It seems a little weird and funny, but at least its diversity exceeds that of the 2016 Oscars. From a game where highschool girls literally fight to the death for your love (‘School Days’), to a game where you’re fighting aliens and fighting for love (‘Muv-Luv’), eroge explores it all. There are even games for those who just really adore animals and want to get down and intimate with cat-girls (‘Neko-Para’). Don’t worry, girls too can be protagonists; a popular bishōjo (‘Hateful Boyfriend’) allows the player to mingle and woo some choice pigeons. Feeling a little competitive? For those more active players, there’s a game that keeps helpful statistics (high scores, records) for every time that you bop the baloney, as some would say. Migite ga tomaranai boku to, osanajimi no shimai. Delving into this wacky new world, it’s easy to make negative assumptions about eroge. After all, how could glorified animated pornography contribute anything more than badly written articles littered with hilarious masturbation euphemisms? So, in the name of journalism I took one for the team and looked into VNstat’s most popular game, ‘Katawa Shoujo’. ‘Katawa Shoujo’ is a game developed by 4chan designers from a sketch posted on an image board. At this point, after reading the words on 4chan in conjunction with the genre of eroge, I felt an uneasy feeling – a feeling similar to Mexican Mondays. The game is a bishōjo about a young guy and five different girls, all with disabilities. Taken aback, a hint of outrage and just a tinge of disbelief probably covered my face. But then again, it was done so well. There was nothing tasteless about it: the characterisation, the story, and up to the crux moment of an eroge, the dreaded H-scenes stood out as artistic interpretations of an intimate situation. It wasn’t pity porn. The music was so sophisticated and emotional that I truly felt my masculinity was in dire crisis mode. I couldn’t help but fall in love with the game. At this point I was watching porn just for the storyline. And this is where it hit me. Sure, I could poke fun at the silliness of specific eroge, but I can’t devalue the creativity and talent of its designers and writers. If one can look past the creepy taboo themes, and the unnatural bounce physics, bishōjo and eroge are all still human experiences at heart, only with a little more weird and whiskers.
ARTWORK : MIRANDA HUANG
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