New VN Releases! (10/8/2014)

Well, it’s about time I got serious about delivering more than just my cutting wit and impeccable opinion! So let’s start things back up with a report of noteworthy visual novel releases!

Cheritz Brings Dandelion to Steam!

Steam continues to grow its visual novel catalog today with the announcement from South Korean developer Cheritz that the otome game Dandelion – Wishes Brought Unto You is now available! Originally published in 2012 for a Korean audience, it was translated for the West in 2013. Here is the basic premise!

“Hee-Jung is a 21 year old girl who pushes herself to be perfect at everything; yet she realizes that she does not know what she really desires. Although she lives a hectic life, she feels like she is on the road to nowhere. However, one day she encounters mysterious animals and decides to take them in. She doesn’t yet realize that this will radically change her life…”

The game is available for $29.99 on Steam. If you’ve already bought it directly from Cheritz, you can retrieve a Steam key here! As for whether or not a certain reviewer who once labeled this VN ‘that game where bunnies and kitties turn into hot guys’ will take this one on….stay tuned.

JP3 Takes The Ice Bucket Challenge!

I’m joining thousands across the country and taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to spread awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (I accidentally called it ‘Arterial Lateral Sclerosis’: SORRY!) or just Lou Gehrig’s Disease! Join me in fighting ALS by taking the challenge and donating to the cause!

Also I challenged a few different people including Rooster Teeth’s Monty Oum! Despite our differing opinions of his work, I would love to see Rooster Teeth join in promoting this great cause. So, let the word go forth!

Find Out More At: http://www.alsa.org/

VNs Now! At AnimeFest 2014

Hello all! I am excited to announce that in a few days I will be in Dallas, Texas for AnimeFest 2014! It’ll be the first convention I’ve ever gone to and I am sure I am in for a very fun experience. Now, if you are wondering why a Georgia resident who has the choice of DragonCon, MomoCon and many other conventions would spend so much time and effort to fly to the middle of the country for a convention, it is because AnimeFest is the currently the unofficial EVN developers meet-up as well. Here is an incomplete list of the developers who are expected to be there this weekend:

• Ayu Sakata (SakeVisual)
• Micah Solusod (SakeVisual)
• Lorelei N. (Cyanide Tea)
• KomiTsuku (IDHAS)
• KittyKatStarGal (Winter Wolves, Apple Cider)
• Deji (SakeVisual, Apple Cider, Winter Wolves)
• PyTom (Ren’Py)

If you’re a fan of this site or ANY of the developers and you’re in the Dallas area this weekend, I look forward to seeing you come through AnimeFest! I’ll be the goof in the straw Western hat B) so I should stick out. And for those who won’t be able to make AnimeFest this year, don’t worry about it because VNs Now has you covered! As discussed during Monday’s edition of Sound Off, I plan on doing a live show every day of the convention. There is still a lot to iron out, and I have NO FREAKIN’ IDEA how I’m going to pull off some of these interviews, but this is the tentative plan for VNsNow Radio at AnimeFest:

• Friday: 11 PM EST/ 10 CST I hope to give you guys a full recap of the day’s events including whatever clips I can play from the visual novel panel Ayu Sakata will be hosting. I will also be going to some panels on Space Dandy so expect a good deal of talk about that.
• Saturday: SOMETIME IN THE AFTERNOON (whatever time works best for everyone) I will be broadcasting interviews from the developers at the convention! I have begun reaching out to those I want to interview and I’ll be e-mailing more before Friday! The show from that afternoon will hopefully be live (it’ll depend on if I can find a place to do it from, what the devs are comfortable with and if the Internet is screwed from overuse: so fingers-crossed) and it will rebroadcast Saturday evening.
• Sunday: That afternoon I will be rebroadcasting Friday and Saturday’s shows for anyone who missed it the first time around leading up to live Sound Off at its regular time at 10 PM EST/9 PM CST! Full con recap PLUS me screwing around because something tells me I will have JUST enough energy to do that much.

Please keep an eye on this site as well as our twitter for any updates or changes to the plan because, as I have said multiple times now, this is ALL tentative and can change on a dime! Hope to see you guys there and if not, I hope you’ll be tuning in!

 

VNs Now Radio Is Live TONIGHT!

Tonight on the live show, JP will be discussing the return of RWBY from RoosterTeeth and how it’s being defined by a fandom mostly made up of people forcing themselves to like it. After which we’ll have music from the best up-and-coming musical artists in the EVN community! The stream starts tonight at 10 PM EST/9 PM CST on Mixlr here! Hope to see you guys all there!

Sound Off Episode 23: The First Live Episode

On July 20th, JP took the podcast live for the first time on Mixlr! During Sound Off, JP dissected Winged Cloud’s Sakura Spirit and questioned where the EVN community would head thanks to impact on Steam. Afterwards, there was live music from games like Analogue: A Hate Story, Dysfunctional Systems and Cinders. Finally, JP personally closed out the night with some reflections on making the show better and future reviews!

