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22:52:54 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> (filling the room)
22:55:48 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> hello everyone
22:55:57 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> thank you for coming out to the 2016 mangagamer panel
22:56:06 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> i'll basically be the host for tonight
22:56:09 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> my name is john pickett
22:56:16 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> also known online as koryuu
22:56:22 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> sitting next to me is good haro
22:56:36 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we're really proud to be here, because this is the 9th year we've been in business
22:56:47 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we're also really happy because tonight we have a lot of special guess
22:56:51 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so let's start introducing
22:56:59 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so first we have the illustrator who works with clock up
22:57:09 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> let's welcome Hanashima Shigeo
22:57:19 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> illustrator and concept artist euphoria, eroge, no thank you
22:57:31 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> next guest, ceo and producer of minori, worked on pretty much every game in the company
22:57:39 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Nobukazu Sakai
22:57:55 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and last but not least, our star guest of the night, and returning to anime expo once again
22:58:15 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> the president of overdrive, the president of mangagamer
22:58:06 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> bamboo
22:58:45 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we've always named the panel "the now and future of visual novels"
22:58:57 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so this time, we actually want to give more meaning to that title
22:59:15 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so bamaboo will give more info about the state of the industry
22:59:25 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> manggamer was created july 10th 2008
22:59:41 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> thanks to all your support, we've been able to celebrate our 9th anniversary
22:59:58 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and i'd like to take the opportunity to thank all the translators who have participated in our titles
23:00:36 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> because of all your support, the mangagamer membership has crossed 100,000
23:00:29 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> this is big, really big
23:00:58 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> when i showed this graph to the soft houses, they finally realized they need to get into the forum market
23:01:10 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we want to take this opportunity to become the xvideos of the foreign market
23:01:26 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> becuase of your support, we now have over 180 titles
23:01:34 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we were able to localize over 80 of them
23:01:44 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we're currently translating 15 titles right now
23:01:53 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we've crossed over 60 people helping us out at mangagamer
23:02:12 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> when we started mangagamer, there were only 5 soft houses working with us, now there are over 30
23:02:20 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and we also have 10 indies companies working together with us
23:02:51 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> to tell the truth, the japanese eroge market for the past 10 years hasn't been doing really great, so they are focusing right now on starting to expand abroad
23:03:07 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> for example, some of the major soft houses you might have heard of like frontwing, visual arts, and age
23:03:11 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> they are looking strongly toward the foreign market
23:03:19 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and i think this a really good situation going on right now
23:03:52 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> when we first started at the beginning, it was tough to convince the soft houses in japan that there were foreigners who like eroge
23:03:59 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and within the past 9 years, the thinkiing has changed 180 degrees
23:04:05 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> an they are seriously thinking of marketing outside japan
23:04:17 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and this movement that we have going on is thanks to you guys support
23:04:51 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> mangagamer s is a collaboration of 3 different identies, platform, localization and community
23:05:23 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and since we're like the front guys to hear your input toward the japanese soft houses, please give us more suggestions and let us know which games you would like translated to the foreign market
23:05:47 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and if those goes really really well, probably in the next 1-2 years, mangagamer might change our name to xmangagamervideos or something... that was a lie
23:05:59 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and we have a lot of games lined up, so please look forward to it
23:06:21 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so now, before we go to new announcements, we wanted to draw attention to some of the titles we have here at AX
23:06:46 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> moving on, we have our most upcoming release is going to be umineko
23:06:59 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> on sale july 8th
23:06:56 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> both on our website and steam
23:07:14 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> up next, we have our first announcement
23:07:26 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we finally ahve a release date for supipara
23:07:24 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> on sale july 29th
23:07:53 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> at long last, after all the support from you all, and the crowdfunding project, we're done with chapter one and half way to chapter two
23:08:09 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> before we go on, let's have a few words from the producer of supipara
