New Spy X Family Switch Game Is Getting A Western Release This June

Seems like kind of a maybe, probably on sale if so. Not seen anything in the way of reviews or anything but if it's generally seen as decent I could see it being charming to buy cheap.

I need to get caught up on season 2. I kind of dropped it after the first few episodes.

@Lizuka I also gotta catch up. I lvoed watching it every Saturday but one thing led to another, and now we had to cancel our Hulu, which is how I watche dit every week.

I’m excited to try this Anya simulator!

The anime is interesting and the trailer for this is interesting. But I need a review. Also, possibly would be a price drop sale purchase anyway.

I’m curious about it. I love the IP but would prefer an English dub.

I want this game, but if it doesn't get an English dub I refuse to buy it.

I'm sure that all the ... dozens of Western Spy X Family fans are going to love this!

And while the anime's themes generally don't land with Western audiences because they are tied down in uniquely Japanize thinking, at least the game will help Western fans relate by having them play as a 5 year old girl!

(sigh)

Seriously, this series is crazy good, and if they spend any time at all trying to localize it it would have a huge following worldwide. But they are just not doing that.

Was hoping this might meant it was going to come out in English but I’ll get it either way unless it just absolutely sucks lol.

@Lizuka
Seaoson 2 started out slow but it picks up nicely and gets interesting.

@HeadPirate How about we try keeping the story close to what it's supposed to be, please?

@Samalik

Wha?

@JohnnyMind

No, I mean it should be localized and heavily changed so a Western audience can enjoy it.

First and foremost, the existence of a localized version has no impact on the original. If that’s what you would rather experience, go nuts. I currently watch it raw and love it ... but only because I've spent 1/3rd of my life living in Japan. No ones enjoyment should be lessened by knowing the thing they enjoy has been made more accessible. It's like saying you enjoy a hard game less because it has an easy difficulty setting. No judgment, but feeling better about having something knowing other people are kept from having it is kinda the definition of evil. You don't seem evil. Don’t be evil.

Second, localizing preserves story and intention though cultural barriers. That’s the whole point, and how it differs from translation. I watch and enjoy localized Western anime even though I speak Japanize because the jokes land better. It takes me out of the story when they call someone a "Sugawara no Michizane" because I have to think about who that is. I don't have to think when they just call them an Einstein. I also don't find word puns to be the single most elegant form of humor, so I'm glad when they get replaced with other types of jokes ... or even like, actual puns.

In fact, for series like Aggretsuko I actually watch and enjoy both. I’ve worked in the West and Japan and given how different office culture is, the jokes are different enough that it’s like getting two shows for the price of one. This is actually true of several Netflix localizations. I love how Western Retsuko is terrified of being fired and nothing else, but Japanize Retsuko is afraid of leeching off a company that won't fire her even if she's a bad worker and letting her co-workers down. It's such a commentary on the two cultures.

Consider this. Two characters, one invites the other over for dinner. That person says no, because they don’t want to be a bother.

What’s the story intention? What’s that interaction supposed to tell you about the characters?

In Japan, it would be that the second person is the rudest, most socially inept POS who’s ever lived. That was an irredeemable act, that lets us know we should not be rooting for this person. They turned down hospitality, like a MONSTER. It’s also likely an indication they don’t have parents, or their parents are evil.

But in the West, most people would actually see that as being polite. They don’t have the same social pressure that tells them they have to accept what’s offered because it’s rude to refuse.
So to preserve the story, you change it in localization so that the second person does something that we would see as rude in the West. Without that change, the entire point of the interaction is lost, and the story gets messed up.

It’s social norms that change the author’s intentions.

Localization restores them.

@JohnnyMind

So ... just play it in Japanize? Use a translation document if you understand the cultural elements but not the language. That's my point ... that experience still exists for you. No one took it away by making a more accessible version for Western audiences. Don't gatekeep by saying one is the "true" experience. Generally the creator has a say in localization and it ends up being the way it is because they thought it was the best way to represent their work.

Like, what you're saying isn't stupid or anything. I get it. It's just not a very realistic take. In the real world, we need real world solutions. Having people experience stories without context, knowing that huge disconnects are going to happen between intent and interpretation doesn't help anyone. It's not what the author wants, it's not what the audience wants, and it shouldn't be what the fans want.

And as for wordplay ... How about someone walking into a hot room and saying "How rude that it's humid"? What's that mean? What's it tell you about the character?

Things like that, it's so much better to change.

Censorship is a reality of international law and cultural norms. Again, just play/watch/read the original if you don't like it. It still exists (as long as it's legal in your country). But don't' confuse censorship (when a government FORCES media to change) with discretion (when an artist makes the conscious decision to change content to appeal to cultural sensitives because that's how they want their content to be seen).

