1. Lots of rape. In unexpected places, by unexpected characters. Oh, you thought you would be safe with your childhood friend? Nope, he gets crazily jealous and rapes you. And you end up with him (Lovers Collection) – that might even be the happy ending. In all the other routes this guy was nice? In his own, he will likely rape you (Akazukin, Ijiwaru).

2. Torture of the heroine. Not only is the heroine often raped, but I’ve seen many scenes where she’s tied up (and not in a fun silky scarf kind of way but rough rope that is described as leaving marks), made to stay in stress positions, and sometimes caused a lot of pain intentionally. By the ‘heroes’. (Akazukin to Mayoi no Mori)

3. Humiliation. Again, only of the heroine OF COURSE. There are so many here I can’t describe just one. How about the one where she’s made to wear a vibrator all day at school (could be vaginal or anal, I can’t really remember) and is actually incoherent by the time the ‘hero’ deigns to remove it (Jingi Naki Otome, this is also in a good route IIRC).

4. Sexual assault / Crime. It’s not romantic when men drug you, ok game makers?! Nor when they kidnap you, or give you things to erase your memory. (Yume o Mou Ichido, Tsundere S Otome and Sumire no Tsubomi, and Akazukin)

5. Virgin/whore dichotomy. I think game makers could do with a quick course in Feminism 101. Liking sex doesn’t make a woman evil. And if you’re making games…with sex in them…for WOMEN, maybe you should realize that! This is one of the most annoying things, because it feels like game writers are insulting their own customers. You’re interested in sex? You’re awful! You’re not pure as the driven snow? You deserve to be verbally abused at all times, especially sexytimes! This comes up when the heroine doesn’t want to admit that she wants sex, and if she ever does (even if it’s half-forced), ‘heros’ will call them really awful names – in the middle of sex! – and treat them like crap. (UH, almost all R-18 games? I remember it specifically in UTM and Ijiwaru My Master. Sugar Beans is awful for this)

6. Painful sex. You know, I’m just going to put it out there that even losing your virginity doesn’t have to hurt usually (depends on the person of course). And if I’m playing a fictional game, I’d rather have it be enjoyable. But often, even non-deflowering sex scenes are described as painful, and really, it’s not fun. Sex, especially fictional fantasy sex, should be good for everyone!!

7. Lack of women in charge. It seems like R-18 games right now are 95% made for ultra-hardcore submissives. Almost the only time I’ve seen the heroine dominate the hero ever is 1) when she turns evil (thanks again Sugar Beans, and Vampire Sweetie!) 2) when she tries a bit and then the guy turns the tables and ends up dominating her hardcore. I had high hopes for Tsundere S Otome, but apparently the level of S in heroines and S in heros is waaaay different. Like S in a heroine is when she’s not fawning over him, and S in a hero is when he ties the heroine up, blindfolds her, and then makes her cry.

8. Anal sex. I actually wouldn’t mind this one, apparently it’s quite common (?) and can be fun, but in otome games it NEVER IS. It’s painful and usually happens when the ‘hero’ is mad, and seems more about domination than pleasure. (Jingi Naki Otome)

9. Toys. Again, I wouldn’t mind it so much if it didn’t always lead to the heroine being humiliated, crying, or in pain. (Jingi Naki Otome again)

10. Sex scenes which are designed like hentai scenes. Who is the market for R-18 otome games? From a lot of the CGs, you’d think it was men, because the heroine is naked way more than the guys, and the sex scenes often show way more of the heroine than the hero, or are posed in a way that the heroine’s body is fully shown while the hero is mostly hidden. If I’m a heterosexual woman, I’d like to see more of the guy please! Same goes for voices.

11. And while we’re talking about voices. In way too many R-18 otome games, the guys show little to no emotion during sex, other than anger or sarcasm or smugness when they make the heroine ‘lose control’. It doesn’t even seem fun for them. Why do you want to have sex so much if you’re not enjoying it?? Sometimes they sound like they’re doing a science experiment instead of enjoying some hot sexytimes (Crazy Rabbits).

Alright, that’s all that I have for complaints (think it’s enough?.) It’s too bad, because I feel like love stories (which otome games are, supposedly) naturally lead into sexual relationships most of the time, especially if your main characters are adults. I just feel like the market for otome games which show sexual relationships along with the ‘falling in love’ stage are really lacking in quality.

Apparently, the romance novel industry was in a similar situation around the 70′s and 80′s (backlash or something maybe?), with lots of rapey heroes and humiliation of the heroine, along with the condemnation of women who weren’t pure and innocent. That industry eventually matured and now there’s a huge variety, from totally PG to NC-17, with lots of positive, happy sexual relationships shown. Hopefully R-18 games will get there sometime.

