Video Game / Misao

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Misao is a freeware horror game by Miscreant's Room with the Wolf RPG Editor. This same group went on to create Mad Father.

Misao was just an Ordinary High-School Student, who didn't particularly stand out at all... until three months ago, when she stopped coming to class. And she wasn't at home, either... Though nobody knew what happened to her, rumors started spreading that she'd already passed away. As they joke about the idea of her haunting the school and cursing her classmates, a sudden earthquake takes out the lights, and Aki hears a voice pleading for help. Separated from the others, she sets out to discover the truth behind Misao's disappearance and the curse...

The original game was translated into English by vgperson, and can be found right here. An updated remake, titled Misao: Definitive Edition, was released on Steam on October 25, 2017, and can be found right here.

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Misao contains examples of:

• Alien Geometries: The otherworldly schools takes on some non-euclidean geometries. The most prominent example is falling off a busted third floor and landing head-first in a toilet bowl on the ground floor bathroom without ever meeting the floors between.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Despite his reputation, Aki seems to have a crush on Tohma. However, she changes her mind after seeing him ditch Otome. In the "Truth" ending, she doesn't even particularly care about leaving him behind in the other world.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Misao, Otome, and Yoshino are all in love with Tohma, who ultimately is too self-absorbed to really return any feelings. Ayaka has a massive crush on Mr. Sohta, and Kudou is revealed to have kept their feelings for Misao bottled up for too long. "Truth" also reveals that Sohta's childhood friend/crush Takano didn't feel the same way, which didn't end well.
• Ambiguous Situation: After helping Kudou cope with his guilt in the "Truth" scenario, Aki wonders to herself whether or not the vision of Misao who appeared and accepted his feelings was real or not. Word of God only reveals that Misao didn't return his feelings, and leaves open whether or not she accepted them to ease his guilt or that was all in his own head.
• And Your Reward Is Infancy: The Truth storyline starts out with Aki being asked to help the victims of Misao's curse earn this.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Kudou makes one shortly before dying. Misao's spirit appears and coldly rejects it.
• Anti-Frustration Features: You are not allowed to quicksave in areas where a ghost is out to attack you, thereby preventing situations of the game becoming Unwinnable.
• Asshole Victim: Aki isn't exactly broken up about 'forgetting to save' Yoshino. When the Flashbacks reveal precisely what Yoshino did to Misao, well...
• Badass Adorable: Both genders of Aki count, being cute teens who brave the cursed school and trying to save their friends from ghosts and vengeful spirits without hesitation.
• Bathroom Stall of Overheard Insults: Seen in the "Truth" path while Aki tries to save Saotome.
• Batter Up!: One of the items Aki finds is a bat. Not very useful against the evil spirits, but good for smashing up other things… Especially grueling when the player attempts to save Saotome from dying by using the bat to stop the evil spirit that's attacking her, but the plot demands you go all the way back to get the fire extinguisher at the entrance. Naturally, by the time you get back, Saotome is dead.
• "Begone" Bribe: Played for laughs, dementedly during Truth. One of the items you can use on the Misao(s) beating up Yoshino is money. It isn't effective.
  Aki: Look Misao! Money! (Beat) Nope, she didn't even look. What a shame.
• Big Bad Ensemble: The titular Misao is the one who trapped the students in the school in the Other World, and commands the evil spirits, but she is doing it for revenge on all those who tormented her — particularly Mr. Hideki Sohta/Kurata, her Evil Teacher who raped and dismembered her, and himself seeks revenge on the world for the bullying he experienced when he was young and ugly.
• Big "NO!": Yoshino unleashes one just before being killed.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Misao believes Otome to be this, since she was apparently the one who posted her romantic text to Tohma for all to see.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • In the good ending, Aki punishes Misao's murderer and helps her spirit find some peace, but Saotome, Yoshino, Kudou, and Ayaka all died and were forgotten by the rest of their classmates.
  • In the Truth ending, everyone who was killed in the other world is either reincarnated into babies or resurrected to help care for them, and Misao is finally able to truly let go of her anger.
