Ōkamiden



Okamiden: Chiisaki Taiyou ("Okami Chronicles: Tiny Sun") is the sequel to the hit action-adventure game Okami.

Nine months after the events of Okami, dark clouds, demons, and cursed zones mysteriously return to the land of Nippon. Issun, trying to perform his duties as a Celestial Envoy, is rescued from the returned imps by a puppy named Chibiterasu, whom he takes to see Sakuya. Chibi has some of Amaterasu's powers, being her son, but he is weaker than the protagonist of the last game, since he's still very young. Chibiterasu teams up with various partners, starting with Kuni (son of the original game's Susano and Kushi) to fight the returned evil.

The theme of returning life to the world also returns, but Okamiden is definitely more character-driven than Okami and its focus on interweaving the many elements of Japanese Mythology.

The game is on the Nintendo DS. Gameplay is very similar to the original game, with the Celestial Brush adapted to the DS's touchscreen. A new addition is partners, who fight alongside you in battle and can be controlled with the Guidance brush technique.


 * Aerith and Bob: Most of the characters have Japanese names. Then there's Charity, who is never mentioned to be foreign and looks like any other young Japanese woman in the game.
 * And then there's Grimm.
 * All Your Powers Combined / Elemental Powers: Chibi gains the powers of all of the following Brush Gods:
 * Amaterasu (Sunrise) - Cue the Sun
 * Bakugami (Cherry Bomb) - Throw Down the Bomblet
 * Gekigami (Thunderstorm) - Shock and Awe
 * Kazegami (Galestorm) - Blow You Away
 * Kyokugami (Magnetism) - Selective Magnetism
 * Michigami (Guidance) - Escort Mission
 * Moegami (Inferno) - Playing With Fire
 * Nuregami (Waterspout) - Making a Splash
 * Sakigami (Bloom) - Green Thumb
 * Tachigami (Power Slash) - Absurdly Sharp Blade
 * Tsutagami (Vine) - Vine Swing
 * Yomigami (Rejuvenation) - Magic Tool
 * Anachronism Stew: There are near-modern excavation machines in feudal Nippon. And then there's the Moon Tribe and the ancient ruins, which have futuristic Raygun Gothic technology.
 * And Your Reward Is Clothes: Just like in Okami, New Game Plus nets you various "spells" that change Chibiterasu's appearance, including.
 * Anime Theme Song: Kie Kitano's "Hanataba" used in its commercial.
 * Art Initiates Life:
 * Chibi's Bloom and Vine powers, which revive and create plants.
 * Shikibu's talent, which apparently brings her fictional characters to life. She can erase them with a few brushstrokes, as well.
 * Babies Ever After: This is how the game starts. Pretty much every main character from the previous game has had a kid in the last nine months.
 * Badass Adorable: Chibiterasu
 * Bag of Spilling: Ammy never taught her son how to use anything but a reflector and his brush power (that Issun has to tell you about). Then you learn that he can't regenerate ink over time, has a time limit in the (un-rotatable) brush screen, and has no wall jump. Chibi also can't swim and lacks the ability to equip a sub-weapon. Say goodbye to spamming devout beads and reflecting attacks.
 * Balance Between Good and Evil: Said to have been upset by Amaterasu's defeat of Yami, which caused the creation/birth of the little gods in response.
 * Bare Your Midriff: Nanami and Charity. Genji makes a rare male example.
 * Big Badass Wolf: Shiranui and Amaterasu. Chibi is a little badass wolf-in-training.
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Bishonen: Genji, Sugawara, and Waka.
 * BFS:
 * Kuni's sword is bigger than he is!
 * Tachigami's sword was already a BFS in the original, but it's even more so compared to his offspring; it's even Lampshaded by the difficult time Tachigami's triplets have moving it.
 * Likewise, Chibi's sword Divine Instruments are as long as he is, although they are wielded magically without touching them, so their size isn't a factor for using them.
 * Bittersweet Ending:.
 * Blind Idiot Translation: The English version is full of typos and grammatical errors, and is occasionally not consistent with the translations used in the first game. (Vengeance Slips became Revenge Slips, for instance.)
 * Blood Bath: Akuro plans on bathing the vessel he wishes to possess in Orochi's blood, which the player must prevent from happening.
