Okay a few mentions just because I’m not sure if this is well known. 1) kids in Japan are expected to be independent to a shocking degree. Starting at about three or four children are given tasks to travel from home with money to the local market to buy some small amount of groceries and come home with change. This is meant to prepare kindergarteners to go to school by themselves when they start. This can also prepare the child to get food if they are a latchkey kid, meaning no grownups will be home for who knows how long. Therefore Madotsuki would absolutely be old enough to go out if she chose to. 2) this is just an interpretation but (about the world with all the step on tiles that make individual noises) the thing in the background of the tile world looks a lot like a cell. The tiles also look like components of organisms on a cellular or possibly molecular level. What do you think? 3)the headless effect connected to authority figures could be a reference for being fired from or the threat of being fired from a job. The words referring to fired in the Japanese language also can mean beheaded. Kubisare means beheaded and kubisareta means fired. I hope this was helpful. Thank you for reading this comment. Thanks for the video.
Huh, that's interesting. I never thought to consider the Japanese family structure. In hindsight, I probably should have taken the cultural norms into account when forming my analysis. I knew that Japan has a very strict and dedicated working culture; but now that you mention the independence of children it makes perfectly logical sense for Madotsuki to be home alone. Yeah I saw the similarities too, I would have included the resemblance in my analysis; but as far as I know this would be the only example of cells and microbiology imagery (I could be missing another example). Some people think the inner "structures" look line E man and O man from the mall combined. I think your interpretation fits better. That's crazy! I guess they really do take employment seriously in Japan. With that understanding, I wonder if this is could be another example of Madotsuki see everything "through a childish lens". Like maybe the guillotine is not an actual guillotine but a big paper cutting device found in a office setting. Maybe a place where Madotsuki's parents worked? Thank you for sharing, and thanks for watching!
On 2) it definitely reminds me of a biology textbook like maybe she had nightmares about it like i did when i was little Like it felt really alien and gross to me when i first saw it because it was all slimy amoebas and i got ill thinking about how i was made of them
But seriously, this is your best produced, voiced, paced, researched, and well-spoken video yet. I can tell a ton of work went into making it, and honestly, it is more thought-provoking and interesting than anything else you have made so far. I am not tryna dog on your other works, this is just so goood. I love it. thank you for making this
Thank you very much for saying that. While I can't promise more 2 hour long videos any time soon, I could only ever hope to outdo myself with every video. Thank you for watching, it means a lot to me that I could do this game justice.
@@XDNighthawkXD I have a whole shift in a rainy day ahead of me and I can't wait to watch this video, God bless ya and Jesus loves ya, always love your stuff man :)
6:34 "I don't want my personal experience to muddy up the interpretation too much" brother the individual humanity of the personal experience is what gives various interpretations behind one piece of art meaning and worth, connections you can make from yourself to this game will offer you some of the most insightful interpretations you can have
Yes, this is true; BUT I think it's important to not let your personal experience govern your understanding of something too much. For example, MY specific experience was mostly due to me either being home alone, or being left with a less then Ideal caretaker; but the thing is, we don't know what Madotsuki's exact living situation is. So If I just imprinted my experience onto Madotsuki's, the conclusion would be fundamentally biased on my part. It is almost impossible to not let your personal experience affect how you perceive the world and art in general; but I don't think I would be doing this right if I didn't at least try to not let it happen. This is why I mention things like how the community reacts to things like Kyuu-kyuu kun and such, I pretty much used the Wiki as a way to compare my understating with the game. "Expand my pallet" if you will. Ultimately this video IS largely a result of how MY understanding of the world; but I think we can get a lot more out of something if we try to look at it from a lens of someone else, take in more information. If I didn't use the wiki, I never would have found out about the Nihonjin gakkō or the Kamakura festival. This, in a sense is a form of indirect collaboration as I had no idea of either of these things when making the video initially. As a result of knowing these things and adding them to the video, I think it was better then just making video using only what I knew. This also allows for better conversation about the topic at hand as like with the Kyuukyuu kun example I took the universally agreed upon understanding and I pushed back against it using my own reasoning. I get what you're saying though, the personal experience IS important.
@@XDNighthawkXD Honestly loved your final interpretation of the story, also specifically enjoy how it reflects my current position in life, where I've decided to step out of my own "dream world" into the real world, which is something that will require some bold decisions and moves. Love your channel man, keep 'em coming fr God bless ya and Jesus loves ya :D
@@XDNighthawkXD i would argue the game yume nikki is an incredibly personal one, because so much of the story is up to interpretation. i think the POINT of the game is to let your personal experience "muddy" the interpretation. a lot of the videos i see "diving" into yume nikki are just wiki summaries. i think seeing how someones life experience impacts their experience playing the game is super interesting !! but i do agree, others perspectives and the context of when and where the came was made (japan 2004) can help guide our interpretations as well.
Regarding the stabbing room in particular, I will mention that when I was growing up (and probably still today), Japanese cities had a reputation for being overcrowded. You'd see videos of trains being crammed full of people, and how shoving is kind of normalized because it's downright necessary sometimes. I specifically remember how in high school, a couple of Japanese girls casually pushed past a teacher and when the teacher got angry, they had this shocked deer-in-headlights look and were profusely bowing apologetically. To be clear I've never been to Japan so I could be off-base, and my understanding is from second/third hand experience. All this to say it could be commentary on the crowded nature of big Japanese cities instead of just her classroom in particular, especially since Madotsuki would be walking to and from school everyday. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and guess that the "stabbing" you have to do may be intrusive thoughts Madotsuki gets from being in such a cramped restrictive environment - she's acting out thoughts she has from being unable to freely go where she needs to or have space to herself. She's taking back some measure of control in a way that she never would in the real world.
Also, considering the… dark implications of some of madotsuki’s dreams and the disturbingly persistent issue of sexual harrassment on public transport in Japan, being able to stab her way through a crowd may be a fantasy of taking back control and safety she’s been robbed of while in public.
yume nikki is a notoriously hard game to interpret. you're not the first to do a video essay about it and you certainly won't be the last, but you have the most thorough and most loving version of an analysis i've ever seen regarding the content. you don't just take the loose "plot" of the game and rehash it into something people can listen to as background noise like i've seen a lot of youtubers do, you actively look at each part of the gameplay and give it its deserved place. you give each part of the game its due diligence. for someone who claims they didn't love yume nikki, you've done the game a service. by the way, there's a fanmade yume nikki sequel called yume 2kki (ni = two in japanese). it wasn't mentioned and i thought it was worth a shout
pretty sure the "papers" on the floor in madotsuki's room are pillows or cushions for sitting on, since they're different colors and look to be too tick to be paper
I don't know the exact reason Kikiyama's maintains his anonymity, but it touches on something that I've been fascinated with ever since the early creepypasta days - art that is essentially anonymous, that seemingly came out of nowhere and with no explanation, no backstory behind it. It's essentially up to the public to decide what it means and what to do with it. I completely respect the material reality of artists - they do need money to survive, and really, they do deserve recognition for their hard work if they desire it, especially if it helps them get said money. But, there is something unfortunate in every piece of art needing to have names attached. I find Kikiyama's continued anonymity to be the closest thing to what those early anonymous creepypastas invoked in me. It's hardly obscure, but it still *feels* obscure, like something you found on a niche forum back in '04 that terrifies and captivates you, but has no further answers than what's in the game. It's also probably why RPGmaker games are so captivating, the low barrier of entry means that any wierdo can put something out without needing funding or a team behind it, so you can get really off-the-wall stuff that you just won't find anywhere else.
its sad that as the internet grows this kind of art is dying or is already dead. yume nikki might be one of those last examples of games that remain integral as a game untainted by the internet and its creator not falling for the exposure trap.
@@regi5436 I don't think it's a "trap" so much as "kinda necessary to have a portfolio so you can get more work". Artists get screwed over enough these days, especially with the rise of generative AI, hard to really blame them for doing whatever it takes to make a viable career out of it. All this to say I don't blame them at all for doing it, I just think the decline of anonymous art is really unfortunate.
@@Colddirector you would be surprised by the amount of artists that actively avoid making their art into a job. if you think about it there are pretty valid reasons why some artists do that. i assume kikiyama only ever cared about expressing themselves through the game and had nothing else on mind beyond that, and thats admirable on its own.
@@regi5436 I think it depends on specific circumstances. Making art, and games in particular, is a lot of work, and a lot of jobs just won't leave you much time or energy to pursue it in any serious fashion. I think a lot of artists would be happy not making money from their art, if they didn't have bills or rent to worry about.
59:12 I met Toby before Undertale through the Homestuck community, which he made music for, and I heard a story from a friend about how he had packets of honey from Wendy's or some Fast Food chain he carried in his pocket to eat with his meals that he just randomly pulled the previous day. When asked if this was true, he proceeded to pull out a packet of honey from his pocket as proof. This is just who he is.
I think the reason kikiyama may have said it’s warm-hearted might be because they made it, with a warm heart, for someone they knew. There are other interpretations of warm-hearted I thought of too like they might just want to let people, who are going through similar struggles, know that they’re not alone. I like that one.
