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Digitally in Love: From Animation to Simulation
Part 2- The East wants more

A common derivative of the ever increasing idolization for anime and the social/love interaction surrounding the genre is the “bishōjo”- quite literally, a girl-game, or as we commonly know it, a dating simulation. An example of this is a sci-fi/comedy anime, manga and dating simulation series called Galaxy Angel, created in July 2000. Galaxy Angel (ギャラクシーエンジェル), the anime, comprises a comedy story in an alternate universe, while the games and the regular manga have a serious and involved romance/action plot. The dating games were an instant success and a sequel to the game trilogy was released in June 2006; the major success of these manga-turned game characters stems from allowing the user an opportunity to socially interact with a digital character: having a relationship with a Galaxy Angel girl in the context of a sci-fi based storyline.

Government censorship

With the CCTV and Chinese governments’ stern view of influence on the nation, it can be easily understood how they may further react to the global (and particularly Eastern) involvement with anime and relationships.

A number of issues could be deemed as ‘negative outcomes’ from games such as this. Many high retail games have been banned due to impacts including antisocial behaviour and the promotion or endorsements that such games may bring (consider the morale panic created in China by violent games such as Grand Theft Auto or Manhunt); Furthermore, the Chinese society, at large, would not necessarily embrace the subjects of these “relationship” games, as many aspects of dating sims are still approached coyly in today’s Chinese society; topics such as sex and relationships are generally not spoken of amongst the general public, and PDAs (public displays of affection) are still somewhat frowned upon or rarely seen. Therefore it is possible that the wider introduction of games with these risqué concepts could be rejected by the government; possibly occurring before the nation (that do not partake in digital/anime/gaming) even scrutinized this genre of gaming; and it is, indeed, a prolific genre of work…

The world of (dating) simulations:

“Kanon (カノン?) is a Japanese visual novel released as an adult game on June 4, 1999, and later ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable; the Kanon Standard Edition was released for the PC as an adult version in November 2004. Kanon follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of five main female characters. Kanon has sold over 300,000 units across several platforms, not counting the PSP release. One of the goals of the original version's gameplay is for the player to enable the viewing of adult scenes depicting Yuichi (the male protagonist) and one of the five heroines having sexual intercourse; the versions that include the adult content include one explicit sex scene in each of the five main story routes, 50-75% of the way through, excluding one fantasy scene.[1] Outside of these, there are two scenes with nudity, which use the same CGs.[1] Yūichi Suzumoto, a scenario writer who worked on later Key titles, commented that the sex scenes in Kanon are very self-contained, and can be easily removed without altering the story.”

Alternatively, ‘Singles: Flirt Up Your Life’ is a different type of dating video game developed in 2004. Bearing many similarities to The Sims, the player is responsible for characters, controlling their behaviour and ordering the simulations to eat, sleep, go to work, as well as engage in a highly sexualized lifestyle; naturally the game has met with much scrutiny. In Australia, it was banned by the OFLC as it had exceeded the highest allowable rating for video games, which was MA15+. It has been debated as to whether or not an R18+ rating (which currently applies only to films and DVDs) should be introduced for video games in Australia. Note, the CD-ROM version sold in the USA censors any nudity throughout the game. Singles was largely panned by critics for being a rip-off of The Sims and the way it offered little challenge, with the player required to simply follow a routine of making the characters progress from making small talk through to professing love then running off to bed together via the simple interaction menus. The 'needs' are also considered fairly inconsequential, with the characters never starving to death even when their 'hunger' need has dropped to zero.

Another popular dating sim I will describe from the perspective of it’s tantalizing plot: “Jun'ichi Nagase attends a prestigious high school. He has the nickname ‘Killer’ since he was rebellious in middle school. This is used, inadvertently, to help a girl named Yuuhi Katagiri from trouble. She later transfers to his school, and in order to protect Yuuhi from danger, Jun'ichi is forced to kiss her. Not understanding what happened, she screams at him. Subsequently, it turns out that Yuuhi is his fiancé as arranged by their parents. Their parents discuss the matter and order them to go out together for a month to restore their relationship. If their relationship does not get better, the engagement will then be cancelled”. This is the plot for the simulation Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka (The Hill Dyed Rose Madder), also known in short as Akasaka; released for the PC as a DVD on July 27, 2007. A version without adult content was released under the title ‘Akaneiro Somaru Saka: Parallel‘on July 31, 2008 by GN Software for the PlayStation 2.

All of these games have a large share in a range of markets spanning anime, online gaming, dating simulations, novels etc. They all have the potential to appeal to the masses with increasing exposure through digital technology and as a result, as we’ve already seen in the US, have a strong potential to seep into markets in other countries.

Next - Part 3: The Future and LovePlus