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A long-time Consumer's point of view: Sequels and Fandiscs


Clephas

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One thing I've noticed as a difference between the kind of VN consumer I am now and the one I was at at the beginning is that I fundamentally have difficulty mustering interest in sequels, fandiscs, and even anime continuations of my favorite VNs.

When I first started playing VNs, I was your classic fanboy.  If they put out some kind of new story related to a VN I'd enjoyed, I'd snap it up in an instant.  Before I started playing the untranslated, I would obsess over fandiscs and sequels to the point of staring at the Japanese sites for hours at a time. 

Now, once I've finished a VN, if there is a solid conclusion to the VN, I actually actively dislike standard sequels and fandiscs that come out later.  There are exceptions, such as where the setting itself transcends the cast of characters or where the VN in question was obviously sequel-bait or incomplete to the point where a fandisc was needed to fill in the blanks (ex: Akagoei).  However, those are just that... exceptions.

So what's the difference in me?  A lot of it is experience.  Most fandiscs are just excuses for extra h-scenes with no real added content (in the sense of enhancing the content of the original), and the sequels tend to ruin the best parts of the original games for me or reuse characters that sucked in the first place (Bansenjin).  Another part of it is that I've begun to draw parallels between the 'endless anime series' and the way some VNs seem to get endless amounts of extra content that are designed to waste the consumers' money.  Heck, Tsuyokiss is a perfect example of a series that went too far for too long, even going so far as to use a 'second generation' of characters living in the same homes, related to the same people. 

Majikoi is a rare exception, since its endless sequels have actually been well-filled out, interesting additions to a world that was already whacked-out to the extreme (the many varying ways Yamato lives based on who he picks in S and A are fascinating at times).  In fact, the original game, at this point, pales in comparison to the massive amount of content that came later, lol.  As I said, this is an exception rather than the rule.

I guess my point is that, while a sequel or a fandisc can sometimes be beneficial, my own attitude is always going to be skeptical at best, given my experiences.

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