Nosebleed

Yuri on Ice sold 50k copies total so far. I think this is proof anime needs more gay ice skating anime.

And so I got all my January book orders. I freaking love the art in the Kaguya-sama covers.

/

So eye bleach it is.

See you in 10 years when a rerelease with actual watchable graphics comes out.

Nope, Maid Dragon is one of my favorite manga series. I even own the physical volumes. Highly recommend you watch it. It's actually the only anime I plan on watching... Probably in all of 2017.

I'm not saying to half ass it. Obviously any story involving an inter species relationship has to delve into all the things that stem from it whether it wants to or not (otherwise it'd just be like dating any human, like you said). All I'm saying is to not treat them as sub-human when you do this.

One day Jesus came back down to Earth and said "here have some catgirls" and so begins the story... It's important to note these types of questions are almost never answered in most games where catgirls are genetically engineered, so it's pretty moot to think about them to begin with. For example, Nekopara says catgirls were invented but it never specifies why (you can make conjectures but it's still up in the air), yet it still treats catgirls as pets just because that'll get weebs to buy the game. It could just as easily introduced genetically engineered catgirls as just another species we one day came up with, since it will never bother with an explanation for either scenario. Although I agree it would be nice to have some answers, the general idea I wanted to convey is that, even if you're just making a mindless moege, you don't need to have catgirls as pets, you can just have them be another race. Yes, even if they were genetically engineered somehow (most games never bother to explain it anyway). Can you imagine if Boob Wars actually went into full detail as to how humanity got split into a big boobs and a small boobs faction?

Sure. I still find it wrong though.

But the problem is they're treated as sub-human and then they somehow enjoy it. This weird portrayal of animal girls as pets who enjoy being pets despite clearly exhibiting a human-like conscioussness is really odd to say the least. Imagine instead of animal girls you had regular human girls who acted as pets and you took them on walks with a leash around their necks. Wouldn't you call that slavery? Why is it suddenly seen as different when it's catgirls when the only difference between them is having or not having animal ears and/or a tail? It's very arbitrary criteria. Yes, they dumb down the character so it seems less wrong, but that dumbing down in itself is part of the problem. Why must it be this way? The way this submissiveness fetish has permeated the animal girl trope to the point where it's almost become a standard that catgirls must be pets and not regular human-like creatures with a will of their own is shallow and needs to be fought against!

Why yes, it was those two exact games that prompted me to discuss this issue in a chat and subsequently bring it to the forums. Surprised you figured it out

GET OUT

Catgirls (and anthropomorphic humans in general) are a big fetish in the otaku media. The cat ears have become a staple of moe culture, a status symbol of what defines cuteness. Yet, whenever I play an eroge featuring such creatures, I often times find myself not enjoying a lot of the cutesy physical attributes of these specimen. Why is that? As I delved into my thoughts, I finally pieced together the reason for these feelings: catgirl discrimination What do I mean by this? It's simple. Catgirl discrimination is a common phenomenom in eroge (and even non-erotic titles) whereby catgirls are introduced as being an important part of a fictional setting, yet they are treated as less than humans throughout the story. Through my hours of research, I found that often times, animal girls in eroge are introduced as mere plot devices for sexual activity rather than fleshed out characters you can emphasize and form bonds with. Now this by itself isn't too surprising. After all, even when there's no catgirls involved, a lot of these games tend to focus on achieving a relationship status with another female human character. However, the difference between the latter and the former is that when humans are involved, they are treated as beings with intelligence. They are equal to the protagonist who wants to romance them. Yes, one can argue about the inherent misogyny in a lot of these titles, but that's beyond the point I'm making. The fact is, human girls are treated, well, like humans (as they should). But when it comes to catgirls, they are typically treated as less than human. They are dehumanized and turned into a creature akin to a pet. "What's the problem with that? They aren't humans, so of course they're not treated as such" you say. Ah yes, a fair point my dear reader, but let me ask you this then: Would you have sexsual intercourse with your cat or your dog? The answer is most likely "no" (if it is yes, please seek counceling. I heard PETA fines aren't anything to scoff at.) Therein lies the issue I have. Catgirls have primary human features, and yet they're often times treated as pets in most games. Why would you date someone who you treat like a pet? It makes little sense to me. Now you might say "it's just a porn game, it's for fetishistic purposes". And of course I can 100% concede to that. In fact, I myself find it to be a nice fetish to have somebody submissive to you act like a pet. There's nothing wrong with that. However, humans are more than their genitals, and their personalities go beyond the confines of the bedroom. In real life, even when we're talking about people who are into things like BDSM, there is still a human connection beyond their sexual life. No human *literally* becomes slave to another human, they mutually agree to have this type of relationship, and they ultimately see each other as equal in the relationship. Yet with catgirls, they are introduced as nothing more than instruments for sex 90% of the time, and even beyond the bedroom they're still just a pet that will obey anything and everything their owner tells them to. I can not concede that this is a healthy form for a relationship at all. Think about it. What is the point of dating somebody that always sees themselves and acts as inferior to you? Where is the happiness in dating someone with no consciousness, who's joy comes from eating food and sexually pleasing you? That is why I can not get behind most games featuring catgirls. To me, a relationship partner must be equal to me in status. I don't want to treat my significant other as a pet, but as a human being. I don't want to take them out on walks with a leash, I want to go on dates holding hands with them and eat a giant parfait together, and then pass out on a bench because the parfait was too big and we now feel like throwing up. I want script writers to write visual novels about worlds where catgirls are just like other humans. They just so happen to have cat ears and a tail and sometimes say "nya". I want them to be more than things you own that can't live by themselves without you taking care of them. That's what babies and dogs are for, not girlfriends. This is not to say I want the end of all games featuring submissive cat girls, that's still a very valid fetish, but I believe it's unfair to treat them like that in almost every single game, especially games where the focus is supposed to be the story and the characters. How can you say you have a game with great characters when those characters are seen as less than human? Games like nekopara thrive even though every single catgirl in it is portrayed as a brainless creature that goes into heat at random times and can only survive if the protagonist "relieves" them. Why must they act like animals this much? Why can't they just be regular human beings who you form a real bond with instead of an "owner x pet" relationship? In conclusion, I believe catgirls are heavily discriminated against when it comes to visual novels. They are beings that need to be given a conscioussness and a will to act on their own, not to become mere cheap tools for one's sexual pleasure. They have a lot of love to offer to the world, and we should start appreciating them for that, because who knows when they'll go extinct. Let's make the world a better place and stop catgirl discrimination. Every catgirl deserves to be portrayed as a being with a brain and a heart.

