![The Game That [Never] Invented Visual Novels & Denpa (Shizuku) [Patreon Cut]](https://img5.nokimo.com/storage/11/ob/wb/fb3178-019e8e3e-6993-774a-8ed2-fc1416a75ee9.jpg)
The Game That [Never] Invented Visual Novels & Denpa (Shizuku) [Patreon Cut]
Added 2023-09-02 00:37:01 +0000 UTCDropbox backup can be found here!
Leaf is, without any doubt, one of the few visual novel developers to truly achieve ‘legendary’ status. But all legends have to start somewhere, and in 1996, it began with Shizuku - the game that invented visual novels and denpa... or did it?
Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
04:14 Story
15:05 Denpaesthetics
23:16 Patreon Break
27:20 Plot Summary [SPOILERS]
32:34 The Messy Themes [SPOILERS]
41:09 When the Dust Has Settled
Music list:
Tenshi no Inai 12-gatsu - Clear Sky, Cold Blue
Shizuku - Moon Phase (2004 ver.)
Tenshi no Inai 12-gatsu - End of a Dream, False Memories
Shizuku - Valley (Renewal ver.)
Shizuku - Invitation to Insanity (Renewal ver.)
Shizuku - Boredom (Renewal ver.)
Kusari - Disappearance
Etrian Odyssey - Labyrinth II, Primitive Jungle
White Album Remake - Tension
Tenshi no Inai 12-gastu - Waiting at the End of the World
Shizuku - When the World Changes (SC-55 ver.)
Shizuku - Smoking Walk (Renewal ver.)
Parfait - Coffee Cup (Re-Order ver.)
Parfait - Sunshine (Re-Order ver.)
Shizuku - Campus Life (SC-55 ver.)
Shizuku - Chance Meeting (Renewal ver.)
Shizuku - When the World Changes (Renewal ver.)
Routes - Truth in the Mist
Shinyuku Kimi - Yokan
Tenshi no Inai 12-gatsu - Voiceless Song
Brandish - Ruins (Piano Collection ver.)
Shizuku - When the World Changes (Leaf Piano Collection Vol 1. ver.)
Shizuku - Moon Phase (2009 ver.)
Comments
S E K K U S U I adore that you can find the joy in things that are often terrible in their execution. All of my favorite video essayists do this. Do you think you'll ever cover early BL and yuri games? I'd love to see the history behind those.
AshbelEro
2023-09-19 23:52:00 +0000 UTCIt's a shame that Shizuku ended up being such a mess. It'd be interesting to see you cover Kizuato – also written by Takahashi, and as far as I understand a better-regarded work.
nortti
2023-09-04 13:39:59 +0000 UTCWho's Lila? is a bit of a tine commitment - it is difficult thematically, and in the story structure, and in the metagaming, so I don't necessarily recommend a full playthrough. Lots of intentionally questionable inclusions. But it is very cool for where it succeeds, eg visually, and a perfect example of how the current gaming landscape only exists because of the outsize impact of works like Shizuku. Correction, btw: I meant to say "(oc)cult themes", not "(oc) themes" but Patreon won't let me edit comments properly on mobile for some reason lol
fohfuu
2023-09-03 14:35:34 +0000 UTCI should still have photos of the denpa comic around somewhere if you're interested. Sadly I don't have any ability to scan the magazine it self though, the guy who's scanned the others on Internet Archive I don't think ever got back to me.
Noelle Aman
2023-09-03 02:45:22 +0000 UTCThis video made me realize that I have an obsession about moving the mouse cursor out of frame while watching a video, though after a few tries I managed to stop myself from grabbing the mouse every minute or so. ;)
Armchair Archivist
2023-09-02 23:30:34 +0000 UTCPlease don't overwork or push yourself too hard or anything...but damn, it rules getting two of your videos in such rapid succession, more of that sweet sweet Noelle VN content.
Nah
2023-09-02 20:36:21 +0000 UTCI was just about to ask if you would be open to scanning that issue, I've not been able to find an online version in one of my bursts of interest in the untranslated history of denpa. Excited to hear that's happening!
