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Idealization/Appeal of Heriones in VN's


Chronopolis

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I wanted to post this in https://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/7565-the-impact-of-h-scenes-on-visual-novels/?p=196323 but it's sort of off-topic there and I doubt it will get any attention there, which is a shame because I think it's a very central topic to VN's and worth talking about. Well, without further ado:

 

Idealization of Heriones

 

Idealization in heriones involves:

-a lack of "negative: "traits that might turn off the viewer (active conflict with or creating frustration for the protagonist (and by extension, the reader). Most heroines ultimately wish the best for everyone, a viewpoint which is usually the developer making the heroine "good", as opposed to any significance story/character-wise.

-a range of combinations of qualities (innocence, sexyness, stoicness) and archtypes (ojyou-sama, osanajimi, imouto, onee-san, hyper-competent tenkousei) which may strike the readers fancy.

 

You also have the hyper-moe/otaku/self-aware trend of games, but that's just the preference of the user-base changing over time. Old games like Kizuato still prominently feature this idealization.

 

I think it's just a matter of what else the game has to say. I do like some of these traits and archtypes, but another part of me demands the VN bring something else original/significant/something I can appreciate (like a unique atmosphere), else I'll eventually tire of it. If you play VN's you probably like to some extent, and the absence of it (or maybe you just play VN's for the long slice of life pacing and ability/tendency to depict every step of the way you can't find anywhere else, who knows.) is discomforting, otherwise you'd be reading books for your plot/intellectual/suspense/literary fix.

 

There are examples of games in which the direct appeal (to the reader) of the heriones plays a very minor role compared to other elements. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish what the author put in to make the character likeable and what they put in to make the characters stand out or themselves, or the story the story. Generally, if you like a trait and think a lot of other people would and it isn't relevant to the plot (counter-example: Tsubaki from G-senjyou), odds are it was done to make the character likeable. If you find the character to be *interesting*, then perhaps it's actual characterization.

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This is common to an extent in all literature, but otakudom tends to take 理想化 to its limits.  If the VN is directed to males, the females are idealized and fitted into popular archetypes.  The same goes for males in otomege.  That is why I tend to get bored with most charage/nakige/moege.  It is very rare for a heroine to escape this in moege variants.

 

The heroines I name as my favorites tend to escape that model, in one way or another.  Ami from Semiramis no Tenbin and Kagome from Comyu are so far outside of it that it is a bit ridiculous, for instance.

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Personally, I think the idealization of any character (across any medium) is a tricky thing. Obviously, you want a story to avoid having a Mary Sue (warning: TV Tropes) type character, but at the same time exceptional characters make for an exciting story if done right.

 

There's also the bizarre problem of when we let fictional characters in fictional stories influence us in how we regard the world and people around us. I've known people in real life describe their ideal girl in terms of anime archetypes, just as I've had one girlfriend who's entire notion of romance seemed influence by romantic movies. It's interesting to think about how the media we consume has an outward affect on how we regard each other. 

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Personally, I think the idealization of any character (across any medium) is a tricky thing. Obviously, you want a story to avoid having a Mary Sue (warning: TV Tropes) type character, but at the same time exceptional characters make for an exciting story if done right.

 

There's also the bizarre problem of when we let fictional characters in fictional stories influence us in how we regard the world and people around us. I've known people in real life describe their ideal girl in terms of anime archetypes, just as I've had one girlfriend who's entire notion of romance seemed influence by romantic movies. It's interesting to think about how the media we consume has an outward affect on how we regard each other. 

That's normal.  Why do  you think Renaissance women fell for the stupid and muscular men who acted like knights in shining armor?

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That's normal.  Why do  you think Renaissance women fell for the stupid and muscular men who acted like knights in shining armor?

I'm not sure if "Renaissance women" were anything like what novels/movies make them out to be. And the same for knights...

 

lemme quote what one general said from the first Crusade "The soldiers were so hungry, not only did they eat Saracen children, but dogs and cats as well!"

