#tokyo debunker isn't an “OTOME”

[melyapperofthecentury]

Repost, I SOLVED IT. JIRO KIRISAKI AND YURI ISAMI ARE GAY. FOR EACHOTHER.

[lilchaoswitch]

I wish dating Sim games/otome games or whatever were gender neutral or you got the ability to choose your pronouns like in The Arcana :( I know gay guys who play dating sims is a small demographic but please please pleasepleaseplease just let me pick my pronouns so I can immerse myself in the Anime Men Romance Simulator without feeling dysphoric 🥲

[rottenzombrainz]

Top 4 otome men who I'd let keep me in a basement

Sometimes I just want to stop adulting and fantasize about anime men taking care of me by keeping me in their basements and dealing with all of life's hardships for me! that sounded way kinkier than I meant it to be....

#4 - Pulsar (Eternal Afterlife)

- Wouldn't keep me in a basement but I love him anyways

#3 Jiro Kirisaki (Tokyo Debunker)

yes ik tkdb isn't an otome

- 30% chance he'd forget about me and I'd starve to death

- his basement is the Mortkranken Lab... it's too populated to properly enjoy avoiding responsibilities

#2 Mordred (Secret Kiss With Knight)

- too horny

-would probably be too busy with world domination to take care of me

- is a wanted criminal (I don't want the police to take me away!!)

#1 Lawrence (Dangerous Fellows)

- was planning to do that anyways

- well prepared

- would stay with me in the basement and we can both hide from the hardships of life

- Probably has the best basement

[yuri-is-online]

I'm asking this question because I find it an interesting topic. It relates to the criticism the Tokyo Debunker MC receives.

It's not just TD's MC—it's a common theme in otome and gacha games. Genderless MCs in games like *Obey Me!* and *Twisted Wonderland* face less criticism than female MCs. Even though the genderless MCs get some hate, it’s nowhere near the backlash female MCs receive. For instance, *Twisted Wonderland* had debates about a female MC being unsuitable for an all-boys school, despite the presence of monsters and robots. This debate ended with a female MC in the *Savanaclaw* manga.

Another example is *Tears of Themis*, where the female MC is well-received in my opinion due to her having a character. I am very happy that she isn’t a self insert and people seem to agree.

In contrast, female self-insert MCs like TD's MC and *Love and Deep Space*'s MC get a lot of hate for what seems like trivial reasons. TD's MC is often criticized for being ordinary, while LADS's MC, who is strong and brave, also faces backlash, with some claiming she's rude despite evidence to the contrary.

In conclusion.

woman mc in this day of age can’t have flaws now….wait no they can’t be prefect either! As then they are Mary sue! What do you mean that LI are grey sue as well? No that not true Leo having a backstory would justify his actions don’t you get it? What do you mean we should hold the male characters as same standard? Jin treating mc as a servant is her fault as she didn’t say no…..😐 

... so I have two lines of thought about this particular topic, it is something I have thought about for a while because I am working on my own game/games and pay a lot of attention to what people think.

It isn't personality people like it is competence

The love and deepspace MC and Rosa from tears of themis actually have very similar personalities. They are bad at/hate studying. They really love food. They both are sort of dorks and known for being kind. What people like about them isn't any of those things, what they like is that both of them are adult women who you can believe live on their own. They actually have skills related to their jobs, you can believe Rosa is a lawyer and that MC is a hunter, the love interests aren't the only competent people in the narrative. I think this can sort of relate to the target audience for both of these games being working women, but that's for a different post. Right now I really want to focus on that concept of competence: the two other otomes I really love and want to bring up are Amnesia: Memories and Hakuoki. The Amnesia MC makes a lot of really stupid decisions, but as the game title gives away she has amnesia. There is an underlying explanation for why she's a bit dim so I don't see too many complaints about her personality (outside of Toma's route but that is a different story) because you don't exactly expect her to be competent. The same goes for Hakuoki's MC whose name escapes me at the moment, she is the daughter of a doctor so she is never made out to be incompetent in medical matters, but she isn't the best fighter. And she doesn't need to be that's the male love interest's role in this particular story.