In the meantime, I do have ideas on what games are LESS bad than most.

1. Of course, Tsubasa no Oka no Hime. This has no rape that I remember (I think I finished all but the old man’s route), almost no problems with humiliation, painful sex, or demonizing the heroine if/because she’s into sex. I love it. Plus the guys actually show emotion during the sex scenes, AND there is some genuine (light) domination by the heroine.

2. Some of Mirai’s older games I think were actually better at this (does that mean it’s getting worse??) Hoshi no Oujo ~Yoshitsune~ wasn’t too bad for humiliation and rape, in most of the routes. Just don’t go for the younger silver-haired brother, or Yoritomo’s bad route. Or Goshirakawa.

3. Another older game, Toiro Komachi. Not a great game, but most of the sex is consensual, except for that evil businessman. And the heroine isn’t a virgin, even though she’s single and unmarried!! Shock!!

4. Aromarie’s games, Gin no Kanmuri, Ao no Namida, and Tsuki no Kage (something I can’t remember, the name is long). Comparatively, there’s less rape(except for the blond guy in Tsuki, watch out for him), the heroine is less of a doormat, and the guys enjoy the sex. Also, no scenes that I can remember where there is unwanted anal/toys. Heroine is also not a virgin in both these games.

5. (edit) I haven’t played Dessert Love on the PC, but there’s no rape in that one. Another older game! This gives me a bad feeling about upcoming games…

Did I miss any (comparatively) good R-18 games? Do you totally disagree with what I’m saying? Let me know in the comments! And sorry if you’re not into/turned off R-18 games. Regular PG posting will resume on Wednesday.

Recently, I did something very bad. I got into Bleach. After reading the whole manga in a very short time period, I came to a few conclusions:

• Bleach, on the whole, is a waste of time to read, let alone watch(which I haven’t done but I hear there are filler arcs in addition to the overly long canon arcs);
• Kubo Tite is great at writing and drawing characters;
• Kubo Tite has some really interesting plot ideas; and
• Kubo Tite sucks at continuity and resolving plot arcs.

I can see how people reading little by little might not see it, but when you read everything at once the plot holes and such are pretty obvious.

What does this mean? Apart from the mess that is Bleach canon, which I may still read in bursts just to keep up, but will never defend, it means opportunity for fantastic fandom. Why? Because along with the enormous base of interesting characters that Kubo Tite made and gives only hints of interesting backstory for, there is also a ton of foreshadowing and plot points that are never dealt with, or dealt with in such a cursory/stupid way that they beg for a better treatment from fan artists/writers.

Anyways, I don’t usually go against canon in my shipping, because it’s just frustrating rooting for a couple that will never get their canon ending. However, in Bleach relationships are so vague that you can pretty much pick whatever couple you like. For me, I always was kind of annoyed by Ichigo – I liked him and Orihime, but in the last half or more of the series that doesn’t seem likely (and even if it ends up that way, I don’t think it should), and his personality is underdeveloped in romance, so it almost feels weird to ship him with anyone. And anyways, there are much more interesting pairings to explore – my favourite are (don’t laugh) Orihime and Ulquiorra, and Orihime and Grimmjow. Two pairings that are almost totally impossible, yet I love them because before Tito Kube wrote the horrible (IMO) endings of their character arcs, I could totally see them developing a relationship with her in various shoujo/otome plotastic ways. So I’ve been having some fun exploring fanfic and fanart of these pairings, and can I just say, I’m so happy to live in a time when fandom is so big that almost everything has a niche fandom?

 
Anyways, for anyone strange enough to also enjoy Ulquihime, here are some good links:
Fanart:
http://tricktrap.sakura.ne.jp/top/index.htm
Fanvid　（fans of Utena will probably enjoy this too):
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8967981

Hilarious vid if you can read Japanese:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm4996194

Bittersweet fanvid, Japanese not needed but spoilers for the end of the arc
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm14731692

Cute fanart

http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=manga&illust_id=25580223

Gorgeous fanart (was missing this link before):

And yay, a picture that I would totally love to read/watch more of!
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=21369043
This artist does a bunch of great Ulquihime (ウル織) art.

Some fun 4-coma manga:
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=20015057

Sorry for the non-otome post, this pairing has just sucked me in recently. When I’m not playing FFVI (finally!) or Renai Banchou 2, I’m checking out pixiv and nicovideo and AO3 way too much. I think I’ve seen most of what’s out there – online at least, there is TONS of doujinshi.

Tokyo Demons is only the first volume of a trilogy, and it’s almost done – I believe Chapter 8 is the final chapter, and it’s mostly up. There is actually a Kickstarter online to fund Book 2 – more money means the novel and audio drama are done faster because they can take time off from work to write, plus giving some breathing room for art, sound effects, and lots of other fun stuff (including getting started on Book 3!).

