Part 24: Full Anime, Engage!

The last of these seven chapters is finally here. Let us begin…

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Generally speaking.

Well, that’s nice for you, isn’t it? But you know, there are plenty of people who aren’t…


This choice doesn’t matter.

Whoops, I was preaching a bit, wasn’t I? Well, listen to my story. Maybe you’ll understand…

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This scruffy-looking lad sleeping in the park is our protagonist. He’s busy dreaming right now…





Dreaming of becoming separated from his father.



The shot that rang out in the dark.



And the tragedy that it brought.



Dad, wake up!!



By then… He’d already passed away. As a captain of the riot police, he was involved in a skirmish with a violent gang known as the Crusaders… He couldn’t have known…

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Please tell everyone your name!



...Poor kids.



While this is definitely more of a Kouji-type story, Coop is a fine name.



Everyone be nice to them, okay?



I didn’t hear you, Watanabe…



Ah…

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I’ve… well, I’ve started to acquire strange powers. Like, I can read minds, and move objects without touching them…

Puberty hit you extra hard, huh kid.





So here we have our special ability for the chapter. Coop can read the mind of whoever he chooses… which means twice as much dialogue.

If you had similar powers, how would you use them? In my case…

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Ah, such peaceful music. Just right for roaming around and exploring.





Exploring not just the city, but the depths of people’s minds!

Man, do I ever love parks! / (Man, do I ever love ditching work!)

It’s always great to see the difference between what someone is thinking and what they actually say.

I ain’t a kid, you know! / (The taiyaki guy hasn’t come today… )

Taiyaki sounds like it’d be nice to try someday.



More folks down here.

Kids these days! Sheesh! I wish these two’d get a room already! / (This reminds me of my younger days with the missus… Sigh…)

Your eyes are as blue as window cleaner! / (I’m sure that’s what the Dating Strategy Guide said! Man, I’m smooooooth!)

What?! How dare you! / (... ....... ........... I am SUCH an airhead!!)

You two were made for each other.



(He might be one of the kidnappers Mom warned me about!)

That’s a healthy amount of suspicion you’ve got there, kid. Hold onto that.



I mean, just look at Coop. This dude’s walking around in a yellow coat and no shirt.

Actually, let me grab the artwork for him…



Coop Tadokoro, model citizen. And of course he has a massive scar on his forehead.



Well, we can’t get any cakes today. Might as well go home.

(Music fades.)

...Hey there. Can we help you guys with something?



(Wonder what these punks are thinking…?

Hint, hint. Three of them are only thinking this…

(What a weirdo…)

But the one on our left…



Yep, seems the same assholes who killed Coop’s dad are now kidnapping kids.



What?!

That’s it, freak him out!





...And they were calling Coop a weirdo.



What’re you gonna do about it?!



I’m jes passin’ through…



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Great track name? Great track name.



So there are a few reasons that Mecha is perhaps not everyone’s favourite chapter, and here’s one of them: Much like Cube, Coop is what passes for a mage in Live-A-Live. He can heal and hit a lot of targets for varying amounts of damage, but the majority of his techs require charge time. You may recall that Cube didn’t have this problem.



It doesn’t help that one of his first techs does practically no damage… although the regular Crusaders only have 10 HP, so it will suffice. (Note that Coop’s scar glows when he uses his psychic powers.)





The taiyaki guy is definitely more impressive.



Though man, he must spend a fortune on hair gel.

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(No music.)

Hehe… Thanks, Matsu!

You oughta be more careful, Coop… They been pullin’ some weird stuff lately.

Don’t they know that I ain’t ‘xactly worth any ransom?

...That’s kind of a negative way to look at things, Coop.

How’s your sis doing?

Kaori’s gotten a little better, thanks.



Scraped yourself up a bit, huh? Here, I’ll give you a lift.



There’s a long pause before Matsu gets on his motorcycle.

...



It appears he might know more about the Crusaders than we do.



But we’ll deal with that later.

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Hey, you. Yes, you.



Either click this music link, or watch this video.



In the old days of Babylonia



A fist of steel points to the sky



To accomplish the feat of defeating the demons



Light up the day with light



A warm heart will awaken it



BURIKI! DAIOH!
Is with us

...Why yes, that was pretty anime. It may also have sounded a little familiar.

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Hey… You’re already all the way out here, you should come in and see ‘em yourself…



In a while, crocodile.



So this is Chibikko House, which seems to be an orphanage. And I think they approve of directional pads, judging by the door.



You got into another fight, didn’t you!?

To be fair, they were trying to kidnap him.

Just leave me alone.

Come now! Let’s get you cleaned up!

I’m not a little kid, you know!

Although it’s worth noting that Coop is honestly kind of a tool.

There! That’s better!



Taeko here seems to look after all the kids. She’s not in charge though.