 * Booze Based Buff: Sake returns to boost your offensive and defensive capabilities. How old is Chibi again?
 * Boss Rush: Near the end, not unlike the original.
 * A Boy and His X: More like "A Wolf-Dog and His Boys (and Girls)," really.
 * Bridge Logic: In the Hana Valley and the Ice Cave.
 * Broken Bridge: Oh, so very many, including some that are Callbacks to the original game, such as Susano placing a rock across the entrance to Kamiki Village.
 * But Thou Must: Kuni will keep prodding you to give the medicine to the injured crane by the entrance to Agata Forest until you agree.
 * Camera Screw: Since you have no direct control over the camera in combat, it's perfectly possible to end up in situations where you're blindsided by enemies or have a hard time getting what you want on camera to use a brush technique on it.
 * The Cavalry:
 * Call a Hit Point A Smeerp: Solar Discs and Ink return to serve the function of Hit Points and Magic Points, respectively.
 * Call Back: Many. See Broken Bridge for one. You also get to create a drying rod and draw the sun closer for Mrs. Orange, just like in the first game. One must wonder how she gets laundry done without a god around.
 * Cel Shading
 * Chain of Deals: From the Imps in the Moon Cave.
 * Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: switches from her normal clothes to  apparently instantaneously. In front of a giant monster, no less.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Nagi's armor.
 * Cherry Blossoms: A common motif.
 * Chiaroscuro
 * Cloning Blues: Needless to say, he's not happy about it.
 * Colossus Climb: The Daidarabotchi, although the boss fight at the top is against King Fury while Kurow tries to deactivate the giant mecha.
 * Continuity Nod: Several, since you're mostly covering the same areas that Amaterasu did in the first game. Memorably, the fashion designer in Sei-an refuses to let you aid him in coming up with designs, since a "lucky" white dog once inspired him to do it on his own.
 * Continuity Snarl:
 * Cut and Paste Environments: Most of the environments in the game are borrowed over from Okami.
 * Cuteness Proximity: Sakuya completely melts when she sees Chibi before Issun reminds her who she's talking to.
 * Dem Bones:
 * The Gashadokuro enemies, which come in two flavors: normal, and armored.
 * There's also a skeletal horse enemy, which can armor itself in fire, ice, or lightning.
 * Demon Slaying: Chibi's mission.
 * Destructible Armor: Gashadokuro and its armored counterpart. The armor breaks off under sustained attacks, leaving their weak point exposed.
 * Deus Ex Machina: Chibi being an actual Deus kind of justifies it though.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: If you try to do something where the game prompts you to use your Celestial Brush while ink-less (bar summoning a brush god), your partner comments on your missing markings.
 * During the Boss Rush, you can use Galestorm to counter tornadoes created by one of the bosses to send them away, but during the original battle earlier in the game Galestorm wasn't even available to the player yet.
 * There's a ghost named Raiden in Sei-an City. You can only see him if you have Kagu as your partner. If you go up to that spot with any other partner and press A, he'll yell at you and say he only talks to people who can see him.
 * Dinosaur Popsicle: And quite naturally, it thaws out just after you grab a certain MacGuffin.
 * Dog Popsicle:  and it's up to Chibi to defrost him.
 * Disc One Final Boss:
 * Disc One Final Dungeon:
 * Discontinuity Nod: In Okami, gathering up all 100 stray beads nets an artifact that grants invincibility, infinite ink, and 10x damage for your New Game Plus. In Okamiden, they're nothing more than rather cheap antiques. When you get scammed into buying one for 10,000 yen, your partner comments on how worthless it is.
 * Doomed By Canon:
 * Shiranui. Even though we knew about it even in the first game.
 * The Goryeo, a.k.a.
 * Dub Name Change: As with the previous game, there are a few of these. Some, like Kagura becoming 'Kagu', may have been to distinguish her from the similar-sounding Kaguya.
 * Escort Mission: Sometimes, you have to let your partner off and guide them with the Guidance Brush. Some of the extended sequences of this can turn into mini Escort Missions.
 * Hair Decorations:
 * Nanami uses her Wet and Dry Jewels as hair decorations after she retrieves them. They make her even more adorable, if that's possible.
