Our Jazz Has Standards, But Our Detective Doesn't: Anata Wo Yurusanai

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Our Jazz Has Standards, But Our Detective Doesn't: Anata Wo Yurusanai

«‹›58 »

ivantod: Mar 27, 2010; Mahalo, fuckers.

Last time, we've finally, it seems, reached the point where it is no longer possible for the three sisters to hide some thing things from the past which are potentially related to the case at hand. So, as we start the seventh chapter, it's time to finally hear the whole story. Before we start, though, I have two warnings. First, this update will be much more text-heavy than usual, as it mostly consists of a story being retold. And second, although the screnshots are mostly relatively tame, there are definitely some fairly graphic descriptions in the text itself, so consider yourselves warned on that topic.

With that out of the way, let's begin the new chapter!

Chapter Seven: "The Cruelty!"

We start in the big room, where people have gathered to hear the story.

Not as many people any more...

True. However... not like we can say much, since we also failed to prevent the murders. Let's just find a place to sit around here so we can hear what there is to hear.

(......)

(First it was Suketake-kun, and now also Suketomo-kun and Sayoko-san. It seems like everytime we gather here in this room, someone disappears.)

(I wonder what kinds of thoughts would Sahei have about this situation?)

(At least Sayoko-san is still alive... But Suketake-kun and Suketomo-kin will not be returning here again. It seems like the members of the Inugami family are slowly lost one by one...)

(It can't be that this is what he actually wanted to achieve, can it?)

Kindaichi's thoughts are interrupted by the start of the "meeting". As expected, it is presided over by the eldest sister Matsuko.

Then, I will now tell you what you wanted to know. I also have agreement from Takeko-san and Umeko-san to tell everything.

This is not a past that the three of us like to remember. We've never talked about it to anyone... but in this situation, it's not possible to keep it a secret any more. Takeko-san and Umeko-san have also decided that if we want to be able to have any kind of retribution for what was done to our children, the whole story must be told.

No matter how uncomfortable or disgusted you will feel about us when you hear this, there is just no other way. Everyone has their own position and circumstances, and there are times when, as a mother, you have to fight against injustice being inflicted by others against your child.

Therefore I ask you to please understand.

When you hear the rest of the story, this request will be very difficult to fulfill.

(......)

(Just another self-indulgent speech... As for its contents, nothing more but looking for excuses and avoiding responsibility. Let's see if the rest of the story is even believable to begin with.)

From time to time, we'll interrupt the story for some thoughts by Kindaichi, like here.

The story concerns the events from about thirty years ago, just before and after the birth of Sukekiyo here. As you may already have heard, at that time, our late father Sahei started to show some affection to a low-born woman named Aonuma Kikuno.

It's taken a while, but finally it's time to pick up again this strand of the story which has been a bit neglected lately!

Kikuno was among the eighteen or nineteen women who were working at our father's silk mill at that time. She was not particularly able or smart, but for whatever reason, she managed to ensnare our father with the notions of romantic love in his old age, and he went completely crazy about her and ended up in a sexual relationship with this woman.

You know, I'm going to go out and say it... it's an absolute mess trying to keep up with all the different relationships that this man was involved in--but I'm pretty sure that if we want to solve this case, we'll have to get to the bottom of it all!

Around this time, our father was just over 50 years of age, the business was going well and he was considered one of the the top business people in Japan. Because he was having an affair with a woman who worked in his own factory, he didn't want his reputation in the world to suffer. Therefore, he didn't bring her over here, but instead put her up in a house that he had found on the edge of the town and would visit her there all the time.

But, Inugami Sahei was a big person in the Shinshuu business community and soon you could hear all sorts of comments from his business rivals and poltical opponents, even up to writing joke songs about it. We were staring to feel extremely embarrassed about the whole thing.

At that time, a rumour started going around that we just could not let pass.

(But I doubt that the sisters would have told him all this voluntarily, so he must have heard it from Sahei himself.)

Continuing the story...

Because Kikuno had become pregnant, our father was going to make her his legal wife and bring her into the house. But that meant... that the three of us could expect to be kicked out. Please imagine how incensed with anger we were upon hearing this!

But it wasn't just the anger at the situation of the three of us; it was also the long standing regret about our mothers who had died after having been kept as mistresses all their lives, without either of them ever becoming his proper wife.

You may have been wondering about some of the detached parts of this house--they show the true cruelty of our late father. He kept three women as mistresses, simply as a tool for satisfying the physical needs of a repulsive man, but without even a hint of affection; in fact it was quite the opposite, he looked on them in disdain.

It was no different when we were born as result of these relationships. The only reason why he even remotely had anything to do with us, is because he coudln't just simply throw us away somewhere. Therefore, there were certainly no parental feelings involved in any of it.

Therefore, it's no wonder that our anger exploded when we heard that our father is showering this immature woman with love and affection and was even going to make her his legitimate wife.

(But still, why exactly was Sahei so cruel to his three mistresses and their childer?)

(According to Matsuko-san, it seems that he was really a severely flawed human being... But according to the "Biography of Inugami Sahei", he was a kind-hearted person, with a lot of empathy. Of course, since it was a commissioned biography, there may be exaggerations and misrepresentations, but still... people of Nasu consider Sahei almost like a loving father. Why then was he like that only to his mistresses and their children?)

(Did the fact that he had been in a homosexual relationship with Nonomiya Daini lead to this kind of behaviour? Did this homosexual experience influence the rest of his sex life? No, that seems like a too simple of an explanation. There has got to be more to it. But what?)

At that point, I was already married and had a child; as you know it was Sukekiyo.

My father would never involve my husband into the family business, but as the direct descendant of my father, I believed that nevertheless, Sukekiyo would eventually take over as the head of the family.

I guess the implication here is that this would happen on account of Sukekiyo being the oldest child.

But then, if Kikuno were to become my father's wife and gives birth to a son... then this child would become the family heir, and would take away everything from us. It made me angry, just thinking about this!

The anger about my father, the anger about my child and this whole thing just consumed my body and soul. And it wasn't just me, it was also Takeko-san and Umeko-san. At that time, Takeko-san was recently married to Toranosuke-san and had just become pregnant; Umeko-san's wedding to Koukichi-san was planned for the next spring.

