I believe it’s a well-known fact that Kaneko came up with the idea behind SMT IV and wrote the drafts that led to the game (almost) everyone has played. But did you know the drafts are more than just drafts?

Thanks to Ludo, we can now see what Kaneko’s ideas initially looked like and find out some more interesting details about his writing (the whole lot of it) and what was supposed to be behind the scenes. Thank you for the commission! c:

Draft Part 1

SMT IV was created based on a scenario draft by Kaneko Kazuma, as it is already mentioned on the game packaging. That ‘draft’ is an extremely long story, basically resembling a novel. As a paperback edition it would probably reach 7-8 volumes. It is split into two parts, the Reincarnation Chapter (Future Chapter) and the Destruction Chapter (Present Chapter), with the Reincarnation Chapter making up two thirds of the entire story. The main plot of SMT IV is based on the Reincarnation Chapter.

Shin Megami Tensei IV Reincarnation Chapter (Future Chapter) Story

Starting Section: The Kingdom of Eastern Mikado Chapter

Episode 1 …an endless darkness.

Once his eyes gradually got used to it, he was able to see clouds twisted into irregular forms.

He was flying in the sky…

The clouds of the night sky slowly drifted into different shapes.

Sliding through the openings between them, he heard a voice resonating throughout the skies.

‘Who are you?`

*Name entry

(Default name – ‘Flynn’)

‘Hahaha! Your life has changed. Your choices will not concern only you anymore!’

As the voice uttered those words, Flynn fell, feeling as if he had taken a wrong step in his dreams.

↓

Before he realised, Flynn was standing on the ground.

Everything around him was covered in darkness and he could not even tell where he was…

Suddenly, the flames of an explosion rose from afar.

The silhouettes of several modern buildings surfaced, illuminated by the flames.

He understood he was close to some city.

Still, what was the name of this place?

The explosions around him seemed endless, and the flames kept rising.

A truly restless city.

Wandering aimlessly through the city, he heard a voice.

‘I’m here…’

Lead by the voice calling out to him, Flynn advanced through the city engulfed in flames and came upon a man

standing right in front of him.

‘So you’re here. I’m Walter…Remember?’

Flynn could not recognise him.

He admitted to that, but the other went on:

‘I’m the man who will create a new world together with you. Better remember that.’

♦Reincarnation Chapter (Future Chapter)

As the Reincarnation Chapter is also dubbed the ‘Future Chapter’, it shows how the plot progresses in a hypothetical future. However, the setting, the Kingdom of Eastern Mikado, resembles medieval Europe to such an extent, it is hard to believe this world is actually the future. The protagonist who lives there later becomes one of the ‘samurai’ who fight and exterminate demons in a certain area in the underground and ends up discovering a place deep under the earth which was once known as ‘Tokyo’.

The story follows basically the same lines as SMT IV, but it was simply written as a draft. It would have obviously been impossible in terms of space to publish it in its entirety, so we are only going to reveal here the very beginning.

Name 2 (extract)

Starting Section

The Kingdom of Eastern Mikado Chapter

Episode 1

…an endless darkness.

Once his eyes gradually got used to it, he was able to see clouds twisted into irregular forms.

He was flying in the sky…

The clouds of the night sky slowly drifted into different shapes.

Sliding through the openings between them, he heard a voice resonating throughout the skies.

‘Who are you?`

….’Flynn.’

‘Hahaha! Your life has changed. Your choices will not concern only you anymore!’

As the voice uttered those words, Flynn fell, feeling as if he had made a wrong step in his dreams.

Before he realised, Flynn was standing on the ground. Everything around him was covered in darkness and he could not even tell where he was…

Suddenly, the flames of an explosion rose from afar.

The silhouettes of several modern buildings surfaced, illuminated by the flames.

He realised he was close to some city.

Still, what was the name of this place?

The explosions around him seemed to have no end, and the flames kept rising.

A truly restless city.

Wandering aimlessly through the city, he heard a voice coming from somewhere.

