Aka Manto: Gameplay Review and Extra Details

Aka Manto

A Japanese urban legend about a spirit who wears a pale mask and a crimson red cloak who appears to people in public restrooms. The legend varies but all adaptation tells that the spirit ask a certain question to the victim.

Red paper or the Blue paper?

The victims faith is the same with either paper they choose. If they choose the red paper, they will be lacerated so badly and their body will be completely covered by their own blood. If they choose the blue paper, they will be strangled and their blood will be drained through their bodies.

Gameplay

This monster is the main theme of this Chillas Art game, Aka Manto. Released on September 2019, you play as a teenage high school girl who gets locked in an abandoned school by her bullies as a punishment for speaking to a boy they liked. The player is forced to go inside the school for the whole night but they end up coming face to face with this evil spirit after she takes a red piece of paper from one of the bathroom stalls. To try and get out of her uncomfortable situation, the player has the choice of going down two paths. You can either collect seven body parts to put together an anatomy model in one of the empty classrooms or you collect seven different colored pieces of papers. The player goes through the entire school trying to find these items while being chases by Aka Manto. They have the choice of unlocking each classroom to find hints and clues and they're given access to a ventilation system where they can hide and travel faster and relatively safer. After completely either one of these tasks, you will find a shrine inside one of the rooms where the game will reward you with a katana to kill Aka Manto with.

Monsters

There are a total of four monsters the player has to deal with in the school. Aka Manto being the main monster the player has to avoid, it appears after a certain amount of time and afterwards you would need to avoid it. It can teleport through these red portals we can see on the school walls and is depicted as a tall red monster with a pale mask. The player will be able to indicate where Aka Manto is by certain indications on screen wether it's a VSH tape effect we see on screen or cryptic red writing on the screen. The most terrifying thing about this monster is its blood curling scream whenever it spots you. The Floating Mask is the second monster and the only one who doesn't attack the player. The only thing it would do is alert Aka Manto your location so it's better to avoid it as much as possible. There are multiple Spiders around the school who will slow the player down and take away some of their healthy, you wouldn't want to be trapped by one while being chased but the good thing is they're the only monsters you can kill with bug spray you can find. The last monster, The Centipede, is located in the vent systems and follows a specific route to try and mess up the player and take some of their health if ran into.

Recordings

While running around the school, the player is able to find ten tape recorders that play out the story of how Aka Manto came to be. The first tape can be found on the first floor in the girls bathroom, it contains a conversation between two boys, Atsushi, a new transfer student and Nakajima, his counselor. Atsushi had been being bullied by the principles son and his group of friends who grew jealous of Atsushis good looks and popularity. Nakajima, being a victim of the group as well, formed a plan with Atsushi to get their bullying on recording.

In the second tape, located on the second floor in the vents, we hear that Nakajima shows Atsushi how to use the recorder and to keep it safe. Atsushi doesn't reply to this but Nakajima doesn't take it personally and shows support towards the boy before leaving him. Afterwards we hear Atsushi speak, saying that he deserved to get bullied and that he's gone through worse.

In the third tape, located in the Science Lab, we figure out that Atsushi is the son of a very important politician. He claims that his father beats him and that he's shrewd and two faced.

In the fourth tape, located in the Cafeteria, we hear the abuse happening between Atsushi and his father. We also figure out that Atsushis mother had left them when he was younger and his father always resented her for it while Atsushi still respects her as his mother.

In the fifth tape, located in the shrine room, we hear Nakajima talking to someone about not coming to them again with some kind of information he doesn't want to get himself involved in. People suspect that this was Atsushis attempt of telling someone about his fathers abuse but he was let down by the one person he could trust.

In the sixth tape, located in the pool area, we hear Atsushi confess that he tried to tell Nakajima about his father but he didn't believe him or was too scared to help. Atsushi also confesses that he finds a sense of peace in these tapes.

In the seventh tape, located where the ribcage of the anatomy doll is, we hear whipping noises as Atsushi is being beaten by his father once again. We discover that the reason why he beats Atsushi is because he looks so much like his mother.

In the eighth tape, located in the second floor hallway, we discover that Atsushis father had been coming home drunk and hit Atsushi on the face where he never did before and it ends with Atsushi getting lightheaded and probably passed out due to blood lose.

In the ninth tape, located in the library, Nakajima and one of his coworkers talk about Atsushis recent passing and that they found him with cuts that people believed he did to himself. We then figure out that his father had died in the same way mysteriously.

In the tenth and final tape, located on the roof, Nakajimas coworker is in the restroom and Atsushi, who is now Aka Manto, enters and asked him the famous question, "Blue or Red paper". The coworker picking the blue paper and realized that the person he was talking to was Atsushi. Atsushi ends the tape with saying "Beauty is what's on the inside" something his father would tell him every time he beat him.

Final Thoughts

This Chillas Art game is very different from the rest. Other games have you unfold a story and expose its mysteries compared to Aka Manto which is a horror survival type game but it's honestly one of my top three favorite games from these developers. It doesn't disappoint though having great horror atmosphere, terrifying monsters, and a great story. The Aka Monto monster is one of the most terrifying ones I've seen especially with its curdling scream it produces and how quick it moves while chasing the player. The other monsters do a great job being an annoyance to the player and give the game an extra level of creepiness. The recording tapes don't get so much attention as they are scattered around the school and most people don't want to look for all of them. They aren't important to the main quest but if you want to know how Aka Manto came to be and you're curious about the story you can go on that adventure. The only downsides about this game is that there isn't a save system until you get to the end of the game where you get the katana to kill Aka Manto. If you die anywhere between the beginning and the katana scene you must restart everything. You also have limited inventory space, you can only carry three items and this makes the game very difficult at times. Overall, if you live survival horror with an overwhelming boss and story line with a challenge then this is the best game for you.