Karifean's Blog of Visual Novels

So it's already here, the plot's climax. And with it comes the obligatory plot twist that makes you feel so damn stupid for not realizing it before. G-senjou had it, Umineko had many of them, and now Sharin no Kuni has one too.

Really, Sharin no Kuni's Chapter 5 is similar to G-senjou no Maou's in so many ways. You can really see how they took what worked great in Sharin no Kuni and worked it into G-senjou.

Plot Synopsis

Chapter 5 begins with another flashback. This time we see Kenichi on his path of becoming a Special High Class Individual. I'll spare you the details, but generally he first just did it because it kept him alive, he was at first the least talented of the bunch, then he became better and better and eventually the best. Just before his final exam he wants to quit because he could live on his own, but then Houzuki shows him just why he absolutely has to continue his exam.

Great way to "reunite", isn't it?

The Maximum Penalty: the obligation to not exist. Nobody may interact or acknowledge the existence of one such person, and the criminal themselves must not in any way interact with other people. The only person allowed to interact with them is the Special High Class Individual in charge of them, and Houzuki tells Kenichi that he would not mind leaving Ririko in his charge if he finishes his exam. And so Kenichi complies.

Back to present day. Natsumi is imprisoned and Kenichi is under house arrest. He figures that Houzuki would have just killed him normally, so the fact that he's still alive means that Houzuki is still playing with him. Kenichi easily escapes his captors and runs. On his way he runs into Isono. Isono shows him a safe house: Ken's old house that had been destroyed long ago, which Isono rebuilt by himself. And finally, Isono acknowledges that he knows of Kenichi's true identity.

They talk for a bit. Isono says he won't forgive Kenichi for his betrayal just yet, because he still has to make up for it and he knows Sachi and Natsumi will forgive him without a second thought. But they can't talk for long before Houzuki calls Kenichi on his phone.

Houzuki tells Kenichi that he plans to publicly execute Natsumi in three days. It turns out that Houzuki more or less planned this from the beginning and it's part of the final exam. In a nutshell...

Kenichi won't have it, of course. He's no longer the weak, frail, cowardly Higuchi Ken. He is Morita Kenichi, a man who gives his all to help his friends when they're in need. And so he and Isono start devising a plan to rescue Natsumi.

To get into Natsumi's cell, a Special High Class Individual's ID Card is required. Also, there needs to be some sort of distraction to allow for a quick rescue before they are captured instead. For the latter they decide to use the two days they have left to search for Sachi and Touka, both on the run from Houzuki's personal police force which is now roaming the town. For the former, this is where Saburou's memory stick comes in. With the data from a former Special High Class Individual, faking an ID Card should be simple; but the memory stick is encrypted with a password only Kenichi's sister Ririko knows.

And now it turns out Kenichi and Isono are not alone.

I have to admit this twist caught me completely off guard. It turns out Kenichi's sister was with him the whole time. Never acknowledged by anyone, never talking to anyone, just following him around as a Maximum Penalty criminal. The game is quite smug about this as they show a few earlier scenes in black and white and point out how the characters nearly had a slip up every now and then. Admittedly I felt quite stupid at not noticing a thing.

Either way having a person whose existence must not be acknowledged sure helps with gathering intelligence and finding Sachi and Touka. She temporarily forgot the password to the memory stick, by the way.

Things go smoothly as we first find Sachi, then Touka. Ririko remembers the password for the stick and Kenichi's ID Card is easily rewritten to have Special High Class Individual rights. And so the day of the execution arrives and our plan is carried out.

As Houzuki's henchmen announce the execution to the public everyone plays together to create a massive distraction. Ririko holds a fiery public speech against current society, rallying people and reigniting the spirit from the revolution long ago. Houzuki comes out to shoot Ririko only to notice her being body-doubled by Touka. In the meantime Kenichi successfully infiltrates the school and rescues Natsumi from her cell. All that is left is one final showdown between Kenichi and Houzuki.

Unfortunately their duel ends in Kenichi's loss. Kenichi aims a strike at Houzuki's bad leg but as it turns out Houzuki had been faking his leg injury for seven years and knocks Kenichi to the ground.

The heroes lose. They're imprisoned all together this time (except for Isono who managed to escape). Houzuki submits them to physical and mental torture to break them - and most of all, break Kenichi. After all that is the final exam, if he breaks Kenichi then he passes the exam; but he would lose all of his friends in the process.

The torturous ordeal continues for one month and everyone is at their wit's end. Kenichi is being deprived of his mind-calming drug that suppresses his war trauma from one of the earlier exams. Ririko is physically beaten to near-death. Seeing this Kenichi really does start to break and eventually he gives in when Houzuki offers a way out. And so Ken betrays his friends once more.

Not. Taking him by surprise Kenichi overwhelms Houzuki. Turns out just as Houzuki had been faking his leg injury, Kenichi had been faking his addiction to the calming drug. Kenichi doesn't kill Houzuki but he does knock him out. They all escape.

To get out of town they plan on using the same escape route Ken used back as a kid; through the cave Kenichi and Sachi also went spelunking into. At its rear they find themselves confronted by a wall but then a ladder drops down; Isono is there and helps them out. Sachi, Touka and Natsumi all climb up but before Kenichi (carrying a severely injured Ririko) can follow, the ladder falls and no reaction can be heard from the top anymore.

Ririko suggests they turn back fearing the worst, but Kenichi refuses. Even knowing that hell might await them above he decides to climb the wall (almost falling and dying in the process). Atop awaits Houzuki, and while Kenichi's friends lay unconscious on the floor it doesn't seem Houzuki is out for blood.

Houzuki praises Kenichi on his skill, succeeding where he himself could not at opposing society. It seems Houzuki and Higuchi Saburou (Ken's father) were old friends, which was the ultimate reason why Houzuki took Ken under his wing. And now he lets him go free.

Only one question remains before the end of Chapter 5.

After that, regardless of which you pick, credits roll.

OH BUT YOU'RE NOT TRICKING ME. Once and never again AkabeiSoft2. Next blog entry will be about the epilogue(s). I'm sure they're far from trivial. There are still unanswered questions. In fact just now in Chapter 5 I distinctly remember hearing that there is a second Maximum Penalty criminal in town. Now that I want to hear about!
Edit: Well it seems I totally misunderstood something or so about that second Maximum Penalty criminal. The epilogues were really just that; epilogues. No "Spring" chapter or anything like that. Oh well, I guess the review is up next after all.



Chapter 5 was definitely my favorite chapter. The major plot twist was arguably set up and executed even better than G-senjou no Maou's. Kenichi is still being as awesome as always and I liked seeing the other characters have their moments to shine as well. You can really see how every one of the cast has changed over the course of the story, and even Houzuki has his moments of sympathy. A satisfying conclusion that would put this visual novel probably somewhere in the latter half of my Top Ten.

...but it's not over. I will reserve all judgment until I finish the epilogues. No ifs and buts about it. After all I know of two other visual novels that had epilogues that suddenly made those visual novels go from great to amazing. Edit: Ah well looks like I had too high expectations. 'Twas quite a good visual novel nonetheless.