This week’s header image comes from this week’s three releases, with Diviner Knight Towako on the left (patch here, buy it here, nsfw), Nurse Love Addiction in the middle (buy it here), and Umineko When They Cry on the right (buy it here).
Hello everyone! This week we have a special little treat for you, our first VNTS podcast! This is an idea we’ve been kicking around for several months now, but one thing or the other kept getting in the way. But since last weekend was Anime Expo, we thought this was the perfect occasion to get things started. In this introductory episode, we have one Verdelish as a special guest! We would like to thank her very much for taking the time to do this podcast with us.
If you guys enjoy this, we would love to do more. I have no idea if we’d be able to do these weekly, monthly or what. The original idea was to just talk about all the new stuff in each post, basically chatting about the news in the VN scene. And so any potential future episodes would likely follow a very different format from this one.
And fair warning, this week’s episode did not go off without a hitch. Unfortunately there were some technical difficulties and a portion of my recording was lost. Apparently Tay employed some editing wizardry to make the experience as seamless as possible, but there may be times where it seems like the others are talking to no one in particular. Don’t worry, they aren’t completely insane yet, you just can’t hear what I had to say. I can assure you it wasn’t terribly important, and most of the recording is actually fine. The kinks shall be worked out in the future.
Anyway! Welcome to our weekly VNTS (Visual Novel Translation Status) series, in which we track visual novel translation updates in-house (we don’t rely on /jp/ posts on 4ch, for example) and post it for your enlightenment and enjoyment each Saturday. If you find any errors, or you think a project is missing from this list, please let me know in the comments.
The Short Version: Only the New Stuff
- 2236 A.D. (Sekai Project) – TL: 86.81% > 100%!
- The Afterglow of Grisaia (Frontwing)– Announced at AnimeExpo! Releasing this summer.
- (Otome) Anniversary no Kuni no Alice – TL: 59% > 61%, Edit: 42% > 50%, Proofread: 29% > 46%, Looking for more translators!
- AstralAir – Project update, to-dos, and general timeline can be found here (07/2016). Rough estimate of release is Summer 2017.
- (Otome) Bad Apple Wars (Aksys) – Announced at AnimeExpo! Releasing in 2017.
- Baldr Sky (Sekai Project)– Announced! Visit the official site here. Steam version confirmed, 18+ version prospects still unknown to all. (apparently even to SP)
- Boku to Koisuru Ponkotsu Akuma (Sekai Project) – Announced! Visit the official site here. 18+ version confirmed, and apparently the devs want to do a Steam version as well.
- Chrono Clock (Sekai Project)– TL: 20.95% > 23.43%
- (Otome) Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ (Aksys) – Announced at AnimeExpo! Fandisc for last year’s Code Realize.
- (Otome) Collar x Malice (Aksys) – Announced at AnimeExpo! Releasing in 2017.
- Diviner Knight Towako – RELEASED! Get the game here (on DLsite) (NSFW), and find the patch here (Spiddy’s)
- Eiyuu*Senki (JAST) – Announced at Anime Expo 2016! Read this post for more info. This will be the 18+ PC version with all content intact.
- Hanasaki Work Spring – Hikari Route: 20% > 29%
- Irotoridori no Sekai – TL: 13% > 17%
- Island (Frontwing) – Announced at AnimeExpo! Translation does not appear to have started yet, expect to be waiting for a while.
- Japanese School Life (Sekai Project)– TL: 74.61% > 77.88%. Estimated release in October 2016.
- Katahane – An’ call Belle! (JAST) – Announced at Anime Expo 2016! Read this post for more info. This will be based on an upcoming HD remaster of Katahane, and will feature some all-new story content.
- Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (Degica) – The fan translation has been picked up by Degica, the peeps behind the Muv-Luv Kickstarter.
- Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura Doki (Sekai Project) – The fan translation has been picked up by Sekai Project! Both 18+ and all ages versions are planned. Is now being TLCed by SP.
- Koiken Otome – Patch is “ready for release.” Currently being tested, but could be released as early as this coming week. Read this post for more info.
