About
After working at Konami for 5 years, Keiichiro Toyama would leave the company shortly after the release of Silent Hill in 1999. A few years later under Sony's Japan Studio Toyama, Naoko Sato, Isao Takahasi, and a few other members from Team Silent would form Project Siren to make, you're not gonna believe this, Siren. Siren would be released in 2003, 2004 world wide, for the PlayStation 2. Unlike Silent Hill, Siren takes place in Japan. During the making of Silent Hill Sato constantly had feelings of doubt when building the American town:
"I believe that "fear" is an emotion that sits between normality and abnormality. So with this as the premise, trying to illustrate fear in a vivid manner, I first of all started to think that we had to clearly portray the everyday things. Speaking honestly about it now (laughs), back when we were making Silent Hill I constantly doubted it, thinking, "Is this actually realistic?" The game is set in a city in America, but even when we put in things to suit a town like a drug store with the stars and stripes flag fluttering outside, or a metal collection box on the side of the pavement, I constantly had a twinge of doubt as to whether or not it was realistic. The normality I know best as someone born and raised here in Japan is naturally that of this country. When I started thinking this way, I said, "I want to make a game set in Japan!" I also wanted to base it in the darkness of the country, which most Japanese people feel physically, with its damp climate, a kind of unease that is hard to explain."
- Naoko Sato interview, translated by FFTranslationsDespite Siren being made by the writers that brought you Silent Hill don't expect it to be the same game! You might be able to catch glimpses of it here and there, but Siren brings a whole new experience to the table! Even the game play is different, focusing on stealth along side the typical survivor horror combat. The environment switching from a small American town to a long forgotten Japanese village. To go into Siren expecting it solely to be a Japanese version of Silent Hill would be doing the series a disservice!
Plot
Siren takes place in the fictional rural town of Hanuda. Kyoya Suda, a student investigating an online urban legend, accidentally interrupts a local ritual causing an earthquake to go off shortly after and everyone going unconscious. In the real world sections of the town was destroyed in a landslide, yet for our characters them and portions of the town were taken to the other side. Portions of the current town and sections that were previous destroyed from a similar landslide in 1976 connect together to make the game's map. The story continues through the eyes of several characters in a nonlinear order.
Visuals
A lot of new graphical improvements brought by the PlayStation 2 lead Project Siren making an artistic decision that is one of Siren's most recognizable feature. Instead of animating a character model's face the traditional method, pictures were taken of the actor's faces and then imported as textures onto their models. This same method was used to create the textures of the character's clothes. The realistic photo scans complimented with the low poly ps2 models make for a charmingly uncanny look. Apparently this took them a year to finish! To help create the environment trips to abandoned mountain villages and mines were made to gather reference images. Some of these images were also taken to be turned into textures later.
Gameplay
Along side the unique visuals another defining feature of the Siren series is the sightjack mechanic. To help aid the player in stealth, every character is given the ability to see through the Shibito's eyes. Each Shibito has a fixed patrol pattern you must take advantage of, especially if the character you're playing doesn't have a weapon. Although you can slash your way through some levels later on Shibitos carrying guns become more common and some key puzzles are only solvable after viewing specific Shibito. Also some characters just straight up suck at combat, lol. sometimes it's just better to run away. The idea for sightjacking came about when Toyama and Sato went to an art exhibition where headsets were used to see through each other's eyes. Toyama thought the idea was scary, so it ended up being a core part of Siren.
Another staple of Siren are its really obtuse puzzles. Many times in Siren you'll be stuck wondering how to progress the loop, or maybe you're stuck on a puzzle thinking to yourself "there as got to be a easier way to do this!" Toyama wanted a difficulty from Siren that couldn't be solved through brute force. You can see the ripple of this mindset through the game play, but the real attraction is the puzzles. Toyama cited The Tower of Druaga as an inspiration when it came to the puzzles of Siren, reflecting on how notes would be left on the arcade's machine to help other players navigate the maze. Toyama wanted to take advantage of the internet and make a game you'd have to solve through a community. I think this really helped build up a passionate player base, the type that still celebrates the game after so many years.