@HeadPirate "Censorship is a reality of international law and cultural norms. Again, just play/watch/read the original if you don't like it."

Oh buzz off with that! At what point is the story just not going to resemble the original then if you keep advocating for censorship and complete overhauls of the original narrative? Not everything needs to be a circle jerk of the viewer's birth culture to be understood and enjoyed by them. If anything, that's what makes the art pool more vibrant and honest.

"But don't' confuse censorship (when a government FORCES media to change) with discretion (when an artist makes the conscious decision to change content to appeal to cultural sensitives because that's how they want their content to be seen)."

Yes, because certain countries suing and jailing newspapers for telling the truth or having criticism also isn't censorship... It's one thing when the artist willingly and proudly makes a change he/she thinks will improve their previous work, it's another when the law or lying localization teams forces them to not express an aspect that honestly makes their art or character expression what they are suppose to be.

@JohnnyMind I don't know Japanese on the dot, but having an accurate translation helps my ears catch things far more easily and learn more smoothly. Maybe even get my japanese listening skills up to snuff that I can go through a voiced "kanji" game and still follow along, learning important kanji along the way. who knows.

@JohnnyMind

I'm not really sure I understand.

So if a work is illegal under local law, what's your solution?

The creator should release it as is and go to jail? People should risk arrest in order to watch it? That work should just never be made available to the local people?

This is what I mean by "real world solutions". It's great to put "I never support censorship!" on a t-shirt, but at the end of the day ... we have laws, yo. And Japanize anime often includes scenes and subjects that would violate US law, or at the very least grab them a rating that would all but forbid their sale and prevent the target audience from enjoying it. I don't LIKE censorship, but I also don't like anocracy and respect the sovereignty of nations. Looking the other way, games like "Fall Out" violate Japanize law and are illegal unmodified.

Are you suggesting that when I'm living in Japan I shouldn't play that game I enjoy because I have to play a CENSORED version? Or are you saying I should break Japanese law and risk going to jail? Are you suggesting 150 million people don't get the option of playing "Fall Out" AT ALL because you personally don't like censorship? You can see these are all really bad, right?

It's also completely unreasonable to expect a rights holder to spend tons of money on a word for word translation, complete with context notes and language clarification, knowing that it's not going to be popular or make them any money. They are only going to localize a product if they expect a return, and that generally involves making it more appealing to the target audience.

Again, I (sorta) respect your idealism. But I live in the real world.

I also still don't see any reason your arguing with me. Where idyllic, perfect content like what your saying exists, I'm not suggesting it's distorted or taken away. I'm just suggesting that when content like that is not viable ... like, ya know, in the case of the subject of this article, a less ideal version is made so more people get to experience it.

I find some people enjoying it at less then a 100% is a much better solution then no one enjoying it because of someone's personal option that it should be gatekept from all other humans unless it meets their personal standards. I'll take millions of 6 years old watching "jelly-filled doughnuts" over them be turned off because they don't know what a rice ball is any day.

Because ... that shows for 6 year olds. And all we should care about is making it enjoyable for them.

@JohnnyMind

You are talking about censorship in any form for any reason at any point with no exceptions. "but I'll never agree with censorship of any kind". That's literally what you said.

So your argument is 100% that we SHOULD NOT change things even when it violates laws. Or your just saying words you don't mean. Some censorship is bad, yes. Some changes are bad, yes. But that doesn't invalidate the legitimate NEED for censorship and changes in many situations, or the positive impact of large changes in many cases. It doesn't change the NEED for anime to often age characters, mandating huge changes as you now have a 19 year old in high-school, living with their parents, talking about how they can't legally drink, drive, or see r-rated movies, even though they can.

I was actually enjoying the discussion and I'm very disappointed to see you take the "I'm done with this" approach to a core condition of your logic being exposed as contradictory. I was actually very interested in hearing how you would deal with a situation like "Fall Out", and wasn't looking to judge you as a person. It's okay to learn and grow. I hope you re-consider.

If your willing to make this more of a "we're both trying to understand and learn" conversation, I would be happy to explain why some Japanize creators choose to gender swap their characters. There are times it's imposed by the publisher (Sailor Moon) and they are generally done to appease local sensibilities, but you might be surprised to learn that it's often a choice demanded by the creator to preserve the context of their work.

@JohnnyMind

Fair point. I don't mean to ignore anything you have said, and I'm sorry if it's come off that way. As for being flagged as off topic ... centrally Nintendolife has every right to do that, but I hope in this case they allow a civilized discussion between two people who are both interested in what the other has to say.

