Chronopolis

(this is a video from a chase scene in ch1 using the old yandere patch, IIRC) If that's the baseline, I'm not sure how excited people should be. I see, I see. The editor should have adapted the description lines into something that keeps the tension and has at least some impact in English, to say nothing about the naturalness of the voiced lines.

This is the general structure. I recommend you study vocab from a list for the first 500-800 words. (Like do this list http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt5/vocab/). My first attempt at japanese VN reading was Clannad at 800 words. I honestly could not make any head way on VN's (even using Jparser) until I hit about 1500 words of vocabulary (http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt4/vocab/). Even though I say that, the grammar is probably more important. I think most people underestimate the amount of grammar involved in any kind of VN.

The most direct way to get used to the vocab of a work is to play the game/read the novel in question (assuming you have enough grammar and the difficulty isn't impossible).You see, different authors have their own vocabulary sets and writings styles. Failing that, you'll want to play things from the same genre and copy vocab from there. For light novels it would help if you could get a OCR'd copy of the texts.

Some one needs to abridge an h-scene and phrase it completely in bombastic metaphors.

Stories focused around a circle of characters, rather than a series of events. Staying mostly in one location, where slice of life hijinks can be crammed in. Relationships (connections) between minor characters, coming full circle. Often neglecting to hint at the plot properly within the first 100 pages. Lots of dutch angles of characters in CG's, especially with the advent of widescreen VN's.

関西弁っていうのは関弁してくれってやつ Having not studied them directly kanji's not my strong point. I still confuse kanji from words I know (sorting that out as I go), nor do know on-yomi readings for that many. I can read ordinary text (non-literature, non-specific) and usually get the main points of it without using a dictionary. Going for N1 in December.

Devastated in more ways than one, after Muramasa Chapter 1. Taking a break from that to play Hapymaher. Wow, the interface is crazy extensive even for a modern VN. On a random note, I like how Saki's eyes are drawn.

When it's appropriate, I like to have "what if" possibilities developed properly. Whether those branches are even or are offshoots off a true end doesn't matter so much. In consideration of the feeling of "reaching the end" of a novel, a true end is much preferable. My ideal sort of Side Routes: -develop the heroine -build up the inner dilemma that leads to the choice(s) and show how the choice(s) the MC made differently reflect their resolve. Show what direction the MC develops in, in contrast to the other routes. -(necessarily) have a plot and resolution. This one is tricky to do when there's a true route, unless you have heroines/routes with different objectives to set up a plot around. -widen the player's appreciation of the setting

The words in brackets are just indicating meaning for the Japanese but would sound bad if you used them directly.

心底ほっとした = 心底からほっとした 対して、俺のスルー力のなさといったら。 In contrast with my inability to ignore things, (shockingly), 小枝が寝起きで無気力っぽかったから、俺の動揺に気付いてはいないみたいだけど。 It looks like Sae was drowsy from having just gotten up and consequently hasn't noticed my excitement (abnormality). といったら　expression used in emotion or surprise (http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/thsrs/17281/m0u/) スルー力 (スルーちから） なさ　＝　無い　－＞　無さ　normalized っぽいー＞っぽかった　past tense Ew.

Muramasa

Woah Woah things sure escalated quickly. *fans the air in front*

Correct. I misunderstood and mistranslated that. {妾はそなたのような色のない娘}が どのような色に身を染めるかが知りたい X That's cause it was wrong . I also saw the "のも良いと思えるな"="X might be alright, too"　and read it as ～いいと思うな=negative imperative *facepalm*. そなたの願いであれば、戯れに付き合うのも良いと思えるな Thanks for clarifying things, zoom.

