juss100 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 I don’t know what the average age of visual novel fanatics is. At 38 I’m probably tilting heavily on the wrong side of it, but soldiering on with my passions regardless. I’ve been something of an anime fan for over ten years now but in the last few years I’ve been struggling to keep up with the explosion of new series and I’ve found dipping casually into past classics is just as rewarding as voraciously devouring everything. I’ve always enjoyed an eclectic range of stuff – I think –and my favourite shows have ranged from Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion and Rurouni Kenshin (that recent movie – glorious!) to Haruhi Suzamiya, Bakemonogatari, Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena. At one point in my life I thought I’d watched quite a lot, but actually I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’ve been itching to get into Visual Novels for years but the poor availability of translations as well as the time factor put me off a bit – I had other doorstop books to read like Game of Thrones. I tried getting into Light Novels but they don’t feel any fresher than western ones. Visual Novels, however, are a different beast entirely and although I’ve so far only read a few– older ones like Eve: Burst Error and Divi-Dead - I’m fascinated by what the form can do, who there’s a need to approach the narrative differently from a written novel (again, I’ve read so many, I still love them but are less drawn to them) and the way one approaches reading them, in-between a book and a TV show, makes for a markedly different but just as rewarding experience. Anyway, because, like most people, I like writing about my experiences with new things, I’ve decided to try and read VNs a little systematically so that I can see how they’ve progressed over time and to blog my thoughts as I go along – I’m not just going to read older VNs though because that would stupidly ignore the fact that we’re probably in the golden age right now … the only more recent VN I’ve read is Planetarian which was formally and experientially much stronger than the others that I’ve read. Anyway, hi! I look forward to contributing a few thoughts and hopefully helping to bring VNs to the West. Forgetful Frank, Darklord Rooke, Suzu Fanatic and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asonn Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Welcome to Fuwo and good luck on your VN endorsement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narcosis Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 And what's wrong with liking this type of medium at this age? I'm only slightly younger than you, so there's that. If you want to talk about vn's and stuff or just looking for some recommendations, hit me up through PM And welcome, indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleshogun Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Welcome to Fuwanovel. As for the age, don't worry because here we had 47 years old member who work as the translator (Sorry) and some active member was at least around 30s iirc. Good luck on your VNs reading then here. Oh, if you need recommendation just ask us here and hope you enjoy yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ariurotl Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Welcome, fellow oldtimer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okarin Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Hi bloke, I'm 33 and I've been drawn into the geeky side of life since my early years, with quite some help from my beloved brother. I guess that if I hadn't turned out this way, I'd have become a jock or something. Oh, and allow me this commentary: Game of Thrones has been derailed and probably won't ever have an ending anytime soon, it has turned into a bill printer for Mr. Martin. And that's sad. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzu Fanatic Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Welcome! I'm going to be 38 in a few days, so don't worry about feeling like odd man out. There's no harm in enjoying what you enjoy - as far as anyone knows, we only get one life - might as well have fun in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidbatman Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Dont worry. @Darklord Rookeis approx. 73 years old. Narcosis, Darklord Rooke, Gibberish and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dergonu Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Hey, welcome! Meh, when it comes to stuff like this, age hardly matters. As long as you enjoy it, that's all that should matter tbh. Hope to see you around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred the Barber Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Haha, that thread title is going to bring all us older folks out of the woodwork to say hi. Welcome, and I hope you enjoy your time here. Consider filling out a VNDB and linking it to your profile, and don't hesitate to ask for recommendations — we're an opinionated and largely surprisingly positive crew. I don't know if this is the golden age of VNs, but we're certainly at a watershed moment in the history of English translation of VNs, with the number of releases increasing exponentially and the quality increasing as well, mostly due to the official localization companies stepping up their game, with most of those releases targeting fairly recent works. There's never been a better time to pick up this hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erogamer Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 And here I was thinking it was mostly college age folk. Nice to see some other older people that enjoy this type of