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  1. Catgirls (and anthropomorphic humans in general) are a big fetish in the otaku media. The cat ears have become a staple of moe culture, a status symbol of what defines cuteness. Yet, whenever I play an eroge featuring such creatures, I often times find myself not enjoying a lot of the cutesy physical attributes of these specimen. Why is that? As I delved into my thoughts, I finally pieced together the reason for these feelings: catgirl discrimination What do I mean by this? It's simple. Catgirl discrimination is a common phenomenom in eroge (and even non-erotic titles) whereby catgirls are introduced as being an important part of a fictional setting, yet they are treated as less than humans throughout the story. Through my hours of research, I found that often times, animal girls in eroge are introduced as mere plot devices for sexual activity rather than fleshed out characters you can emphasize and form bonds with. Now this by itself isn't too surprising. After all, even when there's no catgirls involved, a lot of these games tend to focus on achieving a relationship status with another female human character. However, the difference between the latter and the former is that when humans are involved, they are treated as beings with intelligence. They are equal to the protagonist who wants to romance them. Yes, one can argue about the inherent misogyny in a lot of these titles, but that's beyond the point I'm making. The fact is, human girls are treated, well, like humans (as they should). But when it comes to catgirls, they are typically treated as less than human. They are dehumanized and turned into a creature akin to a pet. "What's the problem with that? They aren't humans, so of course they're not treated as such" you say. Ah yes, a fair point my dear reader, but let me ask you this then: Would you have sexsual intercourse with your cat or your dog? The answer is most likely "no" (if it is yes, please seek counceling. I heard PETA fines aren't anything to scoff at.) Therein lies the issue I have. Catgirls have primary human features, and yet they're often times treated as pets in most games. Why would you date someone who you treat like a pet? It makes little sense to me. Now you might say "it's just a porn game, it's for fetishistic purposes". And of course I can 100% concede to that. In fact, I myself find it to be a nice fetish to have somebody submissive to you act like a pet. There's nothing wrong with that. However, humans are more than their genitals, and their personalities go beyond the confines of the bedroom. In real life, even when we're talking about people who are into things like BDSM, there is still a human connection beyond their sexual life. No human *literally* becomes slave to another human, they mutually agree to have this type of relationship, and they ultimately see each other as equal in the relationship. Yet with catgirls, they are introduced as nothing more than instruments for sex 90% of the time, and even beyond the bedroom they're still just a pet that will obey anything and everything their owner tells them to. I can not concede that this is a healthy form for a relationship at all. Think about it. What is the point of dating somebody that always sees themselves and acts as inferior to you? Where is the happiness in dating someone with no consciousness, who's joy comes from eating food and sexually pleasing you? That is why I can not get behind most games featuring catgirls. To me, a relationship partner must be equal to me in status. I don't want to treat my significant other as a pet, but as a human being. I don't want to take them out on walks with a leash, I want to go on dates holding hands with them and eat a giant parfait together, and then pass out on a bench because the parfait was too big and we now feel like throwing up. I want script writers to write visual novels about worlds where catgirls are just like other humans. They just so happen to have cat ears and a tail and sometimes say "nya". I want them to be more than things you own that can't live by themselves without you taking care of them. That's what babies and dogs are for, not girlfriends. This is not to say I want the end of all games featuring submissive cat girls, that's still a very valid fetish, but I believe it's unfair to treat them like that in almost every single game, especially games where the focus is supposed to be the story and the characters. How can you say you have a game with great characters when those characters are seen as less than human? Games like nekopara thrive even though every single catgirl in it is portrayed as a brainless creature that goes into heat at random times and can only survive if the protagonist "relieves" them. Why must they act like animals this much? Why can't they just be regular human beings who you form a real bond with instead of an "owner x pet" relationship? In conclusion, I believe catgirls are heavily discriminated against when it comes to visual novels. They are beings that need to be given a conscioussness and a will to act on their own, not to become mere cheap tools for one's sexual pleasure. They have a lot of love to offer to the world, and we should start appreciating them for that, because who knows when they'll go extinct. Let's make the world a better place and stop catgirl discrimination. Every catgirl deserves to be portrayed as a being with a brain and a heart.
