Demand for VNs/Eroge in Japan vs Anywhere else

Visual Novel Community Visual Novel Talk
#1

Even as simple as it might be, this is one of the reasons. Japanese do read a lot when compared to other countries, just look at circulations for some of the magazines there.
But as for question of Visual Novels in other countries… Much of the problem is that many of the people who might be interested in them have no idea that visual novels even exist. There’s also stigma of porn that comics, manga and anime had to(and still have to) deal with.

Personally I’d be interested to see how properly marketed visual novel would do in Finland, since people here read even more than Japanese if look at population. One weekly comic magazine has circulation of like 2 million copies.

#2

Hmm, personally I think it’s also an innate reaction to the widespread anxiety and dissatisfaction felt by Japanese about various things in their hyperaged and ‘collectivistic’ society (not counting recent developments like economic insecurity, declining educational standards, growing crime rates, etc. etc.), however playing (ero)games and reading light novels remains definitely better than clinical depression and/or suicide :slight_smile: .

#3

I remember reading somewhere that Japanese are one of the most avid readers. But there is the bigger issue of availability. How many quality VN’s are made in the English speaking world each year? And how many good Japanese VN’s get translated.

#4

It is not just the amount of reading required that pushes some people away from Visual novels.

Other factors:

  • age of protagonists
    Sure, many Japanese kinda games have younger people, but not everyone wants a protagonist who’s a teen or even someone in their 20s. Some people want someone who’s in their 30s and beyond. I don’t think you can find many plots consisting of older people as the protagonists.

-very restricted in terms of gameplay
Especially the ones which’re fully “novels” and where you make choices only when you want to do this and that, there isn’t much else to do. Then there are the ones who prefer pure player freedom where you can control whatever you want. For people who are used to having more control over their games, it can be hard to bite the bullet. I know that for many people, Final Fantasy-style kinda games are the “furthest” they’ll go, in terms of forsaking player freedom.

  • type of plot
    I think many people still have no idea what “slice of life” is. And given a good lot of VNs contain this or mix “slice of life” with other aspects of plot like mystery/romance/drama/etc., I’m not surprised that people get pushed away by it. 'Cos who the heck wants to read about someone’s “day to day life”, right? Just playing the devil’s advocate here. :twisted: I think manga like Yotsubato is changing this though… but slowly. :stuck_out_tongue:
#5

Mainstream western audiences still often have the idea that “anime characters + text = PORN, and porn games always suck”… the idea that not all VNs contain porn or that not all porn has to suck hasn’t really penetrated.

As for reading, are book sales really that much higher in Japan than anywhere else? I know England seems to have an awful lot more public book advertising than the US does, I don’t know if that translates to selling more books or if it’s just a different culture thing.

#6

Not quite true.

Anime girls = porn

Anime boys = pokemon, yugioh or an action cartoon (DBZ, Naruto)

#7

You’re overestimating the demand for visual novels. Outside the hardcore otaku market (which barely exists outside Japan), they aren’t popular at all.

Light novels attract a wider audience but even then, it’s still a niche genre (primarily targeted at otaku or teenagers) with little room for growth. I know that publishers have been chagrined at the lack of growth after having pumped so much money into anime adaptations. With manga, an anime can spark a dramatic and sustained sales increase, but light novel adaptations haven’t been so successful (there’s a sales increase, but it’s more temporary and comparatively small. Hot otaku properties tend to top off at roughly the same sales level, so they’re probably attracting the same consumer base each time instead of drawing in newcomers).