Otome "book" club

[Hinakochan]

I've been having this thought recently that it would be fun to have an otome book club. Just like book clubs where they read a chapter each week and review it together. I don't really know how we should name it if it happens lol.
But Having a weekly or monthly review of a game and/or otome cd we chose together, so that we can share our thoughts and discover/rediscover joseimuke stuff. Anyone would be welcome to participe at any given moment of course, for exemple if we decide on an r18 game but you don't like adult things you could come for another game later on, or maybe even play the safe version.
It might be hard for me to do it all alone because of uni but I'll try my best if you want it.


I thought it could be fun to do that and get to know each other better through otome! It could also be a great way for Japanese learners to have a goal and a time limit if a chosen otome is Japanese only.
I don't really intend to do it for bl myself since I don't play bl games/listen to bl cd's that much, I like otome better, but if any bl fan wants to do it it could be great too!

If you have any recommendations as to how to do it, or anything else tell me. I don't know if overall that's a good idea or not and if anyone is interested or not.

 

[fleyrin]

First of all, I think this is a brilliant idea! I often find myself wishing there were more active discussions centered around a single game.

Second, it kind of reminds me of how Reddit does discussion threads for each route when a new game comes out.

I imagine it being an active server where people can hang out, discuss the game, and fangirl together in real time =D And then maybe once a week or month, we could post mini-reviews or just share our thoughts on what we've read so far!

As for organizing everything, I feel like ChatGPT could actually be pretty useful for figuring out how to make it work lol.

 

[Hinakochan]

First of all, I think this is a brilliant idea! I often find myself wishing there were more active discussions centered around a single game.

Second, it kind of reminds me of how Reddit does discussion threads for each route when a new game comes out.

I imagine it being an active server where people can hang out, discuss the game, and fangirl together in real time =D And then maybe once a week or month, we could post mini-reviews or just share our thoughts on what we've read so far!

Yeah! it would be great and if everyone is comfortable enough even read some parts together and discover it at the same time lol, but if the "club" happens it would be way later I believe and with people on the discord.

As for organizing everything, I feel like ChatGPT could actually be pretty useful for figuring out how to make it work lol.

I kinda disagree with that. I anti ai so that's why, but organizing shouldn't be hard. A shared excel or something. We just need to make sure that everyone has a say in what we play and the time given for each chapter/route.

 

[b3rryb3rry]

I've seen some otome discord servers / threads on the otome games subreddit if you're interested.

I've always wanted to join in, but my reading habits are quite sporadic—I either finish a whole route in a couple of days or an entire month. But playing along with a bunch of people and seeing everyone's reactions/thoughts without having to worry about spoilers sounds super fun!!

 

[Hinakochan]

I've seen some otome discord servers / threads on the otome games subreddit if you're interested.

Depends on the community tbh, I felt so grateful to come here, I never felt ashamed or judged when I first interacted here! It's really refreshing to have a community this welcoming! So it would be great to create one here with people who seem nice and really welcoming, no fanwars and such so that's great!

I've always wanted to join in, but my reading habits are quite sporadic—I either finish a whole route in a couple of days or an entire month. But playing along with a bunch of people and seeing everyone's reactions/thoughts without having to worry about spoilers sounds super fun!!

Yeah lmaoo fair enough I'm the same, Especially on the otome subreddit, I rarely play games when they come out so I see the hype but I'm always late. Sometimes I play through the entire game in one sitting and sometimes it takes me month to even finish one route.

 

[redcatdream]

I've been having this thought recently that it would be fun to have an otome book club. Just like book clubs where they read a chapter each week and review it together. I don't really know how we should name it if it happens lol.
But Having a weekly or monthly review of a game and/or otome cd we chose together, so that we can share our thoughts and discover/rediscover joseimuke stuff. Anyone would be welcome to participe at any given moment of course, for exemple if we decide on an r18 game but you don't like adult things you could come for another game later on, or maybe even play the safe version.
It might be hard for me to do it all alone because of uni but I'll try my best if you want it.


I thought it could be fun to do that and get to know each other better through otome! It could also be a great way for Japanese learners to have a goal and a time limit if a chosen otome is Japanese only.
I don't really intend to do it for bl myself since I don't play bl games/listen to bl cd's that much, I like otome better, but if any bl fan wants to do it it could be great too!

If you have any recommendations as to how to do it, or anything else tell me. I don't know if overall that's a good idea or not and if anyone is interested or not.

I'd love to have one for otome games & CDs ~
I've always envied JP side on twitter having full on discussions and short stories and thoughts on Otome CDs & doujin I want this for us too >< I want to have fun with others and play & analyze too!

 

[Hinakochan]

I'd love to have one for otome games & CDs ~
I've always envied JP side on twitter having full on discussions and short stories and thoughts on Otome CDs & doujin I want this for us too >< I want to have fun with others and play & analyze too!

Okay now I definitely have to do it lol! I won't be able to do it right away (uni life and moving out), and alone will probably be difficult so I'd be glad if someone else was interested and could help out, It'd be less daunting tbh lol.
But I'll work on that when I can. I need to wait the end of the poll but I guess we might do one for otome cd and one for games!
Anyway I'm happy you're happy about that! I feel so excited too!

