Open Letters to Kazamatsuri

[Tidulimar]

I am both very sad and also kinda fine with this.

I began my Key interactions with the Clannad anime and then read Rewrite as next big one. I really enjoyed both, and I had a lot to talk about when it came to Rewrite. For some reason I enjoyed it even more, and wanted to talk about it. Back then I think I’ve heard about Kazamatsuri but did not really know what it was, and I think I’ve seen Aspi somewhere on social media every now and than.
Little did I know I’d enjoy it as much as I did when I joined eventually for the LB bookclub. It was a great time, and I came to love the community. Ended up using a lot of time camping new posts on the forum and even catching up what happened in discord over night. During that time Kaza was very active, and really treasured it. I really felt a vibe of familiarity.

However, around the time when the podcasts and the bookclub came to a hold, everything else kinda came to a hold as well. I got disctracted from catching up, the bookclub did not advance and so my reading slowed down a little as well in the beginning. When we got more active again, my life and habits had changed and never really got back into keeping to catch up, and I kinda regret that. Yet at the same time, I need to force myself to write something up myself, I am kinda bad at bringing my thoughts into words at times (count how many times the word “I” was repeated in this post and you’ll notice how bad I am at writing). I’ve used the title “Reader” for a reason, since that was my primary activity - less posting myself, more reading, but whenever possible, joining community events since I still like being here and doing stuff with others. In that regard, I am fine with Kaza closing down in a way - I can still read (although no new posts, but there is a lot unread for me still) and I can still interact with people in discord - so the community is staying as well.

Aspi said in the discussion on discord today

“Kaza started long after forums were no longer in fashion. And we proved them wrong for a good few years”

and I think that’s part of the reason why this is happening. I still really enjoy forums, but people tend to prefer shorter burts of communition and more direct dialogue nowadays. Setting aside less time for these kinds of things. Me included most of the time unfortunatly.

I still hold Kaza in big regards and enjoy being part of it, even when it’s down to a discord server in the future. I also enjoy the memories I have made. As I said, I am bit sad this is happening, but since so much will stay that is important to my enjoyment and feeling of this.
Thank you everyone who made this possible, be it actively working on it or just being part!

[Iotheria]

So,the time’s come at last…
I remember that day. January 19th,2015. A brisk breeze rolled in,as I got a notification on Skype.
It was from @Bowiie “Hey,there’s an Air Bookclub going down on this site,get in here ya weeb”.

I know I haven’t participated in most of the Kazamatsuri events,but the ones I did still leave a strong impression on me. At times I find it strange how often I think about the AIR Bookclub,and how I probably would never have played AIR,or even liked it,if I hadn’t taken part. I’m the kinda guy that sticks his toes in a lot of pies. Ankle deep at most in the communities I involve myself in. I like to inwardly reflect,and I find it hard to keep up with personal friends,time to myself,and also be involved with multiple communities. Not many ever have such a lasting influence on me,that’s why I can say for certain that this one has always had that special “something”. Even something like the VN Bookclubs,or the Kaza Chorus’ is,in a way, out of character for me.

I’ve always been a huge memester,so things like breaking the mumble chat with kfe memes,when we were supposed to be recording,or the absolute state of my photo topic,will always remain with me. You can still google it btw Even my current picture,ever since I made it,I’ve never changed my Discord picture a single time,because in a way,it felt wrong. I made my Discord for Kaza in the first place,so I’ve always kept it out of a sense of appreciation,I suppose.

Even beyond that,though. I still have this strange attachment,and nostalgia for this community,which is rare for me,even despite my lack of presence. I’m not sure how to truly express my feelings Kazamatsuri,so instead I think I’ll personally thank @Aspirety,and everyone that supported him up to this point. I may be a bit of a ghost,but I’ll always be thankful for the great memories this community gave me.

[liclac]

In 2009, the CLANNAD -After Story- anime became the first piece of media to ever make me cry.

After that, I had to know what else these people had done. I ended up finding a visual novel called Little Busters!, with just a single route translated - and the translation group’s IRC channel, where I’d hang out daily over the next couple of years. As it turns out, if a bunch of people gather over their shared love of a story about friendship (and muscles), that’s what the place becomes filled with. But as these things are wont to go, when the last route was done and it hit us all like a bus, activity started to dwindle, and people scattered elsewhere.