media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoastDrifter Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 In my honest opinion, you're never too old for something just as long as you enjoy what you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkZedge Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Heya and welcome to the Fuwa forums, I don't really think age matters when it comes to your hobbies or things you enjoy, life is too short to be worrying about things like that so why not just do what you love to and enjoy it? If you need help or recommendations don't hesitate to hit me up See you around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juss100 Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 Thanks for the positive comments everyone - I guess I'm too concerned when I'm visiting my parents and they complain about my anime watching habits because cartoonz iz for kidz ... I also went to an anime group once and everyone was 20 yrs old to my 35. I have no problem socialising with any age group, don't get me wrong, but you can't help but notice that it's considered to be a hobby that attracts younger people generally... There seems to be quite afew 30 somethings + knocking about though, so hi!!! Quote Oh, and allow me this commentary: Game of Thrones has been derailed and probably won't ever have an ending anytime soon, it has turned into a bill printer for Mr. Martin. And that's sad. Just my opinion. When it got to the point that he allowed the TV series to take precedence over the novel as main source material was when I jumped ship and started agreeing with this viewpoint. it may be that the final two novels are still very good, but as someone who had been enjoying the story unfolding in prose and, in part, the surprises that came with it, I feel a little kicked in the teeth. As you say, it's all about which medium will generate the most money. One thing that attracts me to VNs is that there isn't that kind of culture around them, it seems, and perhaps when someone produces one they have a little more artistic freedom. I don't know, I can't wait to explore some of the newer stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoastDrifter Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 26 minutes ago, juss100 said: When it got to the point that he allowed the TV series to take precedence over the novel as main source material was when I jumped ship and started agreeing with this viewpoint. it may be that the final two novels are still very good, but as someone who had been enjoying the story unfolding in prose and, in part, the surprises that came with it, I feel a little kicked in the teeth. As you say, it's all about which medium will generate the most money. One thing that attracts me to VNs is that there isn't that kind of culture around them, it seems, and perhaps when someone produces one they have a little more artistic freedom. I don't know, I can't wait to explore some of the newer stuff! That is certainly true with what you said. A lot of American TV adaptations can easily stray away from the original source material purely for production purposes and making money if the adaptation in question becomes really popular, while Japanese adaptations almost always stay true to the source material all the way through regardless of that. I'm not saying they're perfect, but the differences between the two production methods can be easily pointed out. However, in regards to having more artistic freedom, I've read that the anime and manga industry in Japan has more strict rules and deadlines for everyone to meet and follow compared to the more lax North American TV and literature press industry, where everyone is allowed to work at their own pace. I could be wrong about this because I'm no expert in media production. I'm just a writer after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulless Watcher Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 I'm a fucking bizarre socially backward son of a bitch, but I haven't really outgrown any of my interests. Well, aside from maybe Yugioh and trains. Well anyways welcome to the funtimes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infernoplex Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Well, hello there, dear oldtimer You'd be surprised how much of you older guys are into anime and VNs ... I don't find those two hobbies to be age-restricted so you have no reason to feel "too old" in order to enjoy any of them ... 1 hour ago, juss100 said: I also went to an anime group once and everyone was 20 yrs old to my 35. I have no problem socialising with any age group, don't get me wrong, but you can't help but notice that it's considered to be a hobby that attracts younger people generally... While that is true, that generally younger people are into these mediums, I think that from my experience there's a huge matter of chance when it comes to age statistics in anime, manga and VN groups ... in my country, the most prominent fan-organization that deals with anything Japanese (anime, Japanese culture, etc.) consists of many different age-groups and the leaders of that organization are all 30+ who mostly finished Japanese-related studies and/or are heavily involved into promoting anything Japanese. Also, a lot of members are in the age group of between 25-35, I think that almost half of the entire group are all 30+ so it's a matter of chance will the anime group you are joining have more or less of that age group. I personally don't think it's awkward when people 40+ enjoy anime because I simply don't find it to be age-restricting as I already said. Some of the best anime titles (mostly oldies) can be enjoyed by all age-groups ... Since I am also planning to start up a blog one day, I was kind of curious about your Wordpress blog so I decided to check it out