High-School Fairytale Romance Therapy Center (Idea For Real Life)

[Ronin Aquila]

This admittedly insane and outrageous, but idealistic idea came from an emotional rollercoaster cocktail of having watched Kimi Ga Nozum Eien, Boytown, World`s Fastest Indian and Perfect Blue back to back before flying to Tokyo Disneland. Ah, thank the variety of Taiwanese Cable Television.

Watching a 23 year old businesswoman break down and weep over a lost high-school dream was frankly quite heartbreaking, such was the case of the heavy episode 10 of Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien. Then watching 4 Australian blokes in their 40`s going back into the boyband industry and taking the world (and the hearts of their now 40-year-old-as-well fangirls) by storm was a heartwarming antidote. It kinda demonstrated that the romantic teenager inside us never dies, he or she just grows up and has kids. World`s Fastest Indian was even further inspiring in its depiction of a SEVENTY year old man going out to accomplish his Boyhood Dream.

Then the sobering horror movie Perfect Blue. This was a chilling reminder of what happens when the pent up rage of unfulfilled boyhood/girlhood dreams are given no healthy outlet and takes you over late in adulthood.

Then came Tokyo Disneyland: There was no healthier way to exorcise demons of unfulfilled dreams than to actually BE Indiana Jones for a day, actually be a hero in an enviroment in which nobody will laugh at you or ridicule you for having a romantic dream. Such is the power of a well-constructed artificial-reality in a theme-park.

Then it hit me: There is still a sizable population of dating-sim players because a good portion missed out and\or are denied of the warm and idealistic romance of youth that frankly everyone should be entitled to. Now what if this is taken to the next level where they are given an enviroment with which they can actually EXPERIENCE a storybook romance, and finally let go of that pain and move on?

Out came this idea (Deep Breath)
A Therapy Camp/Theme Park That Simulates A Romantic High School Anime/Dating Sim To Heal Emotional Wounds.

Before anybody screams vile accusations like `Glorified Prostitution/Whore Village`, I will stress that this institution is strictly for the romantic-and-hurt who need help. Anybody who comes here to bully, exploit, laugh at or take advantage of the patients, or take breaks from their own marriages will be thrown out and suighed for all they are worth.

Note that this Therapy Center is open to Both Sexes, of any gender orientation. To apply, one should fulfil as many of the following criteria as possible, with the last THREE being Compulsuory.

1) Emotionally Hurt (Papers from your former high-school counsellor will surfice)
2) Still A Virgin
3) Never Kissed
4) Never Dated
5) Romantic, want to move on and be a constructive member of society.
6) Between The Ages of 17 to 40 (Sorry, ther is a such thing as TOO old for this
7) No Married or divorced. Prefarably you don`t have children, cos your priorities should be on them. But if they are supportive, we won`t mind.

There will be two application periods per year, with each course running three months, once in the middle of the year and once for the end of the year to the begining of the next. Each three month period will simulate a fast-forward simulation of a High School Year. (If we simulate a year in real time, our patients will have NO lives to go back to).

Each `School Year` will simulate a high-school year in a romantic anime universe similar to the ones you see in To Heart, Shuffle and Tokimeki Memorial. You will get to chose a role with which should try to play to the hilt, and you`ll be assigned to a class with which there is a guy/girl most suited to your role, and vice versa. Repeated cynicism, unsupportiveness and continuous breakings of the reality of this environment will result in ejection.

This school year comes fully with ciriculum, homework, sports and cultural festivals, and field trips. Parents are optional, and should you chose so their roles will be played by supportive counsellors. If the application places are not fillled, actors will fill the roles.

It must be stressed that getting the patients laid is NOT the primary purpose of this facility. It allows them to exorcise inner demons by getting to have the boyhood/girlhood they deserved but never got. For example, the class flunk will finally get that chance to get the A-Plus he would have got if he had studied harder, and someone like Hayase of KimiNozomu would finally get that chance to be the swiｍｍｉｎｇ　ｃｈａｍｐ they deserved to be. And though sex between staff and patients is STRICTLY forbidden, if it is consensual and between the patients (and preferably still in role) hey good for him/her and by all means go ahead.

The most the actors (playing archetypes like the Big Sister, the Mysterious Transfer Student and the Science Teacher) are allowed is to give the patients their first kiss, but should they do any more, whoa BOY will they be fired and jailed, and that goes for the Gakuencho/Principal as well.

And if some fundamentalist conservative jerkoff complains about thsi being a breeding ground for sadists and rapists, we`ll just tell them frankly:

`Better Out Than In. Would you prefer it if our poor patients acutally got to have a sweet fairytale romance and can let go and move on with life or would you like them to go out and RAPE a little boy\girl in desperation to have one? Your Choice, conservative narrowmind.`

I do not mind if this gets copied, as it will take more money than I can make in six lifetimes to establish. Preferably somone catches on to this and actually go out there and HELP the fundamentally-good people who are not given a chance to express the purity of their love, and actually GIVE them a chance to let go of the past and become productive members of society.

Let the discussions begin.

