Letters from Kyouto
Foreword

Holy shit, this is a long post and sounds like a lot of work!

This post is long because explaining this shit as I go along is exactly the opposite of what I want to do. Otherwise, it'd be broken up over the first three or four sessions of the Let's Play.

The laconic version is: After each session, I'm going to post my current stats, the amount of points I have to spend on those stats, and what the itinerary says for the next day. It'll all be in supersecretspoiler tags, so it'll look like this. Use that information to tell me the following:

• What should I spend points on?
• Should I go along on the school trip or go bancho hunting?
• Should I be shibui or shabai? (NOTE: Shibui/shabai is determined once per playthrough, at the beginning. There will be multiple playthroughs.)
• Which possible girlfriend should I court (if any)?
• Any other things you want me to try.

Please don't give me a list of places to go to find other banchos, I have my "Yatta" saved game for that if I wanted it, which I don't.

Introduction

The format of this Let's Play might seem odd. I wanted to do something fun and, hopefully, a bit creepy. I also want to do something interactive with the same game. So, apart from this introductory blurb, all game-content stuff will be in super-secret spoiler tags so that the flow of the narrative isn't broken for those who have spoilers set to visible by default, like me.

The Game: Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble is an open-sandbox brawler. Before we get to the Let's Play itself, we're going to spend this entire first post discussing some of the game mechanics and language used.

The Cast

In Kenka Bancho, you play the role of Takashi Sakamoto, a yankii from somewhere in Japan. Because you get to choose the character's given name and hometown, and to name his school, here is the character we'll be playing:

Prefecture: Osaka
School: TV Tropes High School
Name: Taroperu  ^*

Sakamoto

Yohei Sawakita
Yohei is TakashiTaroperu's best friend. If this were Tenjou Tenge, he'd be Bob Makihara. Except Bob is cooler. Yohei borders on comedy sidekick, but he's decent in a fight despite lacking a regional specialty (we'll get into those in a minute).

Manami Fujisawa
Otaku know this character the moment she appears. Not because she's famous, but because she's the concerned childhood friend. She's one of three love interests in the game. The other two, we don't know yet. She's on the honor roll, and really wants TakashiTaroperu to stop fighting all the time and apply himself.

Kagenuma
Another honor roll student. Kagenuma (you never know him well enough to refer to him by given name) is, according to the website, "a constantly brown-nosing twerp who acts as if not being able to punch a guy so hard he does a full somersault before landing makes him better than you." He exists solely to annoy TakashiTaroperu by being holier than thou. Since he's not a bancho - or even a yankii like Yohei - you're not allowed to fight him. Punk.

Mr. Suzuki
The bane of TakashiTaroperu's existence, Mr. Suzuki (or Suzumecium, as TakashiTaroperu calls him) is convinced TakashiTaroperu's the lowest form of scum imaginable, and he's looking for an excuse to send you home early. No matter how many times you get arrested, he never follows through on this threat.

Mr. Sakamoto
TakashiTaroperu's father is a monk at a temple in whatever prefecture (Osaka, remember) he hails from. Apparently, he was a bancho (or at least a yankii) in his youth. He teaches TakashiTaroperu something I will now refer to as banchodo - the Way of the Bancho, which he refers to as MANLINESS.

There are a crapload of other characters (one more teacher, forty-fucking-seven more banchos, two more love interests, a cop, and a few other characters you can only meet if you follow specific sidequests), but we'll let TakashiTaroperu discuss them when they appear in the game.

About the language

Kenka Bancho is all about Rule of Cool, and its portrayal of yankii culture is heavily anime influenced. Still, as it's yankii culture, and not just high schools in general, there's a lot of japanese thrown in the mix. Let's discuss some of the words that will crop up.

Bancho - A bancho is the leader of a school gang. Not 100% sure of the etymology, but I believe it derives from a term that means "fighter" or "warrior." In this game, we play (and fight) not only the leader of a school gang, but the toughest one from our prefecture.

Bokken - Literally "wood sword" a bokken is Exactly What It Says on the Tin: A sword made of wood. Each part of Kyouto has a souvenir bokken available in a different color. Counts as a weapon, so using one is shabai. Buying it and then dropping it immediately is cool. Any weapon you pick up at any point in the game is duplicated in your hotel room.

Geisha/Geiko - According to the "Bancho 101" lessons that occur on loading screens, which term is used depends on where you're from. It's a little vague on which is more prominent, but here in Eagle Land, it's "geisha." (According to That Other Wiki, there is a third term, "Geigi," as well.) Despite early misconceptions in the West, geisha are, essentially, performers whose audience consists of a small group of people in a traditional setting. While it's true that their purpose is to make people feel better and more important, they do this by treating their client like a highly important dignitary. It's all very feudal and beautiful in a kind of creepy misogynistic way.

