Academic literature on the topic 'Otome games'

Mystic Messenger is a real-time mobile dating simulator and otome game that simulates how people fall in love online. In this essay, I will look at significant parallels between casual games and otome games and point out the ways in which both define women as players and consumers of games. By focusing on Mystic Messenger, I examine the ways in which the game’s real-time simulation of emotional labor becomes a way of policing women’s desires, a way of reinforcing nurturing roles over women’s desires, and a way of literally commodifying the assumedly female player’s leisure time. Furthermore, I also examine player practices and discussions of cheating within the player community, tagging these as light forms of resistances and ways in which various individuals in the community assert their identity and their agency over their own time.

Video games are powerful narrative media that continue to evolve. Romance games in Japan, which began as text-based adventure games and are today known as bishōjo games and otome games, form a powerful textual corpus for literary and media studies. They adopt conventional literary narrative strategies and explore new narrative forms formulated by an interface with computer-generated texts and audiovisual fetishism, thereby challenging the assumptions about the modern textual values of storytelling. The article first examines differences between visual novels that feature female characters for a male audience and romance adventure games that feature male characters for a female audience. Through the comparison, the article investigates how notions of romantic love and relationship have transformed from the modern identity politics based on freedom and the autonomous self to the decentered model of mediation and interaction in the contemporary era.

Using the Otome game Amnesia and its localized version Amnesia: Memories as a case study, the phenomenon of Otome games was explored from a translation- and Japanese studies' perspective. This paper investigated how translation choices shape character personality, and, as such, Western views. Toma, the most popular character from the Amnesia franchise according to Japanese popularity rankings, was received differently by the Western audience. This study aimed at exploring how translation choices might be related to this difference in reception. As such, it posed the questions: In what respect could changes that occurred during the localization process have led to an alteration of Toma's personality? How could these changes explain the discrepancy between player reception in Japan and the West? Upon analyzing the scripts, a connection between the effect created by certain translation strategies and Western player reception became apparent. Effects identified included the erasure of entry points for "self-inserting" players, the creation of a distorted first impression and the infringement of the players' spaces in ways not present in the original. The connection between character personality and the creation of an "equivalent gameplay experience" was explored. It resulted in the confirmation of the hypothesis surrounding their overall inseparability in an Otome game context, with the exception of a minority of justifiable cases where personality alterations were conducted in favor of a culturally equivalent gameplay experience. The impact of pre-filled gaps in the text led to decreased opportunities for players to contribute to the creation of meaning, while the presence of mistranslations sparked feelings of confusion regarding the character's sanity. Taking the role of the translator, the player and the virtual love interest into consideration, this paper suggests an approach derived from acting as a tool for future character personality preservation in Otome game translation.

La imagen y representación del turco en la literatura, el arte europeos y, en general, en las producciones culturales del período altomoderno han sido objeto de una atención sostenida por parte de la historia literaria e intelectual. En efecto, la que se denominó la ‘amenaza turca’ y las complejas relaciones políticas entre los imperios del Mediterráneo fue posiblemente la causa de la proliferación de representaciones. Los estudios más recientes han superado la aproximación a la representación del turco bajo un signo negativo, y ofrecen una visión más matizada y polifacética. La singularidad de mi aproximación, y su elemento innovador más destacado, reside no tanto en la aproximación metodológica, fundada en la imagología, la tematología y la perspectiva de la historia intelectual, cuanto en la selección de un corpus de estudio olvidado por la crítica, pero culturalmente muy relevante y con gran valor simbólico. Esta investigación examina críticamente la imagen del turco que aparece en los juegos de mesa y en los juegos y mazos de cartas o naipes que se producen en Europa en el período altomoderno, especialmente tras la generalización de la imprenta, que comporta la producción y difusión masiva de juegos de mesa asequibles y accesibles. Es este un dominio hasta ahora no considerado por los investigadores, y extraordinariamente complejo. Los datos sobre los que se sustenta este estudio se recopilaron de diversos museos de Europa, de colecciones privadas y de la bibliografía relevante. En el índice de juegos que antecede a mi estudio incluyo los juegos de mesa impresos y fabricados y los mazos de cartas que he revisado para esta investigación. El índice contiene actualmente 107 artículos únicos de seis países europeos, y, especialmente, de Alemania y Austria, Italia y Reino Unido. Utilizo a continuación un enfoque de estudio de caso cualitativo para investigar las diversas formas en las que se representó al turco en una selección de juegos que he seleccionado atendiendo a la calidad de la representación y la función del turco en el desarrollo del juego. Los hallazgos constituyen, a mi juicio, una contribución novedosa a la construcción de una imagen del turco matizada y polifacética, no estática, sino cambiante, susceptible de evolución y que adopta distintos significados en distintos momentos de la historia. La tesis aspira también a demostrar la relevancia de los juegos sociales en los estudios imagológicos.
A considerable amount of investigation has been done on the image of the Turk in European art, literature and other cultural productions. The existing accounts often result with repetitive conclusions that are revolving around a negative image attributed to the Turk. It is observed that this common problem derives from the lack of perspectival look at the subject matter. More recently, research has emerged that offers different perspectives with new findings that contradict previous literature. In the light of this new literature, the Turk has been re-conceptualized as a multifaceted image. However, the lack of investigation proposing new perspectives still remains as a major issue in the field. This research critically examines the image of the Turk that appears in early modern board games and playing cards produced in Europe, a hitherto untouched domain in this regard. Data for this study was collected from the online and otherwise archives of various museums in Europe, catalogs, private collections and other relevant literature. The collected data was enlisted in the Games Index, which includes printed and manufactured board games, packs of playing cards, and game counters. The Index currently contains 107 unique items from six European countries as their place of origin. Then, a qualitative case study approach was used to investigate the various ways the Turk was represented in a number of games which were selected according to the quality of the depiction and the function of the Turk in the game. The findings make an important contribution to the idea that perceives the Turk as a multifaceted image. The most obvious conclusion to obtain from this thesis is that the image of the Turk has never been a static one; on the contrary, it has evolved and gained different meanings throughout its history in Europe.