Regarding the ending, isn't there an idea where if you fall in a dream, you'll wake up just before you land? maybe that's why Madotsuki jumps off of her balcony at the end
To me, someone who was bullied in school and still suffers from it 10 years after after it came to end, Yume Nikki is about that-and all the things that went *worse*. Her getting the short end of stick with everything, really. The ending being her release, as awful as it was. I found Yume Nikki when I was 13, things still being awful and having not much hope of better. I connected to it, finding her dreams and experiences as relatable. The ending shocked me, but also relieved, in some distant way. Something I also craved for. Then I got friends who actually understood me, were similar. I started cosplaying, going to conventions ans suddenly I had new world open up to me, filled with people who were as weird as me, still having their own struggles but thriving in the community of cosplay snd fandoms. It was my getaway. I got introduced to more people, made more friends, got to move away and had one normal year of secondary school before I went to vocational school. I didnt connect much with people there eithee, but I wasnt as desperately alone anymore. I had friends and things I cared about, no longer being in the deep end where only relief was the fate Madotsuki ended with. Its been 10 years since I got away from bullying, by moving and changing schools, but the experiences still haunt me. I have depression, sleeping problems, ptsd snd other fun things. I still see dreams about my experiences with bullying, as recently as last night. I have to take medications to have enough energy to get through the day, to take care of myself, and to be able to sleep and get something back from the action of that. To me, nearly everyday was hell for 8 years, and to them, it was another wednesday. That's what Yume Nikki is about, to me.
1:22:34 Coniferous! You mean coniferous, not carnivorous! I thought it was just a weird take the first time I heard it, but I think you actually said “carnivorous” intentionally in this section. Which, to be honest, would not be too surprising in this game. Anyway, thanks for the breakdown! I love all your intriguing literary analysis of this game
i think i have to comment on this as someone who has been obsessed with yume nikki since... since i first stumbled upon it in a forum some time in the 2000's and it inadvertently engulfed my life, lol. i think your interpretation of this game, and its ending, is one of the most beautiful, hopeful, refreshing and inspiring takes on this game i have ever seen. i've heard so many theories over the years of what this game could mean, what it's trying to say, what could possibly be found within it, but they all seemed to be constantly coloured by that ending, and people assuming it is a sad or "bad" ending. the way you so beautifully navigated this game's themes and its ending in such a hopeful light is really just wonderful. excellent work, and thank you for an excellent video on an excellent game.
As for Madotsuki’s scopophobia, hating the way they look, and the South American imagery-I think their mom or dad might be South American. Madotsuki would’ve got a lot of stares, in both countries, and been a victim of racism at the very least in that way. That would’ve been reason enough to seclude theirself from life. You can see in their sprite too, their hair isn’t black like a typical Japanese persons would be.
Just to add to your conclusion that the 'real world' is actually just another layer to the dream, if you turn on the TV in the 'real world', go to sleep, then wake up again, the TV will still be on in the 'real world'. That gives you the impression that the 'real world' IS real, because of the continuity of the TV remaining on when you sleep and wake up. However, this exact fact makes the appearance of the stairs at the balcony that much important and revealing. It breaks the continuity of reality. Perhaps Madotsuki after gathering all the effects has realized that she is in a deep slumber, and manifested the stairs herself in the 'real world' so she can finally truly wake up.
As someone who absolutely ADORES Yume Nikki, I haven't even gotten to the middle of the video but I really appreciate how respectful and detailed this analysis is done. I also really love the little comments showing appreciation to the game, as it is my favorite game. I always describe the Yume Nikki experience as "you have to play it at the correct moment and be open to whatever it gives you" and considering how much thought you put into this that was the case in here. I think that most of the fandom can agree in that there is not a incorrect interpretation of the game, you can try to create a story or you can just interpret things individually or just agree with any teory you feel suits your mindset. Anyways, I'll continue watching, just had to leave some apreciation in here.
Another thing I'd like to add about the theory that the supposed "real world" may also be unreal is that it shifts from day to night, and over a playthrough these shifts happen very often. Like, realistically, Madotsuki would have to eat and drink and such occasionally. With how often the player can observe day-night cycles, Madotsuki would if the real world were real die of dehydration or starving before the playthrough is done.
This was great. Yume Nikki used to feel like a looming presence in online gamer fandom that slipped back into obscurity so this was a great thing to make. Everyone knows the influence Earthbound has had on a certain sub-genre of modern RPGs and while YM still gets listed frequently I don't get a sense people really know more than a few shock/meme moments and aimless wondering. It's a game whose influence is wide can be hard to pick up on.
That comment about Madotsuki not being able to see the giant painting in Grafitti World from the ground reminds me of the Nazca Lines, that one with the giant bird that you can only see from the sky in Peru, the same country the Paracas society existed in, so maybe theres some awareness of that type of giant ancient art... Funny the bird is also very geometric, like the straight lines in an RPG maker map.
I mean, they can only be seen from above, but not just from the sky. The Nazca lines are surrounded by many hills from where the giant drawings are visible.
I wouldn’t take the wiki names at face value. They’re mostly fannon names collectively agreed upon by the community, their relevance to the potential in-game narrative is little to none
I thought the wiki names were based on the file names of their spritesheet or taken from the map data, it's surprisingly easy to decomp RPG Maker games
They are taken from the spritesheet, so although their deliberate relevance is debatable, they are content that came directly from the game creator and not the fandom
45:34 really interesting seeing you immediately connect the labyrinthine design of the FC house to some deep trauma being covered up, as i never got anywhere near that sort of impression. the whole area is very obviously based on MOTHER for the famicom both in visuals and layout/design, which instantly gave it this incredibly cozy atmosphere to me. and the static maze itself honestly just read to me as an homage to those sorts of cryptic puzzles common in older games. it all just evoked these feelings of like, a love and appreciation for 8bit design conventions and whatnot. a sort of comfort in this weird stilted depiction of reality. of course this is just my own reading of it, im incredibly biased to something like that as i love MOTHER to death alongside many other retro games. but basically its just really interesting how someones personal interests and biases sorta form our interpretations, i never wouldve considered that sort of reading if i hadnt heard it here!
8:16 You got this entirely wrong. The Famicom was the system, released in Japan, and modified into the NES for overseas release. The Famicom Disk System is the attachment.
I discovered this game as a kid in 2009, and it has never lost its grip on me. This video does it perfect justice. Thank you so much for your analysis, it was so well made and so well researched. Typically I put videos like this in the background and do other things, but I found myself putting my game to the side to really focus on what you were saying. Thank you for this.
This is great! Only just started it but as someone who *did* study psychology, you’ve got some great psychoanalytic instincts! I love looking at the unique ways games can highlight psychological processes, so this video has been a treat to watch. It’s clearly a labor of love, and I’m here for it. Thanks for making this.
8:12 uh, in Japan what we called the NES was just called the "Famicom" to begin with, there's no reason to assume that the name here is referring to the Famicom Disc System specifically rather than just mashing the console's name with Nintendo. Or at least, the name alone isnt reason enough.
i watched this awhile ago and now i’m rewatching it now that i’m making my own yume nikki fangame, i seriously love this video essay and it does the source material justice.
This was such an interesting thing to experience. Funnily enough, I love watching long narrative videos before I fall asleep to get comfortable. And as many of the Yume Nikki videos I’ve enjoyed, this is by far the most comprehensive one. Absolute kudos to you for undertaking this mammoth task, but you did a wonderful job of it! Thank you for doing what you do
(New subscriber here) but I LIVE for long form theory videos or just Long form videos in general like this, and its so hard to find 1. Ppl that have nice voices to listen to, 2. Good editing, 3. Long form content, and the goofy lil moments you put in are a nice cherry ontop. Shit got so much flavor 😭 PLEASE keep up with long form/theory videos.
this is so awesome. I’ve been a huge yume nikki fan for many years now. this made me think of things i had never considered before and you made such a convincing case for them:)
for some insight about the stabbing room, it could also be representing the feeling of being overstimulated from a crowded environment. I'm autistic and in school environments it felt as though I was constantly surrounded by people and noise, and that I needed to force my way through hallways in order to get anywhere while also being unable to hear myself think from everyone talking. Madotsuki already isolates herself from others and repetitive off putting noises are used to make the dream worlds unsettling. idk maybe it's a reach
i am particularly fascinated by the huge amount of paracas textile inspirations, have you seen the one that depicts pretty much an exact figure of madotsuki? also i honestly think kikiyama was just a big fan of these cultures' art and wanted to put it in the game hehe awesome video!!
I love your approach to disecting and analyzing all these abstract details, all to make a convincing narrative at the end! All in all, you did a good job.
One of the best videos about Yume Nikki i've seen, and one of the most compelling and coherent interpretations of the underlying themes and story. Great work!
As a ravid Oneshot fan and a person who's interesting learning about Yume Nikki, this video was fantastic to watch! Loved the use of Oneshot's OST and being able to connect inspirations between some areas and certain areas in Oneshot. I especially saw it with the similarities between the Barracks and the Glen!
Thank you, mysterious bird for appearing at random on my feed. Was worth the watch, and I like the spin on the narrative to be a little more positive at the end.
I applaud you for putting this much effort on this video. It really shines through, congratulations ^^ A few comments i'd like to share with you are: The Mexica or Aztecs were in fact in Mesoamerica, but i think you are getting a little bit confused, as Mesoamerica is a fairly recent term used to describe a cultural area were many civilizations across thousands of years established because of it climate, soil and other characteristics. It encompasses a good chunk of Mexico and a little of Central America; it does not go all the way to South America. Also, i like that the year 1989 coincidentally comes up a few times, because in some parts of the game, like when it goes all 8-bit, the pink world and the house were there are lots of stairs, it is very clear it draws heavy inspiration from the first game of the Mother trilogy, which came out in 1989. Nice video, hope it gains more views!