- Maitetsu (Sekai Project)– TL: 13.55% > 15.28%
- The Melody of Grisaia (Frontwing) – Announced at AnimeExpo! Releasing this summer.
- Memory’s Dogma (Sekai Project)– TL: 66.33% > 68.19%
- Nora, Princess, and Stray Cat (Harukaze)– Mysterious postcards handed out at AnimeExpo indicated an English version in translation. (link)
- Nurse Love Addiction (Degica) – Released! Buy it on Steam here.
- (Otome) Period Cube – Torikago no Amadeus (Aksys) – Announced at AnimeExpo! Releasing in 2017.
- Princess X – My Fiancee is a Monster Girl (JAST) – Announced at Anime Expo 2016! Read this post for more info.
- Shining Song Starnova (Sekai Project)– Announced! In development by Love in Space. Visit the official site here.
- Still, I Miss Her (Sekai Project)– TL: 3.24% > 4.53%
- Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs World Tour (Aksys) – Extend edition announced at AnimeExpo.
- Trinoline (MangaGamer) – Announced at nbkz’s AnimeExpo panel. VN is still in development. nbkz indicated MangaGamer was already translating, an English release will ideally follow soon after the Japanese release. (link)
- Tsui Yuri – Total TL: 43% > 50%, Total Edit: 40% > 43%
- Umineko When They Cry (MangaGamer) – Chapters 1 – 4: Released! Buy it on MangaGamer here, or on Steam here.
- Utawarerumono Portable – Raws checked: 206 / 616 files
New Releases
- Diviner Knight Towako – RELEASED! Get the game here (on DLsite) (NSFW), and find the patch here (Spiddy’s)
- Nurse Love Addiction (Degica) – Released! Buy it on Steam here.
- Umineko When They Cry (MangaGamer) – Chapters 1 – 4: Released! Buy it on MangaGamer here, or on Steam here.
Removed from the List This Week
- Highway Blossoms (Sekai Project) – Buy it here.
- Kimomen demo Harem Guild – Get the patch here and buy it here. (NSFW)
- My Little Kitties (Sekai Project) – Buy it here.
All the Game Updates:
Fan Translation Projects
[wpdatatable id=167]MangaGamer (Updates)
[wpdatatable id=169]Other
- Rance 5D, Rance VI, and Rance Quest fan translations on hold in anticipation of potential official release by MangaGamer.
Sekai Project (Update Page)
These percentages should be seen as vague indicators of progress, and are not entirely accurate due to a variety of reasons.
[wpdatatable id=170]Other
- Here’s a handy link to sort Sekai Project’s Steam releases by release date: link
Other Projects
[wpdatatable id=171]— Commentary Section —
Zakabox™ Commentary
「If you’re reading this, that means I’m de- at a campsite attending a music festival for the weekend, which is sorta the same thing. Given that the AX podcast is already done, I want to plug the FuwaFM podcast I was talking about: this should be a decent place to start. If you see episode 8 pop up, click that sucker immediately, because it’s by far the best one I’ve been in yet.
I hope you all enjoy the AX podcast. I actually put some work into this thing & am still surprised.
In closing, I want to thank Verde again for agreeing to join our podcast for this episode – it was a huge help. Decay also deserves a star for battling through his technical difficulties, which must have been frustrating.
Anyway, I must be off – farewell, and may your VN dreams come true. Unless they’re illegal. Which they probably are. Shit.」
Decay’s Musings
Hey all. It was real fun doing the podcast this week. It was my very first podcast appearance, I was pretty nervous so I hope I did okay. I want to apologize to Tay again for the headaches my messed up audio gave him. My headset has been on the fritz lately, and the new one is still in the mail so I had to make do. Unfortunately, that lead to a problem with it disconnecting at random and I didn’t realize the first time it happened that audacity stopped recording until around 20 or so minutes later. You missed my general impressions of the MangaGamer panel, but I pretty much gave those in last week’s commentary if you want to know.
