Video Game / Ōkamiden

All together now: Awwwwwww!

Ōkamiden: Chiisaki Taiyou ("Ōkami Chronicles: Tiny Sun") is the sequel to the hit action-adventure game Ōkami.

Nine months after the events of Ōkami, dark clouds, demons, and cursed zones mysteriously return to the land of Nippon. Issun, trying to perform his duties as a Celestial Envoy, is rescued from the returned imps by a puppy named Chibiterasu, whom he takes to see Sakuya. Chibi has some of Amaterasu's powers, being her son, but he is weaker than the protagonist of the last game, since he's still very young. Chibiterasu teams up with various partners, starting with Kuni (son of the original game's Susano and Kushi) to fight the returned evil.

The theme of returning life to the world also returns, but Ōkamiden is definitely more character-driven than Ōkami and its focus on interweaving the many elements of Japanese Mythology.

The game is on the Nintendo DS. Gameplay is very similar to the original game, with the Celestial Brush adapted to the DS's touchscreen. A new addition is partners, who fight alongside you in battle and can be controlled with the Guidance brush technique.

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This game provides examples of:

• Accidental Misnaming: Amaterasu's son, Chibiterasu, gets it even worse than his mother already did in the previous game. He has five companions over the course of the game, and each has their own terrible nickname for him: Mutt, Squiddy, Pooch, Dude, and Pork Chop.
• Aerith and Bob: Most of the characters have Japanese names. Then there's Charity, who is never mentioned to be foreign and looks like any other young Japanese woman in the game. She's actually a subversion, as she's called Motenashi in Japan (which means "charity"), so her name is just Translation Convention. And then there's Grimm.
• All Your Powers Combined: Chibi gains the powers of all of the following Brush Gods:
  • Amaterasu (Sunrise) - Cue the Sun
  • Bakugami (Cherry Bomb) - Throw Down the Bomblet
  • Gekigami (Thunderstorm) - Shock and Awe
  • Kazegami (Galestorm) - Blow You Away
  • Kyokugami (Magnetism) - Selective Magnetism
  • Michigami (Guidance) - Escort Mission
  • Moegami (Inferno) - Playing with Fire
  • Nuregami (Waterspout) - Making a Splash
  • Sakigami (Bloom) - Green Thumb
  • Tachigami (Power Slash) - Absurdly Sharp Blade
  • Tsutagami (Vine) - Vine Swing
  • Yomigami (Rejuvenation) - Magic Tool
• Anachronism Stew: There are near-modern excavation machines in feudal Nippon. And then there's the Moon Tribe and the ancient ruins, which have futuristic Raygun Gothic technology. The latter case is justified since the Moon civilization was already portrayed as more sophisticated in the first game.
• And the Adventure Continues: Like its predecessor, Okamiden ends with one of these, with Kuni leaving home, and saying that this wasn't the last adventure he'd have with Chibiterasu.
• And Your Reward Is Clothes: Just like in Ōkami, New Game Plus nets you various "spells" that change Chibiterasu's appearance, including the Black Sun Chibiterasu form that Akuro takes.
• Anime Theme Song: Kie Kitano's "Hanataba" used in its commercial.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Ink doesn't regenerate over time, unlike the previous game. Instead, they give you twice as much ink, an item to restore three full bottles (Spirit Ink, and it restores more at larger sizes), and puts things that drop ink restoring pickups everywhere, some of which respawn, as well as making bosses drop said pickups. It's still possible to get into an Unwinnable situation, so they give you a redo option on the pause menu, which returns you to a nearby place.
• Art Initiates Life:
  • Chibi's Bloom and Vine powers, which revive and create plants.
  • Shikibu's talent, which apparently brings her fictional characters to life. Fortunately, she can erase them when they go wrong.
• Babies Ever After: This is how the game starts. Several main characters from the previous game have had a kid in the last nine months, including the gods. Even the Imp enemies are the children of the first game's, featuring toy weapons and hanafuda cards over their faces, with the relationship proven when the adult Imps from the first game appear later on.
• Badass Adorable: Chibiterasu is a loving, goofy puppy, but he manages to take down an even greater evil than the one Amaterasu faced as the Final Boss of the previous game.
• Bag of Spilling: While Chibiterasu is a separate character from Amaterasu, the player has fewer abilities in this game, explained partially as a lack of experience in Chibi. He has none of the brush techniques she regained in the previous game, only starting with the default Sunrise, and his ink does not regenerate, nor can he pause time to use his brush indefinitely; he's on a time limit. He also cannot equip sub-weapons. Additionally, the Water Lily, Crescent, Veil of Mist, Catwalk, and Blizzard techniques are completely absent from the game, but the game has new powers with Guidance and Magnetism.
• Balance Between Good and Evil: With the rise of Akuro, the brush gods have reproduced to have children that can counter him.
• Battle Theme Music: Being a handheld game tailored for the Nintendo DS's lower capacity (whereas its predecessor was available for the more powerful PS2 and Wii), Okamiden gives all regular bosses (and the few minibosses present) the same battle music, while the last three bosses fought back to back in the climax (Kurow, Akuro and possessed Kuni) have one unique track each.
• Beat Them at Their Own Game: The final boss can strike out your Celestial Brush techniques until you manage to make the sun re-appear, at which point he will start attempting to use brush techniques of his own... which you can, of course, strike through and interrupt yourself.
• BFS:
  • Kuni's sword is bigger than he is, and it serves as a good successor to Susano's.
  • Tachigami's sword was already a BFS in the original, but it's even more so compared to his offspring; it's even Lampshaded by the difficult time Tachigami's triplets have moving it.
  • Chibi's sword Divine Instruments are as long as he is, although they are wielded magically without touching them, so their size isn't a factor for using them.
• Big Bad: King Fury is the leader of the demons who desires to Kill All Humans as revenge for his betrayal by his allies. Except he is being possessed by Akuro, a dark spirit with an ambiguous connection to Yami who wants to restore Yami's rule.
• Big Damn Heroes: Near the end, Manpuku, Kagu and Nanami break the boundaries of time and space to join Chibiterasu and Ishaku in the final battle.
