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| Our "heroines" |
While that describes many people, I have a special stake in this because by American standards, I know a lot about the Kunio Kun series, localized in various ways in the West. I never heard of it during the earliest phase of its life on the NES, SNES, and a few other consoles of that era, but Seanbaby's amusing tribute to River City Ransom got me interested in it; enough that when I learned Atlus would port the game to the Game Boy Advance, I had to buy it. So I bought it, I had fun, and I got confused by the ending text saying that the adventure was just beginning. Last I checked, there weren't any sequels. Still, digging around online, I discovered that there were; most just never were released outside Japan. I became more than a little obsessed (NOTE: I actually wrote the original version of that linked TV Tropes article, back before the site banned me for insisting Spider-Man 3's plot had flaws. Some people have soft spots for the weirdest things!), seeking out and playing many games of this series I missed out on, and probably my favorite of the under-appreciated games was Shin Nekketsu Kouha: Kunio Tachi no Banka. (Yes; this series' games often have very long titles.) It starred Kunio and Riki, going up against mobsters with the help of their playable girlfriends, Misako and Kyoko. Sadly, the series had all-but died by then, and its revivals seldom called back to that game, but then River City Girls promoted Misako and Kyoko to the starring roles, and I was stoked. So again, I eagerly awaited and searched for footage of the demo, and finally Metro Kingdom Radio posted it. I remain quite excited for this game--but I also have some reservations about its narrative.
These issues didn't actually dawn while I was watching. I was too busy laughing at all of the biting humor and being impressed at the fanservice that implies a great familiarity with the source material. This game directly addresses how confusing the series' continuity is by having Misako and Kyoko interact with Hasebe and Mami, playing on how which are Kunio's and Riki's girlfriends differs from game to game. It has someone actually, physically barf. It helped that the graphics were great and the gameplay looks great, too. After the demo was over, though, I started to consider that some things feel offputting about the writing. Characters seem too shallow and mean-spirited. Let's go through the scenes in chronological order to demonstrate why I feel this way.
We'll start with the intro, where Misako is zoning out during a dull math lecture, while Kyoko keeps her sanity by looking at her cellphone. Misako complains, Kyoko gets a text revealing that her boyfriends have been captured, and the two skip class; Misako insulting her teacher's math lecture on the way out. The principal comes over the PA, inviting the other students to beat the girls into submission, and the game begins. I'll be honest, I don't have a huge reason to like these girls. Certainly, I remember feeling like Misako and Kyoko did in that math scene, and I even covertly read Treasure of the Lost Lagoon: An Otto and Uncle Tooth Adventure during math lectures, but that was in Elementary School; I'd long-since grown out of such covert distractions by High School. (Though not the out of being bored by math and getting distracted by my mind wandering.) Also, note that I said "covertly"; why is Kyoko able to look at her phone in full view of everyone else, and only get caught when she reacts? (For that matter, as she says, she doesn't normally go to that school, so why is she there now?) Then there's Misako mouthing off to her teacher. It's not like I was unaware this series' protagonists were described as delinquents, and it was obvious from the reveal that Misako was going to be a bit of an antiheroine compared to Kyoko, who both looks and acts nicer (even if she looks at her phone during class), but where's her good side? Sure; she's going to rescue her boyfriend, but the way it's presented just comes off as shallow and possessive. We don't get enough background to for it to come off otherwise.
That same theme repeats itself when they meet Hasebe and Mami, whose only character traits are being rivals for the affection of Kunio and Riki (Also maybe their kidnappers, but who knows?), and mean to the heroines as a result. Again, it's funny because it references how the heroes have different girlfriends in different games, but it sacrifices all of those characters' likability for the sake of that one joke. Walt Disney called this reckless dedication to laughs at the expense of other qualities, "The Tyranny of the Gag". What's worse, the sorts of people who will actually get the joke are also the sorts of people who will remember that no past Kunio game has ever portrayed Hasebe and Mami as awful, catty characters. I still tend to think of Hasebe as Roxy, the sweet girl in River City Ransom who pretended to be the villain's girlfriend in order to spy on him and go report his actions to the heroes, and I'm not alone. More recently, she's become a very powerful fighter with a no-nonsense persona. That doesn't mean I didn't also love Misako and Kyoko in Banka (Would you want to type that game's whole title out every time?), but this game just decides up front to designate that game's heroines as the preferred girlfriends and make the other girlfriends jerks to suit that narrative. When fanfiction does this, smarter readers call the writers out on it.
