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For Love of a Genre: A list of great Chuuni games


Clephas

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My favorite genre, as most of you probably know, is chuuni.  Chuuni is a genre where the protagonist is generally at the center of events, able to effect those events, and the story is generally filled with melodramatic plot and spoken lines, meant to be taken absolutely seriously.  An example of chuuni anime, for example, would be Fate/Zero or Code Geass (to give you an idea of what to look for).  Chuuni comes from the word 'chuunibyou', which is a common stage of development for teenagers, when they desperately want to believe they are more than they are and sometimes even convince themselves they are more than they are.  Many people who get addicted to fantasy and science fiction tend to get addicted during this stage of their lives, and it is also a stage of life that people generally look back on with embarrassment once they get over it.  This is the reason why the Japanese stuck 'byou' onto the end of the word, which has the same kanji as the one for disease, lol. 

 

For those who simply enjoy fantasy and melodrama for the wild ride it can give, chuuni is pretty much the ultimate genre.  Chuuni also tends to tackle philosophical issues that get left by the roadside as people mature, simply because people start thinking that it is somehow embarrassing or pretentious to consider such issues as if they were the first person to do so ever.  Not to mention that many of the best writers in the otaku industry write chuuni VNs, light novels, and manga.  This is because it is a genre, similar to the ero genre, which simply has none of the limits that other genres tend to put on themselves.

 

That said, here I am going to put down a list of chuuni VNs, both translated and untranslated, for the reference of fanboys.

 

Translated

Muv-luv Alternative

Fate/stay Night

Tsukihime

Comyu (partly translated)

Eien no Aselia

Yumina

Kagetsu Tooya

Phantom of Inferno

Demonbane

G-Senjou no Maou (yes, it is chuuni, and even though I don't personally like this game, it is nonetheless a technically good game)

Sharin no Kuni

Sekien no Inganock

Rewrite (yes, it is chuuni... it was deliberately written to be chuuni)

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Shikkoku no Sharnoth

Soul Link

Grisaia no Kajitsu

Cross Channel

Koihime Musou

Ayakashibito

 

Understand, I'm mostly listing all of these to give you a sense of just how wide the chuuni genre is.  While games like Comyu, Tsukihime, and FSN are most commonly labeled as such, games such as Sharin no Kuni and G-Senjou can be included for their degrees of melodrama, complex plot twists and turn-arounds, and attempts at hedge philosophy.  This should also tell you that a lot of translators are hidden chuuni fans, to one degree or another.  If nothing else, chuuni games are full of content that is well-considered and thought out, which tends to attract those with the passion and interest for translation.  To an extent, games like Hoshizora no Memoria also have chuuni elements, albeit not strongly enough to consider them primarily as chuuni games.

 

Untranslated

Evolimit

Bullet Butlers

Chrono Belt

Devils Devel Concept

Dies Irae

Draculius

Eden*

Abyss- Homicide Club

Futagoza no Paradox

Hapymaher

Ikusa Megami Zero

Jingai Makyou

Sinclient

Ruitomo

Soukoku no Arterial

Soukou Akki Muramasa

Sousei Kitan Aerial

Tiny Dungeon (entire series)

Tokyo Babel (non-ero, for those who prefer things that way)

Vermillion Bind of Blood

Yurikago Yori Tenshi made

Bloody Rondo

Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake (avoid this if you are scared of utsuge)

Danzai no Maria

Electro Arms

Gleam Garden no Shoujo

Gekkou no Carnevale

Gurenka

Hello,good-bye

Legend Seven

Owaru Sekai to Birthday

Para-sol

Shinigami no Testament

Shinjisougeki Carnival

Shuumatsu Shoujo Gensou Alicematic

Soranica Ele

'&' Sora no Mukou de Sakimasu you ni

Trouble@Vampire

Tsubasa wo Kudasai

Bloody Call

Gensou no Idea

Shin Koihime Musou

ExE

Gothic Delusion

Fortissimo (every version)

Heliotrope - Sora wa Shi ni Itaru Kami no Ai (this one is both an utsuge and has a sort-of hetare protag, so it is an acquired taste)

