Crimson Butterfly

Miku Hinasaki

2007-06-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

The girl above is Miku Hinasaki. She's the main character of Fatal Frame I and the 2nd main character of Fatal Frame III. She was 17 years old during the first game and 19 on the 3rd game. Her family is directly tied to the history of the series. Some of her relatives are: Ryoukan Kurosawa (great-great-grandfather, deceased), twin brother of Ryoukan (great-great-granduncle, deceased), Yae Munakata née Kurosawa (great-grandmother, deceased), Sae Kurosawa (great-aunt, deceased), Ryouzo Munakata (great-grandfather, deceased), Mikoto Munakata (maternal grandmother, deceased), Mr. Hinasaki (paternal ancestor, deceased), Masato Hinasaki (father, deceased), Miyuki Hinasaki (mother, deceased), and Mafuyu Hinasaki (older brother, deceased in canon).

Miku was a student during Fatal Frame I and became an assistant photographer to the lead female of the 3rd game. She also has a black cat named Ruri, and you'll see her pet on Fatal Frame III only.

Additional notes about the games

2007-06-29T16:28:00.001-07:00

Below, I compiled a summary and additional notes for the 3 games out so far, as well as some information about a rumored 4th game & movie.

Fatal Frame (2001)

After having received no news for over a week, Miku Hinasaki goes into the Himura Mansion to look for her missing brother, Mafuyu Hinasaki. With a flashlight in hand, she ventures along the hallways and rooms of the mansion but finds no traces or clues of her brother save for her mother's old camera (a.k.a Camera Obscura). Realizing later that she is now trapped within the mansion, Miku continues searching for her brother and clues for a way out.

The game was later imported to the xbox console. The Xbox version included extra stuff not found on the PS2 version. It also has smoother graphics, and an exclusive "Fatal Mode" that can be unlocked by completing the main game.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (2003)

Twin sisters Mio Amakura and Mayu Amakura are visiting a favorite childhood place when Mayu, who walks with a perpetual limp after a childhood accident, follows a mysterious crimson butterfly deep into the woods. Mio, concerned for her twin, follows Mayu, and the two girls are led to a lost village.

Originally released for the PS2 in 2003, a Director's Cut edition was later released for the Xbox console in 2004. The director's cut contained added extra scenes & endings as well as a first-person play mode, a survival mode, a new ending, enhanced graphics, and a greater number of alternate costumes to unlock.

Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (2005)

The 3rd game follows Rei Kurosawa, a 23-year old freelance photographer. While on a freelance assignment taking pictures of a supposedly haunted mansion, the image of her deceased fiancé appears in the photographs. Afterwards, Rei begins having strange recurring dreams. In these dreams, she finds herself at an old Japanese manor house during a heavy snowfall and observes her fiancé entering the house. Seeking to again see him, she follows his figure into the house, where the dream becomes a nightmare.

The game is currently out only for the PS2 console. However, like the other previous 2 games, it's possible that this 3rd game will also be imported to Xbox, or probably the Ps3 as well. The question now is when will that be. I will certainly look forward to getting my hands on it as soon as it out. Even if I already played the game, it's possible there would be extra stuff on it that wasn't present on the Ps2 version. So, yeah! Can't wait for it to come.

Fatal Frame IV (August - 2007 or 2008)

Ah, a 4th fatal frame game. Despite the popularity of the fatal frame series, I never expected another game in the works. I thought for sure that the game is just a trilogy. But I'm certainly not complaining. I enjoyed playing the 3 other games and wouldn't mind playing another one. Anyway, like I said, there have been rumours that the fourth installment of the series is currently in works, however no official confirmation has been made by Tecmo as of yet. During an interview with Kikuchi Keisuke, who is the producer of the trilogy, he implied that he wanted to make another game on either the xbox 360 or the ps3 consoles. He also later hinted that he might end up making a game on the Nintendo Wii. As of now, no other information has been posted about it. However, anything new about this 4th game, will be posted here by yours truly. So, you all stay tune for any update about it in the future.

