A Mukokuseki Music? Vertical Stateless Eclecticism in Japanese Role-Playing Games and Visual Novels

The concept of "mukokuseki" (statelessness) has long been a hallmark of Japanese anime and its associated media, evolving from a strategic suppression of overtly Japanese traits to an eclectic neutrality that paradoxically underscores its "Japaneseness." On the musical front, theorizing mukokuseki music becomes feasible when Japanese stylistic eclecticism is put at the core of our analyses. This eclecticism reveals both the substructural and superstructural dynamics of the Japanese media mix system, which seamlessly integrates manga, anime, and video games through shared characters and narratives. This presentation examines the idea of a mukokuseki music and its interplay with specific media, genres, industrial networks, and expressions of national identity. The focus is on Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) and Visual Novels-two video game genres deeply intertwined with anime and mukokuseki aesthetics. By experimenting with a set of methodologies that includes digital ethnography, data scraping and visual analysis, this study investigates both musical composition and industry practices. Musical (meta)analysis begins with the identification of representative games using digital ethnography. The eclecticism of each game's soundtrack is then evaluated through a weighted ranking system that considers the functional roles of musical cues within the game. On the industrial side, the case study of MONACA Studio provides a concrete example of the collaborative synergies underlying mukokuseki music production. Information gathered from online sources is synthesized into an interactive graph that maps relationships between composers, media, genres and production contexts, offering an intuitive visualization of industry patterns. This approach highlights the intricate connections between mukokuseki design, musical eclecticism, and Japan's evolving cultural identity within the global media landscape.