yirba: Is Dengeki Stryker confirmed as a MangaGamer release?
bamboo: Yes, we’ll be selling Dengeki Stryker on MangaGamer so please look forward to it!

bamboo: We won’t be able to make it for AX, but we are making this game for everyone overseas…
(At this point, showed off the cover art for Go Go Nippon.)
bamboo: Go Go Nippon!
bamboo: So choose 1 of the two heroines and visit all the places in japan
bamboo: A bit erotic ^^
bamboo: The game itself is complete so hopefully i can show it in action soon
bamboo: Iphone application is strict as (censored by JustinTV) so even if its a bit erotic, it gets rejected
bamboo: For those who have difficulty coming to Japan, we made this game to kind of experience what its like here

hamusumo: How much is the planned game time of Go Go Nippon?
bamboo: The game is kind of like a guidebook, so it’s not that long, but I’ll let you know when I actually play it throughly
bamboo: Maybe we can make patches that does this in that in the future =P
bamboo: Yes we’ll be selling it online at a cheap price

(Below are the front and back covers for Go Go Nippon, from screen captures taken from the stream)

drmchsr0: Say, are Kamen Rider questions valid now? :3c
bamboo: I dunno much about Kamen Rider but if its something i can answer. lol

(no question)
bamboo: Hoping well continue to make games for everyone who is interested in japan but can’t come here
bamboo: We’ll be holding a panel at AX to have sort of a meeting with everyone
bamboo: We’ll be answering question along with Tororo Dancho from Circus and tell you some updates from Japan

asceai: Will the Japanese text work for people without Japanese OS/locale in the release?
bamboo: We will be testing the Japanese part for Go Go Nippon but its not final yet

hikari_sc: has companies in japan recovered from the earthquake, how is the scheduling of games like ef coming along?
bamboo: There was a big impact from the earthquake and directly affected us
bamboo: You can say the recent slow release of MangaGamer is mostly because of the quake
bamboo: Sales in Japan has gone down too

drmchsr0: Oh wait, here’s a serious one. How is Bill 156 and Ishihara’s recent comments gonna affect the future of Overdrive and MangaGamer? D:
bamboo: Isihara’s comment and bill has little to do with MangaGamer

yirba: Will we possibly see the MangaGamer mascot (Comko) in games? :-P
bamboo: No plan to including our mascot in a game at the moment
bamboo: I did see the image on 4chan with our mascot being naked and was laughing with everyone

hikari_sc: When do you think Japanese developers will start making games with internationalization in mind (ie: writing it in such a way so it can easily be ported to other languages)
bamboo: There are some developers who are interested, but it all depends on the demand and what they consider a success in oversea sales
bamboo: We need to make a good basis for business for that, for us to succeed in such circumstance
bamboo: We actually have Dengeki Stryker and Go Go Nippon with the oversea fans in mind

furbysbadday: Might we see more Higurashi?
timpkmn89: Alongside Furbys comment, will we ever specifically see Higurashi Rei, the series epilogue?
bamboo: If there is a high demand for Higurashi Rei, yes

(no question)
bamboo: i would like to study English too, so someone show me a cute English speaking girl, btw

snowballer: How’s the progress with âge going?
bamboo: Negotiation with âge is going steadily

miragecg: Have you contact with “old” eroge maker (like Mink for example)
bamboo: Sorry I don’t have much connection with Mink
bamboo: I only know developers that started in the early 2000s

drmchsr0: How do you view 999’s success in the US? Are you planning to do something like that in the future?
bamboo: In relation to 999, since we are releasing Kara no Shoujo, we are looking forward to see how much that will sell

swiftnissity: Whats happening with the comics section of the website, its empty right now.
bamboo: The comic section of MangaGamer should be opening soon
bamboo: I’m personally not in charge of it, but we are planning that and the video(anime) section

hikari_sc: what motivated you to get into eroge development? Was it difficult to start a company? What do your friends and family think about your job?
bamboo: I was originally a creator for Playstation game, but I was tricked into joining a bishoujo game company!
bamboo: My friends and family are like, do what you like
bamboo: Since I sing songs and stuff as well as make games, I’m in a bit dif situation
bamboo: It takes a lot of work to make a company, but i was able to make a living for the past 10 years by doing so
bamboo: I was happy to see a fan who said he liked Kira Kira when i was about to get on a Taxi at AX btw