Sources
Because Siren is the game it is, I really do suggest playing it with a walkthrough. Personally, I think the best approach is to stumble around aimless for the first loop or so and then pick up a walkthrough when you're really stuck. There is this really well written guide I recommend by Akheon. It's written by someone who really knows the game in and out. I didn't even know I could lock doors until I read it! Navigating the guide as an actually walkthrough is pretty tricky, sadly. All the levels are listed in character order which means you gotta do a lot of scrolling when you're going level to level.
Although, if you think trying to navigate the guide is troublesome, especially with how much the game switches you between characters, Shunichiro's guide is pretty compactly written and follows the order levels are played in. Even if you've already beaten the game or are using a different guide, I do recommend at least skimming through Akheon's walkthrough. There are a lot of glitches, speedrunnning tech, and trivia that are lovingly detailed in there. There are even quaintly put together videos showcasing some of the things described in there, like this really fucking funny video demonstration of gliding.
I don't think I can stress this enough, but Siren Maniacs is a must read after completing the game. Siren is rather vague in some aspects of it's story. Those vague points are elaborated in more depth in Siren Maniacs. There are also images of the game making process that's interesting to see as well as all the archives listed, so you don't have to go in game to view them (let alone collect them all). The interviews for Toyama, Sato, Takahashi, Azuma, and Takafumi are also worth the read if you're interested in the thought process behind the game making decisions. The translated version of Siren Maniacs is up on FFTranslations, so give it a read!
Characters
Kyoya Suda
"Kyoya Suda is an ordinary boy with a lively sense of curiosity. Fascinated by a mysterious urban legend, he is drawn to Hanuda to find out more. Shortly after arriving, he spies on a mysterious village ceremony and is plunged into the horror that ensues."
Kyoya's last name is in refrence to Suda51. Thought I'd let you know. Anyways!
Kyoya is one of our main characters and an outsider with no connections or ties to Hanuda. How did he end up here? Kyoya's story actually starts outside of the game. During <Shiro Miyata - Day 2, 07:00> your misisons objective 2 is to grab Kyoya's ID holder. on that holder is the link to occultland.com, This was a real site that recently went down on 2021. It is archived on the wayback machine, but from what I can tell the site is broken with only the raw html displayed. This site was a forum with a thread about the "XX Village's Murder of 33" urban legend about a villager murdering the inhabitants of a deserted village. Kyoya, who was on summer vacation and posting under "SDK", decided to investigate the site of the legend, thus leading him to Hanuda village. The thread would be locked after the news of a landslide was announced.
Another site that links back to Kyoya is Shibito.com. Shibito.com is from the 99th archive title "Hanuda Incident: The True Story". Some of the site on the wayback machine is in a similar state to occultland, but most of it held up. The site goes over a basic investigation into the old village of Hanuda. At the end of the page a schoolgirl talks about seeing the ghost of Kyoya walking around after his massacre ending. The site also had a page for Yamijima, the location for Siren 2.
There's also a blog site for Howard Wright, Siren: Blood Curse's version of Kyoya, but it's also down. The wayback version holds up, though! There are also some other sites that were made for Siren. There is another site that goes over them, but it isn't in english.
There was a flash website that served as a trailer to the games with an introduction to 4 of the characters. I, for the life of me, couldn't get any of the other character's section to work. There is a video letsplay of these sections, though. Siren had a very action marketing team, it seems! Which is really sad that a lot of the websites that used to host these tidbits of lore are all down now...Gah! Even most of the mirror site are down, too, and wayback machine is no help!
Anyways, beside that there isn't too much background information for Kyoya. I think he's an alright character! There's honestly nothing too grandiose about him like with the others (esp Makino and Miyata, gosh...). I like how his loop is contained and about himself. He's a rather underwhelming character compared to the other character's lore drops, but that doesn't make him a bad character! I thought Kyoya and Miyako were a quaint duo.