Thank you Yes this was I lack of foresight and a failure to commit on my part. In some parts of the video I haphazardly interchange Mesoamerica and South America and my area map was not accurate to what I was saying. This was mainly due to the fact that I wasn't willing to put an exact location of where Madotsuki lived when she was overseas. I didn't know exactly where the areas of the Nihonjin Gakko (the Japanese schools) were; but I knew they were in south America. This led to me regrettably interchanging the areas. My final understanding was that she lived in South America for a time but she would take trips north to Mexico or even just north of Belize and check out the pyramids Aztec or Mayan (I only even mentioned Aztec). The issue is I never said specifically THAT in the video so that's MY bad. Geography was never my strong suit in school; I will absolutely take this into account if I ever talk about this area again. Thanks for watching
I remember when I first played this game. I got the Uboa jumpscare the very first time I flipped the switch. It was wild. I was pretty happy. I think it's a 1 in 64 chance of having the creature to spawn? Another game I like is Yume 2kki. It's impressive how long this fangame has been running for. It's not a sequel. Love your analysis on it. YN is one of my favorite games. Good commentary.
Little nitpick! Mesoamerica is a specific historical Cultural and Geographical region that goes from central Mexico to Nicaragua. It is for all intents and purposes a region in North America. South America has its own indigenous cultural regions, like Andinoamerica, the Amazon, Patagonia, The Pampas, etc. People tend to conflate both modern Mexico and Central America with South America and the historical region of Mesoamerica with indigenous South America for some reason. Also, Pyramids are a Mesoamerican thing, not a South American thing. Aztecs are a Mesoamerican culture, not a South American one. Also also, calling South America “underdeveloped” and “primitive” is kinda gross?
I would love to see you do this same kinda video for Yume 2kki as well, it has SO MUCH interesting stuff in it (also there's a series lack of discussion about Yume 2kki on RUclips, there's very few people who talk about it)
If Yume 2kki is as large as this game that may take awhile. I don't think I have another 2 hour video in me for the time being but I will add it to the to do list.
@@XDNighthawkXD Yume 2kki is almost incomprehensibly larger than nikki. I’ve come across a post on reddit from earlier this year that estimates the game to currently be about 17x bigger than yume nikki. This game has been undergoing development since 2007, almost as old as nikki itself, and it’s still continuing to grow to this day. with a combined total of over a hundred developers having worked on the project over the course of these past 17 years, it’s showing no signs of stopping.
@@XDNighthawkXD Well if you do cover it, I won't blame you for not covering the entire game 😅 It's at least 10x larger than the original Yume Nikki game
@@XDNighthawkXDi think with yume 2kki being a collaborative project and .flow , another popular yume nikki fangame with more focus on horror , being around the same size as yume nikki, .flow has far more consistent themes. i dont want to pressure you, but i think its worth being aware of .flow here ^^
Thank you for compassionately covering Yume Nikki. My first RPG when I was a kid that introduced me to Yume Nikki inspired games like .flow and Yume 2kki. Fangames were a whole fanbase on their own, all for the love of Yume Nikki's amazing story telling. In a way, a cozy game experience. Also, adding in the interview and extra funfacts were very kind of you, because I had no idea of them! Liked and Subscribed-been amazing to draw and listen to your analysis.
_...Incredible._ I originally had a hard time getting invested in Nikki. Beyond gameplay or variety of exploration, I could never really congeal a proper interpretation beyond "sexual abuse" and "isolation." But this is a _fantastic_ interpretation. Focus on imagery and structures, thoughtforms and spaces, symbolism and function... All to create a portrait, a diarama, of _who Madotsuki really is._ And what she's been through... I still have gripes with Nikki, but I can always certainly say it has powerful ideas, especially when it can inspire theories like this! ...I repeat this a lot elsewhere. But I don't find Nikki _nearly_ as interesting as the immense plethora of fangames it has inspired. I feel that there are ways it could've explored it's concept more, and, Hell, Kikiyama would agree with me, it would seem. And I'd actually like to recommend you some of those fangames now. Considering how you interacted with this, I feel like it could be a lot of fun. So I hope you'll give some of these a chance! Here's the big ones: *.FLOW* Perhaps the _second_ most famous of Nikki's fangames. I feel it wears it's (at least aesthetic) influences on it's sleeves, and uses them to dramatic effect. I also feel it'll lend itself _especially_ well to an interpretative eye like yours... *YUME 2KKI* A collaborative fan-sequel(?) to Nikki, and perhaps THE most famous of all it's fanworks. It's probably the biggest of the three I will recommend here. I'm not sure how well it'll lend itself to a consistent read like this... But it's perhaps the most fun to explore, and feels the most... _Alive,_ in my eyes. For many reasons. *COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS* A unique case. The newest of the games I'll recommend here, with a bunch of odd specifications. It's YNOProject exclusive, with its online features, while toggleable, being part of the intended experience, and it's collaborative like 2kki, but there's more of a... Control, to what kinds of worlds you'll see. It's hard for me to figure out an angle to describe it from, though... I guess experiencing it yourself will have to do? Admittedly, to me, it just feels like these games use the framework of Nikki to tell their _own_ stories, but that feels like part of the fun to me. And all the same, I hope to see you have fun with them!
I really love this video!!! It's so well produced and your commentary is so insightful :O I love how this game still has so many new view points and things to talk about all these years later.
1 hour and a half in and so far I’ve been loving this video. I love the intermissions being there to brighten things up while still being informative and on topic. I’ve loved this game for over a decade and it’s wild how I still keep learning new things about it. Very impressive work!
That was a great video! My first time with Yume Nikki was actualy a fan game called "Me" (like, め witch means eye) made by Isasapiens, here on youtube! I was an experience like I never had before! We don't have much updated information online about this game. The wiki is incomplete and I ended up having to download RPG maker and load the game as a project, to then look at the code/maps to find where all the things needed for the best ending (yes, this game has multiple endings!) were! 😂😂
i would have no idea that this game could resonate with me so much if not for this video. thank you so much for rediscovering the game and introducing it to people. this is well done
I really loved your Deltarune character analysis. I never thought you'd talk about Yume Nikki, im so glad it's one of my favorite games :) Keep up your amazing content :D
I love your theory on what happened to madotsuki! I’m also relieved it doesn’t include some of the rape theories. After all the suggestive imagery could just mean madotsuki accidentally saw something suggestive and got traumatized, kind of like shigesato itoi, which lead to him creating giygas, the final boss of earthbound. Anyways, keep up the good work!
I honestly feel like it's hard headed to deliberately ignore really obvious rape symbolism, like Impossible to miss to the point that it's the only thing we can really be sure of in the game, and for what? Because it's uncomfortable?? It's a scary game, it's supposed to be uncomfortable. Hell, I'm not even sure if it's meant to be scary most of the time, the main purpose is to be uncomfortable.
@@shinypaintf588 funny how most rape theorists say that face is supposed to be the tip of a penis, which in my opinion if anyone’s penis looks like that then they need to seek medical health instantly. Sure kyukyukin looks like a phallus, but by that logic you should just say that every long worm-like creature is a phallus. Not to mention, these theories are coming from the same type of people who mistaken the imagery in yume nikki to be Aztec when it’s so obvious that the imagery depicts Paracas textiles. And the floyag could just represent some sort of mask or something. Also, for the record, Yume Nikki is not a horror game. It’s not even unsettling, it’s just eerie. If you’re calling yume nikki a scary game then you are definitely the type to get scared of the ghosts in Luigi’s mansion
you're trying really hard to make a point that isn't correct and all because rape symbolism makes you uncomfortable. just face it, horible things like that happen all the time, you have to face the truth
@@shinypaintf588 dude you can’t just make the assumption that rape makes me uncomfortable. I play games and watch movies that have rape in them, all I’m saying is maybe the rape theory is a little bit too far fetched, because people just seem to have a dirty mind. You don’t have to get offended because I don’t believe that madotsuki actually got raped. It could have been one of her friends, sure, but I don’t believe it was her that got raped
I just discovered your channel and is absolutely amazed by how well this video was made ! Your remind me of the french youtuber feldup even if the media you cover can be different. I will definitely recommend this to other people ! Good job !
This video and this game inspired me to create my own Diary about dreams. I keep a streak of how many nights i didn't had any dreams. And when i do have a dream, i open my diary and make a drawing of the principal points of the dream, and then set the streak to zero again.
I played this entire game in one night, the night before watching this video. It was so interesting to see the order in which you encountered things, versus how I did. Phenomenal video, great job.
Idk if anyone else has mentioned it bc the Uboa event can only be triggered based off load times. So if it doesn't trigger when you first turn off the lights, you have to leave the house and then go back in before flipping the switch again.
This is far and away the best Yumi Niki analysis I have seen!! I kept trying to figure out what is going on with this game but now I fully agree with you!