If you missed the show, you can listen to it in full above or download the MP3 Here. And don’t forget to tune into the live broadcast of VNs Now Radio every Sunday at 10 PM EST/9 PM CST! (7 PM PST if you want to be pedantic)

 

 

 

Ayu Sakata Throws A Water Party

Last week, voice actress and Sakevisual chief Ayu Sakata launched a charity fundraiser with the goal of raising $17,000 for clean water projects worldwide. The fundraiser will go on for another two and half months and there are several incentives for fans of anime provided by other English voice actors from shows such as Attack on Titan, A Certain Scientific Railgun and Sword Art Online.

Here are the details for the fundraiser:

5,000 kids under the age of 5 died from water-related illnesses yesterday.

Let’s make today different.

 

 

Clean water is the most basic necessity for living, and we’ve got tons of it. We can jump around and play in it. Dude, we even flush it down the toilet. But some people don’t even have anything drinkable, and thousands of kids die every day because they don’t have clean water.

People accuse us of being lazy and selfish. They complain that we spend money on the wrong things, or we don’t do anything to help others. We can be more than that. We ARE more than that. Let’s prove it.

We here at VNs Now always support good causes and while she isn’t making potato salad, this is a very noble cause. As Sakata said, every little bit helps so please do what you can! Go Here to make a donation and get more information about the current water crisis.

Sekai Project To Bring Sunrider Space Opera To Steam

The Sekai Project is making big moves into the EVN community. Not only have they added several new Japanese titles to their catalog, but today they announced a partnership with Love in Space to bring their first project, Sunrider: First Arrival, to Steam. Here is the full press release:

Sekai Project and Love in Space are proud to announce “Sunrider: First Arrival” will join Japanese visual novels “fault milestone one,” “WORLD END ECONOMiCA,” and “Narcissu 1st & 2nd” on Sekai Project’s Steam lineup.  After publishing freeware indie visual novel Narcissu on Steam, Sekai Project is no stranger to bringing free visual novels to fans across the world.  This collaboration will bring Sunrider to Steam’s 75 million user base and promote indie visual novels throughout the world.

Sunrider: First Arrival is the first installment of the Sunrider trilogy. Join Captain Kayto Shields of the starship Sunrider and his crew on their adventure through the stars.  Command a squadron of elite mecha pilots in tense turn based battles to find victory.  Exploit every tactical advantage in battles against overwhelming odds.  Interact with the ship’s crew and explore a rich galaxy filled with lore between battles.

Sekai Project is a start-up based in Los Angeles with the single goal of getting greater exposure to indie creators.  Recently raising over $90,000 to localize “WORLD END ECONOMiCA” on Kickstarter, Sekai Project is currently raising funds to localize and improve Japanese indie visual novel “fault milestone one.”  Both projects will be published on Steam upon completion.

Love in Space is an indie visual novel development team based in San Diego. After raising over $44,000 on Kickstarter to bring Sunrider to the world, the team has successfully released the first installment of the Sunrider saga.  The team’s mission is to create a giant space opera visual novel with an epic story and massive space battles.

Sekai Project and Love in Space are excited to collaborate to bring Sunrider to Steam.  Together, they hope fans from across the English speaking world will soon be able to play many more visual novels on Steam and beyond.

 

Sakura Spirit Delayed

As originally announced on MangaGamer, the Sekai Project’s first original English Visual Novel, titled Sakura Spirit, has been delayed. The fantasy ecchi title was originally slated for release a few weeks ago and We have reached out to Raymond Qian, chief executive of the Sekai Project, for details and was told that the creators of the game wanted to add more content to it. For the record, the developer of Sakura Spirit is Winged Cloud: creators of Pyrite Heart and The Guardian’s Spell. Qian has sad he will have more details on a new release date, as well as other projects the Sekai Project is working on at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California later on this week.

We will keep you posted with any new information that comes from AX.

 

ABOUT SAKURA SPIRIT

Rising Judo Star, Gushiken Takahiro, was about to have the match that would make or break his career in two weeks: a championship match where the winner is then signed up to be a young national athlete for Japan. He was very determined to win, in order to fulfill his dreams of finally representing his country for a sport he loves so much.

He was prepared and ready, but that doesn’t stop him from being nervous for his upcoming battle. With the suggestion of his friends and classmates, he goes to a shrine that was rumored to grant any wish or prayer. He poured all the coins from his already full coin bank into the offering box and made his prayer. After praying, he becomes dizzy and nauseous and eventually faints. When he woke up, he was already in an ancient place he didn’t recognize.

While searching for a way back to his village, he stumbles upon two girl wielding swords chasing after two… foxgirls? He questions his brain at first, but then follows them, only to be caught in on their shenanigans as well.

Who are these girls and are they involved on Takahiro’s arrival to this new world? Will he ever get back to his home place and timeline just in time for his match? Or will he be stuck there forever?

 

Here’s The News! (02/09/2014)

Hey everyone, ready for some news and updates? No? Too bad.  Tired of pictures? Fine. How about a video for a change! There is a new trailer for Starswirl Academy, by Zap Apple Project.  A visual novel about students and their life at the prestigious Starswirl Academy.  Will they be able to find friendship and make it through the first year?

It was reissued after the team got a notice from Hasbro to change the names and other aspects of their project due to use of Hasbro’s My Little Pony property.  The trailer shows the new names, is voiced, and even has a short animated scene.  The demo was reissued as well and is also available for Windows, Android, Linux, and Mac.