TRANSMIT the PLACEBO - Let's Play The Silver Case

newmascotresized: One thing I didn’t get around to was talking about the music in this game, some of which is actually pretty good. As far as I can tell, most of the music in the remake is taken directly from the PS1 version - except the title track, which was remixed by Akira Yamaoka (better known for his work on Silent Hill).

newmascotresized: I didn’t buy the soundtrack on Steam, and I wouldn’t recommend you do it either should you play this for yourself, because the best tracks aren’t on it - those being the title tracks for each chapter.

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newmascotresized: Sadly, none of these tracks play during the game itself - they’re only on the chapter select screen. Most of them are remixes, though some are much sneakier than others. Lunatics is a remix of Kusabi’s theme.

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newmascotresized: Decoyman’s theme is a remix of a track called “His Room” that plays when you find Kamui in Ayame’s closet and at a few times near the end of Decoyman. They’re so similar I’m not going to bother linking the original.

newmascotresized: Also, you might notice the person uploading these is the person working on the Eternal Punishment translation. He’s been busy doing a podcast about Suda.

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newmascotresized: The Placebo arc chapters are also remixes, but they’re much better disguised. Yume is a remix of Tokio’s theme, but you might not recognize it right away.

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newmascotresized: If Spectrum’s theme is a remix, I can’t tell what it’s a remix of.

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newmascotresized: The theme for Hana is easily my favorite out of all of them. It sounds like an early Chemical Brothers song. And with that, I’m all caught up - we’ll see Parade’s theme when we get there.

Summary

newmascotresized: Welcome to Parade. You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly what Suda’s gimmick with this chapter is.

newmascotresized: I’d dialog portrait this, except knowing who’s talking here is a spoiler.

newmascotresized: Is this gonna be some kind of Persona ripoff because I swear…

newmascotresized: Parade’s gimmick is that it’s entirely in black and white. We’ll finally get to find out why Kusabi and Sumio were on that stakeout.

newmascotresized: The background this time is random crosswords. I didn’t know Suda was into Radiohead.

Kusabi: “Where the hell did that come from…?”

Sumio: “It’s a type of fable or myth. A story you can lose yourself in.”

Kusabi: “I don’t like kids’ shit like that. I’m not interested.”

Sumio: “I bet.”

Kusabi: “Then don’t ask.”

Sumio: “Well, there’s this one nice story.”

Kusabi: “I don’t give a shit. At a time like this…”

Sumio: “But this is just the right time for this kind of thing, isn’t it?”

Kusabi: “I’m gonna die, seriously… just keel over and die. That stuff makes my brain itch. Makes me wanna scratch it out with a fork.”

newmascotresized: Oh my god, it’s like Kusabi somehow understands Persona 5 Royal nearly 20 years before it was a thing.

Sumio: “Come on, just listen…”

Kusabi: “Sorry, I’m going to sleep…”

Sumio: “That’s fine. I’m just gonna go ahead and talk.”

Kusabi: “Sounds like a great lullaby.”

newmascotresized: I wish Kusabi was real and also that he had been on the writing team for Persona 5. Or even better, Ni no Kuni 2. Just imagine Evan doing his whole “I want a magic fantasy kingdom where everyone lives happily ever after” and then immediately getting punched in the face.

Sumio: “You know, recently… some people say fantasy is like brainwashing. Giving kids sweet dreams for the purpose of controlling them.”

Kusabi: “When you put it that way, that sounds right.”

Sumio: “Originally, they were pretty messed up stories.”

Kusabi: “Like ‘messed up’ how?”

Sumio: “Realistic stories, without all the happy stuff.”

Kusabi: “Well, that sure sucks.”

Sumio: “That’s why they got turned into happier stories.”

Kusabi: “Is that all?”

Sumio: “No, here’s where it starts. So anyways, when I was a kid, there was this fairytale I heard – it’s an old folktale from my hometown, but…”

Kusabi: “Hm.”

Sumio: “Once up on a time, there was a princess. A beautiful princess. A terrible giant serpent fell in love with her. The serpent ruled the land, no, he had taken over the land.”

newmascotresized: Isn’t this just the story of Kushinada and Susano?

Kusabi: “He invaded it?”

Sumio: “Yeah. The serpent turned the king to stone. The greedy serpent wanted the princess… so he took her away…”

Kusabi: “Pretty standard shit. Go on, go on.”

Sumio: “To rescue the princess, they ventured to the huge castle.”

Kusabi: “Well of course. I’d do the same thing.”

newmascotresized: Kusabi would shoot the serpent in the face and that’d be the end of it.

Sumio: “The heroes combined their powers and fought the serpent. And then…”

Kusabi: “What happened?”

Sumio: “They defeated it.”

Kusabi: “Fuck yeah!!”

Sumio: “Everything was fine and good.”

Kusabi: “Is that the end…?”

Sumio: “Well, mostly…”

Kusabi: “What the fuck? That’s just a normal-ass fairytale. That sucked.”

Sumio: “You liked it, right?”

newmascotresized: I’d like to think that Big Dick sees Kusabi losing interest and goes “And then the heroes took 50,000 yen from the serpent and gambled it on some horses” and suddenly Kusabi is totally into it again.

Kusabi: “No, that’s no good. There’s no twist.”

Sumio: “It’s not over yet.”

Kusabi: “What?”

Kusabi: “Well then, what the hell happens?”

Sumio: “The princess was dead…”

Kusabi: “What the fuck?! What do you mean?”

Sumio: “She was killed by the serpent.”

Kusabi: “Man, FUCK that serpent! The fuck kind of story is that?”

Sumio: “And one more thing - there is no serpent.”

Kusabi: “No? Why not…? That stuff comes up in stories all the time.”

Sumio: “Of course there isn’t. There’s no such thing as a ‘giant serpent’.”

newmascotresized: I imagine Kusabi looking at Big Dick here. “Damn! We’ve got talking chinchillas, but no giant serpents carrying horse racing money? What the fuck kind of world is this!?”

newmascotresized: And yes, yes I am getting Salty Vanilla to draw that. They’re going to a con later this month, but I have this I can post.

Kusabi: “Well, yeah…”

Sumio: “It wasn’t a serpent, but a human. The heroes were people, too. Humans killed another human, for revenge.”

Kusabi: “That’s just a crime…”

Sumio: “Yeah… fairytales are crimes. The unrealistic fantasy that happens in real life is crime.”

Kusabi: “…”

Sumio: “Tetsu.”

Kusabi: “Huh?”

Sumio: “I have a question. If it was you, the heroes who got revenge… what would you do?”

Kusabi: “What would I do? I wouldn’t do shit. Why?”

newmascotresized: Why do I feel like this entire thing is an allegory for something?

Sumio: “They killed someone.”

Kusabi: “Well… they did murder someone, yeah. There’s no differentiation in crime. Doesn’t matter what kind of reasons they had.”

Sumio: “Yeah, I agree.”

Kusabi: “Right? That’s how it is. The only way it can be…”

Sumio: “Tetsu…”

Kusabi: “Huh?”

Sumio: “You can go to sleep.”

Kusabi: “You’re sharp.”

Kusabi: “Sorry, I’m tired. From that story…”

Sumio: “It’s not a very pleasant story, is it?”

Kusabi: “Yaaawn…”

Sumio: “Tetsu?”

Kusabi: “Zzz…”

Sumio: “He’s asleep. It’s time… Timrod, time for patrol. Go look around. Let me know if you see anyone suspicious. Got it?”

newmascotresized: What we’re doing is walking a circle around a building that’s off to the left, that being the Yukimura villa you’ve seen at the top during all of the stakeout segments in Spectrum and Hana.

Sumio: “The Yukimura mansion is up the hill.”

newmascotresized: Something about this reminds me of the mansion stage in Killer7.

Sumio: “The Yukimura mansion is on the left. ‘CONTACT’ it.”

Sumio: “Looks like nothing’s wrong. Let’s check the other side. Go up over the hill.”

newmascotresized: One thing I didn’t realize until afterward is that you can’t even see the house from the spot where the car is - at least, if you assume the 3D visuals are canon.

newmascotresized: God dammit Sumio, I know how to walk in a circle.

Sumio: “Go down the hill.”

Sumio: “Once more, ‘CONTACT’.”

Sumio: “No problem. Nothing out of the ordinary. OK, get back to the car. We’re going downhill.”

Sumio: “Nice work. Get in the car. Hm? What? Tetsu!”

Kusabi: “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Sumio: “That—”

Kusabi: “What?”

Sumio: “That!”

Kusabi: “The hell are you talking about?”

Sumio: “It flashed!”

Kusabi: “It did…”

newmascotresized: If you look in the game itself, there’s a wall where those stairs are.

Sumio: “Yeah…?”

Kusabi: “It exploded.”

Sumio: “Yeah…”

Kusabi: “What do we do?”

Sumio: “About what?”

Kusabi: “This scene.”

Sumio: “Scene?”

Kusabi: “I’m asking what you’re gonna do.”

Sumio: “I mean, nothing…?”

newmascotresized: I like to think that Big Dick is trying his hardest not to look at the explosion while also trying to find his sunglasses.

Sumio: “I won’t forget it. —Ever.”

Morikawa: “It’s OK.”

Sumio: “Tetsu, it was me. It’s my responsibility.”

Morikawa: “Well…”

Sumio: “I’m sorry.”

Kusabi: “Exactly. It’s not my fault. It’s yours.”

newmascotresized: Kusabi has found a convenient scapegoat, and now he’s gonna run with it.

Chizuru: “What the…?”

Sumio: “It’s fine, it’s the truth.”

Kusabi: “Yeah, it is. It’s Sumio’s responsibility.”

Chizuru: “Are you serious?”

Kusabi: “Serious as a heart attack.”

Chizuru: “You asshole!”

Morikawa: “Listen up, Sumio… this kind of thing…”

Sumio: “…”

Kusabi: “You clean this shit up. You’re gonna settle this case.”

Sumio: “Tetsu…”

Sumio: “Those are the guys from Central. A group of expert criminal investigators. But these days… traditional crime rates have dropped, and things just aren’t done their way anymore.”

Sumio: “They’re basically a band apart from everyone else. This case is comparatively close to an orthodox kidnapping, so these guys showed up.”

newmascotresized: You might wonder why he says “kidnapping” instead of “bombing”, but you’ll see in a minute.

Kusabi: “Sumio, keep quiet. You don’t know when the same thing’ll happen to you. If crime changes, investigations change, too. It’s stupid to assume that all the old ways are somehow inferior. Am I wrong?”

newmascotresized: Unless you’re Chizuru, apparently.

Sumio: “Sorry…”

Kusabi: “Well, it’ll be interesting to see how far ‘Afro’ goes. This’ll be something to watch.”

Sumio: “It’s starting…”

Sakaguchi: “There’s something I’d like to get straight. Anyone referring to me as ‘Afro’ will be dealt with immediately. Watch yourselves.”

Kusabi: “You hear that…”

Sumio: “He’s really into it…”

Sakaguchi: “That’s enough pleasantries. Let’s get down to business. Two months ago, a note appearing to announce a crime was sent to the Yukimura Zaibatsu. It was stuck inside a newspaper. It was a really crude note.”

newmascotresized: Hoo boy. That whole sentence is weird and needs a bit of deconstruction. In real life, no one would have been using the term “zaibatsu” in 1999.

newmascotresized: In case you don’t know, the zaibatsus were a group of mega-corporations that existed in Japan prior to World War II. Each one was a group of companies owned by a single family at the top.

newmascotresized: To say they were a big part of Japan’s economy is an understatement. They WERE Japan’s economy, and were also Japan’s government. At one point in the 1930s, there were two political parties in Japan.

newmascotresized: The first party was more or less owned by Mitsui (now known as Mitsui-Sumitomo Banking Corporation) and the second was owned by Mitsubishi.

newmascotresized: Anyway, in real life, the zaibatsus were broken up at the end of World War II, mostly because they were anathema to the world view of the United States… at least, the United States in the 1940s.

newmascotresized: Of course, like most things the US does, they didn’t quite finish the job. While the zaibatsus no longer exist, there’s now this thing called the “keiretsu”, which is sort of similar but generally less powerful.

newmascotresized: That’s not to say the keiretsus aren’t a problem, because they absolutely are.

newmascotresized: The zaibatsus still exist in The Silver Case for reasons that only really get explained in Killer7 - where it’s revealed that in the Kill the Past universe, Japan secretly controls the US government.

Sakaguchi: “It was found to be a code only understandable by Chairman Yukimura. At Central, we asked the Area 24 Precinct, who have jurisdiction, to watch over the chairman’s residence.”

Sakaguchi: “And, as you know, although it was under watch, the chairman’s house was blown up.”

newmascotresized: This also isn’t without precedent - in real life, Mitsui’s Director was assassinated in 1932 along with the head of the political party Mitsui owned.

Sumio: “He’s looking at us.”

Kusabi: “What a dick… being a dick is par for the course for Afro.”

newmascotresized: Look, it was one building, can’t you just let it slide?

Sakaguchi: “Thanks to inexperienced investigators, this case has entered into new territory. We haven’t found any victims in the remnants of the explosion, and so we think it was purposely done while nobody was home.”

Sakaguchi: “However, Chairman Yukimura has been missing since the day of the explosion, and so this case is now assumed to be a kidnapping.”

Sakaguchi: “Finding Chiarman Yukimura is our top priority, along with finding the bomber. Each investigator is to follow Central’s orders and carry out the investigation.”

Sakaguchi: “Everyone! On the name and honor of the Central Police, I need you all to put out your best to solve this case and bring Chairman Yukimura back alive. That is all…”

newmascotresized: Sakaguchi and Kotobuki look like, twenty years younger in this shot than they really are.

Kotobuki: “Yeah.”

Sakaguchi: “How is your band of killers growing up?”

Kotobuki: “None of your goddamn business.”

Sakaguchi: “I see you’ve scored a comfy position.”

Kotobuki: “Yeah, you, too…”

Sakaguchi: “Me? Oh yeah… whatever you say, Kotobuki.”

Kotobuki: “You sound desperate…”

Sakaguchi: “I am desperate. Keep laughing, Kotobuki. I’m on this. Whatever you have to say, I’m watching over this investigation personally.”

Kotobuki: “Do whatever. I don’t give a shit.”

Sakaguchi: “Kotobuki… nobody wants anything too overdone.”

Kotobuki: “…”

Sakaguchi: “You reap what you sow. Your dogs were always a bunch of pit bulls. Show them your ass and you’ll get bitten.”

Kotobuki: “…”

Sakaguchi: “I’m warning you as a friend.”

Kotobuki: “You sure are a pleasant motherfucker.”

Sakaguchi: “Just watch your back.”

newmascotresized: The manual lists this guy’s name as Michiru Kosaka. I’m not sure why he has a portrait that matches the Transmitter art style and Sakaguchi doesn’t.

Kosaka: “A video from the perpetrator…”

Kotobuki: “It’s here!”

Sakaguchi: “Play it immediately.”

newmascotresized: Yukimura is a cheap blow-up sex doll? Damn.

newmascotresized: Oh. The video shows the chairman struggling with the ropes, but you can’t see it very well in screenshot form.

Sakaguchi: “Is this it?”

Kosaka: “Yes, that is all.”

Sakaguchi: “What was their purpose…? What do they want? What the hell does this video even mean?!”

Kosaka: “From the video, we can confirm that Chairman Yukimura is still alive. However, there’s nothing about what the suspects want…”

Sakaguchi: “Those motherfuckers!”

Kosaka: “Sakaguchi…”

Kusabi: “It’s a greeting from the suspect. It’s some grabby self-assertion.”

Sumio: “For what purpose…?”

Kusabi: “It’d be easier if we knew. But…”

Sumio: “What is it?”

newmascotresized: We’ll go just a little further, because Parade is a rather long case, and the next part has a lot of stuff I can just cut out.

newmascotresized: Wait, didn’t we blow that up in Persona 1?

newmascotresized: I’m going to go ahead and say there is no fucking way this shot isn’t a reference to Die Hard.

Kusabi: “This isn’t something that can be solved with huge actions.”

Sumio: “What do you mean?”

Kusabi: “No meaning… but thanks to this, look at how many people have been hurt. Right there…”

Sumio: “…”

Kusabi: “What’s up…?”

Sumio: “No, it’s nothing. This building just looks like a ghost or something…”

Kusabi: “A ghost, huh…”

newmascotresized: Kusabi’s trying to work out how he’s going to arrest a building.

Sumio: “Yeah, it’s actually sort of calm…”

newmascotresized: You know, like plaster their name all over everything, or have gold-plated toilets.

Sumio: “Like build this building?”

Kusabi: “The more it stands out, the more people know what you got.”

Sumio: “I see…”

Kusabi: “Also, it has sort of a sense of guilt. Somewhere in there…”

Sumio: “Hm…”

Kusabi: “Big Dick! Quit fucking around. Let’s go!”

newmascotresized: We have to use the desk on the left side, as opposed to the one directly in front of us.

Kusabi: “Hey lady, where’s it at?”

Sumio: “Sorry… we’re with the police.”

Sumio: “Thank you.”

Kusabi: “Thanks.”

Sumio: “Here it is.”

Kusabi: “Ah…”

newmascotresized: We can’t go anywhere but through the door.

Kusabi: “It’s the ‘President’s Floor’…”

Sumio: “A show of wealth?”

Kusabi: “Yup. It’s all imported shit. Someone’s got good taste, huh. Fuckin’ hell…”

Sumio: “OK, let’s go.”

Kosaka: “I’m Kosaka, from Central.”

Kusabi: “Hi…”

Sumio: “I’m Kodai and this is Kusabi, we’re from HC Unit 2.”

Kosaka: “Nice to meet you. And this is…?”

Sumio: “This is Timrod, he’s new.”

Kosaka: “My pleasure.”

Kusabi: “…”

Sumio: “Any news?”

Kosaka: “Nothing yet, but…”

Kusabi: “But?”

Kosaka: “Actually… we had everyone gather up top, but as you can see…”

newmascotresized: There’s a good… 20 or 30 screens of these board members arguing. I’ll cut most of it.

Kusabi: “The hell is that?”

Kosaka: “They must really want to kill the chairman.”

Sumio: “They’re fighting over succession, huh?”

Kusabi: “Any leads on these guys?”

Kosaka: “Anyone related to the company is currently being thoroughly checked out.”

Kusabi: “What do you think?”

Kosaka: “It’s too early to say…”

Sumio: “How about it, Tetsu?”

Kusabi: “They all look suspicious. A bunch of goddamn weirdos.”

Kosaka: “As you know, our investigators are quite ‘old-fashioned’…”

Kusabi: “Are you Afro’s little bitch?”

Kosaka: “I won’t deny that. I do think that our methods of investigation are somewhat old — but I don’t think it’s due to Sakaguchi’s wishes.”

Kusabi: “Then what?”

Kosaka: “There is no one single ‘official’ way to investigate. Nowadays, efficiency is what matters. But there are some things that get overlooked due to efficiency. Filling those areas in is Central’s job…”

Kusabi: “Is that the general consensus?”

Kosaka: “Yes.”

Kusabi: “Fine with me… you guys take this over. You’ll need it sooner or later.”

Kosaka: “…”

Sumio: “How is security here?”

newmascotresized: Part of me wishes there was an anime of The Silver Case, but I know if they made one these days it’d probably be one of those CG monstrosities and look like shit.

Kosaka: “We’re watching over every possible route in. We’ve got Snow Tower on lock.”

Sumio: “Got it.”

Kusabi: “…”

Sumio: “So that’s how it is.”

Kusabi: “Huh? Oh, yeah… looks perfect here.”

Sumio: “There don’t seem to be any problems.”

Kusabi: “Yeah, the problem isn’t here.”

newmascotresized: Next time, we’ll arrest a suspect, and shit will only go downhill from there. By the way, Salty Vanilla finished the piece I posted the sketch of last update, so have Big Dick and Chizuru on a date.

newmascotresized: Oh, and here’s the chapter theme for Parade.

newmascotresized: If you’re wondering why we just jumped from being in the Yukimura building to here, that’s how it is in the game. You didn’t miss anything.

Sumio: “Move carefully…”

Kusabi: “Whatever, hurry the fuck up!”

newmascotresized: There’s only one thing we can do here, and that’s go south through that door. Don’t ask me how Big Dick gets through it with that desk in the way.

Kusabi: “…”

Kusabi: “He’s totally emaciated.”

Sumio: “The bomber, Hanao Hiseki, killed himself. Our one and only lead…”

Kusabi: “Time to put some work into it, I guess.”

Sumio: “Tetsu, you sound like it’s someone else’s problem…”

Kusabi: “Huh? Well, I mean it isn’t ‘my’ job, so, you know.”

Sumio: “…?”

Kusabi: “It’s not my turn to shine yet.”

Sumio: “Why not?”

Kusabi: “You don’t wanna get in the way now, do you? We don’t need anymore breaks.”

Sakaguchi: “What is it?”

Cop: “It’s here!!”

Sakaguchi: “Son of a bitch!!! Put it up on the screen, now!!”

newmascotresized: You can hear a lighter going off in the background and an exhale.

newmascotresized: The blow-up doll is covered in some kind of liquid from above.

Sakaguchi: “What the hell is this…? What does this mean? Is this some sort of riddle?”

Cop: “Maybe it’s a threat?”

Sakaguchi: “So ‘murder’, huh… where’s Kosaka?”

Cop: “At the satellite.”

Sakaguchi: “Give it to Kosaka!”

Kosaka: “Sakaguchi, how’s it going?”

Sakaguchi: “Is this Kosaka?”

Kosaka: “Yes.”

Sakaguchi: “Did you see it?”

Kosaka: “Yes, from over here.”

Sakaguchi: “What do you think?”

Sakaguchi: “What do they want?”

Kosaka: “They must want something.”

Sakaguchi: “What is it?”

Kosaka: “At this point…”

Sakaguchi: " ‘This point’ is the last one! There is no ‘next time’! Feel it, Kosaka! Feel their voices! What they’re trying to say… what they believe in… search out their screams!"

Kosaka: “I’ll do everything in my power!”

Sakaguchi: “Good!! I’m counting on you, Kosaka…”

Nakategawa: “This is the first case I’ve ever seen that needed this much legwork.”

Morikawa: “Really. I don’t even know what to think.”

Nakategawa: “We’re screwed at this point.”

Chizuru: “Us, too… our research guys have nothing. Nothing from the body of the bomber, Hiseki, nor from the items left behind…”

Morikawa: “How about Tetsu’s side?”

Nakategawa: “No idea…”

Sumio: “Nothing here, either…”

Morikawa: “How about you, Tetsu?”

Sumio: “He’s all shut off.”

newmascotresized: Kusabi is in the HC Unit 1 office.

Kosaka: “This is Kosaka from Central. Is this Kusabi?”

Kusabi: “?”

Kosaka: “Actually, this is top secret, but…”

Kusabi: “It’s just some dickhead… Hey! Whose radio do you think this is?!”

Kosaka: “I know I’m not supposed to contact you here. I have no excuse.”

Kusabi: “The hell do you want?”

Kusabi: “That Kosaka guy, what a fuckin’ dick. Just cutting me off like that?!”

Sumio: “Yeah…”

Sumio: “It’s fine. Hachisuka is working behind the scenes. Timrod, find an open desk.”

newmascotresized: This is one of the few things in this game I think truly needed a re-design. You see how all of the desks are apparently empty?

newmascotresized: If we try contacting these computers, directly in front of us, the game will act like it’s doing something and then dump us back at the contact menu.

newmascotresized: Instead, we have to turn to the right and contact this computer, which for some unknown reason isn’t occupied despite there being no visual indicator that it isn’t.

Kusabi: “Just hurry the fuck up.”

Sumio: “Wait a second. We can’t just go off.”

Kusabi: “Huh? What do you mean?”

Sumio: “It’s not like I have some special skills or anything…”

Kusabi: “Oh really?”

Sumio: “You didn’t know?”

Kusabi: “Then why did the old man put you here?”

Sumio: “Because I’m more ‘common’.”

Kusabi: “Common?”

Sumio: “Yeah. That’s what the boss said.”

Kusabi: “The fuck kind of standards are those?”

Sumio: “They needed regular people.”

Kusabi: “So what, you’re some kind of neutralizer?”

Sumio: “Basically, yeah.”

Kusabi: “And you’re okay with that?”

Sumio: “I mean…”

Kusabi: “What…?”

newmascotresized: The same video we saw in the conference room plays again.

Kusabi: “Watermark?”

newmascotresized: Metal Gear!?

Sumio: “If you look through the picture, a code appears.”

Kusabi: “What, like invisible ink?”

Sumio: “Exactly. Like modern-day invisible ink.”

Kusabi: “Huh?”

Sumio: “To be more specific… this picture uses discrete cosine transformation for image compression. Burying data inside the DCT coefficient renders it invisible to the naked eye…”

newmascotresized: This might sound like something Suda made up, but it actually isn’t. It’s hard to explain what the Discrete Cosine Transform actually is - everything I found about it has a bunch of incredibly dense math.

newmascotresized: The easiest way to explain it is like this. The DCT is an algorithm that takes an image or audio file, runs it through this complex math equation, and then outputs a lower-quality version of the file to save space.

newmascotresized: In fact, you’re seeing the DCT in action right now - this site compresses my original screenshots (which are in .png format and are 1:1 copies of what I see on screen) into .jpgs which have lost some of the original data.

newmascotresized: One other thing I’d like to add is that hiding data inside the DCT coefficient is very much a thing, but most of the implementations I could find of it stopped being updated in like 2003.

newmascotresized: I want to talk about this a bit too, because this is actually something that doesn’t exist. The largest diamond ever mined is called the Cullinan - it was mined in 1905.

newmascotresized: The Cullinan weighed around 1.25 pounds before it was cut, and a quick search tells me that its estimated value is around $400 million.

newmascotresized: Keep in mind that diamond prices are jangly key man bullshit - they basically sell for whatever the person grading them thinks they’re worth.

newmascotresized: Anyway, 600 billion yen is around $4.625 billion US dollars at current exchange rates and about 11.5 times what the Cullinan was worth uncut.

Sumio: “Tetsu…”

Kusabi: “These guys are greedy. Get hold of Kosaka right away.”

Sumio: “600 billion by tomorrow… is that even possible?”’

Kusabi: “No idea. Maybe selling that building would bring about that much in?”

Sumio: “That wouldn’t be enough.”

Kusabi: “Well then, Yukimura’s finished.”

Sumio: “But…”

Kosaka: “Difficult. Things have gotten pretty shaky.”

Sakaguchi: “The fucking hyenas…”

Kosaka: “We’ll continue to negotiate. If that doesn’t work out…”

Sakaguchi: “The government can pay. Get a mortgage on all Yukimura-owned land, there should be no problem.”

newmascotresized: This seems crazy until you remember that the zaibatsus probably are the government.

Kosaka: “OK then…”

Sakaguchi: “Go ask Tsubaki. It should work out somehow.”

Kosaka: “We’ll have to deal with the aftermath, but…”

Sakaguchi: “I don’t care. A man’s life is at stake. Necessity knows no law.”

newmascotresized: Funny how the cops that have a license to kill suddenly give a shit about human life when it’s a rich person.

Kosaka: “Understood. I’ll get right on it.”

Sakaguchi: “Do it.”

Kusabi: “OK… be careful.”

Sumio: “See you later…”

Kusabi: “Big Dick… no, it’s nothing… never mind.”

Kosaka: “One hour ago… there was a phone call from someone assumed to be the suspect.”

Kusabi: “A phone call here?”

Kosaka: “Yes.”

Kusabi: “Could they trace it?”

Kosaka: “No…”

newmascotresized: I was going to say something about them having a spy satellite, but then I realized the spy satellite didn’t know that the person it was tracking wasn’t Kamui.

Kusabi: “I see. – What’s up with Sumio?”

Kosaka: “He went back to HQ.”

Kusabi: “At a time like this…?”

Kosaka: “Looks like they’re ready.”

newmascotresized: It looks like Kusabi’s going senile, but I left the dialog on this line while I waited for the video to play while recording to ensure I didn’t miss anything.

Kosaka: “The items specified by the suspect.”

Kusabi: “Specified? What do you mean?”

Kosaka: “All they said was that we’d need this…”

Kusabi: “What about the rest of the equipment?”

Kosaka: “It wasn’t allowed.”

Kusabi: " ‘Wasn’t allowed’ ?"

Kosaka: “They said if they saw anything, they’d kill the chairman.”

Kusabi: “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Kosaka: “?”

Kusabi: “Why Big Dick?”

Kosaka: "Chief Director Kotobuki’s insistence.

newmascotresized: Kotobuki clearly realized that this is a job for a highly trained chinchilla.

Kusabi: “The old man?”

Kosaka: “Yes. I was told by Sakaguchi.”

Kusabi: “Whatever… Big Dick, go get a real good look at their faces, burn them into your eyeballs…”

Kosaka: “…”

Kusabi: “Anyway, just be sure to come back.”

Kosaka: “Until we get the signal from the suspect, please go ahead and rest.”

Kusabi: “Weren’t you at HQ?”

Sumio: “They told me to wait here.”

Kusabi: “I see…”

Sumio: “Any contact from the suspect?”

Kusabi: “No movement at all.”

Sumio: “Everything feels really heavy now.”

Kusabi: “Seriously.”

Kosaka: “Here it is!”

Kusabi: “Where?!”

Kosaka: “This radio.”

newmascotresized: If you’ve played No More Heroes, you probably remember the weird text-to-speech voice that Suda used. This uses the same thing.

Kusabi: “What’s it mean?”

Kosaka: “Let’s dance…”

Kusabi: “He’s fucking with us.”

Sumio: “Timrod, you’re up. Transporting a 600 billion-yen diamond… it’s a big job. I’ll guide you over the radio. Work out the rest on your own. Timrod, it’s all on you now. Don’t mess this up.”

newmascotresized: I don’t know if this is supposed to be Big Dick’s car or what, but it looks like something a chinchilla would drive.

Kusabi: “Why do these assholes know about our radio frequency?”

Kosaka: “They must be a pretty technically-skilled group.”

Sumio: “Or it’s an inside job…”

Kosaka: “That can’t be possible. Those radios are set to a very specific frequency specified by the suspects.”

Kusabi: “So of course they know the frequency, then.”

Kosaka: “No… actually, it’s quite a difficult range. It’s not the sort of range that could be easily used to communicate.”

Kusabi: “A real veteran then, huh?”

Sumio: “Timrod, move in accordance with the instructions.”

Sumio: “No instructions from the suspect yet.”

Kusabi: “Where would he be headed moving in this direction?”

Sumio: “The industrial zone.”

Kosaka: “If he enters into a highly concentrated industrial zone, it will be hard to pinpoint them.”

Kusabi: “I guess it’s gonna be up to Big Dick then…”

Sumio: “Here it is!”

Kusabi: “What’re they saying?”

Kosaka: “I guess they want him to get off.”

Sumio: “Timrod, get off at the next interchange.”

newmascotresized: Big Dick does some sick drifts in the Chinchillamobile. Somehow, he knows exactly where he’s headed based off “go to the crematorium”… even though what we’re headed to really isn’t a crematorium.

Kusabi: “OK!”

Kosaka: “Emergency communication! Surround the trash processing plant. Set a three-kilometer perimeter. Don’t let a single ant get through. Keep it totally locked down!!”

Kosaka: “They’re jamming the signal… I can’t reach Timrod by radio.”

newmascotresized: What we have to do here is take the left turn.

newmascotresized: This puts us in front of one of the incinerators, at which point we get the message…

newmascotresized: Turn left and move one space, and we get…

newmascotresized: When we move to the next tank, we get this message before we can turn to face it.

newmascotresized: Okay, that makes sense, because that’d make us face the last incinerator…

newmascotresized: I… guess we’re going back the way we came?

newmascotresized: Or we’re going to face away from the incinerator. That works too.

newmascotresized: Nope! This is just Suda trolling us. What we actually have to do is go back to where we came in, and then take the right path instead.

newmascotresized: This leads us to this cable box. We can try to contact it, but nothing happens.

newmascotresized: Remember how Kosaka had that pocketknife and the stun gun on the table?

newmascotresized: In a rare use of the Implement command, we have to use the knife to cut open the cable box, in a move straight out of the beginning of Resident Evil 2.

newmascotresized: This leaves us with a contact point that also doesn’t do anything if we attempt to contact it.

newmascotresized: This is what the stun gun is for.

Sumio: “Timrod, where are you now? What’s the situation?”

Kosaka: “We’ve got him. This position would be… smokestacks? What’s the suspect thinking? Where are they gonna trade…”

Sumio: “They’re using the smokestacks to… Timrod, they’re not here. Check the surrounding… the radio’s out again…”

newmascotresized: I’m not entirely sure how this guy gets the briefcase with the diamond in it, or how a diamond that big would fit in that briefcase, but okay.

newmascotresized: Yep, that guy just jumped into a smokestack with the diamond. I’m sure he has some plan to get out, and…

newmascotresized: Uh, do smokestacks work that way? I didn’t think they actually shot fire like that.

newmascotresized: For some definition of ‘unharmed’.

Morikawa: “Is this OK?”

Chizuru: “Isn’t it? We got the chairman back unharmed.”

Nakategawa: “Yukimura is stuck with a 600 billion yen loss.”

Chizuru: “Yukimura’s finished, I guess.”

Morikawa: “Finished? Why?”

newmascotresized: I was kind of curious as to how much of a hit this would be to one of the big Japanese companies in reality, so I looked at two of them: Sumitomo-Mitsui and Mitsubishi, both of which were formerly zaibatsus.

newmascotresized: According to Fortune, Sumitomo-Mitsui had revenues of $36.8 billion in 2021. Of that, their profit for the year was around $4.8 billion. Would a $4.6 billion loss sink the company? Probably not. It’d hurt a lot, but they’d most likely survive it.

newmascotresized: For Mitsubishi, we’d need to look at their 2020 numbers, because Fiscal Year 2021 is kind of an outlier. They usually have around $5 billion a year in profit, so they’d likely survive as well.

newmascotresized: What if we adjusted for inflation?

newmascotresized: If we did that, both Sumitomo-Mitsui and Mitsubishi would be in trouble - they’d have lost their entire profit for the year and it’d wreak havoc on their stock price. Would they go under? I still doubt it.

newmascotresized: Both companies have hundreds of billions in assets, as Japanese companies tend to sit on massive piles of cash, and could probably survive it.

Nakategawa: “In Yukimura’s current situation, he can’t handle something of that scale.”

newmascotresized: Either 1999 is a real bad year for Yukimura, or they’re a really shitty zaibatsu. I mean, you probably control the government and you can’t even take a $4.6 billion hit?

Chizuru: “Right? So he’s finished.”

Morikawa: “The wounds the suspect inflicted were deep… I guess that was their target.”

Nakategawa: “Most likely… rather than money, screwing Yukimura over may have been their real goal. The guy jumped into a smokestack. As for the guy thought to be the actual perpetrator, we have no ID on him… there weren’t even any bones left.”

Nakategawa: “We have no way of finding out what it is he was after.”

Chizuru: “What about the diamond?”

newmascotresized: This is another thing that I thought was fake, but is actually quite plausible. Because diamonds are pure carbon, they bond with oxygen at high temperatures and vaporize into carbon dioxide.

newmascotresized: This process starts at 763 degrees celsius (1405 F). According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, most trash incinerators are operated well above that.

newmascotresized: The average incinerator runs somewhere between 980 to 1200 degrees celsius (1800 to 2200 F), and an industrial trash plant is probably going to be on the high end of that.

Morikawa: " ‘A diamond doesn’t turn to ash.’ Or, ‘didn’t turn to ash’, rather."

Chizuru: “What a waste…”

Nakategawa: “From Central?”

Kosaka: “My name is Kosaka. Is Kusabi here?”

Nakategawa: “He’s in the back room. Go on in…”

Kosaka: “Thank you…”

Kusabi: “Hey… what’s up, you guys get it cleaned up?”

Kosaka: “Yes. We’ve finished removal.”

Kusabi: “Where’s Afro?”

Kosaka: “He went back to Central. He said to send you his regards…”

Kusabi: “Regards for what?”

Kosaka: “I believe he’s trying to scout you…”

Kusabi: “Tell him I’m too expensive.”

Kosaka: “I’ll tell him.”

Kusabi: “I’m kidding.”

Kosaka: “OK…”

Kusabi: “How’s your stomach?”