Innocent Bullet

Jesus 13th

Kajiri Kamui Kagura

Kouyoku no Soleil

Noel

Secret Game/Killer Queen (the entire series)

Seinarukana (Aselia sequel)

11eyes

Shoujo Shin'iki

3 Days

Tokeijikake no Leyline

Yatohime Zankikou

Zero Infinity

Izuna Zanshinken

8/13/2014 edit

Hello, Lady

Bradyon Veda

Soushuu Senshinkan Gakuen Hachimyoujin

Houkago no Futekikakusha

 

 

There are a few genres that chuuni is almost completely incompatible with, such as 'original' or pure moege, but to make a good story, with decent drama, it is almost impossible to avoid putting something with chuuni elements in it.  The truest sign of chuuni influence is melodrama, after all.  Even the nakige genre has chuuni influences, as can be seen in Clannad and Air, (the reincarnation issues in Air, and the general melodramatic emotion-pulling that made Clannad so popular).  For the fun of it, try picking up chuuni elements in your favorite anime and video games.  Don't bother with jrpgs though, since those things are mostly straight chuuni, lol.

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Didn't know this genre even existed... Well, from Clephas descripition it seems to be right up my alley.

Also, nice list of translated VN! I really like most of then. 

 

PS: I just took a look at Clephas' VNDB list... :blink:  Damn, I used to think I spent too much time on it...

 

it_hurts____by_zucco1-d6yz8a2.png

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lol, ya, that anime is about chuunibyou.  It both makes fun of it and portays it with some accuracy... I was like a quieter Dekomori when I was eleven.

 

Edit: Incidentally, my fondness for this genre is reflected by my dislike for protagonists who are helpless, stupid, or generally incompetent.  I can stand a foolish protagonist, if he has a redeeming quality (such as being really talented in one area, even while being as stupid as a stump), but completely average or simply stupid protags piss me off, lol.

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lol, ya, that anime is about chuunibyou.  It both makes fun of it and portays it with some accuracy... I was like a quieter Dekomori when I was eleven.

 

Edit: Incidentally, my fondness for this genre is reflected by my dislike for protagonists who are helpless, stupid, or generally incompetent.  I can stand a foolish protagonist, if he has a redeeming quality (such as being really talented in one area, even while being as stupid as a stump), but completely average or simply stupid protags piss me off, lol.

 

Haha, I know what you mean. Incompetent protagonists who just keep depending on others or going with the flow of events, without ever taking initiative - or worst, taking initiative and then just dragging his allies down -  tend to be really annoying.

 

Having said that, average guys don't bother me as long as they have interesting personalities - Okazaki Tomoya, Kyon and Takasu Ryuuji, for instance, are not particularly talented in any field, (with the exception of Ryuuji housewife skills, but never mind that) but I found then all likable characters.

 

 

Edit:  Looking back, I might have had something like chuunibyou when I was a kid. I didn't like stories that did not have some fantastical element, and lived in my own fantasy world. I would start making cool poses, or fighting invisible enemies when I was alone, albeit I was too timid to do it in public. No... I vaguely remember doing something of the sort when bullied. And I think I made some teacher really worried because i was "certain I saw a witch flying in a broom". Well... I guess all kids are a bit like that, right? Nothing to be embarrassed about, right?

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Reading the list of translated games, I've only yet to play one of 'em (Comyu) and only hate, really hate one of 'em (Phantom of Inferno... god, it's shit) so the genre might be pretty much up my alley, I think. Also, wouldn't Umineko be a bit of a stretch, according to the description?

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My only problem with your definition is that it produces a genre so large that it becomes almost meaningless.  For example, you include Trouble @Vampire up there.  But the main character in that game isn't really at the heart of things.  His 'specialness' doesn't drive the story, any more than the MC's specialness in your average moeblob game.  At the same time, you don't include Aiyoku no Eustia - a game almost pure chuuni. 

Both include melodrama and fighting and stuff, but the focus is very different

 

The heart of the Chuuni genre is "Screw you ordinary guys, I'm special!"  It needs to feature a seemingly or formerly ordinary guy that is actually special, and his specialness needs to be a driving factor in the storyline.  Without that, you've just got a typical shonen/seinen story with fighting.

 

Would you consider something like Hunter x Hunter to be chuuni?

