So Sejima

*WARNING!!*
*This article contains spoilers for* AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES *from this point on. Proceed with caution!*

## So Sejima

* NI
* AI

* Icon
* 60yrs

## Characteristics

### Age

AI:* 60 years old

NI:

* 61 years old (Past)

## Personal Status

### Residency

* Minato District, Tokyo, Japan
	+ Sejima Residence, Azabu

### Occupation

AI:* Congressman

NI:

* Ex-member of Parliament

### Family

* Unnamed Wife (deceased)
* Saito Sejima (son)

### Associates

* Sejima Bodyguards, including Mamoru Bodai (in AI)
* Unnamed maid
* Moma Kumakura (business partner)

### Interest/ Hobbies

AI:* Mahjong
* Golf
* Nishiki carp breeding

NI:

* Mahjong
* Golf
* Raising Koi and Kappa
* Kusemon GO

### Likes

* Authority
* Fame
* Assets

### Dislikes

* Anything that threatens the above/

Anyting that would lose him the above

### Talent/Skills

* Grasping people's weaknesses, applying pressure, and making them obey/

Finding weaknesses and exploiting the to ensure total obedience

### Appears in

* *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES*
* *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative*

## Actors

### English VA

John DeMita

*"Actually, I do have one more thing to tell you. To be honest, Kaname Date, I don't like you. I don't ever want to see you again. So I suggest that you don't show your face here anymore. It's what's best for both of us. Understand?"*
—So's words to Kaname Date
**Congressman So Sejima** (世島 綜, *Sejima Sō*), or simply **So Sejima**, is a character featured in *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES* and a minor character in *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative*.

So is a member of the post-World War II generation. He grew up poor, which gave him two things: his motivation for seeking power and wealth and his vindictiveness toward the upper class. By his 40s, he had become a prominent political celebrity within Tokyo. He had a wife who died in labor giving birth to their son, Saito Sejima. He lives alone in an old Japanese castle, accompanied only by his bodyguards and personal attendants.

In *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES*, he is a person of interest in the murder of Shoko Nadami, and the New Cyclops Serial Killings as a whole.

## Design

So Sejima has a medium build and slightly thin face, with neatly combed grey hair on the lead and wears a blue-gray kimono and slippers. He has been shown like this for more than two decades.

## Personality

On a superficial level, So Sejima is a cunning politician with a quick mind and good at hiding his true thoughts. He was so good at lying that he would never admit to any of the charges against him unless there was irrefutable evidence. Due to the needs of status, So Sejima often refuses others to approach him for too long.

***WARNING!!***
***This article contains spoilers for*AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative *from this point on.Proceed with caution!***

So Sejima has little affection for his son Saito Sejima, who suffers from brain dysfunction, as a burden, and once said to Kaname Date that "I don't love him at all." After the death of his wife, he also had a relationship history with an unknown mistress as well as a high school graduate Manaka Iwai, and had two illegitimate children.

## So Sejima

* NI
* AI

* Icon
* 42-61yrs
* In Iris

## Name

### Alias

  **Expand**

 As Iris Sagan's identity:* (Misnomer)\*
* (New identity)\*

By Ryuki and Tama:

* Former politician jack-off

## Characteristics

### Age

AI:* 60-61 years old\*

NI:

* 61 years old (Past)
* 67 years old (Present)

## Personal Status

### Status

AI Canon and NI:* Alive

AI Alternate routes:

* Alive\*
* Deceased\*

### Residency

AI and NI 6 Years Ago:* Minato District, Tokyo, Japan
	+ Sejima Residence, Azabu

NI Present:

* Unknown, probably overseas

### Occupation

* Congressman
	+ Active\*
	+ Formerly\*
* Ex-member of Parliament\*
* Prime Minister\* (far future, as "Prime Minister Iris Sagan")

### Family

* Unnamed Wife (deceased)
* Saito Sejima (son\*)
* Iris Sagan (daughter\*)
* Uru Somezuki (son\*)

