the assault theory is interesting but I’d like to think that the reason that she’s a shut in and refuses to leave is because she’s terrified of being assaulted, maybe being exposed to stories of women being assaulted thus striking fear for her to never leave her apartment (also a note: im pretty sure madotsuki is an adult from what I’ve heard ?)
Thank you! As a person who's been raised to fear everything, I was always told that are a lot of bad stuff happens in alleyways, so I wondered to myself: why do we exit our homes in the first place, if outside is such a scary place(plus whole irl xenophobia thing due to bunch of trust issues)? Not that I'm hardcore shut-in, but I spend a lot of time in home because of it. So again, thanks for bringing this up, there are people who are just afraid of something bad that will happen to them if they're not careful
I have a really awful fear of being assaulted or being robbed. I think my fear stems from seeing how many people get raped and assaulted a day and being robbed. Then there is those type of guys who say that women are only for pleasure and say the most disgusting things.
I feel like Madatsuki's dreams represent her as a person and not just a single fascet of her. Sure she might have been sexually assaulted/afraid of being sexually assaulted, but that isnt all she is and that isnt the only thing her dreams symbolise.
@@JamietheEmperor King, my brother in christ, the game is literally about exploring a character's dreams. The game is filled with symbolism and enviromental story telling. Are you so shallow that you think that in order for a game to have a deep or intricate story, it has to be patronizingly spelled out to you in order for you to understand whats going on? Do you literally need a text box to pop up every 5 seconds in this game where literally all you do is explore and collect items?
@@JamietheEmperor damn calm down. But like fr, do you not believe games, especially purely visual ones, cant have symbolism or have meaning that is beyond "abstract funni"? I guess the creator just made Madatsuki refuse to leave her apartment because "lol random", and none of the worlds have any meaning at all. Its all just abstract for abstract's sake, with nothing to think about at all, right? There is no such thing as "art for arts sake", because there is no such thing as meaningless art. Every piece of art has some kind of theme, idea, message, concept, etc etc its trying to share, deliberatly or otherwise.
To be honest, I feel like Yume Nikki is a pretty good analog to living with anxiety and some form of neurodivergence. This could just be me projecting, I love the game and suffer from generalized anxiety and ADHD so it could be my own perspective twisting things, but Madotsuki could be dealing with a similar situation, and what she sees in her dreams could be manifestations of fears she has as a young woman going through life as she is. Fearing sex, close contact, staring, they're all rather common for people like us.
@@AngryMothNoises was just about to say that, as an agoraphobe you got a point! Agoraphobia, generally makes you apphiliate everywhere but your house with trauma/panic attacks. Ill spend about 7-9 months inside because of it, not fun
I think the whole "madotsuki was sexually assaulted and that's why shes a shut in" comes from this constant need people on the internet have to find out the secret dark/fucked up meaning behind something that on its surface is seemingly not that. I think that the game is generally about childhood trauma and the "sexual assault" themes come from the fact that most young girls notice adult men showing that kind of attention towards them around the age of 12, so regardless of how she views herself as still just a kid she is forced by the society she lives in to be a sexual object.
I don’t think the game is about ‘childhood trauma’ necessarily, it is about dreams and nightmares which often don’t have a very direct correspondence in life kept intentionally ambiguous. People have disturbing dreams and fears without childhood trauma as well, though it might be related It has parallels or connections you can make but that doesn’t make it about it. The reason ppl do it is because if the apparently bloody / etc imagery and the fact that they interpret certain imagery in the game as being genital related also. That’s make absolutely no sense even if anything like what you stated were true
You mean the apparent genital etc themes? IMHO should hold your horses here, that whole sentence is a bit of a red alert, it is imo off the rails in terms of ‘most girls’ being ‘forced to be sexual objects’ and the connection toon to all to all the above, imagery etc I think you’re going to need to give mkre of an explanation.
Yume Nikki (For me at least) is the most accurate representation of dreams. EDIT: Everyone's dreams can be drastically different so feel free to take this statement with a grain of salt if you want.
Don't get me wrong - Yume Nikki is one of my favorite games, but I'd argue that it isn't an accurate representation of dreams because it doesn't capture the vagueness of dreams, and I don't know about you, but I've never had a dream with a floor that has a looping image..
@@Roo_Card True, you would have to be having a fever dream to dream about a looping image being the floor, but I'm talking about the other locations, like the Mall, the sewers, or the forest. I've had dreams in places like those. It also just encapsulates the atmosphere of dreams really well.
My dreams are weird and strange and outright scary. I would be chased, i couldnt move i was frozen. I would go to a neutral dream that was good but i somehow trigger a bad one. When i turn the lights off it would trigger a bad dream. A change of atmosphere. I was stalked in dreams particularly by a ghost that was by my cracked door but it had a demonic face while i was playing a game in the dream. My dreams at this moment are random and scary. The dumbest thing nightmares do is that it makes u crazy. Nobody in the dream reacts or does nor sees what you see and they almost alright ignore you unless triggered. I would have a dream where i was with someone and somehow there gone they disappear and I am just alone. Freaky shit man
an interesting little fact i learned years after finishing yume nikki: the girls who chase Madotsuki are called the Toriningen. if you seperate "tori" and "ningen" you get the japanese words for "bird" and "human" or "person". so basically they're just called "bird people" which is incredibly fitting since the toriningen are depicted as having beaks, in the game and manga
@@EchoGulch64 not directly it's only the name her file is listed as File as her character spreadsheet That's the case for a lot of things actually including madotsuki since that only means window and it's believe to simply refer to the checkered pattern on her shirt rather than an actual name
@@Sigismund697 nah, Mado means window. Also, you say the names are only in the files. Well, who do you recon named the files? Surely could not have been the original author of the game...
And they obviously aren't shown in game, cause there are pretty much no instances of text (apart from the menu) in it. So the way of naming the characters was through the files.
I think it really is about assault. When I was assaulted as a preteen, I didn't tell anyone. I felt like I had to shove it to the back of my mind, but it would inevitably creep forward. I had nightmares that felt like spirals. I cried alone in my room a lot. I was never a literal shut in, but I did feel like I was alone and trapped in my head. The pulsating face and the hallways really struck me as familiar nightmares. I could just be projecting, but I don't think so.
@@MarcyTheKindaCoolWizard 98% is a strecht. You can determine all humanoids, and Uboa is likely a girl because she was the transformation of that girl that was standing in the middle of the room.
It's not nearly as good as Yume Nikki but Lisa: The First is a game heavily inspired by Yume Nikki with some similarly dark themes. It's worth checking out if you ever want more stuff like Yume Nikki or go down the Lisa hole.
@@greggaygayakutami1402 I like Lisa more narratively too but some people might prefer Yume Nikki's more open-ended story. If we're talking strictly gameplay though, Lisa: The First is kind of rough.
When I played this game years ago, what I left it with was an impression that Yume Nikki is supposed to represent the perspective of the outside world from someone who is afraid of it to the point of hiding. Like, she fears that if she goes out into the world she'll be assaulted, or hit by a car like a friend she had as a kid, or ridiculed by the judging eyes of strangers who think she's fat or stupid or ugly. As someone who has been a shut-in for a lot of my life, the game genuinely does a good job putting into visuals the perspective of a fear and rejection of the world around you. When you're so afraid of a society that feels predatorial and hostile, the idea of living on a barren planet doesn't seem as bad. I think that's the true message of the game at its core; the perspective of someone who fears and rejects the world and can at this point only dream of what it's like.