‘I’m here…’

Lead by the voice calling out to him, Flynn advanced through the city engulfed in flames and came upon a man standing right in front of him.

‘So you’re here. I’m Walter…Remember?’

Flynn could not recognise him.

He admitted to that, but the other went on:

‘I’m the man who will create a new world together with you. Better remember that.’

At that moment, an explosion bigger than any he had seen before took place behind the man’s back. Flynn felt dizzy and everything in front of his eyes turned completely white.

As his eyes slowly got used to the light, all Flynn could see around him were the gentle slopes of a desert. Above him, the cloudless blue sky seemed endless.

And yet, the world there was without sound.

‘I am here…’

Led by another voice, Flynn advanced through the desert and reached a huge stone statue buried in the sand (the statue of Aquila). A man was sitting on top of it.

‘It’s me. Do you remember…? I’m Jonathan. The one who will create together with you an eternal world where nothing will change…’

Right then, the sand underneath his feet started crumbling all of a sudden and swallowed Flynn more and more until he was completely buried in it. Breathing underneath the sand was impossible and the air was gradually and painfully leaving his lungs.

‘I’m going to die like this…’

Flynn lost his consciousness.

Episode 2

Flynn was sitting in the middle of a wide field, looking at the large round lake in front of his eyes.

The Kingdom of Eastern Mikado was a country resting atop the Kantoh plateau, but many such lakes could be found in the region. The largest among them was Lake Mikado…

Trying to put the scattered thoughts in his head in order, Flynn reviewed the current situation.

…the year was 1492 of the Mikado calendar. He was 18 years old.

Upon reaching the age of 18, every single inhabitant of the Kingdom of Eastern Mikado had to go through the gauntlet rite. Today was the day of the rite. It had all happened while he was on his way to the Mikado Castle together with his friend Issachar, who was also to go through the same type of ceremony.

The Mikado Lake they had seen on the way was filled with precious memories of their childhood games. They had both thrown themselves down on the bank and while recounting memories had fallen asleep before they knew it.

‘Oh no… we need to hurry or we won’t get there in time’.

Issachar had also opened his eyes. The gauntlet rite meant equipping a magical relic known as a gauntlet and attempting to see if you could awaken it. Awakening it meant you had been chosen by it and were now able to become one of the soldiers who fought demons. A ‘samurai’.

Samurai were special people, on the same level as the king of the Kingdom of Eastern Mikado. It was possible for Casualries (simple citizens) like them and Luxurors (the upper class) to become comrades in arms.

He understood that such a miracle was impossible, but neither of them could refrain their hope.

The Mikado Castle was an immense fortress city.

The city surrounded by tall walls had the Mikado Castle, king Ahazuya Mikado’s residence, as its heart and was populated by various stores, together with monastery headquarters.

Passing through the fortress city, Flynn and Issachar finally arrived in front of the castle and set their eyes on the obelisk in the square before the entrance to the Castle.

In the centuries BC (Before Calendar), people were blessed by God and lived in peace on the surface together with his messengers, the angels, when suddenly, lots of beings named Unclean Ones, swarmed in from the underground. They wished to live on the surface as well, but the angels would not allow that, since the Unclean Ones had a strange power that allowed them to use wicked magic and enslave demons.

The angels fought the Unclean Ones in order to protect the people on the surface. In response, the Unclean Ones opposed the angels by summoning their own demons. A long, arduous battle continued between the two sides, but the ones only able to handle wicked magic were no match for the ones fighting in the name of God. Thus, the Unclean Ones were pushed back to the underground. Still, the demons brought by them remained in the world above and not only did they fight humans, but they also planted the seeds of evil in their hearts.

The only ones on the surface able to oppose the demons were the angels, but they had already exhausted their strength fighting the Unclean Ones and were not in a condition to strike back now.

This is how the world above came under the rule of demons…

At that time, a warrior appeared. No one knew where he had come from, but he started fighting the demons using the same magic as the Unclean Ones. At last, he defeated all the demons and sealed the hole they had created, turning its surroundings into holy grounds, so that the demons and the Unclean Ones would never come to the surface again.

