29th of May at Pasela Ginza in Ginza, Tokyo, several bishoujo-game seiyuu held an event called 「Onee-sama-tachi to Issho ♪」 to protest the new amendments to child pornography laws. [source: biz-journal.jp/]  The new child pornography laws will arrest people who are in ‘possession’ of any child pornographic materials, be it 2D or 3D, throw them in jail for 1 year, and fine for 1 million yen (US$10,437~). Needless to say, it will completely destroy the eroge, as well as manga & anime industry if these laws pass. That is why, countless fans have gathered in Ginza along with numerous industry representatives. [See article on animenewsnetwork.com]

At the event there was:
まきいづみ (Maki Izumi) voice of Komari from Little Busters and Chihiro from Ef. 
野宮香央里 (Amane from Flyable Hearts)
藤邑鈴香 (Sharuru DC3 x-rated version)
And four other newer seiyuu: 田中理々, 八ツ橋きなこ, 早瀬ゃょぃ, しまむらこんぶ.

There’s an interview with Maki Izumi (Komari) on biz-journal which I won’t translate but she says that all of the seiyuu (on-stage) do not object to voicing the sexually-depicted characters in eroge. And also that these games have impacted people in a very important and precious way, by way of the user relating to the characters and their plights. [source: biz-journal.jp/]

There’s an update on the Final Fantasy Type-0 fan translation two/three days ago on the 22nd of June. See website: [skybladecloud.wordpress.com/]

- Project’s Status

~RomHacking:                   95%
~Graphic translation:       90%
~Story script:                    40%
~Secondary text:                0%
~Videos:                             0%

Though this is possibly the best title in the entire PSP catalog, its release date, being at the end of the console’s lifetime, made it impossible for western players to enjoy it. Claiming ”market reasons”, Square Enix never released and English localized version… This is why I’m working on this fan translation project, so all fans can enjoy this wonderful game. 
- SkyBladeCloud

OVERDRIVE the creators of Kira Kira and Deardrops are doing a remake of Green Green, originally by a company called GROOVER (now defunct). Bamboo was actually with GROOVER before it disbanded and reformed into Overdrive. [see Official Site]

He goes on to describe how it’s become hard to procure starting funds for development [on this page] so he wants to try a form of Crowd-Funding (クラウドファンディング)… and then he describes what crowdfunding is, citing kickstarter.com, and the Japanese version crowd funder called Camp-Fire.jp <– first time i’ve heard of this.

Actually he’s doing it a bit differently because normally in crowd-funding, the project host gets paid only if it reaches the required amount. But for Green Green:
A) they’ll receive payments as the pledgers pledge, and
B) that even if the total does not reach the required amount they will still continue creating the game.
C) and because it’s an adult product, it’s against the ToS in current crowdfunder sites, so they were forced to do it on their own (on their own website?).

The crowd funder will start tomorrow on the 25th of June at 18:00 Tokyo time.

Selling points:
- Tachi-e and CG redrawn from scratch by Kataku Rashinji (Kira kira, dengeki strikers)
- HD Music
- All new user interface
- Compatible with windows 8
- All voices redone from scratch
- Iris Motion Graphic tech OP Video
- New OP & ED song by milktub
- Singer will be one of these: NANA/佐藤ひろ美/YURIA/AiRI/yozuca
 

Total estimated cost for the Green Green Remake will be 25,000,000 yen which is roughly USD$253,910. There’s a full breakdown of the different pledger categories and their rewards here on this page. For example, a 10,500yen contributor gets 1) the game, 2) soundtrack CD, 3) and a tokuten from the original release of Green Green of their choice. For USD$2000 you get a 1on1 tour of Asakusa (a suburb in Tokyo) with Bamboo. You get to visit his sound recording studio STUDIO696, and you get some special rare item. Limited to 5 only.

Anyways, it’s an interesting move and I’ll definitely keep an eye on its development. I am of course hoping that this gets funded even if it’s a game that I have no interest in. It’s the first crowd funder ever done by a Japanese eroge studio, but weakened by the fact that they can’t get it on a popular site like kickstarter. Hopefully they will allow contributions from overseas.

Angel Beats! visual novel announcement will be “after summer” via animenewsnetwork. Summer in the northern hemisphere ends in August so the earlier we’ll get it is September.

Visual Art’s/Key President Takahiro Baba reported on Twitter on June 5 that an announcement on the potential Angel Beats! game will be after summer.

