Japanese highschool girl who wants to explore VN community in the west.

[sanahtlig]

I think some people here are getting a bit carried away.  Don't take advantage of Nao's naivety to pitch your own private projects that won't be useful to FruitsJam commercially. o.O;

[OriginalRen]

I think some people here are getting a bit carried away.  Don't take advantage of Nao's naivety to pitch your own private projects that won't be useful to FruitsJam commercially. o.O;

 

I asked if she wanted to meetup since I wanted to hang with someone in Japan, that's all.

[Daverost]

Hi, Nao!

I joined up with Fuwanovel as soon as I saw you post this topic to Twitter. I've been pretty excited about Ona-Ken since I found out about it and read the English demo. I'm happy that you've been so open with your new western audience.

I'm also glad to see the LewdGamer interview is up. I've been waiting for it. It's a very interesting read.

I hope you'll consider bringing the other Ona-Ken games to the west. The other games in the series look really good, too. Unfortunately, my Japanese isn't very good, so I can't read them very well.
 

This is the thread we had discussing your game on the site earlier, if interested: http://forums.fuwanovel.net/topic/11479-this-game-has-been-greenlit-by-the-community/

Hmm... There's a post in there that says the game is uncensored at DLsite. The demo had mosaics.

I don't really want to necro the topic since it's been a while since anyone's posted in it, but while we're talking about the game, anyone care to clarify? Is the full game censored or not? I would think it would be censored if only for legal reasons.
 

Thank you for asking...Mr kobushi told me they did not know the presence of such companies like JASTUSA...after they upload promotion movie on Steam, JASTUSA contacted them...I donno after that ((´^ω^)) But Mr kobushi is thinking about just asking translation...not including licensing. ((´^ω^))

I think he had answered the same kind of question here .

Please take a time to read if you are interested...((´^ω^))

I can understand if it's a money issue and you only want to pay for a translation, but remember that a company like JASTUSA can also offer some additional advertising and even bring the game out uncensored since, as far as I know, you're unable to sell the game uncensored from Japan by law.

But they've probably mentioned that to you already if you've spoken with them.

If you paid for a translation from them and nothing else, how would you release it to the existing version at DLsite? Would there be a patch for people who have already bought it? Any thoughts?

[Nao_KASUKABE]

The Fuwanovel reading club is a pretty niche thing.  Join in if you want to practice your English or something, but I wouldn't consider it useful from a marketing or community engagement perspective.

 

Here's the companies, communities, and resources you should be familiar with.

 

Localization companies

JAST USA: The oldest company in the business.  They focus on high-profile professional releases.

MangaGamer: Established as a joint venture by several Japanese eroge companies, they have the highest throughput of the three companies.  They release a variety of visual novels.  They try to offer something for everyone.

Sekai Project: A startup that's managed to grow really fast.  Their focus is non-adult and doujin titles.

 

Communities

Fuwanovel: A site dedicated to creating a friendly environment for new and veteran players to discuss VNs.  They have an official blog that maintains a translation status log of VN projects, including fan translations and official releases.

Visual novel subreddit: A subsection of the news site Reddit dedicated to visual novel news and discussion.  News and discussion tends to focus on non-adult titles and story-focused eroge.

HongFire: A large site that spans the full range of anime culture.  The Hentai game section focuses on titles with gameplay and sex simulators.  This community likely has the strongest overlap with the DLsite customer base.

Others: There's probably other major or minor communities I don't participate in or that I don't feel are relevant.

 

News

LewdGamer: A startup site dedicated to eroge news.

 

Resources

VNDB: The definitive English resource for information on visual novels.  Also has message boards that get a lot more traffic than it would appear from the number of responses.

Edit: The LewdGamer interview with FruitsJam is fantastic.  I recommend that everyone vaguely interested in FruitsJam read it.  I helped come up with the questions, but the Director gave some very informative responses--the answers were far more insightful than I had expected.  Nao should link the interview in the OP.

 

Thank you for huge information...I think they need this kind of info. to overview the market...((´^ω^))

 

 

welcome, if you have any questions with western game development (not everyone use steam to sell games) just let me know.

 

They kind of follow the footsteps of "NekoPara," so they choose Steam for publishing..((´^ω^))

Please tell if they have a choice of marketplace other than Steam and DLsite.com...((´^ω^))

[OriginalRen]

Good luck in everything you are looking for otherwise.