Yume Nikki is such a personal game for me. When I first played it I just thought it was a really cool and trippy game, but after dealing with depression and loneliness I started to see myself in Madotsuki more. Everyday I never left my room and I played video games all day and I just wanted to be asleep because my dreams were more pleasant than the real world. It makes me happy so see people enjoying this game as much as I do.
I'm glad you didn't talk about the ending, it gives people who haven't played Yume Nikki to experience the game themselves. Also I would love to see you talk about off.
@@RigbyIsTheMan yumenikki.fandom.com/wiki/Yume_Nikki This page on the fan wiki has a few links to a few different versions of the game. It should have exactly what you're looking for. Try not to spoil it for yourself anymore than you probably already have, though. Games like this are always way more fun when you play them blind.
I’ve always found the term “gamer girl” a weird thing. Nearly as many gals play and love video games as much as guys do. You never hear guys called “gamer boys”.
I feel like the paranoia about the other girls/toriningen, the fat effect, constant eyes, and, most notably, large amount of vomit imagery, imply that she was always paranoid about others judging her for her body so she developed an eating disorder. It just seems like a good theory.
Sexual assault is the first go to to every fan theory and I personally find it frustrating. There are many other traumatizing things a female character can go through.
Dude I'm so happy you're talking about Yume Nikki!! It's one of my favourite games in the whole world, I love all the fan theories and symbolism :) I also think it's really cool how it inspired later games, like Undertale. Seriously, this game is free and it's a masterpiece, if you're reading this please play it!! You might need to look up maps on the wiki to avoid getting lost in the looping worlds, but give it a chance
Not a whole lot of symbolism, but LISA is also a really great old RPGMaker game. The first was kinda garbage but it get wayy better in the second and third games. You can buy all of them for $15 on steam (:
Personally i think that the reason Madotsuki is a shut-in is because she is dead afraid of "messing up" As i see it, she was part of a car crash, where at least two people died, Shitai San and Monoko, and Madotsuki witbessed the gory results of it, perhaps Shitai-san was a person who was wlaking by and got hit while Monoko was a passanger who ended up deeply deformed. Monoko was probably at least a close friend to her so ubderstandably seeing her sudden death scared her permanently and her head locked that memory away Perhaps it's the "Monochromatic Desert" because that's how she remembers it,in her memory everything just suddnely went black and white as the events unfolded Monoe is a tricky one, but it could be Monoko's sister, relative,friend or even girlfriend who, although not outspoken, blames Madotsuki for what happened and holds a deep grudge against her, or at least that's how Madotsuki percieves it
note: if you like yume nikki but are more into it for the horror aspects, there's a semi-popular fangame called .flow that's super atmospheric and well-made
This game means a lot to me, ever since I've discovered it 12 years ago (I was 12!) and it changed my life. you made my day so much happier! thank you so much for posting this video! hope u are doing well. stay safe!
This video opened a lot of memories for me. When I first started really using the Internet and TH-cam in the mid-2000’s, YumeNikki was one of the first things I remember really watching and playing and reading about. I think the beauty of the game is how everything is up for interpretation, and none of it is wrong. I believe the dev had ideas behind the different worlds and events, but never had a story in mind. So nothing is “canon”, but nothing is “not canon”, too. Such a beautiful game and I want to play it again now.
I think the theory of assault being a part of Madotsuki’s memories holds some credence especially with Uboa. The fact that he is just a little girl most of the time could be some reference to her assaulter being an online friend who pretended to be a girl like Madotsuki most of the time, but was really just a predator all along
So I have Haphephobia (fear of being touched) so any imagery of hands or anything revolving around touch makes my skin crawl and I feel extremely uneasy. But despite this I'm still drawn to play Yume Nikki. It's got a bunch of this imagery but for some reason it makes it more palatable in a sick way. It's super weird.
You know, that's a really great point. There's so many different ways to interpret this game. And adding to your theory, I like to think that maybe Poniko represents someone who Madotsuki was really friends with, but then they turned out to be a bad person and "backstabbing" her. Hence why she turns into a distorted and weird creature, Uboa, that locks her in a terrible and weird place
6:49 a more twisted thought is that girl could be Madotsuki's daughter "from her sexual assault" or maybe a little sister and her deformed look could ether be a few things from what you say a car accident or maybe the berth went badly, etc. This would make alot of sense why she has closed herself off in such a way.
I can also remember a monster looking like a toilet. If the girl wasn't sexually assaulted, maybe she is scared of everything she has to go through when she gets pregnant, or doesn't even want a kid but society wants her to have a family. I would find that hella relatable 💀💀
Have you've considered covering HBO's Crashbot? It gives off an unsettling aura that wasn't technically scary but despite it being for educational purposes, it always made me feel like I wasn't alone in my own home, it gave me a feeling that I wasn't safe watching this on my TV.
I really love the new game that came out, i'm glad to hear that the creator is actually okay and did not die. I feel like the Assault theory is very sad but the most likely, Especially in the new game that came out on steam. The new scene to the staircase now has a girl on the staircase, starting to cry and as you approach her, the thing stroking the railing starts to go faster and then the player falls to her knees and starts to cry as well. This probably implies that she was sexually assaulted and that nightmare is bringing it back to her, or she is so afraid of being assaulted, that its in her nightmares. Of course i dont think the entire game revolves around sexual assault. So much more is wrong with this girl, and its just sad.
yes, exactly. i see some people theorize that nothing like that happened to her and it's just a fear of hers, but if it was a fear why would it be so prevalent that it haunts many different faucets of her dreams in many different ways? why do some of the symbolism seem so specific? it hits close to me as a survivor and i don't like when people overlook it
@@neurdogic8909 I mean to be fair, with a game as surreal and uncertain like Yume Nikki, it's hard for everyone to arrive to the same conclusion. Everyone has seen and felt diferent things, so it is only natural for people to see things and interpret them differently. The thing about theories too is that, unless they are put to the test, they can only remain theories. The only real way we can get a concrete answer would for Kikiyama to throw us a bone or concrete confirmation about the greater meaing of it all. I'm not saying sexual assult theory isn't plausible or it dosen't hold weight by the way.
3:47 I mean, I've also seen people thinking the white "mountains"/"fluid" she walks through is comparable to, well... y'know, purely based on sound effects and visuals alone, mainly because of the sloshing noise that plays as you walk in either direction. I don't think this really adds anything, but it's a little funny how you called the things in the back "mountains" and skirting away from the obvious assumption that this thing may actually be stuck in the fluid, rather than gripping it.
damn I really feel it as a metaphor/representation of social anxiety and other anxieties. also here's some personal tmi: I'm 20 years old and still struggling with making friendships and I don't know if I'm asexual in some way or if I'm just way anxious about sex because of anxiety in general. so I absolutely see your interpretation of the sexual themes not as sexual trauma but as sexual anxiety.
Quite honestly, this game prevented me from doing a lot of bad shit to myself. If anything, I agree most with your point about her using her dreams as an escape. Life’s rough. And despite the theories, obviously Mado has had a rough life.
I used to play this as a young child and I always enjoyed it as there was no real storyline given and I could just explore the maps. I still play it to this day and it is weirdly comforting. I love it so much.
