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Just going off a guide here.
* BoringButPractical: While his unambitious policies result in the overall slowest maximum possible growth of the Chief Executives, Masaharu is also easier in many ways, able to flexibly ally with various factions and political alignments and having an easier time passing their legislation overall. And this stable, don't-rock-the-boat approach to PragmaticVillainy makes it comparatively easy to get good Chinese and Zhujin support and [[spoiler: weather the Oil Crisis]].
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* ArmiesAreEvil: Of all the possible outcomes for the Guangdong region, the army taking direct control and rampaging across it in an orgy of RapePillageAndBurn is by far the worst, even compared to the literal slavery of the Manchurian model. Even more than Komai, Nagano is Guangdong's failstate.
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* ArmiesAreEvil: Of all the possible outcomes for the Guangdong region, the army taking direct control and rampaging across it in an orgy of RapePillageAndBurn is by far the worst, even compared to the literal slavery of the Manchurian model. Even more than Komai, Komai might be the worst possible normal leader of Guangdong, but Nagano is Guangdong's failstate.
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Had to double check this, it is not actually called the Ministry of Truth in-game apart from an event title :pensive:
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* CensorshipBureau: Komai has the option of creating an {{Inuniverse}} example of this, founding the [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Ministry of Truth]] to ensure that the press will not dare speak against Komai or Hitachi.
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* CensorshipBureau: Komai has the option of creating an {{Inuniverse}} example of this, founding the [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Ministry of Truth]] his own censorship bureau to ensure that the press will not dare speak against Komai or Hitachi.
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->'''In-Game Biography (External Secretary)''' [[labelnote: Click to Show]]Plenty question why Hitachi's Komai Kenichiro, only recently invited into the Legislative Council, was selected to be the external face of Ibuka's regime. Komai was already seen as an outsider, seen as an agent of Manchuria's state-dominated economy in the freewheeling corporate ecosystem of Guangdong. Would being forced to defend Guangdong to outsiders separate Komai from his masters in Hsinking?\\\
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->'''In-Game Biography Biography''' (External Secretary)''' [[labelnote: Secretary)[[labelnote: Click to Show]]Plenty question why Hitachi's Komai Kenichiro, only recently invited into the Legislative Council, was selected to be the external face of Ibuka's regime. Komai was already seen as an outsider, seen as an agent of Manchuria's state-dominated economy in the freewheeling corporate ecosystem of Guangdong. Would being forced to defend Guangdong to outsiders separate Komai from his masters in Hsinking?\\\
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:If the Guangdong Riots grow too large for Hitachi to handle, Komai will be killed by the same Chinese that he brutally oppressed and treated as cattle.]]
* CensorshipBureau: Komai has the option of creating an {{Inuniverse}} example of this, founding the [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Ministry of Truth]] to ensure that the press will not dare speak against Komai or Hitachi.
* CensorshipBureau: Komai has the option of creating an {{Inuniverse}} example of this, founding the [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Ministry of Truth]] to ensure that the press will not dare speak against Komai or Hitachi.
* PropagandaMachine: Once he assumes power, Komai will pass the Public Information and Disinformation Relief Ordinance, which puts a muzzle on the already pro-Japanese media organisations in Guangdong such as Kanton Fujin Koron by forcing them to employ Hitachi staffers to review any articles deemed sensitive, effectively turning it into an arm of the government.
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* SinisterShads: Komai puts on sunglasses in his personalist route.
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* SinisterShads: Komai puts on sunglasses in SinisterShades: Komai's portrait for his personalist route.Personalist route feature a pair of these.
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* DenOfIniquity: If the Hitachi coup takes place, Yamauchi and Nintendo's fortunes take a turn for the worst, forcing him to make deals with Yakuzas and run brothels to stay afloat.
* FamilyBusiness: Yamauchi runs Creator/{{Nintendo}}, a playing card company set up by his great-grandfather, Fusajiro Yamauchi, depending on the choices taken by the player, Nintendo's future could look very different compared to the one seen in our timeline.
* InSpiteOfANail: Despite Japan winning [=WW2=] and Guangdong's creation, Yamauchi can still potentially meet Creator/GunpeiYokoi under the same circumstances as OTL, leading to the creation of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Hand Ultra Hand]].
* FamilyBusiness: Yamauchi runs Creator/{{Nintendo}}, a playing card company set up by his great-grandfather, Fusajiro Yamauchi, depending on the choices taken by the player, Nintendo's future could look very different compared to the one seen in our timeline.
* InSpiteOfANail: Despite Japan winning [=WW2=] and Guangdong's creation, Yamauchi can still potentially meet Creator/GunpeiYokoi under the same circumstances as OTL, leading to the creation of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Hand Ultra Hand]].
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* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:If the IJA take over Guangdong, Yamauchi's story is cut short as he is arrested by the IJA and sent behind bars, never to be heard of again.]]
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* CrapsaccharineWorld: Honkon is a massive financial hub that is big enough to rival Tokyo and has dizzingly high skyscrapers to impress outsiders. However, the population is no less impoverished than the rest of Guangdong and some of the beggar population consists of Japanese businessmen who made a fatal mistake in the corporate world and lost everything, a grim warning for those who want to compete here.
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* IslandBase: Whampoa Island, once a military academy led by Chiang Kai-shek, has been repurposed by the IJA as a military base so they can easily intervene in Guangdong, in case things ever get out of hand.
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* NoOSHACompliance: Work accidents are commonplace in Guangdong because the corporations rarely invest in safety regulations. At one point, a worker loses his friend when he gets pulled into an undescribed machine.
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* ProtectionRacket: With no effective law enforcement, the gangs of Guangdong are free to oppress the citizens, extorting money from them under the threat of violence or murder of their loved ones.
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* ButThouMust: In the Yasuda investigation event chain, Suzuki can uncover the aforementioned company's corruption by either investigating their payments, Minezaka firm's activities, or the corporation's connection to Ino. All choices lead to the same outcome of Suzuki confronting Matsuzawa about it, where he can either trust that he's not involved in the conspiracy or accuse him of being part of it.
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* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: After hearing Matsuzawa rant about a connection between the Minezaka firm and Hiroya Ino, Suzuki can investigate several leads leading to a longer chain of examinations that foreshadow the upcoming Yasuda Crisis. All of them end with confronting Matsuzawa about it, either by request or by accusation:
** Investigating Yasuda's payments will expose some suspicious evidence of Yasuda giving payments to Minezaka and the IJA, leading to another investigation of Matsuzawa's resume.
** Looking into Minezaka's activities will reveal their connection to the IJA and the irregular deliveries of Military Yen, despite their inactivity in Guangdong and the currency's devaluation in most parts of the Sphere.
** Delving further into Ino and Yasuda's relationship will uncover what made Matsuzawa so angry in his office that led to the whole investigation in the first place. Suzuki can't find any evidence about Yasuda having more influence in Ino's cabinet than he thought, until he remembers the coincidence of Matsuzawa arriving in Guangdong at the same time Ino became Prime Minister. He interprets this as a possible sign of Yasuda silencing anyone who refuses to support their allied Prime Minister.
** Investigating Yasuda's payments will expose some suspicious evidence of Yasuda giving payments to Minezaka and the IJA, leading to another investigation of Matsuzawa's resume.
** Looking into Minezaka's activities will reveal their connection to the IJA and the irregular deliveries of Military Yen, despite their inactivity in Guangdong and the currency's devaluation in most parts of the Sphere.
** Delving further into Ino and Yasuda's relationship will uncover what made Matsuzawa so angry in his office that led to the whole investigation in the first place. Suzuki can't find any evidence about Yasuda having more influence in Ino's cabinet than he thought, until he remembers the coincidence of Matsuzawa arriving in Guangdong at the same time Ino became Prime Minister. He interprets this as a possible sign of Yasuda silencing anyone who refuses to support their allied Prime Minister.
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* TemptingFate: If he finds evidence of Yasuda's corruption, but doesn't accuse Matsuzawa of being involved in it, Suzuki will breathe a sigh of relief that the crisis has seemingly been averted, so long as everything is kept under wraps. This ends up blowing up in his face when the corruption is exposed anyways and economically devastates the Sphere.
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* VillainHasAPoint: When receiving the first experimental weapon proposals, Suzuki scoffs and makes some accurate criticisms about them. The compatibility of Sony's rifle with other ammunition is useless for the Sphere, the lightweight 'flechette' ammo of Matsushita's rifle is logistically unsound for no benefit, and the battery for Fujitsu's night vision rifle needs to be carried around in a heavy, burdensome backpack.
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* BystanderSyndrome: If trusted by Suzuki after finding evidence of Yasuda's corruption, Matsuzawa admits that all of it is true. Though he's not personally involved with it, Matsuzawa will not go out of his way to stop it either because it would be economic and career suicide to do so.
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* EtTuBrute: If Suzuki accuses him of participating in Yasuda's corruption, Matsuzawa will be shocked and angered that his supposed ally would turn on him so easily and believe that he would do such a thing. The only reason Matsuzawa doesn't cut ties with him for good is because they need each other to keep their careers afloat.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Matsuzawa once had a promising career in the Yasuda, having graduated from the Imperial Universities and on the path to leadership in the home offices. This all changed when Matsuzawa was unexpectedly reassigned to Guangdong and left at a dead end job.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Matsuzawa once had a promising career in the Yasuda, having graduated from the Imperial Universities and on the path to leadership in the home offices. This all changed when Matsuzawa was unexpectedly reassigned to Guangdong and left at a dead end job.
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* OnlyFriend: Matsuzawa is the only leader in the Legislative Council who supports Suzuki, serving as his primary support base.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When he picks up a clue to Yasuda's corruption, Matsuzawa raises his voice in frustration. This briefly shocks Suzuki, who is eavesdropping and isn't used to hearing Matsuzawa get so worked up.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When he picks up a clue to Yasuda's corruption, Matsuzawa raises his voice in frustration. This briefly shocks Suzuki, who is eavesdropping and isn't used to hearing Matsuzawa get so worked up.
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!! Other Important Figures
[[folder:Hiroshi Yamauchi]]
->'''Role:''' N/A
----
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: In OTL, Hiroshi was the third president of Nintendo, overseeing revolutionary new products in the video game industry, including the UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch and the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. In this timeline, Hiroshi moves to Guangdong to resuscitate the dying Nintendo company by treading new ground.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hiroshi Yamauchi]]
->'''Role:''' N/A
----
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: In OTL, Hiroshi was the third president of Nintendo, overseeing revolutionary new products in the video game industry, including the UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch and the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem. In this timeline, Hiroshi moves to Guangdong to resuscitate the dying Nintendo company by treading new ground.
[[/folder]]
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* DystopiaIsHard: All the repression and exploitation done by the corporations foments a simmering hatred in the Chinese and Zhujin, [[spoiler:culiminating in massive riots, intended to bring down the corporate experiment for good. Their strength and radicalism needs to be carefully managed by either negotiation or more extreme force. Failure to do so leads the IJA to intervene and overthrow the Chief Executive.]]
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* UrbanHellscape: Guangdong is infamous for its flashy urban centers, juxtaposed with the mass poverty faced by most Chinese residents and the presence of infamous crime syndicates, like the Triads and the Yakuza.
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the _DEF name is still 'the Guangdong Military Administration', the Japanese name is only the display name on the map
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[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Flag of the Kanton Gunsei Sōkan]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spoiler_ija_holesummm.png[[/labelnote]]]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Flag of the Kanton Gunsei Sōkan]] Guangdong Military Administration]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spoiler_ija_holesummm.png[[/labelnote]]]]
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->'''Official Name:''' State of Guangdong, Kanton Gunsei Sōkan[[note]]Guangdong Military Administration[[/note]] ([[spoiler:IJA takeover]])
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->'''Official Name:''' State of Guangdong, Kanton Gunsei Sōkan[[note]]Guangdong Guangdong Military Administration[[/note]] Administration[[note]]Kanton Gunsei Sōkan[[/note]] ([[spoiler:IJA takeover]])
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* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:If the IJA takeover takes place, Matsuzawa is given a final event showing him reacting to the news with a smirk and a wry comment about the affair.]]
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* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:If the IJA takeover takes place, over Guangdong]] near the end of the first decade, Matsuzawa is given a final event showing him reacting to the news with a smirk and a wry comment about the affair.]]
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* VillainTeamUp: Matsuzawa is the only one of the four tycoon leaders to entertain the idea of Suzuki brining Guangdong under greater Japanese control, stating that his proposals might have some merit.
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* VillainTeamUp: Matsuzawa is the only one of the four tycoon leaders to entertain the idea of Suzuki brining bringing Guangdong under greater Japanese control, stating that his proposals might have some merit.
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* EvilerThanThou: While almost all of Guangdong's leaders are not very sympathetic, and many of them can drown the corporate state in blood to maintain control and order, Nagano Shigeto will slaughter them all if they can't contain the oil crisis riots, demonstrating just how bad things will be for Guangdong's people when he turns his weapons on them next.
* AFatherToHisMen: Perhaps his only sympathetic trait is his care for his men, despising the fact that they are used by the Product Testing Research Group to fight in proxy conflicts across the world, with equipment that has not been tested before, for profit and to sell weaponry. If the IJA takeover Guangdong, he makes sure to have apology cards sent to the families of the men who died fighting in those conflicts.
* AFatherToHisMen: Perhaps his only sympathetic trait is his care for his men, despising the fact that they are used by the Product Testing Research Group to fight in proxy conflicts across the world, with equipment that has not been tested before, for profit and to sell weaponry. If the IJA takeover Guangdong, he makes sure to have apology cards sent to the families of the men who died fighting in those conflicts.
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* EvilerThanThou: While almost all of Guangdong's other leaders are not very sympathetic, and many of them can drown the corporate state in blood to maintain control and order, Nagano Shigeto will slaughter them all if they can't contain the oil crisis Oil Crisis riots, demonstrating just how bad things will be for Guangdong's people when he turns his weapons on them next.
* AFatherToHisMen: Perhaps his only sympathetic trait is his care for his men, despising the fact that they are used by the Product Testing Research Group to fight in proxy conflicts across the world, with equipment that has not been tested before, for profit and to sell weaponry. If the IJAtakeover takes over Guangdong, he makes sure to have apology cards sent to the families of the men who died fighting in those conflicts.
* AFatherToHisMen: Perhaps his only sympathetic trait is his care for his men, despising the fact that they are used by the Product Testing Research Group to fight in proxy conflicts across the world, with equipment that has not been tested before, for profit and to sell weaponry. If the IJA
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[[/folder]]
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----
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* ForgottenFallenFriend: While a group of Japanese executives are gossiping with each other, one of them brings up a missing member of their usual party, claiming that it was because he made a bad investment and has become no more wealthy than the average homeless person living on the streets. Everyone gives a brief chuckle to his misfortune before forgetting him and resuming their conversations.
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* HopeSpot: In Matsushita's path, a local tries to revisit his father's closed-down restaurant for nostalgia's sake and the possibility that he can reopen it. Unfortunately, when he gets there, he learns that the restaurant was seized by the government and destroyed into a pile of bricks, devastating the man.
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* HopeSpot: HopeSpot:
** On a cloudy day in Makao, a Zhujin white-collar worker eagerly awaits a potential promotion in the civil service, thinking about how he can get the money to move himself and his girlfriend to a better home. However, the promotion gets undeservedly handed off to a new graduate immigrating from the Home Isles, crushing the worker's hopes.
** In Matsushita's path, a local tries to revisit his father's closed-down restaurant for nostalgia's sake and the possibility that he can reopen it. Unfortunately, when he gets there, he learns that the restaurant was seized by the government and destroyed into a pile of bricks, devastating the man.
** On a cloudy day in Makao, a Zhujin white-collar worker eagerly awaits a potential promotion in the civil service, thinking about how he can get the money to move himself and his girlfriend to a better home. However, the promotion gets undeservedly handed off to a new graduate immigrating from the Home Isles, crushing the worker's hopes.
** In Matsushita's path, a local tries to revisit his father's closed-down restaurant for nostalgia's sake and the possibility that he can reopen it. Unfortunately, when he gets there, he learns that the restaurant was seized by the government and destroyed into a pile of bricks, devastating the man.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Most in the Japanese elite are racist against the Zhujin and Chinese, privately using racial slurs and gossiping about their supposed inferiority.
* VillainousGlutton: Many of the Japanese bureaucrats who profit off of worker exploitation spend their wealth on extravagant, even smuggled, food for them to enjoy.
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* PragmaticVillainy: While he has no special affection for the Chinese, Suzuki is keenly aware that without the resources from Tokyo to maintain a strong security apparatus, naked repression is not a sustainable solution to Chinese dissident activity. He makes the fateful decision to offer token worker rights to offset this issue, burning lots of financial and political capital in the process, which ultimately spells his doom in the wake of the Yasuda crisis.
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* PragmaticVillainy: ThePollyanna: One Chinese restaurant owner had his building expropriated at the end of World War II so that Japanese manager can replace him. He now only owns a rickey shack of a food stall to continue working, but he remains optimistic about his situation, having developed a good number of regulars to his business and still finding his satisfaction with his job.
* PragmaticVillainy:
** While he has no special affection for the Chinese, Suzuki is keenly aware that without the resources from Tokyo to maintain a strong security apparatus, naked repression is not a sustainable solution to Chinese dissident activity. He makes the fateful decision to offer token worker rights to offset this issue, burning lots of financial and political capital in the process, which ultimately spells his doom in the wake of the Yasudacrisis.crisis.
** He expresses reluctance to accept Ino's request for the corporations to develop experimental weapons to be used in proxy wars. It's not because he has an issue with arms trafficking, but because the corporations in Guangdong are more suited to producing electronics than weapons.
* PragmaticVillainy:
** While he has no special affection for the Chinese, Suzuki is keenly aware that without the resources from Tokyo to maintain a strong security apparatus, naked repression is not a sustainable solution to Chinese dissident activity. He makes the fateful decision to offer token worker rights to offset this issue, burning lots of financial and political capital in the process, which ultimately spells his doom in the wake of the Yasuda
** He expresses reluctance to accept Ino's request for the corporations to develop experimental weapons to be used in proxy wars. It's not because he has an issue with arms trafficking, but because the corporations in Guangdong are more suited to producing electronics than weapons.
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->'''Official Name:''' State of Guangdong, Guangxi Military Administration (China Balkanized), Kanton Gunsei Sōkan[[note]]Guangdong Military Administration[[/note]] ([[spoiler:IJA takeover]])
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->'''Official Name:''' State of Guangdong, Guangxi Military Administration (China Balkanized), Kanton Gunsei Sōkan[[note]]Guangdong Military Administration[[/note]] ([[spoiler:IJA takeover]])
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!![[center: [- [[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''Superpowers:''' [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] ([[Characters/TNOSixtiesUSAPresidents 1964-1968 Presidents]]) | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nippon Teikoku]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Major Powers:''' [[Characters/TNOItaly Regno d'Italia]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOTurkey Republic of Turkey]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Other Countries By Region:''' [[Characters/TNOAfrica Africa]] ([[Characters/TNOWestAfrica West Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]]) | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] ('''State of Guangdong''' | [[Characters/TNOSoutheastAsia Southeast Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]]) | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] ([[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOFrance French State]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOMoskowien Reichskommissariat Moskowien]]) | [[Characters/TNOAmerica North America]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAmerica South America]] ([[Characters/TNOBrazil United States of Brazil]] | [[Characters/TNOArgentina Argentine Republic]])-]]] [[center: [- '''The Russian Anarchy:''' [[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] ([[Characters/TNOKomi Komi Republic]] | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Taboritsky's Russia]]) | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast The Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOAfterMidnight After Midnight]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/TNOAntarctica Antarctica]] | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Content]]]]-]
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!![[center: [- [[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''Superpowers:''' [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] ([[Characters/TNOSixtiesUSAPresidents 1964-1968 Presidents]]) | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nippon Teikoku]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Major Powers:''' [[Characters/TNOItaly Regno d'Italia]] Italian Empire]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOTurkey Republic of Turkey]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Other Countries By Region:''' [[Characters/TNOAfrica Africa]] ([[Characters/TNOWestAfrica West Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]]) | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] ('''State of Guangdong''' | [[Characters/TNOSoutheastAsia Southeast Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]]) | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] ([[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOFrance French State]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOMoskowien Reichskommissariat Moskowien]]) | [[Characters/TNOAmerica North America]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAmerica South America]] ([[Characters/TNOBrazil United States of Brazil]] | [[Characters/TNOArgentina Argentine Republic]])-]]] [[center: [- '''The Russian Anarchy:''' [[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] ([[Characters/TNOKomi Komi Republic]] | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Taboritsky's Russia]]) | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast The Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOAfterMidnight After Midnight]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/TNOAntarctica Antarctica]] | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Content]]]]-]
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* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Komai is the single most despicable executive in Guangdong, and is shown with a cigarette in the Personalist route.
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* SinisterShads: Komai puts on sunglasses in his personalist route.
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!![[center: [- [[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''Superpowers:''' [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOGoering Göring's Germany]] | [[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] ([[Characters/TNOSixtiesUSAPresidents 1964-1968 Presidents]]) | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nippon Teikoku]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Major Powers:''' [[Characters/TNOItaly Regno d'Italia]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOTurkey Republic of Turkey]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Other Countries By Region:''' [[Characters/TNOAfrica Africa]] ([[Characters/TNOWestAfrica West Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]]) | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] ('''State of Guangdong''' | [[Characters/TNOSoutheastAsia Southeast Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]]) | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] ([[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOFrance French State]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOMoskowien Reichskommissariat Moskowien]]) | [[Characters/TNOAmerica North America]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAmerica South America]] ([[Characters/TNOBrazil United States of Brazil]] | [[Characters/TNOArgentina Argentine Republic]])-]]] [[center: [- '''The Russian Anarchy:''' [[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] ([[Characters/TNOKomi Komi Republic]] | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Taboritsky's Russia]]) | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast The Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOAfterMidnight After Midnight]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/TNOAntarctica Antarctica]] | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Content]]]]-]
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!![[center: [- [[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''Superpowers:''' [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOGoering Göring's Germany]] | [[Characters/TNOHeydrich ([[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] ([[Characters/TNOSixtiesUSAPresidents 1964-1968 Presidents]]) | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nippon Teikoku]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Major Powers:''' [[Characters/TNOItaly Regno d'Italia]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOTurkey Republic of Turkey]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Other Countries By Region:''' [[Characters/TNOAfrica Africa]] ([[Characters/TNOWestAfrica West Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]]) | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] ('''State of Guangdong''' | [[Characters/TNOSoutheastAsia Southeast Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]]) | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] ([[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOFrance French State]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOMoskowien Reichskommissariat Moskowien]]) | [[Characters/TNOAmerica North America]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAmerica South America]] ([[Characters/TNOBrazil United States of Brazil]] | [[Characters/TNOArgentina Argentine Republic]])-]]] [[center: [- '''The Russian Anarchy:''' [[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] ([[Characters/TNOKomi Komi Republic]] | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Taboritsky's Russia]]) | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast The Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOAfterMidnight After Midnight]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/TNOAntarctica Antarctica]] | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Content]]]]-]
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!![[center: [- [[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''Superpowers:''' [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOGoering Göring's Germany]] | [[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] ([[Characters/TNOSixtiesUSAPresidents 1964-1968 Presidents]]) | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nippon Teikoku]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Major Powers:''' [[Characters/TNOItaly Regno d'Italia]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOTurkey Republic of Turkey]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Other Countries By Region:''' [[Characters/TNOAfrica Africa]] ([[Characters/TNOWestAfrica West Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]]) | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] ('''State of Guangdong''' | [[Characters/TNOSoutheastAsia Southeast Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]]) | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] ([[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOFrance French State]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOMoskowien Reichskommissariat Moskowien]]) | [[Characters/TNOAmerica North America]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAmerica South America]] ([[Characters/TNOBrazil United States of Brazil]] | [[Characters/TNOArgentina Argentine Republic]])-]]] [[center: [- '''The Russian Anarchy:''' [[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] ([[Characters/TNOKomi Komi Republic]] | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Taboritsky's Russia]]) | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast The Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOAfterMidnight After Midnight]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/TNOAntarctica Antarctica]] | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Countries]]]]-]
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!![[center: [- [[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''Superpowers:''' [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOGoering Göring's Germany]] | [[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] ([[Characters/TNOSixtiesUSAPresidents 1964-1968 Presidents]]) | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nippon Teikoku]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Major Powers:''' [[Characters/TNOItaly Regno d'Italia]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOTurkey Republic of Turkey]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Other Countries By Region:''' [[Characters/TNOAfrica Africa]] ([[Characters/TNOWestAfrica West Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]]) | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] ('''State of Guangdong''' | [[Characters/TNOSoutheastAsia Southeast Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]]) | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] ([[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOFrance French State]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOMoskowien Reichskommissariat Moskowien]]) | [[Characters/TNOAmerica North America]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAmerica South America]] ([[Characters/TNOBrazil United States of Brazil]] | [[Characters/TNOArgentina Argentine Republic]])-]]] [[center: [- '''The Russian Anarchy:''' [[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] ([[Characters/TNOKomi Komi Republic]] | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Taboritsky's Russia]]) | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast The Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOAfterMidnight After Midnight]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/TNOAntarctica Antarctica]] | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Countries]]]]-]
Content]]]]-]
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* CrapsackOnlyByComparison: {{Invoked}}. Most of the workers try to believe their lives are an improvement than over in China because they can at least have hope for a better life in Guangdong. It's a useful coping mechanism to find some small comfort in their squalid condition.
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* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first event in a Guangdong playthrough is a meeting in the Legislative Council, introducing the corruption of their members, the political bickering that the corporations wage against each other, and the role of the Chief Executive.
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* JustifiedCriminal: {{Invoked}} by the corrupt police officers who extract bribes and steal money from random people. They often self-justify their own crimes as the only way to support their families, since they aren't paid enough by their bosses and it's a dog-eat-dog world in Guangdong. It's usually an attempt to ease their guilty conscience, even if it may not be so successful.
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* OpenSecret: Guangdong police officers will usually stop people under the pretense that they are shoplifting, even though everyone knows that it's just a way to racketeer a bribe from the "suspect". Even the children see this illusion through.
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* ForcedFromTheirHome: Entire villages and towns are forcibly relocated to make way for the extraction of natural resources like tungsten and germanium with those refusing to cooperate being dealt with by the Kenpeitai.
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* EvilColonialist: Frustrated by the lack of oversight Japan has in managing the greed and corruption of Guangdong's corporations, Suzuki vows to bring Guangdong back under Japanese control and strengthen Tokyo's oversight over the corporate state.
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* EvilColonialist: Frustrated by the lack of oversight Japan has in managing the greed and corruption of Guangdong's corporations, Suzuki vows to bring Guangdong back under Japanese control and strengthen Tokyo's oversight over the corporate state. This also means he gives no second thought to displacing thousands of Chinese people from their homes and destroying their settlements for the goal of profiting from resource extraction.
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* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Yokoi quickly agrees to Suzuki's request that the Yakuza stop their most abhorrent practices, much to the latter's surprise, but on the condition that Guangdong remains friendly towards Yakuza business interests.
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* BeyondTheImpossible: Theoretically, a country like Guangdong should be impossible, having no legitimacy or genuine national spirit to speak of. However, the people's resilience and struggle to survive the next day have made it work.
-->'''Stanley Ho:''' In all my years of travel, nothing exhilarates me as much as the rush of Guangdong. In my experience, I find that one learns more about their homeland the more they travel, and only here have I found such a resolute drive, a full-blooded desire to go beyond limits and tradition to achieve the impossible. You can appreciate the irony: Guangdong itself is an impossible creation, yet its people devote themselves to unending, relentless aspiration in spite of it.
-->'''Stanley Ho:''' In all my years of travel, nothing exhilarates me as much as the rush of Guangdong. In my experience, I find that one learns more about their homeland the more they travel, and only here have I found such a resolute drive, a full-blooded desire to go beyond limits and tradition to achieve the impossible. You can appreciate the irony: Guangdong itself is an impossible creation, yet its people devote themselves to unending, relentless aspiration in spite of it.
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* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: In the event "Picking the Bones Clean", a local cleaner reflects on how many people have committed suicide in Guangdong and his job to remove their corpses. Much to his conflicting feelings, the cleaner has seen so many victims that he's barely affected by them anymore and largely working so he can get a pay check.
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* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: In the event "Picking the Bones Clean", a local cleaner reflects on how many people have committed suicide in Guangdong and his job to remove their corpses. Much to his conflicting feelings, [[ItGetsEasier the cleaner has seen so many victims that he's barely affected by them anymore anymore]] and largely working so he can get a pay check.
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* EvenEvilHasStandards: While Suzuki is intent of fulfilling Japan's goal of colonisation, he isn't fond of the Kenpeitai's worst excesses and suggests to Miyazaki to tone them down for more inconspicuous methods.
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* SoreLoser: If Suzuki doesn't immediately invest into one of the companies in the 1962 product cycle and Hitachi's HITAC-201 takes away Fujitsu's market share in computing, Ibuka will convulse with rage and disbelief at being outcompeted.
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* CreepyCleanliness: Miyazaki's office is kept in immaculate order, making him seem ever more formidable.
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* HatesSmallTalk: Miyazaki has no time for pleasantries, asking Sukuki bluntly to get straight to the point and ask what he wants when Suzuki comes into his office to make a request.
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* JustFollowingOrders: Upon being asked by Suzuki to review some of the more unsavory actions of the Kenpeitai in favour of more inconspicuous actions, Miyazaki is apathetic at best, simply telling Suzuki that he will have to bring it up with his superiors.
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* ForScience: A somewhat unique part of Guangdong's gameplay is testing out the various "innovations" in military technology conceptualized by the various {{Mega Corp}}s. For this, a special "Research Regiment" is generated, which the player can then take into the various Japanese proxy-conflicts as a "volunteer regiment". But the goal with the Research Regiment isn't to win battles, but rather test out how their [[AwesomeButImpractical new fancy hardware (of often questionable usefulness)]] fare when used in battlefield conditions, so it actually doesn't manner if the regiment performs poorly in combat and end up losing a lot of men in pointless battles; the explict victory condition is getting the testing of the equipment done in and off itself.
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* ForScience: ForScience:
** A somewhat unique part of Guangdong's gameplay is testing out the various "innovations" in military technology conceptualized by the various {{Mega Corp}}s. For this, a special "Research Regiment" is generated, which the player can then take into the various Japanese proxy-conflicts as a "volunteer regiment". But the goal with the Research Regiment isn't to win battles, but rather test out how their [[AwesomeButImpractical new fancy hardware (of often questionable usefulness)]] fare when used in battlefield conditions, so it actually doesn't manner if the regiment performs poorly in combat and end up losing a lot of men in pointless battles; the explict victory condition is getting the testing of the equipment done in and offitself.itself.
** Another game mechanic to Guangdong is the product cycle, where the corporations can market and sell a new electronic innovation, with its success depending on its marketing and quality assurance. However, while the executives profit off of their inventions, more Chinese workers will toil to produce their goods in abusive and often dangerous working conditions.
** A somewhat unique part of Guangdong's gameplay is testing out the various "innovations" in military technology conceptualized by the various {{Mega Corp}}s. For this, a special "Research Regiment" is generated, which the player can then take into the various Japanese proxy-conflicts as a "volunteer regiment". But the goal with the Research Regiment isn't to win battles, but rather test out how their [[AwesomeButImpractical new fancy hardware (of often questionable usefulness)]] fare when used in battlefield conditions, so it actually doesn't manner if the regiment performs poorly in combat and end up losing a lot of men in pointless battles; the explict victory condition is getting the testing of the equipment done in and off
** Another game mechanic to Guangdong is the product cycle, where the corporations can market and sell a new electronic innovation, with its success depending on its marketing and quality assurance. However, while the executives profit off of their inventions, more Chinese workers will toil to produce their goods in abusive and often dangerous working conditions.
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* WarForFunAndProfit: The megacorporations conduct a series military product tests, where they invent a fancy new weapon and have it utilized in far-off proxy wars through "research regiments", all to prove their usefulness to the rest of the Sphere and get them to purchase these inventions via arms trafficking. For each conflict, the regiments must satisfy a list of objectives, with the profitability of the venture increasing with each goal being met.
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* TheRival: Following the Pan-Asian Economic Conference, Manchukuo and Guangdong become economic rivals seeking to out perform each other and prove which of their economic systems is superior.
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* EnemyMine: Morita senses an opportunity to increase Sony's profile when Yasuda begins supporting Suzuki's efforts to bring Guangdong in-line with Japan's interests. He knows Suzuki needs someone to tip the scales and that forming a temporary truce with the two is the best opportunity to level the playing field against Matsushita and Fujitsu.
