Doki Doki Literature Club Anime
So, I had an idea for a DDLC anime some time ago, and I recently remembered it. Warning, there’s a lot of dark stuff in this, but Doki Doki Literature Club is a dark story, so...
As is probably obvious from how the visual novel works, it can’t have the exact same story as the original, but that doesn’t mean it can’t have a new-but-similar story, like the difference between the novel and movie of Coraline. Similar story beats, but a different telling. So in this DDLC anime, the first part is basically the same as in the VN, leading up to Sayori’s end, with the main male character’s choices being all the ones from her route.
Things change when the next part begins. Because Sayori’s still there. It’s not a digital medium, so there’s no Sayori file to erase. But things are still a bit different. Sayori keeps rubbing at her throat, but isn’t quite sure why. The characters occasionally comment on some deja vu. And Monika is subtly trying to keep Sayori from forming the same connection with the main character as last time round, but you’re only likely to notice if you’re looking for it.
This time, Yuri winds up being the chosen one. But it doesn’t end with her dying. This second part ends when it’s discovered that Natsuki’s neck was broken when her dad went off the deep end. This time, we see Monika’s horrified face before things start to rewind like the world is a VHS tape. But instead of the regular rewinding sound of a VCR, it’s a girl laughing in reverse, and the bits of static hide her image.
The third round, has Sayori still rubbing her throat, but Natsuki now joins her with the back of her neck. Monika tries to get Natsuki and the main character together. It ends again, but with Yuri’s canon end of going a bit nuts and stabbing herself.
Finally, on the fourth run, Monika breaks down in tears. It turns out that this time she’s been constantly rewinding things in an attempt to save the lives of her friends, but it seems like every time she goes back, something goes wrong and one of them dies.
In the end, the reason for all the problems turns out to be a blonde girl that none of them really noticed, but is there in every go-round (she’s also the one who was laughing in the rewind, and it’s her face hidden in the static). Her name is Elyssa, she has Ripple Effect-Proof Memory, and she’s been trying to awaken the Third Eye of the main character by killing all his friends, but Monika’s been getting in the way every time by using her own secret Third Eye power.
So things resolve by having the whole literature club team up against Elyssa and shutting her down. This somehow restores everyone’s memories of the previous timelines. This, of course, is not good for their mental state, but, eventually, they all come together as one unit.
This is just the most basic of the idea. It could probably do with some tweaking.