Nintendo Character Profile | Sumio Mondo Page 1

Nintendo Character Profile | Sumio Mondo

Sumio Mondo
AKA Sumio Kodai...?

Our character this time is Sumio Mondo, a Searcher. Now what kind of job is that might you think? Well, people call him whenever they have lost an item and Sumio finds it for them. That's his job, although he says that he wishes it was like a hobby to him. Sumio was called to Lospass Island in Micronesia by Edo Macallister, boss at the Flower Sun and Rain hotel, because he had a job for him. What job? Sumio doesn't even know, but since he was called and he needs to work to pay the bills, there he goes in his Toyota Celica named Giggs.

Statistics

Age: His age in somewhat of a mystery. The Nintendo DS version of Flower, Sun, and Rain speaks of his date of birth as “being on page 15 of the game manual”. However, turning to page 15 in said booklet reveals that it's up to the player to decide Sumio's date of birth, which throws even more mystery around the origins of the bloke. This contradicts information from the past, though, with him being 21 when going under his real name of Sumio Kodai in The Silver Case, turning 24 in the original release of Flower, Sun, and Rain in 2001, both on PlayStation.

Species: 100% human...isn't he? Sumio has various guises, turning up as Sumio Mondo, Sumio Kodai, and some even believe he was a mysterious character called Sumio Touba.

Location: We only see him visit Lospass Island in Flower, Sun, and Rain on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation, but no doubt that if he answered a call for a job on a remote tropical island, his work as a Searcher must have lead him around the world quite a bit. As long as he can run somewhere or drive around in his beloved Toyota Celica, then the world is his oyster.

Birth: Sumio Mondo is supposed to be of oriental origin and it is implied within the game that he is of Japanese background. This is highly disputed, however, because truth is he is actually a clone of Sumio Kodai, a police officer from the Japan-exclusive game The Silver Case for Sony's PlayStation. He is one of many clones of him actually, born in a place called “The Shelter.” It is unknown if he was entirely the product of a machine or a cloned embryo implanted in a woman. His birth is a mystery but he did die once in Flower, Sun, and Rain, though.

Main Features: He has got dark eyes and black hair, has pale skin and seems to be rather tall. A perfect Jet Li lookalike.

Clothing: He is mostly seen wearing a black suit, which made the in-game character Shoutaro raise the following question: “Who else than a video game character would be running around a tropical island, under the burning sun...wearing a frigging black suit?!”

Concept

Although he has been made to be mysterious until the very end, there is no hiding it, Sumio Mondo is an utter weirdo. He just appears normal in the game because all the other characters are even more bizarre, if not downright creepy. A girl running around looking for a pet pink alligator? A luchador who randomly throws you to the ground in the middle of a conversation? What kind of place is Lospass Island, anyway? However, Sumio Mondo has his fair share of oddities as well. He named his car Giggs AND his briefcase Catherine, and speaks of the latter as if it was a female partner. Why name a car? Apparently because that is what people of the elite do. Why name a briefcase Catherine, then? According to him...“because working with a Catherine is always better than working with a Bob.” Okaaay then, fair enough...

Catherine is pretty much part of the character itself. She is an “Ultimate Computerised Unlocking Device,” and that is what Sumio uses to unlock the many devices found all over Lospass Island. He finds the combinations to unlock things, and Catherine helps him plug into those various objects to unlock and input the combination. That is how he “finds” lost objects. If that does not make sense to you, worry not as that is all intentional within the game.

Sumio admits to have poor mathematical skills and wishes he had a calculator to help him in his job. Almost everyone tells him he is much too kind, never saying no when someone asks for his help, leading him to being sidetracked each and every day from his main goal of preventing a terrorist attack on a plane that is about to leave Lospass Island. Good thing the same day repeats on a loop and Sumio can always “try again tomorrow.” Also noteworthy is his incapacity to get up early, making him miss breakfast every day in the entire game.

Appearances

There is definitely some confusion over exactly what games Sumio Mondo has been included in. Under his name of Sumio Kodai he has featured in The Silver Case and its sequel, Silver Case, 25 Ward. In the former he was an employee of the High Degree Murder 2nd Division before being arrested and subsequently relieved of duty due an unforgivable transgression that involved citywide genocide. There are even some schools of thought that Garcian Smith from killer7 is in some way connected to Sumio due to him carrying the same briefcase, Catherine. However, the main Sumio Mondo games confirmed are:

Flower, Sun, and Rain (Playstation 2, 2001)
Flower, Sun, and Rain: Murder and Mystery in Paradise (Nintendo DS, 2008)

Best Appearance

Although it appears that he only appeared in both releases of Flower, Sun, and Rain, the game does not shed light on all of the mysteries surrounding the character of Sumio Mondo himself, which means that we might not have seen the last of him, especially since there is a strange man with a silver eye in the game who claims to know all about Sumio’s past.

Do Not Mention...

…that he is a video game character...EVER! Additionally, do NOT pronounce any word that would raise the rating of the game.

Sumio Mondo is a far from perfect man. He is bizarre, can be a complete jerk, will steal your bike if it can be of any use to him...but all in all, these imperfections of the character are what truly make him a likable dude. The characters inhabiting Lospass Island, as well as the guests of the Flower, Sun, and Rain hotel, seem to think so too. As mentioned above, it is likely that we will meet him again in a future game. Suda 51 (Goichi Suda) told Cubed3 that he would like to make a new game featuring Sumio Mondo, for new hardware, and we can only hope that we will get to see him again very soon. Considering there is talk of the much awaited remake of The Silver Case moving across from Nintendo DS to Nintendo 3DS in 2012, it could be sooner than we actually imagine.

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jesusraz 21.12.2011#1

Definitely an intriguing character. Is he human, is he a clone, what is next in his future? The Silver Case and its sequel were originally coming to DS, then possibly being moved to WiiWare, and now look like hitting 3DS in some form. Basically, Suda-san has wanted to have chance to properly sort out the old gameplay to give it a better feel for today's market because Flower, Sun, and Rain felt slightly out-dated by today's standards.

Personally I loved FSR and can't want to try its predecessors!

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

RudyC3 22.12.2011#2

I loved FSR too, and I truly hope that, should the Silver case and its sequel truly become available on 3DS, that it'll get a localization so we get to experience it here in Europe.

Can't get enough of this ^^ :

Cubed3 Limited Staff :: Review and Feature Writer

Jay (guest) 23.12.2011#3

Oh i love suda51s work the mysteries surrounding his earlier games are some the best parts of the game. Killer7 is definitely heavily linked to flower sun and rain.

Sundance Shot can be seen in one trailer and heard in another
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQMYqJg3UKg

Then edo macalister from flower sun and rain appears briefly in one of the final levels of killer7. If you listen to what he says it becomes clear that emir and his bag have some connection with losspass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh5ZEZwtX2E

Also interesting to note is that in emirs bio i think in hand in killer7 names his mother as catherine