The warrior called himself Aquila.

He became the first king of the Kingdom of Eastern Mikado and the founder of the Samurai. The people now believed this to be nothing but a folktale. However, the magic of the Unclean Ones handled by Aquila to defeat the demons was the gauntlet used in the ritual.

A courtyard named ‘The entrance to Naraku’ could be found on the premises of Mikado.

A great number of young people were waiting there in line for their turn. As some entered the courtyard with tension written on their faces, others would leave it downhearted.

‘I can definitely become a Samurai…’

Repeating these words to himself, Issachar entered the courtyard. ‘I’m going in to become a Samurai, see ya.’

Before long, Flynn heard his name called as well and entered.

‘User identification complete, activation shall begin immediately.’

Flynn heard a human voice coming out of the gauntlet attached to his arm. It spoke a language he had never heard before; perhaps magic words. Strangely enough though, Flynn was able to understand their meaning.

‘Ooh, this gauntlet has chosen its owner too! He’s the fifth one!’

Voices raised all around him.

Turning his eyes towards the entrance, Flynn saw Issachar scowling at him.

Episode 3

The following morning Flynn was at the entrance to Naraku, where the gauntlet ritual had taken place. The huge statue of a warrior was placed right in the middle of the courtyard. It was said to be the image of King Aquila, the legendary Samurai and first king of the Kingdom of Eastern Mikado.

Four people were standing at its feet.

One of them was Walter, a grim looking man, coming from a long line of fishermen. Another one was the sharp looking Jonathan, descendant of a family of monks. Of a similar background was Isabeau, the only woman in the group. Her self-important air made her seem unapproachable. The last one was Navarre, from the line of the king’s chamberlains. He was not the first of his family to become a Samurai and his haughty attitude made it quite clear.

‘Honoured new Samurai. I am Felipo, the second-in-command. From today on, I’ll teach you about your new position. You be all ears!’

Learning about Samurai was awfully surprising.

This courtyard was said to be the gravesite where the first king Aquila had sealed the hole through which the demons and the Unclean Ones had left their world, so that they would never come to the surface again.

That was why underneath this courtyard lied the immense city of Naraku, built by the Unclean Ones. The demons loitered around, trying to reach the city above.

The role of the Samurai was to descend into the underground city and exterminate demons, so they would not rise to the surface.

‘You’re really good for a Casualry. I’m proud too.’

Walter then threw his arm around Flynn’s shoulders with a little too much familiarity.

‘I knew it! We’re the ones doing all the hard work, so it’s obvious we’re different from those guys! They’re only good at boasting and yapping their mouths.’

‘That’s right, you really are great.’ answered Jonathan. Isabeau and Navarre ignored them.

It dawned on Flynn that Walter’s and Jonathan’s names sounded familiar. That was definitely his dream on the hill of Yasukuni. The men who had showed up in his sleep were bearing the same names.

‘Hey, now that we’re finally here, why not go to the top of the Mikado Castle? The castle’s so big, I’m sure seeing the Kingdom of Eastern Mikado from up there will be something to talk about.’

‘I’m coming too!’

Jonathan was the only one to join them.

Forests and fields spread as far as the eye could see, sprinkled with all kinds of villages…

Starting with the Mikado Lake in the west, the round shapes of the lakes painted blue specks all over the green land. Far off in the distance, an ever-expanding sea of clouds seemed to encircle the edge of the Kantoh plateau.

‘The Kingdom of Eastern Mikado really looks like it’s floating in the sky…’ muttered Walter.

‘It really does.’

Jonathan was the descendant of a family of monks, so he had come to this roof countless times.

‘But to think there used to be demons in such a peaceful world…’

This time, Jonathan did not reply to Walter’s words.

‘Ah well, I reality hated being a fisherman, so I’m reaaally lucky I became a Samurai!’

‘Mhm. Being able to protect everyone makes it a worthwhile job.’

As unexpected as it seemed, Flynn felt that now he was determined to fight.

