User:Anwyll/V/Summary

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Translations and wordplay analysis are amateur. I wouldn't put too much stock in them if I were you.

Prologue

Data Reference

JP Translation EN
Chapter & Title 序ノ雫　水籠ミコモリ Prologue: Mikomori Prologue: Lurking in the Deep
Objective 目覚めた建物から脱出する Escape from the building [where you woke up]. Escape the building.
Synopsis 水の中で目覚めた少女、深羽。

寒さに身を震わせ、立ち上がった彼女の
周りには、無数の女性が漂っていた。

やがて女たちは、深羽に気づいたように
水からその身を起こしはじめた… 		A girl awakens in the water - Miu.

Shivering from the cold, the stands up, only to find
countless women are floating around her.

Soon, as if noticing Miu,
they begin to rise from the water... 		A girl named Miu awakes in water.

As she stands up, she sees countless bodies
floating around her.

The bodies stir, as if sensing Miu's presence...
Preface ～神隠し～

前触れもなく、人が忽然と姿を消す。
手がかりは無く、失踪者の行方を知ることはできない。

神隠しに遭った少女、 深羽（みう）。
彼女が目覚めたのは、半ば水没した、
古い建物の中だった。 		~ Kamikakushi ~

People are suddenly disappearing without warning.
Their whereabouts remain unknown, and no clues have been left behind.

Miu is a girl who has been spirited away.
She awakens in an old building, half submerged in water. 		– Spirited Away –

In the vicinity of Mt. Hikami, people have been mysteriously
disappearing without a trace.

One such girl is Miu Hinasaki. She awakens to find herself in an
old, half-flooded building.
Review 神隠しに遭った少女、
深羽は水没した屋敷の中で目覚めた。
出口を求める彼女が辿り着いた部屋には、
ひとつの大きな箱が置かれていた。
その箱の蓋が開き、中から現れたのは、この世の者ではない「何か」であった。

彼女の叫びを聞く者はなく、その声は霧の中へと消えた。 		Miu, a girl who has been "spirited away,"
awoke in a flooded mansion.
In search of an exit, she arrived at a room containing only a large box.
The lid of the box opened, and what emerged from within was "something" not of this world.

No one heard her screams, and her voice faded into the mist. 		Miu, a girl who has been "spirited away,"
awoke in a flooded mansion.
While searching for the exit, she came across a room with
nothing but a large, black box inside.
As the box opened, what emerged from within
was not of this world.

With no one there to hear Miu's scream,
her voice was lost in the mist.

Summary

水籠 / Lurking in the Deep
In the vicinity of Mt. Hikami, people have been mysteriously disappearing without a trace. Miu Hinasaki, one such "spirited away", awakens to find herself in an old, half-flooded building. As she shivers in the cold, trying to get her bearings, she realizes that she is surrounded by the bodies of countless women. As if sensing her, they begin to stir and rise from the water. She flees through the aged hallways towards a light beyond a door, but it slams shut before she can get through. Touching it, her sixth sense shows her a series of haunting scenes: a woman with bleeding eyes, ghosts surrounding a fallen woman, five women holding hands at the edge of a cliff as a wave approaches, an enraged man sprinting with a lit torch, dozens of ghostly hands reaching through the walls of an old building, the corpse of a woman, a flood of black water gushing forth from within a black cube...

She attempts another path, but the way is blocked by a flood of black water preceding the arrival of a woman in black. Escaping back towards the locked door, it opens and allows her through, only to slam shut behind her once more. Rather than an exit, Miu finds a dead-end chamber containing only a large, black box. The lid opens, and a woman emerges. Seized by ghostly hair floating through the black water, Miu freezes in terror.

Content

  • Spirits Encountered:

Notes

  • The English title, while thematically appropriate, does not correspond to the Japanese title.
  • The character compound in the Japanese title, 水籠, would be read literally as "water-cage" or "water-prison". The pronunciation mi-komori gives the black box an air of intentional, if not honored (御; mi), seclusion. The word might also be seen as containing homophones for 巫女 (miko; shrine maiden) and 守り (mori; guardian/protector). This in turn blends: the concepts of the box itself, the shrine maiden within the box, and purpose they share.


