Bishoujo Visual Novel
Point and Click Adventures from Japan: Top Ten Bishoujo Games Available in English. Jason Young - May 4. If you’re even vaguely interested in visual novels. Bishoujo games are often the most underrated type of genre, that gets almost no attention except for hardcore anime fans, or the targetted audiences itself.
. A bishōjo game (: 美少女ゲーム,: bishōjo gēmu, lit. 'pretty girl game'), or gal game ( ギャルゲーム, gyaru gēmu, often shortened to ' galge'), is 'a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls'. These games are a subgenre of dating sims targeted towards a heterosexual male audience. Bishōjo games are similar to books in the way of narrative, in which the game tells a story but the player may make choices to change how the story flows. Bishōjo games are a uniquely Japanese phenomenon.
While in the industries, those games can be considered, the Japanese market for bishōjo games have its own growth unrelated to the Western world. They form a sizeable fraction of the Japanese market: the most popular have sold over a million copies, and they make up the majority of games in Japan. Nevertheless, only a few titles of this sort have been translated or commercialized outside of. Contents.
History 1980s Bishōjo games began to appear in Japan in the beginning days of personal computers. The first bishōjo game commercialized in Japan appeared in 1982 as. The first bishōjo games were not too popular, being limited to graphics of 16 colors or less. At the beginning of the genre almost all the games were pornographic. A notable landmark was 's (1985), a precursor to the modern. Among early bishōjo it had a degree of polish that previous games lacked.
It was also the first to have recognizably modern -style artwork: its characters had very large eyes and a tiny nose and mouth but were otherwise basically normally proportioned, characteristics which today are found in virtually all bishōjo games. Prior to 1985, girls were generally drawn either as normally proportioned adults or children. Some games involved elements of force and brutality. These came to national attention in Japan in 1986 with the release by dB-soft of, a game where the player takes the role of a rapist. (The game's title originates from the number of the criminalizing rape.) 177 was not actually the first game designed around this premise, but it was unusually explicit.
The game caused debate in the and was eventually recalled and re-released with the most controversial scenes removed. 1990s The industry gradually moved away from proprietary Japanese hardware to the burgeoning platform, and then later in the decade to. Throughout the nineties, bishōjo games underwent an evolution from being one of the most technologically demanding types of games (because their detailed 2D graphics required a large amount of storage space by the standards of early computers) to one of the least (they rarely use 3D graphics). Thus, more than regular games, the main employees required by bishōjo game companies today are not programmers but artists and writers. In the early nineties the atmosphere in Japan became more and more hostile towards bishōjo games. In 1989 was arrested and was revealed to be a consumer of, causing widespread opposition to pornographic manga, and anything similar.
In November 1991 there was an incident where a middle-schooler shoplifted an adult bishōjo game, resulting in increased police scrutiny for makers and retailers. Several prefectures began classifying games as obscene and pulling them off the shelves. Faced with the threat of being forcibly censored out of existence by the government, in 1992 the bishōjo game industry formed the Computer Software Rinri Kikō (meaning 'Ethics Organization for Computer Software', and often abbreviated EOCS or Sofu-rin), setting industry guidelines for acceptable content and packaging.
This organization tamed down the most objectionable content in the 'wild west' of the 1980s. Thus free from controversy and fueled by continuing improvement in technology, in the 1990s the bishōjo game industry underwent a decade-long boom. The first major title of the 1990s was. Released in 1994 by who was on the verge of bankruptcy, the dating sim becoming the first major Bishojo game since Koei's release of Night Life. In 1999, was released by /. While the title was another eroge title targeted at males for its sexual content, the players began to identify with the protagonist and the idea overcoming 'the emotional trials and tribulations of pure love.' A late removed the sexual content and sold better than the original leading eventually to two anime adaptations.