• Bittersweet Ending: Sure, you might have once again saved Nippon from eternal darkness, but Kurow doesn't make it.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: While the previous game's English translation had a few slips, this one's is much spottier, with multiple grammatical and spelling errors, and is occasionally not consistent with the translations used in the first game. For example, Vengeance Slips became Revenge Slips, Sei-an City is repunctuated to Sei'an City, on one occasion, the Water Dragon is called the Sea Dragon, and Ishaku is spelled Isshaku. These are likely a result of the development switching hands to a different team.
• Blood Bath: Akuro plans on bathing the vessel he wishes to possess in Orochi's blood, which the player must prevent from happening. Despite traveling back in time twice to both past Orochi battles, Akuro eventually succeeds in reaching his blood.
• Blood Magic: The Big Bad Akuro must bathe his vessel in blood to become perfect. Specifically, Orochi's blood. Or, maybe he has to bathe himself. The game can't agree with itself on this point.
• Booze-Based Buff: Sake returns from the first game to boost your offensive and defensive capabilities.
• Boss Rush: Near the end, not unlike the original, you fight the four bosses that carried Yami's essence, followed by Kurow and Akuro.
• Bragging Rights Reward: The almighty String of Beads, given to you for use in New Game Plus like in the first game (though it's no longer necessary to collect Stray Beads beforehand), as well as a costume of Shiranui Chibi.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • During the Genji chase sequence, one room has him fly all over when you find him before he flies right in front of the screen and blows the player a kiss before he flies off to the next room.
  • At the very end of the credits, Chibi turns and play-bows to the screen. It's adorable, like everything else he does.
• Bridge Logic: In Hana Valley and the Ice Room, there are trees and pillars conveniently at the right length to bridge gaps when chopped down.
• Broken Bridge: There are several barriers that require questing or even the completion of dungeons to bypass. Like in the previous game, one of the first obstructions is a boulder in the exit from Kamiki Village.
• But Thou Must!: Kuni will keep prodding you to give the medicine to the injured crane by the entrance to Agata Forest until you agree.
• By the Lights of Their Eyes: This is utilized during the final battle in that one of the attacks of the Big Bad is to cloak the battlefield in darkness, and his glowing eyes are the only way to find him, attack him until he's stunned, and then bring the light back.
• The Cavalry: Three of your five partners come to your rescue just when it's needed most (the other two are excluded for obvious reasons at that point in the game), even violating space and time to do it.
• Call a Hit Point a "Smeerp": Solar Discs, Ink, and Praise return to serve the function of Hit Points, Magic Points, and Experience Points respectively.
• Call-Back: Many moments in the game allude to the previous one or outright recreate it, like the boulder blocking Kamiki Village and the outright repetition of the laundry quest for Mrs. Orange.
• Cel Shading: Like its predecessor, the game employs an visual engine that gives it the look of cel-shading, but actually operates under a very different technique that is tied to ambient occlusion instead of light souces. The resulting effect is Chiaroscuro, which is natural considering the art style is based on Japanese ink paintings. Shadows are pitch black, completely opaque, and flow like ink.
• Chain of Deals: Progressing through the Moon Cave this time requires traversing through the floors to fetch items for various demons in sequence to rescue Kurow and reach the top.
• Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: Kagu switches from her normal clothes to her Miko outfit apparently instantaneously. In front of a giant monster, no less.
• Chekhov's Gun: Nagi's armor is found in Orochi's treasure hoard in the nine-months-ago Moon Cave and is later worn by Kuni at the climax.
• Cherry Blossoms: Carrying over from before, cherry blossoms cover the Guardian Saplings and appear when the Bloom power is used.
• Chiaroscuro: The game's art style evokes this technique. Shadows are pitch black, completely opaque, and flow like ink.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: The Final Boss has one of these as his third form, as he tries to possess Kurou. It turns out Kurou is a living doll made by Waka for the sole purpose of sealing away the Big Bad, and when Kurou is destroyed, so is he. It's still extremely difficult, though.
• Clone Angst: Kurow is a doll of Waka brought to life for the express purpose of being a seal for Akuro, to hold him long enough for Chibi to kill them both. Needless to say, he's not happy about it.
• Collection Sidequest: Compared to its predecessor, the game is considerably easier in this regard due to having fewer collectibles, but make no mistake: There is a large number of Masterpieces that can be permanently missed. And the game doesn't ask if you are ready for what is to come, nor shows in any way that there is no going back.
• Colossus Climb: The gigantic robot rabbit Daidarabotchi is being sent to the surface to destroy Nippon, and must be climbed to reach its controls. The actual boss fight takes place against King Fury, who is commanding the machine, but keeping Kurow at the controls is necessary to keep it from bringing its hands up to swat Chibi and Kurow.
• Confused Question Mark: Since Chibiterasu relies on his partners for exposition, any time you try to examine something without your partner, all you get is a whimper and a ? above Chibi's head.
• Continuity Nod: Several, since you're mostly covering the same areas that Amaterasu did in the first game. Memorably, the fashion designer in Sei-an refuses to let you aid him in coming up with designs, since a "lucky" white dog once inspired him to do it on his own.
• Continuity Snarl: The game introduces Akuro, who is the Big Bad of the game. Now, dialogue when he's introduced heavily implies that he is the successor of the previous game's Big Bad, Yami. But later, the Knowing Jewel claims that he merely used Yami as a vessel. Keep in mind that Akuro didn't exist in the first game, and that both of these versions of what Akuro is come from the same game!
• Counterspell: The Final Boss has its own version of the Celestial Brush and often nullifies your brushstrokes by crossing them out with his own. (Fortunately, this rule works both ways.)
• Cut and Paste Environments: Most of the environments in the game are borrowed over from Ōkami, though the limitations of the system mean they have to be chopped up into smaller loaded areas.
• Cuteness Proximity: Sakuya completely melts when she sees Chibi, mistaking him for Amaterasu before Issun reminds her who she's talking to.
• Cutscene Incompetence: Almost every single time Chibi attacks something in a cutscene, he doesn't use his weapons or his brush techniques; he just jumps at them and gets swatted aside for his trouble. The only times where he's badass is during gameplay.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: The Vine brush technique has been changed so you must draw a line starting at your character and connecting that to the Konohana Blossom or your partner. In Okami, you had to draw a line starting at the blossom and connecting to your character, which can make switching between the games a little confusing when using Vine.
• Dark Reprise: Kurow Loses Faith, which has elements of both the Underground Ruins theme and Kurow's Theme.
• Dem Bones:
  • The Gashadokuro enemies, which come in two flavors: normal, and armored.
