There'll Be More Senran Kagura Bursting Onto the Scene in 2016

There are so many not so subtle puns I wanted to use for that tagline...

@MitchVogel "It's quite an understatement to say that the Senran Kagura series is controversial."

Really? No it isn't. Hardly anyone has even heard of it. Even if it is controversial it's not very. Just because you can say "this is bad" and people get mad at you doesn't mean something is extremely controversial. If that's the case everything is a huge controversy. Quit being silly. The only(mostly) people who really care about Senran Kagura for love or hate are the fans. Practically everyone else just doesn't care, mildly dislikes it, or never heard of it. If it was a big controversy like censorship this article would probably have more than 3 comments in twenty minutes.(and the only one with an opinion on the "controversy" is the one I'm making now...or really the first post because my post isn't making an opinion on the controversy so much as an opinion on whether or not there is controversy) I guess I could be wrong though. We'll see, but if there isn't a flame war soon(a big one, not just 80 comments or whatever) we can both count ourselves disappointed.

EDIT: For the record I'm saying it's not an understatement to say it's controversial. I'm not saying there's no controversy whatsoever. It's just a regular garden variety or lesser controversy.

EDIT: And in that Swedish Newspaper article with over around 180 comments everyone was pretty much united in saying either. "I'm fine with the games existing even though I don't like their subject matter" or "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gutCFMc5khY" so you can't really call that a controversy. Two or three people disagreeing with the vast majority does not a controversy make. The only somewhat controversial thing I remember on this site is the review for Senran Kagura 2 Deep Crimson, and that was because the fans were ticked off it got a low score, and the fans of NintendoLife were ticked off that people were talking bad about NintendoLife because they gave the game a bad score.

insert unnecessary hate about game here

Bursting? more like BUSTing ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

No controversy here. Just a rather decent beat 'em up series with a slightly silly/unnecessary/harmless chest fixation.

I'm glad someone is still making side scrolling brawlers. (I'm still dreaming of Streets of Rage 4, (please Sega)).

Oh I just found that 490 comment article now...none since though. There was also decent controversy over on Siliconera when it was announced that there would be two male characters in Deep Crimson. (LOL)

It's only 'controversial' because some people can't get over themselves and simply avoid stuff they don't like.

Oh the irony that the advert underneath at the moment is '50 female tv personality's that will leave you gawking' with obligatory big boobed tv presenter.

Bewbs are overrated.

Deep Crimson was a fun game so I wouldn't mind if this announcement will be another main series title for the 3DS. Though it'll probably be another spin-off.

"On one side, there are the people who appreciate it for its suggestive content, and on the other side, there are people who are offended at how heavy handed it is."

And then there are the people who don't mind the fanservice but actually enjoy the gameplay. While Burst is decent at best and I haven't played Deep Crimson yet, Shinovi Versus is honestly the most fun beat 'em up brawler I've played, thanks to its fast pace.

Speaking of which, I wouldn't be surprised to see this series only continue on PlayStation platforms, since those games get much more attention and, from what I've heard from Estival Versus, are also better games than the 3DS games.

I've not played the games, but it's great to see that there will be more of these. I'm so sick of people crying out for something to be banned because they are offended by it. If you're offended, then you shouldn't buy it. You shouldn't be trying to stop others from playing it.

Bigger changes and bigger plans? Are they hinting at getting them bigger? aren't they big enough already? They might at well go full nudity and let the game be rated X, at least there's less hypocrisy.

Controversial only in our current culture of pseudo-scientific sex-negative outrage. Harmless and largely meaningless to normal people.

i think the game is to focused on the sexy stuff,i mean i get thats their thing but the game realy is not that good.if it was a great game sexy could be a plus mabey now it feels like a negative thing to me.

Relying on big-breasts characters to sell a game is so cheap and doesn't earn my respect.

Boobs = WIN, it's a mathematical fact.
Already have SK:Estival Versus preordered on my PS4.

@Crimzonlogic Do not worry my loli vampire friend. It's OK if you're flat. Flat is justice after all.

"Takaki recently spoke with 4Gamer and said that the team has "bigger plans" for the series in 2016"
I'm sorry, I couldn't read that part or the parts that follow with a straight face given the contents of the game.

Fingers crossed that it's also on a Nintendo system.

