Sakura Spirit original VN by MangaGamer, Sekai Project and Winged Cloud

[Nosebleed]

And how is that any different from people who watch Hollywood movies and because of them think that USA is some kind of holly land and they copy culture from those movies and everything else that is considered weeboo just replace Japan with USA and Anime with Hollywood?

 

And what is wrong with not liking your own country and it's culture? At least 20% of people of every country doesn't like his country and would prefer to live somewhere else.

 

You yourself use terms such as one-san, oni-chan, imouto etc. on daily basis.

 

And I doubt that anyone really thinks that absolutely everything in Japan is great.

 

VNs are part of Japanese culture to begin with so whats wrong with copying their own culture in form of media that is part of there own culture. And we saw what VN fans think of westernize VNs in that topic about that VN (Can't remember a name but I think you know about witch VN I speak).

*sigh* You missed most part of my argument.

 

The problem is not them copying, the problem is them misrepresenting.

 

I don't care if you hate your own culture, I don't care if you think japan is the holy land, I don't care about anything you like.

But don't misrepresent whole cultures that deserve respect, that's my one and only issue with weaabooism and any other culture degrading fandom.

 

But this is becoming a rant about weeaboos nd not about this VN  and I don't like weeaboos so I shall stop here.

 

Regarding this VN:

If you're going to sell a VN in the west and want to be taken seriously, then make sure it's properly westernized, and while you're at that make sure you have at least a highschool diploma and that you passed English class so it doesn't look like the VN was written by a 10 year old.

 

I rest my case now.

[Okami]

Source?

 

Life + internet

 

 

Regarding this VN:

If you're going to sell a VN in the west and want to be taken seriously, then make sure it's properly westernized, and while you're at that make sure you have at least a highschool diploma and that you passed English class so it doesn't look like the VN was written by a 10 year old.

 

 

 

 

And you completely ignored my point that VN fans don't actually like westernized VNs nor does anyone want them, with few exceptions.

[ExiledSaber]

A Weeaboo is a westernized otaku who thinks the meaning of life is to be japanese and everything that's made in japan is sugoi desu like that and they kirai desu anything that's not japanese and their goal in life is to move to japan.

An otaku is just an otaku.

 

They're both derrogative terms. Weeaboo more than otaku now.

But I guarantee you Otaku still has a negative conotation.

 

You see, a weeaboo is not interested in japanese culture, they're interested in anime and manga and they believe that japanese culture can be summed up and fully experienced through these mediums.

And at the same time they reject their own culture as if it's some sort of unholy thing.

 

And worst of all they try to incorporate random stuff taken from anime and manga into their daily life, including the way they speak.

 

Now I don't care what people want to do with their interests and lives, it's their thing how they are viewed upon.

The issue is when you start turning this practice into an actual culture and spreading it into mediums like VNs.

Weeabooism should not become a thing, ever.

 

Weeaboos don't try to copy or are interested in japanese culture, they just have some particular interests and think that represents a whole culture which is completely incorrect. 

 

This practice is extremly disrespectful and misrepresentative not just to the japanese culture that has so much more to offer other than anime and manga clichés and popular anime vocabulary but to their own culture/language as well that has to be butchered by japanese wannabees.

 

That's what's wrong with VNs like this

They are crapy, poorly written, cash grabbing pieces of junk that some people are starting to accept (seems like most don't, thankfully)

 

But of course no weeaboo would see past their own idealism.

 

You forgot your /rant tag bro.

 

On the other hand i have to agree, i have seen some people go to a dark pace with there intrest in anime / manga but so long as it dose not effect me i tend to let them be.

 

I my self would love to vist and maybe even spend a few months in Japan but i dont have any reall desire to live there. Even if i did i wouldnt live near one of the big cities, more of country person my self.

 

Back on topic, if componies start pandering to what they think is the right group and is in fact the wrong one then yes we have a problem, one they will see when sales drop.

 

 

Life + internet

 

 

 

And you completely ignored my point that VN fans don't actually like westernized VNs nor does anyone want them, with few exceptions.

 

Most just think they dont like it, if they uped and moved to japan more of them then not would be looking to go home in short order i am willing to bet.