First Drop

Data Reference

JP Translation EN
Chapter & Title 一ノ雫　残影ザンエイ Prologue: Mikomori First Drop:
Objective 廃旅館で弔写真を探す Search for Postmortem Photographs at the abandoned ryokan. Find the Postmortem Photographs.kurosaw
Synopsis ある作家からの依頼を受け、
夕暮れの廃旅館へとやってきた夕莉と密花。

密花から射影機を手渡された夕莉は、
初めての「影見」の仕事として、
廃旅館のどこかにあるという、
「弔写真」を探すことになる。 		At the request of a certain writer,
Yuri and Hisoka arrive at an abandoned ryokan at dusk.

Hisoka hands Yuri a Shaeiki,
and her first kagemi job begins.
They begin to search for the "choushashin" thought to be somewhere within the abandoned ryokan. 		A novelist has sent Yuri and Hisoka
to an old inn on a case.

Yuri receives the Camera Obscura,
and her first shadow reading job begins.
They have been asked to find
"Postmortem Photographs."
Preface ～影見～

「日上山（ひかみやま）」と呼ばれる霊山の近くにのみ伝わる特殊な力。
「影見（かげみ）」の力を持つ者は、神隠しされた人や物の「影」を追うことができた。>

その日、不来方夕莉（こずかたゆうり）は、居候先の主人であり、影見の力を持つ女性、黒澤密花（くろさわひそか）と共に、日上山にある廃旅館を訪れていた。夕莉に影見の力を感じた密花は、その力の使い方を教えようと、影見の仕事に連れ出したのだった… 		~ Kagemi ~

A unique power found only near the sacred Mt. Hikami.
Those who possess this can track the kage of people or objects that have been spirited away.

One day, Yuri Kozukata visits the abandoned ryokan on Mt. Hikami with Hisoka Kurosawa, her residential hostess and a woman with the power of kagemi.
Sensing Yuri's potential with that same power, Hisoka took her to the job at the abandoned ryokan on Mt. Hikami to help her develop her kagemi abilities. 		– Shadow Reading –

Among the residents of the villages at the foot of Mt. Hikami,
a certain unique ability has been passed through the ages.

This ability, known as "shadow reading," enables the user
to view the shadow, or "trace," of someone lost in inexplicable
circumstances. This is not unlike the "psychometry" practiced
elsewhere.

Yuri Kozukata accompanies Hisoka Kurosawa, a woman who
possesses the shadow reading ability, to an abandoned inn on
Mt. Hikami.


Sensing Yuri could in time become talented at shadow reading,
Hisoka takes her along on an assignment.
Review 密花から「影見」を教わった夕莉は、
日上山の廃旅館から、
放生蓮（ほうじょうれん）の依頼品である
「弔写真」を持ち帰った。

その蓮は、ひとつの悪夢に悩まされていた。
幼い頃、自らの手でひとりの少女を
手にかけた…

それはただの夢なのか？
それとも自分自身の体験だったのか？
真実はまだ闇の中であった。 		Learning kagemi from Hisoka,
Yuri was able to retrieve the choushahin
from the abandoned ryokan on Mt. Hikami,
as requested by Ren Hojo.

Ren was plagued by nightmares
in which, as a child, he killed a young girl with his own hands.

Was it all just a dream?
Or did it really happen?
The truth is still shrouded in mystery. 		While learning about shadow reading from
Hisoka, Yuri uses the ability to retrieve an album
of Postmortem Photographs from a ruined inn
on Mt. Hikami. The album has been requested
by a certain Ren Hojo.

As Ren awakes from a bad dream, he finds
himself tormented by uncertainty.
Was it really just a dream? Or a suppressed
childhood memory? This question has plagued
him for some time.

Background

Hisoka Kurosawa, 23, is the owner of a michiya, a combination residence and shop, called Kurosawa's Antiques & Cafe. She has long fostered her talent for shadow reading by conferring with local elders and old documents. Using a Camera Obscura that was left to her by an old woman in the area, she makes ends meet by taking odd jobs finding lost people and items. Her good looks, mysterious aura, tasty coffee, and recreational fortunetelling have made her quite popular with the local schoolgirls who frequent her cafe.