Kosaka: “Like a medal of honor. Thank you.”

newmascotresized: I’m not sure if this is saying that he didn’t try seppuku, or that he did but stopped early enough to not die from it.

Kusabi: “And?”

Kosaka: “I just thought I’d say hello. Thank you for all your help.”

Kosaka: “Thank you.”

Kusabi: “Let’s get together again sometime.”

Kosaka: “It would be an honor.”

Kusabi: “It’d be better if that time never came, but…”

Kosaka: “I agree. Crime can ruin one’s heart. Even innocent bystanders can be greatly affected.”

Kusabi: “Reducing that exact thing is our job.”

Kosaka: “You mean covering it up?”

Kusabi: “Close, but not exactly.”

Kosaka: “Using ‘disposal’ as a method of solving crimes… but I’ve started doubting my opinion on the matter. The idea of bringing everything to light is…”

newmascotresized: Speaking of which, Kusabi hasn’t killed anyone this entire game, apart from that one guy from Moonlight Syndrome in the intro case.

Kusabi: “Grave?”

Kosaka: “No… so far, the case we’re working on has yet to claim a single person’s life, and we’re on our way towards solving it.”

Kusabi: “Yeah.”

Kosaka: “Maybe the perpetrator’s motivation was simply to act? To me, it feels like it was some sort of demonstration.”

newmascotresized: This part I’m a little confused by. We’ve already seen Morikawa and Nakategawa outright tell us why the crime was committed - it was done to ruin Yukimura’s company and him in the process.

newmascotresized: I think it’d be pretty clear to both of them, especially given that Kusabi is usually the one spearheading the investigations.

Kusabi: “They’ve committed plenty of crimes with plenty of victims. But without showing their motive…”

Kosaka: “There are many crimes for which the purpose isn’t clear.”

Kusabi: “What’re you trying to say?”

Kosaka: “I don’t know. I don’t know, but…”

Kusabi: “…”

Kosaka: “I feel like the fact that the perpetrator has put together such a huge-scale puzzle means they’re trying to say something to the world.”

Kusabi: “You think too much.”

Kosaka: “Do I?”

Kosaka: “They’ve left some sort of message. But at the same time, they’ve left others with scars. The information distributed by the media is going to cause a great number of people to fall victim to their crimes.”

Kosaka: “So I feel that covering up the very crime itself is a necessary evil.”

newmascotresized: I’m not sure whether this chapter would be better or worse without this part. I mean, I know why Suda is probably doing it - this is meant to be a character moment for Kusabi - but still.

Kusabi: " ‘Evil’, huh…"

Kosaka: “And… by covering everything up, we take away the chance for certain people to assert themselves. That is to say… the chance for the weak to fight back. They’ll be left with no way.”

Kusabi: “Hm…”

Kosaka: “Whether or not that’s actually necessary, I just don’t know anymore.”

Kusabi: “Sounds like you’ve gotten in too deep. I get what you’re trying to say. But that’s some naive bullshit. You need to get rid of any superfluous emotions. Totally nuke them.”

Kusabi: “Just look at what’s right in front of your eyes. Keep your eyes on the prize. Stare down the enemy in front of you. That’s how you investigate.”

Kusabi: “Am I wrong?”

Kosaka: “You’re right. I think I’d been getting a bit soft. I will repent. I’ll throw everything I have into this investigation.”

newmascotresized: Next time, we’ll finish Parade.

Summary

newmascotresized: Right after the scene with Kusabi and Kosaka, this happens. Sumio is apparently talking to… who is that?

Nakategawa: “Nope.”

Morikawa: “Sumio? I saw him.”

Kusabi: “Where?”

Morikawa: “Here.”

Kusabi: “When?”

Morikawa: “Yesterday.”

Kusabi: “This motherfucker… forget it.”

Chizuru: “Sumio went out.”

Kusabi: “Where?”

Chizuru: “No idea…”

Kusabi: “…”

Nakategawa: “Oh yeah, that’s right…”

Morikawa: “Today? Isn’t today Saturday?”

Nakategawa: “It’s apparently a secret meeting.”

Chizuru: “So they plan on making some huge decisions behind their employees’ backs, huh?”

Morikawa: “It’s always the uninformed lower-downs who end up getting screwed.”

Kusabi: “Hopefully that’s all that happens…”

newmascotresized: There’s going to be a lot of screenshots here, because there’s a lot of dialog from characters who don’t have dialog portraits.

newmascotresized: Well, now I guess we know who Sumio was talking to.

newmascotresized: Did we really save this guy just so he could…

Morikawa: “What has?”

Nakategawa: “Snow Tower.”

Morikawa: “I have no words…”

Nakategawa: “The Yukimura Zaibatsu has been destroyed. The remaining land and buildings have been sold off to the government. All the proceeds will go toward paying back Chairman Yukimura’s ransom money…”

Chizuru: “So it all went exactly as the perpetrator planned.”

Morikawa: “As if they were specifically targeted, only the management was killed in the explosion… Central is gonna be treated like a joke.”

newmascotresized: I mean, most of the board members seemed like assholes, so…

Chizuru: “Us, too.”

Morikawa: “Things are going to get rough.”

Nakategawa: “It looks like Sakaguchi took the fall. He took full responsibility to ensure his subordinates’ jobs…”

Morikawa: “What about that one guy? The big one.”

newmascotresized: Nobody cares who he is because he hasn’t put on the mask yet.

Nakategawa: “Kosaka? He went with Sakaguchi of his own volition.”

Morikawa: “Where?”

Nakategawa: “A new assignment somewhere out in the sticks.”

Morikawa: “I see… Tetsu is gonna be sad.”

Morikawa: “Oh, you were here?”

Kusabi: “Naka. I wanna look into Yukimura’s business.”

Nakategawa: “For information on the company you can check the Internet…”

newmascotresized: I’d say that people capitalizing “internet” is a late-90s/early 00s thing, but the Associated Press was still doing it up to 2016, even though most newspapers had already stopped by then.

Kusabi: “No, I mean all of it. This case isn’t over yet. I wanna bring up all of Yukimura’s history. Let’s give the souls of the dead some fuckin’ peace.”

Kusabi: “We’re gonna take these materials and check them from cover to cover. It’s a pretty ridiculous amount. Don’t start bitching about it.”

newmascotresized: As soon as we take a step forward, we get a security card - you don’t need to contact anything, it just gets put in your inventory. There’s a door to our left and a door to our right, so let’s do those first.

newmascotresized: The left and right rooms are basically the same - they have model buildings and photos in them, as well as the model city in the center. I used to work at a place that had a room just like this.

newmascotresized: We can contact the edge of the city model - I think there’s a plaque if you look down. I’m going to transcribe the text on these the way I do the emails in Tokio’s chapters.

Announced in 1974
“NEmoSweet” Series
1st Period “Advance”

Cutting-edge features for the modern age. Total comfort and high-level safety measures. Yukimura Group’s “NEmoSweet”.

The Yukimura Group: A conglomeration that cares about the future.
[7400]

newmascotresized: Then there’s this slightly different model in the other room.

Set for release in 2002
“NEmoSweet” Series “Royal”

People’s lifestyles change with the times. But life’s true necessities never really change. The Yukimura Group presents a whole new lifestyle. “NEmoSweet-Royal”.

The Yukimura Group: Bringing the future closer.
[0026]

newmascotresized: You might have noticed that there’s two numbers at the bottom of each of the building descriptions. Those are the code we need to progress - but there’s no obvious place to enter it.

newmascotresized: What we have to do is go back into the main hall and try to use the card on the front desk.

newmascotresized: The code is 7426, which you get by removing the zeroes in each of the two numbers and putting the other number where the zeroes were.

newmascotresized: This leads us to a room full of filing cabinets that houses one of the more annoying bits to do if you’re screenshot LPing this game. There are nine documents hidden in here, eight of which we can get to.

newmascotresized: Each document is numbered, and there’s an achievement for reading all the documents in order. They’re split up into two sides from where we start - there’s four on the left side and four on the right.

newmascotresized: Each side has two screens, with a contact point on either side of each screen for a total of eight. I’ll refer to their positions first by aisle, then by “front” and “back”, and then by “left” and “right” based on where they are from this screen.

newmascotresized: Document Number 1 is in the right-side aisle, front half, on the right. Don’t worry if all these documents don’t make sense - this will be covered in Tsuki.

confidentialdocument#1

Date: 07/16/1970
Case name: Relationship between the Yukimura Zaibatsu and attorney XXXX
Processing: Deletion
Reporter: XXXX
Report:

Re: induction to factory construction plan for Mikumo Village #32 “Mikumo 77”, apparently a large sum of money was exchanged between the Yukimura Zaibatsu and the attorney XXXX in the name of “political donations”. Information received from source XXXX.

The day before entering into an open investigation, XXXX gives orders to stop. On the same day, XXXX and XXXX from the XX Unit are ordered to fully investigate “Mikumo 77” and the Yukimura Zaibatsu, and constant reports are demanded for Yukimura’s background check.

From this day forward, anything pertaining to this case is to be considered highly confidential. Report provided by XX to XXXXX in the XX department.

newmascotresized: In case you’re wondering, the “XX Unit” in this document isn’t the Heinous Crimes Unit, as this dates to before the Silver Case.

newmascotresized: Document 2 is in the right-side aisle, back half, on the right. This puts it directly behind where Document 1 is.

confidentialdocument#2

Date: 11/02/1975
Case name: Influence of protests against construction of “Mikumo 77”
Processing: Deletion
Reporter: XXX
Report:

Group opposing the construction of “Mikumo 77” has lost final appeal to Supreme Court. Subsequently, construction has been legally approved, and is set to begin at the beginning of the year.

At dawn on 10/31, the representative of the group leading the appeal is reported missing.

On 10/31, the anti-construction group held a meeting, which representative XXX attended. After the talks, which lasted till late at night, XXXX, heading home with XXX, reports that XXX said they would go propose a mutual compromise with Yukimura.

Afterward, XXX went missing, and has apparently not returned home. Additionally, at the meeting, XXX was significantly drunk, and it is possible that some sort of accident occurred. However, according to XXXX, when they last saw XXX, XXX was no longer that drunk

Also, XXX was preparing to head to the Yukimura mansion. So it is plausible that XXX went to the Yukimura mansion. The XXX investigation is set to continue through the week.

newmascotresized: I got a little confused with this one when I was recording, because I couldn’t tell if they were saying that a representative from Yukimura had died mysteriously or what.

newmascotresized: This is basically Yukimura admitting they killed a guy to try and stop the opposition to their factory.

newmascotresized: Document 3 is in the left aisle, front half, right side.

confidentialdocument#3

Date: 05/17/1977
Case name: Inheritable heinous crimes
Processing: Deletion
Reporter: XXXX
Report:

While undertaking Yukimura’s background check, information was received from a surprising source. Inside “History of Inheritable Heinous Crimes” stored in the HC Unit materials room, the XXXX family line was discovered. The XXXX family line is old, and was able to be traced back 13 generations.

Among those, including the historic criminal XXXX, were 8 names. Additionally, the land on which the “Mikumo 77” factory is set to be completed this year was found to be the spot on which XXX was shot to death by the HC Unit.

It is unknown whether Yukimura purchased this land and built the factory knowing this fact. However, it doesn’t seem to be a simple coincidence.

Many residents are already filing complaints about the factory. There is a rumor that waste from the construction site has been flowing into the XX River, from which residents get their drinking water, and the village has requested a water quality inspection from the government.

newmascotresized: I thought the criminal they were talking about is Kamui, but that’s not possible - the Silver Case happened in 1979.

newmascotresized: Document 4 is in the right aisle, front half, left side.

confidentialdocument#4
Date: 02/16/1979
Case name: Suspicions regarding waste from “Mikumo 77”
Processing: Deletion
Reporter: XXX
Report:

In accordance with requests from residents, the water quality inspection of the XX River has been performed. The inspection is rumored to have stretched out two years due to XXXX controlling things behind the scenes.

Regarding the water’s safety, the XX Division of the XXX Department of the Ministry of Health and Welfare has given the ‘go’ sign. Harmful materials were not found among the materials from the waste. It seems there is no problem with water quality. At one point, residents staged a demonstration in front of the factory, but with word of this report spreading, the situation has calmed down.

Recently, standoffs between residents and the factory have been occurring frequently. Some residents’ behavior has been extremely inflammatory, and some of it is considered to be somewhat extraordinary. It is well-known that this has been caused by the discord between the residents and Yukimura, but this should probably be tranquilized by us before it gets further out of hand.

newmascotresized: This right here is why I wanted to present these in order. The next one is in the left aisle, back half, on the right.

confidentialdocument#5
Date: 07/28/1978
Case name: Suspicions regarding waste from “Mikumo 77” (Edited)
Processing: Deletion
Reporter: XXXX
Report

In the report from 02/16/1979, it was stated that the water from the XX River had nothing wrong with it, but the XXXX group performed a separate top secret inspection, and it was reported that the water was found to contain harmful materials from the factory waste.

Waste water was collected and checked for confirmation and an inspectionm was requested within the department, from which the following was found.

If these results are factual, then the factory would prove to be extremely dangerous to the Mikumo village. Measures must be taken immediately. Just in case, a waste water sample is being sent together with the report.

newmascotresized: I’m… not necessarily the biggest fan of this particular report, because you can kind of infer a lot of this from the previous one. Anyway, one big thing to note:

newmascotresized: The previous report was dated 02/16/1979, while this one was dated 07/28/1978… meaning Yukimura knew about the chemicals but covered it up.

newmascotresized: Speaking of which, Angiotensin II hormones are a real thing. They’re produced naturally by the body and constrict blood vessels as a way of regulating your blood pressure.

newmascotresized: You might think something this egregious wouldn’t happen in the real world, especially not as late as 1999… except it actually does, even to this day.

newmascotresized: Document 6 is in the right-side aisle, back half, on the left. This, along with the last three documents, are THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS CHAPTER.

confidentialdocument#6

Date: 08/09/1979
Case name: Mysterious points re: the Riru Yukimura murder case
Processing: Deletion
Reporter: XXXX
Report:

At dawn on 08/07, the body of a girl estimated to be 7-8 years old was found. Approximately five days had passed since the time of death, and decomposition had been progressing. The body showed signs of violence, leading to the decision to treat it as a homicide case.

Today the body was identified. The girl’s name is Riru Yukimura. Age 7. She lived with her parents, members of the Yukimura family line, in the Mikumo village, and her parents were in charge of factory management.

With regards to the Riru Yukimura murder case, several mysterious points have been brought up.

1: When the body was discovered, injuries suggested the actions of a single individual deviant, but the subsequent autopsy report indicates the possibility of multiple perpetrators.

2: The time of death was determined to be right in the middle of the parade (demonstration) put on by the residents, but there was not a single witness.

3: Although the 7-year-old girl was missing, the missing persons report and search request was not filed until three days after her disappearance.

4: Around the same time as the crime, three children who live in the village were apparently badly injured in a strange accident. Details are unclear, but the name of one of the boys involved has been found. The children involved were known to be friends of Riru Yukimura.

Residents were extremely uncooperative regarding the investigation into Riru’s murder. This is likely also due to the discord with Yukimura.

newmascotresized: Translation: Yukimura was such a dick that he sent his own… niece, I guess? to a town where he knew his company was dumping toxic waste in the water, and where she was eventually murdered.

newmascotresized: Document 7 is in the left aisle, front half, on the left.

Report:

Upon the arrest of the suspect, the investigation of the murder of Riru Yukimura has finished as of today.

With the self-surrender of main perpetrator XXXXXX, the case was solved and closed swiftly. Two accessories, XXXX and XXX, are said to have died while avoiding capture. Details have been reported in the HC Unit case file.

newmascotresized: And finally, Document 8. It’s in the left aisle, back half, on the left.

newmascotresized: Once you read the final document, a wall opens up in the space between the two sets of shelves in the left aisle.

confidential document #9
Date: 11/04/1979
Case name: Discovery of skeletal remains
Processing: Unreported due to death of person in question
Reporter: XXX

Report:

On 10/23, Mikumo village XXX resident XXX was XXXXXXXXX, and skeletal remains were discovered. Results of an analysis of the clothing worn by the remains proved that the body was that of XXX, missing since 10/31/1977.

The boys he was after. It is thought that he had been in contact with the boys in order to publicize the truth. Part of the report said to have been fabricated by investigator XXXX states the following.

newmascotresized: Before we get to the obvious thing, I’d like to mention that this report contradicts an earlier one - I’m pretty sure the remains they found belonged to the activist who went missing in 1975.

newmascotresized: Suda does this a lot - in fact, he released two lore books for Killer7 that contradict not only each other, but themselves.

newmascotresized: Anyway… SuXXio XXXXi… where have we heard a name like that before? There’s no way it’s…

Kusabi: “What is this, a fucking fairytale? Protests… marches… kids… parades… a princess and some heroes… and a huge serpent… so there really is a fairytale town. Mikumo 77…”

Kusabi: “Hey Big Dick. What can I do?”

Kusabi: “Ah, the twilight town. Everyone has come into contact with this town at some point.”

Sumio: “How nostalgic…”

Kusabi: “It’s been, what, like 20 years?”

Sumio: “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Kusabi: “Well… it looks like during that time, this became the kinda town nobody wants to come near.”

Sumio: “That’s right. This town has been waiting for us.”

Kusabi: “Took enough time and effort.”

Kusabi: “You happy now…?”

Sumio: “Sorry…”

Kusabi: “Looks like there’s gonna be fireworks. Wanna go watch them?”

Sumio: “Tetsu…”

newmascotresized: This whole thing gets explained in Tokio’s upcoming chapter, but I like to think Kusabi used his license to kill in order to kill an entire town. Totally works that way.

Sumio: “Yeah…”

Kusabi: “Why are you going this far?”

newmascotresized: I’m not so sure I buy this. I mean, this entire thing was one giant revenge plot against Yukimura for killing Riru and fucking up Mikumo Village. It feels more like Sumio was honoring the past than killing it.

Kusabi: “What’s in the past?”

Sumio: “All of me.”

Kusabi: “Fuckin’ idiot… you’re a fuckin’ idiot, you know that…?”

Sumio: “Finally… I’ve become an idiot.”

Kusabi: “Let’s go.”

Sumio: “Yes.”

Kusabi: “Keep confident.”

Sumio: “Yes.”

Kusabi: “Stare hatred right in the face.”

Sumio: “Yes.”

Kusabi: “Move forward.”

Sumio: “Yes.”

Kusabi: “Sometimes the past is important. Your real fight starts here. If you feel like you’re gonna buckle, just remember…”

Kusabi: “Who the hell are you?”

Sumio: “As of today, I’m your new partner, Kodai.”

Kusabi: “Kodai? Never heard of you. You get the wrong unit or something?”

Sumio: “No, I was assigned here.”

Kusabi: “I got no use for career types. Fuck off.”

Sumio: “Actually, I’m just a high school graduate.”

newmascotresized: I thought this was weird, since as I understood it, most police detectives have college degrees. I actually took a course meant for that in community college as an elective (I did my first two years there).

newmascotresized: The answer is apparently that it depends on where you are and how high you plan on going up - some places want an associate’s just to join the force, and expect a master’s to make detective.

Kusabi: “Oh yeah? Then why’re you wearing that suit?”

Sumio: “Just personal preference.”

Kusabi: “What the fuck? You look r—”

newmascotresized: Omitted the slur again.

Sumio: “Do I?”

Kusabi: “That ain’t gonna work.”

Sumio: “Huh.”

Kusabi: “What’s your name?”

Sumio: “Huh?”

Kusabi: “Your first name. The one your mommy and daddy gave you.”

Sumio: “It’s Sumio. Sumio Kodai.”

Kusabi: “Alright, Sumio. Follow me!”

Sumio: “To where?”

Sumio: “I’m fine, thanks.”

Kusabi: “Just come with me. I’ll hook you up!”

Sumio: “Really, it’s fine!”

Kusabi: “Hurry the fuck up!”

Sumio: “I really don’t need one!!”

Morikawa: “Tetsu, we got a call!”

Kusabi: “Where?”

Morikawa: “The Tsubaki Syndicate.”

Kusabi: “Let’s go, Sumio!”

Sumio: “OK!!”

Sumio: “You ended up never buying me a suit, huh?”

Kusabi: “Whatever, just walk!”

Sumio: “My suit…”

Kusabi: “Yeah yeah, I’ll buy you one.”

Sumio: “Awesome…”

Kusabi: “Once you’re an old man, that is.”

Sumio: “Keep confident…”

Kusabi: “Stare it down…”

Sumio: “Live positively…”

newmascotresized: And that’s the end of Parade, our third case out of five. Next time, we’ll move on to Tsuki.

Summary

newmascotresized: Welcome to Tsuki. This chapter is where Tokio’s story really starts picking up, to the point where I kind of wonder what the point of Yume and Hana even was.

newmascotresized: Once the building shows up, there’s a really loud jackhammer noise that starts playing in the background.

Tokio: “What the fuck… shit… a nightmare…”

newmascotresized: Tokio smokes a lot more in Tsuki than he did in Hana or Yume.

Tokio: “9 o’clock…? It’s not morning yet… I’ll sue your ass…”

newmascotresized: Let’s check on Red.

Tokio: “He looks terrified…”

newmascotresized: And, of course, Tokio’s inbox.

From: Slash
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Found The Bat
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 3:21:14

Attacking Scolba is actually pretty hardcore. So it took some time, but by reverse-hacking the system I was able to pull up the user access logs. There were all kinds of things in place. People using proxies and jamming things up, but with their raw IP data totally visible, etc. So anyway, here’s what I found out.

newmascotresized: If this seems cringy and dated, keep in mind this game was probably being written within three years of the original release of the movie Hackers.

newmascotresized: As soon as we finish reading the email, the construction noise starts up again and we’re kicked off Tokio’s computer.

Tokio: “And it fucking starts again…”

newmascotresized: And now, one of Tokio’s more memorable lines.

Tokio: “Goddamn… this is so annoying, I can’t take it. …Wanna go for a drive?”

newmascotresized: Come to think of it, isn’t this how Francis York Morgan crashes his car in Deadly Premonition, by being on his laptop while driving?

Maybe he’s special, or maybe all turtles are like this, but Red seems to be a real coward. He just wants to spend his days floating around, and if anything disturbs that, he gets all sensitive and starts flapping around in his tank, and then stops eating. He’s a hassle, but he’s still lovable.

How about The Bat? The only thing I know is that he’s one fucked up dude. I doubt whether he actually has anything to do with Kamui. Why did he break into the chatroom that one time? Either he’s a hacker using Kamui as a front, or a cracker who actually believes all this Kamui bullshit. One or the other.

Other assumptions:

Real name: “Komori”, or something “bat”-like in Japanese. That’s why he uses the name “The Bat”.
Age: Little punk around 14 or so.
Blood Type: AB
Personality: Like a rat or a bird or something. Has a mix of indecision and cunning.

Fuck, I’m bored. Anyways, I got his email address. I doubt he’d reply, but I’ll try getting hold of him.

Tokio: “Placebo… I’m getting sick of this shit.”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: junk@kipple.ne.jp
Subject: Hello, CQCQ

To The Bat,

This is Morishima, the guy you picked a fight with a few days ago. You shouldn’t have busted into our chat like that. Now I have your mail address. I don’t know who you are, what you’re trying to do, or whether you’re a crazy fuckstick or a full-on crazy fuckstick.

Get back to me. Let’s talk about your homie Kamui.

Tokio: “Anyway…”

newmascotresized: The construction noises start back up.

Tokio: “And it fucking starts again… Jesus fucking Christ, man…”

Tokio: “This… motherfucker… head… hurts…”

newmascotresized: Poor Red.

newmascotresized: You can probably tell from the subject line of the email who The Bat actually is, but it’ll be real clear a bit later.

From: junk@kipple.ne.jp
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: parade
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 9:00:00

~Guessing Game~

What’s the answer?

[#1]

At the last moment, an intrusion,
an old witch, a wink.
Oil fries, nobody’s there.
Just Joan the slut.
Mom, dad, yourself.
A stick, a log, a stone, dead.
Made a slave by the bad guy.
It’s gotta be you or me…

Who’s missing?

newmascotresized: This riddle is going to be repeated a few times, so I’ll just refer to it as “Joan the Slut”.

newmascotresized: Incidentally, when I read this while recording, I immediately thought of the infamous “It’s just me, Gabe Newell” video.

[#2]

Old Mother Twitchett
likes kisses.

She turns over
her long tail
and with one eye,
stares.

Give her a kiss
on her cute little mouth.
As thanks,
she’ll share her tail.

Old Mother Twitchett… who is it?

[#3]

There was a crazy family
riding a crazy horse
running like crazy.

Where did they get to?

[#4]

Some brothers picked up a corpse
and buried it in a stone grave.

Who killed and ate the kid?

Tokio: “What the hell is this…? The Bat’s address… a guessing game? The fuck is this about?!”

Tokio: “Oh my god, shut the fuck up! Fucking seriously…”

Tokio: “This kind of thing pisses me off. OK, fine… so I have to play a game, huh?”

newmascotresized: To be fair, this is pretty much how I react to any game that has a dumb bullshit puzzle.

newmascotresized: Tokio opens his blog post with the “Joan the Slut” riddle copied verbatim, so I won’t bother reposting it.

At the last moment… is it me or him?
An intrusion… is it me or him?
An old witch… maybe him?
A wink…?
Oil fries… what the fuck?

Who’s missing? Who the fuck?

I don’t fucking get it!!!

Tokio: “Yup.”

Tokio: “Your husband, huh… he ‘used to’ smoke these… so you mean he’s…?”

Tokio: “If they sell them there.”

Tokio: “Yeah, I guess so. I’m going home… the construction should be done for today by now.”

Tokio: “But like… I hate playing games. Fuck… why the hell do I have to do this…?”

Tokio: “Ah. Hold on… maybe Erika could… yeah, she’d be better at this than I would.”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Erika Yukawa
Subject: Just Guessing

I got a weird email from that guy called The Bat. I’ll forward it to you. What is this guessing game? Do you get it?

I have no idea. Let me know if you figure it out. Also, from now on, I’m gonna encrypt my mails. I’m using a program I used to use at the news agency. Are you able to read this?

From: Tokio Morishima
To: S. INOHANA
Subject: Get It On

Has a guy called “The Bat” ever been involved in the Kamui case? He’s able to mess with systems on the net, and apparently doesn’t want people digging up stuff on Kamui. He contacted me online and told me not to fuck with Kamui.

He also sent me some sort of riddle. He also seems to know about that thing at Babylon. Let me know if you know anything.

At the last moment, an intrusion, an old witch… is this some sort of poem? Searching all over the net got me nothing. Nothing in the encyclopedia, either. Nothing in the newspaper database. Not even anything in the fucking Farmer’s Almanac.

Construction is finally finishing tomorrow. About fucking time.

Tokio: “Are you even awake…? OK brother, I’m gonna go to sleep, too. Getting woken up like this every goddamn morning… we need us a fucking break, you know?”

Tokio: “Sleepy… sweet dreams…”

Tokio: “Hm…? It’s already night… it’s been a while since I slept like that…”

Tokio: “Morning, sleepyhead. Hehe…”

newmascotresized: Looks like Red’s doing a lot better with the construction done.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Re: Just Guessing
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 22:10:48

This guessing game is a riddle. You’re probably supposed to look for keywords from this text. I don’t know the answer, though.

More importantly, who is “The Bat”? The version of that encryption software you’re using is too old.

From: S. INOHANA
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Investigation Required
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999

Looks like nobody named “The Bat” was involved with the Kamui case in the past. But I agree that he should be marked for the future. Find out who he is and report quickly.

It’s about time you sent some info worth the price I paid you.

Tokio: “Keep looking, keep looking, keep looking… maybe if I get this quiz right I’ll win a trip to Hawaii. Fuck! Fuck this… I need food.”

newmascotresized: I think I said this exact line at least twice during the Persona 5 LP.

Tokio: “At the last moment, an intrusion…”

Bartender: “Excuse me? What does that mean…?”

Tokio: “Fuck if I know…”

Bartender: “Is it about someone’s personality?”

Tokio: “Like someone who’s intrusive?”

newmascotresized: Like a certain turtle-hating bartender who should shut the fuck up before he gets mauled by a chinchilla again?

Bartender: “Like ‘someone who intrudes at the last moment’…”

Tokio: “So you’ve been listening, huh? But no, it’s not about someone’s personality.”

Bartender: “I guess.”

Tokio: “It’s like this…”

newmascotresized: Tokio repeats the entire “Joan the Slut” riddle here, so I’ll cut that.

Bartender: “I’ve heard that somewhere before…”

Tokio: “What, seriously?”

Tokio: “What do you mean?”

Bartender: “Old word games. In English. Some of those words come from these games.”

newmascotresized: Here’s what I like about this: when I was recording this, I actually went “Wait, is this a real thing or is this something Suda made up, how the fuck are you supposed to even get to there from Joan the Slut?”

newmascotresized: He managed to make it work even in English without it being painfully obvious the way a lot of that kind of stuff was in Persona 5.

Tokio: "OK then, can you figure this out? It’s a riddle… the question for this one is, ‘Who’s missing?’ "

Bartender: “The blind man.”

Tokio: “Really?”

Bartender: “Definitely. The blind man is missing.”

Tokio: “You’re a genius.”

Bartender: “I like to do what I can.”

Tokio: “I’m going home.”

Tokio: “What does this mean, and what is The Bat trying to do? I still have no idea.”

Tokio: “If there’s one thing that I know for sure, it’s that my nerves are totally on end, and I want to pluck the feathers from that “Bat” or “Chicken” or whatever-his-name-is asshole, and those feelings are growing by the day.”

Tokio: “I’ll get Erika to help again…”

Tokio: “Those goddamn pig-fucking asshole sons of bitches are finally finishing that construction.”

newmascotresized: Well, that confirms it. The Bat is almost certainly Sumio. It makes sense when you realize that Big Dick also got all those weird emails, one of which referred to him as “Chinchilla” - a name only Sumio and Kusabi would know.

Tokio: “A fairytale? What a fucking dickhead…”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Erika Yukawa
Subject: About The Bat

Remember when our chat at Scolba got disrupted? Around the time of the Kamui case. You got dropped from the net and couldn’t get back in. When that happened, some guy replaced you and interrupted our chat.

The guy’s handle name was “The Bat”. He started talking to me suddenly and told me not to look into Kamui. For some reason he also knew about Babylon. So I hired a certain net detective to find his mail address for me. I mailed him, and got that weird riddle mail.

I figured out the first one. I also figured out how to solve it. Probably. It’s from some old Mother Goose thing. You know Mother Goose? With the right materials, the remaining three should be solvable, too. Feel like getting together to solve some riddles? Get me back. Let’s hook up and win that trip to Hawaii.

Tokio: “The noise is finally gone… looks like the construction is finally finished.”

Tokio: “She bought a Mother Goose book. We put the book and the mail from The Bat together and started looking for the answers to his little game.”

Erika: “Without titles, it was hard to search them out, but this is what the first one is based on…”

newmascotresized: This is apparently a nursery rhyme dating back to the Victorian era, but damned if I could find anything on it.

Tokio: “What a fucked up poem. So here’s the riddle…”

newmascotresized: He repeats Joan the Slut again, verbatim.

Erika: “The ‘blind man’ is missing. So literally, the blind man.”

Tokio: “Even the bartender knew this rhyme. That dude’s surprising.”

Erika: “Maybe he really likes Mother Goose?”

Tokio: “I wonder… he does seem a bit weird. So next is this one.”

newmascotresized: Tokio repeats the second riddle, the “Old Mother Twitchett” one.

Erika: “I’ve heard that before.”

Tokio: “Really?”

Erika: “Old Mother Twitchett, right…?”

Tokio: “Yeah.”

Erika: “Hold on…”

Tokio: “Oh, I’m waiting.”

Erika: “OK, so… Old Mother Twitchett was… hm… ah, here it is. It’s from this poem, look. What was the question again…?”

Tokio: “Who is Old Mother Twitchett?”

Erika: “Ah, I see.”

Tokio: “What is it?”

Erika: “The direct translation of the original poem says this:”

newmascotresized: I also looked this one up, and did find a single website that had a version of it. Warning: Some godawful goddamn 90s-ass web design.

Tokio: “What the hell does that mean?”

Erika: “The poem itself is a riddle.”

newmascotresized: You know what I just fucking remembered? Remember Gabriel Knight 3 and the godawful geometry management puzzles? That came out the same year this game did.

newmascotresized: I can only imagine the kind of bullshit puzzles that Jane Jensen would’ve put in this if she worked on it. You know what, fuck it, give me a 24th Ward Heinous Crimes Unit novel by Jane Jensen.

Tokio: “A riddle, huh?”

Erika: “Listen. One eye, leaves its tail behind… therefore… Old Mother Twitchett is…”

Tokio: “Huh?”

Tokio: “A needle and thread… so what about the question…?”

Erika: “I don’t know… but it looks like it means that a needle kisses thread.”

Tokio: “The fuck kind of kiss is that?”

Erika: “Let’s leave that for now. The answer for #2 is ‘needle and thread’. What’s next?”

Tokio: “Um… here’s the third one…”

newmascotresized: Tokio repeats the third riddle from earlier.

Erika: “A crazy family… there’s gotta be a poem with a crazy family and a crazy horse somewhere.”

Tokio: “Another fucked up poem.”

Erika: “Quit complaining and search for it.”

Tokio: “Whatever.”

Erika: “I can’t find it.”

Tokio: “Me neither.”

Erika: “Wait, hold on…”

Tokio: “Waiting.”

Erika: “It must be this.”

Tokio: “Which one?”

Erika: “It’s a bit long.”

newmascotresized: This is the only one of these I had heard of before, and it’s only because of The Wolf Among Us. Too bad Fables was such a piece of shit comic.

Tokio: “Hm. That sounds right.”

Erika: “So where did the ‘crazy’ family end up?”

newmascotresized: In what’s probably Telltale’s worst game outside of Hector: Badge of Carnage.

Tokio: “Hell.”

Erika: “That’s the answer. Nice work!”

Tokio: “Now for the final problem.”

newmascotresized: Erika repeats the last riddle, which we’ve already seen.

Tokio: “Some brothers picked up a corpse and buried it in a stone grave.”

Erika: “There should be a similar poem somewhere…”

Tokio: “Come on, hurry up.”

Erika: “You keep looking, too.”

Tokio: “I am.”

Erika: “Brothers and a stone grave.”

Tokio: “Brothers and a stone grave…”

Erika: “Picked up a corpse…”

Tokio: “Is this it?”

Erika: “What?”

Tokio: “I’m not 100% sure.”

Erika: “Show me.”

Tokio: “OK, here it goes. The poem says…”

Erika: “That must be it.”

Tokio: “OK, now we’re getting the hang of it.”

Erika: “So who ‘killed and ate that kid’?”

Tokio: “Mother and father… so, ‘the parents’.”

Erika: “Right.”

Tokio: “Awesome.”

Erika: “Wow, we got all four.”

Tokio: “Let’s try lining the answers up.”

Erika: “I have no idea what that means.”

Tokio: “Me neither.”

Erika: “I wonder if this really means something?”

Tokio: “What is he trying to say?”

Erika: “The Bat… is it really worth chasing after him?”

newmascotresized: I mean, it kinda depends what Batman we’re talking about, because half of everything Batman kinda sucks.

Tokio: “I don’t know… but I feel like it is.”

Erika: “A gut feeling?”

Tokio: “Something like that.”

Erika: “But after all this work… what if it’s just some creepy loser messing around?”

Tokio: “Don’t even say that.”

Erika: “I mean, these answers, they don’t seem to mean anything.”

Tokio: “I know. But there must be something. There’s meaning in there, somewhere…”

Erika: “Do you really think so?”

Tokio: “Yeah!”

Erika: “You think it has something to do with Kamui?”

Tokio: “I think so, yeah.”

Erika: “Why?”

Tokio: “I think so…”

Erika: “You think so?”

Maybe I’m letting The Bat get to me too much.

Like Erika says, maybe he’s just some crazy fuckstick with no relation to Kamui… but for some reason he took the trouble to hack that chatroom and follow me on the net. The Bat gets to me because I’m scared. Even now, I’m still somehow scared of Kamui. In the same way, I can somehow feel a kind of terror in this guy, too.

Erika doesn’t get that. Because she didn’t talk to The Bat. Either way, I got my keywords. Now I just have to wait for the door to unlock.

newmascotresized: We’ll see what The Bat’s response is in the next update.

