Utahonotatari 2

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Utahonotatari (Japanese: 哥欲祟 -ｳﾀﾎﾉﾀﾀﾘ-), also translated in English releases as The Curse of Utaho) is an indie Japanese psychological horror game. It was developed by Payaaaaan using the WOLF RPG Editor around 2012–2013, during his high school years.

Aside from being a niche RPG Maker game, the sequel (Utahonotatari 2) was infamous for a fake "glitch screen" Easter egg that displays what appears to be a photo of a human corpse.

Plot summary

Utahonotatari 1

Centuries ago, the isolated villagers of Utaho worshipped a vengeful deity known as the God of Utaho (Utaho-sama). To "satisfy" him, they performed an annual sacrifice called Utaho-osame ("The Song's End"), slitting a maiden's throat while chanting ritual hymns. Anyone who tried to flee or betray the cult was tortured, dismembered, and crafted into grotesque human statues to serve the god.

The main story follows Utano Yamano, a young Japanese woman, who discovers her family slaughtered: her mother is decapitated, her father is found hanged in his study, and her younger sister, Yuri, is nowhere to be found. Utano is guided by the cryptic notes left in Yuri's room and sets off to find her. The search leads her to a newly built resort hotel constructed over the ruins of Utaho Village, a place with a dark past. While exploring the haunted hotel and surrounding ruins, she is stalked by armless torsos and headless corpses, the ancient victims of the Utaho-kyo cult. Along the way, she encounters a mysterious girl (who is referred to as the "silver haired girl") who warns her to turn back before it is too late.

Utano discovers that her family secretly belonged to the Utaho cult. Her grandmother, who is possessed by the cult’s deity, had manipulated Yuri into unknowingly triggering an ancient curse. Following the slaughter, the police eventually find Utano at the scene. Unable to explain the events, authorities arrest her for the murders. As she sits alone in her cell, surveillance footage catches the same mysterious girl standing just outside her door, right before the curse claims her.

Utahonotatari 2

In Part 1, the curse was bound to Utaho Village. In Part 2, a real estate company named Kuroi Corp paved over the ancient shrine ruins to build their flagship corporate skyscraper. By destroying the sacred soil without performing the traditional Utaosame ritual, they unknowingly shattered the seal holding the God of Utaho.

Part 2 follows Shizune Kito. Late one night, her boss orders her to review a set of restricted archives from the computer. As she reads through emails and secret ledgers, she discovers the company always knew about the curse and covered up supernatural deaths during construction, and that she is a descendant of the villagers in Utaho Village, which is why her boss specifically chose her for the task as a final sacrifice. Suddenly, the power dies completely. Shizune is forced to navigate dark, freezing corridors. She evades distorted, doll-like manifestations of her dead coworkers, the people sacrificed before her.

Realizing the building is trying to digest her, Shizune uses her employee access card to override the elevator shafts, sliding down into the basements until she reaches the old shrine ruins beneath the skyscraper. In the broken altar, she finds an ancient ritual dagger left behind by her ancestors. Rather than running, Shizune uses her own blood to complete the Utaosame ritual, shattering Kuroi Corp's corporate servers, collapsing the skyscraper into the earth and ending the story on a cliffhanger.

Glitch screen

The first pop-up screen of Utahonotatari 2.

To trigger the apparent "glitch" screen, walk through the Japanese shrine environment until you locate the red torii gates. Pass through exactly three of them, then immediately head north into the open area (alternatively, walking in any direction after clearing the third gate will do the same). As your character continues forward, two message boxes appear. The dialogue reads:

イベントの読み込みに失敗しました
(場所￥Desktop￥Date￥)

1フレームあたりの処理内容が999999を超えました

その操作はできません！
入力ボタン内容を確認してください！

Failed to load event
(Location\Desktop\Date\)

Processed more than 999999 per frame

The operation cannot be performed!
Please check the content of the input box!

As the game breaks down, a sequence of overlapping dialogue and corrupted error strings flashes across the screen:

確認してください
場所￥DATE￥ウタホノタタリ２￥
切断腕を切断
データが破損している
可能性がああやめて下さい
ウタノ「￥！殺すぞ
エラー1004：1フレームあたりの処理内容が904239852353543545
システムエラーが発生しています
内部３の頃のお前の顔が曲がっている ボタン入力の肝太33333333確認してぎ@あ！！
ウタノ「￥！いやああああああああああああああ
シズネ「￥！オマエガワルイ」
助けて助けて
文章の読み込みテストをしていま３３３
３３３

Please check
Location ¥ DATE ¥ The Curse of Utaho 2 ¥
Sever severed arm
Data is corrupted
Possibility aah please stop
Utano: "¥! I will kill you"
Error 1004: Processing content per frame is 904239852353543545
A system error has occurred
Internal 3: your face is twisted around the time of 3... Check button input Kintaro 33333333 @aa!!
Utano: "¥! Nooooooooooooooo"
Shizune: "¥! YOU ARE BAD"
Help me help me
Doing text loading test 333
333

After the messages are dismissed, the screen cuts to black. Following a 10-second pause, a close-up of a decomposing woman with hair over her face appears, accompanied by background static. Currently, the sequence dead-ends here, forcing the player to manually exit the game.

Trivia

• The picture of the decomposing woman is a screenshot from the trailer for Exte: Hair Extensions, occurring right at the 0:57 mark.

• The dead body image appears again in the game files, such as in the true ending cutscene.

• According to the game's source, a folder named "ばぐ" (Computer Bug) contains images of the glitch textboxes and the corpse. The textboxes appear heavily compressed and low quality before scattering across the screen because most of the creator's original assets were made in a 320x240 resolution and stretched to at least 640x480.

• In the same folder, the dead body image is referred to as "yabai" which can mean "dangerous" or "risky".

• Utahonotatari 2's Easter egg was featured in "Mysteries in Online Video Games" by Nexpo.

Links

NOTE: The following game contains a screamer!

• Showcase video: youtube.com/watch?v=7uFSsLNoy3k

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