In 2013, one of my friends from that channel, @Aspirety, approached me about doing something to try to bring back that feeling, to create another place to bond over our shared love of KEY, friendship, and the Muscle Sensation.

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t expect it to actually go anywhere - but hey, I’d be dammed if I didn’t at least try. So over my winter break, I rented a bottom-of-the-shelf cloud server, grabbed one of the early betas for this new forum software I’d seen mentioned on Twitter, and hacked something together. Some of you may remember the times when I had to take the site down for a bit, because the server didn’t have enough RAM to both run the forum and compile a new build.

In hindsight, listening to the person with the Kyousuke avatar coming out of nowhere and asking me to come play baseball was the best decision I’ve ever made.

I used to be a very quiet sort, struggled with a language barrier, and I related very strongly to Rin in Little Busters!. I was happy to just sit by the sidelines and watch, but Kaza gave even somebody like me a place to feel like I belonged. Today, I’m in a much better place, I’ve become somebody I never would have without you all, and I’ve made friendships that will last a lifetime.

Kaza first opened its doors nearly six years ago. Back then, Little Busters! on Steam was a punchline, something that would never happen.

Since then, so many things have happened. We’ve done so much together. We’ve discussed our favourite stories together, argued over who’s best girl, debated the narrative value of H scenes until we all decided to just never mention it again (sorry!), built the entire Little Busters! school in Minecraft, cheered as the CLANNAD kickstarter hit stretch goal after stretch goal, shared deeply personal moments together, sung drunk karaoke together. I somehow own a copy of Little Busters! on Steam, and I’d like to think we had some part in making that happen.

And, one by one, many of us have moved on. I don’t see that as a failure. People change and so do our needs - I just hope that Kaza could be what you needed during your stay, and that it was something worth treasuring.

The natural end point of a community occurs when enough people have moved on, and activity tapers off. At that point, there are a couple of things you can do. You can change, try to be something new for other people, maybe bring back some of the people who moved on - but at that point, you’re no longer what they left behind. You can let it fall into obscurity, until nobody cares to keep the servers running anymore, and let it quietly fall off the face of the internet. Or, you can end it with a bang, throw a party, write emotional letters, then preserve it in amber - and let it live on in all of our hearts, forever.

Let’s go out with a bang. Let’s celebrate these six years, whether you’ve been around since the beginning, or you signed up yesterday.

Let’s keep sharing our love with the world.

Because Kazamatsuri is eternal.

[technohexen]

While I may not have frequented here as much as others, it’s plain to see the importance of this site. This site has touched the lives of many, and brought together those who most likely wouldn’t have met otherwise. For one, I probably wouldn’t have met my lovely wife @liclac.

I’ve poked my head in here a few times throughout the years and never once have I felt like an outsider. I have fond memories of @Aspirety randomly dragging me into a game of Tanka on Discord with no explanation and I ended up having a blast. Or when I went out to lunch with @cjlim2007 in California during Fanime 2016. There’s also been the movie nights which were also great.

I want to thank everyone for including me, despite me not being around very much. Kaza is a wonderful place because of people like you all. I know that attitude and mentality will live on even after Kaza is long gone.

[Takafumi]

All things considered, this website lasted longer than I think anyone expected. It began at an age where Key and Visual Arts recoiled from the idea of western readers. It was a moment where Key were radio silent. It was quite a miracle that before running out of prime discussion material we were suddenly hit with not only an official English release of planetarian, but also many other Key titles. There were some super cool announcements of both Angel Beats and Charlotte which got everyone hyped. Sora no Method was a thing… The cursed AIR translation efforts were finally put to rest with two separate translations, and we got a bunch of anime adaptations that no one seriously expected to ever happen. It was possibly the most active period Key have ever had, so it really was lucky. It was a pleasure to live through those massive changes alongside everyone here.

Away from the forum, I didn’t spend long in the community, but that initial year or so was super chill and comfy. The Skype vs Discord debacle is a fond memory, and even after moving away from the Discord server the people here have treated me with nothing but respect. There are some wonderful people here. I feel like I’ve gained more from the site than I ever gave to it, and that leaves me feeling a bit guilty, but I guess it’s better than the opposite~
I’ll certainly miss checking the site daily and sending people messages.