Summary

Tokio: “There’s nothing else…”

Tokio: “Shut the fuck up… be… quiet… ???”

Tokio: “The politicians outside… I can’t hear… the microphone… a dream…? Seriously…?”

newmascotresized: And here we have a rare smile from Red.

Tokio: “The construction had finished, but… I woke up too early. This is frustrating…”

Tokio: “The fuck are you smiling at…?”

newmascotresized: Looks like we’ve got a response from The Bat… dated 08/02/1979. Clever.

newmascotresized: The other two emails are a little less shift-JIS intensive, so I’ll just transcribe those the usual way.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Contact
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 8:12:05

I’ve been thinking, and I thought of something. I want to tell you directly so call my cellphone as soon as you read this.

From: S.INOHANA
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Report Now
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 9:00:11 AM

You find out anything about “The Bat”? Don’t forget that you’re supposed to report back to me right away.

Tokio: “Again…? Fucking assholes!”

newmascotresized: You know, I appreciate this game a lot. I really do. It hasn’t given me that moment a lot of things do where I realize how dumb the plot is.

Tokio: “Fucking Christ… Fucking Erika. You’re the one who said not to call you anymore…”

Tokio: “It’s been awhile…”

Erika: “Hello?”

Tokio: “It’s me. I saw your mail.”

Erika: “Oh, thanks.”

Tokio: “So? What’s it about?”

Erika: “I just thought of this, but… hold on. Let me find someplace to talk.”

Tokio: “OK.”

Erika: “Hello?”

Tokio: “I can hear you.”

Erika: “I thought of something. For those quizzes, maybe the whole poems themselves have more than just the answers.”

Tokio: “The whole poems?”

Erika: “Basically, the poems themselves are what contain some sort of message.”

Tokio: “Hm. But don’t you think it’s just as likely that The Bat is just some weirdo who’s into riddles?”

Erika: “Well, yeah. But I decided to trust your gut feeling.”

Tokio: “Wow, I’m really moved to tears. By the way, I’ve got something to report myself.”

Erika: “Did The Bat say something?”

Tokio: “I got another email. I sent an answer, and I got a new one. It’s about the ‘fairytale’ he mentioned before.”

Erika: “I’d like to read it.”

Tokio: “If you can make it out this afternoon, I’ll be in the park.”

Erika: “OK, see you later then.”

Erika: “This bothers me even more than the last riddles.”

Tokio: “Really? To me, it just seems like some pretentious-ass bullshit text, meant to sound meaningful.”

newmascotresized: Nah, it doesn’t sound enough like YIIK for that.

Erika: “A princess and three boys, only their memories…”

Tokio: “A princess and three boys…”

Erika: “The date on this is weird.”

Tokio: “The date?”

Erika: “Look. It says ‘August 2nd, 1979’. The time doesn’t make any sense, either.”

Tokio: “Oh yeah… 1979… that’s 20 years ago.”

Erika: “Twenty years ago… there’s something there, but…”

Tokio: “What the hell? Some incident? An incident from 20 years ago?”

Erika: “Yeah… maybe.”

Tokio: “So I guess there’s a meaning to it. This fairytale…”

Erika: “The clouds… are dirtied black…”

Tokio: “Dirtied? What happened?”

Erika: “The village… died out…”

Tokio: “What does it mean? Try to remember something, Erika.”

Erika: “Hold on. I think I’ve…”

Tokio: “Really?”

Erika: “Just shut up for a second!”

Tokio: “OK, fine. I’ll be quiet, Princess. I’m gonna have a smoke.”

Erika: “Pollution…”

Tokio: “What?”

newmascotresized: One thing I didn’t realize is that this is still a few days before the Yukimura mansion gets bombed, meaning Erika figured out the whole case before Big Dick even showed up.

Tokio: “What are you talking about?”

Erika: “Twenty years ago… there was a village called Mikumo. It got all messed up from pollution… the village disappeared… and then… a girl was killed, too.”

Tokio: “That’s it!”

Erika: “It has to be!”

Tokio: “That’s gotta be it, Erika. This fairytale is about that village.”

newmascotresized: I have to admit, I think the game would’ve been better if you did the first part of Tsuki before Parade, then did the second part after.

Erika: “Yeah, it has to be.”

Tokio: “Nice work. I knew you had it in you.”

Erika: “Yeah yeah…”

Tokio: “Huh? Oh… Sorry…”

Erika: “Before…”

Tokio: “What?”

Erika: “We used to work together like this a lot…”

Tokio: “Yeah. Back in the day…”

Erika: “Never mind.”

Tokio: “…”

Erika: “We don’t have time to reminisce. We have to check out Mikumo.”

Tokio: “Let’s split the work.”

Erika: “I’m going back to the office.”

Tokio: “OK… contact me if anything comes up.”

I looked into Mikumo.

Mikumo 77. Over 20 years ago, it used to be a village. Eventually Mikumo Village was developed as an industrial area, then it became a town, and pollution here became a problem. Then the factories were shut down indefinitely, and now that area is managed by the government and is completely off-limits.

It basically became a trampled on, cursed area. News about that girl getting murdered still remain in old newspaper articles. This is another fucked up story.

But why is The Bat talking about this stuff? What does he have to do with Mikumo? And what does Mikumo have to do with Kamui?

newmascotresized: Tokio’s phone starts ringing in the background.

Tokio: “Yeah, I know, I’m coming…”

Erika: “It’s me.”

Tokio: “You got something?”

Erika: “I found an old man from Mikumo 77.”

Tokio: “An old man? Didn’t everyone from Mikumo die off?”

Erika: “This guy survived. I found one of the few survivors. I’ll make an appointment with him. I’ll go see him tomorrow.”

Tokio: “Hold on. You should just go see him without making an appointment.”

Erika: “Why?”

Tokio: “Because I doubt it’s gonna be a happy, fun story.”

Erika: “You’re right…”

Tokio: “He’s old, so you’d better go see him before he keels over and dies.”

newmascotresized: I like to think this is how Tokio deals with anyone even slightly older than him, including Kusabi.

Erika: “What a dick.”

Tokio: “But somehow — I feel like something’s off. I got a bad feeling…”

Tokio: “Careful, huh. Even when careful, you can still get lost. Like if your map is wrong… OK then… Mikumo… I think that was it. What a fucking hassle. Maybe I’ll just ask The Bat directly…”

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Met the old guy
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 22:01:01 AM

I met with that old survivor. I get what you mean. He’s a weird old man. Even though I’m right in front of him talking, it feels like he’s staring off a mile away while speaking to you. It seems like he doesn’t care whether or not I even exist.

That Mikumo 77 pollution problem was caused by the Yukimura Group… according to the old man. It actually was the Yukimura Group that pushed for the development of Mikumo 77, though.

Also, he told me a creepy story. Another damn fairytale. What he told me was this:

“A demon marked a girl with a seal that would bring disaster. The people were all baffled by it. Some boys surrounded the girl to protect her, but the people had turned into a violent mob and took her away. The innocent girl had her feathers plucked and was sacrificed.”

So it was another story about a girl and some boys. There’s a continuation, but it makes no sense. I have no idea what this guy is trying to say. Each of the kids in this story is either blind, deaf, or dumb, apparently…

Additionally, he says the factory was producing weapons to fight off an alien invasion. What the fuck, right? If it were you, you probably would’ve tossed your tape recorded in the gutter at this point. But I feel like there is some truth mixed in with the old guy’s stories. The people who had turned into a violent mob, etc…

Hey, do you remember the origin of The Bat’s #3 riddle? The story about the crazy family riding a crazy horse to Hell. I think that this story may be referring to this violent mob.

newmascotresized: In case you haven’t played Okami or read any of the Persona LPs where I talked about it, this is where the ‘giant serpent’ in Sumio’s version the fairytale comes from.

newmascotresized: The old guy basically told Erika a version of the Kushinada and Susano story, except with Yukimura standing in for Orochi.

newmascotresized: Huh. We’ve gotten these emails a few times before, but they’re usually junk - there’s one from last update I didn’t show that talks about a computer virus going around.

Tokio: “The Yukimura mansion? The fuck is going on…?”

Tokio: “At least tell me what the hell happened…”

Kusabi: “I can’t say shit. Just go back home for now. I don’t have time to waste with hacks.”

Tokio: “Hold up. In that case, I wanna say something.”

newmascotresized: Sirens start going off in the background.

Kusabi: “Next time. We’re on emergency call right now. You hear the sirens, right?”

Tokio: “But…”

Kusabi: “Anyway, keep out of this shit.”

Tokio: “Hey, wait… fuck, what the hell is going on?”

newmascotresized: So uh, yeah. Tsuki is a very, very long case

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Rumors
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 9:12:12

After that weird thing with the Yukimura mansion getting blown up, it looks like something has happened to Chairman Yukimura himself. It’s still just a rumor, but most of the rumors from this particular news agency turn out to be true, so plenty of care will be required for info concerning the Yukimura Zaibatsu. Stock prices, too.

It’s pretty apparent that the higher-ups here at my company are acting strange. I assume there’s gonna be some sort of press embargo. Something is happening to the Yukimura Group. Maybe threats from the bomber or something.

By the way, you went to Mikumo 77, right? Find anything new? And how about contact from The Bat?

It can’t just be a coincidence. We find out about that stuff at Mikumo 77, and then the home of the chairman of the Yukimura Group, which basically killed the town of Mikumo, gets blown up. Maybe The Bat tipped someone off? He must know something. Or possibly, he himself was the bomber. When you saw the news about the bombing, you said you felt something, too, right?

How do you plan to move?

Tokio: “What the hell are the HC Unit guys doing? I can’t get hold of them. I know… I think The Bat is suspicious, too.”

newmascotresized: For reference, this is about the same time that Big Dick is having the briefing with Sakaguchi in Parade.

I went to Mikumo 77 for three days. Of course I wasn’t able to set foot inside the factories, but it was still surprising to see that it had been left as-is for the past 20 years.

Mikumo 77 is like a ghost town now. Nobody lives there. The buildings are all old and fucked up. The roads are filled with potholes. Looking from higher ground, the old factories show off a black silhouette. The factories are relatively small. The small factories take up all the space, with almost no open areas. Like some weird plans cropping up. Or like guts made of metal were gathered together, all dead…

What happened to Yukimura? Was he killed? Or kidnapped? Or maybe the HC Unit is protecting him… either way, like Erika said, it’s certain that something is going on with him. Maybe I should hurry up and report on the info I brought back from Mikumo 77.

I probably know who did it.

newmascotresized: This one feels really out of place compared to the other “daily word” emails Tokio gets.

Tokio: “I’m gonna lose my shit.”

I went to the HC Unit and grabbed a guy named Morikawa, and gave him a message for Kusabi. I said I wanted to give him some materials concerning Mikumo 77. But it’s no good. He obviously wasn’t taking me seriously. The guys in the HC Unit are out for blood, and they’re probably not seeing what’s right in front of their eyes.

Regarding Yukimura, it looks like they have no intention of telling me what’s going on. I guess private citizens don’t have the right to know. Well, I don’t have to tell them shit either, you know.

The three kids from the old man’s fairytale. The princess who died = the girl. This is for sure. According to old newspapers, a 7-year-old girl was killed. The person responsible was caught and punished. However, there are many points of doubt in this case, and the injuries sustained by the girl were so bad that they couldn’t have been done by just one person. They apparently found blood of different blood types in her body. In the end, the story was wiped out quickly, and everyone forgot about it.

But if it was a violent mob who killed the girl, then stuff starts to make sense. There are some really intriguing analytical reports about the victims of the pollution at Mikumo 77. Those affected suffered from terrible asthma and overwhelming fatigue, mainly. But on top of that, it wasn’t known at the time but the hazardous waste contained a certain type of narcotic substance which possibly really fucked people up.

This narcotic substance has a stimulant effect which causes violent obsession. Maybe this caused the people to turn into a violent mob. Which is why the girl was killed…

So that leaves the two boys who tried to protect the princess. Of these three people, one was blind, one was deaf, and one was dumb. If the old man’s story is correct. Twenty years have passed, and they’ve become adults. Where are they and what are they doing now?

I’m almost certain that it was those two boys who blew up the Yukimura mansion. However I look at it, that’s the only thing that makes sense. I wonder how Kusabi will react to these materials. Can that dude even understand those fairytales…?

Also, The Bat… Erika’s theory that the words to the riddles themselves have meaning seems to be correct. “A blind man…” is that one of them? Who is The Bat? And what about Kamui? Is even Kamui somehow connected to Yukimura?

The HC Unit is really on the move. Something is still happening. What the hell is going on?

Tokio: “Getting revenge, 20 years after the fact…”

newmascotresized: I’m not sure where Tokio is getting the idea that there’s only two boys, given that he got the same version of the fairytale about a princess and three boys, but whatever.

Tokio: “I get all excited for some reason… I wonder why…? What do you think?”

From: S. INOHANA
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Warning
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999, 9:21:14

You find anything out about “The Bat”? We’ve already been over when and how you first came into contact with him. This shit is no longer going to fly. I need some info from you.

With all these extensions for your reports, you’ve already broken your contract. If you don’t reply in 48 hours, drastic measures will be taken.

You will be in a world of shit.

newmascotresized: So yeah, that email I missed? It’s about a computer virus called FESTA. I’ll just right-click on this, and…

Tokio: “Fuck… looks like I’ve been hit with a virus. I guess… shit… goddammit… motherfucker! Yeah yeah, OK, I got it. OK, sorry, but I’ve got my shit all backed up and compressed and loaded to my laptop.”

newmascotresized: I’m going to cut the update here because the next update gets kinda dark. Interestingly, during recording, the game fucked up right after this and got some graphics corruption, I think due to my recording software.

newmascotresized: I thought it was part of the game until I saw a video recording of it where that doesn’t happen. Anyway, two new pieces from Salty Vanilla:

newmascotresized: Salty did this daylight version of the scene, which actually makes sense because the stakeout scene at the start of Parade happens at like 9AM.

newmascotresized: And here’s one of Big Dick winning a trip to Hawaii after successfully decoding the riddle. Sumio must’ve paid for it with some of that diamond money.

Summary

newmascotresized: Just as a warning, this update’s going to contain some pretty dark shit, including a description of a sexual assault.

Tokio: “The Yukimura mansion… now the explosions start. Maybe they’re trying to set it up like some kind of festival. Criminals sure do love blowin’ shit up real good. Why is that?”

newmascotresized: Tokio’s phone starts ringing.

Tokio: “Who the fuck…”

Tokio: “Oh hey, Kusabi, right?”

Kusabi: “I heard from Morikawa.”

Tokio: “That’s good. There’s something regarding Mikumo 77 that I just have to talk to you about.”

Kusabi: “OK. But wait… I can’t give out any info right now. Listen, Yukimura is fine. Other than that, I can’t say shit for now.”

Tokio: “Who was the bomber?”

Kusabi: “We’re looking into it.”

Tokio: “There should be two men left who were originally from Mikumo. It may have been them.”

Kusabi: “I see…”

Tokio: “Do you have some kind of lead?”

Kusabi: “No… but…”

Tokio: “Try checking that place out. Mikumo…”

Kusabi: “Listen up. People’s lives are at stake, so don’t say shit about this to anyone. We aren’t letting anyone from the media get anywhere near this.”

Kusabi: “If anything got leaked to the bomber and it gets found out, everyone involved will be fucked.”

newmascotresized: Oh yeah, one thing I should’ve mentioned earlier when Erika said there was a press embargo on reporting on the Yukimura bombing - while this is unheard of in most Western democracies, it’s actually not uncommon in Japan.

newmascotresized: In 2016, when The Silver Case re-released, Reporters Without Borders ranked Japan 72nd out of 180 countries surveyed, which is really low when compared to a lot of Western countries.

newmascotresized: As an example, the Abe administration passed a national security law in 2013 that could potentially put reporters in jail for asking about national secrets, even if the reporter was not aware of it.

newmascotresized: When TV reporters protested this and started asking very pointed questions, Abe simply went and used his influence to get them fired.

newmascotresized: Things haven’t really improved since then, either. After 2016, Japan’s press freedom ranking went up to 67th place before falling back to 71st this year.

newmascotresized: In comparison, the United States ranked 42nd in 2022, though in the case of the US it’s more of a “people are fucking idiots” problem than government censorship.

Tokio: “Of course I won’t…”

Kusabi: “That’s all for now. I’m hanging up.”

Tokio: “So Yukimura is OK… something is definitely going on. Shit, I’m all out of leads. What the hell do I do now…?”

Tokio: “You’re not just living in elegance, right? I mean… you can’t understand me anyway, but still…”

newmascotresized: Red’s thinking about his upcoming trip to Hawaii, and how he’s going to order a vegetarian poke bowl twice his size and spend an entire day eating it.

Tokio: “If I’m gonna proceed further, I’m gonna have to talk to the old survivor from Mikumo; he’d know who the two boys were. I need to move.”

Tokio: “I went to the address I got from Erika, and it ended up being a small, dingy apartment building. When I knocked on the door, an old man with the veins bulging out of his temples stuck his face through.”

Tokio: “He looked a bit clammy and sick. ‘I came to ask you about Mikumo,’ I told him. For some reason, he seemed to smirk at my statement. He invited me into his apartment with a smile.”

Oldguy: “Pardon me, I’m not in the best of health…”

Tokio: “Go ahead and lie down, don’t mind me.”

Oldguy: “So… what do you need?”

Tokio: “There were three kids in Mikumo, right?”

Oldguy: “Oh, the kids… yeah, they were there.”

Tokio: “I want to know what happened to those kids.”

Oldguy: “Hm. You got any smokes?”

Tokio: “Huh? Oh, yeah… here you go.”

Tokio: “Please, tell me what you know.”

Oldguy: “Hey!”

Tokio: “What is it?”

Oldguy: “That’s good… these are some good smokes.”

Tokio: “That’s… wonderful.”

Oldguy: “But yeah, that was some terrible stuff.”

Tokio: “You mean what happened 20 years ago?”

Oldguy: “Those kids had grown up together… they were really close, always getting into mischief together…”

Tokio: “And?”

Oldguy: “While I was sleeping, they shaved my beard off. Like, really cleanly and nicely. No, wait… that was my grandkids.”

newmascotresized: I’m picturing Red going “But you uh, don’t have a beard” and the old guy going “Exactly.”

Tokio: “Come on, buddy.”

Oldguy: “Oh yeah. Those three kids had a leader, born into a poor factory worker’s family… what was the name again? Really clever kid.”

newmascotresized: Here I imagine Red going “Wait, so was the factory poor and the family worked at the poor factory, or was the family poor, or what?”

Tokio: “Is that… the princess?”

Oldguy: “The right-hand man… oh yeah, it was a boy named Fuyuki. He didn’t talk much, but he was a smart kid.”

newmascotresized: Erika will clear this up a bit later, but Fuyuki was the guy who jumped into the incinerator.

Tokio: “So that’s the first guy…”

Oldguy: “There was another selfish little boy named Kiseki, too.”

Tokio: “So that’s the second guy. And? What happened?”

Oldguy: “What happened? Some really bad stuff. They ganged up on the kids, did some horrible stuff to them.”

Tokio: “What did they do?”

newmascotresized: To me, this feels kind of like the scenes in Metal Gear Solid 4 after you kill a member of the Beauty and Beast Unit, which are dumb shit like “She had her family murdered in front of her every day for five years”. That’s not an exact quote, but it might as well be.

newmascotresized: Oh, by the way, speaking of shit getting butchered, I found out today that Level-5 apparently sold the Ni no Kuni IP to a Korean crypto firm that just recently shit out a Ni no Kuni crypto-gacha game.

Tokio: “Seriously…? So that’s… the…”

Oldguy: “That’s what happened to them.”

Tokio: “So who is ‘see no evil’, who is ‘speak no evil’, and who is ‘hear no evil’ ?”

Oldguy: “Hm… as far as who was which, that’s all lost in the fog of my memory…”

Tokio: “So then The Bat is…”

Twenty years ago, there were three friends, a girl and two boys. For some reason, the girl was horribly assaulted by the violent mob of people from Mikumo and was raped.

The two boys tried to save her, but they were captured by the violent mob. The three had their eyes, ears, and mouths shut. This is what that riddle from The Bat was talking about.

They were drenched in oil, or just attacked with it, stabbed, and were sewn up with a needle and thread. Who was eaten by their parents? That means their parents turned a blind eye to what was happening to them.

The Bat can write mails, so he either can’t speak or can’t hear. The one who had their eyes gouged out and sewn up was either the girl or the one who isn’t The Bat. The one who had oil poured into their mouth and had it sewn up was also either the girl or the other one who isn’t The Bat.

And now the two boys are attempting to get revenge for what happened 20 years ago. They’re after Yukimura, the one responsible for causing the pollution and everything else.

Tokio: “When I get home, I gotta restore my desktop PC. No, before that… I gotta clean out the turtle’s tank.”

Tokio: “Well, the hard disk is clean — I guess this’ll do just fine…”

newmascotresized: I get why Suda did it, but it’s weird that none of Tokio’s previous emails are in his inbox, unless he was running his own mail server I guess.

From: S. INOHANA
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Final Warning
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 13:28:41

I’m warning you. If you don’t reply, your contract will be terminated. You’re almost out of time.

From: Tokio Morishima
To: S. INOHANA
Subject: Re: Final Warning

My computer got fucked up by a virus and I couldn’t send any mails. Sorry about that.

About The Bat:
He must be a Kamui believer. I heard his name among some rumors on the internet. He hasn’t mailed me back again yet. Apart from that, I have absolutely no info. So, conversely, if you’ve got any info, I’d like you to share it with me. I’m still investigating, and I’ll keep going.

Just a quick note. That is all.

Tokio: “Way to kick the fucking hornet’s nest…”

I can’t tell the client about the time The Bat crashed into my chat. It would break my non-disclosure agreement, as I was chatting with Erika. I can’t explain that.

Why was the girl at Mikumo raped and beaten? There must be a reason she was sacrificed. If I know who she was, I could probably figure that out, too.

newmascotresized: Why would he need to do that? Inohana already knows that Tokio’s been in contact with The Bat via email.

Tokio: “I guess it has.”

Bartender: “By the way… whatever happened with those riddles you were talking about?”

Tokio: “Oh yeah, those. I finally worked them all out. Then I went on a little trip.”

Bartender: “I knew it! So you won a trip after all!”

newmascotresized: I mean, Big Dick won the trip and only invited Tokio because he wanted to invite Red.

Tokio: “Thanks to you.”

Bartender: “In that case, how about a drink…?”

Tokio: “I guess I have no choice. Fix yourself one of whatever you like.”

The perpetrators of the bombing of Yukimura Group Chairman Yukimura’s mansion on July 11th were found to have committed suicide. According to reports, there were two suspects, both of whom were unemployed with no known address. Currently, the location, time, and motive for the suicides have yet to be publicized, but the police are expected to make an announcement soon.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Follow-Up Report
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 13:39:00

With the press embargo this is still top secret, but it looks like Chairman Yukimura was kidnapped. The kidnappers were two people from Mikumo 77. “Fuyuki” and “Hiseki”. But Hiseki died immediately after the Yukimura mansion bombing. So it looks like the main perperator was Fuyuki.

Although there was an embargo on Fuyuki and Hiseki’s suicides, too, it was broken. Hiseki was blind. And Fuyuki, the one who jumped into the smokestack and killed himself, was a deaf mute. Now don’t freak out, but both men had their eyes and mouths sewn shut.

So most of what The Bat said matches up. I never thought this whole thing would get this bad… but why did those two return Chairman Yukimura unharmed and then kill themselves? Maybe Hiseki dying messed up their plan, and so Fuyuki decided to die, too? Something is definitely not right here. This whole case is still full of mysteries.

From: junk@kipple.ne.jp
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: parade
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 10:00:00

This email has been set to reach you on a specific date.

I’m not The Bat. My name is Hiseki. When I first received your mistaken mail, it was kind of fun. And so as thanks, no - actually, as a prank, I chose you to be a spectator for my little parade. You were apparently quite a good spectator. I’m happy about that. Do you like parade fireworks?

newmascotresized: I only just now realized I made a mistake when reading this email. The way I understood it was that The Bat was Sumio, and Hiseki was saying this because he’s not Sumio.

newmascotresized: But no, the idea is that whoever The Bat is had Hiseki’s email address and dropped it so Tokio would find it.

Tokio: “The Bat was Hiseki… no… I just thought he was ‘The Bat’, but it turned out that I happened to have been talking to Hiseki all along… but why was he able to write mails even though he was blind?”

Tokio: “It’s hot again today.”

Tokio: “By the way, do you have good eyesight?”

Tokio: “That’s actually ‘BA’, from ‘BATH’.”

Tokio: “It’s not a problem of ‘noticing’… What do you do when you watch TV and stuff?”

Tokio: “Turning the volume way up, that’s basically the same as ‘seeing’, right? Wait a second… ‘sound’…”

It turns out that blind internet users aren’t rare at all. There are all sorts of systems for the blind, like voice input, text-reading functions, all kinds of shit.

I feel like Hiseki is the kind of guy you just can’t hate. He was almost definitely the bomber, but apart from that, when I think about our back-and-forth via mail, he really had good sense for that sort of prank. I don’t know how good of a spectator I was, though.

I received my final mail from ‘The Bat’, or ‘Hiseki’, rather. I’ll forward it to you.

He likely died because of what they planned to do. I think the stuff these guys were doing was all part of the plan from the beginning.

The HC Unit is probably handling Yukimura’s kidnapping. Either way, since the guy is really well known, the embargo should be on for a while. It’ll be a while before I can get info from the HC Unit again. I wonder if Yukimura is really unharmed? Considering Hiseki and Fuyuki’s feelings, it’s pretty hard to think that Yukimura would come back totally unscathed…

I don’t care about the mystery anymore. Once the media gets hold of this, all the bullshit is gonna start flying again.

Whatever. Anyway, apparently while I was searching for The Bat, I ended up finding a different one instead. The bloodsucking type. A pretty fucked up dude. I wonder if they ever made it to the princess after all?

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Favor
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 8:24:13

It looks like something happened to the old survivor from Mikumo. I got a call from the old lady living next door to him this morning. She didn’t know who to call so she saw my business card and called me. At this point it looks like he’ll be OK, but he could take a turn for the worse at any time.

I want to go talk to him ASAP, but all sorts of stuff about the Yukimura news has been popping up and I can’t get away. Could you go and check on him for me? Please? Get hold of me later tonight and I should be able to drive out there.

Tokio: “I guess it’s best to talk to the old man before he dies off… that may end up not even being a joke.”

Tokio: “There’s some really fishy shit going down… I guess I should hurry…”

Oldguy: “Huh? Oh.”

Tokio: “Do you have any relatives close by?”

Oldguy: “I’ve been living here on my own for years now… but the old lady next door takes good care of me… so I do OK…”

Tokio: “Really…?”

Oldguy: “By the way, you’re… uh… oh, it’s you.”

Tokio: “Do you really remember me?”

Oldguy: “Yeah… Fuyuki. Good to see you, boy.”

Tokio: “It’s Morishima. I’m Fuyuki’s… friend.”

Oldguy: “I see…”

newmascotresized: Either this guy was having a really good day the first day Tokio met him (which, I remind you, was only two days ago) or he went very senile very quickly.

newmascotresized: I should mention that depending on how you take Flower, Sun and Rain, some or all of what the old guy says could be non-canon. We’ll talk a little about that at the end of the update.

Tokio: “Yeah. I know the name of one more, too. ‘Kiseki’ - no wait, ‘Hiseki’.”

Oldguy: “Oh yeah…”

Tokio: “And the girl.”

Oldguy: “Riru.”

Tokio: “Riru… that’s her name?”

Oldguy: “Yeah. A relative of the Yukimura family.”

Tokio: “The Yukimura family? I see. So this Riru girl was sacrificed by the crazy mob because of her ties to the Yukimura family…”

Oldguy: "You didn’t know that?’

Tokio: “No… sorry, it’s the first time I’ve heard of it. The fourth poem… ‘eaten by their parents’… so that’s what that meant.”

Oldguy: “And one more…”

Tokio: “Huh?”

Oldguy: “The deaf one… I remembered.”

Tokio: “Huh? What are you talking about? The deaf one, that was Riru… wasn’t it?”

newmascotresized: No, it was their leader, Suxxio Xodai. Suxxio is Sumio’s nobody… or is that heartless? I honestly don’t know and I’m too lazy to look it up for the sake of a dumb joke.

newmascotresized: I like to think that Kusabi has a nobody that is scared of guns and has never shot anyone.

Oldguy: “Hiseki, have you forgotten…?”

Tokio: “What…?”

Oldguy: “Your… your boss, right?”

Tokio: “Who is?”

Oldguy: “…”

Tokio: “Come on, buddy. Old man… it’s still too early to die just yet.”

Oldguy: “I can’t believe you’ve forgotten… I guess you must… you must’ve gone soft in the head… too…”

Tokio: “The fuck are you talking about? My ‘boss’… was there one more person?”

Oldguy: “Oh… oh yeah.”

Tokio: “What the fuck? This guy, man…”

newmascotresized: Welp, old guy’s dead.

Tokio: “This fairytale is gonna be over soon.”

newmascotresized: No important emails today.

Tokio: “It should be hotter. Shit, I totally forgot about whittling that wood. I should probably play with you, too. What should we do…?”

newmascotresized: Tokio’s phone rings again.

Tokio: “Sorry, Red. I’ll give you some shrimp later.”

Erika: “It’s me.”

Tokio: “Erika? Did something happen?”

Erika: “It looks like the embargo will be lifted anytime now.”

Tokio: “The embargo, huh…”

newmascotresized: I’m not sure if this line was in the original game or not, but if it was, it’d have a strange relevance both to the 1990s and today.

newmascotresized: Assuming this line was in the original game, Tokio is probably talking about the Arab League boycotts of Israel, which more or less ended in the mid-90s.

newmascotresized: Most of the English sources on those boycotts are from Israel and have their own agenda, but I did find one from Haaretz that’s relatively unbiased if you want to read a little about it.

newmascotresized: If it wasn’t in the original game, this is probably a reference to the “BDS” (short for “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions”) movement, which is essentially an attempt at reviving the Arab League boycotts.

newmascotresized: The BDS movement has been heavily legislated against in the United States, and was effectively dead before it ever got anywhere. Most of that happened around the time this re-release was being made.

Erika: “Are you trying to be funny? Why do you always have to screw around like that?”

newmascotresized: First the Israel thing, now this. This feels like the kind of thing you’d see in No More Heroes.

Erika: “Whatever…”

Tokio: “Listen. The weather hasn’t been this nice in a long time, right? The weather’s been pretty ugly recently, you know? Why don’t we go fishing?”

Erika: “Are you… asking me out?”

Tokio: “It was worth a try, I guess.”

Erika: “I’m hanging up now.”

Tokio: “OK… bye.”

At approximately 11:00pm on July 31st, Snow Tower, which houses the Yukimura Group’s HQ, was blown up. The entire building was destroyed and eleven people were killed. Miraculously, there were fewer casualties than would normally be expected. The bombing is assumed to be related to the earlier Yukimura mansion bombing.

At this point, nobody has come forward to take credit for the bombing. Additionally, the victims killed in the explosion were Yukimura Group Chairman Yukimura and ten members of the board. Since it was a holiday, regular employees and security staff were away and therefore not injured.

Tokio: “I guess I’ll get going then.”

Sumio: “If you’re looking for Tetsu… he’s not here…”

Tokio: “Actually… today I’m here to see you.”

Sumio: “Me?”

Tokio: “I want you to tell me a fairytale.”

Sumio: “Go ask your mommy.”

Tokio: “My mommy isn’t here, and that blind kid is dead, so…”

Sumio: “It’s a long story… but if you don’t mind…”

Tokio: “A long story? Sounds nice.”

Sumio: “Don’t blame me if you fall asleep partway through.”

Tokio: “Hot again today…”

Today at noon, just 34 hours after the Snow Tower bombing, the Mikumo 77 area, once developed as an industrial area by the Yukimura Group, was suddenly bombed, causing an explosion covering a 4km radius.

Considering the previous bombings, it is thought that someone attempting to destroy the Yukimura Group is likely responsible. However the perpetrator is as of yet unknown, and no one has yet claimed responsibility. Additionally, there are currently no residents in Mikumo 77, and it is assumed that no one was killed or injured.

Tokio: “How about it? We should go fishing together… or maybe just sunbathing, I guess. OK… I guess I’ll just write it all up at once.”

newmascotresized: Tokio’s blog post is a gigantic wall of text, so I’ll split it up a bit by talking about Flower, Sun and Rain.

Sumio answered almost all of the questions I had. All off the record, of course. I just showed him the four mails I received from Hiseki. Sumio checked them all.

I’ll call Sumio, Fuyuki, and Hiseki the “Mikumo Boys”. The Mikumo Boys were childhood friends. Sumio had been their leader for the entire 20 years.

Twenty years ago, there was a beautiful girl named Riru Yukimura, who was like the three boys’ idol. Riru was raised in a branch family of the Yukimura Group, and is a distant relative. Riru’s family was given some of the Mikumo 77 land. Some time later, the pollution problem at Mikumo 77 came to light.

Mikumo was surrounded by a photochemical smog, and the river was full of water polluted by that narcotic. Soon, anti-industrial protests would begin as wel, with demonstrations filling the streets every Sunday. Residents sarcastically referred to this as the “parade”.

The parade would get more and more lively each weekend, and then one day, the residents formed a violent mob and attacked the Yukimura house. The residents, all fucked up from the narcotic in the water, were terrified of the extremely beautiful and early-maturing Riru, and believed she was a witch.

newmascotresized: Flower Sun and Rain was originally released on the PS2, and then got a re-release… on the DS. The re-release was… kinda terrible… and came out before The Silver Case had been localized.

newmascotresized: There’s an LP of it on the archive, but the person who did it had never played The Silver Case. There’s talk about them re-releasing the PS2 version, so I won’t spoil it… much.

Riru became a symbol of the Yukimura family who had caused them so much pain and suffering. That day, Riru’s parents, terrified of the encroaching mob, left their daughter at home on her own and ran away. The Mikumo Boys barely managed to save Riru from the mob, and brought her to the mountains to escape.

But while Sumio was looking away, Riru was taken away by the mob. Riru was sacrificed, and died. Because they tried to help her escape, an example was made of the three boys.

For “hearing Riru’s words and being enchanted”, Sumio had his ears stabbed out; for “seeing Riru’s cute disguise and being fooled”, Hiseki had his eyes sewn shut; and for “swearing allegiance to the demon Riru”, Fuyuki had his mouth sewn shut.

And — then… the Mikumo Boys spent the next 20 years silently plotting their revenge on everyone. Sumio joined the HC Unit. He became really good at lipreading, and learned to control his intonation when speaking. He faked all of his physical tests at the Central Police Academy, and bribed an examiner to pass him for the hearing tests.

He used special radios and cellphones created by Hiseki to avoid being found out. Hiseki developed software that would convert incoming transmissions into Braille. This software was installed into all communications devices used by Sumio.

The Mikumo Boys’ goal was simple: the complete and utter destruction of the Yukimura Concern. They put their plans into motion. For the Yukimura mansion bombing, while Sumio gathered security for his stakeout, Fuyuki kidnapped Chairman Yukimura and confirmed that there was nobody left at the house, and then Hiseki blew it up.

After that, Hiseki committed suicide as planned, to ensure that they couldn’t be traced. He had already set up the bomb at Snow Tower before killing himself. At the same time, Fuyuki had Chairman Yukimura on lockdown. Fuyuki sent two videos to investigation HQ to show them that Yukimura was still alive.

newmascotresized: So anyway, Flower Sun and Rain makes a number of changes to The Silver Case’s story that are contradictory to both Parade and Tsuki - to the point where it’s questionable if Mikumo 77 even happened.

newmascotresized: I’m inclined to believe that FSR isn’t really canon, especially given that the real sequel to The Silver Case (that being The 25th Ward) only kind of glosses over it existing at all.

Sumio met with the locked up chairman several times, and made a promise with him, to get him to destroy the Yukimura Group himself. Forced to make a painful choice, Yukimura finally agreed. Fuyuki demands the ransom. Once it’s received, he throws himself into the smokestack. Another suicide, just as planned.

