Angel Beats! Translation?

[Heizei_koukousei]

Hello Fuwanovel, long time no see!

 

As previously mentioned in my About My Absence thread, I have been leading a revamp project for Supreme Candy under a team called Skyspear Translations. Alas, the game does not have enough followers for translators to spend their time on it.

 

However, I have some big plans. I have already preordered a copy of Angel Beats! for when the partial is released at the end of May and I am seeking to begin a new project for it so that the community will be able to enjoy the game in English as soon as possible. This will be a massive undertaking, considering RealLive is notoriusly difficult to work with. I am confident in my ability to, at the very least, crack the exe and allow a few hackers to get their hands on the game.

 

I believe that putting this topic up for discussion so far in advance will allow us to receive feedback and assemble a team so that things can run as smoothly as possible when the time comes.

 

So what do all of you think about this?

 

 

[delapropia]

I think that it would be a great idea. This game its one of the most desired visual novel of this year, so it would be pretty obvious that as soon as the game is released, a lot of fans would want to start a translation team and begin working on Angel Beats right away.

[Flutterz]

I haven't been following the AB hype too closely (because it'll still be a while before it's translated), but I think a lot of people are expecting Sekai Project to start translating Angel Beats, so you might want to see what they do first, unless you like getting C&Ds.

 

By the way, why do you think it will be made in RealLive as opposed to SiglusEngine, or are they basically the same?

[Deep Blue]

I would love to see this happening but project sekai is going to translate this game sooner or later, specially after seeing how the community reacted with clannad with the kickstarter campaign and I'm sure you are going to face problems in the near future because of that..

[Silvz]

Start the translation, so SP will probably contact you in case they want to release it

[Heizei_koukousei]

First thing first, if Sekai begins a kickstarter for Angel Beats! I will definitely find a different title to work on haha

 

However, I have my doubts considering they are only releasing 3 routes at first. I may be wrong, but I feel like the major companies would want to wait until the entire game is released to begin working on it. I also feel that Key has several other big titles that could be picked up i.e. Little Busters (but that is my completely unfounded speculation)

 

@Flutterz

SiglusEngine and RealLive have some similarities. Now I am no hacker, but I received a program from Clephas a while back that can crack most RealLive and SiglusEngline games so I would assume that the two have the same basic functionality.

[Decay]

You should wait and see. Don't jump the gun on this, don't try to assemble a team for a VN you don't even know if you'll like or if it will get licensed. Sekai Project will definitely be interested in licensing this, I'd say the odds of it not getting an official release are very low. 

 

Even if they want to wait for the whole thing (they won't want to, they'd definitely be okay releasing it piecemeal just like in Japan), I still say it's a wasted effort to translate something you know will get licensed eventually anyways. There is an incredible wealth of great untranslated VNs out there, it's would be a bit of a shame to see the limited resources of the community be used just to make a translation available a little bit faster for the impatient people out there.

[Heizei_koukousei]

You should wait and see. Don't jump the gun on this, don't try to assemble a team for a VN you don't even know if you'll like or if it will get licensed. Sekai Project will definitely be interested in licensing this, I'd say the odds of it not getting an official release are very low. 

 

Even if they want to wait for the whole thing (they won't want to, they'd definitely be okay releasing it piecemeal just like in Japan), I still say it's a wasted effort to translate something you know will get licensed eventually anyways. There is an incredible wealth of great untranslated VNs out there, it's would be a bit of a shame to see the limited resources of the community be used just to make a translation available a little bit faster for the impatient people out there.

All I can do is wait and see at this point. All I'm doing is planting the seeds of thought.

 

And I have come to find that the a majority of popular titles, the "great untranslated VNs" as you say probably already have a team working on them.

[Decay]

All I can do is wait and see at this point. All I'm doing is planting the seeds of thought.

 

And I have come to find that the a majority of popular titles, the "great untranslated VNs" as you say probably already have a team working on them.

[Heizei_koukousei]

Well, you should at least give it until AX and see if SP says anything there...

 

And I wish that was the case about those VNs. Maybe it is if you only count those titles popular around here, and only moege. But there's a lot of great unclaimed VNs waiting to be translated. I don't want to make any demands on what people should and shouldn't translate, I'm just saying that there are more good VNs out there than is even possible to be translated, so unless there's a really good reason for doing so, it's always a shame when two teams double up on one VN.

I fully agree, as I have experienced that problem first hand.

And its even worse when the second team comes in because the first team refuses to release their work as in my experience with Supreme Candy

[Novel21]

Yes I Would like to play Angel Beats VN in english very much since I'm big fan Of Angel Beats anime.

I love that anime very much self it have been sometime since I watched the anime.

[XReaper]

though i would like to play the vn in english too, the sooner the better, i have to admit that this project is doomed in my eyes & therefore wasted effort (reasons above by decay). think there´re LOTS of great games out there who DONT have someone working on it right now or in the future.
i dont know if you already have a fellow translator in mind and how good his skills are, but if you might consider picking up a title like the ones from light, sumikko or nitro+ (yeah i know jast has some buiseness with the latter but, but..) i´m almost betting my left ball on it, that you WILL get the attention from the community you missed before

[Heizei_koukousei]

Isn't the power of feedback just spectacular?

 

After reading the License suggestions over at Sekai I have seen a lot of people recommending Key titles, Angel Beats! included. Now I dont want to get into a long discussion about the downfall of fan translations, but wouldn't it be likely that any of the most popular titles will one day get licensed?

 

I understand, there are a lot of good VNs out there waiting to be discovered. But taking a risk and translating a game that isn't already somewhat well known isnt something I am willing to do. I am looking to work a project where the title speaks for itself, its already known.

 

Now I am not going to blindly work toward Angel Beats if it is going to be picked up by Sekai Project immediately, but I do still see the worth in fan translating it. On that note, well just have to see how it goes.

 

---

Let's say I were to consider a different title. Which studios would the community be most interested in?

 

MakuraSoft

AkabeSoft2

Leaf

Eushully

Light

etc??

[XReaper]

please dont get me wrong here mr. heizei, i definitely didnt mean to suggest you picking up a less known title & therefore gambling again like with the last project. in first place i want more vns getting translated and if you dont have a big team already at your hands, its more likely that the chosen project is gonna see the finishing line one day, when the title is well known and popular in the community.
cannot really pick one title specifically, cause there´re lots of good ones who are waiting to beeing worked on by someone and it also depends very much on the actual skills of your staff members.
but seeing light & eushully suggested by you is a good sign itself.
 

[BookwormOtaku]

Akatsuki Works would be another to consider seeing as how well regarded RuiTomo and Hello Lady! are.

[Conjueror]

light

[Mugi]

I feel like Sekai probably wont pick it up for a while, if they ever do (though i'm betting they will). But yeah this sounds like a fantastic idea, because I really, and I mean really, want to play this game.

[Kirashi]

Why not finishing majikoi S? There is some route left and a lot of people are waiting for this,  if you're hungry for translation, you can pisck this, it won't be a huge project since it's almost done and a lot of people would be happy.

[Heizei_koukousei]

Why not finishing majikoi S? There is some route left and a lot of people are waiting for this,  if you're hungry for translation, you can pisck this, it won't be a huge project since it's almost done and a lot of people would be happy.

I thought that Majikoi S had already been claimed?

[Chuee]

I thought that Majikoi S had already been claimed?

 

Right, Majikoi S is being done already. 

[Kirashi]

I posted before the annonce of the project xD

[XReaper]

personally i would like to see you guys picking up an eushully game, which one doesn´t really matter to me. you know they´re pretty popular and therefore you wont have to worry bout attention. since there is almost no project going on (those machine ones not counted), you are free to choose.

when looking at the succes of the kamidori release by seiha, i´m sure it will boost the popularity of everyone involved after completing it. but that´s only me & i´m just a drunken scumbag...

[Vario]

I doubt there is a single translator in the community capable of translating *that* properly at the moment (including MG, SP and JAST staff). I think your best bet is to wait for the pros to gain more experience in their craft and license it one day (unless you have a translator actually experienced in translating paper novels and poetry at hand).

How about Maruto's stuff? He's really popular in Japan, but nobody seems to be tling him around here; Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o, for exmaple, is fairly easy and loads of fun.

Seems like people are very interested in his works. At least, White Album 2 is one of the most requested VNs, and I'm pretty sure this one will get licensed some time in the future.

 

But we can't say for sure about his earlier works. No one is interested in translating them at the moment (futsuu... Guess, we can exclude him?), so I think it will be a good choice. Something that a lot of people might like and at the same time VN, which is not mediocre. It'll be great to see Parfait, konnyaku or DameKoi one day.

[Decay]

Thing is, no, there won't be a VN translation more highly requested than Angel Beats for a while. But you shouldn't assume that will make translation easier. Popular with community members is not the same as popular with translators, and to be honest it's really, really hard to start and finish a project successfully as a non-translator no matter what. You should instead focus on giving translators an attractive reason for working with you. You need to be able to provide a service they can't get elsewhere, such as having top-notch editing skills or strong connections in order to build and maintain a strong team right away. Without aspects like these, to be honest you're probably better off joining other projects in need. If you can provide these things then Angel Beats strikes me as a really odd choice considering Sekai Project's relationship with Key. I seriously think that the chances of an official Angel Beats announcement at AX are like 90%.

 

If we're wishlisting here then some of the VNs I most want to see translated MIGHT be popular enough to attract talent. Specifically Minato Carnival's upcoming game co-written by both the main scenario writers of Majikoi and Oretsuba, Takahiro and Ou Jackson respectively, Anekouji Naoko to Gin'iro no Shinigami. It's a new, upcoming title with great looking art and some seriously renowned writing talent behind it. But it's not a Key game, so you won't get people begging for a bootleg translation a few months sooner than the official one, like with Angel Beats. But if it turns out to be good you may have an easier time attracting prospective translators than many of the other VNs mentioned here. edit: It will also probably be a better VN than Angel Beats. 

 

Stuff like Light's games have been popular among western Japanese readers for a long time and yet no translation projects have even begun. This is because they're very high-difficulty VNs and you should stay away unless you have an extremely talented translator already on-board.

[BookwormOtaku]

I'm surprised no one's begged you to resurrect the translation of Dracu-riot.