The Reincarnation Chapter (Future Chapter) follows Flynn as he explores underground Tokyo, and after having witnessed the possible worlds, his choice shapes the destiny of the world. We can say that the story split into the Law, Neutral and Chaos routes is also basically SMTIV. Of course, there were all kinds of changes during the production of the game, just like in all the other series so far, but everything was created respecting the original vision written in this draft.

Now, let us see what ‘the second part’ of the draft, the Destruction Chapter (Present Chapter) was like. Part of it can also be found in the main story of the game. It contains the story of Tokyo before it was locked in the underground, from the crisis of the approaching destruction to the appearance of the protagonist and his attempt to save the place.

Shin Megami Tensei IV Destruction Chapter (Present Chapter) Story

Opening The Chapter of Meetings and Beginnings

Preparatory Information

The year is 201X.

The looming threat of invasion finds Japan exposed and it would not be surprising if the country

simply disappeared off the face of Earth one day.

Worried about the current situation, Tamagami of the Ministry of Defense acquires, with the help of a

mysterious woman named Gaby, all kinds of super technology, starting with the Demon Summoning

Program. He plans to turn the demons summoned from the Underworld into spiritual defensive forces

against the external attacks and creates the third experimental corps.

The particularly strong spiritual defensive weapons come to be known as the ‘National Defense

Divinities’, formed of inmates brought out of prison and possessed by powerful Tyrant class demons.

And yet, awakening and materialising as National Defense Divinities takes quite a lot of time.

Tamagami’s preparations progress gradually, until he has 11 National Defense Divinities all ready, but at

that point, someone hacks the computers of the third experimental corps.

As a result, the National Defense Divinities still in a developmental phase flee.

Moreover, in order to control the National Defense Divinities, he distributes the much-needed Demon

Summoning Program all over the Internet.

It is only a matter of time until other countries begin to create similar demon weapons.

However, the more experienced Tamagami renames the third experimental corps into the ‘suppression

troops’ and retrieves the runaway National Defense Divinities as soon as possible.

*The story advances under the idea of LAW as preservation and CHAOS as reform. *The Demon Summoning Program was distributed among people all over the world under the form of

smartphone and PC updates.

*The Demon Summoning Program has a unique sound wave signal through which demons possess

humans. Nevertheless, the humans who can get possessed are mentally and emotionally unstable.

*Tamagami’s actions come from the wish to protect his country, so he is on the LAW side, but his ideas

about using demons as weapons is also rather innovative, so he would fit into the CHAOS side as well.

In other words, we could also call him NEUTRAL, so the National Defense Divinities summoned by

Tamagami each belong to one of the three alignments.

The Destruction Chapter (Present Chapter)

In SMTIV, the story of the past heard by Flynn while wandering around Tokyo in the underground world became a separate story called the Destruction Chapter. This is also only a small part of it, but we will reveal the beginning.

Starting Section

The Chapter of Meetings and Beginnings

The year is 201X.

The looming threat of invasion finds Japan exposed and it would not be surprising if the country simply disappeared off the face of Earth one day.

Worried about the current situation, Tamagami of the Ministry of Defense acquires, with the help of a mysterious woman named Gaby, all kinds of super technology, starting with the Demon Summoning Program. He plans to turn the demons summoned from the Underworld into spiritual defensive forces against external attacks and creates the third experimental corps.

The particularly strong spiritual defensive weapons come to be known as the ‘National Defense Divinities’, formed of inmates brought out of prison and possessed by powerful Tyrant class demons. And yet, awakening and materialising as National Defense Divinities takes quite a lot of time.

Tamagami’s preparations progress gradually, until he has 11 National Defense Divinities all ready, but at that point, someone hacks the computers of the third experimental corps.

As a result, the National Defense Divinities still in a developmental phase flee.

Moreover, in order to control the National Defense Divinities, Tamagami distributes the much-needed Demon Summoning Program all over the Internet.

It is only a matter of time until other countries begin to create similar demon weapons.