Alright, time to start poking around. The two doors closest to Coop are both bedrooms which are empty right now, and the door straight north of the entrance is the classroom we saw in that dream earlier.



The bottom left room belongs to Kaori, Coop’s sister. The old man’s the Director.

Kaori’s taking a nap right now. / (You got into another fight, didn’t you? Kids these days…)

Mmmm… / (Tarokichi… Please don’t die…)

We don’t know who Tarokichi is yet, but





Not a whole lot happening in this room either. Maybe it’s the Director’s, since it has a TV.



The laundry, bathroom and toilet are all up in the north-east part of the building.

Did you make sure to wash your hands? / (Kenichi hasn’t been here in a while…)

Hmm… What are the odds that ‘Kenichi’ might have just driven away?



By the way, toilets and sinks are interactive in this chapter. And it looks like the orphanage has one of those floor urinals.





...It’s one of only two pieces of headgear in the chapter. Beggars can’t be choosers.



All the other orphanage kids are hanging out in front of the TV.

Woooo! Misawaaaa!! / (Go, Misawaaaa!!)

Hey! Get beaten up again? If you go to get revenge, let me know! I’ll go with you! / (You can’t just fight alone!)

I like your moxie, kid.

You’re always fighting, Coop! Taeko’s been worried sick! / (Augh, get OUT of my HEAD!)

...Huh. Guess some people can tell when Coop’s digging around in their grey matter.



The battle to end all battles haaaaaas begun! This will determine the all-time CHAMPION of nationwide pro wrestling! Will it be Misawa? Will it be Mutoh!? There’s no limit on the number of rounds! Anything could happen, folks!!

Pffft, wrestling was better back when Andre was the champion. Also, in a testament to rewarding the most persistent of nutcases, there’s an easter egg for examining the TV another 100 times after the fight starts.



Mutoh has ducked beneath the ring and hasn’t come out yet! We’re almost out of broadcast time, folks! Will we be able to bring you the results!? Wait… wait! There’s Mutoh! He’s come out from under the ring, and he has an apron in his hand! Oh… Oh my! There is PAINT on Mutoh’s face!!





That’s why it makes hair so full, rich, and wavy! Rinse and treatment also available!

I don’t know what the original joke was, but considering their work so far, I’m okay with Aeon Genesis getting a little self-referential.

But why would you ever put anything natto-related near your hair



(When will you come back…)

So, while this Watanabe is in an orphanage, his father is apparently just missing.



Me? But I wanted to watch wrestling…



He’s also bottom of the pecking order.



...Mainly because of Coop.

Where could it be?

I’ll be watching TV.



Sure, just sit right in front of it when you’re the tallest person there. _Asshole.



Serves him right, really.



Aw, come on! It wasn’t me!

Trying to lie about something you just watched them do; typical kid.

Come on! No fighting!

Here’s your medicine.



Thanks, Watanabe.

Who’s winning?



Damn, Yuki. That’s rough.



Kaori’s worried about Kazu’s turtle, Tarokichi. He isn’t feeling well.

Ah… Always a sad occasion. Better check in on her.



Poor thing…



(Tarokichi’s… spirit isn’t dead…)



I’ll go talk to that old antique shop dealer, Toei! He’ll know what to do!!

Hmm? Why would an antique dealer know how to help a sick turtle?



Oh well. Might as well go check it out on Kaori’s behalf.



When you emerge onto the city map, there are a bunch of Crusaders roaming around. Of course, they’ll start a fight if we touch them. Most of them just slowly follow their set path, but there’s one who starts on the middle-left and beelines for Coop.



The antiques store is down in that corner too, but there are other places we can explore.



Like this little corner bar, which has its own version of APDatHoaP.

Hey, kid. If you come by my house later I’ll give you some candy.



Sorry kid, we don’t stock milk here.

I want my love to be smooth as chocolate.

This shroom’s juice will clear your mind…

All the people here are thinking the same thing. “Mmm… Matango!” That’s the shroom juice. I guess they decided that future booze also needed to make you high.





There’s some kind of temple at the north end of town. I’m guessing birds are part of their religion.



(What a weird religion…)





Gee, I wonder if this will be significant later.

There’s also an empty dockyard down south and some kind of facility on the east side of town, but there’s nothing there for the moment. So let’s just head to the antiques store.



Impressive collection of random knickknacks.



Toei is in the restroom… and unfortunately we have to read his mind.

Suffice it to say, the sounds that follow are… unpleasant.







W-wash your hands!

Yes, please do.



Well…

What!? Leave it to me! I’ve studied at the facility, AND I have wisdom handed down from the ancients!



The near future is a weird place.

We’ll go to Chibikko House using my home-made Transporter!



(Whew, I hope this works…)

…So do we just hop in, or what?



Oops.

Here’s what happens next.