I thought I’d do a little interview with Lianne and Rebecca to provide some teaser info and background on the characters and story.

===

ED: What is Tokyo Demons?
Lianne Sentar (LS): It’s a serialized prose and dramatized audio book, in the Japanese light novel format, with manga style illustrations. It’s about supernatural teenagers in underground gang war in Tokyo. And the heroine turns into bees.

ED: Describe the main characters – Ayase (the main heroine), Jo (the main hero), Sachi and Kiyoshi (two kinda-main male characters)?
Rebecca Scoble (RS): Ayase is a very quiet introvert who turns into bees.
LS: She’s your standard mild-mannered shoujo heroine, but with tremendous battle capability.
RS: And Jo is a likeable asshole and a vain pickpocket with street smarts.
LS: He’s a slick street kid who’s self-centred and cowardly. Sachi is basically the third wheel love interest from a shoujo manga for 12-year-old girls – the “genki” upbeat guy with his own secret power. And Kiyoshi is the damsel in distress. (laughs)

ED: What’s the basic story?
LS: The characters live parallel but separate lives, but are brought together through crazy circumstance. Both Ayase and Jo are loners for different reasons, and Tokyo Demons, the first book especially, is about them learning to work with other people and each other. It’s basically a coming of age story.

ED: Describe the current situation in Tokyo at the start of TD.
LS: There’s a web of different organizations, some driven by supernatural powers or superhuman drugs, and Ayase and Jo get pulled into things as a power struggle comes to a head.

ED: Okay, tell us about some of the different groups.
RS and LS:
Byakko: one of the street gangs, mostly high school kids. They’re into petty theft.
Seiryuu: Byakko’s rival gang, also mostly high school kids.
Core: A mysterious crime syndicate that controls its members with a certain steroid-like drug.
The Church: A multifaith organization that uses its knowledge of supernatural phenomena to deal with threats. Some operatives have been sent to Tokyo to deal with the rise of Core.

Kiri: We can’t tell you anything about them without spoiling everything.

ED: Describe the relationships. (Note: there’s a pretty cool relationship chart on the website for all of us who like diagrams )
LS: Ayase gets trapped between lots of men, and there is lots of romantic tension. It’s complicated.
RS: Jo is in love with himself. (lots of laughter)

LS: Ayase and Jo are based on shoujo leads and shounen leads. Shoujo (Ayase) is full of tangled romantic relationships, and shounen (Jo) is mostly goal-oriented. The first half of Tokyo Demons: Book 1 is more about Ayase developing, while the second half has more development for Jo. Jo and Ayase work together – we were trying to combine the best of shoujo and shounen, and improve on their weaknesses (eg. having a more cynical, self-aware and powerful heroine than most shoujo, and a smarter hero than most shounen).

ED: Where did the idea for TD come from?

LS: We first designed it ten years ago. It was a combined effort with Rebecca and our friend Adam Ford. Rebecca designed Ayase, Adam designed Jo, and I designed the world. We created the story together.

===

I hardly ever (once a year maybe?) read fiction online (nowadays most of my reading is done on the PSP ;P) but I strongly recommend trying out Tokyo Demons. It has a strong plot – there are some things I only know because I get insider knowledge but I can’t wait for the fans to figure them out from the foreshadowing. The characters are also well-written – Ayase is awesome, and I can’t help but like Jo even though he is totally a cocky teenage boy. I read most of the book before first listening to the audio drama, but now I can’t wait for the next chapter to come out – it’s excellent, and it just keeps getting better.

So check the website out! If you want to know more before jumping in, there are teasers, trailers, extras, – and then the novel and drama will pull you in and never let you go (mwahahaha!).

Kickstarter vid and general awesome rundown of Tokyo Demons

And I’d love to hear what you think about it – so to encourage you, I’m going to give away three of the bookmarks available with rem’s lovely art on them to commenters on this post – if there are lots then I’ll take the first three who correctly answer the following:

1. What is the name of Ayase and Jo’s high school?
2. Who does Kiyoshi like?
3. (Advanced) Who is the leader of Byakko?

And you can pick whichever bookmark you like and I’ll send it to you, postage included.

[Edit: I realized after seeing the first comment that I can't approve any till all three winners are there, because otherwise someone could copy answers! So I'll wait a day or two before approving the current comments, but I do see them!]

Party games! I’m thinking of putting out my only “party” otome game (now I wish I’d bought the Hakuoki one!) but I’ve never actually played it.

