Showing posts with label Genre Deep Dive. Show all posts
Tournaments – Genre Deep Dive
Elimination Matches
Competitions
and Tournaments act as a sub-genre for a fairly limited group of
stories with it being inherently part of the sports genre and
particularly popular in all sorts of action shonen titles. It has an
enduring appeal which keeps it popping up time and time again and so
it should come as no surprise to find it in the visual novel space.
One of the biggest advantages it offers is the way it provides a
reason for the larger than life cast to clash with one another and
generate the narrative drama needed to keep the player invested. Due
to the heavily regulated nature of a Tournament, it can have clear
boundaries as well as heroes and villains without needing to bring in
the moral complexity of the real world. The match structure gives a
natural vehicle for pacing across the experience with its moments of
tension and calm conveniently building towards the climax. Let’s
step into the stadium and discover why this sub-genre remains a
staple in fiction.
Battle Of The Egos
The
mixture of smaller rounds between groups or individuals and the
larger scale rising stakes makes the perfect stage for the larger
than life characters found in visual novels to show themselves off. Finding a
place to properly showcase the colourful personalities who drive the
story can be a complex challenge and it is here the standardised
structure of a Tournament helps alleviate this tension by providing a
space where they can be believably forced to interact. This is
especially true for any competition involving combat where the
beliefs of the combatants clash as they exchange blows and their
hearts are put on full display for the player. Since there is no
actual danger to the contestant’s lives, both the victor and loser
gain valuable lessons about themselves so they can continue their
character development as opposed to the finality of conclusion in a
more serious situation where the stakes were higher. The Majikoi
series is defined by its absurd and over the top cast so it can make
use of the Tournament genre to parade them around which it does in
Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! S. Here the old members and the new
comers get a chance to demonstrate their identities and motives one
after another in an orderly fashion where they get their undisputed
moment in the sun. Beyond the battles themselves, the cast get a lot
of time to scheme and bounce off one another to sell their
contrasting egos and values. When it comes to character
development none stands out more than Momoyo since
the whole event and the involvement of Tsubame were all done with the
aim of getting her taste defeat and grow as a person. This major push
forwards for a main heroine acts as a capstone to the other smaller
arcs distributed among the rest of the cast over the competition’s
duration. It brings into focus the many entertaining battles which
occurred and how it has brought the cast together as a community.
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| Combat forms the backbone of most Tournaments |
When focusing on a Tournament between factions rather than
individuals the scope of the colourful interactions narrows to the
group the player is following. Yumina the Ethereal’s election war
is a prime example of this trend with it being firmly locked onto the
debate club and those they fight and not playing attention to what
other clubs are doing at the same time. In taking this approach the
game achieves several important aims chief among them being to allow
the characters a chance to endear themselves to the player in a
relatively low stakes environment before the big twist of the second
half throws them in the deep end. By having the focus being on how
their personalities clash with the current opponent, the scope of
interactions can be controlled in order to give a better showcase of
their thoughts and the outline of the arcs which will come to define
later on. Another aim which plays into this smaller scale is the way
its conveyor belt of opponents maintains steadily escalating
challenges and tensions for the narrative. When a new antagonist comes
to confront the debate club they are immediately a threat while also
making the competition as a whole easier to keep track of in a way a
Tournament which jumps between contestant could not achieve due its
sprawling nature.
Controlled Environment
Boundaries
and structure are what give the Tournament genre its distinct and
easily recognisable feel. Regardless of how outlandish the nature of
the competition, all of them adhere to the same basic form the player
has experienced or witnessed in their own lives. This ensures the
game will have at least this base level of grounding in reality it
can then springboard off in order to sell their own unique premises.
It is also a fundamentally ‘safe’ environment, in that the rules
generally protect the contestants from harm which makes the stakes
rely more on the emotional weight of the contestants success rather
than on an immediate sense of danger. These combine to create and
easy to understand and focused narrative space where a variety of
character arcs can be neatly lined up alongside the rising tide of
competitive drama. ‘Sports’ style Tournaments are the most common
structure found in this genre, these being individuals or small
groups fighting each other and the winner progresses to the next
stage. This frequency is primarily because they are simple to understand and
generate excitement when compared to the ‘Humanities’ style where the
entrants submit something and then are given a final standing on a
set date rather than having to directly contend with other people.
