Day 4... AND 5!

I'm condensing these into one entry, despite the fact that a LOT happens at this point in the week. Writing entries for every day is harder than I thought it would be, but I do want to finish both this journal and the game. I'll maybe try and keep most of my future posts shorter, and write up my conclusions at the end...

Anyway, it's time for Neku to go shopping! Even though I have already been shopping as much as possible, this is sadly not enough to save him from getting called disgustingly un-trendy by The Prince. Maybe his love of being invisible to the RG makes some sense after all. I mean, I also hated talking to most people as a teenager. I imagine getting called a spicy tuna roll unprovoked wouldn't have helped with that.

That aside, the trip to 104 is a fun way to introduce the brand chart! Which is another really neat TWEWY mechanic! I like how it incentivizes you to keep constantly changing up your style/build to keep up with the constantly-shifting trends. Even though I'm pretty bad at remembering to do so when I enter a new area, it's still cool. Overall, TWEWY is really, really good at meshing the world and gameplay mechanics together. Being good at TWEWY means dressing on-trend, picking out the perfect combo of pins, frequenting the mall, grabbing snacks as often as possible, and doing your best to stay in-sync with your friends. If we ignore the whole supernatural death-game element, it's basically the same as trying to be cool in high school. Except for the fact that highschool is way more difficult.

Speaking of difficulty, Day 4 is the first day where I haven't managed to grab the secret report, because the boss noises are just way too difficult. I was really surprised when fighting one suddenly replaced my partner with Joshua (I guess since it's a boss from his week), so I'll be coming back to this fight after giving him better stats and getting used to playing as him again.

For now, though, it's still Shiki's week. And I fucking love Shiki. She becomes significantly more pushy during Day 4: making Neku go shopping, yelling at him about dressing more stylishly, and, who could forget, making him take his pants off in the middle of the street so she can fix them. Maybe this is her being a little more comfortable with him, or maybe it's that she's just super passionate about fashion? I also think her and Neku's conversation in 104 is very sweet: he's genuinely super impressed by her skills and her drive, and his rarely-used smiling sprite shows up when she talks about her dream. Cuteeee.

There are also some cute moments with Beat and Rhyme on Day 4, before things very abruptly take a turn for the worse. I actually did not think I would be this sad over it the second time through, but it's really sad! Using the dual screens to show the parallels between Beat trying to save Rhyme and Rhyme trying to save Beat is SUCH a good touch, too. As always, the original DS version of this game >>>>>>>>>>> the ports (I haven't played any of them)

Neku also makes a brief comment on Rhyme's erasure making him feel similar to "that time", and then wondering what he's thinking of, since he still has no memories. As far as I remember, "that time" is never explained in the main game, so we can only extrapolate from the postgame chapter, where his alternate-universe self says a close friend of his died. It's actually wild how little backstory we get from Neku. Whatever "that time" was, it clearly affected him deeply, and Rhyme's "death" immediately makes him regress back into full "I don't need friends" mode.

At this point, Mr. H shows up to save Beat, and mentions he still has "a part to play". I remember minimal details about what Mr. H actually does in the game, so I'm left wondering just how much he orchestrated Beat's future actions. Maybe the secret report would give me a clue, but alas. A question to come back to later, maybe.

Day 4's Secret Report:

The UG exists as a separate plane where the Composer can judge the worth of men.

Within it are Reapers and human Players. It is infeasible for the Composer to judge all of humanity by himself, so a filtering system utilizing the Reapers was created: the Reapers' Game. Reapers act as a test, weeding out unfit Players.

Upon becoming a Reaper, one's physical body changes, gaining incredible strength and an extended lifespan. As Reaper and Player alike progress through the Game, engaging in Imagination-driven combat, their Soul is refined.

Soul is an abstract matter revealed through Our research into life and death, and a component in the makeup of the atmosphere, humans, will, thought- all phenomena.

As Reapers execute the Game, they undergo a process of evolution, from grunts to officers to the Composer.

However, Reapers that follow the ideal route are rare, and most are erased by Players.

Reaper or player, those erased within the Game disperse the mind and spirit housed within their flesh in the form of Soul. Thus, they are erased only from visible existence: their Soul persists in the UG until gathered and tied together according to a new code.

This new code is, essentially, Imagination. Given sufficient Imagination, any form is possible, be it a pin or a Reaper.

Variations in this code cause the Soul to manifest in different forms.

In other words, humans, Reapers, and Noise are all entities of formed of Soul. The only difference is their code.

And what are Noise? Entities without conscious will, only the drive to multiply. Thus, they constantly thirst for Soul, attacking Players and possessing humans in the Realground.

Soul consumed by Noise is destroyed, even if the Noise is erased.

Thus, possessed by humans often exhibit a rush of euphoria immediately after the Noise is removed.

Though untested, the same would likely hold were a Player or Reaper possessed.

I haven't even really touched on Day 5, yet, but I don't have too much to say on it right now, tbh. Shiki does make some wild comments about how much Eri gave her "purpose", right before this week's Game Master Chef shows up to tell her she's full of shit. Gotta love toxic codependent girl friendships...

Day 5's Secret Report:

The Realground and Underground are planes of existence. Other planes exist as well: the one inhabited solely by Noise, for example, or Our customary plane.

The planes are stacked in parallel, through each exists at a different frequency vibe, in tune with its inhabitants.

Observing a lower plane from a higher plane is simple. Actual trans-planar contact, while possible, is highly complex. The vibes of adjacent planes are closer, making passage between them comparatively easier. More distant planes show greater differences in vibe frequencies, and thus communion becomes more difficult.

The UG exists just above the RG, allowing those in the UG to observe the RG, but not vice versa.

Noise exist on a special plane that straddles both the RG and UG, enabling their interference in the affairs of both. When Players come into contact with Noise, they are drawn into the Noise plane. In other words, Players are forcibly tuned in to the Noise plane.

Conversely, there exists an even higher plane than the RG and UG. That is where I am from, the plane of the Angels.

As in the RG and UG, Angels have created a web of social schema to guide their activities. Their role of Producer is just one cog in the Angel machine. Angel vibes are extremely high-frequency; not even the Composer can catch them all. In actuality, he can pick up only that of the Producer.

As you can see, inter-planar contact is beset by difficulty, but certain modes do exist for its realization.

One is the modulator decal. Within its area of effect, Players from the UG can manifest visibly in the RG and communicate with others there.

Reapers and the Composer can down-tune their vibes at will. near these decals, however, even their vibes will be forcibly adjusted to the lower frequency.

Another mode, imprinting, requires no physical manifestation in the RG.

Imprintees experience the conferred thoughts as bursts of inspiration. The reliability of these communiqué thus depends on upon the person receiving it. For example, successful communications with preoccupied people is unlikely. Furthermore, recipient interpretation of said "inspiration" colors the message, making imprinting unreliable at best.

"Reaper creeper" was created as a mode of popular communication between the planes. Modulation paralogos printed on paper allow for limited UG interaction with Realground objects. As those in the RG are unaware of players, they perceive the illusion of a coin moving by itself.

Anyway, I'm out. This is subtracting from my arts and crafts time.