2022 has been a fantastic year for Western otome fans! We were literally swimming in otome localization releases and announcements and for the first time in forever, I had a hard time keeping up! Voltage Inc surprised us all with their first Switch exclusive otome title, Even If Tempest, and fan favorite publisher Aksys Games did not disappoint announcing games well into 2024! Of course it was a year of ups and downs, but for the most part, the otome fandom in the West has been getting fed! So, I wanted to do a survey to see what games the otome fandom thought were the best of the best in 2022!

I did something similar back in 2021, but for this year’s survey I wanted to expand a bit to include some new categories: Most Romantic, Best Story/Premise, Least Favorite Otome, and Best Indie Otome of 2022. In addition to those categories I thought it would be fun to have folks vote on their favorite otome characters! So there were categories for Favorite Otome Heroine and Favorite LIs (by game).

This was a huge undertaking, so I want to give a huge thank you to everyone that participated and shared the survey! So, let’s get to the results!

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Otome Localizations 2022

Best Overall Otome Localization

This section lists out the top 3 best overall otome releases in 2022 with thoughts from survey participants for these picks!

Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei

• Genre: Historical | Action | Romance
• Rating: ESRB T
• Developer & Publisher: Otomate | Red Entertainment | Idea Factory International
• Where to Get the Game: Nintendo eShop
• Similar Games: Hakuoki | Nightshade | My Vow to Liege

I’ve picked Birushana. While there was a couple of otome games I’ve enjoyed greatly in 2022, I particulary like historical/supernatural themes and this one had it both. MC was awesome character and I loved all LIs, especially Tomomori.

Thoughts on Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei 1

2022 was a great year for otome, but Birushana took the win for me. Shanao (MC) is physically, mentally and emotionally strong. We rarely get to see MCs so well-rounded and heroic. I also genuinely enjoyed all of the LIs and the MC had a strong role in progressing the story in each route.

Thoughts on Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei 2

Birushana caught me by surprise! I do not tend to like historical otomes (I didn’t like nightshade that much at all) as I find them boring but Birushana had me engaged with it’s routes!

Thoughts on Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei 3

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Most Romantic & Best Story Otome Localizations

This section also includes Best Romance and Best Story/Premise picks and their runners up! I did not ask for additional feedback from participants on these choices.

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Least Favorite Otome Localization 2022

This section lists out the top 3 least favorite otome releases in 2022 with thoughts from survey participants for the #1 pick!

Paradigm Paradox

• Genre: Action | Romance | Sci-Fi
• Rating: ESRB T
• Developer & Publisher: Otomate & Aksys Games
• Where to Get the Game: Aksys Games | Amazon | Nintendo eShop
• Similar Games: Norn9 Var Commons | Gilded Shadows

I chose Paradigm Paradox as my least favorite because I felt it was oversaturated with routes that weren’t well fleshed out. The romance was an afterthought to the sci-fi plot and a lot of the routes felt very stilted and unnatural when it came to developing feelings. Plus, why make a game that includes gender-bending LIs and not even make it a little Bi???

Thoughts on Paradigm Paradox 1

Paradigm Paradox – for a game with so much of the story taking place during fights, there was almost no unique sprites for action scenes, so it felt boring and stilted. Also the romances didn’t feel like they were well-developed or earned, and there weren’t enough CGs to make the romances feel rewarding in that capacity. The premise was really interesting and fun, but it was underutilized. Multiple playthroughs felt like a slog and were repetitive and boring. I will happily sink 80 hours into an otome game to get all the endings if that’s what it takes, even if I don’t LOVE the game, because I enjoy being a completionist, like unlocking a final route with more lore and story reveals, and especially love collecting CGs, but after maybe three routes in this, I just could not keep playing. It was so boring and repetitive.

Thoughts on Paradigm Paradox 2

	Variable Barricade – Aksys Games 2nd Place – 13.3% vote
	Amnesia Memories (Switch Port) – Idea Factory Intl 3rd Place – 7.8% votes

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Takeaways on Otome Localization 2022 Results

Overall there were 337 votes for Best Overall Otome Localization 2022! Because there is so much more variety in the types of otome localizations I decided to expand on this category. Most people look for two major things in their otome games; the romance and the story, so I added options for Most Romantic and Best Premise/Story. Games included in this year’s survey:

1. Variable Barricade
2. Piofiore Episodio 1926
3. Paradigm Paradox
4. Lover Pretend
5. Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei
6. Amnesia Memories
7. Amnesia Later X Crowd
8. How To Take Off Your Mask Remastered (Eroolia Series)
9. How to Fool a Liar King Remastered (Eroolia Series)
10. How to Sing Open Your Heart Remastered (Eroolia Series)
11. Taisho x Alice All-in-One
12. Taisho x Alice – Heads & Tails
13. Butterfly Poison; Blood and Chain
14. Even if Tempest
15. Irresistible Mistakes
16. Seduced in the Sleepless City

Unsurprisingly, both Piofiore 1926 (Most Romantic) and Even If Tempest (Best Premise/Story) also ranked within the top 5 of the Best Overall Otome Localization category. Though I was surprised to see that slice-of-life otome, Lover Pretend didn’t sweep the Romance category–though that could be due to the timing of the survey. In the Character ranking for Lover Pretend, 40.3% of people admitted to having not played the game yet.

Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei winning the #1 spot for Best Overall Otome Localization 2022, isn’t much of a surprise, historical romance tend to do pretty well overall. As for the Least Favorite Otome Localization 2022, I can’t argue with Paradigm Paradox. It’s a game that had a lot of great potential that ultimately fumbled on execution.

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2022 Otome Character Rankings

Favorite Otome Heroine 2022

This section lists out the top three otome heroines from the 2022 otome releases! I also included my thoughts on the results at the end of the section.

Shanao – Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei (Idea Factory Intl)

Born the youngest daughter of Yoshitomo Minamoto, Shanao was brought to Kurama Temple upon the death of her father in the Heiji Rebellion. There, the monks were instructed to raise her as a boy who could one day grow strong enough to overthrow the Heike. Trained and raised by Kakunichi, Shanao exceled in matters of military strategy and in combat. Despite the expectations of those around her, Shanao has always dreamed of a quiet, peaceful life. Having been torn away from her family at a very young age, she yearns for the love of a family.

Community Thoughts on Shanao

Shanao – she’s talented warrior and has likeable personality, I loved how she stood for herself and fought for her future

Thoughts on Shanao

*Folks really did not have a lot to say about Shanao, despite her winning in votes. There were way more comments about Yurika from Taisho x Alice.

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Takeaways on Favorite Otome Heroine

In 2022, there were a lot of fantastic leading ladies to choose from for favorite otome heroine. My personal favorite Yurika from Taisho x Alice didn’t make the top 3, but the ladies that did are all pretty amazing in their own right. I didn’t do a Least Favorite Otome Heroine option, because I feel like there’s enough negativity about otome heroines out there without me adding to it.

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Jump to Game: Variable Barricade | Piofiore Episodio 1926 | Paradigm Paradox | Lover Pretend | Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei | Amnesia series | Eroolia Series | Taisho x Alice series | Butterfly Poison; Blood and Chain | Even if Tempest | Irresistible Mistakes | Seduced in the Sleepless City

Favorite Love Interests By Game

This section lists out the character rankings for the love interests in each game! I also included the total number of votes for each game and percentages. I did not ask for additional feedback on these choices.

Variable Barricade

	2nd Place – Nayuta Yagami – 19.6% votes
	3rd Place – Ichiya Mitsumori – 16.1% votes
	4th Place – Shion – 12% votes

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Piofiore Episodio 1926

	2nd Place – Dante Falzone – 15.4% votes
	3rd Place – Nicola Francesca – 12.9% votes
	4th Place – Gilbert Redford – 10.1% votes
	4th Place – Orlok – 10.1% votes
	4th Place – Henri Lambert – 10.1% votes

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Paradigm Paradox

	2nd Place – Hyuga – 6.8% votes
	3rd Place – Tokio Takato – 5.1% votes
	4th Place – Yukinami – 4.8% votes
	5th Place – Ayumu Mamiya – 3.9% votes
	6th Place – Ryo Tomitsuka – 3.5% votes
	7th Place – Mihaya Araki – 3.2% votes
	7th Place – Kamui Saiba – 3.2% votes

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Lover Pretend

	2nd Place – Kazuma Kamikubo – 13.1% votes
	3rd Place – Harumi Makino – 12.1% votes
	4th Place – Yukito Sena – 9.9% votes
	5th Place – Eiichirou Asagi – 7% votes

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Birushana Rising Flower of Genpei

	2nd Place – Noritsune Taira – 26.3% votes
	3rd Place – Yoritomo Minamoto – 16.3% votes
	4th Place – Shungen – 4.8% votes
	5th Place – Benkei – 4.4% votes

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Amnesia Memories/Later x Crowd

	2nd Place – Kent – 22% votes
	3rd Place – Shin – 14.9% votes
	4th Place – Toma – 13.9% votes
	5th Place – Ikki – 11.1% votes

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Eroolia Series

	1st Place – Ludovic – 6.6% votes
	2nd Place – Ronan – 3.9% votes
	3rd Place – Juli – 3.6% votes

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Taisho x Alice All-in-One/ Heads & Tails

	2nd Place – Wizard – 11.5% votes
	3rd Place – Cinderella – 11.2% votes
	4th Place – Red Riding Hood – 10.6% votes
	5th Place – Kaguya – 7.7% votes
	6th Place – Gretel – 5.4% votes
	7th Place – Snow White – 1.3% votes

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Butterfly Poison; Blood Chains

	2nd Place – Junichi Shiba – 10.1% votes
	3rd Place – Mizuhito Nomiya – 6.5% votes
	4th Place – Hideo Ozaki – 5.5% votes
	5th Place – Hitoshi Fujita – 2.3% votes

