Incest in Otome games- Love, Hate or Neutral?

[enren]

And lastly...let me quote the hardest line from the most goated LI, "You will love me as your brother, and as your husband! You can give all your love to me!"

O.O what game is that??? lol I wanna play it! <3

__________________________________________________________

If it's your brother, it's ok for me.
If it's your father/grandfather, then no.

Makes me remember one story I wanted to watch about a brother and sister who would've been better together than apart. But the author didn't have the guts to give them a happy ending together and killed the brother and showed his sis being left behind all alone forever in pain faking being happy. Hated it.

Even not seeing the story that Ending made me cry for days.
And I still wish they would've both lived together.

 

[selinee]

I'm neutral, or more like, "meh" about this. To me it's just another fictional thing in fictional works, it's the constant arguments online that makes it weird (side-eyeing a certain normies game with a pseudo-brother LI...)

In my opinion a lot of fictional media isn't realistic to begin with so there really isn't a need to explain everything. Thought such as

"As soon as the brother thing drops I start thinking about their parent's, how tf are they gonna get married, inbred babies..."

depends on your suspension of disbelief tbh. It's like those yandere/kidnapping games I've seen becoming more popular recently. I have lots of questions to ask when it comes to the realism of those games, how certain situations can be possible etc, but I decide to shut my brain off temporarily for them.

If you really worry about the marriage/baby issues, many otome games end without reaching that stage anyway, so players can ignore it (like an open happy? end kinda thing). And, realistically speaking not all couples will get married and have kids. But I do agree that it would be more interesting if the writers address the societal nuances. It wouldn't magically make an incest hater like incest, but it would at least add some depth to the relationship and story.

At the end of the day, it comes down to different POVs. You think of incest as an important detail that needs to be resolved in the plot, the writers on the other hand just treat it as a trope. "Here's a route where you can get chummy with your hot brother" - that's about it.

Because it's a trope, there's nothing you're "missing" if you don't like it. It's simply personal preferences As long as you're not shaming people who like this trope in a fictional space, you don't need to get over anything.

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

I'm a huge fan lmao and I'm all for committing to it! No step-brother cop-out! Haha
I especially like the older brothers ;b but I enjoy little brothers too! Cousins is fine as well, but I dislike uncle-stuff
I think taboo topics are very interesting, and I believe those routes provide some interesting drama/angst in the relationship. I'm really into the protective older brothers that go a bit crazy with it! The feelings of guilt, the desperation, I love it all! I am biased towards the tragic/angsty approach though

I think of these dynamics as very interesting narrative tools. I get why some people may feel uncomfortable with it, and why some players who enjoy self-insert may dislike it, but as long as the game has proper tagging I think it's completely fine. I'm someone who defends keeping fiction as fiction, but taking proper measures to communicate what topics are represented to avoid trouble ;b

 

[Rdddmi]

I wouldn't say that I'm so uncomfortable with it that I actively dislike it, but personally, I'm not very fond of romantic stories involving close blood relatives, so I don't usually seek them out.

If they're relatives who aren't very closely related, or step-siblings, it doesn't really bother me that much. And if a story is so good that people highly praise it and say, "The story is amazing!", I'd definitely be willing to give it a try.

 

[mowanjian]

I don't really mind this type. Whether it's childhood friends or close relatives, they've spent a long time together and know each other much better

 

[dreamilyshoujo]

Since it's fiction, it doesn't bother me. Though, I'm not a really a fan of onii-chan type of characters. Maybe it's because I am the older sister in my home XD

 

[藍色水珠]

This type is commonly used in girl games or CD works.

For me, the two-dimensional world is reluctant to accept, but it will definitely be put at the end to the strategy (in order to pass the customs and collect all them)

I'm not very interested in the subject of blood love: especially the ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend who has just broken up, and the protagonist has nothing to do with the remarriage of father and son, mother and daughter.

 

[yousoro]

mmm I thinkie it depends for me. I mostly like them due to the dynamic that is rarely (?) shown with other types of LIs... Does this make sense? Although, if I had to choose, I'd rather have a step-brother or childhood/very close friend type. I think I just like the clinginess aspect and they show brother LIs to be that way a lot from what I've seen.