A
popular example of the Sports type is Aokana - Four Rhythms Across
the Blue and its Flying Circus which even referring to its
contents as athletes. The spectre of this big event cast a shadow
over the story and the lives of the characters even when it is not
actually taking place. Since the baseline expectations for what the
Flying Circus will entail is established early, the title can have
its individual events parsed through this rigid lens
in order to make each heroines engage in the event specific to them while adhering to the same overall outline. By being a ‘Sports’ type, the cast can be conveniently placed opposite other contestants who
can push them to develop or challenge their values without it coming
across as contrived. These opponents are established earlier in the
narrative and their interactions with the main cast are believable
since they are all heading towards the same destination but only one
of them can make it all the way. A desire to win defines much of the
cast with it pushing the ideas of how competition can lead to healthy or unhealthy growth and traits depending on the way a character
chooses handle their feelings.
 |
| Sci-fi Sports are such a strange beast |
‘Humanities’ type competitions are
an even stranger beast since most exist to enhance already established narrative tension. Sousaku Kanojo no Ren'ai Koushiki utilises them
multiple times across its story from writing competitions to
popularity polls. Each one is placed in the context of the
protagonist’s relationship with another character and the emotions
surrounding them. It provides a legitimate reason for the cast to
clash while not bringing in any negative associations given such
competitions are more of a chance to show off their skills rather
than undermine each other. The game makes sure to frame it in this
positive light as an opportunity for mutual growth and sorting out
their complicated feelings. Rather than lingering and building up the
drama like in a ‘Sports’ type, this is an affair which creates a
small bit of tension before rapidly disappearing when the story wants
to move on.
Build Up And Cool Down
Perhaps
the single most valuable part of the Tournament structure from a
developer’s view point is the natural peaks and troughs created due
to the round system it employs. When a new round starts the
participants are generally announced meaning the characters get to
know who they are up against and this begins the rising tide of
emotion. The two opposing groups then get more interactions and
emotionally clash over who is going to be the winner. Then the
climatic of the curve comes in the actual match and it outcome before
plummeting back down during the cool down following the victory. Some
form of this cycle appears in almost all titles with a Tournament of any kind unless they are engaging in subversion or only
want it for a short duration. The reason this structural outline is
so important lies in how it offers a quick and impactful skeleton on
which the developers can hang the meat of the narrative without
having to constantly worry about pacing the overall experience.
Obviously they still need to consider it on the smaller scale and
towards the finale where their own unique spin needs to be more
apparent in order for the player to not lose interest due to the
structure's repetitive nature.
Koiken Otome leans heavily into this
structure for large part of its playtime in order to fill the void
created due to a lack of external threats. Instead it puts the
emphasis on the cast’s pursuit of personal improvement and rivalry
with their peers. This lack of danger means the ups and downs of each
round serve as the main pacing mechanism while allowing an extremely
protagonist centric flow of events in order to ensure he gets enough
interactions with the heroines. One trait the game inherits from
others in the genre is the way attending a magic or superpowered
school always leads to some kind of battle Tournament so as to frame
this activity as a legitimate competition rather than training child
soldiers. The lack of danger hold an important position here since if
there was a chance of real harm then it would bring up moral issues
such titles are not equipped to address.
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| Every section ends with a master + servant battle |
Not all games using this
structure are so devoid of threats and Fate/EXTRA demonstrates how
the spectre of death can elevate this outline. The holy grail war on
the moon uses the round based style where two masters are put up
against each other and the survivor gets to advance to the next
stage. Having this mixture of large scale competition and single
adversary focus gives the room to create a sense of escalating danger
as the contestant numbers dwindle and allow the player to get to know
each master on a personal level. It also lulls the player into a
false sense they know what is coming only for the game to
increasingly subvert it as the quality of the opponents ramps up.
