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Sacralize a Digital Character to Enhance Its Charm? Japanese Love Games and Female Fan Strategy

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Idology in Transcultural Perspective
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Abstract

In Japan, women who indulge in romantic relationships with characters from “otome games,” or romance video games, willingly call themselves “believers” (shinja). Making as if their favorite character was an otherworldly creature from another dimension, they display icon-like images of him on “altars” (saidan) and use goods, perfumes, or clothes to help him materialize in the “real” or “three-dimensional” world, sometimes spending huge amounts of money on what they refer to as “offerings” (ofuse). Significantly, otome game production companies regularly organize collective events encouraging the players to “share” food and beverage with the characters, framed as a matrix of shadow “presences.” These companies draw their income not only from in-game payments (embedded in the game as “presents” to characters), but also from selling goods that are sometimes inspired by the Shintō or Buddhist cult: charms, talismans, and so on. Based on an ethnographic study of otome game culture, this chapter explores the different strategies used by character fans to transform their play activity into a kind of collective “cult.” Examining discourses and practices surrounding the worship of digital lovers, the chapter demonstrates that otome game consumption shares many features with rituals and, thus, enables players to create meaning, connection, and intimacy in their daily lives.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The fieldwork started in 2016 as a personal research project before being awarded a fellowship under the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. It was conducted under the guidance of Matsumoto Takuya (Kyoto University) in 2018–2019 and is currently being pursued at the Free University of Berlin as part of the project EMTECH (Emotional Machines: The Technological Transformation of Intimacy in Japan). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no 714666).

  2. 2.

    The survey was conducted in Japanese by Google Form. It was disseminated on Twitter among the otome games fans community, using popular Japanese hashtags such as #otome games (#乙女ゲーム), #utapuri (#うたプリ), or #I want to connect with otome game cluster (#乙女ゲームクラスタさんと繋がりたい). The link to the questionnaire was also sent by direct messages to my informants. Participants in the survey were asked to give details about their oshi (name, nature, and duration of the relationship); describe their altar (location, size, function) and their altar-related rituals, explain the use of words borrowed from religious lexicons, and expand on the similarities between their practices and rituals. A total number of 12 replies from Japanese female fans were collected. The majority of participants are between 25 and 35 years old. The age distribution is as follows: Participants aged 15–19 are 16.6 percent, aged 25–29 are 25 percent, aged 30–34 are 41.6 percent, and aged 40–45 are 16.6 percent. The majority of surveyed otome fans are singles living with their parents (50 percent). The other ones are singles living alone (16.6 percent), unmarried women living with a friend (16.6 percent), and married women with children (16.6 percent).

  3. 3.

    Yume Piriri (ゆめぴりり). 2019.05.14. [Hon’nin fuzai no tanjōbikai] puchi saidan o tsukuru (“[Birthday party without the person] Making a petite altar”【本人不在の誕生日会】プチ祭壇を作る【ワキワキ】). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytjdKQEM-o&t=34s.

  4. 4.

    In Japan, gods, ghosts, souls, and ancestors are part of a continuum, and there is potentially no difference between those different types of supernatural beings. They all deserve to be worshipped.

  5. 5.

    Interview made during a visit of Mitsui Keishi in Geneva, 2019-06-01.

  6. 6.

    The main trend in video games being the “love app” made for smartphones, console games and their physical copies on disc or cartridge are slowly decreasing in the love simulation market.

  7. 7.

    Usami Rin, the 2021 Akutagawa Prize winner, makes the association between oshi and light obvious in her book Oshi, Moyu (Usami 2020), which means “oshi, burning.”

  8. 8.

    Interview made in Primaniacs company office, Tokyo, 2019-01-22.

  9. 9.

    Kōgami Taiga’s perfume is part of a series, “KING OF PRISM—Shiny Seven Stars—Fragrance,” sold on Primaniacs webstore. http://shop.primaniacs.com/?pid=140969086.

  10. 10.

    Broccoli’s “Birthday Sweets Bag Charm” (bāsudē suītsu baggu chāmu, バースデースイーツバッグチャーム) are part of the “Birthday Accessory Series 2016” (bāsudē akusesarī shirīzu 2016) promoted on the Utapuri webstore. https://www.utapri.com/sp/accessory2016/.

  11. 11.

    Takara’s “Yellow Rose to be Consecrated” (sasageru kiiroi bara, 捧げる黄色いバラ) is part of the goods series “KING OF PRISM by PrettyRhythm—KINPRI Fan—Thanksgiving Festival 2016,” promoted on the Kinpuri webstore. https://kinpri.com/02/news/detail.php?id=1034815.

  12. 12.

    Broccoli’s “Birthday Shining Crown Bracelet” (bāsudē shainingu kuraun buresuretto, バースデーシャイニングクラウンブレスレット) limited series is promoted on the Utapuri webstore. https://www.utapri.com/sp/accessory2021/.

  13. 13.

    The word ofuse is commonly applied to the money given to a monk for reading sutras or to a Shintō priest for a ceremony.

  14. 14.

    Interview made in Cybird company office, Tokyo, 2018-11-05.

  15. 15.

    Watashitachi no yōna otaku joshi ni totte,`shumi’ to `seikatsu’ wa kirihanasenai.” Source: interview of Shinoda Shōko, associate author with Gekidan Mesuneko of a book dedicated to wasting money for oshi. https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1904/14/news002.html.

  16. 16.

    When the King of Prism’s anime movies are screened, special cinema performances—held under the name of “cheer screening” (chiaringu jōei)—invite the audience not only to wave penlights and vocally interact with the male characters, but to throw fake bills at them. Every time a money problem arises in the scenario, fans wildly shout, “Take my money!” while scattering the banknotes. Boldly provocative, showing off their engagement, character fans “play” with money and, thus, openly challenge the market-oriented value system which prevails in modern societies.

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Giard, A. (2021). Sacralize a Digital Character to Enhance Its Charm? Japanese Love Games and Female Fan Strategy. In: Hiroshi, A., Galbraith, P.W., Kovacic, M. (eds) Idology in Transcultural Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82677-2_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82677-2_8

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