I don't feel bad about enjoying the trope, because most of the time those routes are unrealistically written (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Although, I don't have siblings; maybe if I did I'd feel worse about it (ᵕ⸝⸝• ᴗ •)

 

[uuyy]

I love it!
I love the poignant anguish stemming from blood ties.

 

[MikuMikuni]

O.O what game is that??? lol I wanna play it! <3

__________________________________________________________

If it's your brother, it's ok for me.
If it's your father/grandfather, then no.

Makes me remember one story I wanted to watch about a brother and sister who would've been better together than apart. But the author didn't have the guts to give them a happy ending together and killed the brother and showed his sis being left behind all alone forever in pain faking being happy. Hated it.

Even not seeing the story that Ending made me cry for days.
And I still wish they would've both lived together.

It's Birushana! The LI who says it is Tomomori

And same here. It's a hard no for me if it's parental. Also, I can't help but wonder what story you're referring to. The first thing that comes to mind is Oshi no Ko but I'm not certain if I guessed that one right...

 

[lyrevega]

There should be more incest routes!!!!, i really like this trope when is handled as the taboo that is, i want characters to feel ashamed of their own feelings, for me that's what makes it good.

Even as someone who actually has an older brother, it doesn't makes me wanna puke because my family is just never in my mind when reading about that stuff. It only makes me a little uncomfortable in a moral way, but its the type of uncomfy that i enjoy A LOT

 

[woodypei]

I rly enjoy taboo topics so I love incest as long as there is not a huge age gap (my pet peeve).So brothers, cousins are fine; whereas dads, stepdads, uncles are not.

I am pretty good at separating fiction with reality, so although I don't have a brother irl, I don't think of my real life cousin at all if the LI is MC's cousin.

 

[enren]

Also, I can't help but wonder what story you're referring to. The first thing that comes to mind is Oshi no Ko but I'm not certain if I guessed that one right...

Yup, Oshi no Ko...
Poor Aqua and Ruby T___T

 

[Kyouri]

I'm game for whatever Lol. It's not a scenario I specifically seek out but it's enjoyable when done right. I prefer the proper angst of blood-relate than the fake out "oh no we're step siblings" though because it feels like it's too scared to go actually taboo haha.

 

[Yuuu701]

I not a fan of incest. To me, it seems strange that the brother who grew up with the mc could develop romantic feelings. They have probably seen each other at their best and worst. Siblings just feel more like a best friend if they get along. I don't mind it being in fiction but I probably won't dive down that route.

 

[Lynettee]

I dislike it; it's one of the things I always research to avoid encountering, but I can't. I'm very close to my brother, and even in fiction, I can't understand it, especially since these are precisely the paths that carry the weight of the plot. I dislike it less if there's no blood relation at all, but it still makes me a little uncomfortable.

 

[annegry]

speaking as someone who has a sibling, i could not imagine myself ever enjoying this trope when it's between full blood relatives tbh. it doesn't gross me out nearly as much in the case of step-siblings tho, specifically if there's not a super creepy age gap and the relationship is established when they're both already kinda advanced in age (ex. the parents get married when they're both college-aged or smn)

 

[shuubaruotaku]

depending on the type of vn it is, if its mc related incest i'm like "umm so thats weird.." but still play, i try to not let things affect my gameplay cus im already playin it, why drop it atp?? but if its like "incest born child" then i feel bad ofc but again it really just depends on the visual novel

 

[RoseGold]

Not really my thing, and I most likely won't read the route if it's actual incest.
The Thoma/Shin example didn't bother me - they were just close childhood friends, I wouldn't consider that incest.

it doesn't gross me out nearly as much in the case of step-siblings tho, specifically if there's not a super creepy age gap and the relationship is established when they're both already kinda advanced in age (ex. the parents get married when they're both college-aged or smn)

Same on this - if there's no blood relation and they weren't raised as siblings it's whatever.
You guys do you though.