History VideoGame / BlankDream

%%* AdultFear: Mishiro's suicide is caused in part by her mother's abuse.

** [[SchoolgirlLesbians Mobius]] [[ParentalAbandonment Strip]]: Mishiro listens to Yuzu's tale after she fully regains her memories. She begins to tell her the story of her past, but [[spoiler: the ghost that's been haunting Mishiro attacks her, only to accidentally injure Yuzu.]] She carries on anyway, stating that [[spoiler: she killed herself specifically to meet that spirit, who was the girl she was in love with, Utsuro. After accomplishing her goal, she vanishes. Follows the same route as Ending One and Ending Three until Mishiro returns to consciousness. When Mishiro awakes, she has amnesia and does not remember her mother, causing her to be distraught and abandon Mishiro. Mishiro then goes to live with Ayato's father, Seiichi, who teaches her to paint.]]

* HappyRain: If Mishiro chooses to [[spoiler:avoid granting her wish and he transported back to her body]], the area around her starts raining to signify her newfound joy and determination to [[spoiler:lead a better life]].

* MeaningfulName: Only in the original Japanese. The title is "kohaku no yume" 虚白の夢, which uses a non-standard word to mean "blank", this word is made up of characters 虚 and白, which are the names of two of the characters, Utsuro (虚) and Mishiro (深白), giving the title a double meaning of both "blank dream" and "Utsuro and Mishiro's dream".
** The Realm of Blood. [[spoiler: Not in the level itself - its perfectly safe and actually quite lovely. The blood aspect comes into play in the mirror memory; if Mishiro stays inside and continues to assault the bullies, she becomes covered in blood.]]

* OffingTheOffspring: Twice - one intentional, and one accidental - with [[spoiler:Tamaki]]. [[spoiler:First, she killed her own daughter, who had been born of incest. Then, she tried to run over the the protagonist, Mishiro, with the intention of killing her - but ended up running over and killing her own "pure" (because he was not born of incest) son Ayato instead.]]

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler:Yuzu]], the only explicitly gay character in the game, [[spoiler:commits suicide to be with Utsuro, the girl she is in love with]].

* MultipleEndings: As par the course for VideoGame/RPGMaker games. This game has five:

* AbusiveParents: According to Mishiro, her mother became this after [[spoiler: Mishiro lashes out at a bully in school with a knife]], punishing her for the slightest of infractions and making her obedient.

* AmnesiacHero: Mishiro cannot remember exactly why she killed herself, or many of the details of her life. She must recover them by finding and breaking the mirrors.

* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Mishiro]] becomes this if she stays too long in the memory of [[spoiler:her attacking the bullies, chasing after them with a knife and killing them]].

* BerserkButton: Mishiro doesn't deal well with [[spoiler: her bullies discovering and mocking her love of gothic lolita fashion, tainting the one source of stress relief she has left]].

* CosmicRetcon: The driving force behind the game. Mishiro's dying wish was that she'd never existed, [[spoiler:and in one ending, she can get her wish]].

* DespairEventHorizon: Mishiro crossed it before the game begins, and eventually remembers why: [[spoiler:her only friend died saving her from a car accident]]. Notably, while normally the only way for Mishiro to destroy a mirror is to kill herself in it, this particular memory causes the mirror to break ''by itself''. The narration describes it as "Mishiro Usui's heart dying in that instant..." and that was why Mishiro decided to throw herself into Mirror Lake.
* TheDogBitesBack: Mishiro, who was being bullied by some girls in her school, [[spoiler:draws a knife on one and leaves a cut on the ringleader's arm]].

* ElegantGothicLolita: It turns out that [[spoiler:Mishiro has a taste for this, with dressing up being one of her only sources of stress relief]].
* EmptyEyes: Mishiro's eyes lack any reflective spots.

* EvilAlbino: [[spoiler: [[BigBad Utsuro]]- subverted since she's a TragicVillain who makes a HeelFaceTurn at the end.]]
* ExtremeDoormat: One mirror reveals that [[spoiler:Mishiro silently endured being bullied by acting this way because she knew her parents were busy with other problems. But this only worked for so long]].
* FollowInMyFootsteps: [[spoiler:Mishiro becomes a painter, just like Ayato, Utsuro, and Rinzou.]]

* GeniusLoci: [[spoiler: The Mirror World speaks to Mishiro and guides her throughout her journey.]]
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Mishiro has a teddy bear in her room, and can find them scattered around the various Realms. If she examines them, she always remarks on their cuteness. [[spoiler: Finding one is a clue that you're near an objective you need to complete to get the True Ending.]]

* LonelyRichKid: Part of [[spoiler:Mishiro]]'s backstory, and implied to be part of the reason why [[spoiler:her bullies singled her out -- particularly since they want her to pay them for any mistakes she made while filling out their homework]].

* MemoryWipingCrew: The mirrors.

