The way I see it, Madotsuki most likely has schizoid personality disorder. The symptoms are coldness, apathy, and lack of interest in social interaction; while at the same time (although not in all cases) having an intricate inner world that can become their only preoccupation. I think the concept of the game fits well with that idea. The protagonist is a girl that refuses to leave her room and spends all of her time exploring her gargantuan dream world. The fact that you save the game by writing in a diary kind of implies that she doesn't really sleep for the sake of it, she enjoys exploring her dreams so she constantly takes notes about them. In the new game she even has a dreamcatcher in her bedroom. She's committed to her dreams. That could be related to the abuse theory. The causes behind schizoid personality disorder are not clear, but it seems it could be related to childhood trauma.

To quote Shark Boy and Lava Girl: "YOU RUINED MY DREAM JOURNAL!"

Loving the Nitro Rad shoutouts

Hating the mannequins is a big mood. I hated that area because it scared the shit outta me - it was like playing horror red light green light.

Does Yume Nikki have any relation to LSD Dream Emulator? They both look like they share the same bench at lunch.

Yo, Nitro Rad shoutout, that channel is bretty good

I come home from school, turn on phone “New let me tell you about” TODAY IS AWESOME

WALKING SIMULATOR WALKING SIMULATOR everything aside, yn is a fucking great game and also mars-kun is best boy

Could you guys do an episode on OFF? :D

i heard some of the yume nikki fangames are really good too, my personal favorite is .flow

*Hey Tad*

Yummy Nick

My game glitched, and the Face that you all are talking about at 24:20 stayed on my screen and I never woke up like you were supposed to, so I ended up having to close my game. It got very loud, even with my headphones at 2%

I loved this game!

Good Theories, you guys!!!! X:D

will you guys someday talk about space funeral?

The Pokémon you were talking about was Swadloon

I zoned out and when Aleks said "Tad" i snapped out of my zoning out because my name is Tad lol

I had only heard the first theory and when you proposed the second one I was pretty doubtful but as you explained it I started to think it does kinda make sense...

I LOVE IS GAME

Was wondering if you guys are going to Finnish home stuck ruined my life?

thank you

I've never heard the trans theory before, but as someone who knows Yume Nikki inside and out, it makes a lot of sense. Some of the stuff doesnt relate to it but the rape theory doesn't cleanly match up either

Talk about the Lisa trilogy (or in the very least Painful), maybe with Nitrorad :^)

I know youtube comments are bad but Jesus Christ guys get a damn hold of yourselves

Ooh love nitroo rad

You guys mentioned OFF. You guys ever think of doing a show about that?

Here's what I want you to do: 1.Find out when Tumblr found Yume Nikki 2.Find out when the "trans" theory became a thing. I have a feeling you'll find they are not far apart from each other. It's the same shit they did to Undertale. Trying to inject their twisted perspectives into things so they can "claim" another bit of art as their own. Thank god Yume Nikki had nearly a decade to create a buffer of normal people as fans before they showed up. The original is just a game about a sad little girl who has crazy dreams and is depressed. The remake is likely showing (by the normal ending) that Kikiyama got over his depression by facing it head on.

talk about lisa

YES Y E S

Does it seem like this game is showing up more recently???

Personally I always saw it as a combination of both theories.

Awwwwwww snaaap.

ummm arnt you sterilized anyway when you transition? like the prosses makes it impossible to have kids?

Yume Nikki comes out on steam and then the trogolodytes come out of the woodwork to play it

Not my Umaru...

Aah, I love this podcast, and I'm loving most of these comments, but can y'all (talkin' 'bout the comments, not Tad or Aleks) not dismiss a theory entirely, simply because "trans = tumblr"? Even if that were true, that anything LGBT+ was "Tumblr" (as if a website could be an adjective), that doesn't make the theory inherently any less valid or viable. Especially not when the only confirmed authorial intent is that there was no authorial intent. Just, please, calm down on your "smh I liked this game way before tumblr" elitism and be less disrespectful. You just look like a transphobic, close-minded arsehole, repeating the same "SMH TUMBLR" trite as countless people who have never actually touched Tumblr before you. Please and thank you. Great episode, btw. It had a different tone than usual, and it was interesting to hear~ If I can say one thing (and sorry if I come across as a jerk trying to censor language), but generally it's better to just say "trans" or "trans people" when talking abt any topics related to, well, trans ppl. "Transexual" especially can come across as offensive to lots of ppl. Just a heads up, so y'all don't accidentally tick off any sensitive fans (also because hearing you struggle to say "people who are transitioning" is painful). Jesus, I wrote a long comment. Sorry lmao

Trans theory

So I guess Dream Diary is a sequel to Yume Nikki, at least it's suppose to be, because of the beggining of the game and since that's now cannon I guess we can say that Madotsuki is a real girl and not a transexual, because it's obvious by looking at her, so I would say that the trans theory isn't true. Now if thr original dev was really involved on Dream Diary... Well I guess it's true because they said it, but we are not 100% sure,sooo I still see Madotsuki as a girl.

Umaru-chan is unironically much more interesting and better than most other SOL anime... but Tad is correct, all anime is terrible.