Maison Ikkoku FAQ/Walkthrough by Rob Browning (pluvius3 @ gmail.com) v1.01 (Written July 24, 2009) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ----------------- I. DISCLAIMER II. VERSION HISTORY III. INTRODUCTION IV. INTERFACE V. CHARACTERS VI. LOCATIONS VII. ITEMS VIII. GENERAL TIPS IX. WALKTHROUGH 1. Getting Started 2. How to Win Friends and Influence Idiot Neighbors 3. The First Snag: Ichinosiness 4. The Second Snag: The "Perfect" Rival 5. People Sure Like Pictures of Themselves 6. Endgame X. CHEATS XI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CLOSING WORDS ************** I. DISCLAIMER ************** This FAQ is copyright 2009 Rob Browning, all rights reserved. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Redistribution for profit is prohibited. Free distribution is allowed provided that this FAQ is left intact and unchanged, with credit given to the author, and that any sites distributing this FAQ update it regularly. Personal, private use of this FAQ is allowed with no restrictions. ******************** II. VERSION HISTORY ******************** v1.01 (07-24-09): Changed contact email address. v1.00 (04-19-08): First release. ****************** III. INTRODUCTION ****************** Q. What is this FAQ for? A. This FAQ is for Maison Ikkoku for the NEC PC Engine (known as the NEC Turbografx-16 in the West). It should also apply to the games of the same name on various other systems including the Nintendo Famicom, but not to the sequel which is named Maison Ikkoku Kanketsuhen. The PC Engine version has been translated into English by fans, however, unlike the other versions. Maison Ikkoku is based on the popular 80's manga/anime series of the same name. It was created by legendary manga artist Rumiko Takahashi, who has been responsible for other well-known manga/anime series such as Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, and Inuyasha, and was a major contributor to the rise of anime in the West. It is a romantic comedy about a struggling college student who falls in love with the manager of a boarding house inhabited by an assortment of colorful tenants. Q. Why did you write this FAQ? A. You might guess that it's because I like anime, but I'm actually not a big fan of the artform. I wrote this FAQ because Maison Ikkoku is pretty simple when you understand how it works, but getting to that understanding is somewhat complicated. And of course it helps that it was recently translated and there are no English-language FAQs for it yet. Q. What is the game about? A. I'm not entirely certain what the point of Maison Ikkoku is because the manual isn't very informative on the subject, but it appears that the main character, Yuusaku Godai, has discovered that the manager of the house has a mysterious photograph which she doesn't want anyone to know about. Godai, possibly afraid that the picture is of a secret lover or something of that nature, is obsessed with finding out what's in the picture, and you have to help him out. Q. How does the game play? A. Maison Ikkoku is a graphical text adventure in the vein of most Japanese computer-style adventure games. Probably the most familiar examples of these games to Westerners are the NES games Shadowgate and Deja Vu. One thing that makes Maison Ikkoku distinct is the presence of a limited amount of money which Godai needs to purchase items necessary to beat the game. Unfortunately, the things you need to do to succeed are often arbitrary and don't seem relevant to your quest, while some of the things that aren't still require knowledge of the anime to understand. It's pretty easy to enter an unwinnable state, so without help you'll be playing this game many times before you're finished. Q. Is there a way to get Godai's grandmother to visit? A. Yes, there is, but I don't know how to trigger it. According to Japanese websites, it has something to do with the Ikkoku-kan's public phone, and occurs sometime after Grandma calls you and sends you a package. If anyone figures it out, let me know and I'll put it in the FAQ with credit. Q. What about Mr. Ichinose? A. According to the manual, Ichinose's seldom-seen husband is apparently a hidden character. I personally think that the manual reference is just a joke from the game developers, though. Q. Who's the guy in the manual in shadow with the big question mark by his picture? A. Dunno. Might be a reference to the late Souichiro Otonashi, who is almost always obscured in pictures of him. ************** IV. INTERFACE ************** D-Pad: Move cursor. Select: Switches between password input modes. Run: Enters password. Button II: Cancels command, erases letter. Button I: Selects command/object/letter. The commands are pretty self-explanatory; the only thing worth noting is that the command "Show" is often used as a synonym for the word "give." You can get a password to continue the game after quitting by going to one of the landings in the Ikkoku-kan, hitting the bathroom door, and opening it to go inside. ************** V. CHARACTERS ************** Yuusaku Godai: The character you play as. Godai is a student at a low-tier college who can best be described as a spineless loser. Though he's kind and not unattractive, he's weak-willed, easily manipulated, constantly broke and reliant on his friends and family for support, and has his head in the clouds most of the time. He is deeply infatuated with the manager of his boarding house, but is too afraid to do anything direct. The other tenants leech off of him and impose on him in other ways, but he never protests. Kyouko Otonashi: The manager of the Ikkoku-kan and the love of Godai's life. She's beautiful and polite, but can become violent at times, especially when she's jealous. She has a lot of affection for Godai (though she objects to the idea that this goes beyond the Platonic), but is still mourning the death of her husband and unavailable to romantic advances. The tenants refer to her politely by her title, Kanrinin-san ("manager"). Yotsuya: One of Godai's next-door neighbors, Yotsuya is a strange, perverted man. Nobody knows much about him; he's very formal and comes and goes at odd hours. He often tears holes in Godai's apartment so he can pester him, steal his food, and peep on Akemi. Akemi Roppongi: Godai's other next-door neighbor, Akemi is a busty hostess at the nearby bar. She is very uninhibited, preferring to go about the Ikkoku-kan in lingerie and making her desires well-known. She drinks all the time, often in Godai's room, and is always tired due to her partying lifestyle. She bums off of Godai much like Yotsuya does. Hanae Ichinose: The last adult tenant of the Ikkoku-kan, Ichinose is a middle- aged lush. Most of the time she lives alone with her son, as her husband is a slave to his work. Though she often torments Godai just like the other tenants, she genuinely likes both him and Kanrinin-san. She's also very nosy and inserts herself into situations that don't involve her. The Chigusas: Kanrinin-san's parents. They didn't like her choice of husband, and often argue with her over her choice to manage the Ikkoku-kan by herself instead of getting remarried. As for who she should get remarried to, they unfortunately hardly realize that Godai even exists. Kozue Nanao: Godai's ditzy "girlfriend." She often drags Godai on dates, not realizing that he doesn't like her in that way, nor that he has a crush on Kanrinin-san. Godai is too cowardly to break it off with her, which annoys Kanrinin-san to no end, even though she doesn't dislike Kozue. The Nanao family: Kozue's parents and brother are all very supportive of Godai's relationship with her. A bit too supportive, in fact; Godai has to be careful not to get forced into a marriage by them. Shun Mitaka: Kanrinin-san's "boyfriend," Mitaka is everything that Godai isn't--rich, well-educated, charming, and devastatingly handsome. He's also an arrogant womanizer, but ladies tend to fail to notice (or fail to care). Unsurprisingly, he and Godai strongly dislike each other and often fight over Kanrinin-san. Kanrinin-san likes him, but his aggressive nature makes her nervous. Mitaka also has a peculiar and crippling fear of dogs, which is a problem since his girlfriend has a dog as a pet. Ikuko Otonashi: Kanrinin-san's niece-in-law. She likes Godai a lot as a playmate, and gets her family to hire him as a tutor to prepare her for high school. Kanrinin-san doesn't like to leave them by themselves, not because she's jealous, but because they usually don't get any work done. Ikuko's mother: Not much to say about her in this game. She's nice and bakes Godai a cake. Mr. Otonashi: Kanrinin-san's father-in-law. He owns the Ikkoku-kan and loves Kanrinin-san like a real daughter. Kentarou Ichinose: Ichinose's grade-school son. He doesn't like Godai all that much, but will help him out with the proper inducements. Sakamoto: Godai's drinking buddy from college. Godai gets much of his emotional and financial support from him. Master: The proprietor of the Chacha Maru, the bar that Akemi works at. There's not much else to say about him as far as the game is concerned, but he will give you financial help if needed. Clerk: The clerk at the market. She does nothing other than trade items for money, but she looks a lot like a character from another Takahashi manga. Sayaka: I dunno who this guy is supposed to be. He hangs around the Chacha Maru and serves no useful purpose. Perhaps he's supposed to be Mr. Ichinose? Godai's family: They don't appear in the game (well, Grandma does if you know how to get her), but they do send Godai care packages after he talks to them on the phone. Souichiro: Kanrinin-san's dog. An old, mangy mutt, he's named after Kanrinin- san's late husband. ************** VI. LOCATIONS ************** Ikkoku-kan: The boarding house where Godai lives. Attic Room 4<->Closet<->Room 5<->Closet Room 6 Back Porch \ | | | | \ | | | | \ | | | | \ | | | | Hallway<--------->Hallway<--------->Hallway<-->2nd Floor<---->Bathroom Landing Backyard | | | | | | | Kanrinin- | san's Room 1 Room 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Corner<--------->Hallway<--------->Hallway<-->1st Floor<---->Bathroom | Landing Roof | \ | \ | \ | Front Porch | | Other areas Room 1: Ichinose Room 2: Vacant Room 3: Vacant (part of a running gag concerning Mitaka, you can't go here) Room 4: Yotsuya Room 5: Godai Room 6: Akemi Market: The place where you can buy a number of items, some of which are necessary to beat the game. Chacha Maru: The nearby bar which the Ikkoko-kan tenants frequent. Nanao's: The Nanao family residence. Otonashi's: Ikuko's house. Station: A train station that Sakamoto uses to visit. Grave: The grave of Kanrinin-san's husband. *********** VII. ITEMS *********** Wallet: You have this at the beginning of the game. Contains all of your money. Hammer: Found in Room 4. I have no clue what this is used for. It's not needed for patching the holes. Ladder: Found in Room 4. Needed to get on the roof. Flashlight: Found in the Room 4 closet. Needed to see in the attic. Nail Puller: Found in the Room 4 closet under a pillow. Yotsuya uses this to unpatch the holes. Log: Found in the Room 4 closet. Yotsuya uses this to knock a hole in your wall. Dirty Mag: Found in the Room 5 closet. Yotsuya likes to look at these. Nails: Found on the back porch and in the market. Needed to patch holes. Planks: Found on the back porch and in the market. Needed to patch holes. Postcard: Found sometimes in the mailbox on the front porch. It's Kanrinin- san's and delivering it to her will make her happy. Bra: Found on the roof. This is also Kanrinin-san's and she'll appreciate it if you give it to her, though not at first. Souichiro: Kanrinin-san's dog, found in the doghouse out front. He won't go with you unless you give him something good to eat, and he won't leave the Ikkoku-kan. Package: A care package you get mailed to you after talking to your family. It contains a number of food items and you can get it by sitting with Kanrinin- san for a chat. Liquor: Bought at the Chacha Maru. Ichinose really likes to drink it. Ramen: Bought at the market. An essential item to bribe your tenants with. Canned Food: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen. Bento: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen. Yakitori: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen, and Souichiro's favorite food. Donuts: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen. Sandwich: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen. Flowers: Found at Nanao's and the market. Kanrinin-san loves these. T-Shirt: Bought at the market. Never used this for anything, probably a substitute for ramen. Takoyaki: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen. Egg: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen, but useful to give to Ichinose. Maneki Cat: Bought at the market. This is Yotsuya's, and he really wants it back. Hyuncle: Bought at the market. A substitute for ramen. Souichiro's Picture: Found in Ikuko's photo album. A picture of Kanrinin-san with her husband. Cake: Given to you by Ikuko's mother. A substitute for ramen. High-School Picture: Given to you by Mr. Otonashi. A picture of Kanrinin-san in high school. Diary: Given to you by Mr. Otonashi. The diary of Kanrinin-san's dead husband. Yotsuya's Picture: Found in Room 2. A picture of Yotsuya in high school. Key: Found under the mat in the hall outside Room 2. It unlocks Room 2's door. Ichinose's Picture: Given to you by Ichinose. A picture of Ichinose in junior high(?) Akemi's Picture: Given to you by Akemi. A picture of Akemi as a child. ******************* VIII. GENERAL TIPS ******************* The object of Maison Ikkoku is to get a look at Kanrinin-san's secret picture. For most of the game, Godai tries to do this by stealing it outright from a picture frame in Kanrinin-san's room, but there are a bunch of obstacles that get in his way. By the time he gets past all of these, Kanrinin-san moves the picture. At that point, for some reason, Godai has to collect other pictures of the tenants in the house to show to Kanrinin-san. After this you can finish the game. Godai has to visit Kanrinin-san's room several times for the first part of the game. On each visit he has to try to get the picture frame, whereupon someone will come in and force him to give up and leave. For each visit he has to give Kanrinin-san a present before she'll let him in; flowers are the usual present, though