Heizei_koukousei

I would frame it and hang it on my wall. Then when I was old and grey I could tell my grandchildren about how much of a rebel I was. 

Well, they do say that men do their thinking with an organ that isn't their brain.

That study was actually pretty interesting and also pretty depressing. Especially the part about people who don't read not taking part in other cultural activities. I guess the gap between normal riffraff and cultural elites like us   is growing wider. Also necessary self praise for being from the country whose youth have the best reading skills in the world.   
 
The decline in reading is most likely the result of other readily available entertainment mediums. Why read books when you can read comics, watch Tv or do something that doesn't really require that much attention? I actually haven't read that many books in a while, mostly because I have been reading visual novels, playing games and such. It's really hard to find interesting books to read nowadays, most of the western stuff doesn't seem that interesting anymore. The only actual books I looking forward to reading are the Witcher ones, though I still read some other books very rarely.
 
Oh, back to Visual novels. I think there is plenty of audience out there, despite the general amount of readers diminishing, we haven't just reached them yet. VNs are also pretty new medium in west considering so it's no wonder it's pretty unknown. The recognition has been growing rapidly in recent years and the release of bigger officially translated titles in popular platforms is sure to bring even more attention and more fans. Especially the titles released in Steam are going to get attention no matter what and hopefully change the general attitude to more positive one. The reputation of being only porn games is hurting. But I believe that visual novels will grow steadily much like every other medium has. We will still probably be pretty niche but that's fine as well.

Did someone say Supreme Candy?

He says about the yet to be released VN.

I read visual novels because I don't like and/or can't focus when reading an actual book.

I just don't think that saying "this is going to get an official localization someday" is enough to deter fan translators from picking up a project that they are interested in. If its something that they enjoy doing, nobody has the right to say its a waste of effort. 

(Okay. I’m just going to talk directly to Lewy, but y’all can listen in and pretend I’m talking to you, too.)
 
Hi Lewy. You look fabulous today. Hope you’re well. Anyway. Yes, thank you for bringing these things up. I really appreciate it when people speak up like this.
 
 
 
This is kinda hard to answer. A lot actually has been done, Lewy, and Nay and I are still working on it fairly actively (Nay’s been busy the last 2 weeks, but we’re picking up). I realize you’re upset that the new front site hasn’t rolled out yet, but that doesn’t mean work has stalled. Nay is working on the coding, and I’m working on the new content. There’s actually a LOT that’s going into the new site which you may not expect. For example: according to Outlook, I’ve spent 53 front-site-dedicated hours in the last 30 days working on academy lessons, writing/rewording text assets, planning games pages, coordinating with companies and devs about outreach features, and, yes, drooling over Emi’s and Beato’s work and Nay’s themes : P. Nay’s put in significant time as well. I want the new site to be up just as much – maybe even more : P – than you do, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t want to put up a crappy product, and we need to make sure we don’t burn out. We aren’t a business. We’re a fan site. And it’s important to keep perspective if we don’t want to burn out.
 
 
 
 
Oh, I’m calling hyperbole on this one : P. (But I love ya. I’m always kinda touched when you speak up about this, Lewy, because I appreciate that you care.) My honest reaction to this is to wonder if we’re both at fault: I recognize that I’ve done a poor job regularly communicating the cool stuff/updates we’re working on, but on your end it sounds like you haven’t been paying attention to all the stuff we *have* been doing. Fuwa’s traffic and engagement with the wider VN audience, and interactions with new VN players is likely at an all-time high from what I’ve been seeing lately.
 