Since each master is both a danger to the player and someone they
sympathise with, the structure gives an inevitability of each final
battle and helps it hold both the cathartic release from death and a
sadness at the loss of the person they have grown to care about.
Conclusion
When
pitting two people against one another their beliefs and motives can
be more clearly viewed through their actions and it is this which the
Tournaments genre in visual novels capitalises on. It provides a
stage on which the colourful cast can act out their play while
allowing both sides to experience growth and continue their journeys
after the match. The structural outline of a Tournament gives the
story a perfect framework to naturally curate its narrative pacing so
can focus on its own unique twists. Competitions of all kinds offer a
sense of familiarity to what might otherwise be an outlandish setting
and helps being the wild conflicts onto an understandable level for
the player to empathise with. As a sub-genre it combines flexibility
with rigidity to form a diverse space for storytelling so it is no
wonder it is popular with both players and developers.
Coming Of Age – Genre Deep Dive
On The Edge
Transitioning
to adulthood and leaving the days of childhood behind is a common
thematic trope throughout history so it should come as no surprise
for visual novels to make use of it. Coming of Age rarely holds the
sole focus of the narrative and instead exists as a genre only
visible once the characters' arcs have been completed and they gain
their maturity. Playing directly into drama of entering the adult
world and assuming the responsibility which comes with age is the
simplest form of the genre given it places it directly in the
player’s face to make the theming clear. Since maturity can be
subtle in nature there are games which choose not to tie it to age
and rather present it as something gain through personal conflict
beyond the process of growing up. Not all presentations of the Coming
of Age are entirely positive with many dwelling on what has been lost in the face of the inevitable march of time.
Let’s put on our big boy shoes and find out how a genre can extract
drama from the act of getting older.
Stairway To Adulthood
There
is an inherent layer of conflict built into ageing as the march of
time changes people and forces them into uncomfortable new
situations. Periods of transition bring these feelings to the
forefront and few are more dramatic then stepping into adulthood.
Gone are the protections of childhood and the characters are thrust into a
world of responsibility which they must contend with. This is by far
the most direct type of the Coming Of Age story since it is a literal
coming of age rather than a purely emotional one. Since it is so
immediate in its presentation these visual novels tend to deal with
the realities of adulthood such as jobs and having children. They
push the idea of responsibility in a series of smaller scale changes
to a character’s life before leading them into the life shattering
conflicts required for an exciting finale. Titles looking for a slow
build up while pushing a continuous Coming Of Age theming tend to
pick this style for exactly these reasons since it gives incremental
emotional moments to keep the player engaged in the lead up to the
pay off while also appearing to be a natural extension of its ideas.
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| YU-NO's cast are often defined by their immaturity |
One of the most prominent examples of this jump to adulthood is
Clannad, in particular the After Story section. Tomoya has to deal
with the responsibilities of being an adult as they are thrown at him
one after another from getting a job, marriage and preparing for a
child. Many of these end up being minor hiccups used for comedy but when combined they create a sense of Tomoya’s growing maturity
through him overcoming them. They lay the foundation for the bigger
hurdles of his journey into adulthood in the form of dealing with a
child. Forming a connection with his child presents the greatest
challenge for him given all the personal and emotional baggage
surrounding his own life and only by finally coming to terms with it
can he be a good father. This acts as the climax solidifying the
final stage of his Coming Of Age where he can cope with the
responsibilities and maturity appropriate for his age. Not all uses
of this style need present day or real world connections to be
impactful since maturity is an internal quality. YU-NO presents this
approach in its later section where Takuya is whisked out of our
world and ends up being trapped there leading to him having to
quickly learn to be an adult. Since this is a loosely fantasy world,
adulthood means a maturity and responsibility to those around him
rather than the specific expectations for the modern world, hence why
he does not get a job but instead involves himself in activities related
to his survival. Interestingly just like Clannad the final stage of
this journey into maturity is connected to a child but this time it
is the pursuit and reconnection with the child after they are
kidnapped. The idea of successful raising a child is a common
narrative beat to end the arc on since it is seen as the most taxing
aspect of being an adult.
