Fake Documentary Q / フェイクドキュメンタリーQ

[mummyvhs]

失敗や!

Welcome to the home thread for the YouTube horror anthology series フェイクドキュメンタリーQ!

What is フェイクドキュメンタリーQ?

Fake Documentary Q is an ongoing horror YouTube anthology series created by Daichi Minaguchi, directed by Kôtarô Terauchi and written by Kayoko Endô and Tsuru Fukui (the latter three of which have also worked on mockumentaries such as 心霊マスターテープ). The first episode was uploaded on August 21st 2021, and the most recent episode as of the time of writing aired on June 22nd 2024.

Episodes are largely self-contained with small details here and there connecting some episodes but not others (if you look for them). Whether the whole thing represents one continuous narrative is purposefully left unanswered by the creators. However, overarching themes are present.

All episodes have Japanese and English subtitles.

The newest episode is going to air live on August 3rd at midnight JST here.

If you want to know more, you can read a longer post I wrote about Q (contains some spoilers). This isn’t just filthy self-promotion, but useful for those who want to familiarize themselves with the current horror landscape in Japan and why Q and other works like it are so exciting.

Where to watch and keep up?

The official Q YouTube channel is here.
And here is the official バックナンバー playlist.

The official X account is here. Note that it usually follows active fans back and likes theory posts, which has been confirmed to not be an endorsement of falsehood or accuracy (other accounts involved in the project may also do this).

What is this topic for?

Use this topic to discuss episodes and theories, ask about anything regarding the Japanese language, or simply share your enjoyment of it with others! I would love to know what people think about Q!

Even off-site, I highly encourage everyone to participate in the 怒涛の考察 (theorizing frenzy), which is easily one of the most fun ways to engage with Q. Japanese fans are most active on X/Twitter and many post their longer analyses and thoughts on note. Often just googling or searching on X for “[name of episode] 考察” will get you a couple interesting results.

And if you want something in English, here is my document gathering all current information and theories on Q episodes that I or others have had (spoils everything, so be careful).

Read, speculate and go missing in the wonderful world of フェイクドキュメンタリーQ

[mummyvhs]

Book Club

フェイクドキュメンタリーQ recently (as in, July 25th) had a companion book published, which covers some of its episodes and also introduces new lore and media. If people are interested, I would love to start a book club in a separate topic, where we read one chapter per week and discuss the spooky happenings therein. Knowledge of the YouTube series isn’t required for enjoying the book, but they can greatly enhance each other, especially for beginners.

The book club is now live! Come join here!

[fallynleaf]

Yay, it’s here!! Also, welcome to the forum!

Thank you so much for putting this together! I’ve been talking up this series for months on this forum, but we haven’t really had a hub to discuss it in one place, so I’m excited! Also really looking forward to the book club!!!

For folks who’ve read my study log, mummyvhs is the friend who got me into Fake Documentary Q in the first place, haha, and he’s done a lot of research and combing through theories about it, so we thought it would be fun to take some of that to the community here!

Paging @taiyousea and @Daisoujou because you’ve both expressed interest in this series!

[soggyboy]

Thanks for posting the thread, this series looks cool! Is it best to just watch all the youtube videos in chronological order?

[mummyvhs]

There is no “true” order to Q, really. The order in which the episodes are released has purpose behind it if I’m correctly interpreting a couple things I have read in interviews by the people involved with the project, but if you jump in at any point you’re not gonna be more or less lost than if you had chosen another episode, if that makes sense. Once you start watching, there are threads you’re gonna see here or there (if you want to) but it’s not like the order matters for story reasons.

I still would recommend watching the first episode (CURSED VIDEO) first because, well, it is the first one and kinda sets the tone for what to expect, although episodes are often vastly different from each other in terms of scope and mood and what exactly their オチ, if there is one, is.

I have been told by people they also watched NO FICTION first because this is one I especially praise in my article (mentioned above), and if you wanna start with some of THE best Q has to offer in terms of acting and atmosphere and story, this is the one for you.

Sorry for the long answer, modern Japanese horror is one of my special interests

[soggyboy]

Thanks! I’ll probably just watch in order then

@mummyvhs

Sorry for the long answer

No need to apologize

[fallynleaf]

I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on some of the episodes that were more notable to me that I had talked about in my study log back in like December:

(I watched the whole series with English subtitles, and haven’t tried watching with Japanese subtitles yet, though I’m hoping to go back and rewatch some stuff after reading the book.)

House of Mirrors

This was probably the scariest episode to me! I’m not affected very strongly by horror just in general, but I did think about this one when I went to brush my teeth and go to bed afterward (I watched all the episodes between like 2-4am over a few nights haha because I did a group watch with international friends).

I thought it did just a spectacular job building suspense without going overboard, and it introduced a totally new mirror fear to me haha that I had never seen in horror media before.

Obscure

Q triggered a whole bunch of nostalgia for old internet creepypasta from around 2008-2010 for me. Some horror fans are nostalgic for classic horror movies (and this series has homages to some of those), but the horror that I was personally most attached to was the kind of horror writing that would get passed down and spread through old internet forums.

