Note: It is not recommended that you click on any of the music links in this article to listen, as each one has the potential to cause irreparable effects on your brain. If you experience visual or auditory hallucinations after listening, this article assumes no responsibility.
"Shukkin shukkin hayaku shukkin! (Give me)"
"Shukkin shukkin hayaku shukkin! (More)"
"Shukkin shukkin hayaku shukkin! (Not enough!)".
If you ask what the most viral earworm song in the gaming circle was last year, someone will surely tell you it's from"Gakuen Idol Master," abbreviated as "Gakumasu," "Shukkin shukkin hayaku shukkin!"
This brainwashing hit song, with lyrics so monotonous they can be summarized in three words, generated maximum buzz from the moment of its release, going viral from online to offline.—At MOIW2025 held last year, Hikari Iida, the performer of Kotone Fujita, successfully enlivened the atmosphere in the middle part of the first day of the event thanks to the song's powerful "audience interaction" attribute. And the ten thousand people singing "Shukkin shukkin hayaku shukkin!" together in the Osaka Dome became a rare spectacle in the entire history of "Hermes."
Of course, the official title of this song should be translated as "Self-Esteem Explosion↑↑ Shuki Shuki Song" (Jiko Kouteikan Bakuge ↑↑ Shuki Shuki Song). Secondly, the constantly repeated "shukkin" in the lyrics is the most common misheard lyric (soramimi) representation of "rare (like)" in the original song across Chinese and Japanese languages.
But no matter what, as long as your village has internet access, it's hard to avoid being contaminated by this song.
Because,"Gakumasu" adopted an external collaboration method for composition, plus the characteristics of Kotone Fujita's character, so even before STEP3 was implemented, some players already had a certain level of expectation for the final product—the composer and lyricist of "Jiko Kouteikan Bakuge ↑↑ Shuki Shuki Song," Hige Driver, is a well-known all-rounder in the industry with a quite diverse compositional style. But for Heisei-era otakus, his most famous song is still "Mawaru Mawaru Setsugekka," which is filled with repetitive phrases like "spin spin spin," also sufficiently brainwashing.
I am not a fan of Kotone Fujita, but I must admit that this song indeed has a terrifying magic, perfectly continuing thesubcultural spirit engraved in the bones of the "Hermes" series in previous generations.
Hmm, for theFor the "Hermes" series, which has been steeped in 20 years of history, "tailoring personalized songs according to idol characteristics" is an old tradition. But with so many people in the series, each needing their own personality traits, it's inevitable that a few troublemakers would emerge. The project never intended for them to sing properly from the start, occasionally throwing in weird things to force them to sing.
But precisely because of these songs'Being "unconventional" and "taking a musical detour" allowed these songs and their associated cultural symbols to sometimes overshadow the individual projects themselves in terms of popularity. Sometimes, you'll find yourself familiar with many of the memes and earworms from games you haven't even played.
Among the most famous idols is the one who wears"If you work, you lose" on her clothes, earning her the nickname "Joan of Arc of the hikikomori world," Futaba Anzu. Her character song "Anzu no Uta" has a similar effect to "Shuki Shuki Song"—mainly focusing on being a hikikomori who doesn't want to work.
TheThe "spiritual successor" is called "OTAHEN Anthem," from Yume Ria of "The Singing Honnoji." This song is overflowing with elements, its melody is chaotic, and it's filled with satirical self-mockery of the phenomena behind modern idol culture. It was also the first character song in "Hermes" history to include lyrics like "Please go die," "Otaku otaku," and... uh... excrement. And it complains about having to sing "Shukkin shukkin" (Go to work) yourself? I suggest you check out how insane the live performance of "OTAHEN Anthem" is.
Among today's otakus, these crazy, chaotic, sometimes pleasant-sounding, and sometimes outrageously unpleasant songs actually have a very standard name:—"Denpa Song" (Denpa Song).
This is a concept that has long been deeply ingrained in people's minds, but the question is, have you ever thought about what kind of environment gave rise to such an illogical, non-mainstream music form? Why is it often tied to game works, and why are so many people willing toCALL?
This yearIn late April, a game on Steam called "Denpa Shoukougun" seemed to answer this question, but also made it more complicated.
Simply put, "Denpa Shoukougun" is a"slightly crazy" indie game. This is evident in almost every aspect—let's put it this way: its core gameplay is the traditional falling-style "music rhythm game," where players press corresponding keys according to the music rhythm and falling bars on the tracks, which is the most mainstream form of modern rhythm games. However, beyond the rhythm game part, it is unexpectedly a narrative-driven game with very complete characters and story structure.
Here, the two sets of gameplay blend in the core elements of the storyUnder the influence of "denpa," they blend together without logic, yet not discordantly.
