Sumio Mondo is the protagonist of Flower Sun and Rain and a major character in The Silver Case. He initially appears as a detective with the High-degree Murder 2nd Division, solving violent crimes. Later, he is a searcher, a professional who tracks down items people have lost or otherwise require; he is called to Lospass resort island by Edo Macalister, manager of the local Flower, Sun and Rain Hotel to find a bomb that has been planted on a plane by a terrorist. To this end, he makes use of his constant companion, his portable computer Catherine.
Appearance and Personality
Mondo wears a stylish black suit and white dress shirt, which several individuals on Lospass Island remark is highly unsuited to the climate. In Flower Sun and Rain, he is always seen with his computer, Catherine, who takes the form of a silver case that he carries with his left hand.
In The Silver Case, he is a consummate professional and agent of justice. In Flower Sun and Rain, he seems to attempt to be cool, but over the course of the game he ends up revealing himself to be a bit 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.
Story
Although Flower Sun and Rain makes some vague allusions about Sumio's origins, they are left fairly open-ended. It is fairly clear that Sumio was one of eleven individuals who were born at a place called Shelter, which has some connection with Lospass Island; however, the game lists his birthplace as the "Far East," whereas those who were born on the island are said to have been born in the "Federation of Micronesia," suggesting that Shelter is not on the island. Of course, it is also possible that this is a deliberate error in his description, or that he was born in Japan and absconded to the island early in life to be cloned; it is known that he was cloned at some point in life, though which points in his life were experienced by the genuine article and which were actually experienced by his clones is unknown.
Sumio Kodai in his days as a High-degree Murder Division detective.
As a young man, Sumio joined the High-degree Murder 2nd Division of the Kanto 24 Districts area, eventually helping to take on the case of murderous madman Kamui Uehara, who was known to police and had supposedly already been killed years ago by veteran detective Testugoro Kusabi. Sumio and Kusabi work together to try and take down the dangerous criminal. After an incident involving the brutal gang-rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl, Sumio embarks on a vendetta against those responsible. Eventually, he resolves this issue, but is faced with dangerous supernatural dilemmas in its place. He ends up having oil poured in his ears to prevent him hearing the voice of the devil.
Sumio Mondo approaches the Flower, Sun and Rain Hotel.
After this, he experiences a sort of "rebirth," and loses most of his memories. He becomes a searcher, using his detective skills to recover items people have lost, had stolen, or need. This eventually leads him to a request from Edo Macalister, manager of the Flower, Sun and Rain Hotel on Lospass Island. Tasked with discovering a terrorist's bomb set to blow up a plane that is leaving the island's only airport, Sumio 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. Along the way, he encounters many people he once knew when he was working as a detective, though none of them recognize him and vice versa, thanks to the state he has found himself in. He also meets Toriko Kusabi, a young girl who seems determined to thwart the terrorist and is intent on using Sumio to do it. Eventually, Sumio discovers that the yet-living Kamui Uehara, in the guise of Sundance Shot, is not only himself a living bomb, but a clone of Sumio, of which he has fifteen. Moreover, contrary to what common sense had led him to believe, Edo is actually the terrorist, attempting to blow up the island; Uehara boarded the plane everyday and blew it up not because the plane was his target, but because he was attempting to keep the island alive for the time being. However, with all the clones gathered and the original able to take on their memories, Uehara feels satisfied with the situation and causes Sumio to board the plane in his stead, destroying the island and finally sending Sumio on his way. On the plane, however, Sumio finds out he is accompanied by Tetsugoro Kusabi, who had been seeking him out, though the game ends on a cliffhanger so it is still unknown how the duo proceeds from here.
Special abilities
Though 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 remake Flower Sun and Rain: Unending Paradise for the Nintendo DS, he can also make use of Catherine's "X Search" ability, which allows him to scan his immediate surroundings for any Lost and Found items that may be nearby.
Trivia
- Some players suspect that Edo's dialogue at the Union Hotel in killer7 indicates that Garcian is actually an incarnation or bodily clone of Sumio's.