Yesterday I posted a translation of the opening scene to Dark Blue, a short murder mystery VN with netorare elements. I received largely positive feedback, and not surprisingly the topic of making this a full-fledged project came up. My response is as follows.
I have confidence in my (English) writing skills, but not so much in my translation skills. As anyone who's seen my writing in the Japanese chat game thread will realize, my knowledge of Japanese grammar is actually pretty terrible. A Japanese sentence to me is essentially a puzzle of words that I painstakingly piece back together to arrive at an overall picture that makes sense. The basis for my translations is logical reasoning rather than understanding of the language. When I have no context to reason from, I'm essentially screwed (which thankfully doesn't happen much in VNs). My Dark Blue intro scene translation turned out pretty well (which is why I posted it), but any real project would definitely require a translation checker.
I have mixed feelings about the "value" of fan translation projects (as a creator rather than as a consumer). For one, there's too many highly critical people around who judge fan translations based on professional standards and use this as justification to belittle people's effort. As I see it, once you're at the level to satisfy such people, there's no reason to translate anymore because the main impetus to translate is personal development. Trying to satisfy such people invokes stress and anxiety I associate with a job, not a hobby. Second, translations lack creative value. Translation is a form of mimicry; the result will necessarily mirror the original, and therefore a translation never truly belongs to the translator. Those who can, create; those who can't, translate. If I'm going to devote a ridiculous amount of time to a writing project, I might as well write my own original story, which no one will ever complain about (if made available for free) and which I have full rights to sell somewhere down the line.
As I see it, there's two main reasons to fan translate a VN: personal development (of one's Japanese abilities) and social recognition / status. In the current high-scrutiny / low-recognition environment, I just don't see the value in committing time and effort into a project that could take years. It'd be nice to do something useful to others while working on my Japanese, but any VN longer than a couple of hours would simply be too much work for too little benefit.
[Reposted from the forum thread Dark Blue Intro Scene Translation]
About a year ago I decided to translate the cryptic opening scene to Dark Blue, a short murder mystery VN with netorare elements. I did this just to show that I could. After the recent controversy with the Monobeno project (which I discussed in my last post Regarding demands for fan translation project quality standards), I became curious whether others would consider my work "up to snuff". I've always assumed that unless a translation was near professional quality it would not be welcomed by the fanbase. What follows is a mostly unedited translation I wrote relying on the translation suite I typically use while playing Japanese eroge: text hooker, JParser, EDICT, and ATLAS (a machine translator). I translated this before moving onwards in the game, so it's quite possible I missed foreshadowing or other elements; it reflects my understanding of the scene as I was reading it.
A video containing the scene can be found here, if you'd like to watch the scene while reading along.
Dark Blue Intro Scene Translation
？？？「私も、最後に君に伝えておこう」
Old man: I have one last thing to tell you.
その男は、革張りの椅子に腰掛けながら、青年へと向けてそう口を開いた。
While sitting in the leather chair facing the young man, the man opened his mouth.
？？？「なんですか？」
Young man: And that is?
？？？「確かに呪いなどがあったかどうかはわからん」
Old man: Whether it was a sort of curse or not, I don't know for certain.
？？？「だが、現に我々は狂い、自分を保つためにあらゆる方法を模索して来た」
Old man: But what I do know is we've been groping in confusion for a way to preserve ourselves.
？？？「その結果がこれなのだ」
Old man: And the result is this.
何ら恥じることなく、男はそう断言する。
Unashamedly, the man declared so.
正面にいる青年に対して、恥じる様子などひとつとしてなかった。
Facing the young man in front of him, there wasn't a hint of shame in his visage.
？？？「自分達は最善を尽くしたと？」
Young man: "We did our best", eh?
？？？「意志が弱いなりに、我々はやれるだけのことをやってきた」
Old man: In our weak-willed way, we did what we could.
？？？「そういうことだ」
Old man: That is all.
？？？「……失礼します」
Young man: I've heard enough.
もう話すことはないと言わんばかりに、青年が部屋のドアのほうへと向かう。
With nothing else to say, the young man faced the room's exit.
その表情には嫌悪が浮かんでいて、誰も近づけない刺々しい雰囲気が漂っていた。
A disgusted expression on his face, an aura of inapproachability surrounded the young man.
？？？「君は運が良かっただけかもしれんぞ」
Old man: It could be you were just lucky.
青年がドアノブに手をかけようとしたとき、男がそんなことを言った。
As the young man reached for the door knob, the man said this.
？？？「人生など、何がどう転ぶかわからんものだ」
Old man: In our lives, there's no telling when or how the fall will come.
？？？「君にだって、私達と同じになる可能性はあったはずだ」
Old man: Even you--you could have ended up like us.
？？？「そのことを覚えておきたまえ」
Old man: Remember that.
そう言って、男は煙草を口に運んだ。
Saying that, the man brought a cigarette to his mouth.
だが、彼の目にはもう青年の姿は映っておらず、どこか遠くを――懐かしい過去を見つめるように双眸を細めていた……。
But in his eyes the figure of the young man was reflected no longer--the pair of eyes narrowed as they looked into the distance, as if gazing into the nostalgic past.
[Reposted from the forum thread: Dark Blue Intro Scene Translation]
I'm from the US. We have a strong tradition of freedom here signified in the words of the US Declaration of Independence:
All men (and only men, but not African men) are created equal. We have a right to Life (except if drafted into the army), Liberty (except when others disagree with you), and the pursuit of Happiness (except if you're a repressed minority).
In addition, we enjoy unparalleled freedom of expression and as a culture we're strongly opposed to censorship in all its forms.
We believe in democracy and the right for the people to decide their own government, both at home and abroad.
We believe that America is a model for democracy everywhere, and that other nations should follow our example.
Peter Payne, owner of VN publisher JAST and the J-List empire, made the following comment in their official forums:
JAST's experience with RPGs
JAST has released several RPGs over the years, including the Raidy series, Brave Soul, Aselia the Eternal, and most recently Yumina the Ethereal. JAST has said hinted before that the Raidy series did very well for them, and they seemed quite eager to work on Raidy 3, so I'd infer that it's not included in this assessment. Brave Soul was heavily pirated, as evidenced by the repetitive posts in the old forums asking how to save (which was explicitly outlined in the short paper manual that came with the game). The release of Aselia the Eternal was mired by issues, including a widely available fan translation patch, JAST's decision not to release a version with the original 18+ content due to concerns about the sexual portrayal of children, failure to pursue a Steam release, and the fact that by the time JAST got around to releasing it 8 years had passed and the game's graphics (640x480) and battle system were horribly dated. I previously discussed how Yumina the Ethereal's marketing was poorly handled, although eventually they did release a playable trial at least. Since Brave Soul was released 12 years ago and Aselia the Eternal probably didn't cost much to localize due to the existing fan patch (JAST worked with the same group for the official release), I presume JAST's statement is based largely on Yumina the Ethereal's sales.
Seinarukana: JAST's most ambitious RPG license to date
Synopsis
Seinarukana follows the dimension-traveling adventures of Nozomu and his band of friends. The story opens in a typical high school in Japan. Nozomu's everyday life is shattered when the school is suddenly attacked by strange invaders from another world wielding medieval weapons and fantastic magics. Amidst the chaos he and others awake to supernatural powers that had long lied dormant--powers inherited from a previous life. When the dust settles the entire campus has dimension shifted, and the students find themselves stranded in an alien world. While at first Nozomu and his friends simply seek to return to their world, they gradually become entangled in a dimension-spanning intrigue that threatens the entire multiverse. In the process, they discover the nature of their powers, and memories of their former lives begin to awaken.
Story and gameplay
The premise is reminiscent of its prequel Aselia the Eternal, though it has lighthearted school comedy elements that more resemble spiritual successor Yumina the Ethereal. The gameplay system is an evolution of the strategic overland map movement and tactical combat found in Aselia the Eternal, streamlining leveling, adding greater complexity in the form of separate physical defense and magical defense, and introducing a large cast of playable characters with unique skills. Skills are awarded as map completion objectives, with faster and more complete conquest rewarded with rare and powerful skills, giving players incentive to master the gameplay. You can see screenshots of the gameplay on its VNDB page.
Evaluation
I've played through the entire game, and the gameplay is a blast. The story mixes typical high school comedy with a fascinating sci-fi / fantasy setting, but the blend is smoother and more convincing than Yumina the Ethereal, with the plot and setting gradually introduced rather than dropped in your lap halfway through like with Yumina. Unlike Yumina, there's no grind or random encounters, which I appreciate. Seinarukana is currently rated 8.4/10 with 151 votes on VNDB, ranking it #3 in untranslated RPGs below Eushully's epics Ikusa Megami Zero and Ikusa Megami Verita.
English Release
Insider information suggests Seinarukana is planned for a 2015 release, likely timed to coincide with Anime Expo in early July. Unfortunately, JAST appears to be heading for a repeat of the mistakes they made with Yumina the Ethereal: taking a high-caliber RPG, hurling it at fans, then expecting the game to market itself.
RPGs require special marketing at a different audience
Ask existing VN fans (JAST's typical customers) to buy an RPG, and they're going to whine that there's gameplay getting in the way of their story. RPG fans don't necessarily frequent VN sites, because they don't like VNs especially--they like RPGs. On top of that, when RPG fans are looking for RPGs to buy, they're looking for promotional materials that highlight the gameplay: gameplay screenshots, gameplay videos, and playable demos.
Reviews are important
RPG fans tend to read reviews before they buy, which means RPG review sites need to be engaged and persuaded to review these games. I never saw any reviews of Yumina the Ethereal on RPG sites, which was probably the #1 reason it didn't do as well as JAST had hoped. There's a huge potential audience for VN-style RPGs with strong gameplay, but it's going to take more effort to tap than JAST is probably used to. But if they're going spend the considerable resources to license a long high-caliber RPG like Seinarukana...why wouldn't they market it the best they could?
Seinarukana is a Steam dream come true
Seinarukana has to be released on Steam. Absolutely. Positively. If the game can be listed on Steam, priced affordably, and it gets noticed--the game will sell like hotcakes. I've played Seinarukana, and the gameplay is a blast. Steam users will eat it up. Censoring the H-content in Seinarukana will be no issue because there's hardly any to begin with. And with a censored version, sites like RPGFan and RPGamer should be willing to review the game, which will multiply sales. Getting these sites review copies before release, to boost pre-release hype, is a key aspect of proper marketing!
My message to JAST
Disappointing sales of your RPGs is your own fault. You're dropping the ball. Put some effort into the marketing this time around and you'll get results! You have talented people working for you on Seinarukana that know what it takes to market RPGs. Talk to them! Throw money at them and give them the authority to do what it takes to make this release successful!
My message to readers
It's outside the scope of this article to convince you that Seinarukana is awesome. You'll just have to take make word for it. Regardless if you agree, if you care about visual novel style RPGs then I have a message for you: JAST needs your help. They're at a fork in the road where they're debating if high quality RPGs are worth the effort of releasing. They don't realize they're sitting on a gold mine; all they see is a caved-in tunnel that is taking forever to clear. And if they don't dig down, they'll never realize it.
I want YOU, the RPG fans, to help me tell JAST what they're doing wrong. Here's a pre-release thread for Seinarukana on the JAST official forums. Tell them what they need to do to reach RPG fans like you and me and make Seinarukana and future awesome RPGs a success. Do you want to see shining gems like Eushully's Ikusa Megami Verita in English? First we have to convince Japanese developers like Eushully that there's a market for these games in English, and we have to convince localization companies like JAST that translating a 100hr epic like that isn't going to bankrupt them.
This is a response to a comment from Tay (which I suspect has ulterior motives).
Eroge, as told through the visual novel medium, fill a void in my life. I'm well past college age, yet I've never touched a girl romantically, much less kissed or dated. You might say I'm starved for romance, yet I have little interest in dating. I could go into detail, but I'm not that interested in discussing my personal life publicly or privately. I'm going through changes in my life that might very well change my outlook, but this is how I've lived my adult life until now.
Suffice to say, I find anime-style heroines attractive, and I crave sexual and romantic fulfillment. Nukige don't typically do it for me because I want to be emotionally moved. I need drama. I need context. I need to immerse myself in a fictional world. Non-ero VNs don't do it for me because they lack sexual content, which is a large part of the draw for me, even if it's a small part of the overall package. Before I was into eroge I was into RPGs, fantasy novels, and anime, so story-driven eroge were a natural evolution of my interests.
I suspect this isn't the response Tay was looking for. "Join Fuwanovel and enjoy sexual fulfillment!" doesn't make a great tagline, after all. It might also invite unwanted attention from authorities.
I'm interested in the eroge industry (eroge account for ~90% of PC VNs originating in Japan), especially the English side, because it's such a fascinating niche. The market dynamics are completely unique. The stigma of porn hamstrings the market, preventing exposure through traditional channels. Cheap low-budget games often turn the most volume and yield the most profit: mediocrity reigns supreme. Most Japanese eroge publishers simply refuse to deal with English licensors, for a variety of business and cultural reasons. The fanbase is small but extremely vocal; it's possible to keep up with all major developments and voices in the community simply by following a few forums. Despite the tiny size of the English market, piracy is rampant and has threatened to completely annihilate the industry at several points. For every eroge customer there's probably 9 "fans" who've never bought an eroge, or who buy only when they can't get what they want for free. The market is so exquisitely fucked up that watching it inspires the sort of morbid fascination of observing a train wreck in progress. And then there's all the *unique* personalities that such a niche invariably draws.
Shameless plug: Those interested in seeing the world through my eyes might want to give my novella in progress Memory's Wounds a try.
Sakura Spirit developer Winged Cloud has unleashed their first full-blown erogame on Steam, Sakura Swim Club. The only problem is that the porn has to be patched in and--this being Steam--many users never learned how to patch games manually. How to uncensor the Steam version of Sakura Swim Club
