Hello and welcome back to my “let’s talk” series, dedicated to sharing experiences and struggles related to otome games!
Today, I want to write my feelings about quitting this fandom, or at least dropping my blog.
Don’t worry, I don’t want to scare you, I’m not going anywhere! I’m talking in general.
Let’s get back to the very start, more than 7 years ago.
When I discovered the otome game genre, I was so excited, I swear I couldn’t even fall asleep: so many ikemen I could date, they where just waiting for me… I couldn’t even believe it was possible, it was a dream come true!
I’ve had crushes on anime characters before, I watched a lot of shoujo with good looking guys and most of the time I didn’t agree with the heroine’s final choice. Well, my tastes were probably weird even in my teen days. But now, the choice was mine!
As you could expect, when the expectations are so high, reality hits you in the face even harder.
After a few months of blind love, I realized that some games were not “for me”, and good looking boys weren’t enough to keep me interested.
It was just like a relationship between real people: when the infatuation is gone, you start to realize the other person has flaws; that’s when you decide if you should keep it going, or just leave.
I’ve realized that my hobbies usually have a “3 years time span” before I start to get bored and move on: it always happened to me with my previous hobbies, so I expected otome games to follow the same pattern. But this is not related to this topic, maybe I’ll talk about in some other time, if you are curious.
My first “break” from playing otome games happened in summer 2016.
The reason was a chain of boring games, which made me question if the problem was actually mine: you know, when everything around you seems terrible, maybe it’s just how you perceive it.
That was the year I first went to Japan, so my mood went high again immediately as I reached Tokyo and I was able to shopping like crazy!
When I came back, I opened this blog and my love for otome games was again at its peak.
After a few months, I had many issues both at work and private life, so all I could do to feel better was to search for “happiness” in otome games and try to escape the real world.
I devoted all my free time to this hobby, trying to improve my blog; but at some point, I realized I was becoming obsessed with it, my only goal was to become “popular”, as if my own value depended from it. Which obviously, is not healthy.
So I decided to go on a social media break: I went on vacation for 3 weeks without using twitter or my blog at all; I took long walks and spent time just thinking about myself and my future, to find a motivation outside the screen. And it worked a lot.
From that moment, I found a new path in life and otome games became just an hobby again.
Years have passed from those days, I had many up and down moments, but I can’t see myself stopping playing otome games or closing my blog: it’s a huge part of my life, my comfort zone, which I treasure a lot.
Through the years, I think otome games became a part of me: getting excited about new releases, starting a new game, sharing my feelings while I livetweet, writing and posting a new review here… is a part of my life. Maybe it will slow down in the future, as I grow older and priorities change; it will also depend on the community, if it becomes a better or a worse place to be.
But for now, I can assure you that this place won’t disappear soon. I hope this will make someone happy, that would be worth any effort!
So, to answer the question of this post: yes, I thought about dropping otome games about twice; and yes, I thought about dropping this blog a few times, when I was feeling too obsessed about stats and I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.
But it’s ok now, so don’t worry! We still have a long path ahead, made of masterpieces, kusoge, cries, laughters……. and I’ll share it all with you!
And what about you? Have you ever thought about dropping otome games?
If you have topics you want me to talk about, just ask and I’ll write about it!
Alumina
Yes first when I was so busy with school and second when I notice that I only care about the games in my life at one specific time. Hobbies must be hobbies.
otomeland
True! sometimes I tend to take everything too seriously and push myself to reach some goal, even for hobbies (I do this also for books). But hobbies are meant to be enjoyed!
Mahlenneth
I never thought about dropping otome games bc I don’t spend too much time on it.
As you know, I play other games such as BL and RPG. Actually, I got to know otome games bc of BL games.
There was a forum I used to log in frequently and they uploaded a game (at the time I thought it was a BL game), I started playing and it was an otome game. I was like “what is this? A girl? But isn’t this BL? Omg, so many ikemen and I can date them like in BL?” haha
Then I got my PSP from my cousin’s coworker. My first otoge was UtaPri Repeat. It took me some time to complete bc I was studying and working.
I get exited when there are new announcements even though I don’t have Switch yet haha
But I still have soooooo maaaany otoges to play on Vita, PSP and PC that I’m with my hands full xD
otomeland
Utapri Repeat never gets old, it will always be a classic and a great introduction to the genre: it’s cute, the songs are catchy, the boys are adorable, it’s funny… I guess it’s easier to start with “older” otome games, which used to be fluffier, instead of plot-centered otoge. Or maybe it just depends on the person? I guess this could be a topic for my next “let’s talk”!
Anny
When I first started out, I considered quitting, because I didn’t know Japanese well enough for some games, but it was more like a fleeting though. You know, a 16-year-old’s frustration at not learning the language well enough hit pretty hard, even though I was the top of the class.
After that, it never really occurred until recent years. I feel so affected by how the English and Japanese-knowing communities don’t always get along, since I feel like I personally end up sitting in the middle of them. So whenever that crops up I just feel tired and think “I should just stop.”
In the end, I don’t quit because I really like otome games. I haven’t had time to get a lot of reviews out since unlike reading a book that often can be done in a few days at most even with limited spare time, playing an otome game in full can take some time, especially if I want to write the plot in the post, which I do when the game’s in Japanese. And there’s the fact I have kids and stuff too, but it’s not enough to make me quit. It might make me feel a little less motivated to pick something up, when I know it may even take months to finish a game, depending on situation at the time, but that’s what life does to you sometimes. It’s not enough for me to give it up though.
otomeland
I understand the struggle, I gave up resuming the plot in my reviews because it’s very time consuming, it takes away the enjoyement for me, it looks like some kind of paper assignement in the end.
The problems between jpn-only players and english-only players will probably never end, that’s why I never take part in discussions about those topics: it will probably seem elitist, but it’s an hobby and I don’t want to argue with people who take everything too seriously!