Summary
: Welcome to Parade. You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly what Suda’s gimmick with this chapter is.
: I’d dialog portrait this, except knowing who’s talking here is a spoiler.
: Is this gonna be some kind of Persona ripoff because I swear…
: 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.
: The background this time is random crosswords. I didn’t know Suda was into Radiohead.
: “Where the hell did that come from…?”
: “It’s a type of fable or myth. A story you can lose yourself in.”
: “I don’t like kids’ shit like that. I’m not interested.”
: “I bet.”
: “Then don’t ask.”
: “Well, there’s this one nice story.”
: “I don’t give a shit. At a time like this…”
: “But this is just the right time for this kind of thing, isn’t it?”
: “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.”
: Oh my god, it’s like Kusabi somehow understands Persona 5 Royal nearly 20 years before it was a thing.
: “Come on, just listen…”
: “Sorry, I’m going to sleep…”
: “That’s fine. I’m just gonna go ahead and talk.”
: “Sounds like a great lullaby.”
: 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.
: “You know, recently… some people say fantasy is like brainwashing. Giving kids sweet dreams for the purpose of controlling them.”
: “When you put it that way, that sounds right.”
: “Originally, they were pretty messed up stories.”
: “Like ‘messed up’ how?”
: “Realistic stories, without all the happy stuff.”
: “Well, that sure sucks.”
: “That’s why they got turned into happier stories.”
: “Is that all?”
: “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…”
: “Hm.”
: “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.”
: Isn’t this just the story of Kushinada and Susano?
: “He invaded it?”
: “Yeah. The serpent turned the king to stone. The greedy serpent wanted the princess… so he took her away…”
: “Pretty standard shit. Go on, go on.”
: “To rescue the princess, they ventured to the huge castle.”
: “Well of course. I’d do the same thing.”
: Kusabi would shoot the serpent in the face and that’d be the end of it.
: “The heroes combined their powers and fought the serpent. And then…”
: “What happened?”
: “They defeated it.”
: “Fuck yeah!!”
: “Everything was fine and good.”
: “Is that the end…?”
: “Well, mostly…”
: “What the fuck? That’s just a normal-ass fairytale. That sucked.”
: “You liked it, right?”
: 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.
: “No, that’s no good. There’s no twist.”
: “It’s not over yet.”
: “What?”
: “Well then, what the hell happens?”
: “The princess was dead…”
: “What the fuck?! What do you mean?”
: “She was killed by the serpent.”
: “Man, FUCK that serpent! The fuck kind of story is that?”
: “And one more thing - there is no serpent.”
: “No? Why not…? That stuff comes up in stories all the time.”
: “Of course there isn’t. There’s no such thing as a ‘giant serpent’.”
: 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!?”
: 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.
: “Well, yeah…”
: “It wasn’t a serpent, but a human. The heroes were people, too. Humans killed another human, for revenge.”
: “That’s just a crime…”
: “Yeah… fairytales are crimes. The unrealistic fantasy that happens in real life is crime.”
: “…”
: “Tetsu.”
: “Huh?”
: “I have a question. If it was you, the heroes who got revenge… what would you do?”
: “What would I do? I wouldn’t do shit. Why?”
: Why do I feel like this entire thing is an allegory for something?
: “They killed someone.”
: “Well… they did murder someone, yeah. There’s no differentiation in crime. Doesn’t matter what kind of reasons they had.”
: “Yeah, I agree.”
: “Right? That’s how it is. The only way it can be…”
: “Tetsu…”
: “Huh?”
: “You can go to sleep.”
: “You’re sharp.”
: “Sorry, I’m tired. From that story…”
: “It’s not a very pleasant story, is it?”
: “Yaaawn…”
: “Tetsu?”
: “Zzz…”
: “He’s asleep. It’s time… Timrod, time for patrol. Go look around. Let me know if you see anyone suspicious. Got it?”
: 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.
: “The Yukimura mansion is up the hill.”
: Something about this reminds me of the mansion stage in Killer7.
: “The Yukimura mansion is on the left. ‘CONTACT’ it.”
: “Looks like nothing’s wrong. Let’s check the other side. Go up over the hill.”
: 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.
: God dammit Sumio, I know how to walk in a circle.
: “Go down the hill.”
: “Once more, ‘CONTACT’.”
: “No problem. Nothing out of the ordinary. OK, get back to the car. We’re going downhill.”
: “Nice work. Get in the car. Hm? What? Tetsu!”
: “What the hell is wrong with you?”
: “That—”
: “What?”
: “That!”
: “The hell are you talking about?”
: “It flashed!”
: “It did…”
: If you look in the game itself, there’s a wall where those stairs are.
: “Yeah…?”
: “It exploded.”
: “Yeah…”
: “What do we do?”
: “About what?”
: “This scene.”
: “Scene?”
: “I’m asking what you’re gonna do.”
: “I mean, nothing…?”
: I like to think that Big Dick is trying his hardest not to look at the explosion while also trying to find his sunglasses.
: “I won’t forget it. —Ever.”
: “It’s OK.”
: “Tetsu, it was me. It’s my responsibility.”
: “Well…”
: “I’m sorry.”
: “Exactly. It’s not my fault. It’s yours.”
: Kusabi has found a convenient scapegoat, and now he’s gonna run with it.
: “What the…?”
: “It’s fine, it’s the truth.”
: “Yeah, it is. It’s Sumio’s responsibility.”
: “Are you serious?”
: “Serious as a heart attack.”
: “You asshole!”
: “Listen up, Sumio… this kind of thing…”
: “…”
: “You clean this shit up. You’re gonna settle this case.”
: “Tetsu…”
: “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.”
