Besides that, the artbook that actually is in front of this CD is quite gorgeous. I’d love to get my hands on one of these.

Funny that, I was planning on tacking a promotional video for the CLANNAD Game Translation Project at the end of the episode as well! For shame.

I’ll be posting both the karaoke’d version of the CLANNAD TV promotion by Kyoto Animation, as well as the CLANNAD Game Translation Project promotional video later tonight.

Sushi-Y says that insider information reveals an early 2008 release for CLANNAD TV. Hopefully by then I’ll be in at least internal beta with a 100% TL done for the game.

Now, based on the problems exhibited by groups that translate games, allow me to define the two points that people like to stop on:

1. “Permission” to translate the game from the game company
2. How to prevent people from spreading the patch via torrents with ISO copies of the game

I’ll be brief. #2 is impossible to do. No matter how you want to deal with it, someone will always find a way around it, so live with it. Just leave a nice disclaimer, and turn the other way.
#1? Here’s the problem. If you wanted to care about this to begin with, you should never have translated the game, even 1% of it, to begin with, before deciding to stop and put projects on hold. If you’ve already started, you’ve already done it so finish it. Don’t stop, irritating the rest of the community claiming to look for “permission” to translate the game.

Seriously speaking, the groups that fall upon these stumbling blocks and get stuck on them period should not even translate these games to begin with. Leave it to people who are more interested in letting people enjoy the game rather than care about the so-called ethics that exist with these.

On an upbeat conclusion to this article, RadicalR’s group has taken it upon themselves to continue the translation.

For archival purposes, here is the article in question:

A question which has been occupying me for some time now is this: is it morally justifiable to release an unauthorised translation?

That it is not legally justifiable is beyond doubt. Article 8 of the Berne Convention is not ambiguous. However, it is easy enough to prove (if only by looking at the laws of oppressive states) that not everything that is illegal is necessarily immoral. Considering that the unauthorised translation of a commercial title increases sales of that title, giving economic benefit to the authors, it is easy to construct a case for the ethical nature of unauthorised translation. Sadly, it is not so easy to defend it.

The problem is that mere economic benefit does not adequately compensate someone for the unauthorised use of their property. It is naïve to expect authors to be pleased to receive a handful of sales, when the “price” for those sales is losing control of their own creation. It could even be described as equivalent to the case where a house is broken into and a sum of money left on the houseowner’s pillow: even if nothing is stolen, the owner will feel personally violated. The analogy is, of course, inexact: breaking and entering is a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment, while non-commercial copyright infringement by distribution of an unauthorised derivative work is, I believe, merely a civil offence. But it may not be so inexact from the point of view of the feelings of the victim.

I used to believe that the economic benefit outweighed the unauthorised use: it seemed logical that boosting a company’s sales, by opening their work to a new audience, was a noble goal. I began to doubt that when I started corresponding with Japanese authors, and gained an insight into their perception of the issue. It should not have surprised me to learn that they do indeed feel just as strongly about their intellectual property as about their physical property, if not moreso; one described her game as “like a child to me”. Some have even declined to grant permission for a translation, even for a work that they are giving away for free. These authors had no economic reason to do so. Piracy cannot harm them, and nor are they risking losing out on potential licensing revenue. But they may nonetheless not wish to risk having their creation spoilt, and perhaps their own reputation marred, by a translator they cannot trust to do their writing justice.

The point is that for all the rhetoric we hear about intellectual property not being real property, and about information wanting to be free, and indeed about unauthorised translation benefiting authors – for all that, an unauthorised translation holds the potential to hurt the author. (It may not. They may welcome it. But were that the case, they would be willing to authorise it, were they but asked.)

My conclusion, after many months of worry and concern, is quite simple: it cannot be considered moral or ethical to take a course of action that one knows has the potential to hurt, when one also has the means to determine easily in advance whether that will actually be the outcome or not. (Given that the course of action in question is also illegal, the fact that it is not necessarily victimless neutralises any possible argument that might support breaking the law.)

One obvious consequence of this is that the Kanon project is now on hold (in fact, it has been for some time; the partial patch was quietly withdrawn from public distribution months ago). It will remain on hold until I’ve completed my current authorised translation activities – al|together and Narcissu 2 – after which I will consider whether to seek authorisation, or merely to drop the project approach Key and see whether it is possible to gain permission for some kind of limited authorised release.

I know I may be copying Jason Miao in his efforts to cover Kanon, but as the series is quite serious, I also have to cover it in a different light than the amusing stuff I posted a little while earlier. If you were hoping to hear things like “Sad Bunny Girls in Snow”, turn away now.

From what I had seen so far while fansubbing the series, these stories are meant to be sad. Sad in that they make you feel for the characters and realize their circumstances. That does not necessarily mean that the endings will be sad, or bittersweet (like AIR), as the endings all portray a sense of conclusion in that the girls do end up having better lives than they did before.

Through the first ten episodes we find Yuuichi meeting up with these girls, but of course given the circumstances I found that Yuuichi has been trying to spend time with each and every one of them as much as possible. This of course presents the problem of, “What happens if Yuuichi decides to go with one girl?” Though the series does show a bit of a drawback when it comes to these scenes, Kyoto Animation tries to interweave them as much as they can so the girls are all related to one another and what happens to one can affect the other.

AnimeSuki forum-goers had looked over this and noted that Mai’s arc being interweaved with Makoto was exemplary; Mai had a sort of “esper-like” sense which allowed Mai to give Yuuichi hints about Makoto’s past. Of course, it’s not like she can butt in that far in-between those two, but something inside her tells Yuuichi to take care of Makoto (until her time is up). That, and Mai had led him to Amano Mishio.

