For better or worse, the Special Edition of Eien no Aselia was intended for very limited distribution. Xuse only produced 6000 copies of it, and at the moment, it’s out of print and secondhand copies are currently fetching almost double the new price. Ideally, that would be the version to get, but unless Xuse also reprints more copies of it in Japanese, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll allow it to be licensed in English.
Especially considering recent developments, both with the new Tokyo law and with the whole RapeLay incident. I doubt Xuse wants the content that’s been described in this thread making waves , especially if they’re taking steps to pretend it never happened in Japan itself.
So I can completely understand why the non-h version is coming out.
I do have some questions not censorship related: How many endings are in this game? Does it have a New Game + mode? I know someone mentioned multiple difficulty levels; if there IS a New Game + mode, can I NG+ into the harder modes?
7 endings.
Yes.
Yes.
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I think it’s pretty safe to say that we wouldn’t be getting an 18+ version of this game.
Isn’t she not human? Does she have an actual age? I’m pretty sure Al Azif looks just as young…
Oh wow another great annoucment. I cant wait to hear the last one. This game looks fun and nice to go after non adult titles
This would probably be a better picture to illustrate.
I’m not going to lie; the first rape scene is pretty creepy. But yes, she’s non-human.
However, Kotori, a friend of the protagonist’s little sister, IS human. And she’s unavoidably raped as part of the main story. I don’t have a picture to show, as she’s not even listed as a character on Xuse’s site.
She’s not human but she would IIRC have an age similar to what she looks like. I think spirits age similarly to humans?
Well, I think that the point zalas was trying to make is that both Al Azif and Orpha are non-human characters and the concept of age doesn’t apply so much to them. Al Azif is hundreds of years old, but as she isn’t human the concepts of age don’t apply. I was pointing out that although Orpha, a spirit, is also non-human, the human concept of age applies moreso than it would to Al because spirits are supposed to age similarly to humans. Another issue, which could be pretty problematic, is that Orpha also acts as a child and calls the protagonist ‘Papa’. Including during the H scenes.
I swear to god don’t you understand what happens when people do this?!
To clarify the decision-making process when we were discussing which version of the game to produce: we sat down with Xuse and went over the data in the 18+ version of the game. Based on the appearance of the characters and the thematic elements of some of the scenes involved, we came to the conclusion in consultation with them that it would be more true to the spirit of the game to produce the all-ages version than to release a version with adult content that would inevitably have to be altered in the localization process. In the end the choice was between a pristine and completely faithful English version of -Kono Daichi no Hate de- and an edited version of an adult release, and we chose the former.
I’m going to be clear on this: it’s our position that Aselia chose a visual aesthetic that is problematic in an adult context in terms of distribution outside Japan. You’re welcome to disagree with this position, but we feel that this is a case where the judgment call is pretty unambiguous (looking at some of the images from the evil path in particular). Rather than choosing to release these with heavy edits and deal with the criticism that (quite justifiably) would arise from changes made, we decided to go for a version of the game where no compromise is required. We are bringing you an Aselia, specifically -Kono Daichi no Hate de-, in its purest possible form.
Regarding the choice to license and produce a non-adult game, several factors are in play. In talking with Xuse we felt like Aselia was the best entry point to their lineup to build on for potential future releases, so that’s a factor specific to this license in particular. We are also aware of the recent success of games like Recettear, and while that’s not a model we’ll be following explicitly we think it points to the the opportunity to bring games like this to a broader audience who may not know about them yet. We realize that the preexisting availability of a fan-created translation patch shifts the landscape a bit, but just as fansubs haven’t stopped anime from being licensed we don’t see that existence in itself as a reason to avoid bringing out a game we think is really awesome and that a lot of people will enjoy. If anything we have Dakkodango to thank for increasing awareness of the title, and are happy to be able to work with their staff on some aspects of the production.
That’s what I got for now! Keep tossing the questions this way and I’ll address them as best I can.
I wonder how long it will take until people realise that -Kono Daichi no Hate de- isn’t an edited version, it’s a rewrite. I wonder if say the Tsukihime remake came out as a non ero version (as it’s rumored to be) with a Sacchin route, a couple more new routes, expanded story for the original routes, and improved artwork and either PP or MG obtained the rights to it would we get similar complaints (considering that after the Tales of Graces F announcement was made there were a ton of people complaining that they weren’t getting the Wii version (the version with less story content, inferior graphics, and said to be buggy as all hell) instead I wouldn’t be surprised)?
In both cases those people are a small inconsequential market compared to the fact that, by selling Kono Daichi (ry, JAST USA can sell to anyone. They can put it on store shelves! And they don’t have to put up with the obvious risk inherent in selling a game that contains H scenes for a girl that looks about 10, acts like she’s 6 and calls the protagonist “Papa”.
The key difference is that JAST is a company that localizes 18+ games. Obviously there’s going to be scrutiny when they deviate from that. Going Yaoi was simply trying a new market. Going all-ages with a game that started, and ended, as an 18+ game is odd. It’s not a bad business choice. But obviously, some people will be upset that the decision was motivated by censorship concerns. That the concerns are valid or not is irrelevant.
Passing on a game (or version) because it would’ve needed censoring is as much censorship as a censored final product (like Family Project).
Well, to be fair, from a certain perspective the concerns ARE valid. The decision was in fact made based on content that was felt to be inappropriate.
It so happens that I feel that this decision was probably the best way to go. However, I also think that I have to call a spade a spade; the material was censored.
I’ve been requested to ask a question.
Has JAST looked into releasing this game on Steam and other such prominent distribution channels?
After hearing that a character looks so young, acts so young, and calls you “papa”, even during ero scenes, I must say I am completely in agreement that the all-ages version is more appropriate. As it is, in Come See Me Tonight when I play Kobato’s path, it is PAINFUL, and that’s with a character that just looks and acts young. If it weren’t for how good she looks in the end picture of her some years later, I would never touch that route again.
NOT here, I loved Dea ex Machina also because of Fam, surely I will go for Kobato if/when I find a cheap/used copy of Come See Me Tonight in the future 
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About my opinion regarding Aselia…
Peapri gets contacted by a japanese producer :shock: ?! XUSE is interested in the western market :o ?!! Totally cool I say, who cares if we’ll get a non-H version of Aselia :mrgreen: ?
HOWEVER if you remove the “ero-” prefix from a RPG erogame, you simply get another RPG game, there is a HORDE of all-ages RPG videogames you can buy, why should I buy this one? Is Aselia really on par with the best of the lot?