My Little Visual Novel Can't Be This Homophobic (Or How Queerness Continues To Be the Butt of the Joke in Japan)

[Shizuka]

I had the game on my radar at some point mostly because of the art but I have a huge VN backlog and no time for shit like this. Also, is this supposed to be the male version of a 1000 year old loli dragon?

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Yes, it's a play on the one thousand years old dragon loli trope.

 

[Shizuka]

Now it's Kotaku bringing up another issue with the game.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

How...how did this manage to get a release when Omega Labyrinth was canceled and even Senran Kagura was censored?

 

[Tohsaka]

How...how did this manage to get a release when Omega Labyrinth was canceled and even Senran Kagura was censored?

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Probably because this game doesn't actually show any sexual CG scenes or anything about this character, as far as I know. It seems limited to suggestive dialogue, though I haven't played it. I lost interest when I found out that Pqube decided to localize the outdated version of the game instead of the one that has a lot more content, for whatever reason.

 

[Kewlmyc]

How...how did this manage to get a release when Omega Labyrinth was canceled and even Senran Kagura was censored?

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The gameplay in those, or at least some gameplay elements, contain blatant sexual content where you feel up women.

This is creepy/homophobic dialogue, which is less obvious than sexual gameplay.

 

[Deleted member 35077]

How...how did this manage to get a release when Omega Labyrinth was canceled and even Senran Kagura was censored?

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Because in both those instances there exist a touching minigame where you can touch the characters, and it was removed in SK. Otherwise, the fanservice, such as revealing outfits, are the same as past games. Here, it seems to be all dialogue.

 

[Odesu]

I don't know what offends me more, the rampant homophobia or the TERRIBLE localisation.

OK, I lied, it's the homophobia. But fuck me, what kind of 15-year-old fansubber translated this?

 

[CenturionNami]

I always love how these games pretend to star social misfits yet they have the most conservative social conformity shit ever. I'll stick to Yuri and Otome games.

 

[Mars People]

Censoring that kind of shit shouldn't be the answer. All it does is hide the ugliness of the creators, and allows them to keep normalizing that kind of thing in their country of origin. It allows foreign consumers to ignore the bigotry just so they can enjoy their game. If the publisher feels like that kind of content does not represent them, they should release a note stating why they will refuse to work with that developer, and warning others to do so as well. By hiding it, all they do is profit from the work of a group of open bigots.

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Exactly.
The problematic elements should be laid bare for people to see. Only then will people see them and complain and maybe there is a small chance of things changing.
If the bad stuff is taken out or censored how will people give a damn about it?
It has to be seen.

Damn I didnt realise I had already made the same point in this thread. Whoops.

 

[Theswweet]

My review is up, too.