@@redacted4176 being a hikki doesn't imply you don't work, it simply means you don't want to leave your house There are hikkis who work from home and contribute to society just fine they just don't want to deal with people
@@Sigismund697 Oh I see. Yeah I had the impression that hikikomoris didn't work. Mostly bc I thought there wouldn't be much remote work to do in Japan. Well, I didn't know. But could NEETs be called worse? Wouldn't a disabled person be labeled a NEET? I just think generalizing people into neat (ha) labels simplifies the complex issues behind NEETS and hikikomoris
I found this really interesting theory where Madotsuki was a gifted child turned serial killer out of an obsession with the concept of death and characters like the corpse on the highway and Poniko are representations of her victims and what she did to them, very interesting and different take I actually like a lot.
Yume Nikki is one of my most favorite games I've ever played. It really helped me get through middle school and Madotsuki honestly was kind of a persona to an extent... everything about the game felt familiar to my dreams and some experiences, sounds, and nightmares. The torningen theory, shut in theory, and of course the theme of loneliness, is super prominent. It all stuck with me and is a phenomenal rpg classic that I'll never forget.
this is really good, i first discovered this game in like middle school and i didn't know what any of it meant but now looking back it's even darker than it looks, tbh it's one of my favorite pieces of media ever. i get a weird sense of hope when madotsuki escapes into her dream world. i hope she could be free someday
I agree that the abuse theory is reductive. It’s easy to go through the game tunnel vision-ing on that and miss some of the other symbolism about things like Madotsuki’s gender and sexuality. Personally, I think it’s just fun to explore and look at the cool art and not think too hard about Madotsuki or her past.
Yume Nikki feels strangely comforting for me. Madotsuki is truly one of my top comfort characters. I oddly feel as if I can relate to her. Its insanely hard for me to talk to people even in my own dreams, I have really bad anxiety (which makes me very "jumpy" or on edge whenever people stare, touch me, or, heck, even speak), and I tend to have crazy dreams. I'm not too sure as to why my dreams are like this, but that's why I feel like I can relate to her.
This was pleasant surprise since Yume Nikki is one of my favourite games of all time. Honestly I would listen to you talk about the things in this game and your thoughts and opinions on them for hours.
i agree with goose’s interpretation. after all it is a game about a hikikomori, who become hermits out of extreme social anxiety or fear of “the outside world”, so i feel like the entire game is an abstract exploration of different fears. then again i’m projecting a little bit, this game is incredibly important to me
The thing with black body and white face reminded me of a terrible nightmare i had as a child. It was before i even saw anything like it in games/cartoons etc, i think. A creature with black formless body and white mask was watching me from behind the window and was following me wherever i went. I remember every little detail about that dream because it was the only lucid dream i have had in my entire life. I could think clearly in that dream, though not realizing i was sleeping. Anyway, i just was thinking. Maybe more people had seen similar creatures in their dreams? Idk. Maybe im overthinking this. But its nice looking back at it, love the creepy vibe this memory gives me :)
Honestly I don’t even think she was assaulted, I just thought it was because everyone she loved has died and is afraid to go out since she’ll cause more deaths as she blames herself for it, as I thought the eyeball things and bloody hands and heads or like how that monster was vomiting blood may represent dead people or how ones she loved liked her mother died, we don’t know how but they died, I also thought that since there were no other characters in the game that weren’t in the dream, I never thought about sexual assault
This might be an overanalysis but with Monoko and the traffic light I think what more likely happened was Madoktsuki was about to cross the street after hitting the button only for Monoko's car to hit right beside Madotsuki (maybe her mum/ dad was distracted or drunk whilst driving and swerved off the road hitting the pavement) in Madotsukis mind though she thinks she killed them with the press of a button
In the comic adaptation it's stated that Uboa was her abusive mother or something like that. The 'ending' according to the comic was an accident when mado couldn't tell the difference between dream and reality anymore .
In addition to Yume 2kki, I'd also personally recommend .flow, a yume nikki fangame that really leans in heavy on the darker aspects of the game if you haven't checked it out
Thank you so much for making this video. I found this game back in 2013 and it stuck with me. I was a child, and a game without dialogue sounded so foreign. I lost the game over the years and now I’m just as happy to see it as I was back then and considering a replay. Thank you for the reminder.
I really want to play Yume Nikki again after watching your interpretation. You made Madotsuki far more relatable and likable for me. All the more pain when I get to that darn ending.
I enjoy and relate to the fear of growing up theory a bit more, as someone afraid of losing my childlike wonder, I often spend my days indoors, not wanting to go out and have to face the 'me' I have grown to be. Playing games has been some sort of escape, because I am not me. I play as someone who can do different things, see things differently, and lives a different life. This theory is something I never thought of, but makes a lot of sense to me. However, every person can view this game as they please :)
There are also other hints to sexual assault, like the strange creatures that look like pregnant torsos that hit also to the fact that she was sexually assaulted and that she was afraid of being pregnant. And the man in the piano is also theorized that he was someone which who Madotsuki had a love interest that was not corresponded because he was an adult and she was a minor. Also, personally my fav clone of Yume Nikki is .flow, which unfortunately, is quite hard to find.
I just got into the fandom, so this video came out at the most perfect of times. I'm also the same age as the game too, so it just feels right for me. Same as with Pretty Cure.
I stumbled onto this channel from trying to dig up the original photo of Jeff the Killer the other night, and I've been watching a lot of the videos here as a result of enjoying Goose's video style... I've looked into so many different horror media experiences but it's interesting and refreshing to find some new ones, or be reminded of some other ones (Like Yume Nikki) and be presented a different point of view on the original material. Thank you Goose ♡
Man, you never let me down. I was eager to see if you mentioned the alien invasion theory. My first encounter with game theories in general was with Yume Nikki (mostly because of my language barrier and incapability to properly browse the net). Even if it was weird and we didn't had so many ideas around, it was so cool to see everyone's thoughts about it. There was even a cool old animation going around back then!
Other YN Fan Games For Your Consideration: - .flow (More horror-themed and gory than the original, .flow focuses less on abstract and random landscapes and more on visual storytelling.) - Yume Nisshi (The closest one in mood to Yume Nikki, Nisshi is surreal, dark, and and oftentimes violent.) - Yuque (A smaller game, what Yuque lacks in worlds it more than makes up for in events and interactivity. Yuque appears calm, but can be every bit as disturbing and gory as its predecessors if it wants to.) - Lull Away (The smallest game on this list, Lull Away is cute and cheerful on the surface and gets more troubling the further you explore without completely losing its original atmosphere.) - Oversomnia (A more relaxed game, Oversomina is for those who like collectathons and to explore pretty pixel worlds.) - Mong Jung Mong (Easily the biggest game on this list, MJM is jam-packed with things to do and explore.)
For anyone willing to read: There’s a manga online that may kind of add to any theories. I read it and I kind of enjoy seeing the characters have actual dialog and motives. While it may not (or may be. Didn’t check,) be written and drawn out by the creator, I still enjoy the storyline.
Yume 2kki (Yume NI-kki, becuase of japanese pronunciation of two) is a lovingly made fangame and it's not the only one of it's kind. Yume Nikki spawned a whole genre of exploration games when during it's high time, some include but not limited to .flow, Miserere, and for the most part Middens (and it's sequel Gingiva).
I always thought that the blonde girl who turns into the monster represented that she got catfished. Like she thought she found a girl her age with similar interests online and went to meet her, but it turned out to be the man who assaulted her.
