Summary
: It’s been a long time since I’ve posted an update to an LP and recorded more on the same day. Anyway, this is the menu for chapter selection. We haven’t unlocked the first Placebo chapter yet.
: This guy on the left is Ryu Munakata, who is listed in the manual as a special agent of some kind who works with the 24th Precinct Heinous Crimes Unit but isn’t actually part of it.
: He has a portrait, but we won’t be seeing it in this chapter, so I’ll be using a temporary one from the manual.
: “Huh? What the hell do you mean?”
: “He’s gonna wake up.”
: "Is this info from your place?
: “No… I don’t know that much.”
: “Then, what?”
: “Pocket money…”
: “How greedy… don’t overestimate civil servants. Overtime for this quarter is getting cut.”
: “Fine, never mind then.”
: “You son of a bitch, I’ll shoot your ass dead where you stand…”
: Kusabi threatens pretty much every new character we meet, as we’ll see a bit later in this update.
: “Kidding, kidding… It’s just a hunch, but… I got my wisdom teeth pulled, right? At that time…”
: “What one time?”
: “Just before the ‘Silver’ thing…”
: “And? So what? You trying to tell me that your toothaches are supposed to be… some sort of antenna for shit about to go down or something?”
: “Exactly!”
: “What kinda jerkoff in this day and age believes that superstitious bullshit?”
: “No really, I’m telling you… it’s accurate. You really should believe it.”
: “Right about now, he’s taking life slow in the clink. Probably even gone and reformed himself by now…”
: It’s not clear why they let Kamui live when the government has two different hit squads in the area, but I’m guessing that’s probably a plot point.
: “Don’t underestimate what my teeth can do! I’m telling you, they’ve got a knack for this kind of ‘second sight’ !”
: “OK then! I believe you! I don’t get it, but I believe you! So what am I supposed to do now?”
: “Hmm…”
: These shots are part of a video that’s a good 15 seconds or so long, which show nothing but a woman running through what looks like a parking garage.
: Interestingly, this was a stage in one of Suda’s later games - a game called Ranko Tsukigime’s Longest Day.
: I’d ask how it is a guy in a highly-secure psych ward got a harpoon gun of all things, but this game takes place in the same world as No More Heroes and Killer7. No really, it does.
: This particular choice is a bit strange from a timing perspective, given that we’re about to play through the events being described. I guess you could compare it to Pet Sematary in that way.
: “Excuse me?”
: This is Sumio, who is Kusabi’s partner in the Heinous Crimes Unit.
: “No, it’s nothing… just talking to myself.”
: The game gives this guy’s name as Tachibana, but he’s not in the manual.
: “He seemed totally fine…”
: “So that ‘totally fine’ patient murdered his counselor and escaped? What a lovely fuckin’ story.”
: “Any problems with the system of management?”
: “There are always two security guards present. I don’t think there are any problems…”
: “So you got two amateur-ass rent-a-cops on a crazed serial killer? That’s basically like begging him to murder someone.”
: Kusabi is such a perfect asshole character, and I love every moment of it.
: “Kamui Uehara didn’t have the capacity to take care of himself normally. He has extremely debilitating mental disorders. He does not currently possess the capacity to kill or hurt anyone.”
: “So he’s all broken down?”
: “That’s a prejudiced viewpoint. There are cases which are not directly linked to mental breakdown.”
: I think this is the only point so far where if I was writing this, I would probably have made Kusabi’s line something like “He’s so incapacitated that he got past two guards, got a harpoon gun and killed someone. Fuckin’ idiot.”
: “Well, whatever… so the main point is ‘Kamui’s not here’ then.”
: “Thank you, doctor. We appreciate your cooperation.”
: “I get it now… some detectives really can be somewhat ‘difficult’ individuals, just like on TV. This was fun ----.”
: “Same here. I guess there are quack doctors everywhere too, huh.”
: “I’d sure like to be your personal physician. Anyway…”
: Kusabi makes an excellent seven-word summary of YIIK, and also of the expansion bits of Persona 5 Royal.
: “It’s sort of your fault. You were pretty rude to him…”
: “He’s been sitting here the whole time. Fuckin’ creepy…”
: “He’s the sole survivor from Special Forces. Real name unknown. No registration found. We found signs of it having been deleted. His codename is ‘Timrod’.”
: Well, I guess we know who the two dead people from Republic are. Too bad this isn’t a No More Heroes thing where they’ll turn up alive in two games.
: “Sounds pretty sketchy to me. What a fucked up story.”
: “You’ve come into contact with him before, at ‘Cauliflower’.”
: “Oh, you mean that Chinchilla… so you’re saying only he came back alive?”
: “Commander Natsume is currently in the ICU…”
: “I know. Natsume isn’t gonna die.”
: It’s weird that Natsume wears his glasses when we see him in his tactical gear in the prologue, but doesn’t here.
: “Our goal is to bring Kamui Uehara in alive. The target is thought to be armed. We don’t know what sort of weapon. Armament level Z.”
: Considering that the last mission was Armament Level X and we only had a handgun, I assume Level Z is.. I dunno, rocket launchers?
: “Bring him in…? If we’re capturing him with Z-level armaments, then why…”
: I’m picturing Inomata complaining, “Look, we’re a government-backed hit squad. We do hits. None of this ‘capture alive’ bullshit. You see Golgo 13 doing live captures? Fuck no you don’t.”
: “Save your questions for later. I’ll continue.”
: “But!”
: “These are orders from up top! Just follow them! Don’t think! Keep your shit together!”
: “Got it!”
: “OK.”
: “According to satellite tracking data, the target doesn’t seem to have left here. Lure the target to Point GF03 and secure him. Clean everything up within the 100-second countdown after we begin. That is all.”
