Rape in Bishoujo Games

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#1

There is a difference between coerced sex and rape. The difference is, coersion will not leave traumatic mental scars like rape. I still have MANY bishoujo games left to play, but I have rarely seen true rape, other than in Shukketsubo. For “darker” games, I have played Tsuki, Shukketsubo, and Slave Pageant. In Slave Pageant, the only possible rape scene was when Yujiro first had sex with Shinju, but even that is questionable. Tsuki, just like Slave Pageant, pretty much just has coerced sex rather than true rape, only it gets a little closer to rape. Shukketsubo most definately has genuine rape. The women get ripped and bleed, they show the signs of mental trauma, and they are too intimidated to do anything about it. I don’t like rape, but I can’t say there is much rape in bishoujo games to begin with, despite what the games claim.

[ 09-28-2006, 03:02 AM: Message edited by: Scipoten ]

#2

There are actual rape scenes in Crescendo, though they’re part of the storyline and aren’t made out to be ‘erotic’ or anything.

#3

Exactly that’s the point!

Rape itself in b-games (particulary dark games) may happen, but it is important how the story deals with it!

In Shukketsubo, we have Kengo Inui who feels himself superior to most people around him if not even beeing the pinnacle of humanity! Thus he makes fun out of his acts and delivers to the player a quite distorted image of the consequences of his acts! That is the reason why I despise this particular game.

On the other hand, in Crescendo both rape-scenes (Yuka’s group-rape and Ayame in the flashback) are integral parts of the storyline which don’t make fun of the victim but actually deliver in in both case a mental trauma that influences the respective relationships between Ryo and those characetrs in a IMHO realistic and moving way - without going into the other extreme of becoming too sentimental! And that’s really something that really has to be praised here too!

[ 09-28-2006, 04:03 AM: Message edited by: Unicorn ]

#4

I will continue to avoid Virgin Roster… it is a fantasy which I do nto want to indulge myself in.

I preferred Tsuki because,d epsite it’s operversity, its emphasis wa son the battle between good and evil in Man’s Heart… though it was flawed by Zyx’s emphasis on appeal to the mass market.

~

You got that right Darkling. Notably, I only played the Ayame and Kyoka paths, so I have yet to try the Yuki path (which I think could have those parts), btu I cannot forget the Ayame path. The onyl other time I saw something like that was in Hitomi, My Stepssiter,t hough, in this case, Ryo felt the full repercussions of his own actions, felt the full guilt, lived with it, and eventually redeemed himself.

While rape cannot be ignored, which is the reason why Crescendo was powerful in its storytelling, it should never ever be glorified. As for taking it lightly… I suppose ti depends on the person. but that’s just me.

#5

I have been hearing so many good reviews about Crescendo I decided to get it, but I have yet to play it.

I have mixed feelings about Shukketsubo. I dislike the rape, but I loved the psychology, chemistry, and even some of the story in it, though Kengo’s self-delusioned ego was…distateful. But it did accurately portray the women’s crushed psyches. However, I think it got a little too close to the truth regarding brainwashing techniques.

Phineas Lucis, I noticed in your signature that you know of Troika. Are you a Bloodlines fan?

#6

More than just a Bloodlines fan. I was a fan of Toika. I even got Temple of Elemental Evil, which could’ve been better, wasn’t all that bad.

But their best game,a side from Bloodlines, was the very first game, and the very first one I started with.

Arcanum

If more RPGs were like this,a nd if this game had eroge-style CGs afdded to its gameplay, it’d be almost perfect.

~

I have just been spiled concerning the Yuka path. But, that makes me all the more want to play it. As mucha s Is till feel, for some wierd reason, that Ayame is the girl most suited to Ryo, Yuka’s path a unique and good one.

~

#7

You know, Bloodlines is based on the World of Darkness pen and paper RPG books. If you are interested, I can PM you a link to a site where we can discuss it in more detail.

Well, I was going to play either Gibo or X-Change 3, but now I’m going to play Crescendo. :smiley:

[ 09-28-2006, 08:22 AM: Message edited by: Scipoten ]

#8

You made a wise choice, young padowan! :wink:

#9

Yeah, i feel the same about rape in bgames. I dislike them very much, specially the sex-focused kind (rape for the sake of sex, no plot). But there’s those plot-focused rape scenes.

