History Recap / SonyGuangdong

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Yamauchi is surprised to hear of Morita's appointment to Chief Executive over the radio. He initially expresses doubts about the sincerity of Morita's pledges, before internally rationalizing that he must be honest, since they were both struggling businessmen who once navigated the cruel markets of Guangdong.

* SpottingTheThread: After Morita isolates himself in his office after failing to stop the Kanton Sasshin Fund in time, Komai will not say much in the next Legislative Council meeting, looking either bored or amused. It's a sign that Komai is already satisfied with what he's gotten, since he was the mastermind behind the Sasshin Fund and scored a major victory against Sony.

* AmbiugousSituation: In the ending, it is purposefully left unclear if Morita and Li have succeeded in turning Guangdong into a naturalized state that the majority can be proud of. Sure, the two have rolled back on Guangdong's worst excesses, hurdled over every challenge, and are richer than ever, yet the nation's people are still living under a minority-ruled colony under the thumb of Sony and Cheung Kong. The last focus description in their epilogue tree has a superficially uplifting tone, but it also demonstrates that the people still owe their allegiance to two corporations and casts an argument that Guangdong is still no legitimate nation-state.

** Both Morita and Li recognize that Guangdong’s dependency on Japanese finances was a major problem, proven by the Yasuda Crisis. Therefore, they will alter the state’s financing in the long-term, knowing that it won't win them any praise, but ultimately help them fund their wider societal reforms.

** Likewise, Morita may cut welfare spending out of fear that increased spending may undermine his political position, much like Suzuki, even if it is turning back on his promised fight against economic inequality. If this is chosen, then Morita will also have to choose between enacting a series of minor funding cuts across various programs or gradually tightening the eligibility for welfare and cutting out many from accessing public benefits. Either option is seen as a major betrayal of Morita’s reformist platform and leaves more people suffering from the crisis, but Morita justifies that it is a temporary struggle and that cut government projects can always be refunded in the future.

** Once the Oil Crisis breaks out and Morita is inundated with hours of reports on the potential economic ramifications, he reflects that he now knows how Suzuki felt watching the economic meltdown in the aftermath of Yasuda’s dissolution.

** When Matsushita is debating in favour of Morita's Industrial Development Ordinance, he calls Komai an old man who can't remember that only so much niboshi can be put into a jar when making a comparison for putting too many workers and factories in the Pearl Delta. Morita, Li and many of their delegates find this comparison funny and Morita gives Matsushita a bag of niboshi a few days later for lunch to further the joke.

** Morita can host another auction to sell off Yasuda's remaining assets, though it's up to him whether it should be offered to the Zhujin or the Japanese.

* BeleagueredBureaucrat: If Morita chooses to stick to his promises of welfare during the Oil Crisis, one bureaucrat will be tirelessly reading through financial documents to try and find additional financial resources to support these efforts, resorting to drinking large quantities of coffee and driving his nails into his skin to stay awake. But he remains determined to hand the report in by the end of the week as he knows how many people, including himself, will depend on it.

* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: To fund more innovative products that would mitigate the Oil Crisis' effects, Morita can request "charitable donations" from Legislative Council members.

** Morita's Financial Solvency and Liquidity Ordinance is one of the few ordinances that doesn't incur passionate debate in the Legislative Council, with most of the discussions being over technicalities, with even Ibuka left rather silent during the debate process. Most councilmen agree that formalising a procedure to handle insolvencies left in the hands of the government is a good idea, no one has anything to lose from it and it's something they can all profit from. Even if the bill fails and Ibuka and the others vote against it, it's less out of any real objection to the ordinance itself and more due to them [[CommanderContrarian simply opposing Morita on principle]].

** In Li's plan to combat the Oil Crisis, Morita can observe the production of new audio equipment with some standard upgrades from their past iteration. There's nothing revolutionary or terribly exciting about them, but it's still a functional product that will make a reasonable profit for Sony, a necessity during the economic catastrophe.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: Despite all the success they can achieve in the first decade, Morita and his entourage know that China and Japan are destined to another showdown and that the respite after the Guangdong riots is only a temporary break before something even worse comes. Worse still, the three of them worry for the future of the place they now call home and have spent the past decade trying to shape.

* DarknessEqualsDeath: When he encounters Yoshiko, Lam warns her to seek residence before it gets dark because it's when the more radical and violent protests start.

** Once the Guangdong riots end, Morita gives a speech to the citizens of Guangdong announcing a path back to normalcy, continued and new reforms, and a promise to become a land of opportunity for all its citizens. The speech is accompanied with shops reopening, factories restarting, the populace returning to the streets and the destruction from the riots being cleaned away.