And so we decided to go into a fight, both for the child that was already born, and for those that will be born in the near future!

A side note... I just realised that the three sisters all wear hair ornaments in the form of the three family heirlooms! I never noticed this until I saw this picture with all three of them together!

The three of us went to the house where my father and Kikuno were and unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse at them. When you hear this, you might consider me an immodest woman, but I don't care, for I did all of this for my mother. He swore back at us and said that he was going to marry that woman and that it was his final decision.

So I said to him, before she can birth you a child, I will kill both of you and then commit suicide. This way, Sukekiyo won't have to suffer the stigma of being the child of a murderer and will also be able to inherit the family assets. These words actually frightened my father--he must have thought that I was capable of following through with it. In any case, after that, the story of Kikuno becoming his wife slowly faded out.

Not quite sure exactly what this comment adds to the conversation, but ok. Let's continue the story.

As a woman, Kikuno's fear was much greater. This woman, who had become absolutely terrifed, in the final weeks of her pregnancy, suddenly left her house on the edge of the town and disappeared in an unknown direction. When we heard about this, I was ready to scream of joy--we had successfully managed to outmanoeuvre our father, I thought!

You are all aware of the three heirlooms of the Inugami family, the axe, the harp and the chrysanthemum...

Not long after Kikuno had disappeared, we heard from the person in our family's service that the heirlooms had disappeared. According to them, the three items were no longer in their usual place--it was really only our father who could have taken them.

I didn't even need to think about what could have been his purpose in taking them: he gave them to Kikuno! The resulting burning rage strengthened our determination even more. If this is how he was going to play it, then we were also going to use any method available to recover the heirlooms back!

The first thing to do was to leave no stone unturned in finding out the whereabouts of Kikuno--in this kind of rural area, it would be difficult for a pregnant woman to stay hidden. Eventually, we found out that Kikuno was hiding at a farm in the nerby village of Ina. Not only that, but she gave birth to a son about two weeks before, therefore from our standpoint, there was absolutely not a moment to waste!

We carried out the attack on Kikuno late on a freezing midwinter night.

First, we paid off the owner of the house, to make sure that he would not be present when we arrive--there are few people around here whould would resist the command of the Inugami family. Then we went over to where Kikuno was staying.

As soon as she saw our faces, she tried to run away with the baby. But I leaped at her and managed to catch her, tearing off part of her clothes in the process, while I dragged her out on the porch.

Kikuno was down on the frozen ground, desperately trying to resist, but I started beating her up with a bamboo broom; her pristine skin was immediately filled with fresh bruises and blood everywhere.

Takeko-san brought some icy water from the well and started throwing it on Kikuno, who was shaking in the cold wind.

...But the important part of the story comes next.

As I mentioned, we went there to retrieve the heirlooms...

Finally, as Kikuno calmed down a bit, I spoke to her quietly: "If you don't want any more pain, bring the three heirlooms here." But she proved surprisingly stubborn and said only this: "This is something that was given to me and so I can't give it back."

This was not what I wanted to hear, so I resumed beating her with the broom, while Takeko-san kept pouring freezing water over her.

Kikuno didn't say much more at that point, so we were at a bit of a loss at what to do. But then Umeko-san, who was holding the baby over to the side, came and said to me: "Sister, you can stop with that, there is a much easier way to get what we want."

And with that, Umeko-san retrieved the red-hot poker from the brazier in the house... and then she bared the baby's bottom and applied the poker to it. The baby started screaming, like it was on fire.

But, what Umeko-san had said was true: a previously stubborn Kikuno now gave in easily, after the baby was hit with the red hot poker. She retrieved the heirlooms from the closet and gave them to us.

To me, this was enough, but Takeko-san said to Kikuno: "Kikuno-san, you are an audacious woman whose character doesn't match her face. Let's say that you have met a man at the silk factory and that your relationship had continued since then."

At first, Kikuno didn't seem to understand what Takeko-san was getting at, but I understood her meaning immediately. Takeko-san picked up a piece of paper and gave it to Kikuno: "This baby is the child of that man. It's completely ridiculuos to say that this is the son of our father. Now sign here to confirm that this is not a child of Inugami Sahei, but of your lover from the factory."

Of course, at first, Kikuno tried to protest, but nobody was paying her any attention, and finally when Umeko-san again started making moves with the poker, she acquiesced. We got a letter signed by Kikuno and started to leave.

We told her, if you want to tell this to the police, you can. But we won't get a death penalty or life imprisonment, so you can be sure that we will find you again as soon as we're out of jail and come to say hello. If you try to talk to our father or to write him a letter, it will be the same. No matter how much you might try to hide, we will find you. And then we'll come to say hello.

At that point Kikuno was just sobbing without saying anything any more. It would seem that we finally managed to break the heart of this woman who up to now had desperately clung to her sanity.

Then there were the words of Umeko-san who smiled while returning the baby to Kikuno: "Hey, Kikuno-san, if we ever end up having to do this again, do you think that your cute boy might die that time?"

Suddenly, Kikuno raised her head, and said: "You horrible women! If the gods have wanted me to die, they would have killed me now! But they didn't want me to die! I'm sure I will be able to pay you back for this some day! The axe, the harp and the chrysanthemum... so you want to hear good news? Ahahahaha.... no, no! You will never be able to hear the good news now that the axe, the harp and the chrysanthemum will give your deserved reward. Remember it well, the axe is for you, the harp is for you and the chrysanthemum is for you!"

This was the last time I saw Kikuno. After this, she disappeared somewhere and we never saw her again.

Well. Hopefully, everybody managed to get through this one, despite it being more than a little unpleasant. Clearly there is a lot to unpack here, and we also got a bunch of keywords which we will definitely find out more about next time. For now, we have one more thing, and that is an updated relationship diagram. The only change is an arrow from Kikuno towards the Inugamis, labeled "grudge". Indeed.

(Click to embiggen!)

But don't worry, there are soon some rather big changes coming to our trusty diagram, so it's definitely going to be interesting. I think you can tell that the story has kicked it up a few notches for the last part!

