I've brought it up on a few other social platforms, but if anyone has access to any ICO PS2 manuals in one or more languages from across Europe and Asia, I would love to hear from you.
I already have access to the text of manuals written in [Japanese], [Spanish], [English], and [Dutch]. So any languages outside of those are welcome.
Please reach out to me via email: [email protected]
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I've brought it up on a few other social platforms, but if anyone has access to any ICO PS2 manuals in one or more languages from across Europe and Asia, I would love to hear from you.
I already have access to the text of manuals written in [Japanese], [Spanish], [English], and [Dutch]. So any languages outside of those are welcome.
Please reach out to me via email: [email protected]
In a playable build created just two weeks before the final NTSC-U disc was mastered, Ico shouts Yorda's name as they're being separated.
Due to the lack of both captions and visible mouth movement, it's likely this was a short-lived, experimental adjustment to the established scene.
EDIT: This was not an experimental adjustment, but rather a remnant of the game's cut down script that was late to be removed. Why it lacked a caption at this stage of development I can't say for sure.
But if you want to hear another shout of Yorda's name that was cut, you can hear it in the audio mix of this 'Behind the Scenes' video.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Hi, lala here, could you please elaborate on the topic "torture chamber" on your ICO iceberg?
I love your content and dedication to ICO!
Hi! Thanks so much for asking!
At the time of writing that entry into the Iceberg, all I knew was that "Torture Chamber" was written onto a concept sheet depicting an early stage layout for the game. Found only in the pages of Famitsu's ICO 20th Anniversary Issue (published Dec 16th, 2021) on Page 25.
Of course, I never would've picked out or accurately translated the text without help from Glitterberri, who shared my curiosity about this sheet when I shared it with her.
It's specifically that large rectangle crossed out near the center. This concept likely marks the moment it was cut from the game.
In this layout, it may have been near Stage 5b (now known as West Crag) and Stage 8a (now known as Trolley). Of course, those stages probably didn't resemble what they are in the final product.
But since discovering this, I've spoken with the designer of the stage. And he revealed the following information and images, which will be cited where possible:
- The Torture Chamber was actually one secret section of a room listed earlier in the layout: 11a, which we now know as the Dynamite Room. [1] This means it also bordered 1b (now known as Dark Room).
- It moved in the Castle layout a number of times. Once being set beside the Chandelier room. [2]
Thanks to the above image, we know that the Torture Chamber is a secret room, with the door usually closed.
[speculation] The implication of the stage layout concept changes when viewed with this information. Ico first visits 11a for the stated purpose of 11a: Dynamite. But later, as he traverses the Castle in the game's climax, he would be required to access the secret torture chamber in order to progress. [/speculation]
- "What I had in mind when I made it was not to torture Yorda, but rather the imprisoning and torturing of traitorous soldiers, off-island invaders, and the like."
- Various props, detailed in Lightwave 3D (the animation/modeling program that the team would design the rooms in, before porting to PS1 and PS2) were shared in an earlier Bluesky post. [3]
And most of those near the bottom are set in the Dynamite Room.
In the far bottom left, you can see the torture chamber's ベッド ('bed'), as it was labeled in the earlier picture. (It's a very generous label if you ask me.) There's a short manacle attached to the wall by a chain, just beside it.
Between the conveyor belt pictures is a glimpse of the 水道 (water supply), which we know is also located in the chamber.
And that's all we know about that specific area currently. If we learn more, it's likely you'll see the Dyanamite Room page of the wiki updated.
In honor of a twitter thread hosted by TeamICOfan非公式企画 (run by the artist wncky, aka サトヱ), I've made a list of guesses for what each of Yorda's hieroglyphs represent.
Each glyph has a corresponding letter in the English alphabet. The organized rows of them that appear on Page 2 of the Official ICO Guidebook denote which is which.
The rule, with only one confirmed exception, is that each hieroglyph will depict something beginning with that English letter. But it's also worth remembering that Japanese language still plays an important role in the interpretation.
Some of the English words selected could derive from Kanji with synonyms and associations (typically listed out in a JP-to-ENG dictionary) that native English speakers may not think of.
The images used in this post were taken from the Team ICO Wiki. I have consulted official sources such as the artbook and the captions within the game's files and I find they're accurate enough to present on their own.
Letter: A
Best Guess - Ant (蟻)
--
Letter: B
Best Guess - Bird (鳥)
--
Letter: C
Best Guess - Cage (檻)
--
Letter: D
Various Guesses - Duck (縮める), Dive (潜る), Down (下)
For a time, I also wondered if, because the character's pose is similar to the way Yorda is found sleeping in her cage, the glyph might represent the word 'Daughter'.
But I find myself doubtful of that lately.
--
Letter: E
Best Guess - East (東)
The sun always rises in the East.
--
Letter: F
Various Guesses - Fall (倒れる), Flag (印), Fluid (液)
Some guesses relate to the fact that very similar symbols are found on the sacrificial capsules. Ico's capsule toppled over. And in early concepts they each contained an unspecified 'liquid'.
Also, 印 has the word 'flag' listed alongside synonyms like 'crest'. And other definitions under that same kanji list English words like 'mark', 'symbol', and 'emblem'.
These terms feel more fitting than 'flag' for the pattern on the capsules, but due to close associations in the dictionary, a Japanese developer may not see the same distinction.
--
Letter: G
Best Guess - Giant (巨人)
It even looks like if you stacked the two kanji atop each other in a certain way.
If it's true this is 'giant', it might be referencing the cut 'enemy_l'. For those who don't know, those were unused Shadow Creatures at 4x their normal body scale.
--
Letter: H
Various Guesses - Hide (隠れる), Hold (持つ)
I'm more inclined towards the former possibility, since it would reference Ico hiding his full body behind the cover of the stone idols found in The Queen's throne room.
--
Letter: I
Notice it's not one structure here. You might think of that bottom half as a distant lower eyelid, but I instead offer this reading:
Top half = eye opened
Bottom half = eye closed
Best Guess - Instant (瞬時)
瞬時
"instant; moment; (split) second; (in a) flash; (in the) blink of an eye"
Many native English speakers have proposed the idea that the hieroglyph above represented an singular Eye, which represented the sound native English speakers make (IPA: aɪ / Katakana: アイ) when saying "I".
But after finding this phrase amid the kanji's synonyms, I very much doubt that.
--
Letter: J
Best Guess - Janitor (守衛)
Ok, that sounds silly. Until you look at the synonyms associated with that role.
These sound fitting of the roles that cut Castle Soldiers would occupy, in the PS1 iteration of the game.
The 老兵 (Old Soldier) was even reported, by a developer, to have been responsible for menial and routine tasks around the Castle, which included cleaning, and the inspection of torches. This role sounds fitting of a janitor, and it's placed upon the eldest of the Soldier types…
--
Letter: K
Best Guess - Kneel (跪く)
These figures can also be seen on the sacrificial capsules, albeit, with straighter backs. Perhaps the lower posture seen here is to emphasize their humility or respect?
--
Letter: L
Best Guess - Lure (餌)
An alternative definition is: (animal) feed.
Some motion files had their Japanese descriptions recently uncovered in the files of a demo build. A bird animation (titled 'BIRD_EAT' in English) was described as: 鳥餌食べ
"Bird eating animal feed"
Potentially, worms.
The leftover names of models (none of them actually present in the demo) were also found in the files.
These discoveries potentially reveal a cut concept for fishing in Ico. Which may have had worms function as both feed for the birds and bait for unused fish, thus tying them closely with the term 餌.
But keep in mind these are just speculations based on files found without full context.
--
Letter: M
Various Guesses - Moon (月), Molting (脱皮)
The first guess is an obvious interpretation based on the crescent shape. However, the crescent does not account for the whole image. And using two words ("Moon and Mountain" for instance) would be unnecessary, as there is no non-M word for 月.
However, a quote from one of Fumito Ueda's interviews seems very relevant to me:
--Tell us something about Yorda, Ico's companion, that we don't already know.
"She wears a white dress […] it's also inspired from the white, transparent form that cicadas take when they come out of their shell."
I wasn't just cicadas on his mind during the development of ICO. The Shadow Creatures have names given in the game's files.
Imomushi (caterpillar), Tyou (butterfly), and Umiushi (nudibrach) stand out to me. There's a thread tying some of these concepts together:
Caterpillars develop a chrysalis that they must shed in order to become butterflies. And nudibranches must shed their shells after their larval stage. These elements all point to ecdysis.
I wonder if that 'moon' is a crescent shaped pupa or chrysalis, with something emerging from it at a 90° angle.
--
Letter: N
Best Guess - Navigation (航海)
The word 'navigation' is, notably, very synonymous with 'sailing' and 'sea voyage'. The prominence of the triangle as the sail is what drew me to this particular reading.
--
Letter: O
Best Guess - Octopus (蛸)
--
Letter: P
Various Guesses - Pigeon (鳩), Peacock (孔雀)
It's clearly a different kind of bird, but why that seems to be distinguished with lines is unclear.
