This is to refer to a concept that I have noticed among Japanese stories, particularly those that are derived from novels. Though I think it’s present in a few other things too.
Note that this article isn’t fully written yet, but I figured I may as well release it anyhow.
Like most types of edgy, Japanese Edgy tends to take things too far resulting in the seriousness of the story ending up in question. However, unlike regular Edgy, Japanese Edgy seems to show up in the ‘super serious’ corner of storytelling…like with novels obsessed over by critics. Exactly why this is, I’m not sure.
The main sign that I’ve observed is a weird obsession with sex, which is also treated casually. That includes subjects like rape being treated semi-casually (whilst also being important to characters; don’t even ask).
Besides that, you have the standard edgy stuff as well.