Maturity In The Face Of Change
Not
all Coming Of Age stories need to be focused around a transition to
adulthood and they are more often based around a looser idea of
personal maturity. This makes for a malleable source of drama and
development suitable for appearing alongside other styles of
narrative without distracting too much from them. It can take the
conflict at the centre of story and have the cast mature in the face
of this challenge and can co exist with each specific character arc
to create a complete sense of transition out of childish traits into ones
demonstrating growth. These tend to be focused around negative
internal elements like trauma which haunt the character and need to
be resolved so they can move on with their lives. What is important
to emphasise here is the idea of the growth as maturity must be
pushed by the game, either explicitly through text or implicitly
through the character’s place in the world, just overcoming the
negative aspect is not enough in of itself to be considered Coming Of
Age. However, it is exactly this slight overlap with other genres
which allow it to be so freely used within a complimentary context to
those same genres. Little Busters encapsulates this approach to
Coming Of Age drama as it entangles this journey to maturity with a
variety of different narrative threads. For the majority of the game
it stays in the background of the thematic mixture so the romance and
supernatural threads can be the focus yet still contextualises those
as steps towards a growth in overcoming trauma. This continuity
of its underlying presentation makes the shift into it being the core
message during the finale a natural one where the revelations about
reality and its sadness are contrasted against the cast’s known
ability to grow beyond it. So as they move into a maturity they
previously lacked there is a strong sense of catharsis where the
title’s conclusion becomes a final release for a quiet build up and
it is a powerful emotional moment to end on.
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| His age should not be the reason he accepts... |
The Melancholy Of Growing Up
Growing
up is not all sunshine and rainbows, some aspects of childhood and
innocence are forever lost in the transition and, no matter how much
the person might want to recapture them, they can never truly be
restored in quite the same way. For visual novels this manifests in a
sense of melancholy at this transition into maturity where the lost
is dwelled upon for dramatic effect and the cast wrestle with its
passing. How these emotions all play out varies wildly from game to
game since melancholy is an extremely vague feeling being anything
from the partner for depression to a loose acceptance of change. Its
shifting nature makes it unsuitable to be the main thematic push so
it often ends up forming the underlying tone present through each
step along the Coming Of Age journey. Despite this position in the
narrative structure, its use is limited by the emotional state it
invokes not always being compatible with the kind of stories told
alongside this genre due to the more positive spin on growing up they
aim towards. While melancholy might not be immediately negative,
there is a connection with dwelling in the past and loss which forces an
introspection on maturity and demands a slower pace for it to have
its desired impact. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien demonstrates this use of
Coming Of Age drama through the way it ties into the romantic
progression. It focuses on the characters’ loss of innocence due to
the gaining of responsibilities both to themselves and to the one
they love. There is juxtaposition between the childishness of their
love triangle and the realities of relationships where it plays out the drama to its extremes through this transition and its consequences.
The game continuously rubs in this melancholy into the wound to fully
immerse the player in the vat of emotions it has concocted so it can
make the catharsis of their resolution all the more powerful.
Transitioning out of these darker feelings is key to their success
since they are never entirely escaped, but merely something to be
pushed beyond as the characters move into maturity.
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| One birthday closer to the inevitable march of adulthood |
Conclusion
Utilising
the genre of Coming Of Age can be a surprisingly flexible process
which reflect the vastly different experiences people face in their
journey into maturity. The transition into adulthood due to age is
the most common way to use this idea since it is an easy to
understand experience the player can be expected to be familiar with.
Growing up may not be a universally positive process for the cast so a
title may choose to focus on the melancholy from a loss of innocence
and freedom as a means of creating an emotional tone. Maturity is not
necessarily a quality inherent to a certain age which means titles can frame their narratives within the context of personal
maturity in order for a more flexible application. Tying all of these
versions of the Coming Of Age genre together is the idea of
transition and growth so its appeal to developers as a means of
expressing a character arc is the foundations of its use in visual
novels.
