Moonlight Syndrome

Moonlight Syndrome (月幽病 Getsuyuu-byou) ("Getsuyuu Syndrome" or "Luna Sedata Syndrome", the name created for the English fan translation) is an ailment specific to Rogetsu Isle. Victims suffer from encroaching memory loss and mental confusion. The illness was being researched at Haibara Infirmary, also located on the island. Islanders believed the disease was connected to local religious practices.

The disease begins mildly, with symptoms such as mild memory loss and sleepwalking (dubbed "night walking" by the islanders). When the moon is full the patients begin to wander, searching for moonlight; if they cannot find moonlight they become frightened and unstable. In the budding stage, they exhibit fear of their own reflection.

As the disease progresses and the symptoms become more severe, the patient's memory is almost totally gone. They will attempt to reach windows or rooftops to catch a glimpse of the moon and expose themselves to moonlight. Eventually total memory loss occurs, and they will constantly ask to see the moon. The only known way to cure the disease is for the Rite of Descent/Rogetsu Kagura to be performed and calm the moon. Failing that, the Moonsong also calms the moon when played from the top of the Cape Tsukiyomi Lighthouse and can be used if the Kagura fails.

Duration: Unknown
Victims: Residents of Rogetsu Isle
Age of Afflicted: Varies
Connected to: Rogetsu Isle
Game: Fatal Frame IV

Reasons for becoming 'infected'

• Visiting Rogetsu Isle
• Living on Rogetsu Isle
• Being exposed to someone at an advanced stage of the illness (Resonance)
• Witnessing the Rogetsu Kagura
• Entering the Court of the Unhallowed

Symptoms

Wandering around at Night
Sufferers will start wandering around during the middle of the night and sleepwalking.

Affected by the Moon
The phase of the moon affects the patients. At certain times, the symptoms will become worse or agitated. Patients will often seek out the moonlight.

Memory Impairment
Initial symptoms will also include mild memory impairment, forgetting important things.

Fear of Mirrors
Also known as Budding; patients become frightened of their own reflection.

Obsessive Behaviour
Patients form deep attachments to certain items. Some will collect multiple objects, whereas others will cling to one in particular and keep it with them at all times.

Externalising the Self
A few patients, feeling that they are losing their identity, will use a doll to "store" part of themselves, so that it will not change.

Suicide
Some patients kill themselves deliberately so they will not have to face the loss of all their memories; others endanger themselves trying to get closer to the moon, and die accidentally.

Voidness
A catatonic state in which all memory is gone. Though the soul is absent, the body continues to live.

Death
Greatly weakened by the disease, most patients eventually die of cardiac arrest.

Blossoming
The rare final stage of the disease is blossoming. The patient loses all sense of individual identity and is unable to recognise their own face. At this point, the distortion of their face becomes visible to others, and their illness can spread.

Stages of the Disease

• Budding
• Breaking
• Resonance
• Blossoming

Attempted Cures

• Brain surgeries (conducted by Shigeto Haibara) - performed in attempts to cure the illness. These surgeries were a failure and in the end just sped up the disease in the patient.
• Music therapy - Moonsounds played over the loudspeakers of Rogetsu Hall. As notes dictate, the music therapy did offer some relief to patients suffering symptoms, particularly younger children, but the effects were unpredictable.
• Masks with mind-controlling properties.
  
  

Patients

Rogetsu Hall

• Ayako
• Iori Aiba
• Kageri Sendo
• Kazuto Amaki
• Madoka Tsukimori
• Sakuya Haibara
• Yoriko Sonohara
• Yuko Magaki

Haibara Infirmary/unknown

• Asagi Hizuki
• Himiko Kiriya
• Katsuhito Kariya
• Kyoko Kitazume
• Natsuki Shiono
• Sanae Houzuki
• Tadayuki Kaido
• Takashi Aiba
• Tomoko Hinuma
• Yuuzou Takemura
• Sakuya's Mother

Outpatients

• Marie Shinomiya
• Tomoe Nanamura

Victims

• Asagi Hizuki

Survivors

Note: As of current writing, it cannot be confirmed which ending of Fatal Frame IV is considered canon, thus affecting the number of survivors.

• Ruka Minazuki

survival confirmed in both endings

• Misaki Asou

1st ending - unknown fate

2nd ending - survival confirmed

Misc. Info

Japanese Etymology

Many Japanese names for medical conditions are created by utilizing the suffix 病 (byō; disease). For example, 糖尿病 (tōnyōbyō; diabetes) can be broken down first into 糖尿＋病, which is glycosuria disease. Then, 糖尿 ('tōnyō'; glycosuria) then breaks down into 糖 (tō; sugar) ＋ 尿 (nyō; urine). Such names are inconsistent. Some are official while some are colloquial; some where created when the ailment was poorly understood, some once it was explicated. There is no rigidly-applied convention, especially when it comes to changing the name of a syndrome (a collection of symptoms which often appear together and are associated with the same cause).

To break down 月幽病 (getsuyūbyō) in the same manner, 月幽＋病 is Getsuyū Illness/Disease/Trouble/Pain. 月幽 is an invented compound. The character 月 refers to the moon or a month, which has several pronunciations, here getsu. The character 幽 (yū; dark/faint/dim/secluded) is not used on its own, and typically begins a compound. Examples include the words 幽鬱 (yūutsu; melancholy) and 幽静 (yūsei; serene).

The choice of 幽 in this case is due to its place in the word 幽霊 (yūrei; ghost). Leftover game data even includes a mention of 月霊病 (getsureibyō; moon ghost disease), suggesting that they changed the name during development. One could also see this name has having a several meanings:

• A disease caused by ghosts from the moon (where Yomi is located in the folklore of Rogetsu Isle)
• A disease associated with a dim or hidden literal moon (which affects the symptoms of this illness).
• A disease associated with a faint figurative moon, as the moon (in the folklore of Rogetsu Isle) symbolizes the soul, mind, memory, and personality, all things which wane as Getsuyūbyō progresses.

English Fan Translations

The translation team of the fan patch elected to use the name Luna Sedata Syndrome, expressing one meaning of each of the Japanese characters in Latin (to correlate with real-world scientific naming conventions).

In the absence of an official translation, Zero Wiki elected to use the name Getsuyuu Syndrome.

Official Translation

The 2023 official translation used the name Moonlight Syndrome, which doubled as a concise and simple approximation of the Japanese name, and a possible reference to an early Suda51 game of the same name.