Ha, you're actually one step ahead of me in some respects; I talk about Illbleed and Deadly Premonition when my only experience of them is through Let's Plays. At least they give me something else to discuss, though, besides games I love that're 15-20 years old - which I enjoy doing but, as you noted, am kind of alone-ish in that regard. (I'm not much involved in the larger fandom, either.)

The TV Tropes thing confirms my suspicions that some people are just making up their own story as they go along. I will not be surprised if the fandom up and decides before long that the series is actually a multi-volume restaurant sim.