: “About the armaments..”
: “What is it, Sakamoto?”
: “What if it’s difficult to bring him in alive?”
: “Our main goal is to bring him in alive.”
: “We… we’re gonna find ourselves at an extreme disadvantage…”
: “This plan needs a guaranteed unit survival rate of 60% in order to be approved. Fill in the remaining 40% yourselves.”
: “Got it!”
: We’ve got a squad of three guys, one of which got owned by a rando with a revolver. This is going to go swimmingly.
: “Depending on the situation, I may join you. Good luck.”
: Inomata is off-screen in this shot. The soldier in front is our character.
: “He’s only one guy. This’ll be no problem — right? Look at Timrod. This guy has wiped out his emotions.”
: “Don’t equate me with him. Frigid bastard…”
: “Then fucking control yourself. Otherwise you’re just gonna die.”
: “Die, huh… I’m gonna die? Just me…?”
: “Inomata!!”
: “Even at Cauliflower, only I got shot… by some regular citizen… that little punk bastard.”
: “It’s because you underestimate the power of crime! Even a normal citizen, if their desire to hunt a person is high enough, has the power to commit a crime.”
: “They can even be tougher than us. You get that, right? Inomata, you were bested in terms of that power.”
: Wait, is he equating crime with power levels like this is Dragon Ball or some shit?
: “It’s impossible… I can’t…”
: “You need to have more criminal power than the target. Disposal is the same as crime. Just hunt the target — keep that in mind!”
: Yes, yes he is.
: “I can’t lose! If I think of it as hunting, I can’t be beat!”
: “It’s the same as training. As far as the ability to secure a target goes, Inomata, you’re better than anyone.”
: “I know!”
: “OK… you ready, too, Timrod?”
: Just as a heads up for those who may not want to see it, there’s going to be some gore coming up. We already know what happens here and I’m ending the update after this segment, so you can safely skip it.
: “OK. Turn your radios to channel 2. We’ll move on my zero count. Execute the mission. We’ll enter formation once we find the target. Sakamoto, you move ahead until we find the target.”
: “Target found. We’re moving.”
: “OK. Spread out and lure the target to GF03.”
: “Got it. Inomata, get to my left. Timrod, follow the radar directions. Don’t be late.”
: “Got it.”
: Unlike the last gameplay segment, this is entirely on rails. The two yellow + signs are Sakamoto (on the right) and Inomata (on the left) with the red + in the middle being Kamui.
: You can see the green arrows - all you have to do is follow them to end this. I’m not sure if there’s dialog for going the wrong way or not.
: We take 10 or so steps to the North, and you can see Kamui getting closer to Sakamoto.
: “Sakamoto, you’re too close to the target. Get some distance.”
: “Got it.”
: “Sakamoto, do you read me? Get some distance!”
: “— Is this thing broken? The displayed distance and visual distance don’t match.”
: “Inomata, Timrod, do you read me? Confirm target distance with your scopes. Hurry up!”
: There’s no actual scope or anything. All we can do is keep moving.
: “Currently at… huh?!”
: “Sakamoto!! What’s going on? Sakamoto, respond! SAKAMOTOOOOOOOOO!”
: I don’t know if this was an intentional reference to Metal Gear Solid or not, but given that Suda has a game full of cutscenes where two characters have a podcast about Takashi Miike films..
: “CHIIIIEEEEF!!! Sakamoto’s callback…!”
: “… Continue the mission. Everyone keep your distance and follow the target. Keep this distance till I join you.”
: “CHIIIIEEEEF! YOU BASTARD…!!!”
: “Keep following the mission. Don’t fuck around, you idiot!”
: “FUCK OOOOOFF!!! I’LL HUNT HIIIIIIM!!!”
: Small editing note here - Inomata is using five exclamation points per sentence, but the site automatically truncates more than three.
: “Timrod. Continue following the radar!”
: Sakamoto’s dot appears back on the radar, and the arrows start directing us to him. This is where the gore warning comes into play.
: I just know Suda did this because of Event Horizon, which at the time would’ve been less than two years old.
: “FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK”
: “?!”
: “Fucking Kamui!”
: “I’m heading towards Timrod’s point. Inomata, be careful and move ahead. Inomata, do you read me?”
: “…”
: “Answer me, Inomata!”
: “…”
: “Do you wanna die?!”
: “…”
: “We’re going up against Kamui! Keep calm!!”
: “…”
: “Inomata! You, too…?!”
: “I’ll kill him…”
: “Timrod, move forward! Don’t let Inomata die!”
: You can see that Natsume is now on the map.
: “Be sure to collect my body. Even if we end up killing each other…”
: “Inomata, get back to the mission. Don’t let Sakamoto die in vain.”
: “…”
: “Disobeying orders will get your ass done! Remain calm!”
: “Chief… thanks for everything.”
: At this point, all we can do is move toward Inomata’s position.
: I wonder what kind of bowgun removes the target’s eyes.
: “Move to point GF04. Fall back. The mission has failed. I repeat. The mission has failed.”
: “We lost two; the mission failed. There are no excuses… retreat. We can’t allow any further sacrifices. I let my subordinates die like that.”
: “Timrod… laugh at me, will you? The only thing this old man can do is get his revenge. Kamui will be showing up soon. Right here…”
: “Timrod.. do you know the phrase..”
: Flower Sun and Rain is one of two sequels to this game. It was released on the PS2 and never localized. There’s a DS port that was localized, except it sucks.
: “The answer is inside Kamui. Don’t let him get to you. Kamui isn’t here. Kamui is right next door. Kamui is just peeking in. You get me? Timrod. It’s time we said goodbye. Take care…”
: Next time, we’ll get a cool nickname and solve a bullshit puzzle.