However, the more experienced Tamagami renames the third experimental corps into the ‘suppression troops’ and retrieves the runaway National Defense Divinities as soon as possible.

Episode 1

A never-changing Tokyo…

It was a very boring day for young F. He had finally arrived at the Jingu-mae intersection to go shopping together with Takashi who hadn’t been able to find a brand shop present for his girlfriend’s birthday the next day.

‘Huh, didn’t the train stop?’

Takashi asked, looking at F. Apparently the Internet had been in an uproar because the trains had suddenly stopped working. Speaking of Internet uproars, there was also this rumour that when you updated your smartphone or PC, you’d also get a strange application called the Demon Summoning Program. F had gotten the update, but had no idea about the program. It was Takashi who had found it while playing on his phone; the program had downloaded itself into F’s smartphone.

‘This program will change your life. Will you still activate it?’

A strange question appeared on the starting screen. Pestered by Takashi, F chose YES:

‘Your life has changed.’

It then turned into an input screen asking for his name.

Not even knowing what to do after installing the application, the two returned to their initial objective: shopping. However, all the brand stores they had planned to visit were closed. After a closer look, there were barely any people around, and the stores kept closing one by one. So unlike Harajuku.

‘There has been a breakout at the city penitentiary. The alert level is high, so please lock your doors if you are at home and refrain from going outside. If you have trouble returning home, please enter the closest building and remain there.’

The government warning had shown up on the internet.

They didn’t think this had anything to do with them, but if the stores were closed, they weren’t going to do any shopping anyway. The two decided to head towards Takashi’s home until things would calm down.

A strange man appeared in front of them on a back alley of Harajuku.

‘He looks like a broken robot’, laughed Takashi, but while passing them by, the man suddenly jumped on him.

Takashi managed to shrug him off, but his clothes were already ruined. ‘I’m going to file a complaint!’ he yelled, but before he knew it, the man was at his neck, ripping off chunks of his flesh.

Takashi fell to the ground in a pool of blood.

Turning towards F, the man spoke, mouth full of blood:

‘This world filled with endless blabbering and hair-splitting is done for. It’s going to be a world where only the strong survive now.’

The man’s form slowly started changing and the thing now standing in his place was nothing

but a monster.

‘You’ve got a Demon Summoning Program. Try to control me then!’

Episode 2

When he woke up, F realised he was in a cell on the first underground floor of the police station.

The cramped place sheltered a grim looking young man, a salaryman and a man in a wheelchair.

At the young man’s request, F talked about the monster attack. To his surprise, the same thing had happened to him. The salaryman joined them, recounting how one of his colleagues had gone mad in the middle of work and had killed everyone around. His victims had lost a lot of blood, so they were probably dead by now. He had managed to hide inside a locker, but the cops he thought were there to save him had actually thrown him in prison instead.

‘What you call monsters are actually demons.’

The man in the wheelchair finally broke his silence.

‘You did activate the Demon Summoning Program, didn’t you?’

The young man had activated it, but did not know what to do with it. The salaryman thought it was some kind of virus, so he hadn’t activated it. After F confessed he had activated it as well, the man in the wheelchair started talking about the functions and necessity of the Demon Summoning Program.

And finally,

‘The gates of hell have been opened. If you want to live, use the Demon Summoning Program…’

After the man in the wheelchair taught them how to use the Demon Summoning Program, he used a key to open the door of the cell and let them out. Following his lead, they went to the head officer’s office, fought the demons inside and won.

After defeating the demons and returning to the entrance, they realised the man in the wheelchair was gone. What a strange man, appearing and disappearing into thin air.

Upon leaving the police station, the mails blocked by the magical barrier got through and the young man’s smartphone started ringing. The message had been sent by his father, who was now hiding in a store in Shinjuku’s underground area. It was full of demons outside and he could not get out. The young man, Kenji, left together with F to save his father.

Episode 3

Every single store in the Shinjuku underground had its shutters closed and dead bodies were lying all around. Kenji’s father was hiding in a place called Ambassador Cafe. After they reached the store and knocked at the lowered shutter, someone opened it a little and a voice called Kenji’s name.