 

 

Chuuni also tends to tackle philosophical issues that get left by the roadside as people mature, simply because people start thinking that it is somehow embarrassing or pretentious to consider such issues as if they were the first person to do so ever.

 

Aaaand this, I've really got to disagree with.  I find that most chuuni games, including almost all on your lists, tend to be very shallow when it comes to philosophy.  Sure, it may mention issues that adults tend to no longer consider, but they get no serious treatment.  Take the classic ethic dilemma of the runaway trolley - Do you kill one, or allow 5 to die?  There is no right or wrong answer, it is the reasoning behind the final choice that is meaningful.  But in chuuni, the answer is "I awaken my sleeping powers and save everyone!!!" 

 

 

The reason chuuni type stories work is because they ARE fun - you get to be someone special, the world does reolve around you, and you do win the girl/save the world/beat the baddie.  I just think that applying the term so broadly makes it hard to use in any meanful fashion (chuuni in Air?  Really?)

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Actually, the 'awaken my sleeping powers and save everyone' or 'somehow work hard and fix everything through some reckless action' cliche is pretty much universal to all otaku media, save for a few hard-core series and games amongst those that actually have a story.  It was born of raising an entire generation on that idea that everyone has infinite possibilities, an illusion that was impressed into my generation as well from a very young age.  In fact, the remnants of that type of education is a large part of why so many people fall into that state of obsession with personal greatness and melodrama around that age.  It is actually worse here, in some ways, because we don't have as much of a social consciousness  (because it has a bad habit of turning into amoral opportunism and hyperindividualism as people get older in our society).

 

And personally, I think even the most shallow rehashing of an old philosophical theme or trope has value, if only to make you look at it again, possibly in a way you personally can't hold to.  If nothing else, if no one asks the question, no one will ever try to think of the nonexistent answer (which makes for a boring world).  Also,  displaying the idea that people are capable of 'settling'  for an answer to that kind of impossible question shows off how scary people can be sometimes... something we tend to skip around a lot as we get older.  We prefer to think people are reasonable, after all.  I mean, Kiritsugu, if you look at him objectively, is a frigging scary guy.  He settled for an answer to one of those impossible questions and pursues his interpretation ruthlessly and without hesitation, after all.

 

Last of all... yes, chuuni is junk-food for those who occasionally want to get drunk on themselves or watch others do so.  Also, nothing is better for lifting you out of everyday life, lol.  I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs... so this kind of stuff takes the place of the human need for pleasure in me.  Well, that and ice cream and sushi.

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This explains a lot because I absolutely love these type of games/stories and I'm pretty sure I had a case of chuunibyou when I was younger, as well. I think it's the limitless and over-the-top nature that I find so appealing. And even if it's a little ridiculous and too good to be true I love how the story revolves around the protaganist and through sheer willpower they always end up saving the day somehow. Maybe it's kind of shallow (although I'd disagree) but when compared to other stories it's so less... boring. The whole "awakening to my sleeping powers" might sound kind of dumb but when you're in the moment and experiencing the protaganist's journey it can be quite an adrenaline rush.

 

Anyway, thanks for that list. All the VNs I've played on that list I have enjoyed greatly. I'll make sure to check out the rest.

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Also 'shallow' isn't really the right word for it.  A 'shallow' story is one where the process of progression from beginning to end is not believable ('within the setting' being the subtext here) or is overly simplistic.  Very few chuuni stories fail at that very basic level, though by definition they tend to have settings that have nothing to do with reality in a lot of cases.  The important issue is for the progression of events to make sense, along with the motivations of the characters.  There are shallow chuuni stories... but shallow chuuni is rarely interesting (Aion Garden, a VN I played years ago, is a great example of this).  The more involved and well thought out the setting is, the better the game/anime/vn/manga tends to be, as long as the writer has the basic skills necessary to provide a proper cause and effect relationship between the various events of the story.  

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Well that's why I'd agreed that they aren't shallow, otherwise I wouldn't have liked them in the first place. :P After all, some of my favorite games are listed in that list you put together.

 

I don't know why I never realized it before but I finally notice the connection that all those games share and why I enjoy them so much. I get why I like Japanese media so much now, lol.

