Yumii's Dream Factory

Otome & BL news 11/2

2012-02-11T11:42:00.000+01:00

Popular mafia game Arcana Famiglia is getting an anime adaption by J.C Staff. While I was happy at first I'm also very worried since J.C Staff isn't exactly known for producing good anime these days. Hopefully this will be an exception.

Looking forward to Diabolik Lovers? I bet you do! Luckily, Ilinox have translated the first two Drama CDs to English so we all can enjoy them while we wait for the game. Check out the scripts here

Might be a bit old but voice samples are up for Atelier Elkrone. I'm getting pretty hyped up about the game (I'm a big fan of the Atelier PS3 series) and Meriel sounds really cute.

New Otomate games L.G.S and Toki no Kizuna (which I wrote about here) launched their official websites.

A secret collab project between Black Butterfly (famous for the Shukan Soine series) and HoneyBee. I'm guessing we will be getting some new Starry Sky drama CDs with dummy mic?

OZMAFIA updated their site with opening song, which is fully in English and some sketches of CGs to come.

Black Wolves Saga ~Last Hope~ also got updates recently. The music for this game is just going to be amazing, I tell ya.

Official UtaPri hugging pillows coming soon.

The Miyako FD will be released April 19th.

A bit older news, but for those who missed it Arabians Lost is getting a remake. Check out the new site here.

New Lucky Dog 1 game I'll even destroy the world, if it's for Gian's sake website opened about a month ago. There are wallpapers and other goodies on the site.

That is all for now! Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I've been having a hard time getting into games for some reason (´・ω・`) Hopefully I'll be back on track soon!

Game review: Steins;Gate

2012-02-03T22:58:00.000+01:00

Made by: Nitroplus, 5pb
Genre: Mystery, Scifi, Drama
Summary: A mad scientist, one conspiracy theory, and a murder. This is where it starts.
El Psy Congroo.

Okabe Rintaro
(also known as Okarin and "true name" Hououin Kyouma) is a self proclaimed mad scientist. His delusional mind is full of conspiracy theories about a certain Secret Organization, which is the source of evil in this world. The story starts off with Okarin going to a conference about time traveling with his friend Mayuri.
After several shocking events, the scientist ends up finding the famous "genius girl" Makise Kurisu, dead. Running outside, his vision gets blurry, sweat starts running down his face and suddenly the whole world stops for a brief second. When Mayuri calls his name again, everything speeds up to normal. But it's not normal. In fact, nothing is normal again.

When Okarin turns around a huge satellite is smashed right into the building of they just left. Mayuri says the presentation never happened at all because of the accident and he later meets Kurisu on the way home, safe and sound and far from dead.

Makise Kurisu
The beautiful genius girl who joins Okabe's team. She is calm, composed later in the game gets the tsundere-tag. Okabe likes to annoy her by calling her pervert and other nicknames which she dislikes. Kurisu is the true ending of Steins:Gate and overall I really enjoyed her character. She is the most realistic out of the bunch, even if she can come off as being a Mary Sue at times.

Mayuri Shiina
"Tutturu~♪" Mayuri is a very innocent and sweet girl whom known Okarin since they were young. She is very childish and an airhead which is a very cute combination compared to Okabe's seriousness (or should I say, delusional seriousness.) She got a signature pose where she holds her hands towards the sky, something she does to keep the hope going and literally "reaching for the stars". During the game many unfair things will happen to Mayuri, making me wonder if the writers maybe had a grudge against her? Either way, she is a very sweet girl and her happy ending was one of the better.

Suzuha AmaneA young lady with braided hair. She is searching for her father while working for the landlord at Okarin's flat. She soon turns out to be hiding more secrets than you first would think.

Rumiho Akiha (Faris Nyannyan)
A sweet and charming girl who works at the maid café together with Mayuri.
She is very teasing and playful, and likes to play along with Okarins delusions. Faris route felt pretty short compared to the others, but taking the fact that she feels like one of the more "regular" background characters, I'm not surprised.