** With Sony bearing the brunt of the Oil Crisis, Morita can play a risky move by adopting Li's plan to diversify Sony's portfolio to produce even more products that still match their renowned quality standards. There's a higher risk of it failing than Morita's own plan to just maintain quality standards, but there's also a bigger financial reward for completing the plan. Picking more ambitious projects will make it more likely for the plan to payoff, but failing will risk an even lower reward.

* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: After a meeting with Takashima where Morita's requests for assistance during the Oil Crisis is turned down, Morita has the option of turning and saying "so much for Greater East Asia, you bastard" as he is leaving.

** Contrary to everyone's fears when they saw a police box built, some of the neighborhood police patrols under Morita are quite friendly, having pleasant conversations with the children who run up to them.

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: If Morita's Independent Commission against Corruption ordinance is passed, the player will be unable to bribe [=LegCo=] members for votes on further bills.
* GoodPaysBetter: While the most corrupt members of the Guangdong Police are fired under Morita's Guangdong, their most loyal and useful members are rewarded for their heroism, usually with pay raises.

** Almost everyone hates the Japanese refugees who arrive in Guangdong after the Oil Crisis and self-aggrandize themselves as more important than everyone else. Matsushita derisively calls them "transplants", Ibuka just sees an opportunity to manipulate them, and even the old Japanese residents are discontent to share space with them. The only two people who have a remotely positive opinion about them are Takashima and Nagano.

** Despite losing investors, Morita refuses to cut his social welfare programs in the Oil Crisis and betray his supporters. Unfortunately, this significant drop in stock leads up to his personal crisis.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Li and Morita justify their actions in the Guangdong riots with this excuse, with Li emphasizing a need to look forward into the future.

* IveComeTooFar: Morita and Li's reaction to the Oil Crisis is intense worry and [[ThisIsGonnaSuck distraught]], but having come this far, they refuse to give up and will fight to the last to stave off the upcoming troubles.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Morita may concede some of the GFT's policy demands during the Guangdong riots, incoporating new rules on worker safety and expanding regulatory powers and consultations with business and citizen groups. Members of the GFT reach divisively, with some wanting more cooperation and others being satisfied with what they have been given.

* LongGame: Morita is skeptical about expanding the market to China, knowing most of the population is too poor and that they would have to focus on the coastal elite in the Yangtze River delta to make a profit. However, Li convinces him to go through with the plan because they can afford some profit loss for the political gains to be made in China. He argues that being seen as a modernizing force, in addition to throwing the occasional giveaway, will win approval from Guangdong's Chinese population and they can use China's growth to keep their investors satisfied. This strategy pays off, as their products fly off the shelves in Shanghai and Nanjing, wealthy Chinese guests are fascinated by Sony's electronics, and Cheung Kong pervades the smaller towns with their discounted or free audio-visual systems. Though they have less success in the rural areas who are more concerned with survival, Morita notices the positive PR developed for the two companies.

* LoopholeAbuse: One of the biggest flaws in Morita's Guangdong is this trope. While many of his initiatives are benevolent in design, they often have loopholes that can exclude people on a technicality, meaning that not everyone may benefit from Sony's reign:
** The proposed Guangdong Future Fund is supposed to manage government surpluses to be invested in the people, but it can also be abused by the other corporations to make even more money by investing in themselves. While a breach of protocol, there's no explicit rule to prevent this and it's technically permitted via loophole.
** As Morita begins to either implement amendments for increased minimum wages or improved worker safety, Komai and Ibuka will meet at Fujitsu's offices to discuss these developments. After Ibuka completes his usual rant about the "bleeding hearts" of Morita and Li, Komai will just suggest ignoring the law. Ibuka will initially resist stating that they are still subject to the Legislative Council, to which Komai correctly points out that the amendments have not been passed yet and so can be ignored for the time being.
** Fortunately {{subverted}} if Morita and Li propose a limitation on working hours, in which some firms try to request exemptions from this rule via the grandfather clause. All of these requests are soundly rejected.
** An audit of corrupt senior officers reveal that they have been conducting their dirty financial activities under a different name and account, thus making their accounts technically "clean". Fortunately, Morita cracks down on this loophole and arrests those who have been deemed guilty.
** While the passage of the Corruption Ordinance will help stop corruption in Guangdong, it has limitations if the government body is advisory, such as its inability to investigate white collar crimes. Therefore, the law won't be able to stop all forms of corruption because there are enough loopholes and weaknesses in it to circumvent.
** Forced to save money during the Oil Crisis, the Morita administration starts adjusting the requirements to be eligible for welfare and cutting down on their social spending through legal loopholes. Yoshiko even starts a journal to track these adjustments.