The problem with MCs like our dear Luna? I believe you said her default name is, in Tokyo Debunker is that we don't exactly have anything she is stated to be good at beyond boosting Stigmas. The various ikmen games get around this by giving their MCs a job, but we don't have that for Luna so we don't have anything to show some backbone or character so people read her as being a bit of a doormat. Like I have said numerous times before, I don't mind this and think that so long as they keep allowing us to see her thoughts this the writing will be good. A relatively easy fix to this could have been to make her someone who really loves music and constantly talks about it, she was going to a concert at the start of the game so that little bit of character would go a long way for her to be more of a human for people to project themselves onto. Generally speaking, when writing an MC, it is perfectly acceptable to give them certain personality traits and a history. But if you do that you need to make sure the narrative respects that interest and does not use it as an excuse to make the male lead look cooler.

Gender Neutral MCs

*sigh* so you bring up Twisted Wonderland and I uh... have some experience with that fandom! And I have observed the gender wars over Yuu with a weary heart. I genuinely could not care any less about how people identify or the type of o.c.s they make, but some people really really care and if I am honest I find that a bit disturbing. It honestly makes me sad to see fanfic, which used to be a really accepting space, fight over writing... well anything really. m/m blogs screaming about how they don't want fem aligned reading their things, f/f blogs screaming about men, the f/m fic writers feeling the need to defend themselves writing for a female reader- doesn't that exhaust you? Why do you care so much? I do not have the energy to care about people writing fanfic I am not interested in reading, is this because I am anemic or have I managed to be normal about one singular thing?

My personal theory is that the commodification of fanfic and fandom has made people think there is something fundamentally wrong with properties that are marketed towards people who are not them. The reaction to Love and Deepspace not having a male MC option sort of cemented that for me, there is nothing wrong with wanting a game where you can be a man or non-binary and date anime boys. There is also nothing wrong with writing m/m fanfic for a property like lds, or wishing you could play as a man in it. I think there is a genuine market gap in good games for people who aren't fem aligned, but you do not get good games by harassing people or implying they suck for wanting games where you can play as a woman. You get that by financially supporting projects aimed at you! There is a blog I follow on here called @amaregamesdb. They post a bulletin of projects, both vn and if, with an emphasis on making people aware of projects that aren't simply otome (ie male love interests with a female protagonist.) I think the people who run it are also the people who coined the term "amare game" to use for games where the MC isn't necessarily female. They also ran a blog to help people like me learn how to code if/vns so I am very grateful for them, so please do give them your support.

I write for a gender neutral reader because I wanted to write interactive fiction and felt like I needed to practice doing so. I have continued to do because honestly? I really enjoy it. I love seeing how many different people identify with my writing and are moved by it. There are some projects I want to do in the future (original works, not fanfic) that I probably will lock the MC to female for, but I want to continue providing gn fic for people for as long as I write. And original projects too! I have two in particular I am working on behind the scenes. The solution to the problems like "what gender is yuu really," if you will permit me to preach for a second, is to not care. Yana said Yuu was meant to be you, and dear reader I don't actually know who you are! So you can be whoever it is you wish to be in your heart and I will make room for you to sit next to me. I'll even make tea (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

[istharoth]

In love with a 2-D Character?! Obscuary Edition!

Blurb: In which you are a character in a popular game the Tokyo debunker boys are coincidentally in love with.

Edward Hart

Granted his favourite character was not part of the selection when the game was first released, he chose Romeo's favourite character.

Why? Because he's seen one (1) fanart of you and Romeo's favourite character looked similar to you.

ABSOLUTELY LOVES YOU, you're so. You're hilarious, he absolutely gets everything you do.

Fandom-wise, he's pretty lax about everything, even in-game farming.

He cannot access the next chapter? Oh well, YouTube it is.

But he's a whale. Uses the Obscuary bar profits to pull on your banner

Gets you maxed out!!

He's the biggest fan of everything fandom. Fanfiction, videos, art, edits. Everything.

He even enjoys watching character discourse because it's amusing.

