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What is a Visual Novel for you?


傍観者

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Their personal meaning to me I already explained in this thread

 

As for the medium itself, it's a medium.

As it stands it's certainly a window into Japanese culture and subculture.

To be it's an incredibly good medium, but it's also incredibly underutilized.

 

There's two parts to a VN so let's start with the story part.

Many people mentioned screen/anime, novel, and manga/comics. I am going to be different and say there is one other thing VN is more functionally closer to than any of those three: Theater.

That I have amateur theater background has nothing to do with this ;)

 

Let's break it down:

VN has tachi-e, background, and CG. It needs a lot less descriptive writing than novel, but can convey close to the same amount of details.

It can not convey as much detail as screen or comics, but in turn invites the audience to fill in with their imagination (before someone butcher me, manga just means comics in Japanese. Yes I know they mean only Japanese comics in English)

It has music to help build mood, something it shares with screen.

And there is acting. In this case voice acting, again to help with mood.

 

What also shares all those characteristics? Theater.

They are both middle points between showing you the entire scene and leaving it entirely to your imagination.

 

Now VN don't have actual acting-acting, and probably can not be used for a musical.

But it can convey thoughts and description better than a soliloquy or the chorus can.

 

If I were to put rank the five: Screen, Comics, Theater, Novel, and VN in different categories, from 5 to 1, 5 being most 1 being least, I would put it:

 

                                      Screen          Comics           Theater            Novel           Visual Novel

Time Needed                      1                  3                     2                    5                     4

Mood-Immersion                  2                  1                     4                    3                     5

Descriptive Details                5                  4                     2                    1                     3

Plot/Character Details           1                  2                     3                    5                     4

Open to Imagination            1                  2                     3                    5                     4

 

Now these are not set in stone, but just in general.

So as a storytelling medium, I feel VN is like an even more personal version of Theater. It's also a nice balance compared to other forms.

 

Each form has something very specific to it. VN is it's ability give the audience the visual and audio input from a character's point of view for long periods (or even most). Theater by design must be third person, while comics and screen can not only limit their first person view to short segments for emphasis. Novels can be written for first person, but has no sound or sight.

I feel this allows VN to be the most personal of all the forms.

Third person could definitely be done on the VN format (interestingly all the third person VN I've read are SLG or RPG) but I prefer first person. VN can provide enough details for narration to be minimum, or even non existent, so might as well not squander the chance to make the story personal, with access to thoughts and stuff.

 

Having said all that, I feel VN is being limited by its fanbase and dating-sims history. I hope some day there could be something like, I don't know, a WWII VN or Fantasy VN with little or no romance. VN I feel is the only one of the four mediums that is limited to centering on comedy/romance/drama and taking little experimentation in other genres, instead of a more frequent, wider reach.

 

With that I go to the game part.

Of those 5 mediums, VN is the one unique in that it makes the audience participate, and in ways far engaging than Theater or Choose-your-own-adventure novels can without needing to sacrifice story-telling in theory (in practice it will likely happen). Yet I haven't seen any go down this route. At best I've seen games and story in the same software but more-or-less independent of each other. (Though Key has a interesting thing of writing replayability and routes into the story itself).

 

I hope someday I can find a VN where the story path is decided by gameplay, like what objective you pick in an SLG, how you do in an RPG, etc.

Long Live the Queen does this. And it's quite refreshing and entertaining. Just that both story and gameplay are very barebone.

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For me, a Visual Novel is a story telling device that does the music and scene creation for me. So you could argue I read them because I am a tad lazy. Heh heh. 

 

In all seriousness though, I find that a Visual Novel captures what it intends to capture better than a novel in a lot of cases, due to the territory. An example I can think of is when I am reading a book, and a giant city is being described. As I am not the author of the work, I am most likely picturing it much differently than how the author pictured it which brings the whole concept of "Death of the Author" into this. Of course, this could just come down to the author's writing ability, as I cannot speak for every single written work that exists out there.

 

A VN has more to work with in a way, as where a novel only has its script and sometimes a map in the front of the book to work with, a VN has sound, pictures, AND script to weave its story; putting it simply. The music aspect of a VN is what does it for me in creating the mood of the overall story, where a novel does not exactly have that freedom to place such a thing in it's form... as you know... it is a book. Images also help as they don't give you the WHOLE thing, but give you enough that you can picture what is going on more vividly, at least in my own opinion.

 

Hence, why I have been heavily considering just taking my current manuscript for a novel I am writing and creating a Visual Novel out of it. Visual Novels have potential to tell epic stories, and with a step outside of the formulaic route many take, can provide exceptional narratives.

 

This is not to say I do not enjoy novels. Oh no no no. This is just what a Visual Novel is to me. I love me a good novel and am an avid reader. Sometimes I just like having that extra something though. That being said, the music is just what does it all for me really. Just my two cents as to why a Visual Novel is my favorite storytelling medium.

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For me, a Visual Novel is a story telling device that does the music and scene creation for me. So you could argue I read them because I am a tad lazy. Heh heh. 

 

In all seriousness though, I find that a Visual Novel captures what it intends to capture better than a novel in a lot of cases, due to the territory. An example I can think of is when I am reading a book, and a giant city is being described. As I am not the author of the work, I am most likely picturing it much differently than how the author pictured it which brings the whole concept of "Death of the Author" into this. Of course, this could just come down to the author's writing ability, as I cannot speak for every single written work that exists out there.

 

A VN has more to work with in a way, as where a novel only has its script and sometimes a map in the front of the book to work with, a VN has sound, pictures, AND script to weave its story; putting it simply. The music aspect of a VN is what does it for me in creating the mood of the overall story, where a novel does not exactly have that freedom to place such a thing in it's form... as you know... it is a book. Images also help as they don't give you the WHOLE thing, but give you enough that you can picture what is going on more vividly, at least in my own opinion.

 

Hence, why I have been heavily considering just taking my current manuscript for a novel I am writing and creating a Visual Novel out of it. Visual Novels have potential to tell epic stories, and with a step outside of the formulaic route many take, can provide exceptional narratives.

 

This is not to say I do not enjoy novels. Oh no no no. This is just what a Visual Novel is to me. I love me a good novel and am an avid reader. Sometimes I just like having that extra something though. That being said, the music is just what does it all for me really. Just my two cents as to why a Visual Novel is my favorite storytelling medium.

Too lazy to explain it myself so just take all of ^^^ and read it in my voice 

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