Yuri Kozukata, 19, developed a sixth sense that enables her to see ghosts and visions of the past after she survived a tragic accident. However, this has also caused her to feel drawn towards death.

Once in the past, Yuri disappeared and Hisoka was hired to track her down. Hisoka found her just before she leapt from a cliff and persuaded the orphaned teen to reside at her michiya. Yuri continues to avoid contact with others to an extreme degree, terrified that she will "see into their souls". She rarely deals with customers, instead helping around the shop by cleaning, organizing, and keeping watch. She cycles in her free time, as it's an activity that she can easily do alone.

Despite this, she has an earnest disposition and can't ignore people in need - a tendency only exacerbated by her ability to see into their heart if they touch.

While Hisoka can sympathize, she can only "sense" the presence of spirits and hearts of others; she cannot see them like Yuri can.

Summary

残影 / A Vanishing Trace

In a flashback, Yuri stands at the edge of a cliff watching the sun set into the ocean below. Feeling inexorably alone, she resolves to jump.

Hearing her name called by Hisoka, Yuri snaps out of her reverie. Having just arrived at the abandoned Ichiru Manor at Mikomori Hot Springs, not far from their home, Hisoka explains that what they've been hired to find should be somewhere inside. Encouraging Yuri to take the lead on a case for the first time, she hands over her Camera Obscura and explains its supernatural properties and risks. She also hands over a postmortem photograph that Yuri can use as a "token" to find the object they seek within the inn.

As they explore, Hisoka explains that the area around Mt. Hikami was once considered sacred ground until the local religion died out, attempts to revitalize the area as a tourist destination were mired in misfortune, and it became known as a cursed location and suicide spot. The photo was provided by their client, novelist Ren Hojo, who believes that the photo was taken in the area and is hoping to acquire more like it. Despite being boarded up to protect it from the elements and landslides, the inn is dilapidated; filled with mud, debris, holes in the walls and floors, and reeds growing throughout the flooded ground level.

Looking into the lounge as she heads down a hallway, Yuri spots the silhouette of a man against the sunset shining through a broken wall. As he shambles towards her, she turns to Hisoka and gasps to see the man now standing behind her. He vanishes, however, just as swiftly as he appeared. Yuri follows a trace of the innkeeper through the ruins of the concrete addition and into the traditional architecture of the original structure. In the innkeeper's room, Yuri uses the Camera Obscura to recall an item from the Netherworld - an album filled with postmortem photographs. The job complete, Hisoka cautions against staying any longer than they need to. She also cautions Yuri to be careful about what traces she follows in the future, as objects are much easier to find than people, and it is especially dangerous to follow the trace of a person who has been spirited away.

As they make their way back outside, Yuri hesitates as she approaches the lounge; Hisoka, not noticing, continues forward and out of sight. Cautiously peering into the lounge, the man she saw earlier reappears and lunges forward. At the same time, a ghostly hand grabs Yuri's ankle, causing her to fall backwards into the water, drenching her. Flinching, she aims the Camera Obscura at the ghost and takes a photo. He recoils, but the hands continue to attempt to drag her under. Scrambling to her feet, she continues to exorcise the spirit with the camera until he retreats. Yuri collapses to her knees, unable to speak. Hisoka comes running back to her side, wrapping her arms around her and apologizing for bringing her there. Yuri stares off silently; in her mind, she sees the cliff and the sunset and thinks to herself, "I am alone".

Meanwhile...

Ren Hojo, Hisoka's client, dreams a recurring dream. A ritual in progress. A cave filled with spectators. A young girl in a white kimono standing on a platform above a black box. Himself, a child, approaching reluctantly from behind, a knife in hand. He ascends the platform and raises the blade. She remains stoic, her back to him, facing the open box. He brings the knife down and she falls silently forward, water overflowing from within the box as she lands inside. Ren awakens on his couch. His assistant, Rui, approaches and tells him the good news: Hisoka has found the album. Ren sits up, eagerly taking the book and flipping through its pages. A photo in the middle of the book catches his eye, and he freezes; a young girl in a white kimono standing on a platform above a black box.

