Проекты переводов и VN-release-related новости.

2010/04/26 minori
To those of you living overseas:
Sorry for writing this in Japanese.
There are subtle nuances that we could not convey properly by trying to write this in English, so we’ve decided to write this in Japanese. Please bear with us.
Soon, it will have been one year since we at minori started blocking access from overseas.
It is extremely unfortunate that we have to update this [overseas-facing] page, instead of removing it altogether.
We are updating this page after receiving notice that minori’s software copyrights were being violated overseas.
Works published in any of the signatory countries of the WTO should be protected under copyright in all of the signatory countries. In other words, minori’s software is protected in all of the countries who are a part of the WTO.
Copyright is a collection of various rights; when playing [a video game] and you install the game from the DVD to a PC’s hard drive, this particular act normally falls under the definition of “replication.” For those of you who have bought our software, we give you permission for this act of replication if you are in Japan only. (For why, please see below) This is why minori’s software is “exclusively for use in Japan.”
Furthermore, copyright also includes “translation rights” and “public transmission rights”.
Actions such as translating from Japanese into a different language or porting from one platform to the other falls under “translation right”. Exceeding the realm of personal use and making available to the public a translated work requires the permission of minori; making available on the Internet a part of or the entirety of our software (when the right to quote a work isn’t applicable) falls under “public transmission rights”, and therefore minori’s permission is required as well. (For example, this time .sc extension script files were uploaded to a website. Uploading these files and transmitting them to an indefinite number of people is a violation of the “public transmission right”.)
There are some of you overseas who are making available to the public a translation patch for minori’s software without minori’s permission; this is a violation of “translation rights” so please refrain from these actions.
Whether you want to make publicly available a translation patch for minori’s software or if you want to sell a standalone version of the software, you must obtain minori’s permission for all these cases. Copmanies and groups who are interested in this please contact minori headquarters in Japan. We are prepared for negotations (However, only in Japanese).
In order to publish [eroge] software in Japan, it is imperative to have the software examined by the Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS) or an equivalent ethics inspection agency and obtain a proof of legality. Likewise, there are rating agencies in places such as America, Canada, Europe (including Scandanavia, England and Germany), South Korea, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, so it is necessary to undergo examination by the appropriate rating agency for the country in which the game is published in order to confirm that the game has no legal issues with the laws of that country. In other countries, the company/group releasing the software must bear all [legal] responsibility.
Let us set legal interpretation and procedures aside and talk more about why we at minori are so cautious about our software being distributed outside of Japan.
Lately, around us, we have been made keenly aware of many clashes of culture between Japan and other countries. Even if a certain form of expression is fine in Japan, due to a difference in culture, it appears that the same form of expression is considered problematic in other countries. Unfortunately, we at minori are not familiar with the laws outside of Japan, and we cannot determine whether our software follows the rules and regulations of other countries.
Also, after a little bit of investigation, we realized that there are countries that punish mere possession of problematic forms of expression.
In other words, we at minori believe that there’s a possibility that those of you who posssess copies of our software may face problems. (Actually, there has been cases of problems due to possession of content in America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that would have been legal in Japan, hasn’t there?) This is based on nothing more than the fact that minori develops many pieces of software that fall under the R18 rating (Perhaps overseas this is called AO+?) and the law and regulations with respect to these forms of expressions are different in other countries. (Of course, even if something is rated all-ages in Japan doesn’t mean it will be treated as all-ages overseas. This has been the case many times with respect to animation) Thus, if such a problem occurs, minori cannot indemnify users who obtained a translated version that was produced and released without knowledge or oversight from minori, and furthermore coming with no assurances from any other party. Respecting our rights (copyright) means accepting an equivalent level of responsibilities, since rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin. No matter how a user obtains our work, we at minori want to prevent harm to people at all costs. This is a rule that we at minori must obey as long as we operate in public society.
We at minori are worried about exposing people who have our software to risk. In order to provide a safe and assuring environment in which to play [our games], we at minori only have the power to provide this within Japan. Therefore, if people outside Japan (specifically the English-speaking world) would like to play our games, we believe that a trustworthy third party who can provide assurances is needed.
Each country has their own culture. In order to respect each other’s culture, various different rules exist. We’ve been criticized by such lines as “minori are a bunch of foreigner-hating racists,” and we are saddened by this. We always strive for a world where everyone can be happy. The right to pursue happiness is something that should be enjoyed by everyone, and this is not something that is restricted by nationality or race. This has been said many times, but we at minori want to prevent misfortune or harm to come upon those who possess our software.
We and the fans should not bear enmity towards each other.
Our relationship should be one where we all think about how each side can be happy and how to work this within the bounds of previously mentioned rules; this is not a problem based on “inside Japan” versus “outside Japan”.
Lastly, for those of you living overseas, please come visit Japan if you want! As long as it’s within Japan and as long as you are 18 years of age or older, you can play
minori’s game software without any risks. There are many shops in Akihabara. It’s a bit hot during the summer, but it is a good place. We will be waiting for you.
for many many Overseas fan.
minori Inc.
To contact us, please send email to info@minori.ph in Japanese.

