Higurashi Released in English by MangaGamer
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Dec 15, 2009 21:45 JST
- Tags: 07th Expansion, Higurashi, Translation, Visual Novels
07th Expansion’s hit sound novel series Higurashi is being released in English by MangaGamer, with the first installment having just been released.
The original Higurashi, whilst being a doujin visual novel with modest production values, was critically acclaimed and soon the series had spawned a full mixed media franchise, with a variety of games, manga and anime based on the original.
This release covers the first four chapters of Higurashi When They Cry, with later titles in the series set to be released in the new year.
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read these comments:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7548290582088482521&postID=5190617900462025213 [https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7548290582088482521&postID=5190617900462025213]
Could mangagamer truly be lazy?
Am I the only one that thinks the title makes sense? Fans of the series call it Higurashi so wouldn't it make sense to leave Higurashi in the title instead of leaving it out like the english version of the manga and anime do. When Umineko gets translated it will probably be called "Umineko When they Cry". IMO this sounds better than calling the games "When they Cry 1,2,3, & 4".
It would not be hard to just call it "When the Higurashi Cry" or something similar.
But no, the idea of having titles that don't sound like shit is lost on these people.
"It would not be hard to just call it "When the Higurashi Cry" or something similar."
Yes it would. That would be assuming the market knows what a "Higurashi" is. If you don't know what it means, the title "When the Higurashi Cry" would be cut in two, which is a bad marketing move.
No one who buys this game will have not heard of it before.
They are marketing to weeaboos. Weeaboos will know what a Higurashi is.
lol at the hypocrisy of so many sankaku-ites. One Piece is shit because it's art style is 'different'? Never mind the story, 'who wants to read a manga with art like this'?
BUT HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE ART OF HIGURASHI! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE STORY ANYWAY!
lol.
note: not particularly a OP fan, but damn that Higurashi art is worse than Touhou's.
I'm excited. :3 I'm hoping to get this for Christmas~
This just proves how great Higurashi was.
I bet Higurashi should have an enormous fanbase. Im happy Ryuguu Reina its still my favourite fictional character.
USODA FTW!!!11
Yaaaay!
This game is damn popular (it should be). So much that it was cracked 15 hours from release by an anon on /jp/. I'd encourage people to buy the game though; MG needs money to keep up the translations.
Equality Now are once again equating games with real abuse, this time on a major UK news site. Fortunately there's a chance to post a reply:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/16/adult-videogames-sexual-violence-women
ZOMG Torrent Please!!!
When they cry? they? who? us? pfffffffffffffffffft
To read or not to read...?
Is there any excessive graphic gore+violence in this game? That would put me off horribly. :D
Theres absolutely no gore in it.
-from your ever reliable anon
I don't see why people are complaining about the title. Have you realized every other Higurashi English media uses the same title ? If you think media title translations always need to be a literal translation, you're dead wrong.
As for me I'll probably buy, but I guess I'll wait. I already own the original first arc and while my Japanese is rather limited, it's still something worthwhile to have considering all the awesome that spawned from it.
The whole problem is that it IS a literal translation. If it were something else that made sense in English...
+1, fuck.
It's the perfect combination of English and Japanese, IMO. "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" is a mouthful in English and "When They Cry" is written all over Japanese fanart anyway.
"Higurashi: When They Cry" is perfect.
Another commercial from Sankaku ^^
Order your copy today.
does doujin have any meaning to you?
HAU-AU-AU-uuUU~~! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9LPKcjAtp0]
Oh wait... Does Hanyuu even appear in this installment? Ah haha... Seems like I spoke to soon. ;-P
I love Higurashi, it's one of my favorite series, but I cannot for the life of me stand the artwork for this game...I cringe everytime I see it...
I want a box , a package or something , don't want to pay for a "virtual" copy
Well, the way i understand it there wasn't a box in the first place even in japan since it was a doujin game distributed via internet.
I won the contest \o/, can't wait to play it.
MangaGamer sure charges a shitload of money. Their prices are higher than physical disc releases from other companies.
Because physical discs are so convenient and expensive, rite?
I'd imagine the expensive part is printing and distributing stock that oftentimes will rot in a warehouse somewhere because of the more limited appeal and market of VN games. Not to mention that the general market buying these games will likely download them without paying instead of purchasing them, physical release or not.
Also I hope we dont pay for their ridiculous antipirate measures. I cant imagine more contraproductive thing.
The price is ridiculous - its more than twice as much as original doujin release even being only digital download.
They could easily afford psysical release for that much.
I will buy it but I will send them request to release Kai on CD. And I wont buy Kai if they dont cut the price or make the physical release.
Anyone who thinks Higurashi/Umineko are about the art are ignorant.
