Soji Abe
阿部倉司
Unemployed / male / 24
(actor: Eiji Nakamura)
A part-time worker who lived with Ryuko Tagawa, a woman murdered by Yuri Kishida. He is implicated as a suspect in Ryuko's murder, and fleeing from the police he remembers that Ryuko was friends with a fortune-teller named Akiko Kiyota, forcing his way to Akiko and begging for her help. Based on Akiko's advice that the mystery lies on Yamijima, the two visit the island, where they become caught in the mysterious incidents.
Abe has not realised that his murdered girlfriend is an unawakened dove (Offshoot B'). Due to his easygoing nature, Abe has no no suspicious of the birthmark on Ryuko's chest, her dislike of light, or her occasional violent outbursts (due to synchronicity with Mother), allowing the two to nuture their love. However, this happy time comes to a sudden end with Ryuko's death. Initially, Abe believes that he passed by Ryuko (who is actually Yuri Kishida who looks like her) on the way back to his apartment, and since the face of the body at his house is so disfigured he can't tell whether it's really her... however, when he sees in the Netherworld that Yuri has Mother's face, Abe understands that it was Yuri he passed by at the apartment, feeling the reality of Ryuko's death in the strange land.
Abe is also, in a way, the character in the most unique position, not really understanding the reality in which he has been placed (or feeling in much danger) compared to the other characters, with their own destinies and struggles, managing to ride out Yamijima's oddities by sheer luck. However, he also plays an important role in assisting others, as in Mikami's descend to the Underworld and Akiko following her memories, his careless actions in the final stages of the game (tossing his cigarette away, etc.) leading to the incident's conclusion (with the destruction of the pylon). In fact, the very existence of Soji Abe is a clown who creates huge shifts in the story, tying together cause and effect in Siren 2. Abe (with Tsukasa) may have been thrust into a parallel world in which cause and effect has crumbled because he fulfills the central role that draws everything together.
"What the hell is going on!?"
The hungry Abe takes a bite from a nearby Yami Akebi... which is a huge mistake. Abe is caught by an intense "call of nature".
Mourning Ryuko's death together
Though from different perspectives, Ryuko was dear to both Abe and Akiko. Hit with a fresh wave of reality over her death, the two are grief-struck at this truth...
You're... not my master
Tsukasa, though hesitant, begins to take a liking to Abe, who blows Mikami's dog whistle and smells of his scent.
"Lost World"
All of a sudden, a sense of loss at having completely lost those they love hits Abe and Tsukasa, both feeling the same despair.
Past
Born on 24 June 1981
A year ago - Meets Ryuko; they begin dating. Abe hardly notices anything strange about Ryuko
Real World
-30:00 - Corpse of a woman discovered at his house. Receiving a report from the owner of the restaurant at which Ryuko worked, the police question Abe. Flees in a panic
-29:00 - Breaks into Yumemi Salon. Insists his innocence to Akiko
-9:00 - Despite doubting the dowsing Akiko, they head for Yamijima together
-8:00 - Forces his way onto the ship
-7:00 - Weather worsens during voyage; boat is capsized by the violent waves
-6:00 - Washes up in island's fishing harbour
-3:00 - Wakes up
-2:00 - Meets up with Akiko at the harbour
-1:00 - A strange siren suddenly sounds out around Abe and Akiko
Other World
0:00 - Eats Yami Akebi.
2:00 - Discovers & saves Mikami
3:00 - Acts as substitute for Tsukasa
4:00 - Begins searching for a route to the Netherworld at the request of Mikami
Return of the Dove
6:00 - Siren. Shocked by how similar Ryuko and Yuri's faces are
9:00 - Rests in a sunlit spot
12:00 - Abe mourns Ryuko's death. Protects Akiko as she views the past
14:00 - Celebrates Akiko's birthday
When he wakes up, Akiko is gone
15:00 - Chance meeting with Ikuko
19:00 - Finds lighter
22:00 - Having escaped danger, Abe carelessly tosses his cigarette into the toilet, igniting the methane gas. A chain reaction of explosions
23:00 - The final huge tsunami caused by Mother's death cry. Takes everyone with it
24:00 - "Lost World"
Soji Abe in Each Level
"Stand-In" (3:47:08 / Yamijima / Fort #1 Ruins)
Though of opposing personalities, because Mikami is blind he intuitively feels, without prejudice, how pure Abe is (almost like a wild animal...). Abe also quite likes Mikami, thinking that he's a nice man, not haughty because he is a famous author. Meeting by chance, they form an unusual team and later perform the unsealing of the seven gates.
"Commemoration" (14:01:10 - Yamijima)
Abe hands a present to Akiko, who has come with him to Yamijima for Ryuko, in an honest expression of gratitude. This is one of the scenes that shows Abe's pureness, with no ulterior motives, though the present itself is something he found and picked up on the island... just like Abe. Afterwards, led by the memories slumbering inside her, Akiko leaves Abe.
"Accident" (22:57:33 / Yamijima Gold Mine Plant)
Safely locating a toilet, Abe tosses his cigarette inside after he is finished. Its fire ignites the underground methane gas, continuing in a chain reaction below the surface of the earth... ultimately leading to the collapse of the pylon in the centre of the island. With the collapse of the pylon at the point where the two pylons - in the real and reflected worlds - are joined, Mother loses her chance to escape to the surface.
Soji Abe Q&A
Q: In Sleep Walker, Abe is shown to have quite a lot of antipathy towards Akiko. Why is this?
A: Abe is quite a moody person. In the past he was told something horrible by a fortune-teller (something like "you were a woodlouse in your past life"), making him prejudiced against fortune-tellers... However, despite the fact that he hates fortune-telling, he believes in things like ghosts, showing an inconsistency befitting of Abe...
Q: On the timeline, it says: "A year ago - Meets Ryuko; they begin dating. Abe hardly notices anything strange about Ryuko." How did they first meet?
A: It began when Abe struck up a conversation with Ryuko who, in her despair, was bathing herself in the morning sunlight in an attempt to commit suicide(?). Nothing seems to have been all that strange about Abe's life...
Q: In what kind of way did Abe live?
A: He was quite persistent, trying to get himself part-time work, but nothing lasted all that long, and an average person would see him as depending on Ryuko to provide for him. Abe didn't live this way by choice, however.
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