海外に御住まいの皆様へ。
2010年4月26日 minori
日本語で申し訳ありません。
どうしても英語ですと微妙なニュアンスが伝わらないので
日本語で書くことにしました。よろしければお付き合い下さい。
minoriが海外からのアクセスをブロックしてから、まもなく１年が経ちます。
このページを廃止するのではなく、更新しなければならない事は非常に残念です。
今回、更新したのは、海外でminoriのソフトウェアの著作権が侵害されていることをお知らせ頂いたからです。
WTOに加盟する全ての国家において発表された作品は、その加盟国全てで著作権が保護されるそうです。つまり、minoriのソフトウェアも全てのWTO加盟国で保護されていることになります。
著作権というものは、様々な権利の集合ですが、皆さんが作品をプレイする上で、DVD-ROMディスクからPCのHDDへインストールすることは、一般的に「複製」に当たると定義されています。minoriのソフトウェアを購入された方は、日本国内においてのみ複製権の許諾を受けることができます。（なぜ、日本国内のみ許諾しているかは後述の通りです）これが、minoriのソフトウェアを日本国内専用としている理由です。
また、著作権には「翻訳権」や「公衆送信権」いうものが存在します。
日本語から他国の言語へ翻訳を行うことや、動作するプラットホームを変更することは、この「翻訳権」の範疇に含まれます。個人的な利用の範疇を超えて翻訳したものを公開する場合、minoriの許可が必要となりますし、ソフトウェアの全てまたは一部をネット上で公開する行為は（引用権の範疇を除き）公衆送信権の範疇ですので、やはりminoriの許可が必要となります（例えば、今回は「.sc」という拡張子のスクリプトファイルが掲載されていましたが、そのファイルを掲載し、不特定多数に送信する行為が公衆送信権の侵害ということです）。
海外の方々の中には、minoriのソフトウェアを翻訳するパッチをminoriに許可を得ず公開されていらっしゃる方もいらっしゃいますが、これは「翻訳権」の侵害ですので行わないようにしてください。
海外でminoriのソフトのを翻訳してパッチを公開したい場合や、ソフトウェア自体をスタンドアローンで販売したい場合は、全て、minoriの許可が必要です。もし、これらの行為をお望みの会社、団体がいらっしゃるようでしたら、是非、日本のminori本社へコンタクトを取ってください。minoriは交渉を受ける準備があります（ただし、日本語のみになります）。
日本でソフトウェアをリリースする場合、コンピュータソフトウェア倫理機構(EOCS)やその他同等の倫理審査団体の審査を受け、合法的であることの証明を取らなければなりません。同じように、アメリカやカナダ、ヨーロッパ（北欧、イギリス、ドイツを含む）、韓国、ブラジル、オーストラリア、ニュージーランドなどにはレーティングを行う団体がありますので、当該国でのリリースにはその団体の審査を受け、当該国の法律上問題が無いか確認する必要があります。 それ以外の国でのリリースの場合、リリースする会社や団体が全ての責任を負う必要があります。
法律的な解釈や手続きの問題はさておき、なぜ、これほどまで、minoriが日本国外にminoriのソフトウェアが流通することに慎重になるのか、もう少し詳しくお話したいと思います。
ここのところ、私たちの周辺では、日本と他国における文化の違いを痛感することが多くなりました。日本では問題無い表現も、その文化の違いから、他の国ではNGということもあるようです。そして、残念ながら私たちは日本国外の法律に疎く、minoriのソフトウェアが他国の法令に則しているかどうか判断できません。
また、少々調べてみると、その国において表現的に問題のあるソフトウェアを所有しているだけでも罰せられる国があるという事実を知りました。
つまり、minoriは、皆さんがminoriのソフトウェアを所有している事によって、様々な問題に直面する可能性があるかもしれないと考えているのです（実際に、アメリカやカナダ、オーストラリア、ニュージーランドでは日本では合法のコンテンツを所有していることが問題になったことがありますよね？）。これは、minoriのソフトウェアがいわゆるR18基準（海外ではAO+と言うのでしょうか？）によって制作されているものが多く、その表現に対する規制や法律が日本とその他の国々で異なるからに他なりません（もちろん日本では全年齢だからといって、海外でそのまま全年齢扱いになるとも限りません。アニメーションなどではよくあることのようです）。そして、もし、そのような事態が起きた時、minoriの知るところの外側で制作され、minoriがまったく監修せず、かつ誰も保証していない状態で勝手にリリースされた翻訳版を所有しているユーザーの皆さんをminoriは援護することができません。私たちの権利（著作権）が認められるということは、それ相応の義務も背負っているということです。権利と義務は表裏一体なのです。例えどのような手段で入手されたユーザーであれ、minoriの作品が人に傷を負わせることは絶対に避けなければなりません。これは、minoriが人間社会で活動していく上で守っていかなくてはならないルールだからです。
minoriはminoriのソフトウェアを所有する方にリスクを負わせることを心配しています。安全かつ安心してプレイできる環境を提供できるのは、minoriの力では今のところ日本国内だけということなのです。ですから、もし、日本国外（ことさら英語圏）でminoriのソフトをプレイして頂くとすれば、信頼のおける第三者機関の保証が必要とであると考えているのです。
それぞれの国にはそれぞれの文化があります。お互いの文化を尊重するために、それぞれ異なったルールが存在しています。「minoriはガイジン嫌いのレイシスト」だとご批判を受けることがありますが、その度に私たちは悲しくなります。私たちはいつだって、世界が幸せになることを追求しています。幸せになる権利は誰にも平等にあるもので、それは国や人種に囚われるものではありません。何度も書くようですが、minoriのソフトを所有していることで傷を負い不幸になることがあってはならないのです。
私たちとファンの皆様は憎しみ合う関係であってはなりません。
お互いがどうしたら幸せになれるのか、そして、それはどういったルールの中で行わなければならないのか、一緒に考えていかなければならない関係なのです。これは日本国内、国外といった枠組みにとらわれた問題ではありません。
最後に、外国に御住まいの皆様。もしよろしければ、ぜひ日本へいらしてください！ minoriのソフトウェアは日本国内でプレイする限り、あなたが18歳以上であれば何のリスクも無くプレイできます。秋葉原には沢山のショップがあります。夏はちょっと暑いですが、いいところです。お待ちしております。
for many many Overseas fan.
minori Inc.
minoriへのご連絡はinfo＠minori.phへ日本語でお願いします。