I've now seen this whole video 3 times after it being thrown in my feed just recently, it even made me want to look at your other works and lo and behold, I'm now subscribed, it is a fantastic video and analysis, with so much love and respect for the source work that is yume nikki. Your analysis and theory of how Madotsuki's dreams would come to be what they are now, is what I now personally subscribe to, as looking at all her dreams overall do seem to tell a cohesive story if we put the pieces together,.And I do believe she does take her life... I dont think she jumps for the sake of waking up for real... BUT If I may, I'd like to add to your theory.... and I'd like to call to attention to the game Yume Nikki: Dream Diary, that while not many people liked how the game was handled, I still believe that, in being supervised, or at least approved of by Kikiyama, it leads me to believe, Yume Nikki simply ended prematurely in version 0.10.4 in RPGM and maybe we could look at dream diary as supplementary material to complete the story or the tale being told.... Maybe at the time, kikiyama could only see Yume Nikki's ending as the only one possible for madotsuki, who may or may not be an insert of the author...... but time passes and life changes, maybe for the best, and although we don't know much about Kikiyama, them responding to Toby's question about what they would get at Dennis, makes me think, things did get better, and they can go out now to enjoy themselves like that outside Dream Diary's ending (-*-*-*-*-*-SPOILERS-*-*-*-*-*-*-) has Madotsuki finally stepping out of her room, for real in real life, her finally getting the courage to finally go outside again, after walking to the veranda for a bit and looking down, I for sure thought she would jump again, confirming the sad end of the girl, but she didn't, she instead headed to her door and walked out..... If my theory serves right, RPGM Yume Nikki simply had only one ending available, the only one kikiyama saw as a possibility, with an idealism of death, but maybe that's not the case anymore, and maybe now the true ending we got with Dream Diary, would apply to the RPGM, should the game kept updating, and kikiyama's vision continued to be put in the game, a more hopeful one.
"Thankfully I'm not old enough to remember these...." I just aged 1000 years edit: 15 mins in and you got a sub from me. I've watched so many Yume Nikki retrospectives but yours is one of the most engaging i've found so far!! Can't wait to check out your other stuff ^^
literally just found your channel but honestly you should do more long analysis videos this is amazing and a game ive been super Interested in learning about. thank you and keep up the good work! have subscribed :)
saw you said you can't promise any more 2 hour long videos any time soon and i hope you don't feel pressured by some comments. do what you love at the end of the day :)
25:11 as someone who listened to Reckless Battery Burns multiple times i was a bit shocked to hear that sound effect I know the video for the song has hundreds of references, but i didn't realize it was even in the song itself
49:19 I also picked up on the scopophobia thing. I think that ties to the stabby room as well. The eyeball monsters represent her classmates who won’t stop looking at her and perceiving her, which Madotsuki hates. So she kills them in her dreams. And what does she get for killing all her classmates? An empty room and a bizarre pointless disturbing thing (being the blue plague doctor mask)
I usually don't comment on videos but this one really surprised me by how well produced it is. The whole - humour, editing, voice, your explanation and describing the whole game was just on point with what I enjoy to watch! All your hard-work paid off and I definitely am gonna come back on this channel. I really recommend you checking out fear and hunger (but only if you are not afraid of more gore and REALLY gruesome stuff tho!), I think doing a same style video about it would be also interesting and enjoyable! You seem like an awesome bird! keep it going :DD
I honestly couldn't tell you I probably should keep track. I feel like if I did that then I would start to think about the process too "Financially" if you know what I mean. Like I might find myself thinking I had taken too much time on one video compared to another.
@@XDNighthawkXD i get it yeah. i don’t keep track of how long i spend on projects either, mainly because it’s a bit hard to do imo. i often get long bursts of complete procrastination where i just have no desire to get anything done, and so instead i’ll just catch myself rewatching the stuff i’ve already made so far over and over again. another reason why i ask, is because i find it really hard to hold on to the motivation required to make such a long video like this. i have so many projects that i’ve just given up halfway through because i just lost interest at some point. whenever i take a break from something it can be really difficult to start it back up again.
“Looking at her sprite she can’t be more than 14” excuse me? I guess only children can wear pigtails and a skirt I guess. But for real she is not a child she clearly leaves on her own, cuz what kind of parent gives there kid the room with a balcony?
i'll be honest i think you nailed it in terms of identifying the broader themes, even pointing out stuff i hadn't thought of before like the mesoamerican imagery, but you lost me at the end when you tried to piece it together into a single linear narrative. i think interpreting the imagery as literally as you did is a little bit of a disservice to what the game is going for, in my opinion. still a very well-made video though! i'd like to see more stuff like this from you
Fans: write paragraphs after paragraphs explaining why this or that element was added to the game. Meanwhile, the developer's explanation: cos it's spooky
41:33 my interpretation is that the number world represents school, and Madotsuki has a repressed memory relating to school, this memory being hidden behind the zipper tile. KyuKyuKun, in my interpretation is meant to represent the janitor because he is seen cleaning the railing. I think the janitor, in an attempt to get closer to the students or particularly Madotsuki asked them to refer to him with Kun to be more relatable. I think the janitor then abused or assaulted Madotsuki which is represented by the face event: something horrible and grotesque and in-fathomable and horrifying and disgusting. The phalic appearing of KyuKyuKun also lends to this theory. EDIT: Further evidence I just realized is the zipper tile you enter through could represent a pants fly.
a 2 hour 18 minutes and 50 seconds yume nikki analysis???? by a bird??? on my youtube??? this is some peak material we've got here woohooh upd: after watching, god, i didn't expect this video to be so good. keep cooking!!!
Watching this at 1:53am, feeling particularly called out. ...Although, I am doing the important thing for tomorrow while I listen. Also, the bit about being a Kaiju was funny.
Great video! I enjoyed the pacing and thought the in-between sections with information slightly more detached from the game were lighthearted and fun. I do have a big question about your interpretation. Considering the amount of imagery that you don't touch on in the final interpretation, would you be more inclined to assume Madotsuki is just a victim of several different traumatic events? For example, the door that you enter past Kyuu-kyuu-kun being such a visually taxing, and auditorily panic-inducing event makes me feel like it has a much, much greater relevance to the overarching story of Madotsuki's life. That, and Monoe and Monoko, the imagery in the Flute Room, or the rarest event in the game, Takofuusen, resembling that of a fetus affected with Twin Reverse Arterial Perfusion. I'd love to know how your interpretation might change if you were to take bits and pieces of the other events that occur in-game.
just my opinion, but I believe that the toriningen represent unavoidable social situations and social anxiety. for example, when an angered toriningen catches you, you are sent to an area you cannot escape (unless you use hand palm or pinching) I believe this may represent how people with social anxiety might struggle with feeling “trapped” in social situations and interactions, in fear of embarrassing themselves. I also think that the different areas you can get trapped in may represent different negative experiences madotsuki went through. Additionally, when you stab a calm toriningen, they become angered and begin to chase you. this also may mean a fear of saying or doing something to someone that may cause uncomfortable situations, the person leaving them,or facing ridicule from said person. This fear overall might be one reason why madotsuki refuses to leave her room, because she knows if she does she will face all these different fears of ridicule, abandonment, embarrassment etc, and so she just decides to shut her self off to avoid it, just like how some people with trauma will purposefully avoid and forget that memory so they never have to relive it again. sorry if I completely misinterpreted this idk.
1:14:11 Man I literally triggered Uboa by accident first time I went to the room and started playing with the lights. I was doing the "strong bad lightswitch rave" to entertain myself and... well... that happened.
A game of metaphor and imagination. To some degree you don’t have to work it out, but your interpretations will have no wrong answers just odd interpretations. Similar to a dream or a window, what looks like a fine day to some looks like a bothersome day to others. But yeah. I do like seeing people still interested in this game. I think people come up with the most interesting feelings towards this game. Awesome video.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Okay a few mentions just because I’m not sure if this is well known.
1) kids in Japan are expected to be independent to a shocking degree. Starting at about three or four children are given tasks to travel from home with money to the local market to buy some small amount of groceries and come home with change. This is meant to prepare kindergarteners to go to school by themselves when they start. This can also prepare the child to get food if they are a latchkey kid, meaning no grownups will be home for who knows how long. Therefore Madotsuki would absolutely be old enough to go out if she chose to.
2) this is just an interpretation but (about the world with all the step on tiles that make individual noises) the thing in the background of the tile world looks a lot like a cell. The tiles also look like components of organisms on a cellular or possibly molecular level. What do you think?
3)the headless effect connected to authority figures could be a reference for being fired from or the threat of being fired from a job. The words referring to fired in the Japanese language also can mean beheaded. Kubisare means beheaded and kubisareta means fired.
I hope this was helpful. Thank you for reading this comment. Thanks for the video.
Huh, that's interesting. I never thought to consider the Japanese family structure. In hindsight, I probably should have taken the cultural norms into account when forming my analysis. I knew that Japan has a very strict and dedicated working culture; but now that you mention the independence of children it makes perfectly logical sense for Madotsuki to be home alone.
Yeah I saw the similarities too, I would have included the resemblance in my analysis; but as far as I know this would be the only example of cells and microbiology imagery (I could be missing another example). Some people think the inner "structures" look line E man and O man from the mall combined. I think your interpretation fits better.
That's crazy! I guess they really do take employment seriously in Japan. With that understanding, I wonder if this is could be another example of Madotsuki see everything "through a childish lens". Like maybe the guillotine is not an actual guillotine but a big paper cutting device found in a office setting. Maybe a place where Madotsuki's parents worked?
Thank you for sharing, and thanks for watching!
On 2) it definitely reminds me of a biology textbook like maybe she had nightmares about it like i did when i was little
Like it felt really alien and gross to me when i first saw it because it was all slimy amoebas and i got ill thinking about how i was made of them
I'm pretty sure that background is of 2 NPCs, but I'm not sure lol I saw it in Nomoida's video
Thanks for the reply. I feel humble being able to contribute to a creative work like yours.
