EldritchCherub

Anime Expo runs from July 2nd - 5th in Los Angeles, and all three major english VN publishers will be present and announcing new products. This is the biggest convention of the year for VNs, and contains the highest concentration of new announcements, it's pretty exciting! Here's who will be there and what to expect from them: 
 
JAST
 
JAST's panel comes first at 10PM PDT on Thursday. Nobody is really sure what to expect from JAST, but they have claimed that they will be announcing some stuff there. The safe guess is a new Alcot game (moege dev, makers of My Girlfriend is the President and Clover Days), which is something they teased around six months ago. The more far-fetched guess is Muramasa by Nitro+. It seems like this is going to happen eventually, but JAST has also said they want to wait until projects are further along before announcing them, to avoid Hanachirasu and Sumaga incidents in the future. If you're attending, JAST's booth is #1319.
 
And it's over! JAST announced Flowers, an all-ages yuri/mystery VN, for fall 2015 which is kind of crazy since everyone thought MangaGamer would be the ones to handle that. Also SoniComi, which was translated and edited by the power duo of Tulip Goddess Maria and Ritobito, so actually look forward to that "soon". Seinarukana will also be out Fall 2015... supposedly. The Alcot game they teased earlier in the year was a no-show, but JAST seemed to imply that they may have more to announce at Comic-con so there is still hope for the moege lovers out there.
 
Sekai Project
 
SP comes second, their panel is at 7PM PDT on Saturday. I know even less of what to expect from SP than JAST. I believe Key is attending AX as well. I would not be surprised by the announcement of another Key game being licensed, be it LB, Rewrite, or maybe even Angel Beats?? They planned to work with Doki on Clannad before that was dashed by the community's desire for a total retranslation, and Doki teased some Little Busters news sometime this summer, so LB may be the most likely suspect. They will also probably announce some doujin games, as is Sekai Project's habit. Interestingly, they just set up a Japanese twitter account and is tweeting about AX in it. It would be a humorous twist if they announce they'll be translating some OELVNs into Japanese. SP's booth is #1720.
 
Panel summary: Sekai Project continues to impress with their ability to license popular titles. They've managed to grab the highly lucrative Akabei Soft partnership, and will start by releasing G-Senjou no Maou this summer. They've licensed Root Double, a popular survival story made by the director of the Infinity games. They've also announced Chrono Clock for release "soon", which establishes a new partnership with the respected eroge developer Purple Software. Additional news: There will be a remake for the entire Narcissu trilogy, including part 3 in english for the first time, World End Economica Ep. 2 is releasing this month, and Clannad is releasing in November.
 
MangaGamer
 
MangaGamer is last, hosting their panel at 9PM PDT on Saturday. Ryukishi07 of Higurashi and Umineko fame is attending the panel with them, likely to talk about Higurashi's western release. It may be too soon to announce another license deal with him, but who knows, it could happen. MangaGamer has teased four announcements, including three whole new partners. They have separately teased an announcement of a yuri game, and have recently conspicuously posted pictures of SonoHana merchandise at their booth (although they're known to sell goods from completely unrelated VNs). My guess: The one announcement from a current partner is going to be Tsuriotsu from Navel, but really, it could be anything. MG's booth is #919.
 
AND THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE! The big announcement of the MangaGamer panel was their partnership with Alice Soft, starting with Beat Blades Haruka. Other announcements included Himawari, a sci-fi work known in Japan for its intricate storytelling, A Kiss For The Petals - Remember How We Met is an all-ages yuri VN coming to Steam from the popular SonoHana yuri series, and MangaGamer will be updating and releasing the Witch Hunt translation of Umineko for sale, with new character sprites. Other news was that Sweet Sweat in Summer will be out this month, Kara no Shoujo 2 will be out this fall, and they're aiming for an end of 2015 release for Gahkthun.
 
Honorable mentions: Degica is attending and talked about their upcoming Muv-Luv kickstarter, which will go live late August or early September. Aksys Games announced that Zero Escape 3 is in the works and will be available in Summer 2016.
 
So what are you guys excited about? What do you think is going to happen? If you're attending, feel free to talk about your experiences on the show floor, although keep in mind this thread is about visual novels. I will be updating this post as new information comes out. Your wildest dreams didn't come true? Remember, Otakon is later this month and MG and others will have more announcements there, too. 

