Overview
An otome game is a video game targeted towards the
female demographic, and is almost exclusively developed and released in
Japan. In order to be considered an otome game, the game must feature a
female protagonist and several male characters to pursue and develop
romantic relationships with. Because of this, the genre tends to include mostly
visual novels and dating sims. Some otome games may have elements of
boys' love; however, the genres are usually kept separate. Strong sexual content is scarce as well, as most otome games are targeted towards the teenage demographic. There are, however, a few exceptions out there, such as Dessert Love and the
Under the Moon series. The genre is also referred to as GxB (Girl x Boy) by some Western fans.
Popularity
With the coming of
Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side in 2002--which brought forth many new fans of the genre--popularity has been steadily increasing. In 2006, Famitsu's Top 20 list of romance games included a total of 7 otome games. However, these stats only apply to Japan, and otome game popularity has not even come close to this in Western countries, where visual novels and dating sims are a niche to begin with. While most of otome game fandom in the West exists in the online fan translation scene, the US has seen some commercial releases such as the
Harvest Moon for Girls farm sim series, the
Yo-Jin-Bo: The Bodyguards visual novel, and the more recent
Princess Debut rhythm game dating sim.
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