#they literally all like the mc. it's an otome game. that's the whole bit

[ikemenomegas]

Having a resurgence in anime rewatches after nearly six years of watching k-dramas instead (blame bungou stray dogs, they haven't had a full season update since 2016 and until jjk I didn't see anything come out I wanted to watch) has been a trip. It's like being thrown full bodied through the looking glass to have a conversation with my thirteen year old self haha. Seeing as what I consider "old classics" includes Ouran Host Club, Hakuoki, Vampire Knight, Brave 10... maybe it's not such a mystery why we are here today... ^^'

[midnightsunnyday]

Thinking a bit about Mammon and what we know of him canonically, his behavior, values, principles, and conduct, and how they seem entirely different from what we know of his fanon interpretation.

Canon Mammon is…well, let’s just call a spade a spade, he’s a clown. The certified Butt-Monkey of the brothers, if something bad is going to happen, nine times out of ten, it’s going to happen to him. Dude is a truffle pig for trouble and for the most part, loves to sniff it out and roll in it.

Have the fans explain it, and Mammon is a saint who's never done anything wrong in his life ever, yet story-wise, Mammon’s downfalls and shortcomings are usually due to his own dubious inclinations, though to be fair, are a consequence of him being the literal physical manifestation of one of humanity’s sins: greed. We see this through his gambling habits, his tendency to engage in shady deals or practices, his lying, and his cheating, but what really gains him the ire of most of his siblings and others is his tendency to steal and sell any and everything he assumes may bring him a profit, regardless if the item is sentimental or not.

Needless to say, Mammon isn’t the most respected of his brothers, and they remind him of it every chance they get, specifically with the words “scumbag,” ‘moron,” “idiot,” “money-obsessed moron,” etc. Mammon even suffers for his actions physically, with Lucifer finding little issue in stringing him up and leaving him there to rot for a while.

There’s also the fact that in the first season of the OG game, like most of the brothers, Mammon is kind of an asshole. Your typical Tsundere archetype, his personality is initially brash and not too keen on learning of his forced role as a human attendant, constantly insulting the MC while bemoaning his position all the while, a position he almost fails in upholding more than once when the MC’s life is threatened.

Yet because this is an otome game, Mammon eventually begins to have feelings for the MC as soon as the fourth lesson, and that whole being your “first” thing holds a lot of weight to Mammon, so much so that he’ll bring it up repeatedly. He becomes a bit more clingy, vying for the MC’s attention, to the point where personal space is but a mere myth to this man.

For you see, beyond his salty attitude is a man with a huge heart. Canon Mammon is competent and capable of showing a surprising amount of wisdom, intelligence, strength, and kindness when he puts his mind to it (the man admits himself to being sensitive, after all).

Despite his shortcomings, there’s a reason Lucifer entrusted Mammon with the MC, as out of all of his siblings, he is the only character capable of keeping his “bloodlust” in check. And despite his flakiness at times, Lucifer relies heavily on Mammon to complete certain tasks, to the point where he’s accused of showing favoritism towards the secondborn. Speaking of which, that second-born title also includes his power level, having the ability to clearly fight and defend himself, yet choosing to either run or hide from altercations, if possible. It’s rare for him to get angry or fight back, which is why it’s so scary when he does.

More importantly, Mammon is completely and utterly in love with the MC. This is true for all the brothers, but Mammon is the most consistent, a constant in his character that never changes and is the main drive to his appeal imo. Unlike the other brothers, who seem to have interests and relationships outside of the MC, Mammon’s focus is single-targeted, and it’s one of the many reasons why he’s the most popular character in the game. There are no limitations to his affections. No scary or overly complicated parts to his character. We are his “first,” and that’s a comfortable place to be because regardless of what we do or how we look, Mammon isn’t one to give up and will literally fight, yell, and cry his way into your heart, whether you choose someone else or not.

However, you wouldn’t be able to tell this with Fanon Mammon, a soggy wad of therapy session tissues. He is an absolutely miserable wreck of a man. A traumatized, suicidal-inclined, helpless dude in need of a serious hug. A prone character to hurt/comfort fics, he's the trauma dumpster for the fans who like to project, which would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that these traits are sometimes treated as actual aspects of Mammon’s canon character. Fanon Mammon is essentially boiled down to his most pathetic traits, woobifying him. In fics where the brothers are present, such as Lucifer and Asmodeus, expect them to be written OOC to make Mammon appear even worse. In essense, Fanon Mammon not only has his complexity completely taken away, but takes away the complexity of everyone else around him in the process.

I'm not certain why this happens to Mammon more than other characters. Maybe because of his "kick the dog" status in canon, which causes people to sympathize with him more. And if you're someone who can relate to a lot of Mammon’s shortcomings, then that probably adds to his "woobie" nature.

And this isn't to say you can never go beyond canon and write Mammon any other way, yet it's like I've stated before, there's your headcanon and there's canon. You can think what you want, write what you want, yet something doesn't become a fact just because you want it to be/are emotional about it. And you also don't get the right to attack people for it.

Anyway, these are just things I've noticed about his fanon vs canon that I personally don't like, though opinions are always appreciated.

[wolfofcelestia]

I’ve noticed some criticism from players who played the game less then a week.

So basically complaints are :

The relationship pace is inconsistent

The mc is cringe and their dialogue choices are awful

Focuses more on fan services

Doesn’t have a good story plot

Imo I don’t get story plot complaint because we haven’t even began yet with the crazy stuff we basically in the “get to know them phase “

I feel like these really bad takes are only coming from people who don't know what otome games are. LADS has had huge exposure lately that anyone and everyone has taken a peek into the game and, if they aren't the target audience, they're gonna be loud about how this game isn't catering to them

But I feel like a big chunk of these people were drawn in by Sylus. They saw him, made their horrible takes about him, and started saying the entire game is bad due to them not understanding a single thing about Sylus's character or the game itself

>the relationship pace is inconsistent

This is just a newbie take not understanding the separation between the main story and "your" version of the boys in the cafe. Sylus's intro in the cafe was a little abrupt, I can say that, but aside from that, you'll start to see how they change when you raise their affinity levels. Of course, the people who shit on the game won't bother to play long enough to find out what the game really is about

So really, their opinions hold absolutely no weight or value here

>the MC is cringe

Honestly MC was one of the reasons why this game gave me a good first impression. It was when she threatened to leave Zayne on the road because he doubted her motorcycle driving skills. If people can't appreciate MC, they don't deserve to be in the fandom. Yeah I said it, I'm gatekeeping this game 😤

>doesn't have a good plot

This is definitely a sign of someone who tried the game out for a day or two, got stuck, then decided to yell about how shitty they think it is. The main story is time locked so it would take you about two weeks to read. But even then, the main story doesn't contain all of the story. I'm guessing people who complain about the story not being good never read any of the anecdotes or myth stories. Hell, even any of the cards

>focuses on fan service

I'm guessing that most of what they know about the game is from the fandom itself. Yes, we have a lot of thirsty fans here and we focus on what we want to do to them but... Honestly that's every fandom. And this is an otome that caters to the female gaze. If they actually learned about why we like the boys and why we thirst over them, they'll find full essays, analyses, and heartfelt love letters dedicated to the boys

But all they'll want to focus on is the boys in towels or something and complain about the game being too sexualized

Like. So we're gonna ignore all the games that cater to the male gaze huh? The moment a male character shows a bit of skin or does something suggestive, suddenly it's too sexualized? We're not in church here. God forbid women would want sexual fantasies with their romance fantasies too

If all we got was fanservice on pretty models with absolutely no personality, no lore, and no reason for us to be attached to them, this game would not be the huge success that it is today

If they don't appreciate media that's catered to the female gaze, there's literally a whole world full of other media out there for them to consume

Literally, just ignore and block all these bad takes. They're making themselves look like idiots for complaining about something they know nothing about. They'll step into a puddle and say "the ocean is shit" because they just want something to complain about

Especially when something is catered specifically to women

And especially when it's gaining huge success

[siennaditbot]

Been in a very visual novel/otome game/dating sim mood lately.