Maiko - A geisha (or geiko, depending on where you're from) in training. Being a maiko is a full-time job in and of itself. The literal meaning of maiko is "dance child," which ties into a geisha's duties. According to That Other Wiki, maiko are only legal in Kyoto. We will be in its fictional counterpart, Kyouto. (Note: You can play a Kyoto bancho visiting Kyouto. The game gets a little weird about the distinction.)

Menchi - Literally, "minced meat." To "cut a menchi" at someone is to glare at them with hostile intent. This is represented in game with a Lightning Glare, and is an important game mechanic.

Shabai - From a buddhist term referring to the material world, to be shabai is to be uncool.

Shabazo - A shabai person.

Shibui - Badass. Literally, "having a bitter taste in one's mouth." The implication being that you have this bitter taste in your mouth and you don't even care, I guess. Kind of explains that expression anime characters get on their face when they're being tough. :Σ "I am so badass that I have this horrible taste in my mouth." Wait, what?

Shinai - A bamboo practice sword. Using one of these is shabai because they're weapons.

UMA - Unidentified Mysterious Animal. The game is littered with youkai (and UF Os) if you know where and when to look. They have a random chance of appearing in set places and times of day.

Yankii - The name being derived from the nickname for U.S. soldiers in World War II, a yankii is, basically, a japanese gang-banger. In Kenka Bancho, only yankii matter.

Game Mechanics

On Being a Bancho

Being a bancho is tough work in Kenka Bancho. Well, not really. It mainly consists of going around town, totally not giving a shit about anything or anybody, and kicking the shit out of any yankii you meet.

The shibui way of fighting other yankii follows the three main tenets of banchodo as laid out by Sakamoto's dad:

• The Staredown: Cut a menchi at someone until they return the favor.
• The Shoutdown: Referred to in-game as "smashtalk," this involves snappy insults and taunts. Whoever gets the better insult off gets the first hit in, and gets a slight boost to their "banchosity" - how shibui they are. Screw up, and you get a little more shabai, as well as taking a hit. The coveted "hidden smash" forces an Item Drop, does a little more damage, and is either a stone-cold BURN, or is fucking hilarious or hilariously random. (One of them is "3.14 159 265", no shit.) A phrase is flashed on the screen and you have to press buttons in sequence to either reassemble it or put together a hidden smash. You get three screens, in order, of partial phrases to choose from, and about three seconds per screen to find the part you're looking for.
• The Beatdown: After the preliminaries are taken care of, you can fight.

Some Hidden Smashes I have found (and can remember):

• This game is awesome!
• I'm going to high-five a shark!
• 3.14 159 265
• (sniff) I smell shabazo!

If your opponent cuts a menchi first, they'll get the first digs in at smashtalk. You can get a cheap, free hidden smash just by repeating what they just said. In a sarcastic, mocking tone of voice, I assume.

If you want to be shabai, you can skip steps one and two for all yankii except bancho. If you really want to be shabai, you can use a weapon. Every time you hit someone with a weapon, you lose banchosity. It's very easy to reach both the Shibui King and Shabazo King ends of the scale if you bear that in mind: If you're going for Shibui King, do everything by the numbers. If you're going for Shabazo King, be as big a dick to other yankii as possible and use a weapon to do so. If you do achieve this not-so-lofty goal, you're rewarded with the Bananaman costume, none of the vendors will look you in the eye, and Yohei will be the only peon that will join you in a fight.

But the Bananaman costume is hilarious◊. There is also a senshi costume, but I forget how I earned it.

In addition to the moral compass that is banchodo, this seems like a good place to mention two other things: Kiai and Regional Specialties, two great tastes that taste great together.

Kiai (literally "yell") is your spirit energy, and is used for charged attacks and for regional specialties. You regain it by resting, drinking energy drinks, and getting hit.

Regional Specialties are special attacks that consume kiai. They range from status effects (not the standard ones) through dirty tactics to the devastating area effect you get for beating the Kyouto bancho if you've done well enough to even face him at the end of the game.

Care and Feeding of Your Bancho

TakashiTaroperu increases his attributes by obtaining Bancho Soul. You get Bancho Soul by either levelling up or as a random drop during Night Out.

Bancho Soul can be spent on the following standard stats:

• HP - Exactly What It Says on the Tin
• ATTACK - How much damage you do
• DEFENSE - Determines how much damage you take when hit
• SPEED - How fast you move
• ENDURANCE - How active you can be before you need to take a breather. With low endurance, you need to pace yourself when it comes to fighting, or you'll find yourself winded and surrounded. Not a good situation.