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* OvertRendezvous: Li introduced Morita to an eatery in Hong Kong where they prefer to meet over more private locations like the Sony headquarters. Morita also trusts Li to keep any eavesdroppers out.
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* HopeBringer: Morita's overarching goal is to bring hope back to the masses of Guangdong and give them a glimpse of a brighter future ahead. Morita even thinks of himself as such, believing it will give him the advantage over Manchuria, if the more cynical Sōmucho takes power.
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* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: If Katakura or Pujie take power in Manchuria, Matsushita will smugly think that they will be easy to economically compete with. However, if the Sōmucho or Sejima takes power, Matsushita pipes down and begins to worry about the possibility of failing, especially so in the latter scenario, where he's sweating bullets.
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** He disproves of Katakura's extreme focus on the military because overspending one aspect of the country will inevitably destroy the economy.
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* VillainRespect: {{Downplayed}}, if Pujie takes over Manchuria. Matsushita does respect him for being slightly more competent than Puyi, but doesn't think any more of him and expects to compete with the same "lumbering, obsolete relic" that is Manchuria.
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* EvenEvilHasStandards: When Sōmuch seizes power in Manchuria after Puyi's passing, Ibuka will internally condemn the sycophants of the Sōmucho who rush to Sakomizu's side so they can retain their power, not even having the decency to wait for the President's address to finish.
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* HellYesMoment: {{Subverted}}. If Katakura takes over Manchuria, Ibuka almost bursts into excitement over having such an easy opponent to economically dominate, but he stops himself at the last second. He settles with getting out a bottle of 1880 Chardonnay.
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* YouRemindMeOfX: If Pujie takes over Manchuria, Ibuka will think about how similar he is to Morita, except less annoying because Pujie's not so obsessed with making a name for himself.
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* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Komai does not understand the lighter hand that Pujie wants to adopt in Manchuria, if the monarchy is retained there. Instead, this deepens his resolve to model Guangdong after the old Manchurian system to prove it to be the superior framework.
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* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: If he receives news of the Sōmucho taking over Manchuria, Komai's perpetually smiling demeanor will crack as he thinks about being overshadowed by Sakomizu, which is not helped by the turbulence that affecting his plane back to Guangdong.
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* PragmaticVillainy: Komai strongly disapproves of Katakura taking power in Manchuria, considering him a "glorified oxen in uniform" who will ruin the "prosperity" of Manchuria with his stupid militant ventures.
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* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:If the IJA takeover happens, Suzuki is given an event showing him reacting to the news with laughter as he is gleeful at the misery being inflicted on all those who wronged him in his mind.]]
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* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:If the IJA takeover happens, Suzuki is given an event showing him depicted reacting to the news with laughter as he is laughter, gleeful at the misery being inflicted on all those upon the people who he believes have wronged him in his mind.him.]]
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* BodyHorror: Several events highlight the horrific working conditions most of the population is subjected to, with many workers missing their arms, hands, or other body parts due to industrial accidents.
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* FamilyOfChoice: The nameless workers who slave away in the factories find some solace in each other, exchanging luxuries like alcohol with each other to make their lives a little more bearable. In a way, they're the only family they've got left, since they were taken from their homes.
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* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Almost all of the Chief Executives were just regular businessmen in OTL and not the corrupt, exploitative bosses they are portrayed here. In particular, Ibuka never supported social Darwinism as a means to run a country and Komai never tried to become a tyrant in real-life. The only exception to this rule is Suzuki, who was found guilty of being a war criminal in OTL.
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* IndustrializedEvil: The presence of the Japanese corporations have inflicted horrific damage to the Guangdong province, as the cities are converted into soulless, industrialized cogs in a nationwide machine. A prime example of this than Kōshu, formerly Guangzhou and now a mess of neglected slums and bustling factories.
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* PragmaticVillainy: The corporations have implemented "suicide nets" in the factories, which is only meant to keep them alive so they can exploit more workers.
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* FascistButInefficient: Suzuki is tasked by Japanese Prime Minister Ino to bring the corporations back under control, meet GDP targets and bring Chinese dissent under control. None of these are easy tasks and Suzuki has so far failed to complete any of them. If anything, his attempts to clamp down on the corporations makes them motivated to get rid of him, which they do after the Yasuda Crisis.
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** In Ibuka's Persistence path, [[spoiler:once the Guangdong Future Act passes, subjugating every [=LegCo=] representative to Fujitsu's control, the Legislative Council mechanic will be closed off to the player.]]
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* InterfaceScrew: [[spoiler:Should the IJA intervene to put down the riots, all of Guangdong's [=GUIs=] will be obscured by neon red overlays, symbolizing the IJA taking full control of the state.]]
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* InterfaceScrew: InterfaceScrew:
** [[spoiler:Should the IJA intervene to put down the riots, all of Guangdong's [=GUIs=] will be obscured by neon red overlays, symbolizing the IJA taking full control of the state.]]
** In Ibuka's Persistence path, [[spoiler:once the Guangdong Future Act passes, subjugating every [=LegCo=] representative to Fujitsu's control, the Legislative Council GUI will become inaccessible to the player, obscured with a neon blue overlay and text reading "The Possibilities are Infinite".]]
** [[spoiler:Should the IJA intervene to put down the riots, all of Guangdong's [=GUIs=] will be obscured by neon red overlays, symbolizing the IJA taking full control of the state.]]
** In Ibuka's Persistence path, [[spoiler:once the Guangdong Future Act passes, subjugating every [=LegCo=] representative to Fujitsu's control, the Legislative Council GUI will become inaccessible to the player, obscured with a neon blue overlay and text reading "The Possibilities are Infinite".]]
* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:If the IJA takeover happens, Suzuki is given an event showing him reacting to the news with laughter as he is gleeful at the misery being inflicted on all those who wronged him in his mind.]]
* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:If the IJA takeover takes place, Matsuzawa is given a final event showing him reacting to the news with a smirk and a wry comment about the affair.]]
->'''Matsuzawa:''' ''"Sometimes, politics is a nasty business."''
->'''Matsuzawa:''' ''"Sometimes, politics is a nasty business."''
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Matsuzawa's alliance with Suzuki is a cold one and both hope to gain something from each other. Matsuzawa aims to improve his standing and get a chance at getting home, whereas Suzuki looks to use Matsuzawa's financial connections for his own benefit.
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** Sharing a common enmity towards Yasuda and Sony, Matsushita allied himself with Ibuka to temporarily cooperate until their rivals are dealt with.
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** Sharing a common enmity towards Yasuda and Sony, Alarmed by Yasuda's support for Suzuki reigning in the tycoons of Guangdong, Matsushita allied himself with and Ibuka agree to temporarily cooperate until their rivals are dealt with.work together against Suzuki so they can continue making consumer electronics without interference.
* BigEater: Ibuka says as much in the event "Lunch at the Kantonken", exclaiming that his long hours in the lab leave him with a big appetite.
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** Ibuka has formed a fragile alliance with Matsushita, combining their efforts to challenge the Yasuda and Sony companies.
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** Alarmed by Yasuda's support for Suzuki reigning in the tycoons of Guangdong, Ibuka has formed a fragile alliance with Matsushita, combining their efforts to challenge the Yasuda and Sony companies.Matsushita agree to work together against Suzuki so they can continue making consumer electronics without interference.
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* PollutedWasteland: Guangdong's opening event introduces the player to a Pearl Delta covered in smog produced from the factories. Guangdong's lax corporate restrictions have led to widespread pollution and environmental abuse. Depending on who becomes Chief Executive, this situation might improve (under Morita or Matsushita) or only get worse (under Ibuka or Komai).
* TimedMission: Guangdong has an annual GDP target set by Japan and tens of thousands of Japanese investors who expect returns on their investments. Failure to meet these targets will significantly hurt the ruling Chief Executive politically.
* TheBusCameBack: Suzuki can eventually wash up ashore in Kaya's cabinet should Kaya become Prime Minister and chooses to form a cabinet out of hardliners.
* EvilColonialist: Frustrated by the lack of oversight Japan has in managing the greed and corruption of Guangdong's corporations, Suzuki vows to bring Guangdong back under Japanese control and strengthen Tokyo's oversight over the corporate state.
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* ThrowTheDogABone: Suzuki can eventually wash up ashore in Kaya's cabinet.
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* ThrowTheDogABone: Suzuki can eventually wash up ashore offers token workers' rights to the Chinese in Kaya's cabinet.an effort to placate dissident activity.
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* TheDragon: Matsuzawa serves as Suzuki's second-in-command for running Guangdong's civil government.
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* VillainTeamUp: Matsuzawa is the only one of the four tycoon leaders to entertain the idea of Suzuki brining Guangdong under greater Japanese control, stating that his proposals might have some merit.
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* TheExile: Following the bankruptcy of Tokyo Telecommunications and being blacklisted by the Zaibatsus, Morita could no longer support himself and vanished from Japan in 1952 only to reappear in Guangdong two years later.
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* StartingANewLife: Upon arriving to Guangdong, Morita had to rebuild his life from scratch. With the help of Li Ka-shing he managed to grow a new company and accepts Guangdong as his new home.
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* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:The Guangdong Riots cause Ibuka to be snapped out of his childish vision as he watches his uncompromisingly dogmatic vision be torn asunder by those he looked down upon, which in his Persistence path, causes him to realise he is not infailible and leads him to abandon his social Darwinism for a kinder approach to governance.]]
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* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:The Guangdong Riots cause Ibuka to be snapped out of his childish vision as he watches his uncompromisingly dogmatic vision be torn asunder by those he looked down upon, which in his Persistence Reconciliation path, causes him to realise he is not infailible and leads him to abandon his social Darwinism for a kinder approach to governance.]]
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* RepressionNeverEndsWell: [[spoiler:It is made clear that Ibuka pushing away his positive human connections with Morita and his own family have only caused him pain and misery, with him opening up to the guilt in his Reconcilliation path being portrayed as a positive, and him doubling down on it in his Persistence path being shown negatively as it leads him to become an emotionally detatched dictator who rejects any chance at redemption.]]
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* RepressionNeverEndsWell: [[spoiler:It is made clear that Ibuka pushing away his positive human connections with Morita and his own family have only caused him pain and misery, with him opening up to the guilt he feels in his Reconcilliation path being portrayed as a positive, and him doubling down on it in his Persistence path being shown negatively as it leads him to become an emotionally detatched dictator who rejects any chance at redemption.]]
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* SociopathicSoldier: When Nagano informs his general that they are allowed to use as much force as they feel is necessary to keep the people of Guangdong in line, all Watanabe can do is grin before remarking he already was doing this.
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* SociopathicSoldier: When Nagano informs his general generals that they are allowed to use as much force as they feel is necessary to keep the people of Guangdong in line, all Watanabe can do is grin before remarking he already was doing this.
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* BreadAndCircuses: Morita's main argument for making concessions to the workers of Guangdong, such as a federally enforced minium salary and reduced working hours, is that the previous policy of essentially working them first to the bone and then into their early graves only leads to resentment towards Guangdong as a state, and in the long run will result in a risk of instability and rebellion. His reforms is supposed to show the workers that the state can be reasonable and also work in their interests, thereby fostering loyalilty towards Guangdong as a concept, helping to boost the artificial state's legimitiacy and thereby ensuring its long term survival.
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* BreadAndCircuses: Morita's main argument for making concessions to the workers of Guangdong, such as a federally enforced minium salary and reduced working hours, is that the previous policy of essentially working them first to the bone and then into their early graves only leads to resentment towards Guangdong as a state, and in the long run will result in a risk of instability and rebellion. His reforms is are supposed to show the workers that the state can be reasonable and also work in their interests, thereby fostering loyalilty towards Guangdong as a concept, helping to boost the artificial state's legimitiacy and thereby ensuring its long term survival.
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->'''In-Game Biography''' (Suzuki cabinet) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]One would be mistaken to see Colonel Miyazaki Kiyotaka as another enforcer of Japan's will in Guangdong, or a relic of Japan's past triumphs. Unlike the new IJA recruits rotated into the Three Pearls - or the ancient general officers sent out to pasture - Colonel Miyazaki is a twenty-year veteran of the China Campaign still in his prime. Starting as a non-commissioned Kenpeitai officer during WWII, Miyazaki has spent nearly all of his career on the Chinese mainland, hunting KMT remnants and dissidents in Manchukuo, the Republic of China, and now in Guangdong.\\\
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->'''In-Game Biography''' (Suzuki cabinet) (Head of Guangdong Kenpeitai) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]One would be mistaken to see Colonel Miyazaki Kiyotaka as another enforcer of Japan's will in Guangdong, or a relic of Japan's past triumphs. Unlike the new IJA recruits rotated into the Three Pearls - or the ancient general officers sent out to pasture - Colonel Miyazaki is a twenty-year veteran of the China Campaign still in his prime. Starting as a non-commissioned Kenpeitai officer during WWII, Miyazaki has spent nearly all of his career on the Chinese mainland, hunting KMT remnants and dissidents in Manchukuo, the Republic of China, and now in Guangdong.\\\
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->'''In-Game Biography''' (Suzuki cabinet) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Every would-be strongman needs an enforcer - the man with the means and the temperament to do the dirty work, to crack skulls and purge miscreants. Colonel Miyazaki is well-versed in the means, and his reputation for brutality precedes him. Having been relegated to the sidelines under the previous Chief Executive and their attempt to build a local security apparatus, Miyazaki's appointment as Chief Secretary under Komai speaks to the iron fist hiding just beneath Komai's polished exterior.\\\
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->'''In-Game Biography''' (Suzuki cabinet) (Chief Secretary) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Every would-be strongman needs an enforcer - the man with the means and the temperament to do the dirty work, to crack skulls and purge miscreants. Colonel Miyazaki is well-versed in the means, and his reputation for brutality precedes him. Having been relegated to the sidelines under the previous Chief Executive and their attempt to build a local security apparatus, Miyazaki's appointment as Chief Secretary under Komai speaks to the iron fist hiding just beneath Komai's polished exterior.\\\
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->'''Role:''' Guangdong Police Force Commissioner[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Matsushita cabinet)
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->'''Role:''' Guangdong Police Force Commissioner[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Matsushita cabinet)(Matsushita, Ibuka and Komai cabinets)
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->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]]
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->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The Zaikaiha[[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]]
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->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Minseiha [[note]]Money will never not be a part of Guangdong's politics. But the logic of money is not infallible, argue some, and sometimes the impulse to maximize profit must be balanced against the need to preserve stability. Whether they be more paternalistic corporate men or unreconstituted believers in a civil society backed by more than just greed, these individuals in the Legislative Council back a heterodox theory of economics that balances State interests with corporate prerogatives.[[/note]]
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->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Minseiha [[note]]Money Minseiha[[note]]Money will never not be a part of Guangdong's politics. But the logic of money is not infallible, argue some, and sometimes the impulse to maximize profit must be balanced against the need to preserve stability. Whether they be more paternalistic corporate men or unreconstituted believers in a civil society backed by more than just greed, these individuals in the Legislative Council back a heterodox theory of economics that balances State interests with corporate prerogatives.[[/note]]
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->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]]
to:
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The Zaikaiha[[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]]
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->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]], Rippoukai - Chuou Iinkai [[note]]The Central Committee is Ibuka Masaru's latest experiment, and arguably his finest yet. Composed of only the most exceptional representatives in the Legislative Council, these individuals have proven themselves diligent, impervious, and unwaveringly loyal to Guangdong and Guangdong alone. They, and nobody else, are the ones to be entrusted with Guangdong's future - for what can you expect from people you don't know exactly what they're up to?\n\nCorporate sycophants can decry it all they want as some "regression" to the days of Suzuki and his overbearing control over Guangdong's political life, and we say all the better. This is what they deserve.[[/note]]
to:
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The Zaikaiha[[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]], Rippoukai - Chuou Iinkai [[note]]The Iinkai[[note]]The Central Committee is Ibuka Masaru's latest experiment, and arguably his finest yet. Composed of only the most exceptional representatives in the Legislative Council, these individuals have proven themselves diligent, impervious, and unwaveringly loyal to Guangdong and Guangdong alone. They, and nobody else, are the ones to be entrusted with Guangdong's future - for what can you expect from people you don't know exactly what they're up to?\n\nCorporate sycophants can decry it all they want as some "regression" to the days of Suzuki and his overbearing control over Guangdong's political life, and we say all the better. This is what they deserve.[[/note]]
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->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Manshuha [[note]]The Empire of Manchuria has developed its own brand of capitalism, alien to its comparators in Tokyo and Guangdong. One corporation dominates economic life, an inescapable colossus: the Manchurian Industrial Development Company (Mangyō, MIDC) and its many subsidiaries. Decades of forced industrialization under Japanese supremacism have made Mangyō - and its electronics subsidiary, Nissan's Hitachi - notorious for its callous disregard for life and morality, even as it advances the states' ends with a ruthless efficiency. And some in Hsinking wonder: instead of serving the state in Manchuria, could they instead export their Manchurian System to Guangdong?[[/note]]
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->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Manshuha [[note]]The Manshuha[[note]]The Empire of Manchuria has developed its own brand of capitalism, alien to its comparators in Tokyo and Guangdong. One corporation dominates economic life, an inescapable colossus: the Manchurian Industrial Development Company (Mangyō, MIDC) and its many subsidiaries. Decades of forced industrialization under Japanese supremacism have made Mangyō - and its electronics subsidiary, Nissan's Hitachi - notorious for its callous disregard for life and morality, even as it advances the states' ends with a ruthless efficiency. And some in Hsinking wonder: instead of serving the state in Manchuria, could they instead export their Manchurian System to Guangdong?[[/note]]
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->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law [[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
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->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law [[note]]Martial Law[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
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!![[center: [- [[Characters/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope Main Character Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''Superpowers:''' [[Characters/TNOGermany Großgermanisches Reich]] ([[Characters/TNOGoering Göring's Germany]] | [[Characters/TNOHeydrich Heydrich's Germany]]) | [[Characters/{{TNOUSA}} The United States of America]] ([[Characters/TNOSixtiesUSAPresidents 1964-1968 Presidents]]) | [[Characters/TNOJapan Dai-Nippon Teikoku]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Major Powers:''' [[Characters/TNOItaly Regno d'Italia]] | [[Characters/TNOIberianUnion Iberian Union]] | [[Characters/TNOTurkey Republic of Turkey]] | [[Characters/TNOBurgundy Ordensstaat Burgund]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Other Countries By Region:''' [[Characters/TNOAfrica Africa]] ([[Characters/TNOWestAfrica West Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthernAfrica Southern Africa]] | [[Characters/TNOPostColonialCentralAfrica Post-Colonial Central Africa]]) | [[Characters/TNOAsia Asia and Oceania]] ('''State of Guangdong''' | [[Characters/TNOSoutheastAsia Southeast Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAsia South Asia]] | [[Characters/TNOMiddleEast Middle East]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralAsia Central Asia]]) | [[Characters/TNOEurope Europe]] ([[Characters/TNOBritain British Isles]] | [[Characters/TNOFrance French State]] | [[Characters/TNOEasternEurope Eastern Europe]] | [[Characters/TNOMoskowien Reichskommissariat Moskowien]]) | [[Characters/TNOAmerica North America]] | [[Characters/TNOSouthAmerica South America]] ([[Characters/TNOBrazil United States of Brazil]] | [[Characters/TNOArgentina Argentine Republic]])-]]] [[center: [- '''The Russian Anarchy:''' [[Characters/TNOWestRussia West Russia]] ([[Characters/TNOKomi Komi Republic]] | [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Taboritsky's Russia]]) | [[Characters/TNOSouthernUrals Southern Urals]] | [[Characters/TNOWesternSiberia Western Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOCentralSiberia Central Siberia]] | [[Characters/TNOFarEast The Far East]] | [[Characters/TNOAfterMidnight After Midnight]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Miscellaneous:''' [[Characters/TNOAntarctica Antarctica]] | [[Characters/TNOMisc Miscellaneous Countries]]]]-]
[[foldercontrol]]
!!''State of Guangdong''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_guangdong.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Flag of the Kanton Gunsei Sōkan]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spoiler_ija_holesummm.png[[/labelnote]]]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Flag of the State of %%Liangguang]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tno_state_of_liangguang.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Official Name:''' State of Guangdong, Guangxi Military Administration (China Balkanized), Kanton Gunsei Sōkan[[note]]Guangdong Military Administration[[/note]] ([[spoiler:IJA takeover]])
->'''Ruling Party:''' Kanton Minseifu[[note]]Guangdong Civil Administration[[/note]] [[note]]The Legislative Council is, in theory, an apolitical advisory body appointed by the Chief Executive to advise and legitimize their actions as part of an unified political corpus - the Guangdong Civil Administration. In practice, of course, the capture of the Legislative Council by corporate interests have made political factionalism a fact of life. Those who remain loyal to the appointed Chief Executive Suzuki's vision, to the prerogatives of the state above that of moneyed interests, are seen as the executors of the Civil Administration in the Legislative Council.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Statism[[note]]Fascism[[/note]]
The State of Guangdong is a Japanese colonial state carved out of China after their defeat in World War II. However, the spectacle and shimmering city lights gild an artificial experiment with no national identity to speak of, as their internal politics are dominated by Japanese electronic zaibatsus and only function as a playground for unchecked capitalism. Crime, corruption, and poverty are all common sights, with the native Chinese population bearing the brunt of it, while the middle-class Zhujin want to remain in the Japanese elites' good graces to make their lives more bearable. The people are desperate for any future where they can stand proudly as a nation and, with trouble looming over the Sphere, the zaibatsus are circling the waters, ready to take Suzuki Teiichi's throne and mold Guangdong to their own vision.
----
[[folder:General Tropes]]
* AllohistoricalAllusion: The design of Guangdong seems to be inspired by China's Special Administrative Regions and Special Economic Zones; Guangdong's "[=LegCo=]" and "Chief Executive" are both used in OTL China's [=SARs=], while its status as a hyper-capitalist region focused on economic prosperity above all else mirrors China's [=SEZs=] (of which Guangdong is a part in real life). Japan's plans for Guangdong also mirrors China's plans for the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area megalopolis.
* AlternateCharacterReading: Cities in Guangdong, except Hong Kong and Macau, use the Japanese ''on'yomi'' readings of their Chinese names.
* ArmsDealer: The corporations in Guangdong get into experimenting with new weapons to sell to the rest of the Sphere, contributing to the war effort in conflicts like the Malayan Emergency. In these proxy wars, the more in-game objectives are completed by these experimental units, the more economic benefits the corporations will receive.
* {{Auction}}: Following the Yasuda Crisis, the titular corporation's remaining assets are put up on auction for the other companies to buy out. This allows the other companies to severely weaken a rival and accumulate more support in the Legislative Council.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Many of the "innovations" in military technology that the different companies are conceptualizing fall squarely into this category, such as Sony's "modular" assault rifle made to switch between Japanese and Chinese produced ammo types and Fujitsu's electronic nightvision scope which requires that the user carry around a special 50 kg battery backpack at all times in order to keep it powered.
* ButNotTooForeign: Especially around Kōshū (Guangzhou), Macau and Honkon (Hong Kong), a mixed Zhujin culture has emerged, the result of Japanese influence and settlers displacing the native Chinese. As a result, while the people have little attachment to Guangdong as a political concept, neither are they keen to bow to the will of Nanjing or Tokyo.
* CapitalismIsBad: A major theme in Guangdong's story is the abuses and corruption brought on by uncontrolled Japanese capitalism, as wealthy mega-corporations exploit and prosper off the backs of abused Chinese laborers.
* LesCollaborateurs: Guangdong's administration seeks greater cooperation from the Zhujin, the old business elite that dominated Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta before the war and now compose a middle class that has since adopted the Japanese language. However, most of the Japanese megacorporations aren't keen on giving the Chinese oligarchs and tycoons too ''much'' leeway, though Sony wants to expand legal protections and privileges for them.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: In the event "Picking the Bones Clean", a local cleaner reflects on how many people have committed suicide in Guangdong and his job to remove their corpses. Much to his conflicting feelings, the cleaner has seen so many victims that he's barely affected by them anymore and largely working so he can get a pay check.
* ContemptCrossfire: The Zhujin consist of Chinese people native to Guangdong who makeup the state's educated middle class and often receive more privileges than the average person. This naturally makes them despised by the native Chinese as foreign collaborators, while Japan sees them only as useful proxies to leash Guangdong to the Sphere.
* CorporateConspiracy: Hitachi is shown to resort to intrigue and bribes to grow their influence on the Legislative Council, eventually resulting in a coup that ousts the current Chief Executive in favour of their CEO Komai should the conspiracy go unchecked.
* CorruptPolitician: A historic inclination towards (very) small government, massive volumes of financial transactions, and loose oversight have all created a culture of corruption within Guangdong's government. The temptation to accept 'tea money' is universal and makes the business of government far more difficult to conduct.
* {{Cyberpunk}}: The pervasive corporatocracy, government corruption, and setting in the highly urbanized Pearl River Delta lean into the aesthetic even more so than Novosibirsk.
* DirtyCop: The Guangdong Police Force consists of little more than blue-clad, jack-booted thugs with endless pockets and little oversight.
* EvilVersusEvil: With a few exceptions like Morita, the Japanese conglomerates that dominate Guangdong are all exploitative companies that have oppressed the Chinese to use as cheap labor and are waging corporate wars against each other to beat out the competition.
* FictionalCountry: Even moreso than Manchukuo, Guangdong is a completely artificial state invented by the Japanese to make money, and has no real reason to exist. An important part of Guangdong content is forming the Guangdong national identity, making a state from nothing.
* FiringDay: Reflecting the hyper-competitive environment of an Ibuka-led Guangdong is, a minor business manager lays off multiple workers simultaneously in the "The Manager is King" event, deeming them incompetent for not meeting his absurdly high expectations to "exceed the call of duty".
* ForScience: A somewhat unique part of Guangdong's gameplay is testing out the various "innovations" in military technology conceptualized by the various {{Mega Corp}}s. For this, a special "Research Regiment" is generated, which the player can then take into the various Japanese proxy-conflicts as a "volunteer regiment". But the goal with the Research Regiment isn't to win battles, but rather test out how their [[AwesomeButImpractical new fancy hardware (of often questionable usefulness)]] fare when used in battlefield conditions, so it actually doesn't manner if the regiment performs poorly in combat and end up losing a lot of men in pointless battles; the explict victory condition is getting the testing of the equipment done in and off itself.
* ForWantOfANail: Morita and Ibuka were best friends in real-life, working together to turn Sony into the corporate giant it is today. In this timeline, Ibuka betrayed Morita by signing up with Fujitsu rather than saving Tokyo Telecommunications together. The two have since become bitter enemies.
* ForeignRulingClass: Japanese settlers in Guangdong enjoy preferential treatment while native Chinese are second-class citizens, if they have the fortune of being educated.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Guangdong is the least respected member of the Sphere, as China views it as an illegitimate state occupying their territory and Japan has largely shifted their attention away from what they consider an "unnatural tributary". Even Manchuria looks down on Guangdong and is considered a far more prosperous puppet state to Japan.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration:
** Uniquely, Guangdong has no limits on how much it can spend with its economy because it pretty much serves as a nationwide playground for Japanese corporations to indulge in free-market capitalism and exploitation, so they are given free rein to do whatever they please to maximize their own growth.
** If Morita's Independent Commission against Corruption ordinance is passed, the player will be unable to bribe [=LegCo=] members for votes on further bills.
** [[spoiler:If the IJA intervene against the riots, the player will be locked out of manually selecting focuses. They will automatically complete instead, showing how they have lost control of the situation.]]
* GoingNative: The term ''Zhujin'', normally referring to the educated native Chinese labour aristocracy and petite-bourgeoisie, also encompasses Japanese people who 'go native' and have more roots in Guangdong than they do back home--the most prominent example being Sony CEO Morita Akio.
* HopeSpot: In Matsushita's path, a local tries to revisit his father's closed-down restaurant for nostalgia's sake and the possibility that he can reopen it. Unfortunately, when he gets there, he learns that the restaurant was seized by the government and destroyed into a pile of bricks, devastating the man.
* {{Hypocrite}}: The Guangdong government is free to enforce whatever budget cuts they want on local businesses and factories, but they'll never apply the same policy to themselves. One Zhujin proprietor, who's just lost his factory, loudly lampshades this in one of Matsushita's events.
* IAmWho: Guangdong is undergoing an identity crisis, as they're an artificial, Chinese state created out of Japan's spoils of war, leaving them caught between two national identities, while accepted by neither of their homes countries.
* InterfaceScrew: [[spoiler:Should the IJA intervene to put down the riots, all of Guangdong's [=GUIs=] will be obscured by neon red overlays, symbolizing the IJA taking full control of the state.]]
* ManBehindTheMan: A consortium of Japanese corporations and local business magnates hold immense influence in Guangdong's Legislative Council. That being said, the Kempeitai constantly remind both the citizenry and nominal rulers on who their real masters are.
* MegaCorp: Guangdong's politics are dominated by the financial conglomerate Yasuda and the consumer electronics firms Matsushita, Sony and Fujitsu, who have pervasive control over the "Silicon Delta"'s Legislative Council. Guangdong's mechanics include developing new consumer products to increase a company's market share and political influence as well as keep the state's finances balanced.
* MobWar: The struggles between the Yakuza and Triads, on top of serving as proxies for the Japanese elite and Chinese workers respectively, mirror the strife emerging across Guangdong's society. It also doesn't help that the central government isn't powerful enough to stop them for good.
* MultipleEndings: All four main leaders of Guangdong have at least two endings, one where they achieve their personal goals and another where they fail. [[spoiler: They also share a failstate for if they lose control during the Oil Crisis and the IJA is called in to restore order; a nightmare scenario for all of them ''and'' Guangdong's people compared to the Rape of Nanking. If Komai is the one overthrown by the IJA, the situation is even more unstable, as they crack down even harder given the level of protest against Komai.]]
** Matsushita can either succeed in his goal of gaining his family's respect as an independent businessman [[spoiler: or be reduced to a puppet of either Ibuka or Morita in his cabinet]].
** Morita can either succeed in his plans to reform and legitimize Guangdong or [[spoiler: be forced to turn to authoritarian methods to weather the Oil Crisis, alienating the very Chinese he claims to champion and setting up a showdown with Ibuka over Guangdong's future]].
** Ibuka's journey is the most unusual; [[spoiler: he will have a personal crisis upon realizing the true nature of his meritocratic, Darwinist vision and either recoil from it, going through a personal transformation that will lead him to embrace more humanitarian policies he recognizes may not win him the people's love or the state business success but might save his soul, or double down, becoming a brutal dictator of an Orwellian police state as he ruthlessly begins crushing his enemies to remain in power. Which of these is his ''personal'' better ending is in the eye of the beholder.]]
** Komai can either remain the servant of his Manchurian masters, or [[spoiler: [[ThePuppetCutsHisStrings break free of them]] and become an uncontested dictator with Guangdong as his fiefdom]].
* NeonCity: Befitting its cyberpunk aesthetic, Guangdong's cities are lit by thousands of neon lights.
* OneNationUnderCopyright: Guangdong makes no effort to hide this. The seats of the Guangdong Legislative Council are held by openly and legally ''corporate-appointed'' rather than party representatives.
* PoliceBrutality: The Japanese corporations are allowed to employ "liaison officers" in the Force for security purposes, with varying degrees of brutality depending on who they work for. Of special mention in one of Matsushita's events, Hitachi's men are exceptionally cruel, acting more like soldiers than security officers and happy to employ deadly force.
* PoliceState: The State of Guangdong has a meager native police force, but the Kenpeitai has unrivalled surveillance and control of its people. [[spoiler: Failing to deal with the riots that spring up in the wake of the Oil Crisis makes this even worse, causing the [=IJA=] to impose martial law under an ultramilitarist general and begin razing the Pearl River delta to restore order, also serving as a Japanese spearhead for the coming Great Asian War.]]
* PuppetState: Guangdong is another Japanese puppet state set up in Southern China to maintain their control there.
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: The Triads, who have long ruled the Hong Kong underworld, have unsurprisingly grown in strength since the State of Guangdong was formed, and with it their strength and influence among the Chinese underclass. Growing voices advocate for courting them instead of spending considerable resources curtailing them.
* {{Yakuza}}: Rivals to the Triads, the Yakuza are moving in, bringing drugs and crime with them, as the locals despise their alien customs compared to the Triads, even though they're marginally less autocratic and willing to share wealth with local communities.