Ruka Urushibara
At first look seems like a beautiful shrine maiden, but when finding out the she is actually a he, many people are shocked. Ruka is very quiet and polite and have had a secret crush on Okabe since a while back. His route is about choosing your own happiness over others and that it is alright to be selfish at times.

Moeka Kiryū
A quiet girl with a cellphone. She is looking for a computer. ????

Gameplay
Steins;Gate uses a phone to trigger the events and to make choices instead of the usual boxes that appear. You can take out your phone at any time and read email etc, but when there are choices to make you can call anyone, send an email or selecting a keyword from your notes/emails to trigger certain routes. It's easy to predicts what to do in the beginning of the game, but later on it gets harder so I recommend using a guide if you want to achieve your prefer route. The game also got achievements and tips, something I haven't seen in a visual novel before.

Final Score:
Story 8/10
A game that starts out very slow and gentle, up until chapter 5. You can actually almost say the whole story up until that part have been a prologue. The way the story moves from light to very very dark is so well done that you can't help but get caught up in it. Story itself can at first look seem confusing, with alternative timelines, characters from the future and secret organizations, but it's not hard to find well explained summaries online if you feel dizzy after finishing all the routes. It's kind of hard to tell anything else without spoiling the entire story, so I'll just leave it as this.

Music 6/10
To be honest, I didn't think the soundtrack was anything special. The usual selection of bgm with a few impressive tracks.
Art 10/10
I'm just in love with the Huke in general, so playing this game was a real treat for me. His trademark shining eyes together with the dark coloring and grungy texture on top looked lovely through the whole game.

Voices 8/10 Mamoru does a really great job as a delusional mad scientist (even though I couldn't help but think of some other of his characters while listening). Kana Hanazawa is a personal favorite of mine and her role as Mayuri was really cute.

Total: 8/10
A very well written and well made game from 5bp/Nitro+. The story might come off as confusing but don't let it scare you away. The plot, artwork, characters and mad scientist together are all worth your time. Tutturu!♪

Game review: Sweet Pool

2011-12-28T00:02:00.002+01:00

Made by: Nitro-chiral
Genre: Yaoi, Horror, Gore, Romance, Occult, Violence
Summary: After being hospitalized for a year because of sickness, Youji is back at school. Being as quiet as ever, his friend Makoto is trying to cheer him up. When cold Tetsuo suddenly starts approaching Youji, strange things starts to happen around him. Nightmares, blood and the never ending pain inside of him. What is really going on?

Youji
He is very quiet but speaks his mind when he needs to. The game tells the story from his perspective and unlike most VNs a big part of the game is just going through feelings that Youji have. His parents died in an accident when he was young but he luckily still got a big sister whom took care of him. Youji often feel that he is in debt to her for taking care of him and paying for his apartment. His sister is pregnant and he decided that after the baby is born, he will stand on his own two feet, letting her live her happy married life. without being a burden. In class not many students approach him, knowing about his sickness and he blend in well with as the quiet and silent type. Tetsuo describes Youji as having "eyes that never trusts anyone" which I think sums him up pretty good.

The game starts on Youji's first day back to school, which he soon regret going to. On the train home he is feels nauseous, dizzy but is able to get home before he throws up. Thinking it's from the stress, he goes to bed early. Next day on the train to school the same feelings overwhelm him. On the verge of fainting, somebody suddenly grabs his arm from behind, supporting him. Silently standing there, a warm feelings spreads in Youji's body. A nostalgic, light, calm feeling. Just when he is about to turn around, the train arrive at the next stop and he is pushed along the crowd, leaving the mysterious person behind on the train that rushes away. At school he also meets Zenya, a strange and unpredictable man who starts messing with him. Smart as he is, Youji tries to avoid him knowing that he is dangerous.

Tetsuo
Blond, tall, stoic and surrounded with an intimidating aura, Tetsuo starts showing up everywhere Youji goes. The second day of school Tetsuo tells Youji that they are on cleaning duty this week together and after school they both stay behind to take out the trash. Tetsuo comments that somebody throws his half-eaten food away but Youji doesn't respond (it was him). Out of nowhere Tetsuo touches Youji's neck lightly but when asked why he says "No reason".
Later when Youji is home he feels something on his back and instinctively touches his neck, realizing that he is bleeding there. The weird thing is that he can't feel any cut or wound, it's just blood coming out from the skin. Knowing now that it was the reason Tetsuo touched him, Youji feels anxious and wants to avoid him in case he asks questions. When taking a bath, Youji starts feeling sick again and when he looks down the water has turned into blood. Suddenly a wave of lust hits him and he is unable to hold himself back. Lightheaded, he closes and opens his eyes, only to see the water returned to normal.