How This Is Going to Work

The story follows a seven day senior field trip to KyotoKyouto. At the end of each story day, I will spend one real-time hour in Night Out mode. I will update the thread with a letter from Taroperu to his father describing the events of the day as I've played through it. Afterwards, in super-secret spoiler tags, I will post the amount of Bancho Soul I have available, and any other relevant information (Regional Specialties learned, the next day's itinerary, etc.), and will wait for a reasonable amount of time for you guys to determine how to spend that Bancho soul.

Though this is not a blind Let's Play, I will not be using itinerary information I haven't found in-game. (However, on day one, all three optional bancho fights are within walking distance of the starting zone and Taroperu is not allowed to use public transportation, so I'll be hitting all of them up for a fight.)

Also to be determined at regular intervals is the following:

• Shabai or shibui? At the beginning of the week, before I even start the game. Also, before each subsequent playthrough, which I will endeavor to make entertaining. I have a plan for that.
• On The Hunt, or School Outing? Except for days 1, 5, and 7, which are free days (1 and 7 are half-days due to being the arrival and departure days), there is a planned school outing on each day of the trip. On day 2, this is mandatory. Every other day, we can blow this trip off and go bancho-hunting. Note that with enough itineraries and careful planning, you don't NEED to blow it off and can still fight every single bancho in the game in a single playthrough while keeping your appointments with the class and/or your chosen love interest for that playthrough.
• It should be noted, by the way, that I can actually sell Bancho Soul during Night Out mode by visiting Kotone. I will say that I won't do so until it's mentioned explicitly in a letter from Taroperu, but once it is, consider wallet-boosting as an alternative to stat-boosting. Shit is expensive in Kyouto.

Getting Around Kyouto

This is a map of most of Kyouto. Blue heads mark bancho. Green heads mark bancho that are head of a union (they have peons). The red marker (at 2.5 Year Hill on the east end of town) is where Sakamoto is at that time.

There are four ways to get around in Kyouto:

• Train - The subway is marked on the map in yellow. This is the second fastest - and second most expensive - way around town.
• Bus - The bus route is in green. This is the second-slowest way around town, and the slowest way to get to certain places (some places can't be walked to).
• Walking - The absolute slowest way around town. Also, you can't walk everywhere. Note that some places can only be accessed by walking.
• Taxi - The absolute fastest way around town. Also expensive as hell. In addition to the expense, to hail a taxi, you have to buy (or get as a Random Drop) a Taxi Ticket. This means not only do you have to pay the fare, you have to pay for the privilege of hailing the cab in the first place. Taxis can go almost anywhere - even some of the places normally only accessible if you're walking.

Most locations have fun shit to find:

• A pennant that you can acquire by cutting a menchi at it. Sometimes this takes an annoying amount of persistance. Sometimes you just have to know where to look for it (everywhere seems like a good place to start).
• A shop full of souvenirs, consisting of colorful souvenir bokken and various traditional candies.
• Kumart - a corner store "Stop-n-Rob" where you can get a number of healing items
• There are shinto shrines in a few locations that you can donate to. I think these influence your relationship status depending on which shrine you donate to.
• UMAs - I'll mention these if/when I encounter them. So far, the only one I've found is the UFO in the City Hall area.

Anyway, we'll be ready to begin shortly, but before the first update begins, I need input for Day One. All I need this time around is one thing: Shabai or Shibui?

Edit: If I only have one vote by the time I get up (going to bed soon), then shabai it is. However, I am going based on pure majority for this one. I'm still working kinks out of the planned system for spending Bancho Soul.

edited 24th Nov '10 2:37:17 AM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

Shabai! The Bananaman has no need for such things as "honor"! The Bananaman fights to win.

One of my few regrets about being born female is the inability to grow a handlebar mustache. -Landstander

I must disagree. Since the subtitle of the game is "Badass" Rumble, I say "Shibui or (Japanese equivalent of "bust")"!

I hope you get tiny bits of eggshell in all your omelettes for the rest of your life!

That would be boin. Wait, wrong kind of "bust".

Also, my roomie votes MANLINESS, and since this computer is always logged in as me, I'm'a have to document his vote. Current vote:

Shabai (loser/wimp): 1
Shibui (badass): 2

Vote closed. Starting live-blog. (Note: When the next shabai/shibui vote comes up, I'll have another vote, with an automatic one vote handicap for Shabai. The third time around, things get interesting.)

Unfortunately, I got called in to work last night and tonight, so while I've got the first session done, I won't have the time to write it up until probably tomorrow. May structure the LP differently, so I don't have giant blank areas at the end of each session cluttering things up. (I'm thinking... Sock Puppet Taroperu.)

Currently writing up the first session, now that images have been photobucketed and such. First session will be formatted as follows: IC Liveblog in one post, followed by OOC interactive stuff and stats in the next. We'll see if that works.

edited 26th Nov '10 6:10:26 PM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

Letters From Kyouto

On November 10, 2009, Osaka resident Ryuhei Fujiwara received a letter at his one room apartment at around 8:00 PM. He says that there was no knock at his door, just that he looked up and the letter was sticking through the mail slot.