Started with Tears of Themis, got worse with this one Xiao x Lumine one on Itch.io, got even worse by some non Genshin related ones on the same site (Project Blue and Blooming Panic, eugh, I'm feeling sappy), and now I've been replaying one I got in 2015 I think

Too bad it's Amnesia:Memories.

I used to love the anime cuz, eugh, the character designs were so extra and I was like 16 and deep in the anime hole. Also Shin is so pretty and he's all black and red lol. I even made several Shin themes for my browser lol. These designs are so cursed btw. Thigh high boots, everything's ripped and the whole outfits probably take like hours to put on lol. Kinda cool but dumb.

I remember not being too happy with the game, though, and it took me until now to realize why.

Back then I only got 1 out of 5 good endings. Kent my beloved, no wonder I have fond memories of only him lol.

Going in again my main thoughts were "Shin's mean", "Toma's creepy and crazy", "Ikki's gross" and "don't care about Ukyo" buuuuuut

I still think Shin's mean, but now I kinda get it. He also softened in the good ending so I'll let it slide, but his constant boundary crossing makes him a bit iffy. And, unsurprisingly, I love his voice. Tetsuya Kakihara might always sound the same but eugh I love him anyway.

Toma freaks me out, can't trust him on any route. He literally puts MC in a dog cage cuz he's too overprotective. It's resolved in the good ending, but it's crazy enough for me to not be able to get over it. He's also a freak on Shin's route. Some might be into the yandere stuff but eh, not my thing.

I wanted to quickly get through Ikki's route before going for main man Kent, but turns out I actually really liked Ikki. Kinda worried that he might end up being my fav lol, I'm a sucker for the "playboy actually falls in love" stuff lol. Positively surprised.

Can't wait for Kent next time. I think he was a silly little math nerd who blushed a lot. Iirc he makes the player actually solve math problems lol. That's the way to my heart apparently xD Oh, I like his voice too, Akira Ishida. Not one of my favs but still.

Had to stop for tonight before starting Kent's route, and I finally unlocked Ukyo's, too. He seems like the meta guy (like Seven/707 in Mystic Messenger) and he pops in on every route talking about how "you probably don't remember me but be careful" and sometimes goes a bit crazy but I'm definitely interested to see how his good ending goes. Probably gonna end with me crying and wanting to hug him to make things better lol

Might even go for some of the bad and normal endings afterwards, who knows. Gonna ruin all the good vibes immediately xD

Anyway I don't think anyone's gonna read this but hey, it's there for those who might go through the game's tag soooo suffer!

[tmntxthings]

Dude your brain omg, I love Ouran and these all match up so perfectly!! Wtf?? I also feel like with comparing the boys to the hosts in OHSHC also helps us fit them into the different otome male love interest archetypes lol. Just everything about the original post you made and all this talking about all these different plot ideas is so fun. If I were to create an imaginary game summary, I think it would be something like:

"Moving to a new college in New York seemed like a death sentence but things take a turn for the unexpected when one of the most popular cliques on campus accept you as one of their own. Taking this gracious opportunity of allyship brings you into the eye of a storm when you uncover one of the world's greatest mysteries; Who or what stopped the world from ending almost 5 years ago?"

I just wrote this now lol, idk what I'm saying but I'm just having fun with it. What does it mean for this actual concept? No clue but I'd love to have it not just be a meet-cute school thing, it may a little bit of a cliché YA novel kind of thing(Normal Human(?)™️ gets dragged into magic bs and has to save the world now ig)but Gothic literature is just 😙👌 *chefs kiss* I love it.

evie, you’re a genius, a god damn GENIUS I TELL YOU <3 istg that was just perfect and you made that up on the fly?!

i agree not just a meet-cute but the whole sha-bang, yk how usually the reader/MC has crazy mystic abilities that they don’t know about, haven’t uncovered yet, maybe that’s the in to them helping the turtles since SPOILER ALERT kraang number two is still on earth & we all know how crazy dangerous she could be, her vengeance perhaps could be on a whole new level of life-threatening now that her brother isn’t there to tell her what to do?!

someone needs to get to crackin’ with this cause we are literally on fire right now!! Let’s see an alternate game summary might be:

In a world where mutants live alongside humans. You were just trying to keep a low profile in college, but who were you kidding, this was New York! Things take a complete turn when you meet your newfound friends ‘The Mad Dogs’ the most popular group on campus! When aliens start to track you down with threats to your life, you start to wonder if being friends with the turtles is safe? But how can you turn back now, especially with the undeniable chemistry sparking between you and a certain turtle~

idk how I feel about mines BUT yours is 🤌💋🤭 literally sounds like a professional game summary

[carcharsaur]

alright I finished another game, this time it's amnesia: crowd

^a succinct summary of my thoughts on this series as a whole this came out as a 2-in-1 pack on the switch last year, bundled with amnesia: later as both are follow-ups to the original amnesia: memories but I had to take a uh. almost 7 month break after finishing "later" because I literally have to build up an immunity to the parts of these games in particular that piss me off. but also I still really really like kent so I keep buying it LOL I'll put my deranged unfocused rambling under the cut though

my fav parts of this game were the "suspense" scenario things for ikki and kent, most the "work" scenarios and then like basically everything else is just "ehh" or actively grated me.... the after stories were weird also because some of them had to jump around to avoid overlapping with the after stories from "later" which for the most part I liked much better (for the characters I actually care about anyway). I'm too lazy to go into real gritty detail but a lot of stuff just felt regressive compared to the developments that happened in the first FD!?!? and I don't understand why.... it felt like suddenly they had to be a god-fearing christian game.. was there some controversy back in the day when they first were developing this for the vita LMAO it might just be I'm weary with it's... extremely stereotypical japanese 'demure woman vs voracious men' thing but it felt worse than normal. I think I might just spoiled from playing games that are as good as cupid parasite but also just most newer otome games being more comfortable with talking about sex in a way that doesn't feel fucking insane to me. there's making a nonsexual or asexual friendly mc/game and then there's "how are you alive" levels of airheaded unawareness that are just plainly grating.

I will hand it to this game that it finally did make my like ukyo more than I did through the first two games, where I thought he was just very "whatever" but despite the like... weirdass nature of "evil alter ego" they ended up resolving it in a way I think was pretty good and fully undid the initial game's thing about supernatural mental illness = inherent evil nature uh oh!!! but he still has hilarious joker mode sprites so it's still like. funny as hell but also taking itself seriously? at least I'm amused instead of completely checked out I still want toma to just die forever, hate his whole character and the dynamic he has with the heroine and I WONTTTT say more because I will write 3 paragraphs analyzing his character and tearing into how much I hate his fucking writing and how gross every bit of his execution feels. shin is still just unsatisfying as hell and actively frustrating at times (STOP BRINGING UP WHEN YOU WERE ALL 6 YEARS OLD YOU'RE LIKE 19-20 YEARS OLD MANN) also I'm still bearing a grudge on whoever did voice direction for the game because I'd never imagine kakihara would be so boring to listen to!!!!!! ikki was a little funny, sometimes good, but other times just... eyerolls forever and ever and less interesting than in the first FD and thennnn kent is still one of my fav LIs ever, to the point that I still don't know how someone that wrote him and his dynamic with the heroine and then also wrote the rest of these damn games... but his after story frustrated the fuck out of me. it wasn't necessarily ooc but just a couple of the narrative choices they made for it were unfitting and felt contradictory with the "later" route which is somehow still canon and so I was left kind of conflicted and frustrated with it.

