al|together 2008 Day 4: Moonshine

[ChocoEd]

Batting fourth for al|together 2008 is a tremendous cleanup hitter, "Moonshine" from the circle Sakura Mint (original title "月照～ツキノテラス～"), skillfully translated by AstCd2.

This is perhaps the centerpiece of the festival. Its production values are unusually high for a freeware novel game, including character voices and even custom-sung music. The story, too, is unique and engaging, and the game earned a "recommended" rating from NaGIsa.

Downloads are available for both Windows and Mac, so enjoy! Note that the accompanying essays on the site can contain spoilers, so you may want to play it through before reading them.

http://altogether.insani.org/2008/4.html

[Moogy]

That was amazing.

Such a bittersweet ending...

[Asceai]

I'd played this before - in fact, it's one of my favourite freeware VNs overall.
I'll try out the English translation when I get home, though, to see what AstCd2 did with it.

I don't know why, but reading the localization made the work more charming for me compared to the original. Great translation.

[Anath]

I haven't had the chance to play this game much, but I'm greatly interested in the subject matter. Thank you very much for bringing this out.

On a side note, there was a small bit in the readme that gave me pause.

It is prohibited to:
(a) reproduce;
(b) reprint;
(c) sell; or
(d) cause to be transmitted over the internet,
any part of this game (including the data comprising the game).

...um. I have a feeling this should have said something about being transmitted without permission.

[jyuichi]

Originally Posted by Anath

I haven't had the chance to play this game much, but I'm greatly interested in the subject matter. Thank you very much for bringing this out.

On a side note, there was a small bit in the readme that gave me pause.

...um. I have a feeling this should have said something about being transmitted without permission.

Insani is known for getting permission for translations. They even mention it on the AT day 0 page -

There are some out there who believe that it is perfectly ethical to translate another person's stories without the original author's knowledge and permission.

al|together 2008 is a profound rejection of all of that.

So I assume all rights were gathered for AT and copies from Insani are perfectly legit

[Anath]

Originally Posted by jyuichi

So I assume all rights were gathered for AT and copies from Insani are perfectly legit

Yeah, same here. I just think it's kinda amusing that the disclaimer wasn't changed to show that they aren't doing prohibited activities :P Looking back over it, I guess I wasn't clear enough. I meant to say that the disclaimer should have been changed to say transmissions without permission are prohibited.

Is there a full translation for the Moonshine song? Or just the little bits translated in story text?

[AstCd2]

Originally Posted by Anath

Yeah, same here. I just think it's kinda amusing that the disclaimer wasn't changed to show that they aren't doing prohibited activities :P Looking back over it, I guess I wasn't clear enough. I meant to say that the disclaimer should have been changed to say transmissions without permission are prohibited.

Changing the content of the documentation was beyond the scope of the consent I received from the author. This is why there is a separate 'Translator readme'.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Is there a full translation for the Moonshine song? Or just the little bits translated in story text?

Not that I know of. If anyone wants to take a shot, you can find most of the lyrics commented out in 0.txt.

[Anath]

Originally Posted by AstCd2

Changing the content of the documentation was beyond the scope of the consent I received from the author. This is why there is a separate 'Translator readme'.

Okay. Thanks for explaining the issue!

And after reading it, I have to agree. This was an excellent short visual novel. I wonder if there are any other visual novels (doujin or otherwise) that try to tackle the issue of transsexuality like this.

[le nuage]

Great game. Thanks for this translation ;)

I really like the song "Mai song".
On the official website you can find the short version of it but I'd like to find the long version.
Did they release the OST on a CD or is it available on DL ?

[Ayato]

I wanted...
But...
Oh... <3

That was definitely Bittersweet tea material...
Very good though!
Thank you as well for this gift ^-^

[Vance Finiraldi]

This a wonderful piece; it's definitely one of the strongest in this year's altogether in terms of the emotions its capable of bringing out from its readers.

Moonshine definitely had some had its thought-provoking moments with subject of transsexuality lingering throughout the whole story. However, I think at its core, its about the deep relationship shared between the two protagonists.

Originally Posted by le nuage

Great game. Thanks for this translation ;)

I really like the song "Mai song".
On the official website you can find the short version of it but I'd like to find the long version.
Did they release the OST on a CD or is it available on DL ?

Hm...I'm doubting that there is an OST, since a majority of its BGM seems to come from free sources...

However, you can extract all the music files (along with all the other resources used for the game, such as the images in the CG gallery) by extracting it from the game's "arc.nsa" file using the NSAOut dev tool found at insani's NScripter site.

[le nuage]

Originally Posted by Vance Finiraldi

you can extract all the music files (along with all the other resources used for the game, such as the images in the CG gallery) by extracting it from the game's "arc.nsa" file using the NSAOut dev tool found at insani's NScripter site.

Thank you.
I only extracted the song with Goldwave but now I can liste to the complete OST.

Moonshine lingers with me despite being short. This is a truly special visual novel.

There's one thing I want to clear up about the end though (spoilers). When Mai decides to go work at her grandfather's shop, does this mean she will go back to being a boy, and thus the Mai that the protagonist knows, dies, which is why it's so sad? Everything is implied, but one can that her family would not/does not approve of her lifestyle which is why she moved away. So it leads me to believe that she must go back to acting like a boy, which is why she can never see to protagonist again. Pretty heavy stuff if that's the case, and it's certainly sadder than the alternative which is that she is moving. But it's never outright stated. What do you guys think?