[sanahtlig]

They kind of follow the footsteps of "NekoPara," so they choose Steam for publishing..((´^ω^))

Please tell if they have a choice of marketplace other than Steam and DLsite.com...((´^ω^))

MangaGamer's store would be the adult digital download shop most relevant to FruitsJam.  J-List also carries eroge (they're partnered with JAST USA to provide digital downloads).

[Nosebleed]

Guys please don't post inflammatory comments here.

[sanahtlig]

Hmm... There's a post in there that says the game is uncensored at DLsite. The demo had mosaics.

I don't really want to necro the topic since it's been a while since anyone's posted in it, but while we're talking about the game, anyone care to clarify? Is the full game censored or not? I would think it would be censored if only for legal reasons.

The DLsite version has mosaics, but the adult scenes are intact.  The Steam demo had no explicit sexual content.

[Nosebleed]

Considering DLsite is an international shop (not sure if the English store is restricted in Japan or not though), they can't sell the game there without mosaics.

 

But if you partnered up with MangaGamer I believe that would become a possibility.

[firecat]

Thank you for huge information...I think they need this kind of info. to overview the market...((´^ω^))

 

 

 

They kind of follow the footsteps of "NekoPara," so they choose Steam for publishing..((´^ω^))

Please tell if they have a choice of marketplace other than Steam and DLsite.com...((´^ω^))

 

in the west there's a site called https://itch.io/ where you can upload your game both commercial and free. you can customize the page with HTML and there is never ads to see. the great thing about it is that you can 90% or 100% of profits from the game.

 

another one is a major company called Amazon ( https://developer.amazon.com/public/ja ) you can get more people to download your game here and get more helpful hints.

 

sanahtlig already told you about the others but they are very hard to get into (i try   ).

[Daverost]

The DLsite version has mosaics, but the adult scenes are intact.  The Steam demo had no explicit sexual content.

 

Okay, so I guess they meant "full" version and not "uncensored." That's what I expected. Thanks.

[greenshadow622]

Hey there! Welcome to the community! I don't have much advice to offer myself, since I'm not really that active in the relevant parts of the community, but I wish you and your company good luck in all their endeavours!

 

It's nice to see a company go out of its way to have a bit of community outreach like this. Here's hoping you have a good time on Fuwa!

[mjriedstra]

Hi Nao. It's great to see that Fruits-Jam is seeking input from the western community.

 

If I had to choose one piece of information for you to convey back to Kobushi-san, it would be that the quality of the English translation matters more than anything else. It's a simple thing, but so easy to underestimate in terms of importance.

 

Proper use of language is fundamentally linked to the level of professionalism the game will portray. No matter how excellent it may be in the original language, a poor translation will foster a poor reputation within the community not only for the game itself, but for the creator and publisher in general. Just from reading the Steam synopsis and watching the video demo, it's clear that Ona-Ken would benefit from even a basic level of editing by a native English speaker.

 

Best of luck to you and Fruits-Jam. Hopefully more Japanese groups will start reaching out like this.

[XReaper]

Helloka édes lány - nice seeing you here!
already read the (lewdgamer) interview & wishing you the very best on your future endeavours of entertaining humankind with funny & unique content.

[Tay]

Hello and welcome Nao : )

 

Sanah's overview of the Western VN world was very good -- make sure you file that away for future reference. This site, Fuwanovel, is mostly geared towards fan community around visual novels (VNs). It's maintained a steady growth for the last three years and if at some point you want some help learning how to engage site users I'd be happy to send you a guide I wrote.

 

As far as the business side of the Western VN world goes: I'm not associated with the other companies, but I know a lot of people in all of the big companies and communities. If you need help making contact with someone, or want some help figuring out who to contact, let me know, alright? I'm happy to answer any questions or help : ).

 

In any case, welcome to Fuwa! Glad you're here : )

[Nao_KASUKABE]

in the west there's a site called https://itch.io/ where you can upload your game both commercial and free. you can customize the page with HTML and there is never ads to see. the great thing about it is that you can 90% or 100% of profits from the game.

 

another one is a major company called Amazon ( https://developer.amazon.com/public/ja ) you can get more people to download your game here and get more helpful hints.

 

sanahtlig already told you about the others but they are very hard to get into (i try   ).

