Glossary

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Otome Game – (乙女ゲーム, otome gēmu, meaning “maiden game”) is a romance-focused visual novel or simulation game primarily targeted at a female audience. The defining feature of an otome game is that it should have a female protagonist and male love interests. Sometimes you’ll get a surprise female route or a secret best friend ending, but the core format usually revolves around wooing one or more handsome men.

BL Game – Short for Boys’ Love, a BL game is centered on romantic relationships between male characters. What defines a BL game is that it should feature a male protagonist and male love interests. In today’s modern times, BL is sometimes used interchangeably with yaoi.

Galge – (ギャルゲーム, gyaru gēmu, often shortened to “galge” or “bishōjo game” ) this genre features a male protagonist pursuing romantic relationships with female characters.The defining trait of a galge game is that it should have a male protagonist and female love interests. These games are typically aimed at a male audience.

Yuri Game – a genre of video game that focuses on romantic or emotional relationships between women. What constitutes a yuri game is that it should feature a female protagonist and female love interests.

Amare Games – Amare is a new subgenre tag for relationship-focused visual novels and interactive fiction. It was created to promote inclusivity and diversity in storytelling, & offers a broader and more flexible alternative to traditional genre labels like Otome, BL, Galge and Yuri. Games labeled as Amare features a diverse cast and explore a wide range of relationships, both romantic and platonic, while centering characters of various genders and identities. This can include protagonists who are male, female, or nonbinary, and love interests of any gender.

While not every Amare game will include all these elements, the tag serves as a guideline for creators and players who are looking for stories that embrace inclusive, relationship-driven narratives beyond conventional genre boundaries. ^Source

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Joseimuke – (女性向け) literally means “for women”, is an umbrella term for games and media primarily targeted toward a female audience. This includes a wide range of content, from romance-focused stories to titles centered around friendship, drama, or character collection and management. Both otome games and BL games are considered part of the joseimuke category, as they are created with female players in mind.

It’s also important to note that NOT all joseimuke titles are romantic. A game may feature a female protagonist and male characters, but if romance is not a central theme or only exists as a subtle or optional element, it can still be classified as joseimuke. The defining factor is the intended audience, not necessarily the presence of romance.

Note: All otome games are joseimuke games, but not all joseimuke games are otome games. Some popular examples of joseimuke games that are not labeled as otome include: Touken Ranbu, TWST, IDOLiSH7, Ensemble Stars!, and A3!.

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Dating Sim

Short for “dating simulation game,” this subgenre of simulation games focuses on building romantic relationships with one or more characters. In a dating sim, your goal typically revolves around building relationships with various characters through dialogue choices, stat-raising, time management, and sometimes gift-giving. The primary focus is on mechanics, rather than narrative-heavy storytelling.

Visual Novel

A visual novel is a form of digital interactive fiction that combines text-based storytelling with static or animated visuals. It prioritize narrative and character development over gameplay. While some visual novels feature romance, they can span a wide variety of genres including mystery, horror, drama, scifi, etc, and don’t always involve romantic elements. Players primarily interact with the story through reading and making decisions that influence branching plotlines.

Dating Sims vs. Romance Visual Novels

Though dating sims and romance visual novels may seem similar at first glance, they are distinct genres. Dating sims are driven by gameplay elements like stat-building, schedule management, etc., while romance visual novels focus primarily on a narrative story-driven experience. However, many romance visual novels incorporate dating sim mechanics, such as stat-building or relationship management, making them a hybrid of both genres. Therefore, in some cases, certain titles can be considered both dating sims and visual novels.

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General Common Abbreviations:

• MC (Main Character) – the protagonist of the game. In otome games, the MC is typically female.
• LI (Love Interest) – characters the protagonist forms romantic relationships with.
• FD (Fandisc/Fandisk) – a sequel or expansion to the original game, usually containing extra stories or content like mini-games or fanservice. Fandiscs focus more on fanservice than advancing the original storyline.
• CGs (Computer Graphics) – images or illustrations that accompany a scene in the game. Often unlocked after completing certain event scenarios, they typically appear as full-screen visuals.
• AU (Alternate Universe) – is a setting for a work, either official or fan-made, that departs from the established canon of a fictional universe. AUs are especially common in fanfiction and other fan-made media, where creators reimagine characters in different scenarios, time periods, or genres. In otome games, AUs can also appear in official content, such as fandisks or spin-off titles (e.g. Hakuoki SSL). They offer alternate settings or storylines for the same main cast of characters.
• OST (Original Soundtrack) – a collection of music tracks created specifically for the game, including background music (BGM) and songs related to characters or key moments in the story.
• OP or ED (Opening or Ending Theme) – the opening (OP) and ending (ED) cinematic sequences, usually accompanied by a theme song, that introduce the game or play during the credits.
• BG (Background Art) – static or animated visuals that set the scene and environment for the game.
• NSFW (Not Safe For Work) – content that may be inappropriate or explicit, often used to warn players about mature themes or imagery.
• OC (Original Character) – a character created by a fan or player, not part of the original game’s cast.
• OTP – (One True Pairing) is a term used in fandoms to refer to your favorite romantic pairing, whether it’s canon or not.
• 3P – Short for “three-person,” this term is used in fandoms (especially in otome and BL communities) to describe a romantic or sexual situation involving one protagonist and two love interests at the same time.

