x0o0x_, also known as "guest" (Japanese: ゲスト) on Nico Nico Douga, is a Japanese music producer and utaite, known for releasing nameless music videos on Nico Nico and YouTube. A Reclusive Artist with a completely unknown real identity who uses impossible-to-search nameless channels and videos, x0o0x_ has gained memetic popularity on English YouTube because of this intense reclusion.
x0o0x_'s reclusive behavior in fact originates from the behaviors of Japanese music producer Koronba, who uploaded music on Nico Nico from 2008-2016, but actively attempted to prevent the spread of their name and works, and eventually deleted all of their social media accounts after an outburst on Twitter. Koronba's catchy songs, extreme reclusiveness, and tragic end ironically gave them a cult following and inspired numerous tribute channels, with x0o0x_ being one of them. note
Active since 2018, x0o0x_'s earlier works were covers of songs by Koronba and other Koronba tribute channels. From 2019 onwards, the artist began uploading original, Koronba-styled anti-search-engine music featuring human, Vocaloid, or UTAU vocals, usually about Creepypastas, Japanese Urban Legends, and the like. x0o0x_ frequently collaborates with stdio_nameraka
for the many background illustrations in their original music videos.
The artist's official YouTube channels are both nameless; much of the community, both in Japan and in the West, uses the name x0o0x_, the name of the artist's "official" Twitter account (the name of the account is used in the artist's official music video descriptions), to refer to the artist.
On January 25th, 2023, Strange Tales of Kisaragi, a manga based on the February 29, 2020 song, was released. It follows a new character named Nagisa as she inadvertently lands in the titular Kisaragi station.
x0o0x_'s channels: Niconico Channel, YouTube Main Channel, YouTube Secondary Channel. They also have a channel on the Chinese video website Bilibili.
Additional reading about the artist can be found on Nico Nico Dictionary (Japanese only).
Nameless Songs
- November 1st, 2019 song: The first of the nameless songs uploaded by the artist, its music video is heavily inspired by Koronba's song "Yatsume Ana" (Lamprey Hole).
- Main channel ver. Features human vocals.
- Secondary channel ver. Features UTAU vocals.
- Main channel ver.
- December 25th, 2019 song: Another "Yatsume Ana"-inspired song.
- Main channel ver. Features human vocals.
- Secondary channel ver. Features UTAU vocals.
- Main channel ver.
- February 29th, 2020 song: This song is based on the Japanese Creepypasta "Kisaragi Station".
- Main channel ver.
- Secondary channel ver. Features Vocaloid vocals, using the voice banks flower and Hatsune Miku.
- Niconico ver. Features UTAU vocals, using the voicebank Uta Utane AKA Defoko.
- Main channel ver.
- September 6th, 2020 song: This song is based on the Japanese urban legend "saruyume", or "Monkey Dream".
- Main channel ver.
- Secondary channel ver. Features Vocaloid vocals from Hatsune Miku.
- Main channel ver.
- June 12th, 2021 song: This song is based on the urban legend/creepypasta/screamer video "NNN special broadcast".
- Main channel ver.
- Secondary channel ver. Features Vocaloid vocals from Hatsune Miku.
- Main channel ver.
- August 21st, 2021 song. It is either based on Urban Legends "The red room curse" or "Hitori Kakurenbo (Alone Hide-and-Seek)".
- Main channel ver.
- Secondary channel ver. Features Vocaloid vocals from flower.
- Main channel ver.
- March 4th, 2022 song: This song is based on the Japanese urban legend "Kunekune".
- Main channel ver.
- Second channel ver. Features Vocaloid vocals from flower and yet again, Hatsune Miku.
- Main channel ver.
- December 25, 2022 song: This song is based on the Japanese urban legend "Kotoribako." There is no second channel version of this song.
- June 11th, 2023 song: This song is based on "Hitori Kakurenbo (Alone Hide-and-Seek)".
Named Songs
- Meiro (maze), collaboration song between x0o0x_ and another artist named suuzi. The version on x0o0x_'s channel features their own vocals; another version with suuzi's vocals can be found on suuzi's channel (there is also an instrumental version available in suuzi's Pixiv fanbox). This song is based off of SCP-087.
- Kuguru (get through), collaboration song between x0o0x_ and another artist named wolpis_kater, based off of a Japanese divination game called Kokkuri-san, and two people breaking the rules of the game. Like meiro, the x0o0x_ version features their own vocals, while a version with wolpis_kater vocals can be found in their channel here.
- Negative Cat, the first named song that is not a collaboration with another artist.
- Kagami iro (mirror-colored), created for Bokutachi wa Yoruna yoruna.
- ?, a (now privated) piano-themed medley containing the February 29th, 2020 song, the September 6th, 2020 song, the June 12th, 2021 song, and a new as-of-unheard song for YouTube Music Weekend 7.0.
- in to the sky: The second named song that isn’t a collaboration with another artist. It is the aforementioned new song from the medley, now standalone with new instrumentals.
Others
- Cover of Koronba's song "Iwashi ga Tsuchi kara Haetekurun da" (English: A Sardine Grows from the Soil)
- Cover of the song "Kuneru Engeiza" by denki kujira (ELwhale35)
- Cover of "Big Brother" by KAKU P-MODEL (a.k.a. Susumu Hirasawa).
- Cover of "Shadow Shadow" by Azari.
- A few more cover songs on the artist's Nico Nico Douga channel.
Tropes
- Ambiguous Gender: For a long while, the artist's gender was unconfirmed, as their voice is quite androgynous. However, more recently, on one of their twitcast streams- "https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=685&v=lLOxWMMGZhk&feature=youtu.be" timestamp 11:25 -they were asked 男性ですか。(Are you a male?) and they replied: 男性です。(I am a male).
- Ambiguous Situation: Is the August 21st, 2021 song based on the "The red room curse" or "Hitori Kakurenbo (Alone Hide-and-Seek)", or both? Fans can’t seem to make a consensus.
- Author Avatar: The blue-haired girl with a bow on her hair appears to be the artist's avatar, who appears in almost all of their videos and on some of their account avatars.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- The June 11th, 2023 song is the first song to not have a second channel version.
- "Mirror Color" is the only song to not have a main channel version.
- "Negative Cat" is the first named song that isn't a collaboation, followed by "into the sky" and "a vain hope."
- Creepypasta: Some songs are based on this, like the February 29th, 2020 song, which is based on "Kisaragi Station".
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first few original songs in the channel have nothing to do with creepypastas, urban legends, and the like at all. They are just tributes to the artist that started it all.
- Fun with Subtitles: The caption tracks do this. With it doing things such as having words appear one at a time, or the letters disappearing from them. Usually, this is done to match the kinetic typography in the videos, so the artistic significance behind them isn't lost to anyone who can't read Japanese.
- Homage: The 2019/11/1 song and the 2019/12/25 song are both tributes to Koronba's "Lamprey Hole", sharing very similar MV styles and chiptuney instruments.
- Spell My Name with a Blank: Both of x0o0x_'s YouTube channels are nameless, and almost all of their songs are namelessnote . These blank titles are created by using a "zero width non-joiner" for the title.
- The Unpronounceable: How do you pronounce x0o0x_? Technically, it could simply be pronounced "ex zero oh zero ex underscore". The closest thing we have to a real name is "Wakame" (coming from this site), but even then, it could be a placeholder for all we know.
- Urban Legends: Some of the songs are based on these. For example, one of the songs is about the Japanese urban legend "saruyume", or "Monkey Dream".
