Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, a card-based RPG for mobile devices and PC that’s only available in Eastern countries for now, is really popular in China. However, the game is currently attracting attention not for its incredibly successful launch, but for a hilariously unfortunate “bug” that’s bolstering its online notoriety, for better and for worse.
It turns out that when female wizard characters take damage from magic, they make an “ahegao” facial expression. That word should be familiar to weebs and anime purveyors everywhere, but for the uninitiated, it’s an orgasm face. An onomatopoeia of a few Japanese words, ahegao roughly translates to “panting face” or “panting (facial) expression.” So, think of the face a female anime character might make when eating the best meal of her life (or having the most incredible orgasm ever) and you’ve got the idea.
This is what happens when women wizards are hit by magic. They orgasm, apparently, because I guess the pain feels good. Strangely, this only affects female characters. Males retain their stoicism even when taking damage.
According to Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad, developer NetEase has apologized, stating that it’s a “bug related to tongues clipping through chins.” To quell the outrage, NetEase has given players free in-game currency and items. But still, Harry Potter creator and transphobe J.K. Rowling’s Twitter mentions have been inundated with disgruntled fans, some claiming the situation is “pedophilic” because the characters are supposed to be underage.
We’ve reached out to NetEase and will update if we hear back. On Weibo, a popular Chinese social network like Twitter, the studio said the problem has been repaired.
Read More: Niantic Shutting Down Pokémon Go-Inspired Harry Potter Game
Harry Potter: Magic Awakened came out in September in Eastern regions only, so it’s likely you haven’t heard of it. Still, the RPG has found a massive audience in China, becoming the country’s most successful game launch this year. Unfortunately, it’s unclear if it’ll make its way west. And while there are Harry Potter games available worldwide on mobile, one by Pokémon Go developer Niantic is getting turned off in January 2022.