Sumio Mondo (モンドスミオ, Mondo Sumio) is the protagonist of Flower, Sun, and Rain. He is a self-proclaimed "searcher" by profession, and tracks down items people have lost or otherwise require using an Ultimate Computerized Unlocking Device he dubs Catherine. Mondo is called to Lospass Island by Edo Macalister, manager of the local Flower, Sun, and Rain hotel, to investigate a bomb threat.
Personality[]
Sumio Mondo often assumes a cool attitude, but over the course of the game he ends up revealing himself to be something of a loser. Although Yayoi Hanayama immediately calls him a clearly cold man after sizing him up, most of the resort's residents have exactly the opposite view, saying that he is too kind, an assessment he himself agrees with. Most characters also have blatant disrespect for him, calling him "stupid" on numerous occasions. The only person who offers him any kind of due reverence is Ken Sakurapee, who looks up to Mondo as a sort of older-brother figure. As it is part of his profession, Mondo also feels no qualms about breaking and entering or invasion of privacy. Furthermore, he finds the Flower, Sun, and Rain hotel's Lost and Found system to be pointlessly complicated, and he has relatively poor mathematical skills, as he confesses in the game's final chapter.
Biography[]
Origins[]
As is revealed in the end of the game, Mondo is one of the Eleven Children, and there are actually several different Sumio Mondos, cloned bodies that can remember each others' memories, and Sundance Shot is one of them. One particular Sumio Mondo, however, is special, as he is actually Sumio Kodai, having lost his memories and identity and entered a "dream" state. The details about how this works are not quite clear; for example, if this means that Sumio Kodai was one of the Eleven (which would not fit with his timeline), or when the other Mondos were cloned. Additionally, as Kodai was previously in jail following the events of The Silver Case, it is unknown how he escaped.
While it isn't made clear which days on Lospass were spent by the original Mondo, and which days were spent by his clones, it is likely that the original only experienced the first day and his last moments on the island, as these are the points where he first reaches Lospass and when he learns the truth about the area before leaving it. The other fifteen days (excluding two in which he had been dead) were apparently experienced by each of Mondo's fifteen clones.
Commissioned to Lospass Island[]
As a searcher, Mondo uses his detective skills to recover items people have lost, had stolen, or otherwise need. His skills catch the attention of Edo Macalister, manager of Lospass' own Flower, Sun, and Rain hotel, who tasks Mondo with locating a bomb planted at the island's airport. Sumio Mondo ends up living the same day over and over as he finds himself trapped in a seemingly endless time loop. Each repetition, however, he finds himself growing closer and closer to not only finding the bomb, but also learning the truth of his own origins, as well as those of Lospass Island. Along the way, he encounters many people his original self was associated with, one of whom, Tokio Morishima, even likens Mondo to Kodai.
After two weeks of the same day transpiring, Mondo is still going about his helping others when he is encountered by an assassin, Sundance Shot, on the roof of the Flower, Sun, and Rain and is shot to his death five stories below. The next morning, two federal agents, Yoshimitsu Koshimizu and Remy Fawzil travel to Lospass to investigate the murder. During the investigation, a high school student named Toriko Kusabi confronts Shot to avenge the death of the island's "savior". The two strike a deal resulting in Mondo's resurrection.
Eventually, it is discovered that Edo Macalister is actually the terrorist, as he planned to destroy the island upon learning its secret, but relented and contacted Mondo after the bomb was stolen by Shot, who moved it to an airplane in order to protect the island, his duty as a member of the Sundance Tribe. However, with all the clones gathered and the original Mondo able to accept their memories, Shot allows Mondo to escape the island aboard the plane, accompanied by agent Peter Bocchwinkur, who he met upon his arrival two weeks prior. During the flight however, Bocchwinkur "awakens" Mondo from his dream, causing him to recognize Bocchwinkur as his former partner, Tetsugoro Kusabi.
After this, it can be assumed that Mondo acclimates back to being Sumio Kodai, but in The 25th Ward, Kodai is accused of not having truly woken up, suggesting that he still holds on to his time as Mondo as a better alternative than the truth.
Special abilities[]
Though Sumio Mondo has no innate abilities of his own, he can use Catherine's various functions to his advantage. This mainly consists of using her exceptionally wide array of plugs to "Jack-In" to electronic systems, people's minds, and all manner of other targets. In the Nintendo DS reissue, Flower, Sun, and Rain: Murder and Mystery in Paradise, he can also use Catherine's X Search System to scan his immediate surroundings for any Lost and Found items that may be nearby.
Trivia[]
- In the remake of The Silver Case, there is picture of Sumio Mondo and Toriko Kusabi pinned on a shelf in Koichi's bedroom ressembling the covert art from the Flower, Sun and Rain Nintendo DS game box.
- Sumio Mondo stays at Room 402 during his trip to Lospass Island, it's the same room number as Koichi's appartment at the Typhoon complex in The Silver Case.
References[]
Flower, Sun, and Rain characters | |||||||
Main Characters | Sumio Mondo · Catherine · Toriko Kusabi · Christina · Remy Fawzil · Yoshimitsu Koshimizu · Sundance Shot | ||||||
Hotel Staff | Edo Macalister · Sue Sding · Mati Sding · Stuart Rock | ||||||
Hotel Guests | Sister Phantom · Yayoi Hanayama · El Crasher · Mr. Pirate · Maria Nicharesuk · Stephan Charbonie · Sonny Balboa · Tabs Balboa · Seiji Fujieda · Yuuri Otowaya · Shoutaro Kai · Daizaburo Kai · Gunzi Takaoka · Natsuko Akai · Tokio Morishima | ||||||
Others | Ken Sakurapee · Step Sding · Sundance Ritz · Hana Kaburagi · Tetsugoro Kusabi · Sundance MIC · Forest Navigators · Fantasistas | ||||||
Mentioned | Dragon · Lumberjack Flowerstar · Alberto Ferrente · David Chapman · Igor Ishizakaski · Sayaka Baian · Kamui Uehara · Red · Sumio Kodai |