I'm aware it hadn't come out at the time this video was uploaded, but I find that the description you gave at the beginning has a lot of similarity to the plot of Omori, and makes me feel like there was certainly some inspiration taken. The rooms in Yume Nikki seem to be VERY similar to those you find in Blackspace, and after watching clips there seem to even be motifs in the music of Omori that were taken from Yume Nikki. It's a beautiful game with its own story and world though, I'd check it out sometime if you haven't before.
Not sure if someone mentioned it but .flow is a pretty interesting yumi nikki game, I'd recommend it to goose and anyone who finishes yumi nikki or anyone who likes more nightmarish atmosphere
damn i remember hearing about this when someone translated it for the german youtube scene when i was younger was trying to find a detailed english explanation, this is perfect :)
I love it when Yume Nikki gets talked about in this day in age! Though, I don't really pay attention to the theories, especially the one you discussed in the video.
So about the uterus hallway. Childbirth is extremely traumatizing both physically and mentally. I personally don't blame Matsuki for being terrified of her own anatomy in that way. There's a lot of societal pressure in Japan to get married and have kids as quickly as possible. (Heck, in the US too.) There's a lot of whitewashing on the subject like "it's a natural, beautiful thing" but in reality it can cause serious damage to a woman's body.
Honestly this feels like a regular dream that derails, really fast, and the few parts where nothing too weird happens (like the Mars thing) is the dream going back to a peaceful state, before going back to a nightmare
The flashing face behind the door at the top of the stairs kind of looks like an oni? It has a very distinct set of eyes, mouth, and what looks like horns...
Going to be honest. I always thought Yume Nikki was a game about a girl who saw somethings after aliens changed the form of humans to something new. It mostly had to do with the video on youtube I saw years ago someone made, but it really did stick with me and made sense of the lot of reasons why she went to sleep and didn't leave. She can't go out cause she was told not to, because she might be the last human. the end of the game where she jumps off after collecting the fragments, along with confronting her past, could be her collecting the last of what makes humanity, and her jumping to her death is the final task she needs to do so the aliens change everything in a way that was once normal for earth. I also liked how people went more into it, and say by doing this in a sense she became a god by dying and changing the world back, but she herself can not go back to the life she once had. I didn't know about the SA theory until many years later. and I had friends, and turns out the internet making that there go to theory. I did show my friends that animated alien video theory, and a lot of them loved it to the point of changing there minds or saying it didn't change there mind over the SA theory, cause they spend hours looking at all the angles to think other wise. Which fair. As you said there is no right or wrong way to view the game. That's what makes it so interesting.
yume 2kki is probably the best fangame ever created. there is SO much to do and it satisfies the itch i get when i start to miss yume nikki. i only hope that kikiyama releases another game in my lifetime.
When you said "Monoko," it froze on her sprite, and I was honestly creeped out a bit. I thought it was about to be a jumpscare gag, but it wasn't thank goodness.
From a very big Yume Nikki fan I suggest everyone who is interested please look at the concept art for Dream Diary, it’s some of the most coolest looking official art for yume nikki. Everything around the remake is great except for the game itself, the soundtrack has a lot of good remixes and original songs as well.
It's always cool to see Yume Nikki videos pop up in my recommendeds and subs by people I've watched a lot of content from. This games reach always seems so much wider than I realize. I had no idea it came out before Cave Story before watching this video. Despite what people seem to think about Cave Story kickstarting the indie scene in Japan, it seems like it was really Yume Nikki and Touhou Project that got that ball rolling.
the assault theory is interesting but I’d like to think that the reason that she’s a shut in and refuses to leave is because she’s terrified of being assaulted, maybe being exposed to stories of women being assaulted thus striking fear for her to never leave her apartment
(also a note: im pretty sure madotsuki is an adult from what I’ve heard ?)
Thank you!
As a person who's been raised to fear everything, I was always told that are a lot of bad stuff happens in alleyways, so I wondered to myself: why do we exit our homes in the first place, if outside is such a scary place(plus whole irl xenophobia thing due to bunch of trust issues)? Not that I'm hardcore shut-in, but I spend a lot of time in home because of it. So again, thanks for bringing this up, there are people who are just afraid of something bad that will happen to them if they're not careful
@@misery_shun d
@@misery_shun aaaa 😭
Huh, interesting.
I have a really awful fear of being assaulted or being robbed. I think my fear stems from seeing how many people get raped and assaulted a day and being robbed. Then there is those type of guys who say that women are only for pleasure and say the most disgusting things.
I feel like Madatsuki's dreams represent her as a person and not just a single fascet of her. Sure she might have been sexually assaulted/afraid of being sexually assaulted, but that isnt all she is and that isnt the only thing her dreams symbolise.
That's what I was thinking. After all, people aren't defined by their experiences, and people should not be defined by their trauma.
its just a game bro
@@JamietheEmperor King, my brother in christ, the game is literally about exploring a character's dreams. The game is filled with symbolism and enviromental story telling. Are you so shallow that you think that in order for a game to have a deep or intricate story, it has to be patronizingly spelled out to you in order for you to understand whats going on? Do you literally need a text box to pop up every 5 seconds in this game where literally all you do is explore and collect items?
@@gabbo7101 no because I already got 10 effects and am highly enjoying the variety in worlds and the soundtrack, what is your damn problem
@@JamietheEmperor damn calm down. But like fr, do you not believe games, especially purely visual ones, cant have symbolism or have meaning that is beyond "abstract funni"? I guess the creator just made Madatsuki refuse to leave her apartment because "lol random", and none of the worlds have any meaning at all. Its all just abstract for abstract's sake, with nothing to think about at all, right?
There is no such thing as "art for arts sake", because there is no such thing as meaningless art. Every piece of art has some kind of theme, idea, message, concept, etc etc its trying to share, deliberatly or otherwise.
To be honest, I feel like Yume Nikki is a pretty good analog to living with anxiety and some form of neurodivergence. This could just be me projecting, I love the game and suffer from generalized anxiety and ADHD so it could be my own perspective twisting things, but Madotsuki could be dealing with a similar situation, and what she sees in her dreams could be manifestations of fears she has as a young woman going through life as she is. Fearing sex, close contact, staring, they're all rather common for people like us.
I feel it accurately describes agoraphobia. And I honestly think a lot of hikakamori's are suffering undiagnosed from this.
I agree! especially with untreated versions of those and other disorders that cause paranoia.
@@AngryMothNoises was just about to say that, as an agoraphobe you got a point! Agoraphobia, generally makes you apphiliate everywhere but your house with trauma/panic attacks. Ill spend about 7-9 months inside because of it, not fun
Depression also easily leads to living a shut-in life, even more when coupled with drugs.
All are ‘divergent’
I mean you are putting in things relevant to you into the ambiguous imagery
I'm always in the market for a Traumathon
Are you an ARG?
@@christianparker2866 I guess I'd encourage you to watch and see my story for yourself.
I think the whole "madotsuki was sexually assaulted and that's why shes a shut in" comes from this constant need people on the internet have to find out the secret dark/fucked up meaning behind something that on its surface is seemingly not that. I think that the game is generally about childhood trauma and the "sexual assault" themes come from the fact that most young girls notice adult men showing that kind of attention towards them around the age of 12, so regardless of how she views herself as still just a kid she is forced by the society she lives in to be a sexual object.