Still, it's nice to see that Ryukishi's drawing skills are improving.
Having said that, what's with the horrid title translation? "Higurashi when they cry" doesn't even make sense.
"Higurashi When They Cry" sounds kinda off...
They have come a long way from titles such as "Suck my dick or die!" or "Which girl should I choose?", if you ask me.
I'll wait till the new year before deciding on what to buy. Maybe the later titles would better...
There won't be any "later titles" if this doesn't sell well.
There will be Kai - That is fact.
Fuck yes!
The When they Cry series has been one of my favorite of recent years. I've been hoping to play the game.
I can't believe how many years this took to happen. I can see this as easily being their best selling product.
Anyway this is a great move for VNs. And something that was just long overdue anyway. It's a notable series, but it's also one of the most unique, interesting, and innovative. Instead of being Eroge or Dating Sim, Ryukishi/DragonKnight makes it fantasy horror and mystery in his/their VNs.
This could very well help to open up the English speaking world to VNs. Or at least familiarize it with some of the greater ones.
Too late for it now.
I like the way the characters were drawn in the anime better.
Well of course. this is a doujinshi game
When all 7th expansion games will be out maybe i'll buy it. Maybe.
Congratulations, asshole, you're going to be waiting a long fucking time. Why would they release any of the others if this doesn't sell?
I'm buying this solely in the hopes that Umineko gets an English release.
Why if it have fantranslation? To get version without some features and powered by annoying engine? Also without any physical release - just some fucking download?
I just dont see any sense in your post...
Neither in previous post...
>WHY IF IT HAVE FAN TRANSLATION
Gee I don't know, maybe I want to reward the author for his hard work and wonderful story-telling, especially since I've already read one of his other VNs for free.
I realize paying for things you love is a novel concept amongst some readers here but for fuck's sake, people.
Also, there is no fan translation past the first story arc.
Maybe you can buy the original japanese release and apply a fantranslation patch to it? You really seem to be an idiot.
Your policy of buying games that you don't actually want to play intrigues me. Please expand more upon this!
>Higurashi
>Game
Of course I'm going to read it (by the way, it's a visual novel, not a game -- there is nothing to play). But I'm more interested in the author's other works (as in, Umineko) getting English releases.
More importantly is it any good?
Yes, it's quite good.
I see midget old men..
Hauuuu~ kawaii-yo...
OMOCHIKAERI!!!!
6 dwarfs. And a snow-white Keichi's body found flowing down the river.
Bout time we english otakus got something
agreed i love this anime to death <3
Eng Otaku FTW!
Nippa~
uncensored, but without music...
does no one have a isue with the fact they r homocidal and gory or is that ok for firtst graders nippa-
Or mi~ or nano desu~
Remember Satoko-chan's attire when Kei rescues her and put her out of her bath?
Admittedly that's nothing to call people perverts for (for once,) but it is still inappropriate attire for a child in nowadays media.
It seems plans had been made to slightly modify the graphics just to be safe.
Sorry to break it to you Darkrockslizer, but it's uncensored because there's nothing to censor. It's an all-ages game.
FIRST COMMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ~NIPPA.
Any kind of censorement is the wrong kind. No matter the reason.
Yay delicious loli chests
The best thing is, it will be UNCENSORED. >:3
wow.soo weird title given.isnt it should be when Higurashi cry at least?
Hard to translate the original title.
I just love the French translation: 'Le sanglot des cigales' with the first 4 letters 'sang' of 'sanglot' in red.
Cigales is, well, cicadas.
Sang in French means blood.
Sanglot in French is either that hiccup you make when you cry, or in general the mourning made while crying.
So, it was translated "Tears of the cicadas," except that part of the word "tears" is in red, and that part read alone means blood.
Genius.
The interesting thing is, that they named the anime "Hinamizawa, le village maudit", "Hinamizawa, the cursed village".
But who cares about the title, the french dub of Higurashi is great and my favorite of all the english, german and french dubs I know.
Yeah, what is up with the name? Firstly, just translate the whole title and secondly, the grammar is all fucked.
When They Cry is how both the anime and manga are translated as well. Thats just the way it is its not just MangaGamer so get over it.
Well the original games are (also) being called "When They Cry"...Umineko was When They Cry 3 and Chiru is part 4 of the series.
SEACAT
Umineko When They Cry
I wonder what they're gonna call Umineko though. When They Cry?
Yes, it should is having been.
Yeah, I always thought "When the Higurashi cry" actually had a nice ring to it... Being too literal with a translation to the point of messing up the grammar is a bad thing.
WHOO YANDERE TIME
There isn't really any yandere behavior until you hit the Kai chapters. So it's more like "WHOO YANGIRE TIME" for right now.
