VNs need more adults in them!

[kyrt]

I honestly think it has a lot to do with the setting. I for one am sick to death of high school settings in both vns and anime.

[edwd2]

In Genesis (not sure if you ever had to read the bible). God bet with Satan that even if he tortured one of his most loyal followers, that the follower would still have faith in him. Somehow God won that bet in the story. Lets try a similar thing here. I bet this thread will remain civil, you of course have the devil advocate's side.

 

Lets please return back to the topic at hand... 

 

well that bet is pointless now that you've openly announced it. im just here to see the fun

[Clephas]

That was Job.

[Deep Blue]

No, I mean am I the only one in this community who doesn't really enjoy moe? Or rather I treat moe like how sugar should be treated, a bit of it every now and then is nice. But too much of it is not so good (at least for me).

You are not alone! I really want to hear the answer for this question from them even if I kinda already know it...

[Dokken]

That's kind of what I was also hinting at. I found this aspect of VNs funny for a while now. 

 

 

 

I like them as a story telling medium and I can tolerate moe if I have to. But seriously, am I really the only one? 

 

No you're not the only one, unfortunetly. Moe doesn't imply necessarily young girls ? Well, I'm also disappointed for not having more " adults and older women " in VN.

[mitchhamilton]

What are you talking about? all characters in every vn ever are legal adults. even the ones in this vn https://vndb.org/v12598

 

 

in all seriousness though, i know what you mean. i do prefer the moe genre but it would be nice every once in a while to have a vn with mostly adult women. especially the ones with sexy single women, who like to whisper sweetly in the mc's ear.

[ExtraMana]

I honestly think it has a lot to do with the setting. I for one am sick to death of high school settings in both vns and anime.

Dear Japan,

You don't need a school setting to justify random panty shots, just look at hyperdimension neptunia not a school

in sight but plenty of gratuity.

Yours sincerely,

Weebs

[Nimbus]

I wouldn't mind seeing more visual novels where the heroines are older. Heck, I'd like to play some more vns with an older protagonist. 

 

I find that I use Moe kind of as a moderator where I will play one in between darker or more thematic stories as a means of, for lack of a better term "calming down".

[Satsuki]

I wouldn't mind seeing more visual novels where the heroines are older. Heck, I'd like to play some more vns with an older protagonist. 

 

I find that I use Moe kind of as a moderator where I will play one in between darker or more thematic stories as a means of, for lack of a better term "calming down".

Uhm no, throwing moe into a dark theme VN will just ruin the mood. (not talking about nukige)

 

Edit: Oh wait, did you mean switch to a moege in the middle of a dark theme for relaxing?

[Nimbus]

Uhm no, throwing moe into a dark theme VN will just ruin the mood. (not talking about nukige)

 

Edit: Oh wait, did you mean switch to a moege in the middle of a dark theme for relaxing?

I meant finishing a darker vn, then playing a moege before going back to another dark vn. 

[Suzu Fanatic]

I can't speak for others, but for myself I think it's psychological - despite being in my 30's, my general attitude is that of someone in their early 20's. I guess I never "grew up" (whatever that is).

 

I mean, I' work for a lviing, worry about what I eat, and plan for my retirement - and yet I still love playing video games, reading VNs/watching anime. Things that a lot of "general society" consider immature. Screw them I say.

 

But I'm getting offtopic, lol...

 

I guess I can identify best when it's young adults (highschoolish level, or just beyond) because that's when a lot of my social development occurred. Not to say it ever stopped - but there's a certain lack of reality in that age range, you don't yet think about the future or worry about serious stuff as you do when older.

 

That and older women are such a hassle 8 out of 10 times they are far too uptight to be enjoyable company, a bane for someone as immature as myself, heh.

 

Kinda rambled, but thats my thoughts on it.

[XReaper]

@suzu you´re my soulmate, definitely. absolutely. period.

edit: as for the topic, i disagree. there´re more than enough adults in said games. there´re more than enough vn´s without a school setting.
and reason why there´re are this much younger characters in those kind of games, has nothing to do with aiming only for young audience.
that way its more easy for writers to create a strong contrast between those people (whom you associate with innocense, fun & carefree) and serious plotrelevant matters (as death, insanity, murder, betrayel & rape).
Of course the same does also work with older characters, BUT the impact is greatly reduced, because you see those kinds of people all day in the news, outside & anywhere else. as long as you´re not living in 3rd world countries where child soldiers & slavery are common practice, this what feels unexpected is always that what startles you the most.

[Eclipsed]

I'll admit I wouldn't want to play moeges back to back

Then again I only read one VN every couple of months so it'll be a while until I tire of moege / desire mature characters I think

[Zalor]

I meant finishing a darker vn, then playing a moege before going back to another dark vn. 

 

I totally can understand this. Usually after reading a dark VN I intellectually digest it for a while before reading another one. While I can't see myself playing a full on moege, I could totally read something more lighthearted after something intense.

 

 

I guess I can identify best when it's young adults (highschoolish level, or just beyond) because that's when a lot of my social development occurred. Not to say it ever stopped - but there's a certain lack of reality in that age range, you don't yet think about the future or worry about serious stuff as you do when older.

 

That and older women are such a hassle 8 out of 10 times they are far too uptight to be enjoyable company, a bane for someone as immature as myself, heh.

 

Kinda rambled, but thats my thoughts on it.

 

Great post, it was interesting to read. I kind of have the reverse problem. I'm a few months away from graduating high school and I want to see something other than high school in my fiction/escapism.   

[TexasDice]

Hinatabokko has a protagonist and heroine in college. It's far from relevant to the plot or properly used at all, but I like the idea.

 

I'd be down with an university instead of a school as a setting. Partially because it's my only chance to ever go to college. 