• Black Comedy: Girl!Aki seems to enjoy indulging in this very frequently — most prominently when she giggles about Yoshino's horrible death. The author also admits that they enjoy such surreal and dark humour in the Rec Room, and apologises to anyone who may have found it tasteless at times.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: One of Library's hints in the English translation is that Tohma is dry and needs to be moisturized; what she means is that he's dehydrated and needs something to drink. This is fixed in the Definitive Edition.
• Blood-Splattered Innocents: Aki ends up covered in blood after hiding in the test subjects' stomach. Changed to a bear in the re-release.
• Bloody Handprint: These are everywhere. If you examine one in the Rec Room, the author will comment "Whoops, I forgot to draw a thumb."
• Bowdlerize: In Definitive Edition, Misao's body parts (except her hands) are replaced with her belongings from when she died, including her broken cellphone, snapped hairtie, torn ribbon tie, blazer, muddy boots, and "mysterious blunder" (containing her dismembered hands, which are mostly covered that they could be mistaken as mannequin hands). Her corpse only had her hands missing when Aki found it buried beneath the school ground in the good ending.
• Break the Cutie:
  • Good LORD, does this happen to Misao. It's no wonder why, during the "Truth" episode, Aki has a significantly harder time pacifying her rage against her victims.
  • Akito's scenario counts as despite his best efforts and greater compassion than his female counterpart, he finds he can't save everyone and laments this fact.
• But Thou Must!:
  • A painful one occurs when you find Saotome in the bathroom. Aki needs something to stop the demon attacking Saotome. Although she has a baseball bat by this point and proves time and again she's fine with using it to kill, the game won't let you actually use it and instead forces you to leave Saotome alone while you fetch a fire extinguisher. Of course, Saotome is dead by the time you get back.
  • Something similar happens in the infirmary. Aki is forced to leave Ayaka and Sohta alone despite Ayaka begging her not to and Sohta acting extremely suspiciously; by the time Aki gets back, Ayaka is dead.
• Boy Meets Ghoul: At the end of the "Truth" playthrough, if playing as the male Aki, Misao will ask him to become her boyfriend, to which he rejects her somewhat reluctantly, stating that he cares about her too much to rush into a relationship with her like Tohma did. He also notes that they should become better friends before ever having a chance as lovers, but then goes on to say that he likes her, and that he'll always be her friend.
• The Bully: Yoshino. The Good Ending shows the lengths she'd go to. It's not pretty; among other things, she locked Misao in a box and had her raped by another student. No wonder Fem!Aki is so chill about her horrible death.
• Cannot Spit It Out: A tragic example occurs when Ayaka can't warn Aki about what she's discovered. Aki only learns the full truth about what they were trying to say in "Truth".
• The Casanova: Tohma, who has a reputation for being a lech. Ayaka teases Aki for being interested anyway.
• Chainsaw Good: Wielded by the Mad Scientist who kills Yoshino.
• Character Portrait: All the main characters have one.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Part of the reason Yoshino bullied Misao so much, as well as why Otome posted her romantic text for everyone to see — if it was in fact Otome who did it.
• Cruelty Is the Only Option: If you come across the injured Kudoh in the street (or on the stage in the re-release), your only safe option is to watch him get killed. Attempting to help him will only result in Aki sharing his fate.
• Cry into Chest: Sohta does this in "Truth" when Aki tells him that his students really did care about him.
• Cute Ghost Girl: Hanako-san. At first.
• Determinator:
  • Regardless of what she has to go through, Aki is absolutely determined to save Misao's soul. This extends to the point that when she discovers that somebody else must be sacrificed, she's willing to volunteer herself for the role.
  • Misao herself turns out to be one as well. She is quite dedicated to her pursuit of revenge against those who wronged her, and she was so determined to keep living after Sohta killed her that her body parts stayed fresh in his desk for three months.
• Developer's Room: Can be accessed after beating "Truth" with a special password, and contains extra information and notes about the storyline and the various characters.