On a word for word basis it's alright, but as for reproducing the scene in English, it's not good at all. I put my attempted translation of the conversation on the Knowing what characters are referring in dialogue takes experience. Many words, usually concrete nouns, are easy to understand. Even if you don't know the word, you can look them up and be just fine. But then there's grammar, a lot of verbs, set expressions, and phrases which need to be learned and then encountered in order to be able to identify what their meaning in a passage or dialogue. For example: 若葉の娘、そして無垢の娘。 The titles are that exactly: titles. The fortune teller is addressing the girl directly using both of the titles. "Girl of Young Verdure! ...and (another title the target has or is given by the speaker is...) Girl of Purity". Personally I picked caught on this particular pattern long ago from watching anime. Things like can be tricky or next to impossible to look up. The best way to learn these is seeing them used in a situation where the speaker's intent is clear from context, (or you have a reliable translation, or you can figure it out beyond a reasonable shred of doubt). I wanted to point out this line as well. Girl: えっ……、占ってくれるんですか？ て＋くれる　is used for other people's actions towards the speaker, and it shows the speaker's appreciation for the action/emphasizes the fact that what the other person doing is a "favor". やってくれる？　is asking for someone to doing something for you "Can you do this (for me)?" <request> やってくれない？ Pretty close to the English equivalent:　"Won't you do it?" <request> やってくれますか？　Straight up request. ("Would you do this (for me)?) やってくれませんか？　Straight up request. More indirect and also a lot more commonly used then the first. ("Would you do this (for me)?) の　(which can be ん) represent an explanatory tone. It's either the speaker saying something in an explanatory tone (possibly adding emotional investment), or in the case of being used in a question, seeks an explanation. やってくれるの？"You'll do this (for me)?" <not really expecting opponent to do it, and is asking whether the "the fact they are going to do it" is really true?" やってくれないの？　"You're not going to this (for me)?" <sort of was expected opponent to do it, sounds like opponent showed a negative response or declined, and is is asking if "the fact that they are not going to do it" is really true? やってくれんですか？　This is the same form as the TL line. Check the やってくれるの line. This one's the same except in polite form. やってくれないんですか？　Same as やってくれないの except in polite form.

Thanks for providing the context. そなたが求める時間は停滞を示している　is terrible to interpret in English, but I believe it's talking about the class. "(The signs) display that the period of time you are seeking has stopped progressing normally." The conversation is hard, as it uses a word with many different meanings (色） and has a metaphor, as well as not your everyday style of speech. Fortuneteller: ……妾の言葉は、必要と思われる者にのみ与えられるもの。滅多なことでは占わぬ My words are only for those whom I think it necessary. I do not divine over the mundane. Fortuneteller: だが、(girl's name)。 Still, (girl's name) そなたの願いであれば、戯れに付き合うのも良いと思えるな If you so desire... But do not think it well to accept (lit. accompany, to follow along) on a whim. <Going directly from the Japanese, the "but" shouldn't be there, which confuses me a lot. The meaning of the two halves are clear, so I made up a connection.> Girl: えっ……、占ってくれるんですか？ Eh?...... You'll tell my fortune? Fortuneteller:: 若葉の娘、そして無垢の娘。妾はそなたのような色のない娘が、　どのような色に身を染めるかが知りたい Girl of Young Verdure!... and Girl of Purity. I am, like you, a woman without {color}、but I wish to see which palette of hues you embrace. Fortuneteller:: そう……、恋を知り、変わりゆく色を眺め愛でることも楽しいもの Yes......To gaze and admire a {color} that changes as it knows love (for the first time) is too, a pleasurable thing. 色 has other meanings, the ones I guessed as relevant was that relating to the beauty of a woman, or sensuality. "Color" is the naive definition and a passable substitute metaphor. You could just bold the word in the TL, lol. TLDR: I don't know what it means and even if I did the English would be a pain in the ass askdlasdlasdjlas *pulls out hair*.

My guess is that what's regulating the size of the western fanbase is accessibility, commitment (VN's are long), and an entry point or way of introduction. It doesn't help that the communities are somewhat dispersed (animesuki, fuwanovel, 4chan, tlwiki, reddit). More to the point, the people who are experts in the field are also dispersed. http://omochikaeri.wordpress.com/ takes a glance at virtually every title that get's released. Clephas also covers basically all the non-moeges. There are an ample amount of reviews for vn's proportionate to their popularity. I don't think we need more content. If anything, a neat listing of all the review blogs is what we need (I think some thread like that exists already somewhere...). It could be moved to the VN discussion forum and stickied. How does having an organized group play through sound (not my idea)? Gauge interest, have people decide on a novel, and roll with it. Have a loose schedule for people to read up till, and use a forum thread for discussion. I think the thing people would appreciate the most are bustling threads like Ayakashibito: A thread (which came from a lot of people playing the game at the same time from a TL release).