 

[redcatdream]

Okay now I definitely have to do it lol! I won't be able to do it right away (uni life and moving out), and alone will probably be difficult so I'd be glad if someone else was interested and could help out, It'd be less daunting tbh lol.
But I'll work on that when I can. I need to wait the end of the poll but I guess we might do one for otome cd and one for games!
Anyway I'm happy you're happy about that! I feel so excited too!

Oh, take care and be sure to stay healthy ~ Life can get so busy!
I'm more interested in discussing Otome CDs, like their stories and such, to be honest since otome games are already discussed plenty (and I'm grateful for it! I like to know others' opinions ♡)

And I look forward to the club hehe ♡!

 

[makotoqwq01]

i would honestly be so excited if something like this actually happened! i love the thought of having a little community where we can share our reactions, discuss plot twists, and go completely crazy over our favorite characters together lol. having regular check ins would also be a nice way to keep everyone engaged without making it feel like homework ♡

and maybe we could use chatgpt to help us come up with a simple structure for the whole thing hehe :D

 

[Hinakochan]

Oh, take care and be sure to stay healthy ~ Life can get so busy!
I'm more interested in discussing Otome CDs, like their stories and such, to be honest since otome games are already discussed plenty (and I'm grateful for it! I like to know others' opinions ♡)

And I look forward to the club hehe ♡!

Thank you! I will! I'll try to give updates when I can and try to get this ready! (Also I agree about otome cd's not being discussed as much lol, maybe some kind of taboo? especially for steamy ones)

 

[Hinakochan]

i would honestly be so excited if something like this actually happened! i love the thought of having a little community where we can share our reactions, discuss plot twists, and go completely crazy over our favorite characters together lol. having regular check ins would also be a nice way to keep everyone engaged without making it feel like homework ♡

and maybe we could use chatgpt to help us come up with a simple structure for the whole thing hehe :D

Yes it would be so so great! Especially with the community here!

As for ai I personally won't use it. It's a daunting task but not impossible. I'll do my best to make it incredible!

 

[redcatdream]

Thank you! I will! I'll try to give updates when I can and try to get this ready! (Also I agree about otome cd's not being discussed as much lol, maybe some kind of taboo? especially for steamy ones)

I don't really think it's a taboo rather than Otome ASMR being more of a niche collector's thing and not many people have access to them or they aren't as widely shared like games ~ I lurk in twitter's # about certain circles and series FA tag on the JP side of Otome so I know that it's discussed and have passionate fans but I don't think I've seen the same here or somewhere else ~ I've mostly seen private blogs about them and even these are few and sporadic.

I look forward to hearing from you ~

 

[801_9ma]

Ohhh, buddy plays and buddy listens!

That sounds like an awesome way to motivate each other to play through games and listen to things, though it could be a bit complicated to divide the sessions when it comes to games.

For CDs it's fine because we could always split the discussions by track, but with games I feel like dividing by route could lead to issues where someone barely started a character's route and then others end up kind of speedrunning it, or spoiling a game's hidden route in the games where you have a secret character.

As for why CDs don't seem to be discussed as much at least on the English-speaking side, I think it's simply a matter of language barrier for some people since not all CDs have been translated and you'd need to be somewhat comfortable with Japanese to more or less know what's going on besides "yay handsome guy talking to me!"

This is just a guess, though.

 

[Hinakochan]

I don't really think it's a taboo rather than Otome ASMR being more of a niche collector's thing and not many people have access to them or they aren't as widely shared like games ~ I lurk in twitter's # about certain circles and series FA tag on the JP side of Otome so I know that it's discussed and have passionate fans but I don't think I've seen the same here or somewhere else ~ I've mostly seen private blogs about them and even these are few and sporadic.

I look forward to hearing from you ~

Yeah no prolem! Also if you speak chinese (or don't mind translating) check out bilibili and xiaohongshu. Chinese girls are unhinged lmaoo. I remember just browsing xiaohongshu and since I follow otome games fan account, I came upon literal r18 drama cds snippets on there

 

[redcatdream]

Ohhh, buddy plays and buddy listens!

That sounds like an awesome way to motivate each other to play through games and listen to things, though it could be a bit complicated to divide the sessions when it comes to games.

For CDs it's fine because we could always split the discussions by track, but with games I feel like dividing by route could lead to issues where someone barely started a character's route and then others end up kind of speedrunning it, or spoiling a game's hidden route in the games where you have a secret character.

As for why CDs don't seem to be discussed as much at least on the English-speaking side, I think it's simply a matter of language barrier for some people since not all CDs have been translated and you'd need to be somewhat comfortable with Japanese to more or less know what's going on besides "yay handsome guy talking to me!"

This is just a guess, though.

