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Being a female, I was outraged when I heard of the perverse content in the Japanese hentai game Rapelay. It made me sick that this game was being played by individuals around the globe; a game that promoted the stalking of women (and a child, for that matter) and gave points to the player for their ventures that ultimately resulted in sexual brutality. Pretty sick on the producer of the game’s part, actually. I made a harsh assumption about Japanese games, the governing of Japanese games production and exhibition, and the Japanese culture itself.
But then I came to think of the concept of borders; specifically about the construction of the self and other through the erection of borders. I had personally created a border of self and other between me and Japanese games culture, without really knowing all the facts. A connection with the knowledge that Japan is a patriarchal society that does not have the feminist culture that I grew up in does not change my disgust of the game’s content; it simply shed some light on the situation.
Expressing sexuality outside western ways of expression is perhaps the way that some individuals in Japanese culture get around their rather meek culture — albeit an extreme example of stepping outside the norm. I don’t agree with it, but I certainly can see why this kind of game would pop up in the Japanese hentai genre.
Moreover the construction of this border has come about through the Australian state body because of a panic that has come through this one, specific game. But it has to be noted that sexually explicit Japanese hentai games have been around for a while in the industry. For obvious reasons we know why this border of self and other has come about because of this game, but can we make the assumption that because an interactive sexual crime is involved, that’s when we get involved? This is where a clear-cut classification process would see games being classified for the right reasons. Although I’d still refuse Rapelay classification …
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References
Everard, J. (2000) Virtual States: the Internet and the boundaries of the nation state New York: Routledge
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ARIN6902: Games censorship 