Consider some of the stuff we’ve done in the last 60 days, for example:
We’ve started our own VNTS program on the blog which has become quite popular, built VNTL-Moon (a TL updates aggregator), negotiated with the demeteloaf and the other nice guys on /r/visualnovels (Reddit) to get our VNTS posts included in their weekly TL posts (which I’m really appreciative of), and we’re drawing in a lot of traffic to the other Fuwa sites with this focus on TL A step-wise overhaul of Fuwa’s SEO which has had a major impact on visibility in the US, Europe and some parts of Asia (this is still in-progress because it’s complicated and takes a while) We’ve hired an analyst to help us track and improve our social media presence (focusing first on FB) After torrents went offline we restructured all of the sites and submitted them for review to 5 different tests, and were validated on all 5 (aka: we’re clean, and we’re safe to invest in the site). This was coupled with work to make sure all the site staff are squared away with participating on the site We got a new forums theme (party!) Launched the IP.Blogs and IP.Content apps I’ve got us approved (or in the process of approval) for 7 different affiliate programs to help pay for hosting (will be implemented on the “Buy” sections of game pages, etc.) ~40 more hours have gone into building the VN Reviews hub (still a little left to go before we can launch it in a major way, tho) I’ve successfully corrupted zaka We launched the VN players mentor program (I’m in the process of following-up on that, and eventually I’ll write up a brief report in case people are interested in how well the program worked) Added 5 new blogs to the reviews hub, talking with 4 more Negotiating partnerships with a few other VN communities I’m ~60% done reaching out to TL groups whose patches we used to host, as promised in my reddit open letter We’ve spent ~10 or so hours helping connect skilled hackers/TLers/TLCers/Editors with projects Overhauled the dev boards, got the two dev blogs functional Got the recognition team up and running (and they’re doing a great job, imo) We’re negotiating with a half-dozen devs or studios to get reviews copies of games for the reviews team, and extra licenses for giveaways and contests I’ve failed to give Rooke the attention his PMs deserve (< is that a positive? Hm. Not sure. Maybe I’d have more compassion if it weren’t for a certain drinking game he enjoys.) We’re ~50% done prepping our Google+ launch Oh, gosh. It’s 1AM here and my brain’s a little fuzzy. The last thing I’ll mention is we’ve done a lot of experimenting with financial stuff, too, and how best to keep Fuwa in the black (< which hasn’t yet happened : P). This takes a lot more time than you’d expect. That’s not an inconsequential list, but there are probably a lot of people who weren’t aware that we were working on all of the above. I mean, I hope you’re impressed with that list : P. We’re a hobby site, Lewy. Nobody’s being paid to do this (I’m literally operating at a loss, and Nay, for example, has a substantial opportunity cost to code for us instead of working overtime and rollin’ in the dough), and I’d much rather we all work at a sane pace and not burn out than run forward and unbalance our RL responsibilities.
 
 
 
Well, first of all, I didn’t realize that non-mods couldn’t post topics in the LC. That’s since been fixed. Apologies, Batman et. Al.  That was a major oversight, and I do feel bad about it.
 
You’re correct in that the LC has been pretty quiet lately, but that’s largely because we already decided on our priorities list and financial plan for Q1 2015, so there wasn’t a lot for us to talk about. We’re only just entering May (aka: Q2 2015), and I’m almost done drafting our next set of site priorities (read: project goals) and financial plan (I hoped to have it ready earlier this week, but a few devs have been slow to get back to me and I decided to wait so my reports would be complete). LC activity will increase when those are posted. That’s just the way these sorts of advisory committees work, Lewy. (In case you were concerned, the LC was made aware of the Q2 reports’ delay, and they knew the reasons for it, too.)
 
 Also, just remember that the LC is an advisory body for discussion about site issues. It’s not a decision making body. If you think a part of Fuwa isn’t working well, it’s the project managers (and then me) who have the power to change stuff. A quiet LC doesn’t mean their decision-making capacity is lessened in any way.
 
 
 
 
I posted about this several days ago, and I’ll continue to work with the mods on the issue.
 
 
 
Fuwa’s definitely growing, and keeping our best qualities (respect, friendliness, etc.) through the growth can be challenging. I think your worries are pretty normal. I’ve got them, too, from time to time. The best way I’ve learned to deal with it is to not focus on an abstract “Fuwanovel” – focus on the hobby and the goal to make VNs popular/support VNs in the West. All communities have problems, but we’ll be in especially bad shape if we start focusing too much on the meta-concept of Fuwanovel, and less on the hobby and our community goals.
 
 
 
I do worry a lot about this and I’m being as proactive as I can in brainstorming this issue. I can’t talk about any specifics yet, but Fuwa’s actually hosting some fascinating and enlightning private discussions among VN community leaders about this issue. When they’re all completed, you’ll see a handful of posts go up on the blog about the conferences and ideas/discussions we had.
 
 
 
Look. Nobody wanted this more than me, but Maef failed to turn in a completed application and – by Fuwa’s own laws – I couldn’t consider him for the job.
 
I’m SORRY, but it wasn’t my fault.
 
 
 
I’d be interested in hearing what you mean by this. I’m going to hold off in commenting yet because I think we’d be talking right past each other until you are a little clearer. Try to be as concrete as possible. That’ll help.
 
 
 
A lot of people have been extremely cool and stepped up in the comments and said they’re going to help us keep the forums looking/working better. I just want to say that I’m really, really grateful for everybody who is meeting us halfway.
 
