Semakunaru Horror

Semakunaru Horror (lit. "Becoming Narrow"), also known as Narrow Horror or Narrowing Horror is a subgenre of Horror Fiction created by Matsumoto Kyou, focusing upon themes of the inhumanity of bureaucracy, industrialization, and dehumanization as a whole instead of gore or shock. The themes of Semakunaru Horror are found in many works of Neo-Korean literature, such as the World of Terror franchise, or the many adaptations of the seminal work of the genre, Aka Renai Heya.

The philosophy behind Semakunaru Horror can best be described as the idea that there is "A recognizable connection between humanity and nature, which man's attempt to industrialize have brought chaos to", a sentence made by Kyou near the end of her life. Kyou would notably not include the feeling of fear in this description- which can be seen as one of the causes for Semakunaru's popularity in almost every form of media.

Origin

Matsumoto Kyou was the primary writer and source of the Semakunaru genre, with many of the themes coming from her own sickness, which she experienced throughout the near entirety of her life due to damaged caused to her lungs by the poor quality of air in the industrializing Fuzan, although she would also draw much inspiration from her near-starvation in an apartment upon Far Island, with the severe depression she was in at the time rendering her unable to leave the apartment. Kyou was distinctly inspired by (INSERT MERIDONIAN HORROR WRITER HERE), whose works she would acquire at a young age, developing a slight fascination with them, although she tried to make her works very distinct from the previous genres of such.

The hallmark of Semakunaru Horror is "Narrowing", the sense that in the wake of industrialization people were becoming "less", hollow in the sense that they were unable to bring themselves to move forwards. Individuals were unable to avoid this narrowing- unless they were to leave the industrial world, returning to the still-present fear and wildness of the natural world, the portrayal of such varying depending upon the story. She made an explicit effort to avoid the portrayal of the individual as meaningless, with their actions or lack of such being the primary means by which they succeeded or failed, a sense of optimism at odds with the terror of her works as a whole. This optimism also exhibited itself in the way the world as a whole was portrayed, as a currently bleak but not unfixable situation, although more modern writers have darkened some of these themes.

Themes

The core themes of Semakunaru Horror were laid out by Kyou in the Journal of a Simple Writer, her essay on horror fiction released in 1929, although they have developed greatly over time, especially with the birth of the "Postmodern" grouping of Semakunaru artists and writers. The initially laid out tenants and themes of Semakunaru Horror are as such:

• Dehumanization
• The cruel but free wildness of Nature vs the safe but chafing restraints caused by Industrialization
• The inherent loss of humanity caused by man being forced into a stagnant place in industrial bureaucracy

Postmodern Semakunaru works generally follow similar tenants, although modifications made will be listed:

• Digitalization as a secondary source of conflict, in relation to the narrowing which can occur based on the capability for "empty relationships" to form.
• "Empty Relationships" as a concept of note, and a greater focus on the human aspect of the horror in general
• A greater focus on the flaws of the Wild, with nature being more commonly portrayed as an equivalently hostile force as Industry.

Influenced Media

Visual Media

Animated Media

Semakunaru Horror has had a noticeable impact on many works of animated media, with much of the animated work which occurred in the early 70's and 80's taking direct inspiration from Semakunaru's famous works for utilization in either short stories within a larger series or in anthology-like retellings of those stories. A notable pioneer in "postmodern" animated utilization of Semakunaru themes for animation work would be Ando Azuimi, as part of the Lotus Plan initiated by her partner, Kure Yuichi, although her experimentation with the themes which would later become the hallmark of modern animated utilization of Semakunaru themes would begin with her 1992 work, Madoka's Narrowing.

The work would be notable for its themes of fate and choice, portrayed through the incorporation of an active narrator into the story and the showing of such narrators (portrayed by Teru Teru Bōzu) as an actively antagonistic and exploitative force, with their actions later compared to the similarly violent and manipulative actions taken by the story's protagonist. The work would also touch on themes of psychological and existential horror, with the eventual elimination of the narrators not portrayed as a good or bad thing in the context of the story itself, with the meaning of the story meant to be interpreted by the audience.

These themes would be later carried into works made by Azuimi's protégés, such as Tamashiro Sakura's Purotokoru A - O, styled as プロトコル A-O, which compounded the themes of existential horror with a return to the anti-industrial sentiments of Kyou's own works, updated to relate to the digitalization of society which was occurring at the time and incorporating "Virtual-Struggle" (Kasō Tōsō, commonly shortened to K-T) aesthetics. A - O covered the life of a sapient protocol in a far-off future, whose ability to be and see "everywhere" at once through utilization of a worldwide digital network was contrasted with its lack of agency and inability to move beyond its own design- culminating in a struggle that lead to it seizing control of the body of a suicidal KSH (an acronym used for isolated individuals within the setting) and weighing the virtues of being able to take some control of its own existence vs the struggle of the modern world and the still-continuing lack of agency compounded by the new lack of power. A - O would be a major inspiration for other works in the future, with it receiving multiple spinoffs (to the distaste of Sakura, who found them to have missed the point of the story's ending) and inspiring other "Virtual-Struggle" interpretations of Kyou's works.

Games

One of the most notable (in the modern period) adaptations of her work is the state-created World of Terror franchise, currently standing at an approximate 6 (depending on the status of certain other games) "main series" entries. The franchise primarily comprises of a series of vignettes inspired from her work adapted into a "choose your own adventure" format with Role-Playing-Game (RPG) mechanics, such as "stats" which allow for certain choices to be made depending on the amount of investment placed into said stats.

Influenced Individuals

Kyou would influence many of the writers of her time, with her widely published work showing other writers that there was an audience for tales focused around fear and their own personal concerns with the industrializing of the period. Kyou's own caustic personality would prevent much joint work, but she would also provide advice to many individuals who wrote directly to her, such as Handa Kaori, a notable writer who would reference Aka Renai Heya directly in her own Chikyū no Monogatari (Lit. Earth Story), which focused upon the planet itself, and a symbolic "strike" against modernity by it. Kyou would allow Koda Madoka to continue developing her final work, the Once-Opened Room.

Writers outside of her life also referenced Kyou's works, with many making direct references to her more popular stories. Many more would reference her themes without direct acknowledgement of her directly.