Then Chairman Yukimura blows up Snow Tower by his own hand. The Yukimura Group has now been scattered to the wind. But the story doesn’t end here. The Mikumo Boys’ final target was Mikumo 77. They still had the purification of the cursed land on which Mikumo 77 stood and the release of Riru’s restless soul to take care of.

Sumio didn’t mention it, but there was no way the Mikumo Boys would let that dilapidated town remain. Anyone who’s seen the grotesque remains of Mikumo 77 would agree.

Does Sumio plan to die? Or does he plan to atone for his sins by continuing to live on? Where did Fuyuki and Hiseki’s hopes lie? Of course, I have no idea.

newmascotresized: Speaking of Sumio’s plans, there is one thing from Flower Sun and Rain that is definitely canon: Kusabi is either gay or bisexual, and he’s got a thing for Sumio. FSR outright confirms it.

newmascotresized: There are signs of it in The Silver Case that are more obvious if you’re playing in Japanese, apparently, but Kusabi was supposedly intended to be not straight even in the original 1999 release.

Princess Aurora slept the sleep of death at the top of the tower. Princess Aurora was reborn as beautiful as ever. But over the past 20 years, Riru would’ve been mummified, and her remains would be turning to dust by now. This parade must have begun from the feeling that the princess couldn’t be returned to such a filthy place.

newmascotresized: On a side note, Princess Aurora is apparently the “canon” name for Sleeping Beauty. I’m not sure if that’s something Disney came up with or not, and as I am not that one lady I used to work with, I do not care.

Tokio: “Two boys? That’s where I first fucked up.”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Erika Yukawa
Subject: Final Riddle

I worked out the final riddle we had overlooked. By the way, August 2nd, 1979 was the day Riru died.

As for “7:75:64”, when I showed it to Sumio, he laughed and answered. Apparently it was the secret code he told Yukimura to use to blow up Snow Tower.

Only the memories of the princess and the three boys. The clouds are dirtied black, and the village died out. Then, a nightmare-eating chimera disappears along with the wind. The wording was purposely confusing. This is just a simple joke, basically. This was the bomb warning that Hiseki gave to me.

“A princess and three boys, only their memories.” Mikumo was dirtied black and once the Yukimura Gruop had been wiped out, the nightmare-eating explosion disappeared with it.

newmascotresized: And… that’s Tsuki. Next time, we’ll start Kamuidrome - the penultimate chapter of the Transmitter arc… assuming I don’t LP The 25th Ward, which also has a Transmitter and a Placebo arc.

Summary

newmascotresized: Welcome to Kamuidrome. Kamuidrome is probably my least favorite of all the chapters in The Silver Case, mostly because it really dates the game - there’s a lot of the 1995 film Hackers in it.

newmascotresized: It also kinda feels like Stephen King’s later works where he did a lot of “old man yells at technology” stuff, but it does have some points that are more salient today than they were in 1999.

newmascotresized: Most of Kamuidrome takes place in what’s basically IRC. The fact that the first person’s username is Helter Skelter is probably a coincidence, but that’s also the name of the tutorial boss in No More Heroes.

newmascotresized: Anyway, I’m going to transcribe these the same way I do the emails in the Placebo chapters… for the most part.

newmascotresized: I don’t think I’ve seen a single SPLOOGEMEISTER in all the years I’ve been online. Anyway, I’m going to cut the last part of MonsterDong420 off because it contains a slur.

(Hugo)
: so youre running away?
: i mean,
: why cant you just talk it out?
: i wanna believe that
: since this is the internet
: people can come together!
: theres an even deeper connection than in real life.
: ive experienced it myself
: people ive met at offline parties
: were all really cool
: its because of people like you that people dont trust the internet.
: believe in the network!
: unpublicized messages are here!
: the power to connect people is here!

(oldman)
: believe in the net
: god is in the cables
: data transcends time
: and multiplies
: using billions of clones
: gives you undeniable proof
: and then people transcend the light

newmascotresized: This goes on for a good fifteen seconds or so.

newmascotresized: Big Dick is back from his vacation, and now it’s time to HACK THE PLANET.

Don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean it like that. I just mean, he wasn’t frigid, like you. Anyway, next time I see Kusabi, I’ll cheer him up a bit.

Anyway, to the point. I’m following an awesome case concerning the internet. All these charming ladies, who could be called “national assets”, have been disappearing left and right. Apparently it’s somehow related to the world of the underground. Some sort of club. It’s called “Ronny Rocket’s”.

Division XX, this is where their headquarters are. On the surface, it’s just a wholesome club. “Wholesome”? Do those clubs even exist? Whatever… anyway, I thought it may help.

I’ll probably see you again soon. Until then, keep living honestly.

newmascotresized: These chatlogs are formatted differently from the other ones. The way this works is that the user saying the lines is demarcated with a backslash after their name, and respond to people with a > after their name.

oldman/
I don’t get it at all
A middleaged woman who can’t come back to reality
Is this what people struggling with the gap of modern times looks like?
A parent’s duty to their child’s hope
They lose their roots and the parent-child relationship goes to shit
That means the family itself breaks down
It’s a really interesting truth
Do you all feel reality?

Sodom/
There’s lots of that kind of thing
The non-talk show-ness of it
It might actually be the best way
For these times now…

Grimes/
Sodom>
i agree
that style is all over
without a sense of despair
im so jealous

oldman/
but i cant rest easy… it doesn’t feel like a consolation
and is making samples of parents a sad thing?
a good thing?
nope, not for the person in question
its actually a really calm countermeasure

Halycon/
i really feel sympathetic
oldman’s views really get me in the heart
its not the sort of problem you can brush off as a ‘modern-day sickness’
with the branching off of psychological routes and the filing of medical records
the truth will be found
counseling is a deception
inside each and every person’s mind is the seed of truth
and each person has their own sickness
each one needs its own medicine
deception kills people

oldman/
Halcyon>
thats an exaggeration…
everyone is searching for their own place.
im gonna take off.
i wont be coming here again.
lets meet again someday, somewhere, everyone.

Neutral/
oldman, that’s a shame.
This BBS is going to get really quiet.
I think we needed you here.

Sodom/
losing friends, no mater what the form, is always sad.
oldman, please come back here someday.

JeffersonAirport/
you were light.

Grimes/
its gonna be lonely.

newmascotresized: I gave up on trying to learn Japanese, so I have no idea what kanji that is.

newmascotresized: If only he knew how bad the sequels were.

newmascotresized: Yes, I too would like some NEW DRUGS in what’s probably a blatant Huey Lewis reference.

Furuya: “Trying too fucking hard to look cool.”

newmascotresized: There’s a really big, really long text dump here.

UEHARA, Kamui
Estimated Criminal Record:

<12:1975 Age 16>
Assassinated Makoto Ishihara, Mitama City Mayor.

Around the same time, Shin Yanagi, president of Sumikawa Corp., the recycling business assumed to have bribed Nakahara, was also assassinated. Sumikawa Corp. had, as a recycling business, grown really fast, but a soil survey of the surrounding site showed that they had been engaging in the illegal dumping of PCDD.

newmascotresized: PCDD is a longer name for a group of chemicals known as dioxins, which are a by-product of certain types of industrial activity. They don’t degrade naturally, and wind up in meat and fish.

newmascotresized: Dioxins are known to cause all kinds of health issues, and are heavily regulated in the United States.

<12:1976 Age 17>
Assassinated Yukio Hata, Vice-Minister of the Kanto Ministry of Justice.

According to the Weekly Narc, Hata reassigned Chairman Kimura of the Non-performing Loan Processing Organization. The investigation by Entertainment Realty, Inc., with close ties to Vice-Minister Hata’s family, became complicated.

<12:1977 Age 18>
Residence: Kanagawa District

Assassinated 5 male junior high school students.

Those five students had kidnapped and violated a 17-year-old female family restaurant employee, later dumper her into Kawasaki Bay. This case became very topical with the reporting of the victims’ real names, due to the relationship between the Juvenile Act and the HC Unit.

<12:1978 Age 19>
Assassinated Church of Psyentology Representative Toshiki Sato.

With 45,000 members, the Church of Psyentology between 1987 ~ March of 1988 forced its members to use contraception and refrain from giving birth as part of the cult’s doctrine. Also, the poisoning case that occurred at the same time was also assumed to be part of the cult’s “research” activities.

newmascotresized: You know, I’m not so sure you can fault Kamui for that last one, especially if they’re where Cognitive Psience came from. And now… the important part.

<12: 1979 Age 20>
Silver Case
“Dispute among the Kanto Big 3 NGO Parties”

Nonprofit Regional Citizen Group TRO/CCO Confederation Chairman Ginji Nakane was on his way to a symposium recording when he was assassinated outside the front door of TTV Station. Cause of death was stabbing by a sharp metallic tube-like object.

The assassination occurred on 12/7, the day of publication of corrections regarding the election of the new district mayor, a dispute between the FSO and the TRO/CCO.

The perpetrator, Kamui Uehara, was immediately arrested upon commission of the crime. It was decided that he had acted alone and that the hit had been contracted, but the contractor was never found.

newmascotresized: This is what’s on the timeline on the game’s website. It’s called “Silver Case” because the people Kamui killed at that time were all elderly.

newmascotresized: You know, Kusabi’s method of solving crimes by going “I bet Kamui did this” is looking more and more sane as the plot goes on.

![TheSilverCase 2022-06-08 22-39-48-14|690x380(upload://sQcKSqM0LQRWvFH9LRRAXOO4eOw.png)

Due to this, he gained the nickname ~Angel of Absolute Zero~.

newmascotresized: Wait, they all happened in December… is Kamui a SNATCHER?

newmascotresized: Uh-oh, I think this kid just found QAnon and also possibly shit himself.

newmascotresized: Big Dick has a new email.

From: junk@kipple.ne.jp
To: The Main Character
Subject: bookend

It’s been awhile. Looks like you’re still alive, that’s good.

I thought I’d warned you. I said to stay away from Morishima. You met with him, didn’t you? That’s no good. Although it may have been by chance, you shouldn’t be meeting with him. Do you know why? I know this is sort of weird, being right in the middle of the story, but you and Morishima are actually the same person. You share the same DNA, the same body.

Just kidding. This isn’t a cartoon. But anyway, Morishima is dangerous. I’m thinking of killing him. Just look at him. Something about him just pisses me off. I’ll let you know once I’ve properly shot him to death like a dog.

newmascotresized: I mean, that was kinda obvious given that Tokio isn’t a chinchilla.

newmascotresized: This entire upcoming segment feels like an exposition dump combined with some kinda dated views on the internet.

Nakategawa: “Up to here, the report is the same as the previous month.”

Morikawa: “We don’t need the introduction… so, what is it?”

Nakategawa: “The number of missing persons has increased exponentially this past month. There have been 15x more reports than last month.”

Chizuru: “Are they related to Internet crimes?”

Nakategawa: “Definitely.”

newmascotresized: Let’s talk about this a bit. The idea of “cybercrime” was a big headline maker in the late 90s, even if a lot of it was just sensationalism.

newmascotresized: As an example, Wired magazine covered a story about a “web assault” on the Pentagon in 1998… even though it was really just an unsophisticated DDoS attack on the Pentagon’s web site.

newmascotresized: There’s also this one from 1997, where a hacker group got into Yahoo’s front page and claimed they had uploaded a “logic bomb” that would destroy the internet unless Kevin Mitnick was freed from prison.

newmascotresized: Most of the actual “cybercrime” was theoretical - things like a German hacker group discovering how bad ActiveX was, or two researchers from Columbia University inventing the concept of ransomware.

newmascotresized: That’s not to say some of it wasn’t real, though. A few months after this game released, a hacker going by “Maxus” hacked a CD seller in Connecticut and stole a database of 300,000 credit card numbers.

Nakategawa: “Actually, that’s not so far off. The number of domestic ‘internet circles’ is said to currently be at about 100,000… and among those, about 10,000 of them are what’s known as “Bohemian”, or non-fixed websites.”

newmascotresized: I have absolutely no idea what he’s talking about, and I don’t think Suda did either.

Morikawa: “Bohemian? I’ve heard of that before.”

Chizuru: “Criminal and harmful websites that constantly move.”

Nakategawa: “Yeah… the kind of counter groups that exist in any category.”

Morikawa: “So a bunch of criminal assholes, huh…”

newmascotresized: Oh, okay. NOW I get what they’re talking about. I talked about this a bit in the Persona 5 Royal LP around the end of the Futaba arc.

newmascotresized: They’re talking about 2channel (also known as 2ch). If you don’t know what it is, it’s a massive Japanese-language text board that spawned out of old-style BBS sites (like the one we saw earlier).

newmascotresized: It was created by a guy named Hiroyuki Nishimura, who also currently owns 4chan. Wikipedia claims he created it while in college in Arkansas.

newmascotresized: The idea behind it was that by having a Japanese-language social media site hosted in the United States, the site could get around Japan’s defamation laws, which are much stricter than those in the US.

newmascotresized: While that alone isn’t really cause for alarm (Pixiv also does this), the site pretty quickly got a large following of racists and other extreme right-wing groups, which continues to be a problem today.

Nakategawa: “Laws and restrictions don’t apply in that world. In reality, there are things happening similar to actual witch hunts and sponsored murder threats. They’re all methods to bring in more people.”

Morikawa: “I just don’t get it… why would stuff like that be possible on these networks? You can’t see the other person’s face, you don’t know who they are… what’s the point in bringing in people like that?”

Nakategawa: “They actually can figure those things out, though… accessing one of these sites over telephone lines, and you’re connected to this net the moment you enter. With an invisible thread…”

Chizuru: “After that, you just rake all the users in…”

Nakategawa: “Exactly. Pulling people in from across the Internet is pretty common practice these days.”

Morikawa: “What a scary world.”

Morikawa: “Say no more. I’m not interested.”

Nakategawa: “Chances of crimes originating from these ‘Bohemian’ circles are extremely high. Most net-based crimes come from these ‘Bohemian’ circles.”

newmascotresized: The way he says ‘Bohemian’ in quotes makes me think of all those dumb shonen battle anime where they call everything a proper noun that’s also usually in German.

Chizuru: “So they’re hotbeds of Internet crime…”

Nakategawa: “A girl who was traipsing around those hotbeds completely disappeared.”

Chizuru: “Girl?”

Nakategawa: “Yeah, she was a high school student. I used some of my more trusted connections to trace her movements.”

newmascotresized: At least we know Nakategawa didn’t kidnap her, because she’s too old for his tastes.

Morikawa: “You mean the Department of Intelligence, right…?”

Nakategawa: “No, not just them. I searched all over and her life came into relief. This is the tale of an imaginary girl.”

newmascotresized: This sounds dangerously close to an Allanson Monologue, even though it’s a full decade too early for that.

Nakategawa: “She had a magical device in her room which would allow her to travel all over the world, and this device made her dreams come true.”

newmascotresized: Isn’t this just the plot of Serial Experiments Lain?

Nakategawa: “She had lots of friends. Some of her friends even wrote her letters in English. Even more than her classmates, her nation-less friends who sent here these letters were important to her.”

Nakategawa: “She could trust them. She was able to open up to them about problems she couldn’t speak to others about, and secrets she had kept locked away, deep down in her heart.”

Nakategawa: “The girl believed that this magical device would make anything possible for her. Then, one day… when she had thrown her body and mind completely into this device, she found the darkness.”

Nakategawa: “For this girl who had been gazing into the light of the magical device, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her friends who were like fairies, and their meeting place which was like a garden of flowers, neither of them were anywhere to be seen in this darkness.”

Nakategawa: “In this darkness lived nothing but greed and evil and hatred. The girl was afraid. But she was also strangely drawn to it… pat of her wanted to see this horror. So she gathered her courage and dove right into the mouth of this demon.”

Nakategawa: “The girl felt a whole new world there. It was thrilling for her.”

Nakategawa: “The thrill got bigger and bigger. The darkness lured the girl out of her house with a love potion. She ventured out in to the world outside.”

Nakategawa: “She bought trendy fashion magazines and the sort of sexy clothes she’d never worn before, got all dolled up, and went out. The neon lights felt warmer than usual.”

Nakategawa: “Yes… the girl had finally awakened.”

Nakategawa: “She became hopelessly lost and tried to pass the time. She must have been trying to find a place where she belonged.”

Nakategawa: “Even though she recognized the darkness, she was pulled in by its sweet trap. She may have even been waiting for this trap.”

newmascotresized: This whole thing sounds like Nakategawa read one of those garbage detective novels the library always has and then tried to write his own.

Nakategawa: “On the last day, the girl spent the entire day sitting in front of her computer. She gazed at the animation flowing across her desktop, laughing heartily.”

Nakategawa: “She was in a trance. She waited for hours. In her pitch black room, the red modem lights shine suspiciously. Her eyes glittered.”

newmascotresized: This case would’ve been a lot better if Kusabi showed up halfway through this and tells Nakategawa to shut the fuck up.

Nakategawa: “And that is the truth of this case.”

Morikawa: “What do you mean ‘truth’? What happened to the girl?”

Nakategawa: “After that, she disappeared.”

Morikawa: “A mysterious Internet kidnapping… I can see the headlines now.”

Chizuru: “So what you’re trying to say is, ‘Find the girl!’, right?”

Nakategawa: “That’s right…”

Morikawa: “Do you have any leads?”

Nakategawa: “None…”

Morikawa: “Nothing? What the hell? Naka, quit fucking around and tell me. Who was involved with this case?”

Nakategawa: “I was personally asked to take it on.”

newmascotresized: The police couldn’t find anyone else more qualified to track down a teenage girl.

Morikawa: “Who’s gonna get involved in a dangerous case like that? Count me out.”

Chizuru: “Sorry, but that’s not really my thing, either. Those cyber-whatever cases are a bit…”

Nakategawa: “This is a problem… you’re all detectives, yet choosing the jobs you take on is…”

Morikawa: “Right?”

Chizuru: “OK, I’m taking off.”

Nakategawa: “Alright then, Timrod. I’m giving this one to you. It’s my background job, so please don’t make any mistakes. Worst case scenario, you’ll get killed. This isn’t just a threat.”

Nakategawa: “Alright then, good luck.”

newmascotresized: Naturally, as soon as I knew this chapter involved Big Dick going to a club full of hackers, I asked Salty Vanilla for an artist’s rendition of what that might look like.

newmascotresized: Big Dick is ready to either hack the planet or become a Shin Megami Tensei protagonist, or both.

newmascotresized: Speaking of Shin Megami Tensei, I found out that Soul Hackers 2 has Mara locked behind a day-1 DLC paywall, and there has never been a better way to get me to not buy a game. No Mara, no buy.

newmascotresized: The “going underground” subtitle is probably a reference to a Japanese alt-rock band by the same name.

newmascotresized: Moving around in here gets us some optional dialogue.

newmascotresized: It’s not immediately obvious what you have to do, but you have to face the direction you were facing when you first entered and use the flyer from Nakategawa.

Clubguy: “You can’t just do whatever you like around here, you know. You get that, don’t you? You some kinda detective? What do you want?”

Clubguy: “Don’t be falsely accusing me of anything now. The stuff I sell is clean.”

Clubguy: “You trying to say I’ve been spreading these around? Huh? Don’t be spreading weird rumors and shit. I’m all on the up-and-up. I run a tight ship here, so don’t be bringing weird shit like this in to my staff…”

Clubguy: “I don’t know what this flier is, but it’s one of those things, yeah? Something having to do with ‘net crime’ or some bullshit, right…? What a waste of time. You can’t put restrictions on fliers.”

Clubguy: “People need to be allowed to just pass them out wherever, right? I’m running a business here. If I started giving out information… you get me, huh?”

Clubguy: “Hold on… one of the younger ones was saying something about fliers. This… it’s got an address on it. That’s all I got.”

newmascotresized: Oh man, it’s such a dark web site that you can’t even see the address. I like to think it’s actually a link to Goatse.

Clubguy: “People will start getting freaked out if we’ve got military-looking types hanging around. You really stand out, you know.”

newmascotresized: Next time: more overly 90s hacker shit, giant pointless chatlogs, and old men yelling at technology.

Summary

newmascotresized: The worst part is, I can’t tell if this is supposed to be a pun on Nakategawa being a pedophile or not.

newmascotresized: Anyway, this update is going to contain some uh… ‘risque’ footage, people being very horny and creeping on idols, and a suicide. Nothing much happens in this update anyway, so feel free to skip to the end.

Nakategawa: “So, what’re you doing here? If you don’t have anything to do here, you should hurry up and go home. We’re pretty strict on tardiness here.”

Nakategawa: “Ah! I forgot… yeah, that’s right. I’d assigned you something. What was it again? Ah, the sketchy websites… so how was it? Ah, I see. So you went and collected this flier… I see. Good work.”

Nakategawa: “OK then, shall we get to it?”

Nakategawa: “Using a firewall to strengthen it up, that’s clever. Hm. Bingo…! Hm… so this is the famous ‘dark site’.”

newmascotresized: I like to think that during this, Big Dick is skating around the office and dialling numbers on the phones for no particular reason other than to enhance the late-90s hacker atmosphere.

newmascotresized: Big Dick wakes up the next day and there’s a giant cardboard box labelled “HACKER STUFF” in front of his door.

Nakategawa: “It’s OK. We’ve put reverb on it so I know the address. I wonder how this’ll turn out… keep up the good work. Please continue the investigation. I’m busy with plenty of things myself… goodnight.”

Sumio: “If crime had a shape, then the Mikumo case would be lead. Hard, unyielding, and heavy… you can feel the weight of it. Like… it’s heavy.”

newmascotresized: If I was on the writing team for this game, I would absolutely have had Kusabi go “Sumio, you dumbass, lead isn’t a shape.”

Kusabi: “Look, Sumio. Crime itself has no boundaries. Crime is crime. I’m sure this goes without saying. But, well, I get what you’re saying. That Mikumo stuff was the last of its kind.”

Sumio: “People got smarter. They decided they don’t want to touch on other people’s consciousnesses.”

Sumio: “Living every day, being exposed to the emotions of the masses, having to interact with people even when you don’t want to. That cycle can easily wear a person down.”

Sumio: “I wonder if from here on out this will change into some sort of lighter, easier form.”

Kusabi: “Who knows… but a person’s emotions don’t just disappear. For example, take ‘evil’. It has to be transformed into actions. It’s the same as math. It depends on what equation you use.”

newmascotresized: You heard it here first, math is confirmed evil.

Kusabi: “People choose the simplest equation, right? When something convenient is discovered, people adapt to that and grow. Well, some people call that ‘degeneration’, but…”

Kusabi: “But about what you’re saying… Sumio, you’re just rationalizing what you’ve done. Rationalizing crime – just changing the process and method doesn’t make it a totally different act.”

Kusabi: “However you try to twist it, you’re a killer. An unforgivable sinner.”

Sumio: “That’s pretty harsh…”

Kusabi: “That’s because I’m a detective. It’s a given for people to try to take the easiest route. As long as a person is alive, that’ll keep going.”

newmascotresized: I hope you’re ready for more uh, exciting IRC action.

newmascotresized: This segment changes up the chat to be a little more readable, probably reflecting that different sites would obviously have different designs.

newmascotresized: Anyway, I’m going to post a brief summary because this is a very long, very pointless conversation: Furuya (as “oldman”) pisses off the Kamui cult, who threaten to kill him.

(stoney)
: here we go again

(Jack)
: Graham, get rid of him.

(Graham)
: oldman?
: what the hell?
: if you just wanna cause trouble
: then go do it somewhere else
: seriously, I’ll kill you.

(Henry)
: OM,
: look, the people here
: can easily confirm all your
: bullshit about yakuza and or whatever
: they’ll find you

newmascotresized: This feels like reading through Homestuck all over again. I got maybe fifty pages into that before I gave up on it.

(oldman)
: you threatening me?
: i’ll report you to the sitemaster

(Jack)
: here we go, trying to turn it
: around on us
: go ahead and report us

(stoney)
: we’re used to it

(sanderson)
: this is a bohemian site
: and by the way OM
: im the sitemaster
: your claim is frivolous
: im rejecting it

(Henry)
: get the fuck out of here
: ill find you and kill your ass

(oldman)
: can you really do it?
: for reals!
: bring it the fuck on if you
: think you can!

newmascotresized: Ah, the age of the internet tough guy.

(Henry)
: well…
: Jack, go for it

(Jack)
: got it.
: sanderson,
: please send me the log
: i just need 15 minutes

(sanderson)
: ok
: oldman, you seem pretty brave
: so go ahead and enjoy yourself
: here for a while
: thatll allow us to
: kill your ass for sure

(Graham)
: lets decide on a motif
: how about alabama, 1974?

newmascotresized: I looked it up, and I have zero idea what Graham is talking about.

(oldman)
: fuck off!
: you think you can get through my defense?
: its impossible, dont even bother

(Neutral)
: OM, you should run.
: you cant win this.
: these guys are net junkies.

(Henry)
: huh??
: you betraying us, neutral?

(Graham)
: hes just doing as his name says
: thats fair
: OM isnt gonna run away like that anyway
: right?
: OM

(sanderson)
: lets see what we can do
: jack, im almost ready on my end
: send it over and ill attack immediately

(Jack)
: youre sure in a hurry…
: just a bit more

(oldman)
: you think you can kill me with sarcasm?

(Neutral)
: these people here can

(oldman)
: how?

newmascotresized: They could’ve cut off the chatlog here and it would’ve been enough… but no. I’m not sure if this was less lame in 1999 or not.

(stoney)
: sanderson, is it ok to just
: leave him alone?

(sanderson)
: stop it there
: neutral is a nice guy
: but this is to protect our place here
: we have to fight our enemies
: or this commune is finished
: i love this place
: i like it here,
: so i have no problem killing with him

(Neutral)
: OK.
: im going now
: OM, keep it up and youre going
: to die, you know
: see you, everyone

(Graham)
: bye

(Jack)
: later

(stoney)
: see you

(sanderson)
: thank you

(Henry)
: stay stafe

(Jack)
: almost there…
: sanderson, you ready?

(sanderson)
: yup, im ready

(oldman)
: are you fuckers serious?

(Henry)
: hes hella scared

(stoney)
: into his crotch

(Henry)
: i bet hes already shit himself

(Graham)
: wtf?

(Henry)
: what?
: you know he is

(Jack)
: ok lets knock this off
: its distracting
: i got this chat window open
: while im working

(sanderson)
: hows it coming…?

(Jack)
: ok, all ready to go
: sending now

(oldman)
: psychos

(Jack)
: psychos?
: maybe…
: but youre having fun, right OM?
: all this thrill just from simple text

newmascotresized: I mentioned it extensively in the P5R LP, but my brain just kinda shuts off in situations like these where I’m being bombarded with exposition that I really don’t care about, and this is definitely one of those.

(sanderson)
: once it comes true
: that gap is gonna be even more thrilling
: hey here it is, I just got it
: ok, you ready
: OM?

(Jack)
: lets kill him

(Henry)
: where at? i got the car ready

(Graham)
: ok everyone, this is alabama
: so dont forget preparations

newmascotresized: I assume by ‘preparations’ he means having a bike in the back of your car in case there’s a football game nearby, because at that point the entire state is going to come to a halt.

(stoney)
: ok, ill set up
: the offline party

(sanderson)
: you ready too, OM?
: everyones so excited, we havent
: hunted in a while
: your address is…

newmascotresized: I stopped attempting to learn Japanese months ago, and the katakana here is too screwy for me to read much of. I can tell the last three characters are “Sa-ya-ka”, which is what this segment is about.

newmascotresized: This segment is probably the horniest I’ve ever seen Suda get, and that’s including No More Heroes.

newmascotresized: I would like to mention that it is implied Big Dick is searching for horny anime content. This is not the case. Big Dick is a chinchilla and has no interest in human women, unlike a certain cat-shaped shadow.

newmascotresized: No, you’re doing it all wrong! You don’t want to wear a swimsuit when eating watermelon, it drips all over the place. Now you’re gonna have to shower again.

Morikawa: “What?”

Chizuru: “Was the debriefing today…?”

Nakategawa: “Huh? You haven’t heard? The show’s being broadcast live.”

Chizuru: “Show? What show?”

Nakategawa: “Sayaka Baian, the idol.”

Morikawa: “Baian? What, that’s not so rare, is it?”

Chizuru: “An idol concert means it’ll be broadcast on the Internet, right?”

Nakategawa: “Are you two really detectives? Secretly filmed footage of Baian.”

Morikawa: “Really? You sure it’s not just a fake?”

Nakategawa: “Totally naked. They sold the password on underground PPV…”

Morikawa: “How much?”

Nakategawa: “150,000.”

Chizuru: “Did you buy it?”

Chizuru: “With your own money?”

Nakategawa: “No.”

Chizuru: “From the budget?”

Nakategawa: “I’m going to say, yeah.”

newmascotresized: So wait, is he or is he not a pedophile?

Chizuru: “You think it’ll work?”

Nakategawa: “Yeah.”

Morikawa: “What about the boss?”

Chizuru: “Two for 300,000?”

Nakategawa: “Yes.”

Morikawa: “From the budget?”

Nakategawa: “Of course - it’s part of an investigation.”

newmascotresized: I like to think that at this point, Big Dick shrugs, takes the department credit card, and then uses it to go on a lavish spending spree at an underground chinchilla club.

newmascotresized: They have grass that isn’t even legal in Japan, and expensive sunflower seeds imported from Europe.

Chizuru: “Jesus Christ…”

Nakategawa: “OK, it’s starting.”

newmascotresized: I like that this is supposed to be a hidden camera thing, yet there’s cameras at multiple angles, including one close enough for her to be looking directly into.

newmascotresized: Even though the plot says it is, I like to think that Nakategawa paid like $2200 for some generic clip from a porn site, and it’s not even Sayaka Baian in the footage.

TheSilverCase 2022-06-21 20-13-45-41

newmascotresized: Nakategawa and Kotobuki have a combined mental age of about 12.

newmascotresized: I’d like to talk a little about this, because it actually relates to something I talked about in Tsuki. Remember how I said that Japan’s press freedom ranking slipped in the 2010s and never really stopped?

newmascotresized: Recently, the Japanese government passed a law that makes “online insults” punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $2200.

newmascotresized: That law was passed as the result of the high-profile suicide of Hana Kimura, who I think I talked about briefly in the P5R LP. Hana Kimura was a pro wrestler who went on reality TV and developed an online hatebase, because that’s how idol culture works.

newmascotresized: Anyway, there’s serious concerns that the “anti-bullying” law could be used against journalists or people criticizing Japan’s government or politicians.

Nakategawa: “She was killed instantly. Yesterday, Baian had live footage of her private life exposed on the Internet, and upon learning this from her manager, she apparently went into shock and threw herself from the roof of the building.”

Morikawa: “This isn’t a news report. Just say it normally.”

Nakategawa: “I am. Back to the topic at hand… just after the report of Baian’s suicide, the Telecommunication Crimes Unit found the host.”

Nakategawa: “Eleven people, made up of part-timers and unemployed people, all thought to be members of a hardcore Baian fan club, were arrested.”

newmascotresized: I’m willing to bet it was Konami.

Nakategawa: “So basically, they required high-spec machines and plenty of disk space. They partitioned and customized some of the computers used.”

Nakategawa: “The eleven suspects used their own home computers as hosts and passed the huge access numbers onto the other PCs.”

Morikawa: “So they were hackers?”

Chizuru: “Not exactly. Corporate networks with half-assed network administration are relatively easy to get into. You could get access with even just basic knowledge.”

Nakategawa: “Exactly. A lot of the fan club members worked part-time at the company. So they got information from other employees which made getting into the network easy.”

Morikawa: “Is that even possible?”

Chizuru: “It’s definitely not impossible at all.”

Nakategawa: “As I just said, it’s relatively easy.”

Morikawa: “That’s scary. Are we safe here?”

Nakategawa: “I’ll take care of it, so yes.”

Morikawa: “I see. So they went this far for Sayaka Baian…”

Nakategawa: “The eleven people arrested think they’re heroes, and are apparently looking to get picked up by the media.”

Nakategawa: “Hey, Hachisuka. Did you break up with your boyfriend or something? That short bob looks good on you…”

Chizuru: “Funny to hear you say that!”

Morikawa: “I bet you recorded it, didn’t you?”

Nakategawa: “Of course. I had to at least break even.”

newmascotresized: Some police force they have there.

Chizuru: “Gross…”

Morikawa: “As a woman, you sympathize with her, right?”

Chizuru: “Not especially… I’m not interested.”

Morikawa: “How cold… some messed up fans take this celebrity’s life, and the footage of her gets out into the world, and countless numbers of people peek into her private life. You don’t feel sorry for her?”

Chizuru: “Should I? That was her job, wasn’t it? As long as her customers have needs, isn’t it her job to fulfill them?”

Nakategawa: “Damn…”

Chizuru: “Anyway, I’m really not interested. Some idol kills herself and everyone reveres her for it. It’s somewhat common, isn’t it…?”

Morikawa: “Fucking hell… is it really that bad, Naka?”

Nakategawa: “In a way, thanks to some of her fans, she’ll be able to shine forever now. She’s become a sort of legend…”

Morikawa: “That’s kind of sad. It happens a lot, but she must’ve been lonely.”

Chizuru: “But it was a manufactured loneliness.”

newmascotresized: I mean, if Oshi no Ko is anything to go by, it might not be.

newmascotresized: There’s no way this wasn’t shot at whatever building Suda was in prior to forming Grasshopper.

newmascotresized: The audio for this loops and becomes increasingly distorted as the video goes on.

newmascotresized: I’m gonna go ahead and say there’s no way this particular shot isn’t an out-take where the actress burst out laughing.

newmascotresized: This is almost the exact facial expression I made every time Maruki came on screen in Persona 5 Royal.

newmascotresized: Oh man. She’s not playing games, she knows that’s plastic love.

newmascotresized: And that’s this part of Kamuidrome over. There’s still plenty more, enough that I’m not sure I’m going to get through it all in the next update. Next time, we’ll watch as the plot devolves into something that’s more or less Fight Club.

It’s a shame we don’t get to watch Kusabi hunting and pecking to write the entire Navy SEAL copypasta one letter at a time.

Summary

newmascotresized: You might ask what the point of that last scene was, and the answer - at least as far as I can tell - is that there isn’t one. This is something that’ll pop up a lot in Suda’s future works.

newmascotresized: With this game, it isn’t quite as infuriating as Persona 5 was, mostly because it lasts for maybe ten minutes as opposed to ten hours.

newmascotresized: The game sits there for about a minute repeating the “I’ll kill you” line while the bar in the back loads.

Sumio: “About Riru.”

Kusabi: “Riru…? Who the hell is that?”

newmascotresized: Kusabi doesn’t want to share his boyfriend, especially not with the ghost of a seven year old girl.

Sumio: “Our goddess.”

Kusabi: “What? Goddess? You’re burned out, man. The fuck are you talking about, ‘goddess’? Bunch of bullshit.”

Sumio: “Didn’t you see her? When Mikumo disappeared, Riru was crying…”

Kusabi: “Sumio, you’re escaping into fantasy now. Thinking all those sweet-ass thoughts is just fueling your imagination. Coming into contact with ‘crazy’ can fuck you up, too. There’s no medicine for that.”

Kusabi: “You gotta fight it back. If you can’t, then you’re fucked.”

Sumio: “So you think there’s something wrong with me?”

Kusabi: “Don’t you feel it?”

Sumio: “My imagination? You don’t understand. All of our actions are real. The past had been alive. That past had to be killed. A wedge had to be driven in somewhere… I don’t regret it…”

Kusabi: “The fuck are you even talking about? Sounds to me like you’ve completely checked out.”

Sumio: “Tetsu, you should know what I’m talking about. You should know… what’s about to happen now… you’re going to be the one to adjudicate… next it’s you who’ll have to drive that wedge in.”

Kusabi: “----? You trying to start something?”

Sumio: “No… it’s just that the time is almost here.”

Kusabi: “Whatever the fuck you say…”

Sumio: “I guess.”