Isn't addicted to the game, just addicted to hearing your voice.

Has Rui and Lyca go to comic-cons to buy merch of you. Probably has used super-chats on your va if they stream.

He just wants to show his support

(Too much support that the va has made a specific message for him in your voice.)

Probably the biggest supporter of rps too, he enjoys all the headcanons

Rui Mizuki

Sweet sweet Rui, he doesn't usually play otome games. (he's going into this thinking it's an otome game.)

Is kinda disappointed he can't vr it out

Does not choose you as his first choice, chose the first character on screen because he accidentally pressed them

laments it after meeting you in Chapter 1! Your banners take way too long and he has horrendous luck

Your SR won't come home, it's one thing but why won't your R card come home either!? (This is me ranting. Rui come home :<)

Is the victim of many lost 50/50 + banner ending when he needed one more 10 pull for a guaranteed character.

Drinks made after you are an absolute must.

Is the kind of person who is very active in a fandom then just disappears for a while and becomes very active again.

YEAH during that activity, he's leaving kudos/comments on every fanfiction. Maybe he's even writing a few, but won't post them. They're for his own eyes + i feel he's very cautious about showing his art.

Because art essentially is a part of you, and even the drinks he creates are all carefully catered to someone's tastes. Similar to his writing and art, he's just not very keen on showing it.

Re-reads his own work though, just to giggle about it.

Lyca Colt

Omg, wait, he's a bit confused about the entire game, the rhythm game especially but he gets the hang of it.

Gets pouty when he can't do a mission, and that stops him from continuing to read the story.

But! Anyways, onto you.

Likes your design + thinks you're kinda cool.

(IS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DEVASTATED WITH WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU IN THE STORY.)

Trad fanartist Lyca? Trad fanartist Lyca.

in cons, he's seeing them in the artist lane, he's getting sales made for your future banners. (Obscuary funds are an afterthought)

Also one of the "Pulls for everyone, doesn't really care who he gets but has a few characters he will avoid pulling.)

He's the type to get jealous when someone else likes you.

You know the "Please respect mine and Gojo's space, we're married and I don't like you shipping yourself with him," (Paraphrased) YEAH, that but not exactly like that. He's just keeping the jealously inside.

Probably really chill about the game. Doesn't really read fanfiction.

He just sees Rui or Ed read some, reads one passage, likes it and draws it out.

Prev [Hotarubi]

[aayakashii]

Hi! I just want to ask about one thing. What's the genre of Tokyo Debunker? 💀 please🙏. I see a lot of ads and I really want to know the genres, since in the first time I think it was a dark romance game🫂

I'm new at this fandom, please help me-

WELCOMEEEEEEEEEEEE I'M HAPPY TO HELP (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Tkdb has themes like mystery, horror and fantasy. It isn't an otome game, so it doesn't really have romance routes, but there are some characters that very blatantly flirt with the PC. It's aimed at an adult audience and the character are implied to be aged up as well (like 21+ years old, but it is never said explicitly). Don't believe the ads! The ads are all lies lmao 😭 Despite that, the story is amazing <3 it has some spooks but it's not frequent so if you're squeamish, don't worry :D

[danieyells]

Hey, I’m not entirely sure if this is the blog to ask this but do you think that our MC is ugly/bland or is simply because she doesn’t have the same characteristics that the others have? (Different eye color, different type of hair or y’know violent outbursts)

I'm not sure what you mean by 'the blog to ask'? Were you looking for a specific blog? Based on that you're saying "the others" maybe someone who actively plays other otome/joseimuke/visal novel/romance/whatever games? '0'a this may not be the right blog if you're looking for a specific one yeah haha

I mean, the Tokyo Debunker PC is your typical, mostly faceless "young japanese woman" player character? Kinda like the generic "harem protagonist boy", but for a 'girl's game'. She's supposed to be a base upon which your 'average girl' is meant to project onto. She's not supposed to have stand-out features. She's an ordinary person off the street brought into an unusual situation. She's a means through which to watch and observe the story, not meant to be as much of an active participant or her own character? So yeah of course she doesn't have a strong personality. Also, again, she's an ordinary person in a situation that she has little to no control or power or influence in. Why wouldn't she be passive? Passiveness isn't a bad character trait either, especially not for this genre.