I don’t think the game is about ‘childhood trauma’ necessarily, it is about dreams and nightmares which often don’t have a very direct correspondence in life kept intentionally ambiguous. People have disturbing dreams and fears without childhood trauma as well, though it might be related
It has parallels or connections you can make but that doesn’t make it about it.
The reason ppl do it is because if the apparently bloody / etc imagery and the fact that they interpret certain imagery in the game as being genital related also. That’s make absolutely no sense even if anything like what you stated were true
You mean the apparent genital etc themes?
IMHO should hold your horses here, that whole sentence is a bit of a red alert, it is imo off the rails in terms of ‘most girls’ being ‘forced to be sexual objects’ and the connection toon to all to all the above, imagery etc
I think you’re going to need to give mkre of an explanation.
Yume Nikki (For me at least) is the most accurate representation of dreams.
EDIT: Everyone's dreams can be drastically different so feel free to take this statement with a grain of salt if you want.
No- Wait... YOURE RIGHT! HOW THE HECK ARE YOU RIGHT!?
Don't get me wrong - Yume Nikki is one of my favorite games, but I'd argue that it isn't an accurate representation of dreams because it doesn't capture the vagueness of dreams, and I don't know about you, but I've never had a dream with a floor that has a looping image..
@@user-bn6vg8ck4t Very true! I've had vivid dreams before, and I think that's one of the things that the game portrays well.
@@Roo_Card True, you would have to be having a fever dream to dream about a looping image being the floor, but I'm talking about the other locations, like the Mall, the sewers, or the forest. I've had dreams in places like those. It also just encapsulates the atmosphere of dreams really well.
My dreams are weird and strange and outright scary. I would be chased, i couldnt move i was frozen. I would go to a neutral dream that was good but i somehow trigger a bad one. When i turn the lights off it would trigger a bad dream. A change of atmosphere. I was stalked in dreams particularly by a ghost that was by my cracked door but it had a demonic face while i was playing a game in the dream. My dreams at this moment are random and scary. The dumbest thing nightmares do is that it makes u crazy. Nobody in the dream reacts or does nor sees what you see and they almost alright ignore you unless triggered. I would have a dream where i was with someone and somehow there gone they disappear and I am just alone. Freaky shit man
an interesting little fact i learned years after finishing yume nikki: the girls who chase Madotsuki are called the Toriningen. if you seperate "tori" and "ningen" you get the japanese words for "bird" and "human" or "person". so basically they're just called "bird people"
which is incredibly fitting since the toriningen are depicted as having beaks, in the game and manga
Toriningen is actually a fan-given name IIRC. Only madotsuki has a canonical name I think.
@@genericgorilla monoko is also canonically named iirc?
@@EchoGulch64 not directly it's only the name her file is listed as
File as her character spreadsheet
That's the case for a lot of things actually including madotsuki since that only means window and it's believe to simply refer to the checkered pattern on her shirt rather than an actual name
@@Sigismund697 nah, Mado means window. Also, you say the names are only in the files. Well, who do you recon named the files? Surely could not have been the original author of the game...
And they obviously aren't shown in game, cause there are pretty much no instances of text (apart from the menu) in it. So the way of naming the characters was through the files.
I think it really is about assault. When I was assaulted as a preteen, I didn't tell anyone. I felt like I had to shove it to the back of my mind, but it would inevitably creep forward. I had nightmares that felt like spirals. I cried alone in my room a lot. I was never a literal shut in, but I did feel like I was alone and trapped in my head. The pulsating face and the hallways really struck me as familiar nightmares. I could just be projecting, but I don't think so.
I'm sorry you had to go through that ❤
I’m so sorry you had to go through this
I hope you’re doing better now
Hopefully the assualter (is that a word) got prosecuted
@@gaminganimators7000 unfortunately, I dont even know who it was. He was behind me and my school wouldn't review the security camera footage.
@@bestbi3587 i'm so sorry you could never get proper justice :[ i do hope you feel better nowadays !!
To specify Uboa, there's a 1/64 per attempt for her to show up when you turn off the light.
To clraify further
This means that in 64 attempts, 1 is bound to trigger the event, even if it's the 64th attempt
Her?
@@Sigismund697 Eh, it is about impossoble to determine 98% of the characters genders in the game
lmao i got him on my second try
@@MarcyTheKindaCoolWizard 98% is a strecht. You can determine all humanoids, and Uboa is likely a girl because she was the transformation of that girl that was standing in the middle of the room.
It's not nearly as good as Yume Nikki but Lisa: The First is a game heavily inspired by Yume Nikki with some similarly dark themes. It's worth checking out if you ever want more stuff like Yume Nikki or go down the Lisa hole.
i spot a cerebella pfp
I really liked Lisa, personally. It's a really dark story that just... ugh it really hurts ngl
@@pecklespeckle1 Plot Hole: Why is Everyone a Pedophile?!?!?!
It makes everything edgy
Lisa The Painful is narratively better than Yume Nikki
@@greggaygayakutami1402 I like Lisa more narratively too but some people might prefer Yume Nikki's more open-ended story. If we're talking strictly gameplay though, Lisa: The First is kind of rough.
When I played this game years ago, what I left it with was an impression that Yume Nikki is supposed to represent the perspective of the outside world from someone who is afraid of it to the point of hiding. Like, she fears that if she goes out into the world she'll be assaulted, or hit by a car like a friend she had as a kid, or ridiculed by the judging eyes of strangers who think she's fat or stupid or ugly.
As someone who has been a shut-in for a lot of my life, the game genuinely does a good job putting into visuals the perspective of a fear and rejection of the world around you. When you're so afraid of a society that feels predatorial and hostile, the idea of living on a barren planet doesn't seem as bad. I think that's the true message of the game at its core; the perspective of someone who fears and rejects the world and can at this point only dream of what it's like.
The womb imagery could also refer to regression. What is a hikikomori but someone that pulls inward, a subconscious desire to return to the womb.
No, you’re being pseudoscientific.
No, there isn’t a ‘subconscious’ or a ‘desire to return to the womb’.
We don’t remember the womb.
@@mareksicinski3726 That is a nice argument
Unfortunately, your mother
*vine boom sfx*
@@mareksicinski3726 We don't but our body does
Yume Nikki is such a personal game for me. When I first played it I just thought it was a really cool and trippy game, but after dealing with depression and loneliness I started to see myself in Madotsuki more. Everyday I never left my room and I played video games all day and I just wanted to be asleep because my dreams were more pleasant than the real world. It makes me happy so see people enjoying this game as much as I do.
Great video as always, man! Yume Nikki is so incredibly interesting to theorize about. Great work!
Nice seeing you here
nice, hoods here!!
I'm glad you didn't talk about the ending, it gives people who haven't played Yume Nikki to experience the game themselves. Also I would love to see you talk about off.
@Smash 456 Yeah
@Smash 456 or waking up from a dream within a dream
@@MarcyTheKindaCoolWizard thats most fan endings.
wow coincidentally just finished playing it like a week ago
was not expecting this upload
Where do you play it?
@@RigbyIsTheMan yumenikki.fandom.com/wiki/Yume_Nikki This page on the fan wiki has a few links to a few different versions of the game. It should have exactly what you're looking for. Try not to spoil it for yourself anymore than you probably already have, though. Games like this are always way more fun when you play them blind.
Welcome to the cult, friend. Stay a little, we have fun here.