miragecg: Are you planning to coming to European Convention (like Japan expo in Paris France)
bamboo: We participated at the Japan Expo several years ago, but since it wasn’t truly an English speaking environment, I’m iffy about it
bamboo: So we are concentrating in the American market for now
bamboo: I personally love USA too

thedoddler: There are a few new guest companies coming to AX this year that do not currently have games in English (like Clochette). Is it possible that these guests may get English language versions of their games at some point in the future?
bamboo: There is a possibility that companies like Clochette will release game for us, but
bamboo: We are just taking guest companies to AX to show them how the American market is like
bamboo: So it’s like a future investment to show them around and get them interested

bearhunterx: A lot of unofficial translations are getting picked up for official releases lately(Demonbane, ef, School Days, Kara no Shojo). Does the threat of an unofficial release floating around make negotiations with companies easier?
bamboo: It depends on the companies. and since the translation quality varies, we have to check it thoroughly anyway
bamboo: and of course the Japanese companies are suspicious about the unofficial translations
bamboo: and since the priority for the Japanese releases come first, the oversea market become secondary
bamboo: reminder. MangaGamer is still in the red…
bamboo: so please purchase our games
bamboo: and if you can, try to help us by boycotting illegal download sites

swiftnissity: Are we able to know which is Mangagamer’s worst selling game? Since Koihime Musou was supposedly their best selling game.
bamboo: Koihime is our number 1 selling game with Shuffle coming close
bamboo: Worst selling game is a secret =P

hikari_sc: What plans do MangaGamer have against piracy?
bamboo: Kill them all j/k

hikari_sc: What is your most memorable moment in an eroge? Who is your favorite girl in all the games you have played so far?
bamboo: my favorite heroine in a bishoujo game is Multi from To Heart

omonomono: Totally random topic: I bought Good Smile Company’s B.G.M. Nendoroid Petit set volume 0. Is there going to be volume 1? I would love a GSC Kirarin figure that’s slightly bigger lol. Or other characters from the game.
bamboo: I would personally like to release vol.1 of the Petiet Nendoroids, but it depends on if GSC says yes

swiftnissity: Has MangaGamer considered releasing updated re-releases (D.C > D.C.P.C for example) or are they out of the question?
bamboo: If there is a high demand for D.C.P.C, we can… but at the moment not really
bamboo: It is costly for us to localize one title and if it fails, it hurts us bad…

miragecg: Are you planning to make overdrive titles goodies (like figure and such) available to sale for us westerner via MG Website?
bamboo: We don’t have any plans to sell overdrive goods overseas
bamboo: Because of customs, we have difficulty sending made in China merchandise to the US too

dave1278: Given the current sales count for Koihime Musou is there a chance of getting Shin Koihime Musou (with or without voice)? ie are Baseson happy with the current sales to continue?
bamboo: We don’t have a plan to release Shin Koihime Musou at the moment, but since the sales were good, I’m sure we’ll start talking about it sooner or later
bamboo: About the voice acting issue: since the voice actor agency are hard headed, they demand a lot and thus there are some games without voices

(no question)
bamboo: Evangelion’s Shinji (Ogata Megumi) is voice acting for Dengeki Stryker
bamboo: She’s a really awesome person so respect her!

swiftnissity: Any plans to work with Baseson~Spice~? (The bl branch of Baseson)
bamboo: We don’t have any plans for BL titles because i don’t really know how well it will sell…

zalas: Over here, when people think games, they think gameplay. What do you think about bringing out more games with gameplay?
bamboo: About games with gameplay, it is difficult because porting it is a lot of work, and the game company needs to be really interested and has to help us
bamboo: I personally would like to make a bishoujo game like Fallout 3… if i had such money

tdavis0079: Oh yeah, speaking of Nakano, Go! Go! Nippon 2 needs a trip to Nakano Broadway. Such an awesome place.
bamboo: Yeah, we would certainly add Nakano Broadway in the next version
bamboo: We are planning to update it with patches, maybe $5 a patch?
bamboo: Try to think of it as a DLC pack for X-box or the likes

