After completing the main story of Emio: The Smiling Man, you’ll unlock a special epilogue chapter titled Minoru. We’re here to walk you through each step of this particular chapter.
Looking for a walkthrough for the previous chapter? You can find a link to that here: Emio: The Smiling Man Chapter 12 Walkthrough.
Table of Contents
Chapter Minoru – Calling Utsugi
To start Chapter Minoru in Emio: The Smiling Man, you’ll first need to select Call Utsugi from the main menu. This can only be done after completing Chapter 12, watching all of the credits, and seeing the scene after the ending.
Utsugi will ask if you’re ready to tackle this chapter, so select Yes. He will then ask us to come to the office.
Chapter Minoru – Inside Utsugi Detective Agency
Utsugi will be seated behind his desk, and he will inform you that with the investigation at Irumo Village complete, we now know the full origin of The Smiling Man. There was also a note hidden in the home that Minoru Tsuzuki was hiding in. They have yet to uncover what it means, unfortunately. Utsugi will then fill you in with the discoveries from his investigation.
Chapter Minoru – Inside Irumo Village
You’ll cut to Utsugi speaking with a villager, asking questions about the Smiling Man incident. You’ll want to Ask/Listen to progress the story and ask about the Tsuzuki family, as they used to live in Iruomo Village. The Villager will grimace a little as he recalls the Tsuzuki family. Select Ask/Listen again.
He’ll mention that the wife and mother left, and the husband stopped working and started drinking. The villager mentions that he became rather aggressive, and they distanced themselves from the Tsuzuki family. Ask/Listen again.
He doesn’t know why the mother left, and he mentions that the Tsuzuki children were the ones who suffered most. Ask/Listen about Minoru. The villager will reveal that Tsuzuki had a sister who was seven years younger than him, named Emiko. Minoru protected and valued Emiko more than anything. The screen will cut to a note that says the following:
- I like smiling, Emiko.
The scene will then cut to the inside of the Tsuzuki home, with the father in a drunken stupor while Minoru cradles his sister on the floor as she cries. He’ll tell his father not to make Emiko cry and that he hates him. The father will then strike Minoru and tell him to say it to his face.
The scene cuts back to Utsugi and the Irumo Villager speaking in their home. The villager is convinced the Minoru was beaten rather frequently trying to protect Emiko. Ask/Listen once again, selecting About Emiko. You’ll learn that she was quite bright and cheerful and a bit of a tomboy. So much so that some of the local villagers called her “Emio” as a nickname, so it sounded more like a boy’s name.
After her mother left, however, she cried all the time and she always looked frightened. Ask/Listen about Minoru again to learn that he oftentimes protected Emiko from abuse with his own body. Ask/Listen about the Observations that the Villagers may have made during this time.
After this, select Ask/Listen about Emiko again, and you’ll discover that Emiko and Minoru were essentially attached at the hip. The Villager thinks Emiko must have believed that Minoru was the only good person left in the world. Ask/Listen about Minoru at this point. The Villager will speak kindly about Minoru, mentioning that while he was shy and awkward, he kept Emiko happy.
There wasn’t anything that the Villagers in Irumo Village could do for Emiko and Minoru, and it’s something they regret daily. Ask/Listen once again. The Villager will recall a time when Emiko was laughing wildly and looked like her old self once again. Apparently, this is because Minoru was acting like a fool with a paper bag on his head.
Select the Ask/Listen option again, and choose Paper Bag. The Villager will mention that it was just an ordinary bag that Minoru drew a smiling face on so it always looked like he was happy when he put it on. Emiko must have loved this because she would laugh non-stop when he would wear it.
Apparently, the next day, both Emiko and Minoru had a paper bag of their own on their heads. The Villager mentions that this may have been a way for them to have a little fun when things were going poorly at home. Minoru was very happy to see Emiko smiling and laughing again, but then something terrible happened. Select Ask/Listen.
You’ll ask what happened to the Tsuzuki family. The Villager will ask if you can talk to someone else about it because it’s just too painful to remember. We’ll receive the option to Travel to a different location. Select this option and apologize for stirring up memories.
Chapter Minoru – Inrumo Village (Outdoors)
You’ll cut directly to another villager, where you’ll learn that Emiko drowned in a pond. Select Ask/Listen. The villager will recall hearing Minoru screaming down near the pond. The neighbor we are speaking to rushed over and found Minoru sobbing over the body of his sister.