* YouAreACreditToYourRace: When a Chinese man is promoted in one of Matsushita's events, his Japanese superiors try to talk to him. However, many of their questions and compliments carry unintentional racist undertones, like whether a certain stereotype is true or telling him that he speaks Japanese well for a Chinese person. It doesn't help either that they barely acknowledge the work he's doing.
[[/folder]]
!! Chief Executives (1962-1964)
[[folder:Suzuki Teiichi]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portrait_guangdong_suzuki_teiichi.png]]
->'''Role:''' Head of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Hardline Kaya cabinet)
->'''Party:''' Kanton Minseifu[[note]]Guangdong Civil Administration[[/note]] [[note]]The Legislative Council is, in theory, an apolitical advisory body appointed by the Chief Executive to advise and legitimize their actions as part of an unified political corpus - the Guangdong Civil Administration. In practice, of course, the capture of the Legislative Council by corporate interests have made political factionalism a fact of life. Those who remain loyal to the appointed Chief Executive Suzuki's vision, to the prerogatives of the state above that of moneyed interests, are seen as the executors of the Civil Administration in the Legislative Council.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Statism[[note]]Fascism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A decorated IJA officer and former head of the Cabinet Planning Board, Suzuki Teiichi was intimately involved in the construction of Japan's wartime economy and the subsequent economic planning for the Japanese New Order in Asia. An esteemed member of the House of Peers since 1943, Prime Minister Ino has named Suzuki the next Chief Executive of the State of Guangdong in order to use his Chinese experience, military connections, and economic expertise to bend Guangdong's corporations to the will of Tokyo.\\\
His hands-on and statist approach to running Guangdong's freewheeling economy rankles the Four Companies of Guangdong, which have become accustomed to running Guangdong with minimal interference. However, the culture of corruption fostered by years of weak oversight from Tokyo - and the backing of Yasuda Bank, per Prime Minister Ino's instructions - is enough for Suzuki to keep the Four Companies in line for now.\\\
Suzuki sees a territory blinded by greed, forgetful of its obligations and unaware of the consequences of its actions. While he has no special affection for the Chinese in Guangdong, he is keenly aware that without the resources from Tokyo to maintain a strong security apparatus (as in Manchukuo), naked repression is not a sustainable solution to Chinese dissident activity. For the good of Japan, Suzuki will lay the foundations of a new, stronger Guangdong - and bring the corporate behemoths and their executives to heel.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Minister of Foreign Affairs) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]To many an outside observer, Suzuki Teiichi's appointment to be Japan's Foreign Minister is a surprising revival to a career thought dead after his dramatic fall from grace amongst Guangdong's capitalist tycoons. But Suzuki always maintained that he was a victim of circumstance, a loyal patriot fulfilling Tokyo's wishes in a hardship posting, simply caught in the blast radius of Yasuda's implosion - and it seems Prime Minister Kaya believes Suzuki's side of the story.\\\
For Suzuki himself, the position to Foreign Minister is not simply redemption, or a simple promotion - it is the pinnacle of his career, a chance to redraw the economic and political map of Asia to his liking. Twenty years ago, he missed his chance to become the first Minister of Greater East Asia, building the Co-Prosperity Sphere under Tōjō; now, he will rebuild it under Kaya.[[/labelnote]]
----
* BaitAndSwitch: After the catastrophic Yasuda Crisis occurs, the game switches over to a focus tree based on allying with either the Chinese, Zhujin, or Japanese, culminating in the passage of the Financial Stabilization Ordinance to halt the impending economic collapse. Unfortunately, all of the corporations and tycoons side against Suzuki and hold a vote of no confidence to have him sacked, switching his focus tree to shoring up as much support as possible to retain his power.
* BullyingADragon: After the Yasuda crisis, Suzuki tries to bully the other corporations into submission so he can keep Guangdong under his control, an astoundingly stupid idea since his main power base in Yasuda has just been crippled. This ends badly when he's ultimately ejected from the Legislative Council.
* CorruptPolitician: Suzuki has kept most his clique loyal to him by donating them sizable "gifts" to buy their allegiance.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Dissatisfied with the criminal elements existing in Guangdong, Suzuki pulls up a previously discarded public review of the panopticon, a philosophical metaphor coined by Michel Foucault to describe how people will naturally abide by the rules of an institution because they have become conditioned to believe they are monitored. However, Suzuki misinterprets it as a model for how to develop an intelligence network so he can root out criminals.
* EnemyMine: To strengthen Guangdong's policing, Suzuki can ally with either the Japanese Yakuza or the Chinese Triads to rein in the criminal underworld.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption:
** No matter how successful his early economic policies are, Suzuki will be snubbed and ignored in the Pan-Asian Economic Conference, as he'll be deemed too unimportant to focus on. This leaves Suzuki frustrated, who vows that Guangdong will eventually outpace Manchuria in economic productivity through sheer ingenuity.
** Suzuki will ultimately be forced to resign from his position after the Yasuda Crisis, since many blame him for the economic downturn and pull their support for him in the Legislative Council. Even if he scrounges up a good majority of seats from the Legislative Council to reject the vote of no confidence, they'll inevitably turn on him and leave him with only twelve seats as support, far less than he needs to retain power.
* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: In an effort to stabilize Japanese rule over Guangdong, Suzuki pushes through token labor rights through the assembly using massive amounts of bribes - draining Guangdong's treasury. Whilst the act passes and marginally placates the Chinese workers, once the Yasuda crisis comes around this lack of funds massively compromise Guangdong's position.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: His more hands-on approach to the economy is an irritant for the Legislative Council and the four corporations, who are more used to running completely unchecked. However, they initially can't do anything against Suzuki because of corruption and Yasuda's support for him.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Suzuki is one of the most Japanese ethnocentric leaders in Guangdong, alongside Matsushita.
* PragmaticVillainy: While he has no special affection for the Chinese, Suzuki is keenly aware that without the resources from Tokyo to maintain a strong security apparatus, naked repression is not a sustainable solution to Chinese dissident activity. He makes the fateful decision to offer token worker rights to offset this issue, burning lots of financial and political capital in the process, which ultimately spells his doom in the wake of the Yasuda crisis.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Even though he was part of the victorious Tōjō cabinet from World War II, Suzuki went largely passed over for opportunities that could grant him greater political power until Ino sent him to govern Guangdong, using flattery to disguise the fact that it was just a means of getting rid of a loose end. Suzuki saw through this, but accepted the opportunity anyway in the hopes of earning favor back in Tokyo.
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Suzuki in OTL was a Japanese lieutenant general who served as a military attaché to China during the interwar period, was a close aide to Hideki Tojo, and served as an economic minister during WWII.[[note]]He was nicknamed the "suit-wearing general" (背広を着た軍人) because he worked more on politics and economics than military affairs, and he did indeed primarily appeared in civilian suits rather than military uniforms.[[/note]] In TNO, he was placed in the position of Chief Executive of the State of Guangdong due to his experience with interacting with the Chinese, military connections, and economic expertise.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Suzuki can eventually wash up ashore in Kaya's cabinet.
* VillainousBreakdown: As the Legislative Council holds a vote of no confidence against Suzuki, he begins to lose his composure and desperately resorts to any means to retain his power.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Once the Yasuda Crisis hits Guangdong, Suzuki's already tarnished reputation goes down the drain and he's forced to resign from his position.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Matsuzawa Takuji]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/matsuzawa_takuji.png]]
->'''Role:''' Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Suzuki cabinet), Head of State (Suzuki succession)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporatocracy[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]'In every crisis, lies great opportunity', so the Western saying goes - unless you're Matsuzawa Takuji, in which case the more apt Eastern aphorism might be 'the carp on the cutting board.' With Yasuda Bank being taken apart by its creditors, the political establishment, and the media in Tokyo, Matsuzawa had his hands full simply putting the company's affairs in order in Guangdong. That is, until the former Chief Executive abandoned ship, with the remaining tycoons pushing the poisoned chalice into Matsuzawa's hands.\\\
With communications from Tokyo all but severed, Matsuzawa has not been formally appointed by the Japanese government to his position. Nor does he have the luxury of waiting: the aftershock of Yasuda's collapse and the political turmoil in Tokyo has left Guangdong's budget deep in the red, scaring investors even as the local populace turn to crime and vice to make up for lost wages. The remaining tycoons jockey for position with honeyed words and convenient 'plans', no doubt aiming to become Chief Executive themselves once the dust clears.\\\
Although Matsuzawa savors the clarity of knowing that his assignment to Guangdong was the work of a corrupt cabal working against him, the fallout from their schemes has led to his entire life's work crumbling to dust around him. There is no coming back from this, no matter how innocent he was; he is a dead man walking, and all he can do is to keep it all together until the curtains close.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary) [[labelnote:Click to Show]] The Representative Director of Yasuda Bank's Guangdong branch since 1959, Matzuawa Takuji runs the financial conglomerate's operations in Guangdong - which are but one part of a sprawling financial network that stretches from Tokyo to Calcutta. Yasuda's prominent position as the only one of the Big Four zaibatsu among the Four Companies means that Matsuzawa also serves as the de facto second-in-command of the civil government, the Chief Secretary, on top of his corporate duties.\\\
After a distinguished career in the Home Islands managing major corporate clients and the Ministry of Finance, Matsuzawa was rumored to be a prime candidate to join the board of directors, making his assignment to Guangdong a surprise - most so to Matsuzawa himself. Yasuda's recent turn towards breakneck overseas expansion (as encouraged by Prime Minister Ino's government) might partially explain things, but many still wonder as to the true reason why Matsuzawa was sidelined - and whether it simply reflects differences over business strategy, or something more.[[/labelnote]]
----
* CorruptPolitician: Matsuzawa's Yasuda conglomerate is one of the Big Four zaibatsus in Japan and the largest of the corporations in Guangdong. As such, Matsuzawa's pockets are deep, allowing him to buy favors in the Legislative Council and accumulate more power for himself.
* KickedUpstairs: In the aftermath of Suzuki's downfall, the position of Chief Executive is thrust upon Matsuzawa by the other three major tycoons, knowing that he would be too busy trying to clean up his predecessor's mess and leaving Yasuda vulnerable to be auctioned off.
* LongGame: Thanks to Yasuda's dominance across the Sphere, Matsuzawa has enough breathing room to lie low and patiently wait for an opportunity to bring Guangdong to Yasuda's fold.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Or at least he suspects that this may have happened to him. For ambiguous reasons, Yasuda sent Matsuzawa to expand their influence in Guangdong, potentially to remove him as a political rival in the Japanese home isles. Now, Matsuzawa wants to find out why he was unofficially ejected and how he can return back to Tokyo.
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Matsuzawa Takuji was the president of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuji_Bank Fuji Bank]] from 1975-1981, having joined the company when it was still known as the Yasuda Bank, the center of the Yasuda zaibatsu before its dissolution. In TNO, he becomes the representative director of the Guangdong branch of Yasuda Holdings, and can be elected to the position of Chief Executive in Guangdong.
* SacrificialLion: Following the Yasuda Crisis and the collapse of his company, a power vacuum is created in the Legislative Council, leaving it to Cheung Kong or Hitachi to fill in the gap.
* TheScapegoat: After Suzuki gets fired, Matsuzawa is made the new Chief Executive so that he can be scapegoated for every unpopular decision he needs to make to save Guangdong from the Yasuda Crisis, while the other three corporations can fill in the power vacuum.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: He knows full well that he's acting as a caretaker Chief Executive and is doomed to fall after Suzuki's ejection, but he can't do anything but press onward.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Matsuzawa was assigned by the Yasuda corporation to represent their interests in Guangdong, but he considers it nothing more than a banishment. Now, he just wants to somehow find a way back home to Japan.
[[/folder]]
!! Chief Executives (1964-1972)
[[folder:Morita Akio]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morita_akio2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Success)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_morita_akio_70s.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Failure)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_morita_akio_70s_failure_7.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Matsuzawa and Matsushita cabinet), Head of State (Matsuzawa succession)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Minseiha [[note]]Money will never not be a part of Guangdong's politics. But the logic of money is not infallible, argue some, and sometimes the impulse to maximize profit must be balanced against the need to preserve stability. Whether they be more paternalistic corporate men or unreconstituted believers in a civil society backed by more than just greed, these individuals in the Legislative Council back a heterodox theory of economics that balances State interests with corporate prerogatives.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Paternalism[[note]]Paternalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]"The Gadgeteer of Guangdong." "The Man Who Fought the Zaibatsu." "The Japanese Washout." Morita Akio is known by many names, all of which are true to a degree. Despite his prestigious origins - a graduate of Osaka Imperial University and a member of the IJN's Wartime Research Group - Morita washed ashore in Guangdong after a falling-out with his once-friend, Ibuka Masaru, over the acquisition of Tokyo Telecommunications Company in 1952.\\\
With little more than memorized schematics - and the assistance of his long-time associate, Li Ka-Shing of Cheung Kong Enterprises - Morita clawed his way back up the corporate ladder in Guangdong in the 1950's, selling high-quality audio-visual electronics in Guangdong and the Republic of China. With Sony's accession into the Four Companies in 1960, Morita became the lone voice of reform, fighting to make his adopted home of Guangdong both an economic powerhouse and a better place for the Zhujin community he has come to represent.\\\
A long decade in the shadow of the Japanese has convinced Morita and Li that for Guangdong to survive, it must become more than just a playground for the corporations - but a place that its people can call a home. Few of Guangdong's Japanese establishment think he will succeed - but even fewer expected Morita to come back swinging from his fall from grace, let alone speak out against them. He will not stop now.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Matsuzawa cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Even as one of the heads of the Four Companies, Morita Akio and Sony had always been an outsider - comfortably outvoted by Yasuda, Matsushita, and Fujitsu combined. Yet, as Yasuda careens towards its dissolution and Chief Executive Suzuki abandons his post, Morita is one of three men standing between Guangdong and total chaos. It stood to reason that along with his new responsibilities, he would receive a title befitting his position.\\\
Morita knows full well there are ways to signal displeasure even amongst insiders: the External Secretary is a glorified PR position at the best of times, and an easy target for criticism in times of crisis. But even his small seat at the table gives him access to the Chief Executive - one who eyes the naked maneuvering of Matsushita and Ibuka as warily as Morita does. As for Morita - he is both the man with a plan, and a man who can be trusted, and he will not let this crisis go to waste.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]For Morita Akio, being kept in the position of External Secretary under Chief Executive Matsushita is a consolation prize - an example of how he failed to seize his moment. With the Corporate faction once again outnumbering his and Li Ka-shing's State faction in the Legislative Council, Morita knows that once again, he is condemned to serve in the role of the eternal opposition.\\\
It could be worse - he could have been shut out of the Chief Executive's cabinet, as was the case before Yasuda's fall. Morita wouldn't have been kept on without his being of some use - no doubt to serve as a counterweight to Ibuka Masaru of Fujitsu. So be it! Morita knows better than anyone how all-encompassing Ibuka's ambition is - and Matsushita will soon find that Morita is a far better confidante than Ibuka could ever be.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Success)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]More than an engineer or an executive, Morita Akio is a survivor - one who holds the fate of millions in his hands.\\\
Nearly a decade after becoming Chief Executive, Guangdong has been recast into something close to what Morita has wanted for nearly half of his life, ever since he washed ashore in Honkon in 1952: a second home. With hard work and with trusted allies - foremost amongst them Li Ka-shing - at his side, he has built a life in a Guangdong that has transformed itself in his image: no longer Japanese or Chinese, but somewhere in between.\\\
Luck, he admits, may have had some role to play in his - and Sony's - fairytale success. He knows that he will need far more of it to survive the decade to come.\\\
As China and Japan stare each other down, pacing around each other like boxers in a cage, Guangdong stands on the precipice of extinction. Much as it flirted with destruction in the Riots, it now faces the prospect of being trampled by the two goliaths of Asia in a historical reckoning, long overdue.\\\
But Morita has no interest in becoming collateral damage. His home - his Guangdong, and the millions who will soon find themselves in the eye of the storm - must survive, at any cost.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Failure)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]When faced with his first brush with death in 1952, Morita Akio chose flight. Now, months after the threat of Sony's financial dissolution, he chooses to fight.\\\
Even a decade after becoming Chief Executive - working alongside Li Ka-shing to build a second home that has gradually transformed itself in his image - he finds he is no safer in Guangdong than he was in Japan, all those years ago. The only surety of his existence in the twilight chasm between Japan and China is that he is forever vulnerable - if not to the whims of the two goliaths of Asia, then to the predations of Ibuka Masaru.\\\
And while there is relatively little he can do to steer China and Japan away from conflict, Ibuka presents a far less intractable problem.\\\
Where Morita had once worked almost exclusively from the Kōshu government complex, he now increasingly decamps to Sony's Honkon offices, allowing Li to face the passions of his people head-on. Every waking moment is spent rebuilding Sony from the ground up - and preparing it for an inevitable war with Fujitsu.\\\
Their third showdown will be their last - and Morita will have the last laugh over Ibuka Masaru, no matter what the cost.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Independent Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Good for Matsushita, Morita Akio thinks, without really meaning it.\\\
A decade of effort was spent convincing Matsushita and his predecessors to not be satisfied with just building a corporatocratic empire and instead take actual, substantial steps to help the people of this artificial state—all wasted, for nothing. Mere ashes. At least Morita has tried, though it is cold comfort to say so.\\\
Then again, maybe Morita can't really judge Matsushita for that. No rational person would just give up power even if doing so harmonised with the morals one claimed to adhere to. Morita Akio would like to hope he is better than that. But he feels he is really just the same.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Sony Puppeted Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Finally! An opportune time has come for Morita Akio, whose decades-long work to convince the rulers of Guangdong to adopt a more just, responsible way of governing has at last reached fruition. That old conservative curmudgeon, Matsushita, has done the only reasonable thing he could do in the face of the Riots and handed over power to those most capable of preventing them from ever taking place again. With this leeway, Morita will move to do more to help the people than Matsushita has ever done.\\\
But the External Secretary suspects that it may well be too late already. Tensions are rising north of the border—as well they would, after all this time. But at least Morita can try to do what he can to make sure things don't get much worse. And at least Ibuka, that bastard, hasn't gotten his way this time around[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Fujitsu Puppeted Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]"What the hell is Matsushita doing?" are the words that issue forth from Morita Akio's mouth semi-regularly these days.\\\
That makes all the more sense when one realises that it's because Morita's decades-long rival Ibuka Masaru has been handed the reins of Guangdong after Matsushita's failure. It irritates Morita so much. After all these years how the hell has Matsushita managed to not just double down on being a corporate brute but doing it the way Ibuka out of all people would?\\\
All this is proof positive that Morita has had a terrible failure—that of not realising that people like Matsushita are closer to Ibuka than they ever will be to him. The more one trusts amorphous protoplasms like Matsushita, the more isolated Morita will be—but if corporate obstinacy destroys Guangdong in the end, then Matsushita and his clique have only themselves to blame.[[/labelnote]]
----
* AllohistoricalAllusion:
** Morita calls his policy of enshiring minor concessions to the workers of Guangdong into law "Capitalism with a Human Face"; a reference to Alexander Dubček, the Communist Chairman of Czechoslovakia in 1968-69, who attempted to institute several limited liberal reforms of the Czechoslovakian communist government under the slogan "Socialism with a Human Face".
** Morita's reforms are a parallel to the politics and reforms implemented by British Hong Kong in the 1970s-80s, as well as sharing the socio-economic problems that still affect the region to this day.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Having rebuilt his corporate prestige in Guangdong, Morita is the strongest voice in the Legislative Council for better treatment of the Chinese and Zhujin, believing that he should repay the support they gave him years ago.
* BeingGoodSucks: Morita's crackdown on corruption will eventually put him in the unenviable position of having to try to pass worker-friendly legislation through a legislative body entirely staffed by representatives of companies profiting from abusing said workers ''without'' being able to bribe them into going along with his ideas.
* BreadAndCircuses: Morita's main argument for making concessions to the workers of Guangdong, such as a federally enforced minium salary and reduced working hours, is that the previous policy of essentially working them first to the bone and then into their early graves only leads to resentment towards Guangdong as a state, and in the long run will result in a risk of instability and rebellion. His reforms is supposed to show the workers that the state can be reasonable and also work in their interests, thereby fostering loyalilty towards Guangdong as a concept, helping to boost the artificial state's legimitiacy and thereby ensuring its long term survival.
* BreakingPointSwearing: [[spoiler:If the IJA bring Morita to trial after putting down the riots, his statement before the verdict is given is a single "Go fuck yourself," before unleashing a blistering speech condemning them for their actions.]]
* ConsolationPrize: If Matsushita becomes the Chief Executive, he promotes Morita to be his External Secretary, but only as a consolation to him and to serve as a counterbalance to Ibuka. [[spoiler: He can eventually grow powerful enough from this position to make Matsushita into his puppet.]]
* GadgeteerGenius: One of Morita's strengths as an executive is his inventiveness with each product that Sony manufactures, which is especially noticeable when compared to Ibuka, who focuses more on quality control.
* InSpiteOfANail: Even though in TNO's lore, Tokyo Telecommunications, the company that would become Sony in OTL, was acquired by Fujitsu in 1952, Sony still exists in TNO because Morita founded a second company named Sonus-Li Electronics Company in 1954. The developers [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/n6tqi7/second_guangdong_teaser_coming_in_the_shifting/gx9vi0c/ consider]] Morita's use of the "Sony" name to be a mild case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality, to keep the name recognizable even though it is somewhat contrived in-universe, given the poor relations between Japan and US.
* InternalReformist: If he takes power, Morita will begin implementing reforms to reduce the brutal exploitation of the corporations over Guangdong and implement strong anti-corruption measures.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: The closest shade to grey Guangdong is likely to get. While still a megacorporation in a cyberpunk-influenced environment and a willing cog in the Japanese colonial/military machine, Morita's Sony company is touted as the least abusive of the megacorps, reaching out to the local Chinese and mixed people and trying to represent their interests with their legislative puppets. Morita himself has been described as soft-hearted, and his focus tree includes multiple branches for both implementing and institutionalizing anti-corruption policies and trying to buy the workers' loyalty with rights, regulations, and good salaries.
* NotSoStoic: The normally unflappable Morita gives [[spoiler: the IJA a piece of his mind at his trial, unleashing a blistering speech opening with uncharacteristic profanity]].
* PerpetualFrowner: Noted to rarely smile; he's actually the only Guangdong leader to be frowning in all three of his portraits, including his "success" scenario.
* PragmaticVillainy: A light version, since it's both implied and often stated that Akio is just generally kind of a soft-hearted guy (especially compared to his rivals) who would probably want to be less oppressive for its own sake anyway, but his Corporate Paternalism ideology outright says that giving the workers what they want, within a certain amount of reason, is just good business overall, and that a happy, healthy, and well-provided-for workforce is more productive and more loyal than a bunch of desperate, ground-down glorified slaves squeezed and fleeced for all they're worth.
* RagsToRiches: When Tokyo Telecommunications went bankrupt, Morita was left on the streets of Guangdong as a homeless wreck, seemingly never to return to prominence again. However, he miraculously bounced back after partnering with Li Ka-shing, creating the massive Sony corporation out of Li's single factory.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Morita is stark rivals with his former partner, Ibuka Masaru. If Morita takes leadership of Guangdong, he'll draw stern condemnation and opposition from Ibuka.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Matsushita Masaharu]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/matsushita_masaharu.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Independent Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_matsushita_masaharu_70s_independent.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Puppeted Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_matsushita_masaharu_70s_puppet.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' Financial Secretary[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Suzuki cabinet), Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Matsuzawa and Ibuka cabinet), External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Morita and Komai cabinet), Head of State (Matsuzawa succession)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporatocracy[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]To many, Matsushita Masaharu has lived a charmed life, an anointed heir to one of Japan's most prominent electronics firms. Born to the peerage and an elite graduate of Tokyo Imperial University, Masaharu gave up his career as a financier in Sumitomo Bank to marry the daughter of Matsushita Electric's founder - Matsushita Konosuke, a living legend for his rise from elementary school dropout to one of Japan's few non-Zaibatsu corporate titans.\\\
While Matsushita Sr. leads the company from Osaka, Masaharu has been its operational head since 1960, overseeing its expansion into China from his offices in Kōshu. As the son of the founder, serving as both corporate executive and government administrator, it would seem that Masaharu had no reason to fear for his future. But his close acquaintances knew otherwise.\\\
Neither an engineer by training nor a salesman by habit, Matsushita Masaharu is keenly aware of his outsider status within both Matsushita and Guangdong. With every passing year, the two Matsushitas grow apart, with Masaharu wondering when he would ever be entrusted with the reins - if at all - while navigating a political tightrope in the Legislative Council. Now, as Guangdong's Chief Executive, he has the opportunity to show his detractors - his tycoon colleagues and his own adoptive father amongst them - that he is everything he promised he would be, building a literal empire for Matsushita in the Pearl River Delta.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Financial Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Matsushita Masaharu is the heir apparent to Matsushita Electric, invited by the esteemed Matsushita Konosuke to be his successor - and yet the two could hardly be more different. Where Konosuke is one of Japan's vanishingly rare self-made men, an elementary school dropout who cut his teeth selling electrical fans door-to-door in Osaka, Masaharu was born to the peerage, a graduate of Tokyo Imperial University and elite financier who took on the Matsushita name upon marrying into the family in 1940.\\\
Worldly, urbane, and refined, Matsushita took to his duties at Matsushita Electric with a grace and sophistication not out of place in Tokyo' s boardrooms - and befitting his role as Guangdong's Financial Secretary. But where most see a worthy heir to the Matsushita empire, the two Matsushitas are rumored to have grown apart - the elder increasingly critical of his heir's abilities, and the younger seeking to prove his twenty-year apprenticeship was not in vain.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Matsuzawa cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]The delicate politics of the Legislative Council and the Four Companies requires an exceptional skill at negotiating, and Matsushita is nothing if not a master of the art. When Matsushita, Ibuka, and Morita maneuvered their powerless colleague, Matsuzawa, into 'stepping in' as interim Chief Executive, it was abundantly clear that power would be principally in the hands of the three remaining tycoons.\\\
Yet the management of power between multiple people is a tricky thing: Morita and Ibuka were already well known for their frequent and heated disagreements, and favoring either of them above the other could easily upend the delicate balance of power - and give Matsuzawa more power than he really ought to have. For the sake of peace between the Companies, Matsushita was the natural choice to serve as the Chief Secretary of Guangdong, a crucial - and not entirely unbiased - interlocutor between the Chief Executive and his peers.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Matsushita is well aware of the value of keeping one's cards close to one's chest, for there is no benefit to the naked pursuit of power if one ends up empty-handed. As Morita maneuvered himself into pole position against Ibuka in the race to lead Guangdong in the aftermath of Yasuda's collapse, Matsushita ordered his men in the Legislative Council to throw their weight behind Morita's ascension - and was duly rewarded with the post of External Secretary.\\\
There is no real closeness between Matsushita and Chief Executive Morita. Both men see each other as means to an end - an olive branch to the corporate loyalists in the Legislative Council for Morita, and as a guarantor of Matsushita's continued relevance for Matsushita. Power rewards winners, but it also rewards survivors - and as the Corporate faction's man on the inside, Matsushita has all the power he needs.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]The Corporate faction in the Legislative Council is ascendant, and Matsushita Masaharu helps lead the charge as the second-in-command in Ibuka's Guangdong. A distant second-in-command, as it were: a visionary as driven as Ibuka is loath to surrender control of his project even temporarily, and Matsushita finds himself operating almost purely in an administrative role, managing the minutiae of power in Ibuka's name.\\\
If Matsushita is unhappy with this arrangement, he scarcely shows it. Ibuka's radical ideas have fostered incredible opposition in the Legislative Council, and Matsushita is not so wedded to Ibuka's vision to tie himself to the mast. Matsushita will grow so long as the Corporate faction remains in power - and for Matsushita, that is an acceptable, if suboptimal, outcome...[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Komai cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]First as tragedy, then as farce: Matsushita Masaharu finds himself as Guangdong's External Secretary once more, under the employ of Chief Executive Komai. Theoretically powerful, in practice, Masaharu knows well what his place in the government is: he is to be a toothless spokesman, his words dictated by bureaucrats in Hsinking. Bodyguards and minders follow and trace every movement he takes, document everything he says, 'kindly provided' by Komai for 'his own safety'.\\\
What safety? Himself?\\\
Komai must think so; and for the sake of his own life, Masaharu must agree as well. So long as he remains in this position, he has no choice to obey. For if he attempts to break free from Komai's grasp, he will be free to spend the rest of his life in Hell.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Independent)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Matsushita Masaharu has never considered himself anything more than 'down-to-earth', never one to harbor some grandiose, visionary plan belonging to the likes of Morita or Ibuka. Nevertheless, almost paradoxically, what Matsushita has actually achieved may well be called the realization of a vision in its own right, even if it was not what he had been intending. An entire state operating as a corporate entity - except, of course, with laborers and managers all in the millions. And part of a greater corporate empire, no less.\\\
Millions of investors, engineers, and politicians from the Sphere, perhaps even far beyond, now look to Matsushita Electric for what it has to say and what new gadgets it has to offer. Masaharu looks back on it all, and knows that he hasn't simply made Matsushita Kōnosuke proud with what he's built; in a way, he has entrenched corporate politics on the global stage like never before. That's an achievement that, certainly, he can live with while standing tall.\\\
Even as the Chinese turn their eyes towards Guangdong, he can finally say that it has earned its right to live proudly; and that he has earned the very same.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Puppet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]For all the pluckiness and ambition he brought with him when he first stepped foot onto the soil of Guangdong, Matsushita Masaharu has been forced to realize in full the grueling realities of corporate politics. Worse still, this realization came in the most painful way for him imaginable: through his own vacillation, dithering, and feebleness. One crisis after another, over and over again, and in the end he gave everything that he'd built away to the backstabbing voices he trusted in far too much.\\\
All the nation building he did, all the promises he made to Matsushita Kōnosuke, and all of it in the end was work done for the sake of other companies, in the end handing out the bright future he had wanted for Matsushita to those taking advantage of him. Part of him supposes he deserved it - if this is what happens to a businessman who can't see beyond profit, maybe it's better after all to hand over the helm to those who can.\\\
When China comes for Guangdong, demanding its return in full to being Chinese land, it will not be Masaharu's problem. He's no better than some middle manager anyways, with only a family name to his credit, a family that in truth is not and never has been his.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Successful Morita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Morita and Li have outflanked Matsushita Masaharu politically, but the External Secretary is nowhere near done for. There are still countless opportunities to profit, and to ensure Matsushita's survival while other, less prudent companies fall by the wayside in the new order the State Faction has created.\\\
Ibuka may gripe endlessly about sentimentality, but those are the cries of a man that knows he has been outmaneuvered beyond recovery. Matsushita, on the other hand, will avoid Ibuka's reticence—he can be as 'receptive' as ever, 'cooperating' and striking back whenever needed.\\\
It is at times like these that Matsushita Masaharu is thankful for his lack of some pointlessly grand vision like Ibuka's. Let other fools go on and on about the changes they will make; the head of Matsushita Electric is content if he and his company are able to survive and thrive.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Failure Morita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]What is it they say? "Now is the opportune time"?\\\
Whatever the wording is, there can be no question that now is an opportune time for Matsushita Masaharu. Everything seems normal on the surface, but Matsushita knows all too well that amidst the chaos of the Oil Crisis the Morita Administration has managed to partially cripple itself internally. If this is not an opportune time, what is? Matsushita knows he can swoop in to make Morita and/or Li more dependent on him to continue to succeed. Hell, he can even market himself as the new benefactor of Guangdong to peers and investors alike while he's at it.\\\
Had Ibuka had more sense than to go drooling after 'perfection' and his hatred of Morita Akio, he'd have loved to have this opportunity. But as it stands Ibuka too must stand on the sidelines and watch his rival and said rival's friend slowly join him there, as Matsushita Masaharu slowly walks into the spotlight at long last.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Persistent Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]It would be a lie to say that Matsushita Masaharu is a brave man; he is afraid of many things, large and small. In ordinary times, his greatest fear would be failure, specifically when it comes to his failure to build a corporate empire for Matsushita as a whole in Guangdong. This has already come to pass, and yet it cannot rightly be called his greatest fear.\\\
No, Ibuka has taught Matsushita that there are realities that he should be more afraid of than his own failures. Specifically, it is the lengths to which Ibuka is willing to go, and the lengths to which he is willing to force everybody else to go to, so that he might realize his vision that Matsushita is afraid of. Ibuka has made more than clear his willingness to bury, literally as well as metaphorically, anybody who contradicts this grand vision, and Matsushita now lives in fear that Ibuka will never quite feel as though he's accomplished what he's set out to achieve.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Reconciliatory Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]For once in a long while, Matsushita Masaharu can breathe a great big sigh of relief and truly get back to work building the strongest and most profitable business that he can. Some part of him is glad that Ibuka has softened and begun to listen to others again, not only for the business opportunities it provides him but genuinely, personally glad. It's a strange feeling, Matsushita must admit, but deep down he does quite like this new, genuinely kind Ibuka even if he doesn't fully understand the drastic change in his behavior.\\\
Ultimately, compromise and cooperation have always been Matsushita's strong points, so strange sense of relief or no, he supposes he has no reason to complain.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Manchurian Komai cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]How the mighty have fallen. Or rather, how they continue to fall. Matsushita Masaharu stand alone in a field of ashes and broken dreams - his ambition to built Matsushita Electric into a titan of its own consumed in the fire of Komai's machine. Now, he can only sit and watch as the niche he carved for himself is slowly repossessed for the benefit of Manchuria.\\\
Indeed, it seems as if the situation can do nothing but continue to deteriorate for Matsushita. However, if nothing else, he can take cold comfort in the knowledge that Komai has built himself a fragile throne. Manchuria will only ever be an empire for someone other than himself, and much of the same can be said for Guangdong. No matter how much thuggery he deploys, Matsushita knows that Komai will never truly be the victor.\\\
And this pleases him greatly.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Personalist Komai cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]How the mighty have fallen. Or rather, how they continue to fall. Matsushita Masaharu stand alone in a field of ashes and broken dreams - his ambition to built Matsushita Electric into a titan of its own consumed in the fire of Komai's machine. Now, he can only sit and watch as the niche he carved for himself is slowly repossessed for the benefit of Manchuria.\\\
Indeed, it seems as if the situation can do nothing but continue to deteriorate for Matsushita. For every yen made by his own company, it seems Komai grows more and more powerful. Perhaps, as every day goes by and his own personal power shrinks, his anger will give way to what truly lies beneath.\\\
Fear.[[/labelnote]]
----
* BlackSheep: Masaharu has always been the unfavorite of the Matsushita family. When Masaharu reports the progress he's made as Chief Executive, Konosuke's response is a weary sigh and a dismissive comment that he'll probably fail to expand Matsushita's empire into mainland China.
