Nitro+ in general is famous (or for some infamous) for its depiction of dark, disturbing and taboo themes that makes many people uncomfortable.
And then there is Nitro Chiral which focuses on BL games and is always surrounded by negative views over its depiction of toxic relationships (mostly in romantic context), disturbing scenarios and as some usually say “mishandling” of the said topics.
But the thing is… There is no mishandling of said topics. It’s mostly a perceived wrong idea/expectation of the stories.
The whole point of these stories made by Nitro+ -as Urobuchi said himself- is “Poison”. It’s to excite you AND to make you uncomfortable. It’s all about this weird feeling it forces you to feel while seeing the ugliest and most horrifying parts of mankind. (and that’s what makes it so beautiful)
That’s why to be able to truly understand and appreciate the stories of Nitro Chiral’s games (as well as Nitro+ games) people should stop looking at them as “romantic stories”.
Yes they are marketed as BL games, yes the L stands for Love but that’s just a label to say it’s about same sex relationships, and these games are not dating simulators.
Yes there are multiple choices of characters in all different flavors of romantic tropes for the main character to end up with, but the stories are not about the main character finding his ultimate love and settling down.
The love interests are vessels for the story to help the player to understand more about the main character or the main plot of the story in different ways/perspectives or adding nuance to the plot. They’re not the main purpose of the plot.
Togainu no Chi is about Akira finally stopping to just pass through life with indifference and to finally Live his life.
Lamento is about Konoe being able to live a normal and peaceful life.
Sweet Pool is about Youji coming to terms with the horrors of all of the unwanted changes in his life.
Dramatical Murder is about Aoba accepting his unruly wild part of himself he keeps suppressing.
and Slow Damage is about understanding who is Towa, what is Towa and why is Towa.
Even the messy erotica is one of the main parts of the “Poison” not just as romantic interaction (like a “hey look at these idiots in love now lets watch them fuck yay!” way). Every erotic scene is telling something about the characters, and their relationship at that moment whether it’s toxic or wholesome.
Yes of course you can feel uncomfortable while watching Madarame straight up abusing Towa while acting like he wants what’s best for him and says he loves him, THAT’S THE POINT. And of course some can feel excited about that because there is a taboo and dangerous tension in that and again THAT’S THE DAMNED POINT.
And guess what? It was never intended to be romantic. It’s only romantic if you choose to look at it that way. The whole point of that storyline is for you -the player- to see Towa in that situation and understand how he's living in that situation and what will become of him and what decisions he will make. And it’s you who decides whether it’s exciting (aka get high on the Poison) or uncomfortable (aka die in pain on the poison).
It honestly baffles me how people call Madarame’s route as glorifying and romanticizing abuse. If you read that and felt it was romantic it’s because you saw it that way and if you felt it was absolute horror and toxic and can’t understand it to be romantic it’s because you saw it that way. And there’s nothing wrong with both of this feelings because THAT’S THE POINT.
And it can be said about all the other games like how I feel utterly baffled by seeing Keisuke and Akira’s pairing as one the most popular pairing of the game while I feel nothing but hatred and disgust about Keisuke’s route and he himself (lol).
But again THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT for you -the player- to consume that Poison and either die in ecstasy or die in bitter pain and disgust or even both.
It’s your perception of the story that gives it meaning for you and it’s because that’s how ART works. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the author is morally wrong or flawed in writing the story.
And in my opinion best written stories are the ones that give you space to think and decide. it’s what make the story to have more nuance. If at every time Madarame hit Towa the author would’ve said “look guys this man is a piece of shit don’t be like him” then what about people thinking for themselves? As a viewer watching Madarame abusing Towa and understanding on your own that why this is bad based on what you're seeing is way more impactful than having the author say “hey this is bad btw” and accepting that. and just because it was never clearly resolved or the story didn't put everything into words, it does not mean that it was mishandled. It was always supposed to be disturbing and for you to realise how you're going to take that.
