Timeline (FF2)

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This timeline covers the events of Fatal Frame II and the history of Minakami Village. Very few specific dates are mentioned in the game itself, but it is possible to make approximate guesses based on hints from the story and information gleaned from the rest of the Fatal Frame series.

For a general overview of major events in the series, see Series Timeline.

Early History

An unknown time before the events described in Fatal Frame II. The order of events is also unknown.

Downfall of the Kiryu Family

These events take place long before the Repentance, as indicated by the dilapidated condition of the Kiryu House compared to other houses in the village.
  • Twin Shrine Maidens Akane and Azami Kiryu perform the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual (successful).
  • To console his Remaining daughter Akane, Yoshitatsu Kiryu makes a doll that looks like Azami. Akane becomes fixated on the doll, and her obsession causes it to become possessed by a spirit.
  • Yoshitatsu attempts to destroy the doll, but Akane, controlled by the doll, strangles and kills him.[4]
  • Kiryu House is shut up, except for a few rooms used by Twin Shrine Maidens during their cleansing.

Before the Repentance

  • More than 20 years before
Ryokan Kurosawa and his twin brother perform the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual (presumed successful).
  • At least 10 years before
Ryozo Munakata visits Minakami Village with his father, a travelling merchant.[5] He befriends Itsuki and Mutsuki Tachibana, and develops an interest in folklore.[6]
Ryozo keeps in touch with Itsuki and Mutsuki by letter. He becomes an apprentice of Seijiro Makabe, a folklorist and friend of Dr. Asou.
  • 13 December 1874 (considered "recent" in the year of the Repentance[7])
Decree deems the firstborn twin legally the eldest.
  • The year before
Itsuki and Mutsuki perform the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual (unsuccessful).

Year of the Repentance

Although the precise date is unknown, nearly all official sources indicate that the Repentance happened during the Meiji period, soon after the 1874 twin law and during the lifetime of Kunihiko Asou. Tamashizume is an exception, stating that Seijiro Makabe was born in 1885 and died in 1946.[8] As this makes little sense within the timeline, Zero Wiki does not consider it canon.
  • The harvest is poor, and the Hellish Abyss begins to rumble more frequently. Several Mourners are driven mad by Malice and commit suicide.[9]
  • Ryozo receives a letter from Itsuki, asking him to come on the day of the ceremony.
  • Dr Kunihiko Asou gives Seijiro Makabe his prototype Camera Obscura, spirit radio and Projector.
  • Seijiro Makabe and Ryozo Munakata arrive in All God's Village.[10]
  • Seijiro becomes suspicious of the villagers' intentions and tells Ryozo to leave early.[11]
  • Seijiro is captured and sacrificed in the Hidden Ritual. Although he successfully becomes a Kusabi, the Hellish Abyss is not pacified.
  • Itsuki helps Sae and Yae escape. He is captured and commits suicide.
  • Sae becomes separated from Yae and is recaptured.
  • The villagers hang Sae alone and throw her into the Hellish Abyss, in the hope that her death will be enough to calm the Abyss.
  • The Repentance occurs; Sae and the Kusabi kill the survivors, and the village disappears.
  • Ryozo returns to the site of the village and finds Yae weeping at the gate. Keeping the promise he made to Itsuki, he takes her away with him.

After the Repentance

Ryozo looks after Yae, who has lost all her memories, and the two eventually get married. They have one daughter, Mikoto. Ryozo continues his work as a folklorist, and a few years after rescuing Yae he compiles Seijiro Makabe's notes and publishes them as his posthumous last work, Tamashizume. As he broods on what might have happened the night the village disappeared, he becomes fascinated by the thought of the Hell Gate that Seijiro wished to see.[12] Eventually he makes it the subject of his own studies as a folklorist. See Timeline (FF1) for his time researching Himuro Mansion.

Minakami Village remains hidden in its eternal night, which spreads a little further whenever the Hellish Abyss rumbles.[13] Rumours spread about the Lost Village, where people lost in the woods might find themselves trapped.[14] One such person is Sunken Woman. Although the village is gone, local people continue to celebrate the Shadow Festival.

Mio and Mayu's Childhood (1970s-80s)

Mio and Mayu's father, Misao Asou, wanders into the Lost Village and disappears before they are old enough to remember him.
Mio and Mayu attend the Shadow Festival, but Mayu loses sight of Mio in the crowd. From that day on, she is terrified of being separated from her sister.[15]
While they are playing in the forest, Mayu falls from a cliff and injures her leg.
Shizu Amakura moves her daughters away from the Minakami area.

1987

See Timeline Discrepancies: Masumi's Disappearance

Unknown date

  • Preparations begin for a dam that will flood a large section of the forest.

Unknown month

  • Unknown month 4th
Geological surveyor Masumi Makimura stumbles into the Lost Village and goes missing.
  • Unknown month 9th
A news article concerning Masumi Makimura's disappearance is published.
  • Unknown month 14th
The search for Masumi is called off.
A smaller news article is published concerning his disappearance.
Miyako Sudo goes in search of Masumi and finds him in the Lost Village, but they are unable to escape.

Unknown date

  • Search for Miyako and Masumi called off.
  • Construction of Minakami Dam resumed.

1988

July

Mio and Mayu Amakura visit their childhood play spot before the construction of the dam, and become trapped in the Lost Village.
Under the influence of the spirits, Mio and Mayu perform the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. The curse on the village is lifted.

Aftermath

One week after she disappeared, Mio is found alone, collapsed in the forest.[16]
For her experiences with the Manor of Sleep, see Timeline (FF3).