* MistakenForPedophile: Ryotaro was accused of being a pedo in life for his love of children, and even comes across pretty suspiciously with his talk of "seeing their natural beauty," but it's ultimately not true. He simply loves children in the manner of a caretaker.

* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler:Tamaki's father, Rinzou, to Tamaki.]]

* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler:Utsuro's mother, Tamaki, was raped and impregnated by her father, who was also Mishiro's grandfather.]]
* RapeAndRevenge: [[spoiler:Tamaki attempts to take revenge, but not against her father. She kills the child she had with her father, and tries to kill Mishiro, but ends up killing her son Ayato instead.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: The BigBad [[spoiler:Utsuro. {{Subverted}} while she's alive - the only person she has any desire to hurt is herself. Played straight with her spirit in the Mirror World, and ''especially'' in regard to Mishiro.]]
* SchoolgirlLesbians: [[spoiler: Yuzu falls head-over-heels for Utsuro.]]

* SiblingYinYang: Ayato and [[spoiler: Utsuro.]]
* SolveTheSoupCans: It is an RPG Maker game, after all.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/TheWitchsHouse'' and ''VideoGame/{{Ib}}''. There are a great deal of references to art and painting, and ''Blank Dream'' even shares some songs with both games! {{Justified}} in that these are mainly standard RPG Maker songs.

* StartsWithASuicide: Mishiro's suicide, to be exact.
* TheStinger: At the end of the [[GoldenEnding Blank Dream]] ending it's revealed [[spoiler:Mishiro becomes a painter as well.]]
* TheStoic: Mishiro very rarely changes her tired-eyed, dreary expression.

* TheUnfavorite: [[spoiler: Utsuro was this for Tamaki. Also Shinji for Rinzou.]]
* TragicVillain: It's suggested that [[spoiler: [[BigBad Utsuro]] had lost her memory and wasn't entirely in control of her actions.]]
* TroubledAbuser: Implied. [[spoiler: Utsuro]]'s dialogue in [[spoiler: Yuzu's memories]] makes it clear that [[spoiler: Tamaki told her how she was conceived]]. [[spoiler: Utsuro states that she "isn't supposed to exist," and implies suicidal desires, so it's clear that even before her death, Tamaki was not particularly kind to her -- about her birth or anything else.]].
* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Leads to the "[[spoiler:Mistakes Repeated]]" ending.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: It's hard not to feel sorry for [[spoiler: [[BigBad Utsuro]]]] when you find out her backstory.
* WhatTheHellHero: Julia Maria, the living painting, is ''horrified'' upon realizing [[spoiler:you slashed her open simply to get red paint]].
%%* WhenSheSmiles: [[spoiler: Mishiro seeing Ayato's painting of her and Utsuro in the end is the only time we see her smile in the entire game, and good God is it a sweet moment.]]

* AbusiveParents: Mishiro's mother becomes this after [[spoiler: Mishiro lashes out at a bully in school with a knife]].

* AmnesiacHero: Mishiro.

* ArtShift: Certain mirrors are presented like {{Visual Novel}}s, with character portraits appearing over drawn backgrounds instead of the game's usual RPG format. This is done to emphasize that [[spoiler: these memories don't belong to your protagonist.]]
* AxCrazy: [[spoiler: Mishiro]] becomes this if she stays too long, in the memory of [[spoiler: her attacking the bullies.]]
* BaitAndSwitch: The horrifying Room of Blood [[spoiler: is actually a BreatherLevel.]]
* BerserkButton: Mishiro doesn't deal well with, [[spoiler: her bullies discovering and mocking her love of gothic lolita fashion, tainting the one source of stress relief she has left.]]

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The story centers around this-[[spoiler:incest, abuse, and murder abound in this fractured family.]]
* BittersweetEnding: The endings where [[spoiler: Mishiro gives up on her wish, and returns to life]] count as this. [[spoiler: Though she survives, she still loses all of the memories, connected to the mirrors she broke. Ayato and the others are still dead, her life hasn't been magically fixed... But she's able to move forward and live, all the same. It's also a beautiful case of EarnYourHappyEnding, with the text epilogue, Mishiro ends up becoming a painter with her own style from her grandfather's, and the most known one being based off of the Mirror World]].

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler: Yuzu, who is the only explicitly gay character in the game, commits suicide to be with Utsuro, the girl she is in love with.]]

** Right at the start, when Mishiro's reflection tells her to look deeply into her eyes, you can try to refuse...

* CessationOfExistence: Mishiro [[spoiler: and Utsuro's]] dying wish.
* ChekhovsGunman: In the Realm of Beauty, you encounter a shadow resembling a little girl, who [[StealthBasedMission chases you down if it spots you.]] At this point, it seems like just another enemy. But it continues to stalk you in the Realm of Spirits and the Realm of Death, and players can guess that it will play a major role in the plot. [[spoiler: It's the broken spirit of Utsuro- and the BigBad responsible for the Mirror World's creation.]]
** [[spoiler: Utsuro herself is introduced as a side character within Yuzu's memories. It is entirely possible to get a few of the endings without even knowing she exists.]]
* CosmicRetcon: The driving force behind the game. Mishiro's dying wish was that she'd never existed, [[spoiler:and in one ending, she can get her wish.]]

