Growing the Otome Game Market: Fan Labor and Otome Game Communities Online

Abstract

Otome games are a niche category of Japanese games marketed toward women. Outside its country of origin and the infrastructure of the anime media mix, its predominantly female player communities traditionally have defined these games as those that feature romance or dating simulation. In this paper, I look into how fan bloggers talk about their own work in marketing and distributing otome games beyond Japan. In the case of otome game fan blogging, the ability to shape discussions surrounding otome games also relies upon maintaining the image of players as good consumers. Although this work focuses on the practice of fan blogging, it is part of an ongoing study on otome games in English and otome game players outside Japan.

“Protecting our female gaze rights”: Chinese Female Gamers’ and Game Producers’ Negotiations with Government Restrictions on Erotic Material

“…In the early 2000s, unauthorized versions of otome games began to filter from Japan into the Chinese market (Yang & Xu, 2017). Most of the early Japanese otome games were played on gaming consoles (Kim, 2009), and the genre spread somewhat more slowly than its anime, comic, manga, and drama equivalents (Ganzon, 2019). It was not until the 2010s that Chinese game developers were able to invent local otome games.…”

“…Such research observes the impact of dataization, namely the hegemonic effect of social media platforms and the algorithmic culture on fandom practices (Yin, 2020(Yin, , 2021. Previous studies on otome games, then, has mainly examined the relationships between otome games and female gamers' romantic ideals (Song & Fox, 2016), the emotional labor invested by female players in otome games (Ganzon, 2017(Ganzon, , 2019, and various narrative forms of otome games (Saito, 2021). Like other forms of ACGN cultures, Chinese otome culture "is always a dynamic and negotiated one, dealing with complex and interconnected conversations among multiple participants, values, norms, and performances" (Yin, 2021, p. 461).…”

Otome Games: globalization and glocalization processes, conceptualization and data analysis of Brazilian players

“…It can be stated that visual novels provide a multifaceted playful experience that ensures the player's creativity (Cavallaro 2009). This genre of games started to be consumed in the West when groups of fans began making fansubs (fan translations) from the original Japanese to other languages such as: English, Spanish, Chinese and Filipino (Díaz Cintas & Muñoz Sánchez 2006) (Taborda & Alves 2015) (Ganzon 2019).…”

The Ethics of Affect: Lines and Life in a Tokyo Neighborhood

“…Otome games, which center on interactions with male characters, specifically target women and have been estimated to be a larger market than bishōjo games (e.g., Yaraon 2013), deserve a separate research project. For more on adult computer games for women, see Kim 2009;Hasegawa 2013;Lamerichs 2014b;Richards 2015;Andlauer 2018;Koide and Obana 2018;Ganzon 2019. For the popular subcategory of games focusing on "boys love," see Wood 2011;Ishida 2019;Okabe and Pelletier-Gagnon 2019. 27.…”