The letter was addressed to a Ryujiro Sakamoto at his address. To Mr. Fujiwara's knowledge, there has never been anyone by that name at his address. In addition, the letter's return address was completely fictitious. At first, Mr. Fujiwara suspected a prank. As the letters continued to arrive, night after night, he began to suspect something far more bizarre was occurring.

He says he doesn't remember opening the letter. Nonetheless, he soon found himself looking at what appeared to be a personal letter from a teenaged boy to his father, along with nearly forty photographs enclosed in the envelope.

He uploaded the photographs to this website, transcribing the writing on the backs of the pictures. What follows is the letter itself.

---

Hey, pops,

We arrived in Kyouto okay - not that there was any doubt. Kyouto itself is pretty much how I pictured it: temples, temples, and more temples. "History." Yawn. Except it turns out that like every bancho in Japan is here all week on their senior trips, too. So maybe I'll have some fun this week after all.

Anyway, we got to Kyouto, and Yohei's all "Oooh, check out the souvenir shops," like the total shabazo I keep trying to convince myself he isn't, and he plows into this Inui dude. Guy's peon says he's the bancho of Osaka, but we all know who the toughest Yankii in Osaka is, and it ain't some dude with an orange pompadour.

So Yohei and I totally kicked his ass, and now I got myself a whole new peon. Right afterwards, though, this dude comes up - his name's Tetsuo something-or-other, but apparently everyone just calls him Gantetsu behind his back. Anyway, Gantetsu totally looks like a Yakuza enforcer, but it turns out he's a juvie cop. He says every year, Yankii from all over Japan get together in Kyouto and wail on each other to see who's the toughest, and you know what? I am so down with that. 'Cause we all know the toughest Yankii in Japan is yours truly, and now I get to prove it.

Of course, instead of letting me go have fun like I want, Suzumecium shows up and we all head to Yamamoto-ya to get unpacked. There's this dude at Yamamoto-ya called Chiba-chan, and he's pretty all right. Says he was involved in a couple of pretty heavy-duty fights - he's a sideline kind of guy, but it sounds like he's pretty knowledgeable about shibui dudes like me. Anyway, he says there's forty-seven bancho in town, including me. I wonder if he's counting that shabazo Inui? He gave me his cel-phone number and started sending me text messages, like, every three seconds to get me up to speed.

My room is pretty shabai. Just a single tatami room with some weird wall hangings. They've got romaji on 'em for some reason. Anyway, I'm going to go see what Kyouto's like for real.

See ya in a week,
Taroperu Sakamoto

Translator's Note: At this point, instead of a post-script, a whole other letter was included in the envelope.

Hey, Pops,

I know it must be kind of weird getting two letters in one envelope, but things got a little weird and a lot awesome, and I figure from now on, I'll just wait until the end of the night and write everything down all in one long letter.

So, the weird shit: As soon as I left the hotel, I saw a bunch of UFOs. No shit, like a half dozen UFOs floating in the air in front of City Hall. Nobody else seemed to notice them, either. I got a pic real quick (I'll send it along with a bunch of other pics I took today.) and tried to get a closer look, but I got hit by a car.

oTL Gomen nasai, ojiisan.

By the time I got back up, the things had flown off. I wonder what it means? Also, there was this pennant (pic enclosed) hanging on the wall just outside the hotel. The thing was stuck on pretty damn good, but when I cut a menchi at it, it disappeared in a bright flash of light, and now it's hanging in my room next to the wall hangings. Weird. The weird didn't stop there.

Near where the UFOs were, I saw this blue glowing ring coming up from the ground, like some kind of cherenkov radiation. When I went to get a closer look, I ran into another bancho. The ring kinda vanished as soon as I wasn't looking at it.

Kasai, the bancho of Aomori prefecture, was pretty easy to beat up, even with his two shabazo peons helping out. I figured you'd be sad if I didn't - 'cause you're such a crybaby - so I got a pic of me using the Manzai Storm technique to own him. Afterwards, he taught me his regional specialty, which he calls the "Rassai Rush" technique. Not sure if I'm gonna use it, though.

Anyway, I figure if we're allowed to have peons fighting with us, my main man Yohei needs in on this action, and the two of us set about exploring around the area. After beating up a few Yankii around city hall - all of 'em from Aomori, I found a couple of school itineraries.

Apparently, these Yankii are going around fetching itineraries of other schools for their bancho, so if I beat up on enough of 'em, I can figure out where bancho are going to be and when. I got the itineraries for Aomori, which I don't need no more, and Okinawa too. Then we decided to go check out the shopping at world-famous Shinkyogoku.

