Getting sick of Japanese names

[Omnificent]

I'm more sick of Japanese slice-of-life high school bishoujo and otome games than I am sick of the idea of games set in Japan, though games being set in Japan when the creator's idea of Japan stems 100% from moe, shoujo or yaoi anime is extremely grating. If you're going to make yet another game set in Japan, at least make it an interesting period in history or something. Where is my Sengoku Era VN?

[Solunar]

Does this mean Japanese VN companies shouldn't use Western names as well?

Shame on Japan for inventing Katakana and trying to take an interest in another culture!

A thousand curses on fantasy writers who haven't had a cup of tea with their invented creatures in their societies! How dare they write what they're unfamiliar with‽

A hundred deaths on the novice VN maker who dares make something they're interested in and not what I want!

May a millions fleas from a llama infest anyone who dares to make something less than perfect in the eyes of the VN gods!

[Omnificent]

It's more of a complaint about lack of originality/oversaturation/bad execution than anything. If someone makes a moe high school game set in Japan because that's what they like, all power to them, but I'm probably not going to read it unless they do a good job of making the execution sound interesting and original in a way that sets it off from the other thousand. It's not like encouraging developers to do more variety is some kind of hate crime.

[Zylinder]

Where is my Sengoku Era VN?

Actual research needed!? Pass.

...the same free Ice cream everyday, 7 days a week, 54 weeks a year since "ice cream" came out and the only difference between them is some are hand made and some are made by machines with hundreds of "New" ice cream ideas all the same flavor each month

And the solution is to order some takeout! I understand where the anger is coming from; I've never liked and will never like games that incorporate pointless Nihon elements. But it's as illogical as protesting someone else's favorite color. People are always going to make these games, no matter how many posts we make hating on it. Fact is that there ARE people who enjoy these games - the squealing fans are proof of that alone - and there ARE people who want to make these games because they enjoy them, so why try to stop it?

Even assuming there's a killswitch for Japanese themed, slice-of-life games with sharp-chinned people, what do we get from it?

People who we run out of town for making J-games don't necessarily need to make a non-Jgame as an alternative.
People who enjoy J-games don't get to enjoy them.
People who we thwart aren't going to +100 creativity and start making games about metaemotion.

And what do we really get? Less exposure, less interest, less completed games? At best? Instead of 10,000 high school J-games we'll have 10,000 high school games set in America.

As for the names - if you squint hard at mine it'll come out as Phoenix Apple. I'm clearly neither. It's great that names have deep symbolism and I'm sure every Japanese family out there takes a lot of time picking theirs and we wouldn't want a character named Winter Chicken, but let's live and let live.

[Omnificent]

Where is my Sengoku Era VN?

Actual research needed!? Pass.

Research is one of the funnest things about writing in the first place! Besides, I'd settle for something as historically inaccurate as Sengoku Basara The VN

At any rate, it's not inherently problematic unless it makes people think that they have to write a moe Japanese high school VN in order for anyone to read it/in order to be successful, even if it's not something they actually want to write. Which is patently untrue, but you can see why people would think that way. Heck, some people who have been vehemently defensive of their Japan-settings have also been the ones complaining about otome games ruining everything.

In the end, it's those people who I would be addressing by saying "You don't have to write a moe/bishi-filled Japanese high school VN if you want your game to get noticed, write what you want to write and write it as compellingly as you possibly can." Don't pander to what you think the market is. Make the market your bitch take to your ideas. This especially goes for any commercial outfits.

[Pyonkotchi]

we wouldn't want a character named Winter Chicken,

hey man you dont speak for everyone here :Y
i for one would GLADLY play as a character named winter chicken

In the end, it's those people who I would be addressing by saying "You don't have to write a moe/bishi-filled Japanese high school VN if you want your game to get noticed, write what you want to write and write it as compellingly as you possibly can." Don't pander to what you think the market is. Make the market your bitch take to your ideas.

this

if you dont enjoy yourself it will show in your work
and then you have a gave you made with half effort because you didnt even really care about what you're making.

and thats bad
write whatever your little heart desires
let your imagination roam free uvu

[feathersnake]

Honestly, I kind of don't like to put japanese stuff because I don't want to disrespect someone, like I once had this idea that focused on japanese mythology and I was researching hard for it, but then I decided to leave it alone.

