Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago

---

This is actually a pretty funny crash that I only discovered thanks to reverse engineering the PC version, but I would guess that this works on every version. This recording is of the Switch version, ofc.

Put simply, when you open the brush, the game saves the current amount of ink, minus 1 full ink pot. I call this value the "Target Ink". If you open the brush with *less than* 1 full ink pot, Target Ink is set to a negative value. Normally, the only way to end up with less than 1 ink pot without Ammy becoming inkless (and thus unable to use the brush) is to have your ink drained by a Cursed Zone (or Kusa Village).

This wouldn't be a problem, except for the way the inkwell at the top-right of the brush canvas works. When the canvas is up, Ammy's Current Ink value (the same one that represents her ink meter in general) is repurposed to help track the amount of ink in that inkwell. Current Ink decreases as you draw on the canvas, and when it's equal to or less than Target Ink, the brush is forced closed. This prevents you from drawing forever on a single canvas.

One restriction that applies to Current Ink regardless of whether the canvas is up, is that if anything *would* set it below 0, it gets set to 0 instead. This ensures that Current Ink is always non-negative.

Are you making the connection yet?

Like mentioned earlier, it's possible to have Target Ink be set to a *negative* value by opening the canvas with less than 1 ink pot. As you draw on the canvas, Current Ink decreases, but it can't fall below 0. This means that you reach a point where the level of ink in the inkwell (which is proportional to Current Ink minus Target Ink) stops decreasing. Current Ink never falls below Target Ink, because it can't fall below 0, and Target Ink is negative (less than 0).

The overall effect is that you no longer have any limit on how long you can draw a single stroke on the canvas. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Okami the video game. The shape of your brushstrokes is stored somewhere in memory, and the space allocated for it is finite. Normally, the Target Ink threshold kicks you out of the canvas before you can get close to filling up this space, but this sequence of actions prevents that from happening. As a result, you can keep drawing until the space is filled up, and the game crashes because it has no remaining safeguards for this ink overflow.

Useless, but very funny imo. Anyone can replicate it once they understand the basic principles, no speedrunning tech required =D

Okami Speedrunning Discord: discord.gg/AQNKmMu
Okami Speedrunning Wiki: https://okami.speedruns.wiki/Main_Page
Leaderboard: speedrun.com/Okami
My Twitter: twitter.com/LoveAuride
My Twitch: twitch.tv/loveauride