Japanese indie developer NogaFuni Bento recently announced their first visual novel game Please Serve Only the Most Delicious Garbage. The game isn’t even out yet, but it has been on the receiving end of very polarized opinions ever since its announcement on July 18, as some people argue that its themes are discriminatory or excessively cruel towards women. Additionally, the game’s current lack of an appropriate age rating despite its mature themes caused concern among some users. On the other hand, the developers have come out with a statement assuring users that they’re handling the game’s sensitive topics seriously and with purpose, rather than depicting cruelty for the sake of it.
Please Serve Only the Most Delicious Garbage follows the story of a humanoid sex doll called Miali, who is not only alive and conscious, but also becomes more intelligent the more garbage she eats. As Miali grows wiser, she also becomes more aware of the fact that you’re force-feeding her literal trash, and starts refusing to eat. Depending on the steps you take (and the junk you feed her), she may “evolve” into your apprentice, your sidekick, your lover, or even your worst nightmare.
The concept for the game was inspired by Daniel Keyes’ classic short story (and later, novel) Flowers for Algernon, which depicts the tragic story of a man who undergoes surgery to increase his IQ – his personal relationships worsening and his worldview growing darker as his IQ rises. The story also touches on themes like the treatment of mentally disabled people and their position in society. Presumably, as the first-person protagonist of Please Serve Only the Most Delicious Garbage, the player will be faced with similar ethical dilemmas when building their relationship with Miali.
However, over on X, the premise and story of the freshly announced game caused a wave of backlash questioning its morality. Some users pointed out that the game’s concept and oversexualized depictions of women are indicative of misogynistic undertones. Others raised concerns that the original story of Flowers for Algernon, which depicts a mentally disabled main character is being sexualized and made into a product to be consumed. Furthermore, the game’s “all ages” rating on Steam was brought into question due to the fact that the game’s central character is meant to be a living, breathing sex doll.
Addressing the backlash, the development team explained that the game’s premise is there to tell a story, rather than to enforce stereotypes or promote cruelty. On behalf of NogaFuni Bento, developer nogasukoto apologized for the commotion in an X post, assuring fans that the development team is taking the feedback regarding the game’s themes very seriously.
They promise to make sure the game properly conveys the intended message, while noting that there will not be any revisions or changes to the game’s content – everything will be kept as the devs originally intended.
“Through the story of a ‘sex doll that gains intelligence by eating trash’ our goal was to depict the experience of ‘how somebody born with undesirable traits lives their life.’ We had no intentions to promote discrimination or belittle any specific groups.” On the other hand, nogasukoto admits that, even though there were no harmful intentions from the developers’ side, with further exposure (and considering the game gained such a reputation at an extremely early stage), there is a risk that the game could be interpreted in harmful ways after its released. “Precisely because a lot of people find comfort in fiction – we are very aware of how great of an influence fiction can have on reality and the dangers of it.” While nobody can dictate how people are going to interpret their work, the developers promise that they will pay more attention to how they promote the game.
“We will be looking for appropriate means of expression for our game, so that the themes we want to portray are properly conveyed to the audience (and so that it doesn’t end up spreading as promotion of exploitative values). However, we have no plans to change the themes and messages we wanted to depict in this work.”
As for the game’s age rating, which was one of the bigger points of concern among users, the developers state that Please Serve Only the Most Delicious Garbage will undergo inspection by Steam once it’s completed, and that they will make a follow-up announcement once their game has been properly reviewed and rated. They also explain that, while the game does feature characters that have characteristics of adult love dolls, the game does not contain any adult content or suggestive scenes. The original mature content description on the game’s Steam page also matches with the creators’ statement: “Sexual content involves life-size “Lovely Dolls,” fictional adult products; no minors are depicted or involved in any sexual context.”
Moreover, the development team explained that they made sure to specify that the story of the game was inspired by Flowers for Algernon, and that they have a lot of respect for the original work by Daniel Keyes. On Steam, they also warn players to proceed with caution if they are uncomfortable with “depictions of cognition and transformation.”
While it ended up causing quite a stir over on Japanese X, the game could end up being a thought-provoking piece of art, if executed properly – and it seems like the developers are even more determined to deliver its message to their audience. However, as the game is only in the announcement stage and there’s still little information on its contents, it would only be fair to make that judgement after the game is actually released.
Please Serve Only the Most Delicious Garbage is currently in development for the PC (Steam).