I fondly remember a lot of classics like Smile Dog (I can’t link to the version I remembered seeing because it’s no longer up, though I have reproduced it as I remember seeing it in an image on my hard drive that I can share if folks are interested) and the like. Obscure might be the one that feels the most like a love letter to old school creepypasta to me, so I was 逆に charmed by it.

This is probably the one I am most looking forward to rewatching with Japanese subtitles at some point.

Film Inferno

This is another one that got me thinking about old school creepypasta, in particular Ted the Caver and the SCP Foundation (link goes to SCP-087, which this episode sort of evoked for me with part of the way the cave was laid out).

I would say that this was one of the scarier ones to me just because caves are naturally scary!! But they did a really good job with it, and it felt different enough from other cave horror I’d seen.

No Fiction

This is one of the more unique episodes just because it feels like a lot of the horror in this one is how Noriko is treated by the people who are supposedly trying to “help” her.

If you haven’t watched this one yet, pay attention to the sweater Noriko is wearing at the end. If you have watched it, I recommend going back and looking for it. Remember this sweater.

Basement

This was probably the second scariest episode to me just because like the mirrors, it feels more plausible, maybe? I would say that it is overall less creative/original in concept, and it feels less like Q’s specific brand of horror, but it is nonetheless very effective.

This episode also reminded me of the Elevator Game, which I remembered hearing about on old internet forums. I looked it up again out of curiosity and found out that it apparently originated in 2008 in Japan’s 2ch message board! I originally encountered it in English, of course, haha.

September 23, 2023 Live Streaming

This is probably my favorite one so far, just because I think the whole concept of the series really comes together here. You can watch some of the others out of order, but I think this one really has to be watched after having seen the previous ones.

When we watched it, mummyvhs told me that they originally streamed part of this episode live, and the youtube comments you see onscreen at one point are real comments from the stream, which naturally freaked a whole bunch of people out, haha.

This series does a lot of playing around with reality and fiction, and sort of the weirdness that exists in the gulf between real and fake, and to me, this episode feels sort of like a thesis statement of what Q is trying to do and what it’s capable of doing with this medium.

No Fiction spoilers: Noriko’s sweater reappears in a pile of clothing here. To me, that really drives in the horror of No Fiction. What happened to her between that episode and this one? We don’t know, but there’s no way it can be good…

I really like the way this episode includes us viewers in the text and makes us complicit in what is going on here. It feels like we’re watching something that we shouldn’t be seeing. Why were we given access to it? Was it truly a whistleblower trying to help spread awareness of something horrific happening, or did the supposed whistleblower have a nefarious purpose in mind with disseminating this footage to a wide audience that had no way of protecting themselves from it? We’re either complicit in the horror or we’re victims of it, and neither of those feelings is an easy thing to sit with.

Looking forward to the next one!

[mummyvhs]

Thanks for your thoughts fallynleaf! I should probably also talk about some of my fav episodes

No Fiction

I already mentioned how good this episode is so I won’t harp on about it too long. The actress playing Noriko is amazing, the setting and atmosphere and sound design (editors and sound designers carry the world on their shoulders ) are phenomenal and there is so much more to discover if you go through the episode slowly (or even frame by frame). Also the book gave me one of my favorite visual jumpscares in relation to this story, so I can’t wait until others discover it

Strange Messages

I love this episode for one simple reason: having fond memories of scaring the daylights out of several friends with it It utilizes its limited scope (mainly purely audio) so effectively and was, for some, even scarier than anything visual. The first message might not scare you, the second message might not scare you, but something about the piling on of creepy sound after creepy sound seems to get under everybody’s skin. One of my friends even hit the pause button and straight up left the room (he came back and is doing well, don’t worry)

Sanctuary

This episode just slaps. I remember that it was relatively new when I started watching, and Last Countdown hadn’t come out yet so nobody knew what to make of the number sequence repeated at the end yet. It’s very simple but very effective, has a good visual jumpscare without screaming at you at full volume, and the book provides A LOT of backstory for this one, which had me very excited while reading it.

Mindseeker

The fact that this is one continuous shot is incredibly impressive to me. AFAICT there’s no hidden cuts, and the acting is really good. You can hear from the delivery of the lines alone how everyone truly feels and even if they’re playing around or lying, without seeing their faces most of the time. The authentic set dressing is just the cherry on top. And that silence at the end…chilling every time.

[fallynleaf]

Staring at the book spoiler bars resisting the urge to click… soon…

[Akashelia]

I’m not sure if I the horror genre is for me, I watched the 4 short movies during the recent Japanese Online Movie Festival and was super scared, I was relieved when it was over
You make it sound really interesting though and I’m very curious, so I’ll give the first episode a try and let you know if I’m up for more!

[fallynleaf]

I didn’t watch those short movies during the Japanese Online Movie Festival, so I’m not sure exactly how Q compares, but I can say that I personally find Q’s type of horror easier to bear than most others because (spoilered for people who want to go in not knowing what to expect) there are no jumpscares or really gory stuff or vomit (stuff I think of as “cheap” horror)—it’s basically entirely atmospheric horror, which of course can still be unpleasant if you’re the kind of person who gets very strongly affected by that kind of thing, haha, but I found it really neat, especially with the theorizing aspect to it.