Otome – Genre Deep Dive
A Feminine Touch
As
the inversion of the male centric structures typical of many visual
novels, it may be tempting to dismiss the beautiful woman surrounded
by handsome men as being more of the same just with the roles
swapped. However, this change in gender focus results in a
fundamental shift in design philosophy in order to appeal to a
noticeable different demographic. The larger male cast in the form of
the suitors is reflected in the way they clash and interact with each
other and their more aggressive pursuit of the heroine’s
affections. Emotional intelligence defines the Otome heroine, they
mix personal vulnerability with strength in their romance and
complete the suitor in a way which places the pair on equal footing.
Otome’s freedom from the typical trappings of the male centric
romances allow for a broader spread of settings, themes and tones
without losing sight of the attractions of the romance fantasy. Yet
it still adheres to much of the overarching expectations of visual
novels such as choices, routes and even its use of erotic content.
Let’s flee from the parade of adoring men and find out how the
genre’s core features promote such a distinct identity.
Pursued By Suitors
Just
like the heroines of male centric visual novels, the suitors are the
main selling points of Otome and form the backbone of the conflicts
and narrative direction. They differentiate themselves from their
female equivalents through how their masculinity is played up to achieve
a unique suite of personalities. Suitors tend to be more aggressive
and possessive in their romantic pursuit of the heroine and they are
often the ones to initiate the first push even if the heroine ends up
being the person who makes their relationship a reality. Amnesia: Memories
loves its its overly possessive men with almost all of the suitors
demonstrating these tenancies at some point or another. By far the
most extreme example of this is Touma who locks the protagonist up in
a cage in what he claims is an act for her own safety and, while the
game does treat it an overprotective action, it is never painted as
negative. Instead he is just letting the possessive aspect of his
love taking over and the protagonist has to work to bring him back to
reality so they can be together. This allows the
protagonist an agency over the narrative through being the one
who ultimately resolves the conflict with a taming of the beast
style of romantic fantasy.
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| Not exactly a great first impression |
Undertones of violence are a common among
Otome suitors were the man is just a powder keg waiting for a spark
to ignite. Mixing in this trait gives a sense of danger to what might
otherwise be fairly vanilla romances and expanding on how conflict
can be handled within the narrative. The suitors of BUSTAFELLOWS are
all have a certain degree of this undertone due to their connections
to the criminal underworld. On a moment to moment level this works as
a way to keep the player on their toes since the treats facing the
heroine could be inside the group and well as external to it. Even
when it becomes clear the suitors are not an immediate danger the
tension still remains for the men with more direct connections to
violence such as Shu Lyn O'Keefe. The narrative value then
transforms into a process of overcoming the barrier this presents
between heroine and suitor and fleshing out their character arcs as
the motives of the suitor are revealed. It is worth noting at this
point the connection between these traits, attractiveness and erotic
appeal within the genre’s audience. While Otome eroge rarely get
localised they do in fact exist and display the same aspects of
masculinity just filtered through the characters’ sexuality. Let’s
look at one of the few translated examples in Fashioning Little Miss
Lonesome. It is different in tone from the previous titles covered as
a comedy romance and so lacks the direct undertones of violence
present it those games. Yet when it comes to possessiveness and
aggressiveness the suitors are more than happy to oblige as they
pursue the heroine and coerce her into going along with their plans.
This plays into the comedy and erotic nature of the game through its
sheer absurdity and the way it leans into these as attractive
elements to create an appealing and safe fantasy for the player to
enjoy.
The Not So Distress Damsel
Otome
heroines make for an interesting contrast when compared to their male
equivalents given how vulnerability has a prominent role in their
characterisation and development. This is not the same as being weak
where they are a damsel in distress to be protected by the suitor,
even if that style of narrative does exist within Otome. Rather it is
a characteristic of their emotional intelligence where they are able to be open with their own feelings in a way male character is simply
not able to be. This is especially important in the way it relates to
the suitors since they need her to help them sort out their own
chaotic emotions and reach the happiness they desire. Through this
the heroine attains a critical non violent role within the story’s
progression to ensure they are always relevant and pushing the plot
forwards. The heroine of Hakuouki, Yukimura Chizuru, is a good
example of this idea as while she does have some martial skill and
supernatural blood in her veins, her identity in relation to the
suitors in not defined by these traits for they instead come to rely on her
to be their emotional crutch. As the suitors place in the world is
taken away from them over the course of the narrative, Yukimura
remains the only constant in their lives and she has to grapple with
their increasingly decaying mental state in an effort to save them
from this downward spiral. Her ability to successfully navigate this
process works well as a core pillar of the game since its heightened
feelings naturally lead to big outburst and powerfully empathetic
moments from both sides of the relationship.