So that's all for today, and I will leave you with this shot from the film, depicting the three sisters in a scary makeup just after arriving to beat up Kikuno:

ivantod fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Sep 10, 2019

# ? Sep 10, 2019 20:58

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 9, 2024 01:09

Seraphic Neoman: Jul 19, 2011

what the gently caress???

# ? Sep 10, 2019 22:45

Psion: Dec 13, 2002; eVeN I KnOw wHaT CoRnEr gAs iS

SSNeoman posted:

what the gently caress???

sums it up pretty well

# ? Sep 11, 2019 00:23

Seraphic Neoman: Jul 19, 2011

Well, Aonuma Shizuma is now the prime suspect for these murders. Taking revenge on the women who disgraced and humiliated his mother Kikuno.
I'm also willing to bet Kikuno is no longer with us, just to rub salt into the wound.

# ? Sep 11, 2019 00:36

Blaze Dragon: Aug 28, 2013; LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

SSNeoman posted:

what the gently caress???

I third this post.

I didn't expect backstory to get that messed up, jesus. I'm genuinely sorry for the Sukes, bad as they may be, if they got killed because of the poo poo their mothers pulled, when they are the ones that deserve that kind of punishment and suffering. Attacking a baby kills any hope of "but my children!" ever working as an argument.

# ? Sep 11, 2019 00:50

Taberquol: Jun 16, 2012

This family sucks

In most stories, I would suspect Sahei wouldn't have married anyone who didn't give birth to a son. I don't feel like it's that simple.

It doesn't seem that unexpected that a wealthy public figure would be well-liked by the town he employs while being a shitheel to his family.

# ? Sep 11, 2019 01:25

Robindaybird: Aug 21, 2007; Neat. Sweet. Petite.

And of course they sister flew all their rage on Kikuno and her baby, instead of the true source of their misery, as they wouldn't have the power to attack Sahei without retaliation.

# ? Sep 11, 2019 03:37

dotchan: Feb 28, 2008; I wanna get a Super Saiyan Mohawk when I grow up!

Robindaybird posted:

And of course they sister flew all their rage on Kikuno and her baby, instead of the true source of their misery, as they wouldn't have the power to attack Sahei without retaliation.

Please, these women are not stupid. Having eliminated the threat to their own position, they stood to inherit everything legally so long as they could wait long enough for Sahei to die (or so they believed, until their own sons started dropping dead and each couldn't prove the others guilty of such acts). Even if they could get away with secretly murdering Sahei and face no legal repercussions, you bet your butt Sahei had servant(s) loyal to him exclusively and would be willing to execute (pun intended) some sort of suitably horrific last will and testament. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Sahei found out what happened and the murders being played out now are his revenge from beyond the grave. (Generally detective fiction doesn't like the "Butler Did It" solution since it's too cliche, but this household is absolutely surrounded by all sorts of people conveniently ignored by both the current characters and the narration, and nobody has yet to bother with figuring out how these folks stand unless they draw too much attention to themselves.)

# ? Sep 11, 2019 03:51

Psion: Dec 13, 2002; eVeN I KnOw wHaT CoRnEr gAs iS

I don't think it's just one killer, there's gotta be someone taking advantage to settle a score beyond the possibility we just learned about. so it could be "the butler did it" at the same time it's not "the butler did it"

:v:

# ? Sep 11, 2019 04:27

ivantod: Mar 27, 2010; Mahalo, fuckers.

Blaze Dragon posted:

I third this post.

I didn't expect backstory to get that messed up, jesus. I'm genuinely sorry for the Sukes, bad as they may be, if they got killed because of the poo poo their mothers pulled, when they are the ones that deserve that kind of punishment and suffering. Attacking a baby kills any hope of "but my children!" ever working as an argument.

This part is in fact even worse when you're actually playing the game, because it contains sound effects for things such as: a person being hit by the broom stick; the screaming baby; the hissing sound of burning skin, among others.

I genuinely wonder how this game ever got approved by Nintendo for a DS release. I mean, it's based on an original work which is well known and popular in Japan and it IS rated "ages 15 and up" (CERO C), but still it seems a bit more extreme that what you'd typically find on the platform. I certainly can't see it ever having gotten approved for a western release (it's complete Japanese-ness notwithstanding, of course).

# ? Sep 11, 2019 16:48

tomanton: May 22, 2006; beam me up, tomato

"Grudge".

# ? Sep 14, 2019 03:43

differentiating: Mar 30, 2019

Psion posted:

I don't think it's just one killer, there's gotta be someone taking advantage to settle a score beyond the possibility we just learned about. so it could be "the butler did it" at the same time it's not "the butler did it"

Yeah, anyone who knew of this story is certainly a suspect. I feel like Kikuno/Shizuma being the killer of both cousins would too obvious/boring, but the idea of multiple killers opens it up to one death being opportunistic. If Matsuko didn't have an alibi per the game, I'd wonder if she was behind it and using Kikuno's threat of revenge as a means of hiding her own involvement - though I suppose it'd beg a lot of questions if/when Sukekiyo wasn't killed with an axe - since she's the only one of the three who stood to benefit from Suketomo's death at that point...

Either way, this backstory explains why Sahei's will was so batshit. He probably never forgave his daughters for chasing away the woman he loved, and so to spite them, he decided to make them compete for the inheritance they wanted so badly. After this revelation, can't say they didn't deserve it.

# ? Sep 18, 2019 21:51

ivantod: Mar 27, 2010; Mahalo, fuckers.

differentiating posted:

Yeah, anyone who knew of this story is certainly a suspect. I feel like Kikuno/Shizuma being the killer of both cousins would too obvious/boring, but the idea of multiple killers opens it up to one death being opportunistic. If Matsuko didn't have an alibi per the game, I'd wonder if she was behind it and using Kikuno's threat of revenge as a means of hiding her own involvement - though I suppose it'd beg a lot of questions if/when Sukekiyo wasn't killed with an axe - since she's the only one of the three who stood to benefit from Suketomo's death at that point...

Well, the theory of there possibly being two different murder plots going on could be supported in part by the fact that there is that one extra murder (the lawyer who was killed with a poison-laced cigarette) that doesn't seem to fit in with the rest. Everybody has been so focused on the "serial" murders, so it hasn't gotten a lot of mention lately, but it's definitely still open. Of course it could be also that he was killed to get at the will early and then once the person who killed him read the will, they put the other plan into action. Not to mention, that there are still quite a few unclear points regarding Sahei and the exact nature of his relationship with various people on that chart (but we will be starting to unravel this slowly in the next few updates--we are in the last third of the game, so it IS time to start getting some answers)! :v:

And I almost forgot... all those attempts on Tamayo's life which are still a bit weird in many ways.