* ColorMotif: White, representing Matsushita's focus on household electronics and their clean, mechanical nature. Matsushita Electric's logo is colored white and most of his focus icons are various shades of whites and grays.
* CuttingCorners: One of the projects he pursues is to fund public housing and the newly constructed apartments have a pleasant exterior, but a decrepit interior that wasn't shown in the schematics. The costs of the plan were simply too much and the construction team decided to start taking shortcuts, with Matsushita himself not really caring because it will be cheap.
* TheDragon: If Ibuka leads Guangdong, Matsushita becomes appointed his Chief Secretary and his second-in-command.
* EnemyMine:
** Part of why he's such an efficient businessman is because he's good at building coalitions among the Japanese elite, compromising and appealing to their interests to earn their cooperation.
** Sharing a common enmity towards Yasuda and Sony, Matsushita allied himself with Ibuka to temporarily cooperate until their rivals are dealt with.
** Matsushita hires the Triads to go after the Yakuza, despite the animosity the two sides share.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As much of a ruthless and callous businessman as he is, [[spoiler: Masaharu is noted to genuinely like and be happy for Ibuka if he goes through a personal transformation into a better person on Ibuka's [[TheAtoner Reconciliation route]], and to be genuinely afraid of what his boss has become and is becoming on Ibuka's [[ThenLetMeBeEvil Persistence route]].]]
* HiddenDepths: Privately, Masaharu is afraid of failure, wanting to prove himself to be as proficient as his foster father and make his family name proud.
* LackOfEmpathy: He is apathetic to the abuses and horrid living conditions that the citizens of Guangdong have to endure and dismisses any concerns over helping them, at one point sarcastically asking if Morita wants to build a sanctuary for endangered Chinese puppies.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Matsushita fits many of the typical qualities of a Japanese corporate suit. He's cunning, ruthless, greedy, and indifferent to the suffering of Guangdong's denizens. However, all of these same characteristics are matched by Ibuka and Komai, while the former combines them with a merciless social Darwinist mindset and the latter wants to apply Manchuria's particularly brutal labor system to Guangdong. [[spoiler: He is also genuinely happy for and likes the new Ibuka on Ibuka's Reconciliation route, in contrast to Komai who [[VirtueIsWeakness immediately begins plotting to usurp him]].]]
* {{Nepotism}}: On his own, Masaharu would be considered a talented businessman, but his marriage to the daughter of Matsushita Konosuke elevated him to national prominence. Though his experience can arguably make his rise to power justified, Masaharu is secretly insecure about being placed on a pedestal and intends to prove his worth by turning Guangdong into an industrial powerhouse.
* OpportunisticBastard: Matsushita Electric is one of Japan's largest electronics manufacturers and is only interested in one thing: profit. While Matsushita is not as light-handed as Morita or bullheaded as Ibuka, he is both reliable and adaptable enough to Guangdong's changing atmosphere to continue exploiting the populace for his company's benefit.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Matsushita is one of the most Japanese ethnocentric leaders in Guangdong, alongside Suzuki.
* PragmaticVillainy:
** Matsushita's Guangdong permits some level of social mobility for its Chinese citizens, but not much more than that and not enough to ever challenge the Japanese corporations. In one of his events, a Chinese supervisor recognizes the insincerity, but doesn't openly complain because he's content to have better working conditions.
** Matsushita can heed Morita's suggestion of a tax on corporations that exceed pollution limits, but largely because it can provide extra government revenue.
* PuppetKing: Masaharu can eventually [[spoiler: lose control to either Ibuka or Morita, becoming little better than their puppet]]; avoiding this turn of events is how he gets his best personal ending by remaining independent.
* SignificantWardrobeShift: [[spoiler: In both of his puppeted paths, Matsushita's portrait shows him changed into a brown suit, contrasting with the black suits Morita and Ibuka wear. In the business world, brown is traditionally seen as a weaker and less desirable colour than black.]]
* RepressiveButEfficient: Masaharu isn't different from the usual, exploitative Japanese executive, but his skillful business acumen presents him as one of the more stable leaders to take over Guangdong.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Masaharu is motivated to prove himself a worthy heir to his more famous father-in-law, Matsushita Konosuke. Unfortunately, Konosuke rarely ever shows an ounce of pride in him and expresses a lot of doubt about his corporate leadership, something that also happened in OTL.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ibuka Masaru]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ibuka_masaru2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Persistence Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_ibuka_masaru_70s_persistence.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Reconciliation Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_ibuka_masaru_70s_reconciliation.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Suzuki cabinet), Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Matsushita cabinet), Financial Secretary[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Matsuzawa cabinet), Head of State (Matsuzawa succession)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]], Rippoukai - Chuou Iinkai [[note]]The Central Committee is Ibuka Masaru's latest experiment, and arguably his finest yet. Composed of only the most exceptional representatives in the Legislative Council, these individuals have proven themselves diligent, impervious, and unwaveringly loyal to Guangdong and Guangdong alone. They, and nobody else, are the ones to be entrusted with Guangdong's future - for what can you expect from people you don't know exactly what they're up to?\n\nCorporate sycophants can decry it all they want as some "regression" to the days of Suzuki and his overbearing control over Guangdong's political life, and we say all the better. This is what they deserve.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporatocracy[[note]]Despotism[[/note]], Corporate Statism[[note]]Fascism[[/note]] (Persistance Path)
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Few can compare with Ibuka Masaru's talent and relentless drive for excellence; even fewer can compare to his boundless ambition and political and business acumen. A relentless advance up the corporate ladder, endless lobbying, politicking, and economic maneuvering has made Ibuka few friends and many enemies.\\\
From ostracizing Tokyo Telecoms co-founder and his one-time friend Morita Akio to merging with and consolidating his control over Fujitsu Electric, Ibuka's relentless ambition would see Fujitsu expand its operations to the Pearl River. An expansion that would see Ibuka clash with Morita's Sony in a legendary legal battle over control of Guangdong's radio market.\\\
Those days, however, are in the past. Following the collapse of Suzuki's government in the Yasuda crash, Ibuka once more maneuvered Fujitsu into a position of dominance. Now, as Guangdong's undisputed master, Ibuka Masaru finally has the freedom necessary to finally bring about his vision for a new, transistorized, digitized world.\\\
No longer restrained by the whims of his fellow executives or beholden to shareholders in Tokyo, Ibuka alone can see the future, and Ibuka alone can bring about the new tomorrow. With Guangdong as his canvas, his only limit is ambition, and Ibuka has no intention of coming up short.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Ibuka Masaru is known for two things - his towering command of electrical engineering, and his many, many 'opinions'. The former has served him well as the President of Fujitsu, the electronics subsidiary of the Furukawa zaibatsu, while the latter makes him an outspoken defender of the Four Companies' interests in Tokyo - and Nanjing, when he can be bothered to leave his workstation to venture into China.\\\
Apart from his professional history, Ibuka is well-known for his longstanding feud with Morita Akio of Sony, after the two parted ways acrimoniously in 1952 following the acquisition of their joint venture, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, by the Furukawa group. In the years since, Ibuka has tirelessly sought to realize his vision of a transistorized future, rising through the ranks at Fujitsu and aggressively expanding its presence in Guangdong - no matter what Morita or anyone else thinks.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Financial Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]At first glance, the lateral movement of Ibuka Masaru from the External Affairs to the Financial Affairs portfolio is an unquestionable snub - the most outspoken opposition to the former Chief Executive, being forced to share power with his rivals. Yet Ibuka himself appears content with his position - in public. The new interim Chief Executive will be capably advised, he says, by the remaining tycoons in a strictly professional and meritocratic manner. There can be no playing favorites in the wake of Yasuda's collapse.\\\
Of course, his insistence on 'meritocracy' has long been understood as a favorite phrase of his, with only Ibuka himself up to the task of saving Guangdong. Even if Matsushita maintains the appearance of neutrality, and Morita tries to make himself heard, Ibuka controls the pursestrings - and the numbers never lie. Tough times will require tough choices, and only one man can make them: Ibuka.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]As Guangdong's Chief Secretary, Ibuka's appointment to the second-highest position in the civil government should represent a triumph - the reassertion of the Corporate faction's authority in the Legislative Council, with Matsushita at its head and with Ibuka by his side, and Hitachi's Komai waiting in the wings.\\\
While the dominance of the Corporate faction is a welcome development, only a fool would think Ibuka is satisfied by this arrangement. Despite having the Chief Executive's position slip through his fingertips, Ibuka has not abandoned his desire to see Guangdong become the vanguard of the silicon revolution to the world. To the extent by which he can bring said revolution about through the ear of Chief Executive Matsushita, he will do so - for although he has no love for menial minds in positions of power, he concedes that they do have their uses...[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Persistence)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Deep down, Ibuka never quite left being a child. All those years that certain tinge of naïveté had coated his spectacles, through which alone he was able to see, and then make sense of, himself and the world around him. Only a child refuses to believe in lost causes. Only a child refuses to apply "normal physical and mental faculty" and "imbecility" to the same individual. Only a child gives his unconditional love to all those people, and wants anything more than putting each and every one of them six feet under.\\\
Sure, he might've had his precious vision torn apart by the Riots and then reality shoved in his face - a reality infested with ingrates, dimwits, and asinine geopolitical tussles. He might've had the chance to mature and move on. The epiphany that eventually came to him, however, is of another kind entirely: if all this travesty, all this... depravity, is what it takes for someone to grow up, then he would rather not. He would rather be the child that always looks ahead. Japan, China, they're all free to drown in their own excrement. It's not his problem.\\\
In a better time he would've been world-renowned as the brightest innovator of them all, showering in the spotlight and the wholehearted, unalloyed adoration of the planet; in another life, perhaps, Akio would've shared the glory by his side. The three-year-old child, however, paints over it all with abandon and a million drops of blood and tears - and upon the pure, pristine, reborn annals of Guangdong, blow by blow, joyously carves out the word that Ibuka Masaru shall be remembered by for the rest of his life:\\\
SINNER[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Reconciliation)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]What, then, has Chief Executive Ibuka Masaru's vision of Guangdong amounted to in the end?\\\
What was this last decade but a quixotic crusade to prove himself infallible? To promulgate — with the same ruthlessness as the Inquisition and the Imperial cult — a dogma that everyone was 'supposed' to fight tooth and nail for excellence, forgetting bonds of blood and friendship, all in accordance with the diktats charted out in the top floor of Fujitsu?\\\
Ibuka knows now - always has known, in fact - that what he proposed was no truth at all. There exists no such thing as 'objective' truth when it comes to personal relationships, let alone nation-building. The only reason Ibuka decided that he had to pull such a truth out of his ear then force it down everyone else's throats was so that he, with all his groundless, senseless self-assurance, could make it true. \\\
So that he could lie to his conscience and feel better about it.\\\
It was all thanks to the Providential way in which the Oil Crisis and Riots played out that Ibuka Masaru has snapped out of this decades-long trance. The scales are stricken perforce from his eyes, and Ibuka now knows for certain that there are more ways than his own to success, let alone to perfection. And when, as Heaven has predestined, China returns for its stolen Pearls, those days will also bring the final judgment for Ibuka Masaru — whether he deserves to carry on, or be stopped forever in his tracks.\\\
And the Chief Executive, weary and contrite, would take all that he could get.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Independent Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]There is no feeling stronger in the mind of Ibuka Masaru than that of stiflement and futility.\\\
Matsushita Masaharu has somehow, despite being the most unimaginative, innovation-scorning man in Guangdong, attained total control over its future. Worse yet for Ibuka personally, his ideals are being cherry-picked by the Chief Executive left and right to suit his own, 'survival-centric', uncreative ideas.\\\
Wonderful, isn't it, to have slaved away for twenty years and to have nothing to show for it but a credential proving that he's playing second-fiddle for a future that isn't his own. How much longer, Ibuka Masaru asks himself, will he have to keep drinking from this bitter cup?[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Fujitsu Puppeted Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Finally! An opportune time has come for Ibuka Masaru, who finally feels the beginnings of success in his decades-long work to unlock Guangdong's true potential. That old survivalist curmudgeon Matsushita has finally stopped stifling Guangdong's actual potential and left proper leadership (read: Ibuka) the leeway to do all that needs to be done.\\\
Of course, Ibuka cannot help but feel some doubt. It may well be too late, what with how the Chinese are getting uppity north of the border. But it matters not—if things go sideways it's a simple enough matter to blame Ibuka's jackass of a boss for holding on to power too long for his own damn good.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Sony Puppeted Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]"What the hell is Matsushita doing?" are the words that issue forth from Ibuka Masaru's mouth semi-regularly these days.\\\
That makes all the more sense when one realises that it's because Ibuka's decades-long rival Morita Akio has been handed the reins of Guangdong after Matsushita's failure. It irritates Ibuka so much. After all these years how the hell has Matsushita managed to not just double down on being a weak-minded little coward, but doing it the way Morita out of all people would?\\\
If Matsushita really isn't brain-damaged and actually does find Morita's "model" more appealing then sure, Ibuka can still act; he'll move to sabotage it where he can. But if bleeding hearts end up being the end of Guangdong, then Matsushita and his lot have only themselves to blame.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheAce: His rise and leadership of Fujitsu has been nothing short of exceptional, as his proficient leadership allowed the corporation to become one of the largest in the Sphere.
* AllohistoricalAllusion: One of Ibuka's focuses is entitled ''Kindergarten is Too Late'', which is the name of a book he wrote in our world arguing that the most important human learning takes place in infancy.
* ArchEnemy: Ibuka is not a nice guy to begin with, but he has a special hatred for Morita, owing to their complicated past.
* TheAtoner: During his Reconciliation route, [[spoiler: Ibuka realizes during the Oil Crisis just how horrible and abusive his system really is and tries to make up for it, while aware he probably can't and that Guangdong won't survive him trying.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:The Guangdong Riots cause Ibuka to be snapped out of his childish vision as he watches his uncompromisingly dogmatic vision be torn asunder by those he looked down upon, which in his Persistence path, causes him to realise he is not infailible and leads him to abandon his social Darwinism for a kinder approach to governance.]]
* ColorMotif: Blue. Fujitsu Limited's logo is colored blue and almost all of his focuses are that hue, symbolizing Ibuka's specialty in computer technology and his laser-focused devotion to advancing Guangdong for the modern age.
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: The developers have described Ibuka's Guangdong as a corrupted version of Silicon Valley, turning the province into a center for high technology, but also subjecting its countless residents to hellish working abuses and poverty.
* TheDictatorship: In Ibuka's Persistence path, [[spoiler:he passes the Guangdong Future Act, which forcibly subordinates all [=LegCo=] representatives to Fujitsu and puts them under Ibuka's thumb, turning an already undemocratic system into one where Ibuka has full control and is answerable to no one else in Guangdong.]]
* DragonWithAnAgenda: If Matsushita takes over Guangdong, he makes Ibuka his Chief Secretary and the second-most powerful man in the country. However, Ibuka's ambition isn't sated by this and still has ambitions to transform Guangdong to his vision.
* EmperorScientist: Ibuka's dream is for a Guangdong meritocracy that grants limitless opportunity for the educated intellectuals to explore sciences and engineering.
* EnemyMine:
** Ibuka has formed a fragile alliance with Matsushita, combining their efforts to challenge the Yasuda and Sony companies.
** After Yasuda's collapse leaves a vacancy in the Legislative Council, Ibuka calls upon Komai and the Hitachi corporation to take their place, hoping to leverage them and boost his own influence, despite otherwise disliking them.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Perhaps the major positive quality to Ibuka's ruthless vision is that he is genuinely meritocratic, believing that intelligence and ability should matter more than heritage or ancestry. While the common Chinese workers who don't have the opportunities in life to get proper education and training are screwed even worse than usual, Ibuka extends lots of opportunities to the Zhujin population they didn't have before. His plans clean out lots of incompetent and corrupt Japanese who only got their jobs because of their race or family connections, opening up room for sufficiently-capable Chinese to step in alongside Japanese applicants in the process. That said, this is heavily downplayed in practice since, for the most part, those with more money and opportunity have better access to the kinds of education and preparation to ''achieve'' high intelligence and ability, and therefore are largely from the Japanese ruling classes.
* EtTuBrute: Morita and Ibuka used to work together under the Tokyo Telecommunications, but when Fujitsu began to buy their company out, Ibuka merged the company and joined Fujitsu so as to not lose his wealth, abandoning and betraying his friend to business desolation.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Despite having abandoned her to focus on Fujitsu, Ibuka still cares deeply about his daughter, Taeko, and regrets having left her without a father. [[spoiler:Notably, if the Riots intensify to the point the IJA need to get involved, Ibuka's main concern is that his daughter is able to get out of Japan.]]
* EvilReactionary: Ibuka opposes Suzuki's attempted reforms to benefit the common workers in Guangdong and, if he takes power, he'll begin rolling back his country's welfare laws.
* HeelFaithTurn: The language used during his [[spoiler: Reconciliation ending suggests that his personal moral awakening was accompanied by a spiritual awakening, and that his plans to try to make things better have a strong spiritual dimension. Notably, his Persistence ending's bio describes him as embracing his role as a sinner rather than change.]]
* IgnoredEpiphany: [[spoiler:In his Persistence path, Ibuka realises his dogmatic vision for the world is unrealistic and childish, but instead chooses to double down on it, preferring to drown Guangdong in blood and tears than to abandon his crusade for an unattainable dream.]]
* JoinOrDie: Fujitsu is a conglomerate that has integrated numerous smaller companies that were pushed against a wall by their business and pressured to join as a means of surviving in any capacity. Those who refused simply shut down and became history.
* LackOfEmpathy: Out of the executives, Ibuka is probably the most indifferent to the common citizens' suffering, believing that people come second to machines and that there is little room for empathy in a world of science.
* MenDontCry: As he's giving his celebratory speech to becoming Chief Executive in the "Possibilities, Infinite" event, Ibuka feels tears welling up in his eyes, prideful of how far he's come. However, Ibuka represses this sign of emotion before anyone can notice. [[spoiler:{{Subverted}} if the Riots get out of control, which leads Ibuka to cry into his arms alone in his office as he regrets the cruelty he inflicted on the people of Guangdong and having severed all meaningful human connections.]]
* MightMakesRight:
** His crusade to modernize Guangdong will inevitably subject the people to even worse working conditions for the sake of a little more productivity and condemn thousands to a life of suffering if they can't keep up. Unfortunately, Ibuka doesn't care at all, deeming them a weakness on the country that deserve to be left behind. One of his focuses is even titled "Survival of the Fittest".
** Not even the children are spared from this mindset. From the event "A Bridge Too Far", the teacher reflects on Ibuka's enforced curriculum in the school system, which puts the students through rigorous problems so that only the brightest and most determined among them can truly thrive in Guangdong; everyone else will simply be discarded and left with few fortunate prospects for the rest of their lives.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In his Reconciliation route, [[spoiler: Ibuka has a personal crisis over his ruthlessly Darwinian worldview, and tries, whether or not it is too little, too late, to make up for what he realizes were decades of crimes against his fellow man.]]
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler:When the Guangdong Riots first start, Ibuka is physically unable to admit any fault when Morita pleads with him to do so for his role in causing the chaos through both his actions as Chief Executive and for originally inviting the Manchurians to Guangdong, instead claiming that he built Guangdong up from nothing and that everyone else is at fault.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: It's implied that Ibuka's Reconciliation ending will not ultimately be a happy one, [[spoiler: between Komai licking his chops at the thought of usurping Ibuka now that his resolve is wavering and the people unlikely to care much for his personal transformation after nearly a decade of abusive meritocracy. Ibuka isn't ignorant of this either, but he resolves to forge head and try to make things better anyway, confident that even if he loses everything else, he has at least kept his soul and can strive for personal redemption. His ending slide outright says that Guangdong will probably fade away, but that perhaps it is better this way.]]
* ObliviouslyEvil: Ibuka is a mental Darwinist who sees nothing wrong about instituting a ruthless meritocracy over Guangdong, viewing it as the natural way of life. [[spoiler: Ultimately abandoned in both his endings; he will ultimately come to see the error of his ways and either [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone recoil from them]] or [[ThenLetMeBeEvil double down]].]]
* ThePerfectionist: Ibuka is obsessed with his vision of perfection and seeks to impose this vision onto Guangdong as a meritocratic engineer's paradise, one that eliminates human error, where mediocrity is punished and scorned while perfection is rewarded.
* PragmaticVillainy: As he tells Morita in "Scouring the Streets", he will never appease the Triads or their gambling businesses, considering them "wasteful pursuits" that stand in the way of his technocratic vision. He also institutes ruthless civil service programs to crack down on cronyism, incompetence, and corruption at the government level, since these things impede his vision.
* PredatoryBusiness: Through a combination of mass production, low pricing, and large advertising campaigns, Ibuka can monopolize any sector of the economy with his fancy inventions and drive out smaller business owners who can't compete with him. In the event "The Clock Ticks Onward", an owner of a clock business is forced out of a job because his business is overwhelmed by the introduction of Fujitsu's digital clocks.
* PsychopathicManchild: In many ways, Ibuka's view of the world is a simple and childish one, where things are sorted into broad, primary-colored categories and thought of no more. [[spoiler: His Persistence ending is described in his bio as realizing that his uncompromising view of the world is childish and stubbornly and spitefully [[IgnoredEpiphany refusing to grow up if it means learning to compromise]].]]
* RepressionNeverEndsWell: [[spoiler:It is made clear that Ibuka pushing away his positive human connections with Morita and his own family have only caused him pain and misery, with him opening up to the guilt in his Reconcilliation path being portrayed as a positive, and him doubling down on it in his Persistence path being shown negatively as it leads him to become an emotionally detatched dictator who rejects any chance at redemption.]]
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Ibuka in OTL was a co-founder of Sony and served as the president of Sony from 1950 to 1971; in TNO, the OTL predecessor of Sony, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, was acquired by Fujitsu and Furukawa zaibatsu in 1952, and Ibuka joined Fujitsu and eventually became its president. The Sony in TNO was separately founded by Morita Akio in 1954 as his second commercial venture, rather than a renamed Tokyo Telecommunications.
* SinisterSurveillance: Ibuka makes sure to have cameras and audio recording equipment in every possible area he could think of as part of his security measures up to and including monitoring private offices to stamp out corruption.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Ibuka is not happy to be working with Komai and only brings him into his cabinet so that he can sideline Morita, whom he hates even more.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: As [[spoiler: he drowns Guangdong in blood to quell the riots of the Oil Crisis on his Persistence route]], Ibuka realizes that his personal vision is fundamentally unrealistic and inhuman and will require a huge human cost, but chooses to forge ahead with it anyway rather than compromise on it.
* TrainingFromHell: Under Ibuka, recruitment in the Guangdong Special Security Action Detachment is savage, with the "Raid Response" event mentioning the harsh courses that recruits must endure and how only a few are capable enough to pass.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** In an event, Ibuka briefly loses his cool when he's informed of a failed trial with Tankou Semiconductor's latest silicon refining technique, insulting the project team for their failure. After blurting out two sentences of his rant, Ibuka recognizes his poor choice of words and recomposes himself to be more professional.
** During the Oil Crisis, [[spoiler: Ibuka can realize just how flawed his worldview really is and, after a personal crisis, embrace more-humanitarian options for dealing with the riots.]]
* VirtueIsWeakness: He disregards all sentiments of "welfare" and "tolerance" as a hinderance that has no place in Guangdong.
* VisionaryVillain: By far the most ambitious of the executives, Ibuka envisions a future where Guangdong becomes a renowned power on the world stage and runs on pure effciency to maximize its productivity.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Once former partners, Ibuka has developed a hateful rivalry towards Morita, as Ibuka's Fujitsu and Morita's Sony are bitter competitors in the telecommunications and computing business.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Komai Kenichirō]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/komai_kenichiro.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Manchurian Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_komai_kenichiro_70s_manchurian.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Personalist Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_komai_kenichiro_70s_personalist_7.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Ibuka cabinet), Head of State (Hitachi Coup)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Manshuha [[note]]The Empire of Manchuria has developed its own brand of capitalism, alien to its comparators in Tokyo and Guangdong. One corporation dominates economic life, an inescapable colossus: the Manchurian Industrial Development Company (Mangyō, MIDC) and its many subsidiaries. Decades of forced industrialization under Japanese supremacism have made Mangyō - and its electronics subsidiary, Nissan's Hitachi - notorious for its callous disregard for life and morality, even as it advances the states' ends with a ruthless efficiency. And some in Hsinking wonder: instead of serving the state in Manchuria, could they instead export their Manchurian System to Guangdong?[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Reform Bureaucracy[[note]]Fascism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A new authority stands ascendant and triumphant upon the tumultuous stage of Guangdong, a towering figure now eclipses the Pearl River Delta in somber darkness, its penumbra extending far and wide. A goliath has stepped onto Guangdong's shores, a man who embodies the ruthless efficiency of the industries of Manchukuo, whose vision for the state is one of steel and sweat, one where the backbreaking toil of the workers allows for productivity to soar to heights never before seen. The iron cavalier of Hitachi - Komai Kenichiro.\\\
On the exterior, Komai is a man who commands respect; urbane, polite, and charismatic. However, his pleasant character is merely a veil for the plans and thoughts he harbors within his mind, his conceptions of grandeur and prosperity which can only be attained through the bluntest and most unforgiving of actions. With him now sitting atop the ivory tower, holding the position of Chief Executive, the bustling streets of the Three Pearls have been silenced, the gates to the underground societies have been shut, Guangdong has entered into a new era, one of order, security, and efficacy.\\\
With the merciless truncheon of the Kenpeitai at his side and the supervision of his Manchurian benefactors above him, Komai will transform Guangdong into a symbol of industrial success, by any means necessary.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography (External Secretary)''' [[labelnote: Click to Show]]Plenty question why Hitachi's Komai Kenichiro, only recently invited into the Legislative Council, was selected to be the external face of Ibuka's regime. Komai was already seen as an outsider, seen as an agent of Manchuria's state-dominated economy in the freewheeling corporate ecosystem of Guangdong. Would being forced to defend Guangdong to outsiders separate Komai from his masters in Hsinking?\\\
The truth is that Ibuka doesn't trust Komai one bit - but he would rather keep any potential assets close at hand. It would certainly be better than bringing his nemesis, Morita Akio, into Guangdong's government once again - and Komai's emphasis on efficiency and profit is a thought process Ibuka understands, even if it comes with a particularly Manchurian brand of brutality.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Manchurian)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]There are times when Komai Kenichiro can only laugh faintly at how ordinary his life must be, at least in comparison to his former competitors in the form of Morita, Ibuka, and Matsushita. All he really did was graduate from Tokyo Imperial, start working for Hitachi Limited in 1925, and work hard to advance through its ranks ever since. All those years, and here he still is, forever a corporate suit with little to no real agency. Some might point to all Komai has achieved for Pan-Asianism, but always he dismisses this disinterestedly. Everybody does Pan-Asianism these days, there's nothing special about him promoting it as well. Nothing special about him at all, save only for his title of President of Hitachi Limited, a throne made of paper.\\\
Yes, he can relish in these ephemeral piles of gold all he want; yes, he can call himself Caesar as many times as need be. But every Caesar has his Augustus, seated far and high away in Rome, holding the true reins of the empire they share regardless of the illusion of autonomy. No matter how many dissenters Komai locks away, no matter how much wealth he sits upon, something will always be missing. Something that isn't just another directive from Hsinking.\\\
As China prepares for war, and forever after until the day he dies, Komai will always remain the man from Manchuria, the junior emperor of an empire not his own. Nothing more.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Personalist)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]In the end, Komai Kenichiro can't help but to look back at the whole of his life in awe at how ordinary it must be, at least in comparison to his former competitors in the form of Morita, Ibuka, and Matsushita. All he really did was graduate from Tokyo Imperial, start working for Hitachi Limited in 1925, and work hard to advance through its ranks ever since. Nevertheless, here he is now, having brought Hitachi as well as Guangdong as a whole to new heights both financially and technologically while eliminating all forms of dissent and real competition. All this is beyond the wildest dreams of his so-called 'superiors' back in Manchuria, perhaps beyond even his own just 10 years ago.\\\
All this, for his one simple goal: to be absolute lord of his own future atop a throne of his own making. Komai is Caesar, looking down upon his Rome, ruling 'in the name of' whoever the current Augustus far away up north might be. All the feigned subservience and platitudes of loyalty end there; the true Komai, Chief Executive of Guangdong, emblazons himself with the same power and relish as Julius Caesar, the very man for whom the title Caesar was named.\\\
Perhaps, when the dust has settled and the vying, frothing vagabonds and miscreants north the border have been dispatched, the path will have been paved for another Komai down the line. And another, and another, for as long as time shall bear witness.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Persistent Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]It should come as no surprise to anyone that, having promised to keep Komai Kenichiro in line back in 1964 when he invited him to take part in government, Ibuka has proceeded to do exactly that all these years later. Much as Komai thought he might be able to take advantage of Ibuka by enabling his worst excesses in hopes that it would bring his plans to a halt, this idea ended up backfiring as Ibuka became the sort of monster with a list of people he feels have wronged him - with Komai's name one among many on it.\\\
With Fujitsu dominating Guangdong, Hitachi is seeing less and less business these days, a minor player in a market owned by Fujitsu. Really, Komai supposes he should have seen this all coming.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Reconciliatory Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]All along, Komai Kenichiro had seen this coming: that Ibuka would fail to meet the needs of his great selfish vision. As the fulfillment of this prediction presents Hitachi with a great business opportunity, so Komai will not allow it to go to waste. He will do whatever it takes to put Ibuka's newfound softheartedness to use and pay him back for daring to think Komai could possibly be 'kept in line.'\\\
Then, when Ibuka is inevitably defeated by the political turbulence created by his change of heart, Komai will laugh in Ibuka's face and tell him that, really, he had it coming.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheConsigliere: Komai's company Hitachi is the subsidiary of the Manchurian based megacorp Nissan, with Hitachi serving as it's tendril to subjugate Guangdong to Manchuria's will.
* TheCorruptor: Komai's stock in trade is feeding people's worst impulses to manipulate them into doing his bidding. He's positively gleeful when Americans, in the event trade embargoes are lifted via detente with Japan, betray their principles and buy his cheap and high-quality products built with human misery and slave-labor. And his plot to take power from Ibuka involves feeding and enabling Ibuka's worst impulses.
