Shogo Okiie's Curse
(Warning: major plot spoilers for the whole story of Paranormasight!)
In the Prologue chapter of Paranormasight, after Yoko's death, Shogo receives the Whispering Canal curse stone from her body. He then proceeds to use it to kill the other curse-bearers to fill it with their soul dregs.
...or does he?
Late in the story, two important facts are revealed:
1) Shogo Okiie was the original bearer of The Beckoning Light
2) Only curse bearers can take curse stones and use their power; the curse stones will disappear and re-manifest with their bearer if a normal person takes them
Although the game initially leads you to believe Shogo became a curse bearer by taking The Whispering Canal from Yoko, we know that he already was one at that point with The Beckoning Light in his possession even though he was unaware of it. Thus he was able to take The Whispering Canal without it disappearing.
Shogo does use The Whispering Canal to kill Yumioka, as we see his body afterwards, but he more than likely actually used The Beckoning Light for the rest of his kills. The only other body we see is Yakko's- notably, she's laid flat on her back on the ground, which matches more with The Fool's Procession's death by falling from a great height rather than drowing. Araishi, Harue, and Namigaki's deaths are all off-screen and there's no way to pass off their respective curses' methods as drowning to the player. Yumioka wasn't a curse bearer and wouldn't have activated The Beckoning Light, but the rest of Shogo's victims all would have.
This also puts the Storyteller's question of "How many people did Shogo kill?" in a different perspective. Not only was it asking how many times Shogo acted without player input, it was a measure of how many times you, as Seimen's mind, used Seimen's curse instead of Shogo calling on it.
This is also why it's significant that Mayu was unconscious and physically inaccessible by the other curse bearers during the events of the Prologue. If Shogo lived and saw Mayu, curseless, it would've revealed early to the player that someone other than her had The Beckoning Light. If Shogo died, then Mayu wasn't awake when The Beckoning Light manifested with her and the player can be led to believe she got it at midnight like everyone else instead of after Shogo's death.
84 notes
·
View notes
With a Resounding "Yes", It's Time for Paranormasight VA Headcanons!
I'm going to be an oddball and switch between Japanese & English VAs when I find it relevant. Also my order's gonna be based on how strongly I think the headcanon works. I'll also try to provide examples for the angle I'm going for
let's a go
Tetsuo Tsutsumi
Japanese: Option 1 - Akio Otsuka (Executioner from Akudama Drive). Option 2 - Jouji Nakata (Osvald from Octopath Traveler 2)
English: Option 1 - Jamieson Price (Malik Caesar from Tales of Graces F). Option 2 - Jason Douglas (Kishibe from Chainsaw Man)
Middle aged men characters are my specialty so really it depends on the delivery you want. Richard Epcar (Ace from 999) could also work for English as well as Bill Butts (Ciocolotta from Jojo part 5)
Makoto Ashimiya/Fumichika Nejima
Japanese: Kenjiro Tsuda (Ogata from Golden Kamuy...and also Kishibe from Chainsaw Man). Katsuyuki Konishi could also be a good example but I can't really think of an old man character. I guess Takehito Koyasu could also work? But like this is THE most TsudaKen looking motherfucker I've ever seen
English: Joe J. Thomas (Nobunaga Hazama from Hunter x Hunter). His "So I did" line really cemented this casting choice tbh.
Richter Kai
Japanese: Shiniciro Miki (Kisuke Urahara from Bleach)
English: For this, it depends again on the delivery you want. I originally wanted Doug Erholz (maybe not like Vega from Street Fighter), but upon closer inspection, Ray Chase (Uzui Tengen from Demon Slayer) might be a better pick.
Harue Shigima
English: Laura Post (Empress from A Hat in Time)
Japanese: Kikuko Inoue (Rhea from Fire Emblem Three Houses)
It just works, it just works~
Shogo Okiie
English: Chris Hackney (Yuito from Scarlet Nexus)
Japanese: Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Noctis from Final Fantasy 15)
Standard older protagonist
Jun Erio
Japanese: Kaito Ishikawa (Noe from Case Study of Vanitas or Iida from My Hero Academia)
English: Griffin Burns (Doppio from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure). Zeno Robinson (Akira from Zom 100) would also work great!
An excitable character that I think can work great with the right delivery.
Takumi Yumioka
Japanese: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Yoshikage Kira from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)
English: Ben Lepley (Gouto from 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim)
I feel like a flat delivery that still has an air of intimidation would work best for him.
Mayu Chozawa
English: Option 1 - Tara Sands (Sonya from Fire Emblem Echoes); Option 2 - Cristina Vee (Velvet from Tales of Berseria). Amanda C. Miller (Sailor Jupiter from Sailor Moon) is also a good pick along with Heather Gonzalez (Cherche from Fire Emblem Heroes)
Japanese: Miyuki Sawashiro (Kyoko Honda from Fruits Basket). Nana Mizuki could also work, though I sadly can't think of a role off the top of my head
Going for the woman who grew up a punk vibe
Yutaro Namigaki
Japanese: Jun Fukuyama (Draluc from Vampire Dies in No Time)
English: It's tempting to put Xander Mobus for the total Joker Persona 5 duology but ehhhhh. It depends on the delivery again. Brian Beacock (Luthier from Fire Emblem Echoes) or Steve Staley (Hubert from Tales of Graces F) could also work tbh. Maybe Lucien Dodge (Waver Velvet from Fate/Zero)
Ayame Touno
English: Faye Mata (Amame from AI: The Somnium Files)
Japanese: Rie Kugimiya (Rise from Persona 4)
The voices contrast each other, but I think each one compliments the kind of character Ayame is.