Kusabi: “Sumio, I’ll be back.”

newmascotresized: I didn’t think too much of these segments, until right after I finished recording Kamuidrome. After finishing Kamuidrome, I realized that these scenes are almost the main point of the whole chapter.

newmascotresized: Well, I got the offer letter for my new job today. Have I mentioned I’ve been unemployed for the past four months? I was.

newmascotresized: Also, this sounds a lot like the Oracle of Maia. Do we know for sure that Kamui isn’t just Nyarlathotep?

newmascotresized: Meanwhile, Furuya’s going apeshit.

newmascotresized: Anyway, we’ve got some emails between Furuya and “Neutral” here, so I guess I’ll just do those the way I’ve been doing them.

opennewmail
For oldman
From Neutral

Subject: the tin clown
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 03:01:18

its said that insanity begets insanity, but OM, youre a great example.
if you dont have a convenient place, you just make it yourself?
how stupid.
youre just the same as them.
no, youre worse than them
are you trying to become a dictator?
get rid of the outsiders and create a paradise
and make it into your own harem?
people like you are called idiots and losers.
you got the guts to reply?

opennewmail
For Neutral
From oldman

Subject: RE: the tin clown
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 04:26:31

whats so sad that you gotta follow me around?
this is hallowed ground!
disgusting monsters need to go!
dont get in my way.

opennewmail
For oldman
From Neutral

Subject: the unbearable lightness of being
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 05:05:25

a loser is a loser.
you ran away.
you ran away from the pain.
you couldnt take it so you ran away
it wont go away till you die.
you cant escape.
theyll come after you.
theyll hunt you down
youll live in fear.
for the rest of your life.
life in fear.
l.i.v.e.i.n.f.e.a.r.
live in fear.
live in fear.
l.i.v.e.i.n.f.e.a.r.

newmascotresized: I love nothing more than transcribing all-lowercase, no-punctuation internet fights.

opennewmail
For Neutral
From oldman

Subject: RE: the unbearable lightness of being
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 05:49:12

so youre their spy huh?
i dont run away.
im not like that.
im definitely not like that
im a human with the power to change
come at me if you want to.
if youre their spy
then you should know where i am.
do you even have the balls to come here?
bring it on!

Furuya: “A…a weapon! I need to find a weapon…”

Furuya: “I’LL KILL YOU!”

Furuya: “Come on out…”

newmascotresized: I’ve said it before, but I feel like they could’ve cut the Furuya plotline out of the game entirely and it’d be the same story. Kamuidrome feels like something that only really made sense in the mid-90s.

newmascotresized: Neutral doesn’t have an official dialogue portrait, which makes sense because she’s only on screen for a couple of minutes… except it also kinda doesn’t.

newmascotresized: The manual has an entire section of portraits for characters that aren’t even in the game. A couple of them are mentioned in Flower Sun and Rain, but unless the DS version is wildly different from the PS2 original, you never actually see them there either.

Neutral: “I…”

Furuya: " ‘Neutral’…"

Neutral: “Oldman… I’ve been waiting to meet you.”

Furuya: “I wanted to meet you, too…”

Neutral: “I’ve been watching you.”

Furuya: “I’ve been watching you, too…”

Neutral: “So your name is ‘Furuya’. My name is ‘Nakama’.”

Furuya: “So ‘Neutral’ is actually ‘Nakama’…”

Neutral: “So we finally meet.”

Furuya: “It’s fate… we’re connected by fate.”

Neutral: “I, too, believe in fate.”

Furuya: “I…”

Furuya: “I didn’t…”

Neutral: “It’s hard to explain, but because it was so easy…”

Furuya: “What was?”

Neutral: “I knew it would turn out like this…”

Furuya: “Turn out like this…?”

Neutral: “That you and I would meet…”

Furuya: “I…”

Neutral: “I’d been waiting for you. I’d been watching you.”

Furuya: “I wanted you to help me.”

Neutral: “No… it’s you who is going to save me.”

Furuya: “I’m gonna save you?”

Neutral: “Yes…”

Furuya: “I…”

Neutral: “You’re special. I know that.”

Furuya: “I’m ‘special’…? I always knew it, too. But…”

Neutral: “It’s OK now… you have nothing to fear…”

Furuya: “I was scared… scared of you coming for me… when you came, I understood. What is about to happen…”

newmascotresized: This scene is about three times longer than it really needed to be.

Neutral: “Hey.”

Furuya: “Hm?”

Furuya: “The moon?”

Neutral: “You’re going to shine quietly in the darkness… so quietly that nobody will notice.”

Furuya: “The moon… it seems so close yet so far away.”

Neutral: “A world to which no one can venture.”

Furuya: “I’ll look at the world from the side of the moon.”

Neutral: “Yes, you’ll watch over people’s sins.”

newmascotresized: Furuya’s about to become a Shin Megami Tensei protagonist.

Furuya: “We’ll create our very own world.”

Neutral: “You can do it… only you can do this.”

newmascotresized: I’m going to sorta, kinda spoil something here - this plotline is a dead end, and that’s one of the reasons I’m not a fan of Kamuidrome.

newmascotresized: I mean, technically Spectrum was also a dead end in that it had nothing to do with the main plot, but Kamuidrome exists in this weird space where I don’t think Suda understood what he wanted Kamui to be.

newmascotresized: It feels kind of like Suda originally had two endings for this game, with Kamuidrome being the first and then Lifecut (the next and final Transmitter chapter) being the one he ultimately went with.

newmascotresized: I won’t go so far as to say it’s bad, though. There’s definitely people who think Kamuidrome is one of the better chapters in this game, and I think it’s part of Suda’s storytelling style, but I just don’t like it.

Kusabi: “You get used to it a bit?”

Sumio: “I’m comfortable. There’s nothing wrong.”

Kusabi: “I see…”

Sumio: “How about today?”

Kusabi: “Nothing special…”

Sumio: “Do you feel it? Like a harbinger or something…”

Kusabi: “No… well, I do feel something.”

Sumio: “Something is about to begin.”

Kusabi: “It’s nothing that exaggerated. Yeah, that’s an exaggeration. Shit may get pretty hairy.”

Sumio: “It’s complicated, isn’t it?”

Kusabi: “Yeah, I don’t know.”

Sumio: “That’s so like you… are you gonna run?”

Kusabi: “Run? That’s not what it’s about. Is it, Sumio?”

Sumio: “Who knows… I have no idea, myself.”

Kusabi: “You know what it means for a person to no longer be a person? You get what I mean?”

Sumio: “I think so…”

Sumio: “How…”

Kusabi: “How can I put this… you lose the connection that happens when you face another person.”

Sumio: “Coming into indirect contact… discommunication…”

Kusabi: “Something like that. However you wanna put it.”

newmascotresized: This speech here is far more indicative of what Kamui actually is, to the point that when Kamui shows up in No More Heroes 3, he more or less quotes this directly with Travis in Kusabi’s place.

Sumio: “Like cables and radio waves.”

Kusabi: “Like a TV antenna?”

Sumio: “Basically, yeah… the cable you connect to a TV… the antenna that picks up the radio waves… a network created by people.”

Kusabi: “So that’s what you mean… in that case, I’m not interested.”

Sumio: “So you’re gonna run away after all…”

Kusabi: “Fuck off. This isn’t it. Not this.”

Sumio: “It’s coming…”

Kusabi: “What can you do with these connections?”

Sumio: “The world is about to change. That flow can’t be changed.”

Kusabi: “Really? It can’t stand up to an actual entity though, right?”

Sumio: “When you put it like that, I get the feeling you may be right.”

newmascotresized: I hope you’re ready for the most Soul Hackers-ass thing since Soul Hackers.

newmascotresized: I like to think that Big Dick is watching this and laughing uncontrollably at what a dipshit mall goth Furuya is.

Furuya: “People are always losing love. We came for revolution. The days when love is taken back, I want to give this to the audience.”

Furuya: “A person’s history depends on the acceleration of their growth. If that’s so, then we shall take on the job of helping to advance this growth.”

Furuya: “From here on out, we will make this a reality in a short time. Let’s set a date for the promised day.”

newmascotresized: Oh my god, it all makes sense now. The white facepaint, the ventilation holes, 09/09/1999… Furuya is going to release the Sega Dreamcast! Truly, a fate worse than death.

Furuya: “It has a good ring to it. The time for the coming of the new age is almost upon us. Now we’ll release love. Keep your expectations high.”

newmascotresized: Meanwhile, Neutral has gotten halfway into a Demifiend cosplay and is very upset about it. She looks like a rejected SMT Nocturne demon design.

Neutral: “Oldman’s words remind me of those of our revered and accomplished predecessors, and have the same destructive power. I will not tell everyone to believe in me. Why not?”

Neutral: “Because people are given love fairly and without prejudice. What will the gods of legend do for you? Oldman is different. He will give you real love.”

newmascotresized: If I was writing this, you’d hear a doorbell ring in the background, and then the video cuts out as Kusabi shows up with a squad to capture the mall goths and bring them back to Hot Topic.

Neutral: “The results are everything. We’ll show you the truth. What is ‘reality’? The promised day will bring a great revolution. Are you prepared?”

newmascotresized: I’m going to cut this update off here and split it into two for readability purposes. The other half is almost done, and by the end of next update we’ll have finished Kamuidrome.

newmascotresized: In the meantime, have Big Dick going full-on 90s cyberpunk. Salty Vanilla is always looking for more work, in case you want something for yourself.

Summary

newmascotresized: This is why I love Kusabi. I wish Suda hadn’t been on the whole “no sequels” thing around this time, because I would love a Kusabi game.

Sumio: “Clowns…?”

Kusabi: “A pair of jerkoffs. Sounds like they’re totally full of shit.”

Sumio: “Is it them?”

Kusabi: “Yeah, definitely.”

Sumio: “A male and female pair?”

Kusabi: “Looking like a couple of fuckin’ weirdos. What do you call those people? Savant guards or whatever.”

Sumio: “You mean… ‘avant-garde’?”

Kusabi: “I’ve seen people like that before… like these losers.”

Sumio: “Copycats… maybe they’re Kamui ripoffs?”

Kusabi: “Kamui?”

Sumio: “Kamui, like with Ayame…”

Kusabi: “Sounds like some sorta curse.”

Sumio: “They’re trying to do something with Kamui as the motif.”

Kusabi: “They seem really interested in Kamui…”

Sumio: “It’s probably a feeling similar to jealousy. They’re jealous of Kamui.”

Kusabi: “Jealousy…? So that means, like, they also feel hatred towards him, huh?”

Sumio: “The hatred that transcends love…”

Kusabi: “That means…”

Sumio: “What is it?”

Kusabi: “They’re saying they’re gonna change the world. These fuckin’ people…”

Sumio: “With different methodology from Kamui.”

newmascotresized: I think Kusabi just described the plot of Persona 5 in three sentences.

Sumio: “Their goals are the same as Kamui’s… but they want to show off the difference in scale.”

Kusabi: “What the fuck is up with the end of the millennium, huh? Jesus Christ!”

Sumio: “The end of the millennium is next year.”

Kusabi: “Next year…? Isn’t it this year?”

Sumio: “The new millennium starts in 2001.”

Kusabi: “OK… I get it now.”

Sumio: “Get what…?”

Sumio: “Selling? Selling what?”

Kusabi: “Don’t you get it, Sumio…?”

Sumio: “Not really…”

Kusabi: “Me neither.”

newmascotresized: All we have to do in order to finish the game is get in the elevator and go to the fourth floor. There are, however, some references that will show up in Suda’s later games on the other floors.

newmascotresized: I should note that I’m not sure if these were in the PS1 version or not.

newmascotresized: Beef Head is the name of the video store in No More Heroes.

newmascotresized: On the opposite side is a reference to Suda’s previous game, Moonlight Syndrome.

newmascotresized: Bad Girl was a boss in No More Heroes that Suda apparently liked enough that there’s an entire plotline in Travis Strikes Again about Travis bringing her back from the dead.

newmascotresized: This is the room we need. Let’s just open the door.

newmascotresized: Big Dick spends the next several hours playing Sonic Adventure, before realizing that apart from being technologically impressive in 1999, Sonic Adventure is not a good game.

newmascotresized: I like to think Big Dick looks at her and goes “Wait, are you some kind of Dreamcast spirit? Can you make it stop beeping?”

Missinggirl: “Are you looking for someone? The missing girl, right? Great, that’s me. You heard from Naka, right? Naka is so cute. When Sayaka Baian died, he cried ‘wah~wah~’ like a little kid.”

Missinggirl: “It was really hard to cheer him up. Ah, don’t tell Naka I told you, OK? <3”

Missinggirl: “Oh yeah. The clowns on the Internet… ‘oldman’ and ‘Neutral’, wasn’t it? It looks like there are a lot of people who think that ‘Neutral’ is me. How rude. I’m waaaay younger than her.”

Missinggirl: “Did you think it was me, too, Mr. Man? Here? There’s nobody here. Everybody moved. It was really lively until yesterday. But I came late. They left me behind, hehe.”

newmascotresized: See, I figured the whole missing girl thing was another one of those dropped plot threads so I stopped thinking about it immediately after it happened.

Missinggirl: “I was really confused. But… if I end up not able to go, then I’ll just want to go so badly, you know? So I’ve been so bored.”

Missinggirl: “They were so nice. They talked to me about all sorts of things, and there were a lot of hard words, but they taught me really simply. Do you know how dimensions work?”

newmascotresized: No, that won’t happen until a little over sixteen years later.

Missinggirl: “There are numbers, right? There are all kinds of numbers, like even and odd numbers and stuff. And some of those numbers can’t be divided, right? Like 1 or 7 or 3 or whatever…”

Missinggirl: “But there’s a world where these numbers can be divided. I’m going to that world. They said it’s in a different dimension. There are computers there, right?”

newmascotresized: I got kinda confused here, because the dialog stops and you’re back in first person mode. I wound up going all through the building again until I figured out there’s a second, hidden contact point in here.

Missinggirl: “The program source code inside will lead us. It would take even the best microchip 500 years to work out the calculations, they said. But they also told me something…”

Missinggirl: “It won’t take 500 years for people to work it out… so they’re gonna go ahead and develop the world. Maybe, they’ll be considered invaders over there. But we have to be brave and move on to the future…”

Missinggirl: “I’m happy I was able to talk to someone one last time. It looks like they forgave us for being late. They’re pretty nice, for aliens. They said you’re supposed to be here, Mr. Man.”

newmascotresized: This is the second game I’ve LPed now where the plot has devolved to the point where people talk cryptically about aliens.

Missinggirl: “You’re needed here, so please take care of the place. It was fun… goodbye…”

newmascotresized: Welp, Big Dick’s hallucinating again. Time to finish this chapter.

Nakategawa: “It’s a male and female pair named Furuya and Nakama. Method Tank has been exposing themselves to the media for the past few days, and are garnering attention all over.”

Morikawa: “Like a zoo using pandas to get visitors to come in.”

Chizuru: “That’s fun, isn’t it?”

Nakategawa: “They are apparently planning to commit network-based crimes.”

Morikawa: “Shouldn’t we be investigating?”

Kotobuki: “Leave them…”

Morikawa: “That’s rare, boss.”

Kotobuki: “Nakategawa…”

Nakategawa: "Yes… in accordance with orders from Central, we are not to engage in any sort of investigation with regards to Method Tank. They say ‘contemplation is the best method of investigation’. "

Chizuru: “Does that mean they have a defense plan?”

Nakategawa: “No… without knowing their target, we can’t defend anything.”

newmascotresized: So wait, Nakategawa can track down some random girl who disappears, but even though they know who Method Tank is, they can’t figure out what they want?

Morikawa: “So what’re we supposed to do?”

Nakategawa: “I don’t know…”

Kotobuki: “Just leave them… those are our orders.”

Morikawa: “I see…”

Chizuru: “You’re OK with this?”

Morikawa: “Not at all…”

Nakategawa: “Looks like it’s started…”

Furuya: "From terminal to terminal, everyone’s love will proliferate.

Neutral: “When you open the true eyes of your soul, the new world will be before you.”

Furuya: “Words and intentions are wiped away by the passage of time. I shall release the seeds of the new world. I promise you a new way of life. People are reborn on the internet.”

newmascotresized: It’s weird that the game is internally inconsistent with whether it capitalizes the I in internet or not.

Furuya: “Cover the whole of the land… with a great digital wave!”

Chizuru: “Shit! Is this some sort of nuclear detonator or something…?”

Morikawa: “Nuclear?!”

newmascotresized: I’d like to expand on this just a little. Since the end of World War II, Japan has been a vehemently non-nuclear country: they’ve strictly adhered to what they call the “three non-nuclear principles”.

newmascotresized: Those principles are that they won’t produce nuclear weapons, they won’t have any themselves, and won’t allow other countries (read: the US) to host nukes in Japan.

newmascotresized: In fact, a couple of months after this LP started, Shinzo Abe made the suggestion of having Japan host American nukes specifically to deter China after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

newmascotresized: His idea was immediately shot down by the current Japanese government.

Morikawa: “Really?”

Nakategawa: “There have been plenty of real-life examples…”

Chizuru: “Boss, is this really OK? For us to just sit here ‘contemplating’?!”

Nakategawa: “So basically… their goals are the same as monkeys.”

Morikawa: “Monkeys??”

Nakategawa: “That’s a bit insulting to monkeys… anyway, they’re similar to wild animals. A male and a female get some sort of dramatic shot in the arm. They have a goal, and their egos awaken.”

Nakategawa: “The impulses they can’t hold back are exploding. It’s the same sort of desire one has for sex. Two people who desire each other have sex over and over.”

newmascotresized: I think Nakategawa’s still not over being horny for idols.

Nakategawa: “But with that alone, there’s a sort of self-consciousness that is beyond one’s control. They now have a goal other than just sex. So now it’s the ‘et cetera’ of a man and a woman.”

Chizuru: “If this hits zero…”

Morikawa: “It’s almost here. There are gonna be some big fireworks.”

Nakategawa: “No choice but to see how this will play out…”

Kotobuki" …"

newmascotresized: If you know what the Dreamcast VMU’s beeping sounds like, I’d like you to imagine it here, because I did.

newmascotresized: Wait, isn’t this just the ending to Fight Club? I mean, sure it’s a power outage instead of an explosion, but still.

newmascotresized: In case you don’t remember this guy, his name is Munakata, and he’s a special agent with some branch of the government.

newmascotresized: He can also apparently make a coat appear like magic.

Munakata: “A power outage… it’s nothing to worry about.”

Kusabi: “You hiding something…?”

Munakata: “Naive ambition has rotted and crumbled away in the hands of adults. You know the Internet? Those clowns genuinely tried to change the world.”

newmascotresized: You know, I never thought of the idea that Furuya and Nakama could just be giant ICP fans.

Munakata: “Believing that the net could be used for all communication everywhere… they distributed a super high-function next-generation OS throughout the entire world.”

Munakata: “And so I had to dish out punishment for the naughty children.”

Kusabi: “No idea what you’re saying… you sound like a goddamn foreigner. Maybe I’m just too old.”

Munakata: “You’re old.”

Kusabi: “I feel fucking nauseous…”

Munakata: “You have to discard the illusion of ‘youth’.”

Kusabi: “So… what do you want?”

Munakata: “Anytime now…”

Kusabi: “He’s gonna do it again?”

Munakata: “Probably.”

Kusabi: “The fuck is it this time?”

Munakata: “Doesn’t that depend on you?”

Kusabi: “Depend on me? Is every single motherfucker just r----- or what?”

Kusabi: “It’s got nothing to do with me. I don’t care. I can’t deal with this shit.”

Munakata: “Well, please don’t get in Kamui’s way. We’re going to smoke out the remnants of the FSO. OK, I’m going home.”

Kusabi: “Don’t get yourself killed.”

Munakata: “Oh not just yet…”

Kusabi: “Well how optimistic…”

Munakata: “Ah, Tetsu… you should be careful of those around you. This is a big game, you know. Alright then…”

Kusabi: “What a ripoff…”

newmascotresized: This part here is why I like all those segments between Kusabi and Sumio in Kamuidrome. There’s someone talking - but it’s not Kusabi and no one else is in the car.

Kusabi: “You OK with this? Sumio…”

newmascotresized: Okay, so let me tell you what I think this is. I’ll start by saying Sumio isn’t dead - the game will confirm this in the epilogue. He’s alive and in prison, where he’s been since the end of Parade.

newmascotresized: We know from Flower Sun and Rain that Kusabi is bisexual and had a thing for Sumio, and I think Suda intended for Kusabi to be bisexual even in this game - it wasn’t something he came up with later.

newmascotresized: My theory is that this entire chapter, all those exchanges Kusabi had with Sumio, were him trying to get over the fact that Sumio chose Riru over him.

newmascotresized: I think some of the exchanges between them probably didn’t actually happen within the context of the plot, and are instead Kusabi talking to his own mental version of Sumio.

newmascotresized: I do think, by the way, that Sumio definitely did feel something for Kusabi, even though he was really using Kusabi as a way of getting back at Yukimura. That’s also something that Kusabi is clearly coping with.

newmascotresized: That would mean that one of the core plots of The Silver Case is in fact a gay romance, which is surprisingly forward-thinking for a game released in 1999.

newmascotresized: I want to remark that I showed this to Salty Vanilla as a reference for a piece that we’ll see in Lifecut, and his response was “He actually looks hot ngl”.

newmascotresized: I really, really want to do Lifecut next because it’s where like 80% of this game’s plot is, but we’ve still got Ai to do, so next time: Ai.

Summary

newmascotresized: Welcome to Ai. Ai is far and away one of the best chapters in this game, and is the first Tokio chapter to not be a secondary exposition dump for the Transmitter side.

newmascotresized: I’ve been thinking about it, and in hindsight, a lot of this game is kind of a low point. Kamuidrome took me like four recording sessions to sit through, and a lot of the early Tokio chapters kinda suck.

newmascotresized: I think if I had played this before, I would’ve done Decoyman, then a bit of Yume, then Parade and Tsuki, and then Ai, Lifecut, and Hikari (which is Tokio’s final chapter).

Tokio: “…!!”

Tokio: “…Live weight…? Fuck… it was a dream…”

Tokio: “A dream, huh… what the hell?”

From: S. INOHANA
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Kamui Net
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 9:24:12

Last night, the International Environment Agency host computers were hacked by someone, and X-level data was stole and published online. The published data was deleted by the same agency two minutes later. Those who read the message are being tracked. This incident will likely not be publicized.

The only data that was publicized was a link to Kamui Net on a BBS. The handle name used was “Sayuki”. Probably some sort of play on Kamui’s name.

Activities on the internet thought to be linked to Kamui have been building up recently. At the very least, Kamui Net needs to be marked. Look into online activites related to Kamui.

From: Yuu
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Found You
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 3:00:14

Hey. You didn’t forget, did you? We just spoke a little while ago. I just tried doing an internet search on you. What a surprise.

So you used to work for a gossip magazine, huh? You need to tell me this stuff. I should have you take some bikini photos of me. I mean, nothing weird or anything, though. Maybe just something on the street. If it’s nothing too nasty, I could even get naked. How about we start there?

I’m usually at Ronny Rocket’s. Pretty much all night. Lots of juicy info there. I also met this genius web designer. He said he’d make my website for me. I’m gonna try and be an internet idol. I’ll let you know when it’s ready, so check it out. <3"

Tokio: “More weird-ass mail… that’s about enough of this shit.”

I don’t care for Kamui Net. It’s probably because of all the fuss around Kamui, and me being sick of him, but on top of that I also don’t want to mess with someone I know nothing about. “Investigate the Net?” That’s so vague it makes me sleepy. By the way, even the HC Unit has been chasing after lots of online crime these days. Apparently Unit 1 is especially all over it.

These has been all this talk about state secrets being leaked, and some sort of messed up plans being implemented and whatever, but more importantly, the news about Sayaka Baian is way more realistic and interesting. It involves the internet and everything. From what I gather, it looks like for the entire week leading up to her suicide, Baian had been being secretly filmed in her apartment. The magazine I used to work for was all over that shit.

But it was only for a moment.

At dodgy websites and underground clubs, you could buy secretly filmed videos of her final concert for 10,000 yen, or undated movie files of her diddling herself for 25,000 yen. The prices for videos of the day of her suicide were 100 times that. All kinds of fake copies flooded the market, and in only six days, those prices dropped considerably.

newmascotresized: Man, Nakategawa’s not even good at getting porn.

Digital data doesn’t rot. So long as copies can be made, the videos are basically worthless. Just consume them and toss them. That’s it.

Same thing with Baian’s suicide. Nobody gives a shit anymore. From around the 3rd or so, it was already over. It’s like a high school kid’s fleeting hobbies. This is how the times are now. Including myself, the people of the world are numb to this stuff now. A super famous idol singer gets secretly filmed at home and then kills herself – from the shock, which is fucked up.

But the fact that everyone is already forgetting that might mean that Sayaka Baian wasn’t such an awesome idol after all. There was a press conference about a year ago, just before Baian’s private concert. At the time, she just seemed like some annoying fucking upstart. But viewing her through the monitor, she had this strange glow about her, like she herself had been digitized.

She had this balance between reality and surreality. That’s why she got famous. Then she got “consumed” out the ass, and subsequently deleted. This can only be called a tragedy.

Tokio: “What is this, a sitcom…? Everyone and their uncle is a goddamn comedian these days…”

Tokio: “I went to the HC Unit for the first time in three days. Kusabi looked bored. Maybe it’s because he has nobody to talk to recently. Ever since that shit went down, Kusabi won’t talk about Sumio.”

Tokio: “At the very least, he has nothing to say to me. He keeps acting like nothing’s happening.”

Kusabi: “What investigation?”

Tokio: “I don’t know, but you’re probably still looking for underground sites and stuff, right?”

newmascotresized: I don’t know that Kusabi knows what the internet is, apart from that place Nakategawa goes to waste a lot of money that could otherwise be spent on horse racing.

Kusabi: “The fuck are you talking about?”

Tokio: “Like on the internet.”

newmascotresized: No one tell Kusabi about online gambling.

Tokio: “I agree, but there are lots of crimes going down, right? Net crime…”

Kusabi: “What was it again? I know I heard about that from someone, but I don’t get it, to be honest. What is the internet even for?”

newmascotresized: If this game had been made just four years later, Kusabi would know that the internet is for porn.

newmascotresized: If Salty Vanilla wasn’t busy doing a bunch of commissions for later in the LP, I would absolutely be having him do one of Tokio explaining the internet to Kusabi with one of the Avenue Q puppets.

Tokio: “I agree, but there are lots of things you can do with it.”

Kusabi: “Whatever, I’m just not interested.”

Tokio: “It looks like the others disagree. Like Timrod, etc.”

newmascotresized: I mean, I only disagree in that three quarters of the internet is a corporate-owned hellscape and the other quarter is me LPing games no one has heard of.

Kusabi: “Oh really?”

Tokio: “Well, whatever…”

Kusabi: “What, you going home already?”’

Tokio: “I’m going to the sauna to refresh and go home.”

Kusabi: “Like an old man.”

Tokio: “Maybe I’ll just cheat.”

Tokio: “Oh yeah, I’ve got a cellphone, too. I haven’t used it ever since the charger broke, though…”

Tokio: “Morishima.”

Yuu: “Oh, Tokio. Hold on, I’m in the middle of a chat.”

Tokio: “Ah, OK. I’ll hang up then.”

Yuu: “What what what what what?”

Tokio: “Nothing. I just read your mail.”

Yuu: “Oh, OK. What a surprise. I didn’t think you’d call. So, ‘scout’, then?”

Tokio: “I mean…”

Yuu: “Hey…”

Tokio: “Do you know where Kamui Net is?”

Yuu: “Nope, not really interested… I’ll ask.”

Tokio: “Ask whom?”

Yuu: “In chat, now.”

Tokio: “Would someone there know?”

Yuu: “The top page URL changes all the time because of copycats and fake sites and stuff.”

newmascotresized: It’s funny how the only site I can think of that does this is The Pirate Bay, which does it because of the copyright lobby constantly shutting down their domain names.

Tokio: “I see…”

Yuu: “Also, the real Kamui Net has a shitload of links stuck to it, and nobody seems to be sure which is the real thing and which are fakes.”

Tokio: “Huh.”

Yuu: “I mean, I’m just reading what I was told here in chat, but…”

Tokio: “I thought you sounded kinda monotone…”

Tokio: “Hold on, I’ll write it down.”

Yuu: “Ready? OK… www. shine dan. com/”

newmascotresized: When I recorded this, I checked the URL and it redirected to a Suda51 fan page called believeinthe.net. They’re the ones who translated a couple of Suda’s manga from after this game released.

newmascotresized: It appears that since then, the site was eaten by a domain squatter.

Tokio: “Thanks.”

Yuu: “Also… here’s the backdoor password. ‘Indonoyamaoku’. This should work.”

Tokio: “Got it.”

Yuu: “I’ll be waiting for my prize.”

Tokio: “OK… I’ll give you something good.”

Yuu: “What, for reals?”

Tokio: “Yeah.”

Yuu: “Awesome.”

Tokio: “Be careful out there.”

Yuu: “I’ll be fine. I’m pretty resourceful.”

Tokio: “Later.”

I accessed Kamui Net. I read all kinds of messages and replies and propaganda.

This place is huge and weird. Kamui has been deified and is worshiped here. It’s kind of like the people who were really into Sayaka Baian.

Kamui Net is just totally full of shit. Even if there were something there with any amount of meaning, it would be impossible to actually find it. Kamui Net is now deteriorating. Is Kamui hiding out here?

newmascotresized: This is another Kamuidrome-style chat log, most of which is totally pointless, so I’m going to skip some of it.

newmascotresized: The basic idea is that you have a bunch of people chatting in the background, and then Sazanami sending PMs to Tokio.

newmascotresized: The problem is that the whole thing is kind of a clusterfuck to read, so I’m going to cut out the irrelevant chatter and just use dialog portraits. I’ve also corrected the punctuation and capitalization.

Futaba: “Do you get it? This is a private message between you and me alone. You’re watching us from there, right? You’ve been found out. Everyone knows.”

Tokio: “OK, so this command lets me message specific users only, so we can talk in secret.”

Futaba: “Well yeah, duh. I don’t know how you made it here but fuck off, you’re annoying.”

Tokio: “Come on, lemme try it out.”

Futaba: “Everyone’s starting to look into you.”

Tokio: “What do you mean they’re looking into me?”

Futaba: “Who you are, where you live, etc. They can find that out in minutes.”

newmascotresized: Tokio gives no fucks. I used Futaba simply because I needed a generic hacker, but she’d probably go just to complain about how bad Tokio is at making coffee.

newmascotresized: I probably should’ve used Baofu instead since this is 1999, but Baofu isn’t a whiny little bitch.

Futaba: “What are you talking about?”

(Grandkid) it’s just some bullshit

(Connector) he thinks hell be fine

(Gilon) fucking idiot

(Sazanami) or he just doesn’t understand at all

(TurtleGuy) you dicks talking about me?

(Connector): check this asshole out

(Jeffrey) youre gonna die

(Planecat) i can kill you anytime

(TurtleGuy) be a bit more friendly, fucksticks

(Planecat) what should we do with him?

(Sazanami): hes an amateur

(TurtleGuy): you guys are dirty. you’ve all been monitoring me?

(Connector): fuck off

(Grandkid): shut the fuck up

(Connector): you stick out too much

(Sazanami) kill yourself

Tokio: “This place is fucked.”

Bartender: “What’s wrong? You look exhausted…”

Tokio: “I’m not exhausted, but…”

Bartender: "But…?’

Tokio: “Hey, you know what ‘generation gap’ means?”

Bartender: “Hehe… did you get a young girlfriend or something?”

Tokio: “I mean, like… can you even understand the younger generation? Like the ‘internet generation’ or whatever…”

newmascotresized: It’s crazy to think that he’s basically talking about me. I mean, I’m significantly younger than a lot of the people in Kamuidrome probably are, but still.

Tokio: “Really?”

Bartender: “People in their 30s may not really understand what the internet is really made of, I guess.”

Tokio: “What do you mean?”

Bartender: “For example, people publish their journals and stuff, right? Online, I mean.”

Tokio: “Journals, yeah, I’ve seen those.”

newmascotresized: The implication, as we’ll see later on, is that Tokio doesn’t really think of what he does as “blogging”, but I like to think he does and just doesn’t want to admit it.

Bartender: “I read those a lot, myself. The ones written by younger people are totally beyond my comprehension.”

Tokio: “Like how?”

Bartender: “Those journals are written by writers who are conscious of the reader, right? And most of those writers have a specific type of reader in mind.”

Bartender: “They use words specifically to create a world only for themselves and the reader… there should be a huge number of people who can read something like that and actually understand it properly.”

Bartender: “But these journals are written with the ‘perfect reader’, who can understand and share the writer’s feelings, in mind.”

Tokio: “And?”

Bartender: “That’s some pretty lonely work, really. Don’t you think? These people have the entire world as their audience, and yet they sit there writing up stuff that nobody can really understand.”

newmascotresized: I mean, it wasn’t lonely, I got like 30,000 reads on it and really the only reason no one could understand it is because the script was more typo than anything else.

newmascotresized: There is almost no way this line wasn’t changed for the re-release.

Bartender: “But I guess this sort of thing is necessary. To young people, at least.”

Tokio: “What, these ‘tweets’ and ‘twitters’ are necessary?”

Bartender: “Yes… that, and quietly bringing these things to light as well.”

Tokio: “And you read a lot of this kind of shit, huh…?”

Any article is written under the assumption that people will read it. Even articles that the writer doesn’t want read. Subconsciously, one begins to start “speaking” to the reader.

Why do I write up my investigation reports like a diary? At first it was just for memo purposes. After several years, it turned into a sort of diary. Articles can’t contain personal viewpoints. Maybe that’s why I write all this shit in a diary. Even more happily than writing the articles themselves.

I had a dream this morning.

There was a long line of kids in front of me. They were at a bus stop, waiting for the bus. I was there, too, as a child. After awhile, the bus came, and a pretty woman checked each kid and let them on.

My turn came, and as she checks me, she says, “You don’t have enough live weight, so you can’t get on the bus.” So I was left behind by myself, and the bus took off. I woke up just as I was crying my eyes out at being left behind.

newmascotresized: I remember Live Weight Inspection Day back in elementary school, where they’d weigh you and you couldn’t move on to the next grade unless you had enough live weight. They don’t do it like that anymore.

Tokio: “Live weight… what the hell is that?”

Tokio: “Shit… again…?!”

Tokio: “I think maybe I’m cursed. My whole damn life is cursed.”

From: Misao Morishima
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: From Mom
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 9:17:10

It’s still hot out, but how have you been doing? As always, you don’t call, so I’m mailing you now. You’re probably surprised, right? Taka taught me how to use the computer, so now I can send emails. Taka also told me your email address. Is this mail reaching you?

What have you been up to these days? Do you have work? Please be careful, and take care of yourself. I received a bunch of the pomegranates you love, so I sent you some. They should be there by now.

Anyway, I’ll mail you again soon. Please get hold of me once in a while.

Mom

Tokio: “I’ll reply later… but after three years of no contact, of course a person would worry… and sending pomegranates out of the blue after all this time… that’s pretty abrupt.”

newmascotresized: I have to wonder if the pomegranates are meant to be an allusion to Hariti or not.

From: no-name
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: no-title
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 13:10:08

Do you know who I am? Don’t bother checking the address. But you probably have an idea who this is.

Stay away from Kamui Net. Same goes for the HC Unit. Stay completely away from anything involving Kamui. This isn’t a request. It isn’t even a warning. What I’m doing is much more simple than that.

(TurtleGuy) what command do i use to leave?

Forget Kamui. Kill your memories. Yes, that’s the command you’ve been given.

(TurtleGuy) OK, fine, I got it. Sorry for disturbing your chat. I feel bad. I’ll disappear.

That’s right - your very existence is literally going to disappear. If you don’t follow orders.

Take care.
The Bat is always watching you.

newmascotresized: I mean, of course it is. It’s a giant poster in the middle of Tokio’s room for no good reason.

Tokio: “Son of a bitch… you finally showed up. Motherfucker! This better be the real one. I’m gonna expose the shit out of you.”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Slash
Subject: About “The Bat”

Remember “The Bat”?

He mailed me. Looks like the person you found before wasn’t really The Bat. It was a dummy.

Look into it properly this time. I’ll pay you whatever. Just get me info on him. I want to draw him out. Right in front of me. You get paid to do this, so you’re a pro, right? Don’t get fooled again this time.

The Bat is a hassle. I can tell that he’s just going to keep getting in my way. He knows everything I’m doing online. He also knows that I’ve been going to the HC Unit. Who would want to know this shit? Maybe someone’s in love with me.

I need to find out more about The Bat. Maybe I’ll contract another investigation. Slash should be able to find something. That chatroom is run by his company. Erika can’t do anything, but Slash should be able to get in through the backend and check stuff out. It’d be no problem for him…

But the problem is that I was chatting with Erika. I have to be careful.