No matter who she faces, she does not shy away, and speaks frankly. or No matter who she is facing, she is a child who speaks frankly without reservation. I assumed the と doesn't do anything, and is just the protagonist proposing a thought to himself. Depending on the context it this could stating be what someone else said and the line would change to reflect that.　The すぐ　is also ommited, it could mean either "very readily" or "soon" talks forgot the potential form No matter who she is facing, she is a child who can soon speak frankly without being shy.

Started Murasama.The presentation, sfx, and graphics are very well endowed and feel seamless. The robots which are cg I'm still undecided upon though. The prologue difficulty is ridiculous, but after that it's bearable. I think I have a soft spot for the pre-post war modern japan (e.g. time setting of kara no shoujo)

"It's probably a headache they don't want to deal with, combined with an opportunity that's mostly nonviable, combined with the indignation of having some people get what your loyal fans are supporting your company are for free." There are plenty of things I could that are available to buy (well not the funds to buy nearly all of them, but on an individual basis) which I pirate. If you do something like that, I think it's inconsistent to blame your not buying of VN's on their unpuchasability. After all, you pirate things which don't have that barrier.

I feel like the rpg maker games would be more up your alley. A number of them are have puzzles along the way and/or multiple endings. They are about 3-8 hours long perhaps. http://vgperson.com/games/

So what's happening is : The protagonist sees a girl who's running extremely hard, while looking over her shoulder. He wonders whether someone is chasing her. Probably: The protagonist watches the space behind the girl (trying to see maybe what's chasing her) [Not sure what 注意を向けた means] Protagonist: <What is that...?> I wonder if I shouldn't have been so carefree like that. [not sure exactly when he was being carefree. As the story is being told in past tense, he might be reflecting on how he was kind of spacing out during these lines.]. By the time the protagonist realizes, the girl has arrived right in front of him. The protagonist notes: As before, the girl is still worried/checking about what's behind her, to a great degree. あちら　= the girl ばかり　literally means "just" as in "concerned about what's behind her and nothing else", but here probably translates better as a emphasizer.

I agree. Read through Tae Kim's guide: if you get stuck, go read something else and come back to it later. Even after you finish his guide, you can always review it at a later date. I would say Tae Kim's guide is better at giving you perspective of sentence structure and grammar as a whole, but in his refusal to dumb things down, the resulant text is somewhat harder to read. Genki is better structured, and has footnotes for when grammar points refer to each other. Some of Tae Kim's grammar goes farther than Genki, but Tae Kim doesn't cover close to everything in Genki. It wouldn't hurt to read parts or the entirity of both, for starters. Read the first section of Tae Kim. Learn how to read about ~100 - 300 words. Prioritize verbs if you don't know what to learn. Just a list of the most common words will do. Continue reading Tae Kim and start busting through Genki. When you are done Genki 1 and 2, you should be alright to start reading easy stuff. From then on: Reading-Grammar-Vocab Rinse and repeat. I agree with garejei. In any nukige, etc, you're still going to have description of the surrounding living enviroments, thoughts and actions of the protagonist, etc. When people say "the simplest possible", they mean that there is close to zero area-specific terms, and no plot to need to understand.

Seriously I thought you were talking about this: http://www.zerochan.net/835246#full Same character name, presumably the same circumstances, and the same mentally speaking. On topic, I ran out of steam in Midori no Umi about half way through. After you finish one of the more revealing endings or the true ending, there isn't really a compelling to go through the other routes except to learn about the characters. The general scenario is revealed and the while the method of resolution varies appropriately, they spend too little time on it. The remaining routes are like books on a bookshelf, just there if you are curious and are willing to spend the time.

One of the meanings of 伏せる is to hide something from being known. 病名は伏せる means to hide the name of a disease, ie. not tell certain people the exact disease, perhaps as to not make them worry over it too much or treat the person in question differently.

I don't trust games with exclamation marks in their titles.