First, Hakuoki Yuugiroku – after the 1.5 minute mark it shows more of the games:

And B’s Log Party, which I have:

Hah, does anyone remember Hanayoi Romanesque Ai to Kanashimi: Sore wa Kimi no Tame no Aria? It was interesting.

I thought Takuyo Mix Box would be good too, but it seems that it’s only an intro of several of their games. Too bad, because their games have some fun mini-games.

Speaking of Hiiro no Kakera (you watched the last vid right?), my friend reminded me of the futuristic Hiiro no Kakera last night. For anyone who’s played Hiiro no Kakera, the seiyuu for #1 and #4 are the same, but they REALLY change their voices (except Sugita, his is similar ^_^). I remembered a vid I saw that actually shows their voices to compare – I wish the clips were a little longer, but it does the job.

Hiiro no Kakera Koe Kurabe

Lastly, did anyone ever watch Rurouni Kenshin? It was one of the first anime I really got into, and I got ALL the fansubs – way back when they were on VHS! Picture my shock when I hear that, after all this time, they’re making a live-action movie for it. And even more shocking, it looks like it might be decent!

Kenshin movie trailer

I also found a bunch of Hakuoki fan vids, I might put some up later, although most require Japanese ability to understand.

You can either download it by right-clicking or left-click, and it will open in your browser. Let me know if you enjoy it!

Update: BTW, I saw this interview of the script rewriter that might explain Anne’s question about Hijikata.

First of all, even in Japan otome games are really fairly new. Though Angelique came out in 1994, it wasn’t until around 2005 that otome games started to come out regularly, with established brands and creators. That means that even though we as otome gamers might wonder why a breakout could happen now, the genre is really just maturing now.

Also, I feel like otome games are not just for women who want romance, but also women who just want something made for them – with the female gaze in mind. And recently the female gaze has been getting a lot of attention, growing from BL and shoujo and the slash community into anime, and now into Western mainstream film and TV. A lot of otome games aren’t heavy-handed with the romance (part of this is due to the young target audience and characters, but whatever), and I could easily see women, who are still a growing share of the gaming market in general, embracing otome games not only for the romance but for the overall atmosphere that they’re made for them.

One of the points brought up in the article was that bishoujo games(1 male/many females harem games) had a few localizations that didn’t do very well, so otome games might not either. To rebut this, let me throw a few stats at you:

From RWA – Romance Writers of America – Industry Statistics:

2010 Romance Fiction Sales in Comparison (ed: this is as a share of all fiction)
(source: Simba Information)

• Romance: $1.358 billion
• Religion/inspirational: $759 million
• Mystery: $682 million
• Science fiction/fantasy: $559 million
• Classic literary fiction: $455 million

I got into otome gaming not only because I love playing videogames, but because I love romance and am used to buying romance novels. Culturally, women are about a thousand times more likely to buy a piece of romantic fiction, whether it’s a novel, movie, or a game, than men. In 2010, romance as a genre sold almost TWICE as much as its closest competitor, and overall was 36% of the fiction market. That is a huge number yo! And most romance is bought by women. So…I really believe that otome games might succeed where bishoujo didn’t.

And to finish, I checked out Hakuoki’s Amazon.com rankings. The first thing that surprised me was that the limited edition is doing better than the regular edition! Aksys definitely hit the right price point there, I think. And it’s currently in the top spot for Adventure PSP games!! However, looking at the other games in the category, there’s not much new there. In total videogames it’s #784. Now that sounds really low, but taking a look at the top 100, a lot of those are actually accessories >.>;; Hard to tell what it really means.

Anyways, of course I want Hakuoki to do well so more otome games are localized, and so I’m inclined to be optimistic, but I really feel otome games have a chance in the Western market. Now I have to go and plan my Hakuoki party!

Now, one of the simplest ways if you’re ok with asking people directions (and they either don’t know, or you’re shy about asking where Otome Road or animate is), is to ask how to get to Tokyu Hands. The Tokyu Hands store is a hop skip and a jump away from Otome Road, just on the near side of the highway overpass.

If you’d rather find it yourself, here’s a guide.

First, a linkie to a Google Map of walking to the Ikebukuro Animate. If this is enough, fantastic. However, when I went, I had the Otome Shopping Guide with a diagram that looked pretty similar to this, and I TOTALLY got lost. Partly my own fault for thinking I could wander around and find it.

Anyways, start off in Ikebukuro station. Depending on which train/subway line you take it will be different places, but once you exit you’ll likely be underground. Now, if you can, use exit 35. This is the closest to the street you need to go down to get to Otome Road. It may feel like you’re walking underground forever, but it makes things easier!

Exit 35.
If you can’t, you may end up going out the main entrance. You want to cross the big road in front of you, and start going the road that looks like this.