Timeline Confusion

When Fatal Frame II was released, director Makoto Shibata and producer Keisuke Kikuchi stated that the game was a prequel, taking place 30 years before Fatal Frame.

Speaking from a chronological timeframe, the second game actually takes place 30 years before the first, and we have basically these two twins from a modern time period find themselves lost in this village in the past. And there will be some connections with the first game, people will recognise some of these characters. Also, there will be background in the game that will kind of tie in to the first game.

Keisuke Kikuchi, Fatal Frame 2 Crimson Butterfly: Inside the Game, US PlayStation Magazine Demo Disc 77, February 2002 (YouTube archive)


(Satako): Are the events that took place in Project Zero in any way related to Crimson Butterfly?

[snip]
(Kikuchi): PZ1 has an independent story.
(Shibata): PZ2 is a prequel in terms of the story.
(Ryosan/Moderator): No references, like similar characters, or events?
(Kikuchi): Same sub-character from PZ1 appears in PZ2.

UbiSoft Project Zero II Live Transcript, Beyond the Camera's Lens, 15 April 2004. Wayback Machine Archive

English language sources also reported this information.

Set almost two generations before the events of the first game, Fatal Frame II isn't a true sequel to Miku's Himuro Mansion exploits at all. But rather, it sets up the back-story revolving around the mystical "Camera Obscura" and its purpose in the 30 years before Miku grabbed it for her brother.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Review by Jeremy Dunham, IGN, 19 November 2003.


Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly falls into the latter category, and despite the Roman numeral that would have you thinking this was a sequel; Crimson Butterfly is actually a fictional prequel, set 30 years prior to the events of the original game. This chilling game delivers an engrossing story dealing with an entire village that has vanished and the origins of the Camera Obscura, and it is enhanced with some of the scariest visuals and sounds ever seen or heard on the PS2.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Review by Mark Smith, Game Chronicles, 22 February 2004.


Prequel by some 30 game-years to the original Fatal Frame, the sequel explores the mythos surrounding the ghost-busting "Camera Obscura" that serves as the player's only real weapon. The game tells the story of twin 15-year-old sisters, Mayu and Mio Amakura, one of which is more psychically vulnerable to the spirit world.

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Director's Cut Review by Chris Hudak, Games Domain, November 2004.


Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (from now on we refuse to refer to the game by its stupid 'European' title, Project Zero II) takes place roughly 30 years before the original game.

Review: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly - Director's Cut (Xbox) by Martin Wharmby, Jolt Online Gaming, 29 January 2005.

As a result, fans believed for some time that the "present day" of Fatal Frame II, when Mio and Mayu's story took place, was in the 1950s. However, the release of Fatal Frame III showed that Mio's experiences in the Lost Village had happened not long after Miku's in Himuro Mansion.

It is possible the game developers originally intended FF2 to take place in the 1950s, but changed their minds about the timeline when they decided to bring back the protagonists for a new story in Fatal Frame III. It may also be worth noting that several of the references to the thirty-year jump back in time also mention the history of the Camera Obscura. This makes little sense if it relates to Mio and Mayu, as the camera Mio uses is not the same one Miku uses. It is possible that the prequel statements were referring to the creation dates of the cameras during Dr. Asou's lifetime: Mio's camera, invented when Ryozo and Yae were teenagers, and Miku's camera, which was completed by the time Ryozo and Yae moved into Himuro Mansion as adults in Fatal Frame.

Timeline Discrepancies

Masumi's Disappearance
Early in FF2, Mio finds a news clipping about Masumi's disappearance, which the description says is from a year ago. However, in Fatal Frame III, Rei's Notebook states that Mio and Mayu went missing "about two months ago",[17] and Masumi Makimura went missing "three months ago".

References

Characters
Player Characters
Mio Amakura - Mayu Amakura
Major Characters/Ghosts
Sae Kurosawa - Yae Kurosawa - The Kusabi - Seijiro Makabe - Itsuki Tachibana - Dr. Kunihiko Asou - Chitose Tachibana - Miyako Sudo - Masumi Makimura - Akane Kiryu - Twin Doll - Ryokan Kurosawa
Minor Characters/Ghosts
Ryozo Munakata - Yoshitatsu Kiryu - Azami Kiryu - Mutsuki Tachibana - Veiled Priests - Mourners - Utsuro - Woman in Box - Fallen Woman - Limbo Man - Limbo Woman - Sunken Woman - Broken Neck Woman - Minakami Villagers - Children Playing Tag - Man In Dark - Woman in Dark - Escaping Twins - Hanging Twins
Terms
Altar Twins - Camera Obscura - Crimson Sacrifice Ritual - Crimson Sacrifice - Crimson Butterfly - Cutting Ritual - Folklorist - Hidden Ceremony - Kiryu Family - Kurosawa Family - Osaka Family - Outsiders - Remaining - Spirit Stone Radio - Spirited Aways - Tachibana Family - The Darkness - The Repentance - Tsuchihara Family - Twin Shrine Maidens
Locations
All God's Village - Cell - Earth Bridge - Heaven Bridge - Hellish Abyss - Kiryu House - Kureha Shrine - Kurosawa House - Minakami Cemetery - Minakami Dam - Misono Hill - Old Tree - Osaka House - Rope Temple - Storehouse - Tachibana House - Twin Houses - Twins' Room - Underground Passageway - Whisper Bridge
Gameplay
Camera Obscura - FPS Camera Obscura - Save points - Spirit Orbs - Spirit List - Lenses - Spirit Stones - Functions - Films - Flashlight - Health items
Music
Tsukiko Amano - Chou - Sacrificial Song
More Pages
Chapters - Items - Notes - Photographs - Costumes - Endings - Mio's Memo