Eh, I haven't read many VNs with Yandere heroines but so far Yuka from Gore Screaming Show seems to be really creepy.
 
There's something sinister about her which would make me run in the opposite direction if she were real. First time she talks with Kyouji's friends she looks into their hearts and reveals their darkest secrets, such callous and unabashed hatred for those around the protagonist is disturbing to say the least.
 

Eh, I haven't read many VNs with Yandere heroines but so far Yuka from Gore Screaming Show seems to be really creepy.
 
There's something sinister about her which would make me run in the opposite direction if she were real. First time she talks with Kyouji's friends she looks into their hearts and reveals their darkest secrets, such callous and unabashed hatred for those around the protagonist is disturbing to say the least.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-S862p69B0

No, it doesn't work that way. I tried doing just TLC at the beginning of common route (and that was the least screwed up part of the entire VN). The outcome: mixed up writing styles, minor errors that were overlooked, grammar that wasn't entirely fixed - all that added up to a crappy end result, despite my efforts to fix bigger issues with the TL. I went back to them later on and re-translated them from scratch just like everything else in the end.
 
TLC is applicable only when the translators know what they are doing, only lack some experience and occasionally mistranslate an idiom or something. TLC-ers are only supposed to check the TL and fix just a few mistakes. When they have to fix everything, it doesn't qualify as "TLC" anymore.
So no, the only thing you can do with bad translations, is throwing them out of the window and re-doing everything from scratch.
 
It's not a chance to get a translation, but a bad translation. A crude, borderline-unreadable fanfic. And, like I stated earlier, it can't be fixed - it needs a re-translation, and that just won't happen. Nobody will touch it, because it would require just as much effort as working on something that wasn't translated at all.
 
When a VN doesn't have a TL, there is always a chance that a competent group could pick it up.
When a VN has a bad TL, it has no realistic chances of getting a proper TL.
 
That's all well and good for people who can read it in Japanese anyway, but everyone else can most definitely forget about a real translation. And people who won't swallow mistranslated BS, obviously won't even touch MTs (unlike a part of audience that accepts bad translations).
 
 
But, are they actually helping out? Because they do plenty of harm - not only they ruin the VN, but also reduce the chances of it ever getting a proper TL to zero.
 
Imagine such situation:
Somebody is sick. Very Nice Person with absolutely no medical knowledge gives him some random drugs. Those actually worsen patient's condition and end up killing him. Was the Very Nice Person helpful? He really tried, but his incompetence caused far more harm than good...
 
What would you do?
Tell that Very Nice Person that he is doing great job and watch the patient die? Encourage him to continue and start digging a grave in the mean time? Or, as you suggested - desperately try to treat the harmful side-effects of the drugs he is administering, so that the patient won't die, but "merely" end up as a paralyzed vegetable?
 
No. The first and most obvious response that you mentioned, is the only response that actually makes sense.
First - stop him from causing damage. This won't guarantee that the patient survives, but hey, at least he will have a chance.
Second - tell that Very Nice Person, that if he really wants to help, he should study medicine. Or do something that doesn't require specialist skills.
 
Translations work just like that. If somebody doesn't have the skills necessary to translate, their attempts will cause nothing but harm. Stopping them is the only option. If they really want to help, they should either put some more effort into studying, or try to do something else - editing, proofreading, hacking, whatever.
 
Misplaced effort can cause harm, and half-assed translations kill VNs.
 
 
I hate localizations in general and Americanizations in particular. But in the end, the whole point of translating, is making things understandable for the Western reader. When said reader has to look a lot of things up, it will distract him form the story. I like the translations to be as faithful as possible and all, but there is a certain limit. Leaving references to an anime that's completely unknown on the West wouldn't make much sense, and some things are just impossible to translate to begin with. Also, not everything can be simply looked up on non-Japanese sites (like some weird 2ch slang for example).
Personally, I like to mention everything that ended up rewritten in TL-notes. That way, various obscure cultural references won't be getting in the way while reading, but people who care can still fine them.

as for now, the other 2 & me are determined to walk down the path of bringing said project to (future) completion. therefore like mentioned above, more recruits willing to sacrifice themselves for a greater goal of eternal kawaiiism are always welcome here!
-Provided they ARENT fuckking trolls in need of having their glorious 5min of fame, after which they dissappear into nothingness, leaving the rest of their team dumbfounded...-

edit: on a site note, if the day comes where i might dissappear 4 awhile then yeahh...
thx Will*O*Crisp, CranxterFx & NarcistikBoogaloo ...i´ll get u back 4 sure! Have a nice day


 

Still no yandere in sight... YET!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5l7U0sck8M
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL6n7y8pKvM

I hope you recuperate and are able to return to your home soon.