  • The Death Beast enemy, which is an all-in-one version of the elemental horse monsters, has a skeletal appearance.
• Destructible Armor: Armored Dokuro enemies are protected by armor, and must be de-armored by two of their projectiles being knocked back.
• Deus ex Machina: To summon your partners for the Boss Rush, you have to help Isshaku cut through space-time. Using Power Slash. It's mentioned he did this to help Shiranui get back to their time after they helped Amaterasu kill the twin demons, but only in one line in the narration, and it never comes up again, so it's still quite jarring. Chibi being an actual Deus kind of justifies it though.
• Developer's Foresight:
  • If you try to do something where the game prompts you to use your Celestial Brush while ink-less (bar summoning a brush god), your partner comments on your missing markings.
  • During the Boss Rush, you can use Galestorm to counter tornadoes created by one of the bosses to send them away. The first time you fought them, however, this was not possible because the power was not yet available, but players who try it out for the rematch will be rewarded.
  • There's a ghost named Raiden in Sei-an City. You can only see him if you have Kagu as your partner. If you go up to that spot with any other partner and press A, he'll yell at you and say he only talks to people who can see him.
  • The "Redo" function is there not only in case you miss something or fail a puzzle, but it is also for any situation where you accidentally get yourself stuck in a place while your partner is in an area where you cannot control them because they are hidden behind something you can't wrap your camera around.
• Disc-One Final Boss: King Fury, who is presented as the greatest threat thus far and is the last boss before Akuro is properly introduced, thus marking the moment the plot picks up steam and the stakes are raised.
• Disc-One Final Dungeon: The Underground Ruins. You've got all the brush techniques and you've explored the entire map. Also, the supposed final boss has a Humongous Mecha poised to destroy the world and kickass battle music. But after beating him, the true Big Bad appears and the game heads back in time. Later, the Moon Cave Nine Months Ago serves this purpose, seeing as the Big Bad headed there, many more plot threads have been resolved and there is a Point of No Return. However, it's not the last dungeon (the Dark Realm is). Clever of Okamiden to use the first game's disc one final dungeon as a disc one final dungeon.
• Discontinuity Nod: In Ōkami, gathering up all 100 Stray Beads nets an artifact that grants invincibility, infinite ink, and 10x damage for your New Game Plus. In Okamiden, stray beads are nothing more than rather cheap ordinary antiques. When you get scammed into buying one for 10,000 yen, your partner comments on how worthless it is.
• Doomed by Canon:
  • As soon as time travel gets involved and the game goes back to 100 years in the past, the player knows from the first game that Shiranui is going to die after traveling to the future to help Amaterasu and then back in time to save Nagi. However, what really does him in is protecting Kamiki Village from Akuro's attack in the past.
  • The Goryeo, a.k.a. the Sunken Ship from the first game. You even get to witness the Water Dragon sinking it.
• The Dragon: Kurow becomes this for Akuro when he finds out about his true mission to die as his vessel and resists this path.
• Dual Boss: The game has Sen and Ryo, fought at the end of the Playhouse. Later on, when King Fury Turns Red, he summons a copy of himself that performs the same attacks he does.
• Dub Name Change: As with the previous game, there are a few of these. Some, like Kagura becoming 'Kagu', may have been to distinguish her from the similar-sounding Kaguya.
• Dungeon Crawling: Like its predecessor, the game features dungeons but doesn't give them a considerable focus, doing so instead to the overworld, the story and the characters. Most dungeons are also short as well.
• Eastern Zodiac: Played with. While most of the Brush Gods from the original game (which were also based on the animals portrayed in the Chinese Zodiac) return, the game also adds Brush Gods that aren't part of the Chinese Zodiac, such as a Penguin and a Whale.
• End-Game Results Screen: Like in the original game, the player gets an overall ranking after the epilogue, with grading criteria including the number of continues used and the total amount of money collected. Getting the top rank in each category unlocks goodies for New Game Plus.
• Equipment-Based Progression: Like its predecessor, the game has a leveling system, but it is independent from the combat system. The brush techniques may not be equipment, but they do add new powers, allowing for further exploration and more effective combat, as well as some puzzle-solving.
• Escort Mission: Sometimes, you have to let your partner off your back and guide them with the Guidance technique. Some of the extended sequences of this can turn into mini Escort Missions.
• Everything's Better with Rainbows: Rainbows can be used as bridges on an inhabited storm cloud.
• Evil Knockoff: For the climactic Final Boss battle, Akuro takes the form of a dark version of Chibiterasu — complete with his own Celestial Brush, Divine Instrument, and Kuni as a partner!
• Exposition Fairy: Issun for the prologue, and whoever your partner is at the moment for the rest of the game. During any point where you don't currently have a partner, all you get when attempting to examine the scenery or a sign is a whimper and a question-mark above Chibiterasu's head.
• Fatal Fireworks: Like in the first game, the Cherry Bomb brush technique explodes into a shower of fireworks.
• Feed It a Bomb: The Demon Nut enemy can be dispatched by using Bloom to open its mouth when stunned, then planting a Cherry Bomb in it.
• Fertile Feet: Like her mother in the first game, Chibiterasu leaves a track of flora while he runs in the open field.
• Fictional Constellations: Like before, the 13 Brush Gods lie hidden in constellations and must be brought out, though this is done by tracing the outline here rather than dotting in the missing stars.
• Fighting from the Inside: When Kuni is being controlled by Akuro as his vessel, Kuni resists the control just as Akuro was about to kill Chibi, and Akuro then comes out of his vessel and fights Chibi himself. Afterward, Kurow volunteers himself as Akuro's vessel and keeps him down for long enough to be destroyed, as his mission was to seal Akuro inside him so he could be killed and take Akuro with him.
• Finishing Move: If you use the proper brush technique on an enemy during its dying animation (with a possible additional technique during the battle), they'll drop Demon parts, which can be used to upgrade your weapons.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: This is the trio of elements that most enemies use now, with Wind not appearing anymore. Elite elemental enemies can use all three, and the Divine Instrument you get for New Game Plus, the Providence Crystal, can launch attacks of these elements.
• First Town: Yakushi Village, which can be grown through a sidequest to find more residents.
• Fixed Camera: You are unable to control the camera in most areas, only having the ability to rotate it in some larger spaces. The camera usually just changes angles depending on what part of the map you are on. It gets a bit bothersome at times.