Interesting
But seriously, this is your best produced, voiced, paced, researched, and well-spoken video yet. I can tell a ton of work went into making it, and honestly, it is more thought-provoking and interesting than anything else you have made so far. I am not tryna dog on your other works, this is just so goood. I love it. thank you for making this
Thank you very much for saying that.
While I can't promise more 2 hour long videos any time soon, I could only ever hope to outdo myself with every video.
Thank you for watching, it means a lot to me that I could do this game justice.
@@XDNighthawkXD I have a whole shift in a rainy day ahead of me and I can't wait to watch this video, God bless ya and Jesus loves ya, always love your stuff man :)
6:34 "I don't want my personal experience to muddy up the interpretation too much"
brother the individual humanity of the personal experience is what gives various interpretations behind one piece of art meaning and worth, connections you can make from yourself to this game will offer you some of the most insightful interpretations you can have
Yes, this is true;
BUT
I think it's important to not let your personal experience govern your understanding of something too much. For example, MY specific experience was mostly due to me either being home alone, or being left with a less then Ideal caretaker; but the thing is, we don't know what Madotsuki's exact living situation is. So If I just imprinted my experience onto Madotsuki's, the conclusion would be fundamentally biased on my part. It is almost impossible to not let your personal experience affect how you perceive the world and art in general; but I don't think I would be doing this right if I didn't at least try to not let it happen. This is why I mention things like how the community reacts to things like Kyuu-kyuu kun and such, I pretty much used the Wiki as a way to compare my understating with the game. "Expand my pallet" if you will.
Ultimately this video IS largely a result of how MY understanding of the world; but I think we can get a lot more out of something if we try to look at it from a lens of someone else, take in more information. If I didn't use the wiki, I never would have found out about the Nihonjin gakkō or the Kamakura festival. This, in a sense is a form of indirect collaboration as I had no idea of either of these things when making the video initially. As a result of knowing these things and adding them to the video, I think it was better then just making video using only what I knew.
This also allows for better conversation about the topic at hand as like with the Kyuukyuu kun example I took the universally agreed upon understanding and I pushed back against it using my own reasoning.
I get what you're saying though, the personal experience IS important.
@@XDNighthawkXD Honestly loved your final interpretation of the story, also specifically enjoy how it reflects my current position in life, where I've decided to step out of my own "dream world" into the real world, which is something that will require some bold decisions and moves. Love your channel man, keep 'em coming fr
God bless ya and Jesus loves ya :D
ONE PIECE??????!!!!
@@XDNighthawkXD i would argue the game yume nikki is an incredibly personal one, because so much of the story is up to interpretation. i think the POINT of the game is to let your personal experience "muddy" the interpretation.
a lot of the videos i see "diving" into yume nikki are just wiki summaries. i think seeing how someones life experience impacts their experience playing the game is super interesting !!
but i do agree, others perspectives and the context of when and where the came was made (japan 2004) can help guide our interpretations as well.
Regarding the stabbing room in particular, I will mention that when I was growing up (and probably still today), Japanese cities had a reputation for being overcrowded. You'd see videos of trains being crammed full of people, and how shoving is kind of normalized because it's downright necessary sometimes. I specifically remember how in high school, a couple of Japanese girls casually pushed past a teacher and when the teacher got angry, they had this shocked deer-in-headlights look and were profusely bowing apologetically. To be clear I've never been to Japan so I could be off-base, and my understanding is from second/third hand experience.
All this to say it could be commentary on the crowded nature of big Japanese cities instead of just her classroom in particular, especially since Madotsuki would be walking to and from school everyday. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and guess that the "stabbing" you have to do may be intrusive thoughts Madotsuki gets from being in such a cramped restrictive environment - she's acting out thoughts she has from being unable to freely go where she needs to or have space to herself. She's taking back some measure of control in a way that she never would in the real world.
Also, considering the… dark implications of some of madotsuki’s dreams and the disturbingly persistent issue of sexual harrassment on public transport in Japan, being able to stab her way through a crowd may be a fantasy of taking back control and safety she’s been robbed of while in public.
yume nikki is a notoriously hard game to interpret. you're not the first to do a video essay about it and you certainly won't be the last, but you have the most thorough and most loving version of an analysis i've ever seen regarding the content. you don't just take the loose "plot" of the game and rehash it into something people can listen to as background noise like i've seen a lot of youtubers do, you actively look at each part of the gameplay and give it its deserved place. you give each part of the game its due diligence. for someone who claims they didn't love yume nikki, you've done the game a service.
by the way, there's a fanmade yume nikki sequel called yume 2kki (ni = two in japanese). it wasn't mentioned and i thought it was worth a shout
pretty sure the "papers" on the floor in madotsuki's room are pillows or cushions for sitting on, since they're different colors and look to be too tick to be paper
@garfocusalternate thats not canon
@@figdoint7590 they mean it's a Common interpretation and not that it's cannon
@@lulnara5128 well no but u have that diva as ur pfp so u get a pass #ibuki4ever
@@figdoint7590 lmao
@@figdoint7590 ibiki enjoyers unite!
I don't know the exact reason Kikiyama's maintains his anonymity, but it touches on something that I've been fascinated with ever since the early creepypasta days - art that is essentially anonymous, that seemingly came out of nowhere and with no explanation, no backstory behind it. It's essentially up to the public to decide what it means and what to do with it.
I completely respect the material reality of artists - they do need money to survive, and really, they do deserve recognition for their hard work if they desire it, especially if it helps them get said money. But, there is something unfortunate in every piece of art needing to have names attached. I find Kikiyama's continued anonymity to be the closest thing to what those early anonymous creepypastas invoked in me. It's hardly obscure, but it still *feels* obscure, like something you found on a niche forum back in '04 that terrifies and captivates you, but has no further answers than what's in the game. It's also probably why RPGmaker games are so captivating, the low barrier of entry means that any wierdo can put something out without needing funding or a team behind it, so you can get really off-the-wall stuff that you just won't find anywhere else.
its sad that as the internet grows this kind of art is dying or is already dead. yume nikki might be one of those last examples of games that remain integral as a game untainted by the internet and its creator not falling for the exposure trap.
@@regi5436 I don't think it's a "trap" so much as "kinda necessary to have a portfolio so you can get more work". Artists get screwed over enough these days, especially with the rise of generative AI, hard to really blame them for doing whatever it takes to make a viable career out of it.
All this to say I don't blame them at all for doing it, I just think the decline of anonymous art is really unfortunate.
@@Colddirector you would be surprised by the amount of artists that actively avoid making their art into a job. if you think about it there are pretty valid reasons why some artists do that. i assume kikiyama only ever cared about expressing themselves through the game and had nothing else on mind beyond that, and thats admirable on its own.
@@regi5436 I think it depends on specific circumstances. Making art, and games in particular, is a lot of work, and a lot of jobs just won't leave you much time or energy to pursue it in any serious fashion.
I think a lot of artists would be happy not making money from their art, if they didn't have bills or rent to worry about.
59:12 I met Toby before Undertale through the Homestuck community, which he made music for, and I heard a story from a friend about how he had packets of honey from Wendy's or some Fast Food chain he carried in his pocket to eat with his meals that he just randomly pulled the previous day. When asked if this was true, he proceeded to pull out a packet of honey from his pocket as proof.
This is just who he is.
Toby being Toby really. Gotta love the guy
crazy how i'm still learning about new events i've never heard of from this video, despite being a fan of yume nikki for years
I think the reason kikiyama may have said it’s warm-hearted might be because they made it, with a warm heart, for someone they knew. There are other interpretations of warm-hearted I thought of too like they might just want to let people, who are going through similar struggles, know that they’re not alone. I like that one.
Regarding the ending, isn't there an idea where if you fall in a dream, you'll wake up just before you land? maybe that's why Madotsuki jumps off of her balcony at the end
she doesn't wake up before she lands, though :(
To me, someone who was bullied in school and still suffers from it 10 years after after it came to end, Yume Nikki is about that-and all the things that went *worse*. Her getting the short end of stick with everything, really. The ending being her release, as awful as it was.
I found Yume Nikki when I was 13, things still being awful and having not much hope of better. I connected to it, finding her dreams and experiences as relatable. The ending shocked me, but also relieved, in some distant way. Something I also craved for. Then I got friends who actually understood me, were similar. I started cosplaying, going to conventions ans suddenly I had new world open up to me, filled with people who were as weird as me, still having their own struggles but thriving in the community of cosplay snd fandoms. It was my getaway. I got introduced to more people, made more friends, got to move away and had one normal year of secondary school before I went to vocational school. I didnt connect much with people there eithee, but I wasnt as desperately alone anymore. I had friends and things I cared about, no longer being in the deep end where only relief was the fate Madotsuki ended with.
Its been 10 years since I got away from bullying, by moving and changing schools, but the experiences still haunt me. I have depression, sleeping problems, ptsd snd other fun things. I still see dreams about my experiences with bullying, as recently as last night. I have to take medications to have enough energy to get through the day, to take care of myself, and to be able to sleep and get something back from the action of that. To me, nearly everyday was hell for 8 years, and to them, it was another wednesday.
That's what Yume Nikki is about, to me.
Hope you’re doing good and staying safe. If you need to talk to someone or need help, there are people who care. Sending support and hearts. ❤️❤️❤️
@zacharynguyen7286 Thank you so much! Im very much safe and have people around me but a reminder never hurts :')
1:22:34 Coniferous! You mean coniferous, not carnivorous! I thought it was just a weird take the first time I heard it, but I think you actually said “carnivorous” intentionally in this section. Which, to be honest, would not be too surprising in this game.
