Can you date the deadly-weapons-turned-into-hot-guys in the browser game? Asking for a... oh, who am I kidding, asking for myself.

Sure they do. There is also much relentless mocking, especially if it is an organization as large and prestigious as the Fudan University.

I’d say it takes some time for most companies to catch up to the internet, otherwise I can’t explain why so few directly market their stuff to foreign countries. Streaming and digital downloads should be perfect for that, but most media is still licensed before it is released abroad (compare something like Netflix US…

Amnesia does have one route in particular that plays out more like a psycho thriller than a love story. I still don’t get how anybody could consider that romantic, but apparently it was very well liked by the Japanese audience.

As far as I can tell - I’m not Japanese - BL is only attractive to a certain niche, and otome-type media (including straight shoujo/josei comics and shows) seems to be more popular judging by output.

Yes, they are still aimed at girls and women. I’d say it’s mixture of very traditional gender roles (girls are supposed to be pure and not have sexual desires, so they have to be pushed into becoming sexually active), and some kind of fetish. Fantasies of that kind aren’t uncommon in both women and men.

Most otome games are rather tame in terms of fanservice. You often get a slightly pin-up-type shot of the male partner once a route is finished, and that’s about it. It’s more about relationships and romance.

You can play online! Honestly, if you have a webcam and a decent internet connection, you can play via google hangouts or roll20. It's very close to playing in person.

Secret Six is one of my absolute favorite comics and shows that in the right hands, every character can be cool. Even Catman.

Oh god, my best friend and I did the cannibal Barbie thing as well. Only with us, the Barbies would kill our lonely Ken doll in a variety of ways (our favorite was throwing him out of the second floor window). We even had a dog toy bone we would substitute for Ken after the Barbies finished with their meal.

Persona 3 manages this almost as well, but the story of P4 places a bit more emphasis on relationships, with amazing results. All the magical world-ending stuff in the games resonates more with the player because you feel loyal to your team, and you want to have their back just like they have yours.

Especially Persona 3 does an awesome job of taking the theme of "death" (or more generally "loss") and the fear of death, and running with it. The evoker is the symbol of overcoming your own fear of death and thus gaining the strength to fight. You only fight during the "ghost hour" after midnight, during which normal…

And by now, tabletop RPGs are so diverse, there is really something for everyone. You like epic sagas about the people dying at the end of of the world? Try Polaris (man, that game actually sounds like a saga!). You like cutesy Japanese stories about animal spirits helping people? Check out Golden Sky Stories. You…

I would have been severely disappointed if nobody mentioned Hatoful Boyfriend.

3) No, but one with Gilbert Gottfried:

The only thing I'm slightly wary about is the fact that there is no Social Link button in the menu section. Don't take my Social Links from me, Atlus!

In addition, "persona" actually means "mask" in Latin, and refers to the masks used in ancient Greek drama, which signified personality traits of the characters. Which fits your interpretation quite nicely.

The previous Persona games are stand alone (with the exception of the not really canon fighting games), so it's very unlikely you need to play 1-4 to understand what's going on.

Every time I read excerpts of 50 Shades, I really wonder how the meeting with the editor went down:

Aww, they always do this when they make anime out of otome VNs, because they don't dare to feature only one route. I'm mostly okay with it and just imagine my favorite couple end up together ;)