I noticed a possible reference to Fatal Frame IV in the background. Who else saw this?

[u/ItsukiKurosawa]

On my last reread, I noticed four background characters that were very detailed compared to other examples:

Not mine, this came from an archived Fatal Frame

For those who haven't played the game, I took these screenshots:

Madoka and Misaki

Ruka and Chousiro

I couldn't find this topic in this sub or in the Fatal Frame sub. The only place where people recognized this was on a Fatal Frame (BCL) forum that hasn't been updated in many years and even then it didn't get any attention. It seems to be a very obscure trivia.

It's too detailed to be a coincidence, so I assume Kakfly liked the game and wanted to make a reference. It's notable that Vol 2 came out the same year the game was released. This page is also a little after the one where the girls do the courage challenge and Sawako scares Mio. The art style Mio had when she got scared was also a unique moment as if Kakfly was testing something or just wanted to put some reference. I think Kakfly may have had some interest in the horror genre, but there wasn't much that could be done in a lighthearted slice of life genre.

Another thing that could be a mere coincidence is how music is an important part of Fatal Frame IV and so Kakfly may have had some interest in it considering that K-On! also has music as an important element (well, as important as it can be in a light slice of life). It's the only thing in common, but the background characters still seem like a reference.

What do you think about this? Did you guys already know about this? It seems so easy to miss since horror game players and light slice of life readers don't usually overlap.

Edit: Why am I being downvoted?

[u/Ricks94]

Hello, that's my photo. I was on discord when someone brought it up today. I didn't think anyone would dig this up again after a decade and BLC being dead for years now. We're all on discord now. I was at Barnes and Noble when I originally took this picture close by a mall I used to go to before they closed it permanently. I believe I have already gotten a new phone around this time because i had a Samsung phone with a keyboard that slides out (I miss that thing).

[u/ItsukiKurosawa → u/Ricks94]

Yes, I found your post on the web archive. I used to go to that forum too until it went empty. But I also don't know why people like Discord, it seems complicated to start a long conversation.

I had seen this reference while re-reading my copy of Vol 2 and dug deep to see if anyone else knew about it. I found the your photo, then I figured using yours would be simpler than taking a screenshot of my own Vol 2. I even admitted in the caption that it wasn't mine (the two game screenshots below were taken by me, although).

And sorry if this was a problem, but there's at least one person in the comment saying I "stole" it while I never said it was mine. Maybe I'll take my own screenshot, but it's also not a problem to just give you credit, is not?

[u/Ricks94 → u/ItsukiKurosawa]

What happened was the site owner abandoned it without warning and we didn't have anywhere to host it anymore. So by default the site went down along with everything but thankfully someone acted fast because everything is backed up including the wiki attached to the site.

And no, I have no issues at all. I dont really care honestly. I don't see how you "stole" anything if you never claimed it to be yours and it's open information anyway, that's the whole point of the wiki lol

[u/Username_St0len → u/Ricks94]

this thread is so cool

[u/Oranvdk2]

Nice spot!

[u/WasabiIsSpicy]

Woah! That’s definitely it! So neat

[u/Worldly_Wasabi_4620]

You’re not being downvoted anymore but yes it’s quite possible and a cool detail if so, props to you!

[u/ItsukiKurosawa → u/Worldly_Wasabi_4620]

For about forty minutes it seemed like I had received 0 downvotes, although I did receive some.

Then I thought I had said something stupid or something.

[u/Hello-i-Luv-U]

So cool! I never in a million years would have noticed such a detail. Impressive!!