How'd you find yourself here?

[encrypted12345]

Anyone came here because of Sankaku Complex?? lol

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2012/01/0 ... wa-shoujo/

I saw this post (which is linked above) few weeks earlier, and I somehow became curious about the game. (strange though, because the thread mostly talks about how people don't like katawa shoujo now I guess they are wrong about it!)

Haha, no such thing as bad publicity. Welcome to the land of cripple porn!

[Radien]

(Apologies in advance for the "TL:DR".

Here's a quick summary:
"Japan, I love your games......but I do not love your gamers.")

Anyone came here because of Sankaku Complex?? lol

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2012/01/0 ... wa-shoujo/

I saw this post (which is linked above) few weeks earlier, and I somehow became curious about the game. (strange though, because the thread mostly talks about how people don't like katawa shoujo now I guess they are wrong about it!)

I admit I am sorely tempted to do the same thing that article did and point out the constant insensitivity that many Japanese commit while using their own language, notably the frequent use of the word "gaijin" (equivalent to "outsider") rather than the much more polite "gaikokujin" (meaning "foreigner," or more literally "person from a foreign country"). But that wouldn't be entirely fair to them, since the Japanese people who are complaining MIGHT be more sensitive than your typical Japanese citizen. Unlikely, given it's 2chan, but it'd be polite to assume the best of them.

However, I have dealt with the Japanese otaku community before. I translated, into Japanese, a script for a fanmade animation meant to rally support for the cancelled game "Mega Man Legends 3." After it was uploaded on Nico Nico Douga, the Japanese Mega Man fans latched onto a sarcastic one-line joke in the video (it was referring to a different Mega Man title) and acted so outraged that they totally lost sight of the purpose of the video (which was to unify fans).

I'm afraid that the vast majority of the people who complained about Katawa Shoujo simply read the title and went off on a tirade without learning anything more about the game, let alone actually trying it. (Of course, it isn't available in Japanese yet, and very few Japanese are 100% fluent in English, so that's not entirely their fault.) And for that matter, none of them seemed to realize (or acknowledge) that it was a Japanese doujinshi artist who came up with the idea and the concept sketches, not to mention the actual title of "Katawa Shoujo."

They seem to think that a bunch of outsiders came in and imitated a Japanese ren ai game, making a mockery of the genre by featuring disabled girls. When really, if there was ever anything perverse about the idea of a game called "Katawa Shoujo," Four Leaf Studios did the exact OPPOSITE: they treated the subject with respect and sensitivity. And believe me, I don't take that lightly. I majored in International Studies in college, I focused on cultural sensitivity, and I took a number of classes on disabilities and language learning.

But the Japanese fans didn't bother to wait for someone who spoke fluent English to actually play the game. They heard the title, assumed the worst, and went with their first kneejerk reaction. Of course, there are English-speakers who are just as bad -- most of them can be found on YouTube -- but since these quotes came from 2chan, and KS came from 4chan, you'd THINK they'd have enough respect to do a little research. Even with those who who are horrible with English, there ARE auto-translation utilities out there on the web. I have used them to read doujin fiction in raw Japanese. It's a bit of a chore, but you can definitely get a broad idea of the INTENT of the text.

And hell, you can even glean a little bit of the story just by looking at the graphics throughout the game. Yeah, there's always sex at some point, but it should be obvious that there's a helluva lot more going on in the story.

Sigh. I am very much a fan of Japanese games, plus I find Japanese culture fascinating, and to some extent I like the Japanese people -- even though racism may be more common over there, they DO have their share enlightened people to meet and befriend. However, I must sadly admit that I have found no reason to like otaku culture very much. It may not be politically correct to say so, but I get the feeling that Japanese fans end up having more social issues than fans in other countries, because of the way other Japanese tend to apply a strong stigma to the "otaku" label. It's really not fair to them... but on the other hand, that's no excuse to be a jerk.

[encrypted12345]

I'm afraid that the vast majority of the people who complained about Katawa Shoujo simply read the title and went off on a tirade without learning anything more about the game, let alone actually trying it. (Of course, it isn't available in Japanese yet, and very few Japanese are 100% fluent in English, so that's not entirely their fault.) And for that matter, none of them seemed to realize (or acknowledge) that it was a Japanese doujinshi artist who came up with the idea and the concept sketches, not to mention the actual title of "Katawa Shoujo."

