references, subliminal messages, and sensitive meanings in anime, cartoons, and video games

​There are many instances where game developers, cartoonists, animators, or storyboard writers have put messages that some may not understand or realize. In some cases these topics may be sensitive or have to deal with current issues in real life. Some of these issues are put very upfront and are talked about for an episode or two, or come into play later in the story, or are the meaning of the show or game (to address the current issue or provide information on a topic or situation).

1. Doki Doki Literature Club (A video Game made by "Team Salvato")

Doki Doki Literature Club deals with topics of manipulation, self harm, and suicide. In this game you are the main character who is forced by a child-hood friend to join a Literature Club. There are 5 members of the club (including you, the main character) named Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, and Monika. This game is a visual novel where you have to choose one of the girls to romantically pursue. They all fall in love with you and one by one they all confess to you. The first one to confess to you is your childhood friend who forced you to join the club, Sayori. You can either accept her love or deny it. No matter what you say though, the next day Sayori is very late to school and so you go to her house to see if she is okay. and when you go into the room, she has hung herself by the ceiling. The next person to confess to you is Yuri, Yuri is obsessive, insecure, and the most maturely developed of the 4 girls. Before she confesses there is a cut scene where she runs out of the room, if you follow her you see she has cuts all down both of her arms. In Act 2 Yuri confesses to you and whether you say yes or no has no affect on what her response is. No matter if you accept her love or deny it she goes mentally insane, takes a knife and stabs herself to death. After that she falls to the floor and slowly dies for around 3 days in the Literature Club room and you sit beside her as her fatal death endures.