I’m not saying they are better or okay than the other, just ‘not so bad’, simply because there’s a better reason for this shit happen other than ‘for the sake of sex’. :slight_smile:

Still, to tell the truth, there’s just one kind of rape i would like to see more in bgames… the guy being raped by some girl! Story-focused, of course. :wink:

[ 09-28-2006, 08:58 AM: Message edited by: Peter Gilis ]

#10

Play Maria’s route in “Sagara Family”! :wink:

ED: … and play it THROUGH to the end, no matter what happens before that!!

[ 09-28-2006, 09:15 AM: Message edited by: Unicorn ]

#11

Oh yeah I forgot about that! That director really had it coming. :wink: You have to play the Maria “dark” ending though. Just haqve sex with ALL the girls to get this as the default ending.

#12

[quote]
Originally posted by Unicorn:
[b] You made a wise choice, young padowan! :smiley: :stuck_out_tongue:

#13

Same here. However, I will not deny that a rape, if told in a particular manner, seems to really bring out the feelings for certain characters. One would have this same feeling if they’ve seen the anime 'Now & Then, Here & There".

For me, a rape in any story, provided if it focuses on the female victim as exactly that, a victim of an injustice, helps make the fictituous crime a lot more real. Rape is a very real thing, and its something that we see everyday. It’s no use running away from it.

One reason why I did like Hitomi ~ My Stepsister was, despite the rape, Hitomi grew incredibly submissive out of a pure desire to be loved. I remembered I ocne read that girls tend to use sex to get love, whiel guys use love to get sex. A bias, perhaps, but Hitomi’s actions seem toreflect this thought.

But Ayame’s path was the best example of rape as both a vile act yet a particularly storng story point. Ryo’s feelings when he did that vile deed were the same expressed by any rapist (images of Hitomi and Tsuki flowed through my mind while Ryo did it), especially one without any regard for consequence. It is an irony that he only truly felt the full impact of his guilt and actions after all the shit really hit the fan.

Credit has to go to Ayame too for, despite what Ryo did to her, she was more than willing to keep her brother in her care. Kinda the reason why I liked ot think of the path as Ryo Ototo… or Ayame Onee-San. Take your pic. I think Ryo Ototo would be nicer… (maybe D.O. should make an alternate version of KLS and name it RLB… Ryo Little Brother)

What is an even greater irony, though, was that, without the rape, he wouldn’t be able to see Ayame as more than just his sister. It’s a paradoxical statement, but, in truth, I like to think of it as an exploration into how the one’s actions can take a different route if he chose not to do a particular action. (like how Hitler, if he had actually tried to be a bona fide artist without a scholarship could’ve been no more than a mere fogotten artist of some merit instead of a terrible dictator of sorts)

#14

Somehow, all your opinions are likely how you despise this matter. In my opinion…I don’t like it either…But then, if we stop and think even just for a moment…won’t it will ever occur to you that rape is only the product a mind that is curious about it. And why does humans continue to create such things if they preferably don’t know much about it. In my opinion… This sort of thing is somehow formed from the curious ideas of people that are aware of it but doesn’t know what it really is…

Ans also, sometimes… Thinking about it and imagining of doing it in the real world which you can’t. Is simply…a perception of the human mind of what happens during rape.

And by just imagining it tickles your darkside…for it is a harsh thing to do in this world and very demonlike at that. Of course this happens alot to someone with the

Anyway, my other opinion on this is that it is needed, although much of us does not like this particular phenomenon…Yet it is needed to maintain BALANCE in this world and/or universe.

Of course these are only my opinions…

#15

Long time lurker, first time poster =P

I’m really not sure how you draw a distinction between rape and coerced sex. It’s really a semantics thing (Since coerced sex means rape in two steps instead of one) that makes one feel better about enjoy rape scenes in Hentai games (Which, incidentally, is alright. Venting is a good thing).

I think you’re referring to scenes where a guy forces himself on a girl (usually by holding an arm or threatening with something) but by the end of the sex sequence she’s enjoying it. It’s still rape, since she didn’t have any choice in the matter (Besides, it’s doubtful said male character would stop if she wasn’t enjoying it)

The only kind of coercion I think avoids the moniker of rape is that pushy sort of devlish charm evinced by James Bond or Riggs in Lethal Weapon. They don’t take no for an answer, true, but it’s still entirely up to the woman to sleep with them or not.