• Didn't See That Coming: Word of God in the Developer's Room reveals that Misao expected Aki to sacrifice Tohma so that they could be together forever, and is shocked if she chooses to kill Sohta instead.
• Dirty Coward: Tohma, for all his big talk, abandons Otome the moment she's in trouble.
• Dismantled MacGuffin: In order to break the curse, Aki must find the six parts of Misao's body. This got changed in the re-release. Now, it's six items of Misao's (mostly clothes, but also includes her cellphone; the item you get from Mr. Sohta is still her severed hands, only they're now in a package that he tells you not to open).
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • If you refuse to befriend Miss Library, she'll kill you on the spot.
  • In the Truth ending, Onigawara tasks Aki with saving the people who Misao wanted revenge on, because he believes that Misao has taken it too far.
• Evolving Title Screen: The title screen at the beginning features Misao's shadowy silouette. Once you beat the game with the good ending, the shadow changes to a black and white version of her that looks sad. And after getting the "Truth" ending, she's now in color, and looks a little happier.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Certain lines here are repeated in Mad Father, and the character of Onigawara reappears as Ogre. Additionally, the Mad Scientist who kills Yoshino uses the same sprite as Dr. Drevis. The remake adds some more references: Library's room looks more like Aya's (including having things like the dolls from Mad Father, Aya's bow, and even a photo of Aya's mother), a doll room similar to the one that appears in Mad Father, a clone appearing in a similar manner to the reveal in the prior game, and a diary retelling the plot of Mad Father.
  • At one point, you find a piece of Misao's body in a locker that you opened with a key that Sohta dropped.
  • In the class cutscene at the beginning of the game, Ayaka mentions that Mr. Sohta is rumored to have a hand fetish. Later on, Mr. Sohta gives you Misao's arms. After Ayaka found them in his desk.
  • The game tries to not-too-subtly nudge the player into sacrificing Tohma when choosing the final sacrifice to be made/letting Tohma die when he and Sohta are clinging to the precipice edge at the end of the main game, but paying very careful attention to the fact that several of the body parts/belongings' acquisition are related to Mr. Sohta is the only way to make the right choice.
  • In the Definitive Edition, when Tohma, Saotome, Yoshino and Kudoh are discussing things that happened around school that could be attributed to ghosts, Kudoh comments that the stage lights in the gymnasium fell down, though no one got hurt. While in the original game Kudoh died by getting run over on the street in front of the school, in Definitive Edition he dies to those very stage lights..
• Four Is Death: There are four graves near the shrine. To break the curse, four people whom Misao despised in life must die.
• Friend to All Living Things: Akito himself is this. While Aki has no qualms against bashing heads to fulfill her objectives, Akito struggles to even give the Bomb Mandrake a smack to make it blow up cause he feels like crap about it.
• Freudian Excuse: "Truth" reveals that Mr. Sohta used to be bullied about being unattractive. When one girl started spending time around him as a friend, he fell in love with her, only to be rejected when he made a move. He then changed his appearance, but believed everyone only cared about his looks rather than him as a person.
• Gainax Ending: Even in the Good ending, the last thing the player will see is Misao standing in the classroom.
• Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: During the Truth ending, Aki attacks Misao with a baseball bat in order to rescue Yoshino and get Misao to calm down.
• Girl Posse: Yoshino is in charge of one.
• Girlish Pigtails: Aki has these.
• Gory Discretion Shot:
  • Used when Aki kills someone.
  • A particularly bloody one is used if Aki goes in the tiny room near the bathrooms in version 3.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Implied with the player character; the developer's room mentions this and alludes to the possibility of confirming it in a follow-up game.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: One of the new deaths added in version 3 has Aki suffering this fate.
• He Knows Too Much: Mr. Sohta kills Ayaka after she discovers he's keeping pieces of Misao's body in his desk. If you get the bad ending, Mr. Sohta kills Aki after she learns he killed Misao.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: You can rename Aki at the start of the game. You also get to give Miss Library a name after befriending her.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Brought up but ultimately subverted. When it's discovered that one more person must be sacrificed in order to fully appease Misao, Aki offers to do it herself, only for Ogre to reveal that it needs to be someone Misao hated and therefore Aki doesn't qualify.