[rune_devros]

I haven’t been here in a while. In fact my email tells me my last visit was in like January of this year, and I dropped out of the Discord since I don’t talk much there anymore (I generally prune Discords I don’t talk in). I’ve always considered myself very nomadic when it comes to fandoms, drifting from one interest to another, and that’s probably the main reason I haven’t been around lately.

Way back in August of 2014, I was working my way through LB Refrain and I got this tweet sent to me from @Aspirety

Philautia059 (Aspirety)

It’s been over 5 years since then. Was a bit shocked when I read the news this morning that Kazamatsuri was shutting down.

I had a lot of fun here. I met a lot of good friends, been on one of the podcasts, played Danmaku, did IRL stuff like meeting up with cool people from here to eat food and sing karaoke in Japan last winter. I’m thankful for the good times.

[bionic]

wtf am I supposed to use as my homepage now /s

It’s no exaggeration to say my internet presence wouldn’t exist without Kaza. Twitter, Discord, and Steam (3 of my most used apps) were made because of people here. Without exposure to those, I’d probably still be watching american sitcom reruns or something else to pass the time (I don’t even want to think about that…)

It’s so weird to think I have friends around the world thanks to Kaza, from visiting @RyuuTamotsu @Glenn_Irish and @daysofsummer in Japan, to making cool things for secret santa, to @NotKyon and his band of idiots, to hanging out with @liclac and @cjlim2007 at Fanime 2016, and to gaming with people on discord, it’s just so surreal that I can pick a random country and there’s probably a friendly Key fan from there willing to meet up. I hope Kaza secret santa and new years stick around. I can’t imagine going a year without it.

Another great thing I loved about this community is the acceptance to all forms of media. I’m not particularly analytical when I read VNs/watch anime, so I always felt that I had nothing to contribute to topic discussions. However I was able to show my love for Key in other ways I had more talent in, like 3D printing dangos, playing Dango Daikazoku on a CNC mill, and making stupid photoshop memes (I use paint.net but w/e ) and it was well received nonetheless.

I feel like I should put something about @cjlim2007 but he already knows what he did. He has the power of shill.

I know its corny, but these lyrics from Boys be Smile have had my attention since I first heard it, and I’ve found them relevant every time a chapter of something in life comes to a close.

Donna tanoshii koto mo
Itsuka wa owaru mono
Omatsuri no you na mono de
Samishii dake

No matter how fun it is
It is something that will end someday
It’s just like with a festival
It just makes me feel lonely

---

There's honestly nothing I'd rather see when I open mozilla

[cjlim2007]

wtf am I supposed to use as my homepage now…
There’s a lot to unpack here but you know I had to at least bring this up again. Let it forever be known that the way I convinced him to join kaza was this picture posted in the voice channel of discord on 9/23/15. Thanks @Gnashes.

You can probably see now why we are the way that we are… but so is the rest of kaza am I right?

[Tamamo-no-Bae]

Kazamatsuri has been very important to me even if I was never a fully fledged member of the community. I discovered Kazamatsuri around 2012 when I played Rewrite, but I didn’t join up until 2013.
Back then I was known as Gurluas. Eventually I actively joined in conversations and Kazamatsuri was a positive place, I even made some friends, attended some events and experienced one of my favorites games, 100% Orange Juice. Unfortunately I never got to participate in a podcast and real life caught up with me eventually bringing me to the point where I can’t do it anymore… It saddens me to see Kazamatsuri actually end though… But I guess all classes have to graduate someday.

[liclac]

This isn’t quite an open letter, but you’re definitely a full fledged member of the community, don’t worry.

There’s not just one way to participate, and I hope that everyone has been able to participate in a way that works for them.

If this community means or has meant something to you, you’re definitely a proper member, and don’t let anyone say otherwise.

[MagusVerborum]

As the Magician of Words, I should probably say some… words :3

I came to this community with the promise of beautiful stories and fine people, and I got it. The experience I had with Little Busters was one of a kind, having not read any other Key novels (other than Planetarian the week before) and thus I was able to dive in with a fresh set of eyes, and try to figure things out. Puzzling out the story and putting just… way too much effort into my posts brought joy to me, especially as I was in a part of my life without much else, no job, no school, friends that lived far away, lots of depressing free time. I loved chatting with other members of the community about their interpretations and experience with LB that for them came years before my own. It gave me a reason to get up early in the morning.

Fittingly, in the spirit of Key, you all are what made this place great. I love how passionate a lot of you are, it really shows on the forums and on the podcasts. Of course there’s a special shoutout to @Aspirety for being an absolute madman and keeping this place breathing for so long.

Y’all nerds take care of yourselves. If you ever need a class clown, you know where to find me. After all, that’s the one thing I want to be remembered for

[Celeskastel]

Hmm…where do I start?

First off, otsukaresama deshita! And Happy Graduation! While I am melancholy to see Kazamatsuri close it’s curtains, as I was when Rokkenjima did, I’m so thankful that I got to join both communities. Seemingly just in time to catch the last act.

I remember the first time I joined very vividly. I was a member on Rokkenjima first and indeed 07th Expansion works are a huge part of my life, much like how Key is for members here.

When I joined, and even now, I’m not as big of a Key fan as I’d like. I was so hesitant to join here, and even as time went on felt more like the observer, the one who watched.

I read planetarian, some of Little Busters! Rewrite, and now AIR. I want to be moved by these stories. Seeing the members of Kaza express a passion and love for them has given me a deep humbled appreciation for these works.

I want to learn, and be moved, more and more by the world of Key, and that will continue from now on thanks to Kazamatsuri.

I can’t put my finger on it. But it feels meaningful to me.

Despite not being as big of a fan, I was encouraged to join and welcomed anyway. That was a gift I will appreciate forever…

As the wonderful treasure Kazamatsuri gave to me that I will forever be thankful for is meeting wonderful friends.

From @Aspirety, to @liclac, from @RyuuTamotsu and I’s first meeting, to the subsequent hangouts and the new friends I met at those times too. The memory of going to Comiket to get merch for everyone too will stick with me for sure!!

To the Winter Festival and Vitamin C fun, our thoughtful voice chats, to meeting recently @Mogaoscar in Japan with Shinto adventures and good talks!

There’s so many treasured, fun memories I hold dear in my heart thanks to Kaza. That will stay with me for life, and I’m forever grateful.

Perhaps a Key work hasn’t moved me deeply much yet…but I can say for sure many Key fans here at Kaza have.

I’ve met some of the kindest, most genuine people here, and honestly that speaks volumes to me. I have a deep appreciation to have been able to experience being a part of this community.

To everyone, thank you so much.

Graduation always comes with feelings of bittersweet happiness…but we will always have our cherished memories, and continued bonds from this time of Kaza!

Let’s enjoy the time for now, and go out with a bang and celebration!

[AustinDoujin]

I joined Kaza not too long ago, but I will say I knew about it for a long time. I was already part of an existing Key community but I decided to check out Kaza last year and I’m glad I did.

Many of you probably have no idea who I am but if you participated in the Winter Festival, hey maybe you do. That was an incredibly fun time for me. Me and Team Vitamin C got so into it and I thoroughly enjoyed making content for the event. Shout out to @Naoki_Saten @cjlim2007 @KaiMiang @BeanCurd and @Celeskastel. I’m really glad I got to meet you all and make such wonderful memories. Honestly the Winter Festival is the last good memories I had before I entered a really rough period of my life. Thanks for helping me end off 2018 with a bang! And of course thanks to @Aspirety for making me feel welcome.

@Mogaoscar You are also really cool.

I lament that I don’t have as many memories as the rest of you do, but I will still think of Kaza fondly after its closure.

Naze daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

[BeanCurd]

I first discovered Kazamatsuri back then when I was really in love Little Busters! 5-6 years ago (I think?). There’s some part of me thinking right I should’ve join back in those days, but at that time, I thought wouldn’t fit in or anything and besides, I’m not really the type of person who can easily interact with people around the internet. I just enjoy, and maybe satisfied reading discussions as a lurker and as an outsider.

Kazamatsuri’s community and discussions made me realized that there are some stories that shouldn’t be taken at a face value, that maybe perhaps there’s much more to it than it meets the eye or something like that. I can still remember at that time, after school and doing other school stuffs, I will go to bed and read some discussions on the forum and think a lot about LB! before I go to sleep. That was certainly a fond memory of mine.

I may not be a long time member here and maybe I was late to join the community, but better to be late than never, right? Even for a short while, I can’t deny the fact that I made some good memories here even those were very little moments.

I am especially very glad that I was able to participate in Winter Festival. At first I was hesitant to join in, but I’m glad that I decided to join anyways. That was certainly a wonderful experience that I will never forget.

I also even gained a title for some reasons…
But hey, I actually like it, it sounds cool. It is certainly kind of accurate… Anyways…

I always think Graduation is not the end of everything, but it’s a start of a new chapter in life. Who knows what might happen in the future? I am actually looking forward to that.

It was an honor to be a part of this community.

Thank you very much!

[Ganesh_Swami]

I had both fun and some not so fun experiences in the community. All I have to say is I liked all the discussions we had, and thank you all for participating in them with me.
This is fairly short and straight message but appropriate from my view.
keep enjoying Key media guys!

[SSparks31]

A long time ago, I chose to quit Kaza. I deleted the majority of my posts, removed my own avatar, and went my own way. While I still appreciated the forums, they weren’t really the place for me, who prefers the fast-paced style of a Discord discussion.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t have any fond memories of this place. While I disagree with many decisions taken since I joined around two years ago, I can say for certain that I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t joined Kaza. Even forgetting about my own participation, just reading up on all the Key discussions helped expand my horizon beyond my own views.

To the friends I made while here, and to those who I never met: Thanks for being awesome Key fans.

[LoliconExE]

Maybe the only things I can wrote is. Thanks for everything.

I’m not too good at writing or expressing myself and maybe that is why I’m not much contributing in here. But in this journey I find new friend and someone that I can talk about Key since there is not so many around me. although I could counted as new member in here since I’m only around here at end of 2016(?) but I grow fondly in here just like the Kazamatsuri front landing page said “a Home for key fans”. It’s was fun… to see someone talking about something I like and I sometime talking about something I like.

I know that there was end of journey in every story. I just can’t accept it the idea somehow, but in the end i should accept this hard feelings.

Again I will say it again, Thanks for everything.

[daysofsummer]

Feels strange, writing this which is like my first post on here in two or so years. Still, I feel the need to voice my feelings.

When I joined Kaza, which was some years ago now! I was still a teenーwell, I was 18, if I’m not mistaken. At the time, just like everyone else, I joined because I loved Key, nothing more than that, really. I remember my first experience on here being the Great Charlotte Wars, which was a lot of fun, but being the overexcited young’un I was, I just loved arguing, so that worked out. The community was of course divided in terms of opinion back then, but everyone was nice, and I felt very much welcome around these parts. I remember that one night I spent talking with @Pepe, who was always very kind to me. At the time I was going through Key’s works, posting my (looking back extremely embarrassing) opinions, but I still managed to get into (one) podcast, the CLANNAD bookclub episode on Tomoyo’s route. That was embarrassing! but a good memory overall, I really loved having that opportunity. Thank you @Aspirety for giving it to me. I also made other acquaintances here that helped me, I’m thinking here of @RyuuTamotsu who welcomed me during my stay in Japan.

Then, as I grew, my interests became more diversified, and I lost the time to invest in reading KEY’s novels, apart from the one Angel Beast 1st Beat. But, although I stopped having any material to throw on here, that doesn’t mean my relationship to Kaza was over. At the time, I was thinking of building my own anime community. And Kaza was an essential part of my ideals, at the time. I wanted to create a community like this one. It took me a long time to grow to the point where I was ready to begin doing that, but at all times Kaza’s ideals were an inspiration, so that this place stayed with me even as I explored other paths (which is also why I agreed to help mod Kaza when Aspi was looking for someone). Above all, it was this community who opened me up to new voices and experiences when I was still a narrow-minded kid; if I was able to change for the better, it’s in large part because of this community’s ideals, and the kinds of people it gave a home to. For all of that, I have so much to thank Kazamatsuri for.

This is a bit of a strange moment for meーconsidering how long Kazamatsuri was up and running, all in all my period of active involvement was short, and I feel like this community has grown much beyond what I knew when it was my online home (not that this is a bad thing), so that in some way this closure comes as almost natural to me. At the same time, I still feel that something is going missing; a now distant but very real starting point for me is going away, and I can’t help be saddened by that. I wish I’d had the time to regain some activity here before it closed, but work has only grown to take up more and more of my time.

Even still, the time I did spend here, and even more the time that Kazamatsuri continued to live in me as an example of something I aspired to, the people I met who helped me grow, all of those things will remain with me. The end is sad, and I regret that I haven’t been able to give back to this community as much I’d have liked to. But it doesn’t compare to what I did earn from being a member of this community.

Thank you, Kazamatsuri.