As you may have already noticed of late, we've recently reviewed and covered a number of translated visual novels from MangaGamer on these hallowed pages (with more to come incidentally) - As an extension of that coverage, the company have very kindly fielded a number of questions both from ourselves and our readers, the result of which is the interview that follows. So, if you want to know more about MangaGamer and their releases, and particularly if you're looking for some teasers on their forthcoming products, read on!
Before we start, I'd just like to extend a huge thank you from all of us here at UK Anime for taking some time out to answer our questions.
To kick off, would you like to explain to some of our readers who might not yet be familiar with you who MangaGamer are and what they do?
Certainly. My name is John, though those who follow us on the forums and the staff blog will probably recognize me better by my handle, Kouryuu. I currently work for MangaGamer as one of their translators. The games I’ve worked on are Soul Link, Edelweiss Eiden Fantasia, and Kira Kira Curtain Call. Our company, MangaGamer, licenses visual novels for release and distribution in English. Some of you might recognize visual novels by one of their many other names: bishoujo games, eroge, H-games, etc.
What is your particular role within the company and how long have you been a part of MangaGamer?
I first joined the company last year after Otakon, a convention in the US, so around late July or early August. I signed on with the company as a translator and worked on Soul Link, followed by Edelweiss Eiden Fantasia.
While I was working on Edelweiss Eiden Fantasia, I began running our staff 'blog. Our editor occasionally contributes to it as well, but I’m the main contributor. I started the 'blog hoping to discuss things that arose during translation, provide extra tidbits for fans, and create an additional realm for discussion of things in addition to the forums we already ran. Hopefully, it may have more contributors in the future.
Not too long ago, I also received a few suggestions that it might be worthwhile to also manage a Twitter account, so I now handle that as well, posting various minor updates and news as well as communicating with our fans.
Currently, I’m in charge of editing Koihime Musou and a few other games.