* TheCoup: Komai seizes power through a staged coup that throws Guangdong into chaos, forcing the current Chief Executive to sign his resignation and hand the reigns over to Komai and Hitachi.
* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler:If the Guangdong Riots grow too severe for the Chief Executive to control them, Komai will elect to hide away in a underground panic room, whimpering in fear as it is breached by those seeking his head.]]
* TheDreaded: Komai is the chief executive officer of Hitachi Limited, a subsidiary under the Manchurian Industrial Development Company and a prime example of the worst excesses of Japanese capitalism in the aforementioned country. For this reason, there is a general level of fear surrounding Komai and what he might do to expand his influence into Guangdong, yet no one can kick him out because he's being supported by powerful allies in Manchuria.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Komai might be the most ruthless man in all of Guangdong, planning to turn the country into an industrialized hellhole akin to Manchuria and forging a new era of "order, security, and efficacy", no matter how many lives are lost.
* EvilColonialist: Komai believes that the unimpeded slavery and economic control in Manchuria is a model for all of the Sphere to follow, criticizing the executives in Guangdong for not going far enough in his eyes.
* FalseFlagOperation: Should Hitachi's influence grow too powerful, Komai will enlist the aid of the Imperial Japanese Army to launch a false flag attack on Guangdong to force a situation that leads to the current Chief Executive resigning and him taking charge instead.
* EnemyMine: He can be summoned to the Legislative Council in a cautious alliance with Ibuka, as both hope to use the other to advance their own agendas.
* FauxAffablyEvil: On the outside Komai feigns a refined and courteous to a fault persona, which belie his calculating malice underneath. This is in contrast to his corporate companions from Manchuria; whilst they are described by the businessmen of Guangdong as "stone-faced," Komai is described as "quite the affable character."
* GoneHorriblyRight:
** In Ibuka's Persistence ending, [[spoiler:his plan to take power in Guangdong through encouraging Ibuka's worst excesses backfires, as Ibuka embraces his role as a bloody-handed dictator over a viciously pan-optic corporate state and begins assembling "lists" of everyone he feels has personally wronged him and taking revenge, including Komai himself.]]
** Komai is encouraged via gameplay mechanics to cozy up to the Kempeitai and make use of the control they offer to improve his support at the expense of rampant corruption. [[spoiler: But Komai is not immune to their displeasure; he can be as much a victim of Nagano Shigeto being put in control during the Oil Crisis as any other Guangdong leader and he will be no less screwed in that scenario.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Fittingly for the Chief Executive that is the most brutal to the Chinese population living in Guangdong, should the riots escalate to the point where the IJA takeover, he is the only Chief Executive killed before he can be put on trial, killed by the same Chinese he treated like cattle.]]
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Komai seizes control of Guangdong after a series of bomb attacks are launched throughout the nation, forcing the current Chief Executive to resign so that he and the Kenpeitai can take matters in their own hands to combat these terrorists. Unbeknownst to the public, Komai was the one who orchestrated the whole incident to eliminate his rival and seize power for his own selfish gain.
* PerpetualSmiler: Komai is grinning smugly in all three of his portraits; just about the only situations in which his good cheer fades is [[spoiler: an Ibuka Persistence ending or an IJA takeover; in both scenarios he's just as screwed as everyone else.]]
* PlausibleDeniability: As Hitachi's influence builds, Komai calls upon more support to be flown in from Manchuria, creating a congestion at Kōshu Airport and canceling all other flights. It's very suspicious, but Hitachi maintains a level of deniability by claiming that these flights are "emergency landings".
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Besides being a morally bankrupt executive, Komai is racist towards the Japanese living in southern China, deeming them "uncultured brutes" and "savages" who are too soft to follow the brutal, economic model in Manchuria.
* ThePuppetCutsHisStrings: Initially Komai just acts as a executor of the rulers of Manchuria's will - to subjugate Guangdong to their economic model and whims - [[spoiler: should he brave the Oil Crisis and labor riots without over-relying on Manchurian support however, he will be able to cut his strings and become the uncontested dictator of Guangdong answering to no one]].
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: In his first event, Komai recruits several Legislative Council members through bribes, giving him the momentum needed to take over Guangdong for himself.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Komai builds influence through the use of misinformation, having the news media play up Sony, Matsushita, and Fujitsu stumbling in the stock market, while simultaneously praising the "Manchurian quality" of his products.
* VirtueIsWeakness: He sees Ibuka's [[spoiler: change of heart if the latter goes down his Reconciliation path during the Oil Crisis]] as a weakness he can exploit to destroy and usurp the chief executive.
* WeSellEverything: Komai's megacorp Hitachi is renowned for the vast number of different electronics it sells, far surpassing the other megacorps of Guangdong.
[[/folder]]
!! Cabinet Members
[[folder:Miyazaki Kiyotaka]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_miyazaki_kiyotaka.png]]
->'''Role:''' Head of Guangdong Kenpeitai[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Suzuki and Matsuzawa cabinet), Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Komai cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Statism[[note]]Fascism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Suzuki cabinet) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]One would be mistaken to see Colonel Miyazaki Kiyotaka as another enforcer of Japan's will in Guangdong, or a relic of Japan's past triumphs. Unlike the new IJA recruits rotated into the Three Pearls - or the ancient general officers sent out to pasture - Colonel Miyazaki is a twenty-year veteran of the China Campaign still in his prime. Starting as a non-commissioned Kenpeitai officer during WWII, Miyazaki has spent nearly all of his career on the Chinese mainland, hunting KMT remnants and dissidents in Manchukuo, the Republic of China, and now in Guangdong.\\\
To the Chinese residents of Guangdong, he is an implacable predator, coming after those who test the patience of the police and the Japanese once too often. To the Japanese, he is a tireless defender of law and order, a swift and final arbiter for any problem too intractable to buy off. All know that Colonel Miyazaki is a dangerous man - a man with power, and almost limitless authority along with it.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Suzuki cabinet) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Every would-be strongman needs an enforcer - the man with the means and the temperament to do the dirty work, to crack skulls and purge miscreants. Colonel Miyazaki is well-versed in the means, and his reputation for brutality precedes him. Having been relegated to the sidelines under the previous Chief Executive and their attempt to build a local security apparatus, Miyazaki's appointment as Chief Secretary under Komai speaks to the iron fist hiding just beneath Komai's polished exterior.\\\
Miyazaki watched, first with apprehension and then with frustration, as the Kenpeitai were called into service again and again on the bidding of corporate masters - who didn't have the stomach to do what had to be done. But Chief Executive Komai understands Miyazaki's methods and their necessity - and in turn, the IJA colonel has sworn loyalty to Hitachi and its Manchurian backers.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheDreaded: Miyazaki is feared by the Chinese residents of Guangdong as a hunter who tracks down those deemed to troublesome to the current status quo of Suzuki's regime.
* GeneralRipper: Miyazaki is well-known for his brutality and he ends up becoming disillusioned with the the megacorporations, barring Hitachi, because they aren't ruthless enough in crushing internal enemies.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: Despite being Suzuki's subordinate, Miyazaki wields near limitless authority with his position, which makes him one of the Chief Executive's most dangerous enforcers.
* TheSpymaster: Miyazaki started his career as a non-commissioned Kenpeitai officer and has spent most of his life hunting down dissidents throughout China. Guangdong is his latest camping ground.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Miyazaki's ruthlessness is admired by the Japanese, who view him as a stalwart defender of the law.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Li Ka-shing]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unknown_952.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_li_ka_shing_70s.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Failure)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_li_ka_shing_70s_failure.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Morita cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Paternalism[[note]]Paternalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A man of humble origins and means, Li Ka-Shing cuts an unlikely presence as Guangdong's only major tycoon of purely Chinese origins. Few would have guessed that the elementary school dropout and struggling factory owner would become the representative of the Chinese side of Guangdong's Zhujin community - and neither would have Li, were it not for a chance meeting with Morita Akio in 1952 that changed his life forever.\\\
As the head of Cheung Kong Holdings - a sprawling local conglomerate with its fingers in retail, distribution, light manufacturing, and real estate - Li's commercial success has been intimately tied to Morita's rise in Guangdong. From business partners in the 1950's to their eventual formal alliance as Li diversified into new industries, it is an open secret in Guangdong that the two are political allies, with Li keeping tabs on the pulse of the Chinese and Zhujin population while Morita pitches their reform program to the Japanese expatriate community.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Success)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Against all hope, this outcome was what Li Ka-shing had dared to hope for. He has done it. The people of Guangdong, of the Three Pearls and beyond, have been brought up from their former squalor to a new era of prosperity; even better is that within that prosperity has come an opportunity: for riches untold to his name.\\\
Morita Akio's second-in-command has gone through many trials and tribulations. But he knows that his biggest trial is yet to come, and he is resolved: he will not let it undo whatever he has achieved thus far. He will not let himself be returned to the destitution of his plastic factory days.\\\
Never again.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Failure)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Li Ka-shing asks himself: was any of this worth it? Was it all a mistake?\\\
Sure, he's made any amount of money, presided over a sea change in the way Guangdong is run. Sure, neither Suzuki Teiichi nor Sun Yat-sen would recognise Guangzhou as he and Morita have made it, here at the end of the New Order. But compared to the hateful faces of his people and the loss of the lives and happiness of his loved ones, are such massive changes, the sign of an alleged 'great leader', truly worth it?\\\
Well, it does not matter. It is the decision Li Ka-shing has made. Making money is all that he has left. He might as well go full-time on it. There's nothing else he can do—unless he wants to waste one second more on his thoughts and succumb to the pain swirling unceasingly in the back of his mind.[[/labelnote]]
----
* AllohistoricalAllusion: [[spoiler:In a Sony playthrough that sides with Li over Morita on policy, Li's wife and son are kidnapped by dissidents in the events preceding the riots, mirroring the kidnapping of his son, Victor, in 1996 by a Hong Kong gangster.]]
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Li left Sony and founded the Cheung Kong corporation to provide and sell needed goods to the Chinese people languishing in Guangdong. For Li, his mission is to do both good and good business.
* InternalReformist: Already personal friends with Morita, Li wholeheartedly supports his crusade to curb the influence of the corporations and improve the living conditions of the Chinese people.
* NumberTwo: Li is Morita's closest confidant, having helped him recover from the loss of Tokyo Telecommunications and building the new Sony conglomerate together.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Stanley Ho]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_stanley_ho.png]]
->'''Role:''' Financial Secretary[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Morita cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Paternalism[[note]]Paternalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]] Stanley Ho is a 'legitimate trader' of prodigious talent and of murky origins, a long acquaintance of Morita Akio and Li Ka-shing, and the darling of Guangdong society - to the extent that a part-Chinese, part-European man can climb in a world dominated by the Japanese. Born to Dutch Jewish and Chinese parents and initially destined for a bright future in British Hong Kong, Stanley was driven to Macau during WWII, and rebuilt his wealth by working - and then running - export-import businesses of luxuries (both legal and illegal) to Mainland China.\\\
At first glance, a man of Stanley's background would be wholly unwelcome in the Co-Prosperity Sphere. And yet, the Japanese find themselves strangely open to his charms - whether it be by his cosmopolitan wit, his access to fine luxuries, his peerless manners on the dance floors of Makao, or the encouragement of some of his less legitimate 'partners' in the Triads.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheCharmer: Ho is noted by many to be exceptionally charismatic, being able to even charm the Japanese such as Suzuki, despite Ho being part-Chinese and part-European.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:If the IJA take over Guangdong, despite facing a firing squad, Ho refuses to wear a blindfold before telling his executioners that they better not miss.]]
* KangarooCourt: [[spoiler:Unlike most of the Guangdong government, Ho is not even given the courtesy of a proper trial should the IJA seize control, instead being read his charges by a group of soldiers and quickly put in front of a firing squad.]]
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: Ho is the main representative for the Triads residing in Guangdong.
* VenturousSmuggler: Ho makes most of his money by exporting and importing both legal and illegal luxuries to Mainland China.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ōmori Kan]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_omori_kan_plowix.png]]
->'''Role:''' Guangdong Police Force Commissioner[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Morita cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Paternalism[[note]]Paternalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]As Chief Executive Morita seeks to revamp the division of labor between the Guangdong Police Force and the Kenpeitai, it has become abundantly clear that new leadership is required at the top. Ōmori Kan - a senior Home Ministry bureaucrat with abundant experience in both police and military liaison positions in Japan - has been handpicked to lead a complete restructuring of the Guangdong Police after a lengthy selection process led by the Chief Executive himself.\\\
The appointment of an outsider without extensive pre-existing ties in Guangdong has raised eyebrows in the Legislative Council and in Kenpeitai command, wary that the police will develop an autonomous streak. They are right to worry - and they will soon learn that Ōmori is not a man that can be bought easily, and a man to be ignored at their own peril.[[/labelnote]]
----
* InternalReformist: Ōmori is personally tasked by Morita to completely reorganize the Guangdong Police, specifically with regards to its relationship with the Kenpeitai.
* LedByTheOutsider: More than a few people are befuddled to see Ōmori lead the Guangdong Police, since he has few pre-existing ties to the nation.
* TheUnfettered: Ōmori is a man full of ambition and drive, which worries many that he'll make the Guangdong police ''too'' autonomous.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tsuchida Kuniyasu]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsuchida_kuniyasu.png]]
->'''Role:''' Guangdong Police Force Commissioner[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Matsushita cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Colonial Government[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Tsuchida Kuniyasu, the new Commissioner of the Guangdong Police, has his work cut out for him. The Police are chronically underfunded, understaffed, and deeply corrupt - a state of decrepitude tacitly acknowledged under previous Chief Executives, who preferred to turn to the Kenpeitai as their instruments of blunt power.\\\
Now, as the Chief Executive reasserts their authority in Guangdong, they turn to Commissioner Tsuchida to get the ball rolling. A competent enforcer and administrator in his own right, Tsuchida brings familiarity with both Guangdong's way of doing business and the key figures of the Corporate elite - a man who can be trusted to clean up the police and to do things their way, without being beholden to the IJA or the Kenpeitai. Guangdong shall be brought to order under law and copyright, and Tsuchida is intimately familiar with both.[[/labelnote]]
----
* InternalReformist: Matsushita assigns Tsuchida to reform the deeply underfunded and corrupt Guangdong Police, relying on him to get it into shape without being restrained by the IJA or the Kenpeitai.
* RepressiveButEfficient: If Tsuchida's reformation of the Guangdong Police comes to fruition, it would turn into an effective security force that will bring order to Guangdong through law and copyright, all to secure Matsushita's regime.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Yokoi Hideki]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_yokoi_hideki_plowix.png]]
->'''Role:''' Financial Secretary[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Matsushita, Ibuka and Komai cabinets)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporatocracy[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]] Rugged industrialist. Vulture capitalist. Underhanded entrepreneur. Yokoi Hideki's reputation is as large as the portfolio of business interests he manages across the Sphere - acquired in lockstep with Japan's expansion across Asia. Building a fortune selling uniforms to the Japanese military during the Second World War, Yokoi leveraged his network of military contacts to purchase 'liberated' European real estate and investment properties in Asia at bargain prices - building a business empire from the loot and plunder of conquest.\\\
Though Yokoi takes great pain to appear respectable, he is often seen by Japan and Guangdong's business elite as unsophisticated new money. Few dare say so to his face, however, lest they end up receiving a visit from Yokoi's 'friends' in the Yakuza - and Yokoi understands that fear works as well as respect in almost every instance.[[/labelnote]]
----
* AllohistoricalAllusion: Yokoi Hideki in OTL was a Japanese venture capitalist who made huge profits in post-war Japan via rabid acquisitions of real estate properties. He got himself involved in numerous controversies in the process,[[note]]Including the Hotel New Japan fire in 1982, which killed 33 and resulted in him being sentenced to jail time for corporate manslaughter[[/note]] and later in his life he shifted his focus to international real estate like European castles and the Empire State Building at one point. In TNO, Yokoi's real estate ventures in Guangdong mirrors his international acquisitions later on in his OTL life.
* ArmsDealer: Yokoi made a fortune selling uniforms during the Second World War.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Yokoi's business empire is built on the loot and plunder from Japan's conquests in World War 2, having bought liberated' European real estate and investment properties in Asia at bargain prices.
* CriminalCravesLegitimacy: Despite his well-known connections to the {{Yakuza}}, Yokoi goes to great pains to make himself appear to be a respectable businessman.
* NouveauRiche: Yokoi is commonly viewed by most of Japan and Guangdong's business elites as unsophisticated new money, although few would dare say this to his face.
* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: Unlike every other major character in Guangdong, the fate of Yokoi is never revealed after the IJA take control of Guangdong during the riots. WordOfGod states that Yokoi manages to get off scot-free due to being Japanese.]]
* {{Yakuza}}: Yokoi is affiliated with the Yakuza and is the person each Chief Executive turns to if they want to make a deal with them.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Takashima Masuo]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_takashima_masuo.png]]
->'''Role:''' External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] ([[spoiler:Nagano cabinet]])
->'''Party:''' [[spoiler:Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]]]
->'''Ideology:''' Colonial Government[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show (Warning: Unmarked Spoilers)]]The right man for the right job; Consul-General Takashima Masuo has found himself at the head of the External Secretariat in the wake of the Imperial Army's intervention. A bureaucrat at heart, and a loyal one at that, he has served valiantly in the various China offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.\\\
In dire times like these, he is perfect for the job.\\\
Anyone can tell that this intervention will be a diplomatic disaster. Those in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be going through a storm of panicked cables. No matter. For decades, the military has remained above the rabble of civilian politics, and it will remain so. No matter what the Prime Minister says, and no matter what China says, the military is supreme.[[/labelnote]]
----
* BeleagueredBureaucrat: Takashima is usually described as being exhausted and weary from his dealings with Japan as the main representative for Tokyo in Guangdong.
* PropagandaMachine: If [[spoiler:the IJA takeover happens, Takashima's role in Guangdong turns into this, serving as a government spokesperson to the general public to "spin the casualty and damage reports into something palatable".]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: While the Tokyo government will offer no respite to Guangdong in the wake of the Yasuda crisis, Takashima will acknowledge the difficult circumstances and give the Chief Executive a reprieve from the pre-crisis GDP goal. Similarly during the Oil Crisis, he waives the pre-crisis GDP goal for Guangdong again in light of the external factors beyond the Chief Executive's control.
[[/folder]]
!! Imperial Japanese Army (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
[[folder:Nagano Shigeto]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shigeto_nagano_hos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: Military Outfit]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shigeto_nagano_general.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' Head of State (IJA takeover)
->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law [[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Ultramilitarism[[note]]Ultranationalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A decade and more passed by in this absurdity of a place, a decade wasted while good Japanese men were slaughtered in pointless fucking wars to satisfy the whims of a lot of money-grubbing traitors. Ten years, ten years frittered away, and for what? So that loyal soldiers of his Majesty the Emperor could be reduced to sapient test rats!\\\
"No more," Nagano Shigeto says.\\\
Tokyo has given its local IJA commander its blessing - as it should have done years ago. Now Nagano Shigeto will bring order to the chaos of the Guangdong riots - just as he helped to do so in China four decades ago. For its countless follies, for the very absurdity of its existence, Guangdong deserves nothing other than to be ended - and Nagano will be the one to bring it about.\\\
Guangdong's innermost apocalypse has been distilled into the force of a single man, who shudders slightly in utter glee at the prospect of putting an end to the corporate experiment that once ruled over the Pearl River Delta. If Guangdong thought it had known war beforehand, it was wrong-\\\
[[gray:-for Nagano Shigeto has no intention of leaving anything in this unnatural hellhole of a state untouched.]][[/labelnote]]
----
* AllohistoricalAllusion: Nagano Shigeto was an IJA and later JGSDF officer who served as the Chief of the Ground Staff from 1978 to 1980, and was a politician after 1980. He was most infamous in OTL for publicly denying Japanese war crimes like the Rape of Nanking immediately after becoming the Minister of Justice in 1994, resulting in his resignation 11 days after his appointment. In TNO, Nagano Shigeto's personal leader trait here is ominously called simply "As Nanjing, So Too Guangdong," a reference to his callous OTL views towards the Rape of Nanking.
* ArmiesAreEvil: Of all the possible outcomes for the Guangdong region, the army taking direct control and rampaging across it in an orgy of RapePillageAndBurn is by far the worst, even compared to the literal slavery of the Manchurian model. Even more than Komai, Nagano is Guangdong's failstate.
* BerserkButton: Nagano is most infuriated by the Product Testing Research Group sending research divisions to fight in proxy conflicts, viewing them as boondoggles that force his men to fight wars with suspect weaponry for profits like mercenaries.
* DownerEnding: Nagano and the IJA taking over is Guangdong's failstate, as it ends with the IJA going on an incredibly violent rampage throughout the region, and completely dissolving Guangdong as a country.
* EvilerThanThou: While almost all of Guangdong's leaders are not very sympathetic, and many of them can drown the corporate state in blood to maintain control and order, Nagano Shigeto will slaughter them all if they can't contain the oil crisis riots, demonstrating just how bad things will be for Guangdong's people when he turns his weapons on them next.
* AFatherToHisMen: Perhaps his only sympathetic trait is his care for his men, despising the fact that they are used by the Product Testing Research Group to fight in proxy conflicts across the world, with equipment that has not been tested before, for profit and to sell weaponry. If the IJA takeover Guangdong, he makes sure to have apology cards sent to the families of the men who died fighting in those conflicts.
* GeneralRipper: Despising the megacorporations for "wasting" Japanese lives as "sapient test rats," Shigeto is described as gleeful in his desire to utterly destroy the "unnatural" state of Guangdong and "restore order" by burning it to the ground.
* ThePurge: Nagano starts as he intends to go on, executing all the corporate chiefs and turning Guangdong into a glorified IJA base to prepare for the coming Great Asian War. His "End Corruption" focus art is literally a severed head.
* WalkingSpoiler: It's impossible to talk about Nagano's role in Guangdong's storyline without talking about its climax, and the worst possible outcome of said climax.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Takeda Goro]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portrait_japan_goro_takeda.png]]
->'''Role:''' Chief of Staff[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Nagano cabinet)
->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law (Nagano cabinet)[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Ultramilitarism[[note]]Ultranationalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Wherever Nagano Shigeto goes, Takeda Goro follows, for he is his executive officer. Pursuant to this, he has moved laterally to become the administrative face for Guangdong. Some, those who are uninformed or are perhaps simply naive, believe that he will moderate the 'worst excesses' of the army.\\\
Oh, they are wrong. In his view, everything the Army does is necessary to bring back stability to Guangdong. Nothing must be barred from happening, so that peace may be restored quickly. That is how it has always been in situations like this, and there is little reason to change such matters.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheDragon: Takeda is fervently loyal to Nagano, being his executive officer. Whatever Nagano wants, Takeda will deliver.
* OnlySaneMan: {{Subverted}}. Many hope that Takeda will moderate the IJA's worst excesses, which is a horrible mischaracterization. Takeda sees Nagano's brutal actions as completely necessary to restore stability back to Guangdong.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Murai Sumio]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_murai_sumio.png]]
->'''Role:''' Chief of Operations[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Nagano cabinet)
->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Ultramilitarism[[note]]Ultranationalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1945, Brigadier General Murai is one of the growing cohort of IJA officers whose primary experience has been in the post-war pacification and occupation missions in the Co-Prosperity Sphere. Having spent much of their career in the armored corps, then-Colonel Murai transitioned to staff duties in 1966 as the logistics chief for the IJA garrison in Guangdong.\\\
Following the chaos of the Guangdong Riots and the IJA's seizure of control, Murai has received a brevet promotion to Brigadier General, to serve as Guangdong's emergency Financial Secretary. The wayward child of the Sphere will return to serve Japan and the Imperial Army - by order and discipline.[[/labelnote]]
----
* EvilColonialist: Most of Murai's experience consists of occupation and pacification missions in the conquered lands of the CPS.
* GeneralRipper: Murai serves as a brevetted Brigadier General with the IJA while putting down the Guangdong riots and is just as vicious as Nagano in his goals to turn Guangdong into a war machine for the coming war against China.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Watanabe Keitaro]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/watanabe_keitaro.png]]
->'''Role:''' Chief of Intelligence[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Nagano cabinet)
->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Ultramilitarism[[note]]Ultranationalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Colonel Watanabe Keitaro has served Japan in close proximity to its enemies - as an intelligence officer. Serving at times as a military attaché in foreign lands, and at other times as a combat intelligence officer managing informants and reconnaissance fighting the Sphere's many insurgencies, Colonel Watanabe was assigned to serve as the chief of intelligence for the IJA garrison in 1961, bringing a fresh pair of eyes to a position only increasing in importance.\\\
Now, with Guangdong in chaos and the IJA asserting its control over the wayward territory, Watanabe has assumed direct control over Guangdong's security apparatus. Where handcuffs and truncheons proved inadequate, the bayonet and the bullet will more than prove their worth.[[/labelnote]]
----
* GeneralRipper: Just like the rest of the IJA under Nagano's command, he is utterly ruthless and eager to use as much unrestrained force as possible to put down the Guangdong riots.
* SociopathicSoldier: When Nagano informs his general that they are allowed to use as much force as they feel is necessary to keep the people of Guangdong in line, all Watanabe can do is grin before remarking he already was doing this.
* TheSpymaster: Watanabe serves as the chief of intelligence for the IJA garrison in Guangdong, with his previous experience including acting as a combat intelligence officer conducting counter insurgency and managing informants in CPS territory.
[[/folder]]
[[foldercontrol]]
!!''State of Guangdong''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_guangdong.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Flag of the Kanton Gunsei Sōkan]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spoiler_ija_holesummm.png[[/labelnote]]]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Flag of the State of %%Liangguang]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tno_state_of_liangguang.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Official Name:''' State of Guangdong, Guangxi Military Administration (China Balkanized), Kanton Gunsei Sōkan[[note]]Guangdong Military Administration[[/note]] ([[spoiler:IJA takeover]])
->'''Ruling Party:''' Kanton Minseifu[[note]]Guangdong Civil Administration[[/note]] [[note]]The Legislative Council is, in theory, an apolitical advisory body appointed by the Chief Executive to advise and legitimize their actions as part of an unified political corpus - the Guangdong Civil Administration. In practice, of course, the capture of the Legislative Council by corporate interests have made political factionalism a fact of life. Those who remain loyal to the appointed Chief Executive Suzuki's vision, to the prerogatives of the state above that of moneyed interests, are seen as the executors of the Civil Administration in the Legislative Council.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Statism[[note]]Fascism[[/note]]
The State of Guangdong is a Japanese colonial state carved out of China after their defeat in World War II. However, the spectacle and shimmering city lights gild an artificial experiment with no national identity to speak of, as their internal politics are dominated by Japanese electronic zaibatsus and only function as a playground for unchecked capitalism. Crime, corruption, and poverty are all common sights, with the native Chinese population bearing the brunt of it, while the middle-class Zhujin want to remain in the Japanese elites' good graces to make their lives more bearable. The people are desperate for any future where they can stand proudly as a nation and, with trouble looming over the Sphere, the zaibatsus are circling the waters, ready to take Suzuki Teiichi's throne and mold Guangdong to their own vision.
----
[[folder:General Tropes]]
* AllohistoricalAllusion: The design of Guangdong seems to be inspired by China's Special Administrative Regions and Special Economic Zones; Guangdong's "[=LegCo=]" and "Chief Executive" are both used in OTL China's [=SARs=], while its status as a hyper-capitalist region focused on economic prosperity above all else mirrors China's [=SEZs=] (of which Guangdong is a part in real life). Japan's plans for Guangdong also mirrors China's plans for the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area megalopolis.
* AlternateCharacterReading: Cities in Guangdong, except Hong Kong and Macau, use the Japanese ''on'yomi'' readings of their Chinese names.
* ArmsDealer: The corporations in Guangdong get into experimenting with new weapons to sell to the rest of the Sphere, contributing to the war effort in conflicts like the Malayan Emergency. In these proxy wars, the more in-game objectives are completed by these experimental units, the more economic benefits the corporations will receive.
* {{Auction}}: Following the Yasuda Crisis, the titular corporation's remaining assets are put up on auction for the other companies to buy out. This allows the other companies to severely weaken a rival and accumulate more support in the Legislative Council.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Many of the "innovations" in military technology that the different companies are conceptualizing fall squarely into this category, such as Sony's "modular" assault rifle made to switch between Japanese and Chinese produced ammo types and Fujitsu's electronic nightvision scope which requires that the user carry around a special 50 kg battery backpack at all times in order to keep it powered.
* ButNotTooForeign: Especially around Kōshū (Guangzhou), Macau and Honkon (Hong Kong), a mixed Zhujin culture has emerged, the result of Japanese influence and settlers displacing the native Chinese. As a result, while the people have little attachment to Guangdong as a political concept, neither are they keen to bow to the will of Nanjing or Tokyo.
* CapitalismIsBad: A major theme in Guangdong's story is the abuses and corruption brought on by uncontrolled Japanese capitalism, as wealthy mega-corporations exploit and prosper off the backs of abused Chinese laborers.
* LesCollaborateurs: Guangdong's administration seeks greater cooperation from the Zhujin, the old business elite that dominated Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta before the war and now compose a middle class that has since adopted the Japanese language. However, most of the Japanese megacorporations aren't keen on giving the Chinese oligarchs and tycoons too ''much'' leeway, though Sony wants to expand legal protections and privileges for them.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: In the event "Picking the Bones Clean", a local cleaner reflects on how many people have committed suicide in Guangdong and his job to remove their corpses. Much to his conflicting feelings, the cleaner has seen so many victims that he's barely affected by them anymore and largely working so he can get a pay check.
* ContemptCrossfire: The Zhujin consist of Chinese people native to Guangdong who makeup the state's educated middle class and often receive more privileges than the average person. This naturally makes them despised by the native Chinese as foreign collaborators, while Japan sees them only as useful proxies to leash Guangdong to the Sphere.
* CorporateConspiracy: Hitachi is shown to resort to intrigue and bribes to grow their influence on the Legislative Council, eventually resulting in a coup that ousts the current Chief Executive in favour of their CEO Komai should the conspiracy go unchecked.
* CorruptPolitician: A historic inclination towards (very) small government, massive volumes of financial transactions, and loose oversight have all created a culture of corruption within Guangdong's government. The temptation to accept 'tea money' is universal and makes the business of government far more difficult to conduct.
* {{Cyberpunk}}: The pervasive corporatocracy, government corruption, and setting in the highly urbanized Pearl River Delta lean into the aesthetic even more so than Novosibirsk.
* DirtyCop: The Guangdong Police Force consists of little more than blue-clad, jack-booted thugs with endless pockets and little oversight.
* EvilVersusEvil: With a few exceptions like Morita, the Japanese conglomerates that dominate Guangdong are all exploitative companies that have oppressed the Chinese to use as cheap labor and are waging corporate wars against each other to beat out the competition.
* FictionalCountry: Even moreso than Manchukuo, Guangdong is a completely artificial state invented by the Japanese to make money, and has no real reason to exist. An important part of Guangdong content is forming the Guangdong national identity, making a state from nothing.
* FiringDay: Reflecting the hyper-competitive environment of an Ibuka-led Guangdong is, a minor business manager lays off multiple workers simultaneously in the "The Manager is King" event, deeming them incompetent for not meeting his absurdly high expectations to "exceed the call of duty".
* ForScience: A somewhat unique part of Guangdong's gameplay is testing out the various "innovations" in military technology conceptualized by the various {{Mega Corp}}s. For this, a special "Research Regiment" is generated, which the player can then take into the various Japanese proxy-conflicts as a "volunteer regiment". But the goal with the Research Regiment isn't to win battles, but rather test out how their [[AwesomeButImpractical new fancy hardware (of often questionable usefulness)]] fare when used in battlefield conditions, so it actually doesn't manner if the regiment performs poorly in combat and end up losing a lot of men in pointless battles; the explict victory condition is getting the testing of the equipment done in and off itself.
* ForWantOfANail: Morita and Ibuka were best friends in real-life, working together to turn Sony into the corporate giant it is today. In this timeline, Ibuka betrayed Morita by signing up with Fujitsu rather than saving Tokyo Telecommunications together. The two have since become bitter enemies.