[Clephas]

Moe isn't absolutely necessary... some of my favorites - like Abyss - use the older style of visual portrayal (different color usage, plainer heroines, etc.) for instance... I still have a thing for cuteness on occasion, but it tends to feel out of place in many dark VNs, so I wish they'd have a bit less moe-focus in art for those games...

[LinovaA]

I could NEVER play moege back to back. It would burn from the inside out. One moege at a time please. ^-^''''

 

However... I do love my moe in general. Let there be no doubt about that.

I can hardly handle moe.. like I get overwhelmed by the cute and start dying on the inside. Only in the best kind of way though.

[Zenophilious]

I'd just like more adult characters in general, regardless of the ages of the protagonist and the heroines.  There's usually only a handful, which is incredibly unrealistic, even in school environments.  Usually all of the adult characters are either teachers, parents, or antagonists, and it...kinda bores me.

[Yuri Hunter]

lol My opnion is the contrary, idon't know how live without little kids.

 I don't hate adult characters but some of them lack that thing... that...that...Moe. but there have cute older womans. e-e

[Zalor]

I'd just like more adult characters in general, regardless of the ages of the protagonist and the heroines.  There's usually only a handful, which is incredibly unrealistic, even in school environments.  Usually all of the adult characters are either teachers, parents, or antagonists, and it...kinda bores me.

 

Funny you should mention that as when I was initially writing this topic out, it ended up being a rant about just that. How the only adults in VNs tend to be teachers, parents and antagonists, just as you said. I ended up scrapping that part out, but I'm glad to see we're on the exact same wave length regarding that.  

[Clephas]

The problem is that VN-makers have a bad habit of portraying older women as one of two extremes... bayunyuu or loli.  As a result, you get a lack of interest (usually disgust at the excess) for the former and a go 'what, she's really thirty?' for the latter.  As a result, heroines who are older tend to appear less and less.  From my recent experience, about ninety percent of the VNs I've played made in the last three years had only heroines who were younger, the same age, or only slightly older than the protagonist... and considering how much of the VNs play from each year, that is kind of ridiculous.  If you look at the pre-2010 VNs, you'll see that about a third of all non-nukige VNs had at least one heroine who was significantly older (early to late twenties, with occasional thirties).  Nowadays, you only encounter such heroines once every two to three months... and that is usually in a sub-heroine capacity, rather than as one of the main heroines.

[AlexZandria]

I read some school aged type VNs but then those end upbbeing ike Dangan Ronpa. I don't know that I've ever read a full on moege before? I really enjoy dark themes.

As for heroines, it pisses me off that everyone and their mother are still a virgin when the protag bangs them. Otherwise the few that aren't are antagonists it feels like. I'm all for some mature women who have had actual experiences and understand a bit more about life and love. I'm not saying I want females who screw every boy they meet but that whole shy way too innocent for a kiss thing weirds me out.

Other than that I like the school setting but I wish there were more good realism settings that weren't school. It is like school, fantasy, sci fi, horror. No modern "realism" without the school.

Can we not have mature women in an office or part of a book club or like journalist buddies? Something?

[Fred the Barber]

I have a mixed bag of opinions:

 

- Mostly, my feelings are similar to Suzu's. The high school setting doesn't really bother me. I also certainly don't mind many aspects of moe (recent Key works are at the top of my list of favorites, and it seems they're considered very moe). I believe my avatar once put it as, "I like cute things" - I'm comfortable with that expression of it. I don't think I could handle moe content non-stop, as others have pointed out; but done well, it helps build an emotional link to a character that lets you craft a deeper story. There are, of course, other ways to build those emotional links, though.

 

- That said, I also personally find the (rare) mature characters to be the most compelling ones in VNs and anime. Physical age and appearance are somewhat irrelevant here, though that certainly does enhance the initial impression of the character as mature. More than the physical angle, then, it's the characters that I perceive as being emotionally mature that are the most interesting to me. So, to the extent that a VN's creators insist on making all characters psychologically immature to appeal to moe sensibilities, that actually does make things less enjoyable for me. When the creators let that go, at least for one character, that really strongly attracts me.

 

In my very limited experience, only a couple of really good example comes to mind of a strong, mature character in a VN who still is central to the plot and dealing with emotionally difficult situations: the best example is Lisa in World End Economica. I also think Kurugaya in Little Busters! is a decent example as well - while she definitely has her share of moe quirks, being emotionally mature doesn't have to mean an absence of those characteristics; and although she's ... errm... more "geometrically gifted" than the rest of the characters in that VN, age-wise she's the same as all the other characters. To some extent, Kurugaya's maturity gets undercut by explanations that she is simply cold and unfeeling, but given most of the interactions with her in the game, I think that's unfair. And at any rate, there are no such hints for Lisa - she simply is presented as a mature individual.

 

More adults also come to mind from my limited knowledge (Akiko from Kanon is a good one) who are emotionally mature and who I enjoy watching in action, but aside from those two above, I can't think of any that get put into a situation where we get to see that emotional maturity can be insufficient to get them through the shit that life throws at them. And apparently watching that scenario play out (and get resolved, eventually) is something that I really do enjoy seeing.

[HotTrax]

I like a good adult character, they don't have to be a heroine, just someone that fits well in the plot. 

[Darklord Rooke]

In general younger characters tend to be more boring. They also have less potential to be interesting - less history, less experience, less depth, heart on their sleeve like a typical teenager, overly dramatic, and with little perspective. And spare me from yet another bland high school story. 

 

As for moe, it just ticks me off.

 

I honestly think it has a lot to do with the setting. I for one am sick to death of high school settings in both vns and anime.

 

 

I love your posts.