The red box is the Exit 35, you want to be on that side of the road. Notice on top of the building above it, the red cube with the Bic Camera (in Japanese) on it.

Now,once you get to exit 35, turn around and look back, you should see something like this:

Tuen back around and continue going down this street, but not far. There will be a crosswalk, and two roads going off to the left. Don’t go down the first one, but the second – the Lotteria should be on your left.

Leading up to the turnoff.

See the red box? That’s the Lotteria, you should go on the road to the right of it.
 
Now if you see this before you, you’re practically there!

Lotteria on the left, Sanrio on the right. Now just keep walking down this road, past a Denny’s:

Past KFC…

Past Book Off (it took me a while to find this as well, since in addition to being recessed the sign is orange instead of yellow!):

Actually if you have time check the Book Off out, it`s pretty good.

And finally you`ll get to Tokyu Hands – almost there!

Now, see the overpass? You’re going to go under that, and get to that glass building, the Toyota Amlux building..

(This pic is shown from where you end up across the street.) Admire the cars inside – just kidding, we have otome shopping to do! Now at this point, you can either go straight from the crosswalk, or you can turn right. Both choices are good, but I’m going to go right. Just ‘cuz. So follow those mini trucks!

Hmm, what’s this 7 story building? It’s Animate! You have now arrived at Otome Road, dance, jump for joy, whatever you feel like!
Now, Otome Road can both feel small and big. When you first see it, it seems small. Yay an animate, yay a K Books. But don’t be fooled. Let’s take a tour of all the otome shops (or at least the ones I went to).
Once you’re done with Animate, keep going down the same road. Two doors down past a ramen shop, there’s Lashinbang:

If you find out what the deal is with the name, please tell me. This has games, DVDs and CDs, and I’m not even sure what they have on the second floor.
And look what’s right beside it! K-Books Anime. Enjoy this as well.
You may be thinking, “Is this it? Is this all of Otome Road Lijaka?” NO. NOT AT ALL.
Continue down the road.

I didn’t go into this K Books, because I think it’s mostly cosplay and I was on a serious game mission. But I’d love to go and explore. And hmm, I see a red sign on the right, what could that be?

Hm still can’t see very well.

Oh yes, the holy of holies for doujinshi, Mandarake. This may not be the multi-story monstrosity in Akihabara, but it is almost ALL for women. Rock on.
You may feel an urge to stop here. Animate, Lashinbang, K Books Anime and Premium, and Mandarake can take quite a bit of time. It seems like this might be the end. But I think we should keep going. Don’t turn around (in fact I would save Mandarake for later to browse at leisure), but keep going down the same road.

Focus on the red box. Let’s get closer…

K Books Doujin. This is the ONLY place I found doujin otome games. They had one small shelf upstairs for games, and I found them there. If I could go back right now, that’s one of the first places I’d go.
Surely, you’re thinking, that must be it? But don’t you feel like something’s missing? I can’t quite place it, so let’s go down just a little further.

K Books Comic. Just in case you haven’t gotten enough otome stuff, this can probably fill some empty spots in your bag (and empty some of your wallet). They had back issues of otome gaming mags here…very tempting.

So those are the stores that I found on Otome Road. Mandarake and K Books Doujin alone took hours of my time, and I think I ended up visiting Otome Road three or four times (in four days, I was getting a little embarrassed by the end because they recognized me).

If anyone is heading to Tokyo, I hope they find this useful – I wasted hours looking for Otome Road, but once you figure out the basics it’s very close to the station, and oh, such awesome shopping!

I did find THIS: Japan Otome Festival 2, happening late February.

Old-school Angelique!

I know there are lots of events for otome games in Japan, though I’ve never been to one. This one though, is a collaboration between Neoromance and Otomate and B’s Log, so it’s pretty big. It’s basically a two-day stage show, with a HUGE number of seiyuu doing live sketches in character, songs, and some discussion (in their own personas).

Here’s the list of seiyuu (and the characters they’ll be performing as underneath):

伊藤健太郎 Kentaro Ito
土浦梁太郎（金色のコルダ）

井上和彦 Kazuhiko Inoue
橘 友雅（遙かなる時空の中で）/ 梶原景時（遙かなる時空の中で３）

岡野浩介 Kousuke Okano
鴉取真弘（緋色の欠片）

置鮎龍太郎 Ryotaro Okiayu
アクラム（遙かなる時空の中で）/ 白龍（遙かなる時空の中で３）

下野 紘 Hiro Shimono
桐生 祟（遙かなる時空の中で５）/ ルシア（猛獣使いと王子様）

関 智一 Tomokazu Seki
森村天真（遙かなる時空の中で）/ 源九郎義経（遙かなる時空の中で３）

高橋直純 Naozumi Takahashi
イノリ（遙かなる時空の中で）/ ヒノエ（遙かなる時空の中で３）

高橋広樹 Hiroki Takahashi
レイン（ネオ アンジェリーク）

津田健次郎 Kenjiro Tsuda
風間千景（薄桜鬼）/ 無責任番長（ビーズログTV 恋愛番長）

寺島拓篤 Takuma Terashima
桐生 瞬（遙かなる時空の中で５）/ シルビオ（猛獣使いと王子様）/ ヤス（恋愛番長 命短し、恋せよ乙女! Love is Power）/ 貴樹（闇の皇太子）

鳥海浩輔 Kohsuke Toriumi
藤原泰衡（遙かなる時空の中で３）/ 英 円／ビショップ（CLOCK ZERO〜終焉の一秒〜）/ 斎藤 一（薄桜鬼）/ セクシー番長（恋愛番長 命短し、恋せよ乙女! Love is Power）

浪川大輔 Daisuke Namikawa
海棠鷹斗／神賀旭（CLOCK ZERO〜終焉の一秒〜）

成田 剣 Ken Narita
アリオス（アンジェリーク）/ レヴィアス（アンジェリーク 魔恋の六騎士）

野宮一範 Kazunori Nomiya
狗谷 遼（緋色の欠片）

平川大輔 Daisuke Hirakawa
ベルナール（ネオ アンジェリーク）/ 大蛇 卓（緋色の欠片）

堀内賢雄 Kenyu Horiuchi
オスカー（アンジェリーク）/ 闇皇<御門>（闇の皇太子）

前野智昭 Tomoaki Maeno
不動翔麻（100万人の金色のコルダ）/ ヨハネ（アンジェリーク 魔恋の六騎士）/ 加納理一郎／放浪者（CLOCK ZERO〜終焉の一秒〜）

森川智之 Toshiyuki Morikawa
エルンスト（アンジェリーク）/ カイン（アンジェリーク 魔恋の六騎士）/ ホスト番長（恋愛番長２ MidnightLesson!!!）/ 安倍晴明（闇の皇太子）

森久保祥太郎 Showtaro Morikubo
沖田総司（薄桜鬼）/ ジョヴァンニ（アンジェリーク 魔恋の六騎士）/ 恋愛番長（恋愛番長 命短し、恋せよ乙女! Love is Power）

森田成一 Masakazu Morita
火原和樹（100万人の金色のコルダ）

吉野裕行 Hiroyuki Yoshino
藤堂平助（薄桜鬼）/ ヤンキー番長（恋愛番長２ MidnightLesson!!!）

代永 翼 Tsubasa Yonaga
天神 后（闇の皇太子）

Huge, right? For this event, they do 4 shows, 2 each day, and each one focuses on different titles. Tickets range from Y4800 to Y8800, holy expensive! But I guess for something that’s so rare, maybe it’s worth it. I’ve seen DVDs of these events as well, I wish I’d gotten them when I saw them. I wonder if they sometimes use the sketches later in drama CDs or something – it seems like a waste not to.

Anyways, I just saw this while I was lamenting the delay of B’s Log and thought I’d introduce one more thing we miss out on outside of Japan

Silvio from Beastmaster (CV: Terajima Takuma)

Basic overview of the time period is that it’s the end of the Han Dynasty, a 400-year reign of awesome like the Roman Empire, and eunuchs and warlords have taken too much power from the throne, leaving the masses to be oppressed. The droughts and famines really aren’t helping. Suffering peasants join a former-official-turned-religious-zealot named Zhang Jue (often romanized as Zhang Jiao for some reason) and form the Yellow Turban Rebellion to take down the Han. Warlords assemble to repulse the movement, several (Cao Cao and Liu Bei are among the most important later) proving themselves capable and gaining official positions as rewards. The warlord Dong Zhuo is a jerk and decides to take the last Han Emperor and make him into a puppet ruler. The other generals assemble once again and try to take him down while carving out their own spheres of influence. Dong Zhuo eventually gets assassinated by Lu Bu, but the power of the dynasty has been irrevocably lost, and the empire devolves into a bunch of states ruled by warlords beating the crap out of each other, with three kingdoms eventually becoming the main contenders for the imperial throne.