Youji is feeling ill and skips lunch the next day and once again Tetsuo finds out and comments when they take out the trash. The science teacher asks Youji to pick up some books at the lab the following day after school and just when Youji is about the leave the rush of emotions hits him again. Just like in the bath, he is unable to stop himself. Looking down he suddenly see a pool of blood on the floor and is about to run away when he hears somebody at the door. Tetsuo is standing there, expressionless as usual and says nothing. Youji realizes Tetsuo saw the whole thing and leaves quickly, feeling embarrassed and confused.

At sience class Youji feels dizzy again and burns his hand during a experiment. The teacher asks Tetsuo to accompany him to the school nurse, which Youji immediately refuses. Tetsuo just grabs his arm and the two of them starts walking up the stairs. Just when turning a corner, the blond pushes Youji up the wall, staring at him. Youji starts feeling the same pain and sickness as usual, only this time much more intense. He runs to the bathroom and lock the door to the stall, breathing heavily and tries not to pass out. This time the pain isn't moving upwards but downwards instead. Closing his eyes, he feels the warm blood running down his thighs and hears the fleshy sound when something hits the floor. He looks down and seems blood everywhere mix together with big lumps of meat, some of them moving occasionally to the rhythm of a beating heart. He rushes out, not knowing that Zenya was watching him all along.

From here Youji and Tetsuo starts developing a strange relationship. They meet during lunch at the rooftop, Tetsuo offers Youji lunch but as usual he feels to ill to eat. Wen Youji get one of his attacks, Tetsuo grabs him and forces him to release the meat monsters. Simply by touching Youji is filled with a thousand different feelings all at the same time and the way Tetsuo acts it's the same thing for him.
Makoto is also worried about Youji, seeing how not only his body is weak but his emotional state is getting worse.

Some days later Zenya wants to chat with our protagonist during break. Youji is suspicious but agrees, the two of them going to the back of the school. Zenya blurts out "I know that you're not human" to a shocked Youji and brutally beats him up until he passes out. When he wakes up, Youji is in a small room together with Tetsuo who is covered with wounds. The same lustful feelings interrupt his attempt to wake him and Youji starts touching his face, bending down to kiss him. Right when his fingers stroke over Tetsuo's lips, he wakes up and embraces Youji.

Determined not to give up even after his plan failed, Zenya tries to lure Youji out after school with promises of telling him what is going on. Youji follows him outside in the rain, but only because he is desperate of knowing the truth. Of course Zenya doesn't tell him anything, beats him up and is about to rape him when Tetsuo shows up and tells the other man to stay away from Youji. Zenya leaves and Tetsuo starts smooching Youji up instead when seeing his wet and shivering body.

So Tetsuo is suspended from school for beating up Zenya and Youji is picked out to deliver his homework to him. After dropping it off Tetsuo's mother pulls him inside and insists on him having dinner together. Youji doesn't eat much but is happy to feel such a warm and welcoming feeling.

Some days later Tetsuo is back in school, telling Youji to go and see him at the rooftop during lunch. Makoto suddenly pushes himself between them and screams at Tetsuo to leave Youji alone. He is disturbing, annoying and only makes Youji feel bad. Can't he see how bothered he is by him!?
Youji tries to calm Makoto down which results in him getting even more angry. The argument ends with the teachers running in, restraining Makoto.

The sience teacher wants to talk to Youji about the fight once the class is over. He comments on how he have been involved around many arguments lately and his grades are dropping. Since it's noticeable Youji is still sick, the teacher says he will give him one more chance by making Tetsuo help him with study. This way Tetsuo also got a chance to redeem himself after the fights. Not giving any other option, Youji agrees.