Content

  • Tokens Used:
⤷ Innkeeper Heading Inside
  • Spirits Encountered:
  • Tomoki Harakawa (Peering Shadow, Hanging Man, Man Looking at a Key, Searching Man, Peering Man)
  • Hands in the Water (Generic)
  • A Man from the Water (Man Peeking Through, Staring Man, Man from the Water 1)
  • Memos Discovered:
This book goes a little deeper into the history of the area as related by Hisoka. For centuries, Mt. Hikami was a destination for pilgrims who came to see the natural beauty of its forests, cliffs, and water features that cascaded from the summit of the mountain to the pond at its foot, as well as the shrines that were built there. After the local Shinto religion died out, there were attempts to revitalize the area as a tourist destination. Even the old inn by Mikomori Pond, Ichiru Manor, received a large expansion. Construction of new infrastructure was plagued by accidents and fatalities, culminating in a landslide which destroyed the roads and buried the old wing of the manor, killing the family of its owner and cementing the mountain's reputation as a cursed location and suicide spot popular with occultists.
  • Items Acquired:

Notes

  • The Japanese name for the quest is simply the name for the game mechanic "trace". There is no homophone pun (that I know of), but the characters used to create the Japanese word "trace" or "remnant" are 残影, which individually mean "lingering" and "shadow", which shares linguistic themes with concepts for ghosts. The English name simply plays off this.
  • The Japanese term for "token" contains wordplay. It is pronounced yosuga, same as "clue", "memento", or an aid that helps find one's way or connect someone to something. This would usually be rendered as a character such as 縁, 因 or 便. However, it is rendered using the compound 寄香, which might be translated as something like "offering-scent", poetically calling to mind the connection between the sense of smell, memories, and mementos (such as incense ceremonies and scented letters). The token, then, is a memento connected to someone or something that you can use to follow their "trace" like a scent if you are capable of shadow reading.
  • While postmortem photography is a real phenomenon, the compound "弔写真" is a game-specific term which affixes the prefix character 弔 (chou; mourning, condolence, funeral) to 写真 (shashin; photograph). Shashin is perhaps coincidentally a homophone for 捨身 (to renouncing the flesh or the world, to become a priest, or to risk one's life for others).
  • The Ichiru Manor at Mikomori Hot Springs (水籠温泉 一縷荘) is the name of a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) which offered access to onsen, natural hot spring baths. Not all onsen are in ryokan, not all ryokan have onsen, but the combination of amenities is common.
  • "Suicide spots" (自殺の名所) are a real-world phenomenon, the most famous in Japan would arguably be the Aokigahara forest. Comparable examples might be the Golden Gate Bridge in the United States and Beachy Head in the United Kingdom.


Second Drop

Data Reference

JP Translation EN
Chapter & Title 二ノ雫 日上山 Second Drop: Hikami-yama Second Drop: Mt. Hikami
Objective 氷見野冬陽を探す Search for Fuyumi Himino. Find Fuyuhi Himino.
Synopsis 廃旅館での影見から数日後。
密花は外出したまま戻らなくなっていた。
不安を抱く夕莉の元へ、
一人の少女が訪れる。

その少女は、密花が「しないほうがいい」と
言っていた「人探し」の依頼を口にする… 		It has been several days since the shadow reading at the ryokan.
Hisoka went out, but never returned.
A girl visits the anxious Yuri.

She is looking for a "missing person search",
something Hisoka said it was "better to not do". 		It has been several days since the incident
at the inn. Hisoka is out on a case.
A young girl comes to the shop
and finds a worried Yuri.

