This work has not been peer reviewed by the University of the Philippines Rainbow Research Hub or its project members. The views expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Hub or its project members.
2026 Philippine Queer Studies Conference
POSTER PRESENTATION
The festive asexuality in Romantic Killer (2022) as a disruptor of otome amatonormativity and compulsory sexuality
Neika Beyonce S. Gaviola
The dominant and hegemonic ideologies in Japan still thrive on amatonormativity, compulsory sexuality, and the centrality of men in shaping female subjectivity. In response, aromantic and asexual concepts have the radical potential to subvert identity politics and politicize normative flaws present in queer studies and address its lack of academic undertaking. Japanese media as a space of contention—anime, in particular—reflects representations of social norms and subsequently allows itself to counter the embedded hegemonic gender ideals. Combined with the patriarchal ideas perpetuated by otome games, this necessitates a deep dive into Romantic Killer (2022), a shounen anime with shoujo tropes that parodies high school otome games. With Romantic Killer as the research object, this study aimed to bring to light the disruptions of otome amatonormativity and compulsory sexuality in the Japanese high school space through discourse analysis and empirical-based positionality from related literatures. Using Camil Valerio Ristè’s theoretical arguments on the Japanese asexual spectrum, I drew a Japanese asexual reading combined with Tina Richards’ expositions of the patriarchal high school otome game. The comedic layers in the text, parodying gender and romance-based social norms in Japanese high schools, convey the anime’s festival mode as proposed by Susan Napier. My findings postulated that character agency through asexualized narratives in Romantic Killer challenges the emerging amatonormative tropes and elements, disrupting the male-centric Japanese values of the otome.