Anyway, thanks for the breakdown! I love all your intriguing literary analysis of this game
Hey, those trees have some sharp leaves! We don't know what they'll do!
Thanks for watching!
Deciduous is better.
i think i have to comment on this as someone who has been obsessed with yume nikki since... since i first stumbled upon it in a forum some time in the 2000's and it inadvertently engulfed my life, lol. i think your interpretation of this game, and its ending, is one of the most beautiful, hopeful, refreshing and inspiring takes on this game i have ever seen. i've heard so many theories over the years of what this game could mean, what it's trying to say, what could possibly be found within it, but they all seemed to be constantly coloured by that ending, and people assuming it is a sad or "bad" ending. the way you so beautifully navigated this game's themes and its ending in such a hopeful light is really just wonderful. excellent work, and thank you for an excellent video on an excellent game.
As for Madotsuki’s scopophobia, hating the way they look, and the South American imagery-I think their mom or dad might be South American. Madotsuki would’ve got a lot of stares, in both countries, and been a victim of racism at the very least in that way. That would’ve been reason enough to seclude theirself from life. You can see in their sprite too, their hair isn’t black like a typical Japanese persons would be.
ive honestly always read madotsuki as in her early 20s living alone in an apartment personally
Just to add to your conclusion that the 'real world' is actually just another layer to the dream, if you turn on the TV in the 'real world', go to sleep, then wake up again, the TV will still be on in the 'real world'. That gives you the impression that the 'real world' IS real, because of the continuity of the TV remaining on when you sleep and wake up. However, this exact fact makes the appearance of the stairs at the balcony that much important and revealing. It breaks the continuity of reality.
Perhaps Madotsuki after gathering all the effects has realized that she is in a deep slumber, and manifested the stairs herself in the 'real world' so she can finally truly wake up.
As someone who absolutely ADORES Yume Nikki, I haven't even gotten to the middle of the video but I really appreciate how respectful and detailed this analysis is done.
I also really love the little comments showing appreciation to the game, as it is my favorite game. I always describe the Yume Nikki experience as "you have to play it at the correct moment and be open to whatever it gives you" and considering how much thought you put into this that was the case in here.
I think that most of the fandom can agree in that there is not a incorrect interpretation of the game, you can try to create a story or you can just interpret things individually or just agree with any teory you feel suits your mindset.
Anyways, I'll continue watching, just had to leave some apreciation in here.
Another thing I'd like to add about the theory that the supposed "real world" may also be unreal is that it shifts from day to night, and over a playthrough these shifts happen very often. Like, realistically, Madotsuki would have to eat and drink and such occasionally. With how often the player can observe day-night cycles, Madotsuki would if the real world were real die of dehydration or starving before the playthrough is done.
This was great. Yume Nikki used to feel like a looming presence in online gamer fandom that slipped back into obscurity so this was a great thing to make. Everyone knows the influence Earthbound has had on a certain sub-genre of modern RPGs and while YM still gets listed frequently I don't get a sense people really know more than a few shock/meme moments and aimless wondering. It's a game whose influence is wide can be hard to pick up on.
That comment about Madotsuki not being able to see the giant painting in Grafitti World from the ground reminds me of the Nazca Lines, that one with the giant bird that you can only see from the sky in Peru, the same country the Paracas society existed in, so maybe theres some awareness of that type of giant ancient art... Funny the bird is also very geometric, like the straight lines in an RPG maker map.
I mean, they can only be seen from above, but not just from the sky. The Nazca lines are surrounded by many hills from where the giant drawings are visible.
@@eddie-roo oh, didn't know that, thanks!
I wouldn’t take the wiki names at face value. They’re mostly fannon names collectively agreed upon by the community, their relevance to the potential in-game narrative is little to none
I thought the wiki names were based on the file names of their spritesheet or taken from the map data, it's surprisingly easy to decomp RPG Maker games
They are taken from the spritesheet, so although their deliberate relevance is debatable, they are content that came directly from the game creator and not the fandom
@ oh, I was not aware of that, thanks for the info!
45:34 really interesting seeing you immediately connect the labyrinthine design of the FC house to some deep trauma being covered up, as i never got anywhere near that sort of impression. the whole area is very obviously based on MOTHER for the famicom both in visuals and layout/design, which instantly gave it this incredibly cozy atmosphere to me. and the static maze itself honestly just read to me as an homage to those sorts of cryptic puzzles common in older games.
it all just evoked these feelings of like, a love and appreciation for 8bit design conventions and whatnot. a sort of comfort in this weird stilted depiction of reality. of course this is just my own reading of it, im incredibly biased to something like that as i love MOTHER to death alongside many other retro games. but basically its just really interesting how someones personal interests and biases sorta form our interpretations, i never wouldve considered that sort of reading if i hadnt heard it here!
8:16 You got this entirely wrong. The Famicom was the system, released in Japan, and modified into the NES for overseas release. The Famicom Disk System is the attachment.
I discovered this game as a kid in 2009, and it has never lost its grip on me. This video does it perfect justice. Thank you so much for your analysis, it was so well made and so well researched. Typically I put videos like this in the background and do other things, but I found myself putting my game to the side to really focus on what you were saying. Thank you for this.
This is great! Only just started it but as someone who *did* study psychology, you’ve got some great psychoanalytic instincts! I love looking at the unique ways games can highlight psychological processes, so this video has been a treat to watch. It’s clearly a labor of love, and I’m here for it. Thanks for making this.
8:12 uh, in Japan what we called the NES was just called the "Famicom" to begin with, there's no reason to assume that the name here is referring to the Famicom Disc System specifically rather than just mashing the console's name with Nintendo. Or at least, the name alone isnt reason enough.
Came down here to say this too, heh
i watched this awhile ago and now i’m rewatching it now that i’m making my own yume nikki fangame, i seriously love this video essay and it does the source material justice.
This was such an interesting thing to experience. Funnily enough, I love watching long narrative videos before I fall asleep to get comfortable. And as many of the Yume Nikki videos I’ve enjoyed, this is by far the most comprehensive one. Absolute kudos to you for undertaking this mammoth task, but you did a wonderful job of it! Thank you for doing what you do
(New subscriber here) but I LIVE for long form theory videos or just Long form videos in general like this, and its so hard to find 1. Ppl that have nice voices to listen to, 2. Good editing, 3. Long form content, and the goofy lil moments you put in are a nice cherry ontop. Shit got so much flavor 😭 PLEASE keep up with long form/theory videos.
this is so awesome. I’ve been a huge yume nikki fan for many years now. this made me think of things i had never considered before and you made such a convincing case for them:)
for some insight about the stabbing room, it could also be representing the feeling of being overstimulated from a crowded environment. I'm autistic and in school environments it felt as though I was constantly surrounded by people and noise, and that I needed to force my way through hallways in order to get anywhere while also being unable to hear myself think from everyone talking. Madotsuki already isolates herself from others and repetitive off putting noises are used to make the dream worlds unsettling. idk maybe it's a reach
TOBY FOX LIKES DENNYS?????? My entire life is affirmed now. thank you for this amazing knowledge, Nighthawk
I find it funny that Kikiyama also likes Dennys
i am particularly fascinated by the huge amount of paracas textile inspirations, have you seen the one that depicts pretty much an exact figure of madotsuki? also i honestly think kikiyama was just a big fan of these cultures' art and wanted to put it in the game hehe
awesome video!!
P sure the repeated あ is screaming, essentially the floor is screaming in those zones. This could have symbolism but I'm not sure lmao
I love your approach to disecting and analyzing all these abstract details, all to make a convincing narrative at the end! All in all, you did a good job.
One of the best videos about Yume Nikki i've seen, and one of the most compelling and coherent interpretations of the underlying themes and story. Great work!
23:15 I'M SORRY BUT HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WAS EXACTLY 2 AM FOR ME?? wonderful video btw omg
Same, though. He's onto us.
Jokes on him, its 1:40 am for me!
As a ravid Oneshot fan and a person who's interesting learning about Yume Nikki, this video was fantastic to watch! Loved the use of Oneshot's OST and being able to connect inspirations between some areas and certain areas in Oneshot. I especially saw it with the similarities between the Barracks and the Glen!
5:34 that scared me
that's a really really good analysis.
i would like the point out that the ending theme sounds a lot like some sort of ambulance
This was such an amazing video bro, honestly it was so fun i didn’t even notice the time go by, all the little jokes and bits were amazing, great work
Thank you, mysterious bird for appearing at random on my feed. Was worth the watch, and I like the spin on the narrative to be a little more positive at the end.
I applaud you for putting this much effort on this video. It really shines through, congratulations ^^
A few comments i'd like to share with you are:
The Mexica or Aztecs were in fact in Mesoamerica, but i think you are getting a little bit confused, as Mesoamerica is a fairly recent term used to describe a cultural area were many civilizations across thousands of years established because of it climate, soil and other characteristics. It encompasses a good chunk of Mexico and a little of Central America; it does not go all the way to South America.
Also, i like that the year 1989 coincidentally comes up a few times, because in some parts of the game, like when it goes all 8-bit, the pink world and the house were there are lots of stairs, it is very clear it draws heavy inspiration from the first game of the Mother trilogy, which came out in 1989.