A turning point was 's (1992). Dōkyūsei, whose gameplay focused on meeting girls and seducing them, established the standard conventions of the dating simulation genre. Tokimeki Memorial, the first dating sim, featured good graphics, full voice acting, and a -like gameplay system. To be accessible to a more mainstream audience, it contained no erotic elements, seeking instead to create a 'romantic' atmosphere. 's popular bishōjo game series also first saw publication in 1996 for the; like Tokimeki Memorial, it contained no erotic elements.
However, it was unique in that it contained not only adventure-game elements but also a combat system borrowed from tactical combat games such as. Since the late nineties, there has been a trend towards better storytelling in mainstream bishōjo games. Particularly notable in this respect are 's (1997), and 's (1999). Even though their gameplay involved little more than scrolling through text, they became hits largely due to the quality of their writing and characterization. Both were first released on the PC with erotic scenes, which were subsequently removed in their console ports.
2000s The bishojo gaming industry has resisted the transition into because of the blocky and distorted nature when viewed zoomed up close. In 2001 became the first bishojo game to break this trend. However, low sales make it likely that other companies will stick with the traditional. Today the industry has grown, with most publishers making releases for, including download only files. Some of the least pornographic and most successful also branching off into the market.
The main consoles used for bishōjo games in the nineties were the and. More recently the has been the console of choice with a growing number of games for the and handhelds. Games ported to consoles usually have adult content removed.
Characteristics The industry of bishōjo games is closely related to the industry of and Japanese. While many of the games are pornographic, the majority feature romantic situations with suggestive material. Some groups produce bishōjo games, many with the objective to later form a real company or to be contracted by one of the great companies in the industry. Due to the short programming time and relatively small amount of content required in a bishōjo game, barriers to enter this industry is somewhat low, and is the reason why every year dozens of new companies emerge.
A substantial part of the revenue of the industry comes from merchandising. Fans are often dedicated to particular characters within their favorite games, and are willing to pay premium prices for goods like, and accessories representing them. Several conventions also exist where articles oriented to bishōjo fans are sold, like the popular dōjinshi market Comiket in, Japan. Due to the representation of female characters in the majority of bishōjo games, a great majority of the market is males. Nevertheless, from the year 2000 some developers began to expand their market creating games directed to girls and presented attractive young men in their cast. The most well-known and commercial of these titles is 's experiment (2002). There have even appeared a small amount of erotic games that present man-man homosexual relations , which take their bases from the parallel subculture of anime and manga.
Games targeted specifically at female players are not referred to as bishōjo games, but categorized under the broader genre of adventure or simulation by publishers, and commonly referred to as or by fans and reviewers. Gameplay. A depicition of a type bishōjo game. Bishōjo game elements can be present in practically any type of video gameand in bishōjo games varies within the genre. There are still some basic formula that defines the genre. The basic characteristics of bishojo games resemble those of books. The basic appearance of bishojo games in the West, as of 2005, consisted of an image in the upper portion, a text box in the lower portion and a static background that occasionally changes extending to the edge behind both of the other two areas.
The background images are often reused for various scenes and text descriptors are used to help distinguish differences in the surrounding. In most of the games the player does not see their and instead see the game from a perspective. In addition, some games use various techniques, such as the screen shaking, flashing or going black, to give further immersion by demonstrating various conditions. The games' range of are also used to represent the avatar's eardrums. The characters of these games are less realistic and often limited to only several static facial expression, gestures and occasional eye blinks of which the former two coincide with the text displayed at the bottom of the scene and are constantly reused. The basic storylines for these games center around a male protagonist whom the player controls who interacts with various characters, notably females. Interaction occurs at several points where choices—seemingly trivial—are given to the player while life-altering choices are generally not.
These choices eventually lead to various good or bad endings with (or without for some bad endings) one or more female characters. Beating these games does not mean just getting various good endings, but also in some cases bad endings as the goal is to.
This makes the way to lose such games by getting the same ending twice and not unlocking any new content. For example, is a variant of the classic game where the objective is to uncover 75% or more of a picture of a girl. Is a puzzle game comparable to the series (which is also categorized as a bishōjo game).
