#5. Quick Idea: Deconstructing "Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World" Stuff

I came up with this moment just a few seconds ago, and I'm writing this in a rush because I am very well aware that my short-term memory is virtually nonexistent. I was loafing around, as usual, at good ol' TV Tropes, and I came up with Deconstruction. Beautiful trope, I love this one, mostly because a well-played Deconstruction means another good series to enjoy. Then my mind somehow connected this to Persona 4, and here I am.

The premise of Persona 4 is quite simple. Wake up, go to school, save the world. You have this awesome power to crush cards into mythological figures to kick some shadowy ass, and you have wonderful friends around you whom you rescue and add to your team. You are given plenty of time to go to school, study hard, enjoy club activities, and most importantly, make Social Links with other people, which in turn enhances your Persona power. Lovely game, one of my favorites, very well played.

And there's this one.

Imagine if Souji/Yu/Whoever found out this Midnight Channel thing all by himself, and never told anyone else. He is the only one who knows the very existence of shadowy world in the otherwise peaceful town of Inaba, and for some reason he is devoted to work on all by himself. Yosuke and Chie never believes him, thinking he is taking urban legend too seriously. (Perhaps Teddie isn't helpful as well, or better, he isn't there - perhaps MC found out how to get out of TV world all by himself?) And so our mighty protagonist fight on his own, all alone, in the misty otherworld that cares as much as this puny little intruder as just another hindrance in the system. Speaking of which, the protagonist takes all this too well, doesn't he? I mean, if I was the one who was stuck in television and had some rough night with monstrous subconscious bullshits, I would be stuck in my room, with a serious degree of TV-phobia. If I didn't kill myself at the moment, that is.

That was an example of Persona 4, but the idea is there. Imagine the protagonist (for some reason I have the image of a girl rather than a boy... Puella Magi Madoka Magica, anyone?) discovers an otherworld, so monstrous and apathetic, wanting humanity wiped away or something. The protagonist is given power to equally fight against the horde of destruction, but even that doesn't keep her sanity from slipping down the slope. She can't tell the others, for she is very well aware that no one would believe such horrible madness she has experienced. She can't concentrate on class, she has trouble with other people, she can't sleep tight... And yet she still has to fight, because she knows damn well that someone has to fight, and that happens to be her.

Special thanks to Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Sailor Nothing for inspiring me more. End transmission.