What do you think about gender selection in otome games?

[osanajimimi]

I think it's mostly Western audiences trying to redefine what an otome game is. By definition, it's a story told from the perspective of a female protagonist. If you change that and leave the protagonist's gender ambiguous, it becomes an amare game instead.

For a long time, women have fought to have content made for them under the joseimuke umbrella. Otome is one part of joseimuke, alongside genres like BL, although each has its own primary audience.

That doesn't mean men can't enjoy otome games, just as women can enjoy danseimuke content. The issue isn't who plays them. It's respecting the boundaries of each genre instead of trying to redefine them after they've already established their identity and community.

If someone wants games with a customizable or gender-neutral protagonist, dating sims or amare games already fill that role. It makes more sense to support the growth of those genres than to change the definition of otome.

I think the best way to reduce unnecessary arguments is to use the correct labels. As otome games have become more mainstream, clear terminology helps people find the content they're looking for without creating constant debates over what an otome game is.

 

[ninnikuryona]

For a long time, women have fought to have content made for them under the joseimuke umbrella. Otome is one part of joseimuke, alongside genres like BL, although each has its own primary audience.

very beautifully said! this part is especially important, since people of the west seem to believe for some reason that women have already gained all their rights and privileges, which is why theyre certain its allowed to rewrite the definition of the entire genre (which they had no hand in creating mind you). not to be that friend whos too woke or anything, but i feel like erasing a FEMALE mc in a genre aimed at FEMALE audiences is like, an insanely misogynistic behaviour. this is why otome girlies are fine with yuri in otome (in moderate quantities that is, so no 1:1 or 1:2 or even 1:3), but not bl, despite both otome and bl aiming for female audiences. yes the target audience for both are women, but women are not that huge monolith that loves EVERYTHING, right? personal preferences are always present in every single one of us! and thats not bad at all!

(coming back to the original question, i for one LOVE watching the story unfold through the eyes of a FEMALE protagonist, and i love lis interacting with her and treating her like a woman. a girl. a female human being. aka something amare never provide. this is the beauty of otome as a whole!!)

 

[pepsinig]

I don't like them, I'm very picky with those games where you can choose your pronoums or gender, it must be incredibly interesting for me to try one.
And the reason I dont really like them is because a gender neutral MC just with a set of pronoums added to them feels bland. Women and men are so different that we experience the world in totally distinct ways, its just feels so unatural and forced when a female and a male mc receive the exact same reactions or dialogue from the love interest or secondary characters, if they put additional content or flavor text to accomapin the ender your choose then good, but no, they are all the same, just a pronoum swap.