 

Thank you for useful information...I think they never consider about Amazon...I will tell them all the information you guys have given me...((´^ω^))

 

 

 

Hi, Nao!

I joined up with Fuwanovel as soon as I saw you post this topic to Twitter. I've been pretty excited about Ona-Ken since I found out about it and read the English demo. I'm happy that you've been so open with your new western audience.

I'm also glad to see the LewdGamer interview is up. I've been waiting for it. It's a very interesting read.

I hope you'll consider bringing the other Ona-Ken games to the west. The other games in the series look really good, too. Unfortunately, my Japanese isn't very good, so I can't read them very well.

 

Hmm... There's a post in there that says the game is uncensored at DLsite. The demo had mosaics.

I don't really want to necro the topic since it's been a while since anyone's posted in it, but while we're talking about the game, anyone care to clarify? Is the full game censored or not? I would think it would be censored if only for legal reasons.

 

I can understand if it's a money issue and you only want to pay for a translation, but remember that a company like JASTUSA can also offer some additional advertising and even bring the game out uncensored since, as far as I know, you're unable to sell the game uncensored from Japan by law.

But they've probably mentioned that to you already if you've spoken with them.

If you paid for a translation from them and nothing else, how would you release it to the existing version at DLsite? Would there be a patch for people who have already bought it? Any thoughts?

 

It`s not all about money...They just wanted promote their game by themselves because they can do so by using latest technology and experience...but they said they also feel their knowledge and experience are also important for international success...I hope someday FruitsJAM would form an alliance with one of those companies...((´^ω^))

 

 

 

Hi Nao. It's great to see that Fruits-Jam is seeking input from the western community.

 

If I had to choose one piece of information for you to convey back to Kobushi-san, it would be that the quality of the English translation matters more than anything else. It's a simple thing, but so easy to underestimate in terms of importance.

 

Proper use of language is fundamentally linked to the level of professionalism the game will portray. No matter how excellent it may be in the original language, a poor translation will foster a poor reputation within the community not only for the game itself, but for the creator and publisher in general. Just from reading the Steam synopsis and watching the video demo, it's clear that Ona-Ken would benefit from even a basic level of editing by a native English speaker.

 

Best of luck to you and Fruits-Jam. Hopefully more Japanese groups will start reaching out like this.

 

They said they felt the same way when they upload movie on Steam...many people including sanahtlig warned them about the quality of English even though they paid person who translate text as a job...((´^ω^))

 

 

Helloka édes lány - nice seeing you here!

already read the (lewdgamer) interview & wishing you the very best on your future endeavours of entertaining humankind with funny & unique content.

 

Thank you for showing your support...at least they are enjoying the situarion right now and they won`t give up easily...((´^ω^))

[sanahtlig]

Something I'd like to point out that might not be getting through across the language barrier...

 

Typically eroge are sold in English with no mosaics.  This is basically a market expectation at this point.  That's what people refer to when they say "uncensored".

[LiquidShu]

Welcome to Fuwa! 

[XReaper]

seems i´m weird, cause i definitely prefer good pixeled (not with huuuge squares) girls/boys in action over most uncensored stuff. guess my eyes took grave damage when reading (?) magical teacher & other supposed to look good stuff like that.
therefore BEFORE thinking about going through the process of uncensoring h-content, make sure your artist is going to draw them in an appealing/estetic way, so it wont freak your (future) customers out.

[Zodai]

Very nice to meet you, Nao - as others have stated before, it's really great to see the international VN community as a whole start to come together like this.  Before a year or two ago communication was low between Japan and everywhere else in terms of VN development, and even today the OELVN (Original English Language Visual Novel) community is perhaps arguably still pulling from a chunk of anime tropes while still figuring out how exactly to get these things finished in a reasonable way.  Depending on how you look at it, the genre is still perhaps in its infancy from an international perspective.

 

A good majority of the OELVN market seems to be low-mid level quality stuff pulling at things they think the VN audience might want at random, usually incorrectly.  The closest thing we have to stuff like, Fate/Stay Night, Umineko or the MuvLuv trilogy developed outside Japan would have to be Katawa Shoujo, though you could certainly call it a stretch to compare the two groups regardless.  Oftentimes you'll find some of them tend to underplay the importance of the writing itself, so keep that and the translation quality as a priority and I think you'll do reasonably well.  Personally I'm the kind who would rather bash the audience in the gut emotionally, though that depends on the tone of the story as a whole.