 
 
 
I realize I didn’t get to all 10 points, but my brain is really, really tired and I think I should probably stop to let you respond. Thanks for posting, Lewy. I mean it.
- Tay

Romance anime is my favorite genre of anime so I have noticed this many times over the years. Although I still root for the main heroine the majority of the time. Another problem that I have come across, that doesn't really affect VNs as much, is pacing of the romance. Like, if there's a kiss in the first episode, they better be doing it by the last.
 
For me, Itazura na Kiss redefined the female lead in a romance. The main characters had personality traits that you don't really see very often which was very refreshing for me. 

Censor only what need to be censored. I'm cool with censoring genitals and such. Just don't do it to the point of MoeNovel, it's retarded.
Beneficial? Yes. Everyone knows how Western market treats VN. For example, if Steam allows a 18+ VN goes on their store, it's a guarantee that they will be bashed by all kind of media, lead to a bunch of other problems.
And regardless of those "younger caucasian males", H is still a 18+ material. And you don't leave those thing lying around uncensored in a place where even underage kids can come in.

Spoiler:
 

Go out and make your life like a visual novel. Kiss a girl with an eye patch, ride the bus to the beach, or solve the mystery of the missing pantsu.

Go out and make your life like a visual novel. Kiss a girl with an eye patch, ride the bus to the beach, or solve the mystery of the missing pantsu.

We have acquired our first (and perhaps only) translator. He is rather talented so we may not need to go through the process of translation checking. 
 
--In other news--
Shout out to EldritchCherub for making it through 4 script files from the Sayaka route! Keep up the good work~

We have acquired our first (and perhaps only) translator. He is rather talented so we may not need to go through the process of translation checking. 
 
--In other news--
Shout out to EldritchCherub for making it through 4 script files from the Sayaka route! Keep up the good work~

I'm obviously not gonna dive in as TL-er here, too, but I can probably do TLC without murdering myself.

Skyspear Translations is back! And this time we're trying our hand at a more popular title, but we need you to help us! Since the recent release of the fully translated patch for Majikoi there has been increased attention to the series. For this reason we would like to begin working on Majikoi A-1 in coordination with the project working on Majikoi S. By working on both projects at the same time we can bring the series in its glorious entirety to the community in a shorter time than one team could accomplish. 
 
Progress chart

Translators 2/2 - 2on, storyteller
Translation Checkers 1/1 dowolf
Editors 1/1 - EldritchCherub
Image Editor 1/1 - CryingWestern
Hacker 1/1 - CryingWestern

We have acquired our first (and perhaps only) translator. He is rather talented so we may not need to go through the process of translation checking. 
 
--In other news--
Shout out to EldritchCherub for making it through 4 script files from the Sayaka route! Keep up the good work~

We have acquired our first (and perhaps only) translator. He is rather talented so we may not need to go through the process of translation checking. 
 
--In other news--
Shout out to EldritchCherub for making it through 4 script files from the Sayaka route! Keep up the good work~

We have acquired our first (and perhaps only) translator. He is rather talented so we may not need to go through the process of translation checking. 
 
--In other news--
Shout out to EldritchCherub for making it through 4 script files from the Sayaka route! Keep up the good work~

We have acquired our first (and perhaps only) translator. He is rather talented so we may not need to go through the process of translation checking. 
 
--In other news--
Shout out to EldritchCherub for making it through 4 script files from the Sayaka route! Keep up the good work~

We have acquired our first (and perhaps only) translator. He is rather talented so we may not need to go through the process of translation checking. 
 
--In other news--
Shout out to EldritchCherub for making it through 4 script files from the Sayaka route! Keep up the good work~

We have acquired our first (and perhaps only) translator. He is rather talented so we may not need to go through the process of translation checking. 
 
--In other news--
Shout out to EldritchCherub for making it through 4 script files from the Sayaka route! Keep up the good work~

Skyspear Translations is back! And this time we're trying our hand at a more popular title, but we need you to help us! Since the recent release of the fully translated patch for Majikoi there has been increased attention to the series. For this reason we would like to begin working on Majikoi A-1 in coordination with the project working on Majikoi S. By working on both projects at the same time we can bring the series in its glorious entirety to the community in a shorter time than one team could accomplish. 
 
Progress chart

Translators 2/2 - 2on, storyteller
Translation Checkers 1/1 dowolf
Editors 1/1 - EldritchCherub
Image Editor 1/1 - CryingWestern
Hacker 1/1 - CryingWestern

yeah, we will. Also good news on Benkei's route, I've managed to obtain the partial from someone, however we've also got to translate part's that haven't been translated yet along with editing it.