Tamon Takeuchi
"Because of his excessively radical ideas and the theories he has developed from them, Tamon Takeuchi is regarded in academic circles as a maverick, especially as his area of speciality is ancient folklore and legend. He was born in Hanuda village and now returns, accompanied by his student Yoriko Anno."
Tamon was born in Hanuda village before leaving when the 1976 landslide killed his parents and destroyed his home. Tamon's father, Omito, was a historian and the source of Tamon's knowledge behind Hanuda. Given this background, Tamon would eventually become a folklorist professor interested in archaeology, religious studies, and mythology. Tamon came back to Hanuda when he learnt the Kajiro's ritual was to start again.
I like Tamon, but I love Yoriko more. I think he has the most levels I like, though. He's pretty whatever at the start, but I enjoyed his slow desent into a Shibito during the nest levels. There's a certain heavy, desolate atmosphere to <Tamon Takeuchi - Day3, 22:00> that makes his wish to see his parents again so so so so sad.
Kei Makino
"Kei Makino is an influential member of Hanuda's community. His twin brother also lives in the village, but they were separated at birth and brought up in completely diffrent walks of life, which accounts for the somewhat frosty and distant nature of their relationship."
Makino is absolutely PATHETIC and the only male character who can't fight back! Even Risa can fight back! He's on the same level as the 10 and 14 year old girls! Pathetic male and a priest? Sugoi as the Japanese would say.
HE SOUNDS LIKE A FUCKING GIRL TOO! It's not bad when you're playing the english versions, but oh. my god. I've been shifting through a bit of Japanese gameplay every now n' then and all I'm trying to say is he sounds pretty effeminate sometimes. He has attacking voice lines that go unused in game, but you can listen to them through some cheating. When I first heard them I legit thought it was a placeholder voice from one of the girls!!!!! But no!!! that's him!! What the hell! Why are you saying "yah!" like a girl!!!!
I really like this comment from the video: "メス猫みたいな声出しやがって……"
Anyways, sorry, I'm getting distracted. Makino is Miyata's (older) twin brother. Originally Takaaki Yoshimura, Takaai and his brother (Katsuaki Yoshimura) got TRAPPED in the Other World during 1976's failed ritual. While their parents did end up dying, The both of them were able to return to the real world and taken under the Makino and Miyata houses. Not only are the Kajiros cursed, but the land of Hanuda itself is also cursed. This unstable rift between Hanuda and the Other World causes oddities in timelines. This oddity is the reason why the both of them we're able to escape from the Other World in the first place. Seeing as though not only would the two be needed to complete the next ritual, but also play important roles in the next incident, they would be returned to the Real World out of obligation for the future.
Kei has always been afraid of becoming a guiding priest after seeing his adopted father, Reiji Makino, head into the dark cave behind the church's alter every night. You can see the same cave Reiji went behind during <Kyoya Suda - Day 1 07:00>, It's that really ominous barred door behind Hisako. Kei has come to associate that darkness with the pressure of becoming a guiding priest. This fear came to a head when, at the age of 12, Reiji passed the role of guiding priest down to Kei and then KILLED HIMSELF not long after.
"...The failure of the ceremony lies heavily upon me. My life is drawing to an end and though I cast aside all earthly pleasures and dedicated my entire existence to the search for eternal truth, I was unable to achieve a single thing. Kei, I must ask you to look after everything from now on."
THATS FUCKED UP BRUH, THAT'S MAD FUCKED UP! Reiji killed himself because he felt personally responsible for the ritual failing (spoiler, but it wasn't his fault) and the resulting landslide that killed 31 people. Note that Reiji didn't go to the Other World. It's tradition to replace a guiding priest who fails the ceremony, so he was going to need to pass the title anyways, but he didn't need to do all that. Now little 12 year old Kei gets to fill that role, d'awwwww.
Hisako, sensing Kei's fears like shark to blood, is always there to comfort him. Kei notes that she feels far away, like she's looking through him. He still gives in to her warmth regardless. Hisako plays both the role of a mother and teacher to Kei. Chapter 5 of Strange Tales of Hanuda is a good read if you want to peek a little more into Makino's and Miyata's backstory.
