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"As people are asking for more accurate translations that read well in English. This is something GenAI and Machine Translation cannot provide." Genuinely, I think we as anime and visual novel fans alike seem to forget that localization is an important part of translating a work into English. Whether that be simply changing a joke to fit current standards, or using slang like "chill" or using politically correct language to make more sense to English speakers. A machine may be able to translate, but it is unable to localize. ChatGPT and DeepL cannot accurately translate a script writer's work and prose into something that doesn't sound bland. Localization is a necessary evil if we like the way the dubs are now." As a counter point, if the current state of translation is far too localized and a much more literal approach would be appreciated by certain fans, like me for example, then DeepL and AI translations should provide a very welcome boost in the apparent quality of translations on a subjective level. Even non-AI, NMT translations, like Sugoi, that preserve honorifics in the translation are a huge improvement over heavily localized translations that are the status-quo, especially because a lot of the meaning of how characters interact with one another dramatically changes if they are removed. Of course that is not to say that pure MTL is acceptable, but Sugoi + a fluent English speaker editing the output is of relatively high quality and ultimately, I would rather deal with incorrect translations due to fixable software errors that are getting better over time than deal with censorship, especially around aspects unique to japanese culture, which is the norm in translations right now. Being able to revert such over localizations and say, re-insert honorifics into the translated text, which AI is capable of doing by the way, would allow it to preserve the original meaning better for those of us who actually want to know what the characters actually said, not someone else's interpretation of what they think they meant after changing the meaning for political correctness and cultural illiteracy. AI, whether we like it or not, AI is here so stay, so learning to work with AI is more beneficial than just resenting it or resenting how certain companies use it. The best use of AI right now is to literally work with it in a collaborative process since the end result of human + AI will almost always be better than just either one alone relative to the amount of time it took to produce something of reasonable quality. I am not sure what Crunchyroll is doing, but we are in agreement that their quality can only decline if they do not use translators because the output of AI still needs to be double checked and only a translator, a human, can make the decision that the output makes sense. Used correctly, AI should be a boost to both productivity and quality, not a way to backslide quality and damage the reputation of one's brand as a result. If Crunchyroll does not understand that, it will only hurt them in the long run.

What I can say is the VNs with space are very rare, only has around 417 VNs according to VNDB so of course it has potential to be developed as the setting for the VNs. While in theory space setting is encouraging the future and imagination (Like STPC linking both of space and imagination), in practice most of space VNs (Or rather work) are took some clue from both of Star Wars and Star Trek, which make sense because both are very prominent franchise with space setting. Anyway, for more other example of VNs with space setting, I can only think two, Galaxy Angel trilogy and Lunaria. Galaxy Angel has the story deviate from Star Wars, with the Empire being in the side of good and the rebel prince is set as the villain. It also has RTS gameplay with the MC Tact act as the all girl squad commander with Tact need to do his best to have a good relationship with one of his squad member in order to boost her performance in combat, and it's quite successful so much it as anime adaptation (Which is deviate from the VN very much). For Lunaria, while the setting is in virtual space, it also has moon setting with the MC find the main heroine in the unknown Moon server, so yeah it still has real space setting. That's all for what I can comment in regard of the topic here.

To my mind, space sci-fi represents the optimism for the future that has yet to be repressed by people's increasingly negative outlook on our civilization's future. They are futures full of exploration, danger, and wonder, with cultures both different and the same. While many space sci-fi are dark in atmosphere, that doesn't get around the fact that even in the darkest space science-fiction, there are wonders and horrors that stimulate the mind and the spirit. I usually don't make distinctions between types of future sci-fi (as opposed to modern day sci-fi), incidentally. Space sci-fi is relatively rare in JVNs, which are my specialty. One that comes to mind is Fake Azure Arcology, where people were forced to flee from a massive storm of asteroids that devastated Earth's surface, forming unique civilizations within the arcologies they fled to. In a mix of high technology and restrictive lifestyle, it describes the unchanging human condition, even in circumstances that are drastically different. Komorebi no Nostalgica, one of my favorite sci-fi VNs of all time, is based in a world where humans warred against their AI slaves until the slaves won freedom, at the cost of taking the bullet for humanity destroying its own history for the convenience of politicians. It is a world where, interestingly, history is mostly lost to the younger generation, with the older generation only having faded memories of what was destroyed. In this game, society has almost become a blank slate, and the game extensively explores the troubles and possibilities of human-like AI in the two different types - the ancient android Cinema, , and the victorious Metocell, whose emotional emulation evolves over time and experience. More familiar to English-speaking readers is the dystopian worldscape of the Baldr series, where people have practically fled into the virtual world to escape the limitations of the physical. While the Baldr series is a fun read, it is also the most cynical and pessimistic approach to sci-fi I've seen in VNs. It shows the nastiness of human nature, the poor decision making of those with power, and the inevitable failures of a society that lost its way long ago again and again. In the Baldr series, AI alternates between 'ghosts' of the deceased, god-like beings that are omniscient in their own way, and monstrous amalgams that blindly follow their programming with only a surface imitation of flexibility and thought. Sci-fi can be a wonder or horror, but it is always looking at the future.