Edit: It's done! Completed! Common Route, All the individual routes! 18518 lines (not words) translated into English!
Hello everyone!
After playing through Steins;Gate I decided to have a go at translating the fan-disc Steins;Gate Hiyoku Renri No Darling which as far as I know has not been translated by anyone so far and is probably not going to be translated officially.
Wiki link:
http://steins-gate.wikia.com/wiki/Steins;Gate_-_Darling_of_Loving_Vows
Vndb link:
http://vndb.org/v6618
You can check out the first episode here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8n7jqZ5GZI
These episodes will be relatively longer than usual because I figured that if you've read through the 30+ hours of the original Steins;Gate you can probably deal with (or you might even want) longer episodes rather than breaking them down into 10-20 minute chunks.
Anyway I hope you enjoy the video and come back for more!
I'm sorry that it's a week after my anticipated return date, and I'm still not up and running. I'm not sure if anybody posted about my RL issues, but I've been dealing with some crises and have been in and out of the hospital. I'm home now, and will plan on being online tonight to start catching up and getting to work.
I haven't had a chance to read any posts or PMs, so if it seems like I'm ignoring something -- forgive me! I'll get to it tonight or tomorrow.
Thanks for your patience and all the well-wishes people have sent my way,
Tay
Instructions for applications for all positions found within the listed .pdf.
Translation progress will be noted on a public spreadsheet. Progress will also be tweeted daily/at time of translation. @mdzanime
Basic Information
The game has 36312 lines. It's a medium length visual novel. It has 5 heroine routes in addition to the common route.
The synopsis is as follows:
Trailer
Recruiting all positions right now.
Preview of translation
CONTACT INFO
Translation Site: http://mdzanime.me/1/1/
Email:[email protected]<script cf-hash='f9e31' type="text/javascript"> /* */</script>
IRC: Rizon #koirizo
The simplest way to ask a question is via: http://ask.fm/mdzanime
It gives the more common, popular questions more exposure, and there's no character limit.
No it's not. At least not to the people who don't feel entitled to have others slave away at something they do for fun or out of a passion.
Seriously, the team has zero obligation to give you anything. Be patient and supportive of what might a rough time for all people involved in the project. Let them know that you value their time spent doing work that doesn't pay in anything but a few "Thank you"s, or feels even worse because of constant scrutiny and pressure stemming from it.
Define "good" graphics. Is it the overall quality, resolution or hardware limitations? It's really hard to tell. For a lot of people, modern games like Bishoujo Mangekyou, Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete, Supipara or Both Qualia are what they consider high quality art. Will it mean older games like YU-NO, Kakyuusei, Mugen Houyou or even Sayonara wo Oshiete will be considered far worse in terms of graphics? A lot of people actually won't be even able to make the comparison. They will state old games have bad art and whole discussion will end, while a lot of older enthusiasts, including myself are clear it's impossible to even compare NEC graphics with modern high resolution art, which sports millions of colors. I still hold the overall graphics from PC-88/98 in high regard, since artists had to abide by tremendous limitations and yet managed to deliver such crisp and good looking art.
On the other hand, it's not just a matter of art, but more a matter of boobs dressed up in good art for the game to sell, even despite it might have little to no actual story (vide Sakura Spirit).
That's the actual issue. A lot of people thinks LB is the holy grail of the japanese vn industry, while the game itself (although quite decent) does not offer anything unusual except your standard Key fare. I can easily bet my waifu LB wouldn't be even half as popular, if not for the Kud. And that's another major issue, especially with western visual novel fans. One, which makes me dislike most of the western community a lot.
Yamato is portrayed as being a genius, but that aspect of his character isn't really written very well. Like, the game wants us to think he is and tells us he is, but from his actions and such, he doesn't seem like much of a genius. Just a somewhat smart kid. I found most of his intellectual accomplishments somewhat lackluster.
I'm aware that by criticizing any aspect of Majikoi, I'm automatically put on a hitlist by certain fuwa users and will be targeted for assassination, so let me just put the disclaimer that I think it's a good and funny game and please god don't kill me.
