Twilight Syndrome – Investigation (English), 30: BONUS EPISODE "PRANK"

Ha, surpriiise! =D
This is the secret bonus chapter "Prank". Originally, I wanted to release it on the 24.12.2019 as a nice surprise "present", but in the end it took a bit longer to translate it.


From here on I will give some of my thoughts, so YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY HAVE WATCHED THE EPISODE BEFORE READING ON!


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Now. Was it worth the wait?
Depends on what you expected from it, I guess.
Personally, I definitely liked the odd atmosphere in this bonus chapter. There's some uncanny and dreadful feeling permeating these strange scenes, but on the other hand... the plot is fairly surreal and confusing, and I'm not even sure, if I understand it very well myself. I probably would've liked a more "normal" chapter a bit better.
Now, a few questions that I asked myself and then tried to answer:

What was Chisato doing before she went and said all those harsh things to Mika?
I have no idea, but maybe it was supposed to show her shoplifting? It must have been something bad, as Mika was visibly surprised by seeing Chisato doing whatever she did.

Was that the real Chisato, and was that what she really thinks about Mika?
No, I definitely don't think so. Throughout both games, Chisato has shown that she cares about Mika and wants to be friends with her, even more so than Yukari. She's also the one who convinced Yukari to go after Mika when Mika was spirited away, which imho also proves she considers Mika a friend and would go through great danger to help her. So, once more: No, I doubt that that was the real Chisato. Perhaps this Ryo person fabricated as many scenes as he could think of with things that would hurt and confuse Mika and play on her fears (e.g. fear of Chisato and Yukari not liking her anymore, forgetting about her, wanting her gone...), trying to drive her over the edge and see, if she would actually kill someone in this fabricated world? It would make sense using Chisato for some of the most hurtful and shocking things, because it would have even more of an impact than using Yukari (who has been cold and uncaring to Mika before, while Chisato usually never is like that). But... if that was the case, then why did he say in the end that he himself did NOT create these scenes? That he was merely watching? Maybe he meant that he did not create them from scratch, but rather that they were manifestations of fears already present in Mika's subconscious, and he just activated them, gave them form, and watched how Mika would react? I am... really not sure... Feel free to leave your own thoughts and interpretations in the comments!

If most of this wasn't real, when did it stop being real?
Probably when Chisato was about to explain what the fairy dust does. It would explain Mika not being able to hear her explanation and then Chisato suddenly just leaving.


Why were Chisato and Yukari bloody at the end?
I have... no idea.


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Some more info I found: Apparently, there is a chapter called "Henshitsu" in Moonlight Syndrome that was based on "Prank". There is some more info on it in an interview with Goichi Suda, but beware it has Moonlight Syndrome spoilers:
http://fftranslations.atspace.co.uk/s...
(Check the two questions: «What was the ending to the "fairy's prank" that Chisato told Mika about in Henshitsu?» and «What is the meaning of the line Ryo says to Mika: "When the moon's sorrow overflows, you will be seen off by the two horses of abstinence... to someone who forgives all."»)



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And with that, I say goodbye once again. As stated before, it might take quite a while before I have enough free time for translation projects again, but I would indeed like to continue some day. Perhaps with Moonlight Syndrome, or perhaps with something else entirely. We'll see...


Until then!