This applies only to the EN version. Meanwhile, have some Mayayan advertising the JP game.
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Crowdfunding: Copyright in Fandom
For completeness, I am talking about this particular kickstarter – School Idol Tomodachi. They’re just two folks doing it like it’s 1999, and are operating with a minimal regard to copyright at least as per my interpretation. You can make your own interpretation, as I’m posting the Q&A I have submitted. Or rather, what I PM’d them on KS:
Is this licensed by klab or bushiroad? Do you have permission?
Deby & Engil says:
Hi!
Though we never talked to them directly nor got an official authorization from them, we know that they are aware of the existence of this website and tolerate it, as they tolerate fan sites since it helps them grow their users base.
Every single fan site violates copyrights in a certain way, and it’s up to the license owner to sue. Most of the time, and this is the case, they consider it as “fair use” and let people do their stuff, since it’s free advertisement for them and it’s harmless.
If at some point the lisence’s owners change their mind and ask us to take the site down or close the Kickstarter, we will do it.
Hope that helps~
And it does. Thank you.
I don’t really have a bone with the concept behind it, but it still rubs me the wrong way when someone promotes his or her own project by selling straight-up stuff they don’t own to market it. It’s one “commercial activity” too far for this ossan. I guess there’s nothing wrong with it per se, but from a business point of view it would be weird to see a fan project go raise money when the actual commercial products the site is a fan of can’t be equally shameless. That Kickstarter (TM?) stuff still is worth something in PR money. Well, for shame tiering, there is always that Clannad Man thing as a lowest tier (that I care to signal boost). This is somewhere above that.
To an extent, too, this is largely a changing mores kind of thing. These two developers are just 23 years old. Kickstarter was a thing before they even started college, assuming they were on a standard path. Paying for your own fandom from your own pocket is getting to be passe, it seems. Of course, at the same time, crowdfunding works for fandom precisely because it enables that “country club” thing for things beyond large tracts of land for golfing. The bone I have with it is just, again, as with Kickstarters in general, the simple buyer-seller relationship that Kickstarter permits to happen in the context that has been largely reserved for traditionally memberships. That ~30% that Kickstarter and its payment processor takes out of is 30% a private fundraising via paypal will not (which is just ~3%).
At least if you kickstart a con, you can do what Otakon does… When you are kickstarting a CD album or a board game or a smartwatch, you really are just preordering. And if this fansite kickstarter kept it clean, it wouldn’t be as bad as those. But now it’s a question of “is it okay to second-hand sell loveca”? Is this a question you want to even ask in the first place? Among other things.
Another interpretation is just that these folks don’t know any better. It is not out of the question. I think Dave choosing Indiegogo is a smart move, for example. Good for you, Kawaiikochan Man.
PS.
This School Idol site publishes a public API so you can pull its card entries (among other things). It’s both hilariously bad and pretty cool at the same time. I mean, like, AWS is not cheap. It’s like one-upping a production committee by putting out your favorite light novel’s anime adaptation. Except in this case it’s code that the production committee don’t care about? And the fans are trying to sell things the committee would sell? Because, like, how else can you raise money, besides selling t-shirts with Honkers printed on it, right?
It’s not like I dislike any of this. But this is no longer about copyright as much as businesses trying to make money and how fans fill the gap in a very meta kind of way, and copyright only goes to show how inadequate it is at trying to cordon off a way to get it done. It’s entirely too weaksauce for this 21st century stuff.
Maybe Gaben should take note on this.
Theme Cafes and Mobage
I was reading some twitter tweets to Swallowtail, the famed Ikebukuro butler cafe. It struck me that these are the kind of things well-executed theme restaurants do. And then it also struck me that this is why I play IM@S Million Live, because it is a well-executed game in a similar manner.
It may or may not be fair to say that theme restaurants are gimmicky. Well, they are just normal eateries with a focus. Andrew Zimmern went to one that’s a prison-themed place. I went to an IDOLM@STER themed cafe (I suppose a cafe or a restaurant is an equally important distinction). I don’t know what is different between the two other than the focus and the type of food each places serve.
If we consider social games or mobile games in that sense, they are gameplay-as-a-secondary-offering games with various themes. And it’s about how these themes execute that makes them or break them, at least for some people. If you want to dine in prison, as a theme restaurant patron, what does it mean? What should go into it? Perhaps it still should be comfortable, but in a way that reminds you that you are in a prison. Perhaps the food should reflect thematically. The atmosphere of the place might be prison-like. It goes on.
And by “secondary offering” I merely mean it is not the central point, as much as it is at best just as important to the purpose of these games or restaurant, which is about some kind of entertaining user experience. Anyway, I don’t want to belittle somehow these things as games or not. Just like I wouldn’t belittle a delicious meal served by cosplayers or by just about anyone else.