@@anxietyprimev6983 thank you bro
@@RigbyIsTheMan No problem, my dude, just doing my job.
I’ve always found the term “gamer girl” a weird thing. Nearly as many gals play and love video games as much as guys do. You never hear guys called “gamer boys”.
Shut up gamer dish for
Comm Crimson shut up edgelord
This didn't used to be the case at all. When I went to arcades in the 80s it was 95%+ male. I assume that's why.
im a gamer man, not a gamer boy >:(
@@ballzsandwich that is literally what she said
thaaank youuu for realizing that girls in horror can have more issues than just s*xual assault!
I feel like the paranoia about the other girls/toriningen, the fat effect, constant eyes, and, most notably, large amount of vomit imagery, imply that she was always paranoid about others judging her for her body so she developed an eating disorder. It just seems like a good theory.
Sexual assault is the first go to to every fan theory and I personally find it frustrating. There are many other traumatizing things a female character can go through.
Dude I'm so happy you're talking about Yume Nikki!! It's one of my favourite games in the whole world, I love all the fan theories and symbolism :) I also think it's really cool how it inspired later games, like Undertale. Seriously, this game is free and it's a masterpiece, if you're reading this please play it!! You might need to look up maps on the wiki to avoid getting lost in the looping worlds, but give it a chance
Not a whole lot of symbolism, but LISA is also a really great old RPGMaker game. The first was kinda garbage but it get wayy better in the second and third games. You can buy all of them for $15 on steam (:
@@dannydevito9111 Sounds fun! I might give it a try if i get some spare cash :)
@@dannydevito9111 Hell no
The Third Game(Joyful DLC) was Edgy Pedophilic Garbage with bad humor
Mhm. c: 💛
Yeahs :}
Personally i think that the reason Madotsuki is a shut-in is because she is dead afraid of "messing up"
As i see it, she was part of a car crash, where at least two people died, Shitai San and Monoko, and Madotsuki witbessed the gory results of it, perhaps Shitai-san was a person who was wlaking by and got hit while Monoko was a passanger who ended up deeply deformed. Monoko was probably at least a close friend to her so ubderstandably seeing her sudden death scared her permanently and her head locked that memory away
Perhaps it's the "Monochromatic Desert" because that's how she remembers it,in her memory everything just suddnely went black and white as the events unfolded
Monoe is a tricky one, but it could be Monoko's sister, relative,friend or even girlfriend who, although not outspoken, blames Madotsuki for what happened and holds a deep grudge against her, or at least that's how Madotsuki percieves it
note: if you like yume nikki but are more into it for the horror aspects, there's a semi-popular fangame called .flow that's super atmospheric and well-made
Yume 2kki is pronounced: "Yume nikki". The two is pronounced as "ni" because that's what two is in Japanese.
yume 2kki is pronounced : never going to be finished
@@penyu1913 It's already finished.
yeah but who the heck pronounces yume 2kki like yume nikki that is dumb
@@jimmybean420 How would you pronounce it?
@@7niahceulb yume two-key
I’m curious about your thoughts on the “cousins” to Yume Nikki, OFF and Space Funeral.
Ah yes, the trio cult classic rpg maker games
I believe .flow was really good
.flow, Yume 2kki, Gingiva, Middens. The list goes on and on.
*Laughs in akwardly masked french*
Mad Father and IB too
This game means a lot to me, ever since I've discovered it 12 years ago (I was 12!) and it changed my life. you made my day so much happier! thank you so much for posting this video! hope u are doing well. stay safe!
This video opened a lot of memories for me. When I first started really using the Internet and TH-cam in the mid-2000’s, YumeNikki was one of the first things I remember really watching and playing and reading about. I think the beauty of the game is how everything is up for interpretation, and none of it is wrong. I believe the dev had ideas behind the different worlds and events, but never had a story in mind. So nothing is “canon”, but nothing is “not canon”, too.
Such a beautiful game and I want to play it again now.
One time I had a dream where I had a Tarantino style shoot out with Hitler, the dream ended with me capping Hitler with a 45. Magnum revolver.
Yumme Nikki and Cave story were 16 years ago? damn, time really flies
BRO I LEGIT THOUGHT CAVE STORY WAS 3 YEARS AGO AND YUME NIKKI WAS 8 YEARS AGO-
Both incredible video games...
My undertale-poisoned brain: W.D. gaster
Me, through tears and absolute disgust: No.
Kinda ironic since u have sand the skelton on ur prof pic
0:54 I just heard the whole fandom unanimously saying “Fuck, I’m old”
I think the theory of assault being a part of Madotsuki’s memories holds some credence especially with Uboa. The fact that he is just a little girl most of the time could be some reference to her assaulter being an online friend who pretended to be a girl like Madotsuki most of the time, but was really just a predator all along
This game is very important to me, I always had a "something" with dreams and seeing a game that represents dreams so well gives me a lot of happiness
Oooh, A Yume Nikki video in 2020? Thank ya goose boose
So I have Haphephobia (fear of being touched) so any imagery of hands or anything revolving around touch makes my skin crawl and I feel extremely uneasy. But despite this I'm still drawn to play Yume Nikki. It's got a bunch of this imagery but for some reason it makes it more palatable in a sick way. It's super weird.
You know, that's a really great point. There's so many different ways to interpret this game. And adding to your theory, I like to think that maybe Poniko represents someone who Madotsuki was really friends with, but then they turned out to be a bad person and "backstabbing" her. Hence why she turns into a distorted and weird creature, Uboa, that locks her in a terrible and weird place
6:49 a more twisted thought is that girl could be Madotsuki's daughter "from her sexual assault" or maybe a little sister and her deformed look could ether be a few things from what you say a car accident or maybe the berth went badly, etc. This would make alot of sense why she has closed herself off in such a way.
I can also remember a monster looking like a toilet. If the girl wasn't sexually assaulted, maybe she is scared of everything she has to go through when she gets pregnant, or doesn't even want a kid but society wants her to have a family. I would find that hella relatable 💀💀
BTW she’s only 15
@@ThegoofMizuto_물과 where did you get that info
Have you've considered covering HBO's Crashbot? It gives off an unsettling aura that wasn't technically scary but despite it being for educational purposes, it always made me feel like I wasn't alone in my own home, it gave me a feeling that I wasn't safe watching this on my TV.
Dude I always watched that show, cool to see someone actually know about it. but yeah it always gave off such a strange vibe with how uncanny it was.
i was so afraid of crashbox💀
I really love the new game that came out, i'm glad to hear that the creator is actually okay and did not die. I feel like the Assault theory is very sad but the most likely, Especially in the new game that came out on steam. The new scene to the staircase now has a girl on the staircase, starting to cry and as you approach her, the thing stroking the railing starts to go faster and then the player falls to her knees and starts to cry as well. This probably implies that she was sexually assaulted and that nightmare is bringing it back to her, or she is so afraid of being assaulted, that its in her nightmares. Of course i dont think the entire game revolves around sexual assault. So much more is wrong with this girl, and its just sad.
yes, exactly. i see some people theorize that nothing like that happened to her and it's just a fear of hers, but if it was a fear why would it be so prevalent that it haunts many different faucets of her dreams in many different ways? why do some of the symbolism seem so specific? it hits close to me as a survivor and i don't like when people overlook it
@@neurdogic8909 I mean to be fair, with a game as surreal and uncertain like Yume Nikki, it's hard for everyone to arrive to the same conclusion. Everyone has seen and felt diferent things, so it is only natural for people to see things and interpret them differently. The thing about theories too is that, unless they are put to the test, they can only remain theories. The only real way we can get a concrete answer would for Kikiyama to throw us a bone or concrete confirmation about the greater meaing of it all. I'm not saying sexual assult theory isn't plausible or it dosen't hold weight by the way.
by "the thing stroking the railing", do you mean KyuuKyuu-kun? With the smiledog smile?
