JAST USA is doubling down... on SoniComi?

[Soulless Watcher]

Just now, atorq said:

 

Actually, she has voiced other things, most notably Cinder Fall in RWBY and it's actually not bad.

That is literally half of her entire career in voice acting and while it wasn't godawful, it still wasn't fantastic, you could tell it stunk of the amateur.

[Mr Poltroon]

I think anybody could have a look at what to expect by watching Super Sonico The Animation's Dub. It appears she also voiced Sonico for this anime, which would explain this particular choice. Personally, I think it's not completely garbage, but this is an anime and I have a high tolerance for these things.

(Turns out I'm still alive against my own expectations. Busy, but alive. Yay for weekends.)

[Decay]

7 hours ago, Soulless Watcher said:

What a bizarre marketing experiment, Jast..... is this really the hill you want to die on?  It just really seems like a vestigial feature in a game in which I really doubt many people would care about an addition of an English dub. The only people who would bother with the Sonico game would be pretty high level nerdy ottaku people, who would prefer the Japanese voice acting. Now, if it was something like Steins;Gate that has a substantial western following and has an excellent dub cast (for the anime) it would make more sense. Than again that would be a substantial investment and cost waay too much. 

In the end I just see this as a pointless exercise. Someone in the higher ups wanted to make a cold calculated experiment without any risk, completely failing to realize that in this particular experiment no risk = no reward.

Sidenote: In a gimmicky game like this, that relies heavily on the "moe" factor, taking out voice acting would pretty much rip out 60% of its' worth. There is no "story" to be found here.

Do you really think they're going to "die" on this hill? And do you really think this will be an unpopular feature? This game was likely never made for you in the first place, so you commenting on the necessity of the dub seems pointless. The anime has its share of fans among a certain subset of otaku, and I'm sure a lot of them liked the dub well enough to justify this. This game is for them, after all. Like bigfatround said, lonely nerds will eat this shit up. 

Like I said before, this is actually going to be one of JAST's most popular titles with some pretty far-reaching appeal. I think the prospect of a dub by their favored cosplayer/voice actress will get some people pretty excited.

Don't approach this from the mindset of a typical VN fan.

[Deep Blue]

wait, are her boobs going to do the voice acting? how does that work  

garbage "vn" with garbage voice acting... this is sad.

[Yuuko]

Guys...  

[Soulless Watcher]

25 minutes ago, Decay said:

Do you really think they're going to "die" on this hill? And do you really think this will be an unpopular feature? This game was likely never made for you in the first place, so you commenting on the necessity of the dub seems pointless. The anime has its share of fans among a certain subset of otaku, and I'm sure a lot of them liked the dub well enough to justify this. This game is for them, after all. Like bigfatround said, lonely nerds will eat this shit up. 

I'm sorry it was a rather poor excuse to use that particular quote. What I meant was it seems strange to make a dub for this particular game. I understand Sonico has a rather large following in Japan. What I was trying to say was that it will not affect sales in any way shape or form. I have seen the Sonico anime, it was fun mindless Japanese crazy but there wasn't much substance to it. I just can't see why there would be a large fanbase around it, although I still can't see why Asuna and Saber have the fans that they do so wtf do i know? The fans will buy this game regardless of the presence of a dub, but I don't think there are enough "fence sitters" that could be swayed by the presence of a dub to make this a sound marketing decision.

[Decay]

Just now, Soulless Watcher said:

I'm sorry it was a rather poor excuse to use that particular quote. What I meant was it seems strange to make a dub for this particular game. I understand Sonico has a rather large following in Japan. What I was trying to say was that it will not affect sales in any way shape or form. I have seen the Sonico anime, it was fun mindless Japanese crazy but there wasn't much substance to it. I can not imagine that there was a large fan-base in the west that not only loved the anime, but also know of the impending release of this game to warrant adding a dub. The fans will buy this game regardless of the presence of a dub, but I don't think there are enough "fence sitters" that could be swayed by the presence of a dub to make this a sound marketing decision.

And since you aren't in the target audience, I don't think you're qualified to make these kinds of judgements. I know jack all about Sonicomi, but I know what this general type of obsessed fan is like. Don't under-estimate them.

[Soulless Watcher]

3 minutes ago, Decay said:

And since you aren't in the target audience, I don't think you're qualified to make these kinds of judgements. I know jack all about Sonicomi, but I know what this general type of obsessed fan is like. Don't under-estimate them.

