Representing one of the sponsors of Kanako Ito’s visit was the Nitroplus president himself, Digitarou. After meeting him at Kanako’s press panel, he was kind enough to give us some of his time for a brief interview. We asked him about Nitroplus’s foray into the English-speaking market, from his initial impressions to his hopes for the future.

For those unfamiliar with Nitroplus, it is a visual novel company founded in 2000. Their first release was Phantom of Inferno, which was brought over to the USA in 2003 by Hirameki International. Their works include Deus Machina Demonbane, Saya no Uta (Song of Saya), and the mascot character Super Sonico. Currently, they are partnering with 5pb. Games to produce the Science Novels series (ChäoS;HEAd, Steins;Gate, and Robotics;Notes), and with JAST USA to release Nitroplus games in English.

There was initially no thought given to expanding Nitroplus outside of Japan, but their work with Hirameki exposed them to the American market. In preparation for Phantom’s English release, Digitarou took his first trip to America; he visited Anime Expo 2002 in order to conduct market research. Now, 10 years later, he is still surprised that there is not much difference between the fans in America and those in Japan. Even though the fans are from different countries and cultures, they have the same kinds of reactions to Nitroplus’s works. Digitarou also believes that the core idea of the stories is still successfully communicated — that in order to gain something, you must lose something. He actually estimates that about 70% to 80% of each story will be interpreted in the same way regardless of language.

Moving beyond games, Digitarou is interested in releasing English translations from the NitroplusBooks line of novels. However, he is concerned that the costs of translation will exceed the income from sales of novels. It does not seem like a possibility in the near future. Also, if he had the chance to turn one of Nitroplus’s stories into a Hollywood-style movie, any one would be fine, but Saya no Uta seemed the most interesting. For now, Digitarou would like to keep visiting conventions around the world; Nitroplus is supporting Kanako Ito’s July visit to Germany for AnimagiC. Also the game partnership with JAST USA will continue, and anybody interested in translating a Nitroplus game should contact JAST USA.

We would like to thank Digitarou for giving us the chance to interview him, and George Trombley, the president of Japanfiles, for offering to help translate during the interview. We would also like to thank Nitroplus, 5pb. Games, and Anime Boston for helping make this happen.

The game can be downloaded from the iTunes AppStore for an introductory price of $0.99.

encubed: Why did you decide to translate A Scar of the Doll into English?

Miyashita: I have been making games in Japan for 15 years, but I have always felt that I would like not just Japanese people, but people all around the world to play my games. However, there are many issues to overcome in order to translate and promote a game overseas. This iPhone release is a first step towards that goal.

e: What parts of the scenario do you hope that overseas players will enjoy the most?

M: The character relationships and story development are fairly complex and lengthy. While the main character tries to pursue her missing elder sister, unexpected developments and new mysteries unfold, and a surprising conclusion awaits her.
I believe there are many complex stories in European and American novels and movies, but it seems like with regard to games, simple action types are quite popular. Because of this, I think that there aren’t many story-centric games like this. I hope that people can enjoy this long and detailed story.

e: What are your impressions of the English visual novel market?

M: This is still our first (English) game so I cannot say anything yet, but it seems like there are many high quality games available on the AppStore for low prices like $1. This is good from a user’s point of view, but can be quite a problem for developers. There are many visual novels that have beautiful graphics. Instead, since A Scar of the Doll is an older style game that focuses on the text, so we have to pay special attention to the pricing.

e: Would Child-Dream like to translate any other of its games into English?

M: Yes, definitely! However, if A Scar of the Doll does not perform well, we may not release another game. We create both visual novels and role-playing games in Japan, but since visual novels are simpler to produce, we selected one as our first release. Next, we plan to release a game based on the Mayan Calendar’s 2012 apocalypse theory. In the future, we would like to release RPGs in English too.
Japan’s RPGs are not as popular in Europe and America, but the feeling of an interesting story is something people can experience no matter where they are from. I would like to find out if people will find the stories I created interesting.

October 27, 2011 – Child-Dream releases A Scar of the Doll in English for iPhone and iPod touch.
It is available on the iTunes AppStore at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/a-scar-of-the-doll/id474442505?mt=8.

[Story]
Asumi’s sister has disappeared! Where did she go?
A shuddering and thrilling suspense story.
Can you unravel this mystery from Japan!?