    13 points
  2. No, it will be artists, when they realise Ryu just wants to "draw" everything himself again.
    7 points
  3. Please like this post if you enjoyed the title of this thread and don't forget to subscribe to my channel and click the bell butt(ry
    5 points
  4. 4 points
  5. Holy shi, J really is my successor, and has officially surpassed me now since he's being promoted to an Inventory Supervisor, awk They grow up so fast, i watched this guy start off as a deadweight counter, slow as fuh, then he joined our pharmacy inventory team, still slow as fuh, then 6 months later he slowly but surely started to rise and be on par with my count speed, prob faster since I'm washed up now >.> and now a year later he's da readies to supervise Though actually, I'm also going to be bumped up to that position, my Area Manager has been pushing for it over the past year now actually #cuzI'msogood but i was always like 'l0l nope i got skools srrz' but now that J is surpassing me I finally jumped the gun, gotta one up him ya kno. And dat base pay increase. And mileage. And opportunity to be like 'oh ya, i am/was a supervisor, i gots dem leadership skillz and whatnot' Since they know I'm a busy bee my AM assures me that I'll be more of a backup part time Supervisor for running them small random mall stores on the weekend or something(lies they're gonna super pressure me when they really need me and it's gonna be during midterms/finals week just watch), J's the one they'll groom into the next major full timer ...Which also means his promotional raise offered according to my intel is a whopping dollar more than me, fk i lost.
    3 points
  6. Those are the ones most likely to create that attitude in my experience that aren't nukige (the nukige are frequently worse). As a piece of advice to those who want 'mimikko as equals', you should stick to actual fantasy VNs like World Election and Hatsuru (where they are just another race) or ones that actually face the issues head-on to some extent. Sakura Iro Quartet, as I mentioned before, takes the issue on directly, and to some extent so does Otomimi. In exchange, there are lots of times where nekomimi/mimikko heroines are just plopped down into a game randomly as moe-bait with no status issues attached...
    2 points
  7. nyahahahahaha please keep catgirls stupid in your silly 2d porn games, so that the humans will underestimate my plans to take over the world~
    2 points
  8. FINALLY. I have absolutely no idea how this is going to play out (I mean, I do, but that wouldn't be fun..). However, as seen by Nekopara's tendency to subvert a little (the sexy gyaru character turned out to be an imouto ffs), I feel like Cinnamon will turn out to be hard S or something. Despite being my favorite design, Maple so far has been really boring. She's sassy, but not as sassy as Vanilla or Azuki. I hope she'll turn out to be interesting in some way (worked for Coconut). Based on that screenshot, it seems as if Cinnamon and Maple have something going on between each other (although, I personally predict that the two pics of them as kittens are a red herring; I believe these CGs will be flashbacks from the protagonist's POV). What I'm asking myself, who getting the short stick this time? So far, Nekopara has stuck to one H-scene for each character and a group scene with two of them (Vol1: Chocola -> Vanilla -> Both, Vol2: Chocola+Vanilla -> Coconut -> Azuki). So if we stick to this format, are we getting a group scene with the four previous catpanions, followed by one Maple scene and one Cinnamon scene? Or will we get three scenes with two cats each? Or simply drop Chocola and Vanilla for this one, because they had the most scenes until now? What about Shigure, how will she fit into the picture, if at all? And if all of them are in bed together, WHO'S DRIVING THE BAKERY?!?!
    2 points
  9. "Hello Backers, This will be a short update as we've been focused on getting The Labyrinth of Grisaia 18+ version ready. However, we're not able to make our last month's "End of December" release date due to the holidays. However once the holidays are over we will continue to focus on getting the game ready for release. We will keep everyone updated on future developments in 2017. We hope everyone has had a happy holidays." to be fair, christmas did come out of no where this year. who could have predicted it?
    2 points
  10. Lenore