the work scenarios were all cute though, and I enjoyed the really good side characters still being involved in the unlockable mini scenarios (except the New side character is just straight ass no question about it) but the minigames were tediously time consuming to get all of them unlocked =_= also kent was SO good in it that I wish his canon route had their coworker dynamic... instead of "math tutor to rival to lovers" LOL

and other than the ones I mentioned earlier, the "suspense" scenarios were just.... mehhh... and the fact I did enjoy kent and ikki's a lot leads me to think it's not just me. or it's just because I do not care for the other characters much LOL maybe both also the unlockable scene with orion, it's not outright 'wrong' sure but it's so fucking weird man. obviously gross bait. wish it wasn't there lmao

anyway taking a complete left turn, to me in my delusional mind palace they're a throuple with an adorable adopted child. or ikki is the mother👍

(the other half of this cg has all the other LIs pointedly avoiding holding hands with each other so this is real TO MEEE because ikki and kents dynamic is so fun forever also this:)

also, pointlessly, here's my fav clip

[kadythethief]

ok im posting some pics cause i wanna cope

was gonna rate the love interest maybe? eventually? but i can't even get into the game rn arghhhhhh

ok so of the five(?) love interests, i just....picked this one, i guess. idk. im a pit picky tbh but shove a chara with purple hair in front of me and i'll TAKE IT.

hello, yes, btw this might contain what you might consider spoilers. continue on your own risk

he's a vamp. and he's DUMBBBB. like eh. honestly regretted the route i took. he is kinda...distant. cold. kinda naggy sometimea. BIG old man energy. vamps, i guess.

i get that that's probably an otome-trope but like...BOO. not into it.

i know it probably won't happen in an otome named "magic! and the boys i like" but pls let me date amelie the catgirl. maybe it's bc her VA sounds the best? but she is just also rly cute 😤

mc meets the tanned werewolf who'd beat up the whole world up for you if you let him which is kinda funny tbh. didn't like him initially, especially cause he introduces himself to you by sneaking into your room through your window in the middle of the night

there's like an evil magic thing lurking around and you have to be guarded but the werewolf takes you to see a performance at a bar or something

when you return, the vamp's kinda mad at your recklessness but the werewolf says he was there to protect you or something and vamp gets kinda huffy and there's some jelly vibe tbh

which like

hahahah

yes. i wanna see more of that. i kinda wanna get under his skin a bit. i wanna vex the old man more. (his cards, contrary to his plot-personality seem very hot tbh looool)

but yeah the rest of the chapters were still locked at that point at like the last one ended literally at like a cliffhanger where they introduced the villain with major yandere vibes. it looked very interesting 👀👀👀👀👀. also he has purple hair.

(secret love interest route pls???????)

the game has very nice world building btw.

the love interests are of different races, all which attend the school. the werewolf LI owns the bar which formerly belonged to his father who's like a mafia boss and when he got into trouble with the school, they were all talking about his father's goons not just letting that stand and shit

there was some other stuff to illustrate the world building but again, im still currently locked out of the game via loading screen 😭

extra: the blonde love interest guides you around at school at first which totally bugs his chosen-by-their-families-fiancee who is also blonde, really popular, and tbh, per character design, really pretty tbh. she should be a love interest too.

unfortunately she seems to solely exist to be the jealous mean girl who will bully you (and your cat girl friend amelie (noooo leave my cat girl gf aloooone 😭😭)) for literally breathing around her husband-to-be

honestly the blonde love interest is so basic and such a trope...but idk, actually, right around when he tells you that actually, to the surprise of basically no one, he doesn't actually love his fiance and wants to break up with her, he also reveals actually you know each other from when you were children but unfortunately you don't seem to be able to remember due to what is implied to be a horrific, traumatic incident

.....it's not great. which is why i like to ignore it and imagine it never exists tbh.

things happen and you and your cat girl gf land in the hospital where you meet the doctor love interest, the resident loli. his introduction is funny.

blonde love interest visits you often in hospital until you get released.

but then it kinda feels like...they just...forgot about someone?

okay, listen, maybe i'm biased...but until the last cliffhanger chapter, not a word has then been mentioned about cat girl amelie

like...has she been released??? is she okay?????

and again......i might be biased...but bro, at the very least i'd like to know...cause i'm imagining cat girl amelie's still in the hospital, and up until this point, the two were friends...at the least, and until the last chapter she isn't really mentioned once and like, i'm thinking mc has not visited her once?

COLD, mc, COLD.

and like it's very basic but idk, it somehow rly works. he is kinda adorable in how genuine he feels

???? idk how to end this, i kinda rambled on hahah, i just wanna read the next chapters tbh 😥😥😥😥

[leonardhoee]

A Rant About Ikesen’s Treatment of Motonari

I’ve been away from tumblr for a while but I had to come back for this.

So something I’ve noticed throughout playing Ikesen is the way that the game is very biased agains Motonari and I think it needs to be addressed because he is the only brown character and his portrayal is full of harmful stereotypes against brown men. I love this game but I haven't seen a single person acknowledge how badly Motonari is treated by the creators and the fandom as a result of that.

Also any racist comments will be blocked.

Possible route spoilers under the cut…

So lets start with the obvious, he is the only dark skinned character in Ikesen and when I first started playing I was so happy about that because finally (regardless of his ethnicity which honestly in this portrayal of him can be up for debate, I HC him as south East Asian) we are getting some representation. Throughout the game though I started noticing a lot of harmful stereotypes being thrown onto him that none of the other characters face.

Both him and Nobunaga are relatively misogynistic, I’m not denying that at all. However the way it is portrayed in their routes is very different. Nobunaga should in fact have sexual harassment charges, yet its romanticized repeatedly throughout his route. Motonari on the other hand treated MC as a possession the same way Nobunaga did, however he is shown as aggressive and scary as opposed to Nobunaga being shown as sexy and romantic.

There is also a difference in their respective CG’s 

Motonari’s CG is shown much more threatening and aggressive than Nobunaga’s

That brings me to my next point. Every other antagonist so far is shown to have a gentle and redeemable side. Kenshin threatened to wage war on the whole country while keeping MC locked in a cell yet he is still shown to be gentle and romantic. Kennyo repeatedly kidnaps and threatens MC’s life in other routes yet he is shown as a gentle monk who just wants revenge for his fallen brethren. Why doesn't Motonari get that level of consideration and empathy? Why is he, the only brown man, shown as an aggressive two-dimensional brute in every single route that isn’t his own? And this is a harmful stereotype that shows itself in all kinds of media. Brown men are depicted as predatory and aggressive both in fiction and real life.

This leads me to his ethnicity (I’m only talking about Ikesen’s portrayal of Motonari, I am well aware he was a Japanese warlord irl). In his route there is a part where he is talking about slavery and colonialism. As a South Asian woman I completely understand his perspective and its what got me thinking about this subject in the first place.

This subject is clearly personal to him. These lines, the way he looks as opposed to the other characters, and the fact that he speaks Spanish (around this time period the Philippines were being colonized by Spain), leads me to head cannon him as South East Asian, specifically Filipino. However, historically, Motonari comes from a region of Southern Japan, which is known as Hiroshima today. Cybird meant to market him as Okinawan. A large part of the reason Motonari is being treated this way by Cybird stems from the fact that people from Okinawa face racism from mainland Japan. Considering the fact that this game was made in Japan, and knowing what we know about their history of colonization, racism, and east asian beauty standards revolving around colorism, I am honestly not surprised that Motonari is being portrayed like this.