You also missed me talking about how Princess X is a bit different from what some people’s initial impressions seem to be, and different from how JAST seems to be marketing it. This isn’t your typical monmusu game. Tyr made an interesting post on vndb about this subject.It seems even some diehard monmusu fans got a little grossed out by it.
This year’s AX brought us the biggest license in a while, Baldr Sky. This is a game that people have been clamoring for years for. It’s been hyped to hell and back, and I’m not sure one game can possibly get more overhyped. My reaction? Meh. I’m not trying to be an edgy hipster or anything, I swear! I just never had any real fervor for that game. People say it’s good and I hope they’re right. If it is, I’ll give it a shot. Like I said on the podcast, I’m not much of a mech guy. Though I am glad a lot of people are finally having their dreams come true or whatever. Don’t let the disappointment hit you too hard when it finally comes out.
The last bit of news I’d like to address is the licensing of SakuSaku. Perhaps the most common reaction to this news I’ve seen is a mix of disappointment and outrage at the fact that the project will now be delayed an additional unspecified (but seemingly small) amount of months as a result of the licensing. To be frank, I find this reaction appalling. I almost got into this during the podcast but I stopped myself just short, not confident in my ability to vocally articulate myself. I’m much better at typing than talking. The thing is, no one is owed this translation. No one has any kind of god-given right to play it at all, let alone in a timely manner. It’s a privilege being bestowed upon you by the dedicated people who spend hundreds or thousands of hours out of their lives mentally tormenting themselves in order to deliver you a sound translation.
The decisions they make with how to handle this translation are theirs, and theirs alone. Should they decide to delay or even cancel said translation, that’s their right. You have no choice but to accept it without complaint. To do otherwise is unbelievably entitled. And should they decide that they could not have justified all the time they spent on this project without some form of compensation, that’s their right as well. This translation is theirs, not yours. If you find yourself upset at this news for reasons along these lines, I want you to deeply analyze the relationship between you and the translators you patronize. Who do these translators work for, and what is your role in this?
I want to say that I find it fantastic that the SakuSaku team members had their hard work recognized and that they will be compensated for their efforts. I wish to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Akerou and his team, you guys really deserve this.
That’s it for me this week, so long everyone.
TAYsteful™ Thoughts
Why hello there, everybody. Once again, I gotta thank the panel for participating in the first-ever VNTS podcast: I was fortunate to be joined by Decay, VerdelishJP, and Zakamutt. Despite some technical difficulties, I think we all had a good time, and for those of you interested in podcasts, I hope it made for interesting listening.
As far as the podcast’s future goes, Decay and I were thinking that we may do summaries of VNTS updates with a little commentary sprinkled on top. It may not happen every week (in fact, we have no clue how often it’ll go up), but as long as it’s fun and y’all enjoy them, we’ll keep making them. Also, note that while this week’s episode was ~75mins, it was a bit of a special case. For simple updates + commentary, I’d imagine the episodes would be short enough to catch on a commute.
In other news, the new Fuwanovel front site will be going up soon. I plan on limiting access this weekend to a closed beta, with the for-realsy launch coming next week. If you’d like to take a look at a decently up-to-date representation of the site’s new design, take a gander at this screenshot.
In other, other news, Anime Expo was pretty wild. If you haven’t read Decay’s #AX2016 recap, you should. It’s really good.
Well, I’m off to stalk our favorite resident German webmaster. We really are very lucky to have Nay with us, and when all of this is over we should bake him cookies or something. We love ya, brother. Thanks for all the help.
Have a good week, everybody.
I don’t see Majo Koi Nikki, WG nor BiMan updates here.
Congrats on the podcast.
AstralAir Release Summer 2017 make me cry must wait 1 more years 🙁 but it’s okay i don’t have power here so let’s wait patiently. how about dracu-riot translation ? no news about it. but lucky Koiken Otome patch is near.
Grantz fuwa novel always update about vn translation 🙂
I thought announcements couldn’t get much stranger than Trinoline (not the game itself, but how it was announced). But Nora, Princess, and Stray Cat definitely beats it in terms of strange announcements. Are there even any theories on that one? Like do people believe they are doing it themselves?