    Hello!

    So uh, hi, I'm Lenore! I've never really posted on this forum before... It's been so long since I wrote an intro post too, but here goes. I recognise there's some (kind of obvious) overlap between anime communities and visual novel communities, so there's a small chance you may have seen me being active on Twitter? Anyways, I've been getting into playing visual novels a bit more recently, but I don't know so many people who are also enthusiastic about them. So I thought about coming here, I'd really like to try and make friends and stuff! I guess game-wise, I have a bias towards yuri games and horror-type stuff, though I like a good tearjerker too... generally though, most games are probably good by me to at least try. I admittedly need to finish more, so if you end up looking, my VNDB list's a bit short at the moment. As you can probably deduce from the avatar, I recently finished Subahibi (w/ dictionary assistance), so I'm open to looking at Japanese-only VNs as well as English. I look forward to trying to get to know you people, please feel free to message me anytime!! :>
    1 point
  11. Kazami Yuiji

    Greeting

    Hello, mina-san I think that people will call me by my username, so yeah, I'm Kazami Yuiji (I know, is Yuuji). I often go to this forum for walkthroughs and occasionally for talks. I enjoy reading visual novel, mangas, light novel and watching animes. I suppose that I'm somehow otaku, but I do not draw manga or write storys... (but I'd like to write a light novel) Anyway, just for fun, I really like Kazami Yuuji from Grisaia no Kajitsu. A great and proactive protagonist, a little good looking (I'm a guy) and... summary, he's really cool. Oh, I almost forgot... I'm French. So yeah, I kinda make (maybe) a lot of mistake so please forgive me But my english is not that bad and I want to practice a lot so I also have an account in Myanimelist (forum) and now... here ! See you around !
    1 point
  12. Which begs the question; Would it even make sense to engineer catgirls in the first place? The first concern is always money; Making the initial generation of catgirl will take years of funding and lots of money for scientists and all that lab equipment, including all kinds of permits. How would we make this money back? Ideas: - Pets, companions and sex toys: The (for us) obvious answer, but I doubt that would make a lot of money back short-term. - Medicine: Depending on how similar their DNA is to ours, they could be used for precise medical tests and even function as a source for organs (see: The Island from 2005). - Military: Probably not, unless they possess abnormal physical prowess or things like night-vision or are simply easy enough to reproduce in order to make it worth wasting them by the millions. This question would need to be answered in-universe, if Nosebleed wants a more serious take on catgirls. This could be skipped by making a fantasy setting (cat girls are just a race), making them aliens (PURGE) or having them be a sudden mutation that appeared world-wide out of nowhere (like Period). But by moving to one of those settings, we would lose the whole tool vs being angle. There are some other factors worth exploring. For example, if they were able to breed with real humans, what would change?
    1 point
  13. Spartan977

    True or False

    False Next person got traumatized by the BETA in Muv-Luv
    1 point
  14. This is the cutest little issue I have ever felt disturbed by. It's pretty great that we take VN's seriously enough to discuss them like this.
    1 point
  15. It's obvious that catgirls will be treated in a different way than humans, remember that some time ago humans treat like mere stupid objects other humans only because they have a different skin color or belief, remember that nowadays in some countries womans are considered objects. Now imagine the history with people with different body structure.
    1 point
  16. Tyr

    Rance 5D and Rance VI

    Ironically, instead of giving her presents which are limited, you can just decide to be NOT nice to her and instead do her hard with a monkey orb for a FR+1 every time which is the same as giving her one present. Being nice to her terminates the chance of the cheap FR-Bonus. Very Rance-like. (At least as far as I played ^^)
    1 point
  17. This is no mere story. This is the actual background of the Nekopara series. Wake up, people. There was a contest to make depressing backstories for happy novels, this was one of the top entries. I enjoyed it. That was fucking daaaark.
    1 point
  18. You have to the count of 3 to quadruple check your privilege. Unless of course you can't count, I'm not trying to trigger you.
    1 point
  19. One thing I've noticed as a difference between the kind of VN consumer I am now and the one I was at at the beginning is that I fundamentally have difficulty mustering interest in sequels, fandiscs, and even anime continuations of my favorite VNs. When I first started playing VNs, I was your classic fanboy. If they put out some kind of new story related to a VN I'd enjoyed, I'd snap it up in an instant. Before I started playing the untranslated, I would obsess over fandiscs and sequels to the point of staring at the Japanese sites for hours at a time. Now, once I've finished a VN, if there is a solid conclusion to the VN, I actually actively dislike standard sequels and fandiscs that come out later. There are exceptions, such as where the setting itself transcends the cast of characters or where the VN in question was obviously sequel-bait or incomplete to the point where a fandisc was needed to fill in the blanks (ex: Akagoei). However, those are just that... exceptions. So what's the difference in me? A lot of it is experience. Most fandiscs are just excuses for extra h-scenes with no real added content (in the sense of enhancing the content of the original), and the sequels tend to ruin the best parts of the original games for me or reuse characters that sucked in the first place (Bansenjin). Another part of it is that I've begun to draw parallels between the 'endless anime series' and the way some VNs seem to get endless amounts of extra content that are designed to waste the consumers' money. Heck, Tsuyokiss is a perfect example of a series that went too far for too long, even going so far as to use a 'second generation' of characters living in the same homes, related to the same people. Majikoi is a rare exception, since its endless sequels have actually been well-filled out, interesting additions to a world that was already whacked-out to the extreme (the many varying ways Yamato lives based on who he picks in S and A are fascinating at times). In fact, the original game, at this point, pales in comparison to the massive amount of content that came later, lol. As I said, this is an exception rather than the rule. I guess my point is that, while a sequel or a fandisc can sometimes be beneficial, my own attitude is always going to be skeptical at best, given my experiences.
    1 point
  20. No, but I would have sex with them if they looked liked a cute girl who was in the heat all year around.
    1 point
  21. true (I also want to know what MP means. SP= Sekai Project, unless you meant MG= MangaGamer) next person likes Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
    1 point
  22. *anoyoruniyakusokushita