Until now they just showed his reason for fighting the Oda to be “oh I just want to watch the world burn for no reason”. But no that’s not the reason. These lines. That’s the reason. A lot of the context behind those lines comes from the fact that comes from because people from mainland Japan treated Okinawan people as slaves. He doesn’t want to see another colonizer come into power. Sure he’s a bit of an extremist but historically people who have this ideology have always been portrayed as savage and barbaric and “against the betterment of society” (think Jet from atla or even Malcom x). It’s no different in ikesen. The devs are clearly villainizing this ideology. Let’s not forget the fact that irl Hideyoshi invaded Korea. And the fact that anime and otome games are part of Japan’s way of erasing their war crimes and rebranding themselves to the rest of the world. It’s blatantly obvious here with the way they’re villainizing Motonari for having a perfectly valid reason to fight the Oda. If Japan stays divided they can’t invade and colonize other countries like the Philippines can they? Anti-colonialism = bad. 

Lastly I want to talk about how they downplayed his abilities as a leader and a warlord in his own right. In all the other routes he is depicted as less educated and frankly “dumb”, and it shows itself in his speech patterns too. Compared to Nobunaga and Mitsuhide, Motonari’s speech is stereotypically “less educated” and “lower class”. Yet he is just as much of a leader as any of the other warlords. However instead of acknowledging that, the game chooses to focus on his crimes and behavior as a pirate, instead of his role as the head of the Mouri clan.

At one point Kicho even compares his intelligence to a fifth grader which just rubs me the wrong way because lets take a moment to actually look at Motonari’s abilities. He is multilingual, has knowledge of global politics and economics, is an amazing businessman, and extremely analytical. He is literally known as the God of Decit, yet I did not hear that name once until his route came out. His strategies are good enough to be called a god, yet that is completely buried in the other routes in order to simplify his character into a trigger happy psychopath and a violent brute. He is just as smart as Nobunaga yet he is not given the credit he deserves.

Both Motonari and Nobunaga are extremely similar yet because of the horribly biased portrayals, Motonari is one of the least popular characters whereas Nobunaga is the second most popular. It makes me angry to see people in the fandom choosing to blindly hate Motonari without recognizing the fact that this stems from a frankly racist portrayal of an extremely intelligent and powerful character. Although truthfully, I blame the devs because if they had given his character even half the consideration and depth the others got, this would not be the case. 

You can disagree with me if you want. I am simply bringing attention to something I haven’t seen being addressed.

I hope in future routes, events, and sequels he is treated better by the devs and and the fandom. Please stop projecting racist stereotypes onto brown men.

[immagrosscandy]

okay. i'm doing this.

i just finished the valentine's day event and i have a LOT to say-

so this might get a little long, so if you want to read and share your opinion about it, i'd love to hear what you have to say

first,

i'm getting reeeeally annoyed that JC treats its audience as if it's stupid. not only with sidequests like this one, but in the main story too.

"i'm talking with this character about what love means to them! so that i can win the valentine's day event and get a ride with my special someone!" everytime you finish a task mc repeats these words. EVERY single time and it's becomes annoying.

i'm sure the audience can remember what the main task is and the prize we're getting. what are they doing this anyway?

second,

the amount of 8-hour tasks. that must be completed with all 5 starts.

why. why so many.

let me guess, so that players pay real money on your game so that they can finish it more quickly instead of waiting 3 or 4 hours for the energy like i do?

(unless you're using cheats, if only i could do it but for some reason it never works xd)

please JC PLEASE. your previous quests weren't as long as this one! they were fun and entertaining, they didn't take you that much time to finish

why suddenly there's this amount of long tasks to do?

third,

everyone, literally everyone drools for MC

at first i thought it was funny, like the romantic event in 2020: it seemed like everyone were enchanted by some love potion and suddenly they were all in love with MC

but then this thing repeats again and again and again and-

No. Please JC stop with it.

Not everyone will like MC that way, maybe they just see them as friends! But everyone being in love with our characters is illogical and dumb, comically dumb.

there are certain characters that actually fancy MC in the main story, like Penny and Barnaby for example. but not everyone will be like them.

like... think about it. 8 characters being in love with the same person! what is this an otome game!? even an otome game takes its time to develop a relationship between you and ur loved one, just saying...

there's something else,

what if you spent all your romantic task with only one character? for example me, i will always choose Talbott. My MC has a history with him, so then why would other characters ask me to take them with me to a ride I haven't even won?

why won't you ask them about their opinion, they tell you about it, and done? if you never interacted with them in a romantic way, they wouldn't get all lovey dovey with you, only the person you've been dating.

and something else that annoys me is that every character is different in their own way, because they're all different people. They have diferent likes and dislikes.

maybe they don't romantically like you, they might just be cool with you, as friends.

so how about this? a sidequest where you and your loved one start getting to know eachother? maybe they doesn't see you that way and you have to work on it in order for them to like you back.

but that would require actual effort and time in your work, right JC?

something easier is "everyone loves MC", problem solved! enjoy this cheap sidequest we made for you

and then we have,

the final scene.

it's something important that we must have a cute scene with our character and their loved one holding hands, kissing or hugging. that's why we're playing the sidequest after all

the animation is cute, sometimes it's a bit chessy for my taste but i can enjoy it nonetheless.

so why do i have a problem with it? because of everything else that ruins the whole experience.

the dialogue is lazy, the game becomes tedious to play, boring to watch, you're not having fun anymore, you're just finishing a task.

and honestly? the whole sidequest just screams "we're lazy writers and we don't care about the product we're making"

it's... it really makes me angry.

now, how do we end this?

JC gets lazier and lazier everyday. they care about romantic sidequests more than the actual plot. and that's insulting.

some say that dating has ruined hogwarts mystery, and i have to agree because of this: it's nice that a company introduces dating to their game, but they have to remember that the actual plot is their priority.

Does JC have the ability to make actually good dating sidequests? Yes.

The Celestial Ball is the crown of sidequests of how naturally fits in the story of the game and the world of Harry Potter, a time to hand out with the characters, see them in cool outfits, and invite our favorite character in a romantic and non-romantic way.

The First Date is also really good, showing how awkward a first date can be. The dialogue is excelent, and we get two really good scenes with the person we wanna date. The Library scene? *chef kiss*

JC can give us good content, but they just... won't.

so yeah.

i'm mad, i'm disappointed in this game... it can be really good but the creators don't put actual work in it. at least they won't do it anymore.

i'm so sick of these dating sodequests. as someone who likes romance, i feel like things could have been done properly

why am i enduring the game? well i've been playing the game for 3 years. at least I wanna see how it ends. like its gonna be a dissappintment for sure, but i must see it with my own eyes xd

so what's my advice?

Don't play Hogwarts Mystery.

Just don't, the characters might look cool, the story might look great... but don't be fooled, it's all a lie 😭

so yeah that's all

Good night Tri-state area

[cah0mie]

Since the Brothers are assholes (yes, Beel included since he wanted to eat you and didn’t care for your presence at first) when you first meet them, how about they deal with an MC that’s not gonna deal with their bullshit and isn’t phased by their threats? I hate it when otome games have you deal with jerks in the beginning but the choice bubbles are too nice whenever they insult the player.

Yeah, Yeah; They’re the top 7 demons of hell who don’t have to respect a human and are able to kill me with no effort but I don’t give a damn about that. You can’t drop me in hell with 7 assholes without my consent and expect me to be fine with it. I’m more than fine with calling em out and if they try and threaten MC, they would flat out say “At least I’ll die calling you out 🌚”

I like the way you think my guy. I couldn't agree more

To all my MCs that were much Harsher in the Beginning

-----

Mammon: Now listen here human! I was put in charge of you! In other words you have to do exactly as I say-!

MC: Shut the hell up... *Rubs temples* You're so loud.

