Shiki Katagami Goes From Hauling Junk to Soldering in a ReStory Repair-Shop Stream

FIRST STAGE PRODUCTION — Shiki Katagami of FIRST STAGE PRODUCTION EN spent a stream of more than three hours on ReStory, a repair-shop simulator set in Tokyo in the year 2000, taking a junk-filled workshop to a business with a soldering iron, a shelf of repair licenses and a growing list of customers.

The stream opened with a few minutes of chatting with viewers before the game began. On the first in-game day, Shiki threw out an entire microwave’s worth of clutter, then cleaned and reassembled an old Nokia-style phone and was paid roughly four times the weekly rent. An upstairs neighbor called Buckets came next, asking for a fix to a broken Atari joystick. “This game is very chill,” Shiki said partway through a toy-pet repair. “I’m chilled out of my gourd right now.”

“This game is very chill. I’m chilled out of my gourd right now.” — Shiki Katagami, after repairing a toy-pet handheld

The jobs grew more complicated as the in-game days passed. Shiki saved up for a 40,000-yen license to work on PSP handhelds, upgraded the screwdriver and the cleaning brush, and later bought a soldering iron, which set the shop’s lights flickering until a local electrician stepped in. Along the way Shiki worked through a Motorola Razor-style flip phone, Xbox-style controllers that arrived in unexpected colors, an electric kettle for a visiting gangster’s son, a Walkman that took a long time to put back together, and an Atari Lynx with a battery tube Shiki called “sick.” A hostess at a maid cafe who kept passing along other people’s phones drew a running verdict from Shiki: “I literally think she’s evil.”

The game’s background plot also surfaced: a local boss organizing a repair-masters’ competition, an inspector asking questions, and Buckets reporting encrypted network traffic that seemed to follow the new soldering irons. Shiki said the stream would not lean into the intrigue, preferring “to play with my toys.” About 2.5 hours in, Shiki took a break for a slice of chocolate cake a friend had brought home from a restaurant the group had been unable to get into earlier in the month.

Shikinu, Shiki’s puppy, was a recurring presence. He was close to 10 months old, Shiki said, with a birthday milestone on Nov. 4, and he spent the evening chewing his bed before picking a fight with Shiki’s ankles near the end. Chat followed along with the roughhousing, and the stream wrapped up so Shiki could take him out to burn off energy.