#futaba

Because as much as I love Futaba, I have one problem with her. She's conventionally attractive. Now, that's not to go all Masayoshi Shido on you all and rant about how hot she is or whatever. That is not the perspective I'm attempting to argue. When I say conventional, that is the extent of it.

What I mean instead is that this girl has been in a depressive, near suicidal coma for over a year at the point that we meet her in game. Her diet entirely consists of packaged ramen and curry. She gets no exercise. So why does she look like that?

I am no stranger to depressive, near suicidal comas. And though mine hasn't/haven't been as intense or self-destructive as Futaba's was, they still managed to have a profound effect on my conventional attractiveness. When I lost interest in life outside my room—somewhere around the age of ten—I gained a hell of a lot of weight, weight that I still haven't lost. I lost the ability to take care of myself, not only living in filth like Futaba but being a byproduct of it as well, brushing my teeth once every month and showering once every few weeks. I had no energy to invest in creating my personal style nor in putting on an outfit everyday more complicated than a t-shirt and pants.

But Futaba's design doesn't reflect this at all. She's a skinny queen with good enough positive body image to have her entire stomach out when she's a palace ruler and to wear short-shorts when she's normal. Her hair is long, sure, but still straight and contained and pretty. She has a full-fledged sense of style and a signature outfit that must be five or six steps (thigh highs, tank top, shorts, shoulderless t-shirt, giant ass boots, and optionally a jacket). We see that her room is a total mess, but we never really hear those same traits applied to her, and so we never know how her hygiene has taken a hit.

Now, I am not Futaba. Her experiences are not my own and they don't need to be. Maybe she under-ate instead of over-eating and that's why she's so skinny. Maybe her hair just falls like that naturally. Maybe one of the only things she did with her limited energy was develop her style and then put it on everyday (even though no one would see her). Maybe she's really into body hygiene but just doesn't care about environmental hygiene. But a.) you can see how it gets more and more farcical as we go along, right? and b.) why does it have to be this way?

Why can't Futaba have gained weight? Why can't she wear the least flattering outfit of all time? Why can't her hair and body be a mess? Why can't her body reflect the turmoil her mind has been through? Why is the message she puts into the world "yes you can find happiness even through crippling depression and yes there is joy on the other side, but only if you're conventionally attractive."?

The answer to all of these questions, of course, is money. She has to sell figurines and pins and plushes. She has to be cute enough to get people who don't suffer from depression to relate to her and therefore want to save her and therefore keep playing the game. She has to be marketable, no matter the cost to her story.