Hirameki: The Forgotten Company that Defined Visual Novels in the West

[@bowloflentils]

The audio balance in my video was way too loud before so I reuploaded it. Hopefully it is more listenable now.

[@ispeakuwunese]

You've got a great video about the history of the medium of novel games, and this video is a decent recap of the history of one of the early pioneers in the Western novel game scene. Thank you and congratulations! There's a lot about the history of novel games in the West that has been lost to time, and it's very good to see that there are efforts like yours to catalog the history that does exist. I was the lead translator for a novel game translation group called insani. The history of fan translations of novel games in the West is another area of novel game history that is not well explored, and I wanted to impart what I remember. While anime fansubbing has been going on since the 1980s, fan translations of novel games did not get off the ground until the early 2000s. The history of fan translations of novel games is interesting, in that respect, because it's still possible to reach the major figures of its early history and talk to them if you ask around. Here is a non-comprehensive rundown of major figures in that early history: alamone: released the first known translation patch for a major novel game that was more than a proof of concept. His partial translation of "Mizuiro" first came out between 2002-2003, and he continued work on it up until 2008 or so. Back in this era, visual novel game engines were largely considered black boxes and hacking attempts on them were rare -- but alamone documented and released what could be considered the first toolset for novel game translation ever seen in the West. His toolset was for NScripter, which was one of the most common novel game engines back in the early 2000s. alamone is still around online, and can be found on Twitter -- if you ever do a history of fan translations of novel games, he'd be a key figure to interview. Haeleth: did much to introduce the work of Key (specifically 'Kanon') to the West. Responsible for a long-running translation project for that game, and created a comprehensive toolset for then-current Key novel game engines (AVG32 and RealLive) that are still used today -- the official translation of "planetarian", for instance, that you can purchase on Steam used Haeleth's toolset during its initial localization project. He also served as one of the maintainers of the ONScripter-EN project (ONScripter is an open-source SDL-based NScripter implementation), then forked it and created PONscripter (which is the foundation of all modern NScripter game localizations) before passing the project on and leaving the community in 2010. As you can see, he should rightfully be remembered as one of the key technical leaders that made translation of novel games possible -- not just fan translations, but official translations owe him a debt of gratitude. Mirror Moon: this fan translation group focused almost solely on the opus of TYPE-MOON. This group is of note not just because of their immense output, but because their main programmer at the time (a guy named chendo) contributed 1-byte character support to ONScripter, which marked the beginning of "easy" NScripter-based novel game localization. No Name Losers: responsible for the first complete translation of an "AAA" novel game ('Wind: A Breath of Heart', whose translation patch came out in 2004). The significance of this release is lost to time now, but it is notable as the proof point that complete, large novel game translations (fan or otherwise) were even *possible*. I served as lead translator for that translation, and then went on to found ... insani: this group forked ONScripter (initially calling it 'onscripter-insani'), abandoning small amounts of backward-compatibility in order to better support English-language functionality. This fork became ONScripter-EN in 2008 and went on to be maintained by Uncle Mion of Sonozaki Futago-Tachi (see below). insani was further responsible for translating the official documentation for NScripter that existed at the time, thereby creating an easy SDK for NScripter game localization. We were also largely responsible for the first comprehensive toolset for disassembly and localization of KrKr2/KAG3 games, which powered games like "Fate/stay night". Finally, it's notable (and of all the work we did, I have an irrational attachment to this one) for having been the first fan translation group to explicitly go after original creators for permission to translate -- which was made possible because starting in 2005, it largely targeted doujin/indie free visual novels. There are a few exceptions -- the official localization of "planetarian" that you can get on Steam is our work, for instance. Finally, there's a historical parallel between Hirameki and insani, in that if Hirameki popularized the term 'visual novel' as referring to all novel games (ADV, sound novel, etc), insani (inadvertently and unwillingly, even) popularized the term 'kinetic novel' as referring to any novel game, usually short, with no choices. Sonozaki Futago-Tachi: this group took on the "Higurashi" series, but never finished its translation. The translation project itself is not as significant as their technical contribution. This group's technical lead, Uncle Mion, took over PONScripter and ONScripter-EN maintenance from Haeleth and me respectively (starting in ~2009) and is largely responsible for the engines that are used in modern NScripter game localizations today. The Steam releases of the "Narcissu" series, for instance, use PONScripter. Writing down all of this, I can point out a few things that were interesting about this early history: 1. Early fan translation groups for novel games focused on individual companies. alamone was a huge fan of Nekonekosoft (which was the creator of 'Mizuiro'); Haeleth was a huge fan of Key; Mirror Moon was made up of TYPE-MOON fans. insani went after the indie/doujin community. 2. I can confirm that Hirameki was badly hurt by online piracy. The community was very small back then and even those of us who did not particularly like Hirameki's work were affected by its struggles and eventual fall. They were a small company doing their very best to bring novel games to the West, and their experience was instrumental in the early novel game fan translation community's hard turn against piracy. When the translation patch to "Wind: A Breath of Heart" was released, we tried very hard to make sure that the patch only went on to those who had legitimately bought the game. When our initial patch for "planetarian" came out, we provided detailed instructions as to how to buy it online (it only cost $10). Haeleth ended his translation project of "Kanon" over concerns about piracy. You mention that had someone championed Leaf games and released fan translations back during this era, they could have been better known -- interestingly, we actually were decently far along in translating some of the seminal Leaf games (To Heart, Tenshi no Inai 12-gatsu), and terminated our fan translation projects over similar concerns about piracy as well. The early community's principled stand against software piracy set it apart from the anime fansub community and from the romhacking community, and I've had conversations with figures in the Japanese novel game industry who noted that this helped to provide a sense of trust as official translation projects started to become a thing in the late 2000s/early 2010s. 3. Many of the early completed fan translation projects of this era became official localizations that are now sold on Steam. 4. In another video, you mention the mid-2000s boom in Western localization of novel games. That boom had to do with an intense focus -- and I think it can rightfully be said that between 2003-2008, this effort was led by the above figures -- on creating sustainable toolchains and translating API documentation for the common novel game engines in existence. This removed most of the purely technical hurdles for games written in those engines, and significantly lowered the bar for entry. This directly led to the boom in novel game localization that began in the mid-2000s, thus significantly leading to the popularity of novel games in the West today. All this I've typed out is a significant portion of the "lost history" of novel games in the West. I'd love for that history to no longer be lost -- the Western novel game fandom would simply not exist without the contributions of the figures I mention above. Every time I open up Steam, I'm just astonished by what is available now, and I think back to this early era. Our dreams have become a reality, even if there are few who now remember just how it was that the novel game fandom in the West evolved into what it is today. Thanks for this walk down memory lane, and I hope that this writeup helps spur others to tell their parts in this history.