* ForeignRulingClass: Japanese settlers in Guangdong enjoy preferential treatment while native Chinese are second-class citizens, if they have the fortune of being educated.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Guangdong is the least respected member of the Sphere, as China views it as an illegitimate state occupying their territory and Japan has largely shifted their attention away from what they consider an "unnatural tributary". Even Manchuria looks down on Guangdong and is considered a far more prosperous puppet state to Japan.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration:
** Uniquely, Guangdong has no limits on how much it can spend with its economy because it pretty much serves as a nationwide playground for Japanese corporations to indulge in free-market capitalism and exploitation, so they are given free rein to do whatever they please to maximize their own growth.
** If Morita's Independent Commission against Corruption ordinance is passed, the player will be unable to bribe [=LegCo=] members for votes on further bills.
** [[spoiler:If the IJA intervene against the riots, the player will be locked out of manually selecting focuses. They will automatically complete instead, showing how they have lost control of the situation.]]
* GoingNative: The term ''Zhujin'', normally referring to the educated native Chinese labour aristocracy and petite-bourgeoisie, also encompasses Japanese people who 'go native' and have more roots in Guangdong than they do back home--the most prominent example being Sony CEO Morita Akio.
* HopeSpot: In Matsushita's path, a local tries to revisit his father's closed-down restaurant for nostalgia's sake and the possibility that he can reopen it. Unfortunately, when he gets there, he learns that the restaurant was seized by the government and destroyed into a pile of bricks, devastating the man.
* {{Hypocrite}}: The Guangdong government is free to enforce whatever budget cuts they want on local businesses and factories, but they'll never apply the same policy to themselves. One Zhujin proprietor, who's just lost his factory, loudly lampshades this in one of Matsushita's events.
* IAmWho: Guangdong is undergoing an identity crisis, as they're an artificial, Chinese state created out of Japan's spoils of war, leaving them caught between two national identities, while accepted by neither of their homes countries.
* InterfaceScrew: [[spoiler:Should the IJA intervene to put down the riots, all of Guangdong's [=GUIs=] will be obscured by neon red overlays, symbolizing the IJA taking full control of the state.]]
* ManBehindTheMan: A consortium of Japanese corporations and local business magnates hold immense influence in Guangdong's Legislative Council. That being said, the Kempeitai constantly remind both the citizenry and nominal rulers on who their real masters are.
* MegaCorp: Guangdong's politics are dominated by the financial conglomerate Yasuda and the consumer electronics firms Matsushita, Sony and Fujitsu, who have pervasive control over the "Silicon Delta"'s Legislative Council. Guangdong's mechanics include developing new consumer products to increase a company's market share and political influence as well as keep the state's finances balanced.
* MobWar: The struggles between the Yakuza and Triads, on top of serving as proxies for the Japanese elite and Chinese workers respectively, mirror the strife emerging across Guangdong's society. It also doesn't help that the central government isn't powerful enough to stop them for good.
* MultipleEndings: All four main leaders of Guangdong have at least two endings, one where they achieve their personal goals and another where they fail. [[spoiler: They also share a failstate for if they lose control during the Oil Crisis and the IJA is called in to restore order; a nightmare scenario for all of them ''and'' Guangdong's people compared to the Rape of Nanking. If Komai is the one overthrown by the IJA, the situation is even more unstable, as they crack down even harder given the level of protest against Komai.]]
** Matsushita can either succeed in his goal of gaining his family's respect as an independent businessman [[spoiler: or be reduced to a puppet of either Ibuka or Morita in his cabinet]].
** Morita can either succeed in his plans to reform and legitimize Guangdong or [[spoiler: be forced to turn to authoritarian methods to weather the Oil Crisis, alienating the very Chinese he claims to champion and setting up a showdown with Ibuka over Guangdong's future]].
** Ibuka's journey is the most unusual; [[spoiler: he will have a personal crisis upon realizing the true nature of his meritocratic, Darwinist vision and either recoil from it, going through a personal transformation that will lead him to embrace more humanitarian policies he recognizes may not win him the people's love or the state business success but might save his soul, or double down, becoming a brutal dictator of an Orwellian police state as he ruthlessly begins crushing his enemies to remain in power. Which of these is his ''personal'' better ending is in the eye of the beholder.]]
** Komai can either remain the servant of his Manchurian masters, or [[spoiler: [[ThePuppetCutsHisStrings break free of them]] and become an uncontested dictator with Guangdong as his fiefdom]].
* NeonCity: Befitting its cyberpunk aesthetic, Guangdong's cities are lit by thousands of neon lights.
* OneNationUnderCopyright: Guangdong makes no effort to hide this. The seats of the Guangdong Legislative Council are held by openly and legally ''corporate-appointed'' rather than party representatives.
* PoliceBrutality: The Japanese corporations are allowed to employ "liaison officers" in the Force for security purposes, with varying degrees of brutality depending on who they work for. Of special mention in one of Matsushita's events, Hitachi's men are exceptionally cruel, acting more like soldiers than security officers and happy to employ deadly force.
* PoliceState: The State of Guangdong has a meager native police force, but the Kenpeitai has unrivalled surveillance and control of its people. [[spoiler: Failing to deal with the riots that spring up in the wake of the Oil Crisis makes this even worse, causing the [=IJA=] to impose martial law under an ultramilitarist general and begin razing the Pearl River delta to restore order, also serving as a Japanese spearhead for the coming Great Asian War.]]
* PuppetState: Guangdong is another Japanese puppet state set up in Southern China to maintain their control there.
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: The Triads, who have long ruled the Hong Kong underworld, have unsurprisingly grown in strength since the State of Guangdong was formed, and with it their strength and influence among the Chinese underclass. Growing voices advocate for courting them instead of spending considerable resources curtailing them.
* {{Yakuza}}: Rivals to the Triads, the Yakuza are moving in, bringing drugs and crime with them, as the locals despise their alien customs compared to the Triads, even though they're marginally less autocratic and willing to share wealth with local communities.
* YouAreACreditToYourRace: When a Chinese man is promoted in one of Matsushita's events, his Japanese superiors try to talk to him. However, many of their questions and compliments carry unintentional racist undertones, like whether a certain stereotype is true or telling him that he speaks Japanese well for a Chinese person. It doesn't help either that they barely acknowledge the work he's doing.
[[/folder]]
!! Chief Executives (1962-1964)
[[folder:Suzuki Teiichi]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portrait_guangdong_suzuki_teiichi.png]]
->'''Role:''' Head of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Hardline Kaya cabinet)
->'''Party:''' Kanton Minseifu[[note]]Guangdong Civil Administration[[/note]] [[note]]The Legislative Council is, in theory, an apolitical advisory body appointed by the Chief Executive to advise and legitimize their actions as part of an unified political corpus - the Guangdong Civil Administration. In practice, of course, the capture of the Legislative Council by corporate interests have made political factionalism a fact of life. Those who remain loyal to the appointed Chief Executive Suzuki's vision, to the prerogatives of the state above that of moneyed interests, are seen as the executors of the Civil Administration in the Legislative Council.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Statism[[note]]Fascism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A decorated IJA officer and former head of the Cabinet Planning Board, Suzuki Teiichi was intimately involved in the construction of Japan's wartime economy and the subsequent economic planning for the Japanese New Order in Asia. An esteemed member of the House of Peers since 1943, Prime Minister Ino has named Suzuki the next Chief Executive of the State of Guangdong in order to use his Chinese experience, military connections, and economic expertise to bend Guangdong's corporations to the will of Tokyo.\\\
His hands-on and statist approach to running Guangdong's freewheeling economy rankles the Four Companies of Guangdong, which have become accustomed to running Guangdong with minimal interference. However, the culture of corruption fostered by years of weak oversight from Tokyo - and the backing of Yasuda Bank, per Prime Minister Ino's instructions - is enough for Suzuki to keep the Four Companies in line for now.\\\
Suzuki sees a territory blinded by greed, forgetful of its obligations and unaware of the consequences of its actions. While he has no special affection for the Chinese in Guangdong, he is keenly aware that without the resources from Tokyo to maintain a strong security apparatus (as in Manchukuo), naked repression is not a sustainable solution to Chinese dissident activity. For the good of Japan, Suzuki will lay the foundations of a new, stronger Guangdong - and bring the corporate behemoths and their executives to heel.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Minister of Foreign Affairs) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]To many an outside observer, Suzuki Teiichi's appointment to be Japan's Foreign Minister is a surprising revival to a career thought dead after his dramatic fall from grace amongst Guangdong's capitalist tycoons. But Suzuki always maintained that he was a victim of circumstance, a loyal patriot fulfilling Tokyo's wishes in a hardship posting, simply caught in the blast radius of Yasuda's implosion - and it seems Prime Minister Kaya believes Suzuki's side of the story.\\\
For Suzuki himself, the position to Foreign Minister is not simply redemption, or a simple promotion - it is the pinnacle of his career, a chance to redraw the economic and political map of Asia to his liking. Twenty years ago, he missed his chance to become the first Minister of Greater East Asia, building the Co-Prosperity Sphere under Tōjō; now, he will rebuild it under Kaya.[[/labelnote]]
----
* BaitAndSwitch: After the catastrophic Yasuda Crisis occurs, the game switches over to a focus tree based on allying with either the Chinese, Zhujin, or Japanese, culminating in the passage of the Financial Stabilization Ordinance to halt the impending economic collapse. Unfortunately, all of the corporations and tycoons side against Suzuki and hold a vote of no confidence to have him sacked, switching his focus tree to shoring up as much support as possible to retain his power.
* BullyingADragon: After the Yasuda crisis, Suzuki tries to bully the other corporations into submission so he can keep Guangdong under his control, an astoundingly stupid idea since his main power base in Yasuda has just been crippled. This ends badly when he's ultimately ejected from the Legislative Council.
* CorruptPolitician: Suzuki has kept most his clique loyal to him by donating them sizable "gifts" to buy their allegiance.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Dissatisfied with the criminal elements existing in Guangdong, Suzuki pulls up a previously discarded public review of the panopticon, a philosophical metaphor coined by Michel Foucault to describe how people will naturally abide by the rules of an institution because they have become conditioned to believe they are monitored. However, Suzuki misinterprets it as a model for how to develop an intelligence network so he can root out criminals.
* EnemyMine: To strengthen Guangdong's policing, Suzuki can ally with either the Japanese Yakuza or the Chinese Triads to rein in the criminal underworld.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption:
** No matter how successful his early economic policies are, Suzuki will be snubbed and ignored in the Pan-Asian Economic Conference, as he'll be deemed too unimportant to focus on. This leaves Suzuki frustrated, who vows that Guangdong will eventually outpace Manchuria in economic productivity through sheer ingenuity.
** Suzuki will ultimately be forced to resign from his position after the Yasuda Crisis, since many blame him for the economic downturn and pull their support for him in the Legislative Council. Even if he scrounges up a good majority of seats from the Legislative Council to reject the vote of no confidence, they'll inevitably turn on him and leave him with only twelve seats as support, far less than he needs to retain power.
* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: In an effort to stabilize Japanese rule over Guangdong, Suzuki pushes through token labor rights through the assembly using massive amounts of bribes - draining Guangdong's treasury. Whilst the act passes and marginally placates the Chinese workers, once the Yasuda crisis comes around this lack of funds massively compromise Guangdong's position.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: His more hands-on approach to the economy is an irritant for the Legislative Council and the four corporations, who are more used to running completely unchecked. However, they initially can't do anything against Suzuki because of corruption and Yasuda's support for him.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Suzuki is one of the most Japanese ethnocentric leaders in Guangdong, alongside Matsushita.
* PragmaticVillainy: While he has no special affection for the Chinese, Suzuki is keenly aware that without the resources from Tokyo to maintain a strong security apparatus, naked repression is not a sustainable solution to Chinese dissident activity. He makes the fateful decision to offer token worker rights to offset this issue, burning lots of financial and political capital in the process, which ultimately spells his doom in the wake of the Yasuda crisis.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Even though he was part of the victorious Tōjō cabinet from World War II, Suzuki went largely passed over for opportunities that could grant him greater political power until Ino sent him to govern Guangdong, using flattery to disguise the fact that it was just a means of getting rid of a loose end. Suzuki saw through this, but accepted the opportunity anyway in the hopes of earning favor back in Tokyo.
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Suzuki in OTL was a Japanese lieutenant general who served as a military attaché to China during the interwar period, was a close aide to Hideki Tojo, and served as an economic minister during WWII.[[note]]He was nicknamed the "suit-wearing general" (背広を着た軍人) because he worked more on politics and economics than military affairs, and he did indeed primarily appeared in civilian suits rather than military uniforms.[[/note]] In TNO, he was placed in the position of Chief Executive of the State of Guangdong due to his experience with interacting with the Chinese, military connections, and economic expertise.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Suzuki can eventually wash up ashore in Kaya's cabinet.
* VillainousBreakdown: As the Legislative Council holds a vote of no confidence against Suzuki, he begins to lose his composure and desperately resorts to any means to retain his power.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Once the Yasuda Crisis hits Guangdong, Suzuki's already tarnished reputation goes down the drain and he's forced to resign from his position.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Matsuzawa Takuji]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/matsuzawa_takuji.png]]
->'''Role:''' Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Suzuki cabinet), Head of State (Suzuki succession)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporatocracy[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]'In every crisis, lies great opportunity', so the Western saying goes - unless you're Matsuzawa Takuji, in which case the more apt Eastern aphorism might be 'the carp on the cutting board.' With Yasuda Bank being taken apart by its creditors, the political establishment, and the media in Tokyo, Matsuzawa had his hands full simply putting the company's affairs in order in Guangdong. That is, until the former Chief Executive abandoned ship, with the remaining tycoons pushing the poisoned chalice into Matsuzawa's hands.\\\
With communications from Tokyo all but severed, Matsuzawa has not been formally appointed by the Japanese government to his position. Nor does he have the luxury of waiting: the aftershock of Yasuda's collapse and the political turmoil in Tokyo has left Guangdong's budget deep in the red, scaring investors even as the local populace turn to crime and vice to make up for lost wages. The remaining tycoons jockey for position with honeyed words and convenient 'plans', no doubt aiming to become Chief Executive themselves once the dust clears.\\\
Although Matsuzawa savors the clarity of knowing that his assignment to Guangdong was the work of a corrupt cabal working against him, the fallout from their schemes has led to his entire life's work crumbling to dust around him. There is no coming back from this, no matter how innocent he was; he is a dead man walking, and all he can do is to keep it all together until the curtains close.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary) [[labelnote:Click to Show]] The Representative Director of Yasuda Bank's Guangdong branch since 1959, Matzuawa Takuji runs the financial conglomerate's operations in Guangdong - which are but one part of a sprawling financial network that stretches from Tokyo to Calcutta. Yasuda's prominent position as the only one of the Big Four zaibatsu among the Four Companies means that Matsuzawa also serves as the de facto second-in-command of the civil government, the Chief Secretary, on top of his corporate duties.\\\
After a distinguished career in the Home Islands managing major corporate clients and the Ministry of Finance, Matsuzawa was rumored to be a prime candidate to join the board of directors, making his assignment to Guangdong a surprise - most so to Matsuzawa himself. Yasuda's recent turn towards breakneck overseas expansion (as encouraged by Prime Minister Ino's government) might partially explain things, but many still wonder as to the true reason why Matsuzawa was sidelined - and whether it simply reflects differences over business strategy, or something more.[[/labelnote]]
----
* CorruptPolitician: Matsuzawa's Yasuda conglomerate is one of the Big Four zaibatsus in Japan and the largest of the corporations in Guangdong. As such, Matsuzawa's pockets are deep, allowing him to buy favors in the Legislative Council and accumulate more power for himself.
* KickedUpstairs: In the aftermath of Suzuki's downfall, the position of Chief Executive is thrust upon Matsuzawa by the other three major tycoons, knowing that he would be too busy trying to clean up his predecessor's mess and leaving Yasuda vulnerable to be auctioned off.
* LongGame: Thanks to Yasuda's dominance across the Sphere, Matsuzawa has enough breathing room to lie low and patiently wait for an opportunity to bring Guangdong to Yasuda's fold.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: Or at least he suspects that this may have happened to him. For ambiguous reasons, Yasuda sent Matsuzawa to expand their influence in Guangdong, potentially to remove him as a political rival in the Japanese home isles. Now, Matsuzawa wants to find out why he was unofficially ejected and how he can return back to Tokyo.
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Matsuzawa Takuji was the president of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuji_Bank Fuji Bank]] from 1975-1981, having joined the company when it was still known as the Yasuda Bank, the center of the Yasuda zaibatsu before its dissolution. In TNO, he becomes the representative director of the Guangdong branch of Yasuda Holdings, and can be elected to the position of Chief Executive in Guangdong.
* SacrificialLion: Following the Yasuda Crisis and the collapse of his company, a power vacuum is created in the Legislative Council, leaving it to Cheung Kong or Hitachi to fill in the gap.
* TheScapegoat: After Suzuki gets fired, Matsuzawa is made the new Chief Executive so that he can be scapegoated for every unpopular decision he needs to make to save Guangdong from the Yasuda Crisis, while the other three corporations can fill in the power vacuum.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: He knows full well that he's acting as a caretaker Chief Executive and is doomed to fall after Suzuki's ejection, but he can't do anything but press onward.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Matsuzawa was assigned by the Yasuda corporation to represent their interests in Guangdong, but he considers it nothing more than a banishment. Now, he just wants to somehow find a way back home to Japan.
[[/folder]]
!! Chief Executives (1964-1972)
[[folder:Morita Akio]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morita_akio2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Success)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_morita_akio_70s.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Failure)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_morita_akio_70s_failure_7.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Matsuzawa and Matsushita cabinet), Head of State (Matsuzawa succession)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Minseiha [[note]]Money will never not be a part of Guangdong's politics. But the logic of money is not infallible, argue some, and sometimes the impulse to maximize profit must be balanced against the need to preserve stability. Whether they be more paternalistic corporate men or unreconstituted believers in a civil society backed by more than just greed, these individuals in the Legislative Council back a heterodox theory of economics that balances State interests with corporate prerogatives.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Paternalism[[note]]Paternalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]"The Gadgeteer of Guangdong." "The Man Who Fought the Zaibatsu." "The Japanese Washout." Morita Akio is known by many names, all of which are true to a degree. Despite his prestigious origins - a graduate of Osaka Imperial University and a member of the IJN's Wartime Research Group - Morita washed ashore in Guangdong after a falling-out with his once-friend, Ibuka Masaru, over the acquisition of Tokyo Telecommunications Company in 1952.\\\
With little more than memorized schematics - and the assistance of his long-time associate, Li Ka-Shing of Cheung Kong Enterprises - Morita clawed his way back up the corporate ladder in Guangdong in the 1950's, selling high-quality audio-visual electronics in Guangdong and the Republic of China. With Sony's accession into the Four Companies in 1960, Morita became the lone voice of reform, fighting to make his adopted home of Guangdong both an economic powerhouse and a better place for the Zhujin community he has come to represent.\\\
A long decade in the shadow of the Japanese has convinced Morita and Li that for Guangdong to survive, it must become more than just a playground for the corporations - but a place that its people can call a home. Few of Guangdong's Japanese establishment think he will succeed - but even fewer expected Morita to come back swinging from his fall from grace, let alone speak out against them. He will not stop now.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Matsuzawa cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Even as one of the heads of the Four Companies, Morita Akio and Sony had always been an outsider - comfortably outvoted by Yasuda, Matsushita, and Fujitsu combined. Yet, as Yasuda careens towards its dissolution and Chief Executive Suzuki abandons his post, Morita is one of three men standing between Guangdong and total chaos. It stood to reason that along with his new responsibilities, he would receive a title befitting his position.\\\
Morita knows full well there are ways to signal displeasure even amongst insiders: the External Secretary is a glorified PR position at the best of times, and an easy target for criticism in times of crisis. But even his small seat at the table gives him access to the Chief Executive - one who eyes the naked maneuvering of Matsushita and Ibuka as warily as Morita does. As for Morita - he is both the man with a plan, and a man who can be trusted, and he will not let this crisis go to waste.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]For Morita Akio, being kept in the position of External Secretary under Chief Executive Matsushita is a consolation prize - an example of how he failed to seize his moment. With the Corporate faction once again outnumbering his and Li Ka-shing's State faction in the Legislative Council, Morita knows that once again, he is condemned to serve in the role of the eternal opposition.\\\
It could be worse - he could have been shut out of the Chief Executive's cabinet, as was the case before Yasuda's fall. Morita wouldn't have been kept on without his being of some use - no doubt to serve as a counterweight to Ibuka Masaru of Fujitsu. So be it! Morita knows better than anyone how all-encompassing Ibuka's ambition is - and Matsushita will soon find that Morita is a far better confidante than Ibuka could ever be.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Success)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]More than an engineer or an executive, Morita Akio is a survivor - one who holds the fate of millions in his hands.\\\
Nearly a decade after becoming Chief Executive, Guangdong has been recast into something close to what Morita has wanted for nearly half of his life, ever since he washed ashore in Honkon in 1952: a second home. With hard work and with trusted allies - foremost amongst them Li Ka-shing - at his side, he has built a life in a Guangdong that has transformed itself in his image: no longer Japanese or Chinese, but somewhere in between.\\\
Luck, he admits, may have had some role to play in his - and Sony's - fairytale success. He knows that he will need far more of it to survive the decade to come.\\\
As China and Japan stare each other down, pacing around each other like boxers in a cage, Guangdong stands on the precipice of extinction. Much as it flirted with destruction in the Riots, it now faces the prospect of being trampled by the two goliaths of Asia in a historical reckoning, long overdue.\\\
But Morita has no interest in becoming collateral damage. His home - his Guangdong, and the millions who will soon find themselves in the eye of the storm - must survive, at any cost.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Failure)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]When faced with his first brush with death in 1952, Morita Akio chose flight. Now, months after the threat of Sony's financial dissolution, he chooses to fight.\\\
Even a decade after becoming Chief Executive - working alongside Li Ka-shing to build a second home that has gradually transformed itself in his image - he finds he is no safer in Guangdong than he was in Japan, all those years ago. The only surety of his existence in the twilight chasm between Japan and China is that he is forever vulnerable - if not to the whims of the two goliaths of Asia, then to the predations of Ibuka Masaru.\\\
And while there is relatively little he can do to steer China and Japan away from conflict, Ibuka presents a far less intractable problem.\\\
Where Morita had once worked almost exclusively from the Kōshu government complex, he now increasingly decamps to Sony's Honkon offices, allowing Li to face the passions of his people head-on. Every waking moment is spent rebuilding Sony from the ground up - and preparing it for an inevitable war with Fujitsu.\\\
Their third showdown will be their last - and Morita will have the last laugh over Ibuka Masaru, no matter what the cost.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Independent Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Good for Matsushita, Morita Akio thinks, without really meaning it.\\\
A decade of effort was spent convincing Matsushita and his predecessors to not be satisfied with just building a corporatocratic empire and instead take actual, substantial steps to help the people of this artificial state—all wasted, for nothing. Mere ashes. At least Morita has tried, though it is cold comfort to say so.\\\
Then again, maybe Morita can't really judge Matsushita for that. No rational person would just give up power even if doing so harmonised with the morals one claimed to adhere to. Morita Akio would like to hope he is better than that. But he feels he is really just the same.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Sony Puppeted Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Finally! An opportune time has come for Morita Akio, whose decades-long work to convince the rulers of Guangdong to adopt a more just, responsible way of governing has at last reached fruition. That old conservative curmudgeon, Matsushita, has done the only reasonable thing he could do in the face of the Riots and handed over power to those most capable of preventing them from ever taking place again. With this leeway, Morita will move to do more to help the people than Matsushita has ever done.\\\
But the External Secretary suspects that it may well be too late already. Tensions are rising north of the border—as well they would, after all this time. But at least Morita can try to do what he can to make sure things don't get much worse. And at least Ibuka, that bastard, hasn't gotten his way this time around[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Fujitsu Puppeted Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]"What the hell is Matsushita doing?" are the words that issue forth from Morita Akio's mouth semi-regularly these days.\\\
That makes all the more sense when one realises that it's because Morita's decades-long rival Ibuka Masaru has been handed the reins of Guangdong after Matsushita's failure. It irritates Morita so much. After all these years how the hell has Matsushita managed to not just double down on being a corporate brute but doing it the way Ibuka out of all people would?\\\
All this is proof positive that Morita has had a terrible failure—that of not realising that people like Matsushita are closer to Ibuka than they ever will be to him. The more one trusts amorphous protoplasms like Matsushita, the more isolated Morita will be—but if corporate obstinacy destroys Guangdong in the end, then Matsushita and his clique have only themselves to blame.[[/labelnote]]
----
* AllohistoricalAllusion:
** Morita calls his policy of enshiring minor concessions to the workers of Guangdong into law "Capitalism with a Human Face"; a reference to Alexander Dubček, the Communist Chairman of Czechoslovakia in 1968-69, who attempted to institute several limited liberal reforms of the Czechoslovakian communist government under the slogan "Socialism with a Human Face".
** Morita's reforms are a parallel to the politics and reforms implemented by British Hong Kong in the 1970s-80s, as well as sharing the socio-economic problems that still affect the region to this day.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Having rebuilt his corporate prestige in Guangdong, Morita is the strongest voice in the Legislative Council for better treatment of the Chinese and Zhujin, believing that he should repay the support they gave him years ago.
* BeingGoodSucks: Morita's crackdown on corruption will eventually put him in the unenviable position of having to try to pass worker-friendly legislation through a legislative body entirely staffed by representatives of companies profiting from abusing said workers ''without'' being able to bribe them into going along with his ideas.
* BreadAndCircuses: Morita's main argument for making concessions to the workers of Guangdong, such as a federally enforced minium salary and reduced working hours, is that the previous policy of essentially working them first to the bone and then into their early graves only leads to resentment towards Guangdong as a state, and in the long run will result in a risk of instability and rebellion. His reforms is supposed to show the workers that the state can be reasonable and also work in their interests, thereby fostering loyalilty towards Guangdong as a concept, helping to boost the artificial state's legimitiacy and thereby ensuring its long term survival.
* BreakingPointSwearing: [[spoiler:If the IJA bring Morita to trial after putting down the riots, his statement before the verdict is given is a single "Go fuck yourself," before unleashing a blistering speech condemning them for their actions.]]
* ConsolationPrize: If Matsushita becomes the Chief Executive, he promotes Morita to be his External Secretary, but only as a consolation to him and to serve as a counterbalance to Ibuka. [[spoiler: He can eventually grow powerful enough from this position to make Matsushita into his puppet.]]
* GadgeteerGenius: One of Morita's strengths as an executive is his inventiveness with each product that Sony manufactures, which is especially noticeable when compared to Ibuka, who focuses more on quality control.
* InSpiteOfANail: Even though in TNO's lore, Tokyo Telecommunications, the company that would become Sony in OTL, was acquired by Fujitsu in 1952, Sony still exists in TNO because Morita founded a second company named Sonus-Li Electronics Company in 1954. The developers [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TNOmod/comments/n6tqi7/second_guangdong_teaser_coming_in_the_shifting/gx9vi0c/ consider]] Morita's use of the "Sony" name to be a mild case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality, to keep the name recognizable even though it is somewhat contrived in-universe, given the poor relations between Japan and US.
* InternalReformist: If he takes power, Morita will begin implementing reforms to reduce the brutal exploitation of the corporations over Guangdong and implement strong anti-corruption measures.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: The closest shade to grey Guangdong is likely to get. While still a megacorporation in a cyberpunk-influenced environment and a willing cog in the Japanese colonial/military machine, Morita's Sony company is touted as the least abusive of the megacorps, reaching out to the local Chinese and mixed people and trying to represent their interests with their legislative puppets. Morita himself has been described as soft-hearted, and his focus tree includes multiple branches for both implementing and institutionalizing anti-corruption policies and trying to buy the workers' loyalty with rights, regulations, and good salaries.
* NotSoStoic: The normally unflappable Morita gives [[spoiler: the IJA a piece of his mind at his trial, unleashing a blistering speech opening with uncharacteristic profanity]].
* PerpetualFrowner: Noted to rarely smile; he's actually the only Guangdong leader to be frowning in all three of his portraits, including his "success" scenario.
* PragmaticVillainy: A light version, since it's both implied and often stated that Akio is just generally kind of a soft-hearted guy (especially compared to his rivals) who would probably want to be less oppressive for its own sake anyway, but his Corporate Paternalism ideology outright says that giving the workers what they want, within a certain amount of reason, is just good business overall, and that a happy, healthy, and well-provided-for workforce is more productive and more loyal than a bunch of desperate, ground-down glorified slaves squeezed and fleeced for all they're worth.
