Nostalgia for an era I lived… Nastalgia for one I never knew

[Bredan]

I read my first « quasi VN » in 2012 or 2013, can’t remember precisely. It was 999 on DS. I liked it a lot and tried to find something similar. Threads (on Reddit probably) oriented me toward truer VN, and the first I read were Fate Stay Night and Clannad,

At this point, likely the first half of 2013, I began to come to Fuwanovel : it began of course with the torrents, but I quickly read a lot of threads on the forum, followed the status of VN translations and, most of all, followed every Clephas’s VN of the month as long as it lasted.

Torrents disappeared shortly after on Fuwa.

It took me years to register as I was content enough with just lurking around and reading you all. IIRC, I registered just to thank Clephas for his work on VN of the month at the time.

Somewhere in 2014, I learned to read Jap, frustrated to not be able to read titles like Akatsuki no Goei (the first I read in Jap) and many others.

 

Fast forward to 2025 : I’ve barely read any VN in years. But… I feel so nostalgic of this era. Even only a few seconds of many great VN soundtracks can bring so much memories and feelings.

As said previously, I began to know VN after the often alleged ‘golden era’ of JP VN. I came to know Fuwa just before it's creator, Aaeru, vanished and torrents were abolished. It could be said I missed the best era for VN.

And yet, I feel even nostalgia for this period I never knew. I feel it through the story you told along the years, through the old threads I read on Fuwa at the time, through things like this https://forum.agoraroad.com/index.php?threads/a-story-from-my-hometown-on-the-net-aaeru-the-piracy-advocate-who-vanished.3906/.

And of course, through the many VN I read that came from the 2000-201x era.

This nostalgia probably comes from me becoming older, but I’m quite sure it comes from knowing that those era, the golden age of JP VN and the time I came to know VNs, is something that will never occur again.

Ah well, I just wanted to share with you all. I don’t expect anything special, but feel free to share your thoughts too. A lot of the ones that ought to be thanked do not seem to be around anymore but there's still some : thanks for this community.

Kindly.

 

Edited February 15 by Bredan