video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
series originally developed by Masaya and published by NCS Corp. The first game was released in 1992 for the PC Engine system. The game's
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...
Super Famicom
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...
,
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
,
Sega Saturn
The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...
shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs
) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...
s in the vein of '' Gradius'', the ''Cho Aniki'' series is best known for its homoerotic overtones, wacky humor and vivid, surreal imagery. Most of the games have never seen release outside Japan.
For various reasons, the popularity of the ''Cho Aniki'' games has endured since the series' debut. Highlights of the various games include in-game music, innovative control schemes, or sheer
kitsch
Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste.
The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation wi ...
value. In Japan, these games are examples of ''baka-ge'', which literally means "idiot game" whose appeal lies in its campiness.
The rights to the series are currently owned by Extreme Co., Ltd., which had obtained the rights of NCS Corp. and Masaya products and trademarks.
Video games
''Cho Aniki''
''Cho Aniki'' is the first game in the ''Cho Aniki'' series.
''Ai Cho Aniki''
was the sequel to ''Cho Aniki'' developed by Masaya and also released for the
Super CD-ROM²
The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though ...
. In this game, players control Samson and Adon directly. A key difference in the control scheme of ''Ai Cho Aniki'' is that instead of rapidly pressing buttons as a means of firing at enemies, players now had to input intricate button combinations, ''
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
''-style. By and large, ''Cho Aniki'' and ''Ai Cho Aniki'' play very similarly.
In this game, Bo Empress Conscious (Bo Tei Conscious, a pun for "body-conscious") raises the Neo Builder Army to fight Idaten and Benten. However, the two fall in love and elope. This leaves Samson and Adon to fight the new threat, Su Emperor Roid (SuTeiRoid, a pun on "
steroid
A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...
"). This time Taku Iwasaki scored the soundtrack.
On release, '' Famicom Tsūshin'' scored the PC Engine version of the game a 24 out of 40, giving it a 7 out of 10 in their Reader Cross Review.
The game was released on Nintendo's
Virtual Console
A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Un ...
service in 2007 in Japan.
''Cho Aniki Bakuretsu Ranto-hen''
is a departure from the typical ''Cho Aniki'' formula has characters from previous games — heroes and villains alike — battling in one-on-one fights. Playable characters include the following.
* Idaten, a warrior with long spiked hair who uses a variety of attacks with his body
* Benten, who in this game is flanked by two
cherub
A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...
s who can transform into mini-hunks
* Samson/Adon, attacks by gyrating and flatulating.
* Sabu, a
pagoda
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoi ...
-shaped ship with an
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
-looking figurehead
* Mami 19, a strange amalgam of a cute girl and a battleship transporting three naked, frolicking men
* Adam, a naked man riding in half a
moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...
. He is intended to resemble
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...
's
Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...
.
* Botei, a
berserker
In the Old Norse written corpus, berserker were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word ''berserk'' (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). Berserkers a ...
, likely to be Bo Emperor (Botei) Bill from the first series
* Uminin, an odd
latex
Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well.
In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosper ...
creature that resembles a
condom
A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of inte ...
This game was the last of the series to be developed by Masaya. It was released in 1995.
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
the same year as the previous two titles. This game features
digitized
DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-r ...
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
-style art from the other titles. It was released for the
Sega Saturn
The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
three months later. The subtitle of this game loosely translates to "The Ultimate, Most Strongest Man in the Milky Way" or "The Ultimate, Invincible, Most Galactically Powerful Man." The game is based on the engine of the first ''Cho Aniki''. Idaten and Benten are again the main two characters. Koji Hayama returned to score a few songs for the soundtrack, along with Don McCow, Taku Iwasaki, and Sanae Kasahara.
''Cho Aniki: Otoko no Tamafuda''
is a video game in the ''Cho Aniki'' series. This twist on the ''Cho Aniki'' universe pits the heroes of the previous games on a
role-playing video game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
quest in which battles are fought with
playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a ...
s. According to an article on the game on the Hardcore Gaming 101 website, the title of the game is a pun. The title translates to "Man's ''Tamafuda''," with ''tamafuda'' being a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordshanafuda'' — a Japanese card game. It is also likely that the pun extends to another meaning of ''tama'', "balls".
