Did growing up change your taste in LIs ?

[koko36]

As i'm getting older (over the 25+ line) i really wonder if my taste in love interests would change with time° i mean i hope not since that would be kinda sad , me replaying an old otome and ending not enjoying the story or character feel quiet frustrating (T.T) So i was wondering , did getting older change your taste in stories and characters or not ?

 

[Dramamurderer]

It's less about my tastes changing and more about them evolving with me, if that makes sense. I used to just go by vibes, using trial and error to see who and what I liked, but now I know exactly which tropes and archetypes I enjoy the most, like morally gray LIs and darker tropes. I'd probably need to replay some of my old favorites to give a truly definitive answer, but it's been a while since I've revisited them.

In terms of stories, I used to consume any BL or otome game I could get my hands on. Now that they're more accessible, I'm way more selective and skip the ones that don't suit my taste. For example, I loved Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1, 2, and 3, but I don't think I'd enjoy them as much now because I'm tired of high school settings. The same goes for bright, colorful, or overly positive otome and BL VNs. Before, I would have tried them out, but now I know I prefer gritty, dark stories, so I prioritize those.

I think it's normal for tastes to evolve as we go through different life stages. After all, we are not the same way we were when we were younger. But the important thing is we'll always have the good memories of the time we spent with those games, even if we wouldn't enjoy them the same way today.

 

[Valderisek]

After all, we are not the same way we were when we were younger. But the important thing is we'll always have the good memories of the time we spent with those games, even if we wouldn't enjoy them the same way today.

Ah, what a beautiful quote ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ. I do wholeheartedly agree and i'd like to add, that there are games and LIs that become more enjoyable the more 'mature' we become.

I do believe that while i have changed through the seasons of my life, one thing remain the same. When i do get obsessive about a game or vn (specially when a LI caught my eye ), there's almost nothing that make me lose the joy that I have felt the first time i played it.

I do enjoy replaying my favorites vns (even from a decade ago and i go so far as to emulate old games and complicate my life, just for a few hours of nostalgia), and while my tastes have become more broad and open to some LIs i couldn't stand in my teenage years. There are very few vns that makes me feel cringe or doubt about my sanity a decade ago about LIs.

I dunno, every one of them made me the vn enjoyer i am now. Every LI opened myself to new experiences, and in those experiences i have learned what do i like now, what do i hate, and what do i want to replay every now and then. (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)

 

[flowertea]

I really liked Lyzander from MCL in my early teens and now I'm much much older, but my taste in men is mainly the same, ahaha. I like unique, extravagant characters with long hair and etc, so my taste is quite stable. I kinda like how many my favourite characters still would be my faves even if I've played their routes later.

 

[blackflag]

I actually think as I;'ve gotten older I appreciate a larger range of characters than I did before. When I was younger I used to ONLY like one certain type but now my husbandos are from all different tropes, and each are so different from another.

 

[ishibashi]

There are definitely games that I enjoy more as I grow older. When I was younger, I couldn't stand the more lighthearted/simple games, but now I can appreciate the fact that they let you turn your brain largely off and just enjoy the fluff. There are of course things I enjoy less....stuff like the mofumofu system in Mojuutsukai, which I used to find really cute, are now just kinda bland and obvious ASMR marketing to me.

I don't think my taste in love interests really changed.....it's more like, my appreciation of different kinds of love interests expanded? When I was younger I appreciated fewer types of people than I do now, lol.

Looking at your age, it's a pretty normal time to transition from teenage lifestyle to adult lifestyle, and I think it's natural that people would think you'd end up feeling like a different person from who you used to be and end up enjoying different things...which really isn't the case! You WILL remain largely the same person inside, just with some shifts in values and understanding that changes how you interact with the world. There ARE some things that age badly and you can't really go back to without noticing how badly it aged, but a lot of things do age like fine wine actually and there were totally fiction I enjoyed in my teens that I now enjoy more because I couldn't appreciate some stuff in them without some life experience.

And cute romances are always cute.

 

[purplebeetle]

I don't think growing up changed my taste in LIs so much as narrowed it. When I was younger, I could spend time trying a wide range of archetypes, but now my preferences feel way more specific. I've figured out exactly what clicks for me, and anything outside of that just doesn't hit the same anymore. It's not that I can't appreciate other types of LIs, it's just harder for me to get invested if they don't fall into my particular niche.

 

[junjonn]

younger me used to LOVE the brash and sporty type, can't imagine why lol ( i totally can, i was just like that) but nowadays i prefer the more gentle, shy and tender type, it just makes me feel so warm i can't help it.

 

[mistysea]

Not that I've noticed tbh- both younger and current me prefer the morally questionable/red flag charas and I'm still interested in the same characters as I was back then. A non-otome example would be Cliff and Chase from Harvest Moon- still love those guys!
I think I'm just the type of person who knows what they like and doesn't really change much over the yrs lol

 

[Arisara]

Nothing changed. I think i always liked yandere, cold and mysterius LI . Even when I didn't know about otome/yandere and read a lot shojo manga/anime. Its was always same type.