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Even if Tempest

	2nd Place – Zenn Sorfield – 17.2% votes
	3rd Place – Crius Castlerock – 13.7% votes
	4th Place – Lucien Neuschburn – 8.9% votes

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Irresistible Mistakes

	2nd Place – Shunichiro Tachibana – 5.6% votes
	3rd Place – Toshiaki Kijima – 4.6% votes
	4th Place – Go Okubo – 4% votes
	5th Place – Taku Hayama – 2% votes

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Seduced in the Sleepless City

	2nd Place – Mirai Kageyama – 6.9% votes
	3rd Place – Yuzuki Kitaoji – 3% votes
	4th Place – Chihaya Koda – 2.6% votes
	4th Place – Noel Aijima – 2.6% votes

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Takeaways on Love Interest Rankings

I’m always curious to see how other gamers rank the characters in each game. Our favorite characters say a lot about our individual tastes. Well, looks like folks really love their trashy, problematic faves. That’s the only explanation I can think of for Yang, Ukyo, Tomomori, and Alice, all being chosen as #1 in their games. Though, I don’t know if I can talk, seeing as my bae, Taiga took the #1 spot in Variable Barricade.

Because there was such a huge variety of otome game releases in 2022 that meant a lot of folks had the option to pick and choose which releases they played, so I thought it might be helpful to include a “did not play option”. I was genuinely surprised to see that the majority of the otome games on this list over 30% of their votes went to the did not play the game option. The number of people who chose to forgo playing a game was especially high among the Voltage Switch ports (73% Seduced in the Sleepless City and 73.5% Irresistible Mistakes) and for the Eroolia series games (84.9%).

The Eroolia games aren’t as well known, and lean more towards the indie side of Japanese otome releases, so their higher no-play status isn’t a huge surprise. And given the fact that the Voltage Inc. games are ports of mobile games, so folks have probably already played them years ago and aren’t up for rebuying the Switch version.

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Best Indie Otome Game 2022

This section lists out the top 3 best indie otome games from 2022! Participants picked these from a list, but due to the sheer number of indie releases I also included a write-in option.

Our Life Beginnings and Always – Derek’s Story

• Genre: Slice of Life | Romance | Comedy
• Developer: GB Patch
• Where to Get the Game: PC (Windows & Mac) | Steam

	Gilded Shadows – Steamberry Studios 2nd Place – 8.8% votes
	Error 143 – Jenny Vi Pham 3rd Place – 5.8% votes

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Takeaways on Best Indie Otome 2022

The Best Indie Otome Game is a new category to this year’s survey, but an important one considering the boom in indie otome games these past few years. Because of the sheer number of indie games that released in 2022, I thought it was appropriate to include write in votes for any titles I may have missed. These were the Titles (including write in) from the 2022 survey:

1. Guilded Shadows
2. Error 143
3. Under Maintenance
4. An Everyday Love
5. Of Frost and Flowers
6. The Spanish Privateer
7. Ballads at Midnight
8. 3 Seasons
9. Mythic Meetup
10. Pocket Love
11. Hummingbird’s Crown
12. Impolite Society
13. Travellers Road
14. Our Life Beginnings and Always Derek’s Story DLC
15. Teachers with Love and Passion
16. Teisatsu
17. PreOdyssey
18. Heart and Soul
19. Mind Rite
20. The Hero’s Journey
21. Reimei no Gakuen
22. Adopt a Boyfriend
23. He@rtstrings
24. The Winter Tower
25. Demonheart: The Ice Demon
26. Wrapped with a Kiss
27. Once Upon an Earl
28. Flamebait Dating Sim
29. Yukar from the Abyss
30. Heart Fragment Book 2
31. College Craze
32. Blooming Panic (revamped)
33. Pitstop in Purgatory
34. Obscura
35. My Love for You is Evermore

But, despite the growth in indie otome games I am surprised to see that a majority of otome gamers still aren’t giving indie games much attention. Of the 330 people that voted in this section, 55.5% admitted they did not play indie otome games.

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Page Jumps: Otome Localizations | Character Rankings | Best Indie Otome | Otome Games 2023 and Beyond | Top

Otome Games 2023 and Beyond

What 2023 otome game localization are you most looking forward to?

This section was a completely write-in category, there were over 300 entries, some of which listed out multiple games.

There are a lot of great games coming out this year, but these four were the ones listed most often in the survey!!

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What are some otome games you would like to see get a localization in the future?

This section was a completely write-in category, there were over 300 entries, some of which listed out multiple games.

2022 was a very good year for otome gamers! This past year alone there were 16 releases (including Switch ports of existing games) from a wide range of publishers! Sure, the quality of a few of them was a bit hit or miss. But, the fact is that these past few years have been a boon for otome gamers in the West!

Not only are we getting more games, but publishers are actually putting in the effort to interact with the otome community and get our insight on what we want to see now and in the future! So, it’s especially important to let our voices be heard! So, to everyone that participated in this year’s Otome Localization Survey, thank you!

I’ll be sharing the results of the survey with a few otome localization companies, so they can see what you all had to say!

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