Such poll thread experts 
1 Like
As long as there was no vote, you could have still edited the second one.
With a little convincing, you could also have edited it after voting, but that would be dark magic 
Basically that. But the choices are just an extra. At its core a visual novel is still just a novel.
Depending on how much effort the devs put into it it’s like a combination of manga and novel or just an illustrated novel. The main selling point is that dialogues are fully voiced (except the main character who isn’t voiced in many cases) which makes it easier to follow.
1 Like
And just for the heck of it (because I can’t let Sean post all the reading polls 
)
What is the extent of your reading in Japanese?
- Almost nothing beyond textbook and other example sentences
- Random snippets in online media/games etc
- Short online news articles etc
- Manga
- Blogs & longer online media
- An entire book, less than 50 pages
- An entire book, more than 50 pages, aimed at younger readers
- An entire book, more than 50 pages, aimed at adult readers
0 voters
Which of these have you read in the last week?
- Ｔextbook and other example sentences
- Random snippets in online media/games etc
- Online news articles
- Manga or part thereof
- Blogs and other longer online media
- A book or part thereof
- More than one complete book
0 voters
Ooooh, that sounds interesting for listening practice.
But I guess I would not like to be a voice actor for one of those then 
Wait… this isn’t a reading thread… this is the poll thread MK VIII! 
2 Likes
You just gave me an idea.
And done.
Shhh! 秘密です！
1 Like
2 Likes
I’m a bit out of the loop. Is this how you summon Unyuu1?
2 Likes
You know a suspicious lot about the poll thread.
3 Likes
Psst!
Just running for my life
2 Likes
I don’t really agree with kyasurin about it being the main selling point, but fully voiced is nice. Having your own choices is nice. And as raionus said, they’re long. They also have character sprites and expressions that change.
Combine length, sprites, voicing, and choices and you basically get something that feels like more than just story telling. For me, at least, it really feels like you’re watching a story unfold and experiencing it rather than just reading about it.
Also lewd stuff.
hm
When I said voiced dialogues are the main selling point that’s from a learner’s point of view. Having the option to display English and Japanese text next to each other and good voice acting on top of that is great.
But yeah, there’s more than just that. Being someone who likes reading in the first place good visuals, music and voice acting add a lot of immersion and can make it more enjoyable. And then there are beautiful illustrations. And lewd stuff. And cute and funny chibis
It wasn’t Kyasurin, but I get your point.
Aaaaaand that is why I’ve been scared off trying visual novels so far. I was under the impression it was 99% lewd stuff. But since people around here are talking about it in a more reasonable way, I guess there’s a bit of everything?
1 Like
Depends how much they wanna focus on it. A lot of the lowbrow stuff relies on erotica to sell units but there’s some stuff that falls under the serious or artsy department.
Liar-Soft and Innocent Grey come to mind. Their stuff is unerotic to the point where I don’t think anyone would even attempt to… you know.
I guess Fate/Stay Night would be the most mainstream example of a pretty-non-lewd visual novel?
1 Like
There definitely are visual novels that are 99% lewd stuff but I think most of the time lewd scenes are more like a bonus that usually appear towards the end of a route (at least in the ones I played). The stories themselves are really enjoyable and there’s a wide variety of settings and genres (high school settings are really common though)
As for non-lewd visual novels, Key and Nitroplus created a bunch of really popular ones
EDIT: If you have a console, popular ones often get console ports that are always safe because console manufacturer forbid erotic content
1 Like
That’s a good point. I could try that.