[@bowloflentils]

Wow, I'm happy you liked my videos and thank you so much for this detailed write up. I just recently researched a lot of this history while making my video on Leaf and having this summary from someone that was involved in the community at the time is really valuable. Also thank you for your work at insani, some of the first VNs I played back in the day were titles translated by that group such as Narcissu.

[@ispeakuwunese]

@@bowloflentils You're very welcome. I'm grateful to have played my small part in this history, and for everyone who was ever touched by anything I either technically contributed to or translated. One of the great benefits of doing this kind of reminiscence is that you allow the perspective of almost 2 decades to bring your experiences into sharp focus. I was a (very) divisive figure in the community, and I carried a chip on my shoulder for a very long time. The beautiful thing is -- two decades later, I see how the work that a scrappy, loose-knit community of fiercely opinionated individuals began way back then has resulted in an acceptance of novel games in the West that we never imagined possible. The other beautiful thing is -- you see just how small (yet essential) your part was in the larger picture that is history. You also see how some of the things you did that you thought were non-significant had lasting effects that you never thought would happen. I never thought, for instance, that my most major contribution (if it can be called that) to the history of novel games in the West would be my efforts to translate novel game engine documentation and to maintain ONScripter-EN, rather than my efforts to translate novel games themselves. History is funny that way, don't think?

