The female protagonists, with Chizuru and Akika in the back, Kayako in the middle, Chocho and Mia in front, and Karin on the right
Tokyo Tattoo Girls (known in Japan as Irezumi no Kuni, "Tattoo Nation") is a Strategy RPG (that entails very little actual strategy) developed by Sushi Typhoon Games, Nikkatsu's video game label. It was published for Play Station Vita as a digital-only title in Japan by Nikkatsu in 2016, and was released internationally for PlayStation Vita and Microsoft Windows by NIS America in 2017.
The game is set in Tokyo, after a catastrophe has isolated the city and the inhabitants who survived from the rest of the world. In an effort to maintain peace, the city is divided into twenty-three wards, each controlled by a clan. The twenty-three clans form the Syndicate, which rumors state must be defeated to escape from Tokyo. Following the catastrophe, some of the inhabitants of Tokyo learn that they have been granted powerful abilities through tattoos. The player just happens to play the role of a tattoo artist, who decides to join one of six girls in a bid for freedom...
Tropes:
- After the End: Although the state of the rest of the world is hidden, Tokyo is under lockdown after a catastrophe involving major destruction and wildfire, and now tattooed gangs rule the city with magic they've suddenly obtained.
- Asian Fox Spirit: Kita Sobae, one of the Syndicate members, is a fox-eared shrine maiden with supernatural wisdom.
- Ax-Crazy: Shibuya Mitsue, one of the Syndicate leaders, cares about things like her family and Tokyo's future...but also carries live grenades into battle.
- Badass Boast: Kayako Musashino introduces herself to the player with one, and tends to repeat it for her opponents."A Japanese maiden...Tea, flowers, the path to mastery. Though I am 18, a flower bud, I shall fight as a red cherry blossom. I, Kayako Musashino, will take this land."
- Betting Mini-Game: Occasionally, an icon of a bowl and dice will appear on the ward map, allowing the player to visit a gambling den and play three quick rounds of Chinchirorin (a betting game involving dice).
- Big Bad: Although taking over her ward is no different from anyone else's, Chiyoda Kirika is the leader of the Syndicate, who wears military garb and can claim to some of the protagonist girls that she knows the secret behind the sudden appearance of the apocalypse-causing magic tattoos. In Machida's story, she reveals that the outfit was just part of a photo shoot. During the initial commotion, she stumbled into a hidden facility that did tests on a tattooed girl whose spirit went out of control, and stole enough documents to bargain with the government.
- Big Ball of Violence: What all of the Syndicate fights are depicted as.
- Big Sister Instinct: Minato Rosa of the Syndicate never leaves her sister Ortensia's side, mainly because Ortensia wasn't gifted any special power during the catastrophe.
- Bittersweet Ending: Every female partner has their own ending, but most of them are this; despite conquering the Syndicate, the city is still in a state of disrepair, and the Tattoo Master player is set to leave in order to find their own missing relatives.
- Carnival of Killers: The Syndicate. All of their members are incredibly diverse, such as a flight attendant, a traditional umbrella dancer, a goldfish fanatic, and a shy idol with a Masked Luchador Split Personality, but they all benefit from keeping the locked-down Tokyo in their iron grip. And although the "killing" part is debatable, as nobody in the game actually dies, many go into their battles with guns and other weaponry.
- Cat Girl: Karin Tama has this vibe, with hair decorations that look like cat ears, and her speech constantly peppered with cat sounds.
- Cutscene Boss: Despite the player's ability to recruit Disciples and Punks to bolster their forces and cause Turf Wars, no actual battles are ever depicted. Even the Syndicate encounters boil down to some dialogue, one multiple-choice prompt, and an image of a Big Ball of Violence that lasts for seconds.
- Defeat Means Friendship: If a ward under your girl's control starts rebelling, it can potentially lead to a Syndicate encounter. No matter what is said, it leads to the local Syndicate leader being defeated, and that ward becoming permanently peaceful for the rest of that run (though saying the right thing is rewarded with some Honor recovery and a special image of the befriended member).