### Associates

* Sejima Bodyguards, including Mamoru Bodai (formerly)
* Unnamed maid
* Unnamed mistress (Uru's mother)
* Manaka Iwai (mistress)
* Rohan Kumakura (former business partner)
* Moma Kumakura (business partner)
* MPD Director (business partner)
* Renju Okiura (acquaintance)
* Shizue Kuranushi (MPD acquaintance)

### Interest/ Hobbies

AI:* Mahjong
* Golf
* Nishiki carp breeding

NI:

* Mahjong
* Golf
* Raising Koi and Kappa
* Kusemon GO

### Likes

* Authority
* Fame
* Assets

### Dislikes

* Anything that threatens the above/

Anyting that would lose him the above

### Talent/Skills

* Grasping people's weaknesses, applying pressure, and making them obey/

Finding weaknesses and exploiting the to ensure total obedience

### Appears in

* *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES*
* *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative*

## Actors

### Early Life

So Sejima was born as part of the Post-World War II generation. He was raised in a poor upbringing, which motivated him to seek power and wealth and to change the upper class. This eventually led So to become a politician when he grew up. He would eventually become a powerful congressman with great political influence.

He at one point got married to an unknown woman, but his wife eventually died in labor after giving birth to their son, Saito Sejima. Saito was notably born with a brain dysfunction, as he was unable to secrete oxytocin from his pituitary gland, and his brain had the unusual idiosyncrasy of releasing dopamine and endorphins whenever he killed something. This would lead to a series of problems that So would have to deal with in the upcoming years.

Shortly after Saito's birth and the death of So's wife, So entered an illegitimate relationship with an unknown mistress, and the woman became pregnant with So's child. She asked So to keep custody of the child and that she wouldn't cause trouble if she was allowed to keep the child. The woman would ultimately give birth to the child, a son named Uru Somezuki, however, due to the fact that conceiving a child outside of wedlock is considered dishonorable, the woman committed suicide out of shame. With no parents to raise him, as So did not wish to take custody of his illegitimate son, Uru was sent off to Aioen Orphanage and raised from there.

### Manaka Iwai

At some point, So had entered a secret relationship with Eitoku High School graduate Manaka Iwai. During the relationship, So had impregnated Manaka, which in turn led her to give birth to a child outside of wedlock, Iris Sagan. Due to Manaka's young age, being only being 19 years old, combined with the fact that conceiving a child outside of wedlock is considered dishonorable, So gave Manaka money to deal with the child herself and covered up the relationship as he knew such a scandal would effectively ruin his political career if it were to be publicly known, especially since So had previously been married prior to the relationship.

Shortly after Manaka gave birth to Iris, So contacted Manaka to meet her at Okiura Fishery Cold Storage Warehouse. So told Manaka to move overseas, and that he would offer to pay for travel fees and ensure her survival. However, unbeknownst to So, his son Saito had tailed him via taxi, and to his shock and horror, ambushed Manaka as she was leaving and violently stabbed her several times in the back, killing her. Knowing that his son being publicly exposed as a juvenile murderer would destroy his public image, So contacted the Kumakura family to dispose of Manaka's body in an effort to cover up the incident and keep his public image clean.

### Chemical Plant Incident

In the years after Saito killed Manaka, So would use his money to continue covering up the atrocities his son committed in the years since. However, continued cover-up of Saito's crimes became increasingly costly. One day in 2010, Saito contacted So, and conceived a plan to make So and Saito extremely rich: blow up the Chemical Plant in Kabasaki, in order to ensure that the casino in Kabasaki and the surrounding area would remain extraordinarily profitable. So went through with this plan by contacting the chairman of the Kumakura family, Rohan Kumakura, as they sold 30 billion yen's worth of territory in Kabasaki, then blew up the chemical plant which in turn destroyed most of the district and sent it into quarantine. This caused the price of the land to drop to a mere 1 billion yen, and So would then repurchase the land for the dropped price. The Kumakura family would purchase land in the territory as well, as So would then proceed to use the profits to create Casino Town Kabasaki. Despite going through with it for the sake of his political ambitions with Kabasaki, So felt personal guilt for Saito's psychopathic and violent plan and blamed himself for allowing Saito to get away with killing Manaka, claiming that had Saito not managed to advance towards killing a human, he would never have gone off the deep end, which in turn led to him masterminding such a violent and destructive plan.