Minoru then ran away from the Village in the pouring rain. We’ll have the chance to Ask/Listen, so select About Minoru. You’ll learn that Minoru and Emiko were planning on running away from home together. Their father learned of this plan and dumped their belongings in the pond. She must have gone into the water to try and get them back, and she drowned.
After this happened, Minoru returned back home and murdered his father with a baseball bat. Ask/Listen about Minoru again. Select About Emiko now, and you’ll learn that the Villager went to Emiko’s funeral. Minoru attended and placed her paper bag inside her coffin as a gift to send off with her to the afterlife.
Ask/Listen about Emiko again, followed up with Observations. The neighbor regrets not stopping Minoru from running away in the rain, as she could have stopped him from killing his father. She still thinks about it. Ask/Listen about Minoru. You’ll learn he was sent to the juvenile detention center after this incident. The Villager left shortly after this had all happened. Ask/Listen again.
The Villager will mention that while she moved away a long time ago, she still thinks about the kids and the pain they experienced, and she hopes that Minoru is doing well. Ask/Listen again to let her know that what happened is not her fault and to comfort her.
Chapter Minoru – Inside Utsugi Detective Agency
Utsugi will confirm that the events that took place in Irumo Village seem to be what sparked The Smiling Man urban legend. This would also explain how the legend was started nearly 30 years ago, rather than 18 when the Serial Girl Murders case happened. You’ll also learn that Utsugi had met with the director at the Juvenile Detention Center where Minoru was incarcerated.
Chapter Minoru – Juvenile Detention Center Director
You’ll find yourself inside a nice restaurant, enjoying a hot drink with the director of the Juvenile Detention Center where Minoru was held. Select Ask/Listen about Minoru. The director will mention that he remembers Minoru and that Minoru was an honest kid. He mentions that they had to keep an extreme watch on his mental state.
Select About Minoru again, followed by Observations. You’ll discover that he was very quiet and hardly even spoke to the people there, while just constantly sitting by himself and thinking about what he could do. Select Observations again, and you’ll find that he mumbled to himself quite often. You’ll cut to a note that reads:
- I’m going to study cars.
Select About Minoru again. The Detention Center Director mentioned that Minoru was extremely interested in cars and he encouraged him to pursue automotive repair. Minoru passed his exam with flying colors, as he studied hard and put in the work. Select About Minoru. He did finally talk to the Detention Center Director after passing the exam, but what he was saying was very weird. Ask About Minoru again.
You’ll learn that he said, “Someday I’ll get my own car and I’ll take my little sister wherever she wants to go.” Since the Director was likely aware of the situation that happened, this came off as rather strange. Select Observations. The Director will ask if it was a weird thing to say, so you should respond with:
- Yes, I do.
The Director confirmed that Minoru only had one sister, Emiko, who had passed away. Select About Minoru again, and the Director will reconfirm this information with you. Select Observations. He thought that maybe Minoru was pretending that the whole situation hadn’t happened and that maybe it was like a bad dream or something.
Chapter Minoru – Back at Utusugi Detective Agency
After being released, Minoru returned to Irumo Village. He was greeted with open arms and helped with farm work. They noticed that he wasn’t the same as he was before he went into the Detention Center and that his behaviors, such as mumbling to himself and keeping quiet, continued as they were. After a while, Tsuzuki left the village.
This is when Minoru went to Kamematsu City and stumbled upon Todoroki Motors. Utsugi will ask what drew him there, so select the following:
- He was seeking a place to work on cars.
You’ll find out that this wasn’t the actual reason, as can be read on a note that appears on screen:
- I found a car shop that’s called “Car, Car, Car!” The owners are nice. I’m going to work there.
- If I have a car, I can go pick up Emiko.
You’ll also find that there was a uniform for Todoroki Motors in one of the houses that Minoru stayed in, freshly laundered and put away. Utsugi will then describe what happened in Makoto’s testimony of the situation. We’ll then have a roughly 30-minute cutscene going further into the background of Minoru, animated by Mappa Studios.
Without mentioning any spoilers, this scene is incredibly heartbreaking and tragic but beautifully animated. It’s hard to imagine this is from an official Nintendo product.
Utsugi will continue mentioning how the Villagers wish they could have stepped in to stop the legend of Emio from ever coming to be. He also mentions that the final message in the note he had scribbled may be the perfect way to seal off his legacy:
- I want to see Emiko.
He asks what we think before the screen fades to black, closing out the Minoru chapter of Emio: The Smiling Man and bringing a satisfying, depressing, and heartbreaking close to this story.
Emio: The Smiling Man is available to play now on Nintendo Switch.
Published: Sep 6, 2024 03:23 pm