Have you ever heard of a Japanese dating sim game called Tokimeki Memorial? I haven’t played the original, but I have played Tokimeki Memorial: Girls Side on the Nintendo DS. And let me tell you, antis would have a field day tearing it apart. You play as a girl going through high school hoping to earn a love confession from one of the boys by graduation day. Most of the boys you can date are your classmates, but one of the love interests is your teacher and I thought he was hot lol, so I, playing as a high school girl, dated my teacher. But it gets better. Another one of the love interests is the school principal who iirc is in his 40s. Taboo age gap relationship! There really was someone for everyone. The game is in Japanese but an English fan translation patch exists and I definitely recommend it.
Yeah, Tokimeki is basically one of the original dating sims to come out! I believe it got an updated re-release fairly recently?
The thing is, antis would have a field day with a ton of fiction, esspecially non-american fiction, but even including older american fiction.
Most fiction is not really concerned with telling stories that are moral and wholesome; they are concerned with telling stories that are tantalizing, fascinating, a little bit dangerous, and that take us OUT of our daily lives and responsibilities.
This is especially true for romance fiction.
It’s not supposed to be safe and decent and good for you IRL.
It’s escapist!
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