#16

Errr… Since I’m a Black Cyc and Tacchi fanboy, I’d best stay outta this one. :stuck_out_tongue:

#17

The difference between coercion and rape is coercion is usually blackmail. The woman can still say no, but she would have some very difficult times ahead of her if she refuses. Furthermore, rape always leaves permanent mental trauma on the victim, whereas coercion does not.

For example, a woman wants to sell a house quickly because of an emergency, but the house is dilapidated and she has no time to fix it up. But she has one potential buyer. He knows of her difficult situation and offers to buy it provided she has sex with him, and she reluctantly accepts. That is coercion.

Now take the same scenario, only this time, the buyer shows up at the house, beats her, and rapes her. Then he intimidates her into giving him a discount on the house, and to celebrate his new deal, he forces himself in her again. That is rape, the coercion, then rape again.

Here is another scenario. This one really confused me the first time I saw it because it falls somewhere between rape and coercion, and I don’t know of any term to define it. A man captures a woman, ties her up, and rips off her clothes. She is crying and is expecting to be raped, but he does something odd: he lightly touches her and eventually performs cunnilingus (oral sex on the labia and clitoris) on her, and her body responds despite her mind saying “no.” He goes on like this for quite a long time and gets her body in the mood, but her mouth is still saying “no.” Then he penetrates her and finishes up, but she doesn’t bleed and has no mental scarring. This is damn close to rape, but I still don’t consider it to be true rape since her body was in the mood. Games with this in it tends to keep me on the edge of my seat. I’m almost yelling at the screen, “Careful! Be more gentle! Don’t go too far!”

I don’t have a problem with the coercion or the…other, difficult to describe one. But I don’t like true rape. Coercion and the–other one is prevalent in Shukketsubo, but it only has rape at the very beginning when he first has sex with the girls. I think Kengo is an arrogant prick, but Shukketsubo actually has very little rape in it, so I was able to enjoy it after the initial rape scene.

[ 09-30-2006, 02:09 AM: Message edited by: Scipoten ]

#18

I agree with the majority here. I can’t stand rape in games. Or rather, I can’t stand the lack of consequences from this. Doushin is probably my least favorite of all the Bgames I’ve played simply for this reason. I couldn’t even force myself to finish getting all the endings, which for me is a telling statement.

Slave Pageant was better, but also extremely disturbing. A guy rapes several girls over and over, and somehow they are ok with this? They don’t tell their parents, they don’t contact the police, they don’t bring a knife to school and kill the scumbag… This one took me a long time to play through. I had to force myself, by skipping through the bad parts, and telling myself that it turns out well in the end.

Tsuki however I’m actually ok with. Not large parts of it, but the endings made the game not ok, but worth playing through.

Regarding the idea that its not rape as long as you pleasure the girl as well. There are severe psychic scars that result from such treatment. Any time you force a person against their will, regardless of whether or not their body enjoyed it, is rape.

#19

Aside from X-Change, in which I believe most of the time I’m not sure he really dislikes what’s going on, he certainly acts far more helpless than many of the girls from the various anime (and while Takuyra is a wimp as a guy, he does have enough guts, if not strength if he wanted to to resist).

But i never cared for X-Change series. The first one wasn’t all that great, but since I hadn’t played it before, i didn’t know what to expect. The second one was only better because they added Chisato and Shizuka (the latter of which was a very blatant Evangelion rip (Rei) as they also had Kyoko (Asuka) and both exclusive paths. I’ve had no incentive to play X-Change 3, especially since its been censored.

So overall, I’d say either Takuya has no common sense at all (which i can’t see because he does seem to have some intelligence, albeit not overly bright) or he actually secretly enjoys it, in which case its not really rape for him, sometimes forced coercion i could see. The infamous “rape bus” is the same. He could always get off at the next stop.

This is true.

Anyway there are a bunch of games with coercion in them in the English market, but very few with rape scenes.

Cresendo, but not the main character.

3 Sisters Story & Runaway city has some.

Tokimeki Check-In! might also have ones with the maid. The hot springs incident i’d list as coercion since she could have run away, but the twisted logic they used on her weak will made her decided not to. Not sure about the maid with the debutatantes. The ones with Takayuki are a bit harder since he was obviously forcing himself on her without any coercive means, but at the same time, she didn’t do much to resist either. It’s hard to say, but in the end, because she runs away and as it apparently shatters her, i’d have to say that would be rape. The scenes with Nanami i wouldn’t qualify since as either.

#20

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