The next conversation of note is with Misuzu. There are a lot of funny jokes exchanged, but then Misuzu gets catty too; implying that Kunio and Riki should dump the heroines and instead get with her. It's funny, sure, but where did this even come from? When was she ever romantically linked to them? Readers of a certain inclination may note that every female character who had a lot of dialogue in this demo seems to be driven by desire for male characters. (Specifically, the two male characters who are usually the heroes of the series, but here were meant to have the spotlight removed from them.) Some people, that bugs a lot. For me, there's not anything wrong with caring about people of the opposite sex; in fact, it stands to reason that there is plenty right about it. A female action protagonist isn't less dignified for caring about a male character; any more than a male action protagonist is for caring about a female character. In this game demo, though, what's on display reads less like caring about people of the opposite sex and more like just wanting them, for reasons that can't be assumed to be much more than lust without much more info given.
If it seems like I'm a bit too obsessed with having likable characters in a game about people beating each other up, I point out that this series' normal hero isn't just a badass; he's a badass with a good heart. The very first Kunio game had far less narrative elements than this demo did, but it started with Kunio's friend Hiroshi being beaten up by thugs. Kunio goes and beats them up in retaliation. He's not a squeaky clean hero; such as would leave it to the cops. Since Hiroshi isn't captured or currently under attack, this isn't a rescue or defense effort; it's a painful punishment for misdeeds, dished out by someone who enjoys dishing it out. Still, he wouldn't do it to someone who was either unable or unwilling to fight back. It's strongly established from Scene One that there's a conscientious side to Kunio.
While this game is clearly more comedic than that one, it also features more narrative elements. A character like Misako could get away with just being a badass if there was little plot to speak of, but since they're going to have a plot, she should have a nicer side. The more narrative complexity increases, the more character complexity should increase, and sometimes this means sacrificing quick and easy jokes for more nuance. The portrayal of the girls in the intro scene to this demo, Misako especially, felt like what that video describes as Newgrounds-style humor. There is not much apparently driving her character besides "I hate math, I like fighting, and Kunio is sexy", so quick jokes are possible, but it's harder to see her as a sympathetic protagonist in a game where she will have much more dialogue.
For that, she would have to be fleshed out, and the best way to do that would be to go into detail about her and Kunio's relationship; establishing that it was actually a very good one. Here is a rewrite of the scene that allows the girls to be more sympathetic:
Teacher: We find the absolute Min and Max on the specified interval--
Misako: This is unbearably boring and confusing! I wish I had Kunio here to help me with math. He might be even worse than I am at it, but he'd certainly try! He's too nice not to, and his company would make it more fun.
Kyoko: [Rushing in with cell phone] Misako! Kunio and Riki have been kidnapped!
Teacher: Hey! No cell-phones in class!
Kyoko: But this is important! A student from this school is in trouble!
Teacher: Eh, he was a dumb jock anyway who gave our school a bad name. Now I demand you take your seats!
Girls: No; you take them!
[The rest of the scene proceeds as normal]
The above is probably less funny because it is less spontaneous, but it adds more depth and a sense of karma to the ordeal, establishing that Misako and Kyoko aren't just the heroines; they deserve to be the heroines. Misako is revealed to be driven by more than just lust; her relationship is also a friendship based on compassion. Kyoko isn't just misbehaving; she's in here with the phone specifically to sound the alarm. Finally, by establishing the teacher as not just boring, but also spiteful, Misako can berate him for being boring without feeling like a jerk herself. (Note: Unlike Hasebe and Mami, he's an original character, so it's fine to make him a jerk to make the heroine look better.)
I want to be fair and stress that this is not a final game; for all I know, that is not going to be the first scene in the actual game, which in turn, may well add more depth to Misako, and Kyoko to a lesser extent (since she's nicer and needs it less). Even if that is the first scene, the characters could be salvageable with others establishing that they're sympathetic and their relationships has value. But I'm wondering if the writers are up to it, or care, and there's probably no reversing the derailment Hasebe and Mami got.
Make no mistake; this game will likely be great. I trust the developers to make a game that plays and looks great, and clearly it is at least going to be funny. Precisely because of those factors, though, I think this game is going to have a big impact; it's the most grandiose and talked-about game in the series. It saddens me that this impact might entail transforming once venerable characters into walking punchlines.