With so many visual novels released in Japan, how does MangaGamer go about selecting which games to attempt to license and translate? Are those decisions affected by customer feedback and requests at all?
They are affected by the feedback and requests we receive, believe it or not. Currently, we’re slightly limited to the companies we already have arrangements with: Overdrive, Circus, Navel, and Nexton’s various sub-companies. Most of our current and upcoming catalog comes from these groups. However, we have been trying to take user requests into account. For example, one of the requests we’ve received was for games with a bit more of a gaming element to them, so we’ll be working on one from Circus in the near future.
We would like to be able to expand our offerings to include other companies in the future, and we are keeping the feedback we’ve received in mind for when we start taking that first step.

What was the thinking behind the decision to make "All ages" versions of some of your titles? Is there a lot of work involved in transitioning an otherwise adult game to be suitable as an all ages version?
Perhaps I should clarify that our definition of “All ages” means no adult content. Higurashi was originally all ages, but the BBFC would certainly rate it at a 15 or an 18. However, we wanted to create a version of our site that would allow those who were under-age a chance to enjoy as many of our offerings as we can. We’ve also received a few requests to offer an All-ages alternative for some of our games. To answer this request, we chose Kira Kira, which already had an all-ages version thanks to its offering on the iPod and made it available on our site as well.
In Japan, the transition to an All-ages version often involves rewriting some of the game text to adapt for the changes made by the removal of certain scenes. Often, the work they put into making one is more extensive than that. On our end, we would have to translate those new scripts and some other work as well in order to produce an All-ages version.

With all of that in mind, do you have any plans to convert any more titles to include all ages versions in the future?
Looking at the sales of our All-ages version of Kira Kira, I’m not sure when we’ll decide to make such a move. However, we do hope to continue adding games to our All-ages catalog as time goes on.

How long does the translation and conversion of a game take from being acquired to being sold on the MangaGamer web site, and what are the stages that you typically have to go through to end up with a finished product for the Western market?
First, we have to negotiate with the companies who originally created the game in order to obtain the license. Next, the game needs to be translated. Once the script translations are finished, they get sent to the editor. Lastly, the programmer handles all of the technical details to reinsert the English scripts and make sure the game runs.
Each step in the process can vary greatly in the time it takes. Several different factors can cause various snags at several points along the line.

How co-operative are the Japanese game developers when it comes to licensing their games for translation, and indeed for helping out if required with the conversion process?
I have never been responsible for negotiating any of the licenses, but as a translator, I’d say it depends on the company. Some have given me little to no information to work with beforehand, others have given me long lists detailing character speech traits, outlining the jokes in-game, and more while others have fallen in-between giving me lists of lines that might prove to problematic, and an explanation behind them. However, for the most part, I haven’t had any personal contact with them - though I also haven’t needed to make any such contact either.
Between the so-called "Dangerous Cartoons Act" coming into effect in the UK, and recent legal cases in the United States, are you concerned that legislation regarding the sexual depiction of anyone (or anything) that could be construed as a "minor" even in cartoon form will adversely affect MangaGamer's ability to do business, or even prevent them from selling Japanese visual novels at all?
It is as much a concern for us as it is for any other company working in this industry. I’d hate to see us losing our British fans right as we began to have them. As for the company, we still have no intention of censoring our games yet, but we would like to assure you that all the characters in our games with adult content are over the age of 18 and certainly not minors.
If I may speak personally, I believe it’s quite sad to see that the smallest dog is barking the loudest and getting their way in opposition to proper, logical reasoning. The issue of under-aged characters being in sexual situations in literature and other art forms is one that most countries should be familiar with, and have accepted for years upon end. Britain’s very own Thomas Hardy depicted the rape of a minor in his renowned work, Tess of the D’Urbervilles (though admittedly the question of whether the act was a result of rape or seduction is still one of much content). For that reason, I myself am more worried about the minds of those who thought that passing such legislation was a good idea, and what further harm they intend to commit to every normal law-abiding citizen.
On a more positive note, you recently had a sale where a few of your more high-profile games (Shuffle, Kira Kira, and Da Capo) were available for a reduced price. How did this sale work out for you guys?
It actually went fairly well. We’re considering offering another one for a different selection of games in the near future.

