Let's say then, that the best VNs are Japanese. This is a very general statement, but I'd go with it much like it's fine with me when someone says the best wines are French, the best ballets Russian, the best composers Austrian. It's always the most well known association, almost stereotype, which then makes people enjoy the added "snob value" of whatever it is they associate with a particular country or culture of origin.
And that's fine by me, in fact I will often be a snob in many areas of my life, including art. For example, I will not read fiction other than from the 19th century because that was the peak of literature and everything else present or future will never be so good. I also prefer my contemporary music to come from Sweden, because they are the most creative and accessible. And for poetic wisdom, I will have nothing less than Chinese pieces.
Yes, they are completely biased preferences, and yes, you could have endless arguments about them. But the thing is, sometimes this bit of snobbishness is nice, it makes you enjoy your picks and relieves you of the duty to have to be objective. It's really very nice to come to a restaurant and order a wine with a French name. Never mind the taste, that's not the point. Even a very average taste is good enough, because the snob aura will make it feel more than special.
And if people do this, subconsciously or not, with VNs, it's fine, because even though as a maker who isn't Japanese, I'm at the receiving end of the snobbishness, I understand the allure. It's especially apparent when people try to reason - trying to prove logically that French wines aren't superior to others. Or that Japanese VNs aren't superior to VNs in other languages. It's trying to rationally overcome a behavior (snobbishness) that is by its nature a bias, i.e. not rational. It can never work.
Obviously, the snobbish areas are never the underdogs, but always the established entities. French wines, Brazilian football, Italian fashion designers. Their unattainable status and aura is the whole point and it really works both ways, so whenever it's frustrating to think that no matter what someone who is not Japanese does with VNs, he will never be truly recognized by the majority of audience which enjoys the traditions, I'm always thinking of what the other side must feel.
Take a Japanese boy, interested in classical music. Now, no matter what he does, no matter how great he plays, he will always be judged differently than a boy of the same skill, but who was born in Austria - and attended the famous music schools in Salzburg. Because obviously, it's only in Europe where the spirit of classical music truly exists, and if nothing else, snobs will use this intangible association to justify their irrational preferences.
I just wanted to point out this particular factor, because it often comes back to that - being partial to a certain culture is raising self-worth, because by being snobbish here and there you allow yourself to be irrational and to be a part of the "strong" ones, rather than having to defend the (perceived) underdog.
So of course I don't agree with someone saying in general EVNs "aren't as far along" as JVNs and/or that their writing is not up there with the Japanese quality. But I just need to think about how I couldn't care less about any other ballet than Russian, and how I am ready to produce an endless supply of arguments to "prove" that point in a discussion that will be more than anything enjoyable to me - to see that I am no more objective than those I "accuse" of being irrational.
This, then, would be my "snob theory" on the writing topic.