BIO HAZARD DRAMA ALBUM~the fate of Raccoon City~ (運命のラクーンシティ Unmei no rakunshiti) is a drama album released in 1998. It was written by the Flagship members Noboru Sugimura; Shōzō Uehara; Junichi Miyashita; Susumu Takaku and Hirohisa Soda.
Plot
First Night-Omen of tragedy
- Japanese name
- Dai ichi-yo 'Sangeki no kizashi' (第一夜「惨劇の兆し」)
- Track length
- 09:21
- Seventeen-year old Raccoon City High School student Jane and her forty-year old mother Anita go trekking in foggy the Arklay Mountains, though Jane's father, Nick could not come. Jane is tired, but brushes-off suggestions that her job is too exhausting as being from a hangover. Anita switches the subject to the various herbs living in the mountains, noting that they are perennial herbs of the Apiaceae/Umbelliferae family (shared with celery and carrots) and are good for the body. They pick some herbs to use as a salad back home. The wind begins to pick up as rain begins to fall; the two women head back to their car. Jane is scared by sudden lightning, and soon realises that in their carefree trekking she cannot remember where the road is. Anita spies a building in the distance, suggesting the two shelter there until the storm passes.
- The two women enter a mansion. While Anita tries drying herself off, Jane looks around. With broken doors and windows, she correctly guesses this was the site of the infamous Mansion Incident she heard about, which took place the previous month. Moving further into the ruined building, Jane steps over glass; seeing evidence of an explosion, she is now certain. Her mother has no idea what Jane is talking about. Walking into the dining hall, Jane notes a big clock and fireplace; Anita meanwhile stays in the entrance hall. Jane explains that the Raccoon City Police Department's S.T.A.R.S special forces unit suffered significant casualties in this very mansion after being attacked by some sort of monster. Anita declares it to be mere gossip, but Jane continues, describing how S.T.A.R.S. found it to house an Umbrella laboratory being used for unusual research, and how surviving members Chris and Jill have mysteriously disappeared. Anita brings up that many people in town are employed by Umbrella in some way, not appreciating the suggestions Jane is making; Nick himself is a delivery driver for Umbrella goods.
- A broken window finally comes crashing to the floor in the dining hall, terrifying Jane after her talk of monsters. The storm goes away, lightning replaced by the sound of crickets and distant dog howls. Getting dark fast, Anita suggests heading back immediately. It is now that Jane hears a dog walking around. Nervous, she insists on sticking with her mother. The two women begin running for the road, prompting the dog to leap through the broken window. The dog makes its way to Anita, who orders Jane to leave her and run for the car; another three dogs jump through the window to see she doesn't escape. Jane takes off as fast as she can. Jane grows tired from running after some time, but falls down a slope just before a Cerberus can catch her. She desperately calls out for her mother; Anita screams in the distance, soon covered by howling.
- One month later, Jane and her classmate Jim meet at a restaurant. While eating burgers and coffee, it is revealed that when the police arrived on the scene, all they could find was Anita's jacket, leading to the conclusion she was attacked by jackals. Jim is confused by the recent animal attack, since the police has clearly done nothing after the S.T.A.R.S. survivors reported their findings after the Mansion Incident.
- Jim drives Jane back to her house. She enters the building to find her father Nick asleep on the sofa while a quiz show is airing on the television; he has become an alcoholic while dealing with the loss of his wife. Jane turns off the television, noticing empty liquor bottles rolling on the floor. Caring for him, Jane wakes her father up and urges him to go upstairs to bed, and shoulders him when he has trouble standing up. At nine o'clock, Jane finishes doing the dishes; hearing a noise at the kitchen door, she asks if anyone is outside. An angry dog interrupts the wind and barks at her; still shaken from the previous month, she screams. Hearing a dog whistle, she finds it is Samson, her neighbor Norman's shepherd. Norman runs over to collect his dog, who is now busy sniffing Jane. Jane closes the door as the two leave, clearly relieved.
First Night-Invitation to a mansion
- Japanese name
- Dai ichi-yo 'Yōkan ga maneku' (第一夜「洋館が招く」)
- Track length
- 06:28
- The bell rings at Raccoon City High School, indicating the end of class. Jane and Jim head out into the hall. They discuss the dog and how it was acting similar to the dogs which attacked Jane's mother. Two students ("Schoolboy A" and "Schoolboy B") approach to tease them. The first brings up Jane's missing mother, and how she must have been attacked by a zombie at the mansion, referencing the rumours of S.T.A.R.S. suffering casualties due to monsters. The boys joke about how Anita is probably a zombie, now. Jim has had enough and hits the first student, then forcing him up against a locker. The boy then teases him for defending Jane; Jim is angered by the suggestion that he is in love with her, causing Jane to leave.
- Jane runs out of school, almost being hit by a car. Jim runs after her, trying to calm her down, that her mother might not be dead. Jane describes the attacking dogs as being like jackals, with their insides showing and an angry look in their eyes; clearly not "normal". Jim offers to go to the derelict mansion to investigate. To protect himself from the monsters, he reveals that he has been hiding his father's handgun on his person.
- The two head off into the mountains. The eerie sounds are made worse by the encroaching darkness. Jim spies the ruins first, and the two head close, stepping on shards of glass. Jim asks Jane for more insight into the night she and Anita were attacked, but Jane cannot recall due to it being dark at the time. Jim collapses into the basement. He assures Jane that there is a ladder nearby and that he can come up once he's finished looking around. Jane tells him to go up the ladder right now, but he fails to reply. She hears Jim scream out, followed by gunfire. Jim rushes up the ladder, gasping for breath. He explains that he saw something underground which disturbed him; he could work out what it was, but fired anyway. Jim then admits that it was just a prank; there's no zombies around and they should just head home. As the two head out, Jim stops, hearing a growling sound. With an actual zombie moving towards them, the two run back to Jim's car.
- They get to Jim's car, but its engine fails to turn over and they are left stranded. A zombie walks in front of the two; they are terrified by its peeling skin in some parts, and exposed skeleton in others. As more zombies flock around, Jim is close to giving up on the car as more approach. He shoots a nearby zombie once, but is now out of bullets. Jim sees Anita as they drive off, not realising that she is also a zombie.
Second Night-A corpse in the ceiling
- Japanese name
- Dai ni-yo 'Tenjō no shitai' (第弐夜「天井の屍体」)
- Track length
- 07:28
- Jane and Jim return from the woods. Outside Jane's house, Nick is waiting for her. Inside, the two explain what happened in their trip. Nick cannot understand why Anita would be in Raccoon Forest, but has Jim apologise for taking Jane out to the woods - believed to be dangerous - and saying he saw her mother. Jim leaves Jane to go home.
- The following afternoon, the streets are rife with rumours about the mysterious mansion and its ties to Umbrella; Jane and Jim's story has been added to the rumours, which are still regarded by many as a series of hoaxes. Later on, Nick goes drinking at a bar. The bartender, Dan, is willing to serve him, but is concerned that he's drinking too much. Nick explains that he needs to drink to forget. The chief of Nick's delivery firm comes over, raising his concerns about the Jane rumour. He brings up that since Umbrella employs half the people in town - including Nick's firm - it could damage the town's economy should it continue. To encourage him to keep his daughter quiet, the chief informs him that the Umbrella leadership has already heard the rumours, adding pressure on Nick to put at stop to it soon.
- Nick returns home to warn Jane. Finding that she is gone, the drunken man collapses back onto the sofa. Jane and Jim drive in front of the house. The two run into the house and wake Nick up, demanding he come with them because something has happened. Jim takes them to Norman's house, where they find the body of his dog, Samson, whose neck has been torn out and the belly ripped open. Jane adds that Norman had mentioned to her earlier about something strange happening in the neighborhood. A nervous Nick rings the doorbell to get Norman's attention; nobody answers. He asks Jim to get him his shotgun and flashlight, which he had stored in his car.
- Nick, Jim and Jane enter the house. It is absent of sound with the exception of a clock. Jim tries to turn the lights on, finding that the power is out. In the dark, Nick stumbles into a chair, scaring Jane. Jim points out that a window has been broken with considerable force. Jane begins to smell rotten meat, but the three find nothing so far. Nick has Jane check the back room, while he and Jim search upstairs. They find another broken window, but not much else out of the ordinary. As they are about to call and end to the search, Jim hears a dripping sound. Looking closer, Nick identifies it as blood. Looking up, he sees a giant spider, two meters in size. It drops Norman's body on the floor. Realising its intention is now to kill him Nick takes out the spider with his shotgun. The two hear Jane scream downstairs and head back down. Jane is surrounded by a murder of infected crows, which Nick takes care of. When the giant spider returns, the three run out to the car and speed off.
Second Night-Reviving the dead
- Japanese name
- Dai ni-yo 'Shiryō no fukkatsu' (第弐夜「死霊の復活」)
- Track length
- 05:41
- Later that night, a police cruiser turns up as confused neighbors watch on. Nick leads the two officers (Policemen "A" and "B") into the house, but they find no sign of the animals or Norman's body. Policeman "B" asks Nick if he has been drinking, suspecting he dreamt about monsters and woke up confused. Policeman "A" points out that while there are bloodstains, there is no sign of any body; "B" jokes that the body must have gone for a walk in the thirty minutes the house was unoccupied. A woman on the police radio calls in for car 3; Policeman "A" heads out to answer it. The woman brings up a new report that a man matching Norman's description has been sighted at the sawmill (製材所) four kilometers to the west of Raccoon City only ten minutes ago. Policeman "A" informs Nick of the good news, and goes on that the townspeople are still feeling anxious due to all the attacks on people and livestock; should Nick want to keep his job, he should probably not scare people so much by making these false reports.
- Nick announces Norman's sudden recovery to Jim and Jane. They are hesitant to believe him, and Jane finds it strange that the police care more about keeping people quiet than actually investigating disappearances. This leads to an argument between the two, with Jane questioning Nick's willingness to ignore the lack of progress with his wife's disappearance. Nick ends up hitting Jane before driving off. Driving home, Nick becomes emotional at having realised what he has just done. Questioning his own belief in Norman, he decides to drive to the sawmill to find out for himself.
- Arriving at the forest outskirts, Nick gets out of the car to explore the sawmill. In it he finds Norman alive, though with a deformed face. He recognises the man as a zombie, and tries to escape. As another zombie approaches outside, Nick runs into the nearby river, intent on swimming to the other side. He hears the groaning of an approaching female zombie, who he recognises as Anita.
Third Night-The epidemic spreads like a flood
- Japanese name
- Dai san-yo 'Ekibyō no hanran' (第参夜「疫病の氾濫」)
- Track length
- 08:27
- In the morning, Nick talks to Jane about what happened at the sawmill the previous night. He confirms to her that Norman really did transform into a zombie after the giant spider attack, and that other people declared missing over the past month also zombified and are roaming at the sawmill. Jane wonders if he has more to say, but he refuses to tell her about Anita. A strange noise interrupts their talk; a chewing sound coming from the upstairs bathroom. Nick gets his shotgun to investigate; Jane opens the door and a dozen rats rush out. Jim arrives outside in his car immediately after. Rushing out to see him, the two are forced to drag him to the sofa when he collapses from fever. Itching all over and requiring cream, Jim explains that he was supposed to pick up his father, Arklay Dam manager Mr. Marker, from work after a maintenance assessment, but fell ill along the way. Nick decides to go out and pick up Mr. Marker himself, leaving Jane with Jim.
- Driving up into the mountains, Nick turns on the radio as a news report comes in - the Raccoon City Health Bureau is assuring people that the boom in the city's rat population is just the result of a natural change in environment and they have nothing to worry about. Nick is made uncomfortable by the news report and switches the radio off. He is forced to stop the car when he sees a black lake float across the road up front; under closer inspection they are thousands of black rats migrating around the mountains.
- Nick arrives at the Arklay Dam to find the reception office abandoned. Moving downstairs into the basement, he sees a zombie ripping someone's neck out against the machinery. As other zombies approach, Nick escapes into another room and gives up on finding anyone alive. At this point he hears gunfire in the distance and finds that Mr. Marker is indeed alive though injured, having by chance armed himself this day. Mr. Marker explains to Nick what happened - during maintenance, the rats interfered with the water systems, and a dam employee was infected by a pathogen. After collapsing, he then bit a colleague who came to help, spreading the virus around the building. Mr. Marker explains the 'rules' to Nick - people turn into zombies if they are bitten or drink infested water, and itching and rotting skin is a symptom of infection.
- As Jim's condition gets worse, Nick becomes concerned for Jane's wellbeing and desperately looks for a phone to warn her. Mr. Marker gives the bad news: firstly, the phones went down in the zombie attack, so Nick will little time to save Jane, and Marker himself will soon transform due to his injury. Upset that his cognitive skills are deteriorating, Marker tells Nick to go back to the city and warn the people about the rats and water before it's too late. Marker then jumps out of a window to his death at the bottom of the dam.
Third Night-A change of tone!
- Japanese name
- Dai san-yo 'Henchō！' (第参夜「変調！」)
- Track length
- 05:37
Jim's condition deteriorates more as Nick races on. He is forced to stop his car when someone appears on the road, but manages to hit the man. Going out to check if he is ok, the man gets up. Nick realises he is a zombie and hurries back to the car. Now the damn staff are migrating to the city, he has something else to warn people about.
Back at Jane's house, Jim is no longer able to speak coherently, groaning "itch-itchy...want...meat" ("かゆ...かゆい...ほし...にく") as his skin begins to peal off. Nick arrives at the house, runs in and demands Jim answer whether or not he drank water this morning. Confirming that he did, Nick tells Jane he is putting him in the basement, and is soon after forced to admit that Jim will soon transform into a zombie. The two help him down the stairs; they lock the basement for added safety. Nick tells her he has to go back out to warn the townspeople; she is to stay safely indoors, since the zombies will go through their neighborhood first.
Nick drives into the city centre to look for Mr. Wight. The man is confused by Nick being covered in blood, as he talks about how no one should drink tap water due to the zombies. Wight refuses to believe him after hearing the rumours about the mountain, and slams the door on him. Nick goes next door to his friend Robert's house, but there is no reply. At the Robinsons' house, there is also no reply. Nick cannot understand why no one is coming to the door, but gives up when he sees a murder of crows fly by, suspecting they are infected.
Driving around in his car, Nick puts the radio back on for any updates. The radio announcer ("Announcer B") is in a phone-in programme where it talks to members of the public, in this case asking a baker - Kingsley - how he spends his Sundays (implying this may be September 13 or 20). The man seems fine, responding that he is spending his day drinking beer and watching the Football game while his wife and daughter go out for a picnic in the Arklay Mountains, which he hears has been de-restricted. Nick turns off the radio again in disgust at the idiocy. It is now that he notices the zombies clustering around his neighborhood, heading towards his house. Nick shouts out to warn Jane as zombified animals continue to the house.
Fourth Night-Struggle to the death
- Japanese name
- Dai shi-yo 'Shitō' (第四夜「死闘」)
- Track length
- 12:34
Jane and Nick look out the living room window as their house is besieged by more and more zombies; their car is now cut off, forcing them to stay. As they force against the building, a window is broken and Nick is forced to fire back. Nick suggests blocking the window with a table. His attention is soon drawn to the zombies' banging at the door. As he moves furniture to block the door, Nick tells Jane to ring the police, but the connection is cut. Nick comes back to the living room to warn Jane of ten animal zombies moving outside, and loads his shotgun to prepare for them. After Nick fires some thirty shots in the assault, he gives up hope on the police coming to rescue them since they are just too far away. Believing their situation to be hopeless, Nick considers telling Jane about Anita, but refuses to say. Anita asks if he meant that her mother is a zombie.
Another window is broken, and zombies try to enter. Nick fights them back, but feels it is right to make amends with his daughter, since their relationship had been weak due to his alcoholism. He tells her his life story, relating to his old job at a Detroit auto works which his father was the foreman of.
Despite Union complaints of the factory being unsafe, Nick's father refused to repair it owing to fears of a recession. Eventually, a fire occurred due to a fault in the electrical cables. The fire worsened, and an explosion happened. As the factory was being evacuated, Nick was surrounded by trapped men pleading for help from under machinery, but he ran out of fear. Nick's father was fired by the corporation for his negligence and was unable to get another job in the city; Nick himself left when he could no longer take the stares (perceived or otherwise) of the townsfolk. This, he describes, is the source of his alcoholism.
Jane hears a sound coming from the basement and leaves Nick to check it out; Nick, expecting Jim to have transformed into a zombie, objects but is ignored. Heading downstairs, Jane hears Jim call for her, complaining about the heat. Nick heads downstairs hoping to keep the two apart. A sobbing Jim expects himself to transform, having guessed when he found half of his face had rotten. He asks Nick to kill him, believing Jane to be unable to do the job. Nick points out that he only has one bullet left in his handgun, and so cannot guarantee that one gunshot would prevent zombification should it hit anywhere other than the head. Jane runs upstairs in tears as Jim is finally shot.
