#Tsuruko || thread

[aimhleas]

[ txt ;; group (tsuru, ren, freya) ] hey i got the email for the ancestry kit results! did you guys get them too? - aito

[ txt :: group ] Yup! I was at the studio all day though discussing stuff with Tomokazu-san - F

[ txt :: group ] I was finishing packing. We could all get in a call this evening and look? - T

[hopeymchope]

Tribe Nine status update: Chapter 1 complete; Chapter 2 is NOT underway.

While the rest of the TooKyo Games/Kodaka/Post(?)-Danganronpa fandom is wrapped up in the demo and hype for The Hundred Line, I remain fixated on Tribe Nine. So this is more-or-less my follow-up to my first impressions post.

Despite its less-than-appealing roots as a mobile game with some gatcha elements, I'm still finding it to be quite good as a game in its own right. It doesn't flood you with a boring open world full of 20,000 objectives around every corner like some other gachas I've tried (Genshin Impact, Infinity Nikki), nor is it a glorified visual novel with just basic RPG combat added like other gachas I've quite enjoyed (Magia Record, Fate/Grand Order). Once you get past the tutorializing, Tribe Nine is an actual game with lots of legit gameplay exploration/combat routine—but there's still a lot of story pinning it down.

First off: The Steam version is finally playing smoothly! After a difficult process, I eventually got my Steam and IOS Tribe Nine accounts linked together. Now I can keep my progress rolling on my Steam Deck, and I MUCH prefer playing with button controls.

Perhaps most important to me is that I'm interested in the (goofily dark?/darkly goofy?) story. I've been compelled by the desire to take down the bizarre ruler of Shinagawa and its dominating ruleset—the evil "corporation" structure that lets the President and his twisted director execute whoever they want. I enjoyed driving that all the way to the climactic Danganronpa-style "baseball argument" thing.

Senju severely wrecks shop.

I'm currently NOT so compelled by the characters, honestly; they're likable enough and have great Komatsuzaki-style designs, but their characterizations are pretty damn thin so far. The ones who I'm attached to are either just excellent in a fight (Hyakuichitaro Senju), have a central personality quirk that's endearing (Tsuruko Semba), or I've gotten to know them better by having recently watching the anime (Kazuki Aoyama).

Speaking of the anime: "Q" in the game is Ojiro Otori from the show. Some might consider that to be pretty obvious, but I was a little slow to put it together, so I'm just laying it out there: Same voice actor, considers Kazuki his most important friend, supposedly "atoning for past sins," same hair and eye colors... yeah.

...did I mention that the soundtrack is excellent? Danganronpa's Masafumi Takada is in the house on this one. Very moody, cool, funky, atmospheric.

I've currently finished the story of Chapter 1/Shinagawa, and I want to move on to Chapter 2/Minato (which already has a good central hook/mystery driving me there), but I'm stuck grinding out achievements due to the arbitrary gatekeeping where you can't pass certain points without having enough "stamps" from Zero. Which fucking sucks.

For the record: Beyond the trio of characters that all players get for free (Yo Kuronaka, Tsuki Iroha, and Koishi Kohinata), I've also unlocked Roku Saigo, Yutaka Gotanda, Hyakuichitaro Senju, Santaro Mita, Minami Oi, and Tsuruko Semba.

The barrier to starting Chapter 2 has given me time to work on every single side quest in Shinagawa, at least. On that note...

Most Upsetting Side Quest: Forcing a bunch of homeless people with nowhere else to go to vacate the aquarium because some fish-obsessed idiot thinks he's going to re-open the business despite knowing jack shit. I definitely felt like the bad guy.

Why are they so intently after her???

Most "???" Side Quest: Repeatedly rescuing that one woman who keeps getting cornered and attacked by masked thugs who repeatedly assert that they don't know why ANYONE would take her side. It seems obvious that she's harboring a secret reason why she's always being harrassed, but by the current end of that quest line, it's not yet been explained. All we've done is beat up her harrassers without ever knowing why they're on her case. I assume this story thread will wind up continuing into Otami or popping up again elsewhere.