    Introduction

    Yes... But I do not like to use this term to refer to myself, as it has become quite derogatory. I prefer social justice contributer.
    1 point
  23. Kazami Yuiji

    Greeting

    Thanks. Yes he is Thanks. My favorite ? Hum... G Senjou no Maou, espacially Usami's route. Yeah another one ! Is that means they are a plenty ? I feel really bad about my taste. Like hum... I don't like tsundere girls, I like yandere, deredere and loli girls lol
    1 point
  24. Okay, I'm listening. I warn you that, having stated that you are open-minded (a surprisingly hard thing to be, additionally so when you have a mission), if that turns out not to be the case, I'm going leave the discussion immediately. I personally, can't stand people who do that. Also welcome to the Fuwanovel.
    1 point
  25. 1 point
  26. Amagi Brillant Park ? I didn't read the manga or light novel (if it's from a light novel) but hum... Anyway, I recommand Code Geass, Grisaia no Kajitsu and Death Note.
    1 point
  27. Dergonu

    Greeting

    Welcome to the forum, nice to meet you! I'm a pretty big fan of Yuuji myself. He is a great protagonist.
    1 point
  28. "Why are they prioritizing the real version of the game over muh pointless plastic case?!"
    1 point
  29. mitchhamilton

    Hello!

    hey nice to have you on the forums lenore! hope you have a great time and make lots of new friends! i know a guy who can recommend you some good stuff. @Dergonu GET YOUR CUTE ASS OVER HERE!
    1 point
  30. Kamyan

    Ne no Kami discussion

    I'd like to request all of you to give this game a chance. This game actually has a story surpassing many other VN with budges ten or even twenty times higher. Even though only a few characters have a voice actor behind them, each and every on of them fits them so well that its scary. Considering the budget was only 12k, this VN delivered way more.
    1 point
  31. rainsismyfav

    5000 posts post

    Merry Late Christmas and a Advanced Happy New Year!! Woohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.. ded
    1 point
  32. Jade