 

[sophiamolin]

That is indeed true to a certain extent. In reality, the primary audience for otome games remains girls in their teens to twenties, which is evident from the MC's background settings. However, my fundamental preferences haven't changed—the mature and steady type I favored as a teenager is still what I prefer now. That said, I've become much more tolerant of younger brother-type characters than before. I often find myself gazing at those capture targets with "affectionate" eyes (๑°艸°๑).

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

I actually think as I;'ve gotten older I appreciate a larger range of characters than I did before.

I feel the same way! I used to like only specific characters, but nowadays I can enjoy all kinds of routes that I wouldn't even touch back then. Probably because I have a better grasp of how the routes add to the story, and better media literacy overall, lol

I'm also way more accepting of certain themes and dynamics between the characters that would likely weird me out when I was younger

 

[Mutamento]

I think that as I get older, I still really like the types of characters I liked before, that hasn't changed. But now I like a wider variety of types and I'm more interested in different world-building. For example, stories that I would have found boring a few years ago are now interesting. I think this change is good.

 

[vicc.mae]

totally, I used to like the sweet and charming, but then the brooding, realistic ones get me more this days, even though generally depends of the story and setting, I'm pretty much versatile now than then

 

[koko36]

There are definitely games that I enjoy more as I grow older. When I was younger, I couldn't stand the more lighthearted/simple games, but now I can appreciate the fact that they let you turn your brain largely off and just enjoy the fluff. There are of course things I enjoy less....stuff like the mofumofu system in Mojuutsukai, which I used to find really cute, are now just kinda bland and obvious ASMR marketing to me.

I don't think my taste in love interests really changed.....it's more like, my appreciation of different kinds of love interests expanded? When I was younger I appreciated fewer types of people than I do now, lol.

Looking at your age, it's a pretty normal time to transition from teenage lifestyle to adult lifestyle, and I think it's natural that people would think you'd end up feeling like a different person from who you used to be and end up enjoying different things...which really isn't the case! You WILL remain largely the same person inside, just with some shifts in values and understanding that changes how you interact with the world. There ARE some things that age badly and you can't really go back to without noticing how badly it aged, but a lot of things do age like fine wine actually and there were totally fiction I enjoyed in my teens that I now enjoy more because I couldn't appreciate some stuff in them without some life experience.

And cute romances are always cute.

omg yes, I feel the same way there are definitely games I enjoy more now than I did as a teen, especially the fluffy/lighthearted ones that I used to skip. my taste in LIs hasn't really changed, but I'm way more open to different types now, and I notice little things in the story and characters that I totally missed before. and haha, cute romances really never get old

 

[koko36]

That is indeed true to a certain extent. In reality, the primary audience for otome games remains girls in their teens to twenties, which is evident from the MC's background settings. However, my fundamental preferences haven't changed—the mature and steady type I favored as a teenager is still what I prefer now. That said, I've become much more tolerant of younger brother-type characters than before. I often find myself gazing at those capture targets with "affectionate" eyes (๑°艸°๑).

haha yes, I get that! I still love the mature and steady types too, but lately I've been enjoying the cute/younger type a little more as well. there's just something so charming about them sometimes, I can't help it (๑°ᴗ°๑)

 

[haru0117]

My tastes have changed compared to when I was younger.

Back then, I prioritized how much romance was in it over the story itself, but as I've grown up, I've come to feel that the process of two people falling for each other is what's truly important.

 

[Scarlette]

I think so? I originally only liked Li from certain tropes but now I can like all kinds of Li in otome games.

 

[okita-so-go]

It's true that my preferences have changed since I've been exposed to the appearances and personalities of various characters.
Most of the characters are great!

 

[1chi]

I don't think my tastes have changed much as I've gotten older, they've just become more specific. I still like the same things I liked before, but now I understand WHY I like them!

 

[otofr3ak]

oh yaya, quite a bit (˶◜ᵕ◝˶) I used to HATE a lot of very flirtatious/womanizer lis, but now they're my favorites. probably the diabolik lovers stockholm syndrome hitting me. I also liked genki/energetic types, but I've fallen out of love with them. I wouldn't have it any other way, but sometimes I miss the days when I wasn't exclusively into red flags.

 

[cinderella]

yes yes yes i went from a tsundere hater as a kid to a tsundere lover in my late teens lol

 

[Kyouri]

36, and not particularly! Lol.

 

[bugpudding]

Kinda? I'd say I'm MUCH more appreciative of older LIs now while at the same time I'm usually less interested in younger LIs.. Plus I think my younger self was very shallow, all I really cared about was how attractive they were. Plot? Who cares! Just kiss! But now I like intricate plots, kinda "ugly" characters, and old man yaoi. I think the only thing that stayed the same was my love for clowns.

 

[Murakuro]

It didnt. I still go after the same type of guys... Even replaying certain otome I still end up preferring the route I liked when I was younger.