I struggled with that too. It wasn't just Japanese mythology, but mythology in general. I was a little nervous pursuing a story with elements from them even with research. I ended up recklessly going through with it though. I have a lot to work on, but I enjoyed it, so I don't regret it.

How dare they write what they're unfamiliar with‽

Sorry for being so random, but I think that's the first time I've actually seen someone use an interrobang. XD I'm not sure why I'm so amazed to see it.


Alright, that was a bit off topic. Anyways, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm just going to keep creating and playing/reading/watching whatever I feel like. I've been experimenting and learning for a while and I plan to keep doing so even if it means walking straight into clichés or something people dislike. If I make a great story one way or another, then great! If not, well at least I've gotten the experience and I'll just have to go make something new again.

Not to say I don't roll my eyes occasionally at some kind of overused story element and such, but I'm really into just about anything with a good or potentially good plot even if it's not my cup of tea. So I just forge on through. Sometimes I find quite a gem of a story behind the things I judged in the beginning. I've noticed that many people kind of have to make a story that is overused in some way first to get it out of their system. People can only really take from their experience and preference. As time goes on, if they keep creating, they usually start to carve their own path out well.

[ShippoK]

In the end, it's those people who I would be addressing by saying "You don't have to write a moe/bishi-filled Japanese high school VN if you want your game to get noticed, write what you want to write and write it as compellingly as you possibly can.

Probably doesn't help that a lot of people here prefer "KAWII UGUU BISHI DESU!~" character over normal characters. Look at some of the comments sometimes on a Work In-progress VN with such artwork. Half of the time the comments go like this...

"OMG I LOVE THE ART!"
"KAWII ART!"
" ;O THE ART IS SO AMAZING! X3 KYA!~

Over and over and over... It's a big reason why a lot of good VN's get unnoticed because the lack of 'Kawii Artwork'
It's quite sad really...
(Hey, I was right! This is becoming a hate anime general!)

i for one would GLADLY play as a character named winter chicken

Name creativity, I like it! Reminds me of Tri-ace's wonderful naming.

Roddick Farrence
Claude C. Kenny
Fayt Leingod
Edge Maverick
[url=http://Blast_Aldemon_For_Star_Ocean_5.com]Blast Aldemon[/url] (Oh wait, he doesn't exist yet.)
(btw, this is by a Japanese company)

[teacup]

Note: this message is not directed to anyone in particular but is more of a general statement.

I don't get why people whine so much about the types of games other people choose to make. People can make whatever kinds of games they want, and if you don't like them, don't play them. There are plenty of games on this board that I ignore because I'm not interested in them, but you don't see me, or most people, making threads to whine and complain about people for making said games. I'm not saying that's what you're doing at all OP, but I see that behavior a lot in other people on this forum and it's really irritating. If there's a kind of game you want to see more of, YOU make it. You'll never be able to force people into making games they don't want to make (or force people to stop making games that you don't like), so you might as well stop trying.

[enta]

You'll never be able to force people into making games they don't want to make (or force people to stop making games that you don't like), so you might as well stop trying.

I think the point here is "You want to make a game you are BASING on a Japanese high school life, Japanese history, etc; you go research about them" instead of making a setting with weak foundations or just end up being cliched or dropping the idea(whether it had the potential or not) because you ended up drawing a line on what to do because in fact, you REALLY don't know what to do because you never knew, experience, saw anything that you are writing in reality and you'll just end up writing what you experienced yourself after all. Given that this only applies to any slice of life drama or school lives. On fantasy-themed stories, you can go wild do what you want, make the world, country, city, town, village yours and rock it.

But to be honest, this was completely an off-topic since the OP was talking about "getting sick with Japanese names".

EDIT: And I don't mean that all people who write Japanese-themed VNs were like this. And most of the people that I see that are like this were the people who would post up their ideas and disappear after a few weeks.

This would be locked pretty soon, I think.

[teacup]

Well, frankly, I think what I said could be applied to the original argument, too...