Nice video, hope it gains more views!
Thank you
Yes this was I lack of foresight and a failure to commit on my part. In some parts of the video I haphazardly interchange Mesoamerica and South America and my area map was not accurate to what I was saying. This was mainly due to the fact that I wasn't willing to put an exact location of where Madotsuki lived when she was overseas. I didn't know exactly where the areas of the Nihonjin Gakko (the Japanese schools) were; but I knew they were in south America. This led to me regrettably interchanging the areas. My final understanding was that she lived in South America for a time but she would take trips north to Mexico or even just north of Belize and check out the pyramids Aztec or Mayan (I only even mentioned Aztec).
The issue is I never said specifically THAT in the video so that's MY bad.
Geography was never my strong suit in school; I will absolutely take this into account if I ever talk about this area again.
Thanks for watching
I remember when I first played this game. I got the Uboa jumpscare the very first time I flipped the switch. It was wild. I was pretty happy. I think it's a 1 in 64 chance of having the creature to spawn? Another game I like is Yume 2kki. It's impressive how long this fangame has been running for. It's not a sequel. Love your analysis on it. YN is one of my favorite games. Good commentary.
Little nitpick! Mesoamerica is a specific historical Cultural and Geographical region that goes from central Mexico to Nicaragua. It is for all intents and purposes a region in North America.
South America has its own indigenous cultural regions, like Andinoamerica, the Amazon, Patagonia, The Pampas, etc.
People tend to conflate both modern Mexico and Central America with South America and the historical region of Mesoamerica with indigenous South America for some reason.
Also, Pyramids are a Mesoamerican thing, not a South American thing. Aztecs are a Mesoamerican culture, not a South American one.
Also also, calling South America “underdeveloped” and “primitive” is kinda gross?
Errrrrmmmm??? It's kinda gross???? And yucky?????? Errrrrrrrrmmmm????????????????????
I would love to see you do this same kinda video for Yume 2kki as well, it has SO MUCH interesting stuff in it (also there's a series lack of discussion about Yume 2kki on RUclips, there's very few people who talk about it)
If Yume 2kki is as large as this game that may take awhile. I don't think I have another 2 hour video in me for the time being but I will add it to the to do list.
@@XDNighthawkXD Yume 2kki is almost incomprehensibly larger than nikki.
I’ve come across a post on reddit from earlier this year that estimates the game to currently be about 17x bigger than yume nikki. This game has been undergoing development since 2007, almost as old as nikki itself, and it’s still continuing to grow to this day. with a combined total of over a hundred developers having worked on the project over the course of these past 17 years, it’s showing no signs of stopping.
@@XDNighthawkXD Well if you do cover it, I won't blame you for not covering the entire game 😅 It's at least 10x larger than the original Yume Nikki game
@@XDNighthawkXDi think with yume 2kki being a collaborative project and .flow , another popular yume nikki fangame with more focus on horror , being around the same size as yume nikki, .flow has far more consistent themes. i dont want to pressure you, but i think its worth being aware of .flow here ^^
I would love to see this!!
Thank you for compassionately covering Yume Nikki. My first RPG when I was a kid that introduced me to Yume Nikki inspired games like .flow and Yume 2kki. Fangames were a whole fanbase on their own, all for the love of Yume Nikki's amazing story telling. In a way, a cozy game experience. Also, adding in the interview and extra funfacts were very kind of you, because I had no idea of them! Liked and Subscribed-been amazing to draw and listen to your analysis.
_...Incredible._
I originally had a hard time getting invested in Nikki. Beyond gameplay or variety of exploration, I could never really congeal a proper interpretation beyond "sexual abuse" and "isolation."
But this is a _fantastic_ interpretation.
Focus on imagery and structures, thoughtforms and spaces, symbolism and function... All to create a portrait, a diarama, of _who Madotsuki really is._
And what she's been through...
I still have gripes with Nikki, but I can always certainly say it has powerful ideas, especially when it can inspire theories like this!
...I repeat this a lot elsewhere.
But I don't find Nikki _nearly_ as interesting as the immense plethora of fangames it has inspired. I feel that there are ways it could've explored it's concept more, and, Hell, Kikiyama would agree with me, it would seem.
And I'd actually like to recommend you some of those fangames now. Considering how you interacted with this, I feel like it could be a lot of fun. So I hope you'll give some of these a chance!
Here's the big ones:
*.FLOW*
Perhaps the _second_ most famous of Nikki's fangames. I feel it wears it's (at least aesthetic) influences on it's sleeves, and uses them to dramatic effect. I also feel it'll lend itself _especially_ well to an interpretative eye like yours...
*YUME 2KKI*
A collaborative fan-sequel(?) to Nikki, and perhaps THE most famous of all it's fanworks. It's probably the biggest of the three I will recommend here. I'm not sure how well it'll lend itself to a consistent read like this... But it's perhaps the most fun to explore, and feels the most... _Alive,_ in my eyes. For many reasons.
*COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS*
A unique case. The newest of the games I'll recommend here, with a bunch of odd specifications. It's YNOProject exclusive, with its online features, while toggleable, being part of the intended experience, and it's collaborative like 2kki, but there's more of a... Control, to what kinds of worlds you'll see. It's hard for me to figure out an angle to describe it from, though... I guess experiencing it yourself will have to do?
Admittedly, to me, it just feels like these games use the framework of Nikki to tell their _own_ stories, but that feels like part of the fun to me.
And all the same, I hope to see you have fun with them!
I really love this video!!! It's so well produced and your commentary is so insightful :O I love how this game still has so many new view points and things to talk about all these years later.
1 hour and a half in and so far I’ve been loving this video. I love the intermissions being there to brighten things up while still being informative and on topic. I’ve loved this game for over a decade and it’s wild how I still keep learning new things about it. Very impressive work!
That was a great video! My first time with Yume Nikki was actualy a fan game called "Me" (like, め witch means eye) made by Isasapiens, here on youtube! I was an experience like I never had before!
We don't have much updated information online about this game. The wiki is incomplete and I ended up having to download RPG maker and load the game as a project, to then look at the code/maps to find where all the things needed for the best ending (yes, this game has multiple endings!) were! 😂😂
i would have no idea that this game could resonate with me so much if not for this video. thank you so much for rediscovering the game and introducing it to people. this is well done
yume nikki fans finally sitting down to play the couple hour long game they only watch video essays on
great and unique interpretation of the game, I love seeing new content for yume nikki thats actually really interesting, fantastic job.
I really loved your Deltarune character analysis. I never thought you'd talk about Yume Nikki, im so glad it's one of my favorite games :)
Keep up your amazing content :D
I love your theory on what happened to madotsuki! I’m also relieved it doesn’t include some of the rape theories. After all the suggestive imagery could just mean madotsuki accidentally saw something suggestive and got traumatized, kind of like shigesato itoi, which lead to him creating giygas, the final boss of earthbound. Anyways, keep up the good work!
I honestly feel like it's hard headed to deliberately ignore really obvious rape symbolism, like Impossible to miss to the point that it's the only thing we can really be sure of in the game, and for what? Because it's uncomfortable?? It's a scary game, it's supposed to be uncomfortable. Hell, I'm not even sure if it's meant to be scary most of the time, the main purpose is to be uncomfortable.
@@shinypaintf588 funny how most rape theorists say that face is supposed to be the tip of a penis, which in my opinion if anyone’s penis looks like that then they need to seek medical health instantly. Sure kyukyukin looks like a phallus, but by that logic you should just say that every long worm-like creature is a phallus. Not to mention, these theories are coming from the same type of people who mistaken the imagery in yume nikki to be Aztec when it’s so obvious that the imagery depicts Paracas textiles. And the floyag could just represent some sort of mask or something. Also, for the record, Yume Nikki is not a horror game. It’s not even unsettling, it’s just eerie. If you’re calling yume nikki a scary game then you are definitely the type to get scared of the ghosts in Luigi’s mansion
you're trying really hard to make a point that isn't correct and all because rape symbolism makes you uncomfortable. just face it, horible things like that happen all the time, you have to face the truth
@@shinypaintf588 dude you can’t just make the assumption that rape makes me uncomfortable. I play games and watch movies that have rape in them, all I’m saying is maybe the rape theory is a little bit too far fetched, because people just seem to have a dirty mind. You don’t have to get offended because I don’t believe that madotsuki actually got raped. It could have been one of her friends, sure, but I don’t believe it was her that got raped
I just discovered your channel and is absolutely amazed by how well this video was made ! Your remind me of the french youtuber feldup even if the media you cover can be different. I will definitely recommend this to other people ! Good job !
This video and this game inspired me to create my own Diary about dreams.
I keep a streak of how many nights i didn't had any dreams.
And when i do have a dream, i open my diary and make a drawing of the principal points of the dream, and then set the streak to zero again.
oneshot references in the video??? YESSIR!!!!!! (if anyone reads this, play Oneshot, no exceptions)
I played this entire game in one night, the night before watching this video. It was so interesting to see the order in which you encountered things, versus how I did. Phenomenal video, great job.
Idk if anyone else has mentioned it bc the Uboa event can only be triggered based off load times. So if it doesn't trigger when you first turn off the lights, you have to leave the house and then go back in before flipping the switch again.
This is far and away the best Yumi Niki analysis I have seen!! I kept trying to figure out what is going on with this game but now I fully agree with you!
I've now seen this whole video 3 times after it being thrown in my feed just recently, it even made me want to look at your other works and lo and behold, I'm now subscribed, it is a fantastic video and analysis, with so much love and respect for the source work that is yume nikki.