Anyway, quick rundown of major players in otome games (there’s a ton of stuff so don’t worry too much about unfamiliar names and such; I am always willing to sperg more about the Three Kingdoms):

Okay, to fix any confusion, Sangokuren used the style names of all the characters (excepting the women, who probably had them but generally weren’t recorded). Style names (generally designated with 字, read azana) were given to adults when they came of age in China (not unlike something the Romans did, I think)(Ed. also the Japanese, after guys came of age (genpuku) they got a different name e.g. Oda Nobunaga’s childhood name was Kippoushi) and were used in public settings as signs of respect. Japan is weird about style names in their Sanguo stuff; when used in manga and games, they often take on a more private/affectionate nuance, so I’m not 100% sure about this. Buuut it’s not like historiocity is a big concern for this stuff…

Cao Cao, styled Mengde (Moutoku) is the big badass of the Sanguo period. He was a brilliant politician, cunning strategist and gifted poet who knew how to surround himself with the best men available. He eventually gained and held sway over most of Northern Imperial China (much smaller than modern China but still pretty huge) as the leader of the kingdom of Wei. He was also kind of a huge jerk (for pragmatic reasons, but still), which gets played up in just about every media representation of him ever. (He is one of my very favorites. Even though I have like 20 favorites in the Sanguo period alone.)

Generals operating under him include his cousin Xiahou Dun, styled Yuanrang (Genjou, aka the guy they’re actually adding a “route” for in the PSP version because he is so awesome), best known for eating his own eye out of filial piety in operas/the novel, Xiahou Yuan (Dun’s agile archer cousin, featured in Jyuuzaengi), Xun Yu Wenruo (Bunjaku, who was one of Cao Cao’s most loyal and able administrators and secretly Miles Edgeworth if Sangokuren is to be believed [don't ask]), Zhang Liao Wenyuan (don’t think you’ll have to know it, but Bun’en), who almost captured Sun Quan singlehandedly at the battle of Hefei, and many, many more. The eventual patriarch of the victorious Sima clan, Sima Yi, worked under him and eventually usurped the throne from his descendents (who themselves had stolen it from the last of the Han).

Liu Bei Xuande (Gentoku) kind of came out of nowhere as the leader of a volunteer army against the Yellow Turban rebels. He claimed to be a descendent of a Former Han prince, and thus tried to restore the Han throne, eventually founding the southwestern empire of Shu-Han around what is now Sichuan. His particularly Chinese sense of honor and humanity (meaning these virtues don’t necessarily match up with modern Western interpretations of the words) are played up in media to contrast with the “wicked” Cao Cao. (One of his most popular scenes is when he actually takes his people with him by their request while being chased out of his domain by Cao Cao.) He’s also often presented as kind of a naïve dweeby coward, but historically was pretty damn savvy. He got married off to Sun Ren (aka Sun Shang Xiang) as part of a political ploy, but they split up when tensions between Wu and Shu got too strong.

In operas and the in novel, Liu Bei swore brotherhood with Guan Yu Yunchang (Unchou) and Zhang Fei Yide (Yokutoku), both of whom were supposedly warriors worth a thousand men. Guan Yu was known for his long, beautiful beard (Cao Cao seriously gives him a beard bag in the novel) and is often depicted with a guandao (the big blade-onna-stick) and the horse Red Hare. He actually ended up becoming by far the most popular of the brotherhood, and is now one of the most worshipped gods in China.

Zhang Fei got drunk a lot, was really strong, and that’s pretty much all you need to know. Oh, and in the novel, he held off thousands of soldiers at Changban Bridge so his brother could high-tail it away from Cao Cao. (I like him okay, but he was seriously as dumb as a brick at times.)(Ed. Figures he’s one of my favourites, I tend to love strong dumb guys in otome games)
Zhao Yun Zilong (Shiryuu) operated under both Yuan Shao (I think) and Gongsun Zan (both of whom were warlords eventually defeated before the three main kingdoms were established) before pledging himself to Liu Bei’s cause. He was pretty boss in both the novels and history, being both a scary competent tactician and an excellent warrior.

The most amazingly overpowered character in games tends to be Zhuge Liang Kongming (Koumei), who supposedly agreed to join Liu Bei after the latter visited him three times and turned Liu Bei into a viable contender. Great strategist (sadly a bit overrated in general) but where he really shone was in domestic administration. Also had a pretty awesome wife by all accounts (Lady Huang was so smart she apparently made cooking robots and stuff), so I like him a lot.

Wu is my least favorite kingdom, so I can’t give you much info on them that isn’t laced with “and I hate this guy so much because blah blah blah.” (For me, Shu will always be the best kingdom, followed closely by Wei, so Wu is my default bad guy.) The ruler Sun Quan Zhongmou (Chuubou) was the little brother of the man who actually founded Wu, and Zhou Yu Gongjin (Koukin) was a brilliant strategist who gets character-assassinated in the novel (which I find pretty hilarious but your mileage may vary). Zhou Yu is always popular because he was historically known to be very attractive, but he’s no Sima Yi or Kongming because he’s dead by age 35. Lu Su was the best character not named Lu Meng and I almost wish he had a real route.

