Hand in killer7

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Hand in killer7 is a companion book to killer7 released later the same year as the game. It contains numerous story details that go beyond what is shown in-game, as well as lots of other content such as artwork, various interviews and several bonuses. The book is mostly written by Suda, along with contributions from his frequent co-writers.

Although the book was only released in Japanese, most in-universe sections were translated by the Deltahead Translation Group, and the interviews with Grasshopper Manufacture staff (as well as the Heaven Smile horoscope and the comments on the soundtrack) were translated by Scenery Recalled.

Contents[edit]

  • An opening page and introduction by Iwazaru. Not translated.
  • Factions: Descriptions of various (though not nearly all) factions and aspects of the killer7 world.
  • Timeline: A timeline of the killer7 world, spanning from 1750 to 2171.
  • Vague character relationship charts. Not translated.
  • "Spreading the Truth": Four articles from an in-universe magazine known as Spreading the Truth: "Study Article on Multifoliate Personae Phenomenon", "Where Do the Heaven Smiles Come From?", "The History of Ishizaka Corporation" and "The Mystery Behind First Life, Inc.", spread throughout the book.
  • Character profiles for every character who appears in-game.
  • "Jaco's Report", a series of reports by a character named Jaco Checkbox. This is an extensive story that parallels and sets up the story of the game. Written by Masahi Ooka.
  • Heaven Smile profiles. Not translated.
  • Heaven Smile Fortune Telling, a horoscope.
  • Artwork by Takashi Miyamoto.
  • Transcripts of the Pigeon Memos.
  • Storyboards of unused scenes arranged over two pages, not giving a full picture of most of them.
  • Prototype Of "killer7", a comic made up of screenshots from an early version of the game. Not translated.
  • Transcripts of various text that appears in-game.
  • Interviews with Hifumi Kono, Masahiro Sakurai, Shu Takumi, Naoko Sato, Eisin Sasaki, Takumi Miyake, Ben Hibon, Hideki Kato and Hiroyuki Kobayashi. Not translated.
  • Interviews with Grasshopper Manufacture staff.
  • Comments on the soundtrack by Masahiro Yuki, as well as a tracklist of the CD release.

Validity[edit]

It has frequently been stated that Hand in killer7 contradicts killer7 itself. While this is true to an extent, Hand in killer7 contradicting itself is even more pronounced; furthermore, Suda's works have never been a stranger to self-contradiction. Many contradictions can be explained as coming from unreliable sources, as "Spreading the Truth" and "Jaco's Report" are in-universe documents. Even the parts of Hand in killer7 that are presumably objective, such as timelines, are not necessarily reliable. Suda says in the included interview:

"The chronology in this book is pretty straightforward and covers the basic facts. However, whether or not it is the truth should be viewed with suspicion."

It seems from this statement that players are intended to notice contradictions and not take any information given to them at face value. As such, it can be assumed that the plot-related portions of Hand in killer7 are equally as reliable as any other information: that is, not at all, but not necessarily less reliable. (In other words, it is canon.)

There is also a persistent rumor that Hand in killer7 is its own continuity based on early versions of the game's story. This may be due to the Prototype Of "killer7" comic, which does indeed portray an early scenario; however, it is clearly marked as such. While other sections of Hand in killer7 do use some elements that were cut from the game such as Miss Jacob, this content was apparently still written after the game was complete, and thus written with the game as it was published in mind. There are also several prominent elements of early versions of killer7 such as Sundance Shot that do not appear in Hand in killer7 (outside of the Prototype comic); if the book was really just an overview of an early version of the game, it would surely include those elements.