 * Kagu has floral-themed hair decs on and hanging from her bun.
 * Everything's Better With Dinosaurs: As a boss, no less!
 * Evil Knockoff / Mirror Boss:
 * Exposition Fairy: Issun for the prologue, and whoever your partner is at the moment for the rest of the game.
 * During any point where you don't currently have a partner, all you get when attempting to examine the scenery is a whimper and a question-mark above Chibiterasu's head.
 * Feed It a Bomb: The Demon Nut enemy can be dispatched by using Bloom to open its mouth when stunned, then planting a Cherry Bomb in it.
 * Finishing Move: If you use the proper brush technique on an enemy during its dying animation (with a possible additional technique during the battle), they'll drop Demon parts, which can be used to upgrade your weapons.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: The divine instrument you get for New Game Plus, the Providence Crystal, can launch attacks of these elements.
 * Also, the 3-faced top enemy can be any one of these, as can the death beast.
 * First Town: Yakushi Village, which can be grown through a sidequest to find more residents.
 * Fixed Camera
 * Floating Continent: The Thundercloud. Although it's technically a cloud, it is solid underfoot and has an entire village of Little Bit Beastly people living on it.
 * Flying Saucer: Issun finds a picture of one in the Ruins.
 * Foreshadowing: Chibi gets various nicknames from his partners over the course of the game. One of them is an offensive term for a dog.
 * Fur Bikini: The female NPCs living on Thundercloud wear tiger fur bikinis. The men wear a toga-like garment made from tiger fur.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: You can't stand on top of upside-down Konohana flowers... except in cutscenes, it seems.
 * Gameplay Grading: Like the original, battles are ranked on time and damage taken, on a scale of "cherry seed" to "cherry blossom", and your score multiplies your winnings.
 * Also like the original, after the credits roll you are given an overall completion grade based on # of deaths, Praise collected, and so on. Your rank determines how many bonuses you get for your New Game Plus.
 * Generation Xerox:
 * Amaterasu to Shiranui, maybe. See Retcon.
 * Chibi to Amaterasu and, by extension, Shiranui.
 * All of the villagers in Kamiki Village
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: A minor case. In a game meant for kids (probably), Kurow says "Hella" at one point. An NPC even says Hell in the village you find Kagu!
 * Giant Mecha: The Daidarabotchi.
 * Giant Mook: The Gashadokuro. Crosses over with Heavily Armored Mook for the Armored Dokuro.
 * Gods Need Prayer Badly: Praise Points return as a mechanic.
 * Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress:
 * Chibi and Kurow don't fall immediately after being transported many feet above the ocean, instead waiting for Gravitational Cognizance to set in.
 * This also occurs every time Chibi steps out onto a bridge that can't bear his weight. The bridge falls, Chibi wiggles his feet and looks shocked, and then he falls.
 * Hair of Gold: Sugawara, Waka, and Kurow. It's a trait of the Moon Tribe.
 * Hammerspace: Chibi's weapons are nowhere to be seen until he attacks if he has a partner on his back. Kagu and Kurow also seem to hide their weapons somewhere when not in use.
 * Harmless Freezing: Ice enemies and their attacks.
 * Hellish Horse: The Fire Beast enemy, who is said to burn with hellfire.
 * Henohenomoheji: Distant NPCs have the henohenomoheji face in their thought bubbles.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Shiranui, again. Also
 * Kill Us Both How  does it.
 * Hyperspace Arsenal: Chibi can carry all of his weapons, consumable items, treasures, scrolls, etc....in his inventory, despite not having pockets.
 * I Have No Son:
 * Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: You can either play on Greenhorn or Old Hand difficulty.
 * Improbable Weapon User:
 * Chibi can basically slay demons with mirrors and holy beads. Not by reflecting holy light or anything, just by whacking them senseless. In a New Game Plus, you can get a pair of crystals that shoot energy... circle... things.
 * Kagu attacks with fans.
 * Kurow attacks with musical notes from his flute.
 * Incredible Shrinking Wolf Pup: The Lucky Mallet makes a return, complete with an explanation for why it was on the cargo ship in Okami.
 * Inevitable Tournament: Twice. First in the Demon Market and then again later in the Moon Cave.
