Katawa Shoujo Forums

I'm little in the dark here, What happen?

Libra wrote:I'm little in the dark here, What happen?

he curious if Raita made a response about KS since it was inspired by a drawing he did in '01 I think but most doujin artists that go pro don't usually talk about past work

It may be worth noting that he actively publishes NSFW doujin works even now.
http://www.toranoana.jp/mailorder/cot/a ... 41_01.html

Reason he chooses not to refer to KS is beyond me but I don't think he's too worried about doujin work and his public image, even after working for major console games.

Maybe he feels that since the project isn't one he's part of that he shouldn't comment? (some form of politeness?)

Maybe he has no idea it was ever made.

Maybe someone should just ASK the guy for a comment? Anyone here that speaks and can write Japanese? Worst case scenario, he either ignores the email or replies "No Comment". But at least he will then have been formally asked for a comment then.

Really, someone fluent in his language should simply ask.

I saw lots of KS related queries going to his twitter account back when the full version was released.
There were some Japanese net media coverage which triggered the attention.
(Notably this one, which raised positive response in general. http://news.nicovideo.jp/watch/nw196727)

I followed the development for a while but apparently Raita didn't respond to such tweets at all.

Bigbishounen wrote:Maybe he feels that since the project isn't one he's part of that he shouldn't comment?

I'm pretty sure that is the most likely reason. I remember back before the full game release when someone tried to get Raita to sign one of the official Japanese KS artbooks, but he refused because it wasn't his work.

hir wrote:I saw lots of KS related queries going to his twitter account back when the full version was released.
There were some Japanese net media coverage which triggered the attention.
(Notably this one, which raised positive response in general. http://news.nicovideo.jp/watch/nw196727)

I followed the development for a while but apparently Raita didn't respond to such tweets at all.

Google translated version of that page (into English)

http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... 27&act=url

And yes, it is an awful translation. VERY hard to make out what the writer is saying.

Interestingly, the name of the game is translated back from Japanese as "One End Girl", or "Girl One End". Not sure what to make of that other than I have read that the word "katawa" literally translates to something along the lines of "having one wheel" or "missing wheel", which may be the "one end" that is being referred to here. Hard to say.

Here's the original interview text + translation for the interviewer's comment.

----

(The preceding text briefly introduces the game background, along with the comment below)

I am struggling with the game now owing to my substandard English skills, but this is absolutely not a game which treats disabilities as subject of trolling. It has enough quality to get yourself seriously emerged into the story. It is also a surprise that the game is distributed for free despite its tremendous volume. Who are the people actually developed the game? I interviewed one of the developer staff through the Japanese translation team.

1. I understand that the initial call for development happened in "4chan". Is it correct that those who gathered up have never met each other before?

It's mostly correct. All but one of the artists knew each other previously, and they joined as a group about midway into the project. Other than them though, none of us knew each other at all.

2. I read the "history of Katawa Shoujo" article on your blog. I assume that people were fascinated by RAITA's concept art so strongly that they decided to create a game based on it. What exactly was the element that fascinated them?

It differs for different people. I think a lot of the early fascination was due to the core idea being different enough to be exotic and exciting to make a game about about, but also being set in a modern day Japanese High School, which makes the setting easy to get down (while still having room to imagine it as people wished). The character designs were also well varied so that a wide range of people could find at least one heroine they liked,; people who preferred the genki archetype of characters became interested in Emi, while people who liked the tsundere type got interested in Shizune, etc.

The idea of disabilities was a great hook, because it was really unusual and also had potential. Different people had different ideas when the project was first starting on how the theme of disabilities should be approached (from a wild nukige all the way to a grounded and pseudo-realistic utsuge, ala Narcissu).

3. How did the communication take place during development? Were there occasions where you met offline?

Communication took place in two main ways: forums, and IRC. The forums were great for getting down static information, whilst we used IRC an incredible amount to discuss stuff in a more natural way. The forums were like the office whiteboard, and IRC was the office that we worked in, while talking to each other constantly as we developed. Every developer would be on IRC every day, though sometimes timezones made things a bit difficult.