The game was released for the portable WonderSwan system in 2000.
''i (Ai) Chō Aniki: Gekiretsu Nawatobi-hen''
is the first ''Cho Aniki'' game released for Japanese mobile phones. The lowercase i is a reference to the
i-mode
NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and the pack ...
Japanese cellphone provider.
''Cho Aniki: Seinaru Protein Densetsu''
. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. With Masaya now defunct, the game was co-developed by X-Nauts and Psikyo. This team also developed '' Sengoku Blade'', and this game plays much like it as a result.
The plot of this game centers on the Holy Protein, a godlike glob of what may be
semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen ...
. Samson and Adon hover around the glob, absorbing enemy fire as they did in previous games. This game lacks playable characters from previous titles, such as Benten, who only appears in some "stage complete" illustrations. Some of the enemies include a giant, cross-dressing man in an ''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...
'' costume and a
Mona Lisa
The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...
painting that fires lasers from its eyes.
''Cho Aniki Zero''
This is the first ''Cho Aniki'' title developed by extreme Co.,Ltd., which had obtained the rights of NCS Corp. and Masaya products.
''Chō Aniki: Kan's (Menzu) Bouringu!!''
is the second ''Cho Aniki'' game released for Japanese mobile phones.
''Cho Aniki Dance''
is an upcoming rhythm game that was scheduled for October 2021 in Japan, it is the third ''Cho Aniki'' game released for Japanese mobile phones.
Music
The first game was composed entirely b Koji Hayama who states on his website that Cho Aniki is his favorite work to date. Numerous
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
s from the various games have been released on CD, Maxi-Singles, and even a live performance has been released on VHS. Later games in the series were composed by Taku Iwasaki, Isao Mizoguchi (under the alias Don McCow) and Sanae Kasahara.
Cho Aniki in pop culture
Appearances in other games
Masaya also developed the '' Langrisser'' series, where Samson and company make a cameo. A hidden level takes the party to an area called the Muscle Shrine, where they must fight Samson. If victorious, the party can then use the Aniki summon, the most powerful summon in the game. The cameo exists in the Mega Drive, Super NES, and PlayStation ports of the game.
The
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...
video game, God Hand, pokes fun of Samson and Adon as powerless yet flamboyant drag queens who are the first boss of the game.
Though technically not part of the series, the Sega Genesis shoot 'em up ''Wings of Wor'' (known as Gynoug in Japan and Europe) was also developed by Masaya and published by NCS, and features gameplay and surreal designs similar to the first ''Cho Aniki'' game.
The Japanese release of the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
game ''
Gem Smashers
''Gem Smashers'', known in Japan as , is a puzzle video game developed in Italy by Frame Studios and published by Metro3D, Inc. for the Game Boy Advance. The game was released in North America on July 1, 2003, and in Japan on November 21, 2003.
...
'' replaces the three playable characters with three differently colored versions of the Uminin (the original light blue Uminin, and a pink and green Uminin as well).
Cult popularity
Few outside Japan have played the ''Cho Aniki'' series, but many know of the game through articles written about it on such websites as I-Mockery,
Seanbaby
Sean Patrick Reiley (born June 15, 1976), better known as Seanbaby, is an American writer and video-game designer best known for his comedy website and frequent contributions to video game media outlets ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' and 1UP.com, ...
, and Something Awful. The series is often mentioned in lists of outrageous, peculiar or sexual video games.
Sometime around 1999, gaming magazine ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The ...
'' ran a passing comment about how the US was thankfully spared this homoerotic shooter (Referring to ''Cho Aniki'' for PS1, although the comment was followed by "Not that there is nothing wrong with a homosexual shooter"). For the next few months, EGM's letters to the editor were dominated by remarks lambasting the editors at EGM for making fun of the game, even after the editors repeatedly told their readership that the game was horrible.
List of video games with LGBT characters
The following is a list of confirmed video games with gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender characters, including any others falling under the LGBT umbrella term. The numbers in this list are possibly higher due to fact that some characters re ...