Due to how connected Makino and Miyata are, there are some tidbits of Makino's background I left out because I thought they'd have more relevance and flow better in Miyata's sections. Please read his too if you're curious.
Other than that evil ass backstory, Makino is a swell quaint young man! trying his hardest in this big cruel world! Reiji seemed to have rubbed off on Kei a little bit, despite being a proud guiding priest he was also described as a little bit of a coward. Despite being indecisive and cowardly I still think Makino tries his best... Honestly, there was realistically nothing else he could do after what happened on <Kei Makino - Day 1, 11:00>. I think he's at least a little brave for still trying to go after Tomoko even after getting shot at. His cowardice is his best trait, anyways.
Shiro Miyata
Shirou, despite being one of the 3 main characters, doesn't get his own bio on the manual. I guess they wanted to hide his importance, but it's a little funny. Even outside of the game's story you're getting overshadowed by your brother, huh? he even goes before you on the link navigator...
Miyata's resentment for Makino isn't because of him personally, it's more driven by the roles they play in Hanuda. The Makinos and Miyatas are both at the whims of the Kajiros. While the Makinos are more public-facing, the Miyata's do all of the Kajiro's dirty work. Shiro was told at a young age that being a Miyata means dirtying his hands whenever the Kajiros told him to. Having to preform in the shadows while the village relied on and respected his twin brother created this weird one sided complex between the two.
One of the people that flowered this development was Shiro's adoptive mother, Ryoko. Ryoko was a Makino that married into the Miyatas. Ryoko had trouble producing a heir for the Miyatas until the birth of her son, Shiro, left her unable to have any more children. During the events of 1976 Ryoko would leave Shiro in the care of a nurse in Arato, one of the areas that was hit by the landslide. The death of Shiro had mentally broken Ryoko.
Ryoko had visited Reiji to talk to him about his replacement and on their way to the Kajiro house Reiji accidentally ran over Toshio Yoshimura, who fell over from the Other World. During the commotion the FUCKING CAR with Ikuko, Takaaki, and Katsuaki also fell from the Other World. Ikuko, in her dying state, handed over the twins to Reiji who then handed them both over to Ryoko. Reiji intended to call for help, but Ryoko blackmailed him into taking the twins in, holding the fact he hit Toshio over his head. Ryoko gave Takaaki to Reiji and ran off with Katsuaki, naming him after her original son, Shiro.
Under the Miyatas Shiro had a not so good life. Yeah. Shiro's father was not present enough to be a proper father figure and Ryoko, while loving, was emotionally abusive. Ryoko had a tendency to isolate Shiro from other kids and guilt trip him about not loving her enough. Ryoko would often use the fact he was adopted under the Miyatas instead of the Makinos over his head too.
"Look, it's your fault that it's become like that. Because you thought of it as more important than your dear mother... You must treasure your mother. Forever and ever and ever..."
"Become a fine doctor and make your mother happy, okay? If children don't look after their mothers they get thrown away, okay? Why are you so quiet...?"
"...Stubborn child. He is such a good, honest boy. But good boys go to the church. You're a bad boy, so you were chosen to go to your dear mother, to the Miyatas, isn't that right...?"
The emotional abuse from his mother and the lack of a father figure shaped Shiro into the twisted individual he became. Someone who keeps his distance and bottles everything up. And a murder. I guess it isn't a surprise Shiro ended up so envious of Kei.
Another tidbit of Miyata's strange no good life was the constant dreams he has. Due to him and Miyata being the only survivors from the Other World they've both have constants dreams where the previous Miyako calls to them for help. While Makino ignores these dreams out of fear (being near Hisako all the time doesn't help either), Miyata is attracted to these dreams due to a kinship he feels with the previous Miyako's despair. This attraction and willingness to listen leads Shiro down to the Other World's 1976 clinic's basement where the mummified corpse of Miyako gives him the Uryen on <Shiro Miyata - Day 2, 00:00>.
