As best I can isolate it, the narrative style I’m talking about is characterized by two moves:
(1). Devoting lots of screen time to periodic exposition of “machinations” — complicated plot objects (character, macguffin, organization, rule, etc.) which the player/audience does not yet have enough information to fully understand.
(2). Repeated “reveals” that show that various machinations aren’t what we thought they were.
I recognize that many stories use one or both of these to some extent. However, there really does seem to be a mode peculiar to Japanese media (not all of it, but a fraction of the little bit that I’ve been exposed to) which uses these both of these as the engine of the plot . I haven’t seen that anywhere else, and I read a lot and watch a lot of movies. The way I figure, having so many pieces use a narrative mode that is seemingly unique to Japan means either that (a) it’s an incredible accident of history, or (b) this is a mode with some history in Japan that all of these different pieces are drawing from. I’ve always strongly suspected that these particular kinds of complications had a literary pedigree, but that’s a hunch with no data to back it up. Thank you!
by Jumboliva