# ? Sep 19, 2019 06:56

differentiating: Mar 30, 2019

ivantod posted:

Well, the theory of there possibly being two different murder plots going on could be supported in part by the fact that there is that one extra murder (the lawyer who was killed with a poison-laced cigarette) that doesn't seem to fit in with the rest. Everybody has been so focused on the "serial" murders, so it hasn't gotten a lot of mention lately, but it's definitely still open. Of course it could be also that he was killed to get at the will early and then once the person who killed him read the will, they put the other plan into action. Not to mention, that there are still quite a few unclear points regarding Sahei and the exact nature of his relationship with various people on that chart (but we will be starting to unravel this slowly in the next few updates--we are in the last third of the game, so it IS time to start getting some answers)!

And I almost forgot... all those attempts on Tamayo's life which are still a bit weird in many ways.

I definitely forgot about the lawyer's death, though right now it makes the most sense that he was killed because he helped someone sneak a peek at the will who didn't want to be identified. The attacks on Tamayo, though, even prior to the will being read... presumably there'd be no reason to attack her unless you'd read the will, and the commotion with the boat provided a sufficient distraction for the lawyer's death, so I'd have to assume these two were by the same person? Though whether this person is the same as our current murderer(s), who knows?

...I feel like one of those crazy people trying to hang up red string between a series of incidents and suspects and getting nowhere. :shrug:

So hopefully we'll start getting some light shed on all of this soon.

# ? Sep 20, 2019 06:31

dotchan: Feb 28, 2008; I wanna get a Super Saiyan Mohawk when I grow up!

differentiating posted:

...I feel like one of those crazy people trying to hang up red string between a series of incidents and suspects and getting nowhere. So hopefully we'll start getting some light shed on all of this soon.

The thing about Fair Play Mysteries is that a reader paying good enough attention really could pull the thread along with the detective, and potentially beat them to the reveal.

One of the reasons the Young Kindaichi Case Files became so popular is that its creators never lied to their audience or left out vital clues. Figuring out the mystery before the unveiling became a national obsession, all the while with all the hints still laid out in the open for everyone to see. (Meanwhile, Detective Conan/Case Closed has no qualms about suddenly revealing information out of nowhere, at least in the anime filler cases, but from what I remember of the manga, whenever the main character notices something, we're told about it as well.)

# ? Sep 20, 2019 19:58

differentiating: Mar 30, 2019

dotchan posted:

The thing about Fair Play Mysteries is that a reader paying good enough attention really could pull the thread along with the detective, and potentially beat them to the reveal.

One of the reasons the Young Kindaichi Case Files became so popular is that its creators never lied to their audience or left out vital clues. Figuring out the mystery before the unveiling became a national obsession, all the while with all the hints still laid out in the open for everyone to see. (Meanwhile, Detective Conan/Case Closed has no qualms about suddenly revealing information out of nowhere, at least in the anime filler cases, but from what I remember of the manga, whenever the main character notices something, we're told about it as well.)

Oh, I agree about Detective Conan being a terrible mystery series; that plus the unlikable characters made me give up on it fairly early on. It's also part of why I wasn't a fan of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, since that book relied entirely on lying to the audience. Where's the fun in reading a mystery if you don't have the means to guess at its solution?

In this case, I'm not sure which it will be - I don't think we have all the clues yet, but obviously our detective doesn't either.

# ? Sep 21, 2019 03:03

ivantod: Mar 27, 2010; Mahalo, fuckers.

Previously, we learned the somewhat horrifying story about what the three sisters did to Kikuno, the mother of Shizuma. Now we have a chance to ask a few questions and clarify a few details. We also return to the normal format of the updates again after a slight deviation last time.

(It's not that I can't understand wanting to have a revenge for the stealing of the heirlooms that were given to here... but, why now?)

(Certainly, if all the other inheritors are murdered, then Shizuma will receive everything... and there would be great benefits also for Kikuno.)

(But, the breakdown of the inheritance would only have been known after the will had been drawn up. It would be different if Sahei had remained in contact with Kikuno while still alive, but then in that case there would have been other less problematic ways to obtain the inheritance anyway.)

(On top of which, it's difficult to understand that people who are now committing a series of such a bizarre and unusual murders... would have been able to stay silent and just bear it somewhere for thirty years. No matter how you look at it, that doesn't make sense--I have a feeling like I'm still missing a big part of this picture.)

(Well then, let's see what else we can find out from the person in question here.)

I would like to ask you a few more questions about this, if that's all right.

Sure, go ahead.

All right then, we got a few keywords last time, so let's put them to use. First let's ask about the "red hot poker".

If that is true, then would it not have resulted in a visible burn?

Also, when you consider it, in fact the things could have ended up a lot worse... Because, when Umeko-san took action, me and Takeko-san stopped beating Kikuno. When you look at it like that, a burn is just a small thing.

Uh, all right, if you say so...

Uh, I see...

If you think there may be somebody around here who is Shizuma, I can't help you there, as I haven't known anything about him for at least 30 years now...

(It would be a nice idea, but it's not like we can go around asking people to show us their buttocks in order to see if anybody of them is actually Shizuma...)

Well, that was a bit funny there at the end, but let's see what we can find out about that bit where Kikuno pointed at the sisters "one by one".

When somebody has a grudge against you like that, it's almost like giving you a pre-announcement of a crime...

Please try to remember, this is quite important. If the order of these murders has been exactly as she had said, then there is a good possibility that she is the culprit.

So did she mention the chrysanthemum in connection with Takeko-san and the harp with Umeko-san?

Well, we don't seem to be getting much of anywhere with this. Let's just go with the last bit about the "broken heart".

Yes, I can only think that that's the case.

But, let me be clear. I'm definitely not trying to say that it was just Umeko-san who did wrong that night.

However, as you said that the axe, the harp and the chrysanthemum are related to these murders, therefore I told you this story. But about any specific relationship, I don't know.