Ok, now, Makino is my favorite, but I like the both of them a lot. I think Miyata's resentment towards Makino is really interesting and they make a good duo. Speaking of Miyata's resentment, I wanna talk a little bit about what happens to them on day 3. Maniacs make a lot of referencing to them merging into one and I don't know if we're supposed to take this literately, but I wanted to write my own reading of <Kei Makino - Day 3, 07:00>.
I really do think Miyata's escapades on Day 3 was a wish fulfillment fantasy about finally becoming a Makino. I don't think they literately fused together, but Miyata was definitely trying to larp as his brother. His manners throughout day 3 were entirely his own. During his last hours as a Makino, Miyata never really made an attempt to be Kei. Miyata acts as his same aloof self during <Kyoya Suda - Day 3, 09:00>. The description from <Shiro Miyata - Day 2, 16:00> and what he says during the cutscene put his plans in more of a selfish light. "in a warped sense of pride" and when he said "it's not a bad thing to swim against the current. It makes me feel as though I've been reborn almost." were my focus points.
Miyata also doesn't take up any of the physical characteristics of Makino. I'm not saying he should turn into a total pussy who can't fight back, but his movements are the same from what I can tell. I'm pretty sure the male characters share the same animations, but Miyata has a very unique way of aiming the gun. Tamon and Naoko both aim using both hands, even with the flashlight, but Miyata aims using one hand.
Anyways, I'm coming to the conclusion that Miyata's fusion with Mkaino wasn't literal, but an attempt to act out what he think a Makino would do. I also think Miyata has the ability to do good, but due to the trauma from his mother he believed that he was the trouble child and incapable of doing anything good. I also do think he feels at least a little guilt from his actions as a Miyata and killing Mina from his line "I don't want to become a monster" from <Kei Makino - Day 3, 07:00>. His coming to empathy was a little grandiose, though. At the end, Miyata was able to save other from the Other World and finally lay to rest the half-Shibitos and himself. I guess it all works out in the end!
Risa Onda
Born in Hanuda, Risa moved to Tokyo after graduating and got a job as a supermarket cashier. After a few years Risa made the move back to Hanuda due to being unable to make friends and feeling isolated.
Risa is the younger twin sister of Mina, who later turns her into a Shibito brain. Mina spent most of her time stalking her sister to turn her into a Shibito too. After turning into a Shibito Risa and Mina's mind have been linked into one.
Although Risa only has two levels her inability to fight back make them really fun and memorable. Uhm. There's not much to say I'm sorry peace and love Risa you so cute
Harumi Yomoda
Harumi makes me so sad, bro. The year prior Harumi had just lost both her parents to a car crash and was living with her aunt and uncle. Harumi had isolated herself due to the trauma of his incident. Strangely enough Harumi also had the ability to sightjack despite not being from the Kajiro family (which can happen apparently, it's just not common) which had also lead her to feel like she didn't belong with the other kids. Takato, sensing her loneliness, had become a mother figure for Harumi.
A few days before the ritual Harumi had become friends with Miyako. Harumi drew Miyako in archive #7 and was the one who made Miyako's beaded doll from <Kyoya Suda - Day 2, 01:00>. Harumi and Miyako may have bonded over their loneliness and ability to sightjack. Maniacs notes that it was due to this friendship that Harumi was able to return to the real world.
Takato and the school's principal Nagoshi set up a stargazing event at the school to observe a comet that passes every 333 years. Harumi was the only student that showed up to this event, this leads into <Reiko Takato - Day 1, 02:00>.
I said Harumi was a tricky companion to have on Takato's first level, but honestly the escort missions aren't that bad if you're not stupid. Harumi can only take 1 hit, but it's never really a problem. On her own levels this isn't really a problem, either. I don't think I died on either of her's, especially because her levels sort of play around the fact you can only take 1 hit. It's also that difficulty that makes Harumi's levels really fun. Having to plan everything out and take notes of the Shibito's patrol patterns so you can make it through hitless is so quaint.
