The Japanese like cute girls...get over it!

Time & time again in reviews of JRPGs that has 'moe' or cute girls in them tend to take the brunt of being unfairly judged due to their assumed over sexualization.

For example today i read a review for Atelier Ayesha at Destructoid (source: http://www.destructoid.com/... that clearly proves that western game media simply do not understand the culture in Japan that accepts these types of games & the characters in them.

First of the reviewer is the wrong person to review a game such as this & his attempt at a review for the game is immature at best. To say 'So, if you’re a middle school girl currently confronting your blossoming womanhood, or just a fan of overwhelmingly cute things, maybe grab a copy' as a closing remark is uncalled for & unprofessional.

These types of reviews for games such as this is getting old if you ask me. Do we really need every time a game like Atelier or Hyperdimension Neptunia or Mugen Souls is released that the main issue the game isn't good is the sexualization of the characters that may be depicted as 'young girls'? So why are people so often make it such a big deal about a games choice of character designs. If a game is bad due to gameplay mechanics or something else partaking the game than fine i have no problem with that. However to constantly over & over again complain about a games depiction of 'young girls' as being offensive is disappointing.

Are western game journalist not aware that a vast majority of the character designers of these games are in fact FEMALE!!! Are they not aware that a large population of the artist for eroge games & hentai mangas are in fact FEMALE! They seem to have no problem expressing themselves in their art form.

I am a huge fan of niche lesser known JRPGs that we are fortunate to even get to play over here in the west so it sometimes ticks me off that reviewers take for granted & unfairly or not judge these games on matters that have no actual point in an actual review of a game.

That's just my pet peeve when it comes to dealing with stuff like this. Anyone else feel the same way as i do?

[zerocrossing]

Im a big fan of the Aterlier series and Im always grateful when a game in that franchise gets a western release.

Rorona I felt was portrayed quite well actually but I can see where some of the negative comments are coming from in regards to the portrayal of Totori and some of the Hyperdimension Neptunia or Mugen Souls characters, seeing scantly glad under aged girls is not something many people in the west feel comfortable with, over sexualising female characters in general is something we are tending to try and stray away from doing in western games, so seeing over sexualised seemingly under aged girls will just put many people off of a game regardless of the overall quality.

The Loli craze in Japan is still very popular and on going, many of the fashion styles attached to it are often seen being worn by many of the Japanese Idols (who are more often than not young girls) it is therefore only natural to see these themes being incorporated in many of the popular games being produced by Japan.

It's simply a cultural divide, Im not saying their isn't a problem though because Japan certainly does have it's fair share of perverts chasing under aged girls, but for the most part cute girls dressed in cute clothes are just considered "Kawaii" (Cute) and are popular amongst the youth in Japan right now.

I must admit, seeing a game get a lower score purely because the cute girls in it are considered distasteful is kind of petty and annoying, when you consider many of us are playing games where we rip the heads off of our opponents, gun down the entirety of the opposing side, and perform grotesque finishing moves in games such as Mortal Kombat.

With feminism being hot on the agenda these days I suppose it's going to be the norm to lump pretty much anything considered sexually insensitive together.

[izumo_lee]

That is what i do not get regarding western game journalism when they do these reviews for JRPGs that has young girls in them. We have all this controversy surrounding God of War & before the 'rape' issue with Tomb Raider. These games depict things in a realistic way much more so than Japanese games & for the most part its not much of a big deal with the gratuious violence. However throw in an animated 'young' girl wearing scantily clad clothing & people should be embarrassed to be playing these?

Look here is another review ( http://www.criticalgamer.co... minutes after i submitted this blog dealing with the new Neptunia game. Once again the reviewer makes an issue out of nothing regarding the characters & their designs. Also he posts a picture from the game that has no real bearing on the overall review of the game...it serves no point.

In the west we are bombarded with sexually themed advertisements all year round. Have reality shows like Jersey Shore or Big Brother that often have young girls prancing around in barely nothing on. We see this all the time yet there isn't much outrage about this stuff.

We are in the 21st century & still we have some people still have problems with 'ANIMATED' characters in a video game....seriously? Are these people ever gonna grow up or do they wanna stay virgins forever?

[BanBrother]

Nice article. I love the more light hearted, good feeling that Japanese games bring. So many western games are so serious, that they become ridiculous and too cheesy.

Also, 'cute' girls are f***ing sexy!

[kingPoS]

I think it's more of a clash of cultures. I'm not sure some these reviewers realizes what passes for normal in Japan.

[Bimkoblerutso]

I'm going to have to play the devil's advocate here. The problem is not that I mind the cuteness (though I'll probably never be very accepting of the "sexy loli" trend), but rather that I feel that it is often thrown into a lot of Japanese games regardless of context or meaning. And it's overused to the point that it has become RIDICULOUSLY stale. It would be the same as saying that there's nothing wrong with Western developers saturating the market with rugged, realistic marines.

