Katawa Shoujo Panel at the Manifest Anime Convention

[Caesius]

Drawn by Weee, who is I think the youngest dev? She’s only just turned… 16? Yeah?

Suriko: 17.

Crud: 17, yeah, but she just started the project when she was 14.

I would feel really awkward asking a 14-year-old girl to draw dicks. 17 is pretty borderline and I'm only 21 myself.

[Juno]

I'm sure no one pointed a gun at her to draw for this and she knew beforehand that it was to be an EROge.

[Caesius]

Even so, you've got guys who are mostly either in college or have already graduated writing cripple porn and having a girl who's still in high school draw some of it. They've even got reference pictures for penises!

But of course when I put it that way it's going to sound creepy.

Though in all seriousness, I don't mean to imply that weee is immature or that the devs are pervs. After all, given that they all set out to produce an eroge about disabled girls (and do it tastefully!), they've probably learned to take the awkward situations as they come and suck it up.

[Mercutio]

yeah, when I read about Weee's age, I was really damn impressed. when I was 14, I couldn't have stuck with anything like this, especially for four years.

[Bara]

yeah, when I read about Weee's age, I was really damn impressed. when I was 14, I couldn't have stuck with anything like this, especially for four years.

I could; it was called compulsory education... those damn truant officers...
Now of my own free-will? Nope, I had the attention span of a gnat or maybe even less as a teenager..

[Caesius]

Yeah, I was pretty much a total retard at 14, and this was especially evident in the way I conducted myself online. Hell, some people still think I'm a retard (or at least that say they do), but I sorta deliberately cultivate that image 'cause I've known these people for 7 years and acting like a human being around them is outside of my comfort zone. Then one day I'll say something profound and they'll be like "holy crap, you do make serious posts!" before forgetting about it.

What's interesting about weee is that she already has more or less the same ironic, "obfuscating stupidity" typing style and attitude that I and half the people on that forum have adopted. I mean goddamn, has three years of working on a cripple porn VN with these internet nutjobs done so much damage to the poor girl's mind???

...Though, it may be that she really is kinda immature and it's not ironic at all. D:

In any case, any time I come across a totally reasonable person online and find out they're still in high school, I can't help but think "how is this person so mature to be on the internet at [14-18 inclusive] and not be acting like a total turd?"



Anyway, new topic. You guys said you have plans for other individual projects when KS is finally released. I know A22 and Climatic are working on or are planning to work on Molly's VN, "Measuring Shadows," and I'd like to know if that's still out there. I also assume that a blog post will be made if a website or forums for it are launched? I'd be interested in seeing how they apply their experience in KS to this project, even if it's a small one executed by just two dudes. Though, I wonder if other KS devs are thinking of joining the project? Also, what other kinds of project plans have people thrown out as wanting to do when KS is done?

[Aura]

A new topic is welcome as I am way more creeped about you people analyzing weee and weee's age than the actual fact. Many of the devs are/were in their teens, it's not a big deal, end of story.

MS has been abandoned for over a year now I think? There's been another 2-man project, MoWE that also was abandoned but to which it would be nice to return some day and there's a few other projects currently either in development or pre-development but we have absolutely no interest talking about these until they are released (if they get completed), same for any post- KS projects.

[Caesius]

A new topic is welcome as I am way more creeped about you people analyzing weee and weee's age than the actual fact. Many of the devs are/were in their teens, it's not a big deal, end of story.

Heh, I guess you're right. I shouldn't be judging people by their age any more than I should be judging them by their disabilities.

MS has been abandoned for over a year now I think? There's been another 2-man project, MoWE that also was abandoned but to which it would be nice to return some day and there's a few other projects currently either in development or pre-development but we have absolutely no interest talking about these until they are released (if they get completed), same for any post- KS projects.

MoWE, as in... moé?

And why're you guys planning on keeping projects under wraps until they're completed? To avoid hype and unrealistic expectations, I assume?

[Juno]

MoWE, as in... moé?

Man of Wide Ears, the Prince of Wales life in VN form.

[Mercutio]

And why're you guys planning on keeping projects under wraps until they're completed? To avoid hype and unrealistic expectations, I assume?

probably not a bad guess, man. I mean, look around these forums and see how many people say (or maybe said, before this panel came out with the devs' hope to release this year) that KS will never be done. it's got to be a strain to work on any creative project and have people, maybe thousands of people, looking over your shoulder and saying things like "change this" or "you suck." even hearing "this is awesome, I want it to come out NOW NOW NOW!!!11!!1!" just adds to the stress.

compared to that, working on VN or other project and not showing it to anyone outside, then someday releasing the complete thing or a demo and saying "full VN's out in a month or two", so you have to deal with as little bitching as possible. sounds like a much better plan to me.

[Silentcook]

compared to that, working on VN or other project and not showing it to anyone outside, then someday releasing the complete thing or a demo and saying "full VN's out in a month or two", so you have to deal with as little bitching as possible. sounds like a much better plan to me.

I think the irony just throttled me. Brb, larynx replacement.

[kapparomeo]

Man of Wide Ears, the Prince of Wales life in VN form.

While the title is a bit too self-consciously daft, as a concept that actually sounds as though it could be really interesting.

I was surprised to find a few months back that it's also something that Japan has touched on before - there was a three-volume shoujo manga which followed the life of Princess Diana (seriously), complete with bishonen Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles as a shrill scheming stepsister character determined to spitefully wreck true love...

[Mercutio]

I think the irony just throttled me. Brb, larynx replacement.

sorry, man, I probably don't know what I"m talking about. I promise never to post here after a few shots again.

[Scarlet Fox]

Did we already know Emi was in a car crash? Or was that new info? Seems like I heard it before, but I'm not sure.

Aaanyway, about beta tests, I can see why you'd be paranoid, someone who looks like they can be trusted might jump into the forum and start posting all the spoilers about every single girl, then moving onto the Shimmie and doing that too... Let's just try to have faith in humanity. I prefer others test out uncompleted stuff for me first, anyway, so I'm not going to try to get into the beta.

[kapparomeo]

We know that Emi lost her legs in an accident - it says so on her character profile on the website - and a car accident seems the most likely way that a young civilian could conceivably be injured to the extent of losing limbs. Sadly, my elaborate, elegant and comprehensively-referenced theory of Emi's amputations being the result of a freak confluence between an original first edition of Also Sprach Zarathustra, a shipping container of Ben & Jerry's and the entirety of Ripon's guild of Morris Dancers hasn't gained all that much traction in the fandom.