While browsing replacementdocs.com, I happened to find a copy of the european manual for No More Heroes. I was surprised to find out that it’s in full color, and that it actually includes an uncensored version of the comic featured lower down this page. Unfortunately the scanning quality is quite low and as such it can be hard to make out and lacking a european copy of the game I can’t provide better scans myself. You can check it out HERE.
By comparison, the US manual is very bare bones, with a few character blurbs being the only addition to the gameplay tutorials. You can find it HERE.
BigManJapanSC has provided me with his collection of No More Heroes manuals scans. Here they are:
This announcement trailer was included in the american release of No More Heroes on the wii. It has been since removed from the more recent re-releases. Funnily enough, this trailer is actually considered canonical to the game’s storyline, as the drifter Helter Skelter is only named within it and is subsequently referenced in the game’s sequel.
This music video was originally included in the european and japanese releases of No More Heroes on the wii. The song (which also featured in most in-game stores) has been subsequently removed from more recent re-releases.
NMH’s unique events:
There’s a few conversations and letters that can only be seen once in a No More Heroes savefile. That is to say that once starting a New Game Plus on a completed save file, these conversations won’t repeat. During my latest playthrough of the game I took the time to screencap them for future use.
Through the course of the game you’re going to find these letters at the end of seven levels, each of them teaching Travis (or rather reminding him of) a different wrestling technique. Many have taken this to be a reference to Mask De Smith; in my opinion it’s more likely to be a reference to Morio Smith, the main character of Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special’s story mode; Travis’ master, Thunder Ryu, was originally from the same game as well.
While looking at these screenshots, I realized that these letters are actually written on the back of a flyer for a wrestling event. You can see it by playing with the contrast & lighting.
I’m not really a pro wrestling conoisseur, so I have no idea if this is referencing something specific. It should be noted that the text “Sunday April 1” also becomes visible by upping the contrast, while the match is apparently slated December the 28th 2007, 22 days after the original release of the game.
Bishop is the owner of the video store where Travis goes to rent his VHS tapes. While none of these interactions are technically missable, since you can keep going in and out of the video store even after getting all the tapes, they are randomized and might not always show up for you.
There’s also a few posters you might notice in his office, namely “The Third Story” (A parody of Star Wars Episode III), one for Pure White Giant Glastonbury and a final one for Bizzarre Jelly Five (both are in-universe shows that Travis is a fan of.)
Dr. Naomi is the scientist upgrading Travis’ beam katanas. While she doesen’t have much in terms of dialogue, she has some unique reactions when given the US Military Secret and the Japanese Katana.
The Job Center is where Travis can undertake odd jobs. This man’s introductory dialogue will only play out once per savefile; the rest of it is dependant on the job you pick from the bullettin board.
Lovikov is a drunk russian who is going to teach you secret techniques if you bring him his balls, the Lovikov balls. Most of his dialogue is unique. It’s interesting to note that each technique is a homage to a member of the Smith Syndicate from Killer7. Memory of Three (Garcian Smith, the three eyes) = Technique of Beauty Memory of Demon (Dan Smith, the Hellion) = Technique of Love Memory of Child (Con Smith) = Technique of Bizarre Memory of Woman (Kaede Smith) = Technique of God Memory of Mask (Mask De Smith) = Technique of Affinity Memory of Tatoo (Coyote Smith) = Technique of Mystery Memory of White (Kevin Smith, who is an albino) = Technique of Crazy Awesomeness
Thunder Ryu is Travis’ master in martial arts. Like most other NPCs, his introductory dialogue will not repeat. His dialogue also changes slightly after he dies and reappears as a lingering spirit.
One of the early japanese ads for No More Heroes had a very explicit reference to Flower, Sun and Rain. I found an high resolution version on an old hard drive so there it is:
This four page comic was originally hosted on the Ubisoft website back when the game released. To my understanding, it’s a translation of a comic included in the Japanese version of the game’s manual. It was backed up on this blog. I will reupload it here in case it gets lost again in the future.
While the western manual for the game was just a very blasé, black and white explanation of the game system, to the point where I didn’t bother scanning it, I was surprised to find out that the Japanese manual is actually a lot more interesting, including two ads for Bizzarre Jelly Five (an in-universe anime show that Travis is a fan of) and the Heaven’s Smile peep show (where Sylvia is working during the game itself, a reference to the terrorist threat in Killer7) respectively and a short comic reminiscent of the one included in NMH1’s japanese and european manuals.
While I had scanned my own copy, BigManJapanSC provided me with a higher quality version of the manual. You can find it HERE.
