So I just encountered a certain scene in Steins;Gate regarding the character Luka, and I feel the need to talk about it (Spoilers)

[Deleted member 48434]

I have the feeling that anyone who's seen it knows what I'm talking about
I'm playing the original VN, not Elite.

But to sum it up, I just saw the scene where Okabe freaks out and sexually assaults Luka because he thinks the experiment to change their biological gender didn't work.
Jesus motherfucking sexual assault batman, even knowing the circumstances how could Okabe ever think this is OK, regardless of the assumed gender.
I haven't played far past the scene, because I'm kinda rattled, but what the fuck?!

Like, on one hand, this game has kinda surprised me at a few points in that I was expecting it to be less progressive than it is, and then it drops this.
My head is spinning, and I don't know what to make of it. On one hand, after it happens, Okabe realizes he's royally fucked up, understanding that Luka could even develop PTSD from an event like this, and that he has no excuses and deserves the consequences, and would understand and accept if Luka never speaks to him again(Unless the translation added this in). On the other hand, it's like everyone else has already just kinda let it slide, and they're all cooking together.

My head is reeling.
If one were to pull this where I live, around people my age, it'd be instant and total ostracization or worse.
Maybe it's because of Japans culture of kinda just ignoring these things.

Either way, I am VERY uncomfortable right now.

 

[Deleted member 5322]

They do it multiple times in the anime and it basically completely soured me on the whole series.

 

[BlkSquirtle]

Yikes that sounds....Japan man. It's why I have problems playing some japanese games - the fan service, the weird sex stuff, etc...I understand that it's their culture but that fact doesn't make me feel any more comfortable.

 

[Deleted member 5129]

Yeap, that is one of the few scenes in steins;gate that did noooooot age well. Japan was and still is very behind on those issues.

 

[ThatsMyTrunks]

Yeah, the handling of Lukako is almost always bad and always hurts to see. It sours an otherwise tremendous series.

 

[Patitoloco]

Luckily they treat that story way better later, that's the lowest part of the whole game.

 

[cj_iwakura]

While it is a pretty jerk move, he does redeem himself later on, especially in Luka's ending, for what it's worth.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

It's such a weird turn, because when Luka pretty much admits to being an egg earlier, the others are for the most part supportive, and it caught me off guard, because I didn't expect that.

Unless they localisation changed it, but I don't think it did, given how the translation appears to be going out of its way to change as little as possible.

 

[TrafficCoen]

The whole character of Luka in my opinion is the weakest part of Steins;Gate, although I only watched the anime.


What was it, drink more milk to make your child female?

 

[Deleted member 48434]

The whole character of Luka in my opinion is the weakest part of Steins;Gate, although I only watched the anime.


What was it, drink more milk to make your child female?

Click to shrink...

Vegetables for female, meat for male.

 

[Oscarzx n]

I think the way they handle Luka at the end is pretty good, but that scene is like, what? Why? I don't get it, I personally don't have as much issue as other with japanese stuff doing stuff like that, like with Roshi in Dragon Ball, but that scene is just painful.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

Another thing, is that I've seen sexual assault get treated as a joke in anime so often and it just makes this stand out even more, because the actual scene is played uncomfortably serious. The pain and panic you hear from Lukas VA is too real. It is a deliberately distressing scene.

In fact, my only REAL issue is how Okabe seems to have gotten off the hook WAY too easily, unless it comes back to bite him later.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Another thing, is that I've seen sexual assault get treated as a joke in anime so often and it just makes this stand out even more, because the actual scene is played uncomfortably serious. The pain and panic you hear from Lukas VA is too real. It is a deliberately distressing scene.

In fact, my only REAL issue is how Okabe seems to have gotten off the hook WAY too easily, unless it comes back to bite him later.

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't say that per se does, but he sure goes through hell.

 

[TrafficCoen]

Vegetables for female, meat for male.

Click to shrink...

I actually did remember it involving meat but then I went "That's stupid, milk sounds like much better pseudo Science"

 

[Oreiller]

Yeah, let's just say the game can get really "clumsy" when it comes to these issues. I don't mind Luka as a character but the way they use them is messy and uncomfortable.

 

[Nights]

Yikes. I was always interested in getting the Switch port of the VN or whatever, but now I think I might just stay away from this series as a whole.

 

[Mexen]

I never played the OG VN but I watched the anime. It was a difficult scene to watch back then and it still is today.

 

[EarlGreyHot]

Yes it's awful, almost dropped the game when that happened..