Things are a little more vague when we talk about details. To put it in context, when we dine and review the experience, it is usually things like service, quality of food, the value of the meal, if the taste meets the expectation, atmosphere, wait time, and other things like that. In video games, it’s about similar things, except we would translate it to how fun it is, the complexity, the learning curve, how the gameplay integrate with the game’s narrative, how polished the code is, what have you. Like your average yelp or whatever review.
It’s entirely possible to rate a game based on the number of idols available in it.
Ever read reviews like these? And think it’s retarded? I guess that’s kind of like rating how good a buffet restaurant with how many dishes…wait. I guess it just goes to show how video game reviews seem to be a little oddish when put into that “casual” point of view.
But details nonetheless. Like the cylume color of Shiho’s card for Liar Rouge is white and not red? Or blue? Or brown? Because fans called it out on them? Or the selection of images that may make up a collage which tells a narrative behind an ongoing event? Or how the CD releases coordinates with in-game events? Or how in-game cards nods at in-fandom jokes?
Well, that’s par for the course for these character-collecting social games. It’s the extra mile a game like ML goes that impresses me over the other ones I’ve played. But I think this case can be made across the genre, especially when they’re mixed-media franchises with room to collaborate between all of these things.
But for those of us who are easier to please, or who might be open to these kinds of experiences, what values is the execution, the exquisiteness, the finer details of life. It doesn’t matter if you are tapping against rings shooting out of a moving beat or trying to figure out how much money you need to spend to win, it’s more about what it brings to you; what it buys. For those of us that time and money can actually buy things that make us happy in this context–it might be an after-meal espresso or a pile of “energy drinks” that replenishes your in-game stamina–is it worthwhile?
Yeah, it is closer to gambling (the casino style) as a lifestyle and entertainment than, say, buying a book so you can read it on your own terms, even if it exists somewhere in between. But I don’t think the world would want only one or the other and never both, to exist as options for anyone and everyone. At the same time, if you’ve ever been to places like Atlantic City or Las Vegas, these are pretty crass institutions. When a dirt-cheap looking mobile game can deliver (I still feel like Cinderella Girls is just a glorified pachinko interface, at least the Japanese one) the same experience on your budget smart-whatever device, maybe it’s time to rethink all this.
It also explains why there’s still all this resistance from what typifies as “gamers” to accept mobile gaming. I don’t think of it either way, other than as long as people are comfortable with this sort of things coexisting.
Which is also to say there are not much in terms of maid cafes and that type of theme restaurants in the US for much the same reasons. It’s a pity.
Seiyuu Nicknames, 2015 Spring Edition
[Please also see 2016 version of this post]
I reference seiyuu by nickname sometimes. It’s not a habit I pride on and I think it’s better, in such a blog, to refer people by their family names. It can get confusing since romanized, a lot of people’s names are the same, so nicknames often help as a better way to communicate. (Especially since the reverse situation, while does happen, rarely does due to the way nicknames tend to form.) Anyway, I digress. Ask me separately about how I feel about them sometimes I guess.
For sake of ease of recalling, I group them by how I felt like it (kinda) and sorted by nickname, since I figured that’s the better mapping. Also I’m limiting it to the names I would use on this blog. I know there are more nicknames than what I list here, and some seiyuu have many nicknames that I only list a few. Truth is I don’t even know all of them, even people I reference to.
Also I’m avoiding the list of people who are not new because this is going to get REAL long if I added people like Miyukichi and Asumiss in the mix. It’s already really long.
Core IM@S
- Akky/Akki – The (recently) married and with-child, Hasegawa Akiko. Plays Miki.
- Asapon – A high end nickname for her is like “Shimoneta” because Shimoda Asami is like that. the CV for Ami/Mami is also playful.
- Azumin – Asakura Azami. Yukiho’s second CV. Best known otherwise in her High School DxD and ChuuniKoi roles.
- Chiaking – Takahashi Chiaki, or Azusa’s CV. See also King. See also “JPY” or “Juicy Party Yeah”???
- Eririn/Eriko – Nakamura Eriko plays Haruka.
- Haramii – Hara Yumi. Lately Takane’s CV’s new nickname “Hanyanya” has gained steam, but it has yet to stick.
- Hirorin – Hirata Hiromi plays Makoto. Also see Kaachan.
- Jurikichi – Takita Juri, or Kotori’s CV. The second 765Pro mom.
- Kaachan – Somehow Hirorin gained this nickname because she was pretty public about her early goings of being a new mom. TBD how this nickname will stick with multiple buns in the oven in the near future!
- Kami – Wakabayashi Naomi, or Ritsuko. Mom #3.
- King – It’s actually just the next stage of Chiaking.
- Kugyuu/Kugimi/etc – Kugimiya Rie, you know her.
