Embodying Anime-Manga Dystopia: User Vulnerability in Otome sekai no arukikata

Abstract

In contemporary Japanese fiction, character intimacy games, also referred to as adult computer games (adaruto gēmu) represent a significant yet underexplored sector of Japanese cultural production. Otome sekai no arukikata is a prominent example featuring a dystopian setting and themes. This article uses Otome sekai no arukikata as a point of entry to examine the interpolation of sectorial languages and media environment affordances with the themes and modes of Japanese dystopian fiction. Such an examination provides insights into how positions and perspectives, which usually remain implicit in anime-manga media, are articulated in sectorial pornographic fiction under the critical lens of dystopian fiction. This approach allows the surfacing of implicit perspectives and positions that are assumed to be normative, as well as their ramifications. Analyzing sectorial media forms and fiction in this manner paves the way for further engagements with still obscure strands of Japanese fiction and cultural production.