Visual Novel Sales
 
Thought I'd make a post with all the current titles on sale if anyone's interested in supporting VNs!
Note these are not ALL visual novels on sale, just the ones I found more relevant.
 
75% Off Hatoful Boyfriend -  $1.99   70% Off Sakura Spirit - $2.99   66% Off Analogue: A Hate Story   60% Off A Bird Story - $1.71 Go! Go! Nippon! - $3.59 Cherry Tree High Comedy Club - $1.99   50% Off Long Live The Queen - $3.49 Fault milestone one - $7.49 If My Heart Had Wings - $7.49 eden* - $9.99 Planetarian - $4.99 Dysfunctional Systems - $2.49 Unhack - $1.99 Cho Dengeki Stryker (All Ages) - $15.99 World End Economica Episode 1 - $6.49 Cherry Tree High I! My! Girls! - $1.99 Unhack Destruction - $0.49   40% Off Sunrider Academy - $16.79 Oblivious Garden - $8.99   34% Off Tokyo School Life - $9.89   33% Off HuniePop - $6.69   25% Off Nekopara - $7.49 Sakura Angels - $7.49 Sakura Fantasy (Chapter 1) - $7.49 The Reject Demon: Toko Chapter 0 - $3.74   20% Off Grisaia no Kajitsu - $29.59 Littlewitch Romanesque: Editio Regia - $18.39   12% Off Fading Hearts - $13.19   10% Off Higurashi When They Cry Hou (Ch. 1 Onikakushi) - $5.39 Love At First Sight - $8.99 Princess Evangile (All Ages) - $28.79

I was a super soldier enhanced with nanotechnology.
 
I saw a cow jump over the moon and...

Hello guys.
 
I had a bit of extra time on my hands so I decided to put it to good use and practiced my skills on translating another excerpt from Dies Irae. It's a direct sequel to the battle scene in my previous translation (and it's not even over yet, haha; I smell a trilogy on the horizon). Again, don't expect Shakespeare, but I tried to bring the nuance of Masada's writing across to the best of my ability (I imagine with debatable success).

The scene has spoilers, obviously, but most of them are so cryptic you'll likely have no idea what's up if you haven't read the work already anyway.
 
Text-based TL on my blog:

https://vnrw.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/translation-dies-irae-beatrice-vs-eleonore-part-ii/

Subbed YT videos:
 

Some cool announcement today!
 
"The Legend  of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel I & II Coming West for PS3 and PS Vita"
 
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/06/05/the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-i-ii-coming-west/
 
"Senran Kagura: Estival Versus Coming to North America This Winter"
 
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/06/05/senran-kagura-estival-versus-coming-to-north-america-this-winter/

I really love the way you explained this. Just had to point that out. 

Basically, a story about people unable to properly express their innermost feelings, thus leading to misunderstandings, thus leading to unintentional love triangles and other miscellaneous events that could have simply been avoided if someone (Ex. the protagonist just said, "Yes, I like you" or "No, I do not want to participate in that festival for reasons).
 
It's a pretty average growing up story centered around teenagers who are just barely learning to communicate effectively. If average visuals, questionable actions, and characters who stumble on the way to adulthood are your thing, then sure, perhaps this anime is for you. I watched it once, but I don't think I'll be revisiting this anime anytime soon.

Basically, a story about people unable to properly express their innermost feelings, thus leading to misunderstandings, thus leading to unintentional love triangles and other miscellaneous events that could have simply been avoided if someone (Ex. the protagonist just said, "Yes, I like you" or "No, I do not want to participate in that festival for reasons).
 