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What’s the Difference Between a Fandisk and a Sequel?

A Fandisk comprises of additional or extra content for an existing otome game. Mostly, they contain after-stories, alternative endings, side scenarios, AU (alternate universe) settings, and sometimes routes told from another character’s perspective (e.g., NORN9 Last Era). Fandisks are normally light on plot and focus more on character interactions, fluff, and fanservice. The main purpose of a fandisk is to give fans more time with the characters they love, rather than to expand the core narrative.
***(Examples of Otome Game fandisks: Amnesia Later x Crowd, Code Realize Future Blessings & Wintertide Miracles, CxM Unlimited, Radiant Tale Fanfare, NORN9 Last Era)

A Sequel on the other hand, is a full-entry game treated as a continuation of the original work. It deepens the main plot, develops existing characters further, may introduces new important ones, and explores new aspects of the main story/lore. Sequels also include revelations that are crucial and significantly important to the main story. Contents for sequels usually introduce new challenges, conflicts, or resolutions for the main characters of the original game, and they often require familiarity with the original work to be fully understood.
***(Examples of Otome Game sequels: Piofiore Episodio 1926, BUSTAFELLOWS Season 2)

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What is a Gacha Otome Game?

Gacha Otome Games are romance-focused titles that use gacha mechanics as a core monetization system. Inspired by Japan’s capsule toy machines (gachapon), these games allow players to spend in-game currency, which can be earned through gameplay or purchased with real money, to unlock randomized content/rewards. A big part of the appeal comes from collecting rare or limited-time content.

Compared to traditional otome games, which usually follow a common route that branches into individual love interests (LI) routes with full romance arcs, most (but not all) gacha otome games use a different structure. For example, titles like MLQC and Tears of Themis have one main story that all characters share. Instead of branching routes, the romance content is delivered through separate date episodes, sometimes an unlockable side story, or even special events, which are unlocked by collecting certain cards through the gacha system.

However, as the genre has evolved over the years, some recent gacha otome games have started offering more distinct branching paths for each love interest. Titles like For All Time (Love Brush Chronicles) feature more defined narrative routes, which allow players to focus on specific characters in a structure that feels a little closer to traditional otome storytelling, while still incorporating gacha-based mechanics and unlockable content.

Keep in mind that Chinese gacha otome games differ significantly from Japanese gacha otome games. Both have varying gameplay mechanics and structures, which can change greatly depending on the title.

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• Yume (夢) – a genre of shipping where the fan imagines a romantic relationship between themselves (or a self-insert/original character) and a fictional character. In Western fandoms, this is often called an “OC x Canon” or self-insert ship.
• Yumejoshi – a term used to describe female fans who engage in yume content.
• Fujoshi (腐女子) – (literal meaning in Japanese “rotten girl”) – this term refers to fans who enjoy Boys’ Love (BL), yaoi, or shounen-ai media that features romantic relationships between male characters.
• Fujo – a casual or abbreviated form of fujoshi.
• Ship – short for “relationship.” To “ship” characters means to support a romantic pairing between them, whether it’s canon or fan-made.
• Oshi (推し) – simply means your favorite character. In Western fandoms, this is often referred to as your “best boy” or “best girl.” The term is also similar to “ults” (ultimate biases) used in K-pop fandoms.
• Hako Oshi (箱推し) – this means you support the entire group or cast of characters equally, rather than having a single favorite. For example, if you love all the love interests in Café Enchanté, you’d be considered a “hako oshi” for that game.
• Box Pusher – The English *fan-coined* term for Hako Oshi in the Westen otome fandom.
  
  ***↳There’s actually a funny story behind where this originated. But to keep it short; it comes from an infamous line in Café Enchanté where Il Fado de Rei describes himself as a “hako-oshi” (supposed to mean “a fan of everyone”). But the official localization translated the term as “box-pusher” which caused some humorous confusion in the community. The term quickly became a meme and was eventually adopted by the fandom as the English equivalent of hako-oshi.
  
• Bias-Wrecker – A term popularized in K-pop fandoms. In the otome fandom, it refers to a character who isn’t your oshi or best boy but unexpectedly challenges your top favorite. Maybe their route was surprisingly good, or they grew on you so much throughout the game that you couldn’t help but love them too, to the point where they almost feel like your favorite.
  