Nice to see Karehana up there. Finally Japan displays some good taste. Not sure how I feel about number 1 though... I guess it can't be helped.

There's already a thread to discuss the current Dies Irae kickstarter. Please discuss this there instead of making a thread about the same subject.

I almost want to back it so I can make my cat crossdress as a maid. Also tfw you realize a cat custome is a better reward than most of Dies Irae's kickstarter rewards.

Kys

I received some nice cozy socks and a flannel shirt. These are some legit "you're now old, deal with it" gifts. My head also hurts from drinking too much.

The PC version is the original version of the game (i.e the doujin version). It has the original art and the original voice actors, as well as an extra chapter that wasn't included in subsequent versions. The 3DS version is essentially a port of the PSP version (of course slightly altered to fit the 3DS environment, but the content is the same) As I've said in a previous thread: The PC version has all the original content, so its value stems primarily from that. But the PSP/3DS versions have much better graphics and voice acting, which frankly make the experience a lot more enjoyable, even if the story is missing one chapter. So the question comes down to what you value more. If you plan on getting both anyway, I'd advice playing the PC version and then the PSP/3DS version, since if you do it the other way around you'll be struck with quite a feeling of downgrade. If you're only going to get one version though, I recommend the PSP/3DS version since the experience they provide is a lot more superior to the original game. Yes, it's missing one chapter that was later added to the PC version, but imho that's not enough to excuse buying one over the other. The original game can really only be recommended if you're super into the franchise and want to see how the earliest version of the game was like.

Normal human beings: Merry Christmas and happy holidays Cavemen: anything else

Well, if you want an explanation on Hanazawa Kana: I'm just tired of her being everywhere. It's not that she has a bad voice or anything (For me Nadeko will always have her voice. Period), I just want to listen to somebody else for once. There was one year where she was in like every single anime I was watching and I got so sick and tired of hearing her voice. As for Nagi no Asukara it's a mixture of the series having some of my biggest pet peeves alongside completely going against my expectations (in a negative way). I wouldn't say the series is poorly constructed, it's actually not, but there's a few elements in it that drove me mental. It clearly wasn't meant for me (much like most romantic dramas featuring teenagers really).

But I love Kuragehime, it's one of the series I want to buy the physical volumes for at some point in the future.

She's one of the few VAs that makes me want to buy ear plugs

Shakugan no Shana actually has a fairly interesting approach to this. You're right in that the protagonist wants to get stronger to protect the girl, but the series doesn't exactly turn into that. Although I can't say whether or not the way it turned out was for the best (I can't clarify more without spoiling, sadly). If you're expecting it to turn into a "guy protects girl" type of scenario, you might be surprised (whether the adverb you attach to surprised is "pleasantly" or "annoyingly" is up to you though). I have long come around the idea that shoujo and josei series are the shit compared to shounen and seinen series. The character depth, the human interaction, the beautiful artstyle, everything is perfect for me. Yes, there are some annoying tropes in it too, but in general I tend to prefer the type of stories shoujo series aim for.

I have met 2 people from the forum irl. One I knew online and then met irl. The other i met irl and then discovered they were a fuwan. They are now my classmates in college. Small world. Only @Mr Poltroon left now.