• Hint System: Miss Library will gladly provide Aki with plenty of hints if asked.
• Hot for Teacher: Ayaka has a major crush on Sohta, to the point of where her first priority after the earthquake is snooping through his desk to learn more about him.
• Human Sacrifice: In order to appease Misao's spirit, Aki must sacrifice four people whom Misao despised in life — as well as the pieces of Misao's corpse. In the 2017 remake, it's no longer the pieces of her corpse you need; rather, it's six of her personal effects. Granted, one of them is still her hands...
• I Love the Dead: Sohta keeps pieces of Misao's corpse in his desk. It's implied that he has… personal reasons for doing so.
• Idiot Ball: Aki unfortunately grabs one during the infirmary sequence, forcing the player to comply with a particularly painful But Thou Must!.
• In-Series Nickname: Saotome is called 'Otome' for short.
• Ironic Hell: In "Truth", Yoshino is endlessly getting beaten up in a bathroom by several copies of Misao, just like how she and her gang of bullies beat up and abused Misao in life.
• It's Up to You: Onigawara tells Aki that she's the only one capable of reaching out to Misao. In the Truth arc, she's supposedly also the only one who is capable of helping the others reincarnate as infants.
• Jump Scare: Which at times include art cut-ins.
• Justified Tutorial: The library functions as the tutorial room, where you can look up information about the game system on its Pamphlet Shelves.
• Kill the Cutie: Saotome is potentially the first to die. Ayaka doesn't get to make it out, either.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Used in "Truth" to showcase that a certain character wasn't always so twisted. Though unfortunately, the cat was already beyond help when he found it.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Both positive and negative in the Truth Ending: Ayaka, who had done nothing to wrong Misao and died tragically at the hands of her idol, is revived by Onigawara and is able to live happily in the other world. On the flip side, the selfish Tohma also gets stranded there, and isn't quite so thrilled about it.
• Last-Second Ending Choice: Which ending you get depends who you choose to be the final sacrifice out of the two remaining people who wronged Misao. Killing Tohma nets you the bad ending, where Mr. Sohta, Misao's real killer, gets away with it and kills you for what you know. Killing Mr. Sohta gets you the Good Ending, where the school is returned from the Otherworld and everyone who was alive at the time stays that way.
• Look Both Ways: If Aki runs into the street to save the injured Kudoh, an oncoming car will run over the both of them. Doesn't apply in the 2017 remake, as this event takes place on a stage instead.
• The Many Deaths of You: Just looking at the wrong thing can lead to a very quick end for Aki.
• Mirror Character: Misao and Mr. Sohta, her killer, who both were tormented and bullied by their peers and coldly rejected by the person they considered a close friend, before proceeding to kill people who slighted them.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: During the "Truth" path, once Aki shows Otome how Tohma's betrayed and used her, she turns on him. And borrows Aki's bat first.
• Mood Whiplash: Most of the game is campy and tongue-in-cheek, and feels like a B-movie. And then you get to the endings and see what actually happened to Misao, and suddenly, the humor disappears entirely. It stays gone for the "Truth" ending.
• Multiple Endings: As with Mad Father, there are three:
  • Bad Ending: Aki sacrifices the wrong person and escapes the other world with them. Visions of how Misao died only lead the villain to conclude that she knows too much...
  • Good Ending: Aki sacrifices the villain, returning the school to their own world. She then has visions of how Misao died and realizes she made the right choice, but still grieves for her. This is edited in the remake: There is an extra scene after they get back to the real world, where Aki heads to the spot where they saw the villain bury Misao, and digs her up. Misao thanks Aki for finding her, and apparently passes on.
  • Truth Ending: Aki helps those who died in the other world find peace and be reborn, and befriends Misao.