The white birds you see throughout the game coo like pigeons, and could be well-bred rock doves. So I lean towards the former.
--
Letter: Q
Best Guess - Queen (女王)
It's the obvious choice, due to her relevance in the narrative and fictional culture.
--
Letter: R
Best Guess - River (川)
This is another one that resembles the kanji in a way. I wonder if that was the intent for all of them…
--
Letter: S
Best Guess - Shower ( シャワー? / 夕立?)
I wonder if the visual was made to be interpreted literally, as the household fixture. Or if it was used to easily call the term 'Shower' to mind, when they meant it as sudden rainfall (夕立). Much like the one that occurs in the game's final stretch.
The term for "living sacrifice" in Japanese, used throughout the game's concepts and in the Japanese script (where it is written as イケニエ), has a secondary definition in dictionaries: "victim; scapegoat".
This depicts a child (very small) bound within a capsule.
--
Letter: W
Best Guess - Wing (翼)
One of the flying Shadow Creatures shares this same kanji as its name.
--
Letter: X
No Guess
I earnestly have no clues on this one. An unknown fan-wiki editor once proposed the word 'Xoanon', which might fit, but I haven't found any kanji associated directly with that term. So that begs the question of how Kei Kuwabara or other developers would've discovered it.
--
Letter: Y
No Guess
Because this one had its meaning confirmed!
It doesn't represent anything tangible. It is part of a scrapped numerical system originally intended for the sacrificial capsules. It was the number 25, which is why it corresponds to 'Y', the 25th letter in the English alphabet.
--
Letter: Z
Best Guess - Zipper (ファスナー)
I don't think it means a clothing zipper. I suspect it might have more association with the term 'fastener', which can apply to various industrial screws (though these are often called 留め具, which has no 'zipper' listed among synonyms I've found)…
Whether I was convincing in my assessments or not, these are just my best guesses, and you are entitled to your own interpretations.
And I'd love to hear those interpretations, especially for the hieroglyphs I was left confused by.
Yes. Though not entirely.
It was discovered last year, by Reddit user GutereuxMarde that the composition of ICO's Japanese and European cover art was directly lifted from "Tropique du Cancer" a painting from 1945 by Ramsès Younan.
Younan was clearly paying homage to several contemporary artists of his age. Perhaps in an effort to define the voices that made up the surrealist movement. You can see, at the center of the scene, easels with recreated paintings. There's both a Picasso piece ("Tête de femme au chapeau bleu a ruban rouge"), and a Salvador Dalí painting ("Atavistic Vestiges After the Rain"). And obviously, the surrounding architecture is very much inspired by Giorgio de Chirico.
I'm not an expert, but I believe those particular mannequin models to the left are Younan's own personal touch on the piece.
The portion lifted for the cover of ICO, seen at the right end, was not directly lifted from one of de Chirico's pieces as far as I know. Which makes it all the more curious that Fumito Ueda seemed to confirm it was based on de Chirico in an interview, rather than the lesser known Younan:
OPM: The Japanese cover of Ico is a clever homage to the surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico. Was Ico inspired by de Chirico?
FU: I designed the Japanese cover, and I thought the surrealistic world of de Chirico matched the allegoric world of Ico.
[Source]
(Note: 'Designed' does not mean he painted it. That's a common misconception. It likely means he just added the elements that weren't in the original composition as a sketch layer and, obviously, that he had to approve of the final product. Credit should go to Nanako Ohmura and Chika Fukui for digitally painting and touching up what Ueda outlined.)
But then, as noticed recently by some members of the Team ICO community, evidence was found (in the Shadow of the Colossus art book, Page 203) to suggest that a prototype cover for ICO instead took its composition directly from de Chirico.
A PlayStation 2 cover that seems to display 'Nostalgia of the Infinite' is seen below, nestled among other prototype covers, including the cover of a PS1 ICO disc.
We don't have confirmation that this is for ICO, but it would explain why Ueda so readily credited the wrong painter. The team had probably looked through a number of the popular artist's paintings, but came to agree upon a work which they either believed to have belonged to him, or was close enough for Ueda to have forgotten it was by someone else.
Not in a professional capacity. I am an amateur. Right now I am incredibly reliant on jisho.org as my Japanese-English dictionary, and Google Translate (very occasionally) as a means to double-check what prepositions and adverbs apply to what part of an SOV sentence structure.
I can sight read hiragana and katakana, but I often have no idea what I'm reading because I lack experience with the language. I've been trying to expand my Japanese vocabulary, but progress has been slow for various reasons.
Anything I've translated personally on this blog probably took longer than you'd expect (I triple and quadruple checked every word for both the transcription and translation of the ICO Japanese Manual), and it was likely done because I knew no one else would care enough to do it.
A new ICO video is up! This one is about how the Shadow Creatures behave in combat, focusing mostly on the US version's simpler design to draw attention to the differing priorities between enemies.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
This iceberg chart serves as a table of contents for the ICO encyclopedia I've long been building up in my brain.
Feel free to reach out and ask me about any of these entries (but don't anticipate a quick response, especially when I need to gather a lot of sources to fully explain the entry).
Transcription of the image under the cut.
Higher resolution image
Tip of the Iceberg
Connections to Shadow of the Colossus
US vs Japanese Box Art
Watermelon Ending
You Fight the Sacrificed Children as Shadows
Design by Subtraction
"Mono is the Queen" Theory
Inspired the Gaming Industry
Below the Surface
(a.k.a "What you might learn in a video essay about the game")
Inspired Hidetaka Miyazaki's Career
Hidden Weapons
Originally Developed on PlayStation 1
The ICO Novelization
Amiga Game Inspirations
Scrapped Human Enemies
Yorda's Language is Japanese with Each Word Spoken Backwards
Yorda's Tattoos (PS1)
The Cut Dialogue
Regional Version Differences
i-c-o.net
Yorda's Hints
Ueda's "Pilot Movie" for ICO
Bottom of the Iceberg
(a.k.a "What you might learn from a speedrunner about the game")
50 Hertz Super Jump
Shouting Makes Ico Faster
The Shadow's Names
The US Version Released First
Shadow Phasing
The Unseen Commercial that Inspired Ueda
Shadows are Weak to Water
Ico Can Block Attacks
Below the Ice
(a.k.a "What you might learn from research and repeat playthroughs")
The Pipe Between Upper and Lower Cogwheel
E3 2000 Articles Claim Yorda is Magically Cursed with Blindness
The Staff Exclusive ICO Merch
The Queen's Sword Has a Missing Scabbard
Ico's Handcuffs
Scrapped Shadow Types
R1 to Find Queen's Sword
Dark Water
(a.k.a "What you might learn through translation and sharp eyes")
The Horsemen are Priests
Scrapped Bats and Geckos
Yorda's Name Comes from Hilda (from "Horus, Prince of the Sun")
UEQ Website
The Castle Has Some Electric Lightbulbs
Kabutomushi
The Graves Have Horns
The Deep
(a.k.a "What you might learn over the course of many years")
Scrapped Backstep Maneuver
Idol Statue Children are Based on Yorda's Pilot Design
GPL Violation
The Queen and Yorda Share Face Textures and Body Proportions
The Queen's Concept Design is Still in the Game
Yorda's Dress is Partially Inspired by Cicadas
Midnight Zone
(No clever title. You're too deep for clean categories.)
The Pattern is Everywhere, Even the Sofas
Scrapped Mid-Boss Fight
Yorda's Shadow Form Briefly Has a Forcefield in the Storyboards
Luz y Sombra
Ramsès Younan's "Tropique du Cancer" is the True JP Cover Art Inspiration
Prototype "Nostalgia of the Infinite" Cover
Abyssal Zone
Yorda's Cage Neighbors the Throne Room
Wireframe Office Fans
Insect Net
November 5th, 2001 at Shibuya's "Museum 1999 L’eau à la bouche"
Subtle Alterations to End Credits' Flashbacks
Yorda Sings in Early Concepts
Below The Abyss
Ico Calls Out Yorda's Name (8/06/01 Prototype Build)
In a playable build created just two weeks before the final NTSC-U disc was mastered, Ico shouts Yorda's name as they're being separated.
Due to the lack of both captions and visible mouth movement, it's likely this was a short-lived, experimental adjustment to the established scene.
EDIT: This was not an experimental adjustment, but rather a remnant of the game's cut down script that was late to be removed. Why it lacked a caption at this stage of development I can't say for sure.
But if you want to hear another shout of Yorda's name that was cut, you can hear it in the audio mix of this 'Behind the Scenes' video.
If you think its a waste of time to consider the story implications of game mechanics, this video probably isn't your cup of tea. If you enj
My final video of the year is up! This one is a bit more speculative than usual, but that just leaves it more open to audience interpretation. I'd love to hear what people think of this late-game R1 function and why it works like this.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming