In your opinion, do visual novels portray romance realistically

[ratboi]

This is a thought that has been on my mind for some time. Now we all know the chances of a high school couple staying together forever are slim. You meet new people once you leave school, etc. I do know that it’s possible. But do you think visual novels present teenage romance in a way that is realistic?

[MaggieROBOT]

No, and that's why it's good.

[Thyndd]

3 minutes ago, MaggieROBOT said:

No, and that's why it's good.

+1

Romance IRL sucks, that's why we have fiction 

[Yuuko]

How are weebs supposed to know this???

[Thyndd]

2 minutes ago, Kiriririri said:

How are weebs supposed to know this???

Because some of us weren't born weebs. We converted.

[bakauchuujin]

We don't need realitic fights in shounen battle manga/anime so we don't need realism in romance.

Edited January 18, 2018 by bakauchuujin

[Zander]

It depends on the visual novel. Naturally, the majority of stories are exaggerated to a degree, but some don't stray too far from what is realistically possible.

Contrary to some of the previous answers, I wouldn't mind a visual novel that is "real-life like" to some degree. If the story ends in a bad way where the true route is life separating the protagonist and his/her chosen lover, it's no problem with me. I enjoy a well-written happy ending or any other kind just as much, too, though.

Thanks for the interesting thread, Ratboi.

[mitchhamilton]

idk about you guys but harem vn's accurately portray my life.

[Thyndd]

2 minutes ago, Zander said:

Contrary to some of the previous answers, I wouldn't mind a visual novel that is "real-life like" to some degree.

Yeah I mean, I don't mind either. What I tried to say is that romance in fiction is entitled to not be realistic, and that can be fine and ejoyable. It's up to the story how they want to portray it. Making an analogy, it'd be like realistic and abstract painting. Both have their merits in my humble opinion.

[PapaRabbi]

Just now, mitchhamilton said:

idk about you guys but harem vn's accurately portray my life.

That's true, you are part of my harem 

[bakauchuujin]

Just now, mitchhamilton said:

idk about you guys but harem vn's accurately portray my life.

Let me gues, the side character who is always jellous of the MC. Like Kenichi Saruyama or Hiroto Tonomachi.

[MaggieROBOT]

10 minutes ago, Zander said:

life separating the protagonist and his/her chosen lover, it's no problem with me.

Don't know about the quality of this novel, but maybe you'll like this one.

[Sparteh]

25 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

+1

Romance IRL sucks, that's why we have fiction 

+1

Romance in fiction: characters actually care about each other, are loyal, help each other and would sacrifice for each other.

Real life: love=money or other benefits, cheating and betrayal everywhere, chance that you will be backstabbe sooner or later...

[Plk_Lesiak]

3 minutes ago, Zander said:

It depends on the visual novel. Naturally, the majority of stories are exaggerated to a degree, but some don't stray too far from what is realistically possible.

 

Well, I think it's less about what's possible (I mean, nearly everything is that doesn't involve straight-up magic or super-contrived sci-fi), but how things actually look IRL. Typical multi-route VNs rely on some very specific fantasies of accessibility (every girl's a virgin!) and love that will always bloom between two people after a fixed number of positive interactions and won't turn out to be a huge mistake or a momentary infatuation. From this point of view, VNs don't try to be realistic - they usually try to portray a compelling, believable story, but offer a certain utopia (or even dystopia, in case of darker titles) that's meant to stimulate the reader rather than say something about our reality or stay true to it. The counter-examples, such as Narcissu, are definitely less numerable - and "serious" romance stories maybe even rarer. That's how I see it at least.

[Stormwolf]

26 minutes ago, Zander said:

It depends on the visual novel. Naturally, the majority of stories are exaggerated to a degree, but some don't stray too far from what is realistically possible.

Contrary to some of the previous answers, I wouldn't mind a visual novel that is "real-life like" to some degree. If the story ends in a bad way where the true route is life separating the protagonist and his/her chosen lover, it's no problem with me. I enjoy a well-written happy ending or any other kind just as much, too, though.

Thanks for the interesting thread, Ratboi.

Man, that's the bad ones. Makes the whole vn feel like a waste of time for me :/

[WinterfuryZX]

Some depicts romantic relationships more realistically than others, those not really focused on romance are paradoxically more realistic in this regard, then there are a few exceptions like EF or KGNE, while not being really realistic, they are definitely much more realistic than usual moeges.

[bakauchuujin]

1 minute ago, Stormwolf said:

Man, that's the bad ones. Makes the whole vn feel like a waste of time for me :/

I feel the same, if there isn't a happy ending I won't get it.

