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Us gaijin anime/manga/Japanese culture fans are presented with a problem, in that these works are typically written with the Japanese in mind. In other words, they are written in the Japanese language. And, I don’t know about you, but as far as languages are concerned, I probably know more Klingon than I do Japanese. (Qapla’!)
Now, this usually isn’t a problem where anime and manga are concerned, because (with any luck) your work of choice has already been (or soon will be) licensed and translated into your language of choice. But what about Japanese websites? How are you supposed to read about the latest and greatest anime, or what your favorite mangaka is up to these days? Or read the latest scintillating tales of Japanese life or insights into Japanese culture provided by your favorite random Japanese blogger? Or even navigate the wild and wonderful world of popular otaku hangouts like Nico Nico Douga or 2ch?
Sure, there are computer-based tools such as Google Translate, and they do the job… sort of… often producing something barely recognizable as some wacked-out form of English that a febrile 5-year-old would write. (But they’re usually pretty funny. Try it sometime.) Maybe barely good enough to get the gist of what the website was trying to say, if that. Also, some of these tools make a real mess of a website’s HTML code, turning a normally pretty and functional website into a jumble of nasty. And on particularly complex websites, they may not even work at all.
So what is a poor linguistically-challenged otaku foreigner to do?
Enter Rikai Browser, a free (yes, you read correctly, FREE!) browser for the iPad. Based on the same WebKit engine that powers the iPad’s native Safari browser, Rikai adds a special twist: when browsing a Japanese website, simply long-press on a word or kanji character, tap the “Rikai” button (“Rikai” is Japanese for “understand” – aha!), and the program will instantly display its English translation. It also remembers your search history and what pages you saw them on, making study and review a snap. (Yet another example of why you, the otaku, should get excited about devices such as the iPad.)
If you own an iPhone or iPod touch, and are trying to learn Japanese, you might also want to check out their Japanese Flash app. (It’ll work on the iPad as well.) This “flash card” style app makes it easy and fun to learn your Japanese words and phrases. Unfortunately this one is not free, but at $6.99 isn’t horribly expensive, and might be worth it to you if you’re struggling with your Japanese studies.
Not yet part of the iCollective? (Resistance is futile…) No problem, as long as you use the Firefox web browser, thanks to the almost as cool (and equally as free) Rikaichan Firefox plugin. Install this bad boy and soon you too will be translating Japanese characters like nobody’s business, by just hovering your cursor over the word/characters you would like to have translated. This tool, as well as the Firefox browser it runs on, is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
And before you Google Chrome users pull out your pitchforks and boiling oil, calm down, we’ve got something for you too – Rikaikun is essentially a port of the aforementioned Rikaichain to the Google Chrome plugin architecture, and works on any OS that Chrome runs on (namely Windows, Mac and Linux). Like Rikaichain, simply hover over the word/characters in question and up will pop a translation.
These tools are by no means perfect, but still, until someone invents the Universal Translator (or we discover that Babel Fish do in fact exist), these are certainly helpful tools that any otaku worth his or her salt should have in their linguistic toolbox.
If you live in or near a city of reasonable size, odds are that it has a fairly sizable Japanese-American population, and that it would have some form of Japantown. Perhaps it’s nothing more than a collection of several Japanese or Asian markets or restaurants along a particular city block, or perhaps it’s a huge section of town completely devoted to Japanese-American businesses. Some of the more famous are San Francisco’s and San Jose’s Japantowns (San Francisco’s being one of my favorites), and Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo (which I still haven’t made it to, despite the frequent protestation of one of my co-hosts). Whatever your town has, though, it should be your sworn duty as otaku to visit such a place. Because you will find all manner of things that will interest you there — anime and related goods (Japan Video and Media remains one of my favorite stores to find this kind of thing, and I make it a point to stop in whenever I’m in the area); Jpop, Jrock, and other Japanese music; Japanese household goods; cultural items (decoration, bonsai, etc.); clothing (get your cosplay on!); and, most importantly, FOOD!!! It’s the next best thing to visiting Japan, and is a hell of a lot cheaper (maybe…)
The TJX crew recently visited Markham, Ontario‘s J-Town (map) and shot this nifty little video in which they sample such delicacies as yakitori (one of my favorites), Mitsuya Cider “ALL ZERO,”onigiri (I have fond memories of these – during our Japan trip in 2004, most nights we’d pick up a pair of these at a konbini and they’d serve as our breakfast the next morning); and “korokke,” or croquettes.
Be warned tho – watching this is gonna make you hungry! (A trip to your local Japantown should take care of that though!)
