/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Yo, /jp/

So, I recently played Silent Hill 2 and loved it. It's one of those rare games that has you thinking about the experience for a good while after completing it and what everything you witnessed meant.

In an interview with Guy Cihi (James Sunderland) and Dave Schaufelle (Eddie Dombrowski), Guy mentions that he suspects Team Silent's intention for the 'canon' ending of the game is the 'In Water' ending, because Sato has said twice that he believes Mary was in the back of James' car the whole time.

He went on to say that he believes they were dedicated to this ending because it fulfils "Shinjū", which he describes as 'family suicide' and lists the methods of this suicide practice as being very similar to the actions James seems to take in the 'In Water' ending. (Smothering family members and then drowning oneself in the car with their bodies.)

However, wikipedia (best source ever, I know) lists Shinjū as being something closer to a mutual suicide pact, often relating to romantic drama, like Romeo & Juliet or whatever.

My question to you guys is that in your sagely knowledge of Japanese culture, have you heard anything about "Shinjū" and what it means or any media examples of such cases, similar to way Mr. Cihi describes? Apparently such instances are kept very hush-hush.

The interview where he mentions Shinjū is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhyT4gjDHM8

Thanks for reading.