As for Japanese bloggers who are talking about the game, some have unpleasant things to say but not everyone. I'll go through some of the comments that stand out to me from the blog post linked above to show you some examples of what people are saying.Ukotaku wrote:Kyou_kun wrote:Sadly, the article is kinda true. Many Japs have been critiscising the game for a long time.
I will post the japanese article for those who can read moonrunes
http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-6443.html
When it comes to ridiculing or hating on the game, many of the comments are pretty juvenile or contemptible. One person writes, "全員ﾁﾝｺ付いてるんですかね" or "I wonder if they've all got dicks." As if that's supposed to be funny. As if that's supposed to be the girls' disability. Another jokingly writes, "俺の嫁は下半身魚だから問題無い" or "My wife's bottom half is a fish's so I've got no problem [with this game]." Stupid humor which doesn't really indicate one way or the other whether he's in favor of the game.
Some of the comments aren't opposed to KS itself but to the very notion of foreigners producing eroges. Writes one commenter, "海外でエロゲなんてつくって大丈夫なのか？また日本バッシングが始まるんだろうな。" or "I wonder if it's okay for them to be making eroges overseas? Makes me wonder if another round of Japan-bashing is about to begin." He seems to be less concerned with what KS is on the inside than with what it is on the outside -- an eroge which, if it proves popular in the West, will raise Westerners' awareness that Glorious Nippon is the land of the erotic visual novel. But ... is that really Katawa Shoujo's fault?
Many people seem to be upset about the name. Writes one commenter, "とりあえずタイトルどうにかしろよ. ムダに敵を作るのはよくない" or "First things first, something's gotta be done about that name! It's not good to pointlessly make enemies," suggesting he's concerned that referring to the girls as katawa is far too inappropriate. Another similarly writes, "もうちょっとネーミングとか考えろよな・・・" saying he wishes that they'd given things like the name of the game a little more thought during development. Mimics another right beneath him, "もうちょいセンスがあるタイトルつけろよｗｗｗ" or "Give it a name with more sense! lol" And one guy damningly writes, "中身はともかく、タイトルはありえないな" or "Who cares what's inside, that title is just ... there's NO WAY," implying that the title is so controversial that he believes that (Japanese) people would feel bad about playing such a game even if the best game of all time were what was waiting for them. But the title discussion's not all doom and gloom in Japan. One guy optimistically writes, "タイトルは気にしなければ良い作品かもしれないね" or "So long as you don't pay the name any attention, maybe it'll still be a good game?" So there's that, at least.
And finally, some of the comments are quite positive overall. Writes one commenter, "興味はあるが流石に日本語版が出ないことにはどうにもならんな・・・" or "I'm interested but, as you'd expect, I can't do anything about it [i.e. I can't play the game yet] because the Japanese-language version hasn't come out yet." Another more simply writes, "やっとでたね" or "It's finally out." "うわーい", writes one ("Ya~ay!"). One guy longingly wishes for an anime version of the game but figures it's impossible. And one guy writes, "ついに完成したのかぁ・・・海外だからこそ製作できた作品に乾杯" or "So it's finally done, huh?... I'll raise my glass [in a toast] to this finished product precisely because it was done overseas," suggesting that we have friends in Japan, despite all of Sankaku's doom and xenophobia gloom, that are cheering on the devs for a job well done and who are eager to see more Americans, Europeans, Australians, and others in the English-speaking corner of the Internet demonstrate their talents to Japan in the form of more high-quality visual novels like KS.
In conclusion, I would say that the slim majority of the comments on that blog seemed to focus either negatively or neutrally on the game's title but that the rest were either neutral or positive comments overall. Quite a few people were celebrating the games release or were asking about a Japanese language-version, as mentioned above. And many just had things to say that were either neutral or unintelligible. I'll leave you with this last one: one guy says, "なんか けいおんみたいな作品だな" or "Somehow, it reminds me of a K-ON!-like product." I don't really see the resemblance between Yui, Azusa, and Mugi vs. Hanako, Emi, and Lilly, but whatever.