They seem to think that a bunch of outsiders came in and imitated a Japanese ren ai game, making a mockery of the genre by featuring disabled girls. When really, if there was ever anything perverse about the idea of a game called "Katawa Shoujo," Four Leaf Studios did the exact OPPOSITE: they treated the subject with respect and sensitivity. And believe me, I don't take that lightly. I majored in International Studies in college, I focused on cultural sensitivity, and I took a number of classes on disabilities and language learning.

First of all, Sankaku sensationalizes. Their articles are amusing, but I don't take them too seriously. Many 2channers are actually curious about the game.

If it's any consolation, here's a quote I found on Hongfire

Speaking with a few Japanese friends I have, the "dislike" that has been expressed by Japanese VN fans is that the game is too good, but not perfect enough. The general sentiment that they express to me is that the fans over there would not accept anything less than perfection, but could accept abject failure as well, since they could simply write it off as "silly foreigner not understanding our storytelling style". By releasing something that is on par and even better than some VNs that have had anime made from them, 4LS showed they do get it, and that their VN's are not as unique as they thought.

In other words, the fluent English speaking Japanese know it's not the best VN ever, but they are impressed.

[Acerus]

Saw an article about it on Escapist Magazine weeks ago, didn't really think much of it at the time. But just under a week ago I decided to pick up the game and figured I may as well get in on the community.

[Radien]

If it's any consolation, here's a quote I found on Hongfire

Speaking with a few Japanese friends I have, the "dislike" that has been expressed by Japanese VN fans is that the game is too good, but not perfect enough. The general sentiment that they express to me is that the fans over there would not accept anything less than perfection, but could accept abject failure as well, since they could simply write it off as "silly foreigner not understanding our storytelling style". By releasing something that is on par and even better than some VNs that have had anime made from them, 4LS showed they do get it, and that their VN's are not as unique as they thought.

In other words, the fluent English speaking Japanese know it's not the best VN ever, but they are impressed.

That's a really weird way for "Steveman" to describe it, but I'm glad to hear it nonetheless.

If Sankaku is sensationalist, then they probably just quoted only the people who hadn't played the game. I would be overjoyed if it turned out that the majority of Japanese fans were willing to give the game a chance.

In any case, KS really needs to be translated to Japanese. I would be eager to volunteer my Japanese skills, but after my experience translating a fan video into Japanese subtitles, I get the feeling that my skills are just not good enough. Any good translation needs at least one native speaker, at any rate, and that ain't me.

[Tezzeret]

As i stated in another thread here. I only found out about KS 7 days before it's release (i may have heard murmurs of it before but wrote it off and forgot about it) on a forum i regularly go to.

[The_Dudinator]

Hello everybody,

First off, this is my first post on the forums. I have been lurking for a while, but after completing the game yesterday, I decided to join in on these forums, I just had to, as I noticed everybody is so nice around here, we all have to share 'Them Feels'.
I can honestly say this game changed my life. Hats off to 4LS, THANK YOU for this awesome game.
So yeah, spent a while making a picture for my signature, hope you like it (LILLY BEST GIRL IN THE GAME) and now I'm gonna rock 'n roll on these forums, hope to see the rest of you around.

But this wasn't made as an introduction topic (I read the FAQ, I'm a good boy ) and I wondered;

How/Where did you guys find/hear of this game for the first time? And what was your initial response when you knew what the game was about?

I still remember that I was listening to a podcast, The War Room on http://josefvstalin.com/ (great site, check them out ) and I was totally curious about this game. When I heard what it was about, I thought; WTF, WHY, WHAT IS THIS FOR UNSPEAKABLE MADNESS....WHAT THE....
But then they explained how it was done very well with respect and care, it wasn't just some weird- ass hentai fetisj. So I decided to get the game, play it, and I loved it. And now, 2 weeks later, I finished the game (had to wait a few days after eacht playthrough, couldn't force myself emotionally to play them back-to-back, THEM FEELS MAN!).

So yeah, what about you guys?

[Nekken]

Not long after the demo was released, it came recommended on the forums for a game I play online. It got me curious. Minor feels were had, so I kept checking back every so often.

[misterprinny]

Friends were talking about how good it was, I was skeptical at first. And then my friend offered to pay me 40 bucks if I got laid with a girl, 60 if I got laid with two.

