Forum - View topicINTEREST: Japanese Translator Explains Why Otome Games Fail in U.S.
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Chrono1000
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2607 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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Men of the Yoshiwara: Kikuya is I think the game you're looking for.  I played it too, and it's decently fun, albeit pretty badly translated. There is a sequel out in English on Steam - Men of the Yoshiwara: Ohgiya, where the heroine has a more believable reason for being there. I've cleared two of the routes and they were definitely different enough from the first game to make it worthwhile. (I got all of the developer's games in a bundle sale this summer. The only one I didn't really like was Pub Encounter, AKA "Horny Older Guys Hit on Drunk 20something.")
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Stuart Smith
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I wonder how this ties into shoujo and josei titles also being ignored in America. The female market for a lot of stuff is unprofitable here. Saban/Netflix tried to make Pretty Cure a thing recently and that fell flat on its face. American girls seem to flock to shounen just fine and don't need actual girl-oriented titles.
-Stuart Smith |
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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Might have something more to due with "changing it too much from the source material", you make too many localisation choices and you are basically making an original IP, Power Rangers could have easily been as big as a flop as many other quick cash in shows that would later imitate the formula using old live action Sentai footage mixed with State Side live action acting. We can only wait and see if "Glitter Force" is too hefty of a cost to continue as a project as many had predicted the first run would have been enough to bury the project. |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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That actually sounds really cool, and I would see a movie like that (provided the storytelling is good).
It really depends on where you look, as things that have caught on with girls but not boys in the United States are plentiful. There is no denying the popularity of franchises like Monster High or Shopkins, after all. If you mean Japanese media, then yes, that seems to be the case, where by and large they're drawn toward things traditionally aimed at boys (though this is true to an extent in Japan too, with series like Haikyuu!! and Detective Conan bringing in huge amounts of female readers and for the same reasons as in the west: attractive, appealing male characters). As for why girl franchises from Japan don't catch on in the United States? I think it's the same reason why girl franchises from the United States don't catch on in Japan: The market is already full, with franchises that know their audiences very well and are fine-tuned for them. Neither side of the ocean has any room for a franchise from another country geared toward that country's consumers. |
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Chrono1000
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FantasticHarmony
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I really think it's because they don't market them At All here in the west. I know Mystic Messenger is a Korean game, but its an example of how popular these games can be here if they just market them correctly. I know Code Realize got a small campaign here and thats why its a popular Otome game, also I think they would make bank if they published Diabolik Lovers. As long as it has a better translation than Amnesia.
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xBTAx
Posts: 189 |
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The more I learn about this, the more I think this was badly reported, or at the very least the article writer should have looked into what was being said a bit more. It’s a minor thing, but frustrating to see.
Apparently the game in question is 5 years old, and the game’s story is not really what is said in the article. I think it’s a shame that, going by this thread, this article has confused people into thinking someone’s speculation about 5 year old mobile otome games is accurate for current Vita otome games that tend to actually sell very well. |
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LieutenantBaconWaffles
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So true for mobile otome games. I've only gotten into them about a month ago, but I noticed a huge influx of them in 2015 & 2016, where updates stagnate in 2017. Korean otome games have started appearing.... Not surprising since Lezhin titles dominated manga sites last year. Many games quit development too early, like after only making 3 out of 9 routes available before working on a new one. Many have horrible Google Translate translations.
It's not that otomes are too feminine or sexist, it's that they're basically written as children. They wear frilly lacey princess dresses, have no interest in sex & try to avoid it at all cost, are grossly naive, cry at the drop of a hat, apologise too often, are oblivious & not self-aware, have the rock-bottom self esteem of a socially awkward girl who was bullied in school. The lolita fashion in mobile otome games also comes off as gaudy & childish. The most sexist thing I can think of is that it falls under the "she's only hot if she doesn't think she is" chick-flick cliche where she is described as a plain looking woman who cleans up nicely after her love interest gives her a makeover & teaches her how not to dress like a slob. But those movies/books/games are almost always written & directed by women, so I guess it's self-sexism. Also, 90% of the otomes all have the exact same personality. I would disagree that the love interests need to be changed, but we do need more moe types. Instead of blank slate characters in otome & harem games & anime, the developers/screenwriters should say "the story between a bland everyman who represents the viewer & moe types has already been told a thousand times. Let's give the blob a personality & see how the moe types react to it." Admittedly, the more raunchy adult otome games come off as a little rapey, since the otome never initiates sex & protests all the way through it. Most guys would say they like a kinky girl who knows a few tricks & expresses joy in bed. I cant see a harem of men fighting over a prude who cries the whole time & lays there like a dead fish while he does all the work. Condoms & casual sex are things that just don't seem to exist in anything Shoujo or Jousei that I've seen. If you ask the developers, they'd likely tell you the problem, at least with mobile otome & harem games, is that western players like free games & refuse to spend money, which is why so many run on timed ticket systems & make all their money nickle-&-diming on gachapons that decorate their avatars to stand out from everyone else's. Out of 50+ games, I can't say I've ever played more than one where the otome was in a bad relationship. 99.9% of the time, the otome is either a former NEET who just moved out of her parents' house & is gunning for her dream job, is unemploed & too focused on getting a job to have a social life, or is a career-focused workaholic who hasn't dated since college. The one game that started with the otome in a relationship, she dumped him & went hunting for a new BF. ............................................................ The only badass otome I've encountered are in some Voltage games, namely "Liar" which has a no-nonsence otome who knows she's hot stuff dating 9 guys all at the same time after dumping her cheating boyfriend, but all of her love interests are deeply flawed (married adulterers, thieves, gambling addicts deep in debt, stalkers, kidnapers), so she illiminates them from her dating pool one at a time by exposing their flaws (I would also like a gender-swapped version of this game). The other Voltage otomes are from the western-style Lovestruck app. The otome from Starship Promise still suffers from clumsiness, but her self-esteem improves over time & she's more horny & less of a prude. NTT Solmare has a few where they at least give the otome a little attitude, like Love Tangle in NIFLHEIM & Lost Alice. Western otome developers make entire collections of unrelated stories consolidated into a single app, like Episode, My Story, What's Your Story, Chapters Interactive, Choices, My Shelf, Hearbeat, & stand-alone stories like The Arcana. About half of these also let you pick the otome's sex & give you love interest of both sexes, & nearly all let you design how the otome looks. More of these are popping up lately. |
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