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.
While falling in love with these boys is a key part of the appeal of these games, researchers attribute this key cultural difference to the stigma that remains associated with the genre in the U.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. The need to imagine themselves as the protagonist actively and directly receiving the feelings expressed by the in-game characters was less of a requirement for players in the U.S. than it was for those in Asia.
Similarly, where a previous research paper by these same scientists found Chinese players want their fictional crushes to be emotionally responsive to them and provide validation, support, and affection, this desire was not replicated U.S. players. This may be due to U.S. players having less experience with these games, while such reciprocity is now expected by Chinese players.
On the whole, while having the characters be romantically close and grow closer was a key appeal to these games for players in all regions, U.S. players did not need to perceive that they were close to the characters to find a fulfilling experience or enjoyment with the game. Mathematically based on survey results, “perceived reciprocity was not significantly associated with either enjoyment or appreciation, suggesting that perceived reciprocity played no meaningful role in explaining entertainment outcomes in this sample.”
It’s easy to group all players of a game in a single bucket, but the reality is that lived experience will always cause people to perceive a game differently. It’s fun to see math used to track romantic attraction to hot 2D boys, but it also shows that there’s more to understand about how and why we play, no matter the genre.