Zen Buddhism and Other News


Today I wanted to say a little bit about Buddhism, as it relates to Kira Kira Curtain Call. You can also find some more news at the end of this post.

In Japan, there are four sects of Buddhism which play a key role in their culture. Those four are Nichiren, which focuses on the Lotus Sutra and the teachings which lie therein; Shingon, which focuses on the recitation of mantra and is often considered a type of tantric Buddhism; Pure Land Buddhism, which focuses on the Amida Buddha and the belief that prayer to Amida will lead one’s spirit to the Pure Land in their next life; and Zen Buddhism, which focuses on meditation and experience or direct transmission as the path to enlightenment.

The Amida Buddha plays a role similar to Jesus in terms of the beliefs surrounding them. The Pure Land in which Amida resides is a veritable heaven where practitioners will be free to spend their entire life practicing Buddhism and seeking enlightenment to escape from the chain of reincarnation. Prayer, in the form of chants, to the Amida Buddha serves as a means to help one reach the Pure Land, similar to how prayer to Jesus can help lead one to heaven. This prayer, “Namu Amida Butsu”, appears in the game once or twice, and is similar, but quite different from a phrase like “Lord, have mercy upon me.” Since the prayer is typically repeated, people who have played Soul Calibur or Tekken are probably familiar with Yoshitsune’s shortened version of this: “Namu Namu”.

Zen Buddhism is the one that plays the largest role in this game. Shouki’s father is the head priest of a Zen Buddhist temple, which makes Shouki the next in line to inherit and take over administration of the temple. Raised in the ideals of meditation, open-mindedness towards different experiences, and the pursuit of a mind free of thought and attachment to this world, Shouki is one of the calmest characters in the games. He lives in the temple with his family, and the temple is constructed in line with the traditional Shichidō garan complex in mind.

Anyways, due to their relationship with the temple, several other terms relating to Zen Buddhism will appear in the game, so please read my translator’s notes on them when it comes out.

On to other news:

  • Translation phase of Kira Kira is complete. Editing phase only has a few scripts left to go.
  • I’m moving on to the final edit of Koihime Musou now.
  • The script for the original Edelweiss is currently being reworked now.  We intend to distribute a patch for all those who currently own or purchase the game during this process so the Edelweiss and Edelweiss Eiden Fantasia bundle will not be delayed as a result of this new development.
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14 Comments

  1. Glad to hear the new games are progressing nicely, especially Koihime Musou. Just curious, but after the final edit of Koihime Musou is done, what’s the next phase or phases before its release? Just curious.

    Also, thanks so much for reworking Edelweiss’ script. You’re going to make alot of customers (noth current and future) very happy

    • The only phase after my check would be script insertion as far as I’m aware. I’m not sure if other work needs to be done due to it’s battle system or not though.

  2. I’m glad I haven’t bought Edelweiss yet. I’m going to buy the bundle for sure. As well as Kira Kira Curtain Call and Koihime Musou.. ^_^

  3. Hm, with the improved translation and low price I might be interested in buying Edelweiss now. Can we get a trial version of the game so it can convince me to buy it once the translation is fixed up?

  4. *cough* boxed copies ffs *cough*

    good news

    • In case you don’t know how to read, I will spell it for you: if people aren’t buying enough games, then it will be impossible for MG to make the move for boxed editions of the games that they localize, so stop demanding something that doesn’t make sense.

    • Getting CDs pressed costs some serious bank: it takes at least 100 copies to justify a pressing (and 1000 copies before the prices seriously drop), plus you have to get approval over every aspect from the licensor (covers, the on disc screening/label, type of packaging – and each piece of extra art costs) and then you have to warehouse it, ship it, invoice it, etc. The overhead involved is a major point of entry barrier for doing hard copies.

  5. Oh, let me clarify, just in case it wasn’t clear as I thought.

    Edelweiss is currently being reworked.
    The Edelweiss bundle will not be delayed due to the work on Edelweiss.
    When the work on Edelweiss is complete, a patch will be distributed.
    The completion of the reworking may not necessarily coincide with the release date of the bundle.

  6. HOORAY!!
    If the rework is good…
    I’ll have no choice but to become a real MangaGamer fan!

    I’ve got a feeling my wallet is going to be hurting soon…

  7. Do you guys have any plans of releasing a Kira Kira bundle just like for Edelweiss?

    Sorry if this was already answered elsewhere.

  8. Oh wow I totally missed the news that Edelweiss was getting its translation cleaned up. I’ve heard so many good things about the story itself that only the translation was holding me back.

    When you release that bundle, I am totally on it.

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