 * Inexplicable Treasure Chests
 * I Have Many Names: Each of Chibi's companions gives him a nickname. None of them are flattering.
 * Instrument of Murder:
 * King Fury's lute has an energy sword hidden inside.
 * Invisible Wall: Unlike in Okami it's impossible to fall off cliffs or jump into deep water. You also can't step into large cursed zones as a once invisible wall appears.
 * Irrelevant Sidequest: At least one for every area.
 * Jaw Drop: Chibi's reaction to each horrible nickname.
 * Jumped At the Call: Issun, in contrast to his earlier refusal. Of course, this time he can't go along because of his previous calling as Ammy's Celestial Envoy.
 * Kids Are Cruel
 * King Incognito: Your first quest is the retrieve a hand mirror for a little girl
 * Leitmotif: Oh yes. Each main character has their own theme tune, and some of the lesser characters do as well - such as Susano.
 * Lighter and Softer: Being about a puppy and its E10 rating (As opposed to Okami's T rating), the game seems like this at first.
 * The game also inverts Hotter and Sexier. The best example is Sakuya: While she retains her massive bust, she is now wearing a full kimono with no hole cut out of the back to show off her butt cleavage.
 * Load-Bearing Boss: The Giant Catfish, Justified by a Taking You With Me gambit.
 * Long Haired Pretty Boy: Sugawara and Waka.
 * Lost Forever: Several locations (and everything in them) become inaccessible after certain events in the story.
 * Magical Defibrillator: Chibi and Kagu(ra) find a man passed out in the street. After they unsuccessfully try to find a doctor, the nearby Raiden (who is a lightning ghost) advises them to use his power. They give him a good shock of electricity which miraculously cures the man without leaving a bruise or burn.
 * Matriarchy: It seems Sei-an city must be ruled by a Miko, who by definition must be female.
 * Miko: Miko Cho and, later,.
 * Minecart Madness: Although it's a pushcart rather than a rail cart, the narrow passages and obstacles to dodge (or destroy) make it very much an example in spirit.
 * Monster Compendium: Much like the original game, you have a Creatures scroll that documents enemies faced. It even includes entries for a few characters you don't explicitly battle.
 * Monster Sob Story: When Kagu finds out the story behind Sen and Ryo, she says she almost feels sorry for them.
 * New Game Plus: Your money, maximum HP (and ink pots), and assorted Scrolls carry over to a new game. You can even unlock additional appearances for Chibi and an exclusive weapon.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
 * No Body Left Behind: As in the original game, defeated enemies turn into flowers. Presumably the justification is also the same.
 * No Mouth: Every human and Poncle character and some of the monsters. It kinda explains why the "voice acting" sounds like it does.
 * Now Where Was I Going Again: Averted, the Journal keeps track of major things you should remember.
 * Noob Cave: The Cave of Nagi functions as this, featuring many tutorial puzzles and obstacles.
 * Offscreen Teleportation/Took a Shortcut: Everyone you send to Yashiro Village pulls this. Even later in the game when you can teleport between Celestial Mirrors they can still beat you there from halfway across the country.
 * Orochi: Naturally. He plays a surprisingly large role in this game, despite being dead for nine months.
 * Panacea: The goal of one subplot is to make a perfect medicine in order to cure a terminally ill girl.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall
 * The brush techniques, both literally and trope-wise.
 * During the Genji Chase part, one room has him fly all over when you find him before he flies right in front of the screen and looks at the player before he flies off to the next room.
 * And at the very end of the credits, Chibi turns and play-bows to the screen. It's adorable, like pretty much everything else he does.
 * Panthera Awesome: Gekigami, the brush god of thunder - a huge tiger wielding a bow and lightning bolts. His kids, on the other hand, fall under Cute Kitten.
 * Paper-Thin Disguise: As in the first game, placing a painted mask over your face makes the demons believe you're one of them. Then again, imps and faeries aren't too bright. In even more fairness, they wear similar masks themselves.
 * Personal Raincloud: A character's reaction to something that leaves them really nonplussed, like Chibi's many strange nicknames.
 * Plot Tailored to The Party: Each area of the final dungeon is tailored to the abilities of the partner you have for that area.
