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In your opinion, do visual novels portray romance realistically


ratboi

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19 minutes ago, SeniorBlitz said:

Mep, I can't say for sure since I saw romance originate from unlikely places in real life, so I don't think it is a straightforward thing, so "realistic" is very subjective in that sense.

But I think Visual Novels can write more let's say more "Down to earth" romances (Like Noiz route in DmmD Re:Connect, the first part felt very natural, well the second turns into a BDSM thing, but, that is not the point.), but, like I don't think that genres like Moege or Charage have the intention of portraying realistic romances and only "Moe" romance that have normally the focus on the whole "cuteness" of it and not the believability of it.

Like we could apply the same logic to modern day Soup Operas, do they realistically portray romance? Even though some Soup Operas have this very utopic and dramatizied couple that feel like they came right of a fairy tale?

That's true too. Realistic is a very subjective word, and I'm having quite a bit of trouble finding a better-fitting one to use in this context. You also have a good point that there's a wide range of genres within VNs and they all tend to portray romances in a different way. I guess it all depends on the reader and what they consider to be realistic; some people in this thread seem to be a bit more cynical and think romances in real life often contain betrayal, transactional relationships, and so on, whereas others find it to be a positive thing that can develop in many different ways or what have you.

Bearing that in mind, it's hard to give a definitive answer whether VN romances are "realistic" or not, I suppose.

also it is soap opera, not soup opera. now I am hungry, though. Thanks, SeniorBlitz

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11 hours ago, Zander said:

 

also it is soap opera, not soup opera. now I am hungry, though. Thanks, SeniorBlitz

That's the joke.

Also welcome. ;o)

 

10 hours ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Literally. And Herpes. And Syphilis... (etc., etc).

And the worst one. CHILDREN.

Jk, I don't hate kids.

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41 minutes ago, SeniorBlitz said:

And the worst one. CHILDREN.

Jk, I don't hate kids.

Definitely this considering every single protag and ever single main girl act like they have no idea that contraception is a thing.

Protags also have a weak pullout game too

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1 minute ago, Ranzo said:

 

Protags also have a weak pullout game too

They have like all the time in the world, since they can chose where to cum, inside, outside, the floor, the roof, etc...

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To be fair to VNs, the behaviors that result in good endings aren't terrible strategies to take in real life romance: being there, being kind, and paying attention to someone's needs are all real dating skills.

I don't know what skill it is when you fuck a cat person or a mud golem or a robot dog though.

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But yeah no it's not really realistic but that's mostly the same with most romance movies, books, and shows.

It always does kind of bother me though when two characters get together and go we'll be in love together forever.

There is always a part of me that goes really? Are you sure you are going to be together forever, even though you guys are still only in high school?

For me what I would like to see would be a sequel to a romance vn that shows the couple dealing with their life through college, work, whatever while trying to keep their romantic promise alive.1

Maybe the protag would break off from the girl and go to college and then a new romance story would begin there

1(I know after story kind of did that but something a little better)

 

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2 minutes ago, eris said:

To be fair to VNs, the behaviors that result in good endings aren't terrible strategies to take in real life romance: being there, being kind, and paying attention to someone's needs are all real dating skills.

I remember a VN (or a game, don't remember the name) where acting kind will led you to a bad end actually, which is kind of dumb. xoD

 

3 minutes ago, Ranzo said:

here is always a part of me that goes really? Are you sure you are going to be together forever, even though you guys are still only in high school?

Moege logic.

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9 minutes ago, Ranzo said:

But yeah no it's not really realistic but that's mostly the same with most romance movies, books, and shows.

It always does kind of bother me though when two characters get together and go we'll be in love together forever.

There is always a part of me that goes really? Are you sure you are going to be together forever, even though you guys are still only in high school?

For me what I would like to see would be a sequel to a romance vn that shows the couple dealing with their life through college, work, whatever while trying to keep their romantic promise alive.1

Maybe the protag would break off from the girl and go to college and then a new romance story would begin there

1(I know after story kind of did that but something a little better)

 

I feel like the way clannad handled Tomoya and Nagisa In after story was pretty realistic. There WERE problems that had to be overcome. Then again, I am a massive key fag and clannad is my favourite story ever so I may just be saying that out of my love for it aha 

Edited by ratboi
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21 minutes ago, eris said:

To be fair to VNs, the behaviors that result in good endings aren't terrible strategies to take in real life romance: being there, being kind, and paying attention to someone's needs are all real dating skills.