If you enjoyed G-senjou no Maou, I'm confident that you would enjoy Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo . Additionally, the game doesn't have what you'd call traditional character routes so you'll get just short of the complete story even if you don't see all the heroine endings.
I have finally begun work on my spotlight video series, and much like I did with the Fuwanovel podcast, I thought it would be best to consolidate all of this project's information into a single official thread. As you may have been aware, I am not the only one on this site that does projects for the community; there are plenty of translation groups and fun activities that are hosted around Fuwanovel. That being said, I wanted to make a video series showcasing some of the awesome stuff people do around here and give everyone credit where I believe credit is well deserved.
Being completely separate from the podcast and the "Get to Know your Community" series, these videos are meant to showcase Fuwanovel and the countless hours put into it everyday. Rather than talking about who we are, the goal of the series is to talk about what we do. That being said, I plan to showcase many threads and translation groups from around the community in my videos. Because there are so many different things I am able to highlight however, these videos will not be episodic and simply be put into a playlist on my YouTube channel in the order they are released. That said, this thread is designed to discuss things you as members want to see highlighted around the site. If you have any suggestions for what I should spotlight, please don't hesitate to let me know. Below is a link where all current and future episodes are located on my YouTube channel.
Community Spotlight Video Series YouTube Channel Playlist
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the series and check out some of the other threads and activities around Fuwanovel as a result.
Welcome to the community, Kyoroto. I would recommend you play G-senjou no Maou. It was my first visual novel and the one that got me interested in visual novels as a medium.
If you enjoyed G-senjou no Maou, I'm confident that you would enjoy Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo . Additionally, the game doesn't have what you'd call traditional character routes so you'll get just short of the complete story even if you don't see all the heroine endings.
I was under the impression we had a bunch of Grisaia threads out there, but surprisingly I only found question threads and specific route threads. So yeah, yet another Grisaia thread to dump my thoughts on the game now that I’ve finished it.
I’m up for discussing all of that, of course. I didn’t go into the tiniest details, and I haven't read a lot of other opinions on the game yet, so feel free to post your own overall thoughts as well and confront mine with them.
Also, if a grammar nazi (Flutterz?) happens to read through this, a spell check round would probably help. Thanks Flutterz
/!\ Spoilers ahead /!\
My first contact with the VN was not very good, to be honest. I know, I should know what I get into, but having a protagonist the age of a high-school student with a hinted dramatic past and the abilities of a highly-trained military specialist kinda bothers me. Add to that the fact that he’s kinda showing off in the first few scenes and that he has a tendency to have an opinion about anything and everything and I wasn’t starting on a very good base with Yuuji.
Then there’s the heroines. Specifically making a school for students with “issues” is half explanation (which other games usually don’t bother with, admittedly) and half admitting a lack of realism in that every single girl in the VN has an incredibly fucked up past. Then again, know what you’re getting into. It’s part of the reader/author deal, and I’m the last person you’ll hear complaining about “lack of realism” (except on the very rare situations where it’s actually relevant). It IS irritating but I can’t consider that a factual mistake.
It all gets better really quickly, though.
As we all know, the common route is extremely funny and well done, and it’s a part of the VN where that’s mostly irreproachable. It was also the first step of getting me on better terms with Yuuji, the whole drill sergeant/sentou otaku act was great.
To that I would add that this common route fulfills a very important role. The purpose of a common route should be to get us to know the characters better, firstly so that we care about what happens when we enter a route, and secondly because it establishes a “prior” aspect of the personalities of the characters that will contrast with the character development that should occur later in the routes, making it all the more interesting.
Both are done very satisfyingly here, with hints of what will happen on the various routes being dropped here and there. It’s all the more crucial in Grisaia because Yuuji didn't know any of the girls before entering the school, so by the time we get into a route we should feel that a bond developed: the purpose of the common route is to make us feel like time is passing – while being careful to not bore the reader. Making of the common route a succession of funny slice of life scenes was a brilliant execution of this.
This is where you see the difference between fluff and bloat: I could not get enough of it, and it helped to build a foundation for the rest of the VN.
