Something I’ve always wanted to talk about is how the Visual Novel medium is still treated. A lot of people look at VNs and reduce the entire genre to “interactive porn.” And yeah, unfortunately, it’s true that a considerable number of them really are just that. But “a lot” doesn’t mean all, and it definitely doesn’t make it the rule.
Both My Bully Is My Lover and many other VNs use this format to tell stories that go far beyond just 18+ content. There are absolutely brilliant works out there, true masterpieces in storytelling, like Full Metal Daemon Muramasa, Chaos;Head, Subahibi, Tsukihime, and many others.
Personally, I always try to look for something that’s short, impactful, but still manages to showcase just how powerful this medium can be. I absolutely love massive VNs like Utawarerumono and White Album 2, but I totally understand that a 75-hour visual novel — especially one that takes forever to really pick up, like My Bully, which has a pretty long prologue — is gonna turn a lot of people away before they even get to the good parts.
And this brings me to something really important: whenever we consume any form of media — whether it’s a game, a show, a movie, or a book — the right thing to do is judge it based on what it sets out to be, not on what we wanted it to be. And that’s exactly why so many people take one quick look at My Bully, turn up their noses, and dismiss it as shallow, mindless, or whatever nonsense they’ve convinced themselves of — when in reality, it’s one of the most self-aware stories I’ve ever played.