hikikomori notes 1

White Space, Neighbor’s Room

• vertical hierarchy: knife is closest southwest of WS room (same corner as Mewo)
• still don’t know where that thin-ass door is, it’s not in the overworld iirc
• love that Aubrey and Kel’s initial impressions swap their respective emotions; Aubrey’s happy to see you and Kel’s mad about the cards
  • side note, they also immediately flip back; Kel’s happy about his pet rock, Aubrey’s like “>:( he took my toy”
  • oh yeah duh, they also both start with skills with the emotion flip too; Aubrey’s Pep Talk, Kel’s Annoy
    • later note: take this with $amount of salt since Hero doesn’t have emotion-giving skills Period.^[1]
• sure is an eye-plant in an inaccessible corner. also huh, that’s a blender not a trophy??

• Plantegg: Makes a weird noise when you punch it. $20 on Sunny knowing this thanks to Kel, and also why would it do that
• Hector: Can talk, but is very shy. He is a good friend. ohh. ohh, huh, Hector ~= Sunny??
• Hero is straightforward wrt both charm (Spatula) and skill (Cook). Bro Makes Food that’s it that’s his schtick; he also doesn’t have as much unique dialogue right off the bat (like, I think I missed Kel talking about Hector the first time, but Hero has nothing new to say between the scene dialogue and advancing the story)
  • on the other hand, Hero’s the one you talk to to get the party together, and he’s the one who stops you from returning to White Space immediately after
  • also his sprite for card-playing is ever so Slightly off-model (hair spike). noticing the real details

to the Playground

• Aubrey getting stuck is a weird little point; the boys were actually this close to forging on without her?? (Omori moves, too; it’s a cutscene outside the player’s control.) and the only other person who notably pops out of the stump like that is, uh, Black Space Basil
• the silence at the North Lake is kinda eerie, especially when everywhere else so far has music. obviously this fits later scenes odlično (excellently), but for now: the area seems to correlate to both the beach and lake memories. curious!
  • I love the detail of Kel making his sandcastle-statue wicked fast and Hero takes the longest. consistent characterization in cutscenes! we love to see it!!!
  • did the sandcastle thing a few times just to see the variety; sometimes Hero or Kel will just go swim (not sure if Aubrey does?), and Hero always makes the same bog-standard castle. shit, even Omori has more variety (usually stump, sometimes Mewo or… some sphere that’s probably a planet, maybe Earth?)
  • this miiiight be the first possibe glimpse of Something? nice. did not get the dark Anxiety Overlay after staying there for a while, curiously, and it’s not at the other -phobia zone entries (ladder or cobwebs) either
• upon greeting Mari+Basil, the gang’s positions are kinda interesting; Basil’s roughly in the center of all of them, and the brothers stick together closest to him while Aubrey breaks off to the corner beween Omori and Mari. Compositionally Kel looks a little lonely, honestly.
• Mari: Hi, everyone! How are you doing today? :D / Aubrey, immediately: Kel’s being mean again. chinhands. it’s so funny to reread all this dialogue now that I actually know the characters, I was still p indifferent at this point in the first playthrough but now I’m like “😄 Yeah……”
  • Mari is so good with both of them, and also Hero, and honestly how did it take me until the “what’s cookin’ good lookin” comment to realize they were a Thing. it’s like right here in their first interaction
• Basil’s first line of dialogue is about taking unexpected photos, which is certainly a choice
  • also bull shit he took that one of Aubrey with the raincoat on request, and there’s a bunch in the album where people are definitely aware they’re being photographed (if not posing outright, then smiling for the camera). so like, Basil’s first line is also a blatant lie???
  • to be clear I don’t think it’s malicious or a fuck-you to Kel or anything it just, Does Not quite stand to scrutiny. Basil does seem to prefer taking photos at unexpected moments but it’s not an “only”….
• We just have to pretend you’re not there? 8,^) Sure, I can do that! 8,^) (and then Kel immediately turns away, lmao. little details!!!!)

Photo Album

• oh, I forgot that the first fuckin photo (right here! in Headspace!!) is a counterexample to the “only take non-staged photos” idea—it’s Sunny Omori and Kel with Mari’s flower crown.^[2]
• it is wild how much of Basil’s commentary Sunny overwrote (if not outright deleted) with reckless abandon, here. and also kinda ?sweet that, whereas real-Basil seemed kinda sheepish about wearing an entire flower crown (though the accessory stuck, give or take some talksprites) Sunny just went “nah you get the full thing forever here”
• But like, even the captions that don’t have a ton changed are still so eyebrow-raising?? Compare:

Hero’s still making his flower crown. It’s taking him a little while, but he’s getting there. You have to admire his persistence!