>Implying that eating Saracen children is more acceptable than eating dogs

 

 

Just saying :P

 

And I might as well share my thoughts, its basically what Clephas said. Would u want to play a VN with an unlikable/ugly heroin? I highly doubt most people would be interested in that. The closest heroins to your description that I can think of would be Saya from Saya no Uta, since she's a monster... And Katawa Shoujo. And even then, the characters are still pretty looking/likable. When I showed KS to my sister she actually said "Well, if all disabled girls were that good looking and nice, everyone would be marrying disabled girls" xD

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Okay then.

 

The idealization of the heroines in VNs tend to make them appear as likable as possible. Because if they aren't likable, who would play their routes, right? Now now, not all people play the routes based on the heroine's likability. Some just want to actually read what the game has prepared for them. For example, reading a route for the sake of completing a game. And there are those whose autism do not allow them to leave a VN with some routes not being read yet. I, for example.

 

But then again, the thread's topic is about the idealization of heroines and its appeal. Personally, I wouldn't give a damn about the heroine's purity and what not. It's the story itself that counts. I don't mind having a heroine with a crooked personality, so as long as her story is enough to explain what happened to her and give us a picture of what's currently happening to her. I wouldn't even mind ugly characters. You won't really see routes for ugly characters though, since, well, who'd buy a VN with ugly characters? That's the main selling point of a VN after all. I admit to looking at the art first before deciding to read a VN. However, what matters in the long run is not the art at all but the story.

 

Of course, we can't deny the effect of the idealization of heroines to a game's success in terms of income. A VN with good art tends to rake in a lot of money since, well, the heroines are beautiful. Since the majority of men have an acceptable amount of libido, they would generally choose to buy the VN with the better art. And of course, what better thing to do than give them perfect personalities as well! This will make the readers like the heroines, making them buy the possible fandisks as well. I just randomly assumed that. I don't have any data. But surely that should make sense. Why would you buy the fandisk if you didn't like the heroines? A reason like 'to read their epilogues' is acceptable though. As Clephas had said, this trend of making the perfect girls (lol powerpuff) is especially present in nakige/moege, both of which try to present their heroines to be as likable as possible. The only difference is that moege focuses more on "uguu~" and "kawaiiii", while nakige focuses on "omg why did this happen to the heroine she's such a good girl and yet ugh sdlsfdsifdsfdsfds" stuff. I think both are still achievable by flawed heroines though... But seeing that the main selling point of VNs are mostly the heroines, they tend to be perfect. Of course, there's always the brand name to back VNs up...

 

Well that's it from me for now.

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Exception: Kagome from Comyu.  Stone-cold bitch, yet she's pretty much everyone's favorite character.  Haven't completed her route yet, but she's pretty much the opposite of the generic heroine, aside from her looks.  Also, to some extent, Grisia no Kajitsu.  Every heroine in the game is emotionally scarred in some way, and it greatly affects their personalities.  Sure, most of them are stereotypes if you look at the personalities they show to Yuuji in the beginning of the VN, but the writers used the stereotypes to develop the characters by giving them a reason for being a stereotype.  My best example of that is Sachi.  Dresses and acts like a maid, yet actually has a psychological reason for it besides "I like it" or "I work in a maid cafe" (the latter seems to be the most used reason for having a character wear a maid outfit as much as possible).

 

I see what you're talking about, though.  Tsubaki is a perfect example of a character with a quality that really is only there to make people like her.  If she wasn't so nice, some people might get irritated by her naivety, but as long as she's selfless, most people will feel bad if they still feel that way.  I tend to like imperfect characters in general better than perfect ones, since I find it so hard to identify with people that are unrealistically perfect in some way.  That said, I'm still vulnerable to liking perfect heroines, or heroines with qualities that are considered ideal by society in general, but I don't like them as much as imperfect characters.

 

As Clephas said, the idealization of heroines isn't limited to VNs, it's apparent in several subtypes of fiction, especially in romance books, young-adult fiction, and (from what I've seen) fiction with a strong female protagonist.  I can't even remember how many books I got from my school's book order where the heroine is pretty much flawless and/or a cliche.

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