It is the end of the year in December.
Asumi has lost complete contact with her elder sister who goes to graduate school in Tokyo.
Worried for her sister’s safety, Asumi travels alone to Tokyo to find her–
but no trace of her could be found. Her sister wasn’t in either the laboratory, where she had been assigned to, nor at her apartment.
Asumi is at loss at for what to do….
What has happened to her sister…?

Asumi is determined to find out.
What she doesn’t know, however, is that she is in imminent danger…
and there are frightening facts awaiting her.

[Notes]
- You must make choices to lead your way from danger and solve the mystery.
- The game takes an average of 4 to 6 hours.
- This is the first time this popular game from Japan is available in English.
- There are game hints available on the support site, which can be found on the title screen.
- It is currently on sale for an introductory price of $0.99.

[About Child-Dream]
Child-Dream is a Japanese game developer, and their first English game is “A Scar of The Doll”. Their scenario writer specializes in mystery stories, and is known for the award-winning PlayStation 3 action RPG “Folklore”. Their website is http://www.child-dream.net/. You can contact Child-Dream with inquiries at iphone@child-dream.net.

Jenny Draper: Does MangaGamer intend to provide more up to date eroge?
bamboo: We are choosing games based on companies that are interested in overseas and who are willing to invest into the project. We are sorry about some delays for some titles such as ef. The most difficult part of my job is negotiating with the game companies.

onyxsyaoran: I’d like you to localize Steins;Gate!
bamboo: Please tell that to 5pb. We are choosing games based on user opinions and companies who are interested, but it still takes a long time to make the companies interested in the overseas market.

LGJinnai: Do you have any plans to make more visual novels with interactive game play? Outside Japan, games are looked upon with disdain if they lack decent game play.
bamboo: Games with game play are difficult to develop at this time. We need a lot of cooperation with the game companies to make it into a reality. I think it will take a bit longer until we can attract more companies, even though we have been trying for 3 years now.

iAX_SPJA: Do you play any Western-developed games? If so, what’s your favorite(s) and do you think you can apply any of the practices/themes from them into your visual novels?
bamboo: I play a lot of Western games, my favorite is Fallout 3! The current situation in Japan is like Fallout 3, lol.

bamboo: What do you guys call our genre? Bishoujo games? Visual novels?
(Most people call them visual novels, some said eroge, one said bishoujo game. Some people were more detailed.)

yeahorsomething: Have you ever cried while reading an eroge? Which?
bamboo: Yes, I cry a lot when I play these games!

krat6: In the future, will it be possible to release games at the same time overseas as in Japan?
bamboo: Yes, in the future we might be able to release games overseas at the same time… but we don’t have the money to do that yet.

rkiosuku: It’s expensive, isn’t it.
bamboo: Yes, it’s expensive! You might think that Japanese game companies are big, but in reality there are barely 10 staff members. That’s why they try to concentrate on the Japanese market first. And they have a difficult time appointing people to manage the overseas market.

wizzlewiz: Have most companies in Japan been pleased with the sales of the localized versions in the west? Have your efforts improved the Japanese market’s perspective of the western market?
bamboo: The companies selling their games through MangaGamer are still not selling as they want, so they are practically doing it as a free service at the moment. They need to sell over 2000-3000 copies to make an actual profit. It might still take time to make it into a real business, but sales and members have been steadily increasing.

Kittaka_Fuyuka: What is happening with Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa nai? Is there a chance of it being translated?
bamboo: The negotiations for Oretsuba are going steadily.

yeahorsomething: Bamboo, yaranaika?
bamboo: No thank you!

Counter_Arts: Have you thought about bringing budget value titles at around $15 to help grow the market?
bamboo: It depends on the titles and their contents, but if those game companies are interested…

wizzlewiz: What plans do you have to attempt to quicken the expansion of the Western market? Also, more importantly, do you still have high hopes for the Western market?
bamboo: MangaGamer is still relying on the Internet and conventions for promotion.

rotinoma: Will bamboo make it to Otakon one year?
bamboo: I haven’t gone to Otakon and would like to, but I’m going to at least AX this year. I would like to answer more questions at the AX panel in person.

girlsinspats: What are your thoughts on creating a Steam-like application for the digital distribution of eroge?
bamboo: I would like to make a system like Steam personally, but the market is not big enough yet unfortunately…

NintendoManiac64: Wouldn’t stronger support of iOS and Android avoid the need for something like Steam?
bamboo: We don’t have any plans to release games on Android as MangaGamer, but we are releasing Kira☆Kira for it as OVERDRIVE.