Mammon: Wha- Who do you thi-!!

MC: Look dude. I don't really give a fuck who you are or what you could do. You really think I like the situation anymore than you do? I didn't fucking ask for an invitation, nobody even gave me a warning. So suck it up, and shut up. Cause we can't do shit now.

Mammon: I could eat you WHOLE right now!

MC: Be my guest. It'd be better then having to deal with this horse shit.

Mammon: .... What kind of human are you?

-one week later-

Levi: It seems like you're trying to suck up to me so I'll like you. It's no use denying it, I heard it straight from Lucifer.

MC: Oh nooooo, I'm caught. Whatever shall I do?

Levi: You're lucky to have so much free time too think up schemes like this. As much as I'd like to sit and watch a TSL marathon, I can't. There's so many animes I need to watch, trading cards to organize, figurines-

MC: Back the fuck up.

Levi: Eh?

MC: You're telling me you can't do what you want, cause you NEED to watch all these other shows and other shit? Bullcrap! These things are not necessities!! You can go on living without this shit! Do what the fuck you want! If you want to complain, do it in your head! Cause you have no one to blame but yourself.

Levi: You're actually treating ME like this!? You Normies, always rubbing it in that-

MC: And here you are, acting like a child. Do you ever take responsibility for your own actions? Always saying how unfair things are. News Flash! Life isn't fucking fair!

Levi: I could-!!

MC: Eat me? Smite me? Make me feel things I wish I didn't? Fucking go for it dude, I'm so fucking over it.

Levi: ...... Forget this, I have better things to do....

-a day or so later-

Lucifer: You should focus on surviving this year here, finishing the exchange program and going back to the human world. "Curiosity killed the cat". Curiosity can very literally get you killed here as well.

MC: Hey Lucifer, has it ever occurred to you that just maybe.... I DON'T CARE.

Lucifer: You're telling me that you don't value your life?

MC: No, I'm just telling you that I haven't been here long and I'm already over the whole, "I am above you" thing. You yourself, aren't willing to put a scratch on me since you're a fucking lapdog to his majesty.

Lucifer: You rotten-!!

MC: Save it dude, ya ain't gonna do shit. Hell, ya don't even know what my life may have been like before y'all kidnapped me. For all you know, this is everyday life for me.

Lucifer: .....What would you do if a lower level demon ever got their hands on you?

MC: Number one, you wouldn't let that shit happen in the first place. Number two, I'd just fucking let it happen. They probably have a better out for me than you guys.

Lucifer: ..... You petty and ungrateful creature.

MC: *shrugs* Truth hurts doesn't bitch?

-a week later-

Beel: You ate my creme puff, it had my name on it!

MC: You destroyed my wall and injured me. I think we're pretty even.

Beel: No we're not! Give it back!

MC: ...... If you're THAT fucking determined wait a few hours it'll come back.

Beel: That's disgusting.

MC: You kept fucking pushing it. Your own damn fault. Look, I'm an ass for eating you food, but you really are overreacting this is ridiculous.

Beel: It was my food!!

MC: ..... We're just going in circles at this point....

-a week later-

MC: Yo, fucklust! Ya mind not standing in front of the camera every fucking time!?

Asmo: But wouldn't you rather have a picture of something beautiful?

MC: I would. All the more reason for you to get the fuck out of my way!

Asmo: ... Are you saying, I'm not beautiful? Are you actually insulting ME?

MC: 'Oh how dare you! You hurt my feelings and called me out on shit! I shall kill you now!' If that's not petty, I don't know what is..

Asmo: .... You're not very nice.

MC: Like any of you have room to talk

-two days later-

Satan: Are you actually rejecting ME!? You!? A mere human!?

MC: Oh, cut the shit!! Satan! Why the flying FUCK would I make a pact with you! I'm making pacts to gain Lucifer's respect, NOT PISS HIM OFF MORE!!

Satan: Does it look like a I care!? I said to do it!

MC: And I said to fuck off! I'm not going through with this Satan!

Satan: I will cut of your nose and ears. Rip off your arms and legs. And feed you to a lower level demon!!

MC: Fucking go for it dude, I don't give a damn anymore. You lot are impossible to talk sense to, and this here proves it.

Satan: Don't you dare trifle with me!

MC: Y'all are just toddlers who cry when things don't go your way!

-when mc goes back in time-

Belphie: Aaww.. You don't know want a hug? Shame, I was hoping to share my happiness with you..

MC: Yeah, I'm sure you did

Belphie: What does that mean?

MC: I mean, you never did plan on walking out of this together, did you? You had always planned on taking me out and walking away yourself.

Belphie: ...... If you'd known that, why did you help me?

MC: Number one, THIS *gestures to door* was an ACCIDENT. Number two, I may or may not have made a mistake and I'm trying to fix it. Number three, Beel misses you so much. How can I not? So let's just walk away from this together and join the rest of the-!

Belphie: *starts choking the life out of them*

MC: Or just kill me, get it over with, and I won't have to bother with any of you anymore.

Belphie: With pleasure.

-When MC encounters Belphie once again in the time loop-

Belphie: How can a human have such a strong will to live.

MC: Because I am determined to tell each and every one of you how fucking stupid you all are.

-----------

This is a lot longer than I intended it to be. I'm sorry I still don't know how to place the keep reading button (or whatever it is). I had quite a bit of fun writing this, I hope you have just as much fun reading it 😁

I accept all forms of constructive criticism, so if you see anything you feel could be better let me know.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

okok I'm not defending those who immediately hate on the girl presenting character, but if this wasn't an otome game where the characters were literally created to love the MC, I'd feel a bit threatened, ngl.

like?? even though the new characters are supposed to love the MC too, I still feel just a tiny bit threatened.

it's a side effect of the major insecurity lmao

HOWEVER I also consistently (for SOME reason) feel threatened by solomon/asmo in regards to each other and diavolo/lucifer in regards to each other. like??? it's not just the girl presenters I'm terrified of losing my LI to, it's the LIs themselves lmao

not sure how much sense that made.

tl;dr

I'm assuming some people are hating on the woman-presenting-enby (I hope im getting that right djhfjs, if they're not woman presenting or not an enby I'm so sorry, I read wrong) because they feel threatened. however, if we're gonna feel threatened by our new feminine-presenting kiddo, then what's up with not feeling threatened by solomon/asmo (like losing asmo to sol or losing sol to asmo) and dia/luci (losing luci to dia or vice versa)???? like???? we don't even KNOW the new characters lmao, we already have LIs trying to take LIs away from us and we're all worried about the newbies??? idk man kinda funny

(tl;dr end bc I'm gonna continue the rant, sorry 'bout that)

AND??? new LIs means we have more people to date. I don't like that!!! I mean. I totally do. please give me more hot demons/humans/angels/whatever. BUT. I already have my hands full with the 11 we already have on top of the other games I play, we can't give me mORE I'm gonna lose my MARBLES 😭😭

I'm like half joking so dw, I'm actually really happy we're getting more representation. like??? 10/10, obey me is only the second otome game I've seen with a gender neutral mc (the first would be the arcana), and especially with what you said about it being hard to step out of the lgbtqia+ box many places put media in.

I'm NOT happy that these NEWBIES are gonna GROW on my ass and I'm gonna have to read MORE fanfics and grind my cards MORE and feel MORE things >:( big stinky >:'(

sorry this was hella long

Though I don't really get it, I don't have a problem with people feeling jealous about the other LIs, I think whatever you're feeling is perfectly fine and you don't have to justify it to anyone. And yeah I completely understand that anxiety and jealousy can be irrational and a real pain in the ass. What I do have a problem with is how lots of people on other social media are singling out the nb character and saying they are ruining the game and asking for the devs to make a whole new game for nb & female LIs.