That is what I'm saying a DC comic fan will still go to Batman V Superman regardless of the negative press. A Republican will still vote Republican, even if Trump is the nomaniee. A console fan will buy a hunk of metal in its' day one release even knowing there is shit all to play on it. A sonicomi fan will buy the game regardless of the presence of a dub.

[Darklord Rooke]

@Soulless WatcherYou miss the point of the exercise. JAST isn't after 'fence sitters', they're not targeting existing Sonicomi fans (as few as there are,) they're targeting a completely new audience. Read Chuee's post from earlier. That JAST, Sekai, and MG are all looking to target new fans suggests that the existing fanbase, and existing fans, are not enough to sustain this industry.

[Soulless Watcher]

Just now, Rooke said:

@Soulless WatcherYou miss the point of the exercise. JAST isn't after 'fence sitters', they're not targeting existing Sonicomi fans (as few as there are,) they're targeting a completely new audience. Read Chuee's post from earlier. That JAST, Sekai, and MG are all looking to target new fans suggests that the existing fanbase, and existing fans, are not enough to sustain this industry.

Thanks Rooke/Chuee, I needed even less faith in humanity. Well, I'm betting/hoping that all three fail miserably. It would finally give me that push to learn a second language and restore a little of my faith in humanity.

[VirginSmasher]

There would be so much cringing on my part if I actually cared about Sonico.

[kyrt]

Honestly I'm not really concerned about this whatsoever. They've already confirmed it will still maintain the Japanese audio as well so if JAST wants to try something different like this all the power to them. As long as we don't have to worry about english replacing the japanese audio this should do nothing but open up the game to a wider audience.

[Kaykeiokay]

I wonder if Sonico will become the next big gateway visual novel? The fanbase is definitely there; I can't go to a con without being bombarded with Sonico merchandise, especially in the figure section. (Like damn, calm down do we really need like 50 variations of the same figure in slightly different costumes)

A dub would definitely draw in some new blood that wouldn't be drawn in otherwise. Hardcore dub fans seem to have an aversion to the Japanese language as a whole, well at least many I've encountered. I've had some blown up in my face because I said I like subs and they took it as a personal attack against themselves. I know some sub watchers can be elitist pricks to dub watchers, but they can't assume all sub watchers will treat them that way.  I personally would never play a dubbed version, but I won't protest the inclusion of one as long as the Japanese audio was still available.

[sanahtlig]

I listened to some short clips in a YouTube review and, I don't know--the ditzy English voice seems to fit the ditzy character of Sonico.  Seems fine.  And as the reviewer points out, Jessica Nigri IS more or less the English personification of Sonico.  I wouldn't use the English dub, but I can definitely see how this is a great publicity move by JAST that could appeal to fans of the anime.  Don't underestimate the size of the dub-only audience, nor the influence of an idol with her own rabid fanbase.  I'm sure some people will pick this game up purely because Jessica Nigri is voicing Sonico.  And that's not necessarily a bad thing--especially if that exposes them to other titles from JAST like School Days.

I can definitely see myself reviewing and promoting this game simply because it's a great opportunity to attract new fans into the fold.

I watched a short clip of the gameplay.  As others have said, the other characters don't appear to be voiced in the JP version.  I watched her converse with an older guy and only her lines were voiced.

[Fred the Barber]

Yeah, I've also come around on this completely since my initial post, thanks to @Chuee's explanation. I had no idea the voice actress had recognition, let alone the kinds of numbers he mentioned. Armed with that information, it now looks like a pretty solid marketing move.

JAST USA: 1, Me: 0

[sanahtlig]

Quote

Beta testing Sonicomi. Looks good even on medium~ (no sound cuz I don’t have a line in -_-ゴメン)

http://follow.jastusa.com/post/145601636671/jlistinsider-beta-testing-sonicomi-looks-good

It's now official: you need to know moonrune to understand JAST's social media pages.

[xelloss]

I've come throught the thread, and seriously i don't get some people reactions here: it's not like they are going to replace the original japanese voice by an english dub...just an option available

People who say japanese developpers might aim a change for vn for the west, seriously i don't get it.

I don't see how the adding of a dub which doesn't change the original content of the game at all in its essence can be interpreted to be something like that. I don't understand the way some fans here are approaching the matter . Some of the reactions just seems "elitist" to me.

Also i don't like how some people seems to like categorizing condescendently supposed audience like "high level nerdy otaku", "lonely nerds" and such. You don't know who exactly make up this audience, actually, it is just based of your own preconceptions,  and there is no need to make judgemental comments like you are better than others whereas you are also visual novel fans.