Baba said in February that fans could expect information before this summer.

An Angel Beats! game adaptation has been a topic of discussion among fans since Maeda revealed a possible adaptation in November of 2010. After two years with little to no updates, Baba re-acknowledged the possibility of a game adaptation on Twitter last October, but stated that the project is not yet at the stage where it can be announced.

There is an article on kotaku about light novel translators spotlighting Baka-tsuki.org which is very cool. Richard Eisenbeis writes:

“While most anime and manga are regularly released outside of Japan (either legitimately or by fans) comparatively few light novels are put into print in the English-speaking world. Series with popular anime adaptations like Haruhi Suzumiya, Slayers, and Vampire Hunter D have gotten at least partial English language releases of their light novels. But other series, even incredibly popular ones like Sword Art Online, Accel World, and Bakemonogatari, have not been licensed for a Western release.

Thus, as with manga and anime, the task of translating has fallen into the hands of the fans themselves. But unlike manga and anime that have scanlation and fansub groups (respectively) spread seemingly at random across the net, the light novel translating community has largely centered around one point: Baka-tsuki.org.”…

“…The site now sports over fifty different light novel series in various states of completion—and in many languages besides English. Of course, like many manga and anime translation sites, if and when a series is licensed, it is removed from the site.

Despite the dubious legality of this activity, it is nonetheless truly interesting to see how most of these translators have all come together in one place to ensure the light novels they love are translated as efficiently as possible.” [Original Article]

At one point I felt like Mangahelpers.com could have been the baka-tsuki for manga. But manga is in a slightly different situation because online reader sites are plentiful and so the audience is already very strong so you don’t need a centralized location for producers (bcuz the “how do u reach an audience” problem is already solved). Light novels are really one of a kind.

So the ”crowdfunder” that Bamboo (leader of Overdrive) started yesterday on the 25th (which I mentioned in this article), turns out is really just crowdfunder in name. Because its mechanics are identical to a preorder system (with special treats for paying extra). If you click on the banner to go to the page to “pledge”, you are given four options to add to your cart:

1) Pay 10,500 yen
2) Pay 31,500 yen
3) Pay 69,600 yen
4) Pay 200,000 yen
and nothing else.

There is no lower tier support option.

The whole point of a crowd funder is to allow the user to specify the amount that they think you are worth in respect to how much they can afford, for the objective of seeing this new piece of art come to light. The fact that there is no lower tier of support means that Bamboo doesn’t understand crowdfunding at all. He’s saying that all supporters must support pass the 10,500 yen threshold or else “Go Home!”.

I don’t know what happened that he could make such a big mistake, but could it be, that he believes that the pirates (who can’t buy every game, only every 10th game) could not possibly support him? That fans who are not 10,500yen fans are not fans at all? Or maybe he didn’t want their dirty money? (to be fair he calls it once by the name of ‘special reservation’ in the top banner and the URL is reservation.html)

I was a little concerned already when he decided that there is no pledge goal, and that even if it doesn’t fund, the project will still go underway. So the only difference with the Green Green project is that part of the necessary initial funding is offset by the super early preorders (instead of the investor), which is a good thing, but this is certainly not crowd funding the way we understand crowd funding. This is really just the traditional model except it gives you more incentives to preorder at THEIR site instead of at Sofmap or Getchu. lol

Also, if you were wondering, no. They don’t accept ‘pledges’ from overseas gaijin so keep your money thanks.

They announced the tokuten (extra merchandise when buying a game) for Irotoridori World’s End which is just a bundle pack including both the original game AND the fandisc and comes with ONE original light novel called Irotoridori no Mirai. They’re selling it for 10,290 yen. The light novel is always included but the tapestries are different depending on which shop you buy from. That’s how it works.

Sofmap-com (B2 Tapestry Shinku & Mio)

^ Order from http://a.sofmap.com/product_detail/exec/_/sku=12092963/-/gid=AT01010000

Getchu.com (B2 Tapestry – Shinku)

^ order from http://www.getchu.com/soft.phtml?id=771597

Toranoana.jp (B2 Tapestry – Shinku)
 
^ order from http://www.toranoana.jp/mailorder/article/21/0006/53/68/210006536866.html

The only other one worth mentioning might be this one from ampnet.jp
 
(An A3 OR A4 Tapestry of Ren)

Some Images:
  ^ click to enlarge

There was a recent update from Tokidan who is working on the translation for Irotoridori no Sekai (84.86% translated), they’re in the middle of edits to the translated script especially because of v1.1 changes. If you want to pick the game up, this is THE most excellent way to get it because of the extra goodies and because preorder count is how the industry makes its money. You need to use a mail proxy. Just email the link to http://yokattaweb.jp.

