And until we fix this issue, we recommend that players with photosensitivity, or who have an epileptic condition or have had seizures of any kind consult their physician before playing.
Sadako Rising Character Lore
For the first time since Ash vs. the Evil Dead, we have actual, in depth lore for licensed characters (although, I guess Cheryl was somewhat in depth, but it wasn't on the level of anyone from Leatherface to Ash). So here it is.
Yoichi Asakawa
As a child, Yoichi gained an interest in the supernatural from his father and mother when an inexplicable curse claimed both their lives. As an adult, Yoichi graduated with top honors in marine biology from a university in Tokyo and, following in his father’s footsteps, became the youngest professor in the school’s history. But his career began to unravel when two of his students disappeared while doing research in Izu Oshima. The mere mention of Izu Oshima triggered painful memories from his past. Deep, hidden memories bubbled up from the murky, black depths of his subconscious. Blurred faces on images, twisted mouths, inexplicable deaths suddenly filled his mind. The shouts of people calling him a monster. And then… the monster… Sadako rose from the abyss to let him know the curse was not over. It would never be over.
With a cry, Yoichi shut his eyes and slowly released his fear. When he opened his eyes again, Sadako was gone, but something had returned. He could feel an unnerving presence near him, breathing deeply like the heaving sea. Was Sadako tormenting him? Was a spirit trying to warn him? Or was it something else? Something that consumed people. Something that made people disappear. Yoichi wasn’t sure. He had spent his life trying to understand his psychic abilities and the supernatural. His instincts told him the answers somehow lay with water. He had, after all, dedicated his life to studying intelligent life and unexplored realms within the ocean. Perhaps he needed to readjust his definition of intelligent. Or his definition of life.
Thirsting for truth, Yoichi entered a frenzy of research into the fringes of parapsychology, cryptozoology, theology, folk history. The more he expanded his field of expertise, the more he was ridiculed and ostracized. Once viewed as a brilliant young mind, Yoichi was now considered an eccentric and a liability. In mere months, the university terminated his position. Undeterred, Yoichi sought professorships at other schools, but no reputable college in Japan would take him. As a last resort he approached media outlets, and by some twist of fate, the company where his mother had worked as a journalist offered to fund his research in exchange for articles and first publishing rights to his story.
During this difficult time, Yoichi’s father returned to him–his spirit silently goading him to continue the course he had chosen. And so, working around the clock in his tiny Tokyo apartment, he allied himself with other researchers in the paranormal field. Within months, he came across a story that mirrored the disappearances of his students: four vloggers had mysteriously disappeared near a lighthouse in Scotland. With a great sense of urgency, Yoichi took the first he could to Glasgow. A professor at a local university had come to many of the same conclusions as he had nearly seventy years earlier when a film crew disappeared near the very same lighthouse–some kind of darkness was calling from the sea like an ancient siren. As Yoichi examined the research, his father suddenly appeared to let him know he was on the right path.
Guided by his father, Yoichi chartered a fishing boat and headed toward a small cluster of islands known as the Seven Hunters. Darkness fell as they approached the isles. The lighthouse, now automated and controlled remotely, sputtered and winked out of existence like a dying star. The ocean began to stir violently, lightning flashed and the fisherman begged Yoichi to turn back, but Yoichi refused. He was too close and would not be deterred. As they argued the ocean raged and tossed the ship high and low. Then one giant wave lifted the boat as high as a house and dashed it to pieces against dark, jagged rocks.
Yoichi didn’t remember much after that. He remembered falling into the water. He remembered swimming to the landing where he saw his father standing on the gallery of the lighthouse beckoning him. He remembered staggering through thick black fog as he climbed the stairs. He remembered the water level rising with every step until the frothing mouth of the raging ocean swallowed him whole.
The Onryō, Sadako Yamamura
A powerful and lethal onryō, Sadako Yamamura was the daughter of a famed seer from Izu Oshima, Japan.
Her mother left many questions unanswered. In her hometown, sailors disliked the way her mother would spend days on the beach, her eyes fixed on the foaming waves of the sea. Some said, “frolic in brine, goblins be thine–if you keep playing in the water, the monster will come for you.”
Nine months later, Sadako was born. As a child, her immense powers seemed impossible to control and flared in anger. This became apparent when she was unable to control her rage during a public demonstration of her mother’s powers. When a journalist called her mother a fraud, Sadako’s powers surged, and the journalist collapsed on the floor, struck dead.
Then everything went wrong. Her mother passed away and shortly after Sadako was lured to an old, crumbling well. As she leaned over the rim, a long shadow fell over her. She turned and a sudden jolt of pain hit her over the head, cracking it open. Her vision dimmed and her mind swirled into unconsciousness. She felt two hands push her over the rim.
Pain exploded in her skull as she hit the cold ground. A grinding noise came from above and the well darkened, all light obscured like a midday eclipse.
Every inch of her body screamed in pain. Looking up, she saw the only way out. She dug her nails into the muddy ground and slowly crawled toward the cobbled wall. She gripped the stones to climb but had neither hold nor strength. Each time she clawed up a few inches, her nails slid against the wet wall and she slipped down. Her fingers gushed with blood as the coarse cobblestone tore off her nails and lacerated the flesh underneath. And yet, she tried, again and again.
Decades later, the meadow became a resort, and a log cabin was built above the well. When a visitor rented the cabin, Sadako found an opportunity for revenge. She summoned all her nensha power and projected a terrible curse on a videotape that killed its viewer after seven days.
Her wrath was like the tides of a stormy sea, violent and unforgiving. As she plunged into a fury, a dark fog coiled at her feet. The sound of crashing waves echoed through the old stone well.
Suddenly, a tidal surge came crashing down on the cabin’s walls, wrecking its logs into a torrent of mud and filth. The black current flooded the well underneath and swallowed Sadako at once.
When she opened her eyes, she stood on a desolate beach facing a vast, stormy ocean. A thick, black fog caressed the water’s surface.
Sadako walked into a coming wave and slowly disappeared into the opaque fog.