Tokio: “How did The Bat know about me? Is there some sort of hidden camera in my apartment? How did he know from the beginning that I was chasing after Kamui…? I can’t figure it out…”

newmascotresized: It took four fucking chapters, but we finally know what the deal between him and Erika is. I feel like they probably should’ve revealed this back in Yume or Hana.

Tokio: “Nope. That can’t be it… can it?”

newmascotresized: Anyway, I’m going to cut this update here. We have a couple of long sequences coming up with no good breaking points between them.

Summary

Tokio: “Erika was sitting at the bar, talking with the bartender. I probably had a weird look on my face, as Erika stared at me as if to say ‘Well excuse me for being here’. I went and sat down next to her at the bar.”

Tokio: “You’re in just the right place.”

Erika: “Am I? What do you mean?”

Tokio: “You know what this is?”

Erika: “What is it?”

Tokio: “I got it from someone.”

Erika: “Someone gave you a present? Oh snap, it’s a pomegranate.”

newmascotresized: I’m not entirely sure how this works. Tokio walks in, goes “You know what this is?” and then doesn’t show it to her until after she asks what it is.

Tokio: “Have you ever had one before?”

Erika: “Of course. I like these.”

Tokio: “Here, take one then. I have too many to eat. I thought maybe I could sell them here.”

Erika: “A new job? Who the hell gave you pomegranates, anyway?”

Tokio: “…Mom.”

Erika: “Your mom?”

Tokio: “Apparently I like these.”

Erika: “What a nice mom.”

Erika: “Huh?”

Tokio: “I was adopted.”

Erika: “I didn’t know that.”

Tokio: “I hadn’t told you. Anyways, regardless of how I probably look, I was raised with lots of love and care. More than I needed. That’s why I turned out like this. So I can’t really face my mom.”

Erika: “Since when?”

Tokio: “Maybe when I was about seven…?”

Erika: “What about before that?”

Tokio: “I don’t really remember.”

Erika: “Yeah… that’s just like you.”

Tokio: “Is it?”

Erika: “You probably think that’s ‘cool’, right?”

newmascotresized: I mean, I have very few memories of being that young. I remember the house I used to live in back then and maybe a couple of things about school, but that’s it.

Tokio: “Well… totally unrelated, but you’re drinking something weird… you always drink that…?”

Erika: “This is my first time. By the way, am I correct in assuming that our work is done? If so, then…”

Erika: “What?”

Tokio: “He’s back.”

Erika: “Who is?”

The same dream continued.

The same woman was there, silent. Suddenly she was next to me. She asked why I was there again. I just happened to be there, I guess. We walked toward the bus. I asked her what ‘live weight’ was.

She slowed down and looked at me. She said “You’re not the standard.” I asked again, and she said, “I’ll tell you then. Live weight… that’s a word used by ranchers when weighing livestock before slaughter. The animals get sent back if they aren’t heavy enough. And you didn’t have enough live weight yet…”

newmascotresized: If there’s one thing I kinda wish I had done, it’s play Lifecut before this part, because absolutely none of this is going to make sense until then.

Tokio: “This ‘real-ness’… what the fuck? It’s creepy…”

Tokio: “…! …hm…”

Tokio: “Maybe the heat is giving me these fever dreams… hey Red, let’s take a trip to the beach together sometime.”

From: Slash
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Re: About “The Bat”
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 4:06:02

Wow. That was a dummy? Damn.

The Bat is probably using some crazy good software. Sounds fun, I’ll try again. I don’t know if I’m a pro, but whatever. It’s probably best to cause some trouble for The Bat. I’ll need some time so I’ll get back to you again. Our mail might be being intercepted. How exciting!

I’m attaching a file to cover up our footsteps. You’re welcome. You know what a ‘vandal’ is? It’s the type of networker who likes to do destructive stuff. That’s who broke Kamui Net. See you.

“/”

Slash sent over part of the broken Kamui Net. That ‘oldman’ guy broke Kamui Net. Then, he made the “New Kamui Net”. A new hero is born. What a bunch of r---- bullshit.

The internet is a tool. A tool made by people. It’s nothing special nor new. It’s like a fake world, incomplete, but full of weirdos and psychos. It makes people dumb. Destruction, creation, the birth of heroes… it all shows how stupid this shit is.

So if there’s danger there, it’s due to all the stupidity. A mongoloid with a knife is dangerous. The Bat is the same… or maybe not. I still have no idea what’s going on and it pisses me off.

Tokio: “One carton of the regular.”

Tokio: “I envy you.”

Tokio: “You seem like you don’t have a care in the world.”

Tokio: “Am I wrong?”

Tokio: “I mean, like…”

Tokio: “Work, huh…”

The dream continues.

The woman says, “You still don’t remember? Remember. Remember who those kids were.” I tried hard to remember. I’ve been here before. But I can’t remember.

“The bus is coming soon. The kids are coming, too. Be quiet and don’t look at anything. And no matter who speaks to you, don’t ever answer them. They won’t ignore you like before. They won’t leave you alone. They’ve accepted you as their friend. They’ll come talk to you.”

She warned me. “Once they notice you, they’ll seal you in and you won’t be able to escape. Even if you thought you had gotten away, they can bring you back here anytime. Don’t ever give in to their instigations.”

Then finally, she said, “I have to leave here now. Listen - deal with it on your own.”

Tokio: “A dream… dreams don’t really stick in my memory this clearly, do they…?”

Tokio: “I’m sick of this.”

newmascotresized: I mean, I kinda am too. Tokio’s chapters have huge pacing issues.

From: Slash
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: The Bat News
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 05:02:07

I sent some info on The Bat to an underground BBS. The account he used to mail you was some abandoned account on the net. All sorts of people had been using it, so it’s impossible to find out who he is from that. But there’s a way to track him, although I can’t mention it here. It may actually be really easy.

Today’s bonus present is a rare file of Sayaka Baian. Enjoy! Later.

“/”

Tokio: “…”

She looks like any other girl. She has no idea she’s being watched, and she looks bored. Maybe she’s exhausted, but she looks older than usual.

The video made it obvious why she’d want to die. She probably couldn’t take it. It was too much for her. She was being watched without knowing it. So she simply chose to end it. She decided to say goodbye to this fucked up world.

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Erika Yukawa
Subject: Nothing Special

Looks like Kamui Net was destroyed. Do you have any info? I wonder what kind of guy this ‘oldman’ customer is? By the way… do you know how to search for hidden cameras? I feel like I’m being watched at home.

That’s a joke, but when looking into Kamui online, you should be careful. Unless you want to deal with some fuckstick like “The Bat”, that is.

Tokio: “… I totally forgot to mail my mom…”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Misao Morishima
Subject: Re: From Mom

I got your mail. I got the pomegranates, too. I tried them. How nostalgic. I feel like I used to eat lots of these, and figs, too. Don’t see much of those recently.

Anyway, I’m glad you seem to be doing well. Things are the same as always over here. I’m not that busy, so I’ll make some time to go visit.

Talk to you later.

Slash is another mongoloid with a knife. Looks like I gave him a toy for this game. That’s fine, but he tends to get fucked up sometimes. I also have no idea who Slash is or where he’s from, and I’m only using him as a convenient tool. But on the other side of the internet, there’s a guy who calls himself “Slash” who actually exists, and he has his own everyday life as well. I don’t know or care what kind of life that may be, but still.

The internet can even tweak the real world itself. This really bad feeling inside me keeps building up and spreading. One thing that’s for certain is that if The Bat really has the capacity to become a viable threat, then this is not just a game. Apparently that’s exactly just what I want.

I close my eyes, and the fear expands exponentially. Suddenly, ‘something’ touched my hand. Thinking it would come from far away, I’d been listening for it, but without any warning there was sudddenly someone next to me. I can’t let them notice me.

Why? I don’t know. Someone is trying to hold my hand. It was a child’s hand. I opened my hand so as not to hold theirs back.

“Hold my hand. Please? Hold it.” It’s the voice of a small child. I got the feeling that a child was standing in front of me. But not just one. I can hear the voices of the dozens of children lined up in front of me. And behind me. Someone suddenly grabbed my shoulders from behind, and I ended up turning around to look at them.

There stood…

newmascotresized: There stood more shit we won’t know about until Lifecut. I haven’t talked much this update, and I realized there’s something I have to clear up - namely a fuckup by the localizers.

newmascotresized: If you’ll remember back to Hana, Tokio states in one of his blog entries that he’s already over 30. That’s actually a mistranslation; Tokio is canonically 24.

newmascotresized: This is important because otherwise half the plot will not make any sense at all when we get there.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Re: Nothing Special
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 8:21:14

Looks like oldman had a partner. Their handle name is “Neutral”. I don’t know who they are or what they’re trying to do. A lot of net users have been talking about them, but it looks like the media has paid them no mind so far.

I want to hear more about The Bat. How’s the investigation going? How are you investigating? Have you received contact again?

‘Being watched’… is that a joke about Sayaka Baian?
That incident was a fuck-up on the part of her agency, I think. Nobody, including her, was paying enough attention to risk management. To be honest I’m now doubting whether that whole thing wasn’t just a setup that ended up going horribly. Either way, I’m not really interested.

Hidden cameras are everywhere. Even in my office. You can’t go on living if you let that bother you constantly. Unless you move out to the desert or something.

From: Slash
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: The Bat News ^2
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 3:41:51

Finally got a hold on The Bat’s tail. I’ll let you know if he falls for my trap.

Today’s attached file may be kinda boring. It’s some underground document about the mayoral elections for the 24 Wards. Whistleblower-style. Whoever wrote this is pretty fucked in the head.

Tokio: “…? Do bats have tails…?”

newmascotresized: They do, it’s just that most of the time you can’t see them because they’re built into the webbing that makes up the bat’s wings.

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Slash
Subject: Re: The Bat News ^2

Looks like it’s coming along well. I trust you. Get it done.

If you find out where he is, let me know ASAP. Don’t do anything without telling me. Your job is simply to find this guy, so don’t forget that.

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Erika Yukawa
Subject: Nothing Special

The Bat is fucked up. No matter how you look at it, hes not just some normal stalker. I had thought that he was just some dickhead, and I still sort of think so now, but recently the threat is starting to feel more and more realistic. You should stay away from The Bat after all.

So basically, be careful. I may find out who he really is soon. I’ll let you know when I know more. That’s all.

newmascotresized: I swear we’re getting to the good part.

Kusabi: “Bored my ass… You’re looking pretty fuckin’ spiffy yourself, huh?”

Tokio: “Really? I’m the same as always.”

Kusabi: “You look worse than usual.”

Tokio: “More importantly, how’s the investigation coming along?”

Kusabi: “The internet one? Nothing special yet. By the way, you’re good with ‘underground’ stuff, right?”

newmascotresized: This sounds like my grandfather calling me, except it usually ends with “Oh and my email isn’t working, can you come take a look at it?”

Tokio: “How come?”

Kusabi: “You told Big Dick, didn’t you?”

Tokio: "Did I…?’

Kusabi: “A little kid, no, actually a teenage girl, got addicted to the internet and went missing. The fuck is going on?”

Tokio: “They look up to the world of ‘truth’. They think that’s the same as freedom. They mix up reality and fiction.”

newmascotresized: They run around trying to stop a guy from throwing people into an alternate hell dimension that exists inside a television, and make the objectively correct choice of Yukiko over Chie or Naoto.

Kusabi: “So that’s what it’s like on the ‘other side’, huh?”

Tokio: “Same on either side, really. It’s a complicated world out there.”

newmascotresized: I like to think that Tokio carried on that conversation with Kusabi for several hours without Kusabi even being there.

newmascotresized: She is Setsuna. Obviously.

newmascotresized: I’m just gonna skip most of this because it’s completely irrelevant. I think Setsuna is supposed to be the missing girl from the end of Kamuidrome, but honestly it doesn’t matter.

newmascotresized: Well, shit.

From: no-name
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: no-title
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 10:02:04

I’ll say this again, but I’m trying to get you to understand this in a kind manner.

Stop looking into The Bat. Forget about Kamui. Turn everything off. That’s your only choice. There’s nothing you can do.

STOP.

NOW.

Otherwise, you’re going to die.

Tokio: “Shit… the fuck is this guy talking about?”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Slash
Subject: Emergency

I got a bad feeling. Sorry, but hold off on the investigation on The Bat. Stop immediately. I’ll give you details directly. I don’t know your number, so give me a call. If possible, I’d like to meet and talk. My cellphone number is 11753-56695.

The Bat is for real. Actually I don’t know yet.

Turn everything off? Fuck that. But I wonder if there isn’t a better way to do this?

I’m waiting for Slash to call. It’s already been an hour since I mailed him. Hurry the fuck up and call me.

From: no-name
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: no-title
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 10:06:02

This is a business matter. Yesterday, I dealt with the person known as “Slash”. As you’re aware, you’re next.

It looks like you don’t know about Slash, so I’ll fill you in. Free of charge. Slash was a pale, thin woman. She was a pathetic kind of woman who spent her days in front of her computer, seeking out stimulation. She was a bit above-average for a networker. She didn’t really have any other distinguishing characteristics.

What happens next depends on you.

Tokio: “Fuck, seriously…?”

Tokio: “Someone who was most likely Slash was murdered. I went to the HC Unit to see if I could confirm it. But the HC Unit was in a meeting, and I couldn’t talk with anyone. Looks like there’s nothing for me to do here…”

Was Slash killed? It doesn’t say so in the mail. I don’t know if ‘dealt with’ means that she was actually killed, or just removed from the internet, or was simply threatened. This is fucked. Whatever The Bat is doing, I don’t get any of it.

I saw the news. Yesterday alone, there were several instances of a woman dying in an accident or by suicide. Is one of those Slash? I don’t even know where Slash lives. I don’t even know if she’s really a woman or not. I’ve never wanted to meet The Bat in real life so much as now.

Tokio: “…”

newmascotresized: I think what I hate about Tokio’s chapters is that he’s an entirely passive observer, and it makes this feel like Welcome to Night Vale where every episode is the same goddamn thing over and over.

newmascotresized: You can tell that Suda was influenced by the older PC-98 visual novels, except I don’t even think those could get away with this level of “Tell, don’t show”.

From: Tokio Morishima
To: S. INOHANA
Subject: Give me info

This is about The Bat. I got a mail from him. I was using a certain networker to look into him for me. Now I got an email from The Bat saying that he ‘dealt with’ this networker. I don’t know if it’s true. Anyway, I’m attaching a mail. I want you to read it.

The first time The Bat contacted me was around the time of the Babylon thing. It was just after I started investigating Kamui. He suddenly appeared in the Scolba chatroom. You may be able to pull up some info on the guy from there.

If you’re gonna bring up the contract since I didn’t report properly on The Bat, then I’ll pay the penalty. For now I just want info on The Bat.

There’s a good chance that this mail is being monitored. If possible I want you to call me. Even a FAX would be OK. Anything is fine. I’ll be waiting for your contact.

Since I reported on The Bat to the client, I can’t turn my shit off now. Sooner or later the stuff involving Erika may get found out. I don’t care if it does. Fuck, now The Bat alone is my target.

The trap Slash set up backfired. The Bat trapped Slash. He made Slash create the trap he needed to get her. I decided to set my own online trap. It was way more simple than anything a networker would’ve thought up. I posted the message “Find The Bat, who killed Slash” on a bunch of message boards. Now I wait for him to contact me.

I’ll draw The Bat out from his dark, dank cave. That’s what I have to do.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Re: Nothing Special
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 23:21:01

I don’t get what you’re trying to say. Whether The Bat is dangerous or not, I’ll decide what I do and don’t do.

The Scolba chatroom, huh? When that happened, my connection was suddenly cut, and I kept trying to get back online, but it just wouldn’t work. I remember clearly because it felt really weird.

So that’s when The Bat showed up. Then why didn’t you tell me then? Because it’s dangerous? Did you think so from the beginning? I don’t understand.

Tokio: “Fuck, this is it…?”

Nothing from Slash. No sign that The Bat has fallen into my trap, either. Maybe he’s ignoring my immature-ass trap. He’s probably laughing to himself somewhere. But I have to act like an idiot to catch an idiot. I’ll put a new message up on the message boards. I have to get this moving.

I’ll say something like this:

“To The Bat: I’m prepared to draw you out. I have no intention of forgetting about Kamui. Sorry. Get ready and wait for me. Let’s get it on.”

newmascotresized: Tokio’s phone rings.

Tokio: “Slash…?”

newmascotresized: I hope you’re ready for a twist that makes absolutely no sense until after Lifecut.

Tokio: “Who the hell are you?”

Enzawa: “It’s me, Mr. Morishima. Have you forgotten? It’s Enzawa.”

Tokio: “Enzawa? Ah, OK… it’s been a while. You need something from me?”

Enzawa: “Yes, I do. Actually, Mr. Inohana had an emergency request for me. He says he has something he wants to tell you.”

Tokio: “From my client…”

Enzawa: “Yes.”

Tokio: “So my client asked you to deliver a message?”

Enzawa: “Yes. I was surprised, too. He wanted me to meet with you. How is your schedule?”

Tokio: “I can make time.”

Enzawa: “Then could we meet right away? I can move if necessary.”

Tokio: “OK, where should we meet?”

Enzawa: “If possible, somewhere near my work would be appreciated. Do you know the empty lot in the D2 district? Where the old Hitakatsu switchyard used to be. Let’s meet at the entrance in 30 minutes…”

Tokio: “Got it. I’ll head there now.”

Enzawa: “See you in a bit…”

Tokio: “…Fuck.”

Tokio: “The area Enzawa brought me to was apparently under construction to build the foundation of a building. with a lot of windswept, open places. The place Enzawa specified was an especially lonely empty lot, and was perfect for secret meetings.”

Tokio: “Watching Enzawa squeeze in, I ahd a thought while watching his back.”

Enzawa: “Really? I don’t really notice things like that myself. Maybe it’s because I’m not wearing my glasses.”

Tokio: “So anyway, what did you want to talk about…?”

Enzawa: “To be honest, I don’t want to talk much, Mr. Morishima.”

Tokio: “Didn’t the client ask you to do something for them?”

Enzawa: “Who?”

Tokio: “You know, Inohana. Do you really even know Inohana?”

newmascotresized: And now we finally understand why Tokio couldn’t tell Inohana that he was working with Erika. I have no idea why they waited this long to explain it.

Tokio: “Hm… and?”

Enzawa: “By the way, there’s something you’re greatly misunderstanding.”

Tokio: “Me? What?”

Enzawa: “Everything. You think that you were hired by Inohana to investigate the Kamui case. But that is not the case. He is not your client. The client has been fooling you from the very beginning.”

newmascotresized: To clarify, he means one of the megacorporations running Japan’s government. This is another reason I should’ve done this after Lifecut, because Lifecut clarifies this a lot.

Tokio: “Go on…”

Enzawa: “I was actually your supervisor.”

Tokio: “Supervisor? So you were spying on me, basically?”

Enzawa: “Well, yes.”

Tokio: “What kind of ‘syndicate’ do you mean?”

Enzawa: “I can’t tell you. But, put simply, it’s a syndicate that’s trying to prevent Kamui’s return. Listen… there are many syndicates. Some fight each other, and some cooperate with one another.”

newmascotresized: You might ask why he’s saying “Kamui’s return” and that’s another Lifecut thing.

Enzawa: “And while I am one of the people who is ‘employed’ by these syndicates, personally, I am totally neutral. I am not affiliated with anyone. I go back and forth between syndicates.”

Tokio: “I see, so that’s why…”

newmascotresized: I don’t quite get how the name makes sense.

Tokio: “So you’re some sort of double agent or something?”

Enzawa: “I was hired by your client to supervise you. So I have been watching you. But after a while, you started to become an eyesore. To me, personally, that is.”

Enzawa: “The moment you made contact with Kamui, I realized that you were getting in my way.”

Tokio: “I haven’t made contact with Kamui.”

Enzawa: “And that’s why you’re dumb. You felt it at Babylon, didn’t you? That was ‘contact’. That was your first contact. That wasn’t good. That was just terrible.”

Tokio: “I don’t get it. Why are you so fixated on Kamui?”

Enzawa: “It’s just like I told you before. I am Kamui’s neighbor. I am also Ayame’s neighbor. Back from when they were young. I am neither their friend nor foe. I have simply been watching over them this whole time.”

Enzawa: “Watching over them till the end has been my job. Seeing how Kamui and Ayame turn out. That’s why you were unnecessary. Mr. Morishima, you are a pesky worm.”

Tokio: “So you… you want Kamui to come back, then?”

Enzawa: “Yes, well, in a way. That’s what I mean when I say that things haven’t been working out the way your client thought. But to be honest, I don’t even care about Kamui. The final key is actually Ayame.”

newmascotresized: The final key is not, in fact, Ayame. Suda pretty much forgets she exists after this game.

Enzawa: “You don’t even come close to grasping Ayame’s brilliance. Do you understand…? This is the most crucial point. I… aah… I’ve devoted my entire life to Ayame.”

Tokio: “Dumbass…”

Enzawa: “Is that so…? I just cannot seem to see eye to eye with you. You simply don’t understand my feelings.”

Tokio: “I don’t even want to understand. You’re obviously just a little toady. I mean, sorry, but it’s true.”

newmascotresized: A gunshot rings out.

newmascotresized: Followed by another.

Tokio: “Haah… he’s dead… he… The Bat is dead… he really died. Right in front of my eyes… Who…”

Tokio: “…Was it the client? My… my…? what… So it’s you… En-… the fuck up…”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Erika Yukawa
Subject: Re^2: Nothing Special

I’m stopping all investigation into Kamui. I’m done. You need to stop right away, too.

The Bat is dead. He tried to kill me, and got killed. The Bat was hired by a syndicate to watch me. The whole time. But he got anoyed and decided to kill me. But he wasn’t the only one watching me. Someone killed The Bat.

Listen, Kamui is too dangerous. Back off. I’ll contact you again.

newmascotresized: Tokio’s been chain-smoking this entire time, even though his pack of cigarettes got shot. I didn’t show all of them, but he smokes like three cigarettes in the span of a couple of minutes.

Tokio: “I’m fine…”

(E) wtf?
(T) the syndicate was bigger than id thought

(E) what kind?
(T) no idea, but they kill people over nothing
(E) you said the bat had been killed

(T) yeah, right in front of me. he called me out and he was someone id met before. a kamui believer. or actually an ayame believer. anyways he was watching me. but he decided to kill me for personal reasons to get me out of the way. there was something about kamui he didnt want found out.

(E) I dont understand. do you have some sort of info on kamui thats worth getting killed over?

(T) he was fucking crazy i don’t know what the fuck his deal was but he thought i was getting in his way.

(E) maybe you were getting too close to something really big.
(T) maybe
(E) so quitting here is admitting that you lost. youre just gonna give up now?
(T) i almost got killed you know

(E) i know its dangerous. ive been prepared for danger since i started this job. its a journalists duty to expose whats going on right?

(E) im saying it because its true.

(T) fine. ill tell you everything. this client hired me to look into kamui. you know that right?
(E) no shit
(T) and that client turned out to be your husband. yeah, inohana.
(E) wtf

(T) but there was more. i knew there was. i got the request via email from your husband, but according to the bat, the client simply used inohanas name to fool me. the actual client was someone from the syndicate.
(E) what the hell is going on?

(T) i had thought inohana was my client. thats why i got you involved. i thought you would act as my shield, like insurance. i knew that it would be dangerous. the money was too good. so i thought id use you as a shield in case inohana gave me any dangerous orders
(E) what a dick

(T) yeah. but the client turned out not to be your husband after all. so im worried now. this isnt something we can handle on our own

(E) hold on. in that case, keep using me as a shield. whoever the client is, if its dangerous then we should face it together

(T) no way. im gonna disappear for awhile
(E) idiot. why would you do that?
(T) i have to

(E) dont be stupid. you really are dumb. dont just disappear, i cant let you
(T) erika, ive made a decision
(E) i cant believe this. im heading over there now.

Erika: “Liar. You’re not thinking of running away, are you?”

Tokio: “I want you to take my turtle… just for a while.”

Erika: “Turtle?”

Tokio: “Yeah, Red.”

Erika: “Tokio…”

Tokio: “Please.”

Erika: “OK…”

Tokio: “Don’t be afraid… Erika will be here to pick you up soon… take care, Red…”

newmascotresized: And that’s it. This is the moment where Tokio’s life goes to shit, and it never really gets any better. Next up is Lifecut, the final Transmitter chapter.

newmascotresized: Before we go into Lifecut, there’s something I need to talk about briefly, that being a manga by the name of Kurayami Dance.

newmascotresized: In Lifecut, we’ll find two issues of it - they’re directly related to the Comic Beam issues we found in Decoyman. Comic Beam was the magazine that ran Kurayami Dance in 2015.

newmascotresized: So what is Kurayami Dance, and why is it important? To understand that, we need to go back to a game called Shadows of the Damned, which released in 2011. There’s no LP of it on the archive, but supergreatfriend did one on Youtube.

newmascotresized: Near the end of the early 2000s, Suda pitched an idea for a game called Kurayami, which would have been an action game that was also a direct sequel to The Silver Case.

newmascotresized: The main draw was that it had three big names working on it - Shinji Mikami in the director’s seat, Suda as the lead writer, and Akira Yamaoka doing the soundtrack.

newmascotresized: As I understand it, what happened was that they decided they needed money to make the game they wanted to make, and as a result sought out a publisher. The good news is they got one. The bad news is that the publisher they got was Electronic Arts.

newmascotresized: Naturally, EA wanted to turn Kurayami into an overly focus-grouped pile of shit because they thought it’d sell more. They got their way, and we got Shadows of the Damned.

newmascotresized: Suda has never gotten over this, to the point where he named the main villain of Travis Strikes Again after John Riccitello, EA’s CEO at the time.

newmascotresized: Just before the re-release of The Silver Case, Suda decided that he’d instead turn his original idea for Kurayami into a manga - that being Kurayami Dance.

newmascotresized: Kurayami Dance is a deconstruction of the idea of “Kill the Past”, in that it’s about a guy who nearly kills himself going 300 kilometers per hour on his motorcycle.

newmascotresized: He wakes up after three years of being in a coma to find out that all the rich people have moved into a private enclave run by a guy who is VERY reminiscent of the mayor in The Silver Case.

image

newmascotresized: By the way, Tokio shows up at the start of it.

newmascotresized: Anyway, the plot is that the main character works at a funeral home, and is given a mission to bring a big, expensive coffin to a funeral inside Kurogane City, the enclave of the rich people.

newmascotresized: When he gets there, he finds out that the entire city is having a massive suicide epidemic due to people being “too happy” with their lives.

newmascotresized: Anyway, the main character’s catchphrase is “I’m in a hurry to live”, compared to Kamui’s “Kill the Life” that he adopts after this game.

newmascotresized: I can see why EA didn’t like it, though. Kurayami Dance is very anti-capitalist and at the same time, very political. It’s not the kind of safe money-earner that EA likes to shit out.

newmascotresized: From what I understand, Suda is looking to potentially make Kurayami a thing now that Grasshopper has money, so hopefully we’ll get to see it someday.

newmascotresized: Next up is Lifecut, complete with a bunch of pictures by Salty Vanilla.

Summary

newmascotresized: Welcome to Lifecut. The plot is going to move faster in this chapter alone than it did for the rest of the game. It’s also what directly sets up Flower Sun and Rain as well as The 25th Ward.

newmascotresized: I’m not sure that I’m going to do The 25th Ward. It’s a lot of text, and I think I have a harder time commentating over it because the writing doesn’t completely suck.

newmascotresized: When we have a Transmitter chapter starting with Tokio, you know the plot is finally about to get serious.

Tokioalt: “Fierce winds from a hurricane rock the shores of the islands. Kamui Uehara suddenly vanished from the hospital where he was in custody, announcing his unexpected recovery.”

Tokioalt: “In the A1 district, at the center of the 24 Wards, after a month-long silence, Kamui murders seven important government officials. Even now, he remains at large.”

Tokioalt: “Tadafumi Kuramochi, the Ministry of Education Supreme Advisor; Minori Sakurai, Temporary League of Nations Commander; Daizaburo Taki, Former International Environment Agency Vice-Minister;”

newmascotresized: Nothing quite says “alt-history” like the League of Nations still existing.

Tokioalt: “Collect Lab Curator Kanji Ishino, Youth Education Center; Chief Physician Tokuzen Umihara, St. Beckham University Hospital Psychiatry Department; Victoria Therapy Representative Shogo Yoshimura;”

Tokioalt: “And Republican Party Development Authority Chief Yoshitsune Onuki. All officials who have made great contributions to the country. And yet, Kamui isn’t showing any signs of slowing down…”

Tokioalt: “He gets off on the reaction to these bizarre crimes, disrupting the stability of the network. It’s like some old-school killer’s been revived.”

Tokioalt:“Seems like punishment for the Method Tank rebellion… that’s all this crazy son of a bitch is.”

newmascotresized: That guy in the middle? The one looking at the camera? That guy has seen some shit.

newmascotresized: This is… a little weird. As I understand it, names written entirely in katakana like that are usually reserved for trying to transliterate foreign names with sounds that may not exist in Japanese.

newmascotresized: I believe they did this for Evan in Ni no Kuni 2, but I don’t quite understand why they’d do it for a name like Kamui’s. My best guess is that Suda did this to make Kamui seem otherworldly.

newmascotresized: I don’t know what any of those kanji mean, since I gave up on trying to learn Japanese, but I can tell the first three characters are Kamui’s name.

newmascotresized: It’s eerie how relevant some of this is to today.

newmascotresized: What I love about this scene is that Suda stopped this from becoming that godawful trainwreck from Persona 5 with Kasumire and Akechi arguing about the Phantom Thieves by using actual film footage.

newmascotresized: I’m not sure who this is supposed to be, but my theory is that it’s the mayor.

newmascotresized: Suda actually got someone to play Tokio, and I’m not sure how I feel about this. I mean, I got the impression that the reason the artstyle is different between Transmitter and Placebo is to sort of showcase the difference in world view between Big Dick (and by extension Kusabi) and Tokio.

newmascotresized: But here, we have an “objective” look at Tokio - Tokio’s portrait was pretty clearly modeled after this guy, and it kinda breaks the whole visual metaphor Suda had going on.

Tokioalt: “More than ‘met him’, I guess it would be more accurate to say that I ‘ran into him’, rather. I became deeply interested in the man known as ‘Kamui’. It’s not that I was drawn to him…”

Tokioalt: “Not exactly. It’s more about what he symbolizes. Like… an ideal? I feel like he set the bar for what we would call ‘perfection’ higher than we would ever have been able to.”

Tokioalt: “I believe Kamui feels that if we were able to surpass that bar, we would achieve true perfection. But most people simply don’t understand this.”

Tokioalt: “They think his ‘ideals’ are nothing but murder, or some kind of fascism. For better or for worse, that’s not exactly incorrect. His actions are being watched by all kinds of people.”

Tokioalt: “Also, at the very least, he’s doing what most can’t, so many appreciate and sympathize with that. Some even say he represents hope itself.”

Munakata: “This unmarked group of killers who seem to be under Kamui’s care is known as a secret society on the west side, but also as secret agents on the east. But I’m wondering…”

newmascotresized: Just so it’s clear, the implication is that this Trump gang killed the politicians we just heard about, not Kamui himself.

Munakata: “Maybe they’re connected to this country’s government…”

Kusabi: “The government… that’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. Just like Kamui…”

Munakata: “Another joke… Tetsu, you know, right? The mystery surrounding Kamui… the rage that followed his appearance.”

Kusabi: “Well, that’s ridiculous. He’s not some mystical fuckin’ beast. Just a criminal.”

newmascotresized: Please give me a Monster Hunter crossover where you hunt Kamui (Kamui is a dragon now for no good reason) and his classification is “Mystical fuckin’ beast”.

Munakata: “Alright, then. How else do you explain shady organizations that get desperate like Kamui?”

Kusabi: “Of course idiots like you would turn those shitbags into some kind of fantastic monster. It’s always the crazy-ass romanticists that get the general public worked up.”

Munakata: “Can we get the sermon later… anyway, the TRUMP affects your people as well. There are troublemakers all over the place, including your group, right?”

Kusabi: “Yeah, well… I’m not interested in coworker-related bullshit.”

Munakata: “The tech side works on development geared toward technology, while the civic side works to maintain the city’s purity. They’re each opposing organizations. They would never let this spill to the surface.”

newmascotresized: I’ll admit this part is a little weird in that Munakata is explaining the government to Kusabi, who has worked in the 24th Ward since its creation.

Kusabi: “And…? Should I give a shit?”

Munakata: “Figure the rest out for yourself. This is all I can say…”

Kusabi: “So you just wanted to say that, then keep the rest to yourself?”

Munakata: “I value my life, so that’s all I’ll say…”

Kusabi: “Well, at least keep your ass out of trouble. Thanks for the goddamn fairytale.”

Munakata: “You’re welcome…”

Munakata: “Really? It’s just gossip. An exchange of information, you might say.”

Munakata: “Are you going to kill me…? In that case, just a little more…”

Munakata: “Dying as a chatter box isn’t very cool, right?”

newmascotresized: The screen goes black, and you can hear a single gunshot.

Nakategawa: “In Heinous Crimes Unit 2, Sumio Kodai has been dismissed. Actually, because of this, Unit 2 is finished. Kusabi, you’ll be moved to Unit 1, basically head over to the main force of the HC Unit. Got it…?”

newmascotresized: I have a feeling that given how much Kusabi and Chizuru hate each other, that won’t last very long.

Kusabi: “It’s an order, right…?”

Nakategawa: “Yes, it is. Additionally, Chief Director Kotobuki has been promoted to Deputy Commissioner. Making me, Nakategawa, your next Chief Director.”

newmascotresized: Truly, the worst future.

Nakategawa: “Let’s keep up the good work. A notice from Central. They’ve started an intense crime eradication campaign. Obviously, this includes dealing with Kamui.”

Nakategawa: “Central has doubts about the HC Unit’s system, so in order to help out our investigators, they felt it necessary to call in a couple of experts. Let me introduce our newcomers, Mikoshiba and Natsume.”

Nakategawa: “Natsume’s father is the same Natsume from the Special Forces Unit. I think you know him pretty well, Timrod…”

Nakategawa: “So Mikoshiba, you work with Kusabi. Natsume, you work with Timrod… are we clear? And lastly, all HC Unit agents are to head to the International Environment building.”

Nakategawa: “We’ve received word that Kamui has infiltrated the premises. Lead him to the roof of the building. Don’t worry about capturing him, just make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else.”

Nakategawa: “That is what our division does. Dismissed.”

newmascotresized: Where a lot of the other chapters were slow, Lifecut is just hit after hit.

Kusabi: “It’s fine. I’m a positive guy. I’m ‘forward-thinking’, or whatever it’s called.”

Kotobuki: “It’s going to get colder…”

Kusabi: “That’s not like you, old man. What’s wrong?”

Kotobuki: “Tetsu…”

Kusabi: “Yeah…?”

Kotobuki: “Look after Natsume’s daughter for me. It’ll be tough for Timrod, but…”

Kusabi: “You mean Sakura? Then I guess Natsume is…”

Kotobuki: “He hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”

Kusabi: “Oh, so he’s still alive.”

Kotobuki: “Natsume’s daughter doesn’t know. The department is working in strict secrecy.”

Kusabi: “Why did the department…”

Kotobuki: “Those who have encountered Kamui and lived to tell the tale are quite rare.”

Kusabi: “I don’t fuckin’ get it. Timrod’s the same, right? And that Morishima reporter…”

newmascotresized: If you’ve been following the plot, this line might not make a lot of sense - both Enzawa and Kusabi have said that Tokio saw Kamui and lived, but we know that Tokio only saw Ayame… if he even saw her.

newmascotresized: We also know that Sumio saw Kamui, but they don’t mention him as having seen Kamui. Weirdly enough, Sumio hasn’t met Kamui yet.

Kotobuki: “Morishima…?”

Kusabi: “The news reporter.”

Kotobuki: “Tetsu… don’t dig too deep. There’s no going back on this. They’re going after Morikawa, too. Ever since that report was leaked, the factions have been coming up to the surface. We’re going to be crushed…”

Kusabi: “Old man…?”

Kotobuki: “What a joke… I’ve got my hands tied and I can’t make a move.”

