Fred the Barber Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Just got back from the Sekai Project panel at Sakura-Con (well... and the VN novel panel that ran for a couple hours afterwards), and thought I'd dump my notes here (although it seems I'm much too slow to beat Anime News Network's summary... oh well) New game announcements: - November Boy is a Boys Love VN about a stalker. Not really my thing, but maybe it's yours. They're claiming it's a really compelling story, so I guess there's that. - I'm not really sure how this counts as an announcement, since they have had it out on Early Access on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/app/340730/) for a while apparently, but they "announced" Sunrider Academy. It's the sequel of Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, which Sekai Project published last July, but unlike the first game, the sequel is a full-on dating sim. - Machina of the Planet Tree -Planet Ruler- is a JRPG. Apparently they are already in the editing phase. Didn't get a lot of details about the gameplay. Watch their Twitter and Facebook for further details on this one. It's interesting to see the variety here, since I at least had the impression that most of their credits were straight-up visual novels or kinetic novels, up to this point. Other interesting random announcement: - They're bringing Isuna Hasekura of Spice and Wolf fame to Anime Expo (utilizing the World End Economica connection). Kinda cool. They only gave vague assurances otherwise about in-progress projects: - WEE Episode 2 is coming "really really soon". - Fault Milestone 2 is coming out in Q3 of 2015. I hadn't even heard of this series before (apparently it's basically a doujinshi?), but they were praising it to the roof, so I might have to give it a try... - WAS is still in progress because of the work being done on the extra scenario that was funded as part of the Kickstarter (apparently it is quite substantial). Nothing even remotely approaching a release date was given, though I did separately get assurances from them that there will at least be a Kickstarter announcement coming soon. - Clannad is "still on target" - Fruit of Grisaia will be out "by the end of this month" - Ame no Marginal is coming out "in a bit". Still in translation. Memorable quotation of the panel: when trying to describe Sakura Spirit, the Sekai Project dude's preferred epithet was "geometrically-gifted". julyan, Darklord Rooke, sanahtlig and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzu Fanatic Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 - Machina of the Planet Tree -Planet Ruler- Sounds interesting. The rest (other than "mainstream" titles) don't really appeal, but that might just be because I've had bad luck with picking oelvns to buy - always seem to get the duds, and kinda shy away from them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 - Machina of the Planet Tree -Planet Ruler- Sounds interesting. As a massive fan of RPGs, I'm treating this title with suspicion and caution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vario Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Shizuku no Oto looks like it might be interesting. But Sekai aren't nearly as impressive, as MG was yesterday. And MG announced doujin VN too. Feel the difference, huh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julyan Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 - Fruit of Grisaia will be out "by the end of this month" Woho. Excited to read this in English. It'll be a much better experience for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzu Fanatic Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 As a massive fan of RPGs, I'm treating this title with suspicion and caution. I am too, but it has to be at least "a bit" better then the rpgmaker games that are floating around Steam. ...Maybe. =/ But to be fair, based on the trailer, the music/asthetics and gameplay remind a lot of Star Ocean: The Second Story - and I'd have no complaints with another jrpg with that kind of feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I am too, but it has to be at least "a bit" better then the rpgmaker games that are floating around Steam. ...Maybe. =/ It seems to be a random doujin JRPG, of which there are billions and billions. It could be good or it couldn't, it's so obscure and lost in a sea of other similar titles that it's hard to know. Same can be said about their BL game, there are not billions of those but it's still random as hell. Seems like Sekai Project is still bringing over random doujin games they got offers for, rather than japanese VNs that aren't translated yet. I suppose with Steam and their acquired fame from Clannad and Grisaia they guarantee some sales but I couldn't care less about their lineup right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidbatman Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Maybe this is Sekai Project's version of Mangagamer's nukgie spam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosebleed Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Really nothing that interests me in the slighest, it feels like they're just randomly licensing indie games for the sake of it. Not that I'm scorning them or anything, but there's really nothing impressive for me in these annoucements, it's mostly just "we're releasing these games soon and here's a couple games you probably have not heard about" At least in the last con they went to they annouced all those bug dating sims, now that's something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakamutt Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Shizuku no Oto looks interesting, they didn't annoucne it at the panel apparently but it was on za twitters right after. That's the only real itneresting thing though... Sekai Project continues the random doujin spree I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidbatman Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I cancelled my viewing of Hidamari Sketch in order to post news to the twitter visual novels were a mistake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanahtlig Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 My guess is that Sekai Project is going to remain primarily a doujin publisher for the next few years. I'm not sure how they even grabbed Key and Frontwing to begin with. Maybe the two companies just wanted to work with a publisher whose main business wasn't porn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Shizuku no Oto looks interesting, they didn't annoucne it at the panel apparently but it was on za twitters right after. That's the only real itneresting thing though... Sekai Project continues the random doujin spree I guess. Well it still is a doujin VN with 1 vote on vndb, 0 dowloads on DLsite and 2 (mitigated) votes on EGS. It's impossible to judge quality before playing it but it's still random as hell. I cancelled my viewing of Hidamari Sketch in order to post news to the twitter Why would you even to that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidbatman Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Well it still is a doujin VN with 1 vote on vndb, 0 dowloads on DLsite and 2 (mitigated) votes on EGS. It's impossible to judge quality before playing it but it's still random as hell. Why would you even to that? I dont know :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuee Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 My guess is that Sekai Project is going to remain primarily a doujin publisher for the next few years. I'm not sure how they even grabbed Key and Frontwing to begin with. Maybe the two companies just wanted to work with a publisher whose main business wasn't porn? They won't do nukige so their only way to make easy money is to license small doujin works like these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred the Barber Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 I'm not sure how they even grabbed Key and Frontwing to begin with. Maybe the two companies just wanted to work with a publisher whose main business wasn't porn? Sekai Project talked to this WRT Key, a little bit. Although it doesn't answer how they got Planetarian in the first place, they directly credit the success of Planetarian with their ability to license Clannad. The "success" there comes in two forms that they explicitly talked about (and interestingly did not include any mention of sales): - Positive reaction from fans fed to Sekai Project, which they passed on to Key - Positive reaction from fans directly to Key On the second one, they told an interesting story. Some folks from Key showed up for an anime convention in the US (I missed exactly which one) and were promptly swarmed by people asking about, of all things, Planetarian. They were apparently floored: Planetarian, to them, was old. They weren't prepared to talk about it at all, and they found themselves surrounded by enthusiastic Planetarian fans talking at them. It seems like that was a wake-up call for those folks from Key, and Sekai Project is what made it happen. So, with that background, that kind of gives a good picture of what needs to happen for the English releases of both Clannad and Grisaia to be viewed as successful by Key and Frontwing, and for us English speakers to get more chances like this: they need to get a similarly huge fan response. Of course sales numbers are important, but it sounds like that personal touch is probably going to be more important. So, when it comes time, get out there and give positive reviews; send emails filled with effusive praise; when it comes out in the very near future, declaim your love for the English-translated Grisaia to Sekai Project and directly to Frontwing (you know, assuming you actually like it ). This could be a great opportunity for all of us to help the English VN translation industry pick up momentum. Suzu Fanatic, jibzoiderz and sanahtlig 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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