Release date: March 1st 1996
Serial number: SLPS-00102
The first half of Twilight Syndrome, featuring the first five scenarios: “The Original Rumor”, “The First rumor: Ghost Photo Mass Production Park”, “The Second Rumor: M.F. of the Music Room”, “The Third Rumor: Last Train” and “The Fourth Rumor: Seven Mysteries of Hina-shiro High School”. The final scenario, “One More Rumor”, serves as a teaser for the first scenario of Kyuumei-hen, bridging the two parts of the game together. Scans were provided by BigManJapanSC, while the text was translated by PT. Special thanks to Deep Wolf for formatting the .pdf version.
Art Scans
Manual
Translation
Back cover (cardboard)
Everybody wants to “see something scary”, so why not experience this “fear” for yourself?
The “Fright Level” meter visualizes the level of fear, and together with the “3D Sound” system, best experienced when wearing headphones, it will fill your heart with terror through your eyes and ears.
The story follows an anthology format, in which players will be tasked with bringing each incident to its peaceful resolution together with three very different high school girls, who thoroughly and cheerfully investigate these mysterious rumors.
Witness the birth of a brand-new horror-adventure feeling!!
MIKA: “The classroom feels much bigger at night, don’t you think, Hasegawa?”
YUKARI: “You have an overactive imagination.”
The Original Rumor… The school is eerily silent at night. There are many rumors revolving around Hina-shiro high school, which spread like wildfire among its students. Mika Kishii, a curious first-year student, invites Yukari Hasegawa, a senior she looks up to, to investigate one of them. Chisato Itsushima, Yukari’s best friend, who has a keen sense for the supernatural, has this to say once they’re inside: “There’s someone in this building…”
The First Rumor… 「Ghost Photo Mass Production Park」
A mysterious red streak appears in a photo taken by a couple Mika knows. As soon as she sees it, she rushes to tell Yukari; however, Chisato, who is also present, looks worried. The three of them decide to team up and investigate the park where the picture was taken.
The Second Rumor… 「M.F. of the Music Room」
A female student commits suicide in the Music Room. It doesn’t take long for the news to start spreading through the school. Rumor has it that this middle school student had a secret relationship with a teacher, Mr. Okuno. Yukari has conflicting feelings about this, as she is in a similar situation.
The Third Rumor… 「Last Train」
Mika has gotten her hands on a fresh new rumor. Yukari takes her up on her invitation in order to take a break from her stressful family life. The rumor leads them to the train station, where several accidents have occurred one after the other, with many witnesses reporting the presence of ghosts. The three girls sneak inside the station unbeknownst to the staff.
The Fourth Rumor… 「Seven Mysteries of Hina-shiro High School」
There are seven fabled mysteries in Hina-shiro high school. Mika persuades her friends to investigate them, and Yukari borrows the key to the Biology Room from the trainee teacher Kitamura. Terror lurks in the darkness, waiting to ambush the three girls…
Back cover (jewel case)
Three very curious high school girls, Yukari, Chisato and Mika, investigate various haunted spots to uncover the truth behind the rumors they come across. What are they going to find…?
The realistic polygonal landscape and three-dimensional sounds will immerse you in a world of fear. We recommend using headphones to enjoy the full scope of the 3D Sound system.
Opening voice over: Kikuko Inoue (Ezaki Productions)
Prologue – Summer of 1996 (page 2)
A rumor about a mysterious little girl with bobbed hair who appears in toilets has spread through the entire nation.
The same rumor has been making the rounds in the high school of Hina-shiro, a town in Musashino City.
“I was in the girls’ bathroom on the north side of the third floor of the old school building. After midnight, I knocked three times on the fourth door, and I heard a girl’s voice coming from inside…”
Mika Kishii is the master of rumors. She has twelve underlings reporting directly to her. No other student could match the information network that the 15-year-old had built in the four months since she entered high school; none could match her beautiful smile either. She’s the leading expert on “The Mysterious bob-haired girl of Hina-shiro High”.
She’s a Leo, her blood type is AB and she has brown hair; beyond anything else, she loves being the center of attention. The old school building, which is set to be demolished after the third-year students graduate, towers over them, giving off an impregnable air which makes it easy to project an unwarranted importance onto it.
“Now then…”
Mika Kishii’s heart was filled with excitement as she planned her next investigation.
She had some experience organizing parties for the student council, but investigating the rumors that lurked in the darkest corner of their town would be a much bigger undertaking…
She couldn’t try and recruit any of the girls in her class; she was the only one who was brave enough. The boys were not an option either: she didn’t want to find herself alone in the dark with one of them.
“Maybe I could ask that senior…”
She once saw her in the Staff Room, a good-looking girl with long hair who was, for some reason, a hot topic among other students. She looked pretty cool: even though some bald math teacher was yelling at her, she coldly ignored him.
“Yukari Hasegawa from 2-C. Everyone’s talking about her.”
That’s how Mika’s plan for that weekend’s investigation began to take shape.
Characters (pages 4-5)
Yukari Hasegawa
Birthday – April 15th, Aries
Blood type – A (Pretty serious)
Height – 168cm
Bust size – “Why would I tell you that?”
Club – “Going home” Club1The term 帰宅部 is a colloquialism to indicate students who don’t actually belong to any school clubs, and therefore “go home” after class. (Formerly Basketball)
Favorite musicians – Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Neil Young
Type – “It’s Masatoshi Nagase!” (It’s actually Charles Bronson)
Stance on love – Faithful (She has experienced heartbreak)
Mindset – She has a cool personality and she is a strong believer in the philosophy of Enlightenment
In regards to investigations – She is a strong leader, but surprisingly, she also scares very easily
Her parents went through a divorce the previous winter, when she was 16. This caused some scandal, and the cold reactions from those around her made it impossible for Yukari to ignore it, leaving her heartbroken. Despite this, she does her best to play her role as a student. Her headstrong attitude has gained her respect from classmates and teachers alike, but she is still too immature to endure loneliness. This may be why she opens her heart to her childhood friend, Chisato. Although she is usually strong willed, she has some unexpected weak sides, such as her fear of ghosts. She was a member of the Basketball Club for six months the previous year.