Isn't it the job of the police and detectives like you to determine if it's related or not?

All right then, thank you, Matsuko-san.

This is really surprising, isn't it? Raise hands who is surprised that the key to the mystery is in fact with the people that we know the least about!

(...but the police would probably still not be convinced to consider them as suspects.)

(Then, who could I talk to, who might know more about Kikuno and Aonuma?)

Ah yes. We can always rely on Furudate to not mention stuff, simply because he doesn't consider it relevant, or from some kind of misguided loyalty to the family. Well, let's see. Whatever we hear from him, it can hardly be less useful than this last conversation with Matsuko, so...

Hey, that's true! And we really haven't heard anything at all about it!

So your investigation has been going on already for a while now?

Ah, as a matter of fact, I was going to come here today for that reason anyway...

Then you found something?

What do you mean, exactly?

(Furudate-san seems to be a bit stuck with this... Useful or not, there seems to be very little information available in any case. However, if Shizuma is alive, it should be possible to find him... But, is he alive? That is the question.)

Again it's time to ask questions! In fact, we only have one, the one we just got regarding any clues about Shizuma.

When Kikuno-san left the town of Ina in a rush, Shizuma-kun was still just an infant, so naturally in the next few years he would have likely stayed with his mother.

I thought that for a young woman with a baby, the simplest option would be to go to one of her relatives.

I assume this line of inquiry didn't pan out then?

Uh, well, yes and no.

Like the late Sahei, Aonuma Kikuno was a person who didn't seem to have very many known relatives, so that made the investigation even more difficult.

Next questions is, where did she go at first.

Oh, no, I didn't mean that she didn't have any at all...

Toyama is a city in Japan, again it the same general area of central Honshuu, where most of the locations in this story are.

After taking the baby and leaving Ina, she doesn't appear to have come anywere near again.

(I see... She disappeared, exactly as Matsuko-san had wanted. It seems that way, at least. But no matter where she is, the life of her son may be at stake.)

And then, what next? Apparently she didn't stay in Toyama?

Yes, she was there with the relatives for a while...

No. After all, this was thirty years ago.

In the last years of the war, Japanese cities were suffering from large allied bombing raids; one of most heavily hit was Toyama--in particular as a result of the raid conducted in the beginning of August 1945, the city was basically completely destroyed. Here is a photograph of the entire city on fire that night as a result of 173 B-29 planes dropping incendiary bombs:

So, chances of survival were not high if you found yourself there at the time.

Anyway, moving on.

These relatives didn't have any other close relatives so that trail stops there. It seems that people from Kikuno-san's family tend to not be very lucky.

That may be so...

(But when Kikuno is concerned, I don't think it's all just a matter of luck, though.)

All right, now then. Furudate mentioned that he had come across an interesting fact. Let's see what that's all about.

You came across an interesting fact? What was it?

It concerns Haruyo-san, the grandmother of Tamayo-san. In fact... it's Nonomiya Daini's wife Haruyo-san who could be called the true benefactor of Sahei.

But this explains quite a bit about why Sahei did what he did with Kikuno-san.

You see, as you might have also read in his biography, Haruyo-san was a sacred woman for Sahei, like an affectionate mother or older sister that he never had.

So perhaps the relatiship with Kikuno was not based only on love but also on a sense of a debt of gratitude.

(But Sahei's desire to repay in his own way the good treatment that was given to him was shattered thirty years ago, ironically enough, by his own blood, the three sisters.)

Yes, just when you think that everything around Sahei can't get any more messed up, it just goes on and does it! In any case, we have to add one more arrow to our relationship diagram to mark the relation between Kikuno and Haruyo:

(Click to embiggen!)

In the end, I'm glad that the game supplies this diagram, it does make it a lot easier to follow what's going on, because there are just too many characters to keep it all in your head constantly.

Anyway, with that done, we have one more thing to talk about today and that is about what happened with Shizuma after he was left in the care of Kikuno's relatives in Toyama.

No, he wasn't.

Somebody who lived in the neigbourhood remembered him. Because Shizuma was living with the relatives, he was also entered in the family register there under their name, Tsuda, and not Aonuma. Although the Tsuda couple were poor, they were kind people so they took Shizuma in as if he were their own child.

Some of it was given to the relatives to help support Shizuma, so he managed to finish high school.

After that, he was recruited and decommisioned a couple of times...

I wil continue to investigate about Kikuno-san, but as far as Shizuma-kun is concerned, I think that's probably hopeless for the time being. Of course, I hope that that will change at at some point.

Understood. Thank you very much.

(If this is all true, Shizuma is certainly one unlucky young man. Not only could he not claim his birthright, but even now we don't know if he's even dead or alive.)

One last note for today: nagauta is a kind of a song in a Kabuki theatre performance (the "long song").

That's all for this time; next time the drunken slimeball priest will have even more revelations for us!

ivantod fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Oct 7, 2019

# ? Sep 25, 2019 22:10

Seraphic Neoman: Jul 19, 2011

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark that Yamada Sanpei is Aonuma Shizuma, since that's the only other military guy around here. If Kikuno is dead though, then Kindaichi is right, it's weird to hold a grudge for 30 years and then decide, "well ho boy time to take revenge for mom!"

# ? Sep 25, 2019 22:39

Blaze Dragon: Aug 28, 2013; LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

I'll second being thankful for the diagram because I was really lost. Like, I could keep track in my head, but it felt foggy at this point, that helped a lot.

# ? Sep 26, 2019 03:23

Yvonmukluk: Oct 10, 2012; Everything is Sinister

SSNeoman posted:

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark that Yamada Sanpei is Aonuma Shizuma, since that's the only other military guy around here. If Kikuno is dead though, then Kindaichi is right, it's weird to hold a grudge for 30 years and then decide, "well ho boy time to take revenge for mom!"

To be fair, it probably has something to do with the will as well.

I'm wondering if Yamada Sanpei is actually Inugami Sukekiyo, since he knew his way around the house so well.

# ? Sep 29, 2019 00:39

ivantod: Mar 27, 2010; Mahalo, fuckers.