• Floating Continent: The Thundercloud. Although it's technically a cloud, it is solid underfoot and has a village of Little Bit Beastly people living on it.
• Flying Saucer: Issun finds a picture of one in the Ruins. It turns out to be blueprints to build one, and he flies off in it with Chibi in the epilogue, bound for the Celestial Plain.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Chibi gets various nicknames from his partners over the course of the game. One of them, "Mutt", is less than polite, and it's given by Kuni, who has been selected and influenced by the evil Akuro for the entirety of the game.
  • When you first visit the Thundercloud with Kurow as your partner, you can talk to a girl who lives in one of the houses. When you talk to her, she tells you to scram and seems to be busy. If you later come back with Kurow before going back to the Underground Ruins, you can talk to her again and discover that she was actually writing a song. The song's name? Don't Run from Destiny. Kurow would very much like to do just that, since he was made to die as Akuro's prison.
• Frictionless Ice: In the Ice Room, there is one room with frictionless ice. You can move, but it's effectively just an idle animation until you're off the ice.
• Fur Bikini: The female NPCs living on the Thundercloud wear tiger fur bikinis. The men wear a toga-like garment made from tiger fur. This seems to be an act of reverence toward Gekigami, the tiger god of lightning.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • You can't stand on top of upside-down Konohana flowers... except in cutscenes, it seems.
  • Issun's Masterpieces and History Scrolls can be found in the past in places he never visited. This despite their content relating to the events of the previous game that he was there to witness.
• Gameplay Grading: Like the original, battles are ranked on time and damage taken, on a scale of "cherry seed" to "cherry blossom", and your score multiplies your winnings. Also like the original, after the credits roll you are given an overall completion grade based on # of deaths, Praise collected, and so on. Your rank determines how many bonuses you get for your New Game Plus.
• Gangplank Galleon: The ship that got ravaged by the Water Dragon in Okami returns in this game, but is now explored in the past as a thriving ship before its eventual destruction.
• Gashadokuro: The game features both a Gashadokuro boss formed from murder victims, and later a "Mushadokuro"^note Musha = warrior formed from dead warriors (which is stronger and wears armour). They both have a fiery core and two swords embedded within them.
• Ghost Ship: The Sunken Ship from Okami returns here, but with a twist: You travel to the past just before it gets attacked. You have no idea when this will happen, only that it will.
• Giant Hands of Doom: Akuro in his monstrous form has two large, red-and-black hands it can use to cast powerful attacks during battle.
• Giant Mecha: The Daidarabotchi, a giant robot built by the Moon Tribe that gets hijacked by King Fury.
• Giant Mook: Gashadokuro are so large you only fight their upper halves, with the lower halves presumed to be buried underground. Crosses over with Heavily Armored Mook for the Armored Dokuro.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Asteroidean. While all the other bosses in the game have some sort of story relevance, Asteroidean is just a random starfish that is fought underwater, with no mention before it appears, no dialogue before or after the fight, and no mention of it for the rest of the game after. In fact, most people who play the game tend to forget it's even in the game to begin with.
• Gods Need Prayer Badly: Praise Points return as a mechanic that power up Chibi when he performs divine acts to help nature and other characters.
• Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress:
  • Chibi and Kurow don't fall immediately after being transported many feet above the ocean, instead waiting for Gravitational Cognizance to set in.
  • This also occurs every time Chibi steps out onto a bridge that can't bear his weight. The bridge falls, Chibi wiggles his feet and looks shocked, and then he falls.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Yami (the Big Bad from the first game). Although Amaterasu defeated him, his evil power remained, although divided into five pieces (Master Anura, Bullhead, Renjishi, King Fury, and Akuro). This game has a tendency to contradict itself, though, as it states in other places that Akuro was the Greater Scope Villain of the first game, having control over Orochi and Yami.
• Green Thumb: The Hanagami trio returns in this game, granting the same flora-based abilities (making plants bloom, creating water lilies and latching onto things with vines).
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: When the player goes to the demon market, an NPC says the Imp guards are dumb enough that they can't even remember three passwords, and these passwords are hidden around the market.
• Guide Dang It!: The game is even worse with this than the first game, since several things needed for 100% completion can be Permanently Missable. And the game doesn't bother telling you which items are missable or where there's a Point of No Return.
• Hammerspace: If he has a partner on his back, Chibi's weapons are nowhere to be seen until he attacks. Kagu and Kurow also seem to hide their weapons somewhere when not in use.
• Harmless Freezing: You find Shiranui trapped in a block of ice attached to the ceiling. It could be seen as just another part of her Rasputinian Death, but Ishaku was frozen with her, and is perfectly fine.
• Have We Met Yet?: Twice, with the same characters. When Nanami the mermaid first meets Chibiterasu in Agata forest, she greets him as an old friend, but Chibi acts all confused and does not seem to remember her. This is explained later in the game when Chibi travels nine months into the past and meets Nanami again, and he greets her like a friend but she does not remember him, because for her that was the first time they met.
• Hellish Horse: The Fire Beast enemy, who is said to burn with hellfire.
• Henohenomoheji: Distant NPCs have the henohenomoheji face in their thought bubbles.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Shiranui, already dying from helping Amaterasu in the future offscreen and saving Nagi in the past, expends the last of his energy deflecting an evil energy sphere from Akuro.
  • Kurow fulfills his designated mission of becoming Akuro's vessel so that he can restrain him and be destroyed, taking Akuro with him.
• Howl of Sorrow: Chibi, after Kurow's Heroic Sacrifice.
• Human Popsicle:
  • There's a frozen dragon at one point. And quite naturally, it thaws out just after you grab a certain MacGuffin.
  • Shiranui got himself frozen into one inside the Ice Room himself, and it's up to Chibi to defrost him.
• Humongous Mecha: The Daidarabotchi, a superweapon from the moon tribe shaped like a giant rabbit that is capable of destroying Nippon. Unfortunately, we never see it move.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: Chibi can carry all of his weapons, consumable items, treasures, scrolls, etc. in his inventory, despite not having pockets.
• Ice Magic Is Water: Okami had averted this trope due to having Watersprout and Blizzard as separate brush techniques, but this game plays this straight by integrating Blizzard into Waterspout, which makes fighting teams of Fire Eyes and Ice Lips more manageable.
• Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: You can either play on Greenhorn or Old Hand difficulty.
• I Have Many Names: Each of Chibi's companions gives him a nickname in the absence of knowing his real one. None of them are flattering.