** Matsushita will eagerly argue in favour of Morita's Public Works and Infrastructure Ordinance on the point that infrastructure is a no-brainer for maintaining profitability and that it is the state that will be paying and not the companies.

* ThePurge: An {{exploited}} example, where a tabloid newspaper portrays Morita's civil service reforms as a purge against Japanese officials rather than an effort to integrate more Chinese and Zhujin people into the government. Morita can either push through the initiative uncompromised or offer a provision of slower reforms to give some appeasement.

* ThrowTheDogABone: During the Oil Crisis, Morita may chose to provide contracts for government infrastructure projects to the GFT. This provides a glimmer of hope for the Zhujin present, despite heavy and regular opposition from the Japanese.

* VideoGameCaringPotential: Though Morita can't save everyone during the Oil Crisis, certain responses can mitigate the amount of damage and raise the citizens' spirits, such as offering additional subsidies to workers.

* YouAreNotAlone: The Guangdong Suicide Hotline comforts its callers by implicitly showing how many other people are suffering the same woes, giving them some comfort that they are not alone in their struggles.

** Matsushita assists Morita's potential negotiation talks with the Guangdong rioters because it could be easier to satisfy their interests than try suppressing them.\

[[Recap/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Index]] | [[Recap/SuzukiGuangdong Suzuki's Guangdong]] | [[Recap/YasudaCrisisGuangdong Yasuda Crisis]] | '''Sony's Guangdong''' | [[Recap/MatsushitaGuangdong Matsushita's Guangdong]] | [[Recap/FujitsuGuangdong Fujitsu's Guangdong]] | [[Recap/GuangdongLamFlashbacks Lam Haau-cyun's Flashbacks]] | [[Recap/GuangdongHyperwar Opium Trade War]] | [[Recap/GuangdongHitachiCoup Hitachi Coup]] | [[Recap/HitachiGuangdong Hitachi's Guangdong]] | [[Recap/OilCrisisAndGuangdongRiotsGuangdong General Oil Crisis and Guangdong Riots]] | [[Recap/IJAGuangdong Imperial Japanese Army's Guangdong]]]]-]]]

** Fujitsu and even Matsushita delegates find humour in Komai stating "even I - old and senile as I supposedly am - know that Guangdong puts the interests of its businesses first" upon seeing Morita's National Tax Rationalization Ordinance failing.

* SilenceOfSadness: If Morita's National Tax Rationalization Ordinance fails to pass, both Morita and Li will put their heads in their hands as the opposition loudly mocks them prompting Morita to eventually stand up and leave the chamber.

* TotallyNotACriminalFront: Resolving Li's personal crisis tracks his missing family down to a seemingly legitimate transport company that actually has little income and was used as a headquarters for the kidnappers.

* LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub: Resolving Li's personal crisis tracks his missing family down to a seemingly legitimate transport company that actually has little income and was used as a headquarters for the kidnappers.

[[Recap/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Index]] | [[Recap/SuzukiGuangdong Suzuki's Guangdong]] | [[Recap/YasudaCrisisGuangdong Yasuda Crisis]] | '''Sony's Guangdong''' | [[Recap/MatsushitaGuangdong Matsushita's Guangdong]] | [[Recap/FujitsuGuangdong Fujitsu's Guangdong]] | [[Recap/GuangdongHyperwar Opium Trade War]] | [[Recap/GuangdongHitachiCoup Hitachi Coup]] | [[Recap/HitachiGuangdong Hitachi's Guangdong]] | [[Recap/OilCrisisAndGuangdongRiotsGuangdong General Oil Crisis and Guangdong Riots]] | [[Recap/IJAGuangdong Imperial Japanese Army's Guangdong]]]]-]]]

* BlackComedyBurst: While trying to fix the pollution in Guangdong, Morita and Li will visit a lab where samples of river-water are tested for contaminants. The murky brown water is filled with biohazards, chemical compounds and traces of metal. Li remarks about how the most desperate are forced to drink this stuff to survive. Morita, noticing Li's pale disgust, tries to improve the mood by joking that "if we made everyone's tea out of this water even that Burgundian good-for-nothing Komai would back us up on this" and leaving the both of them laughing.