Yuri is given a missing person case,
something Hisoka forbade.
Preface 廃旅館での影見の数日後。
密花はどこかへ出かけたまま、戻らなくなっていた。
心配する夕莉だったが、手掛りもなく、ただ、待つことしかできなかった。
そんな時、「密花に人探しを依頼した」と言う少女、氷見野冬陽（ひみのふゆひ）が骨董屋を訪れる… 		It has been several days since the shadow reading at the ryokan.
Hisoka went somewhere, but never returned.
Yuri was anxious, but without clues, all she could do was wait.
Then a girl named Fuyuhi Himino visits the antique shop
and says, "I asked Hisoka to help me find someone"... 		A few days have passed since Yuri's introduction to
shadow reading at the abandoned inn.
Since then, Hisoka has gone off somewhere and hasn't returned.
Yuri worries for Hisoka, but isn't sure how or where to start
searching.
As she sits waiting at the antiques shop, a girl named Fuyuhi
Himino shows up, claiming to have enlisted Hisoka to help
her find a missing person.
Review 氷見野冬陽は、自ら命を絶った。
夕莉が見た彼女の死の間際の光景。
そこには、冬陽と同じ方法で命を絶つ女と、
雨に濡れた巫女の姿があった。
夕莉は、山で見つけた射影機と、
密花が身につけていた蜻蛉玉を手に、
一人、骨董屋に戻るしかなかった。
 Fuyuhi Himino took her own life.
Yuri saw the moments just before her death.
She saw a woman take her own life in the same way Fuyuki did,
and a miko drenched by the rain.
Yuri finds the Camera Obscura in the mountains
as well as Hisoka's tonbodama charm,
but she is forced to return to the antique shop alone. 		Fuyuhi Himino takes her own life. Yuri
witnesses her final moments. Fuyuhi isn't alone
when she dies. There is a woman there who
killed herself in the same way, and a shrine
maiden, sodden from the rain.
Yuri finds Hisoka's Camera Obscura and a charm
Hisoka always liked to wear. She has no choice
but to return to the antiques shop alone.

Summary

日上山 / Mt. Hikami
A few days after the incident at the abandoned inn, Hisoka went out on another job - this time leaving Yuri safely behind. A few more days have passed and she has not returned. As Yuri dutifully keeps watch over the store, a local teen, Fuyuhi Himino, stops in to follow up on whether Hisoka will take her case. Timid, but visibly distraught, Fuyuhi explains that her friend Haruka is missing and may have been seen heading towards Mt. Hikami. Fuyuhi stresses that Haruka would never go to a suicide spot - not without telling her. Yuri offers to follow up with Hisoka herself when she returns, but the disappointed Fuyuhi decides to head for the mountain on her own. Yuri begins looking through the residence, hoping to find clues as to whether Fuyuhi's case was the one Hisoka was working on.

In the office, she finds a book detailing Mt. Hikami's supernatural reputation - a place where the boundary between life and death is ambiguous, especially during the twilight hours at sunset, which which calls to those drawn towards death. She also finds a more recently acquired book exploring the phenomenon of suicide spots - that as deaths in a place accumulate, people grow to see it as a place they won't die feeling alone. It highlights that, while few places are considered both a suicide spot and a haunted spot, Mt. Hikami is unique in light of the legends of the "Maidens of Black Water". Such legends state that those who are seen by the mysterious shrine maidens who reside on the mountain will be drawn towards death and commit suicide, that those who meet their gaze will never leave, and that those who do not die in accordance with local practices will be cursed to relive the event forever, only fueling Mt. Hikami's reputation as cursed ground. This book also highlights that those whose attempts to die on Mt. Hikami were thwarted claimed to have seen such a shrine maiden, or ghosts of suicide victims that inspired a compulsion to take their own life in the same manner.

In Hisoka's room, Yuri finds a pile of recently resolved case files, including that of the postmortem photographs for Ren Hojo, which he claimed were reference material for a book. Hisoka had reasoned that, since the request had come from someone they knew and the target object was quite old, it should be an easy shadow reading task with little anticipated danger. Realizing her mistake, she had resolved to keep Yuri away from Mt. Hikami in the future. Along with the files was a book on shadow reading referenced by Hisoka for Yuri's training.

Yuri finds only one case file that is unresolved - a letter from Fuyuhi Himino and a photo of Fuyuhi and Haruka which could be used as a token. Concerned for Hisoka's safety and unable to ignore Fuyuhi's plight, Yuri, dismissing the danger, takes up the token and heads for Mt. Hikami.

Passing Mikomori Pond and the abandoned inn at the foot of the mountain, Yuri follows Fuyuhi's trace past a collapsed torii and up an ancient shrine path circumventing the destroyed mountain road. The path leads to the Misogi-ga-Fuchi, or Pool of Purification, where visitors would purify themselves before continuing up the mountain. Approaching the pool, she finds that the stone lanterns along the path and before the sacred falls are inexplicably alight, allowing her to see a strange glint in the water. Looking closer, Yuri finds Hisoka's Camera Obscura. As she picks it up, she is attacked by the ghost of the same drenched man from the inn, as well as a similar-looking woman.