[wavehawk]

We're living in a world wherein spanking a child can get you arrested.

I don't think anyone's going to warm up to this idea; there are a few renai game/visual novel players out there, but I hardly think this is going to appeal to them. Hell, I know this idea doesn't appeal to me in any positive sense, and I'm a Tokimemo fan.

If you're intending this for Renai Game players, then I think you're reading Renai game players the wrong way, or else you've been exposed to those who like renai games for the wrong reasons. The appeal is the story and the characters. I don't think there's a renai game player who would REALLY want to go back to high school and live out their lives the way the games are, any more than there's a person who would REALLY like to live out their lives in a world populated by zombies or bombarded by genocidal aliens.

One last thing: J. Edgar Hoover was homophobic AND homosexual, kapish? I'm Catholic and I have no time or patience to spend on fundamentalist whackjobs, even if one of them is the Pope himself. If you spend time actually thinking about those guys, you'll end up going crazy trying to thread through their logic. Do yourself a favor. Pretend they don't exist. They are not worth your time, except to poke fun at when they do something horribly wrong to themselves.

[DanielSong39]

If you want a "fairytale romance" that can stand the test of time...

Maybe you should watch different shows? KGNE, Perfect Blue, and even SHUFFLE! provide some truly lousy romance. Admittedly, that's what makes these shows entertaining to watch, but hardly representative of a strong romance that can work in the real world.

For a mature romance, I'd recommend the movie Omohide Poro Poro (Only Yesterday). On the same vein, I'd also recommend Whisper of the Heart, To Heart, and Lamune... the love that these shows portray are a LOT closer the kind of love that carries one through every day life.

[Kamui4356]

Your idea is unrealistic, and a solution to a problem which might exist, but if so, in a very small population. Further, it's not a good solution to that, as traditional counseling would be far more effective.

As was mentioned, people play these games for the story. I know I'm sure glad my high school life wasn't like Yuuichi's for example. With my luck, I'd be arrested as Ayu's accomplice for grand theft taiyaki.

Originally Posted by Ronin Aquila

`Better Out Than In. Would you prefer it if our poor patients acutally got to have a sweet fairytale romance and can let go and move on with life or would you like them to go out and RAPE a little boy\girl in desperation to have one? Your Choice, conservative narrowmind.`

This part is a false dilemma fallacy... In fact I would say that those given choices, apart from not being the only possible outcomes, are the least likely in the situation...

[Ronin Aquila]

Okay, I had no time to refine the first post.

You had to pop 100 Yen for every 15 minutes at that Hotel in Hokkaido, Japan, and I only had three 100 yen coins left then.

Anyways, I should refine it a little further.

This is not just for dating sim fans (for crying out loud, there are people who need help BESIDE just them)

The membership should encompass ANYONE who has had broken boyhood/girlhood dreams, had terminally unhappy years as youths and are unable to move on because of that. And of course, it would make the proceedings easier if the patient is not cynical and still believes in fundamental human decency and true love.

And if you happend to be an anime fan as well (not compusluory but it helps), all the better.

[wavehawk]

I disagree.

Let's assume you are serious, and somehow you DO get this off the ground. What you're doing isn't HELPING people get out of this. You're helping BURY people in this all over again. You're basically having a huge pity party for them, and they'll be so comfortable in their surroundings that they will NEVER, EVER get out of it.

People who are comfortable or content--and I'll admit, you WILL make them comfortable and content with this, for certain, VERY comfortable--never grow up. People who are unable to face change just don't grow--like bonsai trees, they're limited by the pampering and care given to them. Yes, they're beautiful, but they're also horrifically stunted. They can never be the big tree they could have been. People who are unwilling to accept that yes, there was something painful in my life, but I can't let that thing rule the way I want to live my life now--they won't change.

People HAVE to be hurt. People HAVE to be thrown out in the cold sometimes, to adapt. They HAVE to be uncomfortable with where they are, otherwise, why change? Why try to improve if everything is all right with you? If you REALLY want to be a constructive member of society, you don't need ANYTHING to do so. You simply want to be it and go for it.

You're not making it better for anybody. You're just telling them that the past, which we can't change, is more important than the present and future, which you CAN change.

[Ronin Aquila]

Thanks for pointing out the holes in the idea:

You know, when one looks too close at something he or she thinks out, he or she tends to not see the flaws in it.

Thank Goodness for discussions: allows you a different viewpoint from you own that is more objective.

Anyways, the clause in the contract that you will sing before enrolling in the course will be (a more formal and eloquently worded version of) the following passage.

Participants are only eligible for one successful run of the course, at which there is no return for re-runs after graduation. This organization will offer its full support to legal authorities in throwing your ass in jail if you humiliate our reputation by pulling a "Perfect Blue" on us after graduation. If the graduation has not cured you, you have wasted your money. If it has, you do not need to come back."

[Lady In The Willows]

Wow, I was browsing through the old threads and I found this weird but interesting one. Thought this might be a fun topic to ressurect.

Interesting people with interesting idead you guys have here.