drmchsr0: Are there any plans to negotiate with Illusion?
bamboo: Doesn’t Illusion have a English page of their own? Not really sure but…
(some discussion of Rapelay by the commenters at this point)

jjjlmx: Are there plans for more Overdrive music theme games?
bamboo: Yes OVERDRIVE is planning to make music related game in the future for sure
bamboo: As long as I’m still interested in playing music

bearhunterx: Do Overdrive games have a better profit margin, since you don’t have to negotiate with other companies?
bamboo: The profit margin for our game is still the same….
bamboo: OVERDRIVE is an experimental release, using a lot of our resource

drmchsr0: Is MangaGamer gonna sell VN OSTs?
bamboo: Is there a high demand for Soundtrack releases?
bamboo: We are worried about piracy
bamboo: Since it would probably be uploaded on an illegal site as soon as it goes up.
(At this point, a bunch of discussion on demand for OSTs by the chatters)
bamboo: Thanks for the comments though, really happy to know that American fans care about my songs.
bamboo: I’m really against piracy so i would appreciate if you tell your friends who download from those sites that it is hurting us btw

nuriohin: Are there any plans for Limited Editions of OVERDRIVE’s titles?
bamboo: We’ll see how Da Capo LE sells before releasing other Limited Editions for now

amorim: Are there any updates about ef?
bamboo: Minori told me we should have something to look at soon
bamboo: Sorry about the delay (although i have no control over it)
bamboo: Minori is taking everything seriously

y10nrdy: It’s the general consensus that the only thing MangaGamer is lacking is hard copy versions of the games. Are there any plans to release packaged editions of your upcoming releases?
bamboo: We are negotiating about future hard copies, but ideally would like to release all our games in package form
bamboo: The most difficult thing is though, is how we are going to sell it
bamboo: Since there isn’t really a concrete selling route other than conventions

bamboo: Ok, that is all for today
bamboo: We will be using this site again in the future, and hopefully you can visit us again
bamboo: We will try to make the announcement early next time
bamboo: Thanks for joining us at such a late time
bamboo: It is a small market right now, but i would love to expand it so please continue to support us
bamboo: See you at AX for those who are going to be there, and if not see you here again!
bamboo: Thank you~

A picture of Yuuko giving the V sign currently adorns minori’s overseas facing website along with a caption of “Hello!! minori’s overseas expansion has started.” Below it was an image that featured the logos of the three parties involved with cross marks between them. Clicking on this logo brought the visitor to the MangaGamer post about the collaboration.

According to the MangaGamer post, the first two games tackled will be the two parts of ef – a fairy tale of the two, which spawned several other derivative properties including the two animated adaptations ef – a tale of memories and ef – a tale of melodies. The game itself is essentially a modern fairy tale told in five chapters. Things that set this apart from many other games include using full frame images instead of character sprites and having different protagonists for each arc. The game featured writer mikage and illustrator Naru Nanao, who happened to have also worked on CIRCUS’s Da Capo and Suika, both of which currently have been released by MangaGamer. The videos in the game were created under the direction of Makoto Shinkai, also well known for his animated features Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days and 5 Centimeters Per Second. Any other games from minori are currently a possibility, but nothing is solid yet. The mention of eden* in the press release (replicated below) has now been confirmed to be an error by MangaGamer staff.

The website for No Name Losers has a more comprehensive description of the upcoming release, including details about how this differs from their previously released “fansubbed version.” Essentially, the game will be split up again into two parts, esoteric references used by NNL in the translation will be removed, honorifics use will not have exceptions for Chihiro and Mizuki, wording will be changed to impart that all characters are over 18 and the extra bad ending added by the group will be removed. For those curious, the full script of that ending is now available in a link from the website. Lastly, because engineering for the engine is no longer a big hurdle, some of the things missing in their original release such as the feature to replay scenes/movies and the configuration screen will now be added back in.

The official press release was as follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Pickett, Head Translator/Marketing Manager, john@mangagamer.com

---

TOKYO, Japan, 27 September 2010 – Visual novel licensor and distributor MangaGamer.com is proud to announce a new partnership with studio and developer Minori, Inc. and No Name Losers (NNL) to officially distribute Minori’s titles in English.

