User:Cukie Gherkin/Mio Kurosuzu

Mio Kurusuzu is a character in the 2023 video game Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. She is a high school student and an assistant to the police who investigates supernatural incidents. The game has multiple character perspectives where Mio is involved, though she mainly appears as a counterpart to another high school girl named Yakko Sakazaki.

Concept and creation
Harue Shigima was created for Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo by the game's writer Takanari Ishiyama, and her design was created by the game's character designer, Gen Kobayashi. Paranormasight is set in the Shōwa era, and characters' clothing, including Mio's, were designed with the era in mind. . She is a chubby girl who wears schoolgirl clothing typical of the Shōwa era in Japan and assists the police in spiritual investigations. She also wears a talisman as a hair clip. According to Ishiyama, she was given a chubby design because he believed it would look cute. Her name takes from the name of the protagonist of the manga Eko Eko Azarak. When designing the duo of Mio and Yakko, Ishiyama conceived the idea of a "gloomy spiritual girl and a cheerful Edokko girl as young people who can confront paranormal phenomena." He considered the duo as a yin-yang pairing, stating he believed they would be a strong enough duo to justify a spinoff starring them. Ishiyama noted that, despite expecting Mio to become popular, people in the team found that sentiment confusing.

Appearances
A manga sequel to Paranormasight is slated to release starring Mio and featuring other characters from the game as supporting characters.

Reception
Mio has received generally positive reception, identified as "undoubtedly one of the best leading eight characters" of the game by GamesRadar+ writer Hirun Cryer and one of RPG Site writer Josh Torres' favorite characters in the game. In a fan survey performed by Famitsu, Mio was voted the best character in the game, with readers identifying her cute, chubby appearance in conjunction with her strong psychic abilities for why they enjoy her so much. Her relationship with Yakko was also received well, with Famitsu writer Ma-san enjoying Mio's role and finding their portion of the game to be a highlight. Fellow Famitsu writer Kawachi enjoyed the duo of Mio and Yakko, finding Mio's design cute. Kawachi felt that Mio's design would not have appeared in Kobayashi's previous work, Schoolgirl Strikers, noting that her personality was cute and appreciating the contrast in height between her and Yakko. Destructoid writer Zoey Handley identified her as her favorite new character of 2023, noting that despite being a supporting character in Yakko's character, Mio "easily overshadows her." She appreciated that, despite her not being directly involved in the main conflict of the story, she involves herself due to her curiosity. She also praised the way she interacts with adults in a blunt matter, finding it made Mio stick with her well after the game ended. In a Dengeki Online article, Ma-san expressed hope to the developer that a sequel would star Mio. stating that she was popular with players. Speaking of Ishiyama's comment about the confusion around expecting Mio to be popular, they felt it made sense, stating that Shōwa era clothes and hairstyles for girls were plain.. Gayming Magazine writer Ty Galiz-Rowe similarly wanted another story featuring Mio as well as Yakko, also discussing how their dynamic was well-suited for a "teen romance headcanon."