Mika Kishii
Birthday – August 11th, Leo
Blood type – AB (Fun-loving, care-free)
Height – 163cm
Bust size – “I plan on losing weight this summer.”
Club – Badminton Club (& Lacrosse Club)
Favorite musicians – My Little Lover, Kuroyume, The Yellow Monkeys
Type – “Tsuyoshi Domoto is so dreamy!”
Stance on love – She goes group dating (but just for show)
Mindset – Hedonistic, curious
In regards to investigations – She is an expert on rumors and does not shy away from darkness
She is one of those girls who stand out among the other bright-eyed, innocent young students. She understands the importance of getting close to her peers, and she’s already built a small network under her. (For example, if you were to write a love letter to one of the girls, they’d all read it together and laugh about it within the day.)
Naturally, that means she must have approached Yukari, who had eyes on her for a completely different reason, with some sort of objective in mind. She is a member of the Badminton Club and the Lacrosse Club. She is always carrying a disposable camera and a pager.
Chisato Itsushima
Birthday – June 24th, Cancer
Blood type – 0 (Can keep calm in any situation)
Height – 158cm
Bust size – Still growing
Club – Archery Club
Favorite musicians – Mariah Carey, Maria Takeuchi, classical music in general
Type – “Kiichi Nakai.”
Stance on love – More or less indifferent
Mindset – Mindful of nature
In regards to investigations – She can sense darkness and tries to pacify aggressive spirits
She is the eldest of three siblings, and they were raised by a very old-fashioned father. She is a quiet, well-behaved and, most importantly, traditional schoolgirl. She is Yukari’s childhood friend and, through the nine years she has known her, the two have grown very close. She is a very spiritual person and, on occasion, she sees some incredible things. It could be said that Yukari’s fear of ghosts stems from her relationship with Chisato; whenever she asks her “Yukari, want to know what I saw?”, the answer’s always “no”. How come, if her family is so strict, they let her go out at night? According to her, they have a very complex “trust points” system. She’s a member of the Archery Club.
Scene of the investigation – Hina-shiro municipal high school (pages 6-7)
An extremely old school built on a hill on the outskirts of Musashino, a city on the edge of Tokyo. It predates the war, as it was built before Hina-shiro was turned into a residential area to provide an education for local children.
The original wooden school building was then rebuilt with concrete after the war (it is currently referred to as ‘the old school building’).
After that, a new school building was added as part of Hina-shiro’s urban development as a residential area, in order to deal with the increasing number of students.
Old school building
An old, filthy school building. It has three floors. There are many strange rumors floating around about this building, including one about the ghost of a bob-haired girl.
New school building
Built in 1986 out of reinforced concrete as an expansion to the pre-existing school building. It has four floors. The classroom of Yukari and Chisato, among many others, is located in this building.
Connecting corridor
A passageway connecting the two buildings. While the passageway connects them on the same floor, the new building is actually one floor higher than the old one. This is because their foundations were built at different levels of elevation.
Pool
The pool is located north of the school. Rumor has it that a student drowned in it at some point.
Gym
The gymnasium is located east of the school. It doesn’t get much sunlight, and there’s many rumors about ‘something’ living in there.
Uphill road in front of the school
A uphill road that turns around the schoolyard. The curve is quite difficult to make, resulting in several accidents, to the point where it is rumored to be a haunted spot among students.
School gate
Since the school was built on a hill, there are few artificial lights in the area, so it gets really dark in the evening. There’s a rumor going around that a suspicious figure has been spotted under the lone streetlight in front of the gate…
Yard
The schoolyard has a 400m long track. Some people say they saw a mysterious figure running on it late into the night.
Tennis court
The Tennis Club is full of talented members. It managed to rank third in a tournament that was held in Tokyo. Because of this, the school has invested a lot of money in keeping the tennis court well-maintained.
Parking lot
A parking lot for teachers and staff.
Mountain
A small mountain extending from the hill that Hina-shiro high school was built on. It’s one of the few examples of abundant greenery in the Tokyo prefecture. There’s a path leading up to it behind the school, which leads to the Astronomy Club observatory and to a small, nameless shrine.
Gearing up for the investigation (page 8)
In order to investigate the various rumors, the girls will often lurk in the darkness, be it in school or around town… These are some of the items that will help keep them safe.
Flashlight
A flashlight, taken from the Hasegawa Emergency Pack, which helps protect the girls from the true depths of darkness, where humans are helpless. Make sure not to lose it.
Backpack
Mika’s signature yellow backpack. Besides the usual high school amenities, it contains some items unique to her…
Disposable camera “Urutsundayo”2Urutsundayo (写るんだよ) is a parody of the Fuji Film disposable camera “Urutsundesu” (写ルンです).
High-end version with flash. Apparently, if you manage to photograph a ghost with this, you can sell the pictures to an occult magazine for a high price. It can take up to 12 pictures.
MiniDisc Recording Set
Sony MD Walkman, MZ-R3. Mika bought a microphone and whole ton of high-end discs in order to record the paranormal sounds surrounding spiritual phenomena. It is easy to operate, so even when she’s in a rush, she always manages to record what she needs. As expected of Sony, the world’s leading manufacturer of audio devices.