I love Japanese games, and I love their brand of uniqueness they bring to the industry, but I've also accepted that they are just as capable of exploiting tropes as any other developers in the world.

[arronax-1]

There is no way we can actually take this non-sense of yours seriously.

[TuxedoMoon]

It really is annoying when I see reviews of Japanese game that bash the game for being Japanese. Back when ff13-2 came out, some reviewers complained that Final Fantasy was not LIKE MASS EFFECT. There should be branching paths and in depth relationships...no..just no. Mass Effect is a "choose your own adventure game" where as Final Fantasy is a linear story. If I want to choose things, I'll play Mass Effect. Don't put too much western stuff into my Japanese games! I like Japanese games because they are different.

From what I noticed, Western games aim for realism where as Japanese games aim for fantasy and fun stuff. Even in a western fantasy game, they aim for realism. Compare Final Fantasy to Skyrim. Both are fantasy games, but Final Fantasy is more fantastical than Skyrim. Skyrim's realistic fantasy is more traditional and brown rather than colorful...and crazy. Skyrim's characters are grounded in realism and look butt ugly. Compare Lydia to Fang (FF13) or to Tifa (Advent Children).

Even Metal Gear, as realistic as it tries to be, has its funny and fantastical moments. Those elements makes the game a fun game, imo. There are several western tropes in gaming that no one ever talks about:

Why are most WRPG heroes all 25-30+?
Why is it that America is never the bad guy in a shooting game?
Why does this game need blood and gore?
Why aren't there any boss battles?
Why isn't there music in a lot of these levels?
Why are the zombies in this game all...the same just with ability to spit or explode?
Why can't I be a female soldier or space marine?
Why is everything all grey and brown?
Why are the people so ugly?

I can go on an on about a the tropes of western gaming that people never complain about. A lot of times, when a reviewer looks over a Japanese game, they point out how annoying it is for the characters to be teens or have colorful hair or NOT BE REALISTIC ENOUGH!

Both sides have tropes, but most reviewers are simply biased when it comes to games. Everyone is biased. I do prefer Metal Gear over Hitman. I prefer to live in the world of Pokemon rather than Skyrim. I enjoyed playing through Xenoblade than Mass Effect (1). I prefer a lot of Japanese games over western games because I love the fantastical things in those games. I don't hate western games at all. I do prefer Need for Speed over GT5 and really enjoyed Saints Row the 3rd. Skyrim, when modded to look amazing and COLORFUL, was a great game too. Right now I'm enjoying Tomb Raider. I simply PREFER fantastical over realism. I'd rather do the impossible than mimic the possible.

[TheColbertinator]

I would love to play a game in which we (US) are the bad guys.Fighting the most advanced,highest funded and best trained army in the world as a guerrilla fighter sounds fun in my opinion.

[lex-1020]

There are actually a few games like that. Most of them are Pakistani made and will never see the sale in America but you can find them. However the Metal of Honor reboot had something similar to that but people complained to much and it was changed.

[TuxedoMoon]

The closest thing to that concept was Code Geass. It blew my mind when I found out that Brittania empire originated from the Americas and NOT Europe.

[SilentNegotiator]

"Why is it that America is never the bad guy in a shooting game?"

Wanna guess where most of the developers are and most of the customers are?

Look at ALL of the developers. Do ANY of them typically make their own nation the bad guys?

[Darrius Cole]

Yeah, that wasn't a very good question was it?

[Sonyslave3]

lol so true why would any american developer want to make their country the baddie. -____-

The game is gonna flop hard here lol except in the middle east.

[Tetsujin]

One could argue in GTA you play as the "bad guy" however you "can" do good deeds. Manhunt is another game where you could say your an antagonist, same with Bully.

[LightofDarkness]

"Why are most WRPG heroes all 25-30+?
Why is it that America is never the bad guy in a shooting game?
Why does this game need blood and gore?
Why aren't there any boss battles?
Why isn't there music in a lot of these levels?
Why are the zombies in this game all...the same just with ability to spit or explode?
Why can't I be a female soldier or space marine?
Why is everything all grey and brown?
Why are the people so ugly? "

The answer to most of these questions is "realism" or the perception of it. A 30+ year old military/combat veteran saving the world is more believable than a 16 year old idealist with all the combat training that spending your days in high school will get you. Blood and gore happen in reality, unfortunately, though the level of it seen in games is there to "satisfy" the player (just like having huge explosions all the time), it enhances the game's "feel" and feedback. There aren't boss battles because, well, that's also not realistic. A guy is usually just a guy. I don't know about you, but I don't generally hear theme music pertaining to what I happen to be doing at any given time during the day. If I did, I'd be concerned that I've suffered a mild stroke and should seek medical attention. And as for the ugly people, well, I guess most of humanity hasn't really been blessed quite so generously in the looks department as those we may see regularly on TV.