Fatal Frame: The Movie (20--)

A movie was announced to be made by John Rogers of Dreamworks SKG in 2002. The movie had been slated to start filming in 2006 in Japan, though there has been no such news concerning it as of now. Many fan sites tipped Courtney Webb to play the lead heroine. Whether that's still true or not is still in question. No other casting announcements have been made nor any other info about the production of the movie. So, I guess we all just have to wait. Honestly, I don't have anything against Courtney Webb, however, since the game is Japanese in origin, I think it would be best & realistic for the characters to be Asian. Of course, I'm not the one making the movie or own the rights to it, so what I say doesn't mean anything. Oh well *shrug.*

Character List for Fatal Frame I

2007-06-29T16:09:00.001-07:00

As promised on my previous post, I'm going to put together the major players of the first game. So, click any of the names below to find out more info about that particular character.

Note: I'm going to start with Miku Hinasaki's bio first and then work my way down the list. So, I'll update this post continuously. If you don't see a link to the name, don't worry. It just means I haven't got to that character's profile yet.

Miku Hinasaki
Mafuyu Hinasaki
Kirie
Miyuki Hinasaki
Junsei Takamane
Tomoe Hirasaki
Koji Ogata

Fatal Frame I

2007-06-28T08:54:00.001-07:00

On my last post, I've provided you all with an introduction to fatal frame. Starting today, I'll talk about each of the three games.

The first game is called 'Zero' in Japan and 'Project Zero' in Europe.

This what the xbox cover for Fatal Frame look like...

and below is the PS2 cover...

"I wonder how long it's been since my brother and I started to see things other people can't see."

The quote above was the first words you'll hear once the game start. It was said by a girl named Miku Hinasaki, who's looking for her beloved brother, Mafuyu, at a place called Himuro Mansion. Mafuyu went to the mansion to find his friend and mentor, a mystery novelist named Junsei Takamine, who went there previously to research a book with his editor, Koji Ogata, and a friend versed in the paranormal, Tomoe Hirasaka.

Armed with only a flashlight, Miku enters Himuro Mansion, which has a long history of bloodshed, curses, and horrific rituals. She later finds the mysterious camera (later called the camera obscura) that Mafuyu had brought with him, and that the siblings' mother passed down to them that can kill ghosts when she takes pictures of them.

During her time in the mansion she see's various apparitions of her missing brother, Mafuyu. She also sees a young girl on many occasions and an angry female spirit, Kirie, who on many occasions tries to kill Miku.

I'll go in deep with the various characters on another post, but for now I'll just say that Kirie was the rope shrine priestess of the mansion, and Mafuyu has a connection with her, which is the reason why he disappeared. He's actually the reincarnation of Kirie's past love.

The ending of the game is unexpected and not a happy one for Miku and Mafuyu. Mafuyu ends up staying with Kirie and they both were 'swallowed' up by the mansion when it collapse around them. Miku survived, but was forever scarred with what happen to Mafuyu and her in the mansion on a dark september night.

Intro to Fatal Frame

2007-06-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

Depending on whether you lived in Asia, Europe, or the United States, the Fatal Frame series are known by different names. In Europe, it's called 'Project Zero.' In Japan, it's known as just 'Zero.'

So, what is Fatal Frame? It's basically a survival horror game. There are 3 games out so far, with a rumored 4th one in the works. The first and second games in the series were released for the Playstation 2 and Xbox. The third game is currently only available for the PlayStation 2 console. The series deals with exorcism, dark shinto rituals, and of course, ghosts.

Created by Tecmo, Fatal Frame is one of the most well received survival horror games to date, largely due to the atmospheric music, dark and claustrophobic environments, emphasis on aesthetics and art design and the variety of spirits encountered during the course of the game. The main object of the game is to solve a mystery which is linked to old Japanese superstitions. The player's main enemies are ghosts; a few are friendly, but most are not. The only form of defense is an antique camera called the 'camera obscura.' The camera obscura allows the player to exorcise ghosts by taking a picture of them and thus, sealing their spirit in the film.