 * Point of No Return: After you enter the Moon Cave, and even though you have multiple hours of playing and cutscenes left, you will no longer be able to warp back and forth.
 * Preexisting Encounters: Demon Scrolls wandering around in outdoor locations, and certain areas have ominous kanji eminating from them, which do the same thing.
 * Previous Player Character Cameo
 * The Prima Donna: Kagu. To a lesser extent, Sen and Ryo.
 * Public Domain Artifact: Like his mother, Chibi's weapons are based on the Treasures of Amaterasu.
 * Punny Name: Rampant. Many are holdovers from the original, but there's a few more to boot, such as the demon chef Umami.
 * Puzzle Boss: Every single one.
 * Puzzle Pan
 * Rasputinian Death: Turns out Shiranui didn't just die because he was poisoned by Orochi or because . It was because he was.
 * Raygun Gothic: The Moon Tribe's technology and, to a lesser extent, the ancient ruins.
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Kurow and Waka wear pink. Genji not only wears pink, but bares his midriff, has a heart-shaped decoration behind his head, a flower on his shirt, and a heart-shaped fan. Players may be forgiven for thinking he is a she when he first appears.
 * Reality Warper:
 * Chibi, although he is less powerful at it than Ammy.
 * Replacement Goldfish: Chibi (or rather, "Pork Chop") has shades of this for Manpuku for his dog Maru.
 * Retcon: Several. Not surprising considering the sequel was made by an entirely different set of people than the first.
 * Despite Amaterasu being Shiranui's reincarnation, Chibi is Shiranui's grandson. Japanese mythology god biology could be to blame here.
 * Not just that, but
 * A major plot point in the first game was to kill the Water Dragon in order to obtain the Dragon Orb - which in turn would allow Otohime to transform (there wasn't time to find a cure for the Water Dragon's madness). Now she is capable of transforming pretty much at will, without the Orb.
 * Otohime did however need the help of Chibiterasu's Sunrise brush technique to transform. She needed the Orb to transform on her own. Doesn't explain why she didn't ask Ammy to give her the same treatment instead of killing her husband for the Orb.
 * The brush gods: There were only thirteen, Ammy included. Her power split into twelve other gods after she died as Shiranui. Okamiden introduces the children of brush gods outside of those thirteen.
 * Rewarding Vandalism: Smashing pots and cutting down trees can net you items. Since ink doesn't regenerate in this game (not counting the 3-bottle delayed recovery from bottoming out on ink, which is never a good thing in battle), the ink pots you can get from these actions are pretty vital.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Look at Chibi. Look at him. This also applies to all the brush gods' offspring.
 * Rubber Band AI: If you get too far ahead of the Witch Queen during the Minecart Madness minigame, she'll just run faster and catch up.
 * Running Gag: Chibi getting a humiliating nickname every time a new partner comes around.
 * Sequel Hook:
 * Shoot the Dog: No, it's not Chibi who gets shot.
 * Shout Out: Doctors Redbeard and Bluebeard have the healing herbs from Resident Evil on their floors, for one.
 * One of the fishermen in Ryoshima Coast greets Chibi with "Yo, dog." The Tanuki does the same thing.
 * Examining the one of the sets of herbs in the upstairs of a house in Yakushi Village with Kurow as a partner, will cause him to exclaim "Dude, where's my herbs?"
 * In-game, you meet an authoress named Shikibu, who's plagued by her creation, Genji--no doubt a reference to Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote The Tale of Genji.
 * Sixth Ranger: A telepathic penguin god and a magnetism-controlling whale god are added to the brush god gang.
 * Speaking Simlish: The voice acting, as in the previous game.
 * Spin Offspring: Kuni is the child of Susano and Kushi, Amaterasu is Chibi's mother, and all the various brush gods apparently now have children.
 * Stable Time Loop:
 * When Chibi first meets her, Nanami asks where he's been and where that blond kid he was with is, as well as calling him Squiddy.
 * Chibi rescues
 * Sticks to The Back:
 * Chibi's Sword and Mirror Divine Instruments. The Beads float around his neck. The New Game Plus weapon sticks to his sides.
 * Kuni's giant sword, just like his father's did.