 

Anyway, I wish you and your team good luck in your endeavors!  Please try not to get discouraged - things may perhaps be confusing at first but hopefully everyone will be able to enjoy these soon enough

[Narcosis]

Nice to meet you, Nao!

 

I'm really glad to see Japanese developers finally reaching out to western audience in such straighforward and honest way. If there's anything you want to ask, feel free to do so and we'll try our best to help as much as possible!

 

You're propably familiar with Steam already, therefore I'd like to talk about itch.io instead. It's an online distribution platform very similiar to Steam, which was mainly aimed at indie developers (they're a bit similiar to japanese doujin circles). It offers almost everything Steam does, but it also has a couple of notable advantages:

• It's completely free. You don't have to pay any fees to publish your games or use their services and there are no adds, either. Itch.io uses open revenue sharing and "pay what you want" model, which means they earn their money from online transactions, for example - if someone buys your game, itch.io takes 10% percent of the transaction (industry standard is usually 30%), but it can be anything, since you're able to actually set the ammount you want to give them. "Pay what you want" means your can earn more, since the customers are free to pay you as much above the minimum value set as they see fit. In other words, even if you release your game for free, people can still pay you as a form of support.
• No restrictions on the type of content published. This might be the biggest and most important advantage over other platforms, especially in terms of eroge. You're allowed to publish adult content, as long as it's legal. The only thing you need to have in mind, is that certain payment providers don't allow transactions for adult-oriented content. In case of itch.io - Paypal doesn't, but Stripe does.
• Great services and ease of use. Itch.io offers a variety of tools; you don't have to worry about website or storing, as everything's hosted on their servers. They offer a unique way of distribution, by providing a fully-customizable web page for each product you publish. They collect usage information and statistics, so you can actually see how popular your game is, how many times it was downloaded and how many copies it sold. It also handles all the complicated technical stuff related to hosting and selling your game. You can generate download keys. Itch.io publishes your game in the exact way you want it to get published; there's no DRM involved.
• itch.io does not restrict it's services depending on the country. All of the services are available in the same way across the whole world. Depending on the payment providers, you can even receive money in your currency.
• itch.io allows your derivative works to be sold as well. Got a game soundtrack, or an art book? No problem! You can sell/distribute other variety of products tied with your games/franchise in the same way as your games.

I hope this helps; You can always check their FAQ and developer's guides for more information. In that sense, itch.io does look like a heaven for japanese doujin circles.

 

Aside from Steam, there's GOG as well, which works in the same exact manner as Steam, but offers DRM-free downloads. At the moment, it's growing to become the biggest competitor to Valve's Steam.

 

If you're also familiar with TeamSpeak, we actually own our (somewhat) official Fuwanovel channel, where you can chat and talk online with some of our community members (I and OriginalRen frequent it often). If you're interested, but still unsure how it works, feel free to PM me and I'll instruct you how to install and configure it to work. You could even try to encourage mr. Kobushi, if he's interested to hear from western fans like us. From my experience, there's nothing better than getting directly in touch with people to discuss things and enjoy a good time.

 

I already followed you on Twitter and I'm eager to hear more from you. I wish you and your team best of luck in your crusade to bring more great games and conquer the overseas' market ( ｡>‿‿<｡)

[sanahtlig]

Keep in mind that Nao is here on business.  Nao's trying to promote a game.  Suggestions are good but don't expect non-native English speakers to jump at the opportunity to engage in small chat.  Simply reading and responding in this thread is probably a huge ordeal for them.  The LewdGamer interview was conducted in Japanese and translated by LG.  The director doesn't actually speak English.  He wouldn't be able to talk with you on Teamspeak.  Nao might or might not feel comfortable doing so, but it wouldn't be something I'd expect.

[Flutterz]

Welcome to the forums! Hope you enjoy your stay!

Good luck with your VN!

Have a moe:

[Eclipsed]

Welcome

[storyteller]

Hiya.

 

There's quite a few of us here who are pretty familiar with the Japanese language as well, so if you ever feel the need, you could always just throw Japanese at us.

 

Might I be allowed to sit in on OriginalRen's interview?

I live in the area as well.