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Mikado Monday - Blog Posts
Thanks for Looking at My Blorbo
This has been the first, and only, Mikado Monday. I don't think any other character is going to get this much love from me, but I'm thinking of who to post about next.
Mikado has taken back the Yugiri.
It can be hard to tell, since it's a palette-swapped nodachi, but if you look close, you can see the hilt is red.
Mikado Fan Art
I don't feel comfortable posting other people's fan art, especially without their permission, and most of it is obviously from Japan. So, I'm linking to the other sites. If any of the artists want me to remove these, I will.
This second link is actually three pictures of increasing realism. The artist also has a few Bushido Blade comics, including the next link.
This artist's blog includes a cute chibi Mikado (in which she is identified by another role her voice actress performed "Currypanman"): http://okirakustudio2.web.fc2.com/analogue/a_022.htm
The also did a cute valentine's picture of the four ladies: http://okirakujuraku.blog97.fc2.com/blog-entry-2353.html
Mikado Mirror
There are so many death animations in Bushido Blade 1 and a few in the sequel. For some reason (probably demons), I recorded Mikado ending herself for more than six minutes straight.
Just screaming and dying for six minutes.
Execution
In the first game, surrender leaves you open to attack and ends the fight after a set time, but in the sequel, it's a cutscene.
Here's that bloodstained versus Mikado accepting her fate.
And so, the bandaged story Mikado cannot outlive herself.
This location, by the way, is a story scene exclusive: outside the Tatara Shrine. (Not the Tatara Shrine Path stage.) You normally cannot fight here.
Just Give Up
In both games, the player can surrender. In the first game, it could only be done if your leg was broken. In the second, you can just... give up.
POV: The enemy would rather die than fight a child (that's you).
POV: She is adamant about this fact!
POV: Your friend wishes to die with honor, but you have terrible aim.
Story Mode (Japanese)
For comparison's sake, here is the video of all the scenes with Mikado in Bushido Blade 2 with the original Japanese audio. Again, her VA here is Michiyo Yanagisawa.
This is still an edit, as the other five starting characters appear in their versus outfits, but this time Mikado wears her Story outfit as intended. The order of the scenes is exactly the same as the English video.
Bushido Dance
In the second game, the characters have a set of special kata performances they can do for certain achievements. The dance in question changes based on weapon.
Beating 20 opponents in Vs CPU mode, winning in Group Battle Mode, or beating Story mode without dying will show you something like this.
Obviously these aren't the locations they're supposed to do this in. This second location is the secret "Samurai Mansion" stage in the POV Link Battle Mode.
This is one of the training rooms.
Victory Pose Double Feature
In Bushido Blade 2, victory poses are locked to characters, but I've found a way to make everyone be able to strike all those poses.
This video is of Mikado first and her Shainto counterpart Kaun second doing every victory pose except their own in their Versus mode outfits.
This video is the same arrangement, but with Story mode outfits.
YELLING
Isohachi is an angry old man and his lungs are a weapon.
POV: Some little girl is in the way of the repose of your ancestors.
Isohachi's yell has limited "ammo" shall we call it. It's actually in the code separately from sub-weapons, actual gun ammo, and the gun reloads. Unlike Chihiro's frog, Isohachi's yell startles everyone.
POV: This dam woman is in your dam way.
FROGS
Chihiro is troublesome little boy. He likes to throw frogs at people.
POV: The enemy leader is afraid of your pet frog.
Mikado, Red Shadow (also known as Hotarubi), Jo, and Hongou all react to this frog in this over-dramatic way. This behavior is tied to their movelist, so any character can be made to react this way.
POV: A grown woman, who is also a samurai assassin (and might be able to hear the dead), is afraid of your pet frog.
POV: You found the only ninja that doesn't like frogs.
POV: That one girl in class thinks she's so cool.
POV: You found the guy that's bullying your brother.
POV: That girl came back! She's friends with the bully!
In their defense, it's a big frog. It also continues to move around the stage and can jump off ledges. It is a pain to pick back up in first person mode.
Further, nothing is stopping any character from picking the frog up and throwing back into Chihiro's face.
Mikado Story (Injured)
In both games, getting hit in Story mode will give the player character battle damage in future scenes. These are the four limbs and either the head (BB1) or torso (BB2).
Here's those Mikado scenes from the first game, but this time both Mikado and the other playable characters are fully damage. I only recently discovered you could even apply the damage effects to NPCs. It's an exploit anyone can do: using the secret P2 option in Story mode (R1+R2+L1+L2+Start+Select almost anytime on P2's controller while in Story mode), any NPC in P1's story that is defeated while controlled by P2 will be fully damaged when they reappear. No gameshark codes or other data manipulation required at all.
