Complete This Conversation - Episode 02!

[Tay]

This conversation happened last weekend when my friend/classmate got back from break. It's the same guy as the first conversation. If you didn't take part in or read Episode 1, I highly recommend you go back and read the OP and its finale so you know the backstory. 

 

Read the following conversation and then tell us: how would you have finished the conversation if you were in my shoes? 

 

 

(Sitting in the classroom eating lunch)

 

Guy: “Do you remember that game you forced me to play last semester?”

 

Me: “‘Forced’? Naw, that wasn’t me. Doesn’t sound like me.”

 

Guy: “Come on. The porny game. You know what I’m talking about.”

 

Me: *clutches invisible pearls, aghast*

 

Guy: *angry fire begins to grow in his eyes*

 

Me: “Ah, yes, the VISUAL NOVEL which-you-willingly-and-happily-played-of-your-own-volition, and which – if I remember – even made you cry.”

 

Guy: “Yeah, that one. The Planetarium.”

 

Me: “Plan-et-ar-i-an. Not ‘planeterium’.”

 

Guy: “Whatev—wait, what? Are you serious? That was the title? Not ‘planetarium’?”

 

Me: “…yeees?”

 

Guy: “ … That’s not even a word.”

 

Me: “Geez, man, being a PlanetarIAN was the one thing Yumemi had going for her, and now you’re de-legitimizing it.”

 

Guy: “Who is Yumemi?”

 

Me: “The android girl in that story.”

 

Guy: “Oh, ok.”

 

Me: “What were we talking about, again?”

 

Guy: “Right. ANYWAY. I want to try another one.”

 

Me: “Okay. What sort of stories do you like? I’ll help you pick one.”

 

Guy: “I dunno. Something fun.”

 

Me: “Help me out here.”

 

Guy: “I don’t know. What ones have you played recently?”

 

Me: “Well, one is about a high school kid who gets admitted into an all-girls high school and has to convince the student body to let him stay.”

 

Guy: “K, what else?”

 

Me: “There’s a really good game which is about mages summoning powerful beings and competing – and killing each other – trying to get the chance to make a wish.”

 

Guy: “That sounds interesting. How about that one?”

 

Me: “Sure! It’s called Fate/Stay Night and it’s really epic.”

 

Guy: “Cool. If you bring it tomorrow I’ll knock it out in the afternoon and bring it back on Tuesday.”

 

Me: “I… don’t think that’s possible. It’s a really long game.”

 

Guy: “PlanetarIAN –“ *gives me annoyed look “—wasn’t very long. I’m a fast reader, promise.”

 

Me: “This is like a whole different order of magnitude. We’re talking, like, forty hours.”

 

Guy: “FORTY HOURS?! No thanks.”

 

Me: “And to think I once respected you...”

 

Guy: “Shut up.”

 

Me: “Well, there’s one about a high school kid who is diagnosed with an arrhythmia and sent to a special school for it. He meets some friends there. It’s really good, I replay it a lot.”

 

Guy: “Wait. Another high school guy?”

 

Me: “… Yeah?”

 

Guy: “Are all of the books about high school kids? Like that mage one?”

 

Me: “I guess so?”

 

Guy: “High school sucked, man, and we were years away from anything *resembling* a developed prefrontal cortex. Why would I want to read about high schoolers? Why not write about adults? It’d be more interesting.”

 

Me: *Opens mouth to respond*

 

Guy: “Is it, like, a weird Japanese thing? Are all of the games like that?” 

 

 

 

 

 

... how would you have responded? Stay tuned for the epic conclusion to this fateful conversation, coming soon!

 

NOTE: Guy brings up some interesting questions: “Why would I want to read about high schoolers [instead of adult characters]? And why are so many VNs told from that perspective?” These questions have been discussed on the forums (recently, even), but that’s not really the challenge here. The challenge is: how do you answer these questions -- and then explain your answer-- if somebody new to VNs asked you.

 

[Yuuko]

Of course you wanna read about high schoolers because that's where all the cute girls are.

After you are a adult you start to miss your high school life, I think... and many otakus who live in Japan don't maybe have so good high school life?

I would also force him to play moeges with me

[Stray Cat]

There's a great game called "Saya no Uta" and the characters are in college.  It's also really short.  Why don't you try that one instead?

 

*Wait till the next day.

 

???

 

Profit.

[sanahtlig]

“Why would I want to read about high schoolers [instead of adult characters]? And why are so many VNs told from that perspective?”

 

Because it would be kind of odd to have a harem of high school girls as an older guy.

 

...

 

It all boils down to the moe element.  Romantic comedy is a very popular genre, and high school is the most natural setting for such titles.

 

[Darklord Rooke]

I was told many years ago that the general rule of thumb concerning anime is the age of the protagonist reflects the age of the people the show is aimed at. Dragonball was aimed at kiddies, so the protagonist was 6ish, Dragonball Z was aimed at those a little older and so the protagonist was a little older.

 

I tend to use the same rule of thumb for VNs. So many of the games are set in high-school reflects that the games are aimed mostly at college or high-school students. The same way most young-adult novels feature young-adult or teenage protagonists.

 

Also no punching of Tay happened in this recollection, minus 5 Rooke points

[Flutterz]

"Pretty much, with a couple of exceptions. A lot of these are catered towards people who did nothing fun in high school but want to pretend they did. It may or may not also be a sexual thing. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)"

For those of you wondering how Tay would pronounce "( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)":

[atorq]

I guess so. Would be my answer, this is something I've wondered about myself. I wouldn't mind something different some time.

[babiker]

It is indeed a weird Japanese thing, one that has a considerable amount of cultural and demographic reasons we need not go into... Oh btw, there's this one called Saya no Uta (song of Saya) that's about college students, and it's pretty short. Whadya say m8?

[Down]

I'd have explained him the history of otaku sub-culture in japan and how this fascination for high-school came to be. I'd have thrown in vague social considerations as tentative explanation for it.

Then I'd have ranted on and on about how this gakuenmono paradigm is a huge restriction for this sub-culture that constantly cannibalizes itself and seem to become more and more self-centered and restrictive as time goes.

I'd have also explained how those huge restrictions can be circumvented in clever ways to still produce interesting content that doesn't feel stale, how you learn how to enjoy things in different ways, how some of the best works of art are born under this kind of huge restrictions.

I'd have tried to convey what's so fascinating in the decadent feeling and the post-modern structure of this sub-culture, how even when it doesn't give birth to great works of art there's a form of worth to be found in mediocrity.

 

And I'd have concluded by telling him to go play Muv-Luv because it has fucking giant robots.

[Soulless Watcher]

Most VNs take place in highschool simply because highschool drama is easier to write for and easier to relate to since nearly everyone has highschool experience. Once you get to your adulting years your experiences become quite specialized depending on your job, family status, and geographic location.

 

..... and yes there is a werid highschool girl fetish element as well.

[Fiddle]

Why not write about adults? It’d be more interesting.

I would respectfully inform him that all the characters are in fact 18 or older and only look like they're high-school age by mere coincidence.

[hsmsful]

Since I was asked the same question, I will tell you what my poor answer was (it made him stay away from vns):

It's basically because most of the vn fans are in highschool (well the majority is 15-25 so they can relate to highschool at least) plus in highschool you have both lots of free time (which you lose in college and lose it even more during work) and a somewhat developped mind (which doesn't exist that much for middle schoolers). In addition to that, they usually wanna tell you a love story that's pure romance and has nothing to do with marriage and adult circumstances and all the weird drama that comes from both.

[Eclipsed]

Me: “Well, one is about a high school kid who gets admitted into an all-girls high school and has to convince the student body to let him stay.”

PRINCESS EVANGILEEEE!@#

[narrlocke]

I feel like "Yeah, kinda. A lot of them are like that. I guess it's a Japanese thing, or it's just easy to write about or something. But! There's a ton of cool ones that aren't like that" would be a good way to dodge that landmine.

[Nimbus]

As most people here have already said, I'd tell him that most vn have that setting because of the appeal it has to the mass audience.

 

Of course, I would say this after I stitch his dismembered body back together after he turned down Princess Evangile. 

[Fiddle]

Oh my God the two of you really ARE in a VN.

Guy: I-I-It's not like I like porn games or anything, b-baka!

 

Tay: Guy-kun, irete...

[sirjabberwock]

He better have taken your recommendation for Katawa Shoujo :v

I'd recommend Welcome to the N.H.K. and capitalize on his subsequent depression in some way, shape, or form~

[Shikomizue]

I'm sure there's a good answer for both of those questions, but y'know you should really play this visual novel called Rewrite. It's in a high-school setting at first but it turns into a battle for the world. Oh, and there aren't any sex scenes either so you can't say it's a "porny game". If he refuses? *Guy gets payback slugged*

[Wonderfullyevil]

What about Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni? It's short. And it has elementary students instead.

[Vongalaxy]

Because short skirt and knee socks.

[Deep Blue]

make him read narcissu, is short and he will cry like a little baby after that one.

Guy: “Is it, like, a weird Japanese thing? Are all of the games like that?”

 

 

He is right about that..

[BookwormOtaku]

Why high school? Two reasons:

1) The high school uniforms

2) The high school swim suits

[Kaguya]

"No, not all of their games are like that... Although most are. I'd guess that's because highschoolers are their target audience, though I don't really have any data to back it up.

 

Ah, if you're interested in ones without high-schoolers I could suggest you one or twenty. Why not start with..." 

 

Is probably how I'd have rolled this conversation. 

[sanahtlig]

I was told many years ago that the general rule of thumb concerning anime is the age of the protagonist reflects the age of the people the show is aimed at. Dragonball was aimed at kiddies, so the protagonist was 6ish, Dragonball Z was aimed at those a little older and so the protagonist was a little older.

 

I tend to use the same rule of thumb for VNs. So many of the games are set in high-school reflects that the games are aimed mostly at college or high-school students. The same way most young-adult novels feature young-adult or teenage protagonists.

Hmm, but how would this apply to lolicon VNs?  I think this sort of rule fails to account for the porn factor, or more generally the escapist factor (of wanting to transport oneself to a world different from our own, and perhaps see it from a perspective different from our own).

[Flutterz]

Plot twist: Guy, knowing he was about to be schooled, fell into a coma. We do know how the conversation ended, it's all in the first post.