Reiko Takato
Takato is the PE teacher for Hanuda Elementary school and a graduate from a sport science university. Takato, due to her own past, imprints onto Harumi and acts as a mother figure to her.
2 years before the game Takato was married with a two year old daughter. Takato was at the beach with her daughter when a high wave separated the two. While searching for her daughter Reiko came across two other unconscious children and decided to save them, which resulting in her own daughter being found too late. The death of her daughter caused Takato and her husband to slowly drift apart, later divorcing.
Throughout the game Takato mothers Harumi a lot. Takato still blames herself for the death of her daughter, so she decided to defend Harumi with her life, seeing this as a "second chance". Takato dies pretty early on in the game's timeline, but even in her Shibito state Takato saves Harumi one last time from the Shibito Nagoshi. From a Shibito's eyes, being a Shibito is fuckin awesome, so they try to turn everyone else into a Shibito too. Shibitos do have some memories of their previous life and repeat those actions in their mindless state. Takato's love for Harumi must've been really strong for her to defend her still!
Akira Shimura
Akira Shimura is the oldest character in the cast and dare I say the wisest...hm! The Shimura line had produced a lot of members with keen intuition. Koichi; his son, and Takafumi; his cousin, were members of his family who all somewhat knew about the Kajiro's role in Hanuda. the Shmuras were also good friends with the Takeuchis.
During the 1976 incident Akira went off into the woods to hunt and when he came back the house was empty. Akira's wife had died and his son was in the Other World. Koichi is his own can of worms, but to briefly put sum up his misadventure: Koichi had heard about the secrets of Hanuda from both Omito Takeuchi. Koichi, wanting to do something about the Kojiros, had stolen the Datatsushi's head that's used in the ritual. Sumiko, a maid of the Kajiros, helps the previous Miyako escape from her fate. Waiting for her at the church was Koichi, but not long after meeting they get transported to the Other World. Inside the Other World Koichi and Miyako try to bring an end to the cycle, but Koichi turns into a Shibito before they could get the Uryen.
Like Koichi and Takafumi, Akira also knows about the curse of Hanuda, but he decides to do nothing about it. Akira is traditional and believes that the ancient customs should be protected. Koichi even references Akira's indifference to the Kajiros in Strange Tales of Hanuda. Takafumi tried to speak out about the Kajiros, but was called insane and placed in the Miyata clinic, away from other people. Later, Takefumi also turns into a Shibito in the Other World.
His background with losing family members to curiosity around the Kajiros is the reason why he kills himself. Akira believed that it was his destiny to die in the Other World.
Chapter 2 and 4 of Another Story: Strange Tales of Hanuda are about the previous landslide. I'd give it a read if you're interested.
I did mention the flash website not working, HOWEVER, Akira's section was the only one that would work on my end. I don't know if the others would work for you, but I'd say give it a go. You may have to refresh the site a bit because Naoko's section sometimes may try to play, but that one was bugged for me and never put me in the room.
Tomoko Maeda
Tomoko is a pretty normal girl, all things considered. No evil visions in her life or a sad backstory to weigh her down, she like cute things like any other normal girl. Her run away letter was even written on cute strawberry paper! Aw, so adorbs!
Speaking of, Tomoko's grades have been dropping enough for her parents to take notice, which resulting in them reading her diary. Tomoko finds out about this and decides to run away due to the invasion of her privacy.
There's nothing else to rlly talk about that the games doesn't already go over. Honestly, her <Tomoko Maeda - Day 1, 17:00> level is pretty hard. If you're wondering what happened to Tomoko after she met up with Hisako, She lead Tomoko to Tabori where she got attacked by Shibitos. Even though Tomoko isn't that important of an character she does offer us a view into what the Shibitos see and it's a really pretty level!
Naoko Mihama
Naoko Mihama is a former gravure idol turned TV reporter. There are a lot of different archive items you can find that feature her in some way. One of the most noteworthy ones being archive #6, an idol magazine that features Naoko at the height of her career at 19. It talks about her drama titled "Eat Your Heart Out" and a "very personal Q&A session."
