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Directory: About / Blog / Kusomoto Maki's "Dolis" / "Figumania" (2003) / Serial Experiments Lain DVD Scans (Pioneer, 1998) / Litchi Hikari Club / ライチ光クラブ (1985) / Lost Games / "Replicant" Volume 11 (2002) / Saya no Uta - Tenshi no Nichou Kenjuu -Angelos Armas- Official Works (Mediax, 2005) / Sayonara wo Oshiete Official Art & Material Book (3rd edition, 2002) / Scans / Tokyo Grand Guignol / Translations / The Miraculous Notebook (Shigeru Mizuki, 1973) / Tutorials
Started on 02.12.2022, the Denpa Archive is an archive of denpa / psychological horror works (visual novels, manga, blog posts, etc).
I'm a 21+ year old university student. I go to school full time and work part time. Translating (JP to EN) is a hobby of mine and I'm currently working through a collection of visual novels that I'm interested in. I also collect manga, doujinshi and magazines, which I scan and translate from time to time. You can read more about me here.
“Denpa” (電波) roughly translates to “radio waves”. The term is often used to describe people or characters that exhibit bizarre behavior. They may claim to hear voices that come from a higher power or environmental factor out of their control. As a genre, denpa is generally defined by madness. Denpa characters are often disconnected from reality and may engage in delusional and/or paranoid fantasies and behavior.
The Fukagawa Serial Slasher
In July of 1981, Kawamata Gunji committed a series of stabbings in Koto, Japan. He took the lives of four people and held a woman hostage in a Chinese restaurant for up to seven hours. During this time, he ranted at the restaurant’s security cameras and demanded that the government bring electromagnetic engineers to the scene.
At trial, Gunji testifies that he was not responsible for his crimes because he was being manipulated by radio waves.
Denpa Otoko
Densha Otoko (2004) is a novel based on a series of 2chan imageboard posts made by an alleged 23-year-old otaku under the alias of “Densha Otoko” (Train Man). He had fallen in love with a girl he met on a train and frequently posted about their encounters. Other users encouraged him to cut his hair and change his wardrobe, which ultimately led to a successful relationship between Densha Otoko and his crush. This came at a cost, however, as Densha Otoko left the otaku subculture in favor of his relationship.
Toru Honda, a deeply traumatized and disgruntled otaku, voiced his criticism on Densha Otoko and Japanese society in a 405-page manifesto titled Denpa Otoko. Honda wrote that he felt that the Densha Otoko protagonist surrendered to capitalism and that men spend money on women to win their hearts. Men like Honda feel they are unlucky, as they have no social capital or wealth to woo women and are therefore marginalized by the system. Honda coped with these feelings by confining himself to his room to watch anime and play video games all day.
In short, media that is denpa (even if retroactively described as such) tends to touch on themes of surrealist existential horror, misogyny, loneliness, and trauma (such as sexual assault or parental abuse). Characters often descend into madness the further their story progresses.
This section is abridged from On Denpa: A Guest Article by Kenji the Engi. Please support the author by reading the original article.
I have psychological problems of my own so it's comforting to read stories about characters with similar struggles.
No. I don't know where to start with language patches and I'm not a programmer. The videos I post to YouTube are raw gameplay footage with English subtitles of my translations.
Of course! I'll post entire scripts and route guides on this site once they're completed. If you're a programmer that wants access to my (unfinished) scripts, please send me an email.
I urge you to buy official copies of these games on DLSite to support the official release. However, since the games I'm inclined towards are from defunct companies and OS, a lot of these games aren't available for purchase anymore. Files for "lost" games can be found here.
I'll make a site entry on how I personally do things. In the mean time, here are some great resources on the topic.
VirtualBox Info and Setup
Windows XP VirtualBox Setup
Playing Old Games on VirtualBox
This collection consists of magazine and manga scans along with visual novel footage. Content of interest include works of psychological horror (mainly visual novels and manga), anime figures and garage kits. Noteable aesthetics are dark / "edgy" character design of early 2000s anime and manga.
Japanese, translated into English.
Anyone can use this site. I only ask that you share it with others. I hate gatekeeping and if you gatekeep I hope you die.
Windows XP virtual machine (Oracle VM VirtualBox), Neko Project PC98 emulator, CamScanner.
1986-2010
Shizuku (Leaf), Jisatsu no Tame no 101 no Houhou (DUKE), Odeon (BOKU), Tsui no Sora (KeroQ), Gothic & Lolita Bible, Dolis (Kusumoto Maki), Figumania, Figure Maniacs, Replicant, Litchi Hikari Club, Tokyo Grand Guignol, Serial Experiments Lain, The Miraculous Notebook (Shigeru Mizuki, 1973)
Media referenced on this site may contain mentions/imagery of STRICTLY FICTIONAL death, suicide, self injury, violence, assault, gore, nudity, rape, incest, pedophilia, delusions, hallucinations, depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Denpa works may be dark at times. Viewer discretion is advised. This site is recommended for those aged 18 and up. The Webmaster takes no responsibility for any harm caused by the consumption of said media and (obviously) does not condone any harmful actions in real life. The Webmaster is firmly against crime that causes direct bodily, mental, and/or social harm to others.
I am not a professional translator so please take my interpretation of these works with a grain of salt. The scans published to this site won't be the greatest quality as I don't want to ruin my collection of books and magazines by tearing them apart to scan each page traditionally. Also I'm not very good at coding and tech support.
Cohost Blog
YouTube
Twitter
MyFigureCollection
Archive.org
For all other inquiries, please email denpaarchivist@gmail.com
I'm not very good at socializing. Please don't take it personally if I don't reply right away.
If you like my work and want to support me, donations can be made via PayPal, Ko-fi, or Venmo. I also vend denpa fanmerch on Etsy.
And other sites you should visit.