So I think it's pretty canon that Asmo is attracted to Solomon & Diavolo is to Lucifer. But given what this game is about none of them are gonna choose each other over MC. We're 3 seasons in. There have been heartfelt confessions and talk about marriage. At this point there's nothing I can think of that'll threaten MC's position with them. What I'm trying to say is you really don't need to worry about losing a LI to another ^^

Personally, though I think if MC got together with Asmo, it would be an open relationship even if he really does love them to death. And if they got together with either Lucifer or Diavolo it would be a poly relationship between the three of them. BUT that's just the way I see it, and obviously each person's interpretation of om is gonna be unique yet canon to their story.

According to solomon, they are neither a woman or a man and use they/them pronouns and they have a feminine aesthetic.

Yes!! This!! ALL the OM! characters are queer, and Solomon & Asmodeus and Diavolo & Lucifer already have relationships with each other that are packed with romantic undertones + the two new male LIs could steal any of the current LIs so why aren't all these people who are hating on the nb LI worried about all that????

I understand the pain of too many choices🥲 I mean I LOVE Mammon but the new nb LI really is tempting me😭😭😭😭

So I don't think The Arcana falls under the label of 'otome games' , I'm pretty sure otome games are just Japanese dating sims so OM! really would be the first otome game that you encountered that has a gender-neutral MC. Or at least it's the first one I encountered.

I'm gonna get so attached. It's gonna be horrible. I Can't Wait.

[hanafubukki]

BDKSNSO YES YOU CAN CALL ME OTOME ANONIE OMG IVE NEVER BEEN A SPECIFIC ANON FOR SOMEONE ILY 😭🖤

I’m literally always here talking about otome and asking for your opinion sobsss it’s like senpai just noticed me I’m ELATED

**btw that destiny ninja anon was me, that was the first otome I ever played back in like?? 2014?? I remember coming back to it just for it to disappear a week later, right after I decided to go for all routes :( it’s nostalgia for me. But thanks to y’all for the suggestions 🙏 I’m gonna look into the other games and hopefully get hooked…besides the company that makes SWD there’s another that makes games with Ikemen in it? I’ll try that too! I feel like I played one that was like Cinderella before…? Also wanna try Mr Love since it looks similar to MysMe and I love the whole chat/call functions (actually does anyone know any other games than mysme and om that has chat/call?)

Should I have a symbol?? I’ve never done this before omg ok I’ll just-

💫Otome

YOURE GOING AFTER MY HEART OTOME 💫 ANONIE 💕💕 Of course, I noticed you 😭😭😭 I just want to give you a big hug jsljksldjdlfj 💚💚🌺🌺💕💕 I love you too, come here 💚💚💚

I love talking about tomes so thank you for always talking about them with me 🙌🌻🌺💚

I'm sorry otome anonie, it's tough I know how you feel. That happened to me with the EN A3, I took a break after the second troupe and then a month later they were closing the servers.

and yes! You're talking about cybird probably with their ikemen series. I love their games. They have a Midnight cinderella game, but last I heard they weren't updating it anymore. Though the servers are still up. Their other ikemen series are really popular. Ill talk about the ones I play.

Ikemen sengoku: basically a time travel otome. MC gets sent back to the sengoku period and meets the warlords. This one is one of my favorites but out of all their ikemen series the least Updated? mechanics wise? but I love the characters and the MC is pretty funny at times with her modern lingo. This one is the least friendly in giving out coins and such for premium items, but the free currency is accumulated quickly enough and they have pretty clothes for f2p.

Ikemen revolution: a bit more updated then sengoku, basically mc gets sent to a world of magic via Alice in wonderland sequel. this game is so so for me because I only like certain characters and routes. MC is also the type of all air in head and only desserts but in some routes she's less so than others. a bit for friendly in going out gems and such 

ikemen vampire: MC get sent to the past and basically historical figures are the ikemen. also somewhat friendly in giving gems and such, basically they all are friendly compared to ikemen sengoku lol MC is cute and the characters are based on your likes.

Ikemen prince: is the most recent release and the most updated mechanism wise. gives free gems too and the characters are great. it depend on the the types you like too. story is somewhat liner as you progress, overall story gets more clear. beauty in the beast twst MC is great, I love her.

I haven't played Mr. Love but I watched some of the anime. It looks pretty interesting, my friend loves the game. I have a favorite, he’s the cop guy, Gavin. If you like the chat function, then there's also Tears of Themis that you could play. It has chat/call functions, mini games, events, and many many more...it honestly gets overwhelming. I took a break because of it lol 

 I hope this was helpful Otome 💫 anonie 💕💚💚 

by the way do you have a Switch? because I know some great console otome titles 👀👀

Yes 🙌🙌 I love the symbol, I’m going to add you onto my anonie list 💫💫🌻🌻

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

I'm curious about your last ask. How is the game dissapointing? I was just curious because I always want to know all sides of people's opinions about this kind of things.

Also, I freaking love your work!

Oh, sure! Honestly I wasn't expecting people to care all that much, so I'm honored you'd also like to hear my thoughts on the matter 💛💛💛 Since the last ask I answered was about my concerns regarding the jpn server, I can elaborate on why I was upsetti spaghetti abt the eng server's last event if that's okay c:

And tysm both of you!!! I really appreciate it 💞💞💞💞

I’m just gonna tag the second requester since it’s about the same thing essentially @burntamore0906

So like this is going to be a very specific grievance, so forgive me if it’s a little niche or high maintenance. But I guess what bothered me so much about the Comte event story (On the Hunt for My Maker) is that the tone felt very very...off? As compared to the JPN ver?

How to explain...basically, in the JPN ver you just get this intensely serious vibe? MC’s been through a l o t in this one, and she’s in absolutely no nonsense mode. She takes mercy on Comte because she senses something is very off about his behavior; he’s not quite as sinister or impulsive or unhinged as one might expect of a murderer. 

Even then, she’s wary and defensive; terse, to the point. I guess what I disliked about the ENG ver is that all of this gravity and solemnity just...felt kind of lost? Like the heavy tone falls flat. I know it’s not a very tangible description of what’s troubling me, but the way she talks about wanting to reap justice and find closure just seems so overwritten by forcible romance by comparison.

There’s a sense of a slow burn that was lost here. The whole point is that, over time, it becomes obvious what Comte’s intentions were? And that no matter how angry she is, she’s also exhausted from this relentless pursuit to find an answer for everything she’s lost. To find some kind of reason, someone to blame for it all--when there just isn’t any. In the end, all she’s left with are these broken pieces and someone who cared for her despite everything. And the other side is just as important? Comte spent years watching over her with the full expectation of her hatred. Doesn’t make excuses for himself, doesn’t try to plead his case at all--welcomes her to attack him. For all her bitterness and fury and uncompromising resolve, he sees her for who she truly is. Someone hurt, but still full of rough-edged kindness. Maybe it was just my own feeling of difference, but I kind of hate how they removed the grittiness from MC. 

I feel like there’s a sensibility of “my sad past/my tragic backstory” and “love heals all wounds immediately” in the ENG ver. JPN ver felt more “I don’t know where to go or how to move forward, but I sense real warmth from this person. While I’m not sure if this is the right step, I want to trust that it is. I want to take care of this person like he keeps taking care of me.”

I mean I have a hard time taking lines like “Why did I ever hate him?” Seriously???? Like. You thought he [bleeping] murdered your parents, turned you into a vampire, and left you to rot on a whim. Yeah you were gonna be full of spite and hate in response????? 

This is just an example of what I mean:

ENG ver: It finally made me realize that though we’re vampires, we were still very much living creatures. It doesn’t matter if I was a human and he’s a vampire. I would have fallen in love with him either way. My rough translation records: [Even vampires are living creatures filled with warmth, despite our bloody nature. When we're touching like this, it's impossible to deny. Whether human or vampire--I don't care, I love this person...]