This deal will see Minori’s titles on sale in their original, unedited form for the first time via MangaGamer.com with translation provided by No Name Losers. All releases will be use Minori’s original game engine. The first titles to be released under this partnership will be ef-The First Tale, and ef-The Latter Tale, which provided the basis for the the two anime ef – A Tale of Memories (2007) and ef – A Tale of Melodies (2008), as well as Eden*, one of minori’s other releases.

In addition to its elaborate story, the ef series features astounding visuals with a vast array beautiful CGs created by Naru Nanao, the illustrator for the original Da Capo, as well as animation by Makoto Shinkai.

ABOUT minori:
Formed as the software division of CoMixWave in 2001 and independent since April 2007, Minori has created a series of stunning and engaging set of visual novels including the highly popular Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two series. Their catch phrase, “We keep minority spirit”, reflects the studio’s independent mindset and creative desires.

ABOUT No Name Losers:
Originally created as a fansubbing outlet, No Name Losers are now working together with minori alongside MangaGamer for the purpose of officially translating and localizing minori’s games into English.

ABOUT MANGAGAMER.COM
MangaGamer.com is the world’s first legal download site for English translated visual novels, sometimes also known as bishojo games. Since its launch in July 2008, MangaGamer.com has offered services where fans can download and enjoy popular games, often with anime spin-offs, such as CIRCUS’s Da Capo, 07th Expansion’s Higurashi: When They Cry, and NAVEL’s Shuffle!. Our parent companies are some of the biggest names in visual novels, including CIRCUS, NAVEL, NEXTON (including the BASESON and LIQUID sub-labels), and OVERDRIVE, providing a varied catalog of both All-Ages and Adults Only titles.

No Name Losers originally started out in the old heyday of digital fansubbing, having released many fansubs of opening movies to visual novel games, such as Baldr Force and Family Project, as well as Wind -a breath of heart-, which is apparently the first one they did. They then teamed up with game translation group insani to fully translate minori’s game Wind -a breath of heart-, with insani handling the initial translation and coding and No Name Losers handling the editing and the rest. Meanwhile, they also fansubbed several episodes of the animated adaptations. The translator for insani, gp32, finished the initial translation in a few months and handed off the materials to No Name Losers for the remainder of the process. Before release, there was some debate as to whether minori should be contacted about this project. However, in the end, it looks like minori was not contacted, according to the README file that came with the final release, stating that “to [their] knowledge, minori has no idea that [they've] done this.”

When it became time to release the final patch, things became a bit hot. This release took place about a year and a half after insani noticed that despite providing easy-to-use instructions for obtaining one of their previous releases, planetarian, the vast majority of people using their translation patch did not pay for the game, resulting in their policy to no longer take on any more such projects. It was decided amongst the project staff that the patch would be initially released to people who bought the game by asking each person who wanted the game to reveal information about the packaging of the retail version, meanwhile a fully public release would come later. The attempts by many to game the system brought out hostilities on both sides, and soon a system was instituted where a person would be required to present physical evidence of having broken the extra disc with update patches that came with the CD release of the game. Thus spawned the meme, “break the support disc.” This had also resulted in a scuffle between NNL and the predecessor of this site, VisualNews, because of the latter party’s reluctance to fully redact a story on this issue after the corresponding entry was removed from NNL’s website. In a recent interview, No Name Losers stated that this was the reason the meme spread like wildfire. However, despite the drama, a full version of the Wind translation patch was eventually released to the public several months later.

Approximately a year later, No Name Losers announced a project to translate minori’s latest game, ef – the first tale. This announcement was made controversial by the fact that this release would be made a standalone package that did not require the original game to install. At the time, according to at least one of the people involved in the project, engineering for the game engine in the full version became an issue; the use of the trial version game engine in one of the public releases was most likely a result of this. The staff also issued statements that a standalone release wouldn’t really be all that different from an anime fansub and that minori wouldn’t benefit financially from a patch since their games had short runs. This spawned heated discussions in a lot of places and some animosity from No Name Losers’s GipFace toward this site due to the mods not wanting to close a thread on the attached forums that had gotten quite heated. The ef project itself had its ups and downs, including periods of time when it was stalled due to lack of translators. Eventually, however, several releases were made, including a complete one most recently.

The next game from minori, the experimental work eden* was not without drama either. After failed negotiations, there ended up being two groups of people working on the game — No Name Losers and a collaboration involving Sekai Project. The latter had hosted their files on TLWiki, which became the setting for a heated edit war and debate involving minori. That project was dropped, but minori had also contacted NNL, asking them to stop what they were doing. NNL had refused to cooperate at the time.

However, eventually the two parties started talking after a second email was sent to NNL and posted on minori’s website. OVERDRIVE’s bamboo came into contact with minori and ended up discussing the issue with minori’s nbkz Sakai over a meal in late July. NNL leader GipFace had also sent MangaGamer head translator Kouryuu a polite private message a few days later after the initial contact by minori to start a conversation.

Things were winding up that it might’ve been possible for the three parties to announce a collaboration during MangaGamer’s Otakon panel. However, due to last minute communication issues, the plan fell through, although Kouryuu hinted at the collaboration at the end of the panel with an “anyways — just — you know, as you guys all go home tonight, just remember: ‘keeping the minority spirit’”. Tweets from MangaGamer also hinted at this minori catchphrase as well. No Name Losers eventually updated their website to reflect that they were now a subsidiary of minori and posted a message to the effect that they have discontinued their fan translations and that they would not want their works to be distributed any further.

Eventually, the three parties got their acts together and realized it was time to make the announcement. Strangely enough, before the announcement sequence started, a copy of ef – the first tale. had appeared on J-List’s shop. For the announcement, minori posted a sequence of images of Yuuko carrying a bottle and flying from Japan to Toronto first and then to the Netherlands, where MangaGamer.com resides. When Yuuko flew through Toronto, No Name Losers posted a hand-drawn image of Miyako having received a bottle in the mail. MangaGamer translator Kouryuu posted as sequence of five messages (one for each chapter of ef) on the official blog while he tweeted in character. The first message about a sore wrist did bring up a few jokes amongst the readers.

Finally, the official announcement was made by the three parties after some furious F5-key pressing by many, bringing the story to a close(?) with a certainly eccentric finish.

UPDATE: More details and links added to writeup and certain statements were removed at the request of our source. The article has also been reordered and NNL has issued a comment, stating that:

[W]e appreciate the summary of events that [have been] written up — and that we’d prefer that everyone: the community, Gemot Encubed, and No Name Losers, move on from the bitter events of the past, as the minori/Mangagamer/No Name Losers partnership demonstrates so beautifully.

UPDATE: minori’s site has now been updated to redirect to http://overseas.minori.ph/ for people accessing from outside Japan and currently has Yuuko Amamiya flying past Japan carrying a bottle. It currently has the text “See you tomorrow !!”

UPDATE 2: On minori’s site, Yuuko now appears to be headed towards Toronto, Canada, and No Name Losers’ website now has a picture of a smiling Miyako Miyamura standing next to an open mailbox with a bottle protruding out of it. The image file is aptly named “received.png”.

UPDATE 3: Yuuko is now seen zooming off east, leaving a prone and scantily clad Miyako behind next to a Canadian flag marking Toronto.

UPDATE 4: Yuuko is now on her way to what appears to be the Netherlands, and the caption was changed to: “Japan-Canada-??? See you tomorrow !!!!!”

UPDATE 5: The top image on minori’s website has been replaced with a picture of super-deformed ef characters. There’s Miyako talking on the phone along with a frantic Mizuki trying to stop an angry Kei. “Tomorrow!” seems to be what the three are shouting.

minori’s official website.
(for overseas)

We’ll be back soon.

minoriへのご意見等は日本語でinfo＠minori.phへお願いします。

KEEP MINORITY SPIRIT

The Japanese part reads: “for comments, etc., please send Japanese email to info@minori.ph” The entire message is followed by a link to NO NAME LOSERS’ website.

UPDATE: No Name Losers’ website is now also shortened to a simple message:

We’ll update you with more information as soon as it becomes available.
Keep minority spirit!

as well as a link back to minori.

