XReaper

I wrote yesterday about the Steam Greenlight campaign for Debonosu's Kagura Douchuuki, a rogue-like H-RPG. Read my article for coverage of the announcement and a first impression. As Steam doesn't allow adult content, this release will be censored, with all adult content removed. Kagura Douchuuki contains dozens of H-scenes, so the content removed will be considerable. By my estimation, more CG will be removed than left behind. The game's art will be thoroughly gutted. Not only will the game itself be butchered beyond recognition, but if left unchecked this sets a dangerous precedent for future English releases that cannot be ignored. If Japanese developers get the impression that Steam is the one and only venue for visual novels, this will be the first of many Steam-only releases of VNs that were originally ero-games.
 
I've contacted both Debonosu and Sekai Project via Twitter, with no response. It's time to escalate this.
 

 

 
For those who are opposed to Steam censorship of this title, here's what you can do.
 
Go to Debonosu's twitter account (@debonosu) and tweet this message:
神楽道中記はエロシーンが取り除けたら、その利点を失くしてしまいます。神楽道中記の１８禁版も英語化してください！
If the ero scenes are removed from Kagura Douchuuki, the game will lose its main selling point. Please give us the 18+ version in English!
 
If enough fans speak up, they might listen and also release the original 18+ version in partnership with an eroge publisher like Sekai Project, Mangagamer, or JAST USA.
 
Edit: On a reader's suggestion, I changed the message to make more sense to a Japanese reader. The old message was:
言論弾圧には反対です。１８歳以上用版（英語訳）下さい！
I am opposed to censorship. Please give us the 18+ version (in English)!

Why should you play Chrono Belt, fans of Ayakashibito and Bullet Butlers?



This is your reason. Do you really need another?



But seriously, this fight is told entirely from Kuki's point of view, and as a result it is suitably awesome. Rather than doing it in order, I went ahead and did the Kuki-viewpoint segment first solely so I could re-experience the awesomeness that is Kuki Youkou.

Anyway, Chrono Belt isn't so much a fandisc as a true-ending crossover of both games. Basically, it happens after the ending of both games, and it is a VN that manages to standout on its own as awesome, though it is reliant on the characters from the two games for its plot.

To be blunt, this VN manages to satisfy fanboy crossover 'what-ifs' while not being ridiculous, which is a feat in and of itself. I'll leave it to you to imagine what those what-ifs are, because, as always, I refuse to spoil it for you. I will say that there are three segments: Kuki, Alfred, and - last of all - the main segment. All three are generally cool and interesting, though the last one is kind of heart-breaking or stomach-twisting at times, for fans of both games. I won't be doing a complete rundown of this VN, because it is quite simply impossible to do so without spoiling its origin-VNs.

PS: Incidentally, this is one of only a few fandisc-type VNs that I've played/read that weren't excuses for extra H-scenes (though there are extra H-scenes, lol).

Recently, a spirited argument erupted in the Monobeno -Happy End- project thread regarding the perceived poor quality of translation samples. As this a topic of general controversy in the fan translation scene, I decided it might be worth addressing on a general level to those who might not care about this particular title. Please don't take this post as an invitation to reignite controversy in that thread; post your comments here instead.
 
Fan translation is as much about the journey as the destination. While the audience may only care about the final product, for the translator the journey may be even more important. This is an opportunity for a translator to improve both his Japanese skills and his English skills. As much as he's doing it for you, he's doing it for himself. I don't understand why anyone would think that fan translators have an obligation to provide a quality product, and that the audience should have an expectation of a quality product. All fan translations should be treated as being of suspect quality until proven otherwise. That's really all there is to it. If you're unhappy with the final product, don't play it. A game like Monobeno will never ever get licensed in English, so it's not like a substandard fan project would be ruining our chance at a professional translation (as might be the case with other titles).
 
So before you complain about projects that don't meet your quality standards, remember that no one deserves a quality product for free, and that fan translators have just as much of a right to benefit from a project as their audience. Maybe if there were a better resource for tracking translation quality across different releases we wouldn't even be having these arguments. And maybe if the more skilled fan translators simply took pride in the quality of their own work, and weren't so preoccupied with the attention other groups were getting, there wouldn't be so much bickering going on.
 
[This is a repost of my response in that thread edited for a general audience]