It turns out they are doing very well. They’ve reached 12 million yen already. And it’s only been a bit over a day since it started. The goal is 25 million yen. Above is tweet from @bamboo_milktub (leader of Overdrive)

^ Your Diary PSP Port. I like how Siliconera picked it up. It’s almost irrelevant to their audience that a visual novel no one has played or will ever play is being ported to a platform that no one plays on. Actually it’s barely relevant to this blog either (but i like to link to pretty pictures). Apparently there is a fan translation for this at erojiji.net which is the craneanime forums: "common route fully translated, 11/19 scripts translated for Yua’s route, 1/10 scrpts translated of Kanade’s route" [Homepage]

Some Screenshots:

Rewrite port to PSP and PS Vita by Prototype (release date undecided) [source] thx @willofsilver. Now who wants to bet with me. Will it now go PS3->iOS->Android->PS4->PS2->PSOne->Xbone->Linux, or some other arrangement of that?

Also check out Kotarou in the above pic and then compare with Kotarou in the bottom pic…なんと！

Project Zetsubou tweeted about a tweaked version of PPSSPP emulator altered specifically to run Dangan Ronpa. Download it here: [http://www.mediafire.com] You can use this to play Dangan Ronpa on Android phones and tablets.

Apparently you can use the original PPSSPP for android as well and it should work according to Shinobu’s test results:

Shinobu: “It runs on android! i used the free version of ppsspp for android and it worked!” Tested on:
Phone Specs phone: Galaxy S Vibrant (SGH-T959)
OS version: Android 2.2
Froyo cpu: ARMv7 proccessor rev 2 Overclocked@1GHz
“despite my crappy phone specs, the vn ran really smoothly, with only occasional audio/frame drops, but overall very smooth, but it did crash while i was taking the screenshots. It may run smoother on newer phones!” [forums.fuwanovel.org] thx shinobu

There’s a quick interview of Fujisan the producer of MoeNovel up at Project Saya which is a VN news site for French people.

^ They’re a subsidiary of Pulltop/WillPlus just as we thought.

Some of the answers are a bit vague, I know that they have better insights than this. Saya asked why did you wait until now, why not earlier. Fujisan said “timing was the problem”. Could be referring to waiting for Rapelay-dust to settle.

Kono Oozora won 3rd place in Getchu bishoujo game awards: [see post] and they won the gold medal (first place) in the 2012 Moe Game Award: [moe-gameaward.com/]

And here is the most pressing question:
   That’s why I do think that the game will find an audience outside of the core fanbase. They’re also going all out on this, they purchased a background page Ad on Playasia.com (albeit it looks really lackluster. just a plane.).

Fujisan also goes on to say that regardless of whether it’s successful, they will continue the effort. Quote, “First of all, raising the awareness of visual novels is our first task,”
Read the Full Interview here: [projetsaya.fr/?page_id=308] ty Saya

I think this is a worthwhile effort to support.
Please consider buying to help with localization costs.
You can buy a physical copy at Playasia.com for USD$35
Or digital copy for $5 less. The game is out now!

Cool Beau-chi da!

All ages version of Kud Wafter now available. [key.visualarts.gr.jp/kudo/] They added some new CGs by Na-Ga, has some new ‘episodes’, and features all the girls in swimsuits which was not in the 18+ version. It’s basically the same as the PSP version which came out early May.
no tokuten.

what?

no tokuten.

^ Opening video. that song is annoying as ever

The fan translation is 29.69% as of May 25th. [hosikuzu.wordpress.com/] Jyuichi says they want to work on a patch for both the adult & consumer versions.

 Animenewsnetwork posted an interview of Norihisa Kochiwa (Producer) and Tsunekiyo Fujisawa (handles the Hakuoki series). I’ve quoted the choice parts:

ANN: It’s rare to see a visual-novel "otome" game like Hakuōki released in North America. How do you think the game has done in the U.S.?

Kochiwa: Up until now, visual novel games in the U.S. were not accepted as “games.” The reason why we were able to release Hakuōki in the U.S. is because we had Aksys Games who understood Hakuōki and fans outside of Japan who supported it. As a result, our beautiful illustrations and story got into the users’ hands correctly, and we’ve received great reviews. I would like to express my thanks to those involved, along with the fans.