I'd be open to buying another Senran Kagura game of some kind in the future, but it'd have to be better (less repetitive) than Burst. I like fanservice, but as a gamer I prefer something like Final Fight every time. Still, it's always interesting to see what these people can do with better graphics and new methods of interaction!

Awesome, I'll take 7.

Good. Keep'em coming.

This game is yet another example of everyday sexism. It just reinforces patriarcal attitudes. Thus it should be boycotted.

Wii U game maybe? I'm sure they won't be able to resist boobie bouncing by shaking the gamepad up and down... XD

I personally dont like the games myself, but I hope that they all do well because I love getting "Japanese" releases localized and I like when some more mature content makes its way onto a nintendo platform. I would rather buy more JRPGs and more Japanese games on my Nintendo rather than buying a Playstation just to get a chance to play those types of games.

I'm looking forwards to the release of Shinovi Versus on Steam, hoping Estival Versus makes it over too. I'll gladly take more handheld Senran Kagura as well.

A 3DS Valkyrie Drive game would also be good.

It's a fun series, glad I got the happy boobs edition of Deep Crimson, the soundtrack's great.

@ZenTurtle (assuming you're not trolling)

No, it's not everyday sexism. It's specialist sexism. It's blatant sexism. They make the content abundantly obvious. They're not attempting to normalise anything and no one is under any delusion about what this is.

Everyday sexism isn't so self aware. It's when you watch Hollywood's latest family comedy and every female character is a beautiful, bland prop - and the movie stops for five minutes to make way for a slow motion pornstar-bends-over-in-a-tight-dress scene, accompanied by a saxophone backing track, and you're sitting with your family thinking 'this is a movie about funny animals! Who puts this in??!'.

Or when you're playing a Japanese RPG and it appears you have body customisation options until you look in the menu and find them reduced to only height and boob size.

Senran Kagura Burst is far less harmful. No one is confused about it's portrayal of values. Someone could be offended by the content but they'd have to intentionally go out of their way to find it first.

Good to hear the series will be continuing. I'm really looking forward to play Estival Versus on my PS4 next year. When that releases, I'll own games in the series across three of my gaming devices, which is really cool.

The series is only controversial to prudish religious and social justice types who think sexiness is a bad, nasty, awful thing. Most people who don't fall into one of these two categories tend to either find it amusing or ignore it entirely because they're not into the anime fanservice thing the series has going for it.

I played Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed for the PS3 and it is by the same makers. The story is good and the game mechanics borrows from Senran Kagura meaning that in order to beat enemies you have to weaken their clothing to the point of stripping them. Personally, it was addictive and enjoyable so much so I wish for a sequel even though it may never happen.

@Torakaka The Akiba's Trip games were designed by Acquire. The Senran Kagura games (all of them except the rhythm one, at least) were designed by Tamsoft.

They're both being published by XSEED in N.A., though, which might be what you're thinking of.

@pubjoe
Everyday sexism is not a matter of how 'openly' sexist something is, but how it makes it seem normal. The fact that the game is sold in stores means that it can be considered 'mainstream' and this, I would argue, makes the game more harmful. If people see it sold in stores (albeit mostly in Japan), they will likely just ignore it, but the fact that it is there means that there will be a tendency just to ignore it, rather than object to its content. It is sexist, and it reinforces discrimination by objectifying women.

@ZenTurtle It's not sexist, though. I believe the word you're searching for is: "sexy."

I'm looking forward to more from this series. Still need to get the 2nd one though x.x

@ZenTurtle I don't have time to formally look at definitions, and I don't know if you're trolling either, but I think you mean embargo. You can't boycott a product you were never interested in.

@ZenTurtle

I don't think this game attempts to make anything seem normal. It is clearly an absurdly boob obsessed product aimed at a specific audience. Yes it's objectifying and gratuitous but neither of those things are truly offensive in their own right. All media is gratuitous in some way.

I consider everyday sexism to be sexism that's shoved in people's faces so much that it appears normal and passes under many people's radar - like my examples above. This game disguises nothing. It knows exactly what it is and I admire it for it.

Don't forget this is an adult rated game. If it's being pushed at unwilling eyes then that's a fault of the distributor or guardian responsible for supply, same as any other adult media.

As for it's visibility In Japan, yes it's easier to find this and many examples of far more extreme sexism, that's true. Like most of the West I find that unsettling, but my values are shaped by my culture, not the other way round. It'd be foolish to judge something I know little about.