Nico Nico Douga is a sort of Japanese YouTube, and is one of the most popular video sharing sites in Japan. It’s a hotbed of otaku-related video sharing activity, and you can often find fun fan-made anime- or video game-related video content on it. (There’s tons of other weird, wild and wacky Japan-related video content on there as well, of course.) One unique feature that NND has over other similar sites is that when a user comments on a video, rather than the comments appearing as one long list below the video, comments are instead overlaid directly on top of the video, and furthermore can be synced to a particular time in the video. The whole effect is rather akin to VH1’s Pop Up Videos.
While the website is in Japanese, it isn’t really that difficult to find and view videos. (“see shiny looking video thumbnail? click on it.”) Registering for the site is another matter entirely, and unless you have a fairly good grasp of the Japanese writing system, you’re out of luck. Until now, that is. This excellent video from the folks over at Ichiro-Style (a site that I honestly hadn’t heard of until today) shows you the step-by-step procedure for registering, including translations of all the prompts. Wonderful!
So why not head over to Nico Nico Douga today and try it out for yourself? Registration is free (there are paid Premium accounts that give you certain unknown added benefits, but registering for one of those requires a Japanese credit card). All you need is a working e-mail address where you can receive the validation e-mail. Of course, if you’re afraid of spam or whatnot, you don’t have to use your regular e-mail address; you can always set up a free Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, or heck, even a Hotmail account.
The anime and manga (and related) industries have always had an uneasy relationship with fansubbers — the people that take their works and release fan-made translations of them in non-Japanese languages. While technically illegal, most companies have traditionally turned a blind eye toward these groups, realizing that their actions help spread the popularity of their product. Some companies have even openly acknowledged (but not necessarily gave their support to) the efforts of fansubbers; for example, in the promotional video for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kadokawa and Bandai specifically thanked fansub watchers and asked them to purchase the official release. Unfortunately, as of late, there are an increasing number of companies that have gone the opposite route, decrying and vilifying the fansub community, actively monitoring the activities of fansubbers and people who download fansubs and sending them takedown notices. Some have even gone so far as to take legal action against fansubbers. We talked at great length about this in a recent episode of the podcast.
Well, one company has taken a rather unique and (IMHO) refreshing approach to the matter — actually working with the pirates!!! (Shocking, I know.) Minori, the Japanese visual novel company famous for such titles as Wind – A Breath of Heart and Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two (both of which have been adapted into rather successful anime franchises), discovered that the fansub group No Name Losers (NNL) was working on an unauthorized translation of Ef. Like most tales, this one started with them sending out a cease and desist letter. But unlike most C&D’s, Minori added an interesting little “extra” at the end of theirs:
If you wish to obtain an official license from us, handle the ratings issue, follow our requested procedures and sell and/or distribute [our software] within English-speaking circles, then there is the possibility of your visiting our office and discussing with us a license agreement. We would look forward to people following the proper procedure for getting things done.
Well, it must have worked, because on July 14, Minori posted the following on their website:
Starting on July 14, 2010, we at minori have started constructive negotiations with the people at NO NAME LOSERS. We don’t know what will result from this, but we would like to report our results to everyone in the not-too-distant future. For now, please wait for the time being. Thanks.
They apparently sent a proposal to NNL on July 17, with a response deadline of July 21; however, NNL sent their response ahead of the deadline.
Unfortunately, as one report points out, it’s highly unlikely that NNL could come up with the money to pay the (no doubt large) licensing fee; however, it’s still encouraging to see a company that is willing to sit down with “the little guy” instead of squashing him under their bootheels. Really, both sides here deserve a lot of credit; Minori, for being willing to face their sworn enemies and work with them, instead of taking the usual knee-jerk legal action; and NNL, for being willing to sit down with “The Man(TM)” and work things out, instead of being idiots and mouthing off at them. (They also took their website down and have apparently ceased distributing their fan translation, in compliance with the C&D letter.)
Here’s hoping that other companies sit up and take notice!
NOTE: This is a 2-part episode. Be sure and download both parts! (In particular, most iTunes installations are set to only download the latest episode if it detects more than one new episode is available.)
Here at long last is our Anime Expo 2010 review episode of doom. I bring you but a small sampling of the news that came out of the convention, as well as our famous Panel Discussions of Doom(TM) where we talked about AX, what we liked, what we didn’t like, and our thoughts on the event. We’ve also got an interview with Ejen Chuang of Cosplay in America who recently put out an awesome cosplay photography book. And, as always, we bring you the freshest, coolest anime picks.
NOTE: This is a 2-part episode. Be sure and download both parts! (In particular, most iTunes installations are set to only download the latest episode if it detects more than one new episode is available.)