3:47 I mean, I've also seen people thinking the white "mountains"/"fluid" she walks through is comparable to, well... y'know, purely based on sound effects and visuals alone, mainly because of the sloshing noise that plays as you walk in either direction. I don't think this really adds anything, but it's a little funny how you called the things in the back "mountains" and skirting away from the obvious assumption that this thing may actually be stuck in the fluid, rather than gripping it.
damn I really feel it as a metaphor/representation of social anxiety and other anxieties.
also here's some personal tmi: I'm 20 years old and still struggling with making friendships and I don't know if I'm asexual in some way or if I'm just way anxious about sex because of anxiety in general. so I absolutely see your interpretation of the sexual themes not as sexual trauma but as sexual anxiety.
Quite honestly, this game prevented me from doing a lot of bad shit to myself.
If anything, I agree most with your point about her using her dreams as an escape. Life’s rough. And despite the theories, obviously Mado has had a rough life.
I remember seeing this in the dark by myself when I was in my late teens. Ah good times.
i just realized while watching this that the yume 2kki is playing off of 2 being pronounced "ni" in japanese
makes a lot more sense to me now
I used to play this as a young child and I always enjoyed it as there was no real storyline given and I could just explore the maps. I still play it to this day and it is weirdly comforting. I love it so much.
"hikikomoris are basically shut-ins that rarely ever talk to anyone outside their rooms and pretty much never leave"
Oh jeez that almost describes me
"Almost"
Gettin' there, sonny!
Are you a neet tho? There's a difference and really being a hikki is way better than being a neet
@@Sigismund697 hows it better than being a neet
@@redacted4176 being a hikki doesn't imply you don't work, it simply means you don't want to leave your house
There are hikkis who work from home and contribute to society just fine they just don't want to deal with people
@@Sigismund697 Oh I see. Yeah I had the impression that hikikomoris didn't work. Mostly bc I thought there wouldn't be much remote work to do in Japan. Well, I didn't know. But could NEETs be called worse? Wouldn't a disabled person be labeled a NEET? I just think generalizing people into neat (ha) labels simplifies the complex issues behind NEETS and hikikomoris
I found this really interesting theory where Madotsuki was a gifted child turned serial killer out of an obsession with the concept of death and characters like the corpse on the highway and Poniko are representations of her victims and what she did to them, very interesting and different take I actually like a lot.
Yume Nikki is one of my most favorite games I've ever played. It really helped me get through middle school and Madotsuki honestly was kind of a persona to an extent... everything about the game felt familiar to my dreams and some experiences, sounds, and nightmares. The torningen theory, shut in theory, and of course the theme of loneliness, is super prominent. It all stuck with me and is a phenomenal rpg classic that I'll never forget.
Did Smile Dog give anybody else the willies back in the early 2010’s?
Still does
The image? Not at all
The concept? Hell yes it does
@@MarcyTheKindaCoolWizard aye
this is really good, i first discovered this game in like middle school and i didn't know what any of it meant but now looking back it's even darker than it looks, tbh it's one of my favorite pieces of media ever. i get a weird sense of hope when madotsuki escapes into her dream world. i hope she could be free someday
I agree that the abuse theory is reductive. It’s easy to go through the game tunnel vision-ing on that and miss some of the other symbolism about things like Madotsuki’s gender and sexuality. Personally, I think it’s just fun to explore and look at the cool art and not think too hard about Madotsuki or her past.
Yume Nikki feels strangely comforting for me. Madotsuki is truly one of my top comfort characters. I oddly feel as if I can relate to her. Its insanely hard for me to talk to people even in my own dreams, I have really bad anxiety (which makes me very "jumpy" or on edge whenever people stare, touch me, or, heck, even speak), and I tend to have crazy dreams. I'm not too sure as to why my dreams are like this, but that's why I feel like I can relate to her.
This was pleasant surprise since Yume Nikki is one of my favourite games of all time. Honestly I would listen to you talk about the things in this game and your thoughts and opinions on them for hours.
This video just called me hikkikomori, fat and lonely.
Is he wrong, though?
OH MY GOD
THE UBOA-
*Thank you for doing Yume Nikki*
you BROUGHT A REALLY GOOD VIEW OF THE GAME, like, fr. I genuinely enjoy the game more because of this.
i agree with goose’s interpretation. after all it is a game about a hikikomori, who become hermits out of extreme social anxiety or fear of “the outside world”, so i feel like the entire game is an abstract exploration of different fears. then again i’m projecting a little bit, this game is incredibly important to me
The thing with black body and white face reminded me of a terrible nightmare i had as a child. It was before i even saw anything like it in games/cartoons etc, i think. A creature with black formless body and white mask was watching me from behind the window and was following me wherever i went. I remember every little detail about that dream because it was the only lucid dream i have had in my entire life. I could think clearly in that dream, though not realizing i was sleeping. Anyway, i just was thinking. Maybe more people had seen similar creatures in their dreams? Idk. Maybe im overthinking this. But its nice looking back at it, love the creepy vibe this memory gives me :)
Honestly I don’t even think she was assaulted, I just thought it was because everyone she loved has died and is afraid to go out since she’ll cause more deaths as she blames herself for it, as I thought the eyeball things and bloody hands and heads or like how that monster was vomiting blood may represent dead people or how ones she loved liked her mother died, we don’t know how but they died, I also thought that since there were no other characters in the game that weren’t in the dream, I never thought about sexual assault
This might be an overanalysis but with Monoko and the traffic light I think what more likely happened was Madoktsuki was about to cross the street after hitting the button only for Monoko's car to hit right beside Madotsuki (maybe her mum/ dad was distracted or drunk whilst driving and swerved off the road hitting the pavement) in Madotsukis mind though she thinks she killed them with the press of a button
In the comic adaptation it's stated that Uboa was her abusive mother or something like that. The 'ending' according to the comic was an accident when mado couldn't tell the difference between dream and reality anymore .
In addition to Yume 2kki, I'd also personally recommend .flow, a yume nikki fangame that really leans in heavy on the darker aspects of the game if you haven't checked it out
That bloody room scene still scrares me
Thank you so much for making this video. I found this game back in 2013 and it stuck with me. I was a child, and a game without dialogue sounded so foreign. I lost the game over the years and now I’m just as happy to see it as I was back then and considering a replay. Thank you for the reminder.
I really want to play Yume Nikki again after watching your interpretation. You made Madotsuki far more relatable and likable for me. All the more pain when I get to that darn ending.
In 2020, It's a pleasure to hear someone talk about Cave Story.
What i love about yume nikki is that its so open and you can make whatever you want from it
imagine if uboa was the same entity to appear in other games, like hes actually gaster and so forth
Oh boi that'd be a hell of a Shared Multiverse
Every time I watch one of these that intro song is so fucking GOOD HOLY SHIT
I enjoy and relate to the fear of growing up theory a bit more, as someone afraid of losing my childlike wonder, I often spend my days indoors, not wanting to go out and have to face the 'me' I have grown to be. Playing games has been some sort of escape, because I am not me. I play as someone who can do different things, see things differently, and lives a different life.