• My Greatest Failure: Mr. Sohta laments not taking the time to listen to Misao before her disappearance, feeling like it could have been prevented if he hadn't been so busy. This isn't quite true.
• Never My Fault: Tohma staunchly insists that he's not to blame for any of the crap happening around them. This despite stringing along and manipulating Misao, Otome, and Yoshino the whole time. However, he really isn't to blame for Misao's disappearance; that's all on Mr. Sohta.
• Nightmare Face: In the remake, if the little ghost girl in the bathroom manages to kill Aki, the screen will show a close up of her face as she laughs maniacally.
• Non-Standard Game Over:
  • If you enter the large room that contains the door to the roof, you will be trailed by a little ghost girl that is singing "Kagome, Kagome". Unless you have the key to the door, your only option is to turn around, which will lead to the little girl brutally murdering you.
  • If you, for some reason, decide to meet Sohta while you're covered in blood, Sohta will kill you, thinking you're a monster.
• Once More, with Clarity: At first, the scenes in the infirmary are played as Ayaka having a Freak Out, Mr. Sohta staying to protect her, and Aki leaving them only to come back and find that they were attacked and Ayaka died. However, in the "Truth" ending, we learn that Ayaka accidentally discovered Mr. Sohta's secret, Mr. Sohta chased her down and tricked Aki into leaving, murdered Ayaka, and then injured himself in order to make it seem like he'd gotten hurt protecting Ayaka.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Miss Library, the school's vice president. So called because she spends all her time in the library.
• Opaque Nerd Glasses: Miss Library wears a pair of these, complete with spirals on the lenses.
• Point of No Return: In "Truth", you can't go back after touching Tohma's grave. The game's kind enough to warn you about this.
• Poor Communication Kills: Being unable to spit it out leads directly to Ayaka's death. In "Truth", it's tragically revealed that Mr. Sohta overheard her gushing to her friends about how attractive he was, but ran off before overhearing that they loved his kind personality as well.
• The Power of Hate: It is Misao's unending hatred of her classmates that drives the curse and kicks off the plot. Easing her anger by killing off the main targets of her rage (Yoshino, Tohma, Sohta, Kudoh, and Saotome) is the only way to truly end it.
• Prank Date: Tohma only started going out with Misao because he could, and was stringing along her and Otome at the same time.
• Psychic-Assisted Suicide: In one of the deaths added to version 3.0, Aki can be possessed by one of the ghosts floating around the school, and forced to jump off the roof.
• Rape as Drama: Yoshino coerces another student into giving Misao "lots of love", then when Sohta finds Misao crying after that experience, he pretends to listen to her before forcing himself on her. Once she tells him to stop, he freaks out and kills her. This is the reason for Misao's rage towards Yoshino and Sohta in particular.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After they're reunited, Aki calls Tohma out for abandoning Saotome.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In "Truth", Aki's revealed to be wearing contacts, and Word of God alludes to her possibly having some sort of demonic heritage. Misao also has these as an evil spirit.
• Save-Game Limits: Principal Onigawara records your adventure for you. You can also quicksave at almost any time, but these will be lost whenever you quit the game, and there are certain areas that prohibit quicksaving.
• School Bullying Is Harmless: Completely averted. The torment of their peers plays a significant part in both Mr. Sohta's and (the ghost of) Misao's Start of Darkness.
• Schmuck Bait:
  • A decent few of the death scenes count, though it's subverted in the Truth route, where, when hiding in the closet in Sohta's section, the player is given the choice to exit the closet or stay inside a little longer mere moments after he's tried to kill you. Staying inside leads to him coming in and killing Aki.
  • First time players may find that the choice regarding the final sacrifice is one, as most players will have come to expect that Tohma is the final one bearing Misao's hatred based on what they know so far and choose to sacrifice him instead of Sohta, resulting in the Bad Ending.
• Secret-Keeper: Onigawara has a secret code you can find if you're clever enough......
  • There's an invisible option right under the load button giving you the code to the Developer Room.