• I Have No Son!: Susano's reaction to Kuni's declaration that he's going on a Journey to Find Oneself, though it was to ensure Kuni wouldn't have anything holding him back from his journey.
• The Imperial Regalia: Like his mother, Chibi's weapons are based on the Treasures of Amaterasu.
• Improbable Weapon User:
  • Chibi can slay demons with mirrors and holy beads. Not by reflecting holy light or anything, just by whacking them senseless. In a New Game Plus, you can get a pair of crystals that shoot energy... circle... things.
  • Kagu attacks with fans prior to becoming a Miko.
  • Kurow attacks with musical notes from his flute.
• Inconveniently-Placed Conveyor Belt: The fourth dungeon, the theatrical Playhouse, is filled with conveyor belts marked with arrow symbols colored orange and green. It's impossible to override them.
• Incredible Shrinking Man: The Lucky Mallet makes a return, complete with an explanation for why it was on the cargo ship in Ōkami.
• Inevitable Tournament: On two occasions, you have to fight imps in a competition. First, it's in the Demon Market to win Nanami's freedom, and later, you have to do so in the Moon Cave to win a skeleton key for all the locks.
• Instrument of Murder: Waka isn't the only Moon Tribe member to have one, it turns out.
  • King Fury, the possessed form of Sugawara, has a lute with an energy sword hidden inside.
  • Kurow's flute has TWO energy blades, one on each end.
• In-Universe Game Clock: Like in the first game, cycles from day to night, with many quests that can only be completed during one or the other. You start the game with the ability to turn night to day, and eventually learn to turn day into night as well.
• Invisible Wall: Unlike in Okami, it's impossible to fall off cliffs or jump into deep water. You also can't step into large cursed zones as an invisible wall appears.
• Irrelevant Sidequest: There are several sidequests that are only there for the purpose of gaining Praise and fleshing out the world more.
• Jaw Drop: Chibi's reaction to each horrible nickname a partner gives to him.
• Jumped at the Call: Issun, in contrast to his earlier refusal, with the implication that he misses Amaterasu and his days adventuring. Of course, this time he can't go along because of his previous calling as Ammy's Celestial Envoy.
• Kill Us Both: This is the fate of Kurow, who was actually a living doll created by Waka in order to trap Akuro for this purpose.
• King Incognito: Your first quest is the retrieve a hand mirror for a little girl who later turns out to be Sakuya in disguise. She pretended to be the little girl as a Secret Test of Character.
• Left Hanging: Not only does the game not answer the threads left at the end of Okami ( Amaterasu is still fighting on the Celestial Plain, apparently), but it adds more questions, most notably about Kuni's birth identity.
• Legendary Carp: The game references the myth with a giant evil catfish who convinced himself that he was a Carp that would turn into a dragon when he climbed up a waterfall.
• Leitmotif: Each main character has their own theme tune, and some of the lesser characters do as well - such as Susano.
• Lighter and Softer: Being about a puppy and having an E10 rating (As opposed to Ōkami's T rating), the game seems like this at first. However, its themes are still mature and serious and it manages to keep tone with Okami pretty well. The game does invert Hotter and Sexier, though, which may be how its rating lowered, including things like Sakuya's costume no longer having a butt window.
• Load-Bearing Boss: The catfish Bullhead, justified by a Taking You with Me gambit.
• Loads and Loads of Loading: While the maps are retained from Okami, they have to be chopped up into smaller loaded parts for the DS capabilities, resulting in more loading screens.
• Lone Wolf Boss: Asteroidean is the only boss that has no association with Yami or Akuro, because it's merely a specimen of the aquatic wildlife Chibiterasu and Nanami find in their way to the Sage Shrine. They still have to defeat it in battle because it won't let them go otherwise.
• Magical Defibrillator: Chibi and Kagu find a man passed out in the street. After they unsuccessfully try to find a doctor, the nearby Raiden (who is a lightning ghost) advises them to use his power. They give him a good shock of electricity which miraculously cures the man without leaving a bruise or burn.
• Mana Potion: Like in the first game, ink pots refill your ink, which function like a Mana Meter.
• Matriarchy: With Queen Himiko dead, Sei-an City is overseen by a Miko, who by definition must be female.
• Miko: Miko Cho, whose name intersects with Steven Ulysses Perhero. Kagu also becomes one, in order to fight off King Fury.
• Minecart Madness: While escaping the Witch Queen after your second visit to the Demon Market, you jump in a cart. Although it's a pushcart rather than a rail cart, the narrow passages and obstacles to dodge (or destroy) make it very much an example in spirit.
• Mirror Boss: The final boss is an evil version of Chibiterasu, and literally comes out of a mirror. He has his own brush, like Ninetails in the first game, but the brush-vs.-brush mechanics have been fine-tuned to the point where there is no difference in your abilities bar no matter how many secret brush techniques you picked up. Drawing a technique? He can cancel out with a line. He's drawing a technique? Cancel it with your own line! He even has an evil version of Sunrise that covers the arena in pitch-black darkness.
• Monster Compendium: Much like the original game, you have a Creatures scroll that documents enemies faced. It even includes entries for a few characters you don't explicitly battle.
• Monster in the Ice: The boss of the penultimate dungeon (the Ice Room) is a wrathful dragon called Mizuchi that has been encased on ice since an unspecified period of time. Chiberasu and Manpuku end up bringing it back to life by accident, and can only leave the dungeon after defeating it.
• Moon Rabbit: The Moon Tribe's creation, Daidarabotchi, which is a rabbit-headed colossus.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: It's implied that Yami's death in the previous game led to his essence being reformed into this game's antagonists, with Akuro retaining most of his power and malevolence.
• Narrator All Along: The narrator of the game turns out to be an older Kuni.
• Nerf: The Rosary got nerfed like crazy from the first game. In Okami, it was the weakest weapon but had a homing mechanic that allowed for massive combos and made fights go by much quicker. In Okamiden, however, the homing is gone and it kind of just flails all over the place.
• New Game Plus: Your money, maximum HP (and ink pots), and assorted Scrolls carry over to a new game. You can even unlock additional appearances for Chibi and an exclusive weapon.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Akuro wanted you to defeat four of the bosses you go up against, because they are 4/5ths of his power and he wants it back to himself to fulfill his plans. Nice going, Chibi.
