Leaderboard

Romance is a sign of immaturity, lol. More seriously, you've just repeated the scream of about 80% of all heavy VN addicts (those who have passed 100 played, at the least) in the US... everybody kind of wants the high school settings and high school romance to sort of fall by the wayside for a while. Unfortunately, most JVN companies make most of their money off this type of VN. It is only recently that the market for high school sol has begun to slump enough that the fundamentally conservative Japanese industry began to take notice. You can see this in the lower overall numbers of releases over there as well as the increase in attempts to make games that go past just providing the fake high school romance experience. The breakdown in traditional methods of finding a marriage partner in Japan (arranged marriages, omiai, etc) and the rise of romantic marriages in Japan is one of the prime reasons for the collapse of the birthrate. Romance in marriage was a concept that was virtually nonexistent in Japanese culture until the twentieth century, and even now, marriage meetings/omiai (parents arranging for their children to meet and see if they are compatible) are pretty common in Japan. There is a belief that 'romance' in the sense we think of it, only really happens in high school and the early twenties. Edit: The other reason for the fall of the birthrate is an increasing number of younger people just thinking they can't afford to have kids.

Wow, you're like the ~3rd person I've ever met who's watched Chuck. As for Toradora I do want to say that I think the melodrama worked in it as at that age things tend to feel far more significant than they actually are, especially when it comes to emotions. Feel free to link those threads, but I'm pretty new to anime and I've basically not read any manga, so it's distinctly possible I won't be able to speak to any of it.

That's a bit tricky as I actually don't tend to look for romance these days. I also can't really pin down exactly what does or doesn't make for good romance. Looking for examples from other media, the first thing that comes to mind is Toradora (thank you other thread on this site for bringing that to the front of my mind.) For the most part, I found the romance in books to be generally more compelling than in VNs, though it's been a while since I read a regular book and any example I have from those may or may not actually hold up with me today. One more unusual example I have is the TV show Chuck; while it didn't contain many romance scenes, the ones it had tended to just work so well. I also perhaps should specify that I think many VNs tell love stories well and it is specifically the romance aspects of those stories that VNs tend to fall short on.

it's from the same creator, right? I love Golden Time, so I second this Gosick is love, Gosick is life. Prepare to cry a lot!

golden time

Not sure if this counts or if it is the kind of thing you're looking for but Sharin no Kuni has it's own FD with epilogues for all the routes.

Utawarerumono is my choice here. Might not like everything about them, but they are bloody magnificent. I just couldn't stop playing them.

You have fine taste in anime my friend! Aside from Gosick. The Book of Bantora is also a underrated and a anime that is almost unheard of... Its a story of people dying and turning into books instead of dead bodies... Pretty Interesting Story... And when you read someone's book, you'll able to witness someone else's memories.....

Good choice! That anime is such an underrated gem really worth watching for its engaging narrative, lore and character development.

Hmm... Why don't you try Sakura Sakura I think it has a built in sequel or after story of sorts on the routes that you played/chose... And it has 2 protagonist for different scenarios. Princess Evangile is mostly romance but tackles some issues on gender integration and it has a Fan Disc too! My Girlfriend is The President is more comedy oriented, a Parody of Obama and Putin in their Female versions. And it comes with a Fan Disc too! Fureraba is a pretty decent high school romance Eroge! Has its own Fan Disc as a DLC for the after story.

Likewise. I have a bit of experience with VNs in the past and would like to share that experience with people here.

Happy 38th birthday to our mod @Clephas there, and I hope you'll have a good year ahead.

Perhaps you could say

Maybe you should read NTR or vns with scat to get a fresh breath of air.

I hilariously ended up getting more into the "high-school-romance-genre" after going through the Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side series and knowing the struggle of saving up money for a yukata or patiently waiting for a flea market sale in order to get nice clothing for cheap, so every time a moege girl shows up in a yukata or in nice casual clothing for a date i go all "YEAH YOU GO GIRL".

The height of SOL sales in JVNs was 2008-2015. Since then, there has been a gradual decline in the numbers of such games produced, their sales, and their quality. This is due to a change in demographics as well as changes in the average consumer's financial situation. The increase in the sales' tax has also induced otakus to be more careful about which games they buy this last year or so (though this is a marginal effect overall), meaning that the more borderline SOL-only companies have gone silent or are producing only slowly with contractor employees only. Companies that have a more varied lineup seem to be doing fine, but the companies that only do SOL high school romance aren't doing well. Edit: As a side-note, more and more, you have companies with no real writing talent that try to make plotge or add plot to their SOL games... and it tends to be wince-worthy. Edit2:... because they don't follow through.

I agree with the sentiment, I stopped reading teen based romance vns because of that. in all honesty it takes forever and it's filled with tons of pointless banter that comes off as filler and tires the reader out.

not same, get out boomer

Utawarerumono or Psycho-Pass I'd say both are pretty good, I only played a bit of Shibuya Scramble and it seemed to be decent but never got around to finishing it.

I'll make a prediction here, so read once you've finished:

428 is GREAT. Just go fo iit, you'll not have any regrets

This can be from whatever angle you want: Physical Traits, Body Type, Personality, etc. Just whatever just the character(s) that specifically appeal to your personal tastes and why. There are a lot of characters I like but if I had to narrow it down to my type I'd say Kotori from Rewrite, Naruko from Bokuten, and Rina from Fureraba. Some traits between the three I like are: * All are generally energetic carefree characters and know how to give and take jokes pretty well. * At the same time, they're clearly are smarter/down to earth than they seem and know when to be serious when needed. (Many energetic characters end up being too immature, dumb, or loony) * All 3 are childhood friends or some kind of childhood friend equivalent. While Himari was the true childhood friend of Fureraba, Rina eventually took her place and knew the MC well before the story started. In all 3 cases, I liked the bond the characters were able to create and show before the story starts. Kotori and Naruko in particular have very deep relationships that are more interesting the more you learn about it. * I like their casual clothes/general fashion sense is fairly simple but still looks pretty/cute. * Outside Kotori and Naruko being brunettes none of the 3 are that similar in terms of physical traits. One of the main reasons I liked Kotori a lot from the start cuz... basically all her physical traits are stuff I really like. Naruko and Rina still look nice but Naruko is maybe a bit too smol and Rina a little too thicc.

Dead waifu, best waifu. ^^ EDIT: I guess I should contribute in a meaningful way too. This thread made me think a bit and I still came to the realization that I less have favourite types as much as I have those that don't work for me, like most airheaded heroines for example. Also, maybe it's my perspective being warped by yuri, but I usually see romance through pairings more than just heroines. A good romance arc and chemistry with the protagonist will be crucial on whether I care about the girl in the end. Although, if I had to pinpoint something, I'd say that my favourites are more mature/reliable heroines and those that are cold/hostile at first but show decent depth and warmth further down the line. Using the reliable template of Fruit of Grisaia, Amane and Yumiko are my types way more than all the other heroines in the series. If we go into visuals, I guess my main hooks would be dark hair, glasses and slim figure. Thus, probably the heroine everyone but myself hates, Flowers' Rikka Hanabishi, would be as close to my "ideal" as I can think of right now. I also adore the pairing itself, but once more, I'm probably the only one.

Hyun-ae is the best VN character, because she isn't a one-dimensional trope turned into a person.

This VN is pretty old, but certainly fits the bill - Kotori Love Ex P (English) It's a combination of Kotori route from Da Capo, her fandisc stories and after story that you are looking for. Basically you don't need to read original Da Capo game, and you can ignore IF (Innocent Finale) alternative route since it's drama oriented and meaningless. Hani Tsuma (Jap) is good too, although after stories is not that long.

Girls that puke on me

Stolen from Scientific Diagrams that Look Like Shitposts