In some cases, images of girls are used as prizes for skilled play, as is the case in. In other games, the bishōjo aspect can be integrated more tightly into the game: in most dating sims, the objective is to select the correct conversation lines while speaking with a female character to increase their 'love meter'.
This type of game resembles. Many are very linear and are essentially interactive romance novels for men (sometimes called ).
Most bishōjo games remain, in contrast to the rest of the gaming industry in which the majority are. The main reason is that bishōjo games are centered mainly on characters instead of landscapes, and for this intention, 2D continue to look better than 3D models (which tend to be blocky when seen up close). The main advantage of 3D models in this context is smoother and more realistic animation, although this is usually discarded by the unpolished look of the 3D characters, in addition to the additional cost of production for this type of work.
(2001) was the first bishōjo game to have all its characters modeled in 3Dalthough the sales were smaller than hopedperhaps discouraging other developers from the possibility of changing bishōjo games from 2D to 3D. Many bishōjo games nowadays are essentially a slideshow of 2D pictures plus voice and text.
Pornographic content. See also: While there are a number of bishōjo games entirely focused on hardcore pornography, many of the most popular titles, including all those available for, do not contain pornographic material, and many others only contain a small amount in relation to the story as a whole. For example, the 18+ version of the popular game contains a total of 5 sex scenes and two other images of nudity within a branched story the size of a long novel. The pornographic content of bishōjo games is regulated by the (EOCS), the organization in charge of classifying the content of video games in the Japanese industry.
Pornography is prohibited in all console titles, and computer games are assigned a special classification alerting the public of its content. Also, as in all legal, the explicit images are normally censored, showing mosaics or bars on the genital areas in order to satisfy Japanese decency laws. Pornographic bishōjo games are often catalogued as ' games' in the West. In Japan, they are usually called ero-games, or frequently. Representation of girls. Nayuki Minase from pictured in her. The representation of girl in bishōjo games varies, but two generalizations can be made.
First, most of the girls are portrayed as, meaning beautiful, attractive or cute. Two particularly common settings exist: Japanese and medieval-atmosphered, pseudo-European fantasy lands.
In secondary education settings, characters wear idealized; whereas fantasy setting outfits range from witch robes to princess dresses, and Fantastic creatures like and may be found as well. When the game takes place in some other setting, it tends to explore other fashion possibilities, for example, the game is located in a restaurant, in which the girls wear elaborate waitress uniforms. The female characters frequently act in an endearingly childlike fashion, which is described by the Japanese slang term (萌え), a characteristic that is often looked-for in bishōjo characters.
The reasons for this characteristic are not always merely sexual: sometimes it is used to present a pretty and affectionate character who is beloved and supported by the player. In fact, 'little sisters' are a recurring fixture of bishōjo games. A very popular game that emphasizes the characteristic of moe is, based on the premise of the player acquiring no fewer than 12 little sisters. The majority of bishōjo games involve girls and not pictures of real-life girls.
Since characters in bishōjo games are minors, the use of anime allows the studios of bishōjo games with adult content to avoid the penalty of Japanese laws, which prohibit the simulated representation of characters under 20 years of age. Even so, it is common to find the packages of these games stating that, the characters do not exceed 19 years old. Representation of men. This section does not any. Unsourced material may be challenged and. (February 2013) The main male character in bishōjo games is often rendered as someone the player can identify with, thus experiencing the story as he would live an episode of his own life.
Often the game is viewed in a view of the main character. Since bishōjo games focus on female characters and the player's interaction with them, male characters often receive less time on-screen and the character that represents the player rarely appears; when this happens, his face is usually hidden outside the screen or otherwise, and he might not even be voiced. Sometimes the only male appearance in sex scenes is reduced to a penis entering from the side of the screen, with no other visible parts. Distribution The genre is extremely popular in Japan. It was estimated as late as 2005 that bishōjo game sales totaled a quarter of all software produced in Japan. It is estimated that an average 50 new titles are released each month or about 500 annually.
Bishōjo games for personal computers are usually sold in special stores or sections reserved for clients more than 18 years old. Nevertheless, console bishōjo games, which are generally less explicit, are sold next to other video games. At the present time, dozens of bishōjo games are released every month, and practically all the video game stores in Japan maintain a sizable stock of these. The games are initially relatively expensive compared to the Western market of videogames, fluctuating between 8000 and 10000 yen (approximately $75–$95) each, although soon they can be bought more cheaply second-hand. Influence in the West. The English localization of, which was never officially released. While bishojo games are produced in Japan for console market, that is largely not the case in the West where enthusiasm for the subgenre is lukewarm.
What success these games have had has historically been dependent on the related industries of anime and manga. The common visual novel format that make up the majority of translations has been criticized as boring and not actually games.
In addition the genre has been associated exclusively with poorly written eroge. The popular discussion of bishōjo games is widely plagued by disagreement and disapproval of pornography. The debate tends to be remarkably divided: on one hand, critics condemn the genre as totally pornographic, while on the other hand, enthusiasts deny this generalization. This question does not cause as much controversy in Japan. The attempts to massively trade bishōjo games in the West have caused a certain degree of public controversy. An example of this is the attempt to release the PC game in the United States.
Though it was never officially released, a few newspapers critically accused the game of sexism. Adding to the uproar was a pre-release screen-capture containing nudity. However, the game is not pornographic; there was some nudity which was already censored by American localizer, and the only way to see any real nudity is through an Easter egg cheat code. Princess Maker attracted negative attention due to the fact it was widely promoted as a mainstream video game, unlike other translated games which had been kept in adult-only channels as pornography. The dōjinshi, popular among Western followers of, especially in the United States, was inspired in a large extent by dating sims. Megatokyo idealizes bishōjo games while simultaneously expresses another criticism commonly used in the West against them: that players resort to them as a form of escapism because they are socially inept (This type of criticism is also found in Japan, though in a quite different form: see ).
While translations of bishōjo games in English remain a relatively niche market confined mostly to the adult genre, elements of the gameplay do exist in a lot of games., the series, and other games like them focus on the social interaction and the romancing of attractive anime girls. However, such games also offer much more social ties, even if the gameplay may favor social interaction with females. Cultural transmission Western players can use bishōjo games to help orient themselves to the Japanese culture through aspects of. However, because bishōjo games rely heavily on iconic nature, their level of is diminished in comparison to mediums like.
Instead, they rely on. These games are constructed around popular culture and other social phenomena of Japan which then combined with immersion and telepresence allows a Western player get better idea of what it is like living in Japan.
According to Mathew T. Jones of, Peter Payne, founder of Jast USA, says, ' You’re reaching out and touching a little piece of Japan in the game – you really feel like you're experiencing love and life vicariously through the game characters'. By using a first person avatar with Japanese identity, bishojo games offer an unprecedented means of cultural immersion that, according to Jones, travel and live cannot. This is done by taking on the Japanese identity that allows for an intimate perspective of the Japanese culture while maintaining the ability to make choices throughout the game.
In addition, some English translations offer or in-game text to explain certain Japanese idiosyncrasies. The knowledge can be broken into five main categories: language; cultural events; stories; media; and sexual culture. In the former, language, common Japanese words become a part of the player's vocabulary. In addition, games with Japanese voicing adds an additional level of understanding to the player about the language's structure. In addition, major culture events, such as Japanese holidays, are portrayed. The player also comes to understand what stories and legends are known in Japan, both traditional ones and Western ones and how the latter are seen from a Japanese perspective. Manga titles popular in Japan are frequently referenced in these games and those likely playing the games read many of those manga referenced.
Finally, Japanese sexual culture is referenced through the usage of various institutes like, pubs and erotic. Related terms There are a number of terms roughly equivalent to 'bishōjo game' in use, both in Japanese and English, and there is considerable disagreement and confusion about their proper use. There is no clear consensus on the precise meaning of many of the terms below. The naming difficulties reflect the fluid boundaries of the genre, as well as embarrassment caused by the pornographic nature of some of these games. In general, 'anime game' can be considered the most general term, and other names designate subgenres.
Here are the most common terms currently in use: Bishōjo game, girl game, gal game This term designates any game involving pretty anime girls. The Japanese word ' literally means 'pretty young girl'. 'Girl game' and 'gal game' are also used to describe these games. Boy's love game, Girls' 'bishōnen' game where teenage boys and young adult males engage in homosexual relationships. Most such games are visual novels (see below).
Bishoujo Style Visual Novels
A genre which literally means 'maiden game', they are games which are aimed at female players and feature mainly heterosexual relationships. They are sometimes called 'reverse harem' or GxB games because the genders of the protagonist and the romanceable characters are the opposite of bishōjo games. Otome games will occasionally contain lesbian romance as well. ( エロゲー or エロゲ), H game, ( 変態) game These terms are used in English to designate anime games with explicit erotic or pornographic elements. 'H' is a letter used in Japanese to refer to sexual content, and 'erogē' is an abbreviation of 'erotic game'.
'Hentai', meaning 'pervert' in Japanese, is not used to describe these games in Japanese, but it is common in English. In Japan, eroges are almost always sold for the PC, because console manufacturers such as and generally refuse to license pornographic games for their systems. This is a subgenre where the goal is to 'raise' a character, training and educating him/her to improve his/her (usually numerically quantified) attributes. This resembles except that the goal is to improve another character rather than yourself, not unlike a.
The classic example is, where the player's task is to raise a girl into a queen. Another is the game with an orphaned robot girl. Many hardcore eroge also start from this premise, in which case the character to be 'raised' is usually some kind of sexual slave. This subgenre is called chōkyō ( 調教, 'training'/'breaking' (animals)).
A variation of the raising sim genre involves the recruitment and training of pop in the guise of a. One popular series of this genre is. Romance game ( 恋愛ゲーム, ren’ai gēmu) This term describes games focusing on romantic interactions with anime girls. This term is generally used to describe games which have little or no pornography, or for which erotic content is not the main focus of the game.
To describe hardcore pornographic games, eroge is preferred. The games are often 'love ' ( 恋愛アドベンチャーゲーム, ren’ai adobenchā gēmu, in short: 恋愛ADV/AVG), or 'love ' ( 恋愛シミュレーションゲーム, ren’ai shimyurēshon gēmu, in short: 恋愛SLG). Strictly speaking, this term designates focused on dating, the most famous being. However, this term is frequently used by English speakers to describe any romance-driven game, regardless of game mechanics used. This is used to designate a type of game which is particularly story-focused, or containing novel-like narration in its writing. Examples of visual novels include, and.
In Japan such games are generally referred to as 'love adventure games' ( 恋愛ADV/AVG), whereas only such type of games with little to no interaction are called visual novel ( ビジュアルノベル, bijuaru noberu) (predominantly for adult games) or novel game ( ノベルゲーム, noberu gēmu, in short: NVL). Also, note that many Japanese games which are not strictly bishōjo games contain elements of the genre. Many mainstream Japanese role-playing or fighting games feature attractive anime girls (such as 's or many of the girls in the ), but they are usually not considered bishōjo games unless this is a central aspect of the game.
See also. Notes.
Jones, Matthew T. (December 2005). PsychNology Journal. 3 (3): 292–311. Pesimo, Rudyard Contretas (2007).
Reflections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity - The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows. The Nippon Foundation. Taylor, Emily (2007).
Southeast Review of Asian Studies. Further reading.
Kinsella, Sharon (Summer 1998). Journal of Japanese Studies. Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 24 (2): 289–316. Retrieved 2006-09-11. Trzepacz, Tim. Retrieved 2006-09-11.