since you linked it here ... From it I have learned you are also into JRPGs which is very much what I kind of expected since usually anime and VN fans also like JRPGs. And I am also in that group I think that exposure to anime made me a big fan of 2D, 2.5D, 3D Fighting Games aswell as JRPG type of games (and later on, also a fan of VNs) ... I was kind of interested into the matter but it seems you didn't yet post any opinion on any of the JRPGs so I decided to read your reviews about Divi-Dead (it's the only title I know of amongst these 4 you wrote about, I didn't read .Moon, Planetarian nor Eve) ... One word of advice, if you intend on reading a lot of VNs in your free time (when you are not on the job and have spare time), a great idea is to make a VNDB account ... When I first started reading VNs (back in 2010), I didn't know I was going to be pulled into it that much and never bothered to create an account there but as soon as I returned back to that hobby I discovered how useful VNDB really is for me, it is definitively worth it to have kind of a backlog of what you read already and it's a great tool for searching for new VNs because of tags, language and other filters available ... Anyways, I wanted to leave a reply on the Divi-Dead review but since you split it into two (1,2) I will post my comments here for both of them: Quote Halloween is swiftly approaching and I therefore decided to be seasonal and jump ahead slightly, past Ku-No and straight onto Divi-Dead Ku-No? Is that an anime or a VN? Did you mean YU-NO? I know of a VN by that name which fits in the description of an older VN (considered a classis aswell) ... Quote Unfortunately, my initial enthusiasm for this title has quickly dwindled since the opening sections of Divi-Dead are a complete mess and there’s really very little, narratively, to help this game stand out from other eroge titles. I can pretty much agree with this to some degree, the entire beginning is kind of very slow paced and very boring at times, I remember being annoyed by the entire map system in this VN and having to click 100 times on all the same places until the time and day progressed further ... Quote Yet, I’ve read that this does become significantly more interesting as the plot develops so I shall try to remain patient. I will have to be honest here and say that this is kind of true because I did find something interesting in the plot after like a lot of crawling through the questionably translated text and some rather funny H-scenes I loved the setting and the occult theme behind it because I love mysteries and suspense, but my final opinion on this VN is that it didn't deliver my expectations at the end ... And I was very confused at some of the stuff that happened later on and I've discovered that there were some plot developments lost in the translation (I kind of noticed that translation seemed off at times already) ... Quote Already we’ve got hints that our protagonist has a mysterious past and that there’s a mysterious scent being passed around that suggests black magic – it could entertain if I doesn’t become a device purely to facilitate sexual encounters as it does in Bible Black My memory of Divi Dead has kind of faded right now (I've read it like in 2011 I think) and I don't remember the scenes with mysterious scent but I do remember some fantasy black magic stuff aswell as badly scened rituals at the end ... But I do have a very good memory of Bible Black (my first read VN that also got me into the genre itself) and the black magic in it (the whole occult theme of it) and comparing them now, my opinion is that Bible Black has done it 10 times better even though BB is considered a nukige unlike Divi-Dead which tries to have some kind of a good occult mystery plot ... Heck, I even enjoyed the plot (if one could say that it exists) of BB more than I enjoyed Divi-Dead (hence the reason why I rated Bible Black pretty big on my list because I love the VNs who can be both a good nukige and good in plot-wise sense), and I could go into analysis of why do I feel like that about it ... Quote Yet, it turns out that the obnoxious click click click on areas of the map gameplay doesn’t further my desire to know more either and I quickly turned to a walkthrough so I’d know where to go in order to trigger the next event. And here we come to one of the reasons why I didn't like Divi-Dead ... If I have to use a walkthrough just in order to play the VN normally, then that's a minus in my opinion, whenever I play or read something, I tend to play it without any walkthroughs and if a game requires one just in order to be playable, than I am better off not reading that VN at all ... When I played Divi-Dead, my first ending was I think the "A" ending (if I remember correctly, it has A, B, C endings and all 2x times) ... At the end I didn't finish off all the endings, I simply couldn't torture myself anymore with it and at the end I had a pretty low opinion of Divi-Dead ... Quote But there’s a saving grace so far. The artwork is terrific and the drawn scenes are probably the most intricate and evocative I’ve seen so far. Well, I guess you could say that for that time the artwork really was terrific but I didn't find it that amazing really ... BB for example has aged very well in my opinion and I found it more interesting than the art in Divi-Dead though I am aware that Divi-Dead is older than BB ... Though I guess you could say that the delicate scenes (bloody, ritual, not H-scenes) were done very good in DD (for that time). Quote Pornography is particularly difficult to do persuasively because you both have to set up a credible scenario in which one guy sleeps with lots of different girls and remains an interesting character to relate to and you have to not slow down the narrative