ANN: how do you think the market in North America is changing for Japanese visual novels? Will you consider releasing similar games in North America, such as Norn 9?

Kochiwa: Hakuōki was the first time we released an otome title in the U.S. However, the market is still very small, and I do not think it will be an easy path. For Norn 9, I believe the quality of the art and the story will satisfy U.S. consumers. If there are enough voices that request it, we would like to make your wishes come true. Please continue to support us!

Norn9 is a brand new otome game just released in Japan on May 30th. The license would be a bit steep seeing as it’s so new. Probably not doable. I may be wrong though.

Found this article by Jason Helton on Saya no Uta and eroge: [toplessrobot.com] Good article overall especially this part I will quote. Apparently the censorship of genitalia used in eroge & porn in general, was actually the US’ fault.

Jason: “According to Bennett, one of the actions taken by Allied forces after World War II was to ban pornography in Japan. As Japan was a very sexual culture prior to the war, occupying forces blamed porn for the aggressive and expansionary tendencies of the Japanese Empire, and the ban was created to curb their combative nature. That being said, it’s illegal for genitalia, real or animated, to be featured in entertainment; a ban that over sixty years later is still in place.” (one more reason to hate the US)

”Bennett, while explaining to me the potential differences between the Japanese and International versions of Saya no Uta, has at last explained the reasoning behind Japanese penchant for penetrating protuberances; a.k.a. Tentacle Porn. Going back to that damn Allied anti-porn law, penises and vaginas were parts non-grata in Japanese entertainment. But those meddling Yankees didn’t say a Cthulu-damned thing about tentacles. In fact, so long as it’s attached to a monster, it doesn’t count.” (u can thank the US for that!)

Jason: “One of the more puzzling scenes in the game features the main character waxing internally about a sex act Saya is performing on him. At least three full pages of dialogue are spent with him questioning this act, one which we as Americans would consider rather typical behavior of young people Fujimori’s age. Again I had to engage Steve Bennett for an explanation.

“As hyper-sexualized as Japan as a country has become, there are still stigmas placed on sexuality, particularly for young men. Bennett explained that while we as Americans are very individualized, with our actions only affecting ourselves, the Japanese culture still focuses on the group. The actions a man take reflect not only on him, but on his entire family. This causes Japanese males in particular to heavily analyze any action they take, including sexually.

“One of the reasons for the popularity of games of this genre is that it provides a safe place for people to explore their sexuality, including the darker, more primal elements of sex, in the confines and safety of their own home. It’s in that privacy that all fears of family embarrassment cease, though it’s becoming a cause for concern.”

“As more young men retreat to the privacy of their rooms for sexual gratification and danger-free relationships, there is a growing concern that all of this is affecting Japanese population numbers. While other factors are to blame, such as the large number of people being more career and less family focused, some researchers believe that many Japanese men are simply forgoing relationships with real flesh and blood people, instead choosing to live as eternal bachelors or involved in virtual relationships. In this age of technology, how long until these virtual relationships develop the ability to become physical? It’s a pretty frightening thought, particularly if the Terminator has the appetite of Saya.”

It’s a thoughtful article, you can read the whole thing here: [toplessrobot.com]
I still find it hard to believe that this loli-rape porn game managed to get a western release. Nitroplus so gutsy while other players are just more concerned with being meiwaku.

PS: when i say the US, i am saying the US rulers not its people. completely different things.

East Tower otome game now also on Android in English. (released yesterday)
Not fully sure how it works but it looks like there’s two routes released so far on Android, still waiting on Kuon (already on iOS) and Kurenai (not out yet).

Second Album from ClariS released 26th of June 2013! [MP3] [FLAC] ty shin_sawada for the share. Lots of new songs. Going to put this on the whole night. details: [HMV.co.jp]

DreamParty is an event that happens in Tokyo semi-yearly (twice a year) and happens squarely in between the dates of the two Comikets. But unlike Comiket, the event itself consists of only company booths, a live stage and various show areas for cosplay and Itasha (painful cars). The main theme of the company booths is: Eroge. This year’s DreamParty occurred on the 5th of May, 2013 and a bunch of companies were present. There are so many I’m going to divide these photos into several posts.