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One of American action cartoons' greatest flaws is that their writers don't even try to take the story seriously.  Instead, they spend all their time trying to bludgeon the watchers with moral lessons or with a story where people mysteriously don't die even though things are blowing up all over the place (my first TV show was Tour of Duty, a seriously brutal show about the Vietnam War, so GI Joe seriously disappointed the bloodthirsty toddler I was).  That perception that animation is only for kids is the main reason why there is no large corresponding production mechanism for producing the same kind of material you see in Japan here in the west.  I imagine that will change as the people who lived through the late eighties as young adults die off, but that is still a long way away. 

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If anyone knows where I can find similar material in the West I'd like to hear it, whether it be books/movies/etc. Saying that anime-related media is better than anything over here might sound foolish but maybe it's just because I have such a difficult time finding stories with similar themes in the West. I wish this genre was more common (even though I only just now understand its existence). I know that it probably only targets a specific kind of fetish but I have been fascinated with it since I discovered Japanese media.

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With actual straight fantasy, our books are better than theirs (straight literature).  Fantasy and sci-fi were first established as real genres here, after all.  Though, we build our characters differently, mostly because we think of human nature in a significantly different manner, and our political socialization is radically different.  If you want something intellectual with really interesting ideas in science fiction, I suggest reading CJ Cherryh's Foreigner series, and for chuuni-style fantasy, the Night Angel series by Brent Weeks is pretty good.  For high fantasy, though this series is one of those you either love or hate, the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Stephen Erikson is a great series to try.  For something closer to the chuuni ideal in science fiction, the Kris Longknife series by Mike Shepherd is a great choice.  To be blunt, there are lots of great books out there that could be considered chuuni in the fantasy/sci-fi areas... it is just our animation and movies that are way behind on that.  As the Dungeons and Dragons movie before the turn of the century demonstrates, directors and screenwriters here have a lot of trouble taking fantasy seriously enough to create something that holds that odd combination of absurd versions of reality and melodrama into a non-comedy film.  The Game of Thrones TV series is an example of America's favored attitude when it comes to fantasy: a gritty realism that does away with the kind of over the top melodrama you see in chuuni while trying to retain the fantasy feeling. 

 

Edit: It is the 'taking the over-the-top aspects seriously' part of things that people here have trouble doing the most.  The era of action heroes kind of killed Americans on the idea of stuff like that.

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Thanks, I'm sure we do have great works that succeed at creating this chuuni-style that you have proposed. Unfortunately I am ignorant (partly my fault for never searching hard enough) of their existence. I enjoy the visual medium (maybe more than books) and anime has done a great job pandering to my interests, but I have never liked Western movies a whole lot. What you describe makes sense, they are definitely missing something and most audiences aren't looking for what I want so it's understandable. I should take it upon myself to broaden my own horizons because even though these themes are prominent in anime they very likely exist in some form here as well.

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Understand, in the US, what makes it onto visual media has to have very, very wide appeal.  When niche stuff does make it onto the screens, it usually doesn't do very well, both because it doesn't get much advertising and because people don't take it seriously.  Example: the sci-fi movie Serenity.  Easily one of the better science fiction movies I've ever seen in the West, but because it has a really weird setting (for one thing, America didn't dominate the universe) and it doesn't strive to explain every aspect of the technology, it was ignored entirely by everyone except fans of Firefly, the TV series it was related to. 

 

This is fairly typical of this kind of material in visual mediums in the US.

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Agreed, I've learned to accept that my interests don't always align with what the majority of my fellow Americans prefer when it comes to visual mediums such as film. This is why anime has its appeal for me because the inherent nature of anime is that it panders to a niche, and they support it very well. Without the support of fans anime wouldn't exist and that type of support doesn't really exist in America. Hopefully this market grows in the future because I'd love to support it. Unfortunately I have to do the searching by myself because I don't always share the same interests as those around me.