2010年7月12日に私たちはNO NAME LOSERSの皆さんに次のメールをお送りしました。

NO NAME LOSERS の皆さんへ

以前にもメールでお願いいたしましたが、
貴方たちが私たちの願いを受け入れて頂けなかったこと、
非常に残念に思います。

貴方たちが私たちが制作し販売している「ef – the first tale.」、「ef – the latter tale.」及びPS2版「ef – fairy tale of the two.」（以下、「ef」と総称する）や「eden*」、その他のソフトウェアについて英語に翻訳を行い、私たちの許可無く公開する行為は、各国が相互に批准する著作権法の翻訳権および公衆送信権を侵害する違法行為です。

私たちが既に発売している「ef」について貴方たちが許諾無く翻訳し、しかもグラフィック、音声、映像、音楽、そしてその他全ての内容を不特定多数に対しネットワークを通じ公開したことは、海賊版の頒布行為と同様であり、それは私たちだけが持つ権利を侵害しているのです。また「eden*」や、私たちが9月に日本国内で発売を予定している「天使の日曜日」についても翻訳し不特定多数に頒布する行為を予告しておりますが、こちらも違法行為にほかなりません。特に単独で起動するソフトウェアを不特定多数に提供する行為は私たちが創作者として得た権利全てを否定する行為ではないでしょうか？

貴方たちは私たちのファンを自称していらっしゃいますが、私たちは貴方たちの行為は私たちを傷つけるばかりで、ファンとは言い難いと思っています。

私たちは貴方たちに以下の全てをお願いします。

1.「ef」およびそれに関連する作品を翻訳したものを、私たちの許可無く不特定多数に頒布をしないこと。
2.「eden*」を翻訳したものを、私たちの許可無く不特定多数に頒布しないこと。
3.「天使の日曜日」を翻訳したものを、私たちの許可無く不特定多数に頒布しないこと。
4.その他、過去に私たちが発売した全ての作品についても同様に、私たちの許可無く翻訳したものを不特定多数に頒布しないこと。
5.今後、私たちの発売する全ての作品についても同様に、私たちの許可無く翻訳したものを不特定多数に頒布しないこと。
6.引用権やフェアユースの範囲を越えて、私たちのWebサイトや作品中から画像などを無断で引用しないこと。

私たちは作品を作るために莫大なお金や長い時間を掛け、そして、自らの命を賭しています。貴方たちはそうした多くの犠牲の中から生まれてくる、いわば、私たちの努力の結晶を、貴方たちの快楽といった身勝手な理由で壊そうとしています。

もし、貴方たちが本当に私たち”minori”のファンであり、私たちの生み出す作品に今後も期待しているというのであれば、どうか私たちの未来を閉ざす違法行為をいますぐにやめてください。繰り返しお願いいたします。

2010年7月12日
株式会社ミノリ

追伸1:もし、貴方たちが私たちから正式なライセンスを受け、レーティング等、私たちの求める手順を踏み、英語圏で販売もしくは頒布をするということであれば、私たちのオフィスにいらして、ライセンス許諾のための交渉をすることは可能です。私たちは正式な手順を踏んで頂けることを期待しています。

追伸2:このメールの内容はminoriのWebサイトにて公開いたします。

The following is a translation:

We sent the following email to the people at NO NAME LOSERS on July 12, 2010:

To everyone at NO NAME LOSERS,

With regards to the email we have sent you previously regarding our wishes, we find it very unfortunate that you have not complied with our requests.

It is an infringement of the right to translation and public distribution, as outlined in mutually ratified international treaties, to translate and distribute without permission our software products, including “ef – the first tale.”, “ef – the latter tale.” as well as “ef – fairty tale of the two.” (hereafter referred to as “ef”) and “eden*”, etc.

It is a violation of our rights (in very much the same way as a pirate release) for you to translate without permission our already-released product “ef” and in addition make publicly available the graphics, sound, videos, music as well as the rest of the content in the game on the Internet. Furthermore, you have stated that you have plans to translate and disseminate to the general public [literally, an unspecified number of people] “eden*” as well as “Tenshi no Nichiyoubi”, scheduled for a September release in Japan; this is nothing more than illegal activity as well. Isn’t providing to the general public a standalone piece of software [of our games] a full rejection of all the rights to which we, as creators, are entitled?

You proclaim that you are fans of us, but your actions only hurt us, and thus we think it is difficult for you to be truly called fans.