Nah
2023-09-02 18:07:36 +0000 UTCYeah, I think Ruriko is a very good example of a VERY early Rei clone - and an amusing one from the sense of otaku wish fulfillment like you mentioned. She's still the archetypical quiet traumatized blue haired girl, but she gets her happy ending and still loves the protagonist, somehow. I've never heard of Who's Lila? before, but I might check it out, it looks fascinating! Happy the video was able to draw a whole essay's worth of thoughts out of ya; writing about this game was a challenge since there's so little 'in it' so to speak, so I'm glad I could make something resonant in spite of that.
Noelle Aman
2023-09-02 14:19:21 +0000 UTCThe fact that I wrote a whole ass essay with just my gut reactions really speaks to how thought-provoking the video is, lol.
fohfuu
2023-09-02 14:07:51 +0000 UTCI have several thoughts that I will put together for a YT comment since they'll probably more interesting to the public, but I still have a couple that may be interesting. Ruriko must have been one of the first Rei clones. Of course, there were many characters that shared visual or trope similarities with Rei, and I'm sure it took more than a couple of months to develop, but released literally 2 days after episode 17 of NGE. It was a highly anticipated series and expected to be successful with an otaku audience due to the pedigree of GAINAX at the time. I can't imagine the staff at Leaf were entirely unaware that a fellow game developer/anime studio with way more clout than them would also have a kinda creepy heroine with short, light blue hair. Rei is the only heroine for the first third of the series so her character arc, seeming more important to the story than it ultimately was, paired with a red-haired aggressive girl (probably just because it was an extremely common trope to pair these archetypes at the time, though). You can imagine it probably drew in the nascent Rei fandom, especially since (avoiding spoilers) she gets kicked around by the plot and wiping out Ruriko's trauma and powers would also double as a wish-fulfillment ending for her. The other reason I mention Eva is because that utter disgust is exactly the way I feel about Rebuild 3.00 + 1.00, lol. Walking right up to having a coherent and agreeable message before chickening out with a "wish it all away, now everything is fine because it's a normal world now, also the protagonist doesn't try to reconnect with his friends for some reason" ending, the immersion-breaking oversexualisation synergising with the under-examined misogyny... Ugh. With the heritage of Shizuku, of course, the most known to the English-speaking audience is probably in the music video for INTERNET OVERDOSE (the theme to Needy Girl Overdose), which contains a direct homage at 1:45 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnkhBwzBqlQ) The OEL adventure game Who's Lila? uses compressed photography to reinforce its characters' neurodiversity, and is also about a sexually repressed high school boy, who has a Ruriko-esque inclination to a blank expression and supernormal traits. It also includes the (oc) themes of other denpa works. On the story level, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni does so much better in how it addresses familial abuse trauma. The single worst events can be avoided by a couple of individuals, sure, but it takes a whole community working together to make real changes, heal survivors, and prevent generational trauma perpetuating. I actually happened to be rewatching the (very flawed) anime before this script dropped and infodumped on them about how the protagonist of Tsumihoroboshi-hen experiences psychosis differently to other characters because metatextually, it's referencing denpa. I even dropped a link to your Jisatsu video in the group chat and showing them a screenshot of Shizuku while explaining it! Wild coincidence. Not hugely related, the image look was actually pretty common in TV back before good digital effects were easy to achieve. It's used for the end credits of High School Mystery from 1991 (available through legal streaming in Japan, some uploaded to youtube. ED here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqEykaPOhAl) I personally remember those kind of effects were sometimes used in BBC children's TV from the 70s/80s. Tangent: I am sure this was most unintentionally terrifying children's TV ever created. The childhood trauma that Mr Nosybonk inflicted on British boomers/gen-Xers is probably why they're so bizarre.
fohfuu
2023-09-02 14:06:55 +0000 UTCIt's the September 1980 issue! I don't think it's been scanned and released online, and I've been trying to find anyone trustworthy who can do that. It has the original comic that 'denpa' as a term really came into prominence from.
Noelle Aman
2023-09-02 11:16:51 +0000 UTCAwesome video! I have to admit that I am kind of bummed about Shizuku being not what is expected, but I appreciate the thoughtful analysis. I feel it’s one of those pieces of media that sound great on your mind but when you actually read/play it is not at all as you pictured it. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask what’s the Garo issue you showed? I haven’t seen that one so I am curious.
Habibi
2023-09-02 02:36:58 +0000 UTC
