The Cho Aniki series of aggressively-gay horizontal shooters has always been easy joke fodder; for about three or four years in a row, a Cho Aniki screenshot/caption tag-team appeared in nearly every issue of EGM. Through the march of time, Boong-Ga Boong-Ga has since replaced Cho Aniki in the "Oh, those wacky foreigners" category, but we've never been graced with an American release of any Cho Aniki game...until today.
The VC still lack Earthbound, Majora's Mask, and Yoshi's Island, but today Nintendo decided to rectify the dearth of TG-16 shmups on their digital download service by releasing the first Cho Aniki game. I can't tell you if it's good or bad, but I can tell you that it's weird.
Everything I know about the Japanese view of homosexuality is based on portrayals of gays in Japanese media, which boils down to the stereotype of male homosexuals being buff bodybuilders (with a surprising lack of mustache), and that the mere presense of gays is a joke in and of itself. A still image of Will and Grace would probably be considered the height of humor in Japan.
Remarkably, the first game in the Cho Aniki series could be much gayer--and it's important to note that the franchise would get much, much gayer. There's almost an exponential increase in over the top--and many would say insulting--gayness as the series continued, which makes me think this might be the only Cho Aniki game released for the Virtual Console. The breakout stars of Cho Aniki--bodybuilding brothers Adol and Samson--are relegated to the meager role of Gradius-style options in the first game; yes, they're Speedo-clad men firing laser beams out of their head. I told you this game was weird.
Hardcore Gaming 101 (as usual) has an excellent write-up on the series in case you need a brief refresher, or a reason to spend 900 Wii Points. Personally, when it comes to humorous shooters, I'm waiting for Parodius. It's not that my sexuality is being threatened--I just find the idea of controlling a penguin a little more attractive than a greasy, grinning bodybuilder. They scare me in real life.
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