I was like, piece of cake. I'll get this stupid game over with and get my money.

Two months later and I'm lurking here on the forums, devouring all the fanfiction I can find, and replaying the game constantly.

[Valtameri]

Saw the "KS finally released!" on the news section in the http://www.escapistmagazine.com/ . Didn't know what it was about, but the moment i saw the first pictures from it, i was really interested, and i was curious to see how tastefully "cripple porn" can be made.
Needless to say, i was blown away. I reallyreallyreally wasn't prepared for this kind of emotional rollercoaster and awesomeness.

Best.game.ever.

[StepmaniaFreak]

I personally never heard of this until I found TehIshter's piano cover of Hanako's cinematic BGM linked here (I'm subscribed to him):
http://youtu.be/-K1B063wHtg

After that I saw Animenzzz's cover of Wiosna thanks to the related videos:
http://youtu.be/CLk5Fos6daE

That lead me to his blog where I was eventually interested in this enough to download and play it. I honestly had no idea what to expect out of this having never played a visual novel before (I don't even like calling it a game so "play" to me is more like "read"). I wasn't sure if I should've expected H-scenes or not. I never checked the options menu (Silly me) so I thought I was home free until I got to Emi's first. It was awkward to me for a few minutes but after a few minutes I realized how long I had been reading and didn't care. The writing was too good for this to be simple fap material.

I kept reading and was glad I did.

[chaosxmk]

I heard about KS through Sankaku Complex.

They talked (err... well, wrote) about KS, saying it started on 4chan, its been under work for several years and it covered a controversial topic. I was a bit weirded out, but decided to look into it anyway. I was completely sold on the idea once I saw some of the screenshots, character art, fantastic CG scenes and the list of people that made the game (mainly, Mike Inel).

Downloaded it, played it, loved it, rendered eleventy billion cgs, made a couple art thingies (I SUCK AT ART) and have been hanging out KS forums talking to others about the feels for a while.

[HacksArePro]

Saw a friend of mine played it on Steam. I then saw another one of my friends play it, so I messaged him, "Oh god, that's a weeaboo fetish game. WHY!??!?!?!!"(The other friend was into guro, so it didn't really help KS's case.)

Pretty soon, my curiosity happened and I decided to play the game in order to have some ways to make fun of this VN even more.

Well, long story short.

Beginning: Ha, I'm going to laugh at this thing.

Middle: Hey, this has a pretty good story.

Middle Part 2: Am I crying?

Middle Part 3: I wub you Hanako <3!!!!!!

End: My steam avatar and my gaming community forum avatar are Hanako

Needless to say, I am trying to convince people to play KS.

[alien.marksman]

I stumbled across some Fan Art a couple years ago. (At a site who's content is of.. questionable nature)
Got curious and Googled 'Katawa Shoujo' to learn more about this "Anime"
Found out it wasn't an anime, but instead an VN, based on a random sketch in a Dojin, about Dating Disabled Girls *My curiosity is aroused
(I mean, not in a fetish kind of way, more like.. Despite their disabilities they are/would be normal people with hopes and dreams too. I just wonder how the Dev Team is going to handle the subject matter)
Then the Act 1 Demo came out. Didn't download, was busy with work, other games, and general boring everyday stuff.
Forgot about KS, untill just before full release. (Clicking through folders doing a HDD clean up and found some Fan Art I'd saved)
Searched around, read character Bio's, looked at fan art, began developing a favourite character (Based solely on fan arts and character bio)
Full Release.. Download.
Play through.. meet the characters.. (Wham!! Favourite character suspicions confirmed /cue warm fuzzies)
Awed at the over all quality and finish of the game.. (Try and get other people to play)

[lml99]

I found out about this while browsing on Know your meme. At first, when I saw the article there, I thought that this seemed like a good vn to (read? play?). Never read a vn before, but I really wanted to after watching Clannad. I was busy at the time though, so I forgot. Also, (I'm a noob, so maybe this is just me,) but I personally think that playing stuff on linux is a pain. After a while though, when I rediscovered the game, I got a really bad urge to play it.

I was really impressed by the end of my first playthrough (I got Emi's ending) I was really impressed by how immersive it was, and also very surprised that I could even connect to some of the story. So, all in all, i'm really thankful to have run across this game and for it to make my existence just a tad less lonely .