I don't know what skill it is when you fuck a cat person or a mud golem or a robot dog though.

All it takes is perseverance and a whole lot of elbow grease

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Most should be realistic, but since they need people to actually like it, fiction always tends to be a bit (or too much) romanticized. They take something real and exaggerate it in a way that it become unrealistic.

So the answer is yes and no.

Beware that japanese VNs are made... In Japan. You can't really use your country's logic in a work made in a completely different country with a completely different culture, even more so when almost half of the young population of said country are still virgin. So yeah, it may be unrealistic for you or me, but the world is wide.

In other words, as someone already said, the concept of realism in this case is too fragile, everyone has a different point of view somewhere even if both think of it as realistic or unrealistic.

 

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10 minutes ago, Ranzo said:

Definitely this considering every single protag and ever single main girl act like they have no idea that contraception is a thing.

Protags also have a weak pullout game too

Oh, right, i have to debunk this.

Pulling out is NOT a safe way of contraception, at all, actually, EVEN Before you unleash the pastry cream into the bun oven, you have some cream that escape from it, no matter your skill.

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59 minutes ago, ratboi said:

I feel like the way clannad handled Tomoya and Nagisa In after story was pretty realistic. There WERE problems that had to be overcome. Then again, I am a massive key fag and clannad is my favourite story ever so I may just be saying that out of my love for it aha 

Not in tomoyo after's sugary ending. 

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8 hours ago, WinterfuryZX said:

Not in tomoyo after's sugary ending. 

I’m mainly speaking of tomoya and Nagisa

Although I won’t lie. The fact that they get married when tomoyas like, what, 19, is kind of strange. Not that it ruins the story, but I guess in japan people just get married a lot younger.

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Just now, ratboi said:

Although I won’t lie. The fact that they get married when tomoyas like, what, 19, is kind of strange. Not that it ruins the story,

but I guess in japan people just get married a lot younger.

Nope, in Japan people don't get married at all, you know, shortage of natality in japan and all that thing. 

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Back to the original question, the answer for me is no. VN romance doesn't reflect reality, but rather the ideal of the readers.

Finding a girl with looks and personality that suit your taste, being able to slowly learn about and spend time with each other, then invariable encounter a wall for you (and her) to overcome so that you both mature from the experience while affirming your affections for each other. Forgive me for stereotyping VN routes (and the majority of love stories), but this is more or less the ideal romantic development that almost never happens in real life, yet people wish it would.

That's the reason why it's so widespread in VNs. Some romances are done better or more realistically than others, but they're still exaggerations of real-life at the bare minimum. And as was previously mentioned, VN protagonists are often allowed to disregard the consequences of many of their actions.

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1 hour ago, Hiashi said:

Back to the original question, the answer for me is no. VN romance doesn't reflect reality, but rather the ideal of the readers.

Finding a girl with looks and personality that suit your taste, being able to slowly learn about and spend time with each other, then invariable encounter a wall for you (and her) to overcome so that you both mature from the experience while affirming your affections for each other. Forgive me for stereotyping VN routes (and the majority of love stories), but this is more or less the ideal romantic development that almost never happens in real life, yet people wish it would.

That's the reason why it's so widespread in VNs. Some romances are done better or more realistically than others, but they're still exaggerations of real-life at the bare minimum. And as was previously mentioned, VN protagonists are often allowed to disregard the consequences of many of their actions.

I think many high school people in high school  relationships that people are in the honeymoon period for a long time. So I do think VNs can portray this quite well (unless we’re talking about moege)

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In terms of portrayal of HS romance, it is quite accurate in terms of the awkwardness, tiptoe-ing around, and petty fights. (Also that premature stuff)

But asking a VN to real life romance beyond that is a tall task, since real life romance tends to end bad, or not end at all. So we'd be getting more bad ends or play until the couple dies and turns to ashes.

Also, I feel a real life romance VN will still feell too manufactured, as we'll mostly likely skip the boring part and tend to focus more on the dramatics.

 

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