Last time we learned from Furudate some more bits about the history of Aonuma Shizuma and his mother Kikuno, and what happened to them after they were driven away by the three sisters. So, now it's time to do some proper police work, and talk to everybody about the Suketomo situation. As a reminder, it's still the same day, and we are still in the Inugami mansion with everybody gathered around. We'll also start to do some significant reshuffling of our relationship diagram, but more on that towards the end.

To begin with, we're joined again by the police chief Tachibana.

As you have heard by now, Suketomo-kun was found strangled in the old Inugami house over in Toyohata village; the approximate time of death is around 8 to 9 PM last night.

Matsuko-san, if you don't mind...

Yes.

Well, there you go. Teacher Miyakawa arrived here early last evening. We had dinner together and then it was harp practice, until around 10 o'clock or so.

Takeko-san and Umeko-san can also confirm to you that they've heard the sound of the instrument at that time.

At what time did you have dinner?

It was around 7 or so.

Well, it was a long period of time, so I might have gotten up to go to the toilet or something like that, once or twice.

Yes. But that wouldn't have taken more than 5 or 10 minutes.

Rather, I'm more curious why you would have to go all the way to the main area to get a harp string? Are there other people here who also play the harp?

It's only when Father was in critical condition and everybody started gathering here that I decided to move to a side part.

Hmm... a harp string, huh?

He might have gotten up a time or two, but he wouldn't have had enough time to go all the way over to Toyohata.

Again, you can confirm this with the teacher Myakawa. She is blind, but that doesn't mean that she is not perceptive.

Right. We'll talk to her later.

Now, here comes Umeko-san, the mother of Suketomo, to interject...

So you're saying that they were here during that time?

Me and my husband were with them in their room, and also with Sayoko-san who was very worried too. So we started calling around.

Calling around?

You know, bars, cabarets, those sorts of unsavory places... that kid seemed a little bit reckless lately, so he would go out and amuse himself in places like that.

I guess you could almost say he was a... disaffected "apr�s-guerre", huh? (I'll go get my coat.)

It has to be. Therefore it cannot be one of us here who did it.

That's all from her, for now. Let's move on to the next person!

Why you so defensive?

We still don't know if some scoundrel will come and try to attack her again, therefore I have been keeping a non-stop watch over her.

Do others know about it?

When they were having dinner, I told them that the young miss was not feeling well, so I was going to stay and watch over her tonight.

At what time do you normally have dinner here?

By the way, Saruzou-kun, we've been told that you have some old harp strings?

Yes, that's right.

All right, we'll come and look at it after. You may go now.

He's around thirty years of age, more or less, has no known relatives, and is in the circle of the Inugami family. If he was looking for a chance at retaliation, it does fit.

I did a background check on Saruzou, but he turned out to be from around this area. When his parents died when he was five, Tamayo-san's mother, Noriko-san, thought him pitiful and took him in and raised him herself. The midwife that was present for his birth happens to be still alive and she testified to this. Not to mention, there are many other people around here who know him.

So, it seems that he is genuinely who he says he is.

On one hand, maybe a little disappointing, but on another, I actually feel quite relieved that this is the case.

We are interrupted again by Matsuko...

I've heard that in the old house where Suketomo-san was killed, a man dressed as a veteran soldier left behind some footprints and traces of cooking. Also, it seems that the night Suketake-san was killed, he was staying in a nearby inn.

This suspicious man is still hanging around this area. Shouldn't you be trying to apprehend him as soon as possible? Who the hell is this man anyway?

And as for who he is, just after the Suketake-kun incident, we got in touch with the Hakata Repatriation Relief Office, and received a reply a few days ago.

That... is very interesting! It's been a long time ago, so you will definitely be forgiven if you had forgotten it by now, but at the very very beginning of the game, one of the first things that was mentioned was the fact that Sukekiyo was still in Burma! So it seems, that whoever this other fellow is, there may be some connection with Sukekiyo present.

Yes, well, on this ship was a person named Yamada Sanpei. After investigating at the Hakata port, it seems that he gave your house in Tokyo as his address: Tokyo, Koujimachi 3, building no. 21, is that right?

That I don't know. But he stayed in Hakata overnight and then headed to Tokyo. A couple of days later he stayed at the inn here, where he was witnessed.

As always, a man of very few words.

I see...

But if you know all that, couldn't you do a bit more? Over at the old house, did you not find any other kind of traces except the footprints?

Uh, well... yes... certainly, there are many...

He was found tied to a chair, without his shirt on, and his skin had rope scratches all over the place on his chest and arms. This is consistent with him having struggled to free himself.

The result of this is that the rope should have been loosened up at least somewhat. However, when he was discovered, the rope around his body was tied quite tightly, with almost no slack at all.

As mentioned, he was found tied up without his shirt, but he had it when he came to the house with the unconscious Tamayo. The game kind of doesn't explain this well, but this shirt was found there on the scene. It also appears to be missing the top button, if you look carefully!

I want to ask you about this shirt, as you can see it's missing the topmost button. Do you know what happened to it?

I don't know, but I can tell you this. I doubt that he would have gone out like that. That kid was quite fashionable and would not have gone out wearing a shirt which is missing a button.

It was not on his motorboat either... I looked.

Perhaps it fell into the lake... then we'll never find it.

Again, we are rudely interrupted by someone's shouting...

I've found it! I've found it!

Huh? What in the...

Oh, for... Is the priest drunk again? Nevertheless, it seems that he has some kind of revelation for us, either way.

Please listen, you will be absolutely surprised and astonished!

The secret of Sahei's will? I thought you were not looking into the will, but instead...

Yes, yes, it was a letter. But from there I found out something amazimg!

Do you not want to hear it? Because the details are...

You might have noticed that we got a keyword there a few moments ago! It is in fact possible to ask about a different thing at this point (from last time we still have an unused keyword about the "Kanazawa Unit" where Shizuma was recruited into) and not hear the secred of the will at this time! But don't worry, we are definitely going to hear the "secret of the will". The choice here is even time limited, so if you don't ask before the time expires, sucks to be you! Anyway, here goes.

I thought at first, is it because she's the granddaughter of his benefactor?

I'm sorry, but is there really anybody who didn't expect this to be the case from the very first moment Tamayo was mentioned? Anyway, at least it's now out there, although clearly not in the most discreet fashion possible, but...

