How much overlap is there between anime fans and visual novel fans in Japan?

[The Cat]

Obvisouly in the West there is huge overlap between the two communities..... but even so I have met some people who are only VN players (and of course most anime fans are not VN players). I wonder how this is in Japan and if the situation is the same as here? Visual novels I think have a stronger presence in the Japanese otaku culture compared to the Western otaku culture so maybe it's not as unheard of for an otaku to only be interested in VNs and not anime (like it is in the west?) Are the two marketed for the same crowd or is there a Vn fanbase that is separate from the anime fanbase? Does anyone have any knowledge about this?

[Clephas]

Most kids grow up watching anime and reading manga in Japan, but those who become true otakus number about three in twenty.   VNs are generally only played by adult otakus, which make up a smaller percentage of the total population.  Most VN players in Japan are already general otakus, from what my friend tells me, because ero visual novels are considered to be 'deeper in the otaku abyss' than manga, anime, or LNs.  Non-ero VNs are more accessible but also are primarily on console or portable mediums, and so they are more likely to be played by younger otakus and even younger non-otakus there.  However, most of those are otomege or all-ages ports of eroge, lol.

Edit: Something to keep in mind about the fanbase here is that OELVNs are much more accessible in general than Japanese VNs, meaning that there are a lot of people who start from there and expand into Japanese VNs without having become anime or manga fans first.

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by Clephas

[Renkinjutsushi]

On 23/7/2017 at 4:01 PM, Clephas said:

more accessible but also are primarily on console or portable mediums

Yeah you are completly right, most VN/Eroge in Japan can be play on Playstation Vita/Ios/Android and of course PC. In west we have a little group of visual novel on portable mediums like Vita or phones.

On 23/7/2017 at 4:01 PM, Clephas said:

because ero visual novels are considered to be 'deeper in the otaku abyss'

Uhmm... Yeah maybe, almost nobody spend 30 or more hour just with text nowadays.

[krill]

4 hours ago, Renkinjutsushi said:

Yeah you are completly right, most VN/Eroge in Japan can be play on Playstation Vita/Ios/Android and of course PC. In west we have a little group of visual novel on portable mediums like Vita or phones.

Uhmm... Yeah maybe, almost nobody spend 30 or more hour just with text nowadays.

Don't forget Tablets , Nintendo DS/3DS , PlayStation Portable as well while there are less visual novels on those platforms in English thats not the case in Japan there are many that never get translated or are even brought to the attention of the most Gamers in the west.

Japanese otaku have been playing visual novels on mobile devices as long ago as the early 90's with the introduction of the HuCards and the PC Engine GT.

Edited July 31, 2017 by krill
spelling

[Renkinjutsushi]

33 minutes ago, krill said:

Don't forget Tablets , Nintendo DS/3DS , PlayStation Portable as well while there are less visual novels on those platforms in English thats not the case in Japan there are many that never get translated or are even brought to the attention of the most Gamers in the west.

Japanese otaku have been playing visual novels on mobile devices as long ago as the early 90's with the introduction of the HuCards and the PC Engine GT.

Yeah I agree, Japanese otaku play/read VN since 80. And is normal see games like Blazblue, Suikoden etc with visual novel how main games or spin-off. In west the phenomenon of visual novels is a new concept still.

[krill]

8 minutes ago, Renkinjutsushi said:

Yeah I agree, Japanese otaku play/read VN since 80. And is normal see games like Blazblue, Suikoden etc with visual novel how main games or spin-off. In west the phenomenon of visual novels is a new concept still.

Not really new its been around in English since the mid to late 90's but it was even more of a niche then it is now. Also i was talking more that playing of visual novels and "adventure games" on mobile devices though id agree that the genre was probably at least started in the 80's with Bishoujo games and date sim's.