I did the routes as they came (Makina-Amane-Sachi-Michiru-Yumiko), which somehow seemed to make sense when I played. I remember little details that made me think “oh, having done this route before makes me have a different look on this”, but it’s more a feeling than a certainty. And it’s hard to know how it would have been had I have played them in a different order.
Makina’s route:
I found Makina’s route a little bit disappointing to be honest.
Admittedly, it probably has to do with the fact that I don’t like her character so much. I dislike how she acts like a kid to get people to spoil her, even though it’s entirely in-character, because she obviously craves for protection and lack a parental figure. I especially dislike it because of how she switches between this behavior and being foul-mouthed. But again, this is in the domain of personal opinion and I can’t call it a mistake.
What I think this route is lacking, and this is probably linked with my not liking Makina so much, is development for her character. Yuuji got character development, for sure. Several aspects of his personality are exposed. By the end of the route I actually liked him quite a lot. But Makina, not so much.
One of the important instances of Makina’s development in this route should be her opening to society by getting a part-time job, because we are told she is awkward around people. But that's precisely the issue: we never get to witness this supposed awkwardness first-hand. In fact I think her route is almost going backward: she is reduced to a girl with the behavior of a kid severely needing protection and a father figure.
A route is usually the moment where characters reveal themselves to be multifaceted, and we get to understand the reasons for those facets. After playing Makina’s route, I don’t have the impression that I know her any better.
Character matters aside, the story was rather solid, full of tension, action and emotion and with a good rhythm. Also, contrary to other routes, it wasn’t eaten up by Makina’s flashback. And the bad end manages to be disturbing, people ending crazy is among my favorite kind of bad end.
I can’t say I was thrilled but it was decent.
Please note that I haven’t yet read Rose’s huge analysis of that route, therefore my opinion on it could change - I might have missed some crucial details, considering how this route is usually hailed as the second best in the game.
Amane’s route:
Amane’s route is often considered the best of the route, and the main reason for that is definitely her flashback. Before that all we get is a bunch of sex scenes and after that, well it’s not entirely bad but it’s not exactly very exciting either. I really like the endings though.
But to get to this flashback. What can I say? It was a really well executed, if rather predictable, piece of work. I tend to have a hard time with « closed worlds » (English seems to be lacking an appropriate word to describe this genre) stories, but at the same time they are fascinating, as anything that involves people plunging into dementia, tensions breaking out in groups, and other phenomena happening when people suddenly have to live together while the world, the one they’re used to, breaks down around them.
Especially, it establishes a very uncomfortable atmosphere that makes even the reader uneasy, and the reader isn’t spared because everything is thoroughly described, and everything we expect to happen ends up happening.
An unmistakable sign of something that shook you quite a lot, even though you might not have thought so while reading, is how your mind wanders back to it in the days following the reading. This flashback is one of those marking moments of fiction.
Kazuki is irritating at first, but like her brother we end up somehow liking her. Her abilities are a bit too far-fetched to be credible, but having a character rationally analyzing the situation and predicting the outcomes is always a plus in such a situation. The story strongly hints at her being alive (and at a few other things), and the bad end of the route only serves to confirm this, so I expect to see her in the sequels. Tchekov’s gun would indicate she could be the famous « evil genius » kept in the caves of Ichigaya, but it seems a bit too obvious.
The part in the forest with the crazy hunter guy, as I said, can’t quite keep up with the sheer emotional impact of this.
That being said, the bad end is pretty interesting, and I really like the good end. Describing how time passes this way also has a strong emotional impact, although more of the heartwarming with a tad of bitterness kind. I had to shed a few tears.
This route is bit inconstant, because the flashback and the endings are excellent, but the rest is not extremely exciting, and a bit shakily written.
Sachi’s route:
Sachi’s route is the one I’d call the most « conventional » of all. Maybe the kind of story you would find in a Key VN. Which doesn’t mean it’s bad at all: it’s actually well executed and I liked it a lot.
Once again, the flashback makes up a huge chunk of it, but contrary to Amane’s route it doesn’t make the rest look pale in contrast.
The flashback clearly demonstrates what kind of demons Sachi has and how they came to be, as well as the reasons for her current dedication to obey any request to the letter. But the process of her getting rid of it was interesting too: an absurd and exaggerated behavior is met with an absurd and exaggerated solution.
