I want more female LIs

[plumtree]

Aside from ebi-hime (thank you yuri goddess), I liked A Little Lily Princess by Hanako Games. The Flowers series by Innocent Grey seems pretty popular on Steam but I haven't played it myself so I can't vouch for the "male-gaze" level if that makes sense. A Summer's End ~ Hong Kong 1986~ is amazing and was made by two female devs.

I feel like there are quite a bit of OELVNs where you can choose your gender and/or gender with female LIs. 4noki on itch.io has a bunch of free, short yuri VNs that I really enjoyed.

I think the best thing we can do is support the female yuri devs that are already out there, and let people know there is a market for this kind of content.

 

[nemaiaish]

Or maybe a VN with yuri elements but from female gaze (do you get what i meant?)

I really really really love kiamei from HI3, and I usually self-insert myself as kiana to feel like..... as if im playing Raiden Mei's romance route

But i noticed, some otome(?) VN that has female LI usually just extra route (like, not as complete as the other male LI routes) or friendship route...

I want more Mei-senpai :( I want miyukichi as a love interest in a visual novel

KIAMEI FAN HERE OKMG

 

[ninnikuryona]

I think I read somewhere that the yuri genre was originally aimed at women?

it was, and still is, mostly aimed at women yes! people think that just because yaoi is for female audience, that means that yuri is for male audience, which is false! since long ago, majority of yuri mangaka were women, and its even easier to discover them in modern days:)

and yes. naturally eroge is overrun by galge, and for them yuri is treated as nothing but fanservice. even sfw yuri vns are mostly written by men and are, therefore, more appealing to the male audience. also, yuri works itself are unfortunately the lowest-selling in all types of media, 18+ yuri even more so, so they need a HUGE amount of support if we wanna see more of them:(

(and it doesnt help that when we are getting 18+ yuri, its something like sutekano..)

 

[mahouaya]

Having to read "otome is for heterosexual women" makes me really uncomfortable, because I'm a lesbian and I love otome games. It's the same as saying "galge was only made for perverted men to consume"

Anyway, I think it would be nice to have at least one yuri route, because no otoges aren't made only for heterosexual women, but for women in general. That said, I still prefer when yuri VNs and BL VNs are their own separate things. Still, I keep saying it would be nice if more otome games included at least one female route <3

 

[ninnikuryona]

Having to read "otome is for heterosexual women" makes me really uncomfortable, because I'm a lesbian and I love otome games. It's the same as saying "galge was only made for perverted men to consume"

the target audience of otome games are indeed heterosexual/bisexual women who want to pursue men (the very definition is "a game with a female mc and male lis"), but anyone can enjoy otome, woman or not. just like galge, although mainly targeting men, can be enjoyed by women as well. as long as you understand that, and as long as you dont try to rewrite the definition itself, its all fine!^^

 

[mahouaya]

the target audience of otome games are indeed heterosexual/bisexual women who want to pursue men (the very definition is "a game with a female mc and male lis"), but anyone can enjoy otome, woman or not. just like galge, although mainly targeting men, can be enjoyed by women as well. as long as you understand that, and as long as you dont try to rewrite the definition itself, its all fine!^^

I understand what you mean, and it's true that otome games are structured around a female protagonist with male love interests. But that doesn't necessarily mean the audience is only heterosexual women

In Japan, the term 乙女ゲーム (otome game) comes from the word 乙女 (otome), which roughly means "maiden" or "young woman." The term is more about aesthetics and marketing demographics (games aimed at women) rather than a specific sexual orientation.

In fact, when the first major otome game was released (Angelique by Koei) it was promoted as 女性向け (josei-muke), which simply means "aimed at women." In Japan, these categories are usually demographic, not related to sexual orientation. For example:

少女 (shoujo) → for girls

女性向け (josei-muke) → aimed at women

少年 (shounen) → for boys

None of these categories assumes the sexual orientation of the audience

Also, enjoying stories with romance between a man and a woman doesn't define the sexuality of the person consuming them. Many LGBT people enjoy heterosexual romance in fiction, just like many women enjoy galge or men enjoy shoujo
and that's okay ^^


So I see otome more as a genre designed for a female audience in general, not necessarily only for heterosexual or bisexual women. Of course anyone can enjoy it, but the original Japanese classification usually refers only to demographics, not sexual orientation!

