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Part romantic “Boy’s Love” visual novel, part grotesque horror game, Dramatical Murder is finally being localized for a Western audience. Publisher JAST USA announced at Anime Expo 2018 that their subdivision dedicated to BL games, JAST Blue, is localizing the game for an English Windows PC release. No further details were given other than that it’s “coming soon.”
Dramatical Murder is a game that’s always interested me. Writer AM Cosmos wrote a feature on the game for Polygon, where she described the game as “Cronenberg by way of Lisa Frank.” That’s my speed, alright. Not only are there cute dudes in this game that sometimes smooch, they also kill each other in horrific ways. Dramatical Murder follows a blue-haired hunk named Aoba Seragaki who works at a junk shop on the island of Midorijima. For some reason, Aoba has the ability to control people with his voice. Ostensibly, this comes in handy when he gets forcefully thrown into a cyber game called Rhyme.
The original version of Dramatical Murder is very much an adult game. It features nudity, grotesque gore, and violent sexual encounters. Dramatical Murder re:code was released for the PlayStation Vita in 2014 as a more tame version, removing the sex scenes and toning down the violence — in addition to adding more story scenes. The game is supposed to still be very much horror-themed when the characters aren’t snuggling. The game’s popularity even spawned an anime series. But until now, interested parties could only play the original PC release with a fan translation.
It’s not clear which version of Dramatical Murder JAST USA is publishing — the original Adult version or re:code. I’ve sent an inquiry to the publisher, but I’d be fine (and more comfortable) with the latter. The game’s story and art direction appeal to me more than the extent of the on-screen violence. While looking for header images for this article, I saw some things. Holy fuck.
Bring on the boys … and MURDER.
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