• The Cage – This is a meme term used in the (otome) fandom used when talking about or incorporating yandere characters. This originally stems from an infamous yandere character in Amnesia: Memories.
• DILF – general acronym for “Dad I’d Like to F***.” Used humorously in fandoms to describe attractive older male characters.
• Himbo – Refers to a male character or LI who is physically attractive, and charming, but are rather airheaded. They are usually good-natured characters who wears their heart on their sleeve. Popular examples of himbo characters in otome games: Impey (Code Realize), Mineo (CxM), Raul (Cupid Parasite), Suzu (Jack Jeanne).
• Yabai – this term can have multiple meanings depending on the context, but it’s generally used to express something shocking, dangerous, or extreme, whether in a negative or positive sense. In casual usage (in Japanese), it can also mean something is amazing or “super cool”.
  
  (In this blog, I usually use this term in my bullet point sections when describing an LI or a route. Meaning: “I’m shook” or “this took a turn I didn’t expect”. Basically, something surprising or intense that left an impression.)
  
• Oniichan (お兄ちゃん) – Japanese term for “big brother.” In fandoms, it can refer to brother-type characters or used playfully/flirtatiously depending on the context.
• Gege (哥哥) – Chinese for “older brother.” Similar to Oniichan but used in commonly when discussing Chinese games specifically. The term can imply an affectionate or gentle older male character archetype and doesn’t necessarily mean a blood-related sibling.
• Seiyuu – the Japanese term for “voice actor.”
• Audio Drama / Drama CD – A voice-acted story released in audio format. These can be standalone series or related to existing games, anime, or manga.
• Poster boy – the most prominently marketed love interest of a game.
• Truth Route – The story path that reveals the core plot and main ending of the game’s overall story, usually tying together plot threads from other routes. A true route sometimes involves a love interest, but not always.

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Tsundere – characters that are first cold, harsh, or even hostile towards the protagonist or LI, but gradually shows a warmer, more affectionate side. The “tsun” (ツン) stands for their prickly, standoffish behavior, while the “dere” (デレ) stabds for their sweet, loving side once their walls come down. Sometimes, a character may lean more heavily on the “tsun” side or the “dere” side, depending on their personality. (Examples: Shin from Amnesia Memories, Ryuki from Cupid Parasite)

Kuudere – calm and stoic characters that rarely shows emotion and may come off as emotionally distant or robotic. (Examples: Van from Code Realize, Dante from Piofiore)

Yandere – A character whose feelings for their romantic interest are so intense that they become obsessive, possessive, or even violent sometimes. Yandere characters are usually consumed by their love and constantly think about their love interest, often to an unhealthy degree. Key traits that distinguish a yandere character include jealousy, emotional instability, and a willingness to hurt others or themselves for love. Many yandere characters are also two-faced, appearing sweet or innocent at first, only to reveal a much darker and more dangerous side later on.

Genki – used to describe someone who is energetic, lively, and enthusiastic. It’s often used in anime or games to describe characters who are always upbeat and full of energy. (Examples: Mineo from CxM, Impey from Code Realize)

Dandeere – a shy, introverted character who has trouble expressing their emotions, especially around people they like. They might be quiet or can come off as socially awkward.

Kamidere – someone with a literal or figurative god complex. They’re arrogant, powerful, and often see themselves as superior to others, but deep down, they may have vulnerabilities they hide behind their ego. (Examples: Ayato from DiaLovers, Karakurenai from Hana Awase)

Oresama – a character archetype defined by extreme confidence and self-importance, usually speaking in a commanding or arrogant manner, and expecting others to follow their lead.

Gap moe – a term describing a character’s appeal that comes from the contrast between their outward/upfront appearance or behavior and an unexpected softer, sweeter, or different side.

Childhood Friend – a character that has a long history with the protagonist and is often harboring feelings that have gone unnoticed or unspoken for years. For LIs, their route usually centers on nostalgic memories, deep-rooted trust, and the transition from friendship to romance. (Examples: Hino from 7Scarlet, Jesse from Light and Night)

Shota – slang term used to describe a younger-looking male character who is visually youthful and usually has a cute, innocent, or bratty personality, but is not necessarily underage in the story.

Loli – a slang term used similarly to shota, but referring to female characters with a youthful appearance.

Chaebol – this is a trope made popular from K-dramas, referring to a character from an ultra-wealthy and powerful family-run conglomerate. (Examples: Jumin Han from MysMe, Rokuro from Sympathy Kiss)

Enemies to Lovers – a romantic arc where the characters start off in conflict, rivals, opponents, or flat-out enemies, usually with strong dislike or tension between them but over time develop mutual respect, chemistry, and eventually romantic feelings for each other. (Example: Noritsune’s route in Birushana)

The “Playboy with Layers” – a flirtatious character who appears shallow or unserious at first, but as the story progresses, it’s revealed that this persona hides deeper emotional complexity. These characters usually use their charm to mask vulnerability.

Isekai – Literally meaning “another world,” isekai is a genre and trope where the protagonist is transported to a different world, whether fantasy, historical, or even inside a game.

(More will be added soon…)