(I'm sorry if I sounded rude that wasn't my intention! I do understand your comment )

 

[ninnikuryona]

In Japan, the term 乙女ゲーム (otome game) comes from the word 乙女 (otome), which roughly means "maiden" or "young woman." The term is more about aesthetics and marketing demographics (games aimed at women) rather than a specific sexual orientation.

thats true! but still, the definition of the genre itself is "female mc, male lis". female lis can exist, but theyre 1) the overwhelming minority (even one female li already puts the game on thin ice) and 2) mostly fanservice. otome games are targeted at women, its even in the name ww!!, but when people use it as an excuse to harass devs to add yuri routes, thats when it becomes a problem!! after all, it all boils down to supporting creators/games that you love instead of trying to rewrite existing genres^^

 

[lambdadelta]

Having to read "otome is for heterosexual women" makes me really uncomfortable, because I'm a lesbian and I love otome games. It's the same as saying "galge was only made for perverted men to consume"

me too, and i still love playing otome games as well! bl, yuri, het i'll read anything as long as it appeals to me!!

 

[mahouaya]

É verdade! Mas ainda assim, a definição do próprio gênero é "protagonista feminina, interesse amoroso masculino". Interesses amorosos femininos podem existir, mas são 1) uma minoria esmagadora (mesmo um único interesse amoroso feminino já coloca o jogo em risco) e 2) são, em sua maioria, fanservice. Jogos otome são voltados para mulheres, está até no nome WW!!, mas quando as pessoas usam isso como desculpa para pressionar os desenvolvedores a adicionarem rotas yuri, aí sim se torna um problema!! No fim das contas, tudo se resume a apoiar os criadores/jogos que você ama em vez de tentar reescrever os gêneros existentes^^

Sim, eu também sou contra pressioná-los, sabe? Principalmente porque já existe todo um público para isso. Eu gosto quando tem pelo menos uma rota yuri (o que é bem raro), mas se eu quiser yuri, prefiro procurar uma visual novel yuri em vez de incomodar os desenvolvedores com isso. >.<

thats true! but still, the definition of the genre itself is "female mc, male lis". female lis can exist, but theyre 1) the overwhelming minority (even one female li already puts the game on thin ice) and 2) mostly fanservice. otome games are targeted at women, its even in the name ww!!, but when people use it as an excuse to harass devs to add yuri routes, thats when it becomes a problem!! after all, it all boils down to supporting creators/games that you love instead of trying to rewrite existing genres^^

Yeah, I'm against pressuring them too, you know? Especially since there's already a whole demographic for that. I do like it when there's at least one yuri route (which is pretty rare), but if I want yuri, I'd rather go look for a yuri VN instead of bothering the developers about it >.<

 

[mahouaya]

me too, and i still love playing otome games as well! bl, yuri, het i'll read anything as long as it appeals to me!!

ME TOO! OMG, TWINS! If it has a good story and/or beautiful art, I'll be there
And I love your username! I also adore Lambdadelta, although my favorite is Bern and I'm a huge LambdaBern shipper

 

[koko36]

You would probably find some in western otome games , most jp ones don't have that option

 

[Iiiiii]

Then it wouldn't be an otome game, otome games are strictly male love interests × female protagonist, so you'd have more luck looking into GL games

 

[chiorins]

i don't play GL because i find it weirds since i have sisters

 

[lambdadelta]

ME TOO! OMG, TWINS! If it has a good story and/or beautiful art, I'll be there
And I love your username! I also adore Lambdadelta, although my favorite is Bern and I'm a huge LambdaBern shipper

HELLO??? omg our faves match your taste is excellent fr. i'm also a lambda/bern shipper ofc, they're everything to me <3

and i think you're from brasil too? love that. i never met another brazilian umineko/wtc fan before...

 

[a4015]

Compared to BL, GL is very rare. While there are friendship endings with female characters in otome games, most people probably wouldn't expect anything more than that. It's a sensitive topic, after all. The answer is: developers, step up your game!

 

[mahouaya]

HELLO??? omg our faves match your taste is excellent fr. i'm also a lambda/bern shipper ofc, they're everything to me <3

and i think you're from brasil too? love that. i never met another brazilian umineko/wtc fan before...

Yes, I'm Brazilian!! I guess it's kind of obvious, right? >.<


ARE YOU BRAZILIAN TOO??? I've met very few Umineko/WTC fans so meeting someone who likes both Umineko and otoge is a HUGE surprise to me!

 

[tf_charge]

Compared to BL, GL is very rare. While there are friendship endings with female characters in otome games, most people probably wouldn't expect anything more than that. It's a sensitive topic, after all. The answer is: developers, step up your game!

What? Why is GL considered "sensitive" but not BL??

 

[a4015]

What? Why is GL considered "sensitive" but not BL??

That's not what I meant—I meant the audience is small. While BL is mainly consumed by women or a small number of men, there are so many women who enjoy seeing men in GL content. I don't really want to bring up sensitive topics here. What I meant was that even though it may seem like there's a small audience, there are actually many people who want this content, so I hope the creators keep up the good work.