23:08:53 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> hello, i'm minori's how should i say it.. director... producer... president... either way, i'm the guy who does almost everything at minori, i'm sakai nobokazu
23:09:06 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> i'm actually very surprised to see this many people come to this panel
23:09:41 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> as bamboo has touched upon, the eroge market has been shrinking
23:10:03 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and when i see this, even though the market is still shrinking, but with these enthusiastic members in the audience, we might see a flipwhere the foreign market is bigger than japan
23:11:04 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> many years ago, minori worked together with mangagamer to release a game called eden, it sold really well, probably one of the top sellers, so i actually got this news as late as you guys, so we are going to release supipara on july 29th
23:11:16 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> the supipara game is divided into 5 episodes
23:11:26 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> what you see up on the screen is 5 girls for this game
23:11:36 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> in japan, the episodes featuring 1 and 2 of the girls have already been released
23:12:08 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and unfortuantely this game did not sell very well in japan, but i can promise you that for the foriegn us and european market, and we will release both 1 and 2 for both girls
23:12:25 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and i will make an announcement that we already have the story laid out for the 3rd, 4th and 5th girl
23:12:41 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and if the sales for 1 and 2 are really good in the us and european market
23:12:58 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and if that is the case, we will sell the 3rd, 4th and 5th episodes to you guys first before japan
23:13:39 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> this is because if it sells more in the foreign market, we will consider you guys to be the larger fans than japan
23:13:50 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so we will pay it forward by releasing it to you guys first
23:14:30 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and we're going to start thinking of different ways to see what games, what titles, what types of genres will sell in the foreign market, and work very closely together with bamboo-san to get more information
23:15:34 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and mangagamer has a lot of translators who are fluent in both english and japanese, so if you see me with the mangagamer staff, feel free to come up and ask question, at the panel or the mangagamer booth itself
23:15:50 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and since we are constrained by time, i'll end my talk here, but if you have more questions, feel free to come by my panel
23:16:02 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Announcements
23:18:37 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> First one comes from a brand new partner, Chuablesoft
23:18:40 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> If You Love Me Then Say So
23:18:59 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> this game, was the winner of the 2015 moe awards for best game design
23:19:17 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so in this moe game, the most unique thing about it is, you as the player, actually have to choose when to confess
23:19:32 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and all the events in the game hinge on the choices you make, how much of relationship you build before, when you confess, etc
23:19:41 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so there is a numerous breath of variety in the game
23:19:56 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and of course, it has lots of h things too
23:20:17 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> surprise surprise, we also have the president of chuable soft right here
23:20:21 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> for our next announcement
23:20:24 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> another brand new partner
23:20:30 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and of course you see here in mangagamer
23:20:59 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and we believe in equality, so if guys have naked girls, girls should have naked guys too (paraphrased)
23:21:13 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we're going to have the creator introduce it
23:21:24 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> (video from the maker)
23:21:54 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Hadaka Shitsuji
23:23:24 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Naked Butlers
23:23:44 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> i think a lot of people were surprised by watching this video (bamboo)
23:23:48 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> i played this too
23:24:17 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and not just the girls in the audience, but also the guys, you should all play this game
23:24:25 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> it'll open your eyes to a new world
23:25:02 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we're bringing it over in english (back to good haru)
23:24:42 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we're doing the double edition version
23:24:48 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we're also porting it so it will be available on mac and linux
23:25:08 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> for our next title
23:25:13 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> this isn't the only thing we have for ladies in the audience
23:25:23 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> kalmia8
23:25:31 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome
23:27:29 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> This is going to be our first 18+ otome title
23:27:37 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we will have the adult version and an all ages version on steam as well
23:27:58 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> it's fully voiced
23:28:01 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> including the protagonist
23:28:08 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and i think both dudes and ladies will enjoy the title because it's hilarious
23:28:32 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and i know i've said it's hilarious three times now (i paraphased over the first two)
23:28:52 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> bocchimusume x produce-keikaku (original jp title)
23:29:14 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> our next announcement comes from our long standing partners who has been with us since the beginning
