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sage-nebula · 7 years ago

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(1/3) Ugh, I really hope Rika's route doesn't become a thing. I'd rather Cheritz put their resources towards giving the Original Story VNs voice acting, since (imo) they're super jarring to go back to now. Saying "Another Story did a lot of things wrong narratively" feels like an understatement, but damn can those VNs be emotional gut punches solely because of their talented voice actors. And, on another level, it would help clear up some misinterpretations about the Original Story.

Like, for example, the apartment days on Saeyoung's route. I never really understood where the "omg he's so mean" opinion came from. I read him as stressed, exhausted (given he hasn't slept in, what, four days?), and quietly overwhelmed. His voice actor, I feel, sells that characterization in calls, especially the one on Day 8 at 11:48AM, where he drops everything to save our useless MC from a cockroach and comforts her. But that's an outgoing call, so some players miss it.I'm so sorry for my complete failure at brevity . . . I understand Cheritz needs to make money, but with that paywall, some players are left with text alone and interpretations inevitably go awry. And it's so weird to go back to the original routes and have this dead silence during pivotal scenes. The Another Story VNs are supported by the talented performances of their VAs and I would love to have that in the original routes.

I agree with you that the Original Story would really benefit from full voice acting in all the VNs, and it’s a shame that we don’t get it (especially for any VN that Saeyoung is part of, because I love his voice actor, he does such an excellent job). I also agree with you that it’s jarring to go back to those VNs now, since we’re so used to full voice acting in Another Story. My thought is that Cheritz simply couldn’t afford to pay the VAs when they first made Original Story; Mystic Messenger’s success brought in a lot of money for them, and while they’ve famously donated a lot of their profits to charity, they no doubt still kept enough to allow their company to flourish and to enable them to do things like pay VAs for full voice acting. But that wasn’t the case back then, and as a result, you’re right: Some of the VNs definitely lose some emotional impact.

That said, I wouldn’t say that the lack of voice acting is the reason why so many people miss the blatantly obvious in Original Story. To begin with, even if the VNs did have full voice acting, that voice acting would still be in Korean. Most western players are not going to understand hardly a word of what is said outside of the text they read on screen. They have to read, and comprehend what they’re reading, either way. And one could argue that full voice acting might even be a detriment, since their attention would be torn between listening to the voice actor and actually reading the words in front of them. (This isn’t an issue for those of us who are used to watching foreign language productions with subtitles, but to some it may be. There’s a reason why some people naturally prefer dubs to subs, after all.) Regardless of whether that argument holds up, though, the fact is that anyone playing Mystic Messenger is going to have to read regardless. They have to. They have to read, and be able to understand, the words in the game. And yet so many people in this fandom simply . . . don’t. To use Saeyoung as an example, he says multiple times that he has quit hacking and is no longer an agent as of the culmination of his route. Yet how many people still write him as though he’s a hacker working for the agency in fics and “Imagines” that take place after his route? It’s right there in plain English in the text, and they still don’t get it. I’m not sure how Korean voice acting would help fix that. Sure, it would make scenes far more emotional, but I’m not sure how it would help the reading comprehension of some people in this fandom.

(And again, I know this sounds mean, and I’m sorry. But it’s just a bit frustrating when this shouldn’t be such an easily missed detail, when it’s said very bluntly several times, and yet . . .)

As for people calling him mean during the apartment days, I don’t think that’s an issue of reading comprehension so much as it is an issue of player entitlement. People don’t care about Saeyoung’s struggles or problems. They, like MC, only care about having him fawn over MC and shower her in undivided attention and affection. It doesn’t matter to them that he just found out that his beloved brother has been used, abused, and is now attacking Saeyoung and everyone else he cares about. It doesn’t matter to them that the agency is going to track him down in an attempt to murder him, using the person who has been his closest companion for years to do it. It doesn’t matter to them that he has just found that the man he considered to be his father for years has been lying to him all this time. It doesn’t matter to them that he’s struggling with chronic severe depression, an anxiety disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. It doesn’t matter to them that he’s trying to juggle all of this at once. All that matters to them is that he’s not gushing over MC, showering her in compliments, and making it known that his entire existence now revolves around her and their relationship. The fact that he tries to set boundaries, the fact that he repeatedly apologizes but tells her that he doesn’t feel comfortable pursuing a relationship, the fact that he just asks for space so that he can get work done---to them, that’s “mean,” because he’s not giving in to their selfishness and entitlement. It’s mean because he’s putting his needs above their desires, and above what MC clearly wants (because she, evidently, doesn’t give a damn about him or his very real problems, either).

So in this case, it’s not reading comprehension so much as it is a lack of care for Saeyoung or his struggles, and a sense of entitlement that makes them feel as though any thoughts or feelings he has should be set aside for them (/MC). It’s gross, but it is what it is.

But yeah, I agree that having voice acting for the VNs in the original routes would be amazing, and would be better than a Rika Route. Unfortunately, I’m 99% sure we’re going to get a Rika Route no matter what, so . . . buckle up for Discourse Hell, because you just know the fandom is going to go ballistic whenever it’s announced.

#quiperling

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