[Okami]

Back on topic, if componies start pandering to what they think is the right group and is in fact the wrong one then yes we have a problem, one they will see when sales drop.

 

 

 

Most just think they dont like it, if they uped and moved to japan more of them then not would be looking to go home in short order i am willing to bet.

 

 

 

I wasn't actually talking just about Japan but about any country other then their own. One other proof for it is immigration.

 

 

Back on the topic, those companies are pandering to the wrong group for a long time now, it's noting new. Most of the times it seems if they just take anything they get their hands on there's noting new there.

[Pabloc]

And weebooism is term used by the same people who think that being Otaku is something bad and using it here is hippocratism

as most of people here could be considered weeboos by definition , but let me tell you there is noting wrong in liking Japanese culture or trying to copy it and wishing to be a part of it just as there is nothing wrong liking any other culture. We don't have a term for people who like USA's, Russians, German's or any other country's culture why would we need one for people who like Japanese one.

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hippocratism

 

That aside, this time you are stubbornly mixing up the terms "weeboo/weeaboo" and "Japanese culture fan". Those are not the same (more like - those are almost opposite actually). What you are saying is generally true - there's nothing wrong with being a fan of a culture from another country and trying to copy/adapt it etc.. But, this is NOT related with weeaboos in any way. They are more like dumb fanboys/fangirls who don't really know anything about Japanese pop-culture, but try to pose as super-otakus. It's the term for annoying retards, nothing more.

 

You yourself use terms such as one-san, oni-chan, imouto etc. on daily basis.

I think it's safe to assume most of us only do that on anime/VN-related websites, conventions and such appropriate places. Weeaboos do that everywhere, and in an annoying fashion at that (since they usually have no idea what they are talking about). That's the difference.

 

And I doubt that anyone really thinks that absolutely everything in Japan is great.

Weeaboos do. That's their problem. They just blindly state that everything Japanese is sugoi desu. Of course, it's completely baseless - they generally have absolutely no idea about Japan.

 

And yeah, the term "otaku", in it's original, Japanese meaning is negative - it means "a maniac obsessed with something to an unhealthy degree". It isn't related specifically with anime (military otakus are a common type for example). On the West, it is sometimes used as a synonym of a "Japanese culture fan" without any negative connotations. That's quite individual and may vary between communities.

 

@Vemocleus

Nowadays, I pretty much automatically ignore everything that looks like a modern, high-budget Hollywood Crap, without even reading a synopsis. Are all those movies worthless? Probably not, and there might be some hidden gems made by people who actually care. But, I have better things to do than trying to dig them up from a pile of thrash. And I have seen a fair share of actually good movies.

Now, imagine a person who have only read 2-3 crappy OELVNs (and maybe played some bad hentai flash games for good measure). Why the Hell would he/she keep trying, when apparently everything VN~ish is a horribly written garbage?

A first timer is likely to enjoy something like Katawa Shoujo. But this? You don't need to read 50 top-tier VNs to realize it's horrible. It will do nothing but discourage any serious readers from digging deeper into the medium (where a lot of titles are ergoe to boot, and ero + good story is still a bit of an alien concept on the West).

 

The bad thing is that it might attract some horny, illiterate teenagers. And, unfortunately, they are a huge market. So, crappy pseudo-erotic VNs could become quite profitable - little effort, easy cash. I wouldn't really say they are targeted at the wrong group from the marketing point of view (just like MangaGamer's cheap, awful nukiges). The sad truth is that a huge crowd of people actually likes garbage. That's why Hollywood Crap & co. is actually profitable.

If this becomes a trend among OELVN's (and they are heading there really fast...), it will seal their fate for good. Why create something aimed at serious readers (which requires effort), when you can earn much more (with much less effort) by aiming it at an entirely different, larger audience?

[Zakamutt]

Regarding the horny, illiterate teenages, I'd like to note that a huge part of Japanese VN releases are nukige (some 55 pages on vndb of vns tagged nukige, for one.) That doesn't mean the story games aren't getting made as well.

[Funyarinpa]

So this is how wanting to play a game for the graphics feels like...

