Tokio Morishima

Tokio Morishima is the protagonist of the Placebo storyline in The Silver Case and The 25th Ward: The Silver Case, as well as a minor but important character in Flower, Sun, and Rain. He is a freelance investigative journalist initially tasked with investigating the infamous Kamui Uehara but soon finds himself immersed in the numerous conspiracies of Ward 24, Lospass Island and eventually Ward 25.

Appearance and Personality

Tokio is a rather odd man prone to bouts of complaining and laziness, but despite this, he is considered a quality journalist. He has an intense fixation with his pet turtle, Red, and is rather socially awkward, especially around women. His appearance in Transmitter shows him with spiky blonde hair, soft features wearing a leather jacket and cargo pants. This is inconsistent with his appearance in Placebo, which shows him with dark hair and sharper features, most likely as a byproduct of his skewed perspectives in Placebo's artwork - however, his appearance in Flower, Sun, and Rain seems to be consistent with his Transmitter design. In The 25th Ward, both his personality and appearance have changed considerably; he has grown a short stubble, wears a black muscle shirt and seems to have bulked up considerably, along with more sharper facial features. In addition, his personality is far more detached and sullen.

Tokio seems to think of himself as cool at first, but is often berated by other characters and has an unprofessional conduct with his client. At this time he also often acts out of self-interest, getting in touch with people for his own gain. As the series goes on, the experiences he goes through and his continually being used as a pawn by higher forces leave him progressively more and more depressed. However, he appears to have recovered somewhat by the time of *06 YUKI, in which he acts as a mentor figure to Yuki Shimohira.

Tokio apparently feels compulsed to keep a diary of some sort at all times. At first it was the Morishima Memo, a text diary on his computer. During his stay on Lospass Island, he keeps another journal, one entry of which is published in The Lospass. In The 25th Ward, he posts on an online blog, but this is later taken over by Meru Yuzuki.

Tokio is subscribed to a few mailing services: Today's WORD, Weekly Lovers, and DNNET.

History

Childhood

Tokio is one of Kaoru Hachisuka's children and one of the first batch of Shelter Kids. Near the end of the procedures, he had an emotional outburst that caused the administration to wipe his memories and return him to normal society, where he was adopted by the Morishima family. Here, he grew up and began working as a police journalist for a magazine before later quitting and going freelance. According to his business card, he used to live and work in the real-life ward of Suginami before returning to Ward 24.

Tokio's business card.

The Silver Case

Tokio receives an order from S. Inohana to report on Kamui Uehara. Over the course of 1999, Tokio tries to find information about Kamui as well as following the investigations of the Heinous Crimes Unit. He is assisted by his ex-girlfriend Erika Yukawa as well as other contacts on the internet. He soon encounters Akira at the Babylon Shopping Center in the middle of a traumatic experience, and associates him with that experience from then on. During the course of investigations, Tokio is threatened and spied on by the Bat. After just barely escaping the Bat with his life, Tokio flees his home, leaving Red in Erika's care. His actions during this time are unclear, but he runs into the HC Unit during their mission to execute Kamui. He also comes into possession of Kiyoshi Morikawa's notebook, and learns about the shelters. Tokio returns to his home near the end of 1999, now contending with numerous "lingering consciousnesses" in his head, which become magnified as a result of acquiring Uminosuke Hachisuka's silver eye. He tells Erika to continue taking care of Red as he will be heading away from the city for a while longer.

Flower, Sun and Rain

Tokio during his stay on Lospass Island

Following the events of The Silver Case, Tokio researches the creation of the silver eyes and discovers their origin. He heads to Lospass Island, arriving on May 2nd, 2001. Later, he meets Sumio Mondo on a boat connected to the caverns on Eleki Island. He explains what he discovered about the hyenas and the silver eye production, and also claims to be accidentally responsible for the problems with time. Tokio seems to be taking care of one of the hyenas at this time, which ends up being used by Elbow for mysterious purposes later on.

The 25th Ward

In The 25th Ward, following his memory removal, Tokio is noticeably more reserved and withdrawn, and seems to be almost unsure of himself in demeanor. Tokio is entrusted a mission from an unknown employer to research "what's going on in the 25th ward." Despite this, he still maintains his lifestyle of researching primarily through the internet, taking care of Red, and being mostly socially withdrawn. In the events of Placebo, Tokio becomes entangled in the mystery of finding out the secrets hidden behind the high-rise apartment complex where a mysterious amount of residents have been dying in rapid succession.

Through the high-rise apartment complex, Tokio discovers the background of the sex chat website Quarter's "Goddess," or, the most in-demand sex-chatter on the website. As he digs deeper into this mystery, he finds that Goddess is in fact three entities: Milu, Miru, and Meru, the latter two of which are in fact AI based on the personality and chatting habits of Milu.

WIP

Yuki

Years later in 2017, Tokio has long since regained his memories and become much more acquainted with his abilities as a medium. During December of that year, Tokio encounters a high school aged girl named Yuki Shimohira living in Hinashiro City. Yuki, like Tokio, is a medium. Tokio notes that Yuki's abilities are significantly stronger than his own, and so acts as a mentor for her in exorcising a spirit causing apparent suicides in a train station alongside Hiiragi.

Also by 2017, Tokio has seemingly entirely quit smoking cigarettes and now opts for an e-cigarette, or 'vape.'

Official profiles

Has come to the island to escape from his past. Occupation: Freelance Writer Place of Birth: Far East

Former journalist with a passion for investigating occurrences in the 25th Ward. Previously a resident of the 24 Wards, he lost his memory - and by extension, his own understanding of himself - due to events originating within the Kamui case. (25th Ward site description)

Former 24th Ward resident and writer, left the 24th Ward after being deeply involved in the Kamui case in the previous title. Currently living on a boat provided by an unknown person, investigates various incidents in the 25th Ward without ever been clear on both his employer and his own past. (#25 art book description)

Trivia

• Throughout The Silver Case, Tokio Morishima shows to be inept when it comes with computers. Often asking for help from others or falling victim to virus attacks. In YAMI, it is revealed that Tokio's laptop is not Y2K compliant and does show the dates of newer emails as a result.

See also

• Morishima

Appearances

• The Silver Case
• Case #4.5 FACE
• Flower, Sun, and Rain
• The 25th Ward: The Silver Case
• placebo prequel

Gallery

The Silver Case

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  Transmitter

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  Placebo

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  YAMI

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  Decoyman

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  Lifecut

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  HIKARI

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  YAMI

Case #4.5: Face

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  Talking to Sakura Natsume

Flower, Sun, and Rain

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  Portrait

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  In the second opening

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  Silver eye

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  Concept art

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  Tokio's profile in the DS version

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  Aboard his boat with a hyena

The 25th Ward

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  Placebo

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  Matchmaker

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  YUKI

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  Tokio next to his boat

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  MISOGI

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  As seen by Yuki

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  As seen by Yuki