  • A minor example is a small moment on the Goryeo, which is the Sunken Ship before it sank. For a sidequest, a sailor asks you to fix a fish tank. The tank contains two crabs and a shark, implied to be the vessels for the crab demons Jiro and Saburo, who combine into the shark demon Ichiro to fight Amaterasu in Okami. If Chibi didn't fix the tank, its inhabitants probably wouldn't have become a problem in the future.
• Noble Wolf: The game stars Amaterasu's son, the adorable puppy protagonist Chibiterasu. He's not as dignified as Ammy or Shiranui, but he makes up for it in cuteness.
• No Body Left Behind: As in the original game, defeated enemies turn into flowers. Presumably the justification is also the same.
• No Mouth: Like before, the art style rarely includes mouths on characters unless they are meant to be particularly grotesque and monstrous.
• Non-Standard Game Over: When in the swimming section of the Sage Shrine, if you get sandwiched between a wall and the left side of the screen, this happens.
• Noob Cave: The Cave of Nagi functions as this, featuring many tutorial puzzles and obstacles, mostly teaching the uses of the Guidance mechanic and partners.
• Nostalgic Narrator: The narrator of this game's story is revealed to be an older version of Kuni.
• Now, Where Was I Going Again?: Averted, as the Journal keeps track of major things you should remember.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Everyone you send to Yakushi Village pulls this. Even later in the game, when you can teleport between Origin Mirrors, they can still beat you there from halfway across the country.
• One-Time Dungeon: The Five-Story Pagoda, the Moon Cave, the Underground Ruins, and the Ice Room. Unfortunately, all of these contain unique items that are needed for 100% Completion.
• Only One Save File: The game has only one save file, a stark contrast to its predecessor which had 30; this is because the game was released on the Nintendo DS and, on a technical level, it already pushes the system's capacity to the limit (the first game, meanwhile, was benefited by the vast space and specs provided by the Playstation 2 and the Wii). Unfortunately, there's a good deal of collectibles that are Permanently Missable — some of which are tied into New Game Plus functionality.
• Organ Drops: Unlike the first game which only used demon horns, this one replaces them with bones, skin, and livers of the demons, which are used to upgrade your weapons.
• Orochi: He plays a surprisingly large role in this game, despite being dead for nine months. Akuro needs his blood to enhance his powers, and travels back to both Orochi battles in his determination to get it.
• Panacea: The goal of one subplot is to make a perfect medicine in order to cure a terminally ill girl.
• Panthera Awesome: Gekigami, the brush god of thunder - a huge tiger wielding a bow and lightning bolts. His kids, on the other hand, fall under Cute Kitten.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: As in the first game, placing a painted mask over your face makes the demons believe you're one of them. Then again, imps and the Witch Queen's fairies aren't too bright and see you as one of their own, given that they wear the same masks.
• Permanently Missable Content: Unfortunately, missable things are all over the place given the number of locations that get sealed off after the first visit. The worst of the bunch are Issun's masterpieces, which unlock various goodies such as the String of Beads, but can be lost until the player is given the option to play a New Game Plus.
• Personal Raincloud: A character's reaction to something that leaves them really unhappy, like Chibi's many strange nicknames.
• Plot Tailored to the Party: Each area of the final dungeon is tailored to the abilities of the partner you have for that area.
• Point of No Return: After you enter the Moon Cave 100 years in the past, and though you have multiple hours of playing and cutscenes left, you will no longer be able to warp back and forth.
• Poor Communication Kills: After Otohime helps Chibiterasu in the past, she asks Nanami to tell the Goryeo crew that "there is no Water Dragon protecting the seas". What she actually meant is that the Water Dragon is no longer a benevolent guardian of the ocean, having gone vicious, and is now a serious threat to anyone who roams in the Ryoshima Coast. This leads to the captain of the ship understanding that the monster is just a myth and happily deciding to set sail in the high seas, where the Water Dragon immediately sinks the Goryeo, killing the entire crew while Chibiterasu and Kurow can do nothing but watch with tears in their eyes.
• Pre-existing Encounters: Demon Scrolls wandering around in outdoor locations, as well as ominous kanji surrounding certain areas, which do the same thing. Every time you come into contact with one, you enter a battle, so you can see those fights coming.
• Punny Name: These are rampant. Many are holdovers from the original, but there's a few more to boot, such as the demon chef Umami.
• Puzzle Boss: Even moreso than in Ōkami. With the exception of Kurow, who is a more standardard slugfest, every boss requires the use of one or several brush techniques to defeat, and almost always requires you to use the abilities of your partner to the fullest. In the case of Bullhead and Sen/Ryo, you can inflict only minor damage with regular attacks, and must engage in the puzzle mechanics to progress the battle.
• Puzzle Pan: The game's camera will pan across a room to showcase a puzzle.
• Rasputinian Death: Turns out Shiranui didn't just die because he was poisoned by Orochi or because he was weakened from fighting Lechku and Nechku. It was because he was frozen solid for god knows how long, fought the owls, fought Orochi, and then head-butted a meteor.
• Raygun Gothic: The Moon Tribe's technology and, to a lesser extent, the ancient ruins.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Kurow and Waka wear pink. Genji not only wears pink, but bares his midriff, has a heart-shaped decoration behind his head, a flower on his shirt, and a heart-shaped fan. Players may be forgiven for thinking he is a she when he first appears.
• Reality Warper:
  • Chibi can manipulate reality with the Celestial Brush, although he is less powerful at it than Ammy.
  • Akuro after he takes on Chibi's appearance, gaining his own Celestial Brush that can change reality and cancel Chibi's.
• Remixed Level: The game has most of West and East Nippon from the first game, Ōkami, revisited, only omitting Kamui. To compensate the omission, there's a new area to explore, Yakushi Village.
• Replacement Goldfish: Manpuku becomes attached to Chibi because he reminds him of Maru, the dog he had to give up due to his eating habit.
• Retcon: Several. Not surprising considering the sequel was made by an entirely different set of people than the first.
  • Despite Amaterasu being Shiranui's reincarnation, Chibi is described as Shiranui's grandson. Japanese mythology god biology could be to blame here.
  • Isshaku refers to 100-year-ago Ammy as Shiranui. Shiranui was just the villagers' name for her (as well as Fandom, for clarity), whereas both incarnations are Amaterasu. Mr. Grapefruit even says as much, making it stranger.
