During an interview with Chinese gaming website A9VG, Story of Seasons: Reunion of Mineral Town’s producer Hikaru Nakano stated that same-sex marriage would be available for the male protagonist under the series’ “Best Friends” system. For those unfamiliar with this system, it was first released in the Japanese version of Harvest Moon DS Cute in 2005. Due to a bug when transitioning the game’s heart events and dialogue from the male version, the female protagonist was able to woo, marry, and have a child with one of the four special marriage candidates from Harvest Moon DS. The feature was removed from the Western version of the game before its release in 2008.
This marks the first time the “Best Friends” system will be implemented for male protagonists outside of mods, and the second time the system has been a feature in the franchise. There’s no word yet on whether or not same-sex marriage options will be available for the female protagonist as well, or if the feature will yet again be removed from the game’s Western release.
Many fans of the series bemoan the game’s invalidation of same-sex romantic relationships by labeling them as friendships, even while needing to complete the same steps for affection and marriage as an opposite-sex marriage candidate. In the fourteen years since the system was first created, there have been inroads in having LGBT relationships in the genre, with indie hit Stardew Valley being cited as a prime example. However, LGBT views and rights have been slow to change in Japan, with same-sex marriage not being recognized on a federal level, laws against discrimination by gender and sexuality varying by city, and people looking to transition must be deemed sterile before gender confirmation surgery can begin.
Despite legal hurdles, the LGBT community continues to thrive in Japan. Tokyo’s Pride Festival has been active since 2012, LGBT members of government have been elected to major political parties, and several cities, wards, and towns have passed legislation known as “partnership papers” in order to both recognize same-sex marriages and to ease medical and housing discrimination same-sex couples can face. While some would argue that “partnership papers” would be just as effective in advancing LGBT rights the way a “Best Friends” system in a video game counts as representation, one can only hope these small steps can lead to a larger change.
Hopefully, producer Nakano and the other staff at Marvelous will take these changes to heart and allow for same-sex relationships to become a part of the Story of Seasons franchise in the future, without fear or pretense.
Source: Ushi No Tane