I was just going to add that generally when you create a secondary character, you don't start with a gender in mind. You create a profile, and gender becomes a characteristic you use to make it easier for people to quickly sum up what that character is all about. I think it's awful, I'm a radical feminist, but it's just a reality we live with. You say someone is a girl and people assume they like pink and hate sports.

But sometimes that backfires. In Japan, if you want to show that your character is very emotional, overly sensitive, willing to express their affections towards other physically (like hugs and stuff like that) ... you make them male, because they are predominately male traits. So if you made a charter male to "sell" that aspect of their personality but otherwise don't care about gender, you might ask the localization team to gender swap them given they are predominantly "female" traits in the West.

It's even more problematic when a relationship is involved. Not only is the perception that no "man" every consider walking around his male friends house with his junk out or lay on his male friend's lap, or tell a male friend how much they love them, that's generally something woman ARE seen as being comfortable with. It's also inevitable that most people in the West will see this as a gay couple and that's a problem ... not because gay couples shouldn't see representation, but because people assume being gay is the only way this behavior is acceptable.

So in a case like this, a creator might ask that the localization team gender swap one or both characters. It gets messy, because a lot of the times when people are arguing that a character was changed because they were "gay" in the original, the actual case is the creator wanted a non-romantic relationship, but because deeply loving, physical and emotional relationships are forbidden between men in the West, the creator simply can't represent the relationship they want to, and huge story changes have to be made.

To be clear, sometimes the change IS simply to suppress homosexual representation, and that's awful. I think that's the point I've been trying to nail home ... we both agree that bad censorship is ... well, bad, and changes can be really bad and handled poorly. I just don't see it as a reason to label all censorship or changes bad.

I go back to the jelly doughnuts... that didn't just happen because the localization team liked jelly doughnuts (although they likely did ... I mean, they are awesome). It happened because they showed 1000 kids rice balls and a1000 kids jelly doughnuts, and the 1000 kids who saw rice balls said the show sucked and they wouldn't watch it because they couldn't relate to the characters.

So while the change might be "bad", the fact that it was made allowed a generation to relate to and enjoy Pokémon. I think it's worth it.

To tie this all back to ON TOPIC ... I don't think Spy X Family can be the mature drama it is in Japan and be successful in the West, because the main character is a 5 year old.

It's either NOT going to see any official translation or it's going to become a much more kid focused show in it's localization. BOTH of these options suck. But the first one sucks more. That was my WHOLE argument. The fact that they are testing the water with this game that is clearly targeting the shows younger viewers is a clear indication to me that they are testing out the viability of child focused changes.

@JohnnyMind

Localization generally involves the creator, especially in Japan where creators have a lot of rights. In some cases, even original voice actors have the right to refuse a localization change they don't agree with, even if they are not doing the voice in the localization. In some cases, there is complete corporate control and creators are shut out, but the "norm" is that how localizations, translations, and adaptations will be handled and what level of control you will see over them is part of the original publishing deal, or retrained by the creator.

The jelly doughnuts is an analogy, I was not in any way involved with the localization of Pokémon! But I can tell you that's what happened because that's how large, million dollar properties are always localized. They work out several versions with the creative team, screen them, and the one that gets the most engagement is the one they go with. 6 year olds are weird. In a project I was attached to (a game, I've never worked in TV/Movies), I remember we had one group with like sub 20% engagement while another was going great, and the only two major difference were the color the main character's hat, and she had a dog as a pet in one and a cat in the other. I don't remember which one they liked more!

You make a good point about the Italy and I'm probably over generalizing when I say "The West". I think it wont work in NA or the UK.

In Italy or France as an example, I think people would be more confrontable with a small child doing domestic jobs for her household because that's culturally accepted. In NA, people watch Japanize YouTube videos of 7 year olds going to market or riding the subway alone and honest to god try and report it as child abuse. While I haven't spent enough time in either country to say this with any certainty, I don't think it's as important for content featuring a child to be completely sanitized either.

I think our only real disconnect is that I tend to favor the creator's subjective vision over an intrinsic "true" vision. While small changes that preserve the original are going to be preferable as a rule, it's important to understand that sometimes it's the creator that's going to be pushing for the big changes, to ensure the themes they are exploring are not lost to context. I personally think we should support that, and be cautious about being too harsh when we notice changes we don't approve of unless the creator is also identifying them as negative.

Look at Chuck Palahniuk. The Fight Club movie changed SO MUCH from the book. They are not even similar. But Palahniuk has gone on record saying if you can only do one ... watch the movie. It captures the themes he was trying to explore better then his original. I love the book but ... who I am to argue with that?

ehh... I got my Japan version so it's not EN option?

@JohnnyMind

Agreed. Until next time.