23:29:21 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> since the tl for dacapo 3 is finished and edited
23:29:25 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we're proud to present
23:29:28 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Dal Segno
23:31:03 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> while da capo 3 puts an end to the da capo series
23:31:10 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> dal segno carries on the tradition in many ways
23:31:32 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> dal segno does not have an everlasting cherryblossom, it is set on an island off the coast of tokyo
23:32:06 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> (going over the story)
23:32:27 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> happiness and paradise play a big role as themes compared to dacapo's theme of wishes
23:32:33 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> it's still a slice of life romantic game
23:32:39 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> of course, we know not everyone here likes moege
23:32:46 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we know some people like darker things
23:32:55 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> from our partners at clockup
23:35:16 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Maggotbaits
23:36:28 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and since we have her with us, let's have a few words from the original concept creator and illustrator for the game
23:36:37 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Hanashima Shigeo
23:36:41 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Hello, I am Hanashima Shigeo
23:37:24 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> I'm an illustrator and some of the games that mangagamer has released include eurphoia, eroge, no thank you,and what you just saw maggotbaits
23:37:32 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and i'm very happy to see a lot of eroge fans in this room
23:38:10 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and if you are tired of the usual moe and kawaii type of games, please try this type of game which is more dark and has horror elements and is more adult themed
23:38:28 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> by the way, i'm singing the main theme for no thank you (bamboo)
23:38:49 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> maggotbaits won the 2015 award for fetish content
23:39:05 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> next, moving into Q&A
23:40:59 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Q:just to clarify, hadaka shitsuji... you said you are releasing the double edition, so that includes the fan disk? A. Yes, we are, but it might be coming out a little later
23:41:37 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Q: (question paraphrased: why do you think the eroge market is shrinking? and do you think we'll ever see eroge in big box markets)
23:41:57 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> A: Well,it's kinda hard to get it in big box, but we're hoping for a future where we do simultaneous releases in US, Japan and Chinese markets
23:42:14 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> I think it's going to be quite difficult to sell physical copies of the game
23:42:38 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> It's getting tougher in japan to sell physical copies in japan, that might be true for international markets as well
23:42:46 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Looking to the future, I think selling the games online is the way to go
23:43:21 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> And when we start selling the games online, and getting feedback online, and we come to LA and listen to your feedback, we're about to create a better future for our eroge
23:44:24 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> The tough parts were already answerd by these two folks, i think as a creator, any way we can sell the games and make the market grow, (lost), so i would like to ask mangagamer to release more and more titles
23:45:31 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Q: Sakai-san and Bamboo-san... we talked a lot about eroge tonight, but the original supipara and eden don't have H content in the original release, so how important is h content in the japanese market and english market
23:46:01 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> A: sakai: we think there is an important focus on the story line
23:46:42 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> for example, in hardcore titles, that already has a focus on that story line (of the hardcore elements)
23:46:37 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and to say it broadly, we mainly want to focus of why one character and another character have sex
23:47:10 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and we think that why these two characters are having sex is important to the story line, and don't want to pretend sex doesn't happen, so we just want to show that storyline of how two characters interact
23:47:15 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> bamboo: i agree with what he just said
23:47:51 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Q: Princes of Angel(?) with Happiness? A: In translation, coming eventually, looking like next year
23:48:18 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Q: First a silly question.. can you confess to more than one girl in the first title? A: Pretty sure it's just one girl per route
23:48:42 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Q: Have you considered making a game for the american market? A: well, bamboo has done that with gogo nippon, and it looks like that's going to be the case with supipara, if it gets enough sales,
23:48:59 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> so we are definitely moving in that direction
23:49:13 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Q: Under the yuri section, there is only one thing, i'd like to put in a request for more of that
23:50:16 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> Q: so you announced the butler one... which is yaoi...and a couple other that was yuri.. like kindred spirits.. you think you are going to expand more into yaoi and yuri?
23:50:26 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> A: I think at the rate we're going, i think we're going to see more titles of both
23:50:32 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> we've definitely seen solid demand for yuri
23:50:38 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and the same goes with no thank you
23:50:43 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and so there is definitely a market for them
23:50:51 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> and as long as the market remains there, we will bring more titles to them
23:51:01 <bay|AX|Mangagamer> thank you all for coming out tonight