It’s not really fair to call them “assholes” , because if it wasn’t for them then the west would have never seen any of the Bokujo Monogatari games. If anything this is kind of Marvelous AQL’s fault for being greedy, and therefore destroying the brand name for their overseas fans. Natsume INVENTED the Harvest Moon…

The creators of the film have created an site that explains the lore behind what has happened on Earth between the 2 movies. You can check it out at warof1996.com