* RagsToRiches: When Tokyo Telecommunications went bankrupt, Morita was left on the streets of Guangdong as a homeless wreck, seemingly never to return to prominence again. However, he miraculously bounced back after partnering with Li Ka-shing, creating the massive Sony corporation out of Li's single factory.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Morita is stark rivals with his former partner, Ibuka Masaru. If Morita takes leadership of Guangdong, he'll draw stern condemnation and opposition from Ibuka.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Matsushita Masaharu]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/matsushita_masaharu.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Independent Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_matsushita_masaharu_70s_independent.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Puppeted Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_matsushita_masaharu_70s_puppet.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' Financial Secretary[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Suzuki cabinet), Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Matsuzawa and Ibuka cabinet), External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Morita and Komai cabinet), Head of State (Matsuzawa succession)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporatocracy[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]To many, Matsushita Masaharu has lived a charmed life, an anointed heir to one of Japan's most prominent electronics firms. Born to the peerage and an elite graduate of Tokyo Imperial University, Masaharu gave up his career as a financier in Sumitomo Bank to marry the daughter of Matsushita Electric's founder - Matsushita Konosuke, a living legend for his rise from elementary school dropout to one of Japan's few non-Zaibatsu corporate titans.\\\
While Matsushita Sr. leads the company from Osaka, Masaharu has been its operational head since 1960, overseeing its expansion into China from his offices in Kōshu. As the son of the founder, serving as both corporate executive and government administrator, it would seem that Masaharu had no reason to fear for his future. But his close acquaintances knew otherwise.\\\
Neither an engineer by training nor a salesman by habit, Matsushita Masaharu is keenly aware of his outsider status within both Matsushita and Guangdong. With every passing year, the two Matsushitas grow apart, with Masaharu wondering when he would ever be entrusted with the reins - if at all - while navigating a political tightrope in the Legislative Council. Now, as Guangdong's Chief Executive, he has the opportunity to show his detractors - his tycoon colleagues and his own adoptive father amongst them - that he is everything he promised he would be, building a literal empire for Matsushita in the Pearl River Delta.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Financial Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Matsushita Masaharu is the heir apparent to Matsushita Electric, invited by the esteemed Matsushita Konosuke to be his successor - and yet the two could hardly be more different. Where Konosuke is one of Japan's vanishingly rare self-made men, an elementary school dropout who cut his teeth selling electrical fans door-to-door in Osaka, Masaharu was born to the peerage, a graduate of Tokyo Imperial University and elite financier who took on the Matsushita name upon marrying into the family in 1940.\\\
Worldly, urbane, and refined, Matsushita took to his duties at Matsushita Electric with a grace and sophistication not out of place in Tokyo' s boardrooms - and befitting his role as Guangdong's Financial Secretary. But where most see a worthy heir to the Matsushita empire, the two Matsushitas are rumored to have grown apart - the elder increasingly critical of his heir's abilities, and the younger seeking to prove his twenty-year apprenticeship was not in vain.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Matsuzawa cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]The delicate politics of the Legislative Council and the Four Companies requires an exceptional skill at negotiating, and Matsushita is nothing if not a master of the art. When Matsushita, Ibuka, and Morita maneuvered their powerless colleague, Matsuzawa, into 'stepping in' as interim Chief Executive, it was abundantly clear that power would be principally in the hands of the three remaining tycoons.\\\
Yet the management of power between multiple people is a tricky thing: Morita and Ibuka were already well known for their frequent and heated disagreements, and favoring either of them above the other could easily upend the delicate balance of power - and give Matsuzawa more power than he really ought to have. For the sake of peace between the Companies, Matsushita was the natural choice to serve as the Chief Secretary of Guangdong, a crucial - and not entirely unbiased - interlocutor between the Chief Executive and his peers.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Matsushita is well aware of the value of keeping one's cards close to one's chest, for there is no benefit to the naked pursuit of power if one ends up empty-handed. As Morita maneuvered himself into pole position against Ibuka in the race to lead Guangdong in the aftermath of Yasuda's collapse, Matsushita ordered his men in the Legislative Council to throw their weight behind Morita's ascension - and was duly rewarded with the post of External Secretary.\\\
There is no real closeness between Matsushita and Chief Executive Morita. Both men see each other as means to an end - an olive branch to the corporate loyalists in the Legislative Council for Morita, and as a guarantor of Matsushita's continued relevance for Matsushita. Power rewards winners, but it also rewards survivors - and as the Corporate faction's man on the inside, Matsushita has all the power he needs.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]The Corporate faction in the Legislative Council is ascendant, and Matsushita Masaharu helps lead the charge as the second-in-command in Ibuka's Guangdong. A distant second-in-command, as it were: a visionary as driven as Ibuka is loath to surrender control of his project even temporarily, and Matsushita finds himself operating almost purely in an administrative role, managing the minutiae of power in Ibuka's name.\\\
If Matsushita is unhappy with this arrangement, he scarcely shows it. Ibuka's radical ideas have fostered incredible opposition in the Legislative Council, and Matsushita is not so wedded to Ibuka's vision to tie himself to the mast. Matsushita will grow so long as the Corporate faction remains in power - and for Matsushita, that is an acceptable, if suboptimal, outcome...[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Komai cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]First as tragedy, then as farce: Matsushita Masaharu finds himself as Guangdong's External Secretary once more, under the employ of Chief Executive Komai. Theoretically powerful, in practice, Masaharu knows well what his place in the government is: he is to be a toothless spokesman, his words dictated by bureaucrats in Hsinking. Bodyguards and minders follow and trace every movement he takes, document everything he says, 'kindly provided' by Komai for 'his own safety'.\\\
What safety? Himself?\\\
Komai must think so; and for the sake of his own life, Masaharu must agree as well. So long as he remains in this position, he has no choice to obey. For if he attempts to break free from Komai's grasp, he will be free to spend the rest of his life in Hell.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Independent)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Matsushita Masaharu has never considered himself anything more than 'down-to-earth', never one to harbor some grandiose, visionary plan belonging to the likes of Morita or Ibuka. Nevertheless, almost paradoxically, what Matsushita has actually achieved may well be called the realization of a vision in its own right, even if it was not what he had been intending. An entire state operating as a corporate entity - except, of course, with laborers and managers all in the millions. And part of a greater corporate empire, no less.\\\
Millions of investors, engineers, and politicians from the Sphere, perhaps even far beyond, now look to Matsushita Electric for what it has to say and what new gadgets it has to offer. Masaharu looks back on it all, and knows that he hasn't simply made Matsushita Kōnosuke proud with what he's built; in a way, he has entrenched corporate politics on the global stage like never before. That's an achievement that, certainly, he can live with while standing tall.\\\
Even as the Chinese turn their eyes towards Guangdong, he can finally say that it has earned its right to live proudly; and that he has earned the very same.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Puppet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]For all the pluckiness and ambition he brought with him when he first stepped foot onto the soil of Guangdong, Matsushita Masaharu has been forced to realize in full the grueling realities of corporate politics. Worse still, this realization came in the most painful way for him imaginable: through his own vacillation, dithering, and feebleness. One crisis after another, over and over again, and in the end he gave everything that he'd built away to the backstabbing voices he trusted in far too much.\\\
All the nation building he did, all the promises he made to Matsushita Kōnosuke, and all of it in the end was work done for the sake of other companies, in the end handing out the bright future he had wanted for Matsushita to those taking advantage of him. Part of him supposes he deserved it - if this is what happens to a businessman who can't see beyond profit, maybe it's better after all to hand over the helm to those who can.\\\
When China comes for Guangdong, demanding its return in full to being Chinese land, it will not be Masaharu's problem. He's no better than some middle manager anyways, with only a family name to his credit, a family that in truth is not and never has been his.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Successful Morita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Morita and Li have outflanked Matsushita Masaharu politically, but the External Secretary is nowhere near done for. There are still countless opportunities to profit, and to ensure Matsushita's survival while other, less prudent companies fall by the wayside in the new order the State Faction has created.\\\
Ibuka may gripe endlessly about sentimentality, but those are the cries of a man that knows he has been outmaneuvered beyond recovery. Matsushita, on the other hand, will avoid Ibuka's reticence—he can be as 'receptive' as ever, 'cooperating' and striking back whenever needed.\\\
It is at times like these that Matsushita Masaharu is thankful for his lack of some pointlessly grand vision like Ibuka's. Let other fools go on and on about the changes they will make; the head of Matsushita Electric is content if he and his company are able to survive and thrive.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Failure Morita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]What is it they say? "Now is the opportune time"?\\\
Whatever the wording is, there can be no question that now is an opportune time for Matsushita Masaharu. Everything seems normal on the surface, but Matsushita knows all too well that amidst the chaos of the Oil Crisis the Morita Administration has managed to partially cripple itself internally. If this is not an opportune time, what is? Matsushita knows he can swoop in to make Morita and/or Li more dependent on him to continue to succeed. Hell, he can even market himself as the new benefactor of Guangdong to peers and investors alike while he's at it.\\\
Had Ibuka had more sense than to go drooling after 'perfection' and his hatred of Morita Akio, he'd have loved to have this opportunity. But as it stands Ibuka too must stand on the sidelines and watch his rival and said rival's friend slowly join him there, as Matsushita Masaharu slowly walks into the spotlight at long last.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Persistent Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]It would be a lie to say that Matsushita Masaharu is a brave man; he is afraid of many things, large and small. In ordinary times, his greatest fear would be failure, specifically when it comes to his failure to build a corporate empire for Matsushita as a whole in Guangdong. This has already come to pass, and yet it cannot rightly be called his greatest fear.\\\
No, Ibuka has taught Matsushita that there are realities that he should be more afraid of than his own failures. Specifically, it is the lengths to which Ibuka is willing to go, and the lengths to which he is willing to force everybody else to go to, so that he might realize his vision that Matsushita is afraid of. Ibuka has made more than clear his willingness to bury, literally as well as metaphorically, anybody who contradicts this grand vision, and Matsushita now lives in fear that Ibuka will never quite feel as though he's accomplished what he's set out to achieve.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Reconciliatory Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]For once in a long while, Matsushita Masaharu can breathe a great big sigh of relief and truly get back to work building the strongest and most profitable business that he can. Some part of him is glad that Ibuka has softened and begun to listen to others again, not only for the business opportunities it provides him but genuinely, personally glad. It's a strange feeling, Matsushita must admit, but deep down he does quite like this new, genuinely kind Ibuka even if he doesn't fully understand the drastic change in his behavior.\\\
Ultimately, compromise and cooperation have always been Matsushita's strong points, so strange sense of relief or no, he supposes he has no reason to complain.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Manchurian Komai cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]How the mighty have fallen. Or rather, how they continue to fall. Matsushita Masaharu stand alone in a field of ashes and broken dreams - his ambition to built Matsushita Electric into a titan of its own consumed in the fire of Komai's machine. Now, he can only sit and watch as the niche he carved for himself is slowly repossessed for the benefit of Manchuria.\\\
Indeed, it seems as if the situation can do nothing but continue to deteriorate for Matsushita. However, if nothing else, he can take cold comfort in the knowledge that Komai has built himself a fragile throne. Manchuria will only ever be an empire for someone other than himself, and much of the same can be said for Guangdong. No matter how much thuggery he deploys, Matsushita knows that Komai will never truly be the victor.\\\
And this pleases him greatly.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Personalist Komai cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]How the mighty have fallen. Or rather, how they continue to fall. Matsushita Masaharu stand alone in a field of ashes and broken dreams - his ambition to built Matsushita Electric into a titan of its own consumed in the fire of Komai's machine. Now, he can only sit and watch as the niche he carved for himself is slowly repossessed for the benefit of Manchuria.\\\
Indeed, it seems as if the situation can do nothing but continue to deteriorate for Matsushita. For every yen made by his own company, it seems Komai grows more and more powerful. Perhaps, as every day goes by and his own personal power shrinks, his anger will give way to what truly lies beneath.\\\
Fear.[[/labelnote]]
----
* BlackSheep: Masaharu has always been the unfavorite of the Matsushita family. When Masaharu reports the progress he's made as Chief Executive, Konosuke's response is a weary sigh and a dismissive comment that he'll probably fail to expand Matsushita's empire into mainland China.
* ColorMotif: White, representing Matsushita's focus on household electronics and their clean, mechanical nature. Matsushita Electric's logo is colored white and most of his focus icons are various shades of whites and grays.
* CuttingCorners: One of the projects he pursues is to fund public housing and the newly constructed apartments have a pleasant exterior, but a decrepit interior that wasn't shown in the schematics. The costs of the plan were simply too much and the construction team decided to start taking shortcuts, with Matsushita himself not really caring because it will be cheap.
* TheDragon: If Ibuka leads Guangdong, Matsushita becomes appointed his Chief Secretary and his second-in-command.
* EnemyMine:
** Part of why he's such an efficient businessman is because he's good at building coalitions among the Japanese elite, compromising and appealing to their interests to earn their cooperation.
** Sharing a common enmity towards Yasuda and Sony, Matsushita allied himself with Ibuka to temporarily cooperate until their rivals are dealt with.
** Matsushita hires the Triads to go after the Yakuza, despite the animosity the two sides share.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As much of a ruthless and callous businessman as he is, [[spoiler: Masaharu is noted to genuinely like and be happy for Ibuka if he goes through a personal transformation into a better person on Ibuka's [[TheAtoner Reconciliation route]], and to be genuinely afraid of what his boss has become and is becoming on Ibuka's [[ThenLetMeBeEvil Persistence route]].]]
* HiddenDepths: Privately, Masaharu is afraid of failure, wanting to prove himself to be as proficient as his foster father and make his family name proud.
* LackOfEmpathy: He is apathetic to the abuses and horrid living conditions that the citizens of Guangdong have to endure and dismisses any concerns over helping them, at one point sarcastically asking if Morita wants to build a sanctuary for endangered Chinese puppies.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Matsushita fits many of the typical qualities of a Japanese corporate suit. He's cunning, ruthless, greedy, and indifferent to the suffering of Guangdong's denizens. However, all of these same characteristics are matched by Ibuka and Komai, while the former combines them with a merciless social Darwinist mindset and the latter wants to apply Manchuria's particularly brutal labor system to Guangdong. [[spoiler: He is also genuinely happy for and likes the new Ibuka on Ibuka's Reconciliation route, in contrast to Komai who [[VirtueIsWeakness immediately begins plotting to usurp him]].]]
* {{Nepotism}}: On his own, Masaharu would be considered a talented businessman, but his marriage to the daughter of Matsushita Konosuke elevated him to national prominence. Though his experience can arguably make his rise to power justified, Masaharu is secretly insecure about being placed on a pedestal and intends to prove his worth by turning Guangdong into an industrial powerhouse.
* OpportunisticBastard: Matsushita Electric is one of Japan's largest electronics manufacturers and is only interested in one thing: profit. While Matsushita is not as light-handed as Morita or bullheaded as Ibuka, he is both reliable and adaptable enough to Guangdong's changing atmosphere to continue exploiting the populace for his company's benefit.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Matsushita is one of the most Japanese ethnocentric leaders in Guangdong, alongside Suzuki.
* PragmaticVillainy:
** Matsushita's Guangdong permits some level of social mobility for its Chinese citizens, but not much more than that and not enough to ever challenge the Japanese corporations. In one of his events, a Chinese supervisor recognizes the insincerity, but doesn't openly complain because he's content to have better working conditions.
** Matsushita can heed Morita's suggestion of a tax on corporations that exceed pollution limits, but largely because it can provide extra government revenue.
* PuppetKing: Masaharu can eventually [[spoiler: lose control to either Ibuka or Morita, becoming little better than their puppet]]; avoiding this turn of events is how he gets his best personal ending by remaining independent.
* SignificantWardrobeShift: [[spoiler: In both of his puppeted paths, Matsushita's portrait shows him changed into a brown suit, contrasting with the black suits Morita and Ibuka wear. In the business world, brown is traditionally seen as a weaker and less desirable colour than black.]]
* RepressiveButEfficient: Masaharu isn't different from the usual, exploitative Japanese executive, but his skillful business acumen presents him as one of the more stable leaders to take over Guangdong.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Masaharu is motivated to prove himself a worthy heir to his more famous father-in-law, Matsushita Konosuke. Unfortunately, Konosuke rarely ever shows an ounce of pride in him and expresses a lot of doubt about his corporate leadership, something that also happened in OTL.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ibuka Masaru]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ibuka_masaru2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Persistence Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_ibuka_masaru_70s_persistence.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Reconciliation Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_ibuka_masaru_70s_reconciliation.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Suzuki cabinet), Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Matsushita cabinet), Financial Secretary[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Matsuzawa cabinet), Head of State (Matsuzawa succession)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Zaikaiha [[note]]The ascendancy of Guangdong's corporations in economic life came with a corresponding need for their interests to be represented in politics. The members of the Legislative Council - supposedly apolitical and independent - proved to be easily swayed by promises of money, status, and power offered by the corporates, in exchange for their loyalty. These individuals - now more loyal to their corporate benefactor than their Chief Executive - form the backbone of Corporate political influence in Guangdong.[[/note]], Rippoukai - Chuou Iinkai [[note]]The Central Committee is Ibuka Masaru's latest experiment, and arguably his finest yet. Composed of only the most exceptional representatives in the Legislative Council, these individuals have proven themselves diligent, impervious, and unwaveringly loyal to Guangdong and Guangdong alone. They, and nobody else, are the ones to be entrusted with Guangdong's future - for what can you expect from people you don't know exactly what they're up to?\n\nCorporate sycophants can decry it all they want as some "regression" to the days of Suzuki and his overbearing control over Guangdong's political life, and we say all the better. This is what they deserve.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Corporatocracy[[note]]Despotism[[/note]], Corporate Statism[[note]]Fascism[[/note]] (Persistance Path)
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Few can compare with Ibuka Masaru's talent and relentless drive for excellence; even fewer can compare to his boundless ambition and political and business acumen. A relentless advance up the corporate ladder, endless lobbying, politicking, and economic maneuvering has made Ibuka few friends and many enemies.\\\
From ostracizing Tokyo Telecoms co-founder and his one-time friend Morita Akio to merging with and consolidating his control over Fujitsu Electric, Ibuka's relentless ambition would see Fujitsu expand its operations to the Pearl River. An expansion that would see Ibuka clash with Morita's Sony in a legendary legal battle over control of Guangdong's radio market.\\\
Those days, however, are in the past. Following the collapse of Suzuki's government in the Yasuda crash, Ibuka once more maneuvered Fujitsu into a position of dominance. Now, as Guangdong's undisputed master, Ibuka Masaru finally has the freedom necessary to finally bring about his vision for a new, transistorized, digitized world.\\\
No longer restrained by the whims of his fellow executives or beholden to shareholders in Tokyo, Ibuka alone can see the future, and Ibuka alone can bring about the new tomorrow. With Guangdong as his canvas, his only limit is ambition, and Ibuka has no intention of coming up short.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Ibuka Masaru is known for two things - his towering command of electrical engineering, and his many, many 'opinions'. The former has served him well as the President of Fujitsu, the electronics subsidiary of the Furukawa zaibatsu, while the latter makes him an outspoken defender of the Four Companies' interests in Tokyo - and Nanjing, when he can be bothered to leave his workstation to venture into China.\\\
Apart from his professional history, Ibuka is well-known for his longstanding feud with Morita Akio of Sony, after the two parted ways acrimoniously in 1952 following the acquisition of their joint venture, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, by the Furukawa group. In the years since, Ibuka has tirelessly sought to realize his vision of a transistorized future, rising through the ranks at Fujitsu and aggressively expanding its presence in Guangdong - no matter what Morita or anyone else thinks.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Financial Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]At first glance, the lateral movement of Ibuka Masaru from the External Affairs to the Financial Affairs portfolio is an unquestionable snub - the most outspoken opposition to the former Chief Executive, being forced to share power with his rivals. Yet Ibuka himself appears content with his position - in public. The new interim Chief Executive will be capably advised, he says, by the remaining tycoons in a strictly professional and meritocratic manner. There can be no playing favorites in the wake of Yasuda's collapse.\\\
Of course, his insistence on 'meritocracy' has long been understood as a favorite phrase of his, with only Ibuka himself up to the task of saving Guangdong. Even if Matsushita maintains the appearance of neutrality, and Morita tries to make himself heard, Ibuka controls the pursestrings - and the numbers never lie. Tough times will require tough choices, and only one man can make them: Ibuka.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]As Guangdong's Chief Secretary, Ibuka's appointment to the second-highest position in the civil government should represent a triumph - the reassertion of the Corporate faction's authority in the Legislative Council, with Matsushita at its head and with Ibuka by his side, and Hitachi's Komai waiting in the wings.\\\
While the dominance of the Corporate faction is a welcome development, only a fool would think Ibuka is satisfied by this arrangement. Despite having the Chief Executive's position slip through his fingertips, Ibuka has not abandoned his desire to see Guangdong become the vanguard of the silicon revolution to the world. To the extent by which he can bring said revolution about through the ear of Chief Executive Matsushita, he will do so - for although he has no love for menial minds in positions of power, he concedes that they do have their uses...[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Persistence)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Deep down, Ibuka never quite left being a child. All those years that certain tinge of naïveté had coated his spectacles, through which alone he was able to see, and then make sense of, himself and the world around him. Only a child refuses to believe in lost causes. Only a child refuses to apply "normal physical and mental faculty" and "imbecility" to the same individual. Only a child gives his unconditional love to all those people, and wants anything more than putting each and every one of them six feet under.\\\
Sure, he might've had his precious vision torn apart by the Riots and then reality shoved in his face - a reality infested with ingrates, dimwits, and asinine geopolitical tussles. He might've had the chance to mature and move on. The epiphany that eventually came to him, however, is of another kind entirely: if all this travesty, all this... depravity, is what it takes for someone to grow up, then he would rather not. He would rather be the child that always looks ahead. Japan, China, they're all free to drown in their own excrement. It's not his problem.\\\
In a better time he would've been world-renowned as the brightest innovator of them all, showering in the spotlight and the wholehearted, unalloyed adoration of the planet; in another life, perhaps, Akio would've shared the glory by his side. The three-year-old child, however, paints over it all with abandon and a million drops of blood and tears - and upon the pure, pristine, reborn annals of Guangdong, blow by blow, joyously carves out the word that Ibuka Masaru shall be remembered by for the rest of his life:\\\
SINNER[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Reconciliation)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]What, then, has Chief Executive Ibuka Masaru's vision of Guangdong amounted to in the end?\\\
What was this last decade but a quixotic crusade to prove himself infallible? To promulgate — with the same ruthlessness as the Inquisition and the Imperial cult — a dogma that everyone was 'supposed' to fight tooth and nail for excellence, forgetting bonds of blood and friendship, all in accordance with the diktats charted out in the top floor of Fujitsu?\\\
Ibuka knows now - always has known, in fact - that what he proposed was no truth at all. There exists no such thing as 'objective' truth when it comes to personal relationships, let alone nation-building. The only reason Ibuka decided that he had to pull such a truth out of his ear then force it down everyone else's throats was so that he, with all his groundless, senseless self-assurance, could make it true. \\\
So that he could lie to his conscience and feel better about it.\\\
It was all thanks to the Providential way in which the Oil Crisis and Riots played out that Ibuka Masaru has snapped out of this decades-long trance. The scales are stricken perforce from his eyes, and Ibuka now knows for certain that there are more ways than his own to success, let alone to perfection. And when, as Heaven has predestined, China returns for its stolen Pearls, those days will also bring the final judgment for Ibuka Masaru — whether he deserves to carry on, or be stopped forever in his tracks.\\\
And the Chief Executive, weary and contrite, would take all that he could get.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Independent Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]There is no feeling stronger in the mind of Ibuka Masaru than that of stiflement and futility.\\\
Matsushita Masaharu has somehow, despite being the most unimaginative, innovation-scorning man in Guangdong, attained total control over its future. Worse yet for Ibuka personally, his ideals are being cherry-picked by the Chief Executive left and right to suit his own, 'survival-centric', uncreative ideas.\\\
Wonderful, isn't it, to have slaved away for twenty years and to have nothing to show for it but a credential proving that he's playing second-fiddle for a future that isn't his own. How much longer, Ibuka Masaru asks himself, will he have to keep drinking from this bitter cup?[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Fujitsu Puppeted Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Finally! An opportune time has come for Ibuka Masaru, who finally feels the beginnings of success in his decades-long work to unlock Guangdong's true potential. That old survivalist curmudgeon Matsushita has finally stopped stifling Guangdong's actual potential and left proper leadership (read: Ibuka) the leeway to do all that needs to be done.\\\
Of course, Ibuka cannot help but feel some doubt. It may well be too late, what with how the Chinese are getting uppity north of the border. But it matters not—if things go sideways it's a simple enough matter to blame Ibuka's jackass of a boss for holding on to power too long for his own damn good.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Sony Puppeted Matsushita cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]"What the hell is Matsushita doing?" are the words that issue forth from Ibuka Masaru's mouth semi-regularly these days.\\\
That makes all the more sense when one realises that it's because Ibuka's decades-long rival Morita Akio has been handed the reins of Guangdong after Matsushita's failure. It irritates Ibuka so much. After all these years how the hell has Matsushita managed to not just double down on being a weak-minded little coward, but doing it the way Morita out of all people would?\\\
If Matsushita really isn't brain-damaged and actually does find Morita's "model" more appealing then sure, Ibuka can still act; he'll move to sabotage it where he can. But if bleeding hearts end up being the end of Guangdong, then Matsushita and his lot have only themselves to blame.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheAce: His rise and leadership of Fujitsu has been nothing short of exceptional, as his proficient leadership allowed the corporation to become one of the largest in the Sphere.
* AllohistoricalAllusion: One of Ibuka's focuses is entitled ''Kindergarten is Too Late'', which is the name of a book he wrote in our world arguing that the most important human learning takes place in infancy.
* ArchEnemy: Ibuka is not a nice guy to begin with, but he has a special hatred for Morita, owing to their complicated past.
* TheAtoner: During his Reconciliation route, [[spoiler: Ibuka realizes during the Oil Crisis just how horrible and abusive his system really is and tries to make up for it, while aware he probably can't and that Guangdong won't survive him trying.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:The Guangdong Riots cause Ibuka to be snapped out of his childish vision as he watches his uncompromisingly dogmatic vision be torn asunder by those he looked down upon, which in his Persistence path, causes him to realise he is not infailible and leads him to abandon his social Darwinism for a kinder approach to governance.]]
* ColorMotif: Blue. Fujitsu Limited's logo is colored blue and almost all of his focuses are that hue, symbolizing Ibuka's specialty in computer technology and his laser-focused devotion to advancing Guangdong for the modern age.
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: The developers have described Ibuka's Guangdong as a corrupted version of Silicon Valley, turning the province into a center for high technology, but also subjecting its countless residents to hellish working abuses and poverty.
* TheDictatorship: In Ibuka's Persistence path, [[spoiler:he passes the Guangdong Future Act, which forcibly subordinates all [=LegCo=] representatives to Fujitsu and puts them under Ibuka's thumb, turning an already undemocratic system into one where Ibuka has full control and is answerable to no one else in Guangdong.]]
* DragonWithAnAgenda: If Matsushita takes over Guangdong, he makes Ibuka his Chief Secretary and the second-most powerful man in the country. However, Ibuka's ambition isn't sated by this and still has ambitions to transform Guangdong to his vision.
* EmperorScientist: Ibuka's dream is for a Guangdong meritocracy that grants limitless opportunity for the educated intellectuals to explore sciences and engineering.
* EnemyMine:
** Ibuka has formed a fragile alliance with Matsushita, combining their efforts to challenge the Yasuda and Sony companies.
** After Yasuda's collapse leaves a vacancy in the Legislative Council, Ibuka calls upon Komai and the Hitachi corporation to take their place, hoping to leverage them and boost his own influence, despite otherwise disliking them.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Perhaps the major positive quality to Ibuka's ruthless vision is that he is genuinely meritocratic, believing that intelligence and ability should matter more than heritage or ancestry. While the common Chinese workers who don't have the opportunities in life to get proper education and training are screwed even worse than usual, Ibuka extends lots of opportunities to the Zhujin population they didn't have before. His plans clean out lots of incompetent and corrupt Japanese who only got their jobs because of their race or family connections, opening up room for sufficiently-capable Chinese to step in alongside Japanese applicants in the process. That said, this is heavily downplayed in practice since, for the most part, those with more money and opportunity have better access to the kinds of education and preparation to ''achieve'' high intelligence and ability, and therefore are largely from the Japanese ruling classes.
* EtTuBrute: Morita and Ibuka used to work together under the Tokyo Telecommunications, but when Fujitsu began to buy their company out, Ibuka merged the company and joined Fujitsu so as to not lose his wealth, abandoning and betraying his friend to business desolation.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Despite having abandoned her to focus on Fujitsu, Ibuka still cares deeply about his daughter, Taeko, and regrets having left her without a father. [[spoiler:Notably, if the Riots intensify to the point the IJA need to get involved, Ibuka's main concern is that his daughter is able to get out of Japan.]]
* EvilReactionary: Ibuka opposes Suzuki's attempted reforms to benefit the common workers in Guangdong and, if he takes power, he'll begin rolling back his country's welfare laws.
* HeelFaithTurn: The language used during his [[spoiler: Reconciliation ending suggests that his personal moral awakening was accompanied by a spiritual awakening, and that his plans to try to make things better have a strong spiritual dimension. Notably, his Persistence ending's bio describes him as embracing his role as a sinner rather than change.]]
* IgnoredEpiphany: [[spoiler:In his Persistence path, Ibuka realises his dogmatic vision for the world is unrealistic and childish, but instead chooses to double down on it, preferring to drown Guangdong in blood and tears than to abandon his crusade for an unattainable dream.]]
* JoinOrDie: Fujitsu is a conglomerate that has integrated numerous smaller companies that were pushed against a wall by their business and pressured to join as a means of surviving in any capacity. Those who refused simply shut down and became history.
* LackOfEmpathy: Out of the executives, Ibuka is probably the most indifferent to the common citizens' suffering, believing that people come second to machines and that there is little room for empathy in a world of science.
* MenDontCry: As he's giving his celebratory speech to becoming Chief Executive in the "Possibilities, Infinite" event, Ibuka feels tears welling up in his eyes, prideful of how far he's come. However, Ibuka represses this sign of emotion before anyone can notice. [[spoiler:{{Subverted}} if the Riots get out of control, which leads Ibuka to cry into his arms alone in his office as he regrets the cruelty he inflicted on the people of Guangdong and having severed all meaningful human connections.]]
* MightMakesRight:
** His crusade to modernize Guangdong will inevitably subject the people to even worse working conditions for the sake of a little more productivity and condemn thousands to a life of suffering if they can't keep up. Unfortunately, Ibuka doesn't care at all, deeming them a weakness on the country that deserve to be left behind. One of his focuses is even titled "Survival of the Fittest".
** Not even the children are spared from this mindset. From the event "A Bridge Too Far", the teacher reflects on Ibuka's enforced curriculum in the school system, which puts the students through rigorous problems so that only the brightest and most determined among them can truly thrive in Guangdong; everyone else will simply be discarded and left with few fortunate prospects for the rest of their lives.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In his Reconciliation route, [[spoiler: Ibuka has a personal crisis over his ruthlessly Darwinian worldview, and tries, whether or not it is too little, too late, to make up for what he realizes were decades of crimes against his fellow man.]]
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler:When the Guangdong Riots first start, Ibuka is physically unable to admit any fault when Morita pleads with him to do so for his role in causing the chaos through both his actions as Chief Executive and for originally inviting the Manchurians to Guangdong, instead claiming that he built Guangdong up from nothing and that everyone else is at fault.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: It's implied that Ibuka's Reconciliation ending will not ultimately be a happy one, [[spoiler: between Komai licking his chops at the thought of usurping Ibuka now that his resolve is wavering and the people unlikely to care much for his personal transformation after nearly a decade of abusive meritocracy. Ibuka isn't ignorant of this either, but he resolves to forge head and try to make things better anyway, confident that even if he loses everything else, he has at least kept his soul and can strive for personal redemption. His ending slide outright says that Guangdong will probably fade away, but that perhaps it is better this way.]]
* ObliviouslyEvil: Ibuka is a mental Darwinist who sees nothing wrong about instituting a ruthless meritocracy over Guangdong, viewing it as the natural way of life. [[spoiler: Ultimately abandoned in both his endings; he will ultimately come to see the error of his ways and either [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone recoil from them]] or [[ThenLetMeBeEvil double down]].]]
* ThePerfectionist: Ibuka is obsessed with his vision of perfection and seeks to impose this vision onto Guangdong as a meritocratic engineer's paradise, one that eliminates human error, where mediocrity is punished and scorned while perfection is rewarded.
* PragmaticVillainy: As he tells Morita in "Scouring the Streets", he will never appease the Triads or their gambling businesses, considering them "wasteful pursuits" that stand in the way of his technocratic vision. He also institutes ruthless civil service programs to crack down on cronyism, incompetence, and corruption at the government level, since these things impede his vision.
* PredatoryBusiness: Through a combination of mass production, low pricing, and large advertising campaigns, Ibuka can monopolize any sector of the economy with his fancy inventions and drive out smaller business owners who can't compete with him. In the event "The Clock Ticks Onward", an owner of a clock business is forced out of a job because his business is overwhelmed by the introduction of Fujitsu's digital clocks.
* PsychopathicManchild: In many ways, Ibuka's view of the world is a simple and childish one, where things are sorted into broad, primary-colored categories and thought of no more. [[spoiler: His Persistence ending is described in his bio as realizing that his uncompromising view of the world is childish and stubbornly and spitefully [[IgnoredEpiphany refusing to grow up if it means learning to compromise]].]]
* RepressionNeverEndsWell: [[spoiler:It is made clear that Ibuka pushing away his positive human connections with Morita and his own family have only caused him pain and misery, with him opening up to the guilt in his Reconcilliation path being portrayed as a positive, and him doubling down on it in his Persistence path being shown negatively as it leads him to become an emotionally detatched dictator who rejects any chance at redemption.]]
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Ibuka in OTL was a co-founder of Sony and served as the president of Sony from 1950 to 1971; in TNO, the OTL predecessor of Sony, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, was acquired by Fujitsu and Furukawa zaibatsu in 1952, and Ibuka joined Fujitsu and eventually became its president. The Sony in TNO was separately founded by Morita Akio in 1954 as his second commercial venture, rather than a renamed Tokyo Telecommunications.
* SinisterSurveillance: Ibuka makes sure to have cameras and audio recording equipment in every possible area he could think of as part of his security measures up to and including monitoring private offices to stamp out corruption.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Ibuka is not happy to be working with Komai and only brings him into his cabinet so that he can sideline Morita, whom he hates even more.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: As [[spoiler: he drowns Guangdong in blood to quell the riots of the Oil Crisis on his Persistence route]], Ibuka realizes that his personal vision is fundamentally unrealistic and inhuman and will require a huge human cost, but chooses to forge ahead with it anyway rather than compromise on it.
* TrainingFromHell: Under Ibuka, recruitment in the Guangdong Special Security Action Detachment is savage, with the "Raid Response" event mentioning the harsh courses that recruits must endure and how only a few are capable enough to pass.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** In an event, Ibuka briefly loses his cool when he's informed of a failed trial with Tankou Semiconductor's latest silicon refining technique, insulting the project team for their failure. After blurting out two sentences of his rant, Ibuka recognizes his poor choice of words and recomposes himself to be more professional.
** During the Oil Crisis, [[spoiler: Ibuka can realize just how flawed his worldview really is and, after a personal crisis, embrace more-humanitarian options for dealing with the riots.]]
* VirtueIsWeakness: He disregards all sentiments of "welfare" and "tolerance" as a hinderance that has no place in Guangdong.
