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General discussion (archive)Any of you guys read visual novels?(24 posts)(24 posts)
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Posted April 30, 2012
I have Hakuoki for my PSP, and liked it. I think it's the most high-profile release of a "pure" visual novel in the west. A lot of people seem to think it's some sort of a fluffy girls romance, but it's actually a historic drama/horror with a romantic side plot.
Posted April 30, 2012
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bansama: Do you know what "otaku" means? The original, Japanese connotation, that is. Not the connotation that self-proclaimed US "otaku" have given it. Here's a hint. It's not a label to be proud of, unless you like people assuming you're totally depraved. Well, PC gaming is viewed as worse than "otaku". And that can only be down to the reputation of eroge.

Basically, eroge have cast a negative light on anything to do with PC games (and those who play them). The immediate reaction of most, when it comes to PC games, is that they are nothing but deviant porn. This is one of the reasons (the whole console cartel theory being the other main one) why the larger (console) game selling stores refuse to sell PC games. For the record, VN's on consoles always have the pornographic content removed. Those on PCs, sometimes have both family and adult versions, but that doesn't matter, the "family" versions may as well not exist.

PC gaming as far as the majority are concerned equals porn "played" by sexual deviants who are likely to abduct and molest young children as a result, regardless of the reality. That, ultimately wouldn't be a problem if stores simply refused to sell games in the VN genre -- easy to spot too, considering they have a whole different ratings body; CERO won't touch them. But no. Every single PC gaming genre is tarnished with the same brush.

Outside of Tokyo and perhaps Osaka, it will be almost impossible to find B&M stores that sell any non-adult/non-eroge PC games - with perhaps the sole exception of PC depot that sells a small handful of Capcom and EA titles. And if you do find a PC game store, it's most likely only going to filled with the pornographic VNs.

Now, I've been in Japan for over a decade and in all that time, I've only ever found *one* store that actually sold non-eroge games (most were naturally imports but they also had a fair amount of localised ones too) but sadly, even they don't do that anymore. They have gone from two entire floors of PC gaming goodness, down to two shelves, hidden in a corner - with the rest only available online.
On a tangentially related note, I'm curious if much of Japan thinks its infamous examples of hentai are as weird as much of much of the West thinks they are.
Posted April 30, 2012
Well, it´s more or less the same concept we had with the 80´s text adventures.
Anyway, talking about this, they are trying to get funds to make again one of the best sci fi games of the 80´s, Portal

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subgames/rob-swigarts-portal-1986-reborn?ref=live

It was an amazing game and story, I hope they get funded... Anyway, I see it a very hard one...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subgames/rob-swigarts-portal-1986-reborn
Posted April 30, 2012
Utawareumono is the only one I've played. It was fairly enjoyable.

I have Aselia the Eternal, Fate/Stay Night, and Tsukihime on my plate to play eventually.
Posted April 30, 2012
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Aaron86: On a tangentially related note, I'm curious if much of Japan thinks its infamous examples of hentai are as weird as much of much of the West thinks they are.
That depends on what you define as infamous examples I expect. Of course, that'll still be a difficult one to answer. I would say the following are worth noting:

- The governor of Tokyo considers all forms of sexual content in anime, manga and games to be depraved and damaging to the well-being of youths. However, he has no such issues with live action sexual content and is the author of some rather disturbing pornographic novels, but doesn't consider novels to be damaging to youths.

- Recently, when anime is "censored" via the so-called God-rays or rays-of-light, or with cute little mascots, it's not as a result of TV guidelines forcing them to censor inappropriate content. Instead, it is simply a marketing ploy to get fans to purchase the excessively priced Blu-ray editions. For that matter, censored content isn't necessarily even sexual in nature.

- The TV watchdog gets a rather large number of complaints about late-night anime. Given the nature of the complaints, the large majority of them can certainly be written off as being made by people who complain for the sake of complaining. And not by those who actually watched the content and found it to be distasteful.

- The whole lolicon/schoolgirl thing isn't actually the sole result of lecherous old men craving young flesh. There used to be rather strict laws the prevented the display of public hair (it was actually air-brushed out of images), thus women shown in pornographic material often had the impression of being far younger than they actually were. Further, the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover caused "issues" (to put it lightly) which resulted in laws that ultimately banned the depiction of adults (specifically women) engaging in sexual activity. It was a poorly worded provision that didn't also ban said depictions of those who were not of adult age.

Thus the whole lolicon/schoolgirl as sexual object was to circumnavigate these issues. The issues no longer exist, but the damage has already been done, the and roles set in stone.
Posted April 30, 2012
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bansama: That depends on what you define as infamous examples I expect.
I was actually thinking of stuff like tentacles, but your post was good. Thanks.

Edit: If this thread turns south because of me then I apologize in advance.
Post edited April 30, 2012 by Aaron86
Posted April 30, 2012
I occassionally like visual novels.

If you do like them, you need to familiarize yourself with this extensive database of visual novels:

http://vndb.org/
Posted April 30, 2012
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Aaron86: I was actually thinking of stuff like tentacles, but your post was good. Thanks.
Ah, well, it's also worth noting that "tentacle monsters" and the like most certainly were originally used as a way of circumventing censorship -- as you may know, genitalia cannot be shown (it'll be mosaiced out in live action movies, regardless of whether it is simply nudity or sexual in nature. Thus, if you wanted some form of sexual content in anime, it was easier to allude to male genitalia using said tentacles.

For that matter, one manga artist uses female demons with tails as the shape of the tip of those tails, can often be used to allude to the female genitalia under certain circumstances while also skirting around the new rules set forth by the governor of Tokyo and his band of anime, manga and game hating cronies.

Of course, that tentacle stuff in live action, is just plain gross. So I expect it's safe to say that a large number of Japanese would consider it to be rather tasteless.
Posted May 13, 2012
Half bump, half progress update.

I finished Emi's route in Katawa Shoujo, then got my first bad end (apparently the one for not tripping any girl's route in the first week.) Currently on Shizune's route. Will probably do Hanako's next.
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General discussion (archive)Any of you guys read visual novels?(24 posts)(24 posts)
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