Absolute Obedience – Zettai Fukuju Meirei (2007) was one of the first commercial Japanese “boys’ love” visual novels officially localized in English, making it a something of a relic nowadays. After it was released, there wouldn’t be another licensed game from this niche genre brought over to the west for almost a decade, and some of its divisive themes and presentation give us a clue why.
If you read older reviews of Absolute Obedience, reactions to the game were mixed at best. Fans of otome (dating sims geared towards women) mentioned that they couldn’t disregard the sexual assault in Absolute Obedience. Whereas another blurb about Absolute Obedience reflected that it “remains interesting to see these terrible people out-maneuver each other.” Both are true.
Still, Absolute Obedience is not for everyone—or much of anyone, really. It is best seen as a piece of BL canon in the West, a game worth examining for its historical and academic significance. Mattie Brice even uses the game in her university level Representation in Games class, often while paired with reading Foucault.