(Question missed)
bamboo: I have left the project in the hands of the overseas staff for a while, but I would like to keep in touch with people using these chat sessions and things. It might take a long time, but eventually I would like to get the word out.

komeP: Where do you hope MangaGamer will be in five years?
bamboo: It might be gone, it it might still he around 5 years from now. If it is, I imagine that there would be a lot more titles by then.

Counter_Arts: Have you considered translating a high quality Japanese doujin circle’s bishoujo game?
bamboo: If there is a high demand, we would go for doujin games too. MangaGamer is still small, so what we negotiate depends on the demands of the fans.

Asceai: Who are your favorite eroge scenario writers?
bamboo: I like all of the eroge writers I’ve worked with.

(Question missed)
bamboo: Basically, it costs money to localize games. A lot of money. Testing and especially voices are expensive. They sometimes goes over the cost of the rest of the project. Voices also involve changes in the contracts with within Japan, such as the ones made with voice actor agencies.

LGJinnai: Do you think fan translators that have tried to promote buying the official Japanese releases of games instead of pirating them have helped the industry?
bamboo: I think that fan translators were not helping us at all, until last year, when NNL started helping us with ef. So I think that cooperating with fan translators is an effective way to develop the market… Although, I still feel negatively towards fan translators who translate without the approval of the companies. But I am looking forward to releasing Dengeki Stryker to the Western market — it’s made a bit with the Western market in mind.

yeahorsomething: What is your favorite beer?
bamboo: I actually don’t like beer/alcohol that much!

Kittaka_Fuyuka DEARDROPS ranked 194th in PUSH!!’s 2010 PC Bishoujo Game Sales Ranking. Was it a failure?
bamboo: DEARDROPS didn’t fail! It was…profitable.

girlsinspats: Would you consider selling character goods/related merchandise (from COSPA or other manufacturers) of games you have released in the MangaGamer online store?
bamboo: COSPA is doing international sales on their own, so we probably won’t be involved. We might make our own products though. Like goods for conventions. But we don’t have anywhere to ship them from.

Asceai: Is there a MangaGamer ita-sha?
bamboo: No, but there is an OVERDRIVE ita-sha.

(No question)
bamboo: We won’t be bringing many guests this year to AX, sadly.

hikarisc: When is the next chat?
bamboo: I would like to do this kind of chat twice a month.

Astraea127: How would you make VNs/bishoujo games appeal more to Western audiences? Would you start from licensing more all-ages games to absorb people into it?
bamboo: I don’t know how we would suddenly expand the VN market in the west, but I would like to start with a title like Go Go Japan that is acceptable to everyone.

Nuriomarayana: Any details on Go Go Japan? Will it be sold at AX? When will it be sold online? Have you determined the exact price?
bamboo: Go Go Japan probably won’t make it to AX, but we are planning to release it by this fall.

Asceai: Do you like natto?
bamboo: I like natto! Didn’t expect that question, lol.

Diffor: What’s your favorite, breasts or butts?
bamboo: Oppai. I like middle oppai.

StromIV: What are the chances of other games being sold as boxed hard copies instead of download?
bamboo: There are plans to release hard copies of other games, but I can’t say which titles yet.

Minimoto714: Which eroge do you recommend the most?
bamboo: Of course the most recommended eroge are OVERDRIVE games!

NintendoManiac64: Tsundere or yandere?
bamboo: I don’t want to end up in a situation like in School Days, hanging out with a yandere girl, so no thank you!

LGJinnai: Do the English sales of VNs seem to be going in the right direction?
bamboo: The sales of English VNs are steadily increasing, but it’s not enough to convince the companies. We aren’t getting paid to do this by the way.

wizzlewiz: Have you made a profit on any MangaGamer titles? Conversely, have you lost any money on MangaGamer titles?
bamboo: Titles like Shuffle and Koihime were pretty profitable. So I guess well-known titles do better. Kira☆Kira surprisingly did well too.

LGJinnai: What do you have to say when people say that the price in US dollars is too much, as it is the same as buying a physical game for PC or console systems?
bamboo:We are carefully adjusting the prices of the games based on the original prices and costs. Of course if the market expands, we can lower the prices…

Nuriomarayana: Any chance of seeing Kanon in the West officially?
bamboo: Visual Art’s current isn’t interested in the overseas market… but since their president is a business person, if there is a high demand for it…?