I don't know what's up with the stuff they sell in the stores here, but they've got this stuff called "Stamina Drink" that really picks you up after a throwdown. One of these days, I might even try an Ultra Stamina drink, but somebody thought 15,000 yen was enough for a week long trip. Stingy bastard.

More weirdness: I found a gift-wrapped box sitting on the ground by a bike rack. Nobody was around, and after a minute I realized nobody was going to claim it, so I picked it up. Somebody spent who-knows-how-much to gift wrap 9000 yen. Seems like a waste, but hey, that 9k could come in handy.

I found a barbershop and clothing store that Chiba-chan says are pretty shibui. He says every Yankii in town uses them for all their fashion needs. I'm thinking about buying one of those old-fashioned school caps, those are pretty shibui.

Found another glowing blue ring, with a couple of Yankii doing a shat squat  ^TN

in it. I stopped to talk to 'em, and to challenge their bancho, and the damn ring disappeared.

Anyway, they were from Yamagata, and their bancho, Hoshikawa, was the blonde dude sitting with 'em. Me and Yohei made short work of 'em and Hoshikawa taught me the "Cherry Combo," which is a pretty shibui move.

On the way out of Shinkyogoku, I found another one of those pennants, but I couldn't reach it. We had time to check out one more place before curfew, so I figured I'd go take a look at one of these temples everyone's always on about. On the way, we had to cut through the City Hall district, where the hotel is, and I found another present: 6000 yen. If this keeps up, I might be able to get all kinds of shibui threads and stuff.

I started to notice some weird shit around then, too. Like a bunch of people who look a lot alike. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but it looks like they're all over. Maybe it's some weird cosplay thing? I tried talking to one of 'em, a pudgy looking gaijin in a red shirt, but he didn't speak japanese. He said something in English, but you know I don't speak that shit:

Oo dudo aimuso rasotu.

Whatever the hell that means.

Anyway, we headed over to check out Yasaka Shrine, because Yohei was hoping to meet a miko I guess, and it wasn't long before we ran into more Yankii. Kyouto's crawling with 'em! We got Iwate's itinerary, which said that they were there at Yasaka shrine today, so we went hunting for their bancho.

Along the way, I found another pennant I couldn't quite reach, another gift box (12,000 yen! Now we're talking!) and another glowing blue ring.

The bancho of Iwate, Kuji, was standing with his favorite peon, just inside the ring. Every time I see one of these blue rings, I run into a bancho. Maybe there's a connection? Do they see a ring when I come walking towards them? Anyway, Kuji doesn't like to talk, but I loosened his tongue (and his jaw) for him.

Then Yohei got into this frenzy, all, "screw miko, I wanna see maiko," so we headed over to Gion to see if we could meet any maiko. No luck, though. We had enough time to find another gift box (a nice Miyabi bento box, smells great) before curfew hit and we had to head back to the inn.

Naturally, I wasn't planning on letting curfew keep me down, but I had to be in my room when Suzumecium came by for a head check, or he'd've sent me home. While I was waiting to make sure he was asleep before sneaking out, Yohei came pounding up to my room talking about how he saw a maiko right outside the hotel and we had to go and meet her right now.

Before we could, though, we heard a scream. Turns out a couple of shabazo were harrassing the maiko. We couldn't have that, so me and Yohei trashed them and rescued the fair maiden.

My reward was a flying kick to the head by some chick in a fuku. Oh, and the maiko, Kotone (she says her real name is Suzune and I can call her either, how cool is that?) thanked me.

I headed back up to my room and got comfortable, waiting for Yohei to bug off so I could sneak out on my own, and I guess I fell asleep. I had a nightmare where I was walking around Kyouto at night, and there was nobody around but Yankii, and they were all really tough dudes, and some of 'em were pretty big... and they kicked my ass pretty hard.

When I woke up, I figured I only had a little bit of time to go exploring if I wanted to make sure I got enough rest for the hunt tomorrow, so I went outside to see what kind of trouble I could get into.

Weird shit: It was just like my nightmare. I could take any of these guys one-on-one. I could just manage to handle two of 'em. But if a third dude wandered into the fight, I was hosed. Also, every once in a while, when I was fighting a dude and knocked him out, I swear I saw a ghost fly up out of his body. I accidentally hit one of these green spirit things while I was fighting a dude, and it flew into my body... Weird as hell. About that time, I was out of time and outnumbered three to one, so I bailed like a shabazo to write this letter and get some sleep.

See you in a week,
Taroperu

edited 1st Dec '10 1:24:15 PM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

OOC Stuff

Money: 41,886
Bancho Level: 5
Total Bancho Soul: 9 (2 per level, plus one from Night Out)
Banchosity: Shibui King (not yet maxed out)

HP: 5
Attack: 5
Defense: 5
Speed: 5
Endurance: 5

Current HP: 622/960 Stamina: 664 (Effective Max HP. Lowers when damage is taken. Raised back towards maximum by certain beverages and resting.)