 

[Bigg]

Yeah, this lines up with what friends of mine have told me about SG. Which absolutely sucks, because I've always been curious about the series, but I can't support a series with this kind of shit in it.

 

[LiK]

They do sorta discuss or come around on that incident later in the game, iirc. It's been a while but I don't recall it being a one and done episode. S;G is a pretty old game by now so some things don't age well. I don't think that one scene should turn you off for the rest of the game tho. I got Elite earlier this year but I haven't played it to see if they changed it.

Never really watched past the first 2 eps of the anime. They cut way too much stuff out.

 

[Villein]

steins gate is trash

 

[ZiZ]

I haven't played the game, but I watched the anime.

Is this when the protag touches the other characters crotch to check if they were able to change the timeline?

 

[Deleted member 48434]

Honestly, I'm getting the feeling that the writers intended for the scene to be taken seriously, a big drama filled moment, where you are meant to dislike Okabe for fucking up so badly, (He's quite obviously a nutcase.) but they really didn't understand the true severity of the situation and and how severe the consequences would realistically be.

Or maybe Japan is just literally like this, it really wouldn't surprise me, sexual assault is a pretty big problem over there.
It's better than some other anime's I've seen, In which groping and sexual assult often gets played off as a total joke and a laughing matter though.

 

[LiK]

Honestly, I'm getting the feeling that the writers intended for the scene to be taken seriously, a big drama filled moment, where you are meant to dislike Okabe for fucking up so badly, (He's quite obviously a nutcase.) but they really didn't understand the true severity of the situation and and how severe the consequences would realistically be.

Or maybe Japan is just literally like this, it really wouldn't surprise me, sexual assault is a pretty big problem over there.
It's better than some other anime's I've seen, In which groping and sexual assult often gets played off as a total joke and a laughing matter though.

Click to shrink...

I would suggest you continue and hope you see where it leads. I def seem to recall that Okabe felt remorseful for it later on. Or maybe that's my head canon. Like I said, I played it years ago so I don't remember all the scenes intimately.

 

[Deleted member 2669]

The game is horrendous with sexual assault. One of the worst I've ever seen.

 

[Nightbird]

Yikes. I was always interested in getting the Switch port of the VN or whatever, but now I think I might just stay away from this series as a whole.

Click to shrink...

The game is good, it's just that it doesn't know what the fuck it wants to do with Luka.
Sometime it's really progressive, and then something like in the OP happens.

It's by far the weakest aspect of the game tho.

 

[Velezcora]

Spoiler: End game spoilers

I thought it was so fucked up to get the true ending you had to undo all the changes you made including allowing Luka to be a girl. I'm not sure if that was intentional but it comes off a bit transphobic. Like it's saying its better for trans people to not transition. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

I haven't played the game, but I watched the anime.

Is this when the protag touches the other characters crotch to check if they were able to change the timeline?

Click to shrink...

I'm guessing the context may could a bit between the VN and the Anime, I haven't seen the anime.

FULL SCENE FOR ANYONE CURIOUS
In the VN, Okabe assumes they failed to change their sex (Via timetravel shannanigans) due to Luka looking identical. (Luka could already easily pass for a girl despite identifying as male before the experiment),
A few days later, Kirisu, Mayuri and Luka are in the lab, having a conversation in which Mayuri and Kirisu refer to Luka as female multiple times, and Okabe, still believing Luka to be male, corrects them. This leads to a heavy argument between the Girls and Okabe, which he tries to win by groping Luka to attempt to show they have male genitals. She doesn't, we get a very uncomfortable scene, and Kurisu promptly slams a book over Okabes head so hard he's knocked out.

Upon waking, Okabes inner monologue mentions that Luka could get PTSD from this, and a general acknowledgement to himself that he fucked up badly and deserves any consequences coming to him, and that he would understand and accept if Luka never spoke to him again. His apology is somewhat halfassed though. He attempts to explain to everyone why he thought Luka was a guy.
We aren't really told as to how much they believe his explanation though.

Kirisu makes him crouch in the corner for about 30 minutes, hitting him with the book should he so much as move an inch, and after this he flees the lab.

After this, the characters seem to move on and try to forget about it.

 

[Robertaugustdemeijer]

Thank you for the warning!

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Honestly, I'm getting the feeling that the writers intended for the scene to be taken seriously, a big drama filled moment, where you are meant to dislike Okabe for fucking up so badly, (He's quite obviously a nutcase.) but they really didn't understand the true severity of the situation and and how severe the consequences would realistically be.

Or maybe Japan is just literally like this, it really wouldn't surprise me, sexual assault is a pretty big problem over there.
It's better than some other anime's I've seen, In which groping and sexual assult often gets played off as a total joke and a laughing matter though.

Click to shrink...

You have to also remember that Steins;Gate is 10-year old Japanese media. Things are a bit different now, even if they're not much better. But I doubt that scene would play out the same way if it was made today.

I dislike Steins;Gate in general, to be clear.

 

[Dlent]

I'll agree that Luka in general is probably the weakest part of the game. I do remember Okabe being genuinely mortified by his own behavior, and apologizes after, but it does get cleared up too quickly for how bad it is. I'd chalk it up to Luka's fondness for Okabe making her more forgiving, and everyone else letting is slide if she forgave him.

I think Kurisu knocking him out on the spot was probably the best part of the scene.

 

[Rotobit]

It's definitely the worst scene in the game and anime, and just frustrating since Luka is treated really well elsewhere.That scene plus "he's a GUY" were just infuriating after a while, that joke really doesn't play at all and I'm not sure it ever did.

Spoiler: Spoiler for something that I think happens later?

There's also the scene where Okabe snaps in the timeloop and thinks about assaulting Suzuha, but that ending pretty much unambiguously shows him becoming more and more monstrous because he's constantly reliving the same moments over and over and potentially seeing his friends die repeatedly. He still ends that route being a hero, though, which is a little disappointing.

Spoiler: End game spoilers

I thought it was so fucked up to get the true ending you had to undo all the changes you made including allowing Luka to be a girl. I'm not sure if that was intentional but it comes off a bit transphobic. Like it's saying its better for trans people to not transition. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

From what I remember the ending confirms Luka became accepted by the LGBT community, though it doesn't specify much besides that. I like to think she transitioned.

Undoing the changes made sense given the core conceit of the game being that you can't make major changes to the worldline without consequences, i.e. Mayuri/Kurisu dying. Without a whole lotta effort, anyway. Okabe is really cut up about having to revert Luka's change in particular, way more than the self-serving alterations.

But yeah, I'd love a script rewrite that makes it possible to be more supportive to Luka after Okabe "grows up".

 

[LiK]

I'll agree that Luka in general is probably the weakest part of the game. I do remember Okabe being genuinely mortified by his own behavior, and apologizes after, but it does get cleared up too quickly for how bad it is. I'd chalk it up to Luka's fondness for Okabe making her more forgiving, and everyone else letting is slide if she forgave him.

I think Kurisu knocking him out on the spot was probably the best part of the scene.

Click to shrink...

That's what I was trying to remember.

 

[Deleted member 426]

I love(d) Steins Gate but replaying this after having watched the anime and there are a ton of terrible aspects. Like the main female being this brilliant scientist who just acts subservient to the male main character, groping, all sorts. Makes me ashamed to like it.

 

[sensui-tomo]

I absolutely do not want to hand wave this, but expecting a visual novel to not have shitty scenes like this is kinda not the norm. Yes its bad and Japan has the urge to add shit like this in Visual novels for whatever god dang reason. Thankfully visual novels are getting better as of late, but most things before 2008 will most likely have some questionable content and the further back you go the more it'll have.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

You have to also remember that Steins;Gate is 10-year old Japanese media. Things are a bit different now, even if they're not much better. But I doubt that scene would play out the same way if it was made today.

I dislike Steins;Gate in general, to be clear.

Click to shrink...

If it's really 10 years old, I'm gonna be honest, outside of this one awful scene, and maybe the 'But he's a guy scene' (Although I mostly pin that on Okabes character, not the writers), the game is surprisingly kinda progressive for a 2009 Anime VN that is clearly aimed at an Otaku target audience.

There have been quite a few moment (Mostly with Luka) when I kinda tense up, expecting the worst, only to be pleasantly surprised.
When Okabe reveals to kirusu that Luka is a guy (Before the time travel shenannigans), she gets over her surprise quickly and then simply exclaims irritation that a guy is cuter than her.
When Luka reveals that he wishes he was a girl, the others do not tease him for this, are rather supportive, and Okabe muses that he could be the star of the Tokyo LGBT scene if he were to come out as trans.