Making Characters Act
Since the cutscenes of Bushido Blade 2 are handled in-engine, it's super easy to put different actors on different stages with repurposed animations.
For example, this is Mikado and Jo reenacting part of Kannuki's ending in the Shainto Group Battle Stage. Jo is even using a different weapon from Mikado, unlike how Tatsumi wields the same as Kannuki.
The way Tatsumi falls in Kannuki's ending is so stiff; it's a very low-budget fall.
By contrast, "Tatsumi's" attack is a complete whiff in Mikado's ending, but the fall is more dramatic.
There's a few hiccups to the process of making this, but I can mostly make anyone in this game do anything someone else can do.
Locking Swords
Blade clashes in Bushido Blade 2 are more interesting visually than the first game. The character who is winning actually pushes the loser around in a far more obvious way.
POV: You've locked blades with the leader of the enemy clan on a castle roof.
POV: You've locked blades with a shrine maiden on competition grounds.
POV: You're just gals being pals when she just lets you win.
The motion of actually flinging the loser is something I'm sad the sequel lost, but the clarity of who is winning is more important.
This Adorable Lady
Look at that face.
Two of the eight weapons' art features Mikado. Oddly not the naginata, but instead the heaviest weapons.
Once again, I got these pictures from FightersGeneration, but I don't know where they got them.
Character Select Face
On the right here, is the game's Story mode icon, which itself is a frame from the game's intro movie. Left to right: Gengoro, Jo, Kaun, Tatsumi, Mikado, Kannuki. Below are the Vs sprites for those five.
Due to a few characters' asymmetrical designs, they get two different vs screen sprites.
Mikado Endings
I mentioned earlier that the original Bushido Blade has a secret tenth fight. Beating that gives the second (actually canon) ending.
Here are the two endings for Mikado. Her Japanese VA in both games was Michiyo Yanagisawa.
Showing Off
Every normal character in Bushido Blade 2 has a subweapon (except Isohachi who yells loud enough to be a weapon). Mikado has throwing knives.
Look at how Hongou, one of the strongest warriors, is kept pushed back from the strength of the shrine maiden.
Check out the sweet dodge I did by accident while recording Mikado's Skyward Strike.
Throwing and Battle Damage
Mikado sadly only knows one of the possible throws. With the Naginata, her signature weapon, she can break her opponent's neck. I can cheat her into using the others, but let's talk about a Story mode oddity first.
Neck breaker demonstrated by a fully battle damaged versus Mikado on a clean story Mikado.
In the second game, all four limbs and the torso can be damaged. This is marked with either bloodstains or bandages.
Story damage is in the game's files and code, for all six starting characters' versus outfits and the four unlockable characters from Slash mode, too. This is despite that none of them should be in Story mode.
Uno Reverse Card! This is what Mikado's story outfit looks like with all five damage points.
Mikado, that illegal! You can't use throws in Group Battle Mode!
Story Mode (English)
In Bushido Blade 2's Story Mode, the starting six characters (including Mikado) have different outfits than they use in the rest of the game.
I know how to switch it back, though. I said I was a dirty little hacker.
This video is every scene she's in. Video is my own; made it a while back. Her English VA is Wendee Lee, who also voices Jo.
The first part of the video is her role in other characters' stories. First as an enemy, then as a friend. The second part of the video is her own story route. The Narukagami crew only have one ending each in this game, while the Shainto have a choice at the end of theirs.
Violence in the Tatara Shrine
This stage is the Tatara Shrine, where the Last Descendant of the Kagami Family, Kagami Izuna, is kept, hidden away from the Shainto who seek to kill her. (Izuna is not to be confused with the young priestess Suzuka, who gives the players their weapons in the first game. Common misconception on the English net.)
While this is the final boss stage for the Shainto, it is also the stage you'd fight Mikado in the Vs CPU gauntlet mode. You normally cannot select the stage, but I'm a dirty little hacker.
Normal jumping while your opponent is down automatically does an attack in BB2.
Multiple attacks can connect at once. Getting hit in the legs is far less dangerous in the second game, since it only slows you down instead of breaking your leg (which makes combat nigh impossible).
Notice how her legs are shaking in her victory pose, that's because she got hit.
Game Manual 1.5
The game manual post had some technical difficulty, so I split it. If the prior post is hidden, it's because tumblr is labeling "mature" likely by auto error.
The Japanese manual, for reference.
Game Manual
Here are some some details and pictures from the games' official manuals.
Mikado and her Shainto counterpart Kaun face off.
The manual pairs her with Jo as speed-type. The stats the ladies have are similar with the four swords, but the polearms are a different story. The Shainto spear is Jo's worst weapon, but the Narukagami naginata is Mikado's best. Mikado and Kaun have the maximum speed and power with the big pointy sticks!