Inventory: Used up during Night Out mode.

Weapons:

• Shinai
• 2x2
• Metal Bat

Peons:

• Yohei
• Kasai
• Kuji (will not return calls)
• Hoshikawa
• Inui (will not return calls)

Itineraries:

• Aomori DEFEATED - Day 1 PM: City Hall, Day 2 AM: Gion, PM: City Hall
• Iwate DEFEATED - Day 1 PM: Yasaka, Day 2 AM: Arashiyama, PM: Gyoen
• Yamagata DEFEATED - Itinerary not found.
• Okinawa - Day 4 AM: City Hall, PM: Gion, Day 5 AM: Arashiyama

Tomorrow's Itinerary: Kiyomizudera (no option to skip other than staying upstairs all morning, which is not an option because I say it isn't)

---

So, given that I don't have any itineraries for Day 2 except for dudes I've beaten, take a look at the map and let me know any places you'd like me to check out during Day 2. Also, I need to know how to spend those Bancho Souls - let me know your picks, and I'll find a way to balance the choices made by all o' youse.

edited 26th Nov '10 6:32:01 PM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

Put as many points as you can into Attack and Speed. They can't fight back if you're constantly darting around and punching them in the face.

I hope you get tiny bits of eggshell in all your omelettes for the rest of your life!

I usually go for balance, but emphasize speed. Interesting idea there.

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

Willy knows what he's doing. You don't need defense if you can take everything out first!

One of my few regrets about being born female is the inability to grow a handlebar mustache. -Landstander

Two votes for Attack & Speed. Emphasis on attack?

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

^Yes indeedy.

One of my few regrets about being born female is the inability to grow a handlebar mustache. -Landstander

Well, just in case anyone else chooses to pop into the thread and make a suggestion, I'm leaving the vote open until I leave for work tonight (probably 7 or 8 pm CST). Also, anything else you want me to check out?

Voting Closed: I will spend 5 Bancho Soul on ATTACK and 4 on SPEED. Since there are no suggestions about where to go, I shall wander aimlessly after the scripted events.

edited 28th Nov '10 2:24:26 PM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

The next night, Fujiwara received another letter. Again, the letter came at around 8:00pm. Again, he neither saw nor heard anything. Again, the letter included a sequence of photographs, which can be viewed here.

At this point, Fujiwara was getting concerned. Not only were these letters personal, he had confirmed that the return address did not exist anywhere in Japan. He had no idea who was sending the letters to him, or how they were doing so without ever being seen - his neighbors all said there had been no one at his door all night.

Also, the letters were clearly coming from a young ruffian who would apparently be coming to Fujiwara's house in just a few more days himself.

---

Hey again, Pops,

Well, day two of the Senior trip to Kyouto is over, and it's been quite a day. I was all set to go bancho hunting, but Fujisawa had other plans. Specifically, she planned for me to join the rest of the class at Kiyomizu. I don't know why I put up with her.

Kiyomizu was okay, for an old temple. I noticed more of those weird glowing rings on the ground - I think I'm figuring them out, too. They only seem to affect me. Blue ones mean a bancho is there. Purple ones mean someone I know wants to talk to me there. I think green ones mean a souban  ^TN

is there, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, that girl from last night - the chick in the fuku, not the maiko - showed up. Apparently, I'd dropped my itinerary when I was saving her friend, and she found it. She's kind of cute, but a little weird. She says her name's Aya, but I can call her "Skippy." I think I'll stick with calling her Aya. Y'know, if I talk to her at all.

Anyway, there were a bunch of Yankii in blue uniforms around Kiyomizu, but they weren't the only ones. We went up to Kiyomizudera, and found Kagenuma being bullied by some Yankii. Apparently, there's a legend that if you jump off the platform at the top of Kiyomizudera, whatever you wish would be granted. Since it's way the hell up on a mountain, I figure your wish is probably going to be "I wish I hadn't done that!"

Anyway, these Yankii thought they were going to throw Kagenuma off the platform, but that would have upset Fujisawa, so I kicked the crap out of them. Also, apparently the saisen at Kiyomizudera helps with relationships. I wonder who Fujisawa likes? Probably Kagenuma, she seemed worried about him.

I found more of those weird gift-wrapped packages up there - a total of ¥21,000. Whoever is leaving these gifts wants me to have a better week than certain stingy monks I could mention. Hint hint. Of course, this could be remedied with a simple wire transfer. Additional hint.

I got some more itineraries from some of the Yankii, including one for a bancho who's out and about today. I planned to "meet up with him" after lunch - I did, eventually, but some other stuff happened.

Aya called - I don't remember giving her my number, so I'll have to talk to Yohei about that. She says she goes to school at Ikeda High, which is here in town, so I decided to go check the place out and see what it was like.