action too much with too many laborious sex scenes – pornographers inevitably fall into the trap of thinking that more is more with sex, but if you want a narrative to go the distance then actually much less goes a lot further. This is true and that's why my favourite nukiges are the ones that can provide both the good story and good H-scenes (story-wise VNs usually have sex as a means to conclude the story at the end, not as a way to make progress) ... It's obvious already that I am kind of a BB fan and that I consider it to be a nukige that has somewhat connectable H-scenes which fit in the setting of the VN, for some reason I didn't find H-scenes in it to be forcable like in some other VNs, I know it has lots of rape and some rather fetishy stuff but all in all, it's what I consider to be a good nukige. Unlike Divi-Dead which has sex scenes but I found them rather to be either boring or funny (I remember having a laugh at some of these H-scenes in DD, like the librarian scene and some others, comedy gold XD) ... Quote I guess that sex and horror are generally felt to go together but the problem with this, for me, is that it’s hard to immerse oneself in a pleasurable fantasy world when bodies are being dismembered, or – all too frequently in hentai – people are being forced into sexual scenarios against their will. About the dismembered part - you ain't seen nothing yet, try reading a guro type of VN (I agree, it's not fappable) ... As for the forcible part, you are talking about rape I guess and I have to say that so far the only VN where I was okay with rape was Bible Black ... Later on when I read some other titles like Sensei 2, My Sex Slave is a Classmate and some others, I found rape to be quite unappealing in those VNs, it just isn't on the level of BB ... Quote Until the final twists come at the very end, you’re never quite sure where you are with Divi-Dead and so the sex scenes almost act as a grounding point, giving you time to breathe and almost feeling as if something is understood. At the end, I don't think I understood much about Divi-Dead, there are some very good plot twists at the very end that I am not going to spoil here but overall some things were left unexplained (I forgot now which, I read it long ago) and the sex scenes didn't really mean much to me here, I didn't even find them as a way to advance the plot, I remember being quite surprised how sudden some of these scenes were, granted - there were some that fitted perfectly but some of them just didn't stood out for me ... Quote Essentially, in this game, one doesn’t explore different routes to experience different storylines, but to understand and experience the whole of one. This is a great innovation but it’s also ties into Divi-Dead’s greatest flaws horribly, since other gameplay mechanics were thought out so terribly that to replay the game in order to fill out gaps in character and story are a massive chore. This is the best paragraph of all, I agree with this fully, now you reminded me why I never finished all the routes xD ... That's one of the reasons why I decided to read explanations on the Internet after finishing two routes ... I just couldn't play it anymore, everything about Divi-Dead was kind of not meeting my expectations ... And even though I am a completionist I just couldn't finish it after all those hours spent trying to get it till the end xD ... Your conclusion remarks are very true ("could-have-been") and that's similiar to what I am thinking of it. Though I can't agree with the last part: Quote And it still basically works as a sex game, if that’s what you’re looking for. I didn't find any of the scenes to be fappable, pretty much not a VN I'd read for titillation. Kind of a long post, sorry I wanted to give some feedback for one of your reviews juss100 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ittaku Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Welcome! I'm probably one of, if not the, oldest active member of the forum. I'm 46 and have been reading VNs for about 20 years and watched anime for about 15 years. The passion has waxed and waned over that period but never died out completely. Additionally I've become a translator for the fun of it and as a way of keeping my Japanese skills up. I guess the only thing is my career and family life was well established before any of these pastimes became a big part of my life, having a full time unrelated career, wife and two kids. That's probably a better order to do things in since a hedonistic lifestyle of just doing the things you enjoy is better earned than a way of life to begin with - it's hard to turn things around later on. On the other hand there's nothing stopping you turning something you're really passionate about into a career. No matter how bad you are at something, if you're passionate you end up becoming good at it, though there's always the danger that turning a hobby into a career is a good way to lose interest in it. As you might be able to tell from what I'm saying there's really no right or wrong way to approach or do anything in particular, so long as it works for you in some fashion. Suzu Fanatic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juss100 Posted November 2, 2016 Author Share Posted November 2, 2016 13 hours ago, Infernoplex said: Well, hello there, dear oldtimer You'd be surprised how much of you older guys are into anime and VNs ... I don't find those two hobbies to be age-restricted so you have no reason to feel "too old" in order to enjoy any of them ... WSince I am also planning to start up a blog one day, I was kind of curious about your Wordpress blog so I decided to check it out since you linked it here ... From it I have learned you are also into JRPGs which is very much what I kind of expected since