You're sick of Japanese names. Okay... so ignore/don't play games where the characters have Japanese names. People will never stop making games where the characters have Japanese names, so what is the point of complaining about it? Instead, go out and make a game where characters have names from a different country. The more people do that, the more you can crowd out the Japanese-themed games until they aren't so popular. Because that's what people want, right? More variety. And how do you get more variety? Certainly not by whining about the lack of it. Be proactive.

There are a lot of things I'm sick of in visual novels, but I also know that people enjoy the very things I'm sick of, so why should I complain about something that very clearly has a fanbase? Instead, I'll ignore those games, and go make a game that has the things I like.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that people should do research if they want to make games set in a different country. I myself made a game set in Japan that I should have done more research on. But the point is, not everyone will, and you can't force them, so stop giving them attention and start giving more unique games attention. By dwelling on these Japanese-cliche games, you are giving them attention. Again, be proactive. Want to see a game with characters named Bob and Jill instead of (insert Japanese name here)? Then go make a game with those characters, don't waste time sitting around complaining about the number of games with Japanese names. Before you complain, ask yourself: how are you helping?

I just think people need to quit focusing so much on what other people are doing and start getting to work on their own games. Or, if you're not a creator, go and give all of your support to the more unique games.

Also, I don't see why this thread would be locked. No one is being dramatic here. It's simply a discussion.

[enta]

Also, I don't see why this thread would be locked. No one is being dramatic here. It's simply a discussion.

Because there are some posts(that would include my earlier posts) that are completely off-topic. But yeah, I agree with you. Maybe the only problem here is many people(I should probably include myself here) were not open-minded enough to accept that people will make games whether others accept it or not.

[Gear]

Well, there's two sides to every story. Part of the reason no one else takes VN games seriously is because the market is flooded with half-baked Japanese wannabe-slice-of-life games. So when a story comes along with an actually decent plot, it's ignored, whether it's a Japanese-set game or no. We're just...diluted at this point.

[Auro-Cyanide]

I agree with Teacup here. Support good writing and research, not rather bias banning of certain things. Japanese names are just names. Frankly as long as it suits the context, what does it matter what the characters are called? Is it really going to change the story? And really even that doesn't matter if the creator is happy with what they are doing. I just avoid it if i'm not interested, I don't demand everyone fit my likes and dislikes.

I DO support good storytelling, so I think it's good to make sure the names and words you choose isn't going to distract from your story by being out of place, and I support good research so your story has more substance, but apart from that, people can tell whatever stories they desire.

The only argument that would have actual bearing is if Japanese people were talking about the cultural misconceptions that occur and how it might effect the perceptions of their race. That would be important, because it could be seen as cultural appropriation and they have a right to take a stance on that if they so choose.

But really, why only Japanese names? I can think of a tonne of things that have well and truly fallen down the trope hole.

Well, there's two sides to every story. Part of the reason no one else takes VN games seriously is because the market is flooded with half-baked Japanese wannabe-slice-of-life games. So when a story comes along with an actually decent plot, it's ignored, whether it's a Japanese-set game or no. We're just...diluted at this point.

Eh, BCM has gotten a fairly serious response from people, so I don't think it matters too much. In the grand scheme of things it's more important that the creators are enjoying what they are doing and the game gets made. You are not going to last long if you are just trying to please people.

[Solunar]

Part of the reason no one else takes VN games seriously is because the market is flooded with half-baked Japanese wannabe-slice-of-life games.

That's like saying no more legendary books can be written because my grandma likes to write about her cat's magical adventures. Or that because Freddy likes to jam in his garage with his band, there is too much music in this world and he will crowd out the sound of a beautiful musical piece.

The self-publishing industry for novels which heated up in the past few years has seen more amateurs get their words heard rather than stifle new works from being created by the big publishers. It's gotten more people interested in reading because now we really do have something for everyone's taste.

If someone likes anime and Japanese names, they might start reading visual novels with Japanese names, then maybe move on to read VNs without Japanese names. Or they could just stick to reading VNs with Japanese names. No problem with that. But they might tell their friend about this cool VN they're reading and their friend goes, "What's that?" And that friend might not care for Japanese names, but they still give it a try and then branch out to read others. Different people like different things.

Who am I to stop my grandma from writing about her magical cat adventures or to stop someone from reading it?