Upon hearing Kenji’s answer, the shutter opened and a man in a student uniform welcomed them in. Judging by the uniform, he seemed to be a student at the Kaiou high school, an elite academy. The store was full of people. Seeing his father approach, Kenji started scolding him – why wasn’t he at work? What was he doing in such a place?

‘Hiding is useless, so can you please be quiet at least?’

With those words, the man in uniform went outside to see how things were going. The worst had happened: demons were lurking everywhere. Both the man and the newcomers knew how to use the Demon Summoning Program, so the three of them decided to fight and perhaps lead everyone else out.

However, before leading everyone to the exit of the Shinjuku underground, they realised something was surrounding them, making them unable to reach the exit. Kenji figured it was something similar to the barrier at the Harajuku station. They had been able to defeat the demons who had raised that barrier, so it was necessary to find the demons responsible for this one as well and defeat them.

Looking for the barrier demons around the Shinjuku underground proved in the end quite tiring and just as they were starting to feel the day’s exhaustion, a group of strangely dressed men appeared and surrounded them in the blink of an eye.

Strangely dressed men carrying guns. They looked both like SEAL members, but also had a vague air of comic book heroes. The only one among them carrying a bow and arrow talked to them: ‘We’re the Counter-Demon Force. You’re going to be all right now.’

At that very moment, someone contacted the man with the bow. Apparently, their comrades had defeated the barrier demons and the one at the end of the line confirmed the demon had not been the Visitor.

Listening to the newcomers’ story, the man with the bow was surprised to hear they had fought using the Demon Summoning Program, but before asking for details, his phone rang again.

Spiritual activity was starting to gather in Ginza. Perhaps the Visitor was there.

While the people were being guided by the Counter-Demon Force, the man with the bow decided to ask for F’s and his comrades’ help, who were unsure of their own abilities. They agreed in the end. The man introduced himself as the leader of the Counter-Demon Force, Tahara. The one in the uniform was Kiyoharu.

Episode 4

F and the others finally arrived at the intersection in Ginza 4-chome, together with the Counter-Demon Force members.

It looked like the demons that had appeared in every corner of the city were starting to gather here. According to commanding officer Tahara, a Tyrant class demon was lurking somewhere in the underground, gathering all the demons, but they could not point out his exact location, since there was a demon barrier underneath Ginza.

The Counter-Demon Force dispersed and started looking for the demon in Ginza’s underground city; F and his comrades joined as well, at Tahara’s request. Apparently, the demon resembled a man wielding a long sword; he was extremely strong, despite his human appearance, so all they had to do was contact Tahara, instead of attacking him.

F and the others could find no trace of the demon. It was the same for the men of the Counter-Demon Force, and their impatience was slowly starting to show. At Kiyoharu’s suggestion, they prepared to descend from the platform of the Ginza metro station to the Kyoubashi station, but Kenji intervened. He reminded Kiyoharu that demons were mostly likely lurking around there, but the other insisted, and, in the end, the three of them headed towards Kyoubashi.

And there he was, the man wielding a long sword, right on the Kyoubashi platform. Wearing a prison uniform, he was sitting on the floor, with his head down. It did not look like there were any demons gathering in there, and it was even harder to believe this man was supposed to be an extremely strong demon.

Wondering if he wasn’t in truth just one of the escaped prisoners, Kenji approached him, when he noticed the man was actually muttering something.

‘You, oppressed beings…

You, unworshipped beings…

Gather by my side…’

The curse like words were starting to resonate louder and louder, until they turned into shouts.

At that moment, the man suddenly raised his face and stood up.

‘Give me strength!’

He thundered.

His face had turned into a kabuki kumadori make-up.

The echoes died out and the Kyoubashi station returned to silence. The boys were petrified, not even knowing what had happened. Around them, countless strips of light started gathering one by one towards the man with the sword.

‘Aren’t these strips of light demons?’

‘So does that mean the man with the sword is absorbing the demons?’