While there were a few moments when developers very nearly met each other (having flights that incidentally meant they missed each other only by an hour or two), we did end up with two occasions of developers meeting offline for brief offline talks. It's very rare though, basically only happening by chance. All game work takes place online.

4. According to "the history of katawa shoujo", development has become stagnant in 2007. What were the reasons for you to still continue with the production?

The main problem in 2007 was lack of art, though we still had writers. What kept us going was more or less the hope that an artist would drop by. It was a miracle that not only one, but six would end up joining the project later on. I think the main thing that got KS through the bad periods like that was a feeling of responsibility to the other developers; if any of us dropped from the project, it would mean wasting al the work we'd done, and putting everyone else in a really bad position. It could be said that this also translated into some sense of camaraderie.

5. Were there any Japanese games that had influence, or you referenced, during your development?

Every developer had a lot of influences in how they did their work. I think the two biggest influences on the project as a whole though would be To Heart 2 and Narcissu, for the art and writing respectively.

When our batch of artists joined the project, one of the first decisions to be made was how the game's visual style would look. Being different artists with different personal styles, they had to work out a common standard. After some discussion, we settled on a style reminiscent of Amaduyu Tatsuki's works, an artist of whom all the artists greatly respected. A style similar to TH2 would be something all the artists could achieve, and they felt would for Katawa Shoujo well; it was cute and lighthearted, but still sensible and somewhat grounded.

Narcissu influenced many of the writers due to the way it used emotion. The entire game was very carefully constructed around a central plot, and managed to use the player's feelings in a way that drew in interest and extracted emotions, without coming off as melodramatic and overwrought. We all saw this as a really great example of what a visual novel should work towards on an emotional level.

6. The game system was in visual novel format, very familiar with many Japanese game players. I did not get any "odd feeling" while playing. Have you played games from Japan before? Also I am not aware how Japanese games are distributed in Japan. How do you manage to get them?

Every developer has played visual novels, though some have only played one or two, while others have played a lot of them. Several developers keep tabs on upcoming visual novels as well, checking the sites of studios they like and magazines such as Tech Gian and G's Magazine. My personal favourite is Quartett!! from Littlewitch.

The upcoming big hitter that some of us are looking forward to is Eiyusenki, by Tenco.

7. Why did you choose visual-novel style for the game?

When the project was first proposed, one of the main draws for a lot of people was the chance to try making the kind of game that they loved playing. It was set in stone that Katawa Shoujo would be in visual novel format very quickly, and there was never any siginificant attempt to change that.

8. Why did you choose Japan as the location setting for the game?

The answer to this sort of ties into the previous answer. Part of the appeal of visual novels to a lot of people is the often-used Japanese setting. It's different enough to be exotic and interesting, but also not so different that it's alien to most readers. Later in development a few of us wished we'd chosen a different setting just because so many visual novels already use modern day japanese high schools, but by then it was impossible to change.

9. I understand people from many nationalities have cooperated for the production. Could you tell me where the members of the development team come from?

Australia, the United States of America, Finland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Canada, and Indonesia. Quite a mix.

10. What is the download count since the full version was released?

We don't have any way of measuring the amoutn of downloads, unfortunately. We do know however that we've attempted to put the game up for direct download thrice, and each time the servers got overloaded within minutes from people trying to download the game, so it seems quite a lot of people ended up playing.

11. Were there any comments on the game which impressed you until now?

When we released the game, we expected a mildly pleasantly surprised reaction from the places that reported on Act 1, and that would be that. The torrent of amazing emotion that rose like a tsunami in the days after release was way beyond what we could ever have imagined. There's been a lot that's impressed us, way more than any one or two anecdotes we could give; people taking up further education to try and improve their lives, people mending broken relationships, others donating to charities to help those less fortunate, and in general a lot of people resolving to better themselves and/or the lives of others around them.

It's been a remarkable feeling to see Katawa Shoujo have that kind of effect on people.

12. The size of the game is full fledged but you are making it available for free. What was the reason for giving it away for no cost?

We started off development on the tenet that money would never be a part of the project, and we kept that phlosophy for a large number of reasons. The biggest is that once money gets involved, the culture of development changes a lot, and trying to work out who gets paid what in such a large development team with so many external contributors becomes very hard. We started working on the game because we liked the act of writing, composing music, making art, etc. That ended up being what carried us through, without the need for money.

13. When do you plan to release Japanese version?

Impossible to say right now. The Japanese translation eam are hard at work on translation, but right now the timeframe for its release is the same one Katawa Shoujo used: when it's done.

14. Upon the release of Japanese version, do you plan to distribute it in places such as Comic Market?

Maybe. Distribution at Japanese econventions has always been up to the Japanese translation team to organise. They've done an amazing job so far, and it's been really cool to see our stuff at cons over there.

15. It has been extremely rare to see games that portray disabled people. I feel that Katawa Shoujo is getting attention out of people's curiosity. Can I request you to give a word of comment to the game fans in Japan, so that more of them actually play the game.

When we set out to make Katawa Shoujo, we didn't set out to make a game that would just satisfy us. To our minds, writing for one's own benefit alone is little more than self pleasure. Our goal was to entertain people, and create a memorable game that reached the level of commercial visual novels, to tell a story that's not often told, about people who are just like anyone else. We think we reached that goal, and we hope that you'll take the chance to read about the interesting people inside Katawa Shoujo. Thank you.[/quote]

who is being interviewed in there?

This was This was Suriko.

Ah, so the hatred/blacklash towards KS is dying down and most of it was just from 2Ch and San...whatever Complex. That's good, I guess. Also, for the record, fuck that weeaboo otaku tabloid that is the Complex. Bunch of racist ass ignorant weeaboos who never seen the sun in their lives(keeping it real).

(I don't feel like quoting each post in response to my original statement)

My guess, don't take it for the gospel truth, please:

He doesn't want to be associated with KS, *and* he is horribly embarrassed at the fact that he expressed the desire for a VN with such an audacious concept and name to be created, and it was actually made. He actually wrote in the original image, "If there was a renai game like this, Raita would totally be all over it." Well, now thanks to him, there is a VN like that.

It should be noted that because he used the non-politically correct word "katawa" in his proposed title for the VN, he was likely joking when he said he'd be "all over it." Nonetheless, his joke became a reality, and I personally find that fact to be quite funny on its own. So the lesson here is to be careful for what you wish for, because it might actually become true.

Tempester wrote:My guess, don't take it for the gospel truth, please:

He doesn't want to be associated with KS, *and* he is horribly embarrassed at the fact that he expressed the desire for a VN with such an audacious concept and name to be created, and it was actually made. He actually wrote in the original image, "If there was a renai game like this, Raita would totally be all over it." Well, now thanks to him, there is a VN like that.

It should be noted that because he used the non-politically correct word "katawa" in his proposed title for the VN, he was likely joking when he said he'd be "all over it." Nonetheless, his joke became a reality, and I personally find that fact to be quite funny on its own. So the lesson here is to be careful for what you wish for, because it might actually become true.

Hilarious in Hindsight indeed.

Reewee wrote:

Tempester wrote:My guess, don't take it for the gospel truth, please:

He doesn't want to be associated with KS, *and* he is horribly embarrassed at the fact that he expressed the desire for a VN with such an audacious concept and name to be created, and it was actually made. He actually wrote in the original image, "If there was a renai game like this, Raita would totally be all over it." Well, now thanks to him, there is a VN like that.

It should be noted that because he used the non-politically correct word "katawa" in his proposed title for the VN, he was likely joking when he said he'd be "all over it." Nonetheless, his joke became a reality, and I personally find that fact to be quite funny on its own. So the lesson here is to be careful for what you wish for, because it might actually become true.

Hilarious in Hindsight indeed.

so if I wish for a KS2, sub-story, a 'patch' with a saki route, will it come true too?

or does Raita have to wish for that for it to come true?

Megumeru wrote:so if I wish for a KS2, sub-story, a 'patch' with a saki route, will it come true too?

or does Raita have to wish for that for it to come true?

It only works if your a really cool artist like him.