Kusabi: “What’d you just say?”

newmascotresized: One thing I should point out is that there’s a heartbeat noise in the background that gets louder as the conversation goes on.

Kotobuki: “I’m sorry.”

Kusabi: “…”

Kotobuki: “It’s all FSO… I’m leaving things in your hands now.”

newmascotresized: There’s a gunshot, and the heartbeat noise stops.

Kusabi: “You just rest easy. But… how far involved do we have to get in this?”

newmascotresized: This? This scene right here? I love this fucking scene. You have that one throwaway line in Spectrum about how Kotobuki can’t stand the phrase “can’t be helped” and… god this scene rules.

newmascotresized: Lifecut really is the best part of this game.

Nakategawa: “I have an announcement for all agents participating in this mission. Our goal is the disposal of the target Kamui Uehara. If you find Kamui, lead him to the roof of the International Environment building.”

Nakategawa: “The elimination team will be waiting at an adjacent building. Sharpshooters will be responsible for disposal. Engagement by any other agent is strictly prohibited. Personnel are not to set foot on this roof.”

Nakategawa: “Shake the beehive, and you’ll get stung. I repeat. The plan is to dispose of Kamui Uehara.”

Nakategawa: “Starting from the basement, we are to use every available route to make our way to the roof. The phrase ‘don’t let a single rat escape’ is to be taken literally. We are to corner Kamui.”

Nakategawa: “Once Kamui shows himself on the roof, that will be the end of our work, folks. The elimination will be carried out by the sharpshooters I mentioned beforehand. Everyone, please proceed with caution…”

Nakategawa: “Personnel who do not abide by these orders will be severely punished. I’m just hoping there won’t be any screw-ups.”

Nakategawa: “Head to the next floor using that elevator. All of the building’s controls are linked to the strategic command center. You just have to get in the elevator. We’ll be controlling where it goes.”

Nakategawa: “If you’re ready, then quickly get into the elevator.”

newmascotresized: Every floor of this building has exactly the same layout - there’s a double door on the left and a contact point hidden somewhere in the next room.

Nakategawa: “We can pinpoint his location, but he’s not responding by radio. He should be somewhere on that floor. Go check it out.”

newmascotresized: There’s a bunch of blue doors that don’t do anything. You just kind of wander around until you find the contact point - in this case, it’s in a corner on the other side from where we came in.

Kusabi: “There’s a lot of crazy shit going on. And, well… I just can’t trust anyone anymore. Watch your back, son.”

Kusabi: “You’re Natsume’s daughter, huh…”

Sakura: “I’m Sakura. I looked up to my father… and to you. That’s why I chose this job.”

Kusabi: “Don’t get flustered. And trust this:”

Kusabi: “That’s what I’m after.”

Sakura: “…”

Kusabi: “Big Dick… teach this young lady well. Make her the best.”

Nakategawa: “Enough. Get back to the elevator.”

Nakategawa: “The main force has pushed Kamui up to the 22nd floor. You patrol the 19th floor.”

Nakategawa: “There’s something strange going on with Morikawa’s signal. He should be on that floor somewhere. Hurry up and check it out.”

Morikawa: “Oh, yeah… do you know Tetsu?”

Sakura: “I just met him…”

Morikawa: “I see… Tetsu killed the boss. Condolences. Boss told me to put Tetsu to sleep, permanently. That was my promise to the boss.”

newmascotresized: If Big Dick wasn’t a chinchilla and could use a gun, Morikawa would already be dead.

Morikawa: “Timrod… Kamui is…no, never mind… don’t worry about it. See you around.”

newmascotresized: We encounter Chizuru on the way out.

Chizuru: “Morikawa had Tetsu… he had to be stopped.”

Sakura: “They say Kusabi killed Deputy Commissioner Kotobuki…”

Chizuru: “How do you…?”

Sakura: “Just now, Morikawa…”

Chizuru: “Morikawa… thanks.”

Sakura: “Please, hold on a moment.”

Chizuru: “What?”

Sakura: “Why are we going after Kamui like this? Isn’t there another way for him to…”

Chizuru: “We don’t have time to debate crime and punishment. If you want, you can answer those questions in your own thesis or something. Right now, we just need to follow orders.”

newmascotresized: Big Dick’s thesis on Crime and Punishment is that Dostoyevsky is boring.

Sakura: “I just don’t understand.”

Chizuru: “You can understand even without understanding. That is how it is out on these streets.”

newmascotresized: This sounds a lot like all the dialogue in EYE: Divine Cybermancy.

Sakura: “Tell me, please! After Kamui dies, it’ll be too late!”

Chizuru: “Fine then, I’ll tell you…”

Chizuru: “The media amplifies this, encourages it even. Kamui will exist within that society for as long as that virus remains. If we don’t stop him, then this virus will never stop… and that is why he must be executed.”

Chizuru: “You can’t analyze the mechanics behind crime. Because it lurks in the subconscious. Removing Kamui from the people’s consciousness requires a truly awful execution…”

newmascotresized: Remember how Chizuru was big on data and the mechanics behind crime back in Spectrum? I wonder if… nah, she couldn’t possibly…

Chizuru: “That’s why Nakategawa is leading him to the roof. And to make sure it’s all captured live, there are teams of camera crews on standby. Understand?”

newmascotresized: Okay, so your plan is basically the same as Yaldabaoth’s at the end of Persona 5, only this is 1999 so technically Hashino ripped that off too.

Sakura: “But why…?”

Chizuru: “The HC Unit was created to deal with people. Do you even know what your father did?”

Sakura: “My father…? What do you mean ‘what my father did’?”

Chizuru: “I shouldn’t tease you so much. You’ll understand soon enough…”

Sakura: “Don’t you even try changing the subject!”

Chizuru: “Stupid girls like you… really are a pain… I bet you think you can do anything, don’t you? Well, good luck. I’m sure it’ll be no problem for you…”

Sakura: “What the hell does that mean…?”

Chizuru: “Timrod… you understand what Kamui’s about, right? Don’t you believe him. Kamui is not one with whom you want to get too familiar. And whatever Nakategawa is planning is extremely dangerous…”

Chizuru: “The same goes for Kusabi and Morikawa. They’re probably getting caught up in some crazy stuff. I just hope you’re not one of these frontier types. Also… do something about this stupid girl. <3”

Sakura: “I won’t forget this…”

Chizuru: “Bye…”

Nakategawa: “Enough. Get back to the elevator.”

Nakategawa: “We’re short on people. Based on how things develop, I might have you meet up with the main force. Take care.”

newmascotresized: On the next floor, we find Mikoshiba almost immediately after opening the wooden doors.

Sakura: “…”

Mikoshiba: “Hm? What is it? You’re Timrod, right? Have you seen Kusabi?”

Mikoshiba: “I got a bad feeling about this… they say that guy killed the former Chief Director… and Nakategawa told me to dispose of him. Good thing I got this story so quickly. Guess I’m just lucky, huh?”

Sakura: “Yeah…”

Mikoshiba: “Hey, Timrod. If you see Kusabi, let me know. You too, Natsume. I don’t want Morikawa and Hachisuka getting ahead. I’m counting on you guys…”

newmascotresized: Fucking called it.

Mikoshiba: “I don’t really get what’s going on here.”

Nakategawa: “Timrod, there’ve been some developments. I need you back at the elevator, ASAP.”

Nakategawa: “The main force is cornering Kamui. Make use of that Special Forces Unit experience. Get to the elevator immediately. Move to the 52nd floor.”

Nakategawa: “Listen carefully, Timrod. There’s a pinpoint on that floor other than Kamui. Go check it out immediately. If necessary, dispose of them.”

Tokioalt: “Sorry, I mean Timrod.”

Sakura: “Who’re you?”

Tokioalt: “A newcomer, huh…?”

Sakura: “A civilian, right…?”

Tokioalt: “A civilian? Oh no. I’m just a journalist.”

Sakura: “This area is dangerous. You need to get out of here. There’s a possibility you may be mistaken for the suspect.”

Tokioalt: “It’s fine, I’m used to it…”

Sakura: “You could be killed.”

Tokioalt: “Really?? I’m out then.”

newmascotresized: I like that Tokio nearly destroys his life over the Enzawa thing, but then rushes into a building with an armed hitsquad trying to execute someone in order to convince people that Kamui is dead.

Sakura: “Please make it quick.”

Tokioalt: “Later.”

Sakura: “I need you to go, now.”

Tokioalt: “Alright, alright…”

Nakategawa: “Alright, folks. It’s time to wrap this mission up. Get back to the elevator.”

Nakategawa: “Reinforcements report immediately. Just leave the rooftop disposal to the sharpshooters. Move accordingly. Over and out.”

Nakategawa: “Timrod, you’re the closest. Lead him into the stairwell leading to the roof. You and Natsume split up.”

Sakura: “Got it!”

Nakategawa: “Be careful.”

newmascotresized: Welp, Kamui’s dead. Or, well, “dead”.

newmascotresized: Next time, we’ll find out the truth behind Kamui.

Summary

Tokioalt: “Kamui’s remains, turned into Swiss cheese by the sharpshooters, were quickly dealt with by the crime scene clean-up crew. Following Kamui’s death, there were, obviously, no big changes felt within society.”

Tokioalt: “And all those media crews that had followed Kamui so closely were stubbornly silent. As Kamui was executed, so too were the words of the people.”

Tokioalt: “And the few who saw hope in Kamui also lost a part of themselves. I, too… lost a part of myself. And so… Kusabi, Morikawa, and Chizuru from the 24 Wards HC Unit were never seen again after Kamui’s execution.”

Tokioalt: “And in the midst of this commotion, a single man kept at his work. It was Timrod…”

newmascotresized: Damn right. I’ve been watching though a partial LP of Flower Sun and Rain recently, and all I can say is that we’re lucky that this version of The Silver Case even exists.

newmascotresized: Originally, Suda had wanted a DS port of this game. Thankfully, that never happened, though it might’ve made the localization of the DS version of FSR less garbage.

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Timrod
Subject:
Date:

I guess you realize that, up until now, we never really got along very well. And now? To be honest, I’m really not sure.

But whatever the case, I’ve decided to trust you. To entrust you with the future, if you don’t mind the cliche. But this is not an exaggeration. The future was once something that unexpectedly changed from one hand to another. Like a roll of the dice.

There’s a man called Kinjo. He’s an expert in illegal investigations and he heads his own illicit organization, and the HC unit has been working with him. Well, actually, the organization is technically legal. Anyway, he should be able to explain quite a few things to you. After that, you’ll probably understand what it is that you need to do. Or at least, that’s what I think.

And the die will be cast again. Thanks. And, I guess… you’re not so bad after all.

newmascotresized: This is the same place that Big Dick visited at the end of Kamuidrome.

newmascotresized: On the fourth floor, just outside the Flower Sun and Rain reference, is the first Kurayami Dance. In case you missed it, I explained this whole thing two posts up.

newmascotresized: If you’d like to read Kurayami Dance for yourself, the people at that “believeinthenet” site translated it.

newmascotresized: Just know that there’s a spoiler for the end of Lifecut in it, but it’s not something you would know is a spoiler unless you’ve actually finished it.

newmascotresized: It also has a lot of references to Suda’s other games, including two or three chapters in which the protagonist goes through Flower Sun and Rain all over again.

newmascotresized: Oh, and then there’s this:

newmascotresized: Sounds like a good time. I should LP it someday.

newmascotresized: Salty Vanilla’s been busy, but I absolutely would’ve had a pic here of Big Dick the chinchilla thinking this guy is a Dreamcast come to life and running out of the building.

Kinjo: “Do you remember me? No, I don’t suspect that you do. Since, you know, we’ve never met before. Don’t be so tense. You’ve got nothing to worry about…”

newmascotresized: I like to think he opens his mouth and the Dreamcast VMU “out of battery” beep comes out, and Big Dick is traumatized for life.

Kinjo: “I’ve got a message from Morikawa. He wanted to see you, but I didn’t ask him anything else. So don’t ask me a lot of questions either. I’m just a messenger.”

Kinjo: “Oh, yeah… I forgot about introductions. I’m Takeshi Kinjo. I run a Back-up Shop. Even though Morikawa helped me out, you could say that I have been contracted for a variety of jobs.”

Kinjo: “A ‘backup shop’ runs illegal investigations, like a private police organization. We mostly work with private businesses. If all goes well, then we just disappear.”

Kinjo: “But if there’s a mistake in the plan… it’s the end of the line, literally. Heads are cut, bodies dumped away in a liquid nitrogen tank…”

Kinjo: “Well, all that unfortunate business aside, I’ve been given a very important job from Morikawa. I’m to entrust all of these riddles to you, Timrod. This might take a minute…”

Kinjo: “Need a bathroom break before we get started?”

newmascotresized: You might’ve noticed this in a couple of the longer conversations, and now I can finally explain why: it’s because in the PS1 version, you could only save at specific points, rather than anywhere.

Kinjo: “Yes, one of them is a syndicate involved in the redevelopment business in the 24 Wards. This may sound suspicious, but you know the truth.”

Kinjo: “In the redevelopment business, large amounts of money change hands, and this is a competition to try and take that money. The group that can get this money is guaranteed capital.”

Kinjo: “In other words, they’ll have the country in their hands. The 40-year plan for the 24 Wards included the relocation of the capital. Government agencies are based in the 24 Wards.”

newmascotresized: If you’ve played Killer7, a lot of this will sound familiar. Killer7’s entire plot was basically this but in the United States.

Kinjo: “That makes this the heart of the government. And if you control the heart? That’s right. You may use this country in any way you wish: through the distribution of electricity, by controlling the flow of information, through the arrangement of public transportation.”

Kinjo: “There are games about building cities, right? Separate the land, invest in high-quality properties, absolute control over administrations. It’s all huge game.”

newmascotresized: That last sentence isn’t a typo on my part.

Kinjo: “There was a fight that took place 20 years ago, below the surface of it all. At that time, people from the syndicates were taken out in a series of murders.”

Kinjo: “The eldest members of the syndicates were killed. So, ‘silver’… a simple name, don’t you think? That’s when these idiots gave the serial murderer a name: ‘Kamui’…”

Kinjo: “And the groups that gave him that name were the tech faction and the civic faction. The TRO/CCO alliance. Those factions currently make up a major portion of the police force:”

Kinjo: “Between Central and Public Security, Central represents the tech faction’s TRO while Public Security represents the civic faction’s CCO. This area was originally run by secret societies.”

newmascotresized: And now we have the truth about Kamui. Kamui isn’t even real - he’s effectively a bogeyman made up by the TRO/CCO alliance to cover up a bunch of assassinations.

newmascotresized: This means that like the execution we saw last update, the person Kusabi arrested in 1979 was probably also a scapegoat.

Kinjo: “The last faction, the frontier faction… basically, the conservative party’s FSO. This created a clear distinction in the government’s war. Because of Kamui, the frontier faction has been forced into disassembly.”

newmascotresized: Oh yeah, the timeline on the game’s website explains why the weird government factions exist. I’ll talk a little more about that at the end of the update, since it’s going to require some background knowledge.

Kinjo: “Kamui doesn’t kill people over personal grudges. He kills for the syndicates. It has nothing to do with resentment. It’s just a conditioned reflex. This is how the syndicates operate. It’s a free for all.”

Kinjo: “It’s a fight to win. If you don’t fight, you don’t win. The frontier faction wants to win, so they’ll keep fighting. It’s not about goals.”

Kinjo: “It’s just a natural instinct. A spat between parties, with each faction trying to outwit the other. A catfight, if you will, a real shit show. It’s just that this quarrel has reached a larger scale. That’s just how it is…”

Kinjo: “The FSO, the ones shaking up the previous agreement between the TRO and CCO. That’s the answer to all this turmoil.”

newmascotresized: We first heard of the Shelter Kids in Decoyman - at this point, we know that the Kamui we met there, as well as Ayame, are both Shelter Kids.

newmascotresized: This, by the way, is another plot point Suda re-used in Killer7.

Kinjo: “That’s what Kamui Uehara is. Kamui lives outside of simple existence. If you open that storage device, Kamui will be resurrected.”

Kinjo: “Someone from the ‘Kamui’ stock will be chosen, and he’ll be called back into existence once again. Except next time, the name may not be Kamui Uehara…”

newmascotresized: At its core, the entire Kamui plot is basically a more intelligent version of Shido’s plan in Persona 5 to kill his opposition and blame it on the Phantom Thieves.

Kinjo: “Sorry… my time is up. It seems I’ve been called as well. Timrod, I leave the rest to you.”

Kusabi: “I thought for sure…”

Munakata: “I wouldn’t be done in by such a small fry.”

Kusabi: “That’s too bad, eh. Come to settle the score, then?”

newmascotresized: The dialog makes it seem like Kusabi sent that hitman, but he didn’t.

Munakata: “No, I’m fine. Actually, I quite like you. I don’t want to kill you.”

Kusabi: “Well, look at you. Seems you’ve grown up, Munakata.”

Munakata: “Let’s set the jokes aside…”

Kusabi: “Sure, just for a sec… hey, maybe you can help me out, huh? Could you just give me a summary of what exactly the fuck ‘Kamui’ is?”

Munakata: “Oh, Tetsu… just where did you come from?”

Kusabi: “Huh? What the fuck does that mean?”

Munakata: “Your faction.”

Kusabi: “I’m no fucking politician.”

Munakata: “Don’t try to hide it…”

Kusabi: “Hm… I guess the old man bit the dust…”

Munakata: “You killed him, didn’t you?”

Kusabi: “Well, yeah. He was saying something about the FSO…”

Munakata: “The FSO are the conservatives. They used Kamui for their fake world restoration. They’re really just trying to recover their political power.”

Munakata: “Then the FSO will control the next capital-to-be, the 24 Wards.”

Kusabi: “The government…? I don’t get it, they’ve all lost their fuckin’ minds.”

Munakata: “There are two large syndicates and one tiny one. While the two larger groups go at it, the smaller group is making a grab for the country. And their soldier is Kamui. This is the real situation…”

Kusabi: "Huh… thanks for keeping it simple. Nice and simple… anyway, I got it. So, Munakata… what do we do now?’

Munakata: “Who knows…? Maybe we should just do whatever we please…”

Kusabi: “Oh yeah? You really think so? Really? So I should just take care of those evil little shits then, right?”

Munakata: “That’ll be easy.”

Kusabi: “I know exactly who to go after. Thanks.”

Munakata: “…”

Nakategawa: “Unfortunately, we did lose a few of our own. Kusabi and Morikawa… these two abandoned the mission. If you should discover their whereabouts, you have the authorization to dispose of them on sight.”

Nakategawa: “Hachisuka has already started taking care of preparations for their disposal. Mikoshiba, Natsume, I want you two to prioritize their elimination.”

Nakategawa: “This is your debut in the elimination business. Now get this done!”

Nakategawa: “With Kamui Uehara’s elimination, the crime ring, TRUMP, was forced to reboot. Now TRUMP is comprised of four people. Here are the materials.”

newmascotresized: Donald, Don Junior, Eric, and Ivanka?

Nakategawa: “They are experts, so be careful… as it is extremely likely that TRUMP will try to contact Timrod. I want you to keep your eyes on him, Natsume. Mikoshiba, you use my route to search for their hideout.”

Mikoshiba: “But… how can we turn on our friends so easily…?”

newmascotresized: Nakategawa just signed his own death warrant.

Nakategawa: “It’s not like I want to do it, either. It’s just our job.”

Mikoshiba: “Is this an order…?”

Nakategawa: “An order? You could say so. Would that make it easier? Just do as you’re told.”

Sakura: “Is that really how you feel?”

Nakategawa: “Is that a bad thing? Look, it doesn’t matter… this is bullshit.”

Mikoshiba: “What’s with him…? No matter how many orders are given, to come to such a clean decision to just kill a former colleague!”

Sakura: “There aren’t many people who could do that.”

Mikoshiba: “What do you mean?”

Sakura: “You’re kinda slow. Nakategawa’s upset now… he’s upset about having to take out his friends. More than anyone…”

From: Takeshi Kinjo
To: Superstar
Subject:
Date:

I deeply regret that lack of hospitality the last time we met. I wanted to offer some tea, but I was well aware that it was not the time nor place.

And now, on to business. There’s a smoke shop called Mulholland, run by a cool old lady. If you go quickly, she should definitely be there. The vending machine is pretty cool, too. It has ‘Placebo’ written on it. I’m pretty sure it should be right next to it. If you’re bored, you should stop by for a visit. The future is sure to bloom

P.S.: Give my regards to the old lady.

newmascotresized: Huh. I wonder what happened if someone wanted a, uh, “Thunder Lemon”. There’s a lot of very slow-moving scenes here and I’m going to skip a significant number of them because they’re identical.

newmascotresized: This staircase takes the camera a full minute or more to navigate.

newmascotresized: We then spend another 30 seconds or so going down this hallway.

newmascotresized: That leads us to this room, with this weird crystal thing in it.

newmascotresized: The crystal room has a second door that leads to an escalator.

newmascotresized: I’d just like to point out that several minutes have elapsed between when we got to the smoke shop and now.

Tokioalt: “You shouldn’t go any further than this. It’s a trap and the risk is too great. I’ll go back. From here on out, it’s a different world. Our kind of ‘common sense’ will be of no use there. It’s a strange place.”

newmascotresized: Tokio’s right. This is kind of the line where the surrealism you see in all of Suda’s other works starts to take over.

Tokioalt: “Their mental state is unstable. Probably from Kamui’s influence. The guy with the glasses, what the hell was his name…? Oh, ‘Morikawa’.”

newmascotresized: So uh… this is the point where I’m going to spoil something in Flower Sun and Rain. We never find out what’s in the notebook in this game.

newmascotresized: Tokio appears at the very end of FSR - this isn’t really a spoiler because he’s in the intro video by name - and tells the main character of FSR that the notebook is blank.

newmascotresized: Tokio’s reasoning is that Morikawa gave him the blank notebook as a way of telling him to succeed Morikawa.

Tokioalt: “Well, it seems I know too damn much. It’s a long road ahead… Timrod, don’t die out there.”

newmascotresized: There’s a two-minute segment that’s just flashbacks to the older stories that I’m going to skip.

newmascotresized: Once we enter Thanatos Train Station, we have exactly three hours to complete the dungeon, during which we have to find all five mirror shards and make a run to save Jihei’s Persona.

Morikawa: “During the redevelopment 20 years ago, there was something made in top secret…”

Morikawa: “Oh, Timrod, you made it here in one piece. This’ll be our last meeting… from now on, the war is on. And I really wanted to get out my last will and testament.”

Morikawa: “Tetsu and Chizuru are both gone. Timrod, you’re about the only one left. Will you hear me out?”

Morikawa: “Listen, Timrod! You have to find Kamui. Don’t get distracted by the chaos. Search out the truth with your mind’s eye.”

newmascotresized: I think when he was writing this game, Suda did intend for the notebook to be important, but then he changed his mind during production when making Flower Sun and Rain.

newmascotresized: Remember Tokio’s nightmare? With the train?

newmascotresized: Wait, that’s Morikawa. How the hell…

newmascotresized: I mean, I guess this makes sense given that Morikawa wanted to kill Kusabi, but how’d it happen so quickly? We were just talking to Morikawa.

newmascotresized: Edit: I looked it up. Apparently, the idea is that Kusabi was on the train, got off the train, shot Morikawa and then fled.

newmascotresized: That tower we saw earlier? That’s the transmitter.

newmascotresized: And now we’re off to what is presumably Thanatos Tower.

newmascotresized: If you can’t see the text in the image, it reads “THE WAY TO TRUTH” with an arrow pointing at the door. Suda is not being subtle.

newmascotresized: Big Dick gets off the train…

newmascotresized: And goes through the door.

newmascotresized: Wait, is this the Velvet Room? Did Big Dick finally unlock his Persona? I mean, we all know his Persona would be Mara because you can’t be called “Big Dick” and not have Mara as a Persona.

Chizuru: “Why am I here? I bet you’re surprised, right? I’m here to get rid of the humans that are in the way. Timrod, are you going to get in the way? If so, I guess I’ll have to get rid of you, but…”

newmascotresized: And Chizuru has gone full-on Yuriko. I like to think that Bloody Destiny is playing in the background.

Chizuru: “But… killing humans who don’t die isn’t much fun… you know what I mean, right? You don’t understand? It’s fine, don’t worry about it…”

Chizuru: “Anyway, have you seen Kusabi? I have to kill that guy. I thought I saw him get on the train earlier, so I was going to ambush him here, but… then I would’ve shot you, Timrod.”

Chizuru: “That was very dangerous. Are you here to turn people into murderers?”

newmascotresized: Big Dick isn’t. I mean, he was an elite special forces chinchilla, but given that he couldn’t shoot an armed guy in Lunatics I have my doubts about him having a body count.

Chizuru: “But… I really did love Morikawa… go ahead, shoot…”

newmascotresized: And now Chizuru is dead. That’s half the HCU wiped out in one chapter.

newmascotresized: So yeah, like I said, I don’t think Big Dick has ever killed anyone.

Sakura: “Let’s go, Timrod…”

newmascotresized: I know we’ve been through a lot, but I’m going to keep going for a bit, because there’s a part right after this I very much want to get to before we stop.

Munakata: “To be called on by such an unusual person… the situation must’ve taken a turn for the better. I’d be happier if it were some reward or something, but anyway, how goes it.”

Munakata: " ‘Mad Nobleman’ Morichika Nakategawa, of the frontier faction?"

newmascotresized: By “frontier faction”, he means Nakategawa works for FSO. Presumably, this is what Kotobuki was talking about before Kusabi killed him.

Nakategawa: “That’ll shorten your lifespan, you know. Once you know too much…”

Munakata: “Well, knowing a lot is how I pay the rent… besides, people are the ones who feed off of affairs, scandals and rumors, no matter their age or sex. I’m not wrong, am I…?”

Nakategawa: “You’re not even close to being useful. Depending on what happens today, I may dispose of you. Understand?”

Munakata: “No sense of excitement, huh. If you tell me that from the get-go, then it’s just no fun, is it?”

Nakategawa: “I’ve never been one for melodrama. Let’s just hurry this up. Talk or die. Pick one. You’re TRO, right?”

newmascotresized: Okay, now it’s time to talk about the government factions a bit. The police are split into two factions - the HCU and Central. We met Central in Parade in the form of Kosaka and Sakaguchi.

newmascotresized: The HCU (at least in theory) works under CCO, while Central works for TRO. Because TRO and CCO are allies, both groups work together.

newmascotresized: Nakategawa is a mole who works for FSO, the small faction behind Kamui. We don’t actually know who Munakata works for - Naka’s theory is that he’s TRO because Munakata works for Central.

newmascotresized: Now here’s the tragic part. Kusabi doesn’t work for anyone. Neither did Morikawa. Morikawa only really wanted Kusabi dead because he didn’t know who Kusabi actually worked for.

newmascotresized: Chizuru’s deal will be explained in a minute, but she effectively works for FSO.

Munakata: “Was I…? Maybe? Wait a sec…”

Nakategawa: “…”

Munakata: “Just kidding, just kidding!”

Nakategawa: “Where did Kusabi and the rest go? I know you know.”

Munakata: “I think… they went to your guys’ hideout. That familiar place where 20 years were spent in silence.”

Nakategawa: “But why did Kusabi know about…?”

Munakata: “Morikawa, was it? The guy who went off ahead.”

Nakategawa: “Morikawa… thanks…”

Munakata: "Well, now I guess I can go, huh?

Nakategawa: “That won’t work.”

Munakata: “I thought so! In most cases, I’d be killed.”

Nakategawa: “Yes.”

Nakategawa: “Don’t worry. You’re my 21st.”

Munakata: “You keep count?”

Nakategawa: “I’m very methodical.”

Munakata: “Is that something you say about yourself?”

Nakategawa: “Show off your strong points. That’s the key to success.”

Munakata: “Just like everyone says, quite the eccentric.”

newmascotresized: A couple of plot analyses I read of this game thought that this was Nakategawa projecting onto Munakata or some shit. That’s not what it is.

newmascotresized: Nakategawa has completely fucking lost it. He’s watched everyone he knows get killed or abandon him over faction loyalties, and now he’s in a world that no longer makes sense.

Munakata: “Are you talking to yourself? Or to me?”

newmascotresized: This term is very important.

Nakategawa: “An enemy of women is also my enemy.”

Munakata: “So you’re a feminist?”

Nakategawa: “I’m the secretary for the International Feminist Confederation.”

Munakata: “Seriously?”

Nakategawa: “Either way, I cannot forgive you for that.”

Munakata: “I picked the wrong target, huh…”

Nakategawa: “There was no border between adversaries and allies 20 years ago. You could call it an illusion. Things like factions have no specific shape. You just buy a person’s will with money.”

Nakategawa: “The revolutionary patriots that came before us are just old men now. These old men just feed on empty theories. We’re losing pieces to this game. And this is why we should take away their wealth.”

newmascotresized: Okay, that part’s not so crazy.

Munakata: “What are you saying…? That there was a traitor? That’s why ‘Ayame’ knew…”

Nakategawa: “You still don’t get it? There are no traitors.”

Munakata: “Then…”

Munakata: “It can’t be…”

Nakategawa: “I told you before. You’re quite slow on the uptake, aren’t you? There is no TRO, no CCO, and no FSO. From the very beginning there were no factions. It’s all part of one big group.”

Nakategawa: “If you hadn’t planned Project Elbow, then there would have been nothing to carry out. And that is what pisses me off…”

newmascotresized: I’m pretty sure what’s going on here is that Nakategawa thinks Munakata is someone he isn’t. Anyway, now we know the truth - the factions are just like Kamui.

newmascotresized: They don’t exist, but do exist because people think they exist.

Munakata: “You were behind it all…”

Nakategawa: “Me? I’m just another pawn. Someone else is at the top.”

Munakata: “Then, who is it?!”

Nakategawa: “I’m tired of talking… do you have any last words?”

Mikoshiba: “Chief…”

Munakata: “Most of it, probably. These people only know your face and the leader’s face. They’re just fighting without knowing who is pulling all the strings.”

Mikoshiba: “But in the file, the tech faction and the civic faction…”

Munakata: “Don’t fall for what you see in a file. Formal records and offiical announcements, they’re all one big trick. Forgeries and fake evidence are par for the course.”

Mikoshiba: “So now what? These guys are just…”

Munakata: “They’re worker bees. The type of people that can’t continue living without someone to fight against.”

Mikoshiba: “Chief, what do we do next? You’re going after the ‘Silver Case’, right?”

Munakata: “No one cares for your opinion on this, so don’t do anything stupid.”

Mikoshiba: “Let me handle it. Next is Kusabi, right? Right? He’s connected to the Silver Case, isn’t he? Who else is there?”

newmascotresized: Another gunshot.

Sakura: “The government created the new International Environment Agency as a scapegoat. One part of that generation raised the flag to the cultivation of the ‘New Human’.”

Sakura: “The International Environment Agency. To most, they seemed to be working for the protection of nature and the environment, but they were also working to improve the human condition.”

Sakura: “That is to say, they wanted to improve the lives of those living in the wards… but below the surface, they were removing ward residents who were deemed unsuitable.”

Sakura: “After checking for ward residents with a high propensity for criminal behavior, they would turn these people into data, search them out, and slowly take over.”

Sakura: “This unbelievable plan was executed over the course of 20 years. Those living within the 24 Wards right now are its most ‘suitable’ residents.”

Sakura: “And the instrument necessary to the prevention of crime in the 24 Wards is the Heinous Crimes Unit. You were a member. The Special Forces Unit my father supervised was another part.”

Sakura: “The goal of this agency was to dispose of negative elements, and an experiment that was used to assert absolute control over the 24 Wards. And they were not only involved in elimination.”

Sakura: “They also had a hand in raising and educating kids. That was the Shelter Kids policy. The location we’re heading to now is ground zero for this entire operation.”

Sakura: “They lead normal lives while being controlled… they live at the central organization while being controlled… they’re used as samples, then go from being controlled to being set free. Where they control their lives on their own.”

Sakura: “For some of them, their names are erased, and they’re assigned to the Special Forces… they’re placed under the control of the Central PD. All memories of their past are erased… it’s different than the goal for Kamui.”

Sakura: “These samples are for the research and development of criminal power… it’s a tragedy. To control life like that, making Kamui believe he had something to live for, when actually, there’s nothing.”

newmascotresized: Also, have this pic of Big Dick considering how little sense the plan to “create a new human” is when he’s a chinchilla.

Sakura: “He is a manufactured human. Like yourself. To be more precise, you are Kamui, too. The stock for Kamui are the ‘Shelter Kids’. Even if Kamui is destroyed, Kamui’s life isn’t over.”

newmascotresized: Kamui is kind of a deconstruction of the idea of having “lives” in a game, among other things.

Sakura: “There are plenty left to inherit his legacy. Even if all the stock is destroyed, Kamui won’t disappear. If the next generation of stock is born, then Kamui will be reborn. And not only Kamui.”

Sakura: “There is another policy in effect. Kamui is the male stock unit. There is a female unit that exists as well… ‘Ayame Maspro’.”

Sakura: “That’s right. The Ayame serial murderer that confined Kamui is “Ayame”. That girl is a sample Ayame… there is stock of 1,440 girls.”

newmascotresized: I like to think that Big Dick is waving his arms and going “Hold on, does that mean Chizuru is a chinchilla?”

Sakura: “She was a sacrifice of her father, Mayor Hachisuka, and was the first subject of this experiment.”

newmascotresized: Just to clear something up before I end the update, the game (as well as the sequels) will use the term “Kamui Maspro” for anyone who could be Kamui, and “Ayame Maspro” for anyone who could be Ayame.

newmascotresized: The Kamui Maspro we know about are Big Dick, the Kamui from Decoyman, and probably Tokio. Sumio is not a maspro, and Furuya/Oldman wasn’t either.

newmascotresized: The Ayame Maspro we know about are Chizuru, the Ayame from Decoyman, the three women Ayame killed in Decoyman, and Sakura.

newmascotresized: Next time, I think we’ll finish Lifecut.

Summary

newmascotresized: When we leave the hallway with Sakura, we end up here.

Sakura: “We don’t have any memories of this place, but we spent about four years living here. Four years after you guys were sent out as the Kamui generation, the Ayame generation was sent in here.”

Sakura: “My father told me ‘I will likely be killed by someone raised here…’ It seems my father wanted to be killed by Ayame. And so, that’s how things became what they are.”

Sakura: “The top of this shelter is a TV tower. It overlooks all of the 24 Wards; it’s a tough tower. The ones with all the power created it as a symbol of control. If you open that path, then this shelter is the key.”

Sakura: “It’s like a video game, you know? In some ways, it does resemble a game. By bearing the responsibility for such an unnatural upbringing, that itself becomes a game…”

newmascotresized: We have ten shelters shaped like bowling pins. They’re all identical inside, and it’s not immediately obvious what you have to do here.

newmascotresized: What you have to do is visit four of the towers, those being numbers 3, 4, 7, and 9. However, there are optional notes in some of the other towers, so we’ll just do them all.

newmascotresized: Each tower has five or so rooms you can go in, some of which have contact points. Let’s start looking at the documents. They’re not in any particular order in-game.

newmascotresized: What I’ll do is try to sort them by page number, if they have one. If not, I’ll put them wherever I can fit them.

newmascotresized: Ocular silverization is something we’ll hear a lot more about in Tokio’s final chapter.

newmascotresized: We can pretty safely assume that ocular silverization only works in males.

newmascotresized: We also know that the people behind the Kamui project got at least three people who had responses to silverization, who were all presumably Kamui Maspros.

newmascotresized: This is something we won’t learn until Flower Sun and Rain. Because FSR isn’t translated and is never likely to be, the answer is that the eye came from a hyena.

newmascotresized: They’re really big on this whole silverization thing, aren’t they?

newmascotresized: Well, I guess now we know what Enzawa’s deal was. This is the last really important note we’ll find. The big takeaway here is that the Shelter Kids project is an experiment by the government to achieve “ocular silverization”, and that they were unsuccessful.

newmascotresized: Now we can go find all the bodies.

newmascotresized: This is that “TRUMP” gang we heard about earlier. Now that we’ve seen all four bodies, which are admittedly kind of a pain in the ass to find, we can go to Tower 5.

Kusabi: “But that’s normal. As far as this unbelievable story is concerned. Besides, you’re no idiot. But real people… forced to live in a place like this. It’s unnerving, knowing that someone could get used to it.”