Hero’s still making his flower crown. It’s taking him a little while, but he’s getting it. You have to admire his persistence.

^ Subtle differences, but still differences! Getting there sounds less complete than getting it, and the punctuation change turns an exclamation into a borderline-command. You will admire his persistence.

• The order gets scrambled, too, which doesn’t stick out until You Know. Like, yeah, sure, they went from flowers to watermelons, nbd—oh wait. (Also ha, Aubrey has some seeds on her face. Maybe someone should tell her. Between that and the option to say she would not look good with pink hair, actually, I am forever squinting at the Sunny→Aubrey dynamic here a little bit.)
• I’ve said this before but I’m repeating it again: Kel has his dislike of milk overwritten because color symbolisms. and also maybe Sunny subtly judges the guy for it because No One Likes That Orange Crap
• Anyway wow, the photo of Sunny and Basil with the book got completely janked; Mari had Hero take the photo instead of doing it herself, and the Everyone thinks a flower crown really suits me line got transplanted here, without argument. Also, extremely rare (if not the only?) instance of Omori with the little blush-lines.
• I spent a stupid amount of time^[3] not realizing Kel and Hero were brothers despite it being confirmed upfront right here, whoops
• Teeny tiny Headspace retcon: Mari wanted to take pictures a picture of everyone!. Say cheese! …Sunny didn’t like Mari taking pictures too much, huh?
• I still think that one photo of Kel with the ketchup watermelon stain is weirdly ominous and for what. It doesn’t amount to anything but it’s on the same side Omori (and potentially Sunny) stabs himself! Why!!!

continuing

• Following Basil’s offer to hang out at his place (yes, he really uses the phrase “hang out,” although so do Kel and Aubrey in the other route so it really seems to be casual and not a morbid joke—anyway): I just finished planting some little sprouts and wanted to show everyone. Come on! They’re really cute! …“Sprouts,” eh? He means the flowers, presumably, but Sprout Moles Are A Concept. Where’s that one comment about Basil liking tofu, which inexplicably links him to the moles, too….
• Hero steps off the blanket, which… might be one of the only instances in a picnic-centered cutscene where that happens? I know Mari leaves it to hug him and Omori at later points, but I don’t remember if the other characters move too much.
• Btw, Mari sitting out did stand out to me in round one, but the moment passed and it wasn’t a big deal. man,,,,
  • She’s also the first to explicitly mention game mechanics, with the Save using my picnic basket line. Hero does too, during the tutorial bits later, and I forget if anyone else does?
• Speaking of the basket, always struck me as odd that the whole gang gets immediately kicked off after the scene ends. you never, to memory, finish a picnic cutscene with them still on it. wonder if that changes for Hikikomori exclusives….
• oh shit, I forgot Basil joins the party briefly here. like in the overworld and everything!

[Vrijeme Breaka (Time of Break)]

Hide & Seek, Boss

• Berly talks so fast when she’s excited. It gets really hard to keep up… oh what a mood
• if you try to skip the hide-and-seek bit (by not talking to Berly before leaving) Aubrey’s the one who stops you
• and despite ^that she and Kel are first to break off when Berly’s trying to get the gang to play
• Basil takes up the last position in the party but when they’re lined up for hide & seek he’s next to Omori (followed by, right to left, Aubrey, Kel, and Hero)
• huh, not-Angel isn’t in the hide & seek lineup. moved in later, maybe? (he is on the playground, though)
  • ohh, curiously he and Daisy are blocking the exit during the seeking. huh
• the find-order seems to be mandatory, as Hero won’t show up until you get Aubrey (I got Kel first without thinking, not sure if that would change any dialogue)
• I think, but didn’t 100% check to be sure, that Mari’s friends-left count includes Basil, even though the second you find Berly she’s like “yep, think that’s everyone!” and the scene advances
• thanks again Berly for giving me the impression of Bizarre Amount of Childhood Violence early on
• really do love the consistency with which Kel moves faster than anyone else in every single cutscene
• if the Basil ~= Boss theory is anything to go by why are you kidnapping yourself why are you kidnapping yourself why are y
• How dare you not invite me[,] I’m the one who showed you all how to play in the first place! like. this would be weirdly ~vindictive of actual-Basil but idk! it’s a cool theory! (I need to reread it!)
• love that Basil knows Body Slam btw. doodled this last month (although still haven’t put the roundup together oops)
• That’s the flower crown we made for Basil! …huh, I did not remember that! I don’t think it’s confirmed who, exactly, made the irl one; I kinda assumed everyone did their own…?
• gotta love that, in both fights where Basil gets a sprite (not when he’s on your team in the Switch Boss Rush), he’s crying. stay winning, bud
• oh hey, I also didn’t notice that, in Boss’s hurt sprites, Basil stays full color! same goes for the defeat
• I like that Boss putting Basil down (Basil getting himself down?) isn’t even an action, Basil just clips to the floor with a pop sound effect
• oh, it’s for one (1) line but backing up for a sec, I like that Basil doesn’t have any crown-less sprites so he goes “My flower crown!! D:” while still, in the talksprite, very much wearing it