### Cyclops Serial Killings (2013)

So's son, Saito, would engage in a series of serial murders in 2013 alongside Rohan Kumakura. The two made a mutual deal in which Rohan would choose targets, Saito would kill the targeted victims, and Rohan would remove their right eye after their death. This would benefit both of them, as Rohan had a fascination with the right eyes of dead women, while Saito derived pleasure from murder. They would murder four known victims, all women, who were all found dead in the mountains.

Although So was not directly involved in the killings, he had known that Saito's involvement in the killings would reflect poorly on his public image if it were to ever be known. Unbeknownst to him, Saito had encountered police detective Hayato Yagyu in Rohan's body, and realizing he was not dealing with the real Rohan, took Yagyu hostage and learned about the Psync machine and its power to swap bodies. Saito used the Prototype Psync machine to switch bodies with Yagyu, leaving Yagyu in Saito's original body, while Saito ended up in Rohan's. Commander of the Advanced Brain Investigation Squad, Shizue Kuranushi, longtime friend of Hayato Yagyu, discovered him in Saito's body and took him in. In order to ensure Yagyu, now under the name Kaname Date, would be allowed to continue working with ABIS in Saito's body, Kuranushi blackmailed So into a deal where Saito's involvement in the Cyclops Serial Killings would never be released to the public under the condition that So would allow "Saito" to work with ABIS. She told So to tell anyone who asks about it that Saito is travelling overseas on a soul-searching trip around the world. As So knew Saito's crimes being exposed would destroy his political career, combined with the fact that So held little love for Saito to begin with, So readily accepted the deal, and said deal benefitted him in that he managed to learn a secret of the Metropolitan Police Department.

### Between 2013-2019

So would continue his political career in the years afterwards, while Kaname Date in Saito's body would continue to work with ABIS.

### Shoko Nadami's Case

Shortly before the events of the game, in 2019, So received a call from Prisoner #89, who told him that a woman named Shoko Nadami knew what happened 18 years ago (i.e. the incident of Manaka Iwai), and to call her. The only other thing #89 had told So is "I realized everything when Shoko arrived", which So had little understanding of, as he was unaware that #89 was actually Rohan in Kaname Date's original body, and that he had realized that "Shoko" was actually Saito inside Shoko's body, and that Rohan intended to use So as a means to reach out to Saito. So called Shoko Nadami's burner phone shortly before Shoko was discovered deceased at Bloom Park. Date investigated Shoko's burner phone and found that So Sejima had called said phone. Due to the call being uncovered, this led So to become a primary person of interest during the investigation of the New Cyclops Killings.

### A: New Cyclops Serial Killings

#### Blackmail and the Kumakuras

So briefly visited the Kumakuras for a business interaction, shortly after Renju's death. He had run into Kaname Date while the latter was investigating the Kumakura family. Date interrogated him about his affiliation with Shoko and Renju, but So only gave runaround answers.

#### Kidnapping

On November 2, 2019, Saito in Iris Sagan's body approached the Sejima Residence using Ota's car, and struck up the intercom to contact So. Saito told So to come with him as he needed to show him something. So agreed to came along, and Saito drove him to the Chemical Plant in Kabasaki. Saito used the Prototype Psync machine to swap bodies, leaving So in Iris's body, and Saito in So's. Saito, now in So's body, drugged So and drove him to Okiura Cold Storage Warehouse, but not before donning a polar bear costume to conceal his identity.

#### AB: Death

In Annihilation Route, the following morning, on November 3, 2019, So, now in Iris's body, was incapacitated and placed on an ice cutting table, right beneath an ice cutting machine. Saito in So's body prepared a computer to stream his planned murder of Iris live so that Kaname Date would bear witness. Ota Matsushita arrived to stop Saito, but Saito stabbed him in the stomach before he could intervene. Saito then proceeded to use the ice cutting machine to dismember Iris's body and cut it in half, killing So in the process.