usually anime and VN fans also like JRPGs. And I am also in that group I think that exposure to anime made me a big fan of 2D, 2.5D, 3D Fighting Games aswell as JRPG type of games (and later on, also a fan of VNs) ... I was kind of interested into the matter but it seems you didn't yet post any opinion on any of the JRPGs so I decided to read your reviews about Divi-Dead (it's the only title I know of amongst these 4 you wrote about, I didn't read .Moon, Planetarian nor Eve) ... One word of advice, if you intend on reading a lot of VNs in your free time (when you are not on the job and have spare time), a great idea is to make a VNDB account ... When I first started reading VNs (back in 2010), I didn't know I was going to be pulled into it that much and never bothered to create an account there but as soon as I returned back to that hobby I discovered how useful VNDB really is for me, it is definitively worth it to have kind of a backlog of what you read already and it's a great tool for searching for new VNs because of tags, language and other filters available ... A I love long posts and thank you for looking at my blog/responding. That's awesome! Not sure I always have the time to respond as fully as I like these days (I seem to be spending my free time glued to a ...novel! But why else am I here and writing up my thoughts on these things? My thoughts on Divi-Dead are coming from a place of naivete with the genre - that's partly why I wanted to write them, so I can look back in 5 years and completely reassess my initial impressions (and already I found my opinion of Divi-Dead shifting as I read it). You mention Bible Black a lot - I think I began to play Bible Black in 2011 when I first found out about the form properly. It wasn't a good choice of first visual novel and whilst I wouldn't say that it put me off them, it didn't do much to bolster my enthusiasm at the time. It was very long and kept leading me down routes that had me raping people. How do I feel about rape in video-games/novels that are semi-titillating? I don't know - it's not very titillating so I'm still unsure as to the actual sense behind it. It's not a mainstay in western pornography, although male-dominance often can be. I don't feel it should be removed entirely anymore than I think murder or other horror/gore should be, but I do think it should be used more cautiously and thoughtfully than I felt it to be in BB at the time. It's interesting and I think more people should be open to discuss it (this is coming from someone who has a close friend that has been through these kinds of experiences). Quote Since I am also planning to start up a blog one day, I was kind of curious about your Wordpress blog so I decided to check it out since you linked it here ... From it I have learned you are also into JRPGs which is very much what I kind of expected since usually anime and VN fans also like JRPGs. And I am also in that group I think that exposure to anime made me a big fan of 2D, 2.5D, 3D Fighting Games aswell as JRPG type of games (and later on, also a fan of VNs) ... I was kind of interested into the matter but it seems you didn't yet post any opinion on any of the JRPGs so I decided to read your reviews about Divi-Dead (it's the only title I know of amongst these 4 you wrote about, I didn't read .Moon, Planetarian nor Eve) ... I think I'd intended to spend a lot of time exploring JRPGs but switched to Visual Novels as I think, ultimately, it's a more interesting storytelling medium. I'm a fan enough of Final Fantasy to have dabbled and played some of a few titles (I, III, VI, VII), but only completed a few of them (IV and XII, XIII-2) and I still haven't got around to Chrono-Trigger.... it's something that's on the wishlist, unfortunately! I'm a big fan of the FF XIII games from a gameplay and narrative perspective ... possibly a controversial viewpoint, but there we go!! Quote And here we come to one of the reasons why I didn't like Divi-Dead ... If I have to use a walkthrough just in order to play the VN normally, then that's a minus in my opinion, whenever I play or read something, I tend to play it without any walkthroughs and if a game requires one just in order to be playable, than I am better off not reading that VN at all ... When I played Divi-Dead, my first ending was I think the "A" ending (if I remember correctly, it has A, B, C endings and all 2x times) ... At the end I didn't finish off all the endings, I simply couldn't torture myself anymore with it and at the end I had a pretty low opinion of Divi-Dead ... I'm tolerant of this. I've played tons of western adventure games (graphic and text), wandered around, got stuck, bored, bogged down with the story, left them, returned 2 years later and ended up using a walkthrough anyway. I suck at the gameplay aspect sometimes and it's not because I lack patience. I've played Monkey island games with groups of friends and we've still resorted to walkthroughs. I often get help defeating tough bosses in RPGs. I wouldn't begin Dark Souls without a walkthrough-crutch. I'm not sure what I'm saying, but I'm fairly comfortable that part of the game is failing the game - and whilst I agree that one could say "it's not much of a game then", I'm interested in VNs from a broader sense in that they work as something more than a game, because they are also a storytelling device.