And i don't see the point of using the argument of costs for justifing about a dub being a "good" move or not. It's not like it's the fans who are doing the investment or creating the content. To me it sound like people who are going to say to japanese developpers to not add voices in games because well "you have to diminish costs" which i find completely innapropriate. You are not entitled to comment about costs and all when you are not even involved into the creating process. As a mere customer, complaining about it, is i find, totally out of place.

Basically how i see this: t's like having anime dubbed in another language that Japanese. When people are making this it's for providing something else which might appeal to other people as well, but is still not something specifically aimed at an audience, it just create a bonus and some people who usually listen japanese version might even try it out of curiosity and like it. I don't see it like a way to sustain a new audience because the old one is not sufficient enought (Jast as a company is making profit for every game they are licensing), but it's the nature of buissness to aim to widden the audience or improve sales. Like i said, If the original track is still available and the other one is optionnal, i don't see any problem at all really.

I don't really know about the game in question, but if you look it into the perspective of other medias having some relation to the vn market , there is really nothing special or worth making assumptions about an editor making doubtfull choices and all.

Sorry but some of the reactions here kind of annoyed me, so it had to be said.

 

[Codesterz]

1 hour ago, xelloss said:

I've come throught the thread, and seriously i don't get some people reactions here: it's not like they are going to replace the original japanese voice by an english dub...just an option available

People who say japanese developpers might aim a change for vn for the west, seriously i don't get it.

I don't see how the adding of a dub which doesn't change the original content of the game at all in its essence can be interpreted to be something like that. I don't understand the way some fans here are approaching the matter . Some of the reactions just seems "elitist" to me.

Also i don't like how some people seems to like categorizing condescendently supposed audience like "high level nerdy otaku", "lonely nerds" and such. You don't know who exactly make up this audience, actually, it is just based of your own preconceptions,  and there is no need to make judgemental comments like you are better than others whereas you are also visual novel fans.

And i don't see the point of using the argument of costs for justifing about a dub being a "good" move or not. It's not like it's the fans who are doing the investment or creating the content. To me it sound like people who are going to say to japanese developpers to not add voices in games because well "you have to diminish costs" which i find completely innapropriate. You are not entitled to comment about costs and all when you are not even involved into the creating process. As a mere customer, complaining about it, is i find, totally out of place.

Basically how i see this: t's like having anime dubbed in another language that Japanese. When people are making this it's for providing something else which might appeal to other people as well, but is still not something specifically aimed at an audience, it just create a bonus and some people who usually listen japanese version might even try it out of curiosity and like it. I don't see it like a way to sustain a new audience because the old one is not sufficient enought (Jast as a company is making profit for every game they are licensing), but it's the nature of buissness to aim to widden the audience or improve sales. Like i said, If the original track is still available and the other one is optionnal, i don't see any problem at all really.

I don't really know about the game in question, but if you look it into the perspective of other medias having some relation to the vn market , there is really nothing special or worth making assumptions about an editor making doubtfull choices and all.

Sorry but some of the reactions here kind of annoyed me, so it had to be said.

 

They are wasting money on a feature that 95% of the player base have no interest in. The number is made up, but you get the point. That money could be spent on something the user base actually wants. You know maybe another VN. The user base for VNs and anime are too different from each other to really compare. You are going from a niche crowd with anime and then going to a niche of that niche for the VN crowd. Doesn't matter to me in the end though, I don't play all age VNs.

[Kenshin_sama]

3 hours ago, Codesterz said:

They are wasting money on a feature that 95% of the player base have no interest in. The number is made up, but you get the point. That money could be spent on something the user base actually wants. You know maybe another VN. The user base for VNs and anime are too different from each other to really compare. You are going from a niche crowd with anime and then going to a niche of that niche for the VN crowd. Doesn't matter to me in the end though, I don't play all age VNs.

Have you read the rest of this thread? That argument has been beaten to death several times.

It's not about pulling in an existing audience, but creating a new one. The person who'll be voicing this is a famous cosplayer with a large follower base on social media. This is a great opportunity to expand the market.

[Codesterz]

11 minutes ago, Kenshin_sama said:

Have you read the rest of this thread? That argument has been beaten to death several times.

It's not about pulling in an existing audience, but creating a new one. The person who'll be voicing this is a famous cosplayer with a large follower base on social media. This is a great opportunity to expand the market.