DreamParty Tokyo Spring 2013 Index: -
- Part 1: Saga Planets, Navel, Circus, Visual Art’s
- Part 2: August, Front Wing, Palette, Clochette, Sumikko Soft, Cottonsoft
- Part 3: Minori, KeroQ, Purple Software, Alcot/ALcot Honeycomb, Kogado, etc
- Part 4: Itasha (painful car) & Feng

SAGA PLANETS sagaplanets.product.co.jp/    ^ their 2,500 yen goods set (which people would have lined up for hours for) now sold out on their website. You might be able to find it on Yahoo Auctions JP.

Navel www.project-navel.com/ ^ Big 3 items for sale: the daki, the blanket and the oshiri mouse pad.   

Circus circus-co.jp/   ^ the first four are tapestries, the rest are cushions. None available for purchase online yet, but I am thinking they will put them up for sale again sometime in the future.

Visual Art’s http://key.visualarts.gr.jp/ Basically they had booths where you can test play games from VAmarket.jp and they give you some free points. They had a booth for new game called: 星逢のプリズムギア and they give you some free goodies (like stick posters). They also have limited free cards to give away for Little Busters Card Mission and stick posters.

  DreamParty Tokyo Spring 2013 occurred 5th of May, 2013 and a ton of companies were present. This is part 2.

DreamParty Tokyo Spring 2013 Index:
- Part 1: Saga Planets, Navel, Circus, Visual Art’s
- Part 2: August, Front Wing, Palette, Clochette, Sumikko Soft, Cottonsoft, etc
- Part 3: Minori, KeroQ, Purple Software, Alcot/ALcot Honeycomb, Kogado, etc
- Part 4: Itasha (painful car) & Feng

August
http://august-soft.com/

^ was selling the winter box 2012 for 3,000 yen

^ they were selling extra large character tapestries for 2,000 yen only! That’s a super good deal. (and kind of sad at the same time knowing theyre doing a 500% premium markup on you in normal retail outlets)

Front Wing
http://frontwing.jp/    

Palette
http://www.clearrave.co.jp/
^ Big blanket of one of the characters from the new game. ^ Sana Dakimakura + 50minute “let’s do it together” drama CD for 12,000 yen

Clochette & Nanawind

clochette-soft.jp
nanawind.jp
 

Cotton Soft / Neko Neko Soft

cotton-soft.com
www.din.or.jp/~nekoneko

Sumikko Soft / AXL
www.axl-soft.jp
www.sumikko-soft.com

DreamParty Tokyo Spring 2013 occurred 5th of May, 2013 and a ton of companies were present. This is part 3.

DreamParty Tokyo Spring 2013 Index:
- Part 1: Saga Planets, Navel, Circus, Visual Art’s
- Part 2: August, Front Wing, Palette, Clochette, Sumikko Soft, Cottonsoft
- Part 3: Minori, KeroQ, Purple Software, Alcot/ALcot Honeycomb, Kogado, etc
- Part 4: Itasha (painful car)

Minori
minori.ph

^ can’t be bothered looking for Japan proxy again.

KeroQ / Makura

www.keroq.co.jp
www.makura-soft.com
^ Extra Large Towel of 詠 from 『向日葵の教会と長い夏休み』 Size 1200mm×600mm.
Online order here: [keroq.co.jp/keromakura_shop]

^ Dakimakura of 夏咲詠 from 『向日葵の教会と長い夏休み』. 2 way tricotte. Size 500mm x 1600mm. 11,000 yen. Online order here: [keroq.co.jp/keromakura_shop]
Character profile: [www.makura-soft.com/himanatsu/]

Windmill

http://windmill.suki.jp/
  明智光理 from HHG dakimakura 8,400yen: [online order]
雪村涼乃 from Witch’s Garden 8,400 yen: [online order]

Purple Software

www.purplesoftware.jp
^ Saki from Hapy Maher 10,500 yen. Comes with 2x B2 half-sized poster
[online order]

^ Saki & Keiko B2 Tapestry 3,675 yen [online order]

Onomatope

www.onomatope.jp/main.html

Alcot / Alcot Honeycomb / Alchemist

www.alcot.biz
www.h-comb.biz
www.alchemist-net.co.jp

ID

idpw.cart.fc2.com

Kogado

www.kogado.com/html/kogado.htm

Carnival

??? 

Others

baseson.nexton-net.jp
http://www.peassoft.com/
www.sky-fish.jp/
www.cabbit.jp/
exit-soft.com
http://ex-one.cc/status/