Akane Kurashiki and the Humanization of Female Characters In Video Games

The popularity of video games continues to expand within both broader popular culture and academic research. Similar to the films and television shows before it, the medium has the ability to shape a player’s perceptions of the world around them, particularly with regards to gender. How women are framed within the narratives they center in, especially those who transgress, provides the opportunity to either subvert or uphold hegemonic understandings of gender roles. Scholarly research into the topic consistently highlights the presentation of women in video games as sexualized objects whose purpose is to serve as a reward or an obstacle for the male protagonist via their character designs or roles within the narrative. In this analysis, I wished to further the discussion surrounding female characters in video games, specifically the ways in which games can humanize their female heroines. To do so, I conducted both a qualitative content analysis and an auto-ethnographic exploration into Akane Kurashiki, the lead female heroine from the game 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors (999). The results underscored how both ludic and narrative elements, such as visuals, diction, multiple routes, and female narration, humanize Akane by framing her as a complex female character who possesses agency, motivations, and (moral) ambiguity.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Journalism and Mass Communication

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Moujaes, Maya Ruba 1998-

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Olson, Beth
• Yamasaki, Jill

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Gheni Platenburg

• Communication

Language dc:language.iso

English

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10657/19990

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/19990