Few yakuza enforcers have lived to tell the tale of mistakes that ruined lucrative opportunities or beneficial relationships for their families. Even fewer can say their punishment was reviving a mascot agency with a living finger called Pinky, in a town with a yakuza-killing curse no less. But that’s Michi’s predicament from Kaizen Game Works’ Promise Mascot Agency.
In this hilarious and grim open-world game, Michi and Pinky will ride around the cursed town Kaso-Machi recruiting mascots — which include but are not limited to a crying block of tofu, a cat that wants to break into the porn industry, and a version of Raijin, the god of lightning, trying to find his purpose in life — and sending them on jobs offered by the townspeople. The goal is to revitalize the community, make it a go-to tourist destination, and make up for the billions of yen lost by Michi in the game’s introduction.
The story that unravels is many things. It’s a drama about how the new yakuza era is ready to swallow the past. It’s a buddy comedy about the struggles of entrepreneurship. It’s a piece of fiction reminiscent of the more literally titled, equally absurd and sincere Yakuza series. At its heart, what shines throughout almost every moment spent traveling around Kaso-Machi, outside of the durability of Michi’s kei truck, is how a community can and must save itself.
Promise Mascot Agency focuses on the Shimazu family’s top lieutenant and notorious enforcer, “The Janitor”, Michizane. Michi for short. Michi is the kind of yakuza that his family can be proud of. This is clear from the game’s start, as his exile to a cursed, rundown town stems from his decision to fork over 12 billion yen for his oath brother’s life during a rival gang ambush. His stoic, disciplined nature is only further highlighted as you watch him ask every townsperson how he can help.
While Michi has committed his fair share of crimes as Matriarch Smiazu directs him to, such as helping run illegal gambling dens, crashing his truck into a shop that didn’t pay their debts, and bashing the heads in, or worse, there is no question that community care is integral to his code. Indeed, despite the violence he is known for, Michi’s tough exterior disguises a nurturing interior.
He points out that his yakuza family doesn’t collect money from those going through hard times. He is adamant that people are more than their past and that everyone should get another chance at life. He firmly believes those changes must include having a steady job, even if it’s unconventional or illegal.
While he profits from reviving Kaso-Machi’s businesses, Michi takes the route that ensures the community improves. This extends to investing the agency’s funds into bringing back the town’s train station, festival grounds, and water plant. It also extends to non-professional help, like searching for the teacher’s stolen anime DVD collection that got her through lonely times—or finding old arcade game cabinets for the mascot who found comfort in them—or fishing out rusty knives that were thrown into the river by mascot manager Shiori’s heartbroken grandmother.
However, the risk in centering Michi or even Pinky, who had a rough but warm upbringing in Kaso-Machi, in the lesson of community care is that this story did not start with them. They aren’t the only ones changing the tide. While these two are Promise Mascot Agency’s protagonists, the townsfolk are not standing to the side as you accumulate the funds to renovate their businesses. They are right alongside you as Mascot Support Heroes.
When mascots go to an event in Promise Mascot Agency, things can (and often do) go wrong. Mascot Support Heroes try to correct any mishaps. They appear as cards with their own stats, and are used to defeat whatever household appliance, barking dog, or creepy stalker is distressing the mascot.
Some cards can boost their stats by completing their character’s Town Quest, the tasks detailed previously as non-professional help. This method of strengthening also highlights the community care ethos, as these requests are often more personal and don’t share monetary rewards. The Mascot Support Heroes don’t get paid for their services, either. It’s a subtle way to portray that investing time and effort into your town, including with the not-too-small things that make each resident happier and more resilient, will ensure the growth of your avatar’s strength.
A strong example of the spirit behind Mascot Support Heroes is Captain Sign, one of the first you recruit for your business. He is dressed head to toe in signs, advocates for safe streets, and is ready to help anyone in a traffic incident. While the outfit makes him stand out even in a game littered with weird mascots and humans, there is nothing special about him. He’s just a regular person who wants to help his community.
However, despite being one of the few to offer assistance without being asked, that distinction does not reduce the number of residents ready and willing to provide their services. You ask, and they show up.
While many characters express a feeling of defeat regarding their town’s future, they haven’t given up on each other. The people and mascots like Pinky, Shiori, her mother, the mascot Kofun, the night school teacher Ms. Wambui, the hardcore, latex-dressed bartender Mama-san, and more, look out for each other. While they have their quirks and dreams, they survive together.
The residents of Kaso-Machi are deeply aware of the problems plaguing their community, but lack the strength to dig out the root of them. That “root” is the hilariously corrupt Mayor Maeda. Once the catalyst comes along, everyone wants to do their part.
It’s Amazing, the Power in Your Pinky
One of the pleasant surprises of Promise Mascot Agency is that almost every resident your avatar talks to is willing to become a Mascot Support Hero, all while reviving their livelihoods. They understand that the Promise Mascot Agency business may give them a new lease on life and bet on its success. Michi himself is an opportunity handed to the people of Kaso-Machi from one of their own.
Without divulging too much of the depth at which the Shimazu family is wrapped up in the town’s history, understand that there is no Shimazu family without Kaso-Machi. In a twist of crisis-born fate, the Shimazu family uses the values it created in Kaso-Machi to turn a force of delinquent nature into the man who could kickstart the town’s effective rebirth.
It becomes clear in Promise Mascot Agency that its citizens are not incapable; they feel disempowered. They’ve taken a lot of heavy punches under Mayor Maeda. Still, they want better for themselves and their town, a place bursting with history. What they needed wasn’t to wait for their evil mayor to turn a new leaf, it was a spark to contribute to their revitalization. Once these residents find themselves in a place of support, you’d be hard pressed to find someone unwilling to give it. Considering the rate at which your Mascots will run into an incident, the Promise Mascot Agency may not have survived long without the residents’ help, including from some animals that aren’t even Mascots.
It’s a meaningful lesson in how a community can take matters into its own hands. Outside help plays a part and was necessary in Kaso-Machi’s case, but the power for change is already within the people. It took an indebted, renowned yakuza lieutenant and a quick-tempered but reliable pinky finger to reignite people’s lives.
In a world becoming more tumultuous by the day, this game is a lesson many may benefit from internalizing. There are several instances in the real world of people rallying together to save parts of a community. Promise Mascot Agency reminds us how influential that power can be. For gamers, it could be a catalyst for change.