After driving away these spirits, Yuri reasons that the camera must have been carried from upstream and that Hisoka must thus be farther up the mountain. She rushes onward hoping to catch up to Fuyuhi, following her trace through a fence cut open by past intruders.

Beynd the fence, Yuri finds herself in the Shirazu-no-Fuchi, or Unfathomable Forest. Originally named for a legend that those who entered the forest would lose their way and forget themselves, the are became even less navigable after the landslide destroyed the newly built road to the forest shrine, leaving only a warren of paths with destroyed and flooded branches.

Content

  • Tokens Used:
⤷ Fuyuhi Himino Entering the Forest
⤷ Fuyuhi Himino Heading Inside
⤷ Fuyuhi Himino Looking Up a Tree
  • Memos Acquired:
This history focuses on the foundational superstition of Mt. Hikami: that it is a place where the worlds of the living and the dead are unusually close. This is especially true at sunset, when the spirits of the dead are said to be able to cross over from the afterlife. To watch the sunset over Mt. Hikami was said to invite death, or create a draw towards death. Moreover, the mountain was said to call out to in those who felt a draw towards death in some way. Legends accumulated of spirited aways whose bodies were never found, rumored to reside beneath the lake at the mountain's summit. It was thought that such superstitions would fade as Mt. Hikami became known as a tourist destination, but further disasters cemented its reputation as a cursed location and suicide spot.
This book more clearly explains the definition and limits of shadow reading hinted at in Hiskoa's lessons and the records of her recent cases.
Fuyuhi's research into Mt. Hikami suggests that even before the area was a suicide spot, it was supposedly a place people came to die - sacred, but not holy. She claims that not only do people sometimes disappear there, but that the mountain "calls" to people who are intuitive, sensitive, meek but kind, and who lack family - people like Haruka. Believing that Haruka wouldn't go to Mt. Hikami to take her life without telling her, Fuyuhi remains convinced that she was called or spirited away. Distraught without her, Fuyuhi wonders if there was anything she could have said that would have prevented Haruka from leaving and longs for the chance to confess her true feelings for her before it's too late.
Found in an abandoned tent, this note supports many rumors about the area. A trespasser sneaks into the Unfathomable Forest to commit suicide. In no rush and wanting to "do things right", they set up a tent and find that they feel oddly at peace and, far from being lonely, feel surrounded by other presences. One night they hear children playing (friends of Shiragiku). Another night they hear raspy breathing, running, and screaming (Kyozo's massacre of the Maidens of Black Water). Another they see a shrine maiden and continues to feel her gaze despite not being able to see her. One night, they hear a sad, melodic voice and get the sense someone is being called, but, to their disappointment, not them. Eventually they run out of supplies, yet remain content with their situation. The note ends, "She is calling. I must go."
A crushed ball of paper found near the hanging tree, this note supports the rumors in Suicide at Mt. Hikami. A trespasser sees a woman hang herself and feels compelled to do the same.
  • Spirits Encountered:

Notes

  • The Deathly Mountain connects Mt. Hikami to the "Yomi Gate" mythology of the Fatal Frame universe. Such mythology typically focuses on a boundary of some kind - roads, crossroads, rivers, bridges, beaches, etc. Mountains are one such boundary - a place where the earth becomes the heavens as one ascends. Twilight is likewise a boundary between night and day, and in superstition is seen as a sort of "witching hour" called oumagatoki (逢魔が時).
  • The Japanese name of the Pool of Purification - Misogi-ga-Fuchi (禊ヶ淵; deep pool/abyss of purification) uses the possessive particle "ga" (rather than "no") to show its age; you would find similar renderings for locations such as Sekigahara (関ヶ原; lit. plain of the barrier).
  • The Japanese name of Maiden Fall is pronounced kannagi-daki, using the pronunciation for "diviner" or "shaman". This was perhaps glossed over in English to create a pun for the waterway the bodies of the murdered miko rolled down and match the occultist nickname for the pool, miko-ga-fuchi (巫女ヶ淵; shrine maidens' pool).
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