* DespairEventHorizon: Mishiro crossed it before the game begins, and eventually remembers why: [[spoiler:her only friend died saving her from a car accident. Notably, while normally the only way for Mishiro to destroy a mirror is to kill herself in it, this particular memory causes the mirror to break ''by itself''. The narration describes it as "Mishiro Usui's heart dying in that instant..." and that was why Mishiro decided to throw herself into Mirror Lake.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: Mishiro, who was being bullied by some girls in her school, [[spoiler:draws a knife on one and leaves a cut on the ringleader's arm]].
* DrivenByEnvy: Yuzu warns Mishiro that the restless spirits of the Mirror World may attack her since she still has a chance of seeing her wish granted.
** Possibly {{Subverted}}: they are attacking her because [[spoiler: she usurped their "ruler" [[BigBad Utsuro]], and they want to retake the "throne" for their original leader.]]
* DrivenToMadness: [[spoiler:Utsuro. This can happen to Mishiro as well.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: Mishiro, [[spoiler:Yuzu, and Tamaki.]]

* EveryoneIsRelated: Happens a lot in this game. Mishiro's friend Ayato is the younger brother of [[spoiler: Utsuro]], who formerly controlled the Mirror Realm and [[spoiler:shares the same wish with Mishiro.]] In addition, she is the love interest of [[spoiler:Yuzu, who committed suicide in Mirror Lake specifically to see her again]] and [[spoiler:an estranged relative of Mishiro's, being the child of Mishiro's grandfather and his illegitimate daughter.]] Ryotaro is the brother of [[spoiler:Mishiro's mother]] and the employee of her father, and when he passed, his soul imprinted on her and followed her into the Mirror World, and Mishiro's father is the half-brother of [[spoiler:Tamaki, the mother of Utsuro and Ayato.]]
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Only for Mishiro, as she [[spoiler:has usurped control of the realm from the previous ruler.]]

* ExtremeDoormat: One mirror reveals that [[spoiler:Mishiro silently endured being bullied by acting this way because she knew her parents were busy with other problems. But this only worked for so long..]].

** The talk with [[spoiler: Rinzou hints that Mishiro isn't dead yet]].
--> [[spoiler: '''Rinzou (talking to Mishiro and Ryoutarou):''']] [[spoiler: Go now, dead one and soul.]]

** "~ Realm of Blood ~ Bathe in it if you wish, and go mad." [[spoiler:There isn't actually anything in it that will kill you. It's got a very nice Baroque-inspired interior and has a pretty much linear path to the mirror. However, this trope makes it one of the scariest rooms because the other ones had EverythingTryingToKillYou in full effect, so you expect death at every other turn. The very friendly sounding signs don't help either.]]

** BiggerBad: [[spoiler: ''Two'' of them: Rinzou, who [[ParentalIncest raped his own daughter]], resulting in Utsuro's birth; and Tamaki, said daughter who's horrific actions [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds resulted in her daughter becoming the vengeful spirit she is in-game.]]]]

* HappyRain: Just before Mishiro [[spoiler:is transported back to her body.]]

* HubLevel: The World's Center holds doorways leading to the various Realms Mishiro must explore.

* InadequateInheritor: How [[spoiler:Rinzou]] viewed his son, since [[spoiler:Shinji didn't follow him into the family business]].
** That isn't the only reason why Shinji didn't inherit Rinzou's fortune. Rinzou [[spoiler:listed Tamaki, his illegitimate daughter, as his inheritor to try and atone for raping and impregnating her, which ultimately ruined her life]].

* LonelyRichKid: Part of [[spoiler:poor Mishiro]]'s backstory, and implied to be part of the reason why [[spoiler:her bullies singled her out -- particularly since they want her to pay them for any mistakes she made while filling out their homework]].
* LostInTranslation: See Meaningful Name above.
* MadArtist: One blocks the way in the Realm of Beauty, demanding paint for passage. [[spoiler:Then there's Rinzou...]]

* MistakenForPedophile: Ryotaro was accused of being one in life and even comes across pretty suspiciously with his talk of "seeing their natural beauty," but it's ultimately [[MistakenForPedophile not true.]]

* AbusiveParents: Mishiro's mother becomes this after [[spoiler: Mishiro lashes out at a bully in school with a knife.]]
* AdultFear: Mishiro's suicide is caused in part by her mother's oppressive abuse.

* HeelFaceTurn: By the end, [[spoiler: [[BigBad Utsuro]] and [[GreaterScopeVillain her parents]] regret their misdeeds and are ready to move on from the pain they've caused.]]