[@Syke1337]

This was the comfiest look into the history of Japanese Adventure Games/Visual Novels I've ever seen. Great choice of music through the whole thing.

[@SuikaShoujo]

I got into VNs in 2009, right after they shut down, so a lot of their titles were still easily available at that point. I was under 18 at the time, so they really stood out to me as the only company that had released games I could actually buy instead of downloading in secret. The first physical VN I ever owned was actually Hourglass of Summer, which I still have never finished thanks to the atrocious DVD format. Somewhere down the line I made it my goal to get a complete set of the games they released, which I finally managed last year, when I happened to find a copy of Yo-Jin-Bo for the low, low price of $139.99, which was somehow still better than the only other copy I had ever seen for sale, that was going for around $800. Nowadays their stuff is either still available dirt-cheap (like Hourglass of Summer or Exodus Guilty Vol. 1) or goes for insanely high prices, assuming you can find a copy at all (Ever17 being the most notorious example). As a collector they've always fascinated me, but I never knew much about them because I wasn't involved with the VN scene while they were active. So actually hearing about their history and seeing their website/promotional materials is pretty fascinating to me.

[@rikamaebara]

Wow! Thank you for this wonderful and informative video. I thank Hirameki for making me the visual novel fan I am today. Ever17 is still such fundamental VN for me. It and Higurashi/Umineko from Ryukishi07 made me delve into VNs back in the day. I remember seeing Phantom in a Borders bookstore and wish I had bought it then. I own a copy of Ever17 that I bought from a con and had Uchikoshi sign years later at Anime Expo it since it means so much to me.

[@TheUltimateMarioFan]

You forgot to mention that a huge reason Hirameki shut down was due to piracy. People were posting full ROM download links of Ever17 on their boards and they got pirated so hard. It's quite sad.

[@MUZUKUN-YT]

LMAOO really?? Damn...

[@DairunCates]

Whaaaaaat? But I thought piracy has literally never done any damage to any company. Are you telling me those people that gush about the virtues of piracy might be stretching the truth a little? Nah. Can't be. Haven't you heard piracy actually HELPS small companies via word of mouth?

[@TheUltimateMarioFan]

@@DairunCates One word: rationalization.

[@KGRAMR]

@@DairunCates Piracy can be both beneficial and detrimental to any medium. And i'll leave it like that...

[@aktsundere]

​@roberthanthonymartinezrive7383 well yeah but visual novels already being a pretty niche medium I'd say it leans a bit more to detrimental

[@averagewhiteguy2]

I got into VNs a few years after VNDB was created. I didn't know all that much about Hirameki, but knew quite a lot from when I started onward about the medium. I think this is a fascinating story about how clever marketing caused Yorhel to use the term when making VNDB. Frankly, I think VNDB was the most instrumental part for wider adoption. They've basically defined the term in the West and said what is and isn't a VN to many people. While they are just a database website like IMDB, it's almost used as gospel for the medium in the West. It's interesting to me that a marketing gimmick caused the most important site for Western VN fans to be created.

[@systemrestart120]

Cannot tell you how excited I am that this video exists. Thank you for talking about Hirameki and this era of VNs in the West. Ever17 and Animamundi ignited my love and fascination for the medium all those years ago, and I am currently collecting as many of their releases as I can find/afford, because I want to share cool pieces of VN history with others. I don't want them, or this era, to be forgotten. Wonderful video, again, thank you so much

[@paireon]

As a bloke that started playing what we now call visual novels about 20 years ago when JAST USA and Himeya Soft were pretty much the only game in town (and it was a VERY small game back then) this really takes me back... Given titles like Phantom of the Inferno, Ai Yori Aoshi and Ever 17, I'm not surprised to learn how seminal Hirameki were to the modern Western VN scene (and I still remember their mags from 2003-2004). Thank you, this was very well-done and informative.

[@FiggsNeughton]

3:21 KEY THE METAL IDOL spotted in the wild!!!