We request all of the following of you:

1. To not distribute translations of “ef” and related works to the general public without our permission.
2. To not distribute translations of “eden*” to the general public without our permission.
3. To not distribute translations of “Tenshi no Nichiyoubi” to the general public without our permission.
4. To not distribute translations of any of our past works to the general public without our permission.
5. To not distribute translations of any of our future works to the general public without our permission.
6. To not use without limits, beyond the scope of quotation and fair use: images, etc. from our works and our website.

In order to produce our works, we have put in vast amounts of time and money and put our lives at stake. You are trying to destroy the fruits of our labors reaped from these many sacrifices with “fun” as your selfish reason.

If you really are fans of us, minori, and if you are looking forward to what we will produce in the future, then please immediately stop these illegal actions that are going to shut the doors to our future. Again, we would like to request you to [comply with us].

July 12, 2010
minori Inc.

P.S.: If you wish to obtain an official license from us, handle the ratings issue, follow our requested procedures and sell and/or distribute [our software] within English-speaking circles, then there is the possibility of your visiting our office and discussing with us a license agreement. We would look forward to people following the proper procedure for getting things done.

P.P.S.: The contents of this email will be published on minori’s website.

UPDATE: No Name Losers’ webpage has been replaced by a page claiming they are in discussions with minori in both English and (somewhat odd) Japanese.

No Name Losers is down until further notice.
We have begun preliminary discussions with the CEO of minori, nbkz Sakai.
Thank you for your understanding.

No Name Losersは追っての通知があるまで閉鎖します。
minoriのC.E.O. nbkz Sakaiと予備的な討論を始まります。
ご理解くださり、ありがとうございます。

UPDATE 2: minori has also updated their website, indicating they are in talks with NNL:

2010年7月14日から私たちminoriとNO NAME LOSERSの皆さんとの間で発展的な交渉を開始しています。どのような結果になるかまだわかりませんが、遠くない未来に皆さんに結果をご報告できればと思います。今しばらくお待ち下さい。よろしくお願いします。

A translation of the above:

Starting on July 14, 2010, we at minori have started constructive negotiations with the people at NO NAME LOSERS. We don’t know what will result from this, but we would like to report our results to everyone in the not-too-distant future. For now, please wait for the time being. Thanks.

The second and third times they updated their site, they had this to say:

2010年7月17日、私たちからの提案をNO NAME LOSERSの皆さんにお送りしました。
私たちのメールに対する第一回目の回答期限は7月21日午前中（日本時間）と設定しました。
たくさんのblogなどでこの件が取り上げられていますが、私たちとNNLの皆さんは前向きな議論を開始したと確信しています。
海外の多くのファンの皆様、いましばらくお待ち下さい。

P.S.No Name Losersの皆さんから第一回目の提案についてお返事を頂きました。
ありがとうございます！

A translation reads:

On July 17, 2010, we sent our proposal to the people at NO NAME LOSERS. We’ve set the deadline for replying to us to be noon on July 21, 2010, JST. This incident has been written about on many blogs, etc. [TL: I assume minori is implying here that some of the writeups indicate that NNL and minori are not serious], but we are confident that NNL and us have started forward-looking discussions. For the many fans we have overseas, please wait for the time being.

PS: We have received a reply from NO NAME LOSERS with regards to our first proposal! Thank you very much!

A fourth update reads:

2010年7月21日、私たちは、私たちの作品を英語圏でリリースするため、NO NAME LOSERSの皆さんに協力を頂き、新たな枠組みを構築する作業を続けています。
本件については7月28日以降に新たなお知らせをできればと思います。
いましばらくお待ち下さい。

which means in English:

As of July 21, 2010, we have received NNL’s cooperation and are continuing to develop a new plan for the release of our works in English-speaking circles. We hope to have new information for you after July 28, so please wait for the time being.

NNL’s website now reflects this:

No Name Losers is down until further notice.
We are currently undergoing serious discussions with minori.
Please wait a little longer.

No Name Losersは追っての通知があるまで閉鎖します。
minoriと真剣な話し合いが進んでおります。
いましばらくお待ちください。

UPDATE 3: NNL’s website now embeds a YouTube video of a piano performance of ebullient future, the opening theme to the 2nd season of the animated adaptation of ef – a fairy tale of the two.