Something I want to know a lot more about is WHICH members from TooKyo Games were involved in this title. Who's writing, you know?

[tsunderrated]

On an old thread discussing whether or not menma is real, and the one thing they’re hung up on is jinta telling him about the hair clip when he confronts yukiatsu

But later in that episode we see that tsuruko has the hair clip, she probably knows the story from yukiatsu, and she asked jintan for the favor regarding confronting him in the first place, so it’s almost a guarantee that she would have told jinta as a way to convince them

[aimhleas]

"I'll see if I can meet with agents from a rental agency in Matsuyama and check out some places for us. Make sure it's good enough for our first place together." Now he was more determined than ever to find a way to make his schooling work in the far off city. If it meant finally being able to stay with Tsuruko after the time they've spent apart he'd do anything. "When's your flight back in? I hope you've packed and hung out with Kaito a bit."

"End of the month. Kaito-kun decided he wants to stay here and keep training which makes sense since he has his boyfriend now. I get back pretty late so I'll be going straight to my parents' place then visiting Aniki in the morning but I can come over to your place on the next night. We can properly plan things."

[aimhleas]

"I'm sure. I made a promise to you at the airport before you left for Australia. Do you remember?" Ren said and smiled to himself. Back then he could tell how sad and scared she was about leaving, and promising to get engaged when she returned was the ultimate declaration of his commitment to her. And soon he'd have to make good on that promise. "I feel like our families won't accept it unless we live together for a bit first, right?"

"Of course I remember." It was a promise that she still held on to dearly, hoping that he would hold to it when she did eventually return to Japan. Yes her parents thought that the two of them getting engaged would be too much since they were so young ... but was there anyone else for her? Ren was perfect. They'd been through so much together and he still made her feel special even as they were growing. Her smile was hard to keep away with the announcement. "Please let me know if you find something!"

[aimhleas]

"As long as I can finish my degree it doesn't matter which university I go to." He can say that, thought with how hard Aito studied to get into the same school as Ren did it's not ease feat. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Aito wants me to move out so he can move Freya in. And my dad has sensei. But you're my person, and now that you're going to be back in Japan I don't want to do long distance anymore."

"That's a big move ..." Ren had seriously thought this through. Shocked was too little of a word to describe her mixture of emotions, some guilt mixed in there at how he was moving his life around for her. But, overwhelmingly, the joy she felt could not be contained. "I don't want to either. You're completely sure? It'll be just us."

[aimhleas]

"Yeah, I'd say you know them pretty well." So oblivious, he couldn't hold in his laughter. After a moment he regained his composure and returned his attention to the woman over the phone. "I'm heading down to Matsuyama this weekend to check out universities that I can transfer my course to. If they'll take me, I'm going to need a place to live too."

"What?!" She almost threw herself dizzy with how quickly she sat up. "Wait, are you serious? Why, though? If it's just for me then don't do it! You have your dad and Aito and Freya here, right? Once I'm more established I can come back! You need to be focusing on your studies right now..."

[aimhleas]

"You moved to Australia all by yourself and look at how much you accomplished. You'll be fine, babe. And you know that you have two friends and a super awesome boyfriend who will happily help you move once you find a place. Who knows, maybe if you rent a place with someone else you can get a better and nicer apartment. I know someone who's looking to move to Matsuyama the same time as you."

"Oh? Is it someone I know?" Since her move, there was no doubt he had met other people but if he would recommend a person enough then she could at least trust his judgement. "Sharing an apartment might be the best way to go. At least until I'm earning enough to properly afford my own."

[aimhleas]

            【 蓮 ;; ren 】　❝ They can count on it if they're going to keep this up. ❞ Ren rolled his eyes and relaxed back on his pillow. ❝ Getting excited about coming back? ❞

"I am. Getting to see you, seeing my family again. I just hope Aniki will be out of the hospital by the time I get there. His condition is getting better but he's just like dad so no doubt we'll need to keep an eye on him. Then I need to get my apartment ready before I actually move in. Ah, it's exciting but kinda scary at the same time."