[@houraisheperd9721]

Ever-17 was my first big VN, so I’m super glad they existed even if they were ahead of their time in almost every way. I found a physical copy of the game ten months ago, and you better believe I snatched that thing up. Sure, it’s basically a paperweight (especially with Himmel’s retranslation existing), but to me it’s one of the most valuable things I own. Also, I’m here because of Amelie Doree’s video on the VN manga. Hi!

[@FengLengshun]

Ah, the early days of official VN translation. Those were wild, but fun days. My first VN was either Shuffle or Ever17, bought because I recognized that it's a VN and I can actually buy it in a box (pirated copy, because...) and not download it (...being in a third world country is painful). I really want to play the additional scenario the Ever17 remaster has and it's a shame the original Shuffle is no longer sold.

[@Kuchito08]

A lot of MangaGamer's original catalogue is just gone and it makes me really sad, even if they had issues with their localizations.

[@StrangeGamer859]

Ever17 is a forgotten gem and it deserves SO MUCH more attention

[@Exalted5581]

I came here because i owned a volume 1 soar high isami disk when i was younger, i just wanted to see what the company did and found this vid, thx for the information i didnt need to dig up!

[@AmeLilith]

This completely awakened all the memories of the ads I saw for the DVDs in anime magazines. I never had a clue that this was the content on them all along.

[@Rookiewompus]

This was wonderful! I am shocked KZbin never picked this one up. Get on it, algorithm!

[@KokoroHane]

Very fascinating to learn a bit how the term "visual novel" became the standard in the west, yet in Japan they have many different names. I remember when I first got into VNs via the indie scene (Ren'Py specifically) trying to search for legally translated ones and I came upon Hirameki and got myself a used copy of Phantom of Inferno (still need to finish it, but I like what I played so far). It's sad how they didn't last very long, but it's probably true they were simply way too ambitious and wasn't sure how to market, but their goal was certainly a noble one. It's amazing how visual novels are becoming less and less uncommon, with more translations, and of course the indie scene itself exploding with it!

[@Ichigo111293]

Ever17 was such a fantastic VN. Brought me to tears. 😭

[@phantomic109]

Good video, it was very interesting! I really wasn’t expecting to see a clip of Please Save My Earth in there haha

[@mooxsir]

This was a very educational and well researched video. How was it that you got such high quality convention footage? I was convinced that all that stuff was 480p. Great stuff

[@bowloflentils]

Thank you! All of the convention footage actually came from Hirameki's AnimePlay Magazine. Each issue came with a DVD that included all kinds of videos, including montages of different conventions that were recorded by Hirameki. I uploaded all of these DVDs to the Internet Archive if you want to see them for yourself: archive.org/search?query=%22AnimePlay+Vol.%22

[@alexevaldez]

Your videos are super underrated man. 3 videos so far and all of them rocks.

[@RayX12]

Beautifully informative video. Ever17 was one of my first visual novels, but that happened relatively late (2012), so I had no idea about the history of the company that originally brought us the game. You've won a new subscriber.

[@SuperOtakuKyo]

I return to this video from time to time. Only really got into VNs around 2012-2013 and even then didn't know much about the VN community at large until 2016. Physical VNs trying to sell in stores, a time right before digital purchases hit stride, etc. Its a time I wish I was a part of. Worried for the day to come when the few physical VNs being released in English no longer happen. Worried for the day when these publishers maybe stop considering many titles. These several companies who started out and really pushed for this medium in the West in those early years and even someone like JAST who is still around, deserve some level of respect for what they have done and accomplished. When I return to this video for a sixth time, I wonder what will change even in such a span of time for the industry in the West. The state of it all, and where I will be as a somewhat recent fan of the medium.

[@Blue_Nova707]

Why did you return to this video for the 6th time?

[@SuperOtakuKyo]

It really puts an interesting perspective on visual novels and is informative. And visual novels are a medium I really love.

[@diagtot8310]

great vid.. i remember someone from hirameki saying years later that they had a brutal deadline for the ever 17 localization, which is the reason the translation had so many errors.. sadly i dont remember the exact time, but it wasnt more than 2 months and they had to work all day in any case (1 month or even 2 weeks?)

