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This article is about the original version. For the enhanced version, see Flower, Sun, and Rain: Murder and Mystery in Paradise.

Flower, Sun, and Rain is an adventure video game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture for the PlayStation 2 console. It has only been published in Japan, where it was released on May 2, 2001. Another version of the game, modified for the handheld Nintendo DS, was redeveloped by h.a.n.d. Inc. with minimal involvement from Grasshopper and released in 2008. Flower, Sun, and Rain was reissued twice before being ported to Nintendo DS for international release. These occurred on September 5, 2002 and January 13, 2005, when the game was released under a best-seller marketing label by Victor Interactive. Flower, Sun, and Rain was the first Grasshopper title to premier at Tokyo Game Show, when it appeared at the 2001 event.[1]

Gameplay[]

Players control protagonist Sumio Mondo, a "searcher" contracted to seek out people's misplaced possessions and other items. Unfortunately, Mondo quickly finds himself locked in a seemingly endless time loop, as he is forced to live out the same day over and over again: At the end of every day, a jumbo jet explodes as it takes off, resetting the loop. Every day, he must work to try and learn about the catastrophe, growing nearer and nearer to preventing the explosion and, he hopes, allowing him to escape.

The majority of gameplay consists of traversing the resort on foot and locating the right people and items to interact with. Mondo uses his suitcase-shaped computer, Catherine, to solve the mysteries he runs up against. Mondo is able to crack secret codes by using Catherine's dial for inputting numbers and her universally compatible serial bus to connect with various electronic systems and other jack-in points. The player uncovers various hints by speaking with people Mondo encounters, combined with a guidebook of Lospass Island to determine the correct numbers to input into Catherine and crack the codes.

All of the chapters in the game are highly linear, and often the player will simply not be allowed to go to places that are not relevant to the current line of events. There are also certain instances in the game in which you do not play as Sumio Mondo, or when Mondo does not have access to Catherine; at these times, there are no numeric puzzles to solve as Catherine is not present.

Plot[]

Requests[]

Premise[]

The game opens with its protagonist, Sumio Mondo, having arrived on Lospass Island. Mondo explains to the player that he is a "searcher" who has the ability to find almost anything with the help of his computer-briefcase, Catherine. His mission on Lospass Island is only his next in a long line, but at the onset, he is not aware of the details of his assignment. Over the course of the opening chapter of the game, Mondo makes his way to the Hotel Flower, Sun, and Rain, where he will be staying over the course of his time on the island, and meets his client, the hotel manager Edo Macalister.

Edo explains Mondo's mission to him: a terrorist is targeting the island, and has placed their bomb on a plane leaving from Lospass Airport. Sumio's job is to find the bomb before the plane takes off so it can be removed. However, he is also warned that Lospass Island is home to a "crazy magnetic field" that causes a "certain instance of time" to repeat eternally. Mondo finds himself confused by this idea, but agrees to do his best to find the bomb.

However, on his first day of searching, he finds himself sidetracked by a mischievous spirit that has trapped him in a room called the Sealed Space. By the time he manages to deal with the issue, he sees the plane fly through the sky and explode; he was too late. Soon after, though, Mondo wakes up on his first day once again and is instructed to reach the airport to find the bomb as soon as he can. Mondo finds himself seemingly repeating the same day over and over, each day making it a little bit closer to the airport, but always having to deal with other problems that prevent him from ever reaching it in time.

Parallel to this are small vignettes starring a young girl who is also staying in the hotel, Toriko Kusabi, attempting to catch up to her runaway pet alligator, Christina.

Connection to Shirubā Jiken[]

Although not advertised as such, Flower, Sun, and Rain actually takes place in the same world as Shirubā Jiken. While signs of this can be spotted from the very beginning - familiar names like "Sumio", "Kusabi", etc. - attention is not called to these connections, leaving players who have not played Shirubā Jiken unlikely to notice.

More concrete connections can be found in The Lospass, a guidebook provided to Mondo and the player by Edo Macalister. The Lospass explicitly mentions Ward 24 and Sayaka Baian, in contexts that match up with their appearances in Shirubā Jiken.

The connections become more and more apparent the longer one goes into the game. By the halfway point and onwards, there are several explicit references in the main story, and knowledge of the events of Shirubā Jiken becomes necessary to follow the plot. The conclusion of the game directly ties into Shirubā Jiken and establishes Flower, Sun, and Rain as a sequel.

Music[]

The music of Flower, Sun, and Rain was composed by Masafumi Takada and Shingo Yasumoto, credited as "Torn." Flower, Sun, and Rain also features a number of arrangements of classical songs by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, George Gershwin and Erik Satie. The lyrics heard in the game's theme song, "F.S.R. (Anata no Tameni)", were written by director SUDA51.

Cover art[]

Trivia[]

  • An actual replica of The Lospass, used to solve most of the puzzles in Flower, Sun, and Rain, was published in limited numbers by Sony Magazines Inc. as The Lospass: Official Guide Book.

Release history[]

Original
  • Japan disc – May 2, 2001 (Victor Interactive, SLPS-25034)
  • Japan Victor the Best disc – September 5, 2002 (Victor Interactive, SLPS-25154)
  • Japan Super Best Collection disc – January 13, 2005 (Victor Interactive, SLPS-25451)
DS port
  • Japan cartridge – March 6, 2008 (Marvelous Entertainment, NTR-YHNJ-JPN)
  • Europe cartridge – November 14, 2008 (Rising Star Games, NTR-YHNP-EUR)
  • Australia cartridge – January 15, 2009 (Rising Star Games, NTR-YHNP-AUS)
  • North America cartridge – June 16, 2009 (XSEED Games, NTR-YHNE-USA)

Other names[]

  • English – Flower Sun and Rain: Murder and Mystery in Paradise is the full title given in English-speaking countries.
  • Japanese – 花と太陽と雨と (Hana to Taiyō to Ame to), literally "Flower, Sun, and Rain." The PlayStation 2 version went by this name. On Nintendo DS, the subtitle 終わらない楽園, "Unending Paradise," was added.

References[]

  1. News. Grasshopper Manufacture. March 30, 2001. "Tokyo Game Show will be held tomorrow at the SCE, and Flower, Sun, and Rain will be exhibited at the booth."

External links[]

Official
Unofficial
News
Grasshopper Manufacture games
International Shining Soul · Shining Soul II · Killer7 · Michigan: Report from Hell · Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked · Contact · No More Heroes · Flower, Sun, and Rain: Murder and Mystery in Paradise · No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle · FROG MINUTES · Shadows of the DAMNED · Sine Mora · Diabolical Pitch · Lollipop Chainsaw · Liberation Maiden · Black Knight Sword · Killer Is Dead · Short Peace: Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day · LET IT DIE · Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes · No More Heroes III
Japan-exclusive Shirubā Jiken · Flower, Sun, and Rain · Shirubā Jiken 25 Ku · BLOOD+ One Night Kiss · Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen · Evangerion Shin Gekijōban -Saundo Inpakuto- · No More Heroes: World Ranker · Dark Menace
Other Suda material Super Fire Prowrestling III: Final Bout · Super Fire Prowrestling Special · Towairaito Shindoromu: Tansaku-hen · Towairaito Shindoromu: Kyūmei-hen · Moonlight Syndrome · Sdatcher · Liberation Maiden SIN · Tsukikage no Tokio · Kurayami Dance · Suda Fables
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