[mummyvhs]

I also watched all of those short movies. I can say with confidence that, aside from the one about the zombie that you have to keep in your attic in order to be happy, Q is generally more scary and well made (though I did like the closet one, but that’s besides the point). But maybe watching Q with friends can help!

But yeah, like fallynleaf said, there is no gore, jumpscares (aside from a couple VERY soft ones) or anything else gross.

[mummyvhs]

Can’t wait to see what you think (especially about the, for now, completely new chapter) when we do launch the book club!

[Akashelia]

I saw the first one! I could definitely handle it I like that it’s quite short. Now I need to see one more before I decide if I want to see everything!

[mummyvhs]

I had been meaning to put my thoughts about the newest episode here but I was too busy to sit down for it, and I also wanted to see if maybe my feelings on it would change if I gave it some time. They didn’t, so here we are.

Truth be told, the last couple of episodes have been a bit disappointing to me. I think I wouldn’t have minded the minimalist approach in Take100 so much if the episode before it (Hidden Link) had landed better with me. For some reason I just found it not scary or disturbing at all (minus that weird white face in one of the pics urgh). So then I was looking forward to Mother with anticipation because I had hoped it would be a “return to form”, so to speak.

Unfortunately, it seems to just be a promotion for the book, essentially. It’s atmospheric enough and I like some of the ways they have put what I had previously only imagined into concrete visuals. Ultimately it’s an episode about doubt and possibly not seeing the forest for the trees, and I think it accomplished that well enough. People I watched it with also seemed to be highly disturbed by the silent video tape shown halfway through, and I’m glad it landed.

However, even if it might be unfair, I can’t help but compare it to No Fiction. The overall style so to speak is similar, yet Mother doesn’t grip me. I think this is because I never felt from the guy they had playing the son that he was truly scared or grieving or angry. He also doesn’t have an arc, and with the essential information kept exclusive to the book, the character feels a bit flat overall.

At the end of the day Q is a free YouTube show and the people creating it have used a lot of funds and time and effort to make it as good as it is. I don’t expect every episode to be a banger but hopefully the next few ones will have something for me.

(also sorry I haven’t organized the book club yet, see above. We will probably start sometime around late August now!)

[fallynleaf]

I’ll chime in with my thoughts on the most recent episodes as well!

Hidden Link

This was probably my least favorite episode of the series so far, just because I don’t think it was really that scary or unique. Oh well! It was fun looking at some of the Japanese fan theories for it at least.

Take100

I liked this one! I wouldn’t call it a top fave but I thought it had some genuinely unsettling moments. If I had any criticism it’s that there maybe could’ve been a bit more to it, and I think it sort of blew the scariest takes a little early (the shadow creature was the scariest part, I thought).

I think the real horror of this one to me was the thought that the dead-body-looking shape might be a real body, but the actors might be performing while thinking that it’s just a prop. That’s my interpretation for now, at least. I think whoever is making the film wanted to capture something involving that body on film, thus all the takes, but the actors were blissfully unaware of what exactly they were sharing a room with that entire time.

Mother

Yeah, this one was a bit of a letdown, though I thought it was better than Hidden Link. It feels like the episode never fully got off the ground, and from what mummyvhs described, it sounds like you need to read the book to get the real scary hook.

When watching it initially, I was surprised/impressed by how well the guy was able to make out discernible kanji shapes from super blurry images, but as it went on, the connections he was seeing seemed to become more and more tenuous. It seems like the episode sort of wanted us to think that a ghost or something was trying to lure him somewhere, but it might be more of a Crying of Lot 49 situation going on… (For folks who haven’t read that book, it’s about a woman who seemingly uncovers this whole conspiracy by following a series of connections that may or may not actually be real)

Maybe this post will look really silly after I read the book and get some more insight into what’s actually going on here, haha.

[Akashelia]

I’ve seen the first 4, this one is my favorite so far:

WHAT THE DECEASED LEFT BEHIND (English sub)

[mummyvhs]

Oh, that’s a spooky one, good choice! Did you find it scarier than Strange Messages?

Also, if you don’t mind a bit of a spoiler about something cleverly hidden in the episode, look into what kind of film a Konica Revio II uses…

[Akashelia]

I don’t get it you can tell me the answer or do you have another hint?

[mummyvhs]

@Akashelia

I don’t get it you can tell me the answer or do you have another hint?

Here is the answer! (there's also spoiler blurs)

At around 5 mins into the video they talk about the camera found in “their friend’s belongings” (which is already highly dubious in and by itself because no one can tell me that these “friends” have done this for years and yet neither them nor the police ever found the almost pristine bag a couple feet away from his supposed place of death? Yeah right /s). It’s not in the English subs but the narrator says デジカメ. As you found out a Konica Revio II uses physical film. And then later (this is in the subs) they talk about the digital “file recovery” and how some of them “were too corrupted” to show up properly. Curious when you got physical film (it’s of course entirely possible they got corrupted during the digitization process, but either way the Q team (in kayfabe) seemingly treat the camera as digital, when it is not).