Now 28 years old, Naoko has reached a dead end in her career. Now she is reporting for a low budget occult show, coming to Hanuda to report on Tsuchinoko sighting in the village. While filming for the episode Naoko went out for a smoke after not being able to fall sleep, while outside she sees a strange light and is transported to the Other World.
It's no secret that Naoko's story is about the harsh environment of being an Idol. The idol industry welcomes in young women and spits them out the moment they are too old. Naoko's self loathing and insecurities come from the idol industry she used to work in. Feeling isolated from other women her age, who are either deep in a career or married, Naoko tries to cling onto her own career despite it not welcoming her. Even though Naoko tries to cling onto entertainment she is dissatisfied with the low budget show she gets put on.
The outcome of Naoko's story isn't too shocking. Naoko, after learning about the red waters of Hanuda, decides to drown herself in the waters in hope of attaining eternal youth. Shibito Naoko makes other appearances in Siren's levels, like Tomoko's <Tomoko Maeda - Day 2, 06:00> where she's there to hint at Tomoko being a shibito. She also appears as a dog Shibito to attack Tamon.
Miyako Kajiro
"Mikyako Kajiro is a beautiful young girl who has been blind since birth. Her disability means that she has always been viewed as something of an outcast, her birth record does not even seem to exist, and the mere mention of her name is taboo at the town hall and amongst the police in the village. As the horrific events begin to unfold, something moves her to open her heart to the stranger, Kyoya Suda, and together they try to escape from Hanuda."
The Kajiros are part of the cursed bloodline of Hisako. Because of this curse the Kajiro line is only capable of giving birth to girls who are given an incomplete immortality. Unlike Hisako's immortality, the Kajiros are fated to be sealed away in the Kajiro's basement where they slowly rot away as the years past. The Kajiros will also not be accepted into the Underworld.
It's tradition for the Kajiros to have two daughters, the oldest one will continue the bloodline while the youngest will become the bride of Datatsushi and sent to the Underworld. The sacrificial daughter will always bare the name Miyako. This version of Miyako just so happens to have a stronger concentration of Hisako's blood in her, shown by her ability sightjack so well due to her blindness.
The Kaijros have the ability to sightjack. Other villagers sometimes have the ability to do the same, like Harumi, but when they sightjack isn't a conscious decision. The Kajiros on the other hand have a mastery over sightjacking.
Miyako is one of the more tricky escort companions, due to her being blind. she's not a nuisance or anything you just have to make sure to go a little slow so she can catch up to you. I think Miyako is really cute, I like her alot. I think I like her Blood Curse iteration better, though. Miyako and Howard trying to work together despite the language barrier was adorbs. Besides that, I think I went over most of Miyako's stuff in the link Navigator.
Yoriko Anno
"A student at the university where Tamon Takeuchi works, Yoriko Anno idolizes her teacher, despite his reputation for eccentricity, and insisted on coming with him to Hanuda. Although she can be pushy and insensitive at times, her good nature makes her ultimately impossible to dislike."
Yoriko is probably my second favorite character. At first I did think she was sort of annoying, but she really grew on me and I feel bad for thinking that initially... She doesn't have that much background lore going on, but Maniacs does add more to her character.
Yoriko is described as being a shojo protagonist a lot. On <Kyoya Suda - Day 2, 20:00> when Yoriko breaks off one of the bars, she is hinted to be a fan of manga when she says "I saw this in a comic book once!" Crest of the Royal Family is cited as her favorite series. Yoriko is also quick to accept the strange happenings in the Other World, like when she sees the umi-gaeri with Akira.
Another character note is that she apparently comes from a wealthy background? Going off of her address, she lives in a detached house in tokyo!
At the end of the game Yoriko appears to snap Tamon out of his trance and drag him away from his Shibito parents. Yoriko, now immortal, seems to have her sight set on exploring the Other World and make the most out of a bad situation. She really is the heroine of her own story, huh? I wish we got more of Kyoya and Yoriko together, it seems like they would've made an interesting team.