Here at long last is our Anime Expo 2010 review episode of doom. I bring you but a small sampling of the news that came out of the convention, as well as our famous Panel Discussions of Doom(TM) where we talked about AX, what we liked, what we didn’t like, and our thoughts on the event. We’ve also got an interview with Ejen Chuang of Cosplay in America who recently put out an awesome cosplay photography book. And, as always, we bring you the freshest, coolest anime picks.
The dating sim game is one of those quintessential staples of otaku culture. Equal parts visual novel, choose-your-own adventure, “sims” style simulation, and harem anime, this style of game basically puts you, the (usually) male protagonist, in various situations with a variety of (usually) females, and your job is to talk to (or otherwise interact with) them as you go through your (virtual) daily life. By making the right conversational/action choices, you can raise a character’s “love meter,” eventually causing them to “date” you (at which point, congratulations! A Winner is You!). If you fail to accomplish this within the proscribed time limit, then… oh well, better luck next time! Many of these titles do in fact include salacious content, but there are many titles that don’t. (Also some games are released in both “explicit” and “tame” versions.)
Most of these games are of course produced in Japan, and remain largely unknown to a non-Japanese audience. In recent times however a few companies have arisen that license many of the more popular titles and translate and release them for western audiences. Some of the more well known of these include JAST USA, Aksys, and MangaGamer. And, like the anime and manga worlds, there are quite a few unofficial fan translations out there as well. There are a very few non-Japanese developed games in this category, but the love-sim industry remains largely Japanese-dominated.
Well one company is hoping to change that. Okashi Studios, founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, has been working these past five years to bring to market one of the first full-fledged American-made commercial dating sims — and their efforts are finally available for public viewing. Shira Oka: Second Chances puts you in the role of someone who has been given the chance to go back in time and relive their past. Will you make the most of your life? Will you end up with the girl of your dreams? Only time will tell. The game is, of course, filled with the traditional assortment of female character types, and has the typical anime art style. The game also gives you an interesting mix of traits that you can alter for character customization. And all of this is backed by an impressive roster of American voice talent.
Unfortunately the game isn’t complete yet (they’ve been in development since 2005). However, playable demos are now available! Grab ’em today for Windows (alternate download site) and Mac (alternate download site). (Good on them for supporting Mac right out of the gate!) (UPDATE: The download is also available via BitTorrent.) The company hopes that this will spur on the development and growth of the American bishoujo industry.
You can also take a look at the promo video below the cut, and find many other videos (including some gameplay examples) on their YouTube channel.
We here at Otaku no Podcast are committed to openness and transparency. To this end I am starting a new series of periodic reports where we will inform you, the listening/viewing audience, exactly how much we’ve made off this website, and how it’s going to use.
This site (and associated podcast) is very much a labor of love for me. (Plus it gives me the excuse to play with geeky things like microphones, web server software, etc.) And, to be brutally honest, it costs me a fair amount to run. The server costs me $60/month (although since I also run my personal email and website, as well as several friends’ websites off of it, it’s not fair to associate that entire cost with Otaku – if I had to divvy it up, I’d say Otaku’s share is maybe $20-30 per month). There’s also domain renewal fees, which are about $30 per year. (ICANN, the domain registrar, is in the process of raising their rates, so I don’t have an exact figure for this) Of course, since this is my personal hobby, I don’t mind paying for it. Still, I’m not the sort to turn away any assistance, and to that end we have two money-making methods in place here. (Although, “money making” is a relative term – as you’ll soon see, we’re not exactly talking gobs of money here…) Read below for the current state of things, and how the funds will be used.
I really, really hate the vuvuzela. The noise that those cursed “instruments” make sounds to me like a cross between a pair of yaks mating, and a pair of yaks dying an excruciatingly painful death. As I wrote previously, those abominations were all over the LA Convention Center during Anime Expo, and it seemed to me that practically every few seconds, the center was filled with that abominable noise. Really distracting, and even worse, a potential medical liability for those especially close to the offensive noisemaker.
Now before you soccer (or football, as it’s known in places outside of the US) fans get your knickers in a bunch, fear not. I have absolutely no problem with the vuvuzela, in its proper context — i.e. during the World Cup. What I don’t agree with, however, is its use outside of said venue — more specifically, at Anime Expo (really, any anime convention). Because the correlation factor between anime conventions and the World Cup is precisely 0.00. (yes, even if you’re cosplaying as someone from Captain Tsubasa. There ain’t no vuvuzelas in that work…)
Well, great news for all you Baltimoreans: in a shocking display of sanity and common sense, Otakon has banned the vuvuzela. Their announcement on the matter is short and sweet:
Absolutely no vuvuzelas or similar loud noisemakers are permitted within Otakon. Vuvuzelas and other noisemakers within convention buildings are subject to confiscation. Blowing a vuvuzela or similar noisemaker may lead to ejection from the convention.
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