Qianyu ZHOU, Hiroshima University, Japan
published in the Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Love and Relationship Studies, 6-8 March, 2026
You can see the full video recording of this presentation at the YouTube channel of the International Institute of Love Studies
Introduction
Otome Games—female-oriented romance games featuring visual interaction and text-based storytelling—have experienced explosive growth in post-pandemic China since their emergence in 2017. Although academic research on Otome games has been increasing, much of the existing scholarship focuses on fan rituals within Otome games (Zuo, 2024), gender dynamics (Muhlisian et al., 2022), and textual analysis of the games themselves (Huan, 2022). However, Otome games extend far beyond virtual online romance, involving offline activities such as anime conventions and cosplay-commission dating activities.
This study adopts an ethnographic approach to examine how female players in Otome games develop romantic attractions and attachments to coded characters in virtual game spaces. It further investigates how these players perceive virtual characters as real romantic partners and extend such romance through offline practices.
Methodology and Methods
This study employs a hybrid ethnographic approach that combines online digital ethnography and on-site fieldwork with film documentation. Initially, I conducted multi-sited participant observation through online co-habitation with eight Otome game players (approximately age 20) across daily social media platforms and in-game environments, complemented by in-depth interviews. The observations and interviews specifically examined which interactions within Otome games elicited players’ experiences of love with game characters. I also explored through what means players received and expressed love to and from these characters. Subsequently, I conducted offline fieldwork with film documentation. By tracking two players during a full day of cosplay commission dating activities, I closely observed how players extend virtual romance into physical spaces.
Highlights of Results
1) Otome games provide female players with an accessible pathway to “purchase love,” with the majority of participants characterizing this experience as “romance devoid of conflict and quarrels” or “a straightforward means of satisfying desires through consumption.”
2) Most participants reported growing up within traditional patriarchal family structures and endured negative experiences with real men during their formative years, including body shaming, bullying, and other forms of gendered harassment.
3) Female players indicated that engaging in romantic relationships with virtual characters fostered enhanced self-respect, with participants noting they “developed greater self-respect,” “felt more respected compared to traditional romantic relationships,” and “invested effort in personal appearance for cosplay-commission dating activities.”
4) Beyond the affective experiences derived from game characters and offline cosplay-commission dating interactions, participants emphasized that female-dominated Otome game communities provide more valuable forms of love and friendship than conventional romantic relationships.
Discussion and Conclusions
The underlying motivations for Otome game players to pursue romantic relationships with virtual characters originate from intergenerational exposure to gender inequality within their families, conflicts (Giddens, 1992; Bauman, 2003) with real men during their developmental years, and subsequent exposure to Western neoliberalism, ideals of pure love, and progressive gender ideologies. This constellation of experiences has generated a fundamental mismatch between their romantic and gender expectations and those of Chinese men who remain entrenched in traditional gender norms.
Otome games offer these women an alternative space where they can experience romance and intimacy through consumption without confronting ideological conflicts, thereby fulfilling both psychological and physical intimacy needs through a simplified transactional model. Simultaneously, romance narratives designed specifically for female audiences align more closely with their values, reinforcing identification with self-focused agency.
This strengthened sense of self extends beyond the virtual realm into concrete everyday practices, including personal grooming choices, autonomous spending decisions, and active resistance to familial marriage pressures.
References
Bauman, Z. (2003). Liquid love: On the frailty of human bonds. Polity Press.