Storyteller
Japanese: Hochu Otsuka (Tsurumi from Golden Kamuy)
English: TBD
Here's where I'm starting to think about 1 solid casting and kinda improvising for the second one. I think the Storyteller changes voices depending on the mask they wear, so for this old man mask, an old man they shall sound like.
Michiyo Shiraishi
English: Xanthe Huynh (Marianne from Fire Emblem Three Houses)
Japanese: Aya Endo (Miyuki from Lucky Star)
Few lines for such a sweet gal
Yakko Sakazaki
English: Abby Trott (Older Annette from Fire Emblem Three Houses). For some reason I also pictured Cassandra Lee Morris (Tomi Kisaragi from 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim)
Japanese: Marina Inoue (Female Protagonist from Persona 3 Portable)
Spunky young lady, ain't she?
Mio Kurosuzu
English: Amber Connor (Faye from Fire Emblem Echoes)
Japanese: Rie Murakawa (Est from Fire Emblem Echoes)
Young but calm & sweet
Yoko Fukunaga
English: Cherami Leigh (Patty from Soul Eater)
Japanese: Saori Hayami (Yor from Spy x Family)
Not related to casting but I think she and Ayame would be weird girl besties and I love that for them
Hideiki Araishi
English: Patrick Seitz (there's a specific role in mind that sounds similar to Mama from AI: The Somnium Files but naaah that doesn't sound right)
Japanese: Tomokazu Sugita (sadly can't think of a role off the top of my head)
He's a bit of a snob so something a bit arrogant works best
Kohei Jounichi
Japanese: Here's where I think Katsuyki Konishi would fit best (Koito from Golden Kamuy comes to mind, oddly). Makoto Furukawa (why did I think Ronaldo from Vampire Dies in No Time??) could also work
English: I think this will depend on the delivery. Do you want him more cowardly? I kinda see David Vincent tbh (Henri from Iruma-kun)
Hajime Yoshimi
English: He could be another potential Patrick Seitz role, but I want to avoid double casting as much as possible.
Japanese: Subaru Kimura (Todo from Jujutsu Kaisen)
Hitomi Okuda
Japanese: Ai Farouz (Jolyne Kujo from JJBA)
English: Option 1 - Laura Stahl (Alear from Fire Emblem Engage); Option 2 - Erica Mendez (can't think of a role off the top of my head)
Once again going for toughness, but from a younger angle
aaaand I think that's all the voiced characters! Some roles I had to think up of on the spot, so I might come back and revisit this, but I'm open for suggestions as well!
11 notes
·
View notes
If you could bring someone back to life, what would you do?
Would you do this no matter what takes or would you have any reservations?
There is so much one could say about Paranormasight, yet this is one of those titles that the least you know about its story the better. Written by Takanari Ishiyama, most famous for his long-running Japan-only series of visual novels known as Tantei Kibukawa Ryōsuke Jikentan (Detective Ryosuke Kibukawa Case Story), it is a gripping tale of mystery and horror that takes place in the 1980s Japan, in the town of Honjo in Sumida Ward of Tokyo. A series of urban legends that started back in the Edo period, famous to this day, actually have a dark secret underneath: each legend represents a horrifying curse, manifested in artifacts known as “cursed stones” bearing very specific conditions to activate and effects but all of them extremely lethal. These legends are seemly linked to a resurrection ritual that will activate once a certain number of soul dregs are reached, and the death of other curse bearers is actually more worthwhile than random passerby, making the chosen ones both the hunter and the hunted in this story.
A cleverly crafted game that makes full use of both the in-game narrative and the meta, every small detail is part of the story: from the chapter selection and even the save game feature, there is no extraneous feature or anything that overstays the game’s welcome.
The cast of characters all have a reason to get involved with the curses and not relinquishing their goals. Despite the dire situation and rather scary overall plot, they are all full of life and bounce off each other very well, getting tense when appropriate and allowing the player to breathe and get involved with each of them. We are first introduced to Shogo Okiie, an everyman that works for a soap company and is introduced to the legends by his supernatural-loving friend Yoko. Then we have Harue Shigima and her tragic story, a housewife in the verge of despair after the death of her son with the help of Richter, a flamboyant private detective; Tetsuo Tsutsumi, a veteran detective and his eager partner Jun Erio that are investigating the mysterious deaths in Honjo; and Yakko Sakazaki, a high school student who refuses to believe that her classmate ended her own life and wants to uncover the truth with the help of a transfer student named Mio. Their stories meet in various points, sometimes you need to switch around the groups and bring them closer in the timeline in order to progress as the story unravels, bringing dreadful secrets both from the past and present, culminating in many high points and twists that invites to think about what happened.
The visuals are striking, evoking a retro feeling from late 70s and early 80 Japan. The character designer, Gen Kobayashi, is more known for his works in the World Ends With You series makes a very distinct impression in making everything looks grounded and yet stylized and memorable. The music by Hidenori Iwasaki is a show-stealer in itself, going from whimsical to terrifying in a heartbeat, all complimented by a VHS aesthetic that permeates the entire presentation.
With a strong narrative and presentation, Paranormasight is a title that will keep the player hooked until the very last ritual, leading to a satisfying conclusion in which most of the mysteries are wrapped up in a satisfying way, although some aspects might be bittersweet. A must play for fans of visual novels, mysteries and horror tales. You can find it for on Steam or on Nintendo Switch.
Tʀɪɢɢᴇʀ Wᴀʀɴɪɴɢs
Gore (gruesome deaths)
Jump scares ( two of them: one in Shogo’s story and one early during Yakko’s chapters)
Suicide (false, the victim didn’t commit suicide)
Violence against children (child murder)
Domestic violence (mentioned not shown)
Sexual violence against children (it is implied a teacher might have questionable intentions towards a student)
Mention of alcohol (nothing is ever shown)
Traffic accident (mentioned)
Trauma, depression
13 notes
·
View notes