Ronen, Oren (March 29, 2008). Cool Japan: Contemporary Japanese Popular Culture. Tel-Aviv University. Archived from (PDF) on July 23, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
But its not over yet. While we develop the game anyone who arrives a little late, whose pledge failed or couldn't use kickstarter can now place their order to receive the game and help fund development further via our dedicated website using PayPal. A variety of rewards will remain available via our integrated Swords of Edo store, so please come and visit if you are interested in enjoying the game or helping to fund it even further. Backer Reward Breakdown Major Notices #5: The next stretch goal has been reached, more items will be included with the physical copies of the game and some extra reward options have been added to the campaign.
#4: A variety of add-ons are available in the campaign all have been included in the backer rewards info above. #3: With your help we have now reached our second stretch goal, new goals have been announced based on your feedback and a new prototype has been added to the campaign. #2: Thank you everyone we have now reached our first stretch goal. #1: Congratulations we have now reached our primary target ensuring a bigger, better game is created, now we can work towards our first stretch goal. All additional funds will be used to take the game further, and more stretch goals will be announced as we increase our funding level. Development Development of the game has already begun with the first four character art assets and several basic backgrounds being generated ready for use.
Below is our very early pre-alpha development showing the engine working correctly ready for more assets to be added. It is our aim to begin immediate development of the game at the end of the kickstarter campaign. Initially creating the first few 'scenes' and dialogue choices.
Once these are implemented we will open up the game to the alpha testers from the campaign around Nov/Dec 2013. Concept Sketches for New Character 'Sen' Alpha Testing: From our early testing we believe we should be able to release a new 'scene' to the alpha every one to two weeks. Once all of the major story points have been added (and some CG scenes) we will then move onto Beta Testing after a few months, Beta Testing: Will primarily focus on adding the new CG scenes to the game as they are completed by the artist, correcting any bugs, adding sound effects and finally creating the Battle System. Once the game is completed we will then add in any final adjustments, secret endings and alternate endings (we don't want the beta testers to have the game spoilt for them completely) before releasing the game. Graphic Novels This game is based on the graphic novel Swords of Edo and will feature some characters from the novel as well as a variety of new characters, below are some example pages from the first two issues of the graphic novel. Physical rewards In thanks for your support of this game we have several rewards available ranging from thank you's to physical items, copies of the game and epic rewards that allow characters to be designed after you.
Bishoujo Style Visual Novels
Take a look at the information to the right for more details. Early Bird Bundles We also have a special early bird bundles, with limited amounts at £20, £50 & £100 where you can receive a copy of the game, beta access and alpha access as well as an exclusive copy of the games final soundtrack, which is only available at this tier, plus some other items. Finally you will also gain immediate access to the first game we have developed (alongside Buko Studios) named (a space based visual novel with more options, random events and a quest to find the human race a new home).
Risks and challenges Over the past six months I have been working hard on the Spatial Flux game which found funding on Kickstarter, the development of which is now in the final stages and is due for launch in the next two months. Spatial Flux has now been handed over to Buko Studios and renamed Quantum Flux to be polished ready for release which now frees me up to work on the Swords of Edo Visual Novel Game development. After Quantum Flux I then ran a very successful campaign to fund the creation of the Swords of Edo graphic novel series, one of the stretch goals of which included a small amount of funding to begin building the assets for this game. Those funds have been stretched as far as they can and have created the opening part of the game, five main characters and several backgrounds. But we want to take the game further and so we have agreed to return to kickstarter to raise additional funds so that we can add an interactive battle system, full CG scenes and even more characters to create a much bigger game.
When this campaign concludes I will be dedicating my time to completing this visual novel game, whilst Fuyuki Yuki and Buko Studios continues to work on the SoE graphic novel and Quantum Flux respectively ensuring all campaign rewards are completed and distributed as per our original schedules.