[0utf0xZer0]

I do find it kind of interesting nobody pointed out that roleplay can only achieve limited fantasy fulfillment, because it's an imperfect imitation. Maybe I just notice this because my fetishes are really hard to imitate. You can cosplay a catgirl but you won't be able to express yourself via ear movements.

In a lot of cases, I think fantasy only works because it is fantasy. I find a lot of seventeen-ish year old girls in anime attractive, but I'd feel uncomfortable trying to date any of them IRL because I'm about five years older than that. (Also, I just have to mention it because of my animal ears fetish: I'm allergic to cats, dogs, and possibly a few other animals. How's that for irony?)

That said, I had a semi-related thought a while back. I'd recently finished playing the visual novel Ever 17, and it struck me that a lot of the romantic relationships in that game are ones that wouldn't have developed under less extreme circumstances - for those that have never played the game, it involves a half dozen characters getting trapped in an underwater facility and having to work through a number of rather dangerous scenarios. Hell, the girl I developed the deepest connection with is the kind of person who would drive people off in real life.

So here's my question: if you were to put a bunch of people in a scenario where they'd be stuck with a small group of people for a while and would have to work together with them, would they form romantic bonds?

(PS. Just because I'm thinking we might get a couple renai game players in this thread, I want to ask, do you find that the emotional attachments you form with the characters are part of the appeal of playing? I'm wondering, because based on my experience with the Kanon anime, I'm guessing the game isn't exactly spectacular plot-wise.)

[Navel]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

I'd recently finished playing the visual novel Ever 17, and it struck me that a lot of the romantic relationships in that game are ones that wouldn't have developed under less extreme circumstances - for those that have never played the game, it involves a half dozen characters getting trapped in an underwater facility and having to work through a number of rather dangerous scenarios. Hell, the girl I developed the deepest connection with is the kind of person who would drive people off in real life.

While I'm not a psychology graduate, I can give you an explanation why sometimes "extreme circumstances" are confused with attraction. It's because the way the human minds work: the feelings one experience are not identified to their cause, but can be identified to something else.

Here's an experiment that proved this: men who were interviewed by a woman while walking on a suspended bridge called that woman in higher number than those who were not interviewed on the bridge. Their intense feelings while on the suspended bridge (it is scary) was mistakenly identified as sexual attraction later.

Research shows that physiological arousal can be interpreted in a variety of ways. It is possible to mistake fear for lust, apprehension for guilt, shame for anxiety.

You'll see this motif also used a lot in fiction (like shojo manga): a highly stressing/emotionally charged event happens while in the presence of a member of the opposite gender, and later this is seen as attraction towards that person and can become the main motif of the whole fiction piece.

If anyone's interested in all kinds of psychology research, you can follow this blog Mind Hacks, which was started as a complement to a book, but turned into something more interesting as time passed.

[-KarumA-]

I think it is actually a nice idea, I think that this way you can at leased have people around of the same kind of background to whom you can talk about these things and it is important to confront because that way your inner peace will be a lot calmer.
Personally I'd even sign up for something like this because my past still complicates my future and like many I hate sitting on a chair, bragging about what I went through to a guy I only met that same day because I hate talking to people I don't know, at leased this way you can get to know each other and be in a more relaxing environment

edit:
I wouldn't want to say that it has to simulate a dating sim though, I get more hitch feelings when it comes to this ha ha

[Ronin Aquila]

Holy Moley!! Has it really been almost 2 years since I wrote this thread!!

Ah, the memories!!

21 months later, have some new refinements to the idea.

Anyways, to clarify the above post, of course it does not have to simulate a dating sim.

People who have happy families and well adjusted lives (and therefore have no need for romantic-therapy) but still want to win that Inter-High Basketball Trophy but never got to cos their obstinate parents forced them to squander their sporting-talents to study for a worthless law or medicine degree are also the kind of people this center aims to help.

Believe you me, not even having a respectable career, lots of money along with a beautiful wife-with-children have stopped people from jumping off buildings to get that heavy-demon of unfulfilled boyhood-dreams off their backs.

[Mushi]

I'd be happy to just be able to go to a maid cafe.

[Thingle]

I think I'll pass. No girl can outdo my eroge idols.

[Ronin Aquila]

Originally Posted by Mushi

I'd be happy to just be able to go to a maid cafe.

Oh, they're not confined to Japan alone, sir. They are popping up all over Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea, and its only a matter of time in the Asian Suburbs in the West.

Just to quickly clarify:

This camp if for both men AND women who need help , so it is NOT a place to fulfil chauvinistic or mysogynistic desires.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Me back in 2007

Your idea is unrealistic, and a solution to a problem which might exist, but if so, in a very small population. Further, it's not a good solution to that, as traditional counseling would be far more effective.

It was true then and it's still true now. Maybe this could work for entertainment purposes, but any theraputic value is dubious at best. Traditional psychotherapy will be far far more effective. Further, if such people are already unstable, you risk them taking things too far and assulting the staff. In short, you have the wrong target market in mind. It's an idea that might work strictly for entertainment, but as therapy?