[DharmaFreedom]

44 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Romance IRL sucks

[Stormwolf]

Just now, bakauchuujin said:

I feel the same, if there isn't a happy ending I won't get it.

Agree. I will reluctantly accept a bad normal route where it's separation in the end. I might not read it if i know about it beforehand though, but for a true end? No chance.

[WinterfuryZX]

27 minutes ago, Sparteh said:

Real life: love=money or other benefits, cheating and betrayal everywhere, chance that you will be backstabbe sooner or later...

Too bad I excpect all that crap in simulated romances. When simulations don't deliver, the romance feels stale.

Edited January 18, 2018 by WinterfuryZX

[Zander]

8 minutes ago, MaggieROBOT said:

Don't know about the quality of this novel, but maybe you'll like this one.

Ah, hey, that looks quite good from a first impression! I'll try to avoid reading any more about it so I go in blind. Thank you very much for the recommendation Maggie, I'm surprised I haven't heard of it before.

18 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

From this point of view, VNs don't try to be realistic - they usually try to portray a compelling, believable story, but offer a certain utopia (or even dystopia, in case of darker titles) that's meant to stimulate the reader rather than say something about our reality or stay true to it. The counter-examples, such as Narcissu, are definitely less numerable - and "serious" romance stories maybe even rarer. That's how I see it at least.

Aye, I have no objections there. I just wish the counter-examples were a bit more numerous, since I personally can have trouble suspending my disbelief for a utopia-ish story at times. However, I have nothing against either kind, I've enjoyed quite a few VNs that just throw realism (for lack of a better word) out the window and let it slowly die out in the cold

19 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:

Man, that's the bad ones. Makes the whole vn feel like a waste of time for me :/

That's perfectly fine, we all have our own preferences. I just like a bit of variety. I enjoy a good romance story as much as anyone else, but I don't like going into every single one feeling like "okay, she is the true heroine. they will get together somehow in the end, regardless of what may happen in between", or "okay, these 4 are the romanceable characters, the protagonist can end up with whatever one I pick". I imagine that's an unpopular opinion though, and I don't expect the VN industry to cater to my unique tastes 

[Guest]

Mep, I can't say for sure since I saw romance originate from unlikely places in real life, so I don't think it is a straightforward thing, so "realistic" is very subjective in that sense.

But I think Visual Novels can write more let's say more "Down to earth" romances (Like Noiz route in DmmD Re:Connect, the first part felt very natural, well the second turns into a BDSM thing, but, that is not the point.), but, like I don't think that genres like Moege or Charage have the intention of portraying realistic romances and only "Moe" romance that have normally the focus on the whole "cuteness" of it and not the believability of it.

Like we could apply the same logic to modern day Soup Operas, do they realistically portray romance? Even though some Soup Operas have this very utopic and dramatizied couple that feel like they came right of a fairy tale?

[mitchhamilton]

45 minutes ago, bakauchuujin said:

Let me gues, the side character who is always jellous of the MC. Like Kenichi Saruyama or Hiroto Tonomachi.

...yes.

[ratboi]

Ok so this is what I’m guessing a lot of people think: it usually depends on the story and/or genre. Yeah I’d say I agree with that. I think that keys romance, especially clannads is usually quite realistic apart from the fact that some characters act like they’re 12. Another good example of realistic love story’s would be symphonic rain (I mean that the Romance is realistic, not the setting)So in the end I agree that it depends on the genre or story.

[Thyndd]

16 minutes ago, SeniorBlitz said:

Mep, I can't say for sure since I saw romance originate from unlikely places in real life, so I don't think it is a straightforward thing, so "realistic" is very subjective in that sense.

 

46 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Well, I think it's less about what's possible (I mean, nearly everything is that doesn't involve straight-up magic or super-contrived sci-fi), but how things actually look IRL.

It goes without saying that anything that doesn't go against the laws of nature can technically occur IRL, but I think, as Plk_Lesiak said, it's more about how things tend to be in general.

No matter how well written and developed a character in a work of fiction is, people in real life will always be way more complex and flawed. You could try really hard to be "realistic", but very often those characters aren't even appealing for the majority of the public. I've seen many times people hating on a character just because they're flawed and doesn't act the way they are expected to, disregarding the fact that real people are too unpredictable and often even annoying.

Those are the reasons why I personally don't feel like realistic romance or personal relationships of any kind in fiction are that important. I much more value the fact that the story feels consistent and follows its own rules. Unpredictable behaviours are ok as long as they were hinted before to any degree, however small.

Edited January 18, 2018 by Thyndd