I… I don’t feel so well. You go on ahead. / (Aw, fiddlesticks…)

Suffice it to say that the teleporter did not fade well. And that a .gif of it would have been about 32MB.

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Don’t worry. Toei said he’d help.



My transporter wasn’t working all that well, so I had to hoof it.



We have to reduce Taro or whatever to a liquefied state, ASAP…



…

Are you telling me we’re going to let a turtle have a human-sized robotic body?

What’s a… fluid android?

First we insert an electrode… Coop, plug this into a power outlet, will you?

An outlet? Let’s see…

There’s no visible outlet, but we can talk to Kaori about it.



I wonder if it’s okay…



Okay…





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(Since Toei screwed up, I guess we have to call him Taro now…)



Science is spectacular! Say, that gives me an idea…

That’s the game prompting you to read Toei’s mind, of course.



EUREKA!

And of course, Toei goes ahead and runs off after that.



The reborn Taro wanders randomly around the room; it’s in your best interest to try and read his mind as well.



W-what…? Don’t follow me!

So, uh…



We may have just turned an ordinary turtle into a combat android.



With bowling balls for fists.

…







All of the people at Chibikko House have moved around now, and there’s a few more things that we need to do this update. So it’s gonna be a long one, folks.



Our first order of business is to wander off to the park and say hi to Matsu.



This lets us do something that gives me horrible Monochromon-related flashbacks, and try to gauge what to charge people for taiyaki. (Speaking of, that’s our cursor for the chapter.)

There are four customers, and two ‘correct’ prices for each of them. Charge the right price, and Matsu will give us a reward.


We need to serve enough customers to get one of each healing item, but you can grab as many as you like for free.



Can I have a snack?

You see, the four younger kids who aren’t Kaori all want snacks. And each of them will give us something in exchange for the right one. Kazu gives us another Glove for a Gutsy Taiyaki, Akki gives a Misanga (an accessory that gives +4 IQ) for an ordinary one…



Yuki wants the Misawa Taiyaki, and gives us a Power Wrist (offhand, 2 Def, +4 power).



Come to the bathroom later… We can talk about you-know-what then.

...and aside from an intriguing hint of conspiracy, Watanabe will give us the Cap for a Banana Crepe. At 4 Def, it’s the best headgear Coop’s gonna get.





In the laundry, we can steal the Director’s underwear. Unlike the nightie in the last chapter, we can actually use this for something.



Okay, here are Taeko’s panties as per request…



That’s not them!

Meanie…

Has the game established that Coop is not a very good person yet? Because we’re going to make Watanabe keep trying.

Here you are! Anyway, I gotta go. Bye!

The next two times, he says this and gives us Taeko’s Jeans, then Taeko’s Stockings. Getting closer, kid! Next time, after the same line…





Cut it out!



So after getting slapped for being a creep, Coop turns around and punches a little kid. Our hero, ladies and gents.



Hey, it’s a Taeko’s Panties! Well done! I think I’ve changed my opinion of you!

R-really? Heheh…



And then if we go see him in the dormitory again…

What…?



(She’s blaming me too…)

I think we scarred him.



Oh well, let’s go visit a weird old man while wearing stolen panties.



There’s a staircase in his basement that isn’t there before Taro is reborn.



Now, do me a favour and watch this loop nine times.



Yes, seriously. This is ten levels under the basement. And you have to walk alllll the way down, then alllll the way back after the next scene.



I thought so!



These days, only liquefied humans have power like that… You know, people who’ve been melted down into goop to enhance their spiritual energy! Just like Taro here.

...Does that work on the same principle of losing one of your senses and having the rest grow stronger to compensate? Only y’know, moreso.

In any case! There seem to be only two ways for Buriki Daioh to move. It either needs to be manipulated with psychic powers, or injected with a liquefied human.

Psychic powers, huh… Bet I could handle it!



Well yeah, he is the protagonist. Let’s get our giant mech already!

Come upstairs.



...Man, look at this thing. It’s pretty damn Mazinger-ish.

_{Buriki Daioh means Tin-Plated Great King, by the way. Kinda loses something in the translation.}





First touch the pink statue, read the book, play the xylophone and touch the blue mask. Then offer a prayer to Buriki Daioh… Finally, you gotta use the can. Make sure you wash your hands, first!

Got all that? Good, because you’re starting over if you screw up.



The book is below Toei, the xylophone is on the table right there, and the blue mask is just to the left of the pot on the north wall.









Make super sure you wash your hands, because screw walking up and down those stairs more than twice.



...Toei, do you have to watch us while we use the can?



what







Oh, uh… Okay, we’ve got this.

(Hmm, I don’t know about this…)

(Come on, Buriki Daioh… MOVE!)









...The fifth lever makes a bing-bong noise.



Well screw you too, old man.



Alright, that’s quite enough for this update. Stay tuned for a bonus update about combat and ‘inventing’, or join us in the next main update for some real plot!

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