[@wertville]

Thanks for making this. Having got into VNs around 2009, and at a young age, this was a huge blind spot in my understanding of English VN history. I hope you continue to grow, your documentaries are amazing!

[@Space-Holiday]

This is an excellent video. I subbed, hope to see more great content from you :)

[@mariopartylover10]

This is a very minuscule detail, but KOTOKO, the singer for "went away" (Hourglass of Summer OP) is releasing a self-cover version of the song in September! I love the song, and the VN itself inspired me to watch this video in the first place. Super stoked~

[@LightFykki]

Another great and informative video from you. It was quite interesting to see how the initial history of the VN started here in the West. Even though you say yourself, the actual term "Visual Novel" is something that I take simply for granted today, but I remember that were was a time where it not as common to use it as it might be thought today.

[@osonhodeleon]

An amazing video. Hirameki was very cool. I'm fascinated with the Visual Novel games.

[@AgeAgeAge]

Awesome video! I had no idea that DVD VNs were even a thing, much less that they had this much influence on the scene!

[@Farons8]

Been really interested in VNs lately and I’m glad I could find someone who has the know how. Happy to be the 100th like on this, you deserve more for all the research you did

[@BradleytheDavis]

please more visual novel videos! i find the medium of VN super fascinating and really enjoy videos about them.

[@NunamedDragon]

Wow this was really informative

[@TBoneTony]

I remember Hirameki for the DVD Games like Phantom of Inferno and Hourglass of Summer. Loved those games and they were my first visual novels I played before I finally got a Windows Vista laptop.

[@tesinhumo]

This was such a nostalgia trip! thank you so much Hirameki!

[@moejuggler6033]

Ever17 is a masterpiece, and *also* turned me into a lifelong VN fan.

[@kyokosenpai5713]

Thanks, now im lightened

[@moidrugag]

Great content, keep it up!

[@HenriqueRJchiki]

excellent job fam.

[@adorenu1338]

Imagine an interactive dvd version of Nekopara.

[@asteriamist2232]

Your video are the best!!

[@Aliceeyes]

i love hirameki, my ever 17 is one of my fav gaming pieces!

[@aienstudio3971]

Great video! really good research! *_*

[@YondaMoegi]

Oh wow, Ever17 was my first ever visual novel! I bought a bootleg disk with bad russian translation when i was like, 9 years old? I thought it was an anime show at first and was so confused when it strated installing itself, haha! Also, Animamundi was my first game ot BL variety. And Yo-Jin-Bo was my first otome game. So many first games from one little company. They made me into who i am today

[@hemangchauhan2864]

More of these!

[@LMG356]

Very interesting Video :)

[@JabaNovemanime]

Good video 🇧🇷

[@TVsMrNeil]

This is good stuff! Subbed to your channel. Hope you make more gaming content in the future!

[@quetzal6293]

I really like your videos and their subjects, good job!

[@oldschooldeathmetal8417]

Those were the daya man...those were the days

[@eddywong6750]

They seemed to have too much foresight. Really tragic.

[@tonk82]

Phantom, Ever 17, Hourglass of Summer... i still own them. Good games that made me a fan (although... i had already played true love and glo.ri.a). The thing is, they usually cut the "adult" scenes from the games and censored images and stuff. It was really weird they decided to publish Tea Society of a Witch and Ishika & Honori, both had explicit sexual content. And they even removed some routes. Pretty weird choices.

[@TellaHime]

im still suprised ever17 not on steam yet id like to play it if it ever does or if mangagamer or jast translated it and sold it physical to though i really hope jast doesint keep sky rocketing there game i can only afford so much there new nitro+ game as a collector im bitter they have it for 200$

[@G3E007]

i have the 3 dragons lair games of fx games

[@Vulpas]

16:37 One of these games is not like the rest lmfao

[@bazzy5644]

I honestly was hoping to get something substantial with this video, because the term itself and how it came to be is meaningless compared to the actual format with branching paths, textboxes, art and sound itself. I'm not even sure if i can fault you for this misunderstanding. But i sure as hell do not find this video useful compared to what i did expect to get out of it.

[@Blue_Nova707]

What misunderstanding?