(true of western AGs as well, to a large extent, though they are less successful narratively.) Quote Well, I guess you could say that for that time the artwork really was terrific but I didn't find it that amazing really ... BB for example has aged very well in my opinion and I found it more interesting than the art in Divi-Dead though I am aware that Divi-Dead is older than BB ... Though I guess you could say that the delicate scenes (bloody, ritual, not H-scenes) were done very good in DD (for that time). I'm judging this from the standards of the day. I think it looks gorgeous in terms of colour and detail, but also the shots are thoughtful and well composed. I guess Divi-Dead is below the minimum of what we'd expect these days. I actually thought some of the H-scenes were pretty good whereas usually they bore me. Quote About the dismembered part - you ain't seen nothing yet, try reading a guro type of VN (I agree, it's not fappable) ... As for the forcible part, you are talking about rape I guess and I have to say that so far the only VN where I was okay with rape was Bible Black ... Later on when I read some other titles like Sensei 2, My Sex Slave is a Classmate and some others, I found rape to be quite unappealing in those VNs, it just isn't on the level of BB .. Is it Saya no Uta that's meant to be really disturbing. I can't wait! - I'm a movie horror buff although I do draw the line at the Human Centipede or whatever it is. if something can successfully create an atmosphere of dread, I do find that more rewarding than gore gore gore. Quote Ku-No? Is that an anime or a VN? Did you mean YU-NO? I know of a VN by that name which fits in the description of an older VN (considered a classis aswell) ... haha I meant Yu-No! I've started it and am about 10 hours in. It's rather brilliant, actually. Quote I didn't find any of the scenes to be fappable, pretty much not a VN I'd read for titillation. Maybe that was an overly generous comment - I think the games sexual world is fairly consistent and alluring, including the darker aspects. Some of the sex is sweet and some quite raunchy. At the end of the day, if we want pure fap then I think pornsites have that covered these days anyway. For a game made in the late 90s it may have been appealing. 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juss100 Posted November 2, 2016 Author Share Posted November 2, 2016 13 hours ago, ittaku said: Welcome! I'm probably one of, if not the, oldest active member of the forum. I'm 46 and have been reading VNs for about 20 years and watched anime for about 15 years. The passion has waxed and waned over that period but never died out completely. Additionally I've become a translator for the fun of it and as a way of keeping my Japanese skills up. I guess the only thing is my career and family life was well established before any of these pastimes became a big part of my life, having a full time unrelated career, wife and two kids. That's probably a better order to do things in since a hedonistic lifestyle of just doing the things you enjoy is better earned than a way of life to begin with - it's hard to turn things around later on. On the other hand there's nothing stopping you turning something you're really passionate about into a career. No matter how bad you are at something, if you're passionate you end up becoming good at it, though there's always the danger that turning a hobby into a career is a good way to lose interest in it. As you might be able to tell from what I'm saying there's really no right or wrong way to approach or do anything in particular, so long as it works for you in some fashion. I wish I could actually turn something I loved into a career. I tried to do that when I became a librarian, but it didn't work out because you don't get to read books you love, just manage or run a service *sigh*. To turn reading visual novels into something profitable would be ...impressive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valmore Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 I'm almost 40. I like what I like. Okarin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forgetful Frank Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Welcome to Fuwa~! Age? Bah! I don't believe age should ever put people off of hobbies they may be interested in. No age is too hold in my book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infernoplex Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 12 hours ago, juss100 said: You mention Bible Black a lot Ahaha, yeah, I know, it was just for my previous post because I saw you also mentioned it in your review so I guessed you are already familiar with Bible Black It was just for comparison purposes 12 hours ago, juss100 said: It wasn't a good choice of first visual novel and whilst I wouldn't say that it put me off them, it didn't do much to bolster my enthusiasm at the time. It was very long and kept leading me down routes that had me raping people. How do I feel about rape in video-games/novels that are semi-titillating? I don't know - it's not very titillating so I'm still unsure as to the actual sense behind it. It's not a mainstay in western pornography, although male-dominance often can be. I don't feel it should be removed entirely anymore than I think murder or other horror/gore should be, but I do think it should be used more cautiously and thoughtfully than I felt it to be in BB at the time. It's interesting and I think more people should be open to discuss it (this is coming from someone who has a close friend that has been through these kinds of experiences). This is an interesting paragraph for me ... It seems we both had our first experiences of the VN medium reading the same title but maybe unsurprisingly at the end we had a different opinion of it (unsurprisingly - because BB is not exactly considered to be a very good introduction to the medium and it falls in the category of "maybe you will like it if you are into that, that and that") ... For me it was a good introduction because it was something that perfectly matched my mood at that time (I was in middle school and several coincidences made BB a very interesting VN for me) ... Looking at it now, if you read this in 2011, that means you were 33 years old back then and I can definitively see maybe why this title wasn't that much appealing to you ... It's not exactly a VN liked by everyone, some people like me considered it to be very good and some people consider it to be a rather shitty nukige with lots of mindless rape-fest ... I am not going to go into full details here, I have posted several of my review-opinions in the comments on this forum and I could look for them if you want And I am open on discussions about it aswell as anything that we both read (there isn't much on my list because I am a very slow passionate reader, you can check out my VNDB but it's a pretty poor list right now) ... 