SO, my argument is that the medium needs to define itself before said exploitation happens. This is done through a game that unites the hardcore and casual fans, as well as be a standard for what the genre is capable of. In other words Mario. Again, to keep a long story short, some thought I was insane. The regulars of this site know any question of my sanity is old news, but it was actually a debate for a while with me still ringing the bell on it until recently.
Why? Because after talking about it all year, I think the launch of the EVN Mario is upon us…and of course it would be spawned from otome.
Yes folks. For all of you who cowered in fear of my purported hatred of otome, you heard me correctly; it’s going to be an otome VN that will, for all intents and purposes, be the face of this genre for an entire generation of otaku and gamers. Pick up your jaws and calm yourselves people; I will make my case and what better arena than Otome Week, the Maiden’s Kokorocalypse (thanks again KitKat!), to make said case? But first, what is this game of which I speak? What otome game could have possible made it through the rotting wasteland that is my heart?
Sakevisual isn’t new to any of us here and Ayu Sakata’s motley crew has earned every accolade anyone’s ever given them. From the manic fun of games like My Magical Cosplay Café and RE:Alistair++ to the entire Jisei series, Sakata has developed a catalog many AAA studios would punch their own Mother to have. And now they are on the final stretch of the most ambitious project yet: Backstage Pass. After turning many of the characters into a dart board, and Mattie into my personal heavy bag, for most of the year, I was legitimately surprised when the demo was left in an unmarked package at my doorstep. And I will not lie to you guys; what I expected was a saccharine love story with colors that detached my eyes from their sockets. What I got was so much more and during the course of this feature, I hope to cover as much of the themes and characters as I can…without spoiling anything.
Trust me; you don’t want me to dig too deep into the story. Everything we’ve gotten on Backstage Pass from the CGs to the voice clips is just window dressing. But even without digging into the story, the characters themselves along with the gameplay and overall themes of the story are a full course meal. And what better place to start than with the most controversial character of any otome game, the heroine herself?
The Anti-Maiden
I have yet to figure why the otome faithful seem to disregard their own like they do. From my understanding, otome heroines just don’t rise to a level of wish fulfillment that often brings with it a rabid fanbase. Unlike James Bond, Superman or even Wonder Woman, no one is exactly beating down the doors to be in the shoes of Yui Komori, Haruka Nanami or Saki Inafune…okay maybe that last one but for the most part you see what I mean. But I can tell you why I have and often do mock otome heroines: I’m a beast of logic. By their very nature, otome heroines are often irrational, emotional creatures who can bend the space/time continuum through the Power of Love of all things.
So, I guess that is all a round-about way of saying…I have no idea what to make of Sian. But, I do like her.
For those of you NOT drooling over the CGs featuring the male half of Backstage Pass, Sian (pronounced ‘Shawn’) is the leading lady of this tale and she confuses me because of all the things she is, ‘emotional’ isn’t one of them. In most cases she is the voice of reason in the group and keeps her head firmly on her shoulders. That isn’t to say she’s cold, but rather that she’s mature. She has current objectives and long-term goals, and you get a strong feeling as we’re being introduced to her that those objectives and goals have long outweighed any of the overwrought desires for ‘fun’ you see in most twenty-somethings.
On top of that, those goals and objectives are frequently challenged within the game. NOT by the romances, mind you. It may shift the deeper you go into the game proper, but for the demo Sian’s life happened and she had to adjust to face what life threw at her independent of whatever the guys brought into the equation. That could’ve been a blip on a story overview, but here it’s folded in to give Sian a level of something otome as a whole isn’t exactly know for: complexity.
“…What?”
Yeah, I’m a little concerned those words came of out my mouth as well, but you cannot walk away from the demo without acknowledging Sian is her own defined, complex character. This isn’t a story about some girl suddenly surrounded by attractive guys, it is Sian’s story. While I ranted a bit earlier about the lack of wish-fulfillment in otome, I can honestly see some of the fangirls who play this game wanting to be in Sian’s shoes. Unlike the ridiculous physics and prowess of male fantasy characters, female fantasy characters often succeed by being mentally and psychologically superior. That isn’t the rule in all cases of course, but in most cases when you have a female wish-fulfillment character it is born from a sense of control. It's someone who's standing with everything together and a clear path to victory. Sian is the closest thing to an ideal fictional woman you could ask for in that regard and, at least in my opinion, one of the few who any player can pick up and find something to identify with regardless of gender, age , background, etc.
So, where does love fit into the equation?
…Honestly that’s one I’m lost on.
During the demo, the path to romance wasn’t clear. To be fair, you have a year in-game to form those romances so there’s no need to rush anything. And if the CGs are any indication, my idyllic snarky maiden will fall victim to the Power of Love soon enough, but there was also the sense in the early going that the last thing on Sian’s mind was romance. There is certainly no romantic spark shown in the introductions of our male targets as those scene play out mostly to give us a slightly window into their own psyches with Sian’s reactions pretty much platonic.
I imagine, like I said earlier, those feelings will grow depending on the path you take. But consider Katawa Shoujo for a moment which is, more or less, the standard bearer for romance visual novels. Hisao is shown at the beginning of that game to be interested in romance. Much of the game is about him getting over his emotional scars as it is adjusting to life after a heart attack. Here, any romantic attachments are detached from the plot train in the early going with most of the time spent developing Sian instead of laying out how the love lines will run…me likey.
How it all plays out is in the air, but what is clear is that if the player isn’t invested into Sian then the story won’t work. Sian herself is very likable and relatable which immediately puts her heads and shoulders above her counterparts and keeps her firmly in the center of the game as the love interests begin to pile up. It seems obvious where that will take her, but because of her personality I’m not exactly sure HOW she will fall for any of these bozos save for one. I will not be surprised if this character catches on and we see a legitimate fandom evolve around her…which would be great for what is probably the most unlikely otome heroine of all time. (Sorry Sona)
In our next installment we discuss my absolute favorite topic of ANY otome game: the bishonen. Yaaaay.