Part 33: Anime Kururugi Leaves Another World, Part 2

Grandpa, we need to talk.



Kakuju, is it true that you used to be the Kururugi Shrine's former priest?

What? The Kururugi Shrine? Where did you hear that?

I heard it at the shrine. At the Kururugi Shrine.

You went to Kururugi Village? But there's supposed to be a seal that stops people from traveling into the valley. It can't be! Was the seal broken?

So you do know. Please tell us about the hitogata.

I don't know why you would want to know about that, but there's nothing to tell. You better be on your way.

What's wrong, Kakuju? Until now, you've told me so many things, like how to use Shikigami. Why is it so different all of a sudden?



What? U-Utsugi? Did you just say Utsugi?

Yes. It seems Utsugi is in Kururugi too.

Kakuju asks us to take him to Kururugi Village and that time is of the essence but it's gonna take like a week, right? The game is inconsistent about travel times sometimes.



Also it doesn't even have you do the world map, it just takes you there.

Wait a minute, Inuyasha!

Kakuju's old, so we gotta take it easy.

I'm sorry. But, why are you so desperate to go after Utsugi?

Well..Remember I told you that I came from a different world?

Yes, I remember.

It seems that Utsugi was the one that summoned me here. I don't know why, but the connection seems to be that I'm Utsugi's descendant.

What? You're Utsugi's descendant? That's...

What's wrong, Grandpa Kakuju?

Your face is completely white.



Well that's good.

It's...



AN ATTACK



GRANDPA NO

It's a giant hitogata!



This is the second to last fight in the entire game, folks.



And this is what we look like going into the endgame.



It's bad.



Don't talk right now, Kakuju. We're going to take care of you.

It's okay, just listen. Like you were saying, I was the priest of the Kururugi Shrine. I was living there, happily, with my wife. But when our son was born, and my wife died, I was so sad. I went to the valley and made a hitogata that looked like my wife. Using a secret are that came from the Kururugi Shrine, I breathed life into it.

That can't be!

Yeah, this sounds like the remnants of a possible planned original plot that could have been explored in the entire game and not sidelined into the last hour while the rest of the game was a boring safe Disney World ride through the IP, and that's not likely!

Yes. That is Utsugi.

So, are all the hitogata that we saw in the valley your failures?

Exactly.

Then why did you make a huge one.

How could you be happy with an imitation?

Good question, Inuyasha. Let me ask Kikyo.



Even though Utsugi was only a hitogata, she loved me. I began to despise the Utsugi that didn't age...I continued to get older, but she stayed the same.

How could you be so selfish?

Yes, it was selfish. But I didn't think that at the time. As I got older, it became very difficult for Utsugi in time. The villagers became increasingly suspicious of the ageless Utsugi. They said she was a demon because she never aged and they chased her out of the village.

Would have been nice to see all this and not just have it barfed up.

Kakuju, that's terrible!

Yes, it was. After a few years, I realized how selfish I had been, so...

So Kakuju went traveling to try to find her and apologize. Unfortunately, Utsugi got the idea to infuse a relative's soul into herself to be a real girl. This involved calling us from the future somehow and for some reason. This is also why she needed the Shikon Jewel. This is...presumably why she was working with Naraku?

I need you to do something for me. Please give this amulet to Utsugi. I think you have what it takes to help her see the wrongness of her ways.

Think there's another word you coulda used there?

So Kakuju touches our face against CDC recommendations, says we do in fact have Utsugi's face, and dies.



With a new goal, we have to move forward.

Well, actually, forward will get us back to Kururugi Village.



We have to go to the next screen, then go back to get back to the world map and the final area.



Utsugi, listen!

As long as I have your soul I can become human. And Kakuju will love me again. So give me your soul.

But that won't make you any more of a character!



No, Utsugi! Aaah!

If I have your soul, I can be human. Kakuju will...



Damn, I'm dead.



Oh, I'm okay.

That's right, when I lost consciousness, the amulet...

Kakuju's amulet?

Yes. It got warm, and then...

The amulet protected you.

Why? Why can't I become a human?



Oh no! Utsugi!



Not that guy again!





That's Naraku's voice!



FUCK.

Ha ha ha...Did you really think you could destroy me?

SO APPARENTLY. Naraku LET us kill him so he could get Utsugi's power. Okay. Makese sense.



The final boss is Naraku again. You know, for being the big original antagonist of the game, we never actually fought Utsugi in a legitimate fight. Just a couple unwinnable battles. It just seems weird that they'd design these original characters, even going so far as to design two versions of each, and then just doing nothing with them. And it makes me sad, the story of Utsugi, Kakuju, and whatever cursed mask could have been an interesting story. But I guess it's not safe enough. What could have been.



Oh also this boss fight can actually be a bit tricky. Just keep at it, your biggest enemy is the tedium of how much HP he has.






Also my literal final significant input into the game is the co-op attack where Miroku touches Sango's butt and she gets so mad she tosses her boomerang real hard.







Seeya bitch.



We all get a little word in but..



Red blood? You've become human?

Using a secret power, Kakuju must have put his soul into the amulet.

Kakuju? I understand, Kakuju...Instead of taking your spirit, I took his soul. I can die as a human now. With the soul of the man I love. I'm happy now. Thank you.

Utsugi...



I have one last request. Please bury me in the Kururugi Cemetery.

After a little hemming and hawing from Anime...



We let her go.

Kakuju...I love you...



And as she dies, we're enveloped in light.

Is it because Utsugi's magic has disappeared?

Then you're going back to your time?

Everyone...

No! I don't want you to go!

You're here and gone in a moment's notice.

I hope you're happy, even in the present.

GIRL SHUT UP YOU CAN COME VISIT US

I am really glad I met you.

I won't forget you.

You'll come back again, won't you?

Thank you, everyone...I'm so happy I met all of you.



So if you had a romance, there'd be a little extra between you and yours and a declaration of love during the wipe, but not for friends.


Ending Movie

I already transcribed all this shit in the subtitles so I'm not gonna be exact here.



We're home!



We're really home!



This little girl asks if we're okay. We are, I think.



The Doll Festival of Wishes, right...that symbol...



The Shikigami!



The festival was started to honor Utsugi and Kakuju this whole time.



Well, RIP.





HEY WHO DID THAT?



Wait, Sango?





...As if.



Wonder how she's doing?



THE GAME IS OVER.

And so is the LP! Thank you everybody for following me through this dang ol' year and a half journey. I've wanted to LP this game for quite a while, and I'm finally glad to actually finish an LP again.

So this game, as I said, has been a long-standing guilty pleasure for me, but having to revisit the footage with a fine-toothed comb for the LP has definitely taken some of the sheen off. The inane writing is fine when I can just skip through it, but when I have to actually write every word down, yeesh. It's still a gem of my younger days that I hold in my heart. I just might....not come back to it again for a while.

As for what's next, work has already started on the next project, but it'll be a few months before I'm ready to start it. But rest assured, I will be back.



Maybe someday but not today.