there are times when you find special items you can use. After the first three visits there will be additional things that need to be done; on the fourth visit Ichinose has to be bribed with liquor, and on the fifth Mitaka must be scared off by Souichiro. This part of the game would be easy if not for the fact that you have to deal with the other tenants. Practically every time you do something, the three tenants will hang around you and refuse to go away until you give them something. Ramen is usually sufficient, but it costs money, most of which you need for flowers or other things. Fortunately, only Ichinose is nosy enough to interfere with you visiting Kanrinin-san, so you can bribe her and ignore the other two most of the time. Once you've visited Kanrinin-san enough times, you'll be able to enter her room freely, but the frame will be gone. Now you need to get the other pictures. 1. Souichiro and Kanrinin-san: Mr. Otonashi will give these to you with no trouble. 2. Yotsuya: He'll give you his picture in exchange for the Maneki Cat. 3. Ichinose: She'll give you her picture if you give her enough liquor. 4. Akemi: She'll give you her picture if you patch up the hole that Yotsuya made. Once you've gotten these, you can show them to Kanrinin-san and do a couple of other things (see the walkthrough for more details) and win the game. The thing that makes Maison Ikkoku difficult is the fact that you don't have a lot of money; you only start with 4580 yen. Fortunately, you can get money and other expensive items from a few places: 1. Call Sakamoto up when you're broke and he'll give you 3000 yen. 2. Call your parents (or get called by Grandma) when you're broke and you'll get a care package containing five ramen and five canned foods. 3. Show Master your wallet when you're broke and he'll give you 2000 yen if no one else is in the bar. 4. Try to buy liquor without enough money and Master will give you a free bottle if Sayaka isn't in the bar. 5. Once you've tutored Ikuko, Mr. Otonashi will give you 5000 yen. 6. If you manage to get Grandma to visit, you can find her in your room and show her your wallet if you're broke and get 3000 yen. Even with this help you have to be careful, since the loans are usually a one- time thing. The best way to go through the game is to do as many things possible at once to minimize the number of times you have to bribe people, and bribe people with as much free stuff as possible. For example, at the beginning you can patch up the peeping hole and get the flashlight, postcard, and bra all at once without buying anything if you do it in the right order and with the right items. Of course, this all goes out the window if you actually manage to get Grandma to come visit, as she will give you a loan as often as you need it. Good luck figuring out how, though. **************** IX. WALKTHROUGH **************** ------------------- 1. Getting Started ------------------- You'll begin your quest for the secret photograph in your room, Room 5. Go ahead and familiarize yourself with the controls and commands. There are plenty of things to look at, but all that will be of interest here is the hole in the wall that Yotsuya made and your closet door, which you should go ahead and open. You can also open your window and jump out of it, but that will lead to your incapacitation and the end of the game. This is true for any place you can jump down, so don't do it. Before we do anything in the hole or the closet, go outside and go right a couple of times. After passing Room 6 (Akemi's room) you'll find yourself in the second floor landing. If you want to enter the bathroom, hit the door then open it. You can get a password here or in the bathroom on the first floor that will allow you to continue the game at the point you leave off. Open the other door in the landing and go out onto the back porch. Pick up the nails and planks you see there, then go back inside and all the way left to Room 4. Open the door and enter. Yotsuya is inside, but he won't complain if you take the hammer and ladder that are in here. Open the closet door and go inside, and Yotsuya will follow. He now has a flashlight on his head, which we'll be getting soon. If you move the pillow, you'll also see the nail puller that he uses to uncover his peeping hole after someone repairs it, but we obviously can't take it while Yotsuya is there. So continue on through the hole into your room, and on into your closet. Yotsuya appears again, this time peeping through a hole into Room 6. You can look yourself to see Akemi in a pretty risque position, but this will hypocritically get Yotsuya ticked off at you, so don't do it. Instead, take the dirty magazine that Yotsuya has left to the side and use the planks to patch up the hole. Then go back to Yotsuya's closet through the