@pubjoe
How is objectifying women not offensive? Surely sexism is something we should all oppose? That is what I dislike about this childish game.

@ZenTurtle If it's our moral duty to object to things we find offensive instead of letting them become commonplace, then consider yourself objected to for perpetuating the expectation that anything with boobs deserves outrage and pitchforks.

I'll bet you couldn't even give a proper definition of the word "objectify."

@ZenTurtle
SK games are largely driven by the strong personalities of the female leads. While they're definitely portrayed in a sexual manner, I don't think you can say this game "objectifies" them.

Not that there's anything wrong with objectification, in the right context. It's when you primarily see men or women as sexual objects outside of any context that it becomes an issue

I own every US release of the series so far. DRAIN ME OF MONEY MARVELOUS AND XSEED.

@Fee Who said I'm flat? I am actually a D cup, but I think tits are overrated because of that. I wish I were flat. These things are cumbersome and sometimes painful. Don't get me started on the impossibly complicated and expensive terror that is bra shopping. Big boobs are for the birds.

And stop calling me a loli vampire. I am neither loli nor vampire. I'll have you know I am a elderly-aged werewolf. :/ (joking)

It's as 'controversial' as your run of the mill regular Dead of Alive fighting game. Neither is really in the spotlight for their obvious fan service because nobody really cares that much.

In either case, I'm not afraid to admit, with both games I come for the boobs and stay for the gameplay.

I found it ironic that while Senran Kagura is suggestive, it never actually show any nudity, then there is other mature games that clearly show nudity, even sex scene but didn't get bashed over it.

@Crimzonlogic Why do you keep misleading me?
Yeah, I was pretty surprised when my Sister told me $25 was cheap for a single bra. I was upset paying $15 for a six pack of boxer shorts so I can only imagine what that's like...though I prefer not to.

I feel like this guy is my kindred spirit, I too have a love of boobs and games

Senran Kagura 2 is a fun brawler, boobs can only count for so much. Haven't finished it yet but am about half through and still enjoying it. One of the better uses of 3D, being able to hold a button to dash towards your target decreases the chances of you losing the 3D sweet spot and you can turn off the majority of the fan service cut scenes if they bother you for one reason or another.

@ZenTurtle Are you equally outraged by Call of Duty normalizing guns, or Street Fighter for normalising violence and unrealistic male body types? If not you're a hypocrite, but if you are, then you have missunderstood gaming:- It's a fantasy, it's an escape from reality.

You don't normalize something by sticking it in a videogame, instead you fictionalise it, it leaves reality and it becomes a parody. You can't hold the fantasy world of vidogames to the same set of rules as real life, after all, what use is a fantasy that can't break free from the the real world?

If you object to Senran Kagura then you object to freedom of thought, freedom of expression and to videogames as a medium.

Peace out.

@Miiamoto
I don't play Call of Duty, because it has little substance, and is just mindless shooting. I'm not saying people shouldn't be allowed to play any video game they please, but that we should condemn games that promote sexism (in the case of this game) and over-the-top violence, and unrealistic body types, as you say. Media has influence, despite being fictionalised, because it reflects society. If we want to make society a more equal and harmonious place, we need to object to content that promotes objectification of women.
Therefore, while games are an escape from reality, we should be careful about which reality we are escaping to. This is nothing to do with objecting to freedom of speech.

New PEGI rating made specifically for this game: DD

Yknow cuz.... The boobs.... Big and .... Ah I almost was onto a good joke there...

@ZenTurtle I don't think Senran Kagura promotes sexism in the same way that I don't think the Saw films promote mutilating and killing people. The audience enjoy watching people die in the most grusome ways in those films and may get a strange enjoyment from the experience, but when they leave the cinema they don't suddenly believe the type of behavior they have seen is acceptable, nor do they try to emulate it.

We know we can't fly, we know it's wrong to kill people, or drive off a bridge, we know we can't shoot lazers out of our eyes. The nature of this type of fantasy is that it is an expression of something impossible, not a road map leading to the normalising of mass murder or the enslavement of womankind.

The very idea of scantily clad female ninja's running around fighting giant demons is ridiculous and kitsch, and no one playing these games takes its tongue in cheek portrayal of women seriously or believes it represents any real world situations.

@Crimzonlogic not if you ask it to a sixteen year old.