Hello, Uboachan. First time poster here, and I would just like to share with you my theory on the game Yume Nikki. My speculation is that the character Madotsuki is not a linear character, but a representative of sorts. What I mean by this is that, instead of being simply a "game character" such as Mario or Master Chief, one who's experiences are not to be taken outside of the game's context, Madotsuki is a game character who is meant to be interpreted and symbolized. Firstly, the name she is given, Madotsuki, is not a common name. I believe that the main reason for this is that Game Maker requires a name. Kikiyama most likely (although I cannot say for sure) intended for the character in the game to be interpreted, and creating a name for a game character like this would make it difficult to do so. Instead of a traditional Japanese name, I believe he instead used a highly obscure inanimate object (her name means something similar to "peep-hole") to show that she is not to be interpreted as a "real" game character, but she is to be seen as a sort of "window" into what the lives of people similar her are like. Throughout Yume Nikki, the characters and scenery I encountered made me feel feelings of despair, fear, loneliness, sadness, and distrust. These feelings are the things that people who are "different" feel. Madotsuki, being "different", is afraid of the real world, similar to how real-life anti-socials are. Madotsuki could be seen as a poster-girl for all of the people in the world who need help from others. People like Madotsuki lived in their own mind. In a sense, they lived in their hopes and dreams. They lived dreaming, hoping that one day they would be accepted for who they were and live unafraid of the world around them. Maybe if someone had accepted Madotsuki, she wouldn't have separated herself from the world. Maybe if someone had helped her, she wouldn't have been afraid to go outside. And maybe, just maybe, if someone had been a true friend to her, (SPOILER ALERT!) she wouldn't have killed herself. This is my theory, and I believe adamantly that this is how the game was meant to be seen.
As a sidenote, the theories I have seen are as interesting as they are far-fetched. For example, the "transgender theory" I find to be completetly obscure and reductive to the game's mood. I perceived the bathroom stalls not as a beacon of hermaphroditity, but as a sign that Madotsuki's meaning was universal, it is applicable to all people. That is all, thank you for reading. The picture is a background, by the way.
Last edited 09/12/04(Fri)16:22.