- Downer Ending: The ending for Chizuru; the family she hoped to find beyond Tokyo's walls has disappeared, she assumes she's going to Hell for all the violence involved in dominating the Syndicate, and she has to stay in Tokyo and part ways with her closest ally, the player, to prevent the city from fracturing again.
- Ethical Slut: Chocho Choufu, film buff and hopeful movie star, is completely willing to perform in and defend pornographic material that has a romantic plot. If it's just about the physical aspect, though, she'll refuse.
- Fanservice: Tattoos are added to your female partner's back in a screen that depicts her lying chest-down and completely uncovered on a bed.
- Faux Action Girl: Minato Ortensia, a member of the Syndicate always seen with her sister Rosa, never manifested a tattoo like her sibling and instead has a plastic tattoo sleeve.
- Game-Breaking Bug: The trophy for using all of Chocho's special commands is bugged, and thus unobtainable, even well after the Vita stopped receiving support.
- Game Plays Itself: The biggest criticism lobbied towards the game. While marketed as a "strategy RPG", the game has far more in common with the Idle Game genre, as the player has very little direct influence on how battles play out. Your main options boil down to choosing a girl (with each being either more offensive or defensive in nature), a starting district, and how to spend incoming funds — whether it be new gambling dice, recruiting more minions, getting new tattoos, and restoring Honor (i.e. health) — to improve your success rate in fights. The player can also collect money faster by selecting briefcases on the ward map, reduce lost Honor from a rebelling district by selecting sirens, and make dialogue choices when encountering a Syndicate leader. Everything else, such as what districts your chosen girl takes over, whether or not to engage in a Syndicate encounter, how battles themselves play out, etc., is completely automated.
- Generation Xerox: Chocho Choufu, who works hard to be an actress, idolizes and is following in the footsteps of her movie star grandmother.
- Guardian Entity: Possible partner Akika Machida is accompanied by "Jovani", who she at first assumes is a spirit possessing her umbrella that only she can hear. She later decides that it's instead being channeled through her tattoos, as its voice gets clearer after the Tattoo Master player helps develop them.
- Improbably Female Cast: Every single protagonist, the gambling den owner, AND every leader in the Syndicate is a woman. The only person that "might" be male is the Tattoo Master player, whose face is never seen.
- Knight Templar: Unlike the other partners, who are motivated by things like family or freedom, Kayako Musashino's goal is to bring order back to Tokyo under her will. She's called out a few times during her campaign, but insists that the goal of regaining peace is worth the violence, even if she must become a tyrant.
- Loads and Loads of Loading: Every menu takes a moment to load, particularly the one that allows you to apply new tattoos, as each and every one appears on the back of your partner and gets more detailed as it's upgraded.
- Masked Luchador: The initial personality of "Masked Sumida" when met in the clan war.
- Most Writers Are Writers: Naturally, the films that Chocho Choufu knows the most about are the ones by Nikkatsu, whose subsidiary developed this game.
- Power Tattoo: When the incident began, many of these suddenly appeared on various women that granted them mystical power, and the player is capable of further developing their partner's. The more tattoos a girl has, the greater their power becomes, increasing their overall Charisma as well as their power in specific types of wards (commercial, residential, etc.), and often granting some additional benefits (such as adding new map abilities or lowering all potential Honor losses).
- Shameless Self-Promoter: Possible partner Chocho Choufu is ostensibly looking for her grandmother during the commotion. But most of the time, she's spending her time promoting her upcoming career, to the point that her ending has her giddy about starring in a film adaptation of her battles, and just casually remarking that her granny will "probably" be able to come to her after she's made it big.
- Split Personality: Sumida Chieri first presents herself as "Masked Sumida", but after a battle, has a more soft-spoken idol identity that is aware of, but has no memories of being, her other self.
- Student Council President: Potential partner Kayako Musashino was one before the calamity, and still has many of the associated personality traits as the upcoming reunifier of Tokyo.
