[Random VN: Shoujo to Toshi no Sa, Futamawari]

I played this. The highlight of the VN was the first half (basically everything up to and including the first H-scene). It did a great job of showing two lonely individuals who find comfort and eventually love in each other's presence, and the way Mizuka slowly warmed up to Masumi was adorable.

I just found almost everything after that underwhelming. For almost the entire second half of the VN the relationship just seemed to stay at a stagnant high with neither any significant steps forward nor any major conflict between the two. And there seemed to be quite a few parts that went nowhere and served little purpose but to build up to the H-scenes. I enjoyed the drama in the last chapter though. This could just be a case of me having patience problems (I'm still a newbie to VNs and especially single-heroine VNs are an unexplored genre for me) and a fetish for melodrama. I still think this VN is something that older players in their 30's and 40's could find worth trying out.

[The Different Treatment of Sex Scenes: Japan vs. America]

As someone who admittedly skips the majority of H-scenes in VNs, I still wholeheartedly support their existence and I believe that they have more value than simply being porn. H-scenes are an excellent catalyst to show the fruits of the development of a relationship, to show the audience a major emotional and dramatic moment that occurs between the characters. Even the whole physical aspect, the meat-grinding and moaning and all that other stuff, can contribute to the emotional catharsis because this is a display of the characters as they break themselves free from their previous bonds that haunted them in previous chapters, as they display their feelings that were kept locked away all up until this moment.

Yes, most H-scenes are boring and I end up skipping them because they don't really move me (or there are simply too many of them in succession). But there are still good ones that contribute to the story and character development wonderfully, and I don't think it's necessary or even advisable to tone them down to more "socially-acceptable" levels. Sex should be viewed as a beautiful thing that is embraced by media as one of the facets of humanity, not always hidden away and restricted to nukige and pure porn films.