hole. Give him back the magazine ("show" it to him) and he'll let you take the flashlight. Then if you leave and come back, he'll be gone so you can take the nail puller and log (another item he uses to make holes in walls). With that bit of business done, we're ready to start the main quest. Go downstairs from the landing, then left and outside. (Room 2 won't be accessible until near the end of the game, and Room 3 is a red herring.) Kentarou is here, and we can give him some money (show wallet) in exchange for information, but it's about there being something on the roof, which is what we're about to get. So don't bother bribing Kentarou, and instead use the ladder. Now we can get on the roof, where we can daydream about Kanrinin-san and find a bra of hers that's somehow blown up here. Get the bra and come back down. (BTW, if we had went up here while Yotsuya was mad at us, he'd have taken the ladder and stranded us on the roof. Same thing would have happened if we'd went out on the back porch while he was mad.) Now get the postcard from the mailbox, then leave the Ikkoku-kan and head for the market. ---------------------------------------------------- 2. How to Win Friends and Influence Idiot Neighbors ---------------------------------------------------- The market has a lot of items to buy, but only a few of them are necessary and relevant. The most important item to buy here is ramen, for reasons which will be noted later. For now, buy three packs of ramen. Also get two bouquets of flowers, which Kanrinin-san likes. Now go back to the Ikkoku-kan. Once there, you'll notice that the other tenants of the house follow you around. This is because they're mad at you for taking Kanrinin-san's postcard, or at least acting like they are to guilt or annoy you into giving them something. This is the main obstacle of the game, since the tenants will do this after you do practically anything, including visit Kanrinin-san. Fortunately, the only person you need to bribe most of the time is Ichinose, since she is the only one that hangs out right outside Kanrinin-san's door and keeps you from visiting. Conveniently she's standing out by herself on the front porch, so just give her some ramen to calm her down. Now we can open the door and go inside. Go left to the corner with the public phone (passing Ichinose's Room 1), then forward, and you'll find yourself in front of Kanrinin-san's. Knock on the door (hit it) and she'll appear. We can talk to her, but she won't let you inside unless you give her a present. Flowers are the traditional gift, but since we're trying to save money, give her the postcard instead. Then talk to her twice and you'll be able to enter her room. Inside you can talk to her some more, as well as sit down and talk even more. You can also try to make romantic advances, but Godai is too cowardly to do anything more than dream about them. There's also a backyard you can reach by opening the curtain, but there's nothing out there. So the only thing you need to do here is try to take the picture frame, which is the object of your quest. However, before you're able to snatch it, Akemi comes in and complains about the bathroom door, requesting Kanrinin-san to come fix it. You'll be forced to leave. Now the cycle begins again. Go to the front porch to give ramen to Ichinose. (She's standing right in front of Kanrinin-san's, but it's quicker this way.) If you try to visit Kanrinin-san again, she won't be there, so instead knock on the door to Room 1 and visit Ichinose's room. (You might have to go out on the front porch again to get Ichinose to appear in her room.) This will force the game to advance so you can go back to Kanrinin-san. This time you should give her a bouquet of flowers. We're saving the bra for later. Now Kanrinin-san's parents are in the room with her, arguing over what she's doing with her life. Everyone is too busy sniping at each other to talk to you directly, so go ahead and try taking the picture frame. Suddenly the argument will explode, keeping you from getting to the frame. You can try to ease tensions, but they'll just yell at you to stay out of it. So just leave. Do the cycle all over again, giving Kanrinin-san your other set of flowers. She'll apologize to you about her parents after letting you in, and things are basically like they were the first time you visited. When you try taking the picture frame again, your "girlfriend" Kozue comes in and begs you to visit her family. Go ahead and do so. -------------------------------- 3. The First Snag: Ichinosiness -------------------------------- Here you'll be stuck until you've talked at length with Kozue and her family. First go ahead and take the free flowers on the table, then talk to whoever you want. After talking eight times, an option will appear that will allow you to go to Kozue's room. If you do this, Kozue's parents will freak out and force you to marry her by shotgun. So don't do this. Instead, talk a few more times and you'll be able to leave. Go to the market first and buy two packs of ramen and an egg (which will be needed later). Then go to the Ikkoku-kan and give ramen to Ichinose. Kanrinin-san is gone again, so go to Ichinose's room and you'll see her talking to Kanrinin-san's parents. (You'll probably have to leave the Ikkoku-kan and come back to get them to appear.) Since Kanrinin-san is gone, Ichinose has let her parents in to her room because she's an incurable gossip and meddler. So they're talking about Kanrinin-san and what they can do to get her on the right path. You can talk to them if you want, but it's not necessary; just leave the Ikkoku-kan and go to the Chacha Maru. This is the bar where the tenants go when they're not busy drinking in your room. Try to buy a bottle of liquor; you can't afford it, but the master of the establishment is a pretty nice guy and gives you one on your tab. Now go back to Kanrinin-san's. She'll be mad at you for going to Kozue's house. (Of course, she would've been mad at you even if you didn't. Women.) She won't accept flowers from you, knowing where they probably came from, so give her her bra instead. She'll slap you and storm back into her room, but if you knock on her door again she'll apologize and allow you inside after you talk to her. Ichinose is here, probably because of Kanrinin-san's parents. She won't let you do anything, including take the picture frame. Therefore you need to distract her with the oft-used method of getting her drunk. First give her a ramen to make her less hostile, then give her an egg to make her cheerful. (Another ramen wouldn't work.) Finally, give her the liquor and she'll decide to hold a banquet for all of the house inhabitants. You can either go to sleep, which will immediately advance the game, or drink a few times then try to embrace Kanrinin-san, which will lead to another one of your dreams. Either way, you'll end up in your room with Yotsuya and Akemi hating you as usual (but not Ichinose, strangely enough). ---------------------------------------- 4. The Second Snag: The "Perfect" Rival ---------------------------------------- If we try to visit Kanrinin-san again, her suitor and your rival Mitaka will show up. Since we need to get rid of him, we should go to the market first and buy some yakitori (for Souichiro the dog) and flowers. We won't need the flowers for quite some time, but we need to have less than 500 yen for the next sequence to work. Go back to the Ikkoku-kan and go to the corner with the phone. It will ring; pick it up and Grandma will tell you she's sending a package for you. Now immediately use the phone to call Sakamoto, who will tell you to go to the train station to see him. Go straight to the train station and talk to Sakamoto, who will give you 3000 yen. Now go straight to the market and buy the Maneki Cat. Normally it would be 5000 yen, but if you did things in this precise order it will be on sale for 3000 yen. Buy a ramen with what little money you have as well. Go to the Ikkoku-kan and give the ramen to Ichinose. Go back and forth between Room 1 and Kentarou should be on the front porch instead of Ichinose. This will allow you to give Souichiro the yakitori and pick him up ("take"). Now go visit Kanrinin-san with flowers. She'll talk about her late husband and how long it's been since she started managing the house. If you sit with her, she'll give you the package from Grandma. If you look at it, you'll find five packs of ramen and five cans of food. Try taking the picture frame and Mitaka will come in. Instead of leaving in defeat like you might normally do, show Mitaka the dog. He'll freak out and run away, leaving you alone with Kanrinin- san again. Now she'll talk about how Mitaka seems not to like Souichiro, as well as ask you about what it is you've been looking for that would explain your behavior lately. Try taking the frame again (for the last time) and Kanrinin-san's niece Ikuko will appear and ask you to come tutor her. For now, we'll refuse her request and leave the room. ------------------------------------------- 5. People Sure Like Pictures of Themselves ------------------------------------------- This is where the game goes a bit strange, because there's no clear relation between what you're doing and what happens. The object of this part of the game is to get pictures of the other tenants so you can show them to Kanrinin- san. For some reason, this will allow you to finish the game. So how do we go about this? Well, if you look at the board by the Ikkoku-kan phone, you'll see that Yotsuya is looking for his "beckoning cat." Could that be the Maneki Cat you bought? Give it to