Gobou
is a Japanese web animator known for creating pixel-art fan animations inspired by Yume Nikki, which typically feature the characters dancing or Mickey Mousing to some vivid tune. They have been uploading their animations to YouTube since 2015, averaging about three animations a year.
Gobou's Yume Nikki fan works showcase the following tropes:
- Adaptation Personality Change: Masada-Sensei in the original game doesn't have much of a personality (other than being the only character who actually shows fear of Madotsuki's knife). In Gobou's videos he is depicted as a wacky man who often makes exaggerated poses and is the most over-the-top dancer in the entire cast.
- Art Evolution: The visual quality of the videos has visibly improved over the years. The animation is more fluid, and the characters' arms are actually drawn properly instead of being one-pixel lines. For an example, compare this video (from 2015) to this video (from 2022).
- The Ditz: Monoko is depicted as the least intelligent member of the cast. In "FRENZ2016" she burns a meal because she got distracted by the TV and fell asleep. The "Meikyuu Jiin Dababa" video opens with the girls all thinking about Poniko, with Monoko's mental image by far the least detailed.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: In the "Behind there Somewhere" video, a Toriningen with a knife in its head is chasing after Madotsuki. Madotsuki and Toriningen eventually end up colliding, at which point the knife flies out of its head and lands in Madotsuki's hand. Throughout the rest of the video, it's Madotsuki who's chasing after the Toriningen... until they collide again and Madotsuki drops the knife, which lands in the Toriningen's head.
- The Klutz: Monoko is depicted in this way. Within less than a minute of the beginning of "FRENZ2013", in quick succession she: drops an egg on her face while trying to turn it on the frying pan; puts a rice bowl on the table with such strength that she launches the egg off its plate (and onto her face... again); accidentally opens a hidden trapdoor that launches a box into her face; gets hit by another trapdoor while trying to open it, then gets trapped underneath it. In the "Meikyuu Jiin Dababa" video, she is the only one to flub the first dance lesson.
- Lighter and Softer: The original Yume Nikki game isn't particularly cheery. It features creepy imagery, Madotsuki's suicide in the ending, and a pervading feeling of loneliness (the other characters never talk, don't really do anything, and can barely be interacted with). Gobou's videos depict the dream world as almost a Sugar Bowl where Madotsuki has fun with her friends all day.
- Mickey Mousing: Most videos involve the characters dancing, bobbing, or otherwise moving to the beat.
- Not So Above It All:
- Poniko in the "Buzz Clip" video. She starts off aloofly turning her back on Masada's dancing, but gradually starts bobbing to the beat as the video continues.
- The "It's a Secret" video ends with Masada and Monoko succesfully getting Poniko to drop her serious facade and laugh.
- Poniko in the "Buzz Clip"
- Shapes of Disappearance: At the end of "Behind there Somewhere" loop, when Madotsuki loses the knife, a blinking, white dashed outline briefly appears in her hand to signify the knife's disappearance.
- The Stoic: Poniko, who basically always has a neutral look on her face, even when she's dancing with the other girls.
- Vocal Dissonance: Happens to Monoko in the "It's a Secret" video—the song features scatting by a distinctly male voice, and Monoko's mouth is animated to match.
