Who doesn’t love a good research paper about being attracted to fictional anime boys? It’s easy to merely find it amusing that someone far smarter than all of us is spending time trying to figure out the science behind playing otome games (games in which romantic relationships toward male characters are the core of the experience), but it’s also worth understanding. Such games have had an audience in Asia for many years, particularly in China and Japan, but why they appeal to a Western audience, and where that appeal differs between demographics, is less understood. A few people decided to dig into the topic, spending time speaking with players to figure it out.

In short, the research suggests that the appeal for U.S. players is broadly similar to that for players in Asia, with one key difference. According to a research paper by Elena Yifei Zhao and Nicholas D. Bowman examining the appeal of these games for players in the U.S. compared to those in other regions, they found that forming an emotional bond and romantic connection with the boys in games like Love and Deepspace had a positive correlation with the entertainment experience, regardless of what region a player might be in. However, unlike players in Asia, it was not a requirement for U.S. players that their in-game love interest show reciprocity to their feelings, nor did that impact how close they felt to their fictional crush.

S. Because it is less accepted here and a relatively new phenomenon to play these games, players were more likely to place a separation between their in-game avatar and their own romantic feelings.

Source link