Later that evening someone knocks on the apartment door. There, in the rain, stands Makoto. He doesn't answer when Youji calls out to him and invites him in, he just stands there whispering the same thing over and over.

"Why can't it be me...Why is it like this?"
His voice suddenly turns into screams and Youji tries to reach out to him, but his hand is slapped away and Makoto runs. Makoto skips school for the following days and Youji spends time with Tetsuo, trying to concentrate on studying (but failing).
When Makoto comes back he is back to normal and apologizes for acting so weird. He wants to talk to Youji properly and invites him to the science room after school. When Youji gets there it's pitch black and he is suddenly pushed against the wall. It's Makoto, holding a knife against his throat.
Yandere and pissed as hell, he forces Youji to choose between him and Tetsuo. Youji is silent and tries to figure out a way of this mess, when Makoto suddenly screams that he will kill Youji and take suicide directly after. Right when the knife is about to go down Youji screams Tetuo's name in his head. Next thing he knows Tetsuo is in the room, fighting with Makoto, who quickly runs away, realizing he can't win against him.

Tetsuo grabs Youji's hand and takes him back to his house where he stars kissing him before he even can catch his breath. Suddenly he stops and says "Call me. Anytime".

Youji gets a call from his sister announcing that the baby has been born. When he visits her she becomes very sad though and wants to have a serious talk with him, reviling a secret she should have told him long ago about their parents accident. Makoto is also in the hospital, and when Youji visits he have a breakdown and apologizes for trying to kill him. He says Youji has a weird smell that made him go crazy. They part and Makoto hopes they still can be friends.

At the hospital entrance the science teacher is waiting for Youji. Before he can ask what he is doing there he says "It's your fault for making Makoto crazy. You and your scent".

The teacher continues and spills the whole truth about the monsters and what is going on. Youji is a so called "Mesu", a person with female monsters inside of him. Their existence is to find a match, an "Osu", which is the male counterpart, also living inside of other humans. To show that they are ready to mate the female will release a special smell which makes them attracted and awakes their sexual instincts. Youji have during the game said that Tetsuo smells very nostalgic which makes him lightheaded while Zenya mentions in the Drama CD that the smell Youji have is like a very sweet flower. The male host is also given super regenerative powers, which explains why Tetsuo's cuts always disappear. The monsters have a leader, a god, which is a purebreed. But the god was punished and made their goal to create a new purebreed, which can only be born by two perfect Mesu and Osu mate.
The science teacher is a member of the cult who worship the monsters and try their everything to make their goal come true. Youji, being a high quality Mesu is a perfect match for Tetsuo, who is a high quality Osu. The teacher starts spewing about how the two of them are possible of creating the new highness, but Youji leaves before he can finish, disgusted with everything he heard.

Next day Youji gets a text from Zenya, who writes that he will tell him the secrets of the cult. When our protagonist gets to school the whole thing is covered in guts, meat monsters and blood. He walks pass them but is soon captured by an old man he never seen before. The man holds a big lump of meat, calling it It's highness/God/Lord etc and Youji realize it's the leader of the monsters. The old man explains that if a Mesu is killed it will surely please the monsters and His Majesty might return to his former glory. Suddenly Zenya opens the door and kills the old man, screaming that he hate the cult and everything that has to do with the monsters. He then turns to Youji, whispering that he loves him but that it is time for him to die now.

I'm sure you can guess what happens next. Youji says Tetsuo's name and a second later he enters the room, beating up Zenya and eventually slashing up his stomach. Youji and Tetsuo tries to get out, but the whole school is blocked with the guro meat. They escape up the stairs and end up on the rooftop.

Tetsuo says that the first time he saw Youji he knew that he was special just like him. The whole year when he was sick, Tetsuo waited for him all this time. Youji asks if he maybe only likes him because of the Mesu/Osu thing inside of them, and Tetsuo admits that it might be true, but that it doesn't matter. He knows he wants to be together till eternity, even if they were the only two people left in the world, he would be happy. They might not be humans, but Youji is the only one who could ever understand him. The feelings they share is beyond love. Tetsuo and Youji kiss, accepting their destiny.

