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As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

Fridge Brilliance

  • Several of the pins and brands have multiple hidden meanings in them:
    • While you might know that the brands are designed to match the animals of Chinese Zodiac, their shops are also introduced to the player in their official order, give or take "natural" progression through the game: Mus Rattus (Rat) and D+B (Ox) are the first two you become familiar with, and Wild Boar (Pig) is the last. Gatito is not available during one's first playthrough, since it represents the Cat that was "left out" of the Zodiac.
    • The "Wood, Wind, Fire, And Mount" pins not only contain a Sun Tzu reference, they're also the Three Wise Monkeys (plus "Do No Evil") done with the Gatito mascot.
    • If you look at the Lightning Arrester pins, you will find a recurring theme: The Pegaso ones are named respectively "Thunder Rook" and "Lightning Rook", the rook being the chess piece representing a tower, while the "Electric Warning" pin from Mus Rattus shows the drawing of a radio tower on it. A tall tower is the structure most likely to be hit by lightning during a storm. Interestingly enough, the Tower card in Tarot (representing cataclysmic change) - one of the best-known cards, in fact - is traditionally drawn as a tower being hit by lightning.
    • While Word of God states which pins they are actually using, Shiki and Joshua fight by controlling and throwing around objects, respectively (the "Sexy" line of pins of D+B and Dragon Couture's "Live Slow, Die Fast"-pins respectively), and Beat launches death from above (Wild Boar's "Fly" and "Fresh Line" pins). Their attacks weren't just chosen randomly, they're fighting with psychs from their signature brands. This can somewhat apply to Neku as well. Jupiter of the Monkey pins are great for beginners, and at least one of their threads has "They're Neku's favorites." in its description.
    • The Gatito pin sets all differ in deck real-estate. Gatito: 1 pin. Nexus Ray: 2 pins. Over The Top: 3 Pins. Irregular Note: 4 pins. Holy Field: 5 pins. Darklit Planets: 6 pins.
    • There are 7 trade-only pins (Scarletite, Rare Metal, Tektite, Adamantite, Orichalcum, Shadow Matter, Dark Matter), and each of these pins sports a different number of gems. One for Scarletite, two for Rare Metal, etc., and if you rearrange them in a numerical order you also get the 7 colours in the order of the rainbow. You encounter these pins in the game in numerical order, and they also represent the expanding amount of effort you will have to deploy to obtain them. While the game shoves Scarletites in your hands merely for making it to the end of the daily mission at first, the difficulty in gaining more ramps up significantly once you exhaust the mission-related supply... so the difficulty rainbow loops back up to Scarletite in the post endgame!
  • Game Masters' names:
    • Each of the Game Masters' names has one kanji that shares a major radical, or piece, with their Cantus form. The "yo" in Yodai is 洋, which has 羊, or sheep in it. Minamimoto's "moto" is 師; lion is 獅. Tiger is 虎, and the "ko" of Konishi is 虚 (which means "non-existent/illusion", another reference to her Noise form). Finally, Megumi Kitaniji's full name is 北虹寵, which can be rearranged to form 蛇, "snake", or the kanji for dragon, 龍.
    • In addition to that, their names also include the four cardinal directions. Not only that, but they go clockwise. First you face Yodai Higashizawa (East). Next is Sho Minamimoto (South). Then Mitsuki Konishi (West) and last Megumi Kitaniji (North).
    • Also, they all fit "____ No Evil". From Sho being long-winded and hard to understand (Hear No Evil), Konishi's hiding in the shadows (See No Evil), to Kitaniji never Speaking of the real Game that is going on (Speak No Evil), and Higashizawa is the least "evil" of the GMs (Do No Evil). For bonus points, the special pins they drop on Ultimate show these exact principles.
  • Minamimoto:
    • Some of Minamimoto's math references are entirely nonsensical, such as "Factoring Hectopascals" - a quirk which surely amuses him to no end, as spewing blatantly incorrect phrases and expecting no one be able call you out on them is an excellent Stealth Insult. (Of course, some fans take this to mean that he's actually an idiot.)
    • Sometimes he makes sense. He calls Players "binomials" because they're in pairs.
    • Minamimoto's health levels are references to pi. His boss fight has 3141 HP, and his Taboo form has 5926 HP.
    • The zetta prefix that Sho is always using refers to 10^21... in other words, a SEXtillion. Sho is probably aware of this. So in other words, every time he says "So Zetta Slow!", he's essentially saying "so fucking slow", just with math puns.
    • Throughout the game, Minamimoto enjoys spelling out SOHCAHTOA in seemingly random ways. When he first meets you and Joshua, he states "Some Old Horses Can Always Hear Their Owners Approaching". This may seem random, but he's actually hinting to Joshua that he knows his true identity as his former master.
  • Joshua's death line is "Neku, how could you". You would think it's just about the fact that you screwed up and got both of you killed. It's actually that you failed him because Neku is a key pawn in his grand plan.
  • The barrier of the Shibuya River is in fact the symbol of Anguis Cantus — a.k.a. Megumi Kitaniji's Noise form. It was a rather subtle hint of who was really waiting for you, and, to a certain extent, who was really in control all the time Neku was involved in the Reapers' Game. One of the areas at the end of the Shibuya River is named 'Rubicon', and the saying 'Crossing the Rubicon' is an idiom for Point of No Return. When you reach the Shibuya River and its 'Rubicon' area, the characters are literally at 'the point of no return', in both the trope, and for themselves — Neku couldn't enter the game again, and was pretty sure that he was screwed due to all his 'rule breaking', Beat was fading away due to his misbehaviour as a Reaper, Joshua was erased (or so they thought), Rhyme was stuck as Noise conjured by a pin, and Shiki was stuck as Neku's entry fee — so they could only keep going forward to try and take down the Composer, or go down trying. Also, the Rubicon from the phrase was a river that was crossed — and that's exactly what it is in-game, too.
  • Kariya at one point calls Joshua "The Petit Prince". A reference to the story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, yes? In the book, the eponymous prince is described as a boy who "asks lots of questions, and ignores the ones that he is asked". What is Joshua's defining trait for most of the game? One of the key points in that story was also that to befriend the fox, the Prince had to get close to him in small, daily, incremental steps in order to build trust, and that with that trust friendship could exist. What was the point of this game again?
  • In Another Day, Joshua insists that he be called Pink, and tells Shiki to be Green. His reasoning is that it's the colour of her skirt. However, the colour green is often associated with envy (as in, "green with envy"). If you think about her self-esteem issues and her jealousy of Eri, it suddenly makes a lot more sense that she is Green.
    • Additionally, before you go to the Tin Pin Tournament in Another Day, if you go to Udagawa, you find Joshua (the Joshua from The Game, not Another Day's universe's Joshua), who explains that Shiki does look like her actual self, rather than being in Eri's body, and that the player simply isn't yet able to accept her true appearance. Remember the colour of Eri's clothes when you see her picture on Shiki's phone, or when she meets everyone during the credits?
  • At the startup screen where you select "New game" or "Continue", "New game" is the Red Skull Pin and "Continue" is the black Player Pin. If you're starting a new game, you begin as a living person by taking the red pin, and if you're continuing, you take the Player Pin because you're already dead and playing the Game!
  • Neku is shown keeping his head down, lost in his bubble with his headphones on as he walks through the crowded Shibuya streets, the game trying to show that he should take those off and learn to see the people around him. Have you looked at yourself while you play this game in public?
  • While he seemed to have a flair for the classic dramatic gesture of Milking the Giant Cow, it turned out that Kitanji was actually looking into his left hand to see how much time was remaining on his game timer.
  • Tigris Cantus has 4444 HP; that's Four Is Death times four. Plus it is the Noise form of Konishi, and in Japanese "shi" is pronounced like "four".
  • The song "Game Over" starts playing midway through Week 2, on the day that Makoto is pressuring Eiji Oji to shill his new ramen shop — comparing the lyrics to the events of the day, one could say that "Game Over" is actually Oji's character song.
  • Neku listens to music a lot, and his name, roughly, means sound.
  • The soundtrack itself is also a bit of Fridge Brilliance - of course it sounds like that. Because it's what Neku's listening to on his headphones. It also explains why the game menu music is changed by selecting a record purchased by Neku in a music store. This music is what Neku is listening to in between battles, and presumably in combat as well.
  • Kitaniji (and presumably everyone else in the UG) treats the Composer as God. While this seems to make perfect sense at first glance, it becomes a little confusing once you find out that the Composer is actually beneath the Angels in the celestial hierarchy. But then you remember that the Secret Reports also make it clear that everyone in the UG except for the Composer himself is completely oblivious to the fact that the Angels even exist. Because of this, it makes perfect sense for them to think of the Composer as an omnipotent God; for all they know, he's the highest being there is.
  • Know why you hate the first few days with Joshua? When he can't float, he only deals damage at the end of the combo, so he deals a lot less damage for all your button mashing, and your pins end up doing all the work. It's literally more frustrating just having him as your partner instead of Shiki, who could pull her own weight and actually help you win. And that super-long, smug explanation about the first mission? You hate him because he's literally explaining everything you already know and treating you like a moron. You're set up to have your feelings change from "Hey, a new partner!" to "Joshua is a total jerk" from the beginning. That, and he's making Neku do all the dirty work because he's outright not even trying for those days. Joshua only becomes useful after he's forced to break his cover during the Rhino Noise fight, but by that point both Neku and the player are still resenting him for his earlier behavior, and he continues to be a pompous jerk for most of the second week.
  • Similarly, Beat's personality can be seen in his gameplay. Beat has a severe lack of foresight, and he is consequently a Glass Cannon, dishing out plenty of damage but unable to take a hit. In addition, while his combos make it easier to reach fusions and turn the tide of battles quickly, they have the potential to do heavy damage to himself if used incorrectly.
  • Joshua allowed Neku to scan him and find out that he killed Neku in order to make Neku not trust him. After all, his plan was based on the fact that humans can't change, so when Neku changed Joshua knew he was losing the game a little. So he just decided to try and make Neku not trust him. But Sho's Level i flare basically put Joshua in a lose-lose situation - lose your proxy, or make him think that you could be trusted and therefore helping him change. Maybe Joshua knew about that and showed Neku the location of the Shibuya River so, if he had to pull the sacrifice card, Neku could still go on and try and defeat Kitaniji for him.
  • In terms of communication, the term "noise" refers to any disturbance or interference that impedes the communication process. Given the themes of the game, this may not be coincidental. It's also slang for things we ignore because we don't want to listen.
  • At first it seems like Neku being able to use every type of pin is just another example of One Hero, Hold the Weaksauce. But when you take into account that Neku is Joshua's proxy, well, naturally Joshua would want 'his player' (so to speak) to have some sort of advantage, and could have easily fiddled things a bit, making Neku able to use every pin. Or chosen him in the first place because of that ability. This is hinted at in universe; when Kitaniji first hear of Neku's success after week one, he makes a cryptic remark about how of course His choice would be talented.
  • About the music in the game, and Neku also being "sound". It can be said that the music heard in the game is music that Neku is listening to on his music player, which is probably sung by artists signed to CAT's label, since Neku tells Joshua that CAT also does music and video. In the end this makes sense, since each song in the game fits every situation, and people are known to do that with songs that are special to them.
  • The name Neku. It is one letter away from "Neko", the Japanese word for cat. While this can be seen as a subtle nod to his interest in CAT's artwork, it can also been seen as a foreshadowing of his character development. Cats are generally seclusive, secretive and at worst, distrustful. However, overtime, given enough dedication and effort, they begin to open up to their owners/ other living things.
  • Consider Joshua's name. Joshua in Hebrew is Yeshua, which in Latin, translates into Jesus. Now who was the Composer again?
  • The level down mechanic available in the game. Neku is slightly lowering his vibe to limit his power, just like the Composer did, but at a mostly insignificant magnitude.
  • Joshua and Neku's level three fusion has them dropping the moon-exactly what Minamoto said he'd do. Minamimoto wants to become the Composer. This is one of the hints to Joshua's true identity.
  • The game rewards you for taking breaks of up to 7 days by giving your pins exp while the game isn't being played. Why? Because the entire point of the game is to stop being wrapped up in our own worlds and go out and experience other people. The breaks are incentives to put down the game and go talk to others!
  • Why Neku has two Player Pins: One for being part of the Conductor's game, and one for being part of the Composer's.
  • Neku levitating and strangling Shiki may not be cutscene power to the max after all. His only telekinetic pin at the time is Psychokinesis, which only controls inanimate objects. Wait, clothes are inanimate objects...
  • The reason why Shiki looks at a picture of her and Eri on the phone a lot is because her price of entry was her appearance. She's doing it so that she doesn't forget what she looks like.
  • One of the game's core themes is The Power of Friendship. Naturally, the most aggravating boss fight in the main story is the Dual Boss fights against Kariya and Uzuki.
  • Somewhere between Brilliance and Horror: Rhyme is in her early teens, Neku and co. are 15, Uzuki and Kariya are 17 and 19 respectively, Higashizawa is 20, and Kitanji is the outlier at 26.
    • Brilliance: Naturally, the Reaper's Game would focus on young people who were cut down in their prime before they had a chance to live their lives.
    • Horror: There sure are a lot of dead teenagers in Shibuya...
  • This troper was always confused by Neku not remembering all the stuff that should have come with being a Player in the Reaper's Game. Then it clicked recently. Kitanji took all the memories in an attempt to make Neku an easy target! Since he would not remember being told about the game and its purpose, Neku would not be able to find a partner as effectively and thus get erased!
  • A hint that Joshua is alive near the end of the game is how Minamimoto is defeated offscreen. Crushed by random objects that have no place being there... kind of like Joshua's early power.
  • There are several hints that Joshua did kill Neku before the reveal. Just in the first vision, Joshua is seen clearly running with a look of bloodlust on his face, which isn’t the face you’d wear if you were trying to protect someone and even if Joshua wasn’t gunning at Neku, that should make him untrustworthy. Secondly, if Minamimoto, someone defined by his pride was gunning for Neku and killed him, why wouldn’t he claim responsibility instead of express indifference and dismissal, because he wasn’t aiming for Neku and if he did remember Neku, he would at most think he killed him in the crossfire. Similarly, if Joshua wasn’t gunning for Neku, why wouldn’t he be clear about it because he wouldn’t have a reason to lie about it. Also, why would he have a mocking and dismissive attitude about Neku accusing him of killing him. Even Joshua’s attitude towards Neku throughout the Reaper’s Game does not suggest he was trying to protect him.
    • Also, why would Neku believe Joshua was trying to protect him despite Joshua’s lack of trustworthiness? Because of his survivor’s guilt from his friend’s death.
    • Four is a number associated with death in Asian cultures, on the fourth day of the first week who's the first character that gets erased? Rhyme.
  • When Joshua asks Neku his favorite ramen, the four options are Shoyu, Miso, Shio, and Tonkotsu. These are the favorites of Neku, Shiki, Joshua, and Beat respectively. If Shoyu was chosen, Joshua will comment on how it's a plain option since you are picking what Neku will choose. Miso will have Joshua be amused since it can either be implied that you picked a ramen popular with women or you are picking something to remember Shiki by while Tonkotsu will have Joshua remark on how it's very hip, and Beat is arguably the hippest out of all of Neku's partners while foreshadowing how they compliment each other. Meanwhile, Joshua is quite happy with Neku's choice of Shio since he sees it as how they aren't that different. The best part? Neku doesn't dislike any of them so it's not out of character for him to pick one or the other.

Fridge Horror

  • When some people die, they go to the "underground" to compete in the "game". If they win, they get back to the real world. So what happens? Do people just forget that the person died? Do they accept that someone came back from the dead? What?! Presumably it's the reason the Composer is required to have so much, and such powerful Imagination; it literally has to rewrite reality so that the people who win the game never died. The only ones who would then know of the week they spent dead would be the dwellers of the UG, the player, and the player's partner who, presumably, was also returned.
  • It's no surprise that Sota and Nao are dead, since all players are. However, when Makoto is promoting the red pins, they're the first he sells to. Living people can't see the players, so the two must be alive. You get to see Sota and Nao before they die, and it can be a bit jarring to realize that during later playthroughs.
  • The shopkeepers all grow attached to Neku; at least two of which actually want to take him out on a date, and one who wants to introduce you to his grandson. However, Neku is dead - if they tried to follow him out of the store, he would simply vanish before their eyes. If they tried to look him up somehow, all they'd find is a story about how he got shot in a back alley near some CAT graffiti. (Of course, perhaps Joshua disposed of the body, in which case it would be a missing person report instead. Then it would become Fridge Logic instead as people would have to start looking for Neku in the only place he's been spotted - the shops, offloading vast amounts of wealth for that Silver Baron.)
  • What'd happen if somebody the dead person knew saw them in the shop? Like, what if Neku ran into his mother or somebody like that? Or better yet, what if Eri bumps into Shiki at say, 104, considering for the first week Shiki has Eri's appearance?
  • One for Neku's family. He heads out one ordinary day, only for them to get a call from the police saying he's been found in some alley in Udagawa with a bullet in his brain. The full memory of his demise shows he was killed execution-style, which would almost certainly lead everyone to conclude his murder was pre-meditated. They must be tearing their hearts out trying to figure out who would want to kill their baby, especially in comparison to the families of Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme (who at least have closure to their fates).
  • What kind of relationship does Neku have with his family, anyway? He never mentions them, never even thinks about them. When Beat is pouring his heart out about his own family life, Neku won't spare a thought for his. Even Another Day continues this trend! Plus, Neku's mental state in the beginning of the game practically screams "THIS KID NEEDS HELP!" and that he should've been dragged to a therapist a long time ago. Instead, the responsibility for Neku's mental health falls on Shiki and, to a certain extend, Mr. Hanekoma. Sounds like we have a solid case of child neglect right here, folks!
    • It gets even worse when you contrast how the other Players’ loved ones are shown to have reacted to their deaths, with Beat and Rhyme having a memorial made for them by where they died and Eri being shown to heavily miss Shiki. By contrast, Neku had absolutely no one out there trying to look out there for him, not even in Udagawa where he died. Combine all of this with his mental state at the beginning of the game and Neku’s home life starts to get a very unsettling image...
  • The scene where Neku nearly erases Shiki is plenty horrifying in and of itself, but it goes even deeper than that. It not only establishes that certain Psychs can be used outside of fighting (which is confirmed in-game later on), but that they can be used on other Players as well. Add imprinting and Reaper Creeper to the mix as hints that even living people aren't out for the count, and it paints a pretty terrifying picture on what a less-than-charitably inclined Player could pull.

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