Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus: Murakumo's Shinobi Heart (Return My Mask!)

If you've gone through the whole Gessen Girls' storyline, you already know the rather-tragic backhistory of what Murakumo hides her face behind a mask so much. That doesn't mean that this game won't have some fun with her about it. In her personal story, during a training session with Shiki, Shiki steals Murakumo's ogre mask! Because she's more nervous about showing her real face, she's unable to get it back from Shiki right then and there. Shiki plans to take the mask to Yozakura as a rare treasure she found. Murakumo is forced to chase after Shiki without the mask to aid her psyche. During gameplay, you'll be able to play as Murakumo without her mask on for this whole side-story, but you can also do that anywhere else by holding a button while loading up her missions. What's really awkward about this is that Murakumo will still use both of her voices during the gameplay. While her conversations have her use her maskless timid voice, all of her battle lines and battle cries will still have her use her masked, cold, bloodthirsty voice. ---------- In Mission 2-01: Give My Mask Back!, Murakumo went after Yozakura for her ogre mask since she's who Shiki was going to. Turns out that Shiki wasn't going to give the mask to Yozakura. She just wanted to show her how much Murakumo was taking care of it. Yozakura thinks her face is just fine because true beauty is on the inside. Murky thinks she's just ugly and that Yozakura was just teasing her about it. In Mission 2-02: Shy Girl, Murakumo continued her search for Shiki and the mask she took from her. When she spots Hikage, she tries to cover her face from her, too, or she'll die of embarrassment. Hikage is bewildered that feelings like embarrassment could kill people. She wanted to learn more of how that works, but Murakumo kept her distance from her. In Mission 2-03: Cute Enough, Asuka discovers the maskless Murakumo, as well, but thinks she's much cuter without her mask. Murakumo refuses to believe her words, and apologizes to Asuka that she had to see her "ugly" face. Asuka then has an idea to call all of her friends to see what they think of her. Poor Murky panics... In Mission 2-04: Without a Mask, as Murakumo wonders why the other girls would call her cute, her leader, Yumi, wants her to believe in herself more, because even without the mask, Murakumo is still Murakumo. At first, Murky agrees, but then she still tells Yumi to give her mask back, assuming she had it. This is when Yumi created a mirror of ice so that Murakumo could look at her own face. Yumi wanted Murakumo to maintain herself, but Murakumo just simply couldn't muster the strength, because she still wanted her mask back THAT badly. Finally, in Mission 2-05: , Murakumo has finally found Shiki and the mask she stole from her! Like Yumi and Asuka, Shiki also thought that Murakumo was better, cuter person without her mask, and wanted her to believe in herself more before she even tries to hand it back over to her. ---------- In the end, Murakumo successfully defeats Shiki gets her ogre mask back, finally regaining her stoic, bloodthirsty "form". She was once again at peace with herself... Shiki complains about the mask, because she really does think that Murakumo is cuter without, along with everyone else she's met. Murakumo still thinks that she couldn't possibly be cute at all. They get into an argument over it before they give up and laugh about it. Shiki's words start to get to Murakumo, however, because girls enjoy being called cute. Why would she out herself as an exception? With enough encouragement now in her mind, Murakumo shyly takes off her mask to give Shiki a nervous-yet-convincing smile from her adorable face.