    Fate/Grand Order

    You know Val, where everyone else might get new servants, bond CEs, i can always count on you to be miserable together with me
    1 point
  33. Currently inserting some hot americanizations into the Dracu Riot translation.
    1 point
  34. I don't think MMO's should be used as an example in this kind of case, since 'normal' rpgs are not really paralleled to any significant extent by the multiplayer experience. Anyway... doing away with levels is not a bad idea in the case of a game where the maker wants to control the difficulty level from beginning to end. Traditionally, levels were a method of essentially 'rewarding' the player for enjoying and spending time on the game by making progress easier later on. This comes at least partly from the fact that rpgs were designed to be played with the brain more than the hands, which made them more friendly for less-coordinated players (a trend which was reversed when MMO's went into the mainstream). This is also why only a few rpgs included multiplayer elements prior to the ps3 (incidentally the age where the 'decline of the jrpg' became a stark reality to those of us who enjoyed them). To be blunt, the type of game where scaled leveling hurts the most is the FF-style srpg, where just keeping your characters levels relatively equal is a time-sink that is as annoying as hell. I have always preferred games where areas have a specific 'survivable level' and ones like Suikoden where leveling up underleveled characters is quick due to an experience-gaining system that scales with the difference in level between the enemies and characters. On a personal note: MMO leveling is pure crap. It is deliberately made slow in order to encourage players to waste hundreds of hours in a world that isn't that interesting because the creators are pandering to the would-be gamer socialites and pvpers. Even in games where leveling has been eliminated, progress is deliberately slowed by the need to gain reputation or repeatedly use a skill you want to strengthen... etc etc. In the end, it all turns out the same. Tedious as hell and even more boring than watching grass grow.
    1 point
  35. I am all for anti-grinding stuff, but there's more to the meaning of levels than that. I'm not even talking about stats porn. I mean skills/player progression. As you increase in level, most RPGs let you expand your skillset and stats and XP bars serve to let you know how close you are to getting a new skill. Another center feature is that you mostly get XP -proceed in levels- by killing enemies and completing (side)quests. Levels are a very intuitive way of presenting that progress and they encourage the player to spend more time in the game, do more quests, kill more enemies, etc.: MMOs are the prime example of how leveling and the new skills that brings can be addictive. There are games that try to play with this formula, System Shock 2 has you gain skills only by finding "cybernetic modules" throughout the game's setting and using them up at terminals for example, However, no leveling system would mean that all games would have their own system for how to gain more skills/character progression, and that could go to shit real fast. So I'm pretty glad leveling exists, it's really useful in terms of skills. That said, I don't think level scaling done right is a bad thing. Making some (especially story) fights always difficult doesn't sound bad at all to me, sounds far better than overleveling and beating a supposedly climactic boss to a pulp in a few turns. That said, there's a delicate balance needed for that; you shouldn't get stuck due to the enemy getting even beefier than you do. So can't comment on how FF8 does it.
    1 point
  36. Volume 3 when? I need my naked nekos man, I don't want some lame anime version. (Insert less creepy comment here)
    1 point
  37. I almost want to back it so I can make my cat crossdress as a maid. Also tfw you realize a cat custome is a better reward than most of Dies Irae's kickstarter rewards.
    1 point
  38. Very much a fan of this "student" and his moustache.
    1 point
  39. yorikbad

    JRPG with romance...

    Dawn of the new World was my first Tale's game and I liked it. Much more than f.e. Tale of Zestiria. And as I'm aware we don't discuss plot material here. Only a questionable part of it called romance sublot. It's just aside those really well-done emotional videos I can't feel that Tidus/Yuna relationship is real for me. They are together almost the whole game but rarely speak to each other or show noticeable affection. Then by author's will happens such powerfull bonding moments like or and I wonder, how the hell they got here without me noticing. And then it ends on and I'm just completely baffled. Not enough foreshadowing and bad directing is what FFX love story for me. A big letdown after heartwarming romance subplot in FFIX. To write a good love story, one need to follow three basic rules. - You need to show how the characters fall in love, when and why. - It is necessary to demonstrate how they change their attitude towards each other throughout the story, and how they change themselves. - And it must be certain in the end that they're lovers even if they don't end up together. They don't have to confess their love to the world, they don't need to speak the oaths at the altar, but their feelings should be unambiguous for the audience. The great example is Trip and Monkey from Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. But it's not jrpg or J-game.
    1 point
  40. Riku

    JRPG with romance...

    Hey hey hey, the worst Tales of is Tempest. Also, even if IT'S one of the worst Tales of, it's still good as a game. Just that it shouldn't have been the sequel of Symphonia. As for romance in the Tales of, it's implied that Shing and Kohaku end together in Hearts, Senel and Shirley in Legendia (Chloe T_T), Stahn and Rutee in Destiny (come on, they have a son in Destiny 2!), Graces f with Asbel and Cheria (yeah, f, it really becomes a thing in the f part), Rebirth is all about Veigue searching for Claire (so yeah, they end up together). The other Tales of have hints of romance too, but nothing concluding aside perhaps Abyss (Luke and Tear) and Symphonia (but you're the one who decide in Symphonia, so does it count?). So, there is a little romance in the Tales of, just that it's in the back compared to the rest. (The exception being Hearts, as the game is about the heart and Kohaku recovering her feelings)
    1 point
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