Bishoujo characters – A relationship based on power

In this first part of a possible two part entry where I explore the bishoujo genre I will begin by talking about bishoujo characters. In visual novels, eroge, and most other games of that genre are bishoujo characters are normally associated with words like cute or moe because of the certain characteristics or designs these characters hold which in turn resonate with the fans a deep feeling of… Hm, what is it exactly? Love? Or maybe a feeling of superiority and power?

From my experiences from playing games like Tokimeki Memorial 2 and most recently, Idolm@ster, I am generally filled with a feeling of enjoyment and positive feelings for that particular character. I personally like certain characters because they are cute and appealing to my fetishes, but the majority of female characters are really few that resonate any kind of deep feelings for which is only attained through background story, personality, style, and maybe their voice actor as well.

Although, as a gamer of the bishoujo game genre, I would say that there is a lingering insecurity with my own sexual drive so I turn to these kinds of games to get my fix. I have this despairing feeling that this might be the best I can ever do in my life even though I am hardly what you call unpersonable. I mean, I have my hobbies and what not but I can hold a conversation. It is just that my hobbies and interests are just, I suppose, not normal.

Moeblobs at play.

I was talking to a girl in the dorms here recently, and as much as I want to deny her statements I do agree that there is some kind of power high one might get from these kinds of games. A lot of this comes from the fact that most of the problems the female characters face lie with me, the gamer, to help solve their problem, or bring them happiness. Only I can do it, and no one else.

Take the popular Key games for example. In all three games, Kanon, Air and Clannad, it involves the player reading a story where he plays the role of the male lead who in turn helps the various female characters in the story with the problems they face be it getting out of a coma, delivering wishes to the sky, or collecting shiny orbs to prevent something tragic from happening. Only the player can do this and no one else is going to step up to the plate to save these girls. Most bishoujo visual novels all have the same kind of conventions and the only thing that really makes one more popular from the other is how much budget was put in the game, are the characters appealing, and how is the story that involves helping or bringing happiness to the chosen girl by the player.

This problem of being the only one who can save these female characters generally leads to very shallow characters who seem kind of deep with witty quirks that seem cute, and a kind of strange dependency on the player by the female characters. I personally like very shy female characters and from my poll a fair amount of readers do as well. So, in that regard, I would assume it goes double for us because the shy girl is dependent on the male lead for protection, among other things.

So in the end, it really does seem rather creepy to like any female anime characters from the bishoujo genre because they’re definitely designed in such a way to draw fans in but there really isn’t anything beneath the surface no matter how much one likes a character. Watching shows from the early 80s has really made me question where have all the strong willed females of anime gone?