 

[Viale]

Ugh. I saw the title and of course knew the exact scene you were talking about. Steins;Gate is probably my personal favorite anime and honestly one of my favorite series in general, but this is by far the biggest blemish on the game/anime and the number one thing that prevents me from recommending it more(and especially reccomending it to those who are not already into anime and aware of how... troublesome it can be at times).

It's completely inconsequential and could be outright taken out and would be an altogether better experience as a result. It's so upsetting.

 

[cj_iwakura]

It's definitely the worst scene in the game and anime, and just frustrating since Luka is treated really well elsewhere.That scene plus "he's a GUY" were just infuriating after a while, that joke really doesn't play at all and I'm not sure it ever did.

Spoiler: Spoiler for something that I think happens later?

There's also the scene where Okabe snaps in the timeloop and thinks about assaulting Suzuha, but that ending pretty much unambiguously shows him becoming more and more monstrous because he's constantly reliving the same moments over and over and potentially seeing his friends die repeatedly. He still ends that route being a hero, though, which is a little disappointing.

Spoiler

From what I remember the ending confirms Luka became accepted by the LGBT community, though it doesn't specify much besides that. I like to think she transitioned.

Undoing the changes made sense given the core conceit of the game being that you can't make major changes to the worldline without consequences, i.e. Mayuri/Kurisu dying. Without a whole lotta effort, anyway. Okabe is really cut up about having to revert Luka's change in particular, way more than the self-serving alterations.

But yeah, I'd love a script rewrite that makes it possible to be more supportive to Luka after Okabe "grows up".

Click to shrink...

Well, in one ending,

Spoiler

Okabe winds up marrying her and they have a child together,

so I'd say that's pretty supportive of him?

 

[Rotobit]

Well, in one ending,

Spoiler

Okabe winds up marrying her and they have a child together,

so I'd say that's pretty supportive of him?

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

Oh for sure, but I primarily meant the "true" ending and the timelines where she's trans rather than born cis female. I'm pretty sure I remember him being nicer to her after her part of the story, but there could have been a bit more, maybe. It's been a while though, and I guess at that point the story is going off-the-wall with no room to breathe.

 

[Palette Swap]

Luka is the one part of the game that still bothers me and always prevents me from blindly recommending the game tbh.

 

[Scheris]

That scene (and the early game scenes where Okabe intentionally misgenders Luka) were a bit uncomfortable when I first played through it. Granted the other characters do bring up how he's being an ass to a degree, but it could have been handled. Although later in the game...

Spoiler

The Luka route and it's ending do redeem Okabe to a degree, since the weight of not reversing things and letting Mayuri die hits him pretty hard and Luka & Okabe have to live with the fallout from that decision.

And I swear if you do reverse Luka's alteration to the timeline, Okabe doesn't act like an ass regarding Luka anymore since he remembers that reversed timeline. Granted it's been years since I played it last, so I might be wrong about this if I'm forgetting something.

 

[hank_tree]

Yeah it's not great. I personally think the good stuff in the game kind of makes it worth looking past this but it's a bummer for sure.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

And there's it is, the contractual fanservice scene of Mayuri and Kurisu in the shower.

I did in fact know about this one going in, but it is jammed into the VN very haphazardly.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Yeah, that scene is definitely the low point of the game, and it's aged especially poorly (not that it was ever not bad).

 

[Korigama]

Luka deserved so much better than the story allowed.

Spoiler

The bittersweet ending for her specifically was ultimately the best that the writers managed to give.

 

[.exe]

Yep it's awful. And the shower scene too.

 

[kodax_shc]

Okabe is an asshole.

 

[J-Spot]

Overall I love Steins;Gate but this and the shower scene are definitely low points. Some of Daru's dialogue crosses a line as well. Sadly I feel like every anime, vn, or game I like from Japan has at least one thing like this in it that makes it hard to recommend.

 

[zMiiChy-]

The game is horrendous with sexual assault. One of the worst I've ever seen.

Click to shrink...

I'very never played the VN.
Are there any other instances of it?

Yikes. I was always interested in getting the Switch port of the VN or whatever, but now I think I might just stay away from this series as a whole.

Click to shrink...

I'd really recommend the anime.
It has it's issues as well but overall the plot is phenomenal for its genre, and I HATE TIME TRAVEL fiction.
I actually really like Okabe as a protagonist, too.

 

[zMiiChy-]

I knew I remembered hearing about something terrible from the VN
Trigger warning

That's far more depraved and unsettling than the Luka scene IMO.

Yep. Stein's;Gate is an Anime series for me - I'm going to continue ignoring the VNs.