@trapsarebetter To be honest, I think only japanese know the answer to this. I literally will never understand that self-insert aspect like literally not drawing someone's face. This is mainly what bothers me alot when choosing VNs, I actually want to see who our protagonist is I'm actually watching through, not try to make me feel as the protagonist. It just feels like a strange and unhealthy confidence booster if someone likes this aspect.
@HunLepto it's hardy Japan-exclusive.
Consider the “silent protagonist” in video games; it's quite gnarly how everyone is talking to Gordon Freeman, but he never says a word back, and none of the other characters remark upon this as unusual.
@trapsarebetter The thing is, the silent protagonists we have atleast never have their faces covered and they're mostly only silent when there's less focus on the story itself (because let's be honest, Half-Life was always more gameplay-oriented) . There's also the fact that most of our games very loosely have any romance while even non-lewd games in Japan can have some, especially with the "protagonist with a team (almost) full of girls" formula.