#### AA: Hospital Care

In Ota Route and Mizuki Route, the events of the Ota and Mizuki routes play out much as they did in the Annihilation Route, however, unlike in the above route, Saito does not succeed in killing So, as Ota manages to stop Saito by unleashing a crane hook that injures the leg of So's body and causes said leg to bleed (Mizuki Route), or stabbing So's body in the stomach (Ota Route), effectively crippling the body and rendering Saito unable to kill So. Saito escapes the scene, leaving So in Iris's body alive.

As Iris, So is taken to the hospital and placed under care, especially with surgery to deal with the removed left eye of Iris's body, as said eye was removed during the original body swap. In the Mizuki route, as Date manages to attribute the person inside the polar bear costume as So, not knowing that it was actually Saito in So's body, Saito's crimes in the New Cyclops Serial Killings are retroactively attributed to So. So, however, remains alive in Iris's body in both routes. At the end of the Ota Route, So woke up on the afternoon of the 5th and will be transferred to the general ward by the hospital; At the end of Mizuki Route, he still has not regained consciousness more than a month after his son was shot dead in So's original body. What becomes of him after his care in the hospital remains unknown, though.

### B: Cold Case Resurgence

#### Blackmail and Alleged Murder

Hitomi Sagan, in desperate need of money to pay for the expensive treatment that would be necessary to cure Iris from a terminal brain cancer, came up with a plan to blackmail So into giving her money. She entered the Okiura Fishery Cold Storage Warehouse, pulled Manaka's frozen corpse out of the forklift and onto a table for display, and then called So to come to the warehouse, also revealing that she knew what happened 18 years ago, further inciting him to agree. So came to the warehouse, and upon seeing Manaka's body, reacted with shock and grief at seeing his former mistress's body. Hitomi then sent a recording to So's phone under a voice modulator, telling him she knew what happened to Manaka, and to offer her money and to cut ties with the Kumakuras under the premise that she keeps it a secret, threatening to expose the truth if he did anything suspect. So listened to this recording, then left the warehouse.

#### BA: Meeting with Hitomi Sagan

In Iris Route, during Date's aimless investigation into the alleged cult Naixatloz, Date visits the Sejima Residence. Date manages to spot So meeting with Hitomi, and the two having a conversation about an unknown matter. What So discussed with Hitomi remains unknown as Date is driven away by So's bodyguards, though it can be assumed that Hitomi was asking for money from So to fund the expensive treatment for Iris's malignant brain tumor.

#### BB: Cold Case Re-Opened

In the Resolution Route, Kaname Date eventually rediscovers Manaka Iwai's body a second time after initially believing that Iris had been resurrected. Through further investigation, Date discovers that Manaka's corpse is not Iris, and he managed to attribute the corpse's true identity. So eventually learns of this and both out of fear of the scandal being exposed and his personal grudge against Date, pulls strings to attempt to shut down the investigation.

### BB: Retirement

After Saito's death, and the revelation of his crimes, So is publicly disgraced by the media and his political career effectively ends. Despite this, So does not face any legal consequences as the statute of limitations for improper handling of a corpse is three years, and it is not against the law to obstruct justice if it involves protecting a relative. Date, back in his original body, visits him three months after Saito's death and talks to him, learning more about his involvement in various events. So lets go of his grudge against Date and speaks with him on more even terms, as he is no longer angered at the sight of Date due to the latter no longer inhabiting Saito's body. So eventually reveals that he knows that he will no longer be able to live in Japan, and that he plans to eventually move to an island and spend the rest of his days in leisure.

### Tearer's Visit

After the events of the Cyclops Serial Killings, So remained in his residence despite losing his position as a politician. He would occasionally invite his illegitimate daughter, Iris Sagan, to his house, although the latter had no knowledge about So being her biological father. He would talk to her complementing her Internet content, and also told her that she could come to him for support whenever she felt she needed it.

In February 2020, the Half-Body Killer, known by the name Tearer, visited So at his residence. The latter was unaware of the fact that Tearer was his illegitimate son, Uru Somezuki. Tearer confronted So about his mistress from long ago who gave birth to his illegitimate child, and how the woman committed suicide after giving birth to the child, leading to said child being sent to Aioen. Tearer also told So about the location of the "execution chamber", although kept it vague. He later saw Iris eavesdropping on the conversation.