In some sense it goes to show how easy it is to be so sucked into your own warped set of values, and that it takes pushing them to their utter limits to open your eyes. Of course it’s hyperbolic here ("wait, did they just blow up the entire fucking school?"), but it was still an interesting development.
It’s also interesting to note how Sachi’s parents are, obviously not the kind of monstrous people we sometimes get to see in VNs, but not an entirely functional and happy family either - Sachi’s parents love her, it’s evident, but they also have their own life and job to deal with. Maybe a little bit more perspective than usual.
I have to mention the bad end: it was a hastily written piece of trash. Seriously. It’s not a big mistake, because you can brush it aside as “just a bad end”, but I found it shockingly bad. I suppose it was tempting to pull an “irony of fate” kind of accident, but it’s all too quick and too unbelievable. Yuuji’s monologue after he sees Sachi dead is just nonsense.
On the other hand the good ending was very good. It’s a bittersweet ending, heartwarming by the intense affection between Sachi and her parents, and sad because they won’t ever see each other. I really like family values themes, and it hit exactly the right spot.
A very solid route.
Michiru’s route:
Michiru’s route was probably the most disappointing one. It had a lot of potential, and she’s a character that really clicked with me at first, too, so I was all the more disappointed to see how weak it turned out to be.
It seemed to me like this route could have talked about social awkwardness, about putting up a façade to avoid others, about running away when things are too difficult. She could have had genuine schizophrenia and it would have been extremely interesting.
Sadly that wasn’t the case. The first half of the route in particular was really bad: not only is it boring with mediocre drama and only a few funny scenes, Yuuji feels completely out of character in it. Or should I say without character, because it felt like he was replaced by some sort of blank slate.
It redeems itself afterwards: in the end, the flashback(s) (once again!) and the conclusion (though not all of it) were good. I especially liked the scene where she’s buried and ends up half crazy, talking with her other personality and seeing her friend on the roof in a very creepy way. Again, it would have been better had she genuinely had schizophrenia though. It feels like a glimpse of what that route should have been. The conclusion to all of that ends up being a bit bland.
Disappointed by the sheer wasted potential and the subpar writing, but it’s definitely not all good for trash.
Yumiko’s route:
Surprisingly, I find myself with very little to say about this route, despite having played it last. It had resemblances with Makina’s route, for sure, the main differences coming from their very different personalities. In fact, Yumiko herself perhaps has the most « normal « personality in the group. But I liked it.
Mainly, what I can say is that her dere side was excellent. I found throughout the route and till the ending that it was very sweet. Nothing extremely original to be found in this story, especially after having played all the other routes: it doesn’t really stand out.
But maybe this is precisely why it felt so fitting as a finishing note. It has the thrills of the run like Makina’s route, a solid pacing and writing like Sachi’s, yet another dramatic flashback, and an extra serve of dere to top everything off. It only felt natural that at the end they would all get together to confront her father. (To be honest, I was secretly wishing they would go into a cliche scene where each girl uses her peculiarity to add to the confrontation)
---
The routes in Grisaia were, overall, fairly predictable, but that isn’t a flaw by itself since it’s not intended to be a twist story. They also tend to follow the same pattern, but thankfully not to the point of redundancy. There are quirks in the pacing, the writing and all that from time to time, but it rarely gets to the point where I can call it a hindrance to the quality. Which does make it a good visual novel.
The strengths of the game can probably be summed up by two points: a hilarious common route that fulfills the purpose of materializing bonds between the characters and between the characters and the reader, and routes packing emotions and character development.
I gave it a 8/10, if anyone cares.
Bonus stage: thoughts around the themes in Grisaia
What I mainly noted was how social anxiety/inaptitude was, to some extent, a recurring theme throughout the game.
Yuuji is a solitary character and is tremendously bad with women (although not in the usual way). He also has trouble accepting that he could live a normal life, and like many VN protagonists he has a (rather mild though) “hero complex” that pushes him to want to “protect” those around him no matter what.