[aimhleas]

            【 蓮 ;; ren 】　Ren picked up his wireless earphones and connected them to his phone just before the call came through from Tsuruko which he promptly answered. Just hearing her laugh brought a smile to his lips, he wouldn't wait to hear that laugh in person. ❝ Can you hear them over the phone? ❞

"Thankfully not and I'm glad about that. I suppose it is annoying but if we're being honest they might have to hear us once I'm back." Another laugh following the statement. When together, they could barely keep their hands off of one another. No doubt Aito and Freya would have to put up with them being the loud ones.

[aimhleas]

[ txt ;; tsuru ] you're not too tired to call? that'd be a great distraction honestly. call me whenever you're ready

Tsuruko took a moment to get comfortable and gave a pause before calling Ren. A small giggle heard the moment he answered. "Sounds like you need me more. Besides, I can't sleep. I accidentally napped earlier."

[aimhleas]

[ txt ;; tsuru ] it's the middle of the night and i don't want to wake him. and in the off chance that sensei is staying over i don't want to go from listening from one couple to another. do they not realise how loud they're being? i'm two seconds away from knocking on their door

[ txt :: ren ] That could be amusing if it wasn't those two. Considering how you said they were earlier, I doubt they have any shame. If you want we can go on call so you have your earphones on properly. I can't sleep anyway.

[aimhleas]

[ txt ;; tsuru ] they're still going at it. they said the'd keep it down but they obviously can't. how the heck am i supposed to sleep like this - ren

[ txt :: ren ] Perhaps you helping them to make moves was a bad idea after all :P Can't go to your dad's for a bit?

[aimhleas]

[ 📲 sms: ]  i could talk to you all night. - ren to tsuru

[ txt :: ren ] Soon we can talk all night every night. I can't wait to sleep in your arms again.

[aimhleas]

When Freya brought up her not being able to publically be known to be dating Aito, he had to bite his lip to keep him from speaking up. Even if Aito didn't open up about things that made him upset, Ren knew if it were him and Tsuruko in that situation, he'd hate it. As for Aito, if he didn't like it then there would be no way for Freya or anyone else to know about it. He squeezed Tsuruko in his arms before he loosened his grip and pecked her cheek. "I'm going to fill up the bath and leave you two to finish up your call." He gave a quick wave to Freya before he climbed off the bed, walked into the bathroom and shut the door almost all the way; leaving a crack open while he filled the tub with hot water.

"Okay" Tsuruko giggled, watching Ren leave and soon lying down on the bed while the call continued. "That's not fair on you guys, though. Don't your brothers speak openly about their relationships?"

"It's different once you're married. Dating is considered a bit too unreliable and alot of people get pissed off when they find out someone they support is already in a relationship. It's so dumb! I wanna be able to tell everyone since it's not like we're dating just because, you know?"

"You should talk to your management properly, then. Get it out there. Especially after this whole Ren situation it might be good being honest."

"Maybe ... but it's scary. I've only just started being in the public eye. But I love him so much. Seeing him beating himself up all the time is hard ... and we did talk about telling people and he was so sweet about understanding! But ... I want people to know."

"Then set the facts early. Why not?"

[aimhleas]

"You and Aito finally did it?" Ren called out from the background of Tsuruko and Freya's video call. The two of them still in the hotel room with no motivation to leave and with the limited space in the acatual room Ren couldn't help overhear Freya mention the fact to Tsuruko. He crawled across the bed and sat behind Tsuruko, his chin rested on her shoulder and he flashed a smile to the girl on the other side of the phone. "Finally. Only took you two a year."

"You don't need to shout it out like that!" Freya and Tsuruko both laughed, the former covering the lower of of her face with the sleeve of Aito's hoodie that she was still wearing. "It was so amazing, though. Super romantic~"

"Good! I'm happy for you two! Now you'll stop being awkward as hell about sex."