Kusabi: “But living in a strange place like the 24 Wards, and to be surrounded by these weird environments, placed like this aren’t so far fetched. I mean, really, to call this underworld a huge crime has nothing to do with this actual place. The problem is the business of the organizations.”

Kusabi: “But, seeing as things have turned out like this, if you were to ask me what’s the point of the work I do… I wouldn’t feel bitter… more like… at peace, I guess. Like how you feel when a cool breeze flows by.”

Kusabi: “It’s a pleasant feeling, at least, for old guys like me. I don’t have a fire to fuel my anger… just putting on this carefree front is the natural way of it. And, well, if you were to ask me what do we do now…”

newmascotresized: The translation is kinda stilted, but I get what Kusabi is saying - he doesn’t understand why the hell he’s a cop when the government is doing worse shit than the criminals are, and now he’s going to respond in the only way he knows how: blowing people’s heads off.

newmascotresized: I can’t begin to tell you how good it feels to be back and playing a game with good writing.

Kusabi: “Look at the dead bodies of these murderers… these guys were residents. And now they’ve died in the place that they once called home. This is the end of the road for the stock.”

Kusabi: “I guess you could call it a safety measure. These dummies are necessary when going from one Kamui to the next. And what do you think would happen if you were to kill them? Hmm…?”

Kusabi: “There would be no buffer when going to the next Kamui. There would be nothing. There would just be fewer Kamuis. Every time a Kamui appears, there should be something akin to a ceremonial custom.”

Kusabi: “Enormous amounts of information must be sent out, to the extent of whatever the communication method can handle. And that’s not a simple process. We’re talking about getting an injection of a very complex source. And that’s why the next Kamui would come here.”

Kusabi: “And those TRUMP guys are the guard dogs. They’re the ones who protect Kamui. And that’s why I killed them. So that they wouldn’t get in the way.”

newmascotresized: Kusabi’s confirmed body count is up to… at least 8. He killed two people in Lunatics, killed the four TRUMP guys, Morikawa, and Kotobuki. Compare that to Kamui and/or Ayame, who have I think four total.

newmascotresized: Well, I guess that confirms it. Big Dick is the next one in line to be Kamui. Naturally, Kusabi is not going to let that happen to his favorite chinchilla.

Kusabi: “Was created for fun by the elder members. As a symbol of political power. It took in large amounts of tainted money. It was like a luxurious elderly home. And then, 20 years ago…”

Kusabi: “The ‘Silver Case’ occurred in the very same location. And it was carried out by a hitman called Kamui…”

newmascotresized: That Kamui looks a whole lot like Leon S. Kennedy.

Kusabi: “He went to the radical TRO and CCO tech/civic reform alliance where all their most important leaders gathered… he snuck into the TV tower all alone, and killed every one of the elders.”

Kusabi: “A high-powered pistol in each hand… he just stood there, in a river of blood.”

Kusabi: “Uehara didn’t put up any kind of resistance… he just smiled.”

newmascotresized: There’s a few ways you can interpret this line. The first is that Kusabi simply isn’t used to Kotobuki being dead. The second is that it’s a slip on his part.

Kusabi: “Just us three…”

Kusabi: “The man known as Kamui Uehara was real. But… but his birth record wasn’t even on the government’s host. Maybe… Uehara was never a human after all. That’s what I’ve been thinking recently… but I don’t understand… ‘Silver’ was never made public.”

Kusabi: “After that case, the TV tower was closed. It became a tower run completely by computer, no people. Simply put, it was changed into a relay tower.”

Kusabi: “There was one door I couldn’t open. I shot it, but it never budged an inch… he didn’t seem to mind at all. What the fuck was that?”

newmascotresized: And here we are. This is the final puzzle of the game. Trust me when I say you are not ready for the ending of Lifecut. I sure as hell wasn’t.

newmascotresized: The final room is ten gravestones arranged in a square, with a window on each side. If we Contact the telescopes…

newmascotresized: We get shots of four buildings with numbers on them. The numbers are 9, 8, 7, 1.

newmascotresized: Well, that’s not ominous at all.

newmascotresized: Oh man this is gonna rule. I bet Kusabi is gonna wire this giant-ass brain computer thing to blow and then there’ll be a gunfight and then they’ll barely escape the explosion.

newmascotresized: Who’s that woman in the chair? Damned if the game is going to tell us.

newmascotresized: So, uh, remember that part in Kamuidrome where someone tells Big Dick that Tokyo is being run by a guy playing it like a video game? Uh… yeah.

newmascotresized: There is like, a full thirty seconds of this guy just spinning in his chair.

newmascotresized: He is loving this shit.

Kusabi: “We finally made it here after 20 years… Kamui… Nah, I’ll just keep calling you Big Dick… no matter whether you do or don’t become Kamui. It’s up to you…”

Kusabi: “Can you keep moving forward? Can you live after facing your true self? Decide, here and now, Big Dick! You were born with a set of balls, so keep living like it means something!”

Kusabi: “Pull the trigger on the devil’s gun! Destroy the darkness! Seize the light!”

newmascotresized: There is a gunshot, and the screen goes black. Yes, this ending seems dumb - but there’s a reason for it. Remember what Kusabi said earlier, about the truth and facts being different things?

Kusabi: “Anything and everything… I just want to go the fuck home… just a little longer, Akemi…”

Munakata: “What happened to Timrod?”

newmascotresized: I spent seven months watching Satomi Tadashi shit himself in slow motion.

Kusabi: “Timrod? Was there someone by that name…? I forget.”

Munakata: “Looks like the mystery was solved. Guess Kamui never existed.”

Kusabi: “Nope, he’s alive.”

Munakata: “Inside Timrod?”

newmascotresized: Nope, not inside Timrod.

Kusabi: “It’s not as romantic as you’re making it out to be. It’s just fate.”

Kusabi: “I don’t know about that shit. But… maybe this Kamui Uehara is the total sum of everyone else’s existence. Since so many others were sacrificed for him. There were probably many more who were never rewarded.”

Kusabi: “Maybe he inherited Kamui so that the memories of his youth wouldn’t be forgotten. What do you think?”

Munakata: “Tetsu… there is such a thing as knowing too much. You’re a nice guy… alright?”

Kusabi: “I know! Yeah, I understand. There, satisfied?”

newmascotresized: Big Dick is probably using his newfound Kamui powers to hit the hell out of some baseballs.

Kusabi: “What if you’d been in a terrible environment, or if there had been some problem with your upbringing. Then it really wouldn’t be your fault completely.”

Kusabi: “I mean, I’m in no position to talk, but there are a lot of crimes, guilt, and flaws. And these are things you can just erase away. Definitely not one’s shadows…”

newmascotresized: Kusabi has played Innocent Sin, he knows what happens if you try to kill your Shadow.

newmascotresized: “Erasing one’s memory is cheating” - Tetsugoro Kusabi, on Satomi Tadashi’s fitness for any kind of writing position.

Kusabi: “And there are shadows that you can’t just erase away. There are footprints to the shadows written in ink. For me, and for you… it doesn’t matter if your name is Kusabi, Timrod, or Kamui.”

Kusabi: “There’s a spirit that resides in us all, and within that spirit is the light of possibility. There is no distinction there. If it takes some time, the light is there. There are even lights with shortcuts.”

Kusabi: “But, the light will never change. The light and shadow exist in harmony. And that’s why it’s up to you. Facing the shadows… facing the light… don’t get it twisted.”

Kusabi: “I’m not talking about good and evil. I’m talking about a light anyone can grasp… a light that brings along the shadows.”

newmascotresized: This is about as close to an unequivocal good ending as it gets in a Suda51 game. Big Dick is free to be his own chinchilla.

newmascotresized: But wait, what’s this? An oversight, actually. Yes, there is one more chapter in the Transmitter arc. It’s actually called “Danwa” - “Tamura” was the original name used in the PS1 version.

newmascotresized: We’ve also got Tokio’s penultimate chapter, called Hikari. It’s actually a pun of sorts - “Hikari” is the Japanese word for “Light”.

newmascotresized: Next time, we’ll do Hikari. I love everything about this fucking game - apart from Kamuidrome.

Summary

newmascotresized: We’ve got just one main Tokio chapter left. I say main because there is a short, final chapter for Tokio that was added in the remake… and I need to talk about that for a bit.

newmascotresized: The new chapter assumes that you have played Flower, Sun and Rain. Suda has announced a remake of FSR, but I will not be waiting for it as it doesn’t even have a preliminary release date. Instead, I will be doing a summary of FSR’s plot - FSR is a lot like The Silver Case in that the most important plot bits are all right at the end.

newmascotresized: For reference, the end of Lifecut happens on December 24th, so this is a full three days after Big Dick met Tokio in the train tunnel.

newmascotresized: Well, that’s a little worrying. Tokio hasn’t read his email in three months. I sure hope Red is okay.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: I got your turtle
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 1:0:52

I went to your place today and got your turtle. He was freaking out. I tried giving him food, but he wouldn’t eat. I hate reptiles and amphibians so I couldn’t touch him, so I just stared at him for a while. When I finally stuck my hand in the water, he put his head on it. It’s weird. I don’t know if you’ll read this so I’m writing it like a diary.

I cleaned the tank and fed the turtle again, and this time he ate it all. Looks like he was hungry. I feel like I know why you liked him so much now.

I decided to take him back home with me. Bad news, though. I forgot to ask you his name… or maybe I just forgot it…"

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: The turtle won’t calm down
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 1:18:21

Looks like turtles are delicate. He keeps hiding under his island thing and won’t come out. The tank was too big for me to carry home, so I just brought the island thing and bought the rest of the stuff new. He seems nervous.

I’m trying to be quiet and avoid bothering him, and sometimes he peeks his head out and looks around. He’s probably looking for you. That, or he’s trying to get me to tell him where you are. I don’t have anything to say to him. I don’t even know where you are or if you’re even alive or not.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: The turtle sleeps finally
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 2:31:00

I got the turtle a week ago. I got a bunch of stuff to clean his tank with. It looks really nice now. But the turtle flipped all the new stuff upside down and pushed it under the island thing. Looks like he didn’t care for my presents.

He keeps kicking sand all over the new stuff, so I took out all the things I bought and just gave him back his old dirty island thing. That finally calmed him down. He got excited for a bit then finally went to sleep.

Sometimes I look at him and try not to be seen, and he shakes his head and kicks his legs in his sleep. Maybe he’s dreaming about something

I had a dream that you were asking me for help, even though that wouldn’t happen. You always bottle things up on your own. You probably think that it’s easier that way. There’s something I can finally say now. When I last went to your place, I was going to tell you that if you were going to run, then I would go with you.

But when I looked into your eyes, I knew you didn’t want that. I thought of the moths gathering near a lantern at night. Basking in the cold light, they’re fluttering around. I thought of myself as one of those moths.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: The turtle is crying
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 23:58:27

It’s been a month since I picked up your turtle. I haven’t heard from you.

Sometimes I imagine that you’ve been cursed and turned into a turtle. The turtle sleeps, wakes up, and eats. He’s just keeping on living because he has nothing else to do.

Sometimes, he cries. I had never heard a turtle cry before, and it sounds something like “kee” or “keh”, like a sort of sad sound. This is what it sounds like when the turtles cry.

I guess time will just go by like this. Will I never see you again? I don’t want that. There are still lots of things I want to say to you. Right now, I just want you to come back. If you were to come back, I want to touch you. To be sure that you really are right there in front of me. I want to feel your face with these hands. Then, I could finally feel at least a little bit more at ease and maybe even be able to sleep again.

newmascotresized: Can’t wait for Kame no Naku Koro Ni, where Big Dick and Red get called to an island to find the missing Mayan gold and the answer is brain parasites and also that the butler did it.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Dear Tokio
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 3:07:14

I’ve decided to go after Kamui. He came back to this world, and he’s finally shown his true colors and has been committing all sorts of terrible crimes. My nerves have been a total mess recently. I’ve probably been taking it out on the turtle. I need to start rethinking things.

You told me to back off Kamui because he was dangerous. Is that because I’m a woman? If so, then as your partner, I’m pretty pissed off. Kamui’s partner Ayame killed people for Kamui. Not out of jealousy. I think it was from a more subtle, calm sort of emotion. I think that sort of murderer could exist. You don’t understand women. So you don’t get that I could be your partner. I think we could make amazing partners right now.

I won’t mail you anymore. Let me know when I can contact you again. I’ll be waiting. I love you, Tokio Morishima. I will probably always love you, Tokio Morishima, the journalist.

newmascotresized: This is the quote that defines the rest of Tokio’s life.

I came back. To this world.

I thought I was done, but after coming home I remembered my old life. “Everyday life” pours out of everything and takes over. Everyday life is filled with bullshit, but it’s also full of a sort of warm kindness as well. But one thing that’s different is the constant whisper inside me. They became an infinite number of shadows and were there next to me.

newmascotresized: To make progress, we have to examine Red’s tank.

Tokio: “Will the guardian Marduk… wait? Are you calling me? It’s that woman…”

Tokio: “The dead… are still here. Leave me alone. Stop…”

newmascotresized: Yep, that’s the end of that. Tokio sees a ghost and immediately books it.

Tokio: “Yeah, it has…”

Bartender: “Did you go on a trip somewhere?”

Tokio: “Kinda, yeah.”

Bartender: “You don’t look well.”

Tokio: “Really?”

Bartender: “You look rather sick, actually.”

Tokio: “Yeah!”

newmascotresized: Tokio’s all “Fuck yeah, I’m a broken goddamn husk of a man!”

Bartender: “Mr. Morishima…”

Tokio: “Huh?”

Bartender: “Would you like something to eat?”

Tokio: “Yeah…”

Bartender: “I’ll make an omelette. Lots of butter. It’ll melt in your mouth right away. It should be easy to eat. Save the alcohol for later. How about it?”

Tokio: “Yes, please…”

Tokio: “Fuck this.”

newmascotresized: Something tells me Big Dick would win that one.

Tokio: “The fuck I am. I’m just a writer. I’m no fucking hitman. Use one of the ones you already employ. Like when you killed The Bat.”

Tokio: “Hey now. Why the fuck…”

newmascotresized: Look, it’s just the rules. You meet Kamui, you have to kill him - unless you’re Travis Touchdown. We’ll talk about that after we finish Hikari. It’s probably not canon.

Tokio: “The fuck are you talking about?”

newmascotresized: This would probably be all I’d say if I ever met Hashino in person.

Tokio: “… When The Bat was killed, some weird shit happened. He spoke to me. After dying. Actually, even now he keeps talking. The whole time. It’s driving me fucking nuts.”

Tokio: “What the fuck is this? These motherfuckers… they… they’re like ghosts or something, right? Do something about them. Just like at Babylon…”

newmascotresized: People seeing ghosts seems like it’s honestly just an everyday occurrence in this universe. I can’t even remember how many Big Dick saw and he never seemed to care.

Tokio: “At the same time, the memories sealed up inside me came back. Timrod and I are both made from the same ‘material’. Right…?”

Tokio: “Then, when Kamui came back, something came alive inside of me. Is that what you’re talking about?”

Tokio: “Who am I?”

Tokio: “I… can’t.”

Tokio: “A dream… I know.”

newmascotresized: If we look at Red’s tank, there’s a minor translation break - for some reason, his Japanese name of “Akamimi” shows up instead of the localized one.

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: The woman at Babylon
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 2:00:01

Help… Help me.

I was killed. By that woman… Ayame!!!

She shot me with a harpoon gun, came up to me, and cut a cross into my stomach. To kill my baby, too. She had a look of pompous victory in her eyes as she cut me. That crazy cunt!!!

Just thinking of Ayame makes my blood boil. I died almost instantly. I couldn’t do anything. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I called for help. To Kamui. Ah, Kamui. He was here. It was like all the nerves in my body became really sensitive, like I was being burned by something, and I became hot inside. I could hear my pulse, and suddenly like a scream, something poured out from inside me.

I felt like I was going insane, and then suddenly it felt like someone had poured cold water on me. I felt it in every pore. It went right through me.

That’s how I met Kamui. Apart from him, I didn’t need anything else. Really.

But my life was taken from me. By Ayame. I can’t fully die, and I just feel so pathetic and fucked up. I tried walking away, dragging my perforated body. That’s when it happened. Kamui appeared. Inside me. Really, he came down from above, inside of me.

I had just been broken into pieces and everything was confusing. I had no idea what was happening. But I felt Kamui. His voice resonated. It was deep and calm. A magical voice. I was no longer afraid. It wasn’t fear at all. I was happy. Death turned to ecstasy in an instant.

And then the tobacco man came into the picture. Kamui was the transmitter, and I was the medium, and that man was the receiver. Basically, it was like email. Ahahahahahahahaha. How funny. I can’t stop laughing.

But I still can’t forgive Ayame. No matter how badly she may slice me up. Even if Kamui smiles upon me. Even if my body were to turn to dust and be blown away in the wind. Even in death. Ayame cannot be forgiven, ever.

newmascotresized: Apparently, ghosts can send emails now. That would explain a lot.

newmascotresized: It makes no sense to me that Tokio comes back here, given that he would have had to go through the secret entrance to get to the train station in Lifecut. I mean, he’s kind of a nervous wreck after the whole “Enzawa tried to kill me” bit and you’d think the last thing he’d want to do would be go back there.

Tokio: “of the usual.”

Tokio: “Yeah.”

Tokio: “It’s pretty cold, huh?”

newmascotresized: I have to wonder why he doesn’t suspect her of being some kind of agent for either spinning chair guy or the TRO/CCO.

Tokio: “Yeah.”

Tokio: “It’s already the end of the year.”

Tokio: “No…”

Tokio: “Oh… had I paid yet?”

Tokio: “Oh, OK. Well then…”

Tokio: “Yeah…?”

Bartender: “Do you know what’s in that cocktail you’re always drinking?”

Tokio: “Oh, this? No idea…”

Bartender: “Ms. Erika came in a while ago. She was drinking the same thing.”

Tokio: “Oh… really?”

Bartender: “Dry gin, dry vermouth, and sweet vermouth. 1/3 of each. You mix the same amount of each together. From this combination, that flavor is born. It’s not too sweet, not too dry.”

Tokio: “Yeah, you’re right.”

Bartender: “The name ‘Trinity’ comes from the Christian idea of the Holy Trinity. ‘The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost’, you know? The drink is also called a ‘Perfect’.”

newmascotresized: The “Trinity” is a real mixed drink and is made exactly as stated. I was going to make one for the LP, but I kind of hate the taste of alcohol and didn’t feel like getting stuck with two bottles of vermouth and a bottle of gin I’m never going to drink.

Tokio: " ‘Perfect’, huh… does anything ‘perfect’ even exist in this world?"

newmascotresized: This entire conversation makes me want an Innocent Sin sequel with Baofu and Tokio in the party, because this sounds like an Eternal Punishment negotiation. It’d fit right in there with “What Is Justice?” and “Commentary on the Country’s Future”.

newmascotresized: The negotiation would be called something like “What Is Perfection?” and would have Baofu being a dork and speculating on the meaning of life or some shit while Tokio tells everyone to fuck off.

Bartender: “It does not. That’s why everyone seeks out perfection. But the opposite is also true.”

Tokio: “The opposite?”

newmascotresized: Metal Gear!?

Bartender: “The opposite.”

newmascotresized: A security camera!?

Tokio: “What the hell do you mean?”

Bartender: “The imperfect can be considered perfect by virtue of its imperfection.”

Tokio: “That’s… what kind of rhetoric is that?”

Bartender: “Oh no. Actually, it’s more like ‘life wisdom’. As humans, we live a worthless, filthy existence. Right? But because of the fact that we’re worthless and filthy, we can also be insanely pure.”

Tokio: “I don’t think so. Sorry, but…”

Bartender: “Mr. Morishima… people are all perverts.”

Tokio: “Huh? Who’s a pervert?”

Bartender: “For example, me…”

newmascotresized: TMI, buddy. TMI.

Tokio: “Hm.”

Bartender: “But I spent a lot of time searching before I found myself. Lots of conflict, hesitation, and trial-and-error. And then I finally accepted it. My true self. It was a real discovery.”

newmascotresized: I was not aware the bartender was a Hashino-era Persona character.

Bartender: “Purifying your own heart and mind is the key. You need to slowly crystallize it. If you can do that, then all you need to do is let yourself go.”

Tokio: “Let myself go…”

Bartender: “Let yourself go.”

Tokio: “Forget about the Trinity. Do you have regular beer?”

newmascotresized: Man, Suda is not at all subtle with his use of death flags.

newmascotresized: We could already infer this from Lifecut, but I guess it’s nice that Suda spells it out.

newmascotresized: I have a kind of pet peeve for stories in ostensibly realistic settings where people have their memories wiped. I don’t know why, it just seems like a lazy out. That was one of the many reasons I couldn’t stand Danganronpa.

Tokio: “My memories were erased…”

newmascotresized: This part is… honestly a little strange. The person Tokio is talking to knows exactly what the purpose of the Shelter Kids was, and I’m not sure if this is meant to be him deluding himself as to its actual purpose or trying to bluff Tokio for some reason.

Tokio: “You mean those dark, dank shelters?”

newmascotresized: I’m not sure how we go from that to “turn thousands of kids into vessels for an artificially-created hitman”, but whatever.

Tokio: “Me, too?”

Tokio: “Tragedy… get the fuck outta here.”

newmascotresized: My fate was doomed the second I decided to start LPing. I mean, I wouldn’t doubt if some of the games I’ve played were in fact an attempt at creating Kamui.

newmascotresized: Next time, we’ll finish Hikari. I finished recording it, leaving only Tamura/Danwa and the extra Tokio chapter added for the re-release.

Summary

Tokio: “Huh…”

newmascotresized: Welcome to the final update of the main part of The Silver Case. A lot of it is not going to immediately make sense.

From: Erika Yukawa
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: no-title
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 22:18:34

So you were alive. I was surprised. The bartender told me you went by his place.

I want to talk to you if possible. If you have the time tomorrow night, can you come to the Scolba chatroom? I’ll be there from 11:00pm. I’ll be waiting for you.

Tokio: “Erika…”

newmascotresized: Why is this place even open? It’s been… what, seven or eight months since we were here in Decoyman?

Tokio: “Uuh… I can feel you. Ayame…”

I wish I could’ve been raised like some sort of pitiful flower. Not a day goes by that I don’t think that. Even now, always.

My name, “Ayame”, comes from the word “ayameru”, which means “to kill”. How terrible is that?

You, Kamui, and I are all pawns in a game. We are a fabricated existence. People are stupid. Ayame was created to be an even more mechanical being than Kamui. Created to face off against the powers that created Kamui. Easier to control than Kamui, a killing machine with even higher killing capabilities than Kamui. That’s me. “Ayame”.

Take the time to comprehend everything. You, me, and Kamui. Considering what happened after being thrown back into “everyday life”, a girl was used for “Ayame” in order to differentiate her from Kamui. They simply switched genders. But since the grown-up Kamui and Ayame were brought up in the same environment, they were drawn to one another. There was a miscalculation in the man-made “mass production Ayame”.

By becoming pregnant with Kamui’s child, something inside me snapped. All of the emotions that had been pushed back and bottled up, exploded. There was nothing I could do. Is there a reason why a female praying mantis eats her mate once she becomes pregnant? To her, at least, there is no reason.

I wish I could’ve been raised like some sort of pitiful flower. Not a day goes by that I don’t think that. But simply saying it out loud won’t change anything. Also, I have this child. If nothing else, at least I won this child. I won’t kill Kamui. Nor will I kill Timrod. I can’t kill him. There were those who wanted that, though.

Do you understand? Can you hear it? Listen to me. Find something for yourself.

newmascotresized: This is a major clue for understanding this entire chapter. Tokio is likely being outright possessed by the Ayame masspro from Decoyman - if not by the artificial consciousness itself.

Tokio: “You wouldn’t be missed if you died… no, wait - you’re already dead. Old man. Just fucking stop…”

(erica) delicacy? i dont need that
(Shoot) this is a personality analysis game

You entered the chatroom.

(McTurtle) hey there

(Shoot) welcome >McTurtle

(erica) hi

(Shoot) we were just playing a game

(McTurtle) a game huh?

(Shoot) do you like games? >McTurtle

(McTurtle) nope

(Shoot) why not?

(McTurtle) cuz they have rules

(Shoot) hahaha! what a badass answer

(McTurtle) NO FUTURE! lol

(erica) youre so dumb

(McTurtle) he says you lack delicacy lol

(erica) oh do i?

(McTurtle) delicacy is a necessity

(erica) for what?

(McTurtle) to live

(erica) why?

(McTurtle) cuz life and delicate problems go hand in hand

(Shoot) whats a delicate problem?

(McTurtle) like, to put it simply, how to find someone to fuck, etc.

newmascotresized: Boy, I sure love these stupid fake chatlogs.

(erica) its mysterious

(McTurtle) what is?

(erica) the turtle is tweaking, maybe he knows youve appeared?

newmascotresized: Actually, he’s thinking about his score at the batting cages when he went with Big Dick.

(McTurtle) i doubt it

(erica) whats his name?

(McTurtle) the turtles name? its Red

(erica) Red?

(McTurtle) he sounds like hes doing well

(erica) yeah, pretty well recently

(McTurtle) the turtle, right?

(erica) yeah, red

(McTurtle) and you?

(erica) same as always

(McTurtle) you sound well

(erica) i guess

(McTurtle) hows the investigation?

(erica) its coming along

(McTurtle) you arent gonna ask about me?

(erica) no

(McTurtle) why not?

(erica) i decided to trust my partner

(McTurtle) oh really?

(erica) yeah

(McTurtle) once im ready ill send everything by email

(erica) ok

(McTurtle) do you know anything about the shelter kids?

(erica) what?

(McTurtle) its the keyword for a certain set of incidents

(erica) what kind?

newmascotresized: I kinda wish that for the remake, Suda had written Tokio’s parts instead. It really feels like the writer for Tokio’s arc was writing a book and not a VN. That’s not to say the Placebo writer is shit, just that I think this would have been better in the form of a book.

(McTurtle) im gonna disappear again. im gonna get away from the 24 wards for awhile.

(erica) so you arent just going to up and disappear permanently this time, huh

(McTurtle) im just getting some distance from here for awhile

(erica) then i wont worry

(McTurtle) ok

(erica) how many years will red live?

(McTurtle) around 30

(erica) come get him sometime in the next 30 years then

(McTurtle) i will

(erica) really?

(McTurtle) i promise

(erica) no horseshit?

(McTurtle) yeah, no horseshit

(erica) good, i feel better

(McTurtle) yeah?

(erica) thats what i wanted

(McTurtle) yeah?

newmascotresized: There’s more to this chat afterward in the form of a monologue, but I’m going to format shift it a bit because nobody wants to read shit in this format.

Tokio: “Before dawn, the white moon is peeking out, and the sun isn’t yet visible. But the sky is already starting to get faintly bright. I always like that time of day. I never got tired of staring up at the sky like an idiot.”

Tokio: “Its the moment that the ‘darkness of the soul’ tries to lighten up. But that’s stimply a memory of the past. Isn’t that sad? I thought so. That’s a pretty sad thing. That’s why I decided to sort things out. In my own way.”

Captain: “There were all sorts of citizen activist groups working in this area. The government was at war with itself over city planning revisions. Hachisuka was a lieutenant in one of these activist groups. That’s right - Hachisuka, the current mayor.”

Tokio: “Mayor Hachisuka… how is he related to all this?”

Captain: “Just listen. At the time, Hachisuka 's election as mayor with no backing from any government party was greatly affected by the ‘Mikumo Incident’.”

newmascotresized: This feels shoehorned as fuck. Parade was a good story without needing to be part of the larger meta-plot.

Captain: “Pollution, grassroots activism, pressure from the upper class, and the city itself all came into question. That’s where Hachisuka proposed a certain idea. Revolutionize the 24 Wards from the ground up. He had an amazing plan. His plans for the city were absolutely perfect.”

Tokio: “How was it ‘perfect’?”

newmascotresized: This is all the explanation we’re going to get about the spinning chair guy at the end of Lifecut.

Tokio: “Programmer? He wasn’t a politician? Or a scholar or something?”

Captain: “He was a programmer. It was Nezu who put together the plan to rebuild the 24 Wards. That’s not all. Even now, everything in the 24 Wards is controlled by him. When Nezu hits the keyboard, the world literally changes. This has been continuing for the past 20 years.”

newmascotresized: Oh, right. I should mention that “Nezu” is the Japanese word for a rat.

Tokio: “No way…”

Captain: “He changed the entire infrastructure to make it possible. To Nezu, running a city is probably like playing a game. Like he’s continuing to play in an imaginary world…”

Captain: “But that affects the real world, in the 24 Wards. The optimization of the perfect city continues by Nezu’s hand.”

newmascotresized: To me, this sounds like the writer saw the 1998 film “Dark City” (which was later ripped off by some talentless hacks to make The Matrix) and just kinda went with it.

Tokio: “So he’s just one guy? That’s called a fucking dictator.”

Captain: “No. It’s not a dictatorship - it’s a system of control and maintenance. If this supercomputer-level genius keeps control of the city, it’s possible to maintain metropolitan perfection. That is the origin of the very world in which you are living right now.”

newmascotresized: I also hadn’t really thought about it until now, but there’s a pretty significant amount of The Truman Show in Tokio’s story as well… which also released in 1998.

Tokio: “Do you know what my biggest problem is?”

Bartender: “No. But I’m sure you have a very good idea.”

Tokio: “Yeah. I tried purifying my heart and crystallizing it and then thought about it.”

Bartender: “In that case, your answer must be correct.”

Tokio: “You think so?”

Bartender: “Of course.”

Tokio: “What would you do?”

Bartender: “In what sort of situation?”

Tokio: “Do it, or run away.”

Bartender: “And?”

Tokio: “Do it, and you’ll be more comfortable. But it won’t feel congenial. Run away, and you’re in for hell. But when you think about it, that’s exactly how you’ve lived your life up till now.”

Bartender: “…I’d bet on whatever you decided. I’d bet all the money I have on it.”

Tokio: “This isn’t a fucking horse race.”

Bartender: “You’re welcome.”

Tokio: “Huh?”

Captain: “Yes, and that includes the Shelter Kids policy as well.”

Tokio: “So this Nezu guy was responsible for that, too, huh? The Shelter Kids?”

Captain: “It was implemented by the Tech Faction. The 24 Wards were roughly broken up, and the TRO, CCO, and FSO were fighting for power. The Shelter Kids policy was backed by the TRO. But that doesn’t really mean much.”

Captain: “Because Hachisuka was bigger than those political factions, and Nezu had been controlling the balance between all of the factions. The Shelter Kids were small fish. They were like fish released into a pond to breed. They were easy to control, and they moved like pawns. Pawns in Nezu’s game.”

newmascotresized: We already know a lot of this from Lifecut.

Captain: “And after the original plan ended in failure, or rather, after prototype experiments had finished, exactly 20 years ago… Kamui Uehara was selected to be the ‘template personality’ that was to replace all of the old Shelter Kids with the new.”

newmascotresized: “The prototype experiments, where we uh, made an army of sentient, bipedal chinchillas. Not sure why we did that, to be honest.”

Tokio: “So the big bad Kamui finally fits into this.”

Captain: “He was a bloody man – or maybe, a man who craved blood.”

Tokio: The ‘original’ Kamui…? Hold on. Wasn’t the Shelter Kids policy supposed to create obedient citizens? Why use someone like Kamui?"

Captain: “Because Kamui Uehara was a soldier who followed orders. Listen. He doesn’t kill on his own volition. He simply receives his orders and executes them without question.”

Captain: “He’s easy to control. You could say that, in a way, he has an extremely pure character. Take the criminality away from Kamui Uehara, and you would have a perfect human. This is why he was chosen.”

newmascotresized: I mean, they kinda did - that was the catatonic guy we saw in Decoyman.

Tokio: “But… that didn’t happen.”

Captain: “No, it didn’t. Kamui went out of control.”

Tokio: “He’s an uncontrollable criminal.”

Captain: “Kamui’s ferality grew fangs. That, or maybe a program surpassing anything man-made took over. Kamui is too dangerous. Kamui should be transferring to Timrod anytime now.”

Captain: “But it is known that Timrod is going to become the next Kamui. Kill him.”

Tokio: “Who… why do I…”

Captain: “Right now, you are the only one who can do it. What have you seen of Kamui? What do you think Kamui’s true nature is? He is a calamity. A god of destruction, sent to destroy everything.”

Captain: “I will once again return you to ‘everyday life’. Take back the past. And decide for yourself. Whether or not to kill Timrod/Kamui. I’m entrusting this to you. This is your only chance to make something of your cursed life.”

Captain: “Those foul lingering ‘consciousnesses’ inside of you will fade away once you kill Timrod.”

From: Tokio Morishima
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: The Switchyard Bat
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1999 2:00:01

I heard a breaking sound. It was the sound of a skull cracking open. Something hot swirled up inside, and I immediately knew that it was a lead bullet. The face of the man in front of my eyes suddenly blurred up.

No way. This is bullshit. To have to accept death on the eve of the day of fate.

It’s Nezu. The man who created the Shelter Kids. It was him. I knew from the beginning that Nezu would turn out like this. The man called “Nezu” was not to be made light of. He needs to be taken much more seriously. Because selecting Kamui Uehara was just Nezu playing around. He had meant to create a monster from the very beginning.

He used Kamui as the ‘big bad guy’ in his game, like a huge in-game event. He was like Godzilla emerging from Tokyo Bay. He wanted to see how this city would change in accordance with Kamui’s appearance. With a passion similar to hope, he created Kamui. Nezu himself is the ultimate Kamui believer.

That’s why I decided to back Ayame. Ayame is pure. She is one more pawn to use in the fight against Kamui, and she is actually a killing machine closer to Format Kamui than anyone else. But apparently Ayame will not kill Kamui. This came as a surprise. And then, that job was entrusted to a man who was simply a bug in the program. The situation is not acceptable.

But… but… but… I heard a whizzing sound and the lead bullet flew at me. Gaaah… it was terrible. It was truly terrible. But there’s nothing that can be done, is there? For me, time was stopped, forever. Ayame. Oh, Ayame. Now my dream of seeing you with my own two eyes will never come true. It’s like a whistle blowing in another dimension. Nothing more than a phantom, echoing vacuously from afar.

Tokio: “How lovely… nice…”

newmascotresized: There’s one last godawful email I have to transcribe, and that’s it. We’re done with the game.

But I’m going to delete the memories inside this machine that is ‘me’. I’m deleting all of my writings. If I disappear, you’re sure to come here. And then you’ll delete this yourself. I was able to hear the voices. When you find out about the lingering consciousnesses, and when you finally open this mail, the virus’ .EXE file will go to work.

That is my first and last game. After that, I’ve decided to keep on living. Because even someone worthless has at least part of a soul. That is how people live. That’s what I’ve finally learned after living ‘everyday life’ in this world. Even without hope, even in great fear, even when continuing to drag along that which no longer has any value, one can go on living.

Specifically because of our imperfections, life has meaning. Don’t you think so? Don’t you?

newmascotresized: I don’t know if it’s a bug that he actually sent the email to Inohana (or the address Enzawa was using posing as him) but whatever.

newmascotresized: The explanation for who this guy is only comes during Tamura/Danwa, but I’ll explain it now. Even though it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, the given explanation is that the person Tokio is talking to here is Mayor Hachisuka.

newmascotresized: I say it doesn’t make sense because this guy refers to Hachisuka in the third person, which… there’s kind of a reason for that, but I think at least some of it is that this passage was probably hard to translate.

Tokio: “Ooh… ??”

Tokio: “I fell asleep. Guess I drank too much. Anyway…huh… hm? What’s this piece of paper…?”

Tokio: “Huh… my ‘tail’ isn’t exactly long enough to stick between my legs, but whatever.”

Tokio: “Will I ever be able to accept them? Will they finally just disappear one day? Will I end up unable to take it any longer and simply go insane…?”

newmascotresized: And that’s it! We’re done with this game! I think this is the most text I’ve ever transcribed in an LP, not counting Persona 5. Tokio’s story definitely dragged at parts, but I still don’t hate it. I just think it should’ve taken advantage of the medium more.

newmascotresized: Next up is Danwa, followed by an update about how Suda re-interpreted Kamui Uehara for No More Heroes, followed by an update summarizing the plot of Flower Sun and Rain, and then Yami.