This theory is something I never thought of, but makes a lot of sense to me. However, every person can view this game as they please :)
There are also other hints to sexual assault, like the strange creatures that look like pregnant torsos that hit also to the fact that she was sexually assaulted and that she was afraid of being pregnant. And the man in the piano is also theorized that he was someone which who Madotsuki had a love interest that was not corresponded because he was an adult and she was a minor. Also, personally my fav clone of Yume Nikki is .flow, which unfortunately, is quite hard to find.
I'm honestly so glad I found this, this and Giygas were always creepy when it came to seeing theories when I was a child
yoooo giygas fucked me uppp
I just got into the fandom, so this video came out at the most perfect of times. I'm also the same age as the game too, so it just feels right for me. Same as with Pretty Cure.
I stumbled onto this channel from trying to dig up the original photo of Jeff the Killer the other night, and I've been watching a lot of the videos here as a result of enjoying Goose's video style... I've looked into so many different horror media experiences but it's interesting and refreshing to find some new ones, or be reminded of some other ones (Like Yume Nikki) and be presented a different point of view on the original material.
Thank you Goose ♡
Man, you never let me down. I was eager to see if you mentioned the alien invasion theory. My first encounter with game theories in general was with Yume Nikki (mostly because of my language barrier and incapability to properly browse the net).
Even if it was weird and we didn't had so many ideas around, it was so cool to see everyone's thoughts about it. There was even a cool old animation going around back then!
Other YN Fan Games For Your Consideration:
- .flow (More horror-themed and gory than the original, .flow focuses less on abstract and random landscapes and more on visual storytelling.)
- Yume Nisshi (The closest one in mood to Yume Nikki, Nisshi is surreal, dark, and and oftentimes violent.)
- Yuque (A smaller game, what Yuque lacks in worlds it more than makes up for in events and interactivity. Yuque appears calm, but can be every bit as disturbing and gory as its predecessors if it wants to.)
- Lull Away (The smallest game on this list, Lull Away is cute and cheerful on the surface and gets more troubling the further you explore without completely losing its original atmosphere.)
- Oversomnia (A more relaxed game, Oversomina is for those who like collectathons and to explore pretty pixel worlds.)
- Mong Jung Mong (Easily the biggest game on this list, MJM is jam-packed with things to do and explore.)
Is that Rod Serling talking in the beginning of the intro? I can't tell.
For anyone willing to read: There’s a manga online that may kind of add to any theories. I read it and I kind of enjoy seeing the characters have actual dialog and motives. While it may not (or may be. Didn’t check,) be written and drawn out by the creator, I still enjoy the storyline.
Yume 2kki (Yume NI-kki, becuase of japanese pronunciation of two) is a lovingly made fangame and it's not the only one of it's kind. Yume Nikki spawned a whole genre of exploration games when during it's high time, some include but not limited to .flow, Miserere, and for the most part Middens (and it's sequel Gingiva).
I always thought that the blonde girl who turns into the monster represented that she got catfished. Like she thought she found a girl her age with similar interests online and went to meet her, but it turned out to be the man who assaulted her.
I’ve never been familiar with this game but that villain is nostalgic for me because of the early days of creepypastas including gaming pastas
I'm aware it hadn't come out at the time this video was uploaded, but I find that the description you gave at the beginning has a lot of similarity to the plot of Omori, and makes me feel like there was certainly some inspiration taken. The rooms in Yume Nikki seem to be VERY similar to those you find in Blackspace, and after watching clips there seem to even be motifs in the music of Omori that were taken from Yume Nikki. It's a beautiful game with its own story and world though, I'd check it out sometime if you haven't before.
Not sure if someone mentioned it but .flow is a pretty interesting yumi nikki game, I'd recommend it to goose and anyone who finishes yumi nikki or anyone who likes more nightmarish atmosphere
damn i remember hearing about this when someone translated it for the german youtube scene when i was younger
was trying to find a detailed english explanation, this is perfect :)
I love it when Yume Nikki gets talked about in this day in age!
Though, I don't really pay attention to the theories, especially the one you discussed in the video.
So about the uterus hallway. Childbirth is extremely traumatizing both physically and mentally. I personally don't blame Matsuki for being terrified of her own anatomy in that way. There's a lot of societal pressure in Japan to get married and have kids as quickly as possible. (Heck, in the US too.) There's a lot of whitewashing on the subject like "it's a natural, beautiful thing" but in reality it can cause serious damage to a woman's body.
Yess! Youre talking about this game !!
Also I'm loving his traumathon. You're so relaxing and so enjoyable to listen to.
Honestly this feels like a regular dream that derails, really fast, and the few parts where nothing too weird happens (like the Mars thing) is the dream going back to a peaceful state, before going back to a nightmare
The flashing face behind the door at the top of the stairs kind of looks like an oni? It has a very distinct set of eyes, mouth, and what looks like horns...
I liked your social anxiety theory more than the sexual abuse one
Uboa’s face always reminded me of Nathan from South Park so it’s kinda hard for me to find it scary.
Yesss!! I barely see people talk about this game, it’s such an underrated horror game!!
this channel is so underrated...
Going to be honest. I always thought Yume Nikki was a game about a girl who saw somethings after aliens changed the form of humans to something new. It mostly had to do with the video on youtube I saw years ago someone made, but it really did stick with me and made sense of the lot of reasons why she went to sleep and didn't leave.
She can't go out cause she was told not to, because she might be the last human.
the end of the game where she jumps off after collecting the fragments, along with confronting her past, could be her collecting the last of what makes humanity, and her jumping to her death is the final task she needs to do so the aliens change everything in a way that was once normal for earth.
I also liked how people went more into it, and say by doing this in a sense she became a god by dying and changing the world back, but she herself can not go back to the life she once had.
I didn't know about the SA theory until many years later. and I had friends, and turns out the internet making that there go to theory. I did show my friends that animated alien video theory, and a lot of them loved it to the point of changing there minds or saying it didn't change there mind over the SA theory, cause they spend hours looking at all the angles to think other wise. Which fair. As you said there is no right or wrong way to view the game. That's what makes it so interesting.
yume 2kki is probably the best fangame ever created. there is SO much to do and it satisfies the itch i get when i start to miss yume nikki.
i only hope that kikiyama releases another game in my lifetime.
Jordan Underneath's old yumi nikki analysis is rlly good, u can find a reupload of it. He focuses more on the depression n agoraphobia themes
When you said "Monoko," it froze on her sprite, and I was honestly creeped out a bit. I thought it was about to be a jumpscare gag, but it wasn't thank goodness.
It's a bunch of cryptic stuff that means anything to everyone. Like The Shining.
From a very big Yume Nikki fan I suggest everyone who is interested please look at the concept art for Dream Diary, it’s some of the most coolest looking official art for yume nikki. Everything around the remake is great except for the game itself, the soundtrack has a lot of good remixes and original songs as well.
It's always cool to see Yume Nikki videos pop up in my recommendeds and subs by people I've watched a lot of content from. This games reach always seems so much wider than I realize. I had no idea it came out before Cave Story before watching this video. Despite what people seem to think about Cave Story kickstarting the indie scene in Japan, it seems like it was really Yume Nikki and Touhou Project that got that ball rolling.