  • It wasn't just Susano/Nagi and Ammy who cut off Orochi's heads; Chibi helped out both times, too. Not just that, but Nagi needed Chibi's help to kill Orochi with the Celestial Cleaver move. Susano didn't, though.
  • A major plot point in the first game was to kill the Water Dragon in order to obtain the Dragon Orb - which in turn would allow Otohime to transform (there wasn't time to find a cure for the Water Dragon's madness). Now she is capable of transforming at will, though with Chibi's help. This raises questions as to why she didn't ask Ammy to give her the same treatment instead of telling her to venture inside the dragon for the Orb.
  • The brush gods: There were only thirteen, Ammy included. Her power split into twelve other gods after she died as Shiranui. Okamiden introduces the children of brush gods (and briefly, their parents) who fall outside of those thirteen while never so much as mentioning Hasugami, Yumigami, Kasugami, Kabegami, Itegami and their techniques.
• Rewarding Vandalism: Smashing pots and cutting down trees can net you items. Since ink doesn't regenerate in this game (not counting the 3-bottle delayed recovery from bottoming out on ink, which is never a good thing in battle), the ink pots you can get from these actions are pretty vital.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: All of the young brush gods, including Chibi, are portrayed as extremely adorable.
• Rubberband AI: If you get too far ahead of the Witch Queen during the Minecart Madness minigame, she'll just run faster and catch up.
• Running Gag: Chibi getting a humiliating nickname every time a new partner comes around, and him reacting with a Personal Raincloud.
• Save-Game Limits: Unlike Okami, which allowed you to make multiple files, there's only one save file here. Note that there are also some collectibles that are permanently missable, some of which tie into New Game Plus.
• Scenery Porn: Being a sequel to Ōkami, this should be expected. One standout example is the brand new area of Yakushi Village, where the game starts.
• Screw Destiny: Kurow has a mission. Only late in the game does he find out what that mission is. His body was made to be a seal for the Big Bad Akuro, then when he dies Akuro dies with him. To quote Kurow: "Dudes must be trippin' to think I'm gonna do that". He shirks his mission at first and desperately tries to avoid it, but he realizes it's not worth it.
• Selective Magnetism: Chibiterasu gains a magnetism power that works exclusively on objects with a U-shaped symbol on them.
• Sequel Hook: It turns out that the game is a story being told by the adult Kuni. And once again, we're left hanging over the hinted "next story". Unfortunately, the sequel never materialized this time.
• Shop Fodder: In Okami, if you collect all 100 Stray Beads you get the game's Infinity Plus One Weapon. In Okamiden, they're the cheapest type of shop fodder you can get.
• Shoot the Dog: After Kurow absorbs Akuro, Chibi and Kuni have to kill him to stop Akuro from breaking out.
• Shout-Out:
  • Doctors Redbeard and Bluebeard have the healing herbs from Resident Evil on their floors.
  • One of the fishermen in Ryoshima Coast greets Chibi with "Yo, dog." (referring to the popular "Yo dawg" image macro) The Tanuki does the same thing.
  • Examining one of the sets of herbs in the upstairs of a house in Yakushi Village with Kurow as a partner will cause him to exclaim "Dude, where's my herbs?"
  • In-game, you meet an authoress named Shikibu, who's plagued by her creation, Genji—no doubt a reference to Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote The Tale of Genji.
  • Near the end of the game is this line:
    Kurow: Friends? I don't have any of those. Never have, never will.
• Sixth Ranger: A telepathic penguin god and a magnetism-controlling whale god are added to the brush god gang.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: The Ice Room, which makes up for the sixth dungeon in the game. It's basically the freezer for the imp chefs and features many frozen features, including a Monster in the Ice that, when thawed, becomes the dungeon's boss.
• Sound of No Damage: Like in the first game, a metallic clang is accompanied by two kanji (translating as "useless") any time your attack was ineffective. Once again, the appearance of the kanji is the more important part.
• Sound Test: Clearing the game at least once unlocks a music menu to replay melodies from the soundtrack.
• Speaking Simlish: The voice acting, as in the previous game.
• Spin-Offspring: Kuni is the child of Susano and Kushi (although he is adopted), Chibi is Amaterasu's son, and all the various brush gods apparently now have children.
• Stable Time Loop:
  • When Chibi first meets her, Nanami asks where he's been and where that blond kid he was with is, as well as calling him Squiddy. Later, Chibi travels nine months back into time accompanied by Kurow, who you've met at that point, and meets Nanami when she helps Chibi find the Knowing Jewel, as well as giving Chibi said nickname.
  • The Orochi, Amaterasu, and Shiranui time loop from the first game reappears.
  • Chibi rescues Shiranui from the Ice Room 100 years in the past, which in turn allows him to show up and save Ammy and, later, Chibi in return. Without this aid, it's highly probable that Ammy would never have been born/reincarnated, and thus neither would Chibi.
• Sticks to the Back:
  • Chibi's Sword and Mirror Divine Instruments. The Beads float around his neck. The New Game Plus weapon sticks to his sides.
  • Kuni's giant sword, just like his father's did.
• Stationary Boss: Mizuchi, the boss of the Ice Room (being partially encased in ice and all). Akuro's first form is as well, though he has hands that can follow you.
• Stewed Alive:
  • In the Moon Cave 100 years in the past, Chibiterasu and Manpuku fall into a giant pot of soup. The imp cooking it decides to cook them with the soup, but a hungry Manpuku saves himself and Chibi from being boiled to death by drinking the entire thing.
  • Charity is tricked by Umami into approaching a large pot after refusing to cook for Orochi. Umami then pushes her in, but Chibiterasu saves her with Vine.
• Super Drowning Skills: Chibi's even worse at it than his mother - he can't even swim at all (except in cutscenes).
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: The Dry Jewel grants you this, but you only get to use it for one area.
• Suspiciously Cracked Wall: If you see a glowing, cracked wall, bomb the hell out of it.
• Swallowed Whole: Kuni, by Bullhead the catfish.
• Symbol Drawing Interface: Like in the previous game, the gameplay revolves primarily around the Celestial Brush Techniques, requiring the player to "paint" symbols on the screen to create various effects such as, among other things, making the sun rise or fall, lashing objects as with a blade, causing dormant plants to bloom, etc.
• Sympathy for the Devil: When Kagu finds out the story behind Sen and Ryo, she says she almost feels sorry for them.
• Sweatdrop: As in Ōkami, characters display these when embarrassed.
