True End Blog – Visual Novels, Otome, RPGs –

 While my knowledge of otome games is not yet encyclopedic nor have I played even most of them released in English, I have played a lot and in a fairly short period of time. And in my time, I’ve noticed a trend that I’ve tentatively dubbed “The Posterboy Problem.” I’ve been ruminating about why the Posterboy love interest is almost never my favorite. This is an issue that I’ve come across mostly in games with a “traditional” otome structure. I consider this where the Posterboy is the last unlockable route and the true route. Once I’ve gotten through the other four to five routes in an otome game and seen glimpses of the story peeled back layer by layer, the true route is… frequently lackluster. Now, I’d not call them all unsatisfying or bad, just leaving me in a state of general indifference more often than I’d like. 

 Here’s where it gets a little complicated, as I’ve encountered the Posterboy Problem in games where the Posterboy isn’t unlockable or the true route or anything else (a less “traditional” otome structure, if you will.) He’s just the Posterboy. But one common thread remains, not liking his route as much. I’ll be including some examples to hopefully clear up some confusion.

I’ll preface this with a disclaimer that I think Code:Realize and Cafe Enchante are the biggest offenders and the inspiration behind this article. I did have a lot of fun playing these games and I liked them a lot, but they have some of the most egregious examples of the Posterboy Problem. This is all very subjective and purely my own opinions, as well.

I think I’ve narrowed it down into four issues:

• BURNOUT
• LORE DUMP
• WRAP IT UP, GUYS
• MASS MARKET APPEAL TO NO ONE

Without further ado, let’s get into each one at a time and fully explore…

 This one is fairly self explanatory. I’d say this only happens with unlockable true routes. After getting through every other route in the game maybe I’m just done with it. I can’t give the posterboy the attention and affection he deserves if I’m burnt out from the game and just trying to finish it! For no fault of his own, I can’t invest in his story as much as I’d like. I’d give Yanagi from Collar x Malice as an example for this. Coming off the extreme high that I felt with Shiraishi’s route, Yanagi’s route was kind of a blur. Now this is the least grievous of the sins on this list, being no real fault of Yanagi’s route. But burnout is a real feeling that affected my enjoyment of his story, even if he ended up tying for second favorite with Okazaki. (Dis?)Honorable mention to Gilbert’s route in Piofiore, I consider him a co-posterboy with Dante.

 I love otome game lore. I love getting immersed in a new world and I even like going through the dictionary entries! One thing I love about visual novels is how these things are dolled out over time. You learn little by little, see different perspectives of events and how things can change from slightly altered decisions. You gain pieces of knowledge of the society and inner workings as you progress! It’s really a lot of fun. 

 Except when they throw everything at the wall during the last route. I touched on this in my Code:Realize Future Blessings review, but Lupin’s original story had so much lore thrown at me that I couldn’t even think about Lupin with any sort of romantic interest. I had to figure out what the hell was going on! We don’t have time to kiss-kiss! This leaves me a bit exhausted and unable to really find much time for the Posterboy’s personal development and any sort of romantic development as well. Misyr Rex from Cafe Enchante’s route was another major perpetrator in this area. (Dis)Honorable mention to the two finale routes in Bustafellows, while I liked reading through them, they had nothing really to do with the LI routes at all.

 This is a sister to Lore Dump but holds one key difference. Now we know that frequently in otome games each route is connected in some way. Again, I love this and find it’s something the VN genre does incredibly well. That is, when the threads of connection are actually planted throughout the game and not hastily drawn together in the poor Posterboy’s route. Cafe Enchante did this and did it very poorly. Four little flashes to the other LI’s stories quickly being wrapped up very neatly occur in Misyr’s route. Not only does this discount the previous stories to me, it causes a familiar problem of being so focused on wrapping up every little plot that you don’t get enough time for the character the route is all about. I’d prefer if some things just weren’t dealt with rather than sloppily put together at the end. I still enjoyed my time with Cafe Enchante and adored Il Fado de Rie, Misyr’s writing just fell flat on its face.

 The Posterboy is selling the game, he’s front and center! We have to make him as appealing to everyone as possible, right? A dark haired, traditionally handsome man is the typical archetype. And I think I’m over it! Limbo (Bustafellows), Gekkamaru (Nightshade), Ayato (Diabolik Lovers) and Akaza (Olympia Soiree) are some that pop into mind. You could honestly shove any posterboy with short dark hair in this category. I’m not being very generous. Now these are all very different characters and stories but purely aesthetically speaking, they don’t speak to me. Gekkamaru may have had my favorite story in Nightshade, but he could not escape being a dark haired posterboy. I’d love to see more visually striking posterboys more often!

 On the other hand, and maybe this should’ve been its own category, is a story and character arc that is too safe is also a hindrance. All of the visually striking character design in the world can’t save you from that. Quite frankly, this is very subjective. While Dante stole my heart in Piofiore, I’ve seen many criticisms that his route is very slow and involves the MC just trapped in one room or another the majority of the time. I think the romance and other aspects of the story made up for it, many disagree! Sadly, I believe Limbo also falls to this a bit. His story was the least compelling to me during my playthrough of Bustafellows. A common complaint is that Posterboys are just boring, dull, and uninspired. In my opinion, this is the reason most people might not enjoy a Posterboy. Who can blame them if they find a story boring?

 There are some Posterboys that I adore, notably Akaza and Dante, that I put into these categories. I do not think it’s ever one thing that sours me on the face character of an otome game, but a combination of two or more of these aforementioned factors. Now sometimes I don’t love a completely random love interest for whatever reasons, but the reasons I’ve detailed here happen with Posterboys more often with enough crossover that I’ve decided, at least in my mind, that it’s a trend.

 I’d like to go on record that I don’t hate or even dislike any of the games I’ve mentioned here, but nothing is immune to critique!

 So what do you think? Am I being unfair? Haven’t played enough games to really see a pattern? Are there other phenomena that make you dislike a Posterboy route? An example I missed? Let me know!