イデアの日 (Idea no Hi) is a very non-standard jRPG released on the Super Famicom in 1994. Created by the team behind Maka Maka (but this time around is not a prototype cartridge turned gold by the publisher without the team's knowledge) with character designs by Koji Aihara (Known in the west largely for Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga). The main character, a young boy with Psychic Powers is kidnapped by some shady people and tortured to show off his powers. Things go horribly right when they kill his dog to provoke him into using his full powers, causing him to destroy the test chamber, killing some of the scientists while the "Dr. Poe" in charge flees. One of the dying scientists mentions a "Lady Edea" and a search of the now abandoned facility reveals a fax on the torture testing to a research facility on Easter Island.


Tropes used in Idea no Hi include:
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: Common given the clothing based nature of equipment in this game. Special mention to the reward for trading in enough of the rare "あの本" ("That book" or "Uhh book"): an invisible or non-existent bra (when equiped to female characters it has convenient stars over their nipples)
  • After the End: Notable for having not just one but TWO further apocalypses within that post-apocalyptic world
  • Awesome But Impractical: The game mechanics mean you don't actually equip weapons, but select items from your inventory to attack with. The idea being that you will use different weapons as the situation demands, but due to how little effects vary between weapons and inventory space limits you'll rarely make use of this and just give each character one weapon.
  • Commonplace Rare: You will not find any boxers in Japan, and you can only buy them once you go to Mexico.
  • Everything Trying to Kill You: Mutant turtles, girls that have escaped from an anime, half-naked girls screaming at you for being a pervert that look like the kidnapped party member you are trying to rescue, men with megaphones for mouths, living roulette wheels, cameras with human legs and arms, and even "アレ" (a pair of conjoined typographical characters) appear in fights each and everyone of them hostile.
  • Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong: During a trip to the future, the main character can be infected, killed and then resurrected to befriend his new "child", which is the strongest animal companion in the game. It's that kind of game.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Until late game these make up most of your weaponry. Some (A spanner) more plausible than others (cheese grater, pantyhose).
  • Kleptomaniac Hero, Found Underwear: Frequent given underwear is equipment slot.
  • Non-Human Sidekick: Several animals (and one Chestburster) can be befriended by the main character as part of small sidequests then added to your party. Their actions in combat are random and they can't level up, but they use their own dedicated slot in battle.
  • Hat of Power: Several. Every piece of lower body underwear can be worn as a hat.
  • Translation Train Wreck: The box and title include the English phrase "Day of the Idea", which may seem OK out of context but is clearly wrong if you play the game with a knowledge of both languages.[1] A better translation all things considered would be something like "The Edea Incident"
  • Virtual Paper Doll: One of the game's most notable features. Within seconds of gaining control of a highschool girl, you can have her strip down to her underwear in the schoolyard.
  1. イデア is established as a person before you even get control, making the definite article inappropriate. イデア is romanized using normal Hepbern methods, even though it it conflicts with a common English word that isn't pronounced the same, and is a real name that's normally spelled "Edea" when written in the Latin alphabet. While 日 normally means day, in this case refers to a case or event with a negative connotation (though "The Day..." is usable).