Plus 2.
USE SODA!!!
I c wut u did thar.
"Higurashi When They Cry"?...horrible name.
It's "When the Cicadas Cry".
If the translation of the title failes this badly, I can't even imagine the quality the rest will be.
The title was adapted from the other official releases (anime and manga), which also use the 'When They Cry - Higurashi' name. It also makes a bit of sense, as 'When They Cry' is the series' name.
The Higurashi aren't exactly Cicadas.
But they are exactly cicadas; they are just a specific kind.
I think this title is like calling Gran Turismo "Car. You drive."
It's not too late to patent and sell that name. $_$
Higurashi most certainly are Cicadas.
All Higurashi are Cicadas, but not all Cicadas are Higurashi. It'd be like translating 'cow' as 'cattle'.
Around $50 for what is basically a noninteractive novel that you read on your computer?
I appreciate it being translated and all but that seems pretty pricey. How long does it take to read through?
Think of a very large book with multiple routes and endings, this book can take several tens of hours to read each ending, then imagine you have to also buy a CD with background music that changes according to the mood of the story, that should explain the price.
From the site:
"An important point to note here is the absence of what is commonly called choices and forks.
This means that you are freed from the tedious saving and loading, the searching for events and routes, and can instead enjoy the story from the beginning to the end."
Doesn't sound like it has multiple routes...
higurashi has either one or two choices, and neither of them are of very much consequence.
It was originally only $15.
They overpriced this.
Actually, originally you had to buy all four games seperately, each costing about 2000 yen new. MG's pricing is quite affordable.
But in every later episode the episodes that came before were *also* included, or am I missing something there?
It doesn't matter, what they're selling now IS the compilation, which is originally $15.
Yeah I was a little disappointed when I found out the price for the type of game it is. Not to mention its digital download only. Usually digital copies are cheaper hence no box/packaging.
Oh well I'll still be shelling out the cash since its worth it.
If Umineko is anything to go buy each arc should take roughly 12-16 hours of reading.
The MangaGamer site says:
"Upon developing the English version of Higurashi When They Cry", the following elements could not be implemented from the Japanese version.
This is primarily due to complications in the
copyright because of the nature of the original work.
Please understand it was a necessary measure for the release.
- Replacement of BGM in some scenes
- Removal of the Music Room
- Removal of the Mini Game
- Removal of the Staff Room"
WTF? That sounds like some bullshit Japanese excuse.
Explantion
"From what I’ve heard, the issues are as follows:
Music Room-Because a few BGMs/SEs were replaced, the original license holder requested that we remove this feature as part of our adaptation of Higurashi.
Minigame-This was removed because of technical issues as well as copyright issues with some characters from other companies who have a cameo appearance in the minigame. In the original game they were used without permission, and we have not received permission to use them either, so the minigame was removed.
Staff Room-What many of you are thinking of is what’s called the “Otsukaresama-kai” in the DS and other versions. This is the scene where the characters gather and discuss the events of the game and their own theories and hypothesis about the culprit or culprits. These will be included as far as I know, and I believe Evospace said as much earlier. The Staff Room section is similar to a diary for Ryukishi, and contains various topics relating to games, products, and other material during the time he worked on Higurashi. Since we have no permission for any of the games or products he discussed, this section was removed as well.
We sincerely apologize for these differences between our version and the original, however the actual story and elements important to the story still remain just as they were in the originals. As a doujin game, Ryukishi was able to use many songs, characters, and topics without permission for these features, but as an official release we need permission from the copyright holders to use them. Since we couldn’t obtain all the licenses for all of the characters and products featured in these sections, they were unfortunately removed. If we ever have any new updates about these features, I assure you we will make the information available as soon as possible.
Again, while these features have unfortunately been removed, aside from the few BGMs which were replaced, the original story and other elements important to the story have not been removed or altered."
"In the original game they were used without permission, and we have not received permission to use them either, so the minigame was removed."
Yea in Japan you don't need permission for those in a doujin title, the original creators would find it an honor and a great stimuli for the flowing fanbase.
Do that in the US and get ready to have your ass sued. Sigh.
Just wait until someone rips the translation on the unmutilated body of the original game.
Voilà, best of both worlds.
Actually, you'd still need permission in a commercial work. The original was a doujin game however, whereas this adaptation is wholly commercial.
Alot of the music used in the first chapters weren't licensed for retail use. They had to be replaced to avoid copyright complications, which I can fully understand.
What's the Mini Game?
Dodging Rena's punches.
It has absolutely nothing to do with story, and is kinda silly. If you think it's an important loss, then... Well, you can probably find it from somewhere at internet.
its not important for us...
but I bet Keiichi would appreciate the training.