Turns out, Noriko-san, Tamayo-san's mother, is acutally the daughter of Sahei and Haruyo-san, Daini's wife!

If you think about it, the situation here was probably that Daini was actually gay and so when his wife wanted a child, he was happy to have Sahei do it instead, or something along those lines. Certainly, it seems that Sahei was at the very least bisexual since he clearly had no problem to have sex with (several) women, as we already know.

(How can such a person be a priest? What is he even thinking about, doing things like this!)

What are you even doing, barging in here like this and talking about all kinds of things!

Huh? But what then?

And he finally does!

(No point in trying to continue the conversations now...)

You know, it has been a long day, and it's still not over. Kindaichi should go back to the hotel and take a breather for a few minutes!

So, as I said, the day is still not over, but we'll continue it next time!

Before we finish for this part, however, we have some "rewiring" to do on our handy relationship chart! So, here is an updated version:

(Click to embiggen!)

This now reflects correctly the lineage of Tamayo!

On the next dramatic episode of The Inugami Family:
Not everyone will survive to the end!

# ? Oct 9, 2019 21:46

dotchan: Feb 28, 2008; I wanna get a Super Saiyan Mohawk when I grow up!

I forget, of all the Great Big hosed Up Families that Kindaichi runs into, where does the Inugami clan fall on a scale from 1 (basically normal, except maybe a little bit of Shenanigans) to 10 (one Inciting Incident away from all-out total war)?

# ? Oct 9, 2019 21:52

ivantod: Mar 27, 2010; Mahalo, fuckers.

dotchan posted:

I forget, of all the Great Big hosed Up Families that Kindaichi runs into, where does the Inugami clan fall on a scale from 1 (basically normal, except maybe a little bit of Shenanigans) to 10 (one Inciting Incident away from all-out total war)?

Haha, I don't know, believe it or not, I've never read any of the other Kindaichi books! This one sure is messed up, but since there is another Kindaichi game in this series, that also happens to involve a large family, we'll have a chance to find out how it compares, when we play that one, if there is interest to do so! :v:

# ? Oct 9, 2019 21:59

Seraphic Neoman: Jul 19, 2011

I suppose it is good to have confirmation, we never did learn what Tomoyo's deal was.

Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Oct 9, 2019

# ? Oct 9, 2019 22:34

Blaze Dragon: Aug 28, 2013; LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

ivantod posted:

Haha, I don't know, believe it or not, I've never read any of the other Kindaichi books! This one sure is messed up, but since there is another Kindaichi game in this series, that also happens to involve a large family, we'll have a chance to find out how it compares, when we play that one, if there is interest to do so!

I'm always interested in more Japanese games I would've never known for if it wasn't for your LPs. If you still feel like going for it when you finish with this, then you can be sure I'll still be following.

SSNeoman posted:

I suppose it is good to have confirmation, we never did learn what Tomoyo's deal was.

Negima was that complex? I didn't remember that at all, jesus. I guess I read it a long while ago and dropped the sequel early but still.

# ? Oct 10, 2019 01:42

Seraphic Neoman: Jul 19, 2011

I stopped reading it early on so I couldn't say. I just remember this chart because holy poo poo

Wish I had more to talk about this update, but honestly we don't really have much to go on here. I mean tbf I guess not every update can feature a woman getting beaten and a baby getting burned with a poker, goddamn.

Blaze Dragon posted:

I'm always interested in more Japanese games I would've never known for if it wasn't for your LPs. If you still feel like going for it when you finish with this, then you can be sure I'll still be following.

Hey OP, how do you feel about Sakura Wars :unsmigghh:

Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Oct 10, 2019

# ? Oct 10, 2019 01:52

Kairinko: Apr 21, 2010

I've binge-read this thread over the past few days and it has been one hell of an experience. I feel like I've gotten tonal whiplash going back and forth between these games, but the Kindaichi story has been awesome! Thanks for all your work, this insight into Japanese culture and these stories I wouldn't know about otherwise have been very interesting!

# ? Oct 10, 2019 17:59

ivantod: Mar 27, 2010; Mahalo, fuckers.

Kairinko posted:

I've binge-read this thread over the past few days and it has been one hell of an experience. I feel like I've gotten tonal whiplash going back and forth between these games, but the Kindaichi story has been awesome! Thanks for all your work, this insight into Japanese culture and these stories I wouldn't know about otherwise have been very interesting!

Thanks, I'm glad you had fun, although I can imagine that it's quite a task to go though the whole thread at this point! :v:

Yeah, I (honestly) orginally just intended to play the "Lifesigns" game, because I thought it was fun, but not many people knew about it. Then it was, well, why not show a bit of the first game in the series, since it was never released outside of Japan. Then that turned into playing most of it because it was just really interesting. Then I wanted to see if there were any other medically themed games so we landed on "Batista". Unfortunately, that one was a bit of a dud, so I had to do something else to not end on a sour note. And it just keeps escalating like that basically! For now, I don't have an immediate intent to stop... since I'm playing these games mostly blind, they are also interesting to me too!

As for Kindaichi game, yeah so far I think this one is pretty good; and like I mentioned already a few times, there is another one just like it, adapting a different book in the exact same style, so...

SSNeoman posted:

Hey OP, how do you feel about Sakura Wars

To tell the truth, I have no particular feeling about the series! I have never played any games from Sakura Wars series, although I did follow the "eternal" LP that was running here a few years ago (side note: it's nice to see that it's possible to have a worse update schedule than mine--that LP was only being updated once every couple of months, until the thread fell into archives after the mods forbade people to bump it when there are no updates!).

Either way, I know what it's about, and I know also that all except one (soon to be two) are Japan only, but in all honesty, my interest in that series is not high enough at the moment, plus there are other things which I already have on the possible list for this thread, but we'll see. Never say never.

On another note, I just finished recording the next bit of gameplay for "Inugami", and oh my god. There is a conversation where you have to use TEN keywords and they are all timed, and you have to do it in a particular order at the right moments (reacting to what the other person is saying) if you want to get really everything. That's coming in about 2-3 updates from now, but don't worry, I got everything! :v:

ivantod fucked around with this message at 11:29 on Oct 12, 2019

# ? Oct 12, 2019 11:22

tomanton: May 22, 2006; beam me up, tomato

What exactly does timed mean in this again? Words expire at the end of a certain conversation or you have to get them done within literal minutes?