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I didn't mean to say that all chuuni games are shallow, but that their philosophical issues are treated shallowly.  "Sleeping powers awaken!" can make for an exciting climax and wonderful fun story, but it completely escapes any attempt at addressing the greys of the real world.  And in many cases, that's the point.  The real world isn't much fun, so we go to stories for excitement.  Why bring the dull parts in with you?  Of course, some of us like those dull parts.  I thought Psycho-pass was a damned good anime, and it did a wonderful job of stressing many of the issues that could arise in that world.  On the other hand, Aiyoku no Eustia smothered its critical philosophical issue in whiny angst, then didn't even have the protaganist make the critical choice in the end, anyway!

 

And I meant to address that seperately from any complaints about common tropes or the like.  I have no problem with a story that is built entirely out of common storylines and characters.  In fact, if you are familiar with the Campbellian archetypes, it's hard NOT to see all the classical story elements everywhere.  But if they are well done, and the characters well developed, and the world well thought out - you get an excellent product.

 

I'd say the biggest thing holding back American comics and cartoons from matching up to the best Japanese ones is rather simple.  In America, the stories are never allowed to end.  Captain America will never stay dead forever, the Powerpuff Girls never grow up, etc.  Whereas VNs are almost always limited in scope, giving a solid beginning, middle, and end.

 

 

The discussion of Western content with chuuni-like elements is enough for an entire thread of its own.  I do agree with many of your recommendations.  Good stuff there.  I'd suggest Larry Correia's stuff (especially Monster Hunters), too.

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That's true.  American TV and comics are all about making profit, once they become popular (usually because they've been sold by the original artist/writer).  As such, letting them have an ending is an unforgivable sin, from a business perspective, if they are still popular. 

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Having a story with a beginning and an ending is a big plus, from a Japanese perspective, and the more series a company puts out, the more side-goods they can sell (this is where most of the non-advert profits come from).  This is one of the big reasons why it is rare for a big ongoing series to get started over there.  One Piece, Fairy Tale, Bleach, and Naruto are exceptions to the rule, because of this business model.

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One Piece, Fairy Tale, Bleach, and Naruto are exceptions to the rule, because of this business model.

 

It's also because those are created within one of the only model that actually encourages long-running stories in Japan (prepublication in magazines).

 

That's a great list (although a bit long, I'm kinda lost), I usually like chuuni stuff a lot, so I'll know where to look for.

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I'd say the biggest thing holding back American comics and cartoons from matching up to the best Japanese ones is rather simple.  In America, the stories are never allowed to end.  Captain America will never stay dead forever, the Powerpuff Girls never grow up, etc.  Whereas VNs are almost always limited in scope, giving a solid beginning, middle, and end.

 

Nah, the main thing holding them back is that no one reads them and that they're treated like IP farms nowadays. Sure, lots of mainstream superhero comics never end, but there's plenty of great series that do have a beginning and an end (off the top of my head, Y the last man, Preacher, Hitman, 100 bullets, From Hell, etc.), miniseries designed to have a story with a clear end (Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen are the clear examples) or you can just jump out when they switch creators.

 

Like I said before, personally I enjoy this kind of stories, but don't expect any deep analysis of, well, anything. They're designed for "emotional engagement," after all, like Bioware rpgs. I think western media (and yes, this includes comics... even mainstream ones) do a better job of touching on subjects in an interesting way. MLA *might* be the exception imo, but it's as subtle as a sledgehammer to the balls.

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lol, ya, that anime is about chuunibyou.  It both makes fun of it and portays it with some accuracy... I was like a quieter Dekomori when I was eleven.

 

Edit: Incidentally, my fondness for this genre is reflected by my dislike for protagonists who are helpless, stupid, or generally incompetent.  I can stand a foolish protagonist, if he has a redeeming quality (such as being really talented in one area, even while being as stupid as a stump), but completely average or simply stupid protags piss me off, lol.

Those are the worst, ever. Protagonists who aren't good at anything and have been crowned as kings of being annoying, but they have unexplainably large harems because being stupid is a turn on huh D: I tend to pass on shows like that, or were the girls have to protect the main character because he's useless xD 

I must agree with Zucco though, Tomoya and Ryuji were really likeable for me D:!

I've read some of the translated ones, and I have to finish (and begin) the rest of them D:! The un translated ones are out of my reach at the moment though ;_; Chuuni is a genre I really like, but I haven't found many anime or manga with it as the main setting, so this list is really helpful when you don't really know where to search anymore~!

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