Chizuru isn’t wearing her glasses, and the answer is I have no idea. I can’t even drive without mine.
: My theory is that she’s like Senator Armstrong in Metal Gear Rising and disabled her lesbian inhibitors via nanomachines.
: “What is this, desperate driving? And you were such a good girl… want me to make you feel better?”
: “Whatever… I told you. I have my own way of doing things. So? Is this your new partner? Good timing…”
: “By the way…is it some kind of structural problem that the steel is cheap and there are old marks everywhere?”
: “…”
: “Can I talk to you in private?”
: “I’m fine…”
: “I’m not.”
: “In that case…”
: “Do you understand?”
: “I don’t care. This shouldn’t be the time for thinking.”
: “Well, more than anyone, you should…”
: “Your father, huh?”
: “Timrod, can you head off to the scene on your own? Sorry, don’t ask… start questioning people thoroughly. Check every apartment. The inner garden, too. Try going back again.”
: I’m going to end this here, because there is a lot of optional dialogue up ahead. Next time, we should be able to finish Spectrum.