The rest of those I could call tropes. Grey/brown and colour correction (such as the the blue/orange filter in BF3) really irk me, the real world is actually a pretty colourful place when you actually look at it. I guess when America is the biggest game market in the world you don't want to offend them, but come on, they aren't exactly saints. I'd love to play a game where you're taking on the seemingly insurmountable force of the US (perhaps some sort of stealth saboteur scenario). I'd like to see more compelling female protagonists in games, but the sad fact is (and there are numbers to back it up) people just don't seem to buy games with female leads. Hopefully, Tomb Raider will help stem this trope in the near term. And zombies need to go away, for a long while.

But I agree with you on the fantastical approach to design. I prefer playing in more imaginative locations and settings, with unusual characters and trappings all around. But I can't say I prefer Japanese over Western or vice versa. There's a time and place for both in equal measure. Sometimes it's nice to be grounded in a more realistic setting so you can really imagine the unrealistic possibilities before you, which can make things more fun. Games like Dishonored and Bioshock show how imaginative Western developers can be with their settings and aesthetics, so fantastical things aren't inherently Japanese.

[TuxedoMoon]

That's true and sums up everything. It's all about how REAL things have to be.

"I don't know about you, but I don't generally hear theme music pertaining to what I happen to be doing at any given time during the day."

I would love to have a dynamic mp3 player that plays certain themes for certain scenarios in life.

Walking to school or work on a very snowy day:
http://youtu.be/DL3m1izjzHY

Finding out that you don't have enough money to spend for fun:
http://youtu.be/1ytCEuuW2_A

Shopping:
http://youtu.be/Hb-ZF6ajmuQ

Running late:
http://youtu.be/2pDzJC9R3HA

[Kratoscar2008]

Yeah i agree, its like i that im given a sport game to review,i dont like Sports games so spect my review to be low and crappy when the game for the audience its is directed is actually good. I think the problem is that reviewers give the game a score based in how much they enjoyed the game and that depends on the likes of the reviewer and they ignore how well the features or mechanics are inplemented thats why every single review is biased.

I certainly love games with cute characters design and like the blogger i kinda blow when i see these low scores of such good games.

It makes me wonder why we can have games were you can blow a man head and evrything is okay but you cant have sexy things.

Another problem is the artistic design, most western MMOs have scandly females but its okay but if you make one with anime like characters in scandly clothes suddenly is for perverted people and its wrong, stupid double standards.

Here is the Review of japanese games here in a Nutshell

http://www.nerfnow.com/comi...

[Sonyslave3]

Most americans (that including me) have no problem with sexy / naked women in Japanese games except when the women look like my 8yr old sister o.o.

lol i have a buddy who almost got lock up because his girl friend thought he was playing child porn -____-

[Kratoscar2008]

I understand but you dont see as much complains with female characters with revealing clothes design in Western games but if you go with anime like characters then the review will surely mention it at some point and bash at the game just for its artistic style.

Yeah sometimes you cant really see the correlation, just look at the Lucky Star cast, they have 18 years but they look like little girls, that is a little disturbing.

[Theo1130]

All Japanese art of women makes them look like little girls, which is a bit pervish. Just sayin'

[Software_Lover]

Thats my only issue. They even sound like little kids, although I know a few grown women that do also lol. I understand its their "culture" but so was liking "little boys" in some older European cultures, that still carries on today with so much pedophilia.

And the artists know the difference between a little girl and a woman. I have seen anime that has both. They look and sound different.

[Bladesfist]

I really dislike when they do this. It's just creepy.

[Count]

I wouldn't call it ''pervish'', I'd call it disturbing.

I don't like it nor do I feel it necessary.

[landog]

yeah i mean, artist should get their inspiration from those sexy size 20's walking through american walmarts everyday

tales of thunder thighs

astonishia fat roll saga

everyone wants to play an rpg with some overweight oinker, she diesn't level up, just gets fatter and starts talking louder

[ZoyosJD]

I'd like to bring up the fact that anime or as americans view it, cartoons Is a much more childhood related experience than in Japan. For the average American, anime or cartoon style games are a draw on nostalgic experiences while scantly clad females is a more adult thematically. We can accept a cartoon style and a mature rating as seen in southpark, family guy,etc. but If you want a look at where we draw the lines in games look at ni no kuni and boarderlands. They both use an anime style and are highly sucessful in the USA, but they make their audiences clear from the first second. Anything somewhere inbetween and it just feels confused. Only once in a great while does something from Japan strike that perfect balance with the american audience where it is uniquely japanese but still accepted like MGS, howls moving castle, or pokemon. These groups have all gone on to be continually sucessful in the American market and are what we continually turn to for what they enjoy from the Japanese perspective. All great series BTW, but clearly the exceptions to the rule.