* VisionaryVillain: By far the most ambitious of the executives, Ibuka envisions a future where Guangdong becomes a renowned power on the world stage and runs on pure effciency to maximize its productivity.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Once former partners, Ibuka has developed a hateful rivalry towards Morita, as Ibuka's Fujitsu and Morita's Sony are bitter competitors in the telecommunications and computing business.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Komai Kenichirō]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/komai_kenichiro.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Manchurian Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_komai_kenichiro_70s_manchurian.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Personalist Path)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_komai_kenichiro_70s_personalist_7.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] (Ibuka cabinet), Head of State (Hitachi Coup)
->'''Party:''' Rippoukai - Manshuha [[note]]The Empire of Manchuria has developed its own brand of capitalism, alien to its comparators in Tokyo and Guangdong. One corporation dominates economic life, an inescapable colossus: the Manchurian Industrial Development Company (Mangyō, MIDC) and its many subsidiaries. Decades of forced industrialization under Japanese supremacism have made Mangyō - and its electronics subsidiary, Nissan's Hitachi - notorious for its callous disregard for life and morality, even as it advances the states' ends with a ruthless efficiency. And some in Hsinking wonder: instead of serving the state in Manchuria, could they instead export their Manchurian System to Guangdong?[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Reform Bureaucracy[[note]]Fascism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A new authority stands ascendant and triumphant upon the tumultuous stage of Guangdong, a towering figure now eclipses the Pearl River Delta in somber darkness, its penumbra extending far and wide. A goliath has stepped onto Guangdong's shores, a man who embodies the ruthless efficiency of the industries of Manchukuo, whose vision for the state is one of steel and sweat, one where the backbreaking toil of the workers allows for productivity to soar to heights never before seen. The iron cavalier of Hitachi - Komai Kenichiro.\\\
On the exterior, Komai is a man who commands respect; urbane, polite, and charismatic. However, his pleasant character is merely a veil for the plans and thoughts he harbors within his mind, his conceptions of grandeur and prosperity which can only be attained through the bluntest and most unforgiving of actions. With him now sitting atop the ivory tower, holding the position of Chief Executive, the bustling streets of the Three Pearls have been silenced, the gates to the underground societies have been shut, Guangdong has entered into a new era, one of order, security, and efficacy.\\\
With the merciless truncheon of the Kenpeitai at his side and the supervision of his Manchurian benefactors above him, Komai will transform Guangdong into a symbol of industrial success, by any means necessary.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography (External Secretary)''' [[labelnote: Click to Show]]Plenty question why Hitachi's Komai Kenichiro, only recently invited into the Legislative Council, was selected to be the external face of Ibuka's regime. Komai was already seen as an outsider, seen as an agent of Manchuria's state-dominated economy in the freewheeling corporate ecosystem of Guangdong. Would being forced to defend Guangdong to outsiders separate Komai from his masters in Hsinking?\\\
The truth is that Ibuka doesn't trust Komai one bit - but he would rather keep any potential assets close at hand. It would certainly be better than bringing his nemesis, Morita Akio, into Guangdong's government once again - and Komai's emphasis on efficiency and profit is a thought process Ibuka understands, even if it comes with a particularly Manchurian brand of brutality.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Manchurian)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]There are times when Komai Kenichiro can only laugh faintly at how ordinary his life must be, at least in comparison to his former competitors in the form of Morita, Ibuka, and Matsushita. All he really did was graduate from Tokyo Imperial, start working for Hitachi Limited in 1925, and work hard to advance through its ranks ever since. All those years, and here he still is, forever a corporate suit with little to no real agency. Some might point to all Komai has achieved for Pan-Asianism, but always he dismisses this disinterestedly. Everybody does Pan-Asianism these days, there's nothing special about him promoting it as well. Nothing special about him at all, save only for his title of President of Hitachi Limited, a throne made of paper.\\\
Yes, he can relish in these ephemeral piles of gold all he want; yes, he can call himself Caesar as many times as need be. But every Caesar has his Augustus, seated far and high away in Rome, holding the true reins of the empire they share regardless of the illusion of autonomy. No matter how many dissenters Komai locks away, no matter how much wealth he sits upon, something will always be missing. Something that isn't just another directive from Hsinking.\\\
As China prepares for war, and forever after until the day he dies, Komai will always remain the man from Manchuria, the junior emperor of an empire not his own. Nothing more.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Personalist)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]In the end, Komai Kenichiro can't help but to look back at the whole of his life in awe at how ordinary it must be, at least in comparison to his former competitors in the form of Morita, Ibuka, and Matsushita. All he really did was graduate from Tokyo Imperial, start working for Hitachi Limited in 1925, and work hard to advance through its ranks ever since. Nevertheless, here he is now, having brought Hitachi as well as Guangdong as a whole to new heights both financially and technologically while eliminating all forms of dissent and real competition. All this is beyond the wildest dreams of his so-called 'superiors' back in Manchuria, perhaps beyond even his own just 10 years ago.\\\
All this, for his one simple goal: to be absolute lord of his own future atop a throne of his own making. Komai is Caesar, looking down upon his Rome, ruling 'in the name of' whoever the current Augustus far away up north might be. All the feigned subservience and platitudes of loyalty end there; the true Komai, Chief Executive of Guangdong, emblazons himself with the same power and relish as Julius Caesar, the very man for whom the title Caesar was named.\\\
Perhaps, when the dust has settled and the vying, frothing vagabonds and miscreants north the border have been dispatched, the path will have been paved for another Komai down the line. And another, and another, for as long as time shall bear witness.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Persistent Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]It should come as no surprise to anyone that, having promised to keep Komai Kenichiro in line back in 1964 when he invited him to take part in government, Ibuka has proceeded to do exactly that all these years later. Much as Komai thought he might be able to take advantage of Ibuka by enabling his worst excesses in hopes that it would bring his plans to a halt, this idea ended up backfiring as Ibuka became the sort of monster with a list of people he feels have wronged him - with Komai's name one among many on it.\\\
With Fujitsu dominating Guangdong, Hitachi is seeing less and less business these days, a minor player in a market owned by Fujitsu. Really, Komai supposes he should have seen this all coming.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (External Secretary - Reconciliatory Ibuka cabinet)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]All along, Komai Kenichiro had seen this coming: that Ibuka would fail to meet the needs of his great selfish vision. As the fulfillment of this prediction presents Hitachi with a great business opportunity, so Komai will not allow it to go to waste. He will do whatever it takes to put Ibuka's newfound softheartedness to use and pay him back for daring to think Komai could possibly be 'kept in line.'\\\
Then, when Ibuka is inevitably defeated by the political turbulence created by his change of heart, Komai will laugh in Ibuka's face and tell him that, really, he had it coming.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheConsigliere: Komai's company Hitachi is the subsidiary of the Manchurian based megacorp Nissan, with Hitachi serving as it's tendril to subjugate Guangdong to Manchuria's will.
* TheCorruptor: Komai's stock in trade is feeding people's worst impulses to manipulate them into doing his bidding. He's positively gleeful when Americans, in the event trade embargoes are lifted via detente with Japan, betray their principles and buy his cheap and high-quality products built with human misery and slave-labor. And his plot to take power from Ibuka involves feeding and enabling Ibuka's worst impulses.
* TheCoup: Komai seizes power through a staged coup that throws Guangdong into chaos, forcing the current Chief Executive to sign his resignation and hand the reigns over to Komai and Hitachi.
* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler:If the Guangdong Riots grow too severe for the Chief Executive to control them, Komai will elect to hide away in a underground panic room, whimpering in fear as it is breached by those seeking his head.]]
* TheDreaded: Komai is the chief executive officer of Hitachi Limited, a subsidiary under the Manchurian Industrial Development Company and a prime example of the worst excesses of Japanese capitalism in the aforementioned country. For this reason, there is a general level of fear surrounding Komai and what he might do to expand his influence into Guangdong, yet no one can kick him out because he's being supported by powerful allies in Manchuria.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Komai might be the most ruthless man in all of Guangdong, planning to turn the country into an industrialized hellhole akin to Manchuria and forging a new era of "order, security, and efficacy", no matter how many lives are lost.
* EvilColonialist: Komai believes that the unimpeded slavery and economic control in Manchuria is a model for all of the Sphere to follow, criticizing the executives in Guangdong for not going far enough in his eyes.
* FalseFlagOperation: Should Hitachi's influence grow too powerful, Komai will enlist the aid of the Imperial Japanese Army to launch a false flag attack on Guangdong to force a situation that leads to the current Chief Executive resigning and him taking charge instead.
* EnemyMine: He can be summoned to the Legislative Council in a cautious alliance with Ibuka, as both hope to use the other to advance their own agendas.
* FauxAffablyEvil: On the outside Komai feigns a refined and courteous to a fault persona, which belie his calculating malice underneath. This is in contrast to his corporate companions from Manchuria; whilst they are described by the businessmen of Guangdong as "stone-faced," Komai is described as "quite the affable character."
* GoneHorriblyRight:
** In Ibuka's Persistence ending, [[spoiler:his plan to take power in Guangdong through encouraging Ibuka's worst excesses backfires, as Ibuka embraces his role as a bloody-handed dictator over a viciously pan-optic corporate state and begins assembling "lists" of everyone he feels has personally wronged him and taking revenge, including Komai himself.]]
** Komai is encouraged via gameplay mechanics to cozy up to the Kempeitai and make use of the control they offer to improve his support at the expense of rampant corruption. [[spoiler: But Komai is not immune to their displeasure; he can be as much a victim of Nagano Shigeto being put in control during the Oil Crisis as any other Guangdong leader and he will be no less screwed in that scenario.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Fittingly for the Chief Executive that is the most brutal to the Chinese population living in Guangdong, should the riots escalate to the point where the IJA takeover, he is the only Chief Executive killed before he can be put on trial, killed by the same Chinese he treated like cattle.]]
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Komai seizes control of Guangdong after a series of bomb attacks are launched throughout the nation, forcing the current Chief Executive to resign so that he and the Kenpeitai can take matters in their own hands to combat these terrorists. Unbeknownst to the public, Komai was the one who orchestrated the whole incident to eliminate his rival and seize power for his own selfish gain.
* PerpetualSmiler: Komai is grinning smugly in all three of his portraits; just about the only situations in which his good cheer fades is [[spoiler: an Ibuka Persistence ending or an IJA takeover; in both scenarios he's just as screwed as everyone else.]]
* PlausibleDeniability: As Hitachi's influence builds, Komai calls upon more support to be flown in from Manchuria, creating a congestion at Kōshu Airport and canceling all other flights. It's very suspicious, but Hitachi maintains a level of deniability by claiming that these flights are "emergency landings".
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Besides being a morally bankrupt executive, Komai is racist towards the Japanese living in southern China, deeming them "uncultured brutes" and "savages" who are too soft to follow the brutal, economic model in Manchuria.
* ThePuppetCutsHisStrings: Initially Komai just acts as a executor of the rulers of Manchuria's will - to subjugate Guangdong to their economic model and whims - [[spoiler: should he brave the Oil Crisis and labor riots without over-relying on Manchurian support however, he will be able to cut his strings and become the uncontested dictator of Guangdong answering to no one]].
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: In his first event, Komai recruits several Legislative Council members through bribes, giving him the momentum needed to take over Guangdong for himself.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Komai builds influence through the use of misinformation, having the news media play up Sony, Matsushita, and Fujitsu stumbling in the stock market, while simultaneously praising the "Manchurian quality" of his products.
* VirtueIsWeakness: He sees Ibuka's [[spoiler: change of heart if the latter goes down his Reconciliation path during the Oil Crisis]] as a weakness he can exploit to destroy and usurp the chief executive.
* WeSellEverything: Komai's megacorp Hitachi is renowned for the vast number of different electronics it sells, far surpassing the other megacorps of Guangdong.
[[/folder]]
!! Cabinet Members
[[folder:Miyazaki Kiyotaka]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_miyazaki_kiyotaka.png]]
->'''Role:''' Head of Guangdong Kenpeitai[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Suzuki and Matsuzawa cabinet), Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Komai cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Statism[[note]]Fascism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Suzuki cabinet) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]One would be mistaken to see Colonel Miyazaki Kiyotaka as another enforcer of Japan's will in Guangdong, or a relic of Japan's past triumphs. Unlike the new IJA recruits rotated into the Three Pearls - or the ancient general officers sent out to pasture - Colonel Miyazaki is a twenty-year veteran of the China Campaign still in his prime. Starting as a non-commissioned Kenpeitai officer during WWII, Miyazaki has spent nearly all of his career on the Chinese mainland, hunting KMT remnants and dissidents in Manchukuo, the Republic of China, and now in Guangdong.\\\
To the Chinese residents of Guangdong, he is an implacable predator, coming after those who test the patience of the police and the Japanese once too often. To the Japanese, he is a tireless defender of law and order, a swift and final arbiter for any problem too intractable to buy off. All know that Colonel Miyazaki is a dangerous man - a man with power, and almost limitless authority along with it.[[/labelnote]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' (Suzuki cabinet) [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Every would-be strongman needs an enforcer - the man with the means and the temperament to do the dirty work, to crack skulls and purge miscreants. Colonel Miyazaki is well-versed in the means, and his reputation for brutality precedes him. Having been relegated to the sidelines under the previous Chief Executive and their attempt to build a local security apparatus, Miyazaki's appointment as Chief Secretary under Komai speaks to the iron fist hiding just beneath Komai's polished exterior.\\\
Miyazaki watched, first with apprehension and then with frustration, as the Kenpeitai were called into service again and again on the bidding of corporate masters - who didn't have the stomach to do what had to be done. But Chief Executive Komai understands Miyazaki's methods and their necessity - and in turn, the IJA colonel has sworn loyalty to Hitachi and its Manchurian backers.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheDreaded: Miyazaki is feared by the Chinese residents of Guangdong as a hunter who tracks down those deemed to troublesome to the current status quo of Suzuki's regime.
* GeneralRipper: Miyazaki is well-known for his brutality and he ends up becoming disillusioned with the the megacorporations, barring Hitachi, because they aren't ruthless enough in crushing internal enemies.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: Despite being Suzuki's subordinate, Miyazaki wields near limitless authority with his position, which makes him one of the Chief Executive's most dangerous enforcers.
* TheSpymaster: Miyazaki started his career as a non-commissioned Kenpeitai officer and has spent most of his life hunting down dissidents throughout China. Guangdong is his latest camping ground.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Miyazaki's ruthlessness is admired by the Japanese, who view him as a stalwart defender of the law.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Li Ka-shing]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unknown_952.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_li_ka_shing_70s.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: 70's Portrait (Failure)]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_li_ka_shing_70s_failure.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' Chief Secretary[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Morita cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Paternalism[[note]]Paternalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A man of humble origins and means, Li Ka-Shing cuts an unlikely presence as Guangdong's only major tycoon of purely Chinese origins. Few would have guessed that the elementary school dropout and struggling factory owner would become the representative of the Chinese side of Guangdong's Zhujin community - and neither would have Li, were it not for a chance meeting with Morita Akio in 1952 that changed his life forever.\\\
As the head of Cheung Kong Holdings - a sprawling local conglomerate with its fingers in retail, distribution, light manufacturing, and real estate - Li's commercial success has been intimately tied to Morita's rise in Guangdong. From business partners in the 1950's to their eventual formal alliance as Li diversified into new industries, it is an open secret in Guangdong that the two are political allies, with Li keeping tabs on the pulse of the Chinese and Zhujin population while Morita pitches their reform program to the Japanese expatriate community.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Success)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Against all hope, this outcome was what Li Ka-shing had dared to hope for. He has done it. The people of Guangdong, of the Three Pearls and beyond, have been brought up from their former squalor to a new era of prosperity; even better is that within that prosperity has come an opportunity: for riches untold to his name.\\\
Morita Akio's second-in-command has gone through many trials and tribulations. But he knows that his biggest trial is yet to come, and he is resolved: he will not let it undo whatever he has achieved thus far. He will not let himself be returned to the destitution of his plastic factory days.\\\
Never again.[[/labelnote]]
->'''70's In-Game Biography''' (Chief Secretary - Failure)[[labelnote:Click to Show]]Li Ka-shing asks himself: was any of this worth it? Was it all a mistake?\\\
Sure, he's made any amount of money, presided over a sea change in the way Guangdong is run. Sure, neither Suzuki Teiichi nor Sun Yat-sen would recognise Guangzhou as he and Morita have made it, here at the end of the New Order. But compared to the hateful faces of his people and the loss of the lives and happiness of his loved ones, are such massive changes, the sign of an alleged 'great leader', truly worth it?\\\
Well, it does not matter. It is the decision Li Ka-shing has made. Making money is all that he has left. He might as well go full-time on it. There's nothing else he can do—unless he wants to waste one second more on his thoughts and succumb to the pain swirling unceasingly in the back of his mind.[[/labelnote]]
----
* AllohistoricalAllusion: [[spoiler:In a Sony playthrough that sides with Li over Morita on policy, Li's wife and son are kidnapped by dissidents in the events preceding the riots, mirroring the kidnapping of his son, Victor, in 1996 by a Hong Kong gangster.]]
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Li left Sony and founded the Cheung Kong corporation to provide and sell needed goods to the Chinese people languishing in Guangdong. For Li, his mission is to do both good and good business.
* InternalReformist: Already personal friends with Morita, Li wholeheartedly supports his crusade to curb the influence of the corporations and improve the living conditions of the Chinese people.
* NumberTwo: Li is Morita's closest confidant, having helped him recover from the loss of Tokyo Telecommunications and building the new Sony conglomerate together.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Stanley Ho]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_stanley_ho.png]]
->'''Role:''' Financial Secretary[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Morita cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Paternalism[[note]]Paternalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]] Stanley Ho is a 'legitimate trader' of prodigious talent and of murky origins, a long acquaintance of Morita Akio and Li Ka-shing, and the darling of Guangdong society - to the extent that a part-Chinese, part-European man can climb in a world dominated by the Japanese. Born to Dutch Jewish and Chinese parents and initially destined for a bright future in British Hong Kong, Stanley was driven to Macau during WWII, and rebuilt his wealth by working - and then running - export-import businesses of luxuries (both legal and illegal) to Mainland China.\\\
At first glance, a man of Stanley's background would be wholly unwelcome in the Co-Prosperity Sphere. And yet, the Japanese find themselves strangely open to his charms - whether it be by his cosmopolitan wit, his access to fine luxuries, his peerless manners on the dance floors of Makao, or the encouragement of some of his less legitimate 'partners' in the Triads.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheCharmer: Ho is noted by many to be exceptionally charismatic, being able to even charm the Japanese such as Suzuki, despite Ho being part-Chinese and part-European.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:If the IJA take over Guangdong, despite facing a firing squad, Ho refuses to wear a blindfold before telling his executioners that they better not miss.]]
* KangarooCourt: [[spoiler:Unlike most of the Guangdong government, Ho is not even given the courtesy of a proper trial should the IJA seize control, instead being read his charges by a group of soldiers and quickly put in front of a firing squad.]]
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: Ho is the main representative for the Triads residing in Guangdong.
* VenturousSmuggler: Ho makes most of his money by exporting and importing both legal and illegal luxuries to Mainland China.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ōmori Kan]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_omori_kan_plowix.png]]
->'''Role:''' Guangdong Police Force Commissioner[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Morita cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporate Paternalism[[note]]Paternalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]As Chief Executive Morita seeks to revamp the division of labor between the Guangdong Police Force and the Kenpeitai, it has become abundantly clear that new leadership is required at the top. Ōmori Kan - a senior Home Ministry bureaucrat with abundant experience in both police and military liaison positions in Japan - has been handpicked to lead a complete restructuring of the Guangdong Police after a lengthy selection process led by the Chief Executive himself.\\\
The appointment of an outsider without extensive pre-existing ties in Guangdong has raised eyebrows in the Legislative Council and in Kenpeitai command, wary that the police will develop an autonomous streak. They are right to worry - and they will soon learn that Ōmori is not a man that can be bought easily, and a man to be ignored at their own peril.[[/labelnote]]
----
* InternalReformist: Ōmori is personally tasked by Morita to completely reorganize the Guangdong Police, specifically with regards to its relationship with the Kenpeitai.
* LedByTheOutsider: More than a few people are befuddled to see Ōmori lead the Guangdong Police, since he has few pre-existing ties to the nation.
* TheUnfettered: Ōmori is a man full of ambition and drive, which worries many that he'll make the Guangdong police ''too'' autonomous.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tsuchida Kuniyasu]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsuchida_kuniyasu.png]]
->'''Role:''' Guangdong Police Force Commissioner[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Matsushita cabinet)
->'''Ideology:''' Colonial Government[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Tsuchida Kuniyasu, the new Commissioner of the Guangdong Police, has his work cut out for him. The Police are chronically underfunded, understaffed, and deeply corrupt - a state of decrepitude tacitly acknowledged under previous Chief Executives, who preferred to turn to the Kenpeitai as their instruments of blunt power.\\\
Now, as the Chief Executive reasserts their authority in Guangdong, they turn to Commissioner Tsuchida to get the ball rolling. A competent enforcer and administrator in his own right, Tsuchida brings familiarity with both Guangdong's way of doing business and the key figures of the Corporate elite - a man who can be trusted to clean up the police and to do things their way, without being beholden to the IJA or the Kenpeitai. Guangdong shall be brought to order under law and copyright, and Tsuchida is intimately familiar with both.[[/labelnote]]
----
* InternalReformist: Matsushita assigns Tsuchida to reform the deeply underfunded and corrupt Guangdong Police, relying on him to get it into shape without being restrained by the IJA or the Kenpeitai.
* RepressiveButEfficient: If Tsuchida's reformation of the Guangdong Police comes to fruition, it would turn into an effective security force that will bring order to Guangdong through law and copyright, all to secure Matsushita's regime.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Yokoi Hideki]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_yokoi_hideki_plowix.png]]
->'''Role:''' Financial Secretary[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Matsushita, Ibuka and Komai cabinets)
->'''Ideology:''' Corporatocracy[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]] Rugged industrialist. Vulture capitalist. Underhanded entrepreneur. Yokoi Hideki's reputation is as large as the portfolio of business interests he manages across the Sphere - acquired in lockstep with Japan's expansion across Asia. Building a fortune selling uniforms to the Japanese military during the Second World War, Yokoi leveraged his network of military contacts to purchase 'liberated' European real estate and investment properties in Asia at bargain prices - building a business empire from the loot and plunder of conquest.\\\
Though Yokoi takes great pain to appear respectable, he is often seen by Japan and Guangdong's business elite as unsophisticated new money. Few dare say so to his face, however, lest they end up receiving a visit from Yokoi's 'friends' in the Yakuza - and Yokoi understands that fear works as well as respect in almost every instance.[[/labelnote]]
----
* AllohistoricalAllusion: Yokoi Hideki in OTL was a Japanese venture capitalist who made huge profits in post-war Japan via rabid acquisitions of real estate properties. He got himself involved in numerous controversies in the process,[[note]]Including the Hotel New Japan fire in 1982, which killed 33 and resulted in him being sentenced to jail time for corporate manslaughter[[/note]] and later in his life he shifted his focus to international real estate like European castles and the Empire State Building at one point. In TNO, Yokoi's real estate ventures in Guangdong mirrors his international acquisitions later on in his OTL life.
* ArmsDealer: Yokoi made a fortune selling uniforms during the Second World War.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Yokoi's business empire is built on the loot and plunder from Japan's conquests in World War 2, having bought liberated' European real estate and investment properties in Asia at bargain prices.
* CriminalCravesLegitimacy: Despite his well-known connections to the {{Yakuza}}, Yokoi goes to great pains to make himself appear to be a respectable businessman.
* NouveauRiche: Yokoi is commonly viewed by most of Japan and Guangdong's business elites as unsophisticated new money, although few would dare say this to his face.
* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: Unlike every other major character in Guangdong, the fate of Yokoi is never revealed after the IJA take control of Guangdong during the riots. WordOfGod states that Yokoi manages to get off scot-free due to being Japanese.]]
* {{Yakuza}}: Yokoi is affiliated with the Yakuza and is the person each Chief Executive turns to if they want to make a deal with them.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Takashima Masuo]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_takashima_masuo.png]]
->'''Role:''' External Secretary[[note]]Foreign Minister[[/note]] ([[spoiler:Nagano cabinet]])
->'''Party:''' [[spoiler:Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]]]
->'''Ideology:''' Colonial Government[[note]]Despotism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show (Warning: Unmarked Spoilers)]]The right man for the right job; Consul-General Takashima Masuo has found himself at the head of the External Secretariat in the wake of the Imperial Army's intervention. A bureaucrat at heart, and a loyal one at that, he has served valiantly in the various China offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.\\\
In dire times like these, he is perfect for the job.\\\
Anyone can tell that this intervention will be a diplomatic disaster. Those in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be going through a storm of panicked cables. No matter. For decades, the military has remained above the rabble of civilian politics, and it will remain so. No matter what the Prime Minister says, and no matter what China says, the military is supreme.[[/labelnote]]
----
* BeleagueredBureaucrat: Takashima is usually described as being exhausted and weary from his dealings with Japan as the main representative for Tokyo in Guangdong.
* PropagandaMachine: If [[spoiler:the IJA takeover happens, Takashima's role in Guangdong turns into this, serving as a government spokesperson to the general public to "spin the casualty and damage reports into something palatable".]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: While the Tokyo government will offer no respite to Guangdong in the wake of the Yasuda crisis, Takashima will acknowledge the difficult circumstances and give the Chief Executive a reprieve from the pre-crisis GDP goal. Similarly during the Oil Crisis, he waives the pre-crisis GDP goal for Guangdong again in light of the external factors beyond the Chief Executive's control.
[[/folder]]
!! Imperial Japanese Army (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
[[folder:Nagano Shigeto]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shigeto_nagano_hos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:156:[[labelnote: Military Outfit]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shigeto_nagano_general.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Role:''' Head of State (IJA takeover)
->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law [[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Ultramilitarism[[note]]Ultranationalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A decade and more passed by in this absurdity of a place, a decade wasted while good Japanese men were slaughtered in pointless fucking wars to satisfy the whims of a lot of money-grubbing traitors. Ten years, ten years frittered away, and for what? So that loyal soldiers of his Majesty the Emperor could be reduced to sapient test rats!\\\
"No more," Nagano Shigeto says.\\\
Tokyo has given its local IJA commander its blessing - as it should have done years ago. Now Nagano Shigeto will bring order to the chaos of the Guangdong riots - just as he helped to do so in China four decades ago. For its countless follies, for the very absurdity of its existence, Guangdong deserves nothing other than to be ended - and Nagano will be the one to bring it about.\\\
Guangdong's innermost apocalypse has been distilled into the force of a single man, who shudders slightly in utter glee at the prospect of putting an end to the corporate experiment that once ruled over the Pearl River Delta. If Guangdong thought it had known war beforehand, it was wrong-\\\
[[gray:-for Nagano Shigeto has no intention of leaving anything in this unnatural hellhole of a state untouched.]][[/labelnote]]
----
* AllohistoricalAllusion: Nagano Shigeto was an IJA and later JGSDF officer who served as the Chief of the Ground Staff from 1978 to 1980, and was a politician after 1980. He was most infamous in OTL for publicly denying Japanese war crimes like the Rape of Nanking immediately after becoming the Minister of Justice in 1994, resulting in his resignation 11 days after his appointment. In TNO, Nagano Shigeto's personal leader trait here is ominously called simply "As Nanjing, So Too Guangdong," a reference to his callous OTL views towards the Rape of Nanking.
* ArmiesAreEvil: Of all the possible outcomes for the Guangdong region, the army taking direct control and rampaging across it in an orgy of RapePillageAndBurn is by far the worst, even compared to the literal slavery of the Manchurian model. Even more than Komai, Nagano is Guangdong's failstate.
* BerserkButton: Nagano is most infuriated by the Product Testing Research Group sending research divisions to fight in proxy conflicts, viewing them as boondoggles that force his men to fight wars with suspect weaponry for profits like mercenaries.
* DownerEnding: Nagano and the IJA taking over is Guangdong's failstate, as it ends with the IJA going on an incredibly violent rampage throughout the region, and completely dissolving Guangdong as a country.
* EvilerThanThou: While almost all of Guangdong's leaders are not very sympathetic, and many of them can drown the corporate state in blood to maintain control and order, Nagano Shigeto will slaughter them all if they can't contain the oil crisis riots, demonstrating just how bad things will be for Guangdong's people when he turns his weapons on them next.
* AFatherToHisMen: Perhaps his only sympathetic trait is his care for his men, despising the fact that they are used by the Product Testing Research Group to fight in proxy conflicts across the world, with equipment that has not been tested before, for profit and to sell weaponry. If the IJA takeover Guangdong, he makes sure to have apology cards sent to the families of the men who died fighting in those conflicts.
* GeneralRipper: Despising the megacorporations for "wasting" Japanese lives as "sapient test rats," Shigeto is described as gleeful in his desire to utterly destroy the "unnatural" state of Guangdong and "restore order" by burning it to the ground.
* ThePurge: Nagano starts as he intends to go on, executing all the corporate chiefs and turning Guangdong into a glorified IJA base to prepare for the coming Great Asian War. His "End Corruption" focus art is literally a severed head.
* WalkingSpoiler: It's impossible to talk about Nagano's role in Guangdong's storyline without talking about its climax, and the worst possible outcome of said climax.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Takeda Goro]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portrait_japan_goro_takeda.png]]
->'''Role:''' Chief of Staff[[note]]Head of Government[[/note]] (Nagano cabinet)
->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law (Nagano cabinet)[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Ultramilitarism[[note]]Ultranationalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Wherever Nagano Shigeto goes, Takeda Goro follows, for he is his executive officer. Pursuant to this, he has moved laterally to become the administrative face for Guangdong. Some, those who are uninformed or are perhaps simply naive, believe that he will moderate the 'worst excesses' of the army.\\\
Oh, they are wrong. In his view, everything the Army does is necessary to bring back stability to Guangdong. Nothing must be barred from happening, so that peace may be restored quickly. That is how it has always been in situations like this, and there is little reason to change such matters.[[/labelnote]]
----
* TheDragon: Takeda is fervently loyal to Nagano, being his executive officer. Whatever Nagano wants, Takeda will deliver.
* OnlySaneMan: {{Subverted}}. Many hope that Takeda will moderate the IJA's worst excesses, which is a horrible mischaracterization. Takeda sees Nagano's brutal actions as completely necessary to restore stability back to Guangdong.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Murai Sumio]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gng_murai_sumio.png]]
->'''Role:''' Chief of Operations[[note]]Economy Minister[[/note]] (Nagano cabinet)
->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Ultramilitarism[[note]]Ultranationalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]A graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1945, Brigadier General Murai is one of the growing cohort of IJA officers whose primary experience has been in the post-war pacification and occupation missions in the Co-Prosperity Sphere. Having spent much of their career in the armored corps, then-Colonel Murai transitioned to staff duties in 1966 as the logistics chief for the IJA garrison in Guangdong.\\\
Following the chaos of the Guangdong Riots and the IJA's seizure of control, Murai has received a brevet promotion to Brigadier General, to serve as Guangdong's emergency Financial Secretary. The wayward child of the Sphere will return to serve Japan and the Imperial Army - by order and discipline.[[/labelnote]]
----
* EvilColonialist: Most of Murai's experience consists of occupation and pacification missions in the conquered lands of the CPS.
* GeneralRipper: Murai serves as a brevetted Brigadier General with the IJA while putting down the Guangdong riots and is just as vicious as Nagano in his goals to turn Guangdong into a war machine for the coming war against China.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Watanabe Keitaro]]
[[quoteright:156:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/watanabe_keitaro.png]]
->'''Role:''' Chief of Intelligence[[note]]Security Minister[[/note]] (Nagano cabinet)
->'''Party:''' Imperial Japanese Army - Martial Law[[note]]Martial law is in effect.\\\
Remain in your homes.\\\
Compliance is mandatory.\\\
Offenders will be shot.[[/note]]
->'''Ideology:''' Ultramilitarism[[note]]Ultranationalism[[/note]]
->'''In-Game Biography''' [[labelnote:Click to Show]]Colonel Watanabe Keitaro has served Japan in close proximity to its enemies - as an intelligence officer. Serving at times as a military attaché in foreign lands, and at other times as a combat intelligence officer managing informants and reconnaissance fighting the Sphere's many insurgencies, Colonel Watanabe was assigned to serve as the chief of intelligence for the IJA garrison in 1961, bringing a fresh pair of eyes to a position only increasing in importance.\\\
Now, with Guangdong in chaos and the IJA asserting its control over the wayward territory, Watanabe has assumed direct control over Guangdong's security apparatus. Where handcuffs and truncheons proved inadequate, the bayonet and the bullet will more than prove their worth.[[/labelnote]]
----
* GeneralRipper: Just like the rest of the IJA under Nagano's command, he is utterly ruthless and eager to use as much unrestrained force as possible to put down the Guangdong riots.
* SociopathicSoldier: When Nagano informs his general that they are allowed to use as much force as they feel is necessary to keep the people of Guangdong in line, all Watanabe can do is grin before remarking he already was doing this.
* TheSpymaster: Watanabe serves as the chief of intelligence for the IJA garrison in Guangdong, with his previous experience including acting as a combat intelligence officer conducting counter insurgency and managing informants in CPS territory.
[[/folder]]