I'm not someone who really. . .sees ugliness in visual appearances so much? Especially fictional characters drawn to be generic and fairly featureless? There's not really anything to be. . .judged there? Aside from her mouth and hair and in very very rare occasions her eyes(which are like red, actually!) she's never really depicted as. Having features.

I don't think she's ugly or bland or anything, no. She's a generic otome/joseimuke protagonist. She's extremely average and that is what she is meant to be. Just a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. That doesn't make her bland, it makes her more versatile as intended. Idk. I don't think the pc needs special features or an aggressive personality or a set backstory/origin or anything to be a character who plays her role well? She's a view into the world she's been thrust into. Even if she were her own character as opposed to the player's projection space, they'd give her some more concrete traits but they could still leave her mostly as is and at most she'd be poorly fleshed out. Idk man.

I feel like this was probably the wrong blog anon LMAO

[ruakichan]

So I tried out Tokyo Debunker. tl;dr: LOL that's how much?

I'm not really into otome/joseimuke cause I don't dig the self-insert/dating/tropey cast of boy characters aspect, so I appreciate that this game allows you to set a name for the heroine that isn't your IGN. Allowed me to enjoy the story as its own thing. And the story is about the most positive thing I can say.

It's basically TWST but with horror, and where I had bounced hard off TWST's story and cast, the world presented here is interesting and most of the characters are charming. ...Although some are gratuitous expies of characters from other franchises. The blond screaming kid is basically that blond screaming kid from KNY, and he even has the same voice actor lol (edit: nope the guy just sounds like shimono) I keep expecting him to break out with some amazing power when he's asleep, and it'll have some of the best art in the game lol. But ignoring the ...homages..., I really enjoyed TD's tale, and that's what's keeping me going. There's also some fujobait teasing between the various boys; I straight up lol'd at a card you can get in VIP that is of two of them having a cigarette kiss.

The game looks mediocre and out of date, even by my lenient standards, though it's fully voice acted with a talented cast (JP) and story beats are highlighted by manga-esque cut scenes to supplement the talking heads VN visuals. But the character art is crude and simple (probably to make the live2d easier), most of the designs uninspired, and the GUI a confusing mess.

Battle system is just a chibi battler with some music stages (lol), but I appreciate you can skip battles straight from the get-go, which is probably why they didn't bother with the graphics. The game also has an idle clicker base (though without the clicking), which is where you do the majority of your leveling and mat grinding (ie: it's done passively). There's (not live) PVP, but it's like pvp in dressup games. Looks like there's a guild raid boss open during certain times of the day. Guild system itself is eh. There just really is no actual, engaging gameplay.

The monetization is fucking hilarious. I am not one who flinches at spending, but holy hell this game is disgustingly offensive in not only the bazillion ways they monetize, but the cost. They have numerous USD100+ packages, things costing thousands of the diamond currency for progress (locked behind their own gacha), and a mixed summon pool that is less than half characters, with a total 1% ssr rate to pull gear cards or character cards--with gear having higher individual pull rates (you will be more likely to pull gear than a character). Pity for a character is 500, no banner carry over. Absolutely bonkers in this day and age. The ways to spend also include a VIP, sub VIP, weekly and monthly passes, tiered purchases, timed purchases, repeat purchases, rebate purchases... just LOL. I've played f2p games for over a decade, and I've never seen such an egregious amount of microtransactions.

Absolute cash grab. The moment I can't progress in the story due to paywall is when I'll uninstall. Really too bad since I am enjoying the story, and I'd like to know more about the cast (I regret getting the one who visually appealed to me as my starter card cause this pure, earnestly dense kid is smashing me in the face with his moe).

Anywho. Try, but don't spend. If you already play TWST, this is TWST at home but with demons and ghosts. Its troubled development history really shows, and I'd be shocked if it lasts a year. Would make a fun, brainless anime or manga though.