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| A promise can mean a lot |
A variation of this can
be seen with Steam Prison’s heroine, Cyrus Tistella, who early on
in the story is placed into a dangerous situation which she spends the
rest of the game dealing with and manages to do so in no small part
due to her emotional intelligence. It is through her ability to see beyond the fronts of the suitors she is able to pull herself up after her
fall from grace since she is able to pull out the good in them even
when it appears there might not be any. What is important here is the
way this sensitivity to emotion serves her better than her notable
physical prowess, in part due to her diminished position, but mainly
due to the way it aligns the game’s themes unity and seeing beyond
discrimination. Another approach to this emotional sensitivity is
contrasting it with the violence which the heroine and those around them
engage in. Ueno Enju from Nightshade presents this conflict between
the two sides of the heroine, the emotions she feels for those around
her and the shinobi heritage which she takes pride in yet is a path steeped in violence and ruin. The outcome of the story is based on which side
she chooses and so is how the suitors react to her which makes for an
engaging friction amongst the group.
Conflict Across The Spectrum
One
of the noticeable features of Otome is a willingness to leave the
confines of the typical school setting and try its hand at stories
in a fantastical or adult environment. Schools do still have a major
presence in the genre but not quite the strangle hold it has over
male orientated titles. The kinds of female appealing narratives offer
a greater degree of freedom in the way they can be presented to the
player as demonstrated in the previous sections. Underpinning this
flexibility is the aforementioned elements of danger from the suitors
masculinity which naturally lends itself to being mixed in with other
sources of more mature threats and mysteries. Many of these settings
have the characters as adults within a working environment like the
police in Collar x Malice. For its protagonist, Hoshino Ichika, her
work provides a reason for her to become involved with the suitors
and place herself in danger while doubling up as an avenue to express
the game’s themes. Given the already contrived nature of the
title’s set up, it would have had to tie itself in even more knots
to get a school setting to make sense on top of it not meshing with
the tone it wants to establish. The work environment and professional
experience of the cast also lend the narrative a baseline level of
maturity within the player’s mind before they even open their mouths
and further reinforce this direction. Otomes entirely detached from
the real world are also freed from the school mandate if they set the
appropriate expectations, such as with Psychedelica of the Ashen
Hawk. Under a blanket of thick snow and medieval trappings the game
keeps any thoughts of school out of the player’s head by rapidly
defining the limits of its narrative space and confining them within
its walls. Despite the relatively young age of the protagonist, the
focus on the concealing their gender and the danger they become
involved in make sure the forwards pressure becomes a core aspect of
the title’s identity. Such a story relies on the completeness and
alien nature of its setting to immerse the player and so the freedom
from setting expectations allows it commit to the absence of familiar
elements from our own world.
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| Colours and place create a powerful sense of place |
Conclusion
No
genre is quite the same as Otome with its particular vision of
romance, drama and characters, even its male equivalents tend towards
stories of very different kinds. Part of this uniqueness stems from
the suitors and the way they lean into their possessive and pursuit
of the heroine to create a cast of proactive and dynamic individuals.
It is also a genre not bound to the school setting to the same level
as its peers so offers a flexible package for a greater variety of
stories to be told within it. The way the heroines of Otome get to
present their strength and vulnerability through their emotional
intelligence results in more charged narratives where the suitor needs the heroine as much as she needs him. Overall the effect which the gender of audience has on how visual novels can present love and
relationships is interesting to witness and shows what can be
achieved within the medium.
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