Kenji answered Kiyoharu’s question with another question. Indeed, the man’s body did seem to grow larger, a warrior’s armour emerging through his tattered uniform. Panicked, the three boys left the place and contacted Tahara.

Back at the Ginza intersection, both F, his pals and the men of the Counter-Demon Force kept their eyes in a certain point. There, in the Kyoubashi area, stood a man in a warrior’s armour, his height reaching 50 metres.

‘It’s like a kaijuu movie…’, whispered Kenji, as the warrior slowly approached them until he finally reached the Wako and Mitsukoshi buildings. Perched on Wako building’s clock tower, Tahara was preparing for the ambush.

Perhaps sensing the tension of the bow, the warrior turned towards Tahara and raised his arm.

At that moment, an arrow was released.

His eye pierced, the warrior covered his face and let out a roar. The men of the Counter-Demon Force turned towards him and activated some sort of machine; together with his fading roars, the warrior crumbled, falling on his knees, and just like that, turned into a rocky mountain.

Tahara was the descendant of the legendary demon hunter, Fujiwara no Hidesato. The bow and arrow he had used to defeat the giant warrior were the same magical seal with which his ancestor had once defeated the same demon.

Upon hearing those words, Kiyoharu realised the warrior was Masakado. The machine used by the Counter-Demon Force was a device that could create an electromagnetic field and retrieve data, capturing the electromagnetic lifeforms known as demons. According to Tahara, the Visitor was a very strong demon and sealing him like this was all they could do.

Kenji eagerly agreed with Tahara’s invitation to join the Counter-Demon Force, while Kiyoharu wanted more time to reflect, looking at F, who was unsure of his answer as well.

‘I mean, I’ve got to talk to my family too. I’ll accompany you to your place. Where do you live?’

Hearing the word ‘Kichijouji’, Tahara turned pale.

‘The Visitor actually showed up at Kichijouji too…The place was completely destroyed…’

THINGS AND STUFF

I used most of the terms that can be found in the official English translation; as you most likely already knew, ‘Casualries’ was initially ‘Casualities’ and ‘Luxurors’ was ‘Luxuries’;

the ‘Unclean Ones’ is originally ‘Kegarebito’; those who have played Eternal Punishment might remember the ‘Kegare’ subplot. Here’s the meaning;

in case you were wondering where the name ‘Tahara’ comes from (you weren’t), it’s actually pretty sneaky. Or not. Tahara is a descendant of Fujiwara no Hidesato who also totally happens to be the hero of a folk tale, ‘Tawara Touda’ (‘My Lord Bag of Rice’) in which he kills a monster by shooting him in the eyes with his bow and arrows. Don’t worry about the ‘ha’/’wa’ part, the old writing system used the sign ‘ha’ for ‘wa’. You can also see in the link the pun — ‘tawara’ – ‘bag of rice’ and ‘Tawara’ 田原 – ‘rice field’, where the second character 原 (‘field’) is read as ‘hara’;

the original term of ‘the Visitor’ is maroudo マロウド, which has a pretty interesting etymology, dating back to at least the Heian period: the term, also known as ‘marebito’ (mare – rarely, bito/hito – person) refered to the advent of a god, i.e. a being that came from Tokoyo (the land beyond the sea), being at the base of the ancient Japanese festivals, which basically celebrated the visit of a holy being, a moment that would bring happiness to the transient world;

kumadori! It actually fits Masakado really well, not to mention it’s his trademark. But check this out: the red lines express justice and bravery (every Masakado has them); however, blue represents a dark character, negative emotions and spirits, ghosts, etc. Normal Masakado would be the ‘hero’ version, like this guy; bad Masakado (still with red stripes though!) is obviously this guy. (to be honest, I’ve been trying to match Masakado’s face with the faces here for the past thirty minutes, but it’s obvious Kaneko took liberties with the make-up as well, so I’ll pass the baton to you);

and since I fell down the Masakado rabbit hole, I can’t help but wonder if big wandering Masakado was inspired by Daimajin.

(source)・(source)