him and he'll be very happy with you, at least for the moment. If you now go to Room 2, he'll let you in. On the floor, there's a picture of him in high school with a couple of characters from another Rumiko Takahashi work. Take it and leave, then move the welcome mat and you'll find a key to Room 2 under it, which you should also take. Next is Ichinose. If you show her Yotsuya's picture, she'll mention a picture of her own but clam up about it. How do we get it from her? Get her sloshed, of course! We'll have to have not one but _two_ more banquets with her to do this. We can get the liquor easy, and we already have the ramen, but what about the egg? Fortunately, we can also bum money off of Master as long as Akemi isn't at the Chacha Maru. "Buy" the liquor first. You'll notice that you can't get a bottle for free as long as that old guy named Sayaka is there. For whatever reason, he'll go away if you bribe Ichinose. Do so and get the liquor. Now you'll have to bribe all three tenants since the game won't allow you to bribe Akemi directly unless she's by herself. So bribe Ichinose outside, Yotsuya in front of Room 2, and finally Akemi in front of your room. Now show Master your wallet and he'll lend you 2000 yen. Go to the market and buy an egg, then go to Ichinose and give her the ramen-egg-liquor combination to start another banquet. When you wake up, you'll notice all of your food is gone. This is because the tenants stole it all for the banquet. Drat! So go to the Chacha Maru and bum another bottle of liquor (you should have less than 2000 yen now) and then buy a pack of ramen and an egg at the market, then do another banquet. Now if you visit Ichinose and show her Yotsuya's picture, she'll give you a picture of herself in middle school (or around that age) and apparently drunk. Now there's just Akemi, and she's a lot less annoying to bribe than Ichinose; in fact, you've already done it by patching the peephole in her wall. Get two ramens at the market so you can mollify Yotsuya and Akemi, then knock on Akemi's door (you might have to move around a little to get her to appear) and show her Ichinose's picture. She'll give you a picture of herself topless (not surprising) but as a little girl on the beach. ----------- 6. Endgame ----------- Now we just need to do one more thing before we show all this stuff to Kanrinin-san. Go to the Otonashi residence where Ikuko is. If you talk to her you'll find out that she's apparently studying English, but that's not important. Look around her room and you'll find a photo album with a picture of Kanrinin-san and her late husband; take it. Now to do something else that doesn't make sense; show her an item of yours that she isn't interested in. (She should say something like "you're being silly.") Do this three times and Ikuko's mother will show up with a cake. Take it (she'll leave) and show Ikuko some pointless stuff another couple of times. Mr. Otonashi will then appear and give you the diary of Kanrinin-san's late husband as well as a picture of Kanrinin-san in high school. He'll also give you 5000 yen, which is totally useless now (*sigh*). Now you can visit Kanrinin-san for the last time. Now you don't have to bribe anyone anymore. Just knock on Kanrinin-san's door and open it. (But don't open it before you knock, or you'll get a big surprise!) Go inside and you'll see that Kanrinin-san is busy in the backyard, and that the frame is gone but a photo album is on the table. Take the album and you'll get the picture that's inside. Success! But for some stupid reason Godai won't look at it yet. So show Kanrinin-san all five of the pictures you've gotten, as well as her husband's diary and the key to Room 2. Now we can leave, and we're almost done. Go to the grave of Kanrinin-san's husband, and you'll see her there praying. (If not, then go back to Kanrinin-san's and try taking the album and showing her the pictures again. Try doing other things like looking at the objects in the room as well. Eventually the game will advance.) Godai has the sense not to interrupt, so put your last bouquet of flowers in the holder and go back home. Now we go to the only place we haven't been yet, the attic above Room 4. Go there and turn on your flashlight, and you'll see Kanrinin-san standing there nervously. Approach her and you'll have beaten the game! ********** X. CHEATS ********** There is a poorly hidden debug password in this game. If you enter all 'A's in at least the first two rows of the password, you'll start the game with all of the important items and access to all locations. Grandma will also be in your room. However, Kanrinin-san seems to be missing so you can't beat the game this way. Here's a legitimate password that will start you off right before you go up to the attic to end the game: xn#=LXhmoN%P&ZWj W$jkn