• anyway Aubrey being the one to put it back on him/give it back is a nice touch, as is Basil being so quick to ~forgive Boss for the whole ordeal. (huh, this isn’t fun anymore and he tried really hard to make sure I didn’t get hurt—Omori and gang go hard as hell for no reason, the prologue)
• Hero, of all people, being like “well, if Boss hides behind the tree, he won’t be a problem! let’s move on!”,,,

onward

• Mari’s seemingly-genuine anger wrt How could anyone hate bunnies!? seems like a relevant data point re:what rabbits even symbolize here, but still I got next to nothin
• so besides Daisy, the now-obvious Faraway correlations, and ig those two who run around ~foreshadowing the Burning Man (as in, characters you sorta have to navigate around to actually interact with), there’s not a Whole lot I have to say about the playground crew… it’s not really clear who the blobbier dudes are; most obviously they’re based on Sunny’s stuffed animals, but there’s probably little correlations around there somewhere if you squint
• Apple Juice: Apparently better than Orange Juice. kel and his drink cannot catch a fuckin break huh
• unsurprisingly you cannot head north of the playground with Basil in tow. only down…
• okay yeah, first Sprout Mole fight has Hero introducing the emotion mechanics. man, this took a long-ass time to set in when I first played for some reason, I had to check the chart constantly…
• someone pointed this out on a post somewhere, alas don’t think I saved it, but Basil fawning over Hero like “he’s universally loved!” and then that’s the achievement for Sunny befriending everyone in town… nice detail :,)
• anyway tho I’m telling you there is No reason to beat up either of the moles. ig they launch themselves at you like kamikaze onions but that’s only after they’re talked at. the second one is twirling and the third is in fetal position. come on, guys.
• tiny detail but I like that all the kids draw! or at least everyone but Mari (local perfectionist, no surprise there); Hero’s got the chart, Kel and Aubrey have that stunning rendition of Basil later, of course Sunny/Omori has the sketchbook, and while I forget if Basil has anything in canon he doodled little flowers in this one birthday post.
• y’know stray thought, I’ve seen the theory that the friends’ Token Emotions correspond to how they reacted to Mari’s death, which is true, but also like… this is Sunny’s headspace, and he hasn’t seen them in years. he wouldn’t necessarily know that! and as mentioned earlier I think you could swap Kel and Aubrey’s without much difficulty, and Hero isn’t even particularly sad (just calmer than the others)… I wonder if, maybe, the emotions correlate more to how they make Sunny feel?
  • obviously they are all his friends and so they all make him happy. but Kel is straight-up The Person He Needs, they clearly spent a lot of time with each other growing up (being neighbors helps); Hero could make Sunny feel down about himself in comparison; and Aubrey I’m less sure about but maybe something something unrequited feelings, those aforementioned weird snippets of judgment. idk! something to chew on.
• anyway “cacti don’t need much care, and can survive in seemingly impossible conditions” still feels so weirdly backhanded no matter who it’s applied to gjdfdsj. like jeez ok thanks for saying Kel/whoever doesn’t need to be cared about??
  • even you could take care of a cactus! uh-huh. sure jan basil
• I love teleporting Mari it throws you for such a loop the first time
• Basil: You always have everything under control! Mari: That’s not true at all! and then even Hero agrees she at least makes it look easy… there’s always the paradox of like, everyone’s characterization here is filtered through Sunny, so Hero might’ve been more understanding irl, but like. Still
• oh shit Basil leaves the picnic this round. huh. I also totally forgot about the option to disagree with everyone’s Mari praise
• oh shit x2, Basil was on the picnic blanket post-cutscene
• oh shit x3, I never went back to do the playground picnic with everyone but it’s the whole gang with flower crowns…………^[4]

…or, uh. most of the gang with crowns, Hero with but one (1) flower (and he and Mari are both off-blanket), and Kel… smashing a.. watermelon….

• still don’t know what the big sprout guy’s deal is but it is (kinda morbidly) funny that the gang wails on him, too, with absolutely zero prompting or (prior) dialogue. You Are In The Way. Move
• pfah, I didn’t realize the Release Energy turn was scripted; we did not have full energy before that

aaaand one Mole Grampa beatup later, we done here today I think!