Unaffiliated people you may see: Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were warlords (either brothers or cousins) who wanted the imperial throne for themselves. Lu Bu Fengxian was a Zhang-Fei-esque asshole who betrayed everyone he ever served but was such a badass warrior that nobody could call him out on it. Dong Zhuo was a tyrant who was later betrayed by Lu Bu and totally deserved it. Diao Chan as far as we know didn’t actually exist, but in the novel managed to move Lu Bu to betray Dong Zhuo.

For what it’s worth: Guan Yu and Cao Cao have an interesting relationship (no not like that… okay maybe) in the novel, meaning that there is fodder galore there for Jyuuzaengi. Actually, they chose the capturables really well, since they all have some interaction with Guan Yu in the novel. (I’m especially looking forward to Zhang Liao’s route since he was a certified badass. Though maybe not as much now that I know he’s played by Yusa Kouji… D:)(Ed. Hey now, I love Yusa Kouji! Mostly because of Guido in Lucian Bee’s.)

Thanks so much Julia for this, it makes me love Sangoku even more, and I’m looking forward to Jyuuzaengi! Yay historical games!

and

Girl’s Style.

I’m missing a couple of each, you can see the backnumbers for B’s Log on their website, I’m missing an UtaPuri and a Hakuouki cover. The two Girl’s Style I’m missing are a Hakuouki and an Arcana Famiglia.

I actually thought Hakuouki took up a sizable amount of cover space, and it does, but really, not much more than Starry Sky or Uta no Prince-sama. Oh wait, now I’ve figured it out, it was 2010 that Hakuouki took all the cover space (half the B’s Logs sold in 2010 had Hakuouki covers). And Harutoki 5 took 4 covers, wow!

Now if we take a look at the popularity polls inside, an interesting shift took place. In the Jan 2010 issue of B’s Log (sold in December), the top otome characters looked like this:
10. Mikoshiba Kyousuke (Storm Lover)
9. Shitara Seiji (TokimemoGS 3)
8. Sakurai Kouichi (TokimemoGS 3)
7. Sakurai Ruka (TokimemoGS 3)
6. Kazama Chikage (Hakuouki)
5. Toudou Heisuke (Hakuouki)
4. Harada Sanosuke (Hakuouki)
3. Hijikata Toshizou (Hakuouki)
2. Okita Souji (Hakuouki)
1. Saitou Hajime (Hakuouki)

Take a look at that, willya? Aksys chose well But all the same, it was a little…monotonous. (By the way, if you had to pick your fave guy from Hakuouki who would it be? I’ve only played Hijikata, Saitou, and Chikage, but Chikage was my favourite of those. Saitou was also great. Hijikata I liked, but it had very little romance. Aaaanyways)

In the July issue, Hakuouki still had the top 5 spots, though poor Heisuke had fallen to 8th position.

Now here’s the top 10 from this year’s Jan issue:
10. Otoya (UtaPuri)
9. Sanosuke (Hakuouki)
8. Masato (UtaPuri)
7. Kazuki (Starry Sky)
6. Ryuutarou (Starry Sky)
5. Azusa (Starry Sky)
4. Souji (Hakuouki)
3. Tokiya (UtaPuri)
2. Shou (UtaPuri)
1. Saitou Hajime (Hakuouki)

Saitou is still on top, but the rest are much more spread out. The numbers are also much more even. But considering Hakuouki has been dominating for more than a year, that’s pretty good (seriously, the original game came out on the PS2 in Sep 2008. 2008!!!)

On a side note, the top three characters in Boys Love last year were Akira (Togainu no Chi), Giancarlo (Lucky Dog) and Gunji (Lucky Dog). This year they’re Giancarlo, Akira, and Bernard (Lucky Dog).

Now looking at the games released, I checked last year’s post – 20 originals and 10/11 fandisks last year. This year combining consoles and PC games there were 30 original games and 11 fandisks, and a bunch of adaptations and ports. So the commercial otome release list grew by almost a third this year, wow! That makes me really happy.

However, I can’t help but feel like there was less variety in gameplay this year. Last year Tokimemo GS3, WagaHana, Steelwood, Love Root Zero (with all its problems), UtaPuri, and Storm Lover all had significant gameplay. This year there was Mother Goose (with all ITS problems), and Harutoki 5, FabStyle, and I think Miss Princess? I’m hoping that some of the ones I didn’t get to like Arcana Famiglia also had some, but it seems like a lot less and I can’t think that’s a good thing. Maybe that trend will reverse in 2012.

Now all that’s left is to JUDGE (my favourite part). I’ll probably do that in a couple weeks, because honestly I’m still working on a bunch of new releases! I feel like I should play Arcana Famiglia before I decide, does anyone recommend it?