[Okami]

Pabloc > If that is how you see it then I agree with you, however the problem is that most people don't see any difference between Weeaboos and Japanese culture fans and label them all together as Weeaboos, I mistakenly assumed that you see them all the same too witch is why I started those arguments.

 

However I am still against westernization of VNs, VNs are good as they are and we like them for what they are, there is no reason to change what is good, the most popular western VN KS isn't westernize but made in style of Japanese ones and most people still liked it.

 

 

Tehicly yes, otaku isn't term for just Anime otaku-s but when you just say otaku it is safe to assume that you are referring to anime otakus, and true it is true that most people even in Japan think that being otaku is bad I don't think that there is anything bad with loving what you love or even being oppressed with what you love and being open with it. I recently watched a youtube clip ware Japanese otaku says that being otaku is not a shame and that he is proud to be otaku, I agree with it, I don't think people should be ashamed of what they love and to openly show it and I think that they should be proud that they can openly say what they love and to be part of an otaku culture that they love.

 

 

Now to get back on topic, like you said VN localization companies are going in a way "good profit = little effort" for some time now, Mangagamer especially, so I don't think this is anything new or anything to rise a big flame for. VNs in a west had always depend on fantranslation groups the most and it will be that way for a long time in a future too. Localizations companies can help a little but a main point of VN community in west are fantranslation groups.

 

And this is by assumption that this really is a bad VN and I still want to give it a try before judging it. And even if it is a bad I doubt it's worse then all those shity nukiges that Mangagamer released till now.

[Pabloc]

Regarding the horny, illiterate teenages, I'd like to note that a huge part of Japanese VN releases are nukige (some 55 pages on vndb of vns tagged nukige, for one.) That doesn't mean the story games aren't getting made as well.

 

Sure. But Japan already has an established market for VNs. Also, story- and ero-oriented titles aren't really targeted at completely different audiences - they only serve a different purpose, their markets are quite similar (at least, the difference isn't as big as in the OELVNs' case).

 

If you want to sell your VN on the West, you have pretty much two choices:

- Aiming at the existing niche market, that is biased against OELVNs already and won't buy random crap. You'd have to write something actually decent, that would rival at least mediocre Japanese titles. High risk, a lot of effort, small reward.

- Aiming at a different market, that has no idea about VNs, and apparently will be happy with just T&A. You can write anything, no matter how bad it is, then you add boobs and put it on Steam. Low risk, not much effort (you only need decent artist), potentially much higher reward.

The difference between those two options is absolutely overwhelming. It's not that hard to imagine a flood of cheap T&A moneygrabs. They apparently sell after all, so why not make more?

That doesn't mean there won't be any decent OELVNs anymore. But, they have to make their way through a sea of garbage even now. If you add more thrash, those rare decent titles will completely drown.

 

However I am still against westernization of VNs, VNs are good as they are and we like them for what they are, there is no reason to change what is good, the most popular western VN KS isn't westernize but made in style of Japanese ones and most people still liked it.

Japanese VNs are good as they are, but OELVNs that try to imitate Japnese style and setting, almost always fail miserably. KS isn't exactly an exception here (to me, inconsistent pseudo-Japanese setting was among it's bigger flaws actually). Also, only newbies liked it. More experienced readers generally place it only among slightly above-average Japanese doujins at best.

If Western VNs' writers were sticking to the settings they are more familiar with, I think the amount of epic failures would have dropped a little.

[Okami]

If Western VNs' writers were sticking to the settings they are more familiar with, I think the amount of epic failures would have dropped a little.

 

You sure about that? You might want to check this thread.

[BladeRunner]

A post about Sakura Spirit has made it to the front page of /r/gaming on Reddit.

 

Post

 

[sanahtlig]

It really makes me sad that a mediocre doujin game from an unknown developer draws this much attention when masterpieces like Saya no Uta barely register a blip, not to mention games with greater potential for mainstream appeal like Yumina the Ethereal or School Days.  It's being highlighted for its fanservice when it's actually pretty tame--Mangagamer's nukige are surely more remarkable in that respect.  It really shows how a few sex scenes can completely remove a game's chance at garnering any attention at all in our sexually repressionist culture.

 

No matter what you think of the game, I think everyone would agree it's not remarkable in any way, and certainly not worth more than a passing glance whether you're a hardcore VN fan or not.  It has nice art--but so do plenty of other VNs.

[Decay]

If actual eroge were allowed on Steam, they'd also sell way better than they currently do on Mangagamer. One of the biggest reasons why eroge are a bit difficult to sell in the US is the lack of distribution channels. You have to sell it yourself on your own site, which typically people have to seek out on their own initiative. Steam allows discoverability to happen. It's really damn hard to sell a PC game in the west unless you're 1) On steam or 2) Already really freaking big (Blizzard, EA, etc).

[killerjuan77]

I was trying to beat this awful game (At one point I started holding the spacebar to skip text since little about it mattered anyways) until I came up with this:

Just... brilliant. This is an american nukige/kusoge sans sex. I feel ripped off even though I technically paid less than five bucks for it.

 

Also:

 

Yes, this thing ends with a cliffhanger which considering how well it's been selling (In part I feel as guilty as your average guy that ran over a homeless guy and never told anyone for buying it) there's little to no doubt that it's going to get a sequel. FML

[Silvz]

~Off- I still don't get it why every topic has someone arguing with Okami. "Don't feed the troll" always comes to my mind when I see it.

[Darklord Rooke]

If anyone's interested:

 

Hi, I'm sorry you feel that way but we're exploring the market and refining our business models. We're a business first and have to improve our bottom line before we can support any of the high tier high quality visual novels from the East or from the West.

 

That's the email I received from SP in reply to my expression of concern regarding Sakura. Make of it what you will.

[Decay]

Well, it's basically the same deal with MangaGamer and nukige. They continue to localize games they know would be less profitable presumably because that's what they really want to do, while using a ton of nukige to feed the machine.

[Narcosis]

Hi, I'm sorry you feel that way but we're exploring the market and refining our business models. We're a business first and have to improve our bottom line before we can support any of the high tier high quality visual novels from the East or from the West.

I was expecting this kind of statement. They are a business first, indeed.

[Okami]

~Off- I still don't get it why every topic has someone arguing with Okami. "Don't feed the troll" always comes to my mind when I see it.

 

I am not a troll, people who are around here longer should know that. And there is noting wrong with expressing your opinion or arguing about it with people who have different opinions.

[Funyarinpa]

I am not a troll, people who are around here longer should know that. And there is noting wrong with expressing your opinion or arguing about it with people who have different opinions.

 

The problem is, either due to mutual misunderstanding, idiocy or invariable assholery, those discussions turn into arguments. It's hard to find someone on the internet that can actually conduct a mature and proper debate.

 

Edit: What I said was in general, I was not trying to address a particular person.

[Zakamutt]

^Chill, both of yas. Think you both know each others' positions by now

 

Anyway considering VNs are always going to be niche, you're likely to have more indies doing it for the art or w/e. And hey, it's not like you can't combine fanservice with srs plot.

[Silvz]

I am not a troll, people who are around here longer should know that. And there is noting wrong with expressing your opinion or arguing about it with people who have different opinions.

 I know you aren't, but it's the same situation. People know that starting a discussion with you will turn into a fight. I understand that you disagree about a lot of stuff, and that's why I won't try to argue with you, you know?

[killerjuan77]

Eroge Download now hosts the game, so anyone wondering how it is, can now play it =3 http://erogedownload.com/downloads/sakura-spirit/

 

Or you can download the prologue to Sunrider on Steam. It's free and infinitely better.

[Okami]

Well for one it's not that short as people made it to seem, I am reading it 4h and I had still not finished it, gonna finish it tomorrow when I wake up.

 

Secondly it's not bad at all, sure it has a lot of ecchi witch is it's worse point but outside of that it's not bad at all. It has pretty nice characters and story is pretty interesting.

 

And if it's only prilouge well I would definitely like to read a rest and to support it's development by baying one copy or two.

[Narcosis]

Necroing~

 

Come and share laughs with me - read this marvelous review by Nichegamer.

I guess we can already expect a sequel.