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[Hide] (125.6KB, 1049x1488) >>7601
>For two, if they wanted to humanize her, bring her down to earth in a sense, why did they have to do it this way? Surely there was some way that didn't involve breaking her to the point of tears.
Because most people couldn't see through to the vulnerability and insecurity she has without it. I could see it after playing HDN. In-between all the nastiness she showed to others, I eventually picked up on the more tender and vulnerable side beneath her shell, but you have to understand your average player doesn't look that deep into a character. They looked at her cold, often nasty exterior, and wrote her off as a bitch. Like I did when I first started to play the game, but I opened up to her after recruiting her and seeing more of what she was actually like. Unfortunately, to make it obvious enough, it had to be done this way. Any other way would have been out of character. She wouldn't magically open up to Neptune and Plutia, and she wasn't going to break until she hit the absolute rock bottom. I hate it, chapter 3 is always painful to replay for me, but I recognize the necessity for her reputation. She came out the other end better for it, better for herself, and more liked among the mouth breathers who honestly don't deserve her. But she deserves adoration.
>For three, what kind of fan do they think this will attract? Someone who couldn't appreciate her until they saw her reduced to a sobbing mess?
>I'll add to this that another thing the whole arc did for me was instill in me a very strong desire to protect and shield Blanc from all this.
This is what they intended, and it worked. A lot of the post-V Blancfags ended up too far in this direction, thinking more she was helpless and demure. See: Haru.
> and I start drawing links between this chapter and the seeming glut of sexual fan art that depicts Blanc being abused or humiliated, to the point it far outnumbers more "vanilla" portrayals.
Take it from someone who's been in the fandom for that long: That kind of material predates V entirely. From day 1 she was getting that kind of degenerate art. But then, ALL of the goddesses do. Blanc does not get it with any more frequency than any of the others. If you notice a disparity between her artwork and say, Neptune's or Noire's, well, the latter two simply have more artwork in general. But all the goddesses get degrading and degenerate lewd artwork. I think the fact that they're goddesses, women of power, naturally attracts this sort of thing. The male degenerate that wants to take them down a peg or three just for being powerful women. I don't usually play the feminism card, but there's an element of feminism to Neptunia that's inescapable. Thankfully not the manhating kind, at least. Regardless, I think you need to take a step back and realize this isn't an issue exclusive to Blanc.
>there's also the fact that the foremost villain is a fat, balding businessman clearly designed after the archetypal "ugly bastard" common in rape hentai.
The game makes it pretty clear no bad touching happened and later on the man himself states outright that he's happily married. You also need to understand the context of the Sages as V's antagonists. Most of them represent political or social entities that are critical of Japanese media. PTAs and the like. While likely intended to represent the business world's view at the time that video games were childish and wasteful, he's also just a play on the evil minister trope. That's his name in Japan, "Akudaijin" LITERALLY means "evil minister." His localized name could potentially be a reference to an anti-D&D organization, by the way.
As a side note, if you're curious at all, Abnes is a reference to Agnes Chan, an infamous UNICEF spokesperson in Japan that was, of course, outspoken against loli content.
>Yes, there is fan art, commissions even, of him raping her. It disgusts me!
Fortunately there's so little of that, a paltry amount, and a good percentage of it gated behind paywalls if I'm not mistaken. You gotta rehabilitate your brain because this was completely unintended by the devs, I'm sure of it.
>it's never acknowledged and all the blame for escalating the situation is placed on Blanc and Lowee
Pretty sure the game makes it very clear that it's all the Sages' fault. That you can even see it's their fault shows that was the intent. Noire's gonna be a petty cunt though, and Blanc has a strong sense of personal responsibility so of course she's going to own up to any wrongdoing. That said, I feel like it should be noted that Noire took her share of suffering. She had to be "serviced" by Iris Heart before she could work up the nerve to take the fight to Lowee. Honestly, Noire was pretty intelligent to want to avoid that confrontation. If even one of them were absent, Blanc would have kicked their asses.
>But when it all goes down, it's BLANC who gets called arrogant!
Likely an attempt to commentate on Nintendo in the nineties, who at times acted like they owned the video game industry. You could also perceive her trust in the evil minister as a brand of arrogance, though I don't personally subscribe to that. What I DO have to acknowledge is that Blanc spent a very long time being the only goddess around and her reaction to competition held traces of arrogance. But it's only natural when you've ruled alone for so long. The message is supposed to be that friends keep you in check. Blanc gained friends, became a better person, and avoided becoming another Rei who didn't have any friends at all.
>Noire was thinking up a scheme to throw her allies including her long-time friend Plutia under the bus to take all the glory for herself. But she is never, ever called on her sheer arrogance and her role in the conflict
Nope, instead she's the butt monkey of the whole fucking game and it's great. Consider how until the very end people still call her a friendless loner. I'd say it's deserved, wouldn't you?
>If this is considered a retelling of the 90s console wars, then Compile Heart are making it VERY clear which camp they're in.
It's such an ungodly terrible retelling, too. As much as I like V's story, that's an inescapable fact. Yellow Heart is based off the PC Engine, or the Turbografx-16, which made a decent splash in Japan but never really bloodied Nintendo's nose. It was dead and buried long before the PS1 ever appeared. So her inclusion as Eden's puppet goddess overpowering everyone else combined was absolutely nonsensical.
>I'll add to this that another thing the whole arc did for me was instill in me a very strong desire to protect and shield Blanc from all this.
I started feeling something like that long before I ever played V. I want to shield her from everything that would hurt her. I think that's part of why I've become so much more possessive over the years. I find many Blancfags wanting. Fair weather fans. Haru is an excellent example, he dropped her the moment someone more suitable to his tastes appeared. And so I think pretty poorly of people who just ignore huge parts of Blanc's personality.
>And this desire caused them to overlook Blanc's "rougher" edges so they could fit that fantasy of her.
See, this shit really gets me. You don't NEED to overlook Blanc's personality to get that fantasy. You even have OPTIONS on how to fantasize about comforting her. You could have her at an emotional extreme, and be the one to be there for her. Or you could awaken to an insight about her, carefully nudge the issue, and have Blanc act so adorably reluctant, borderline tsundere, as she takes comfort in your arms. Goddamn it, there's nothing cuter than Blanc being herself!! And that's one of the many things that are so great about her! You can have the rough edges, the adorable grumpiness, and still have those tender moments with her, too. She WANTS to be loved!
>It makes me wonder if I'm having the "wrong" reaction, but I can't help what I feel. You'll never hear me call Blanc weak, a crybaby, or other such things, but there's no doubt even she has her limit and this shows it. Is it wrong to feel such a way, to want to be there to make sure nothing like Chapter 3 ever happens to her? Would I just come off as annoying and patronizing to such a sublime yet touchingly human goddess?
My honest opinion? I think it would hinge on being at the right place at the right time. If she didn't know you, never showed that side of herself to you, she'd probably find it to be extremely patronizing.
But I think, if it were me offering her comfort in that cell instead of Plutia, then we'd be closer to each other than we'd ever been. She'd probably tell me to avoid PDA, but otherwise we'd have bonded for life, assuming we could still spring her from prison and reclaim her nation.