• Tactical Suicide Boss: Armoured Dokuro, an enemy which isn't technically a boss but functions very much like one, is supposed to be this. Its main vulnerability is that upon spitting a fire, ice or lightning ball at you, you can power slash it back into the big skeleton's face and knock it unconscious for a short time, letting you shred its normally concealed health gem. The downside is that it randomly selects attacks, so it can take an agonisingly long time to get around to spitting the actual fireball - and the first one goes to removing its helmet.
• Take Your Time: Played straight except during the aforementioned Colossus Climb, which has a five minute timer. Any other time, feel free to run around doing sidequests while the world is in danger. It's not going anywhere. It's justified before you finish off King Fury, since Akuro's plans cannot go forward before then; after that, not so much.
• Thunder Drum: The Thundercloud has large drums which Chibi can use to jump to higher places and some of the inhabitants use drums to create electricity, alongside other instruments. Chibi also gets a pellet drum from there which makes him immune to electricity, though it breaks after you reach the guarded area of the Underground Ruins.
• Time Travel: The game forces you to travel through time to prevent Akuro from becoming perfect by bathing the vessel he wishes to possess in Orochi's blood. Orochi is a bloody corpse in 2 time periods. Later, you need to summon your partners for the Boss Rush, and the way it's done is rather absurd even for a fantastic series like this.
• Tonight, Someone Dies: The makers of the game strongly hinted in an interview that an important character dies. They weren't kidding.
• Totally Radical: Kurow and several NPCs speak this way.
• Tron Lines: In the Underground Ruins and on Issun's flying saucer. This seems to be characteristic of Moon Tribe technology.
• Truly Single Parent: Not spelled out, but we can assume Amaterasu and the other brush gods don't need a partner to produce children. Issun does briefly wonder how Ammy reproduced, starting to ask who her partner was, but he and the player are not answered.
• Turns Red: Almost all bosses change their behavior at least once as their HP total is worn down.
• Two-Keyed Lock: Being based around partners, the game has plenty of these throughout the course of the adventure, where Chibi and his partner must stand on pressure pads to unlock doors or make bridges appear. One notable example has a two-buttoned lock which is also a trap forcing Chibi to play through half the dungeon himself to gain the key to free his friend.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change:
  • The underwater segment of the Sage Shrine, which plays like a fast-paced underwater 2D platforming level.
  • One part of the game in the Thundercloud is a Rhythm Game. You have to pass this game to proceed with the story.
• The Unfought: Daidarabotchi. Big. Threatening. Never even moves, let alone fights.
• The Unreveal: Kurow crushes on a pretty female scholar in Sei-an City, and is promised to learn her name when they go on a date he's been pestering her for. Kurow's path ends in a Heroic Sacrifice and they never go on a date, so the scholar's name is never revealed.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one seems particularly interested by the white wolf puppy ridden by various children, some of whom are pretty unusual in and of themselves. No one really seems to bat much of an eye when things mysteriously fix themselves, burst into fire, or split in half, either.
• Unwinnable by Design: The player is stuck in the middle of the tutorial if using a pirate copy.
• Unwitting Pawn: Chibi and Kuni, and to a lesser extent, Nanami and Kagu, to Akuro, who tricks them into destroying the vessels of Yami so he can regain their power, setting his plan in motion.
• Vague Hit Points: Hit Points are represented by orbs of solar energy. There's a cap of 10, but each orb is worth 300 Hit Points. The orbs progressively deplete themselves when Hit Points are lost, but it's never said the exact amounts that are there.
• The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The role is filled by the Dark Realm, which is where Akuro awaits. Chibiterasu arrives there after the completion of Moon Cave in the past, which in turn is followed by Kurow's betrayal.
• Victory Pose: After major boss battles, Chibi lets loose with a dramatic howl, accompanied by glowing light and cherry petals. In fact, it's just like his mother's, but cuter.
• Warp Whistle: Origin Mirrors with an X eventually become warp points, allowing access between Agata Forest and Ryoshima Coast as well as fast travel to the areas within the two halves of the map. Strangely enough, you can also use it to Time Travel between the present day and the areas from 100 years ago.
• Wave-Motion Gun: Akuro's most powerful attack in-battle (which also restores his HP if he successfully uses it).
• Wham Episode: The game delivers one with Kurow's betrayal, and the revelation that Kuni is Akuro's vessel.
• Wham Line:
  • When Chibiterasu confronts Akuro near the end of the game, the demon addresses him by a familiar nickname: "We meet again, Child of the Sun. Or should I say...Mutt?"
  • The same scene also contains this line from Kurow to Chibiterasu, demonstrating that he has undergone a Face–Heel Turn: "You should be more humble. After all, you are in the presence of the Dark King."
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Though Issun does make a comment at the beginning: "You're Ammy's kid? Then who did she...?" before getting sidetracked, the identity of Chibiterasu's father, if any, is a mystery for the ages.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The end of the game shows you a small scene from the life of each of Chibi's living partners, Ayame, and the female scholar.
• World-Healing Wave: Reviving a Guardian Sapling. Sadly, not done as often as in the first game, but still just as impressive.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Akuro's goal is to become invincible by combining his powers of darkness with a "vessel of light". His Monster Compendium entry states, "the light brings death, and the darkness devours light".
• You Can't Fight Fate: Said almost verbatim by Kurow to Manpuku, although it's clear he's talking about his own destiny, not Manpuku's.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: Akuro manages to power himself up, despite Chibi and his partners' best efforts.
• Youkai: You accidentally set a tanuki loose on Yakushi Village. After he rips you off, you have to hunt him down in a sort of hide and seek minigame.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: The game goes all-out to make it convincing. You got all the brush techniques, reached an appropriately climactic dungeon, which is a two-parter. The bad guy is threatening, having a Humongous Mecha Moon Rabbit (Daidarabotchi) going to destroy the world if you lose. Now, is King Fury the final boss? HELL NO.
• You Shouldn't Know This Already: Justified with the Celestial Brush techniques. Chibi is definitely not the same being as Ammy, so you need to find the correct god and release/rejuvenate it before you can use its technique. The game even lampshades this when you CAN try to paint Sunrise before the game teaches you about it: if you do, Issun will blatantly ask if you're "trying to draw the sun or something".
• Zigzag Paper Tassel: Kagu uses these as adorable hair decorations once she becomes a Miko.

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