Japanese for Gamers 101: Bride of the Trenchcoat

You thought adult games were just for trenchcoat-wearing sweaty-palmed guys? Think again. In this installation, we see what makes the Mackintosh-clad ladies of Japan empty out their (ham) wallets before scurrying back to their unmarked vans.

Word: BLG
Romanization/phonetic: BLG, pronounced “bee eru jee”
Etymology: Abbreviation of the English phrase “boys love game” (ボーイズラブゲーム) .
Definition: A genre of games aimed at women featuring a romantic/erotic relationship between two young men.
Origin: From the similarly girl-targeted “boys love” (BL) genre of manga and novels. According to Wikipedia, the expression “BL” began to be used around the mid-90s.

Japan is relatively equal-opportunity in terms of offering products to its kinky female population, so it is no surprise that there is a lady-oriented counterpart to the eroge genre. Having never actually played a Boys Love Game (BLG), I am only speculating, but these appear to be dating simulators starring homosexual boys, with a dash of softcore boy-on-boy action thrown in.

“Butt wait!” I hear you crying, “Surely these are aimed at gay men, not chicks!” Apparently not. In much the same way many customers of alleged “lesbian” erotica are straight men, the Japanese Wikipedia entry on BLGs states that they are consumed primarily by women. Wikipedia also notes that most of these games are rated 18+, but some of them have been toned down for consumer consoles. The first of these was a Dreamcast port of “Fragrance Tale” (insert your own “fragrance of …” joke here).

What is most interesting to me is that this genre’s name is an example of etymology by translation. Normally, two young lads getting their freak on could be expressed in Japanese as 少年愛 (shonen-ai), but for whatever reason fans preferred to use the waseigo (an English expression created in Japan) term “BLG”.