(No question)
bamboo: Like I said before, Japanese companies are small, so it’s hard to answer to demands such as “Release the games quicker!”, but we are working hard on it. I would like to hold sessions like this in the future, and try hard so that overseas fans can enjoy bishoujo games as well. Please support MangaGamer! Who’s going to AX by the way? Please bring your friends to the AX panel – it’ll probably be held on the 3rd day! tororo danchou will be there too.

Counter_Arts: I wish I could go! I’m in Canada though…
ch0ux: Me too… Being in Canada sucks that way.
bamboo: It’s unsafe to own eroge in Canada, so be careful!?
(People stated where they are from, there were viewers from all over the world, including Latin America and South America, though most of the people were from North America and Europe)

bamboo: Thank you for your time, we’ll do this again! I’ll post the next schedule on the forums when it’s decided.

MangaGamer’s official blog (NSFW) also has an overview of the Q&A session in a more narrative format.

Young girls wishing to apply may email us and we will put you in contact with QB. For the men out there, QB is not searching for any more magical gamers at the moment.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

The contracted font

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。

—

TL:

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.

Although suspicious, there is no indication so far that this move is linked to the Eden* translation project in recent days.

• Agilis has finally released Narcissu Side 2nd by Stage-Nana in English as a full operating system. (Neechin.net)
• Hendane and MangaGamer announce a new strategic partnership to release boxed versions of MangaGamer’s lineup. (Hendane!.com)
• Aniki Translations (formerly Yandere Translations) has announced that they are 70% complete with their translation of Hotaru 3 by Tarutaru Monya~. Their release will also feature a dub by the translation team. (Aniki Translations)
• No Name Losers release Minori Mystery Meat.
• The people/person working on a translation of Yandere has released a translation patch for the trial version of Gore Screaming Show.
• mirrormoon’s project servers had been seized by Dutch authorities, although they managed to retain some of their backups.
• MangaGamer starts their spring sale as planned.
• The translator for Kara no Shoujo has now added a poll for what to translate next.

Since our last interview with her she’s taken on several more roles such as reprising Anise in the ongoing anime adaptation 2005 game Tales of the Abyss, who she cosplayed as on the second day. She has also founded her own label, AkihabaLove Records, with its first CD release at the end of April and two more coming this month. The new label was probably the reason she had a very open photography and videography policy at FanimeCon — she said it was okay to upload videos of her events and her agency even gave permission to broadcast the events live. In fact, on her blog she has linked to several concert videos that people have uploaded to Youtube.

There were some very interesting questions asked at her panels, that can only be described with the phrase “too much freedom”, as Momoi did in her post about the first panel. Perhaps most relevant to this website were two such questions. At the first panel, in response to an earlier question about adult doujinshi (amateur comic) featuring characters that Momoi has voiced, someone asked Momoi if she would be interested in voicing the role of a heroine of an adult game. She said that she’s never been asked to do one, but that an adult scene would be embarassing to do. Then, at the following day’s panel someone else asked what kind of character she would like to voice if she was actually asked to be in an adult game. This time she responded that the panel isn’t restricted to only people 18 and older, so she wouldn’t answer. The questioner changed his question and asked what kind of character Momoi would like to play if it were just a normal anime. Her response was that she would like to play a character that looks like a girl, but actually is a boy. She also mentioned wanting to voice a male character at the first panel.

Her concert and other events were all just as fun as the panels. There was a call workshop after her second panel teaching people how to dance at Momoi’s concerts, led by a fan who came from Japan (a total of four fans flew from Japan to cheer on Momoi). Also on that day she attended the Fanimaid cafe’s performance at Stage Zero, cheering the maids on with calls and wotagei from her seat, the stage, and with her fans on the sidelines. At the concert, she performed her usual “LOVE.EXE” from the PS2 version of Baldr Force EXE, as well as “Tenbatsu! Angel Rabbie” (天罰！エンジェルラビィ) from Magical Twirler Angel Rabbie (まじかるトワラー・エンジェルラビィ☆). The audience was very enthusiastic through the entire concert as Momoi performed with her live band.

We would like to thank Momoi, her crew, and the FanimeCon staff who had to manage this all. And of course all of the fans (staff included) who made the events more exciting, putting the “fan” in FanimeCon.

As a side note, zalas was asked along with the other panelist to autograph a Lucky Star DVD box at the visual novel panel…

Photo credit: tenton