What it was like was a sea of blue uniforms. I'd found their nest. In any case, Aya says the local gang are called the Shinsengumi. Delusions of grandeur much? She's kind of silly. I think she might read too many shoujo manga. I don't care what she says, I am not going to run through her school shouting her name.

I decided to see if I could find the Shinsengumi's bancho, but he was nowhere to be found. I did kick the crap out of a lot more dudes in blue uniforms, though. One of 'em dropped a gift box - are they the ones leaving them around town? Weird. It had a blue V-neck shirt in it. I ain't wearing that, blue's for sidekicks. (I also found another bento box - a BBQ one - an Ultra Stamina drink, and ¥6000.)

After that little (but profitable) waste of time, I figured it was time to say a fond hello to the Kanagawa bancho, so I headed up to Yasaka shrine. What is it with bancho hanging out at that place? Two days in a row, I find them there.

Before I found him, though, I ran into Kotone and Mr. Furuya. He was so happy to meet a maiko, and he seemed really impressed that I was friends with her already. I'm a little worried he might be one of those lolicons.

I also picked up a souvenir bokken there - wasn't planning on using it in a fight, just wanted to bring it home 'cause it's pretty shibui. Anyway, when I found the guy, Niikura, I kind of got carried away and, um, hit him with the bokken. I dropped it immediately and beat him hand-to-hand, I'm no shabazo, but I felt my heart quake with shame nonetheless.

Turns out, he was a souban. He only had one peon, though. Still, now I have two more peons for the price of one - when I defeated him, the rules we're playing by mean I defeated the Wakayama bancho by proxy.

He taught me a bodyslam he calls the Tower Bomb. Looks pretty shibui, even though he looks like a preppy shabazo. By the time that was over with, when I went to pick up my bokken, it was gone. I'm a bit peeved about that. This keeps happening when I buy bokken. (I bought one at Kiyomizu, and the same thing happened after I put it down to fight someone.)

Some shabazo is out there waiting for Yankii to fight, so he can steal their shit. That's beyond shabai.

That taken care of - except I still don't know who stole my bokken - I headed back to the Inn to see if they had a souvenir shop in there, too.

Turns out they do, so I bought another bokken there. Also, the door to the men's bath house was stuck, and I kind of broke it trying to unstick it. Shabai, I know, but hey. If they can't keep their shit maintained, they can't complain when it gets broken. I found another gift box in the dressing room - who the hell giftwraps a latte?

I went to stash my new bokken in my room, and I saw the other bokken I'd bought and lost earlier sitting in a rack against the wall. Along with every other weapon I'd so much as touched since arriving yesterday. Who the hell is hand-delivering 2x2s to hotel rooms? So, less angry about stolen bokken and more creeped out about who might be following me.

It was getting late, so I decided to get all the asskicking sightseeing done I could and headed out to the Kinkakuji area.

Place was crawling with Ikeda High Yankii. I ain't calling 'em Shinsengumi 'til they earn it. I barely had time to check the place out when it was time to head back. Found another pennant hanging way the hell out of arms' reach on the stairs down to the subway on my way back. I got this figured out though, and I cut a menchi at it. It'll probably be back in my room.

I didn't make it back before curfew (19:00). That's two nights in a row. I'd better watch that, or Suzumecium might send me home before I've proven I'm the toughest bancho in Japan. I decided to poke around the Inn a bit, and I found out something totally shibui: the fire exit overlooks the windows to the girls' bath. I think they saw me, though, I heard a scream.

Anyway, I went out again tonight - just got back from some serious fighting. Holy crap, the guys out at night are tough. (And some of 'em are HUGE. I keep forgetting to bring my cel phone with me, or I'd've taken a picture. You wouldn't believe it.) One of 'em released one of those glowing green spirit things when I beat him - is that his soul? Did I kill him? Dude. I ended up spending some money on food and drinks - for some reason, the food and drinks here make me feel a lot better than any doctor could.

That's it for tonight, Pop.

Ichiban bancho, Taroperu

edited 1st Dec '10 2:46:00 PM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

Here are the end results for Day 2. Note that the HP is low because somebody ran out of time getting screenshots, and was automatically sent to bed before doing Night Out mode. I am trying to avoid doing that.

