! Spoilers !
Hiro looks to be transgender since he had his chest surgery and Grey commented on his wide hips.
I don't mean to come across as bigoted, but I'm honestly a little conflicted. I love everything about Hiro's route so far: the setting, Hiro's personality, his sharp wit and mind, his body... but it's a little hard to get over what's between his legs. I'm aware that sounds kind of gross and close-minded, but I just don't really swing that way.
I guess it doesn't matter much, anyway. If I have to skip past the NSFW parts of his route, that's honestly a small price to pay. I still love Hiro and I absolutely cannot wait to read the rest of his story. I'm especially interested to hear his perspective as a trans man in that time period, made even more complicated by his foxy pheromones. Luckily, everyone we've met so far seems to respect his identity to a degree, or at least hasn't blatantly misgendered him.
I wasn't meaning to complain or ask the author to change his character or anything like that. It's strictly a "me" problem. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Hiro the way he is, and he doesn't need to change himself for anyone. I was just expressing a bit of personal disappointment.
I'm now realizing I should have kept my comments to myself. I'm just one random commenter anyway, and I'm sure rhetoric like mine makes an already marginalized group's lives harder, which wasn't my intent. I apologize.
To me that seems a bit severe. Just because he may not interest you in a sexual manner doesn't mean that he has no merits. There's more to his character, and to people, than their genitals. I think Hiro's got a great personality, and Nikko's writing is good enough that I would want to read regardless.
Also, just because I have the right to speak my mind doesn't mean I want to spread hatred.
As I said below, my main issue is the dates. His route seems to happen in a decade where that sort of surgeries weren't practiced, not even in backwater...odd locations.
If it happened on the 50s or later, it would be a non-issue. As it is, seems like his condition was just shoehorned in.
And while assuredly, there's more in than what's between each character legs, I think that here's the issue that we simply didn't get what was advertised on the box.
I'm gonna be clear on something. Not because a character is male I'll mean that I'll automatically like him. For example, as it is now, I really dislike Etienne and Mark, and Ken, well, I can't say for sure. However, I really liked the skunk woman, albeit in a non-NSFW way.
Actually, mastectomies were readily being explored as early as the 1800s (and even earlier, although this was before general anesthesia). In fact, the first surgery under anesthesia happened in 1804...and was a mastectomy. I have to question your dismissal of the narrative if you can't even google "history of mastectomies".
"Didn't get what was advertised on the box?" I don't remember you ever being promised anything other that this game contains +18 content.
Whatever the case...I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one highly dissapointed by Hiro's condition. There's more people companining about it, albeit I'm the only one that is not...well, cowed into faking at least some enthusiasm on the matter.
All in all, it seems like his situation seems a bit forced in, to have that sort of character in the history just for the sake of it. While on its own doesn't detract (nor adds) to his personality, it still feels out of place at the mid 30s.
Just a friendly bit of advice: Don't speak authoritatively on historical matters you lack the intellectual courage to actually learn about.
Trans people are not some modern invention or whatever transphobic garbage you're suggesting here. Hiro's story seems to take place in pre-nazi Germany, which was in fact at the cutting edge of sexual research and queer rights advocacy from foundations such as the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin (the very institute whose books were the first the Nazis gathered for book burnings, fyi)
Hiro's identity isn't forced, it fits well with the story's period AND he is precious and I would kill anyone who would try to harm him.
Same, dude. At first I liked his charming character and wit, the way he acted, and also I really like his appearance. But when we found out he might be trans… it was very, very unexpected and confusing. Maybe it's just not my thing. I thought about it for a while and I think it doesn't really matter. It's good if you like him as a good character and not just as a sexual interest. You may not like trans, and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as you don't hate or harm anyone. Peace.
I was kinda hoping the chest wound was some work-related injury, and both the hips and "smell" thing some related to foxes and the like.
Honestly, I feel a lot like when Shang fell in love with Ping...only to realize that he had been deceived and that the "he" was actually a "she".
And my major issue is how...out of place his...particular situation seems to be. That sort of surgeries are from the 50's onwards. Seeing it on the mid-30s (the zeppelins around make it impossible being a later date) is a bit hard to believe.
All of this makes his condition feel a bit forced and quite shoehorned in, as it makes no sense, at least in that specific date. If his route were to take place, say, on the 70s, it wouldn't be an issue.
I probably overlooked that. I always associate the term "experimental" in surgeries with cancer, life-threatening injuries or congenital issues.
Though, there is a small issue *coughs and hums* that must be noticed even if we ignore the primary and secondary sexual characteristics. Unless male and female foxes just happen to have the same pitch of voices.
With all this said, that doesn't makes my dissapointment smaller. What is done, is done, since it was the writer's prerrogative after all.
Okay... If it is in fact a personal preference then why criticize the game if it is assumingly your problem? Transgender people have existed throughout history before and alongside the inventions of surgeries and medicine. Another reply to a similar comment like yours explained the history of mastectomies so I do hope you look more into it.
you don't have to like anyone or anything, but you are being transphobic. it's very much rude to complain about the physical attributes of a person or in this case a character. and just because this is an NSFW project, doesn't mean every character has to be appealing to everyone reading. believe it or not there are plenty of people who would take interest in stories featuring trans men but can't find it anywhere because of backlash like this.
Since when lack of interest/dissapointment means hatred? Or is ceaseless praise the only input allowed here?
If you enjoy the route as it is, good for you and anyone who thinks that way. But I came in hoping for a M/M VN, so my expectations kinda deflated on this route. If it were a side route with a side character (like the skunk woman seems to be) I wouldn't have the slightest issue except the odd irk about dates. Mind you, I even find some of the (actual) guys (namely Mark and Etienne) not much of my liking.
Also, there's nothing inherently wrong on putting a character like Hiro in stage. But I must repeat myself, why, of all reasons, his route was set at the height of the militaristic Imperial Japan era. The goddamn 30s, for crying out loud. While not impossible, is REALLY improbable. Every other character has a realistic background, except Hiro.
First of all, trans men are men, this is M/M. Also, you say you would be okay if it was Simone or some of the other guys you are not that interested but Hiro not being born with a penis is the only one you made a fuss over. I said before you don't have to like anyone, even I'm not that interested in most of the characters actually, doesn't mean it's okay to body shame them like you are trying to do with Hiro.
And "(actual) guys" is a blatant transphobe statement. The whole "really unlikely" argument you are going for is clearly just an excuse you are using to justify your bias. The fact that they are animals doesn't seem to bother you in spite of it being much less possible. Gabriel, also doesn't have the standard set of genitalia. Your "disappointment" is full of contradictions.
Also weird to get hung up on "historical accuracy" specifically for trans people when AIDS still exists somehow in Gabe's route. HIV first appeared due to humans coming into contact with a virus in chimpanzee blood. The fact that the same disease with the same name would develop in an entirely anthro world doesn't really "make sense" either, but it doesn't really matter.
This game is based on real-world history and is using actual historical events to inform the character's cultures and lives, but it's still a fictionalized version of history that has taken liberties when it wants/needs to. So even if trans people didn't exist back then (and they definitely did) the "historical accuracy" argument doesn't hold much water.