: “They’re basically a band apart from everyone else. This case is comparatively close to an orthodox kidnapping, so these guys showed up.”
: You might wonder why he says “kidnapping” instead of “bombing”, but you’ll see in a minute.
: “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?”
: Unless you’re Chizuru, apparently.
: “Sorry…”
: “Well, it’ll be interesting to see how far ‘Afro’ goes. This’ll be something to watch.”
: “It’s starting…”
: “There’s something I’d like to get straight. Anyone referring to me as ‘Afro’ will be dealt with immediately. Watch yourselves.”
: “You hear that…”
: “He’s really into it…”
: “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.”
: 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.
: 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.
: 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.
: The first party was more or less owned by Mitsui (now known as Mitsui-Sumitomo Banking Corporation) and the second was owned by Mitsubishi.
: 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.
: 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.
: That’s not to say the keiretsus aren’t a problem, because they absolutely are.
: 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.
: “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.”
: “And, as you know, although it was under watch, the chairman’s house was blown up.”
: 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.
: “He’s looking at us.”
: “What a dick… being a dick is par for the course for Afro.”
: Look, it was one building, can’t you just let it slide?
: “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.”
: “However, Chairman Yukimura has been missing since the day of the explosion, and so this case is now assumed to be a kidnapping.”
: “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.”
: “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…”
: Sakaguchi and Kotobuki look like, twenty years younger in this shot than they really are.
: “Yeah.”
: “How is your band of killers growing up?”
: “None of your goddamn business.”
: “I see you’ve scored a comfy position.”
: “Yeah, you, too…”
: “Me? Oh yeah… whatever you say, Kotobuki.”
: “You sound desperate…”
: “I am desperate. Keep laughing, Kotobuki. I’m on this. Whatever you have to say, I’m watching over this investigation personally.”
: “Do whatever. I don’t give a shit.”
: “Kotobuki… nobody wants anything too overdone.”
: “…”
: “You reap what you sow. Your dogs were always a bunch of pit bulls. Show them your ass and you’ll get bitten.”
: “…”
: “I’m warning you as a friend.”
: “You sure are a pleasant motherfucker.”
: “Just watch your back.”
: 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.
: “A video from the perpetrator…”
: “It’s here!”
: “Play it immediately.”
: Yukimura is a cheap blow-up sex doll? Damn.
: Oh. The video shows the chairman struggling with the ropes, but you can’t see it very well in screenshot form.
: “Is this it?”
: “Yes, that is all.”
: “What was their purpose…? What do they want? What the hell does this video even mean?!”
: “From the video, we can confirm that Chairman Yukimura is still alive. However, there’s nothing about what the suspects want…”
: “Those motherfuckers!”
: “Sakaguchi…”
: “It’s a greeting from the suspect. It’s some grabby self-assertion.”
: “For what purpose…?”
: “It’d be easier if we knew. But…”
: “What is it?”
: 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.
: Wait, didn’t we blow that up in Persona 1?
: I’m going to go ahead and say there is no fucking way this shot isn’t a reference to Die Hard.
: “This isn’t something that can be solved with huge actions.”
: “What do you mean?”
: “No meaning… but thanks to this, look at how many people have been hurt. Right there…”
: “…”
: “What’s up…?”
: “No, it’s nothing. This building just looks like a ghost or something…”
: “A ghost, huh…”
: Kusabi’s trying to work out how he’s going to arrest a building.
: “Yeah, it’s actually sort of calm…”
: You know, like plaster their name all over everything, or have gold-plated toilets.
: “Like build this building?”
: “The more it stands out, the more people know what you got.”
: “I see…”
: “Also, it has sort of a sense of guilt. Somewhere in there…”
: “Hm…”
: “Big Dick! Quit fucking around. Let’s go!”
: We have to use the desk on the left side, as opposed to the one directly in front of us.
: “Hey lady, where’s it at?”
: “Sorry… we’re with the police.”
: “Thank you.”
: “Thanks.”
: “Here it is.”
: “Ah…”
: We can’t go anywhere but through the door.
: “It’s the ‘President’s Floor’…”
: “A show of wealth?”
: “Yup. It’s all imported shit. Someone’s got good taste, huh. Fuckin’ hell…”
: “OK, let’s go.”
: “I’m Kosaka, from Central.”
: “Hi…”
: “I’m Kodai and this is Kusabi, we’re from HC Unit 2.”
: “Nice to meet you. And this is…?”
: “This is Timrod, he’s new.”
: “My pleasure.”
: “…”
: “Any news?”
: “Nothing yet, but…”
: “But?”
: “Actually… we had everyone gather up top, but as you can see…”
: There’s a good… 20 or 30 screens of these board members arguing. I’ll cut most of it.
: “The hell is that?”
: “They must really want to kill the chairman.”
: “They’re fighting over succession, huh?”
: “Any leads on these guys?”
: “Anyone related to the company is currently being thoroughly checked out.”
: “What do you think?”
: “It’s too early to say…”
: “How about it, Tetsu?”
: “They all look suspicious. A bunch of goddamn weirdos.”
: “As you know, our investigators are quite ‘old-fashioned’…”
: “Are you Afro’s little bitch?”
: “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.”
: “Then what?”
: “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…”
: “Is that the general consensus?”
: “Yes.”
: “Fine with me… you guys take this over. You’ll need it sooner or later.”
: “…”
: “How is security here?”
: 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.
: “We’re watching over every possible route in. We’ve got Snow Tower on lock.”
: “Got it.”
: “…”
: “So that’s how it is.”
: “Huh? Oh, yeah… looks perfect here.”
: “There don’t seem to be any problems.”
: “Yeah, the problem isn’t here.”
: 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.
: Oh, and here’s the chapter theme for Parade.