MangaGamer has had two announcements I liked at each major announcement point this year – Anime Boston, Anime Central, and Anime Expo. But Otakon only lists one announcement so far – I hope that increases just to continue the streak. 🙂
The “Noratoto” announcement is indeed rather strange. Judging by how bad the English is, a lot of people are assuming it’s being done by Harukaze themselves. I hope they hired a proper translator for at least the game itself.
As for Otakon, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that MangaGamer will have more. It’s basically the second biggest show of the year and MG always has a good presence. Arunaru has teased a new gameplay title announcement coming soon, which will almost certainly be Alicesoft judging by his words. I think we can expect that at Otakon.
Yes, Mangamer still does not have Trinoline on their site. Are they not publishing it?
That’s actually a somewhat confusing situation. nbkz made it sound like MangaGamer was already working on it, while MangaGamer made it sound like they may choose to work on it but haven’t decided yet, and thus are not actively promoting it.
You can bet on MG being the ones to bring it out when it does happen.
So in regards to Noratoto being translated by the company that made the game, how is that going to be handled? Will a patch be released upon completion or will an English release be sold separate from the Japanese version?
Nobody knows. That postcard is literally the only information we have available to us at the current time. However, it is almost guaranteed to be a separate English release. I don’t think a Japanese company has ever created and sold a translation for a game as a patch to the Japanese release.
Here’s my VNTS Review this week. Sorry for very late post. I want to post it earlier, but suddenly my internet connection was unstable, and so I just managed to post it now.
http://forums.fuwanovel.net/blogs/entry/1312-nightingale-sama-ga-miteru/
That podcast was chalk full of charm. I look forward to listening to more of it in the future. Great job guys!
And by charm I assume you mean impeccable taste in technical difficulties music ; P.
Really glad you liked it! Any advice/suggestions for improvement would be most welcome.
Aside from the obvious technical issues, My only suggestion so far is to lower the music audio a little more when it’s overlaid with your audio. Your voice was getting slightly overpowered by the intro music, the choice of song definitely helped this seem less noticeable though. 🙂
Best of luck getting all the technical stuff worked out for future podcasts!
To be honest other than a few first time teething issues this satisfied my Tay boner in satisfactory levels. I ended up having to read the VNTS after my boner calmed down because i still love Decay’s sarcasm. >.<
Love the podcast, great job.
Still no informations about a possible 18+ Chrono Clock release ?
Information on all potential 18+ releases from Sekai Project/Denpasoft has been postponed to another conference, unfortunately. Seems like Baldry Sky’s sudden, actually unplanned announcement replaced that.
Good job with the podcast :3 it was really nice to see others point of view about the annoucements, it also made me even more hyped for Bad Apple Wars thanks Verde lmao
So, you might want to change Maji Koi in the table from “Majikoi A (1 + 2)” to “Majikoi A – 2” as you seem to have planned to.
Aww, I miss my little green square icon. 🙁
What icon?
Our personal kaleidoscope-ish avatars. Mine was purple.
Yaay, they’re back!
Decay, the real MVP!
What Katie wants, Katie gets.
Here’s something that’s happening. I don’t know how else to describe it. If you weren’t aware of it before, then I’m sorry/not sorry. This is the weirdest otome I’ve yet encountered. I don’t know if that’s a good thing. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-bell-chimes-for-gold/x/13384685#/
Wow. I mean, kinda cool? But also just “wow”.
Hey, I don’t see my project listed here. Hacker’s working on it, editing is on hold while my editor edits some other stuff.
Project’s here: http://forums.fuwanovel.net/topic/14609-nocturnal-illusion-renewal-translation-project
Koiken Otome’s full patch has been released: http://flyingpantsu.net/koiken-otome/koiken-otome-full-patch/
Yay, fuwanovel has translation updates! Since yesterday, I thought the forum was the only one that existed. Thankfully, it has some projects I didn’t see at visualnovels subreddit. More VNs for me!