* DroppingTheBombshell: When Morita chooses to tackle workers' rights, he can decide between favoring work hours and pay or safety standards. In either case he will personally visit a factory, sending Li Ka-Shing the day before to inspect working conditions. Upon visiting, the manager will talk about how great the conditions are and the great mood of the workers before Morita drops one of two bombshells.
** If Morita focused on pay and hours, then he will also be accompanied by Li Ka-Shing, who will then play an audio recording of the manager telling his workers that they will have to make up for the hours lost prepping the factory for the visit.
** If safety was prioritized, then Morita will break for a door which conceals the true work floor of the factory and the various out-of-date and unsafe machinery. In the latter instance, Morita will also drop the bombshell of knowing Cantonese and telling the manager to tell his workers the various excuses he has for the unsafe work environment.

* RageBreakingPoint: When Morita established a hotline for petty corruption, one individual is reluctant at first to call it with the history of the police sweeping their own corruption under the rug despite the fact that he had been robbed of a significant portion of his month's salary. But at his wit's end, he decides to give the hotline a call just to vent his frustrations.

** During Morita's personal crisis, Matsushita will offer to help Morita investigate the Kanton Sasshin Fund with his intelligence assets, albeit for greater consideration of his company within the Legislative Council.]]
** Matsushita assists Morita's potential negotiation talks with the Guangdong rioters because it could be easier to satisfy their interests than try suppressing them.

* PragmaticVillainy: Some members of the Legislative Council only support Sony and Cheung Kong's proposals because it would boost their political reputation and not because they genuinely sympathize with the common people. Kickbacks and other benefits will occasionally need to be thrown in to ensure their continued loyalty.

* SympathyForTheDevil: {{Downplayed}}. If Morita chooses Matsushita's plan for investing in Guangdong's future, an unemployed individual at a soup kitchen will take note of how the men from Matsushita working the kitchen do not seem happy and are likely forced to be there. He understands their unenthusiasm as a product of mutual animosity.

* TranquilFury: In the National Tax Rationalization Ordinance's passage, Komai is seen visibly fuming about having to pay more taxes, but he remains silent about it, unlike Ibuka who's loudly voicing his protests.

Many express surprise that Morita is a genuinely benevolent leader. The Lees see improvements in the slums and factories, Yoshiko Yasukawa thinks about becoming a Zhujin as she witnesses Morita's improvements, and even the cynical Lam Haau-cyun starts hoping for a better future again. Still, all is not well in Morita's world; corrupt businessmen exploit legal loopholes to continue their abusive practices and many are dissatisfied that systemic inequalities persist in spite of Sony's reforms, leading to the creation of the Guangdong Federation of Tradesmen and the Committee of Chinese Labor. However, things don't come crashing down until the Oil Crisis.

Lee Chun, eldest child of the Lee family, joins the GFT and the hundreds of thousands marching down the street against the injustices they've suffered before and during Morita's regime. Morita initially responds by letting them voice their discontent or trying to limit their severity, but neither response successfully quells the riots. Taken aback, Morita may continue the lighter hand and appease the concessions of groups who are more closely aligned with the government. Alternatively, he can tighten his grip, employing the police to arrest the most violent rioters and surveilling the dissidents until they run out of steam to continue. As the fire of the people is managed, a secret conspiracy is simultaneously mobilized and will depend on what policies were chosen in response to the Oil Crisis.

Should this be achieved, peace will be restored in Guangdong and the police retract their barricades off the streets, while the demonstrators, including Chun, disperse. Despite how earth-shattering the Riots were, many denizens feel as if the social hierarchy has changed in Guangdong: the Lees are almost run over by a Cheung Kong truck, Lam is still chasing criminals on the streets, and Yoshiko sees the Japanese elite merely replaced with Sony and Cheung Kong representatives. That said, Morita and Li have achieved much to make life in Guangdong at least tolerable for its denizens. If they previously failed their personal crisis, they can't savor much of their victory, since they suffered too much of a personal loss and Komai is in a prime position to strike again with the continued backing of his Manchurian allies. Otherwise, the two Zhujin can bask in their hard-fought victory, as Guangdong becomes a world-famous financial center and without needing to actively oppress its citizens. In a more personal victory for Morita, he's invited to Japan again, no longer an exile, but now an honored guest.

* BlackComedyBurst: While trying to fix the pollution in Guangdong, he and Li will visit a lab where samples of river-water are tested for contaminants. The murky brown water is filled with biohazards, chemical compounds and traces of metal. Li remarks about how the most desperate are forced to drink this stuff to survive. Morita, noticing Li's pale disgust, tries to improve the mood by joking that "if we made everyone's tea out of this water even that Burgundian good-for-nothing Komai would back us up on this" and leaving the both of them laughing.