To summarize the game's story, it's roughly: the protagonist"Little Q" is a classical-style hikikomori—she refuses to go to school or even leave her house. Her room is piled high with favorite anime merchandise and生活垃圾 (living garbage) she's too lazy to throw away. She spends every day immersed in nutritionless internet information and fictional anime characters. Even though she knows in her heart that her boundless depravity is hurting her loved ones, she cannot actively make compromises.
Until one day, a familiar voice suddenly came through her headphones. This voice came from littleQ's favorite anime character "Yunyun" tells little Q through the computer screen that she can change her current painful situation by absorbing "denpa songs," and the first thing to do after absorption is to spread little Q's love for Yunyun in the form of bizarre texts.
It can only be said that "Denpa Shoukougun" truly lives up to theword "denpa," because every component and segment in the game carries a drug-like psychedelic color—
In the story, littleQ's mind is never quite clear; the world in her eyes seems to always exist in the gap between reality and illusion. In the falling-style rhythm game gameplay of "absorbing denpa," little Q will follow the player's rhythmic keystrokes, typing out bizarre texts on the keyboard at the bottom of the screen to convey passion, and finally posting the completed bizarre texts to social media.
In any other game, you would definitely think this is some kind of behind-the-scenes setting, but the craziest part is that the game actually brings this process directly to the visual level. As the player identifies the melody and lights up the corresponding tracks, little Q in the backgroundQ is also really frantically smashing the keyboard.
The game specifically leaves a small box below the chart, and you can actually see the smallThe bizarre texts typed out by little Q mostly attempt to spread love for the character Yunyun to the outside world, with writing styles and stances perfectly replicating the flavor of old-school Japanese anonymous discussion boards.
This is also why you might need to use a keyboard to play this game.—because only in this way can you stand on the same side as little Q when receiving the denpa. When the player also starts banging on the keyboard, your synchronization rate will skyrocket to a visually apparent 250%.
Things get even more confusing later: these bizarre texts are eagerlypicked up and analyzed line by line by netizens eager to "uncover the truth," absurd and illogical conspiracy theories were thus bred. Watching the conspiracy theorists' obsession and frantic interpretation of her posts, even little Q herself found it amusing.
But outside the story, the player has the perspective of an ordinary bystander. So, you can also view it as a surrealist suspense story, requiring players to piece together the reality behind the story through fragmented information.—Regarding why little Q became a hikikomori, and why those bizarre texts had such bizarre influence.
Honestly, as a narrative game, "Denpa Shoukougun" isn't particularly novel in its choice of subject matter; it even seems a bit like it's chasing trends.—Ever since "Needy Streamer Overload" blindly sold millions of copies, narrative games themed around "beautiful girl protagonists with flawed personalities," "otaku culture," and "modern internet" have become as common as stray cats in your neighborhood. But everyone likes cats, so they still keep petting them.
But if you look closely at "Denpa Shoukougun," you'll find that it's actually an outlier within this genre.—because it insists on making a somewhat thankless gameplay mechanic and binding it with the narrative.
After all, "Denpa Shoukougun" truly provides a reasonably complete rhythm game experience. Although the inherent four-key design and relatively lenient judgment somewhat limit its depth in terms of rhythm gameplay, it is also an effective compromise for the sake of the narrative experience.
But that's not the only reason I've been paying attention to it.—What truly fascinates people is the game's thorough "denpa" attribute from top to bottom, and its "subcultural" temperament that is sufficient to reopen the scars of Heisei-era otakus and rub salt on them.
I don't know if you've heard similar summarizing phrases in your real life or while browsing the internet:
"You really have to be on the same wavelength to read this novel."
"Don't watch this movie if you care about actors' looks, but if you're on the same wavelength, it's a super satisfying film."
"You have to be on the same wavelength to play Suda51's games; otherwise, do you expect him to give you gameplay?"
In these contexts,"Denpa" is often used to describe a tool for maintaining a two-way relationship, with the subtext being "unique flavor, but I just like this." It is a means for individuals in a modern context to seek recognition and integrate into a certain group. After localized processing and improvement, it can basically be replaced by "loves eating stinky tofu"—for example, saying Teacher Ginga likes Suda51's stinky tofu is not problematic.
But in early subculture,"Denpa" is often used to express a completely opposite meaning, representing isolation and eccentricity, or to describe certain distinct personality traits. But thinking carefully, this usage seems to rarely appear in our real lives, completely different from the recently popular attributes of "social anxiety" or "gloomy loner."
InIn the 1981 Canadian film "Scanners," the main villain could explode ordinary people's heads like watermelons by sending brainwaves. Although from today's perspective, the settings and plot of "Scanners" can basically sit at the same table as "X-Men," both belonging to superpower battles, at the time, it vaguely revealed some social anxieties, including drug abuse.
And among them, regardingThe concern that "electromagnetic waves may cause irreversible damage to the human body" comes from an earlier research report.
In 1979, two scientists published their research results on magnetic fields and human health in the American Journal of Epidemiology. This result came from their statistical data on children who died of cancer in Denver County, Colorado, over twenty years. The data showed that the cancer incidence rate among children living near high-voltage power lines was significantly higher than in other areas, leading them to conclude that low-frequency electromagnetic fields are harmful to the human body.
Although the conclusions of this study were not directly accepted by the scientific community, the potential threats it revealed caused social concern about electromagnetic waves for a long time afterward.
In fact, you can easily find all of the above online. I didn't even bother to look up the full names of these two scientists, as they are not particularly relevant to the content that follows.—The only important thing is that the research of these two indirectly provided much inspiration for the later emergence of "denpa" themed stories and conspiracy theories.
Interestingly, although"Denpa-kei" has always been a niche label in the mainstream view, but its bizarre attributes have provided much convenience for its spread on the modern internet. Even in Chinese internet communities, you can easily find numerous summary explanations about the etymology of "denpa-kei" or "poisonous denpa."
Currently, the most common (and documented) explanation online is: manga artist Kazuhiro Watanabe first mentioned the concept of "poisonous denpa" in the September 1980 issue of the Japanese manga magazine "GARO" in its September 1980 issue, and this concept was later, in 1992, throughKenji Otsuki's novel "Shinkou Shuukyoku Omoidasu Kyou" entered the pop culture scene.
"Shinkou Shuukyoku Omoidasu Kyou" is widely recognized in modern times asorigin of "denpa-kei" stories, because the story fictionalized a type of cosmic ray that could affect the human brain, and a group of madmen who could use cosmic rays to control others' behavior. The abnormalities exhibited by humans affected by poisonous denpa in the book are basically no different from their semantic meaning in later otaku culture.
Regarding"Denpa-kei" is rooted in modern otaku culture. Here is another very famous origin story, which is also one of the few pieces of history that modern players can actually barely touch when looking back.
30 years ago, in 1996, the famous bishoujo game company Leaf released "Shizuku" under the name "visual novel," also themed around "humans driven mad by poisonous denpa."". As a help forLeaf's foothold-establishing work, "Shizuku" contribution to the industry is mainly reflected in two aspects: one is shaking the established creation mode of adult games—Adult games no longer needed to persistently prioritize "practicality" in structure; second, it introduced the concept of "denpa" into the adult game industry. The game's heroine, Ruriko Tsukishima, is probably the first "denpa-kei" heroine in personal memory.
Later,Leaf's lead scriptwriter Ryuuya Takahashi has never avoided talking about "Shinkou Shuukyoku Omoidasu Kyou" and "Shizuku" resemblance to father and son—Anyway, the adventure game market at that time was full of vacancies, and most creators were still obsessed with detective suspense and thriller stories, so I might as well do something unexpected. There happened to be a few ready-made reference materials in the corner, saving even the time to construct a basic story framework.
Of course, compared to the later almost universally knownCompared to the "Three Great Denpa Works," "Shizuku" story has become clear to the level of vernacular Chinese (in the eyes of experts, it's not even qualified to be ranked among theamong the "Big Three"), but it still highlights the specificity that "denpa" elements provide to the story experience. This stems from an emotional progression that is completely opposite to mainstream adventure games—
Including inspiring"visual novel" "Otogirisou," adventure games at the time were mostly suspenseful detective stories. These stories inherently emphasized an experience of "peeling back the layers," where mysteries would be gradually solved, and the environment the protagonist was in would become clearer. At first glance, "Shizuku" is not much different from mainstream suspense stories, but its depiction of humans descending into madness is actually meant to guide readers to understand the characters' mental states, thereby leading them to stumble into the quagmire.
So, elders always earnestly advise you: don't try to reason with crazy people.
It's just that sometimes, crazy people aren't born unable to reason.
Probably because "Shizuku" prematurely brought the gaze of cultural scholars into the otaku field, causing various popular science articles to rarely mention another cultural work that playedan important role in the formation of the definition of the term "denpa-kei"—this work is the book "Denpa-kei," collaboratively completed by Japanese underground manga artists Kei Nemoto and Hyakuro Murasaki in 1996.
Even at this point,The story of "poisonous denpa" has gradually become known through the aforementioned two works, but "Denpa-kei" still played a crucial role in the true formation of this concept. It did not romanticize real-world problems through fiction, but rather recorded a group of marginalized humans who lived in modern society but were not accepted by it, using a semi-realistic style.
In the book, the lives of these people arecompletely changed by "brainwaves." Some claim to have received revelations from heaven, while others firmly believe in various outrageous conspiracy theories. Their lives are filled with delusions and paranoia, either reclusive or fanatical. Their pain comes from the dislocation between the world they inhabit, the information they receive, and the ordinary world—one of the creators of this book, Hyakuro Murasaki, was himself a victim of "denpa."
"Denpa-kei" is not a subcultural book in the traditional sense, but it clearly summarizes and integratesThe behavioral characteristics of "denpa" people made it a clear symbol for more entertainment creators to interpret and reconstruct.
Towardsthe reasons for the emergence of "denpa-kei" people, smart people can always analyze it thoroughly from historical, cultural, economic, and other perspectives.
I'm not a smart person, but I can see a few clues.—In the late 1980s, Japan's bubble economy burst, but its impact on ordinary people was more like a slow-acting poison. When more people came to their senses, life had already changed from peaceful and quiet to just getting by. This was followed by pressures from work, family, and society, as well as anxiety about a bleak future. Society began to become unstable, and those born and raised during this period are called the "Ice Age Generation."
Desperate humans sought religious shelter, conspiracy theories found nutrients for crazy growth, and then in "Shizukubefore the launch ofIn 1995, this despair reached its peak with the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack.
So, in manyIn interpretations of "Denpa-kei" stories, receiving radio waves and descending into madness is seen as a means of escaping from a desperate reality. By breaking the boundary between the everyday and the abnormal, these characters find their value of existence in a self-centered world—you'll find that "fundamentalist" "Denpa-kei" stories always have a very obvious tragic color. These tragedies, full of madness, mockery, and pain, often prefer to end in the calmest way possible, ensuring no room for reflection is left behind.
Even if the times and characters change, thisUsing "tragedy" as the underlying structure is also the best means for creators to convey ideological trends. The only difference lies in how far the story creators can push absurdity and mockery. Therefore, most of the Bad Ends in the 2022 game "Needy Streamer Overload" are tragically absurd, making people feel empty and consciously mocked.
Also because of this, "Shizuku" is often classified as an early"Depressing" works
It's just that in the real world, most of us never waited for the awakening of special powers, never suddenly received radio waves from outer space, only life continues to be unreasonable—So, some of them chose to immerse themselves in fictional works, seeking psychological comfort from better worlds or characters.
Combining the era's background and their image characteristics, this group later becamerepresentative of the "Heisei Waste".
From a mainstream perspective, they are weak, negative, and only know how to evade responsibility and reality. Their behavior is strange, and they even place excessive emotions on fictional characters. They are just too damn weird. If you can help it, stay away from them.—Keep in mind, anime only started gaining mainstream acceptance in the last decade. More than thirty years ago, the "Miyazaki Tsutomu Incident" and the "Saori Incident" were yesterday's newspaper headlines. Society's impression of "Otaku" was far from positive. If you happened to be the kind of otaku who played adult games on a computer, you basically couldn't hold your head up in front of relatives and friends during holidays.
But if you really choose to degrade yourself and directly refuse to go home for the New Year, then it is the best era.
Because it is also an era belonging to the crazy growth of the modern internet and modern otaku culture:The release of Windows 95 brought a new operating experience to personal computers; and the emergence of the Internet became the best means for adults to kill time and express their views; anonymous online bulletin boards that did not expose identities also allowed people to find a "pure land" not managed by traditional order, so that they did not have to be responsible for their actions and speech.
In Akihabara, which later became the world center of otaku culture (and later devolved into a must-visit tourist spot in Tokyo), a movement seeing business opportunities in subculture development was proceeding in an orderly manner. InIn the early 1990s, Akihabara represented "Electric Town." People came here mostly to buy electronics or peripheral products like PC games. Unlike today, Akihabara's "otaku" atmosphere actually came more from "computer (tech) geeks" and "bishoujo game enthusiasts." But from then on, subcultures led by anime, games, manga, and doujinshi began to show a unified fusion of demand.
Facts proved that the main audience for these products was indeed the same group of people, but to the mainstream society at that time, this group was"abnormal".
Perhaps, it is also thisexistence of "abnormality" instead created a strange sense of closeness between subculture enthusiasts led by anime geeks and the term "Denpa-kei"—thus, this word used to describe people with abnormal behavior gained higher acceptance among this group, especially among adult game enthusiasts.
So, if you look back at "Yunyun Denpa Syndrome," you will find that many of its settings are a tailored application of modern subculture andtailored application of the "Denpa-kei" label—the small devil "Yunyun" who suddenly appears and constantly talks to Xiao Q in the game itself comes from the Japanese onomatopoeia for radio wave transmission, "YUNYUN"; the hikikomori protagonist is a marginalized person in society, the suddenly appearing anime character is a hallucination after mental abnormality, and the strange documents that cause conspiracy theories by continuously absorbing "denpa" are her only means to try to change her situation in her self-centered world; finally, it also has a denpa song library that makes all subculture enthusiasts' eyes light up.
Well, the part about story metaphors is also a guess, because I haven't even finished the game yet. Playing songs and writing articles for two days seems to have revived my tenosynovitis after a long time.
Not to mention anything else, this is indeed a purenarrative template that "Denpa" stories would have. The drug-like "madness" revealed in its story presentation is actually a kind of artistically processed insanity—this denpa is passing through the screen, trying to influence the player. This is also the emotional progression method unique to "Denpa-kei" stories mentioned earlier.
But having said so much,What is the relationship between "Denpa-kei" and "Denpa songs"? Why does "Yunyun Denpa Syndrome" specifically use "Denpa songs" as the fuel for the protagonist to express herself?
This might sound a bit strange, but the relationship between them is like"Megami Tensei" and "JOKER", "765PRO" and "Kotone Fujita", "Bahamut Lagoon" and "Tokai Teio"... At first glance, they seem closely related, but it's hard to summarize clearly in one or two sentences.
As mentioned earlier, in the context of modern subculture,The term "Denpa-kei" (Radio Wave Type) basically took shape in 1991, and didn't have a clear definition until 1996—but the internet will tell you that the oldest "Denpa song" in human history appeared as early as 1989, and it was even the theme song of a Nintendo FC game.
This game was developed byNatsume Co., Ltd.'s "Idol Hakkenden." The company's most famous game IPs are probably "Medarot" and "Kiki Kaikai." And this oldest "Denpa song" is the representative song of the game's heroine Erika Saionji when she was an idol, "You are HOEHOE Girl" (Kimi wa Hoe Hoe Musume). Of course, with FC-era storage technology, it was certainly impossible to actually include a song in the cartridge. At this time, the only way in the bishoujo game market to directly convey character voices to players was still "Tenshi-tachi no Gogo" released in 1987, equipped with the JASTSOUND voice synthesis device.
"You areHOEHOE Girl" is a song without a live vocalist—in the opening and ending parts of the game, what players can hear is only a bright melody accompanied by simple dance performances. Accompanying it are the lyrics subtitles at the bottom of the screen, which are perfectly synchronized with the tune but strangely weird.
As for how weird the lyrics of this song are...
Let's put it this way, I searched and thought for nearly an hour, but couldn't figure out what the"HOEHOE" (Hoe Hoe) should be translated into what thing, as for the other parts of the lyrics, I don't know how to translate them into less awkward human language:
"I'm going acting spoiled~"
"I'm going acting spoiled~"
"I'm going acting spoiled~"
"Take me away."
Actually, as the theme song, "You areHOEHOE Girl" has "meaningless" lyrics, and its main body "Idol Hakkenden" bears some responsibility. Because, even in the eyes of Japanese players at the time, this game was full of embarrassing jokes and bad memes, a typical old-school nonsensical game, treating both players and developers as idiots equally.
But even without a live vocalist, "You areHOEHOE Girl"'s highly recognizable tune and weird lyrics still allowed people to find the ancestor of "Denpa songs" and "Moe songs" when looking back at history. And some characteristics inherited from this song, such as "irrational and difficult-to-understand lyrics," "repeated and extensive use of the same phrases," and "easily causing inexplicable embarrassment to listeners," have also become the most commonly used identification standards for "Denpa songs" in the future.
In this sense, "You areHOEHOE Girl" may be far more famous than the game itself—in 2007, the record company 5pb., which later became the game company MAGES., released an 8-bit style album containing 14 classic FC game songs, with "You are HOEHOE Girl" included as the finale track.
And the singer responsible for this album is quite notable; her name is Haruko Momoi (桃井はるこ).
If you are an anime fan, there's a high probability you've heard this name—Because she is an anime voice actress, who once played the heroine Seto Sun in "My Bride Is a Mermaid" and the cat-eared maid Felis in "Steins;Gate"... Incidentally, she is also the CV for the denpa small devil "Yunyun" in "Yunyun Denpa Syndrome".
But if you are also a fan of Akihabara culture, this name represents much more—A versatile singer-songwriter, pioneer of Akihabara-style idols, propagator of "Moe" culture, and the original queen of Akihabara.
Through these titles, you can probably see how important she was to the formation of today's otaku culture.
As a representative figure of Akihabara style, Haruko Momoi's character image has been bound to Akihabara since her street-sideSince her LIVE debut, she has been bound to Akihabara—as mentioned above, due to successive malignant incidents and the pessimistic mood permeating society, otaku, led by anime and game fans, were never welcomed by mainstream society. Even on the "Electric Town" street, which had just completed cultural integration, young female figures were relatively rare.
Because at this time, women who express typical"Otaku" culture as a hobby expressed in life is not very common among women.
A piece of trivia: although often stereotypically associated with"Electric Town," the maid cafe culture in Akihabara actually only gradually appeared after the millennium.
From the anime "Akiba Maid War"
Amidst this social trend, Haruko Momoi made no secret of her identity and love for otaku culture. She boldlyCosplaying as her favorite characters, she staged street performances in Akihabara, filming music videos with Akihabara's streets and shops as the backdrop. Her cute image and voice, combined with illogical lyrics, created an unforgettable sense of contrast.
Her songs are almost stuffed with Akihabara subculture references. Her earliest original song, "GURA GURA" is basically puns plus listing dishes, with most of the content being famous video games from the 80s to the 90s. In July 1996, the Sega Saturn version of "Tokimeki Memorial" was released. She dressed up as Shiori Fujisaki and appeared as the billboard girl promoting the game in Akihabara's game retail stores—for a long time afterwards, Haruko Momoi was the representative of "female fans" of the "Tokimeki Memorial" series.
Haruko Momoi filmed in front of Akihabara Station SquareMV
Haruko Momoi is known to the outside world as an Akihabara-style idol, and her behavior pattern provides a reference and a tried-and-tested commercial template for a large number of Akihabara-style idols and bands in the future:
On one hand, there are semi-commercial (semi-underground) idol activities based in specific regions, using representative cultural symbols to establish connections with fans—The most famous among them are MOSAIC.WAV, fripSide, and Denpagumi.inc, or even what was later calledthe "national-level idol" AKB48.
On the other hand, Haruko Momoi's idol activities largely promoted the post-millenniumrise of "Moe songs" and "Denpa songs"—she advocates "Moe" culture, so those songs tailor-made for her image mostly have the characteristics of "Moe" culture. Bright rhythms, purely positive melodies, paired with somewhat "stupid" but cute enough lyrics, make it easy for listeners to imagine a cute 2D girl singing and dancing with a smile. This type of song takes its first impression directly in definition, called "Moe songs" (Moe Song).
And"Denpa songs" are more like a common branch under "Moe songs".
However,"Denpa songs" are also like some cultural labels that can be stuck anywhere, always lacking some more authoritative and persuasive standards.
Before starting this topic, I spent the whole night chatting with a friend involved in doujin music activities in Tokyo, only to unexpectedly discover that we had significant differences inThere are significant discrepancies in the criteria for identifying "Denpa songs": I tend to start from the performer, believing it is a lyric-dominated song type, but he is more accustomed to starting from the arrangement method, judging from a musical perspective.
The conclusion reached in this discussion is: Denpa songs are not a music genre at all, nor do they need to be constrained by any common standards. It inheritssome attributes of the term "Denpa-kei," but without the negative impressions that came with its birth, it became a self-deprecating insider joke like "Four Otaku Steamed Goose Heart" (a pun on "disgusting"). And the evolution and development of "Denpa songs" thereafter have always been deeply bound to Akihabara's otaku culture.
"Denpa songs" are free, perhaps even too free—they can be neither any known music nor possess the characteristics of any contemporary music genre.
So, the first true orthodoxThe emergence and spread of "Denpa songs" was already a matter of the late 20th century—the largest anonymous bulletin board 2CH was born in this period. Because of the extremely wide range of discussion topics, plus the fact that 2CH users at this time often possessed certain characteristics of Akihabara computer geeks, they exchanged information and discussed adult games, making 2CH the best breeding ground for subculture dissemination, and indirectly promoting the popularity of the concept of "Denpa songs".
This denpa song is Dynamitesung by Ami, "Maid-sanRock'n Roll" (Maid-san Rock'n Roll).
"Maid-sanRock'n Roll" is the theme song for the 1998 adult game "MAID IN HEAVEN ~Desire Named Love~" released by PIL. From experience, if an adult game title includes the word "Desire," it's probably not a serious game. So, "MAID IN HEAVEN" is indeed not a serious game. Its lyrics and composition were written by the industry's renowned eccentric producer, Hiroinari Tadokoro. It inherited PIL's inherent obsession with SM culture while also following the industry trend of adopting a slice-of-life and light comedy style, making it both erotic and unserious.
But this "Maid-sanRock'n Roll" became famous precisely thanks to this extreme nonsense similar to its本体 (original work)—just listening to its opening melody, you would definitely think it was some pure-blooded rock music, but as soon as the singer opens her mouth, the whole song immediately becomes the illegitimate child of rock music and some village bumpkin.
I can't even put these lyrics directly here.
"I am a maid, your maid."
"Cleaning, laundry, cooking, XXX (huh?)"
As for the rest, it's truly unreadable.
In the last centuryTV anime "16bit SensationANOTHER LAYER," the protagonist Konoha Akiri very appropriately (?) casually sang this classic old song while throwing out the trash, but deliberately changed the broadcast-banned word after cooking to humming—to be honest, I'm really curious about what reaction Koga Aoi had when she heard the original song.
Strongly recommend that "Yunyun Denpa Syndrome" adds this song in subsequent updates.
I can't remember how many times I've quoted "16bit SensationANOTHER LAYER," but... it's really too useful
FromLooking at the history of "Denpa songs," "Maid-san Rock'n Roll" is a very fundamentalist denpa song—is it brainwashing? Quite brainwashing, basically you won't forget it after hearing it once, but this brainwashing largely comes from its impact, enough to make you lose all evil thoughts, and finally you can only see two words in your eyes: Nonsense.
This is the rebellion belonging to early denpa songs: using Everythinggj that looks"stupid" way to deconstruct traditional singing art, but at the same time does not depart from the native otaku spirit. Unrealistic fantasies are interspersed in the lyrics and melody, attempting to resist mainstream culture, but showing extreme self-indulgence within the circle, never actively stepping out of the safety zone—I mean, if you play this song for your mom, she will likely just think both the song and you are stupid.
So,For a long time, "Denpa songs" belonged to otaku, or rather, to Akihabara.
So what else belongs to otaku and Akihabara natives? Yes, it's the bishoujo games and personal computers repeatedly mentioned earlier.
Entering the 21st century, subcultures that survived the great prophecy ushered in an era calledthe "Golden Age of Bishoujo Games," where "Denpa songs" grew more rapidly into a more concrete cultural beacon.
An interesting fact is that, including myself, most people's understanding of modernThe formation of the concept of "Denpa songs" seems to originate from "adult games" and a veteran singer who has been active in the industry for over twenty years.
The background at this time was,"Moe-style songs" had already begun to take root in Akihabara's culture. The phenomenal热潮 caused by "ToHeart" made relaxed school life and daily romance stories the mainstream in bishoujo games. The cute tones and light melodies accompanying "Moe-style songs" had a奇妙契合感 with these story themes and the overall atmosphere of Akihabara's streets.
For adult games at this time,"Game music" might be far more controllable than the script, especially for the Japanese market with its large number of excellent independent and doujin music creators—many music creators who debuted during this period later became major figures in the Vocaloid or anime music scenes.
So,"God-tier songs come from eroge"—the theme songs of adult games seem to leave a deeper impression, and it's really not an illusion.
During the dazzling peak of bishoujo games, music that stays in users' ears was the most direct selling point. Because they could often construct a worldview matching the game's atmosphere in your brain before you even truly experienced the game.—If the game is a suspenseful story narrating a tragedy, its music should carry a sense of mystery and poignancy; if the game is a school romance theme, the song should be sickeningly sweet, with some cute lines of a girl acting spoiled added to the lyrics. Wouldn't that increase its impact?
I don't know if today's players buy into this, but I do. You say...Can't understand what she's saying? Isn't that even cuter?
This is what later became commonly known as moe-stylethe reasons behind the popularity of "Denpa songs," allowing you to immerse yourself in an unreal narrative atmosphere even outside the game.
And the singer who completely perfected this narrative technique isKOTOKO.
In today's Chinese internet community,KOTOKO's most famous song is probably the OP for "Senren * Banka," titled "Love-Bound Fate" (恋ひ恋ふ縁). But keep in mind, throughout her twenty-plus years since debut, she has consistently been the most popular theme song singer in the bishoujo game industry (and even half the anime industry), as well as the most active Denpa-style singer. Many anime singers who debuted in the 2010s were influenced by her.
With similarly cute vocals and bright, sweet melodies,KOTOKO demonstrated arrangement and performance skills comparable to professional voice actors in between showcasing her singing.
KOTOKO writes lyrics for her own songs. In her self-penned Denpa songs, monologues that match the song's theme often appear. Although these songs still conform to common characteristics of "Denpa songs," such as fragmented linguistic logic and extensive use of meaningless repetitive beats, KOTOKO adds a performance style fitting the image of a "girl in love" to the lyrics, possibly through monologues or various onomatopoeia.
This point isThis was already very evident in KOTOKO's early songs.
In 2003,戯画 released "Colorful Kiss ~12 Minutes of Heartbeat!~". Interestingly, whether in terms of popularity or influence, this work was far surpassed by its theme song, "Cherry Kiss ~Exploding~" (さくらんぼキッス 〜爆発だも〜ん〜). Compared to the previous Denpa songs, its lyrics weren't as difficult to understand, but when put together, they still inexplicably made people feel awkward.
"God..."
"These lips were born just to meet him, right?"
You see, in this song,"Denpa" is a self-centered expression: the logical confusion in the lyrics is because it attempts to describe the delusions of a girl in love, and delusions are inherently illogical. Through the lyrics and the singer's performance, "Cherry Kiss ~Exploding~" constructs a closed space unfolding inward—in reality, if someone accidentally spoke these words aloud, they would basically suffer social death. However, Denpa songs allow listeners to peek inside this space through the barrier, making you feel somewhat awkward, somewhat amused, yet foolishly cute. This is also a common characteristic of many later moe-style Denpa songs.
Actually, in later interviews,KOTOKO has stated more than once that when writing lyrics, she does not deliberately cater to the atmosphere of "Denpa songs." She simply expresses what is in her heart directly, which is why the lyrics contain many descriptions of psychological activities with unclear meanings.
KOTOKO is practically a natural-born Denpa-style singer.
Besides the most famous "Cherry Kiss~Exploding~), she has also sung many well-known Denpa songs. For example, the OP song "Hot Summer Story" (あちちな夏の物語り) from Fumiaki Maruto's debut work "Ripple ~Welcome to BULESEAL~".
Even,KOTOKO's expertise isn't limited to moe styles. If you frequently play bishoujo games, you naturally know that she has strong command over songs of almost every style.
In 2021, the theme song "INTERNET_OVERDOSE" for the game version of "Needy Streamer Overload" required a female singer who could perfectly match the story's atmosphere. KOTOKO immediately became the undisputed choice for singing this song. This song, containing大量 RAP, sudden variations, lyrical parts, dialogues, and internet culture memes, indeed gives the feeling of being tailor-made for KOTOKO.
Interestingly, four years later, "Denpa Shoukougun" also found this Denpa-style singer. Similarly, with a large amount ofRAP, fluctuating melodies and variations, and weird otaku culture references are also tailor-made. KOTOKO is certainly not the only active "Denpa-style" singer of this period, but if you know her, you won't find any suspicion in this coincidence; it's simply "only she could do it."
So, does "Maid-sanRock'n Roll" and "Cherry Kiss ~Exploding~" really have any difference?
It seems like there is a difference, yet there isn't—After all, they are both products created to satisfy the boring delusions of otaku. It's just that the latter is slightly more acceptable to ordinary people; even if you accidentally play it out loud, you won't get taken away for questioning.
But the fundamental attributes of Denpa songs have actually never changed.
In 2007, the emergence of NICONICO, Japan's most representative video-sharing website, made the dissemination and creation of Denpa songs more free. From here begins the era you are most familiar with—an era belonging to enthusiasts and UGC, where people who love games and anime can express themselves more clearly.
Technological advancements have reduced the cost of video production and sharing. Some people turned bishoujo game music with catchy tunes intoMAD animations, which spread wildly within otaku culture. "Gachagacha Kyu~to Figyu@Mate," created by MOSAIC.WAV, became one of NICONICO's most iconic Denpa songs with its distinctively cheerful tune and brainwashing "gacha" onomatopoeia, holding a very important position in NICONICO medleys for years. The huge popularity of Touhou Project also sparked a wave of secondary creations in the doujin music scene—even if you haven't played "Touhou Youyoumu," you've surely heard "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing" (魔理沙は大変なものを盗んでいきました). As for the rise of utaite culture, it gave Denpa songs more personalized interpretations.
But what has never changed is that absolutely undeniable"Abnormal" part.
Also a Denpa song,In 2023, illustrator and VTuber Shigure Ui released the full MV for "Seisei!! Loligod's Requiem☆," which quickly reached 10 million views within a month. The composer of this "Seisei!! Loligod's Requiem☆" was none other than the doujin music group IOSYS, which rose to fame back then with "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing" and "Cirno's Perfect Math Class."
The problem is, no one can clearly explain what this song wants to express, nor why it became so popular.
Although the most likely explanation is that these lyrics have no meaning at all; it's just a song composed byA Denpa song composed of "lolicon" and a bunch of perennial memes associated with "Shigure Mama"—no matter how you explain its underlying meaning, it seems strange.
Perhaps, including this strangeness that I cannot understand, belongs to the Denpa song's"Abnormal" part.
People often say: When you find something boring yet strangely funny, it means you should go to sleep.
In English-speaking countries, there is a famous conspiracy theory that aliens control human brains by sending radio waves, and hats made of tin foil can block these waves.
Thus,"People wearing tin foil hats" became a cultural symbol representing "ignorance." People use it to mock those deeply immersed in "Denpa" delusions, ridiculing them as ignorant and pathetic.
But this is actually just a harmless self-protection mechanism. Who can guarantee that they will always remain sober and normal?
At the very least, Denpa songs can still bring you a different kind of joy.