Although offering up direct download games seems to be working well for you so far, do you have any plans to release physical copies of any of your titles for purchase?
This is a difficult question indeed. We’ve had numerous requests and voices seeking hard copies, but the demand we see still does not seem to measure up to the cost of a print. We would certainly like to be able to meet these requests and produce hard copies, but the numbers have yet to match. Maybe one day, when we have more customers willing to buy our products.

On the download side of things, DRM has inevitably picked up rather a bad name for itself in the PC gaming space of late - Are MangaGamer happy with the DRM/activation system they're currently using for their games?
I don’t know if I’d say we’re happy with it, but I don’t foresee any drastic changes to our DRM. As it stands, it’s quite easy for us to reissue an activation code should a legitimate user actually manage to use up their activations.
Besides, DRM is something that most PC game companies have to employ out of necessity, not desire. Compared to the DRM that some companies are making use of, I’d like to think ours is far more user-friendly and far less invasive.

Without giving too much away, do you have any new announcements in the pipeline that you can tease us all with?
Some may have noticed a comics tab appeared on our website when we updated for the addition of an All-ages site, and we might finally have a few products appearing under that heading in the near future. As for teasers about the games that are in the works: how about some files to help you try and guess the titles?
1) http://i6.fastpic.ru/big/2010/0427/4f/06e18dff9a633dec375ee3d7f0cb5f4f.jpg
2) http://i6.fastpic.ru/big/2010/0427/a0/1bba236166f8507822d0d0777c6329a0.jpg
3) http://www.uk-anime.net/audio/mg-audio1.mp3
4) http://www.uk-anime.net/audio/mg-audio2.mp3

On a similar note, we've inevitably been thrown a few requests for games by our forum members, so let us just throw the most popular ones out there to see if there's any possibility of any of them getting an official release some day: Shuffle's expansion packs, School Days and Clannad. Any comments on any of those?
We’ve received a lot of requests for those on our site as well. With any luck, we’ll be able to answer the hopes of our fans.

I think that's all of our questions exhausted, so to finish things off, do you have any final comments or things you'd like to say to our readers?
It’s been a pleasure talking to you, and I hope that everyone can find a game they’ll enjoy on our catalog. We offer a wide variety to choose from, so I hope that if anyone is curious, they’ll come take a look at our website. Also, if anyone has any further questions for me or just wants to talk with other fans, please feel free to stop by the forum, 'blog, or Twitter.

John, thanks once again for having the time and patience to answer our questions, it's greatly appreciated. We look forward to hopefully talking to you again in the future, and of course we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for more great games from MangaGamer!

Один из грядущих релизов - несомненно, vn с геймплеем от Circus. Музыкальный трек номер 2 скорее всего именно из их Valkyrie Complex
Второй релиз - Zaishuu -The SiN- - судя по всему, нукиге. Здесь можно найти ревью на английском. Определено по первой картинке в списке подсказок на третьей странице.
Третий релиз - ещё не установлено точно, но есть версия, что это будет Da Capo 2 (картинка номер 2)
Четвёртый - единственная и пока непроверенная версия - Shin Koihime † Musou (трек номер 1)

CUFFS ユーザーサポート <support@cuffs.co.jp> to moogy0@gmail.com
1:24am
Dear moogy0@gmail.com
I’m CUFFS’s staff.
I can speak English so little that I wrote in easy Japanese.
私は有限会社CUFFSのスタッフです。
英語が話せないので、簡単な日本語で書きます。
あなた方が公開しているプロジェクトの中に、私たちの著作物ヨスガノソラ(Yosuga no Sora)があります。
しかし、私たちはヨスガノソラを他人が公開したり、翻訳することを認めていません。
ヨスガノソラ翻訳プロジェクトを中止して、シナリオスクリプトを削除して下さい。
ヨスガノソラのファンの誠実な対応を期待します。

I’m one of the employees at CUFFS. I’m not very good with English, so I’ll write this in simple Japanese instead.
One of our copyrights, Yosuga no Sora, is currently included in your open translation project. However, we do not permit third parties to publicize {files of, presumably} or translate Yosuga no Sora.
Please stop your translation work on Yosuga no Sora and remove its script files.
We hope that you will do the right thing, as fans of Yosuga no Sora.