Back in the living room, another wave of creatures attack, with a dog jumping through the window, which Nick beats. The zombies break down the door; after they are dealt with, Jane tries to hold it up. Eventually, it becomes too much work and Nick calls for them to move upstairs. Heading into a bedroom, they barricade the door back to the landing with another table. A zombie breaks the door, and Jane finds a chair to add to the table. As more zombies come upstairs, Nick recognises Anita among them. In the fight, he is bitten by her, but forces her back to a wall. Crows smash through the windows; after their defeat the house returns to silence.
Falling to the floor and finding himself short of breath, Nick has Jane collect a petrol tank - he intends to kill the remaining zombies in a house fire as Jane escapes, preventing himself from attacking her as a zombie. Getting back up when the zombies return, he shoots down two to give his daughter a clear route. Anita walks out to the landing to attack Nick; he finds it a fitting end that the two should die together as the second floor is destroyed in the blaze.
Fourth Night-Warning...
- Japanese name
- Dai shi-yo 'Keikoku…' (第四夜「警告…」)
- Track length
- 02:58
- Soon, a number of cars drive past and townspeople look on as the house is destroyed without intervening efforts of the Raccoon Fire Department. Jane towards the door as they give up hope. She fails to get out of the house in time as her father screams out her mother's name, and the house collapses on top of the three. Later on, the firefighters and the Raccoon Police Department release details of the event, state that Nick must have drunkenly dropped a cigarette. The concerned neighbours then begin to complain of an itching and hot feeling.
Production
Cast
| Cast | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Actor | Notes | |
| Jane (ジェーン Jēn) | Rumi Kasahara (笠原 留美) | A student at Raccoon City High School. 17 years old. | |
| Jim (ジム Jimu) | Kenji Nojima (野島 健児) | Jane's classmate. 17 years old. | |
| Nick (ニック Nikku) | Tetsuo Sakaguchi (坂口 哲夫) | Jane's father. 45 years old. | |
| Anita (アニタ Anita) | Akiko Sekine (関根 明子) | Jane's mother. 40 years old. | |
| Norman (ノーマン Nōman) | Osamu Saka (阪 脩) | Jane's neighbor. 55 years old. | |
| Wight (ホワイト Howaito) | Ryōichi Tanaka (田中 亮一) | ||
| Schoolboy A (男子生徒A Danshi seito A) | Masaya Takatsuka (高塚 正也) | ||
| Schoolboy B (男子生徒B Danshi seito B) | Kazuhiko Watanabe (渡辺 和彦) | ||
| Announcer's voice (アナウンサーの声 Anaunsā no koe) | Kazuhiko Watanabe (渡辺 和彦) | ||
| Driver (運転手 Untenshu) | Tomohisa Asō (麻生 智久) | ||
| 主任風 | Yasunori Masutani (増谷 康紀) | ||
| Bartender (バーテン Bāten) | Tomohisa Asō (麻生 智久) | ||
| Police officer A (警官A Keikan A) | Yasunori Masutani (増谷 康紀) | ||
| Police officer B (警官B Keikan B) | Shōgo Sakamoto (坂本 正吾) | ||
| Voice on the radio (woman) (無線の声（女） Musen no koe (on'na)) | Rika Komatsu (小松 里賀) | ||
| Announcer A (アナA) | Chie Ishibashi (石橋 千恵) | ||
| Announcer B (アナB) | Eriko Fujimaki (藤巻 恵理子) | ||
| Fireman (消防署男 Shōbōsho otoko) | Tomohisa Asō (麻生 智久) | ||
| Man's voice (男の声 Otoko no koe) | Yasunori Masutani (増谷 康紀) | ||
| Man A (男A Otoko A) | Masaya Takatsuka (高塚 正也) (The Second Night) | ||
| Man A (男A Otoko A) | Kazuhiko Watanabe (渡辺 和彦) (The Fourth Night) | ||
| Man B (男B Otoko B) | Masaya Takatsuka (高塚 正也) | ||
| Man C (男C Otoko C) | Shōgo Sakamoto (坂本 正吾) | ||
| Woman A (女A On'na A) | Chie Ishibashi (石橋 千恵) (The Second Night) | ||
| Woman A (女A On'na A) | Rika Komatsu (小松 里賀) (The Fourth Night) | ||
| Woman B (女B On'na B) | Eriko Fujimaki (藤巻 恵理子) | ||
Gallery
Sources
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