Part 25: Update XXIII

♪ BGM: Alice in the Children's Land ♫

Alright, so let's exit these sewers and get to some far more interesting locales, first of which being...



...Looks like it.
It doesn't just look like it, it's clearly a graveyard...
This whole town is basically a graveyard, anyway. At least this place buried the bodies...
Th-That's not the problem... I've had the ability to see ghosts ever since I was a kid...
Oh, really? If you like the occult, I know *just* the guy you should meet.
He's even more of an idiot than you, you'd really hit it off. What do you say?
W-Well, first we have to get out of here!



Alright, so now we're in a graveyard. This brings me to another point on why I like this game a lot: The area designs are super varied and unique. Just look at this graveyard - we're not going to spend a lot of time here - but it's still super unique, with some neat pieces to look at.



Also, sparkles!



♪ Jingle: Hidden Kids Discovered! ♫

This tells me I fucked up somewhere, because I should have found Jataro before Kotoko - they always come in the same order. Oh well, I wasn't getting an A on this chapter anyway.



And after dealing with some Guards, we get to move on.



♪ BGM: Wonderful Dead 002 ♫

Now it's time for us to visit the picturesque Towa City Riverside.



See colorful buildings, children playing, and dead bodies!



♪ BGM: We Can't Change The World ♫

If my options are "okay" and "not okay"... I'm pretty friggin' far from okay.
Well we're not exactly okay either. I don't think a single adult in this town is okay.
Maybe. But that don't make me feel any better. Never expected somethin' like this... Been livin' here 10 years...
10 years? You're from here? Then do you know why the children are acting like this?
Don't have a friggin' clue. But I know what they done. They... Those kids... They killed my family...and made a diorama with the bodies...
...
...
...Can you imagine it? Seeing your family's bodies nailed to a wall... Necks...fixed into position with a wire... And knowing you just...you have to just hide, and watch them do it...
...
...You can't imagine it, can you? That's fine, that's...normal. You shouldn't have to imagine something like that your whole damn life. So why...? Why me? I wish I could be normal again, I wish I hadn't seen it... What did I do!? What did I do to deserve this!?
...
...



Anyway, so this is the next segment - the extremely colorful riverside properties. Some might call this Technicolor vomit, but I think it's a very welcome change of pace, and keeps things fresh and interesting to look at.



And there is our goal, Towa Tower.



Next, we get to deal with this fun situation - three Guards with two Bombers further away chucking grenades. This would be simple if I would just use Knockback to drop the Guards into the river, but that means I don't get Monocoins!



So I fuck about a bit to kill of the Guards without dropping them into the river, and it turns out they're enemies that don't drop anything. Bollocks.



Eventually, everybody gets dealt with, though not without getting blown up once. And there's a collectible!



♪ Jingle: Skill GET! ♫



It's kinda useless!



Next up, it's time for some more Monoku-Man!



♪ BGM: It's a Monokuma World ♫

For a world-famous IT organization, Towa sure likes to make weird crap.



This device is a Hologram Projector TV built by scavenging Towa's technology. If you turn it on, a video of a child will appear. Perhaps the kids modified it... It appears the Monokumas love modern technology, because they are drawn to it. But this unit doesn't emit any sound, so only enemies who can see it will react to it. By utilizing this special ability, I bet you can wipe out the enemy in one blow! And if you haven't already figured this out, turn it on with Move. Use these Hologram TVs skillfully to progress forward!



So this is a new element for Monoku-Man puzzles from now on. We get to attract certain Monokumas by turning on these machines with Move. As an aside, Komaru is so gosh darn excited about seeing a hologram.



♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Activate ♫



Alright, now let's use this new thing in an actual puzzle.



This one is pretty simple. Use the hologram generator to attract the Bomber at the bottom, which will lure him up, allowing you to kill him and take out the four Guards in one explosion.





So we do just that.



♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Success ♫

Yay!



♪ BGM: Wonderful Dead 002 ♫

And with that done, we get to explore this room a bit more, because it has some really cool stuff to look at, too.



This room is basically retelling the story of Snow White, except with the Warriors of Hope. So here's Monaca taking the poisoned apple...



...here's Monaca after having fallen asleep...



...and here's Nagisa, playing the role of the prince coming to save her. Another thing on the list of reasons why I really like the area designs in this game. I just think stuff like this is really cool.



Next up, we have a collectible.









♪ BGM: DSO_Beautiful Dead ♫

Didn't I tell you I'm not interested in this filth!?
Oh c'mon, don't say that. You should at least *try* reading one... The final date scene from this volume is so good, it's considered a masterpiece of manga history!
A masterpiece of crap is still crap.
But speaking of dates, this area seems like a pretty good spot for a date with Master Byakuya. Minus the Monokumas, obviously.
Yeah, it'd be nice for a couple to walk on the shore and eat sweets, hand in hand... I'd want a date like that for my first time.
Huh!? I took you for some sleazy tramp who just *acts* innocent! You really don‘t have *any* experience?
Of course not! Yes!
Well which one is it!?
I totally have experience! Lots of it! Too many to count with both hands! I flip through attractive boys like pages in a manga!
So then you *are* just putting on an act. You don't look it, but you're a poisonous little succubus on the inside.
Uh, well, no, maybe not...*that* bad...
No, really. If you're gonna be a slut, you should at least be proud of it.
Uh... Okay, I lied. I don't have any experience.
Why would you lie about that?
Well... I didn't want you to make fun of me.
...Your views on sex are about a quarter of a century old. Only the most narrow-minded vermin measure a person's worth by their sexual experience.
Well, even though I never actually went on a date, I have been asked out before!
So you turned them down?
Yeah, 'cause they were all my friend's exes, or like, guys older than my dad...
...I can see that. The aura that really pulls in the lecherous types is just bursting out of you. 10 years from now, you'll probably be sold off to cover some low-life's gambling debts.
Stop that! Don't say it, or it might come true!
Well, what can I say? You've got a face that ugly guys just love. The kind of face that makes them think, "Even I have a chance with her"...
Well thanks, Toko, I'll remember that.



♪ BGM: Wonderful Dead 002 ♫

The next area is some sort of large shared balcony overlooking the river. More kids and dead bodies.





We also see some mustachioed Monokumas shimmying around and doing a little dance. They don't attack us at all. I have no idea what these are supposed to be. I thought they were supposed to be a barbershop trio, except I forgot those are barbershop quartets, not trios. So I have no idea. Anyway, we blast them in the eye for Monocoins.



And right after that is another Monoku-Man room!



♪ BGM: It's a Monokuma World ♫



♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Activate ♫





Again, a very similar puzzle to ones we've seen before, just using the hologram projector now.



Lure the Bomber to the projector...



...blast him over with Knockback...



...and kill the Guards!



♪ Jingle: Monoku-Man Success ♫



♪ BGM: Wonderful Dead 002 ♫

Again, this room has a cool design retelling a fairy tale with the Warriors of Hope.



Here, we're retelling the story of Cinderella with Kotoko in the main role.



She gets her dress from the fairy godmother (well, kinda more like a witch here, but whatever)...



...dances with her prince, who is played by Masaru here...



...has to run away at midnight as the spell wears off...



...but is eventually identified by a servant of the prince by the shoe she lost, the servant here being appropriately played by the Warriors' servant, Nagito.



Outside, we're treated to a large congregation of Monokuma kids doing whatever the fuck it is they do...



...and a collectible!









Jataro's total non sequiturs really straddle the line between "quirky in an adorable and kind of relatable way" and "utterly terrifying".



And here we are - Towa Tower is in sight. But that'll be for next time.