12 hours ago, juss100 said: I think I'd intended to spend a lot of time exploring JRPGs but switched to Visual Novels as I think, ultimately, it's a more interesting storytelling medium. Oh, you are definitively right about that, VNs are an interesting storytelling medium Albeit many of these Japanese VNs simply aren't well made in literary aspect which is kind of a shame ... true, there are some interesting titles in that sense but the great amount of them just aren't that well written ... And there's also the problem of the translation, from Japanese into English, there's always bound some meanings to be lost in the translation so I can't really judge the literary aspect of the VN unless I read it in its original form ... 12 hours ago, juss100 said: I'm a fan enough of Final Fantasy to have dabbled and played some of a few titles (I, III, VI, VII), but only completed a few of them (IV and XII, XIII-2) and I still haven't got around to Chrono-Trigger.... it's something that's on the wishlist, unfortunately! I'm a big fan of the FF XIII games from a gameplay and narrative perspective ... possibly a controversial viewpoint, but there we go!! As for FF, I have only played some older FF games like FF VII and VIII (I do have plans to start playing some of these freshly PC ported older FFs that are now on Steam sometimes in the future) ... As for Chrono-Trigger, I don't think I will play it unless it comes to PC one day (as you might be guessing right now, I am a PC guy xD I had several consoles earlier but I sold them all at the end) ... I am right now into Tales of Symphonia, that's something I am playing when I have the time and I am also intending on playing Tales of Zestiria and The Legend of Heroes Those are some of the JRPGs that I am into right now ... It's no wonder you are mentioning the narrative perspective, that's something the JRPGs are known for There's that game developer on Youtube that made very good explanation on differences between JRPGs and western RPGs (I happened to like it how he presented it ) ... As for walkthroughs, I do agree on the notion that when you are stuck in some game you should use one but I personally use it only as a last-stand, albeit I agree there are games out there that simply must be played with a walkthrough (and I happen to approve of it in some games but mostly I try to avoid it if I can help it) ... Speaking of the story aspected games, since I am noticing you are into that, do you happen to like Telltale Series Games? xD Have you ever played any? I remember playing a lot of mouse-and-click advanture games (like Sam & Max for example) before starting VNs and I happened to like it very much at that time because I am also a story-type fanatic 13 hours ago, juss100 said: Is it Saya no Uta that's meant to be really disturbing. I can't wait! - I'm a movie horror buff although I do draw the line at the Human Centipede or whatever it is. if something can successfully create an atmosphere of dread, I do find that more rewarding than gore gore gore. Saya no Uta is very good in that aspect from what I have heard but I haven't yet read it so I can't say much about it I know Kara no Shoujo is also supposedly very dark but I can't confirm for it either because I haven't yet read it ... And, oh yeah, Higurashi! (as you guess - I didn't read it ... BUT I DID WATCH THE ANIME OF IT XDDD And if the VN is anything like the anime, then it should be good I guess ) 13 hours ago, juss100 said: haha I meant Yu-No! I've started it and am about 10 hours in. It's rather brilliant, actually. Yeah, I guessed good then, it was a typo on your blog I have heard pretty good stuff about YU-NO but sadly I can't read it really ... I tried several months ago and just couldn't make myself play it, that DOS-type interface and everything just puts me off and after 2-3 hours I just couldn't bear to read it anymore ... And that HUUUGEEEE walkthrough for it O___O ... No, thanks, I believe it's a very good classic VN but I just cannot go through it and that's the only VN I fully dropped from the beginning ... 13 hours ago, juss100 said: At the end of the day, if we want pure fap then I think pornsites have that covered these days anyway. For a game made in the late 90s it may have been appealing. For that time it probably was I was speaking of hentai porn aspect, not in general porn aspect, I am not really sure how many people find hentai VNs to be fappable at all (I'll be honest here and say that there are several VNs that I have read that I considered to be fappable xD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juss100 Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 On 11/2/2016 at 10:56 PM, Infernoplex said: Oh, you are definitively right about that, VNs are an interesting storytelling medium Albeit many of these Japanese VNs simply aren't well made in literary aspect which is kind of a shame ... true, there are some interesting titles in that sense but the great amount of them just aren't that well written ... And there's also the problem of the translation, from Japanese into English, there's always bound some meanings to be lost in the translation so I can't really judge the literary aspect of the VN unless I read it in its original form ... One thing that interests me is that you have this medium that was used primarily for pumping out pornography and somehow some enterprising people have turned that around and made it about storytelling. The naysayers point to how much cheaply written, shitty hentai there is, but I'm impressed because a lot of it isn't, but due to the need to make money the long, complex novels had to include pornographic sex scenes anyway and it seems that VNs generally still do almost as a nod to the past. I'm in no doubt that a large amount of VNs are complete rubbish but that's true of books and movies too, we just have a lot more people out there doing their best to filter out the good stuff for us (and imposing their own tastes upon us in the process.) I don't agree entirely about the translation thing - I've read a lot of great fiction in translation and whilst a lot of nuances are always lost, and you never quite get to appreciate the finest qualities of the language, if a translation is good you'll still get good literature, just not something that is 100% the original author's vision . Quote As for FF, I have only played some older FF games like FF VII and VIII (I do have plans to start playing some of these freshly PC ported older FFs that are now on Steam sometimes in the future) ... As for Chrono-Trigger, I don't think I will play it unless it comes to PC one day (as you might be guessing right now, I am a PC guy xD I had several consoles earlier but I sold them all at the end) ... I am right now into Tales of Symphonia, that's something I am playing when I have the time and I am also intending on playing Tales of Zestiria and The Legend of Heroes Those are some of the JRPGs that I am into right now ... It's no wonder you are mentioning the narrative perspective, that's something the JRPGs are known for There's that game developer on Youtube that made very good explanation on differences between JRPGs and western RPGs (I happened to like it how he presented it ) ... That sounds really interesting -I think one of the best games I ever played was Planescape Torment, which is another "does it work better as a game or just a story" one. The other Infinity engine games play better as games, for sure - and also have great stories - but maybe Planescape was a better game for having such brilliant writing?? Which game developer is this? Ahhhh I wanna play The Tales and Legend of the heroes games. If only I had stupid amounts of free time I guess I'll stick to FF XV when it comes out, and I only got about 20% through witcher 3 *sigh* Quote As for walkthroughs, I do agree on the notion that when you are stuck in some game you should use one but I personally use it only as a last-stand, albeit I agree there are games out there that simply must be played with a walkthrough (and I happen to approve of it in some games but mostly I try to avoid it if I can help it) ... Speaking of the story aspected games, since I am noticing you are into that, do you happen to like Telltale Series Games? xD Have you ever played any? I remember playing a lot of mouse-and-click advanture games (like Sam & Max for example) before starting VNs and I happened to like it very much at that time because I am also a story-type fanatic I was actually thinking of taking another look at these. I got angry with Telltale after they dropped trad point and click because I really enjoyed their Monkey Island revival. But now I'm playing the new King's Quest game and, actually, I'm feeling that reviving old classics like this is a bit redundant anyway. I guess the question should be whether Telltale tell good stories? Hard to be interested in Minecraft though!!! And I'm a bit indifferent to the way they are mopping up popular franchises, but I played the first Borderlands episode and thought it very well told. Quote Yeah, I guessed good then, it was a typo on your blog I have heard pretty good stuff about YU-NO but sadly I can't read it really ... I tried several months ago and just couldn't make myself play it, that DOS-type interface and everything just puts me off and after 2-3 hours I just couldn't bear to read it anymore ... And that HUUUGEEEE walkthrough for it O___O ... No, thanks, I believe it's a very good classic VN but I just cannot go through it and that's the only VN I fully dropped from the beginning ... I feel your pain. I'm torn between whether it's ingenious or just tedious to play, in a way. It's all certainly very innovative. I decided not to bother to play it though and am just watching youtube videos of it. It's depressing seeing how very LONG they all are, but I'm finding it quite gripping and love the way these games subtly screw over your expectations towards them at every possible turn Quote For that time it probably was I was speaking of hentai porn aspect, not in general porn aspect, I am not really sure how many people find hentai VNs to be fappable at all (I'll be honest here and say that there are several VNs that I have read that I considered to be fappable xD) The jury is out ... When the text is really bad in a hentai game I find it a bit of a turn off and often the images match in trying too hard to be explicit. But sometimes it works! I'm actually finding Yu No to be pretty sexy, it's biggest crime is trying to find too many opportunities to show off cleavage/panties. Infernoplex 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flutterz Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Welcome to the forums! Hope you enjoy your stay! 38 is super young, don't worry Have a moe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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