Makina is presented as being overly shy toward strangers, and she obviously craves for protection and affection.
Amane is less affected, but much like Yuuji she has a hard time accepting that her life can be happy, and before she met Kazuki she used to be shy and introverted.
Sachi’s symptoms are a bit different, but she had very few friends when she was a kid, and now she hardly expresses any feelings.
Michiru was overwhelmed by social awkwardness when she was a kid, and even now she can hardly be called good at social interactions.
And Yumiko exhibits aggressive behavior to avoid others and is mostly solitary.
In some sense, the characters in Grisaia could be seen as hyperbolic figures. They are the way they are because they all have unbelievably tragic circumstances, and despite the life they lead at this special school mitigating those social troubles, deep down the issues still remain. They all experienced trouble with their parental figures (Yuuji, Makina, Yumiko, Sachi to some extent), the ugliest facets of society (Amane, Michiru, all of them at some point) and the depths of solitude.
But no matter how exaggerated the reasons can be here, the symptoms themselves, in milder forms, are extremely common.
What’s also interesting is how they all have the same kind of reaction when originally faced with their issues: they « run away » and put a « facade » personality.
This is most obvious in Michiru’s and Sachi’s cases. Michiru literally ran away from her own body when faced with a situation she can’t deal with, yielding it to a different personality (which is also why it would have been much more interesting if her other personality had been born from her social anxiety). Sachi is very interesting: she puts her « good girl » face on systematically and by pushing it way past reasonable limits she demonstrates the limits and dysfunctionality of her solution.
But it’s also the same with the other girls: Amane and her decision to become a « convenient girl », Makina and her kid act, and Yumiko and her aggressive behavior.
The VN tends to show how that solution can become a problem in and of itself, and that it isn’t the only viable option. Instead of running away, face your problem, be it a confrontation with the parental figure (Yumiko, Makina, Sachi), accepting yourself (Amane, Sachi) or something more abstract.
Say “thank you”, not “I’m sorry”: this sentence, which comes up a lot during Yumiko’s route, but is also said by Kazuki to Amane, is pretty meaningful in my opinion. « I’m sorry » is running away. It’s hiding behind a word that you force onto others, and neglecting the bonds you have with them. Being grateful is recognizing these bonds, and those can save you (which is evident Yumiko’s or Michiru’s cases for example, since their redemption really comes through the group, even if Yuuji plays a prominent role).
This is how I like to interpret the story, especially because those are themes that interest me, but surely there are other directions to take. I’m thinking in particular about the political views of the author which transpires throughout the game, through Yuuji’s ramblings and the existence and description of Ichigaya. I don’t have that many ideas nor the will to develop it though, and I lack the political culture to tackle it. But that’s something to think about.
With all this said, I think it’s time to end this post. Actually, congratulations if you read all of that >_>
Dang, I guess there's no love for the game here, haha (TUT)~
I picked up and tried out the game last night. It is more or less like the reviewers have said. Quite a lot like Go Go Nippon except in China. The two heroines have pretty much no tension so it is a calm sort of tale if you are into that. They more or less exist just to show us around. Artworks are fantastic.
Importantly, I very much respect them having Chinese speaking heroines with Chinese names. That is what I meant by folks doing their own thing and being true to who to hey are, while still having love for things they enjoy. This game will probably never get noticed much. It is a short game with a tame journey, so there is no saying is is unfair. Still, I respect it without basing it on popularity or profit.
>Choice 2 is actually the one that leads to a good end
>"It's a deconstruction of the genre!"
>Game hailed as a masterpiece by Kotaku
>Fans write wikias on it explaining how the themes relate to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche
>It's actually the coder who screwed up and switched the two choices
...hrm, on a side note I advanced a bit on Forest. I'm probably lacking a bit in knowledge of popular literature and fairy tales to have all the keys to some of the nonsense there is. Eh, let's hope it's not crucial to understanding what it's all about in the end.
Also my wall of text on Grisaia is shaping up to be way too long >_>
I actually genuinely thought about the question you know >_>
I realized that I always put myself in an observer position (which might make me a pervert, I don't know). I might tell you "X is hot", but not "I wud fuk X".
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