Now, some complain that because of that, some of Mishio’s role in Makoto’s storyline was considered redundant. Others believe that, without Mai, the 2006 version of Yuuichi may not have had the chance to meet Mishio, and that he’d deal with a dying Makoto without ever realizing the true reason behind why it was happening. That, and perhaps Makoto would die without having her wishes fulfilled. I happen to agree with the latter, as a full-fledged anime should try to encompass all of the characters as much as possible.

Although we are talking about Youkou, typical foxes only have a lifespan of 2 to 3 years, but can last as long as 10. Makoto was lucky to even be able to survive that long and decide to make her decision; in fact, her decision to become human for a short while may have been worth it. Either way, she was going to die, and she chose to die staying with Yuuichi as opposed to dying alone. Give her credit for that.

During episode 14, Sayuri had mentioned Pachelbel’s Canon, claiming that you “hear the same sound over and over again”, but that with every repeat the sound becomes more grandeur. You could say this is true, in that Makoto’s arc was the first ring, and Mai’s is the second. They all have sad stories, and each one of them may be different, but they are all similar in some way. Although Sayuri is not one of the five main girls, you can tell that she also has her own problems, as noted by the slits on her wrists. Though I wonder why Kyoto Animation decided not to cover why she slit her wrists, but that perhaps may have been for the better. We are viewing this anime mostly from Yuuichi’s point of view, so that to cover that sort of problem is left to viewers.

Mai may not have known it, but she wanted to be with Yuuichi just like Makoto. Although that was associated with her lie about fighting demons (which she forced herself to believe), it’s also brought her very close to him. Fortunately for her, she hasn’t died in her arc, but that will have Yuuichi spending time with her every once in a while to make sure she’s still all right. That, and he’ll have to be taking trips to the hospital to see how Sayuri is doing as well. Although these two are not covered in the preview for episode 16, my gut tells me these scenes are coming and Kyoto Animation would do well to cover it, because Mai isn’t dead and she doesn’t have the excuse that Makoto does. Neither does Sayuri.

Sushi-Y had posted some upcoming episode summaries for episodes 16 through 19… episodes 16 and 17 appear to be game-related, but episodes 18-19 seem to be original. If this is true, this will be the second time Kyoto Animation has decided to go with original material for the series, whether it be used as an important plot point, a filler, or perhaps a completely different take on Kanon. Knowing them, they’ve probably contacted Key thoroughly on this, and behind the scenes I am not certain whether it was Kyoto Animation that was responsible for the decision, or if it is Jun Maeda who wanted to revise his storyline (thus retconning the original material). We’ll have to see in about four episodes, yeah?

“EX… CALIBURRRRR!!!”

Have any of you watched that underrated show called Deepwater Black? With the lesions that people get that led them to going insane? Uh oh, Yuuichi.

Mai seems to be uttering lines similar to Makoto… bad vibes coming? At least she isn’t going “Auuuu~”.

Oh crap, it’s Asakura Ryouko! Closed space! Where’s Nagato when you need her?

Mai appears to have caught Yuuichi’s bug; the “I want to be a bunny girl!” bug. Sad Bunnies in Snow. Sad Bunny Girls in Snow. Wait, where’s the tight black clothing? Wouldn’t that be cold anyway?

“Mai, what’s wrong?! Mai! MAAAAIIIIII!” (cue MGS game over theme)

The scene after Saber and Shirou sleep in the abandoned house… oh wait. Wrong anime.

Yuuichi is eager to become a bunny girl. Akiko’s jam strikes again.

Sayuri makes a sad, sad attempt to try and be a Flame Haze like Mai. What does she do instead? Kill her brother, Executioner-style, and then she slits her wrists. “Crawling in my skin…”

I’ll be honest with you, this scene was probably one of the most stunning and dramatic anime sequences I’ve looked at thus far. Great screenplay and script writing… if only Kyoto Animation didn’t have this Mai-fetish. Yuuichi must have the strength of a thousand men to be able to knock a claymore that high… then how’d he get his ass handed to him from before?

Mai’s internal conflict with being a flame haze gets the better of her. (actually, I really liked this scene, with how Yuuichi was consoling her and all) Though the way he held her head like that, it looks like he was about to kiss her. Of course, that’d be the wrong time to try that stunt, eh, KyonYuuichi?

Cue the Final Fantasy battle theme! “Surrounded!”

Kaori’s looking over there… any boxcutters?

Kuze reminds me of the Computer Club president from Haruhi, in his “I’m going to kick your ass” mode. You know, the mode he demonstrated in The Day of Sagittarius. Mai, on the other hand, has the “if you piss me off I’m going to slice your head off” look. No, won’t be with boxcutters, as she has a claymore handy at all times (where did she grab it during episode 12 anyway?)

Mai’s undergoing the same problem as Shana; the “I’m a Flame Haze” and “You’re a Torch” identity crisis. Must be because she realized she isn’t the main heroine of this anime. Of course, she shouldn’t be taking out her anger on dogs; talk about animal cruelty.

I would never have noticed the Sloth reference until someone had brought it up. Though I wonder about “pikyuu” and “three years ago…”

Yuuichi, you phail at fighting. You’re no Saito, and you don’t have a giant blade that’s freaking heavy and deals massive damage. Also, is it just me or is Kyoto Animation emphasizing way too much on Mai’s figure during fighting? :3

Even Mai welcomes you to 2007.

We’ll soon have a Wii Channel dedicated to the Integrated Data Sentient Entity Oharuhi-sama coming soon. Look for it.

I also had my Wii sic at the main page. Very nice scrolling around and stuff. Even the YouTube video works, albeit a lack of filtering. Hoping to see more developments in this beta.

By the way, sound didn’t work before. Why’s it working now…?

…

And then some. Courtesy of Skane:

In other news, the class president is an asshole. I hope he gets what Haruhi’s throwing at him.