Mikado's stats with each weapon, if you're curious are:
Weapon-----Power----Speed
Naginata----22/22----15/15 Same as Kaun with Yari (Jo is 15 and 12)
Broadsword-15/22-----12/15 Same as Jo
Katana-------12/22-----14/15 Slower than Jo
Nodachi-----15/22-----13/15 Much weaker than Jo (18)
Longsword--10/22----14/15 Slower than Jo (Tied for the weakest Char/Weapon combo in the game.)
Notes: The lowest normal power is 10 and speed is 12. NPCs and the secret duo are above the limit. Mikado is weaker and slower than Kaun with all swords except being as fast with the katana.
In the original game, Mikado and Black Lotus (aka Kokuren, aka James, aka Highwayman) are the medium characters. Sadly, I haven't found the character stats in BB1 yet.
Also, that codename: Gate of the God's Descent. That's even cooler than my nickname for her: the Empress.
Mikado and Tatsumi face off, back when she was balance and he was speed.
These scans came from Archive.org, so that's why the text is scrunched like that.
Polearm Vs Gun
Bushido Blade has a pair of characters that use guns. This also let's me show you the hit sparks of the game. Blue is good defense, green is bad defense, white is neutral clash, orange is nonlethal hit, and red spray is DEATH.
Hokkyoku Tsubame with her M16 cannot deal with the point-blank assault. Maybe she should have stuck with her sword.
Mikado refuses to let Schuvaltz Katze even stand to aim his Revolver. Most of the cast have a low opinion on the hired gun.
Official Sketches
Her original design was more priestly, but was toned down for looking too much like a sentai villain. The outfit on the right is an early draft of her story mode outfit. The note on the right talks about how scary she looks with her hair down, but I don't see it.
She's only depicted playing the flute in the intro of the second game, but I'm glad that concept was there from this early on.
Just a close-up of her pretty face, yeah?
While I'm certain these are all official, I have taken them from FightersGeneration.com. They have some weird ideas about when this game takes place, though. It's in Nineties Japan, not ancient Japan. The Parking Garage stage with the audible car peel out should be a clear indicator.
Bushido Blade 1 Story Mode
The Story mode of the original game is somewhat oddly designed.
First, you either defeat four opponents, or lure your starting opponent across a huge map to an escape hole. You can either break their leg so they can't follow you, or fight them in the cave when they chase you in.
Either way, you will then fight the fifth through nine opponents in confined stages for the ending. All while not violating the rules of honor.
However, if you didn't fight the second through fourth opponents and never got hit by anything. You can fight the secret tenth enemy.
This video showcases Mikado's story mode cutscenes. First, the scenes for killing her friends in a few different locations (there's around thirty locations these can play at), then the unavoidable fights. Followed by the scenes of her friends killing her in their stories. Then we repeat both set of friend clips again in different locations while everyone is covered in mud. The unavoidable fighters cannot be covered in mud.
Hanzaki (the ninth guy) only has his defeat scene play if you're going to fight the secret boss. Canonically, he's also the only one who died. (Maybe Kindachi, one of the secret bosses, does, but personally I think he's a ghost.)
Victory Poses in Bushido Blade
In the original game, victory poses are tied to the character's weapon. Here's Mikado striking each pose in each of the Vs stages.
Rapier on Yahiro Road
Katana in the windy Yagura Point
Broadsword in the Cherry Blossom Grove
Naginata in the Underground Grotto
Longsword at Executioner's Cove
Nodachi in the Meikyokan Dojo
Saber near Dozaemon Moat
Sledgehammer in the Bamboo Thicket
Rapier on Yahiro Road
Katana in the windy Yagura Point
Broadsword in the Cherry Blossom Grove
Naginata in the Underground Grotto
Longsword at Executioner's Cove
Nodachi in the Meikyokan Dojo
Saber near Dozaemon Moat
Sledgehammer in the Bamboo Thicket
Mikado of Narukagami
I would like to draw your attention to one of my favorite characters. She is one of the protagonists of Bushido Blade and I have several posts I'm going to make about her.
A shrine maiden at the Tatara Shrine, member (turned acting head) of the Narukami shinto school, and (former) assassin of Kage. Her design is rather straight-forward, sure.
In 1997, the dojo master, Hanzaki, went mad (got possessed) and had to be put down. The other major players went their separate ways, but Mikado stayed to continue the organization's true purpose: protecting the last descendant of the Kagami family.
In 1998, the rival school Shainto saw the weakened Narukagami and launched their attack. Mikado, however, had foreseen this and had called most of the old team back, plus a few new friends. The Shainto had overplayed their hand and Mikado saw the chance to bring the 800 year feud to its end, once and for all.