Sacralize a digital character to enhance its charm? Japanese love games and female fan strategy

Abstract

In Japan, women who indulge in romantic relationships with characters from "otome games," or romance video games, willingly call themselves "believers" (shinja). Making as if their favorite character was an otherworldly creature from another dimension, they display icon-like images of him on "altars" (saidan) and use goods, perfumes, or clothes to help him materialize in the "real" or "three-dimensional" world, sometimes spending huge amounts of money on what they refer to as "offerings" (ofuse). Significantly, otome game production companies regularly organize collective events encouraging the players to "share" food and beverage with the characters, framed as a matrix of shadow "presences." These companies draw their income not only from in-game payments (embedded in the game as "presents" to characters), but also from selling goods that are sometimes inspired by the Shinto or Buddhist cult: charms, talismans, and so on. Based on an ethnographic study of otome game culture, this chapter explores the different strategies used by character fans to transform their play activity into a kind of collective "cult." Examining discourses and practices surrounding the worship of digital lovers, the chapter demonstrates that otome game consumption shares many features with rituals and, thus, enables players to create meaning, connection, and intimacy in their daily lives.