It's not gonna pull in a new crowd. The same people will still be getting it. The gameplay doesn't have enough depth to pull in a new crowd. The non VN crowd who do get this VN will not be getting it because of English voice acting. They will be getting it because it's a VN with realtime 3D graphics. I'm not saying no one will be getting it specifically for the the English voice acting. Just that the number of people getting it for this reason will not be enough to make back the money they spent on adding it. I could be wrong though maybe the voice actress was dirt cheap. I personally believe this won't help the VN market grow(not the VN itself the English voice acting).

EDIT: I should mention I'm more or less so against adding the English voices as I fear the day the VN market runs into my current issue with JRPGs. I do not buy JRPGs that fail to include the original Japanese voices. I have nothing but disdain towards English dubs in JRPGs and Japanese anime.

[Decay]

Sorry, but JAST is in no way obligated to work on the kind of projects you'd like and to be honest I'm getting sick of your extreme selfishness.

And you are completely clueless if you don't see how this is a savvy move on JAST's part.

[Codesterz]

3 minutes ago, Decay said:

Sorry, but JAST is in no way obligated to work on the kind of projects you'd like and to be honest I'm getting sick of your extreme selfishness.

And you are completely clueless if you don't see how this is a savvy move on JAST's part.

Settle down there buddy. I'm just throwing out my 2 cents on the matter. In no way am I trying to force them into listening to me. It's an opinion. We are all entitled to our own opinions, even if they are or are not factually correct. My post above states why I(myself) personally think this move won't work out the way they think it will.

[Decay]

Then this just boils down to a lack of perspective. You can't see what value there is in a dub, so therefore there must not be any at all. The fact of the matter is that there is a very large number of fans of the Jessica Nigri version of Sonico. These are people who might not get a super sonico game if it doesn't have Jessica Nigri voicing her. Hiring her to do VA for the game is probably an inexpensive way to convince a large number of these fans to buy it. 

The thing is, all of the opinions you've been voicing lately have boiled down to "this doesn't appeal to me so therefore I think it's a bad idea and they shouldn't do it." It is still a selfish way to think and act, you need to realize that catering to your specific tastes only isn't always going to be the wisest business move.

[Codesterz]

23 minutes ago, Decay said:

Then this just boils down to a lack of perspective. You can't see what value there is in a dub, so therefore there must not be any at all. The fact of the matter is that there is a very large number of fans of the Jessica Nigri version of Sonico. These are people who might not get a super sonico game if it doesn't have Jessica Nigri voicing her. Hiring her to do VA for the game is probably an inexpensive way to convince a large number of these fans to buy it. 

The thing is, all of the opinions you've been voicing lately have boiled down to "this doesn't appeal to me so therefore I think it's a bad idea and they shouldn't do it." It is still a selfish way to think and act, you need to realize that catering to your specific tastes only isn't always going to be the wisest business move.

Well, I mentioned in my first post "Doesn't matter to me in the end though, I don't play all age VNs." Regardless of the English voice being there or not I do not care. I'm sure there are people who will buy if for solely for her voice. I doubt it'll be enough to make back what they paid for her voices. I have no idea how much it cost to get her though so this is just an assumption on my part. I don't think the people who get his VN for her voice will go on to buy more VNs though.

If you don't mind me asking can you give me a quote for the posts where I  do the whole "this doesn't appeal to me so therefore I think it's a bad idea and they shouldn't do it."  I'm fairly certain that the posts(or my posts prior to it) include my reasons for why I disagree and the ONLY time this statement holds true is when it comes to 18+ content. Even when it comes down to this matter I don't say they shouldn't make the all age VNs at all. Just when they translate an 18+ VN there should be an 18+ version in English as well. When you love something enough your opinions tend to be far stronger about certain things.

[DharmaFreedom]

I dont see anything wrong with english dubbing. I personally dont consume anything with dubs because I dont like it, i prefer the japanese voices, im love it in fact!

That aside, i know alot of people actually like recent dubs and thats great, its gets more and more people interested in vns and animes. 

I'm also not a fan of jessica nigri because she oversexualizes  characters, i got nothing against her as a person of course, shes working hard making her money and that's fine, just not my cup of tea. I know that her fan base is huge! shes incredibly popular among league of legends fans, and i'm sure people will be interested in her voicing this character. She can definitely pull in some money for this Vns, she's well publicized 2.

I think it was smart of them to use her fame amongst gamers and western otakus. I may not like dubbing and i may not like jessica nigris 'style' but i think its good for the community that companies attempt diversify to attain a larger audience. More money and interest in them, more Vns for us. I'm sure dubbing with always be an option not a rule.