I agree with your opinion, honestly! I'd love to have people to discuss characters and CDs with but I feel like the language barrier, as you said, plays a huge role in people not talking about it... it's kind of sad to me because I know I'd love to talk with others about it

 

[redcatdream]

Yeah no prolem! Also if you speak chinese (or don't mind translating) check out bilibili and xiaohongshu. Chinese girls are unhinged lmaoo. I remember just browsing xiaohongshu and since I follow otome games fan account, I came upon literal r18 drama cds snippets on there

I'm perfectly fine with Japanese medium and I don't necessarily need a translation for ASMR~ Though I understand our Chinese divas are contributing immensely to the community hehe.

 

[Hinakochan]

Ohhh, buddy plays and buddy listens!

That sounds like an awesome way to motivate each other to play through games and listen to things, though it could be a bit complicated to divide the sessions when it comes to games.

For CDs it's fine because we could always split the discussions by track, but with games I feel like dividing by route could lead to issues where someone barely started a character's route and then others end up kind of speedrunning it, or spoiling a game's hidden route in the games where you have a secret character.

As for why CDs don't seem to be discussed as much at least on the English-speaking side, I think it's simply a matter of language barrier for some people since not all CDs have been translated and you'd need to be somewhat comfortable with Japanese to more or less know what's going on besides "yay handsome guy talking to me!"

This is just a guess, though.

Yeah otome games will definitely need to be thoroughly discussed so we are on the same page as to where we stop lol.
As for CDs I had forgotten that issue, you're probably right lol! Then maybe do mostly translated otome CDs then, or if one is really requested, I could translate them with other volunteers! (life is too busy to live the otome dream life lol). It could maybe help learners too lol

 

[801_9ma]

Yeah otome games will definitely to be thoroughly discussed so we are on the same page as to where to stop lol.
As for CDs I had forgotten that issue, you're probably right lol! Then maybe do mostly translated otome CDs then, or if one is really requested, I could translate them with other volunteers! (life is too busy to live the otome dream life lol). It could maybe help learners too lol

Having a kind of ragtag translation team sounds fun! But yeah life has got hands...

Something I've done at times in the past with things I wanted to talk about but didn't have the time/energy to fully translate was to provide summaries with some snippets that particularly wowed me sprinkled in fully translated, so maybe that could be an option too!

 

[Hinakochan]

Having a kind of ragtag translation team sounds fun! But yeah life has got hands...

Something I've done at times in the past with things I wanted to talk about but didn't have the time/energy to fully translate was to provide summaries with some snippets that particularly wowed me sprinkled in fully translated, so maybe that could be an option too!

Oh that's a great idea actually! I remember being burnt out translating takarazuka musicals, it'd be sad to have the same thing happen here. But I had to format the subtitles too so that's something I might not need to do for cds, or do I?

 

[redcatdream]

Having a kind of ragtag translation team sounds fun! But yeah life has got hands...

Something I've done at times in the past with things I wanted to talk about but didn't have the time/energy to fully translate was to provide summaries with some snippets that particularly wowed me sprinkled in fully translated, so maybe that could be an option too!

I absolutely do that with my friends ~ It's less daunting when you do this and you can pinpoint your favourite!

 

[fleyrin]

Discord was mentioned here, and I think it would be the best platform for the club if it happens, since you can easily organize everything into separate channels by topic.

Hinakochan, keep us posted, and good luck with the project!

 

[redcatdream]

Oh that's a great idea actually! I remember being burnt out translating takarazuka musicals, it'd be sad to have the same thing happen here. But I had to format the subtitles too so that's something I might not need to do for cds, or do I?

Oh! You're into Takrazuka, too? What a happy TMI ! I'm also into it ~ Thank you for your services, honestly ♡!

 

[Hinakochan]

Discord was mentioned here, and I think it would be the best platform for the club if it happens, since you can easily organize everything into separate channels by topic.

Hinakochan, keep us posted, and good luck with the project!

Thank you! then we might need to go to the otome discord, the link is in one of the sticky threads? I don't think creating a whole new thing would be a great idea lol. what do you all think lol?

 

[Hinakochan]

Oh! You're into Takrazuka, too? What a happy TMI ! I'm also into it ~ Thank you for your services, honestly ♡!

Oh. My. God. Oh my god! you too!?I think you should checkout phantom of the black rose revue then! It's a yuri game on itch.io still in dev. But the demo itself is already incredible!

 

[801_9ma]

Oh that's a great idea actually! I remember being burnt out translating takarazuka musicals, it'd be sad to have the same thing happen here. But I had to format the subtitles too so that's something I might not need to do for cds, or do I?

Oh man, I fully understand the struggle of formatting and timing subtitles, been there done that.

I think for audio, having subtitle files or subtitled videos aren't really necessary, I've come across plenty of text-only translations formatted in a script style in the past, so if you have the energy to write a full translation, sharing only the script would be the easiest way to share the TL, hell even a good ol .txt file could probably do the trick LOL

I'm also voting for Discord as the easiest platform to organize that in (I practically live there anyway so it'd be personally convenient for me ), though I'm not sure about what the logistics could be. Hopping on an existing server feels like "hijacking" it to me but that might just be my anxiety speaking.