UPDATE 4: Both minori and NNL websites indicate an announcement may be possible in the next couple of days.

minori’s addendum:

7月29日追記：少し遅れていますが、あと数日で何らかのお知らせができる可能性があります。
今しばらくお待ち下さい。

Translation of minori’s addendum:

PS (July 29): We’re a little late, but we might be able to make an announcement in a couple of days. Please wait for the time being.

NNL:

There was to be an announcement on July 28th, but it has been temporarily delayed for special reasons.
Hopefully we can announce something within the next 48 hours. (July 30th or 31st)
Thank you for your continuing patience. Enjoy the music in the meantime!

As of writing, the current track on their player was LOOPCUBE’s remix of the Wind game opening along with random voice samples called “Wind -limited freedom mix-”.

The article verified the claims of one post (#972) in the thread which talked about companies that have currently restricted access to their websites from foreign parties. The author included links to images of the result when visiting from a foreign IP. Here is a translation of the results, with links added and images summarized (the results are from the article author, and sites such as Fuguriya’s seem to block random chunks of IPs):

ad:lib　[blocked (403)]
NEXTON umbrella (e.g. Baseson, Tactic[sic], SCORE, Liquid) [can connect]
BLACK PACKAGE [blocked (403)]
AKABEiSOFT2 Brands (AKABEiSOFT2, Syangrila, AKATSUKI WORKS, WHEEL) [blocked (404 for AKABEiSOFT2)]
minori [blocked (custom page)]
mixed up [blocked (403)]
Shallot [blocked (404)]
SKILL UP [blocked (403)]
sprite [blocked (redirected to custom page at http://slpr.sakura.ne.jp/jpprovider.php)]
team it’s [blocked (403)]
Applique [blocked (403)]
Fuguriya [can connect]
YUZU_SOFT [blocked (403)]
TEATIME (blocked Chinese IPs but allowed Europe and America in the past) [both China and America can connect]
Visual Art’s (only VisualAntena is blocked, the various brands are all okay) [blocked (custom page)]
ALICESOFT (had talked about looking into closing off access) [currently okay]

Now, this isn’t a comprehensive list by any means, but it is a good survey of the current set of blocks in place. At the end of the original 2ch post is an interesting observation about ILLUSION:

ILLUSION used to block foreign access but everyone can access the website now. Its message to foreign visitors is rather polite instead of sarcastic like minori’s. It’s amazing since ILLUSION was the biggest victim in the whole Rapelay incident.

TLWiki, on the other hand, has instituted a block for visitors with Japanese IP addresses after receiving cease and desist emails from three different companies. The article on hevoluson points out an interesting post (#968) on the 2ch thread (translated here):

There’s a summary of the TLWiki events above, but it’s not correct.
It wasn’t just three companies who sent requests to cease translation of their games. There were three other companies who had already sent request emails, with two of them looking into removal requests.
I guess these patches are troublesome for these game makers…

If the above post is to be believed, there are still three unknown companies out there who want projects on TLWiki to be stopped.

UPDATE: Anime Novel related stuff moved to new post

UPDATE 2: Conversations in TLWiki’s IRC channel seem to indicate that cease and desist notices were indeed received from GIGA. Meanwhile, several uploaded scripts from Parfait were removed and Baldr Force EXE was removed from the list of projects in the sidebar.

UPDATE 3: Both Parfait and Baldr Force EXE pages have been now deleted from TLWiki.

A translation of the full text of minori’s update is as follows (please let us know if there are issues with the translation):

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. Companies 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.

The original text is:

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。

(the following section was moved from the previous article in order to balance out article sizes)

Whether to contact minori or not was a point of discussion amongst the project members before the release on the Wind patch. The project FAQ, last updated in 2007, read:

Was this project endorsed by minori?

No. To our knowledge, minori has no idea that we’ve done this. If they do know, then they are not acknowledging it for their own reasons. Every single bit of this project was voluntary work, and no one from insani or NNL was monetarily compensated in any way by minori.

The FAQ page is currently not available from the NNL website (the rest of the Wind project page hasn’t been online for some time), but it is still available as of this writing in Google’s cache.