Your analysis and theory of how Madotsuki's dreams would come to be what they are now, is what I now personally subscribe to, as looking at all her dreams overall do seem to tell a cohesive story if we put the pieces together,.And I do believe she does take her life... I dont think she jumps for the sake of waking up for real... BUT
If I may, I'd like to add to your theory.... and I'd like to call to attention to the game Yume Nikki: Dream Diary, that while not many people liked how the game was handled, I still believe that, in being supervised, or at least approved of by Kikiyama, it leads me to believe, Yume Nikki simply ended prematurely in version 0.10.4 in RPGM and maybe we could look at dream diary as supplementary material to complete the story or the tale being told.... Maybe at the time, kikiyama could only see Yume Nikki's ending as the only one possible for madotsuki, who may or may not be an insert of the author...... but time passes and life changes, maybe for the best, and although we don't know much about Kikiyama, them responding to Toby's question about what they would get at Dennis, makes me think, things did get better, and they can go out now to enjoy themselves like that outside
Dream Diary's ending (-*-*-*-*-*-SPOILERS-*-*-*-*-*-*-) has Madotsuki finally stepping out of her room, for real in real life, her finally getting the courage to finally go outside again, after walking to the veranda for a bit and looking down, I for sure thought she would jump again, confirming the sad end of the girl, but she didn't, she instead headed to her door and walked out..... If my theory serves right, RPGM Yume Nikki simply had only one ending available, the only one kikiyama saw as a possibility, with an idealism of death, but maybe that's not the case anymore, and maybe now the true ending we got with Dream Diary, would apply to the RPGM, should the game kept updating, and kikiyama's vision continued to be put in the game, a more hopeful one.
"Thankfully I'm not old enough to remember these...."
I just aged 1000 years
edit: 15 mins in and you got a sub from me. I've watched so many Yume Nikki retrospectives but yours is one of the most engaging i've found so far!! Can't wait to check out your other stuff ^^
Madotsuki and her parents couldn't handle Brazil and went back to Japan.
Jokes aside, I liked your analysis.
51:56
literally just found your channel but honestly you should do more long analysis videos this is amazing and a game ive been super Interested in learning about. thank you and keep up the good work! have subscribed :)
saw you said you can't promise any more 2 hour long videos any time soon and i hope you don't feel pressured by some comments. do what you love at the end of the day :)
25:11 as someone who listened to Reckless Battery Burns multiple times i was a bit shocked to hear that sound effect
I know the video for the song has hundreds of references, but i didn't realize it was even in the song itself
49:19 I also picked up on the scopophobia thing. I think that ties to the stabby room as well. The eyeball monsters represent her classmates who won’t stop looking at her and perceiving her, which Madotsuki hates. So she kills them in her dreams. And what does she get for killing all her classmates? An empty room and a bizarre pointless disturbing thing (being the blue plague doctor mask)
I usually don't comment on videos but this one really surprised me by how well produced it is. The whole - humour, editing, voice, your explanation and describing the whole game was just on point with what I enjoy to watch! All your hard-work paid off and I definitely am gonna come back on this channel. I really recommend you checking out fear and hunger (but only if you are not afraid of more gore and REALLY gruesome stuff tho!), I think doing a same style video about it would be also interesting and enjoyable! You seem like an awesome bird! keep it going :DD
2 hour long Yume Nikki video We eating good
Thank you for the vid bud, always a joy, even if it a bit long ^^
I was so waiting for you to talk about the background guy in eyeball world
how long did this take to make...
I honestly couldn't tell you I probably should keep track. I feel like if I did that then I would start to think about the process too "Financially" if you know what I mean. Like I might find myself thinking I had taken too much time on one video compared to another.
@@XDNighthawkXD i get it yeah. i don’t keep track of how long i spend on projects either, mainly because it’s a bit hard to do imo. i often get long bursts of complete procrastination where i just have no desire to get anything done, and so instead i’ll just catch myself rewatching the stuff i’ve already made so far over and over again.
another reason why i ask, is because i find it really hard to hold on to the motivation required to make such a long video like this. i have so many projects that i’ve just given up halfway through because i just lost interest at some point.
whenever i take a break from something it can be really difficult to start it back up again.
@@XDNighthawkXDstill excelent work. Thank you for that. I hope you had fun to create this video. I shure had fun to watch it.
“Looking at her sprite she can’t be more than 14” excuse me? I guess only children can wear pigtails and a skirt I guess. But for real she is not a child she clearly leaves on her own, cuz what kind of parent gives there kid the room with a balcony?
i'll be honest i think you nailed it in terms of identifying the broader themes, even pointing out stuff i hadn't thought of before like the mesoamerican imagery, but you lost me at the end when you tried to piece it together into a single linear narrative. i think interpreting the imagery as literally as you did is a little bit of a disservice to what the game is going for, in my opinion. still a very well-made video though! i'd like to see more stuff like this from you
Fans: write paragraphs after paragraphs explaining why this or that element was added to the game.
Meanwhile, the developer's explanation: cos it's spooky
You should do a video on the fan remake as well, it was made with communication with the dev and recieved their blessing to make.
23:30 its 1:49 and I'm listening to this as i sleep 😭
41:33 my interpretation is that the number world represents school, and Madotsuki has a repressed memory relating to school, this memory being hidden behind the zipper tile. KyuKyuKun, in my interpretation is meant to represent the janitor because he is seen cleaning the railing. I think the janitor, in an attempt to get closer to the students or particularly Madotsuki asked them to refer to him with Kun to be more relatable. I think the janitor then abused or assaulted Madotsuki which is represented by the face event: something horrible and grotesque and in-fathomable and horrifying and disgusting. The phalic appearing of KyuKyuKun also lends to this theory.
EDIT: Further evidence I just realized is the zipper tile you enter through could represent a pants fly.
also... you say carnivorous trees, did you mean coniferous?
Okay, I am subscribing just for that skit about us both meeting outside. LOL
2 hour long video on Yume Nikki?!
Okay this is gonna be crazy good!
The pattern on Madotsuki's sweater looks like the tsuchiya clan emblem, although I doubt it's on purpose but it's kinda cool.
8:48 says 1980-1983
Meanwhile, 10 seconds later:
©KIKIYAMA
a 2 hour 18 minutes and 50 seconds yume nikki analysis???? by a bird??? on my youtube??? this is some peak material we've got here woohooh
upd: after watching, god, i didn't expect this video to be so good. keep cooking!!!
5:42 I thought these were pillows 😂
Watching this at 1:53am, feeling particularly called out. ...Although, I am doing the important thing for tomorrow while I listen.
Also, the bit about being a Kaiju was funny.
Great video! I enjoyed the pacing and thought the in-between sections with information slightly more detached from the game were lighthearted and fun.
I do have a big question about your interpretation. Considering the amount of imagery that you don't touch on in the final interpretation, would you be more inclined to assume Madotsuki is just a victim of several different traumatic events? For example, the door that you enter past Kyuu-kyuu-kun being such a visually taxing, and auditorily panic-inducing event makes me feel like it has a much, much greater relevance to the overarching story of Madotsuki's life. That, and Monoe and Monoko, the imagery in the Flute Room, or the rarest event in the game, Takofuusen, resembling that of a fetus affected with Twin Reverse Arterial Perfusion. I'd love to know how your interpretation might change if you were to take bits and pieces of the other events that occur in-game.
This is such a good video i wish it had more views
thank jesus i’ve been waiting for a vid like this
just my opinion, but I believe that the toriningen represent unavoidable social situations and social anxiety. for example, when an angered toriningen catches you, you are sent to an area you cannot escape (unless you use hand palm or pinching) I believe this may represent how people with social anxiety might struggle with feeling “trapped” in social situations and interactions, in fear of embarrassing themselves. I also think that the different areas you can get trapped in may represent different negative experiences madotsuki went through. Additionally, when you stab a calm toriningen, they become angered and begin to chase you. this also may mean a fear of saying or doing something to someone that may cause uncomfortable situations, the person leaving them,or facing ridicule from said person. This fear overall might be one reason why madotsuki refuses to leave her room, because she knows if she does she will face all these different fears of ridicule, abandonment, embarrassment etc, and so she just decides to shut her self off to avoid it, just like how some people with trauma will purposefully avoid and forget that memory so they never have to relive it again. sorry if I completely misinterpreted this idk.
this is such a beautiful and well articulated analysis, well done :)
1:14:11 Man I literally triggered Uboa by accident first time I went to the room and started playing with the lights. I was doing the "strong bad lightswitch rave" to entertain myself and... well... that happened.
YNO PROJECT MENTION!! ALSO ABSOLUTELY STELLAR BREAKDOWN WELL DONE!!
I'm just 4 months older then this game lol, really rad game I played it before.
the checkerboard for transparency pattern isnt just a png thiung and apparently has some neat history behind it
do you know where i could learn more about that?
@@morphious86. idk, google "checkerboard transparency"
A game of metaphor and imagination.
To some degree you don’t have to work it out, but your interpretations will have no wrong answers just odd interpretations.
Similar to a dream or a window, what looks like a fine day to some looks like a bothersome day to others.
But yeah. I do like seeing people still interested in this game. I think people come up with the most interesting feelings towards this game.
Awesome video.
Traffic light S Tier
Bicycle S Tier
Knife S Tier
Umbrella S Tier cause it's cute