(Also to go back to the hard-to-read Kanji thing from weeks ago, here was the joke, you're almost certainly right it was around some sort of spelling reformation or whatever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGQ7OEXG4oM&t=361s)

# ? Oct 12, 2019 19:52

ivantod: Mar 27, 2010; Mahalo, fuckers.

tomanton posted:

What exactly does timed mean in this again? Words expire at the end of a certain conversation or you have to get them done within literal minutes?

Ah, let me explain; it's kind of the first of the options you suggested.

Normally as you go to the game, on the bottom screen (which I rarely show), you have the typical arrow to advance the dialogue, like in Ace Attorney and many other games. Also on the bottom screen behind the arrow you can see a little heartbeat animation, like so:

As you can see, the hearbeat animation is in gray colour. Sometimes, the game will stop and let you choose the keyword you want to ask, and you literally can't proceed until you do so. Here, there is no timing, it's just a matter of which keyword you pick.

But sometimes (and this doesn't happen very often and sometimes leads to a bit of a plot branch), the heartbeat will become blue in colour:

This means, that now you have the ability to interrupt and redirect the conversation by using a keyword while the heartbeat is in a different colour. Eventually the heartbeat will become orange, like here:

At this point, you have only one or two more lines where you can interrupt, before it goes back to gray and you've missed your chance (at least for the time being).

What makes this tricky, is that sometimes (like in the part I just recorded), you have to already interrupt during the blue phase (and not wait until the last moment), as you may need to interrupt more than once during the blue phase, otherwise you won't have enough time to ask everything!

Hope this clears up everyhing, but if not, ask!

tomanton posted:

(Also to go back to the hard-to-read Kanji thing from weeks ago, here was the joke, you're almost certainly right it was around some sort of spelling reformation or whatever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGQ7OEXG4oM&t=361s)

Ok, this is actually quite funny, now I understand what the joke is about. Post-war spelling reform simplified some kanji (but nowhere near the extent it was done in China), and made a government official list of aboud 2000 "common use kanji", and finally also fixed the hiragana spelling to make it mostly phonetic (including getting rid of a few redundant hiragana/katana). For this last one, for example, the word 今日 (today) is pronounced "kyou", but before the reform it would have been spelled in hiragana as けふ (kefu) although still pronounced as kyou. It also started to discourage the use of kanji to phonetically write out the foreign names in general (in favour of katakana), which is a practice that I guess originated with Chinese (and is still in regular use there), so with the names they give in the video, such as 貝多芬 for Beethoven, nobody today would even know that that's what it's supposed to stand for, not to mention that for example that Bach written as 巴哈 also uses two kanji which aren't even common any more today. Hence the inability of the Phoenix and Maya to read Susato and the other Phoenix's dialog boxes, whereas these two on the other hand are not familiar with the English words used today for "concert" and "orchestra", although the word they use for orchestra, 交響楽団, really means more like a symphony orchestra and is definitely still in use today by... the actual symphony orchestras in their names!

Ok, I'm just going to stop right here, before I put everyone to sleep! :v:

ivantod fucked around with this message at 06:48 on Oct 13, 2019

# ? Oct 12, 2019 20:47

Ibblebibble: Nov 12, 2013

Aw, but I like linguistics corner

# ? Oct 13, 2019 00:51

David Corbett: Feb 6, 2008; Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world.

Good heavens. Is anyone here not related?

# ? Oct 13, 2019 03:03

Regallion: Nov 11, 2012

Hopefully Kindaichi isn't

# ? Oct 13, 2019 08:31

dotchan: Feb 28, 2008; I wanna get a Super Saiyan Mohawk when I grow up!

David Corbett posted:

Good heavens. Is anyone here not related?

Regallion posted:

Hopefully Kindaichi isn't

Japan is a very insular culture living on a not very big island.

I'd do the math myself, but I'm lazy.

# ? Oct 13, 2019 19:47

Yvonmukluk: Oct 10, 2012; Everything is Sinister

I'm beginning to wonder if the priest is Shizuma and he's just making poo poo up to gently caress with everybody.

# ? Oct 13, 2019 23:03

Shoeless: Sep 2, 2011

Late I know, but I just got caught up. I noticed some people remarking on how it seemed odd that the old man was mean to his blood mistresses and daughters but said to be very good by the townspeople. I would like to point out that the only thing we have saying that he was horrible to his close family is Matsuko's story, and she has a very, very good reason to try and massage the truth to make herself and her sisters as sympathetic as possible.

# ? Oct 19, 2019 20:42

Seraphic Neoman: Jul 19, 2011

I guess he's a man of extremes? Like if he likes you he's a total bro but otherwise he's a huge rear end in a top hat. It would certainly explain all of his affairs?

# ? Oct 20, 2019 00:27

Robindaybird: Aug 21, 2007; Neat. Sweet. Petite.

It's not unheard of that the patri/matriarch of a family present their best possible face to the public, but sees no reason to extend any of the kindness towards family, after all they're family, they should love and adore their head by default, why should one work for what should be theirs already?

# ? Oct 20, 2019 02:16

Shoeless: Sep 2, 2011

SSNeoman posted:

I guess he's a man of extremes? Like if he likes you he's a total bro but otherwise he's a huge rear end in a top hat. It would certainly explain all of his affairs?

Robindaybird posted:

It's not unheard of that the patri/matriarch of a family present their best possible face to the public, but sees no reason to extend any of the kindness towards family, after all they're family, they should love and adore their head by default, why should one work for what should be theirs already?

Those are certainly possible interpretations, I just wanted to point out that Matsuko's an unreliable narrator.

Edit: Also count me in for wanting to see the other Kindachi game, ivantod!

# ? Oct 20, 2019 03:08

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 9, 2024 01:09

Mraagvpeine: Nov 4, 2014; I won this avatar on a technicality this thick.

Has Kindaichi done any detective work? So far he's been observing the situation and listening to testimony.

# ? Oct 20, 2019 03:47

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Our Jazz Has Standards, But Our Detective Doesn't: Anata Wo Yurusanai

«‹›58 »