- Mingosu – Imai Asami, CV for Chihaya. Just a side note but Mingosu is often a suffix (see: Asamigosu, Eromingosu, EriMingosu)
- Nunu/Nu – Numakura Manami, CV for Hibiki. Nuuuuuuuu.
- Sensei – Often refers to Nakamura in this context but in general this is a flexible nickname in all cases.
- Yurishii – Hase Yurina. The original Yukiho CV. Also goes by Ochiai Yurika. Retired from IM@S back in 2010 or so.
Spring 2015 Anime Intake
Just some notes.
Denpa Kyoushi – I like the concept and idea but the execution is too much of that “weekly manga turned anime chapter 1” nonsense that generally sours me on most of such types of manga. TrySail’s OP is catchy if all too ordinary. Whatever pays the bills I guess. Another 10ch anime. I guess let’s get that out of the way: gorioshi full force this spring for TrySale yeah? I hope Useful Dreamer moves.
Triage X – Boobs, gangsters and sentai-type team bloody violence is a winning formula. Can it keep on executing I don’t know. Will it have a theme worthwhile I know even less.
Shoukugeki no Soma – Food Wars is a better title. Same problem I have with Denpa Kyoushi applies, but this is executed better. Tanechan’s O-voice LOLOL. Somehow just as erotic as Triage X IMO. Might keep with it a bit just due to strength of its material.
Danmachi – Hestia mania aside the anime itself is intriguing. Its light novel roots show, for better or for worse. As long as the story trucks on I think we’ll be okay on this one since I doubt it can outstay its welcome at ep 13, the boobstring memes regardless.
Houkagou no Pleadies – I like the way it looks and its presentation but it is seriously boring. Would be hard to motivate me to try episode 2, but I might go that far.
Punchline – It’s a lot of fun and this anime has more details in it than most. Just the production value alone is worth keep on with it. Another Tenchan anime, but this one she at least gets to do a very different role. I have no qualms on the oddishly contrasting subject matter, noitaminA aside.
Dia no A – Can we get some not recaps please. OK I guess they need a break, but can they just not have any episodes? LOL.
Sound Euphonium – Looks great, with less filling. My favorite part of the show so far is its channeling of moody high school artsy feels and the way they frame the cast’s voice. Moyochi sounds positively neutral and natural in this, and even Moeshi’s typical saccharine sound fits like a glove. The brass animation porn is…shiny. And I still don’t get why Asuka is so adored when Mamiko is by all means superior.
Fate UBW – I like the new direction, I guess. UBW always strikes me as something with a lot of room for improvement. At least this might turn out to be one, I don’t know.
OreGuile 2 – Feels like the first one, minor differences aside.
Plastic Memories – It’s charming in a second-tier cartoon with SF motifs kind of way. Tenchan is working that cooldere and has a lot of lines to go with. I feel like this is her natural niche, just a matter of getting a character with enough scenes and speaking lines (sorry Shiho, Akame). Story-wise and character-wise it’s actually not remarkable, for someone as fatigued by Asmov-style robot stories as I am, but I’m sure the feels will come flowing sooner or later.
Etotama – Surprisingly a lot of fun, just like Rieshon is surprisingly a lot of fun. She still needs lots of help, but calling Etotama the Rieshon anime is pretty spot on. I don’t know if I would be adverse to gorioshi of Rieshon but the idea entertains. Well, I don’t think she can handle real gorioshi anyway. This is also the most anime anime this season, 3DCG included.
Show by Rock – This and Etotama are like, poised for head-to-head comparison I feel. It’s got that weird shoujo anime vibe to it that matches what it tries to do but feel a little weird, kind of like the 3DCG feels a little weird. It’s worth trucking through a bit, because the idea shines through the lackluster execution. At least will keep an eye on.
Re-Kan – It’s okay. I would like to watch more shows like this, but the hook doesn’t really have anything on me. I’ll let nature take its course on this one.
Stuff still to try?
Sidonia S2 – Will wait to marathon. Thanks Netflix :(
Gunslinger Stratos – Universally panned! Gotta try one.
Oremonogatari – Universally praised! Must resist urge to badmouth it.
I tried watching RIN-NE and stopped a couple seconds in.
Yamada-kun – The caps looked interesting, so is the cast.
Griasia – Just a matter of time. I like this show in that it’s the first one in a long while where I sat through it while finding it difficult to watch, but still felt compelled about it. Looking forward to season 2…
Kekkai Sensen – Just haven’t gotten around to it.
I still have built-in Funimation bias, I don’t hate them, but I don’t expect to use their services unless they upload it to youtube or Hulu, as they typically do. Not even Ninja Slayer will get me to subscribe I’m afraid. FWIW, Inferno Cop was free and freely subbed. I think that goes a long way getting it viral and popular.
That said, I’m watching a few shorts. Like the Suzuken/Yukarin duo show, and maybe will pick up another one or two.