ENG ver: I’d spent so many years living in loneliness, hungry for revenge. No one had ever touched me with love like this before. Now it felt like le Comte was trying to fill in all the emptiness that had resided in my heart. My rough translation: [I’ve spent so long only living for revenge--life empty of all else, devoid of any joy. What a wonderful thing it is to be touched so dearly by someone who loves you...Just as Comte filled the loneliness of my past, so too does he fill my heart now.]

The content isn’t hugely different, but I feel like the conveyance matters. Could just be a me problem though.

It feels like the writing was so dissonant and out of order, rather than smooth and narratively flowing (IkeSen is probably the best example of this seamlessness). One thing I’ve also noticed between IkeSen, IkeVamp, and IkePrince is that IkeSen and IkePrince have a more dynamic, clever, and more animated MC. As a result, while I love the subject matter of IkeVamp, my enjoyment tapers off because the writing does leave something to be desired. Maybe it’s unfair of me, maybe the localization was rushed--I don’t know. But I feel like accurate tone and MC competency are a big part of my enjoyment when it comes to my fave otomes. And it’s a bit of a shame IkeVamp suffers in those dimensions. Even stranger considering how insanely developed the suitors are in terms of characterization and design...

Also because I’m still going feral over it.

So like naturally when MC is attacked by that man and Comte protects her, I really didn’t think too hard about it. He’s protective by nature, of course he’s going to move her out of the way. 

But then something occurred to me.

If she’s a turned vampire in this event, that means she would most likely not die from a stab wound the way a human might. Which begs the obvious question. Why would Comte be so frantic with concern? Why go to all the trouble? And the answer hit me like a train.

She died from stab wounds. She literally lost her life after being sold off by her family, drugged beyond the ability to function, and stabbed over and over while she was powerless. Intervention by Comte was not just about protection; it was an act of mercy. He was ready to do anything to make sure she wouldn’t have to experience that again, and didn’t look so much as bothered by the knife in him. 

I’m so ridiculously tender.......not wanting her to be retraumatized......

[marimopeace]

there's a limit on how much you can be an isekai intellectual...

a bunch of analyses have been popping up before me all day so i wanted to throw my hat into the ring. all love to ppl who are exercising their creative minds + ppl like geoff here who just talk about these things because of fan interest but i feel like there reaches a point where exploring the "types" of isekai is pointless? i've seen ppl list out the different types of villainess revenge isekai or fantasy mmorpg isekai but eh why fit them all into separate boxes like that?

i think it's easier to think of isekai as a "type" (genre) of itself with only two categories: 1) a focus on isekai (lit. another world) 2) tensei (lit. to be reborn). this allows for a variety of applications and thus tropes that ppl see so many trends of!

with isekai - in another world

you see everything from:

pure fantasy (inuyasha, digimon wait maybe not the best example but in my childhood mind i count digimon as pure fantasy, fushigi yugi)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (.hack//legend of twilight, sao ugh, log horizon, overlord (LOVE OVERLORD!)

otome game-esque worlds >>> this is where it gets complicated with "villainess routes" since i admit there are multiple villainess tropes but this is why it's nice to not think of this as a "sub-type/genre" bc it frees you from those complications! (the saint's magic power is omnipotent, the white cat's revenge as plotted from the dragon king's lap soso cute!, the savior's book cafe in another world, i'm a villainous daughter so i'm going to keep the last boss wait i can't remember if she's reborn in this one lmaooo see this is why rules make everything hard)

with tensei storylines - being reincarnated/reborn in another world as *insert character/role*

you see...

the same tropes!!

pure fantasy (a returner's magic should be special, reminiscence adonis, the lady and the beast, light and shadow, i can't think of a manga off the top of my head for this ah)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (so i'm a spider so what i stan kumoko so hard, her majesty's swarm, can't name another off the top of my head ah i hate lists shorter than two things...)

self-insert based games/novels (fiance's observation log of a self-proclaimed villainess, who made me a princess, death is the only ending for the villainess, the villainess wants to marry a commoner, honestly games vs novels are different applications but i'm not in the headspace to try to remember a bunch of both lol)

*insert line break to give random ppl a break from scrolling but tl; dr just enjoy things for what they are no need to micro analyze*

similar variations occur in both genres (if ppl want to be super technical i guess i'm arguing that isekai itself is a massive genre that has the "another world" subgenre and "reincarnation" subgenre tl; dr) so i think it's honestly a huge pain to try to separate all these trends into so many different types of stories. for me personally it's easier to not get overwhelmed by this gigantic umbrella of "isekai" that spans light novels, manhwa, manga, and mobile games by just stripping each story down into its trademark tropes (aka character archetypes, story structures) and slapping "oh this is a person going to a world that's not ours" and "this person gets reborn as blank in another world". none of this "omg this power fantasy is such a this kind of isekai moment" or "there are 14 different types of villainess revenge stories and this series fits into this" bc AH labels! limitations! circle-jerks via ppl trying to compartmentalize everything and sound smart for leaving a comment on story analysis instead of ooh-ahhing over a character's face! dividing things into light novel manga vs manga vs korean manhwa ft. female characters!

the last bit is mainly why i feel frustrated by ppl's insistence to group everything?

the video linked at the beginning of the post (honestly good video essay, i enjoyed it, i just kept thinking in my head the whole time "marimo these are tropes do not take the genre talk literally") has a baby comment thread talking about "korean isekai manhwas" as a genre featuring nothing but reincarnated villainess' and i can't.

like i cannot acknowledge that as a genre of any sort. the energy i felt reading through some of those insights takes me back to 2012 when all yt americans discovered k-pop and deemed all korean music k-pop from then on! (ppl still do this now, yes you are seen and don't talk to me pls i don't like you. k-pop is korean pop music and nothing less and nothing more. take a few seconds and try to parse apart aspects of korean culture instead of slamming everything into a monolithic label that has the letter k and a hyphen.) it feels so odd to see a bunch of young ppl on ig and tiktok acknowledge korean media that happens to be in the form of a webtoon as "oh stories all about young girls becoming villains in stories they made/played" bc it feels so reductive u.u

(positionality disclaimer that i'm praying isn't actually necessary: i am a 3rd-generation korean of japanese descent do not fite me i am exhausted irl of ppl asking for validation/verification bc massive shove off.)

breaking news! korean manhwa...is just as multifaceted as japanese manga...bc how can comics as an art-form not have multiple genres...huh such a shocker?!?! same likely applies to media in other parts of the world like chinese manhwa and french comics--not my place to explain either of those i just know those industries exist bc of wakfu and donghua shows by Tencent.

at the end of the day it's not like analyzing any kind of isekai is wrong--absolutely not!! i think it can be super fun to think about how isekai elements complicate a story (MCs trying to go back home, ppl from the og world, reincarnation plot-twists) or maybe even bash a series for including some kind of other world element when they could have just written a super fun fantasy.

insert marimo's brief ramble that hey you can get sick of truck-kun's hitting disillusioned guys who happen to be super duper smart or girls who happen to be master chefs/craftsmen but transporting a fully-grown being into a fantasy setting is the ultimate cheat code for making mundane modern technology seem cool and overpowered, and being reincarnated as a fully grown person in a world with a pre-made story/game set-up completely bypasses the need for an author to slowly flesh out world-building in a natural progression so isekai is actually a really smart writing tool it's just that there are some series where the author didn't use it well at all and it's cheesy or clearly isekai was misused as a vehicle for character/story development and it was pointless *DEEP BREATH OUT*

in this essay i will argue...lol i am such a culture studies major!! if i were an english major i would be talking all about writing but here i am having a side-tangent about world-building via someone being reborn wow i love this for me (don't get me started on when an author has someone reincarnate as a baby and the story is mostly them having warm fluffy moments with their family--typically father figures--and getting lots of powers i could and would and probably will rant about east asian toxicity)

but anyway am i crazy????? like yes for being passionate about the technical use of a word like genre (i am a scorpio rising let me be fussy pls) but i don't think it's a lot to ask for ppl to not unironically see "villainess revenge isekai" as the definition of korean manhwa.