碩士
臺北市立教育大學
視覺藝術學系視覺藝術教學碩士學位班
100
With the development and easy access of computer technology, video games have become one of the most popular entertainment industries over the past twenty years. Since 1994, video game company Koei published the very first otome game –also known as Japanese romantic dating game–, this kind of game has become more and more popular and earned its own significant place in the game market. 　　This thesis is a research focusing on the most typical and well-known otome games in the market. Through the process of document analysis and content analysis, along with data research, classify and integration, it is intended to have an overall understanding of the history and development of the otome game industry. Using fictional male characters as examples, by analyzing the visual components in character designs, each design can represent different meaning and its unique characteristic. Conclusion: (1) The otome game industry launched in 1994. In 2002 its style is well developed. In 2004 it started to become popular among the game market. Nowadays, there are otome games and related magazines published every month. (2) In typical otome games, the design components of male characters include: eye color and eyebrow, facial feature, facial expression, hair style, hair color, proportion of body, gesture, clothing, accessory, weapon, and decorative pattern. (3) Different character design components, they can stand for different personalities and characteristics. Reflection: (1) Place more focus on a few of the character design categories, and make a deeper research on those subjects chosen. (2) Link back to the real social world. Discuss the influence between fictional world and real-life relationship among female players.

碩士
國立高雄第一科技大學
應用日語研究所
102
There are a lot of things associated with Japanese culture in Taiwan, especially Japanese TV dramas, animations, comics and video games, which had affected Taiwanese for a long time. These media provide substitutes of cultural experiences for people who never been to Japan. Although they have never been to Japan, they can also experience many kinds of Japanese culture. Therefore, the research about using media mediums as supplementary teaching materials issue is getting more and more. In this issue, Japanese TV dramas and animations have already been discussed sufficiently, but researches about video games are still few. As the time progresses, science and technology advances, there are more and more people start to play video games. Video games are beginning popular among not only teenagers but also adults gradually. There are many kinds of video games, designed in variegated themes. And this study is focus on "Otome Games". The aim of this research is to make players a direction to learn Japanese culture, and to delve into the background of otome games. The study divides otome games into 3 types by association of Japanese culture, which are "Real type", "Historical type" and "Fantastic type" to analyze what kind of culture could players learn. Then, the writer has executed the questionnaire to investigate the condition of Taiwanese otome games players. The results show that "Real type" is the most practicable in these 3 types. "Historical type" can provide players an incentive of history and traditional culture. In "Fantastic type", players can observe what would happen when Japanese culture contact with foreign culture. Finally, the questionnaire results show that Taiwanese otome game players recognize that otome game can aid them to learn more about Japanese culture.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
新聞研究所
103
Recently, Japanese ACG(Anime, Comic and Game )products aimed at women consumers have gained significant popularity in Taiwan. Otome game is also one of them. Otome game（乙女）, also called “Women’s Games”, refers to a specific game category aimed at women consumers. This study intends to offer an in-depth analysis of Otome gamers in Taiwan, discussing the meaning of playing Otome game in a gendered context. The whole study could be divided into three major parts: the gender politics of Otome games, the interpretation of gamers and the interrelation of gamers’ real-world experience and their gaming experience. In this sudy, I choose four Otome games to conduct text analysis. On the other side, I also interviewed 16 Otome gamers to realize their gaming experience. The study finds that the gender politics of game texts are variant. Otome games sometimes portrays relatively progressive gender relationship and challenge gender stereotype. However, conservative gender ideology could also be found in this genre at times. Gamers’ preference or criticism of story and characters in Otome games implies their gender ideological position, which is mostly shaped by the social context they situated in. Besides, gamers’ life experience, advice offered by their significant others, and cultural capital also significantly influence their interpretation and expectation of Otome game text. The study also finds that although gamers could recognize the gender politic problem in game text, finding “politically correct” content is not their major motivation for playing Otome games. As for gamers, playing Otome game is kind of “Database Comsumption” described by Azuma Hiroki (2001), in which gamers consume the affective elements they desire. At the same time, Otome games also fulfill female gamers’ demand for emotion work, which they fail to ask from men in real life.