 * Stationary Boss: Mizuchi, the boss of the ice cavern (being partially encased in ice and all). Akuro's first form is as well.
 * Super Drowning Skills: Chibi's even worse at it than his mother - he can't even swim at all (except in cutscenes).
 * Super Not-Drowning Skills: The Dry Jewel grants you this, but you only get to use it for one area.
 * Suspiciously Cracked Wall: If you see a glowing, cracked wall, bomb the hell out of it.
 * Swallowed Whole:, by the Bullhead.
 * Sweat Drop
 * Take Your Time: Played straight except during the aforementioned Colossus Climb, which has a five minute timer. Any other time, feel free to run around doing sidequests while the world is in danger. It's not going anywhere. Justified before  After that, not so much.
 * Tanuki: You accidentally set one loose on Yakushi Village. After he rips you off, you have to hunt him down in a sort of hide and seek minigame.
 * Time Travel: Again.
 * Totally Radical: Kurow and several NPCs speak this way.
 * Tron Lines: In the Ruins and on . This seems to be characteristic of Moon Tribe technology.
 * Truly Single Parent: Not spelled out, but we can assume Amaterasu and the other brush gods don't need a partner to produce children.
 * What Happened to The Mouse?: Though Issun does make a comment at the beginning: "You're Ammy's kid? Then who did she...?" And, several epic adventures later, no one has seen fit to comment on it since. The Epileptic Trees and Shippers agree it's Waka, but no one's talking.
 * Turns Red: Almost all bosses change their behavior at least once as their HP total is worn down.
 * Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one seems particularly interested by the white wolf puppy ridden by various children, some of which are pretty unusual in and of themselves. No one really seems to bat much of an eye when things mysteriously fix themselves, burst into fire, or split in half, either.
 * Possibly averted, It's feudal Japan so they might just be like "Oh, yay! The Gods have helped me" and that's why they praise them.
 * Unexpected Gameplay Change: The underwater level, which plays like an underwater 2D platforming level.
 * Unwitting Pawn:  to
 * Vendor Trash: Half the things you find in treasure chests.
 * Victory Pose: After major boss battles, Chibi lets loose with a dramatic howl, accompanied by glowing light and cherry petals. In fact, it's just like his mother's, but cuter.
 * Warp Whistle: Some of the game's Save Points double as this after a certain point in the game.
 * Wave Motion Gun: Akuro's most powerful attack in-battle (which also restores his HP if he successfully uses it).
 * Where Are They Now? Epilogue: The end of the game shows you a small scene from the life of each of Chibi's partners, Ayame, and the female scholar.
 * World-Healing Wave: Reviving a Guardian Sapling. Sadly, not done as often as in the first game, but still just as impressive.
 * Yin-Yang Bomb: Akuro's goal is to become invincible by combining his powers of darkness with a "vessel of light". His Monster Compendium entry states, "the light brings death, and the darkness devours light".
 * You Can't Fight Fate: Said almost verbatim by Kurow to Manpuku, although it's clear he's talking about his only destiny, not Manpuku's.
 * You Can't Thwart Stage One
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Nanami has blue hair made of water, and Manpuku has red spiked hair that apparently is on fire. Several NPCs, most notably those living on Thundercloud and Genji, also have unusual hair colors. And the doctor's moustaches.
 * You Shouldn't Know This Already: Justified with the Celestial Brush techniques. Chibi is definitely not the same being as Ammy, so you need to find the correct god and release/rejuvenate it before you can use its technique.
 * Yin-Yang Bomb: Akuro's goal is to become invincible by combining his powers of darkness with a "vessel of light". His Monster Compendium entry states, "the light brings death, and the darkness devours light".
 * You Can't Fight Fate: Said almost verbatim by Kurow to Manpuku, although it's clear he's talking about his only destiny, not Manpuku's.
 * You Can't Thwart Stage One
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Nanami has blue hair made of water, and Manpuku has red spiked hair that apparently is on fire. Several NPCs, most notably those living on Thundercloud and Genji, also have unusual hair colors. And the doctor's moustaches.
 * You Shouldn't Know This Already: Justified with the Celestial Brush techniques. Chibi is definitely not the same being as Ammy, so you need to find the correct god and release/rejuvenate it before you can use its technique.