Birth of Denpa Games: The projection of the psychological needs of Japanese youth who are at a loss in the midst of social turmoil and change

Before talking about Denpa games, we should firstly know the definition of Doku-Denpa, which can also be called ‘poisoning electromagnetic waves’ or ‘毒電波’. The origin of the term can be dated back to 1981. At that time, there was an extremely brutal indiscriminate killing in Fukagawa, Tokyo. After being arrested, the murderer claimed that he was controlled by the electric wave, which is actually a manifestation of mental illness, in that psychopath take their delusions as reality.

Since then the concept of Doku-Denpa has been used by many Japanese artists to create Denpa games such as ‘雫’ (‘Shizuku’), ‘ジサツのための101の方法’ (‘101 Ways to Kill Yourself’) and so on. These games are usually set in high school. The main characters are some young people who are mentally disturbed believe that the world has varianced, committed to using their own power to restore reality, but eventually, like tearing open a bloody wound, find that it is all just their delusion.

The creator’s intention, however, is not just to build game worlds full of unexplained chaos, but a strong scream for the government authorities and society of the time.

Since the collapse of the Japanese economy in 1989, its average annual GDP growth rate had been less than 1%. Even after correcting the problems of non-performing bank loans and balance sheet damage in the early 2000s, growth failed to return to pre-bubble era levels. The global media had been unanimously down on the Japanese economy, calling these 20 years “the lost two decades” of Japan. And the negative impact on young people during these two decades had undoubtedly been enormous. According to the labor force survey published by the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the unemployment rate of the 15-24 age group in Japan was at 6.3%, chronically higher than other age groups , which was 1.75 times the average unemployment rate. In addition, the problem of long-term unemployment among young people was getting worse. The long-term unemployment rate among young people was growing faster than the middle and older age groups, and there was a tendency for the long-term unemployment rate to be skewed toward the lower age groups.

In a homogeneous society like Japan’s, any individual or group that deviates from the mainstream culture will be quickly identified and labeled negatively. Meanwhile, with its strong competitive and meritocratic ideology, it makes young people fear unemployment and being quickly reduced to a socially despised fringe group. Unable to get social recognition and real help, some of them will choose extreme methods – stealing, robbing, or even setting fire to retaliate against society. Multiple data shows that, from the 1980s, the total number of crimes committed by young people rose significantly, and in the 1990s it was on a high speed, while the crime solving rate dropped significantly.

The younger generation believes that the Japanese government was doing nothing about the negative economic growth and the dramatic increase in crime rates at that time. It underestimated the dire situation and did not take strong bailout measures immediately. In addition, during the ‘lost twenty years’, Japan was hit by several natural disasters and cultic terrorist acts. Even though specific reports were available, rescue and investigation were always delayed, causing the government’s credibility to plummet. A poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun that year showed that only 2% of Japanese people ‘trust’ the government ‘a lot,’ while 65% of the public chose ‘very little’ or ‘not much’.

When social contradictions are deepening or gathering, both sides of the conflict will at some point form an ignition point, leading to social unrest. At this time, the courageous reformers inspire a strong potential to make a critical reflection on the social current situation and convey the artist’s unique insight in the form of culture and art. The Denpa visual novel is one such product. ‘Confusing and unplayable’ and ‘full of gibberish’ seem to be common labels for this type of game. But these works’ deeper meaning lies not in the meaningless clamor, but expresses a kind of disapproval and rebellion against the mainstream. Generally speaking, in a situation where society is not functioning well, the government authorities would like nothing better than to let radicalized young people do their jobs, like study and work well, establish a family and help fix the holes in the social structure. However, it is obvious that the youth are not satisfied with it, as they may wonder why the government shouldn’t be willing to take responsibility and instead pass it on to them, the suffering generation growing up in the shadow of a negative economy. Therefore, such “confusing” artworks represent a corresponding disobedience. The government needs this kind of stability, so it is only natural that the protesting party should stir up as much ‘bloodshed’ as possible. But, as creators, it is not only the intention to vent anger. As the saying goes, advice is better than action, and the public would prefer that the authorities hear their opinions and then make changes quickly.

In addition, there is another interesting point that deserves our attention. Usually, the game is not able to complete a happy story through players’ actions, so people often mistakenly think that this game does not bring them anything other than sadness. This is a very superficial understanding, and the absurdity of it still lies in the fact that the author’s words do not lead him to think about the spirit he really wants to convey. In the case of the “gibberish” mentioned above, we should not just take the protagonist’s ravings as scraps that prevent us from understanding the plot, but instead think that these things are the very conditions that the author wants to create a disconnection. (I think there are some similarities in the AT field in EVA.) In reality, we often encounter moments when others do not understand us, when we look at others, others look at us as if we are aliens. But do we have to cower in the corner because others do not understand, and do not express their views? On the contrary, it is because of the uniqueness that it is more important to speak out.

And the unfortunate ending of the game reminds us to value the present and try to pursue our own happiness. If the work is just sadistic for the sake of sadism, then we can say that the work is very substandard. Whether or not you think such a plot is intentional, its value is for you players to judge for yourself. But in my experience of the game, most of the authors want to show the point is: No matter how unreasonable the world is, we just do not run away, take the initiative to face and are willing to put in efforts, happiness will no longer be untraceable. It is true both for those 20 years and today. The young Japanese generation who cannot face the pressure of collapse, or the current generation who are afraid of challenges, are encouraged to use their initiative, to try to see things differently, and to take responsibility for their own actions and future.

Twenty years of bubble economy impact no longer. Now a new wave quietly rises.

In the midst of the changes of the new generation, if there will be a unique artwork born with a bang remains to be seen.

References: