As the year reaches a close, a young woman named Asumi Kamijou has lost complete contact with her sister. She arrives in Tokyo to visit the acclaimed Mikozuka Lab. Here, among the numerous reclusive geniuses, Asumi hope to reunite with her sister and learn more about the graduate problem that's kept her so busy.
There's just one problem: the Mikozuka Lab claim her sister has never been a member of their program.
Asumi refuses to accept the possibility that her sister is lying and is determined to uncover the truth behind her disappearance. Her investigation may put herself into more danger than she expects, as the lab has more than a few secrets they don't want uncovered...
Scar of the Doll is an Adventure Game developed by Child Dream. Written by Hidehisa Miyashita (best known for his work on Folklore), the game was originally published in 1999 and remained virtually unknown in America. However, a remastered localization was released on Steam in 2017, allowing Americans to experience the story for themselves.
Due to its nature as a mystery thriller, be wary of spoilers.
This visual novel provides examples of:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Asumi is given one that briefly forces her to question whether the Lab's insistence that her sister doesn't exist is correct.Yumino: What's your sister's name?
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: No one in the Lab is particularly happy to have Asumi snooping around their offices. While the staff is willing to indulge her search for the time being, assistant Tanaba outright accuses Asumi of being a spy fabricating a sister to steal their information and it becomes clear that many others suspect the same. And are willing to take a proactive approach to fix this.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Its revealed that Ichinose is developing mind control technology for the Lab, but doesn't seem to consider the possibility it could be used for evil. The Maiko and Funabashi clones are victims of this, fully indoctrinated to only serve the head of the Department of Education.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Played with. The Lab's forces hope to gain information from Asumi and uncover why she's investigating their premises, but they're also willing to just kill her on an isolated road if they get the opportunity.
- Chekhov M.I.A.: Asumi's father is briefly mentioned, but Asumi doesn't feel ready to contact him until she's solved the mystery. Then the other Chevhov Missing In Action Assistant Professor Haibara turns out to be her father, in a sense.
- Clone Angst: Asumi's sister doesn't exist. Asumi is simply a clone of the real Asumi, who died four years ago. The reveal leaves Asumi in a state of utter, uncomprehending denial until she learns to accept her identity as a new Asumi.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Every single student at the labs have no living relatives, ostensibly to prevent any leaks. The students are well aware that it’s also to ensure that no one like Asumi comes looking if a student becomes more trouble than they’re worth.
- The Determinator: Even as deaths begin to pile up around her, Asumi refuses to consider the possibility that her sister simply lied to her about entering the doctorate program.
- Evil vs. Evil: The main conflict of the game kickstarts with Professor Haibara’s attempts to expose the crimes Minozuka Labs. However, it becomes clear that Haibara is only acting out of the frustration that his career within the labs has stalled and he’d happily continue the unethical experiments under better paycheck. He also plans to kill Asumi once his revenge is complete.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Despite participating in several horrific experiments, Kaori admits in a letter that in her development of Asumi, she began to gain an emotional attachment and considered the girl to be a little sister.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Ichinose quickly realizes that Funabashi is being controlled by the same mind control technology that he developed... right after Funabashi delivered a fatal blow to Ichinose.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Despite supposedly being a student in the same year as Asumi’s sister, Ichinose and Yumino seem to be the completely unaware of her existence and are insulted by Asumi’s insistence that they’re lying to her. It’s an early clue that the real Asumi enrolled in the graduate program four years ago, rather than just recently.
- Mad Scientist: Most of Mikozuka Lab's students are far more concerned that Asumi could steal their work than the possibility that their work could be considered grossly unethical.
- Reluctant Mad Scientist: That said, Asumi makes a point to consider the students more victims than anything, who are too blinded by the joy of science to realize how the Lab is using their work for evil purposes.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Several conversations and dreams seem to suggest that Asumi is being followed by the ghost of her sister. At the same time, The Reveal puts much of Asumi's psyche into question.
- Multiple Endings: Various game over states have unique endings, some of which revealing major plot points before they might emerge normally in the narrative.
- Nervous Wreck: Kakizaki and Shiina are noticeably shaken for the entire game while talking to Asumi. Seeing your dead classmate alive again will do that.
- Never Suicide: Shiina death is noted for being incredibly suspicious. However, all the scientists have an alibi and the truth isn’t revealed in the game proper. The bonus Shiina scenario reveals he was murdered by a Funabashi clone after giving Asumi a clue to her search.
- No Name Given: Asumi's sister is never named by the story, despite her disappearance being the central premise. Its also a clue that she's not real.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Maiko Mizukoshi, Mikozuka's secretary, is one of the first people who outright insults Asumi and tell her that they have little interest in indulging her "fantasies." She's also more murderous than most examples, being responsible for many potential mid-game deaths.
- Offing the Offspring: While it’s debatable if he was aware of the consequences, Minozuka sided with the Lab against his daughter Asumi. Her death haunts him into the present day.
- Pet the Dog: Out of all the scientists, Kaori is noticeably the coldest and most dispassionate. She also was the one who gave Asumi her teddy bear and gave her real comfort and care in a cold lab experiment.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Tanaba vanishes towards the end of the game in a hurry. Its left unclear whether he is involved in the wider conspiracies or if he just could tell where the wind was going.
- The Sociopath: Funabashi is introduced quietly admiring the holographic work of his associate Shiina and how realistic it functions. It'd be a warm remark, if it didn't come right after Shiina's body fell from the roof.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Kaori only appears for a few plot mandated scenes and has nothing to add to the investigation or much in the way of personal motivations. But she helped create the Asumi clone and went out of her way to create loving memories rather than the cold mathematical information that the other clones possess.
- Spanner in the Works: The lab was functioning with only mild tension before Asumi’s arrival. The second a family member of one of their students arrives, (which was never supposed to happen by the Lab’s own recruitment method), the entire system seems to fall apart at the seams as characters quickly begin betraying each other. Asumi gaining an identity beyond her programmed memories also acted in defiance of Haibara’s plans and the counter-plans of The Conspiracy.
- The Stoic: Maiko and Kaori are relatively emotionless scientists and are less prone to the emotional outbursts of the other students. While the former appears to be too brainwashed to show much of anything, Kaori eventually admits that she lacks the social skills to reveal her true feelings.
- Unreliable Narrator: While Asumi's perspective of events is generally trustworthy, she occasionally hallucinates strangers threatening her or insisting that her sister doesn’t exist. Her psyche proves to be even more tenuous than it initially appears, as everything she claims to remember about her childhood is proven to be fabricated Fake Memories.
- Younger Than They Look: A surprisingly realistic example. Its eventually revealed Kanematsu has Werner Syndrome, and is profoundly younger than his sixty year old appearance would suggest.