碩士
世新大學
數位多媒體設計學系
107
With the advance of science and technology.Smartphone has become an indispensable part of life.This chapter is probe to otome games.This type of game character is very handsome and Romance in love story,but Playability is so low.Rich and interesting plot content as a buying point, there is not much innovation in the design of the game function. If there is no consumer to continue to pay, it is often a trend that gradually declines after the trend.This study explores the consumption behavior of female mobile game players aged 20 to 30 Years in Taiwan.

Ce mémoire tente de mieux comprendre ce que sont les jeux otome japonais et le rapport entre le jeu et la culture. En effet, à travers l’interaction que le jeu permet, celui-ci offre au joueur la possibilité d’explorer de nouvelles identités et par la même occasion, devenir un outil de (re)négociation culturelle. Puisque les jeux otome sont principalement créés pour plaire à un marché féminin japonais, les idéaux culturels en ce qui concerne les performances de genre féminin seraient logiquement intégrés dans les diverses trames narratives qui sont présentées, bien que ce processus puisse être involontaire de la part de leurs créateurs. Puisque les jeux otome reposent principalement sur la réussite de la formation d’une relation amoureuse avec un personnage masculin, ceci semble faire écho à la critique nationale envers le célibat féminin; il est attendu des femmes qu’elles remplissent leur rôle en tant qu’épouse et mère sous l’institution du mariage. Malgré le fait que cet idéal ne puisse pas toujours être suivi en raison de situations socio-économiques tel l’éclatement de la bulle financière de 1990 et des nœuds de résistance de la part des plus jeunes générations au fil du temps, cette notion demeure imprégnée dans la culture japonaise. Cela ne veut pas dire que les femmes jouant à des jeux otome sont contraintes d’accepter ces rôles. Par le biais de la jouabilité et de leur alter-ego numérique qu’est leur avatar, elles peuvent prendre part à l’ordre social établi sans pour autant s’y conformer. En fait, cela peut même être perçu comme un moyen de subvertir l’intention originale puisque ces femmes alimentent une relation retranchée des attentes sociales de la maternité.
This thesis tries to shed light on Japanese otome games and how player agency through the video game medium can lend itself to the exploration of new identities by the player and become a tool for cultural (re)negotiation. As otome games have been mainly created for female customers in the insular Japanese market, cultural ideals regarding female gender performance would logically be embedded in the various narratives that are presented, albeit this process may be unintentional by their creators. Since otome games hinge mostly on obtaining a successful romantic relationship with a male character, this seems to echo national criticism of female celibacy; women should fulfill their roles as wives and mothers through marriage. Although this ideal may not be upheld due to socioeconomic happenstance such as the crash of 1990 and has found pockets of resistance throughout the younger generation as time went by, this notion still permeates Japanese culture. That is not to say women who play otome games are bound to accept these roles. Through the use of play and their digital proxy that is their avatar, they can take part in the social prescribed order without submitting to it. Moreover, it could be seen as a way to subvert the original intent in doing so, as they embrace a relationship that is withdrawn from the social expectation of childbirth.

archives@tulane.edu
This study presents an analysis of otome, dating simulator games popularized throughout Japan and South Korea, specifically exploring how the fictive relationship formed between the female main character (MC) and various male non-player characters (NPCs) enables the user to adopt the role of sexual and emotional agent. By examining the degree to which player choice influences a game’s plot, character development, and the tenor of the romantic relationship formed between MC and NPC, this research will seek to contextualize otome games as a digital affinity space uniquely positioned to address female fantasy and respond to culturally informed demographic changes relating to dating, sex, and marriage in South Korea and Japan. Using examples of Korean and Japanese otome titles across multiple platforms and related trends in popular culture and media, this paper will conclude with an examination of the gendered, emotional labor necessitated by the typical otome game structure as a method of reframing the commodification of the shojo archetype from a female perspective.
1
Meredith Connelly

碩士
國立雲林科技大學
設計運算研究所碩士班
99
Otome Games are the love games for female and are the first game customized for female players. Love is the main element in the game story. The design attempts to attract female players and boost potential of the game market. The purpose of this study is to investigate the interrelationships between Players’Characteristic and Motivation of Participation through Otome Games from the Web Forum：「otomedream」.The method used here is web questionnaire. 1024 members were valid samples. Descriptive Analysis, Reliability Analysis, One-way ANOVA are applied in the data analysis. The results are as follows： 1. The players are mostly between the age 21 to 29, university students, single, female. Most of them are “Literary and Language” and “Science and Engineering” majoring students. In addition, the research of the relations between incomes and outlays for players, were found the workers who earned more but spend less money on video games, in contrast, the students earned less but spend more money to buy them. 2. The users always play Otome Games by PC. They often commented on Otome Games with girl friends and female internet friends. The preferences also differ between cultures. In Japan, “cast” is the most important factor in Otome Game, but in China, plot and characteristic are playing more important factors. 3. There was significant differences in motivation of participation through Otome Games for users who has different age, martial status, profession, major, monthly income, and monthly expenditure. Hoping the proposes and the recommendations from the results would be the direction and reference for game designer.