• Self-Inflicted Hell: In "Truth", Aki tells Kudou that all the Misaos surrounding and berating him are borne from his own guilt over his past failures.
• She Who Fights Monsters: Misao becomes just as bad, if not worse, than her tormentors in her vicious revenge. Getting her to see this (literally) is how Aki finally soothes her anger and gets her to move on.
• Shameful Strip: In the Truth ending, it's revealed that Yoshino and her pals once did this to Misao — stripping her naked, painting on her face and body, and taking photos of it all — as one way to torment her.
• Shout-Out:
  • If Aki tries to get some juice without money, she's told: "But Aki didn't have any coins... And the machine refused to change..."
  • It's possible that names four and five on the student list in the lab, April Redd and May White, are this — April May and Redd White.
• Something We Forgot: During the credits of the Truth ending, it's revealed that Tohma got left behind in the other world.
• Spiritual Successor: Of Corpse Party.
• Start of Darkness: In "Truth", Aki can learn more about the past of Mr. Sohta and learn how they became so disturbed.
• Strapped to an Operating Table: Aki finds an unhappy Yoshino this way.
• Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: One appears if you pick up the note in the main hall for a fatal Jump Scare. Another falls into a different hallway and tries to grab Aki.
• Stuffed into a Locker: This is where Aki discovers her teacher.
• Tears of Blood: Seen in "Truth" when Misao looks in the hand mirror.
• The Many Deaths of You: Not only will examining certain objects kill you, but walking too close to certain items, looking behind you in the hall leading to the emergency exit door, and even getting startled by a phone if you walk by it can lead to your death.
• This Is Unforgivable!: When Aki enters Yoshino's hell that Yoshino receives as punishment for what she did to Misao, an image of Misao says "NEVER FORGIVE". Aki then sees that a lot of Misaos are beating up on Yoshino, and probably have been for a long time.
• Trauma Conga Line: Poor, poor Misao. Rejected by her best friend, who ignores the bullying she's receiving. Asked out by the boy she likes, only to find later that he's cheating on her. The other girl posts one of her mushy texts on the school wall for all to see. The bullies become more brutal in their bullying of her. She gets raped. She cries to a seemingly sympathetic teacher... who then advances on her and murders her for rejecting him. Cue becoming a spirit out for revenge.
• Trial-and-Error Gameplay: Instant death traps with zero means of escape and zero warning abound. This is a bit of a problem, considering that the game is largely about investigating your surroundings and solving puzzles, and can rapidly turn the game's traps from scary to merely annoying.
• Undignified Death: If Aki(to) steps out of the right door of the topmost classroom, they fall down the busted floor and land head-first in the toiled bowl on the ground floor.
• Updated Re-release:
  • The recent Version 3.00 update, which overhauls the character sprites and map designs, adds new character portraits for dramatic moments, adds a few more things connecting this game with Mad Father, throws in even more ways to die horribly, and most importantly, allows you to play the Truth Scenario with Male!Aki, essentially adding a whole new ending route.
  • An updated version called Misao: Definitive Edition was released on October 25, 2017. It includes completely reworked artwork, new puzzles, new map layouts, new scenes, new deaths, and new uniform designs.
• Waiting Puzzle: Found in the piano room, where Aki must sit until the ghost finishes performing.
• Wall Slump: A corpse in the boys' bathroom is seen in this position.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • We never get to see the male student who raped Misao in the girls' bathroom again. Shouldn't Misao hold a grudge against him too?
  • Very early in the game, Yoshino mentions a rumor about a boy in the bathroom getting dragged away into nothingness. Maybe Misao decided to deal with him first...?
• What the Hell, Hero?: In "Truth", Misao is none too pleased when Aki stops her from beating up Yoshino by bashing her over the head with a bat.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Performed by Mr. Sohta after Ayaka's death.
• Yandere:
  • Misao wants Tohma to be hers forever...
  • While the bad ending implies that Misao is not Sohta's only victim, he displayed this kind of behavior towards her when he murdered her, insisting that "Now you are mine." He also keeps her hands in his desk.

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