I also really like this drawing from her.
Hisako Yao
"Her spiritual dedication and reserve have earned Hisako Yao the absolute trust of Kei Makino. As Hanuda is plunged into terror, she protects the bewildered Kyoya Suda, and gives him the power of psychic vision. She appears to be in her mid-twenties, but her acutal age is not known"
Hisako is the origin of Hanuda's curse and has been alive for around 1,300 Years. That's a long time! NOTE that Hanuda's curse wasn't caused by Datatsushi directly, but was a result of a human eating a god in general. Also note that Hisako has the ability to return the holy vessel at any point of time where it is needed. She pulled a <Hisako Yao - Day 2, 06:00> on her 1976 self when Koichi stole the holy vessel.
Speaking of 1976, Hisako was responsible for the escape of the previous Miyako. Due to being alive for so long Hisako as the tendency to cement herself in a role and forget herself. The most recent example of this was in 1976 when she assumed the role of "Sumiko" a Kajiro maid for Miyako. As Sumiko, Hisako took pity on Miyako's position and helped her run away from the ritual that was about to take place. This resulted in the landslide of 1976. In the Other World Sumiko slowly remembered her past as Hisako and took it upon herself to conceal Miyako in the basement of the Other World's Miyata clinic along side the Uryen.
Hisako's ultimate goal is to revive Datatsushi to repent for her sin. It's unknown if Miyako's affinity for sightjacking made her a viable fruit to revive Datatsushi, however. Hisako's hope is that when she revives Datatsushi she could obtain true eternal life and be free from her curse. A consequence for living for so long is that she's rarely in a clear state of mind and never remembers her past. She only knows that the ritual must be done.
At the end of Siren Datasushi is defeated and the death of Ayako Kajiro finalize the Kajiro's end. Hisako, having sacrificed her life to fully resurrect Datatsushi, has also doomed herself. The result of this means that Hisako is doomed to repeat the cycle of Siren, forever revisiting herself to hand off the holy vessel.
Timeline
Because Siren is told in a nonlinear fashion trying to cobble together what actually happened in game can be tricky! Trying to remember how each level connects into each other can get confusing when you're hopping between so many different levels all the time. Trying to figure out what certain things are in the game can also get really confusing when you don't collect all the archives.
I've tried to replicate the link navigator from the game to write down the items you get that connect to different stages and some of the little details that you'd might otherwise miss. I didn't write beat for beat what happens in each stage, though, this isn't meant to be a walkthrough. Maybe later?
| Select ▶▶ | Kyoya Suda | Tamon Takeuchi | Kei Makino | Shiro Miyata | Risa Onda | Harumi Yomoda | Reiko Takato | Akira Shimura | Tomoko Maeda | Naoko Mihama | Miyako Kajiro | Ayako Kaijiro | Yoriko Anno | Hisako Yao | Mina Onda | Datatsushi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 684 A.D. |
|
|||||||||||||||
| 1976 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| X days ago |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Yesterday - 09:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Yesterday - 23:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 00:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 02:00 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 03:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 04:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 05:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 07:00 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 08:00 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 10:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 11:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 12:00 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 16:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 17:00 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 18:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 19:00 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 20:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 21:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 22:00 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 1 - 23:00 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 00:00 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 01:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 03:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 04:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 06:00 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 07:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 09:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 10:00 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 11:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 15:00 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 16:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 18:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 19:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 2 - 20:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 00:00 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 02:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 03:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 07:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 09:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 12:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 16:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 18:00 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 20:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 22:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Day 3 - 23:00 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
| X days later - 00:00 |
|
|||||||||||||||
| X days later - 04:00 |
|
Gallery
I usually do MsPaint drawing alongside the game I'm playing. Unfortunately I didn't get around to doing those come my playthrough of Siren. I was too invested! I do want to get around adding fanart to this section, so stay tuned!