ITEMS:

• BBQ Bento - Heals up to 1000 HP
• Pizza (S) - Heals 300 HP for both me and my current peon.
• Pizza (XL) - Heals 1800 HP for me and peon.
• Kiai Drink - Recovers 80 Kiai (out of 255 max)
• K-O Protein - Provides 15 second strength boost
• Ultra Stamina - Recovers 700 HP AND 700 Stamina (stamina affects Max HP)

WEAPONS:

• Shinai (already had)
• 2x2 (already had)
• Metal Bat (already had)
• Steel Pipe
• Kiyomizu souvenir bokken
• Yasaka souvenir bokken
• City Hall souvenir bokken
• Yamamoto-ya (Inn) souvenir bokken

HP: 621/980
Stamina: 980/980

Bancho Level: 7
Bancho Soul: 5 (2 per level, +1 from Night Out)

STATS

HP:	5
ATTACK:	10
DEFENSE:	5
ENDURANCE:	5
SPEED:	9

Body Count: 50 (Yeah, it tracks that.)
Wallet: ¥34639

Tomorrow's Itinerary: Nijo Castle

Okay, Yankii. For day 3, we can choose to go with the class or we can just hit the streets and beat the tar out of Yankii and collect their itineraries. Also, note that Kotone, Aya, and Fujisawa (Minami) are our three potential romantic interests.

So, do I go with the class, or do I go hunting? Any areas you'd like me to hit either way? Do I continue to try to get peeks into the girls' bath? Should I donate money to a saisen? Also, to add to the fun, I will no longer automatically grab pennants I see. Instead, from now on, the pennants will crop up in screenies without me calling attention to them (I've already done that with one pennant). Keep your eyes peeled.

edited 1st Dec '10 3:04:58 PM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

Eh, Taroperu's already been dragged to two places by his class; might as well just see 'em all at this rate. And as for the chicks, go with Kotone. Not only did you impress her at first sight with your shibui moves, it'll probably annoy the heck outta that shabazo Yohei that you got his dream girl.

As for stats, put one point each in ATK and SPD, and spend the other three on HP. Since it costs a fair bit of cash for food (at least, the kind that you don't pick up from teh ground), better to have a high amount of health than it is to keep refilling a small amount.

...One more thing. Practice your menchi stare on...freakin' everything, dood. Delinquents, the cops, old men, young ladies...everyone should bow to the future Bancho Overlord!

Cops? Are you trying to get me arrested? Y'know what? I used to have a screenshot of Yatta in a 15-on-1 brawl with the cops (in his underwear, which is why the cops were after him). Must get one of Taroperu.

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

A true bancho must be tough, but suave! Avoid such cowardly actions as peeking on on the girls' baths, and approach them directly!

P.S. Go for Kotone.

I hope you get tiny bits of eggshell in all your omelettes for the rest of your life!

More attack and speed! HP is for the weak!

And I noticed the penndant in picture 29, but I was wondering why you didn't mention it. So...yeah.

Oh, and go hunting. Class is for the weak! Blood for the blood god!

DOOF

edited 1st Dec '10 10:37:54 PM by Deathonabun

One of my few regrets about being born female is the inability to grow a handlebar mustache. -Landstander

Vote Status

• 1 each in ATK/SPD, remainder in HP - 1 vote
• Split between ATK/SPD - 1 vote

• Go for Kotone - 1 vote

• No more peeking on the girls' baths. - 1 vote

• Go with the class - 1 vote
• Don't go with the class - 1 vote

• Menchi everybody.

• Get the Inn (interior) pennant! (FYI, that's actually Mr. Furuya and Mr Suzuki's room. Taroperu's brings up a menu consisting of wall scrolls. However, if you stay too long on the last day, it uses their room to represent the PC's in the cutscene.)

Gonna need a tiebreaker on whether to go with the class before I can continue - I can average out the stat votes if need be.

edited 2nd Dec '10 6:59:03 PM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

The tiebreaker came from random.org.

The list entered consisted of "Go with the class," and "Go bancho hunting" 16 times each, and "Go Speed Racer, go!" once just for shits and giggles.

Guess which one won? Go on, GUESS.  ^*

Averaging out the Bancho Soul answers, I get the following results:

• 2 each in ATK/SPD. 1 in HP.
• Kotone is currently the romance option. Note that the final decision is a couple of days away, and that since I'm not using strategy guides, I might screw this up anyway by missing one of the encounters required. Will do my bestest not to.
• Menchi everybody. BTW, if cutting a menchi at cops - I actually don't think I've tried that yet - causes me to lose face, I'll have to leave them out of it.
• Do not go peek at the girls' bath again.
• Grab that pennant!
• Go with the class. Unless I see the Mach 5 waiting to be hotwired.

Day 3 begins tonight at work (unless I actually get the day off) and update will come as soon as I have a night off. So probably never.

What, did you think I was kidding?

edited 6th Dec '10 12:35:18 PM by BlackWolfe

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.

...Dangit, dood, I can't stop laughing...

Finagle's Law aside, glad that you came to a decision. And to be honest, I'm especially glad it was something I suggested. Best of luck with the Kyouto police, you rascally Bancho!

New Live Bloginations system is up and running. We are now there. Day 3 has been played and logged, but still waiting on a night off to do the write-up.

But soft! What rock through yonder window breaks? It is a brick! And Juliet is out cold.