Written in 2022
The role of women in Japanese culture
Breath of Fire 2: Jean / Katt or Nina
Final Fantasy VI: Edgar and Relm
There is a story element in Japanese RPGs, even in some of the best ones, that exploits women (or people identifying / presenting themselves in a female style) in a really bitter and despicable way.
In this page, titled "the ugly side of love and RPGs", we would like to dig deeper into this topic and take a look where it comes from, why is it the way it is, and show some examples of what we're talking about.
The story elements, sometimes referred as "Anime tropes", are intertwined with Japanese culture and the role of women in that country. At the end of the report, you can find some links with more in-depth information.
If you would like to discuss this topic with us, please feel free to visit the contact page and get in touch with us!
Japan is a country where classical traditions are still strong, no matter how modern the technology of the country might make it look very modern and progressive.
In dating or relationships, women are often the part that try to support or motivate their love interest - it's also important to act like a lady, which includes presenting themselves as shy and reserved, not expressive and flamboyant. And if the relationship gets further beyond dating alone, it still often turns into a marriage, especially when children are to be expected.
In the work life, women are also expected to dress and act like ladys. They are, given equal classifications, less likely to get a position when a man also applies for the job. And women are expected to serve and support their co worker with means like making them tea or supporting them in meetings.
In school, boys and girls are separated, oftentimes even in classes or courses. School uniforms are very gender specific with girls having to wear a feminine attire with skirts, although this can differ from district to district.
Modesty is key in visual appearances in Japan for women.
These depictions of women and sexuall assaults we discuss here in this report are also very present in Animes and Mangas. This form of entertainment is older than video games, and so these examples are older and more present in that form of media.
Often, there are characters in stories that play the role of the needy male that always tries to groom, approach or grope women. In some stories like Ranma 1/2, they seem to get very popular and even get their own episodes or even spin-offs.
Then somewhere in season 2, the character of Happosai is introduced and it instantly becomes disgusting. He's this tiny old man that constantly assaults woman and wears their bras and underwear on his head. Many times I would characterize what he does as rape. This character is suppose to be funny and somehow became so popular that he gets entire storylines dedicated to him. It basically turns into the Happosai show and many of the secondary characters completely disappear for multiple episodes. And this show went on for 7 seasons!
Reddit user Unsungghost
With the success of these story elements in other media, it was only a matter of time until these "Anime tropes" were also incorporated in games. Especially, since games are often perceived as more aimed towards a young, male audience. This also leads to an image of women that is a recurring topic within games.
In many games, the main hero is a straight male, which leads to the logical conclusion that women should also be part of a story, being a possible companion or love interest to the hero. These women's roles can often be categorized as follows:
As a game, I really like Breath of Fire 2. But there are two events that show a very despicable behaviour of two characters. Where one doesn't succeed (Sten), the other does.
Jean is the leader of SimaFort, a country led by the creeping clan. While already bearing some resemblence to a frog, a witch turned him into an even bigger frog creature.
As it turns out, a woman has to kiss him in order to get him back to his more human looking form. Players can choose between Katt and Nina, two of the female members of the party.
This is meant as some kind of comic relieve to show how both women are disgusted by the fact that they have to kiss him, but in the end they're doing it "for the greater good".
The annoying point is, that the story writers could have come up with any solution of how the witch cursed Jean and how the curse can be lifted. But they decided to go with the version that shows female party members in an uneasy situation.
Please note that this screenshot shows the scene as part of the fan based retranslation of the game, which is more close to the Japanese story.
Relm is a very gifted child with magical abilities that happens to meet the party of Final Fantasy VI at a certain point in the game. She is a person who can channel magic, which is very rare in the steampunk world of Final Fantasy VI.
Edgar is the king of an independent country, very skilled but also a lot into women. He tries to hunt down every skirt he can reach, but usually he does this in a very royal manner.
But at a certain point, it's getting clear that Edgar is also attracted to Relm - a ten year old girl. He mourns that she is still to young and hopes to see her grow into adulthood.
Even if the age of sexual consent is lower in Japan than in other parts of the world, it's still considerably higher than just ten - and even then, it only refers to sexual interaction amongst minors.
Edgar, who had been shown as a lady's man with manners was depicted with a very dark side at that moment. The bigger problem was that Relm was put into a sexual context by the story writers. And this is just plain wrong.
I remember the first time I noticed was as a teen when I was playing the newly-released Final Fantasy VI. There's a scene in the game where Edgar, a perverted girl-crazy king meets Relm, a magically-gifted child who has a lot of sass, and she puts him in his place and he says something along the lines of "I can't wait until she's older." Even as a young teen at that point it made me feel gross. Like ok cool, good on you for waiting until she's an adult or whatever, but why is the implication that it's a shame that she's so young because you're into her vibe even a goddamn thing? I've seen people try to interpret it differently or blame it on the translation, but I think that everyone knows better.
Reddit user hekkinneato
As a sidenote: Sometimes, Japanese developers try to hide "underage" girls by calling them strange beings who are in fact more hundreds of years in age. While still looking like an underage girl.
This is not a case where the main character does anything inappropriate to a woman (although something like this was implied earlier in the game, again as part of a comic relief. But at least Justin didn't to that on purpose... oh well), but rather a wonderful example of "bringing the woman down".
Feena is presented as an incredibly strong woman who has experience as an adventurer. She is strong and skilled and in so many aspects way better than Justin. But then it happens that she's being abducted.
And in that moment, Feena turns into a damsel in distress, a helpless woman who would have been forcefully married to an evil man if it wasn't for Justin to save her.
There are so many great moments that strenghten the bond between Justin and Feena without her being weakened.
This is an especially ugly one.
In Tales of Vesperia, there is a moment where the party has to get a guard out of the way in order to proceed. Someone then comes up with the idea to lure the guard away with the help of a woman.
The options can be Judy, 19 or Estelle, 18, who are subsequently lightly clad and try to seduce the guard so that he leaves the place. That's bad enough.
But players could also decide to send Karol, a 12 year old boy. He then also gets a dress that makes him look like an underage girl. After he changed, he is sent to the guard to try to flirt with him.
Choosing Estelle or Judy leads to a cringy moment, but choosing Karol is just outrageous. It's meant to be funny, but he always shows his displeasure during that scene, which means that he is not only exploited but also forced to do things he doesn't want to do. As a minor. In a sexual context.
Pyra is basically designed to be appealing to male players and characters.
She has a huge bust, a cute face and fulfills the role as the calm and obedient woman just perfectly. Even if she's very powerful, she has some issues with herself like a memory loss that brings her down to the level of the male main characters. She also has some personality issues - a case of "bringing her down".
And then there is a scene where she explains to another female party member how to be cute and appealing to men by acting the way she does.
Throughout the game, there are always moments where some other people just happen to touch her or treat her inappropriately.
Not everything is bad or lost in any sense. At the end of this report, I'd like to add two examples of Japanese games where there's a good representation of women within the games.
After you read that, you can find additional information in the sources chapter.
Even in 1987, Phantasy Star covered a female heroine. And not someone who is full of cliché, but a strong, independent woman who wants to avenge her brother and bring down Lassic's evil empire.
Right from the beginning, after she had to see her brother being killed by imperial guards, Alis doesn't mourn very long but rather gets up and starts finding out how to get to the evil emperor. Along the journey, she meets men, sometimes strong or wise, but no one tries to make her look or feel weaker.
Phantasy Star II and IV continue this trend. Nei, an artificial being, is still young but she has the resolve to help her friends out and fight another of these "new humans" all alone.
Alys from Phantasy Star IV is the mentor of the games' hero, Chaz, and he also looks up to her. She manages the life of those two in a dying, harsh environment.
Especially Nei and Rika have attire that led to them being sexualized and victim of some explicit fan art, but none of the main characters ever use their looks to act inappropriate.
The main story of this famous MMO game is very intense and also includes some of the strongest women I've experienced in game storylines.
Minfilia, Y'Shtola, Alisaie, Rine and more are capable of handling their own things, and they're absolute on par with the male members of the main story group, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
As the story progresses, some of them are in trouble and have to be saved, but it's never a "damsel in distress" moment, and they're never overly shy or obedient. Also, male characters get in trouble equally often.
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