idk as someone who resonates with why japanese isekai is so popular domestically + why a lot of korean manhwa feat. the same tropes (it's not for great reasons lads it's actually depressing tbh) i'm just starting to feel kind of pained by the generalization and need to separate "cute japanese girl in an otome game"/"japanese boy finds a harem in another world" from "korean girl dies and comes back as a villainess" bc they are just! applications to the same story device!!

recommendations for any who makes it this far down below <3

// also gladly recommend any of the examples i've listed in the above rant as i've read/watched all of them and adore them v much! //

save me princess

super refreshing fantasy manhwa ft. a princess and her ex-boyfriend having to save the world!

the beginning after the end

an AMERICAN web novel turned into a comic (but see it being not korean/japanese doesn't really matter when you just consider isekai as a genre...isn't it nice to not overthink it?) ft. a super-powerful wizard king reincarnated into another world and starting from scratch--gives mushoku tensei vibes but huge twists!

the reason why raeliana ended up at the duke's mansion

love love LOVE this story--read the title and you'll learn how this girl reincarnated as the character raeliana in a book gets married to a duke!

trash of the count's family

such a good novel!! a guy gets reborn as a lazy oaf and he takes the hero of the story under his wing...plot twists come up later on!

this time i will definitely be happy!

v good and refreshing for a shorter series! she's been reborn 3 times and remembers every time the hero's stabbed her in the back, and now she just wants to break up with him!

silver diamond

older manga but v good adventure w intrigue! a boy who loves plants get sucked into a desert world with demonic lizards and a mysterious bodyguard by his side. shonen-ai not BL but wonderful vibes nonetheless + great side characters!

the princess imprints a traitor

adore everything in this from the world (not in that way this society makes me so angry) to the machinations at play and the dynamic between the fl and ml

[otakusheep15]

New Characters

I’ve been going on several rants already, but I wanna hop on this before it stops being relevant. 

So, we’re getting some new characters in Obey Me, as I’m sure most of you know already. The fandom seems pretty split down the middle, especially due to one specific character. There’s one character on the poster who seems to be more feminine presenting, and people are certainly talking. 

Half of the fandom is hoping that this character will be dateable since a good bit of this fandom is attracted to women and more feminine presenting people. The other half is being lowkey misogynistic, talking about how she’s gonna steal the boys away or how she’s gonna be a bitchy character. 

Right now, I think both sides are acting a little crazy, and I wish they would calm down. Like, the character is literally just a silhouette. They have no personality, no design, no nothing. Plus, I’ve only seen people talking about this one character, when there are two others right next to her. 

It just pisses me off how easily this fandom gets triggered by the littlest of things. The ones simping over the new character aren’t that big of a deal in my opinion. There are plenty of other characters they’ve done that with, so I don’t really care. 

What I do care about are the people already making threats over the new character and saying they’re gonna stop playing just cause they look more feminine presenting. Also, I know I’m not saying directly that the new character will be a girl, cause I’m not sure. They could just as well be a feminine-looking guy. Who knows?

Anyway, I wish that side of the fandom would calm down. So far, I’ve heard a couple of complaints about her, and new characters in general. 

First complaint: the feminine-looking character is gonna be a bitch and steal the boys away. This mindset is very misogynistic and toxic. Not every girl out there is looking to steal your mans. Stop saying that. Not to mention, all of the boys are pansexual, so any of the new characters could possibly “steal them away” as the fandom has been putting it. Just because one of the new characters seems to be a girl in  theory does not mean she’s gonna be bitchy and take the guys away like all of those replaced MC aus. Stop projecting like that. It’s stupid and it’s getting people mad/worried for no reason. 

Second complaint: why do we need a girl character (or new characters in general) when the game has always been about the original twelve characters? Well, I’m glad you asked random dumbass I just made up. Obey Me has always been about being inclusive. It’s one of the few times in an otome game where the MC is never given a gender or preset design. And, as of late, the fandom has been growing. More people are downloading the game and that means a more diverse audience. The developers are just trying to cater to all of those people. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble right now, but I’m just gonna come out and say it. The devs don’t care about your preferences or feelings. They really don’t. Yes, they care about the fandom as a whole, and that’s why they’re doing this. To them, bringing in more characters will help bring in new audiences so that they can make more money. Literally the whole point of the game is to make the devs money. That’s why they translated the game to English and put it out to more countries. It’s all to make money. If the devs think new characters will make more money, they’re going to do it. If you don’t like it, either stop complaining or uninstall the game. No one wants to hear you complain. 

 I’m sorry about how long this post was, but I really needed to get this off my chest. Even if no one reads this, it felt nice to express my thoughts on the matter. I hope I didn’t come across as rude, as that was not my intent. I simply wished to express my opinions like everyone else. If anyone wants to, feel free to correct me if I made a mistake or share your own opinions. I really like hearing what everyone else has to say. 

[rainydaysandhappydays]

Okay, just wanted to say about the rant you had about the story event; im in no way judging but isn't Asmo sometimes represented as a “princess” too? Like the royal Ur+ card he had? So technically it's a role and they don't mean it in a way to misgender anyone.

Before anyone smites me for this, it's only my opinion. I also hate the way some people still call MC a female even when they don't have a gender, but I don't personally think Obey me will forget about male and non-binary MCs.

They also probably worded it wrong in the event because the original story has a princess in it. There's another instance in the game where the MC is “Henry” from TSL, which is commonly a male name, and Levi calls us that alot (and in the TSL event, the MC even played this role), meaning it's just a nickname and it's just a role.

Let's all hope there is more representation in the game because this is the only game I played with a non-female MC (because the MC is literally a sheep. We're a sheep representation, it doesn't get better than that) and that there's no more people saying they don't want the new female character bc they feel uncomfy.

Yes you are right. Thank you for your opinion on the matter. I only put my small rant out bc I was worried for the future. I specifically said in the post that I didn't think that the devs would go all the way and completely discontinue thier way of doing things with the MC representations. I just wanted to throw out my small speculation that it might have been the start of a more feminine representation as a whole.

But you also gave supporting evidence about the more gender inclusiveness that Obey me is known for. Both Asmo and "Henry" are both great examples. Obey me has always gone a bit more out of thier way to be a bit more inclusive and "out there" than nearly any other otome game I have ever seen. Which I appreciate a lot. I just wanted to get my opinion and more importantly my worry across. The reason why it featured so prominently with me was because at the time, the inner turmoil of the fandom was getting higher and higher. Thankfully now that we are all getting more information about the leaked characters and that the people in the fandom that were asking for more female representation were educated about how things were perceived by others, a lot of those problems have been resolving or at least not being given a lot of attention anymore. So in turn a lot of my stress on how Obey me might have responded to such was washed away.

Again, I never meant to convey that I thought that Obey me would ever completely get rid of thier acceptance of any and all MCs I just had a worry for what the future might have held. I've very relieved to know that my worry as unfounded and is currently being resolved.

Thanks for talking about your own worries and opinions on the matter! I hope that the Obey me devs will continue trying thier best to make a great game for everyone to enjoy. (Sorry if I was late with this response. Tumblr didn't tell me I had anything in my inbox until just today. I hope this more than makes up for any waiting.)