By: Krow Smith | @coffeewithkrow

MATURE CONTENT WARNING – This post contains content that we at The Anime View do not think is suitable for everyone. Subjects or possible triggers include grooming and abuse of power. By clicking “Read More,” you understand that you will encounter such content in the discussion here. Reader discretion is advised.

Fire Emblem Three Houses is a fantastic game. One that is easy to invest many hours into only to uncover more details or new ways to play. However, after all these years, I still have a gripe that mars my full enjoyment of the game. That being the initial age of some of the romanceable characters and the power you, the main character, have over them as their professor.

Let’s start with the age of these characters when you first meet them. Most of them are under 18 with a couple of them being as young as 15. While you aren’t explicitly flirting with the students and you can’t get a romance scene with them until after the timeskip (the point in the game where it jumps 5 years ahead), you are still doing things in order to raise their affection for you before that timeskip.

As innocent as it may seem on the surface, I would argue it isn’t when you consider the fact that most people playing already have an idea of who they’ll romance when they start the game, especially if it’s not their first playthrough. This results in a sort of grooming period of giving gifts and having tea with your students before the timeskip to increase their affection for their professor.

Another thing that affects my full enjoyment of the game is the fact that there is an abuse of power. So, even if you romance a student that is 18 or older, they are still a student and you are their professor. This creates a power dynamic as most of them look up to you, look to you for guidance, and put their trust in you. I believe it is wholly inappropriate for professors to woo their students in real life, regardless of the age or social standing of the student, so it’s not exactly the most comfortable experience to have while playing the game.

These are things I rarely hear anyone talking about when discussing the game, and I haven’t seen any articles on it either. I’ll see discussions on who the best romanceable option is, but hardly anything about the dubious nature of romancing these characters. Not to mention the fanart!

I understand that this is fantasy and fiction, but I’ve seen romantic—even sexualized—fanart of an underaged, student character being paired with their professor before the timeskip. While I’ll only see responses saying how good the art is.

I think that’s what bothers me the most: the fact that the community doesn’t caution others on this potentially triggering subject. I’m not saying you shouldn’t enjoy the game or shouldn’t play it how you’re going to play it. What I am saying is there should be some more critiques about this popular game. There should be more comments about how this dynamic between typically underaged students and their professor is really inappropriate.

Rather than accept that this is “just a game” and allow such things to desensitize us to this behavior, I feel we should be aware of these problems and to call it out. I also believe it is imperative to preface the game in reviews as having such potentially triggering or upsetting content and not simply herald it as a wonderful game without going much further than that. Considering that it came out in 2019—post the #MeToo movement—I think it’s important to give such a warning and I don’t think it’s too much to ask for, either.

I still play Fire Emblem Three Houses and I’m certainly not done sinking hours into it, I just think it’s good to take a step back and look at the media we consume through a more critical lens. Especially when it’s something we enjoy because oftentimes that’s how we’re primed for desensitization.

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Copyedited by: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting