The Sunset Samurai

I recently played an old, obscure SNES JRPG called Eien no Filena/Eternal Filena. I beat it this morning before I went to sleep and I liked it. A lot.

It's about the titular Filena, a gladiator of the slave race/caste who fights for the entertainment of the evil empire, winning freedom and striking back at the empire at the behest of those enslaved and Filena's grandfather. Raised since birth to fight, Filena comes across as pretty awkward but not unfeeling, gaining a whore/concubine wife in the process and meeting a really weird cast of characters. Everyone in this game is kind of a huge asshole and nobody is entirely righteous.

Sounds basic, but here's what got me interested in trying it.

Filena is a woman raised as a man.

This game is based on a series of novels by the late Takeshi Shudo, the guy who would go on to create Team Rocket's motto amongst other things. Filena is a genderbending lesbian love story at heart and actually treats the subjects with a great deal of respect.

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