A man whom Youji recognize as a friend of Zenya suddenly opens the door and points a gun towards them. Without any regret, Youji stands up and faces him.

Zenya
An extremely unpredictable man. He can switch mood very fast and got a very dangerous and wild aura. Zenya lives together with his dad Kunihito and their servant/friend Kitani, whom Zenya is very close to. His dad Kunihito on the other hand, is the leader of the meat monster cult. He never goes outside, hates Zenya with all his might and is crazy obsessed with praying for the monsters. When Zenya was little he forced him to eat the monsters, thinking the child would become a host himself (to later create the new purebreed) but his body refused and the monsters ended up slowly killing him from the inside. As a side effect his left eye started morph into the gore-like substance the monsters are made of and there are times when it suddenly starts to bleed heavily. Zenya would probably killed himself a long time ago, having to live with all this pain, if it weren't from Kitani. That man has always helped him, cooked for him and supported him when the pain was too much. Because he is a failed Osu, Zenya hates Tetsuo for being a perfect one

When going Zenya's route Youji is captured and thrown into the creepy room, but this time Tetsuo isn't with him. Zenya wakes him up and tells him about the Osu and Mesu concept and that even if he is a ruined Osu, his instinct to mate with Youji is driving him crazy. And so he rapes Youji for hours, believing there might be a chance of creating the purebreed after all.

I found Zenya, despite his craziness, to be a very interesting character. In his Drama CD tracks, which is a re-make of his ending, he starts to desperately scream "Youji, why won't you love me? Why can't it be me? Why am I like this (a failed Osu)?" and starts sobbing towards the end. He is a character filled with anger and hate but also wanting to be loved and accepted. His very playful and teasing normal voice which can turn into screams and hateful laughter any minute is something that sends chills down my spine.

Makoto
Friendly, bubbly and outgoing guy. Even though he is popular in school he keeps close to Youji, worrying about his sickness. Makoto loves to eat and when going out together he gets the biggest super special hamburger - twice. In his route Makoto get affected by Youji's smell, making him super jealous and obsessed with him. In the scene when yandere Makoto is about to kill Youji, Tetsuo doesn't appear and Makoto asks Youji is he loves him. The protagonist says yes, thinking it will help him get out of the situation, but Makoto isn't stupid. Not being able to contain his anger and lust anymore, he rapes Youji and starts stabbing him with the knife, and things get worse from there...

I honestly felt really sorry for Makoto during the whole game. You can tell in the beginning that he only cares about Youji as a friend, and getting affected by the fragrance was against his own will. The rape scene was just horrible; Youji screams in pain the whole time and Makoto doesn't want to hurt him, but he can't control his body or emotions at all anymore.

Gameplay
Sweet Pool doesn't have the normal conversation option like in most VNs and instead features only two options: Instinct or reason. If you only select instinct all the way, you will end up with Zenya's ending and if you select the opposite all the way you will get Makoto. Considering how deep and full of symbolism the game is, I can't help but wonder if they made the options like this for a reason as well. Following your heart or always listening to your brain you might not ending up giving you what you want. As for endings, Tetuso got 3 (+ one secret "true ending") while Zenya and Makoto only got one each. Even though there are no happy endings in the game, all of Tetsuo endings are still good in one way; they always love each other right until the end.

One thing Sweet Pool get bonus for is how the auto is perfectly timed. I had time to read the sentence in my slow way without it changing and the scene took it's time without it started to get boring. The game also got a "super skip mode" which was useful when replaying a special scene or wanting to try a new outcome.

Final Score:
Story 9/10
As expected from Nitro+Chiral, Sweet Pool is great. Sure it's got gore and when reading the summary about a guy shitting meat and blood, one is bound to back off and get the wrong impression. All the characters were amazing. Very realistic in terms of feelings and thinking in a way you often find yourself doing. Youji doesn't whine or is uke-ish at all which I loved and Tetsuo is very bad ass even if I find myself wanting him to show more feelings. The game also doesn't have a single "I love you"-line which was refreshing and I felt like the whole concept of it was that Tetsuo and Youji's relationship is deeper than just love and go way beