The Enigma of Amigara Fault/YMMV
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- The reason for the earlier people carving the holes. Owaki dreams that he is one of them, forced to go inside because he has been sentenced to death for a horrible crime. Considering they were wiped out by the people that would later occupy Japan, it may also be a form of revenge.
- There's a theory that all the people going into their holes are reincarnated criminials paying for karma. This isn't confirmed or denied, though it would be in line with "The Earthbound".
- No one who goes into their holes seems to have a family or people who would miss them. Yoshida bluntly says her family ignores her.
- Gateway Series: for Junji Ito works and horror manga in general.
- Memetic Mutation:
- DRR...DRR...DRR...
- This hole! It was made for me!
- S-Sir! It's slowly coming this way!
- Narm: Lots of people consider DRR...DRR...DRR... to be this. Others are too scared to pay attention to the sound effects.
- TELL MY MOTHER I LOVED HERRRRR
- Owaki's nightmare about being Nakagaki is completely undermined by him doing this when he wakes up.
- The silhouettes of people include perfect replications of their hairstyles.
- It's slowly coming this way!
- There is a sound effect for "glance".
- The awkwardly tacked-on romance between Owaki and Yoshida. It's probably supposed to make us feel sadder about their deaths, but it comes across more as "HEY THERE IS A BOY AND A GIRL AND NOW THEY WILL FALL IN LOVE."
- Narm Charm: Manages to be simultaneously nightmarish and hilarious.
- Nightmare Fuel: Hope you like claustrophobia.
- Paranoia Fuel: As if spelunking wasn't claustrophobic enough, this story may convince you to never enter caves again.
- Tear Jerker:
- The mountain rescue groups trying desperately to rescue the people going inside their holes. They fail each time, due to not having the tools or shape. Eventually, they go for plan B: block the area completely and hope that the people inside the mountain are okay.
- Owaki dreams of Nakagaki being trapped in the mountain and screaming for help. He wakes up shaken.
- Yoshida finds her hole. She screams and tells Owaki that she's scared of going into it, of the compulsion. Owaki calms her down by filling up her hole with heavy stones and staying with her in her tent for the night. He reassures her that she's not alone, and it seems the holes are meant for lonely people. Then he falls asleep and finds out on waking that she removed the stones before entering. Owaki tries to reach into the hole to follow, but is too big. He gets a despondent look on his face, and sees his hole. Owaki strips and enters, resigned to his fate.
- Viewer Gender Confusion: Owaki is male with a somewhat female face and feminine haircut. You would think Owaki and Yoshida are lesbians up until his dream where he is a caveman with a stubble or when he enters his hole.
