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School graduates, doesn't reading vns with school settings make you feel kinda lonely?


Hakunon

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I graduated High School a few weeks ago, so It's summer vacation and as every summer vacation I try to read as many Visual Novels as possible. Something occurred though, as we know most of the vn settings are set in high school. So, I tried playing the VN but I couldn't bring myself to finish it. It gave me this sad and melancholic feeling that I hope it passes soon or else I won't be able to enjoy them anymore. 

Edited by Hakunon
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Ahahahahahaha, you're not wrong about that.

I recently graduated college, so I've began thinking that without classes and stuff, it feels really weird reading the stories of people who are supposedly "in the height of their youth" and stuff being in high school and stuff. Consuming stories like these makes me think back to my time in high school and makes me ask myself, "Why are their experiences so colorful and stuff when I just toiled over my 12 hour schedule and bulky assignments?" I sorta realized the answer to that at some point, but I find myself still wondering about that every now and then.

In a way, it makes me feel lonely and sorta sad that I didn't make as much of my time back then like what these people are doing in these stories. But the feelings don't stop there. If anything, loneliness that comes up from memories of high school almost always comes up with vague nostalgia for me, regardless of being able to directly relate with the events in the story or not. I guess it's because more than 'making use of my experiences to the highest extent', I've began to realize that at some point in time I've worked as hard as they have for a certain goal, bantered with my friends so much that it made my stomach hurt, and grieved over something that I deem trivial these days. And that makes me feel good even if just a little, knowing that at some point, I was also living my own kind of story to the utmost extent that I can manage to. The loneliness ceases to come from not being able to live life to the fullest, instead coming from a sort of yearning for those times that have passed.

But hey, I also use it as leverage to launch myself forward! If I haven't managed to do my best for the days that have already passed, then I'll do it for the coming days in the future! If I did live my days to the fullest ever since those times, then I'll continue doing so, even if the days currently feel stagnant! If it happened in the past, then I'm sure I can make it happen again. HS settings do make you yearn for those colorful experiences, but they also remind you that you can have those experiences, even as early as high school! Better late than never, you know!

Spoiler

If there's anything that'll never happen to us in real life, it's probably the kind of harem-like situations the protagonists in route-branching VNs find themselves in. It's not enough being nice to girls for them to like you, you know! But hey, the kind of ideal romance that happens in fiction? Possible! Make it a reality and go for the cheesiness with an extra serving of sugar!

I hope you find these stories to be ones that remind you of good memories as you gain more years on you. 

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I went to high school for one day. Found out the school was delinquent central. And half the bullies which tormented me during the bus trips before were going to this school too....

I never went to high school again. Probably the greatest decision I ever made in my life.

....... my school life (and my entire life in general) would make for a boring Visual Novel :makina:

 

ps, I got my education via other means.

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I recognize it as a fantasy and nothing more.  For one thing, romance is never as clear-cut as it is in most SOL games... and for another, girls aren't that pretty in the third dimension.  Becoming lonely... I do wish sometimes I could go back in time to kick myself in the ass, but that doesn't have anything to do with that kind of game, lol.

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I started playing VNs after I already graduated, and don't know, I never really felt like these high-schools portrayed in the Japanese media have something to do with my own educational experience, so it never really clicked for me.

And, you know, you might consider switching for now to VNs that aren't set in a high-school. Though they are pretty rare, surprisingly, there are some.

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2 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

I never really felt like these high-schools portrayed in the Japanese media have something to do with my own educational experience,

I feel that way too, but surprisingly it nevertheless clicked for me, and in turn made me nostalgic for something I haven't experienced in the first place...

3 hours ago, Clephas said:

I recognize it as a fantasy and nothing more.


It seems that I have become nostalgic for fantasy. Life definitely can be strange...

Edited by adamstan
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14 minutes ago, adamstan said:

made me nostalgic for something I haven't experienced in the first place

This is generally what it's like for me as well. The school life depicted in visual novels gives me a nostalgic feeling, although it isn't even remotely similar to what it was like when I was still a student, due to cultural differences, glamorization for the sake of entertainment and whatnot.
School was was extremely boring to me, so I guess this might be a case of me wishing to mentally replace that monochrome image with one that seems more colorful.

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9 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

I started playing VNs after I already graduated, and don't know, I never really felt like these high-schools portrayed in the Japanese media have something to do with my own educational experience, so it never really clicked for me.

You know one way I can relate to high school protagonists? I'm the frustratingly dense type who can't take a hint.

There was this one time where my friends asked me why I didn't ask a girl out after she approached me, and it didn't even remotely occur to me that she was interested in dating. Although unlike standard high school protagonists, my main issue has to do with not be able to pick up on social queues. :chaika: Same thing happened to me again while I was enlisted, except it was with a pizza delivery girl.

This is probably why I'm still a virgin. :vinty:

Edited by Kenshin_sama
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2 hours ago, Kenshin_sama said:

You know one way I can relate to high school protagonists? I'm the frustratingly dense type who can't take a hint.

There was this one time where my friends asked me why I didn't ask a girl out after she approached me, and it didn't even remotely occur to me that she was interested in dating. Although unlike standard high school protagonists, my main issue has to do with not be able to pick up on social queues. :chaika: Same thing happened to me again while I was enlisted, except it was with a pizza delivery girl.

This is probably why I'm still a virgin. :vinty:

That's pretty normal though. Girls are way too subtle about things and your mind might be a bit too occupied with not saying anything stupid, or trying to be clever and funny to her to see the things spectators easily see from a distance. It gets a lot easier, but then you might be too used to live alone to want a girlfriend altogether, like me :( 

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Man, that was ten years ago

I never had a bad high school life but I neither had like a amazing or fulfilling one

High school settings now kinda just bore me to tears to be honest

It's all whatever man, give me some college life stuff that I'm actually nostalgic about

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1 minute ago, Stormwolf said:

That's pretty normal though. Girls are way too subtle about things and your mind might be a bit too occupied with not saying anything stupid, or trying to be clever and funny to her to see the things spectators easily see from a distance. It gets a lot easier, but then you might be too used to live alone to want a girlfriend altogether, like me :( 

Hmm, I guess it makes sense when you put it that way.

I have gotten rather comfortable with being single, so I'm in no real rush to start dating. I wouldn't say I'm completely disinterested in romance though. Sadly, I enrolled in college a bit later than most, and most the girls there are a bit too young for me (I don't care that much about age specifically, but their general mentality feels a bit foreign to me). I can't imagine I'll have much exposure to women once I graduate either since programming jobs are notoriously male-dominant. So far I've met 3 females in my intro programming classes and 1 in my advanced classes. What's even worse is that one of the girls in my intro class dropped it after a small breakdown during a test (although, to be fair, the professor was quite awful), and the one in my advanced class told me she was thinking of switching majors. Yeah, it's already looking bleak.

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I've had similar experiences with other topics, but not necessarily high school. I think most of that comes from the fact that hs life in otaku media feels completely alien from my own hs experiences (me being in the midwest US might play a big role in this). Like, sometimes it feels as though I'm observing bizarre tribal rituals from another world when I read high school themed vns. There isn't a lot I can relate to, like being in tons of extracurriculars, struggling to find a place to park, signing up for classes, friend drama, dances/prom, competitions/games, jobs/volunteer work, partying/drugs, safety drills, guest speakers, kids being assholes to teachers, college visits and all that jazz. A good thing to keep in mind is that hs life is usually romanticized in vns and that real life doesn't work for anyone in such a fashion. I know several people have already mentioned dating, and I hope I can reassure you by saying that most hs relationships don't last very long, and if they end up marrying, they will probably get divorced.

Even with all that in mind, if you still feel a bit empty, you can always try reading something dark and depressing so you can revel in the suffering of others. I know it works wonders for my emotions :)

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Not lonely.
A few VNs manage to replicate the 'group of friends faffing about' dynamics or 'groups of girls being kind of savage in a not upfront way' and those about the only things I empathise with in these school VNs. Even so, the number of VNs capable of pulling this off in a manner that I find believable still aren't many at all.

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In my case, I have a chronic disease (it's not life-threatening if taken the proper care, dun worry) so I couldn't go to school like, 50% of the time, and when I could go, I'd left sooner than everyone else, and because of so, I didn't have any friends at all, be it in or outside of school, so back at the time I'd wish that I could have friends and fun in school like the MC of the VNs I play.
But yeah, I did stop playing some VNs or watching school animes because I didn't want to feel sad, nowadays I don't really care that much, because for the reason that I didn't get to go to school that much, I can now see things differently of "normal people".

Although nowadays I still suffer a bit from the disease, my health is much better, I changed the things I eat and joined a Gym, I'm aiming to become a Chef btw.

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