So is not seen again after this, although it is implied six years later that he finally fled Japan out of fear that Tearer's identity as his illegitimate son Uru would ultimately be linked back to him.

## Gallery

So's iconSo Sejima in fullSo's profile image in AI: THE SOMNIUM FILESSo Sejima's bio in the FILE, in AI: THE SOMNIUM FILESSo's concept artSo coming out from the inner room of Kumakura Office, while smokingSo Sejima meets Kaname DateSo Sejima and his bodyguardsSo coming out from the Okiura Fishery Cold Storage WarehouseSo Sejima's profile from 6 Years Ago, in nirvanA InitiativeSo Sejima, who plays as Mansion Leader in Iris Sagan's Somnium
## Trivia

### Etymology

* **So** (綜) means "rule," and is used in an older spelling of "prime minister."
* **So** may also be a play on the word "saw."

### General

* In the Famitsu Interview, Kotaro Uchikoshi and Akira Okada state that following the Ota Route (and indirectly the Mizuki Route), So Sejima, now living under the identity "**Iris Sagan**" in her body, eventually becomes Prime Minister of Japan, using Iris's looks to climb the political ladder. The interview notes that this statement was made as a joke among the two.
* According to Kotaro Uchikoshi, the reason why So Sejima is not arrested or punished in present day for aiding in hiding Manaka's body after Saito killed her 18 years ago is because, according to Article 105 of the Japanese Criminal Law, "it is not a crime for the criminal's family to cover up or hide him somewhere" and the statute of limitation for Corpse Abandonment is just 3 years. However, he could theoretically be punished for hiring the Kumakura Family to hide Manaka's body in his stead.
* So Sejima is by far the oldest character in the entire game, reaching 67 years old in "Present" time of *AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative*.

## Navigation

Hitomi Sagan • Mayumi Matsushita • Renju Okiura • Mama • Shoko Nadami • **So Sejima** • Moma Kumakura • Rohan Kumakura • Cyclops Serial Killer

 Locations | **Tokyo**
*Chiyoda District*: Police Headquarters (Boss's Office, Psync Room, Interrogation Room) • Sunfish Pocket • Sekiba High
*Chuo District*: Horadori Institute of Genetics (Underground, Hostage Room) • Naixatloz Japan Branch (President's Office, Cathedral)
*Koto District*: Harbor Warehouse District • Date Residence
*Minato District*: Studio Dvaita • Aioen Orphanage • Ikume Shrine • Kumakura Office • Sejima Residence • Central Hospital
*Shibuya District*: Lemniscate Entertainment Offices • Yoyagi Park
*Shinagawa/Kabasaki District*: Matsushita Diner • Sagan Residence • Enda Residence • Kabasaki Chemical Plant
*Shinjuku District*: Golden Yokocho (Marble, Brahman World Cuisine) • Misetan Department Store • Tokyo National Stadium
**Side Ryuki:**
Dispossessed • Anyone Imagines • Ought to Know • Nothing to Be Done • Go • Farewell
**Komeji and Shoma Route:** Joy for Anguish • I Found Me • Past Its Ken
**Explosion Route:** Smiles for Tears • Well-Known • The Mind of God • Not All A Dream • She Was the Universe
**閭｡陜ｶ荵句､｢邱ｨ Route:** 遐ｴ邯ｻ逋ｾ蜃ｺ • All This Happened, More or Less
**Side Mizuki:**
Alone • Pass Mildly Away • End Where I Begun • Traveler • Left Behind • The Expense of Spirit
**Gen and Amame Route:** All Living Things • Of Arms and Of Man • Who's There • All That We Are
**Kizuna and Lien Route:** Bid the Soldiers Shoot • Sweet Silent Thought
**Resolution Route:** Hell • Visions • In Truth • Births • The End of Craving • Braver Than All Flowers

## References

1. ↑ Day 4: Monday -syuurAI-
2. ↑ Famitsu: Heavy Spoilers! Scenario Writer Uchikoshi-san, Lead Planner Okada-san, and Miyokawa from Famitsu deep dive into the unsolved mysteries of AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES！
3. ↑ To-Witter Archives Tesa 2020: April 9th