It's a pretty average growing up story centered around teenagers who are just barely learning to communicate effectively. If average visuals, questionable actions, and characters who stumble on the way to adulthood are your thing, then sure, perhaps this anime is for you. I watched it once, but I don't think I'll be revisiting this anime anytime soon.

Some cool announcement today!
 
"The Legend  of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel I & II Coming West for PS3 and PS Vita"
 
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/06/05/the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-i-ii-coming-west/
 
"Senran Kagura: Estival Versus Coming to North America This Winter"
 
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/06/05/senran-kagura-estival-versus-coming-to-north-america-this-winter/

Weekly update again, and this time, there's only two weeks to go until we hit the deadline:
Release Date set for 14 June
Final TLC: 40.6%
Porting to O2 engine halted
And now for the details:
 
Last week, Namaage specified our deadline to be anywhere between June 14 to 20, but they let us know that they were pushing back the deadline to the 14th, so that really tightened up our schedule. What was originally planned to be a light pace of ~500 lines to check per day suddenly turned into 1k+. But this makes sure that we can get all of the text out of the way asap and still have a few days to polish up the technical side, and the image editing. If things get too tight, we might have to recruit either an image editor or a TL checker on short notice, but as far as two man teams go, I think we're doing okay as we are.
 
We submitted our first build of the O2 port to Novelsphere. When they got back to us, they let us know that it was riddled with technical problems, the worst being a lack of cross-compatibility with other operating systems. For a web-based, html5 engine, that was essentially the end all. Namaage told us that the O2 port was never particularly of high importance, and since our initial proof of concept hadn't panned out, it was best to shelve it for now, at least until we got the main application up and working.
 
With about two weeks to go, here's the rest of our tasks:
Finish off the TLC Finish image editing Do final QC/Proofreading runs Clean up few remaining technical issues Not bad, but not great. I'd have preferred the June 20th deadline. Heck, I'd have preferred no deadline, but I guess I'll just work with what I'm given.

So I found out that Fortissimo EXA has a complete translated playthrough on youtube, and so I'm curious as to why I never heard of anyone talk about it? Is the translation bad? I was sure this was up the alley for a majority of vn players. Also suprised why no one has brought up the consideration of using this translation to create an official patch.
 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL119C0A99B1CBA422
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5FDC915FCAE6D7A8

Corpse Party: Blood Drive Coming to North America This Fall
 
"The game will be given a limited retail release in the form of an “Everafter Edition,” which includes a compilation of music tracks from the Corpse Party series on two CDs, as well as an art book with art from the games."
 
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/29/corpse-party-blood-drive-coming-to-north-america-this-fall/

Corpse Party: Blood Drive Coming to North America This Fall
 
"The game will be given a limited retail release in the form of an “Everafter Edition,” which includes a compilation of music tracks from the Corpse Party series on two CDs, as well as an art book with art from the games."
 
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/29/corpse-party-blood-drive-coming-to-north-america-this-fall/

Welcome to the forums! Hope you like it here.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night Coming to North America This Fall.
 
"The Disco Fever edition will be sold in limited quantities, and will cost $79.99/CA$99.99. Meanwhile, the regular launch edition of Persona 4: Dancing All Night will cost $49.99/CA$59.99."
 
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/28/persona-4-dancing-all-night-hits-north-america-this-fall-with-a-disco-fever-edition/
  http://gematsu.com/2015/05/persona-4-dancing-all-night-fall-north-america

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/29/norn9-var-commons-whisks-a-high-school-prodigy-to-turn-of-the-century-japan/
 
Why can't I hold all these Otome games?!?!?
 
At least this one looks more interesting.  Fate systems are always nice. 

Persona 4: Dancing All Night Coming to North America This Fall.
 
"The Disco Fever edition will be sold in limited quantities, and will cost $79.99/CA$99.99. Meanwhile, the regular launch edition of Persona 4: Dancing All Night will cost $49.99/CA$59.99."
 
http://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/28/persona-4-dancing-all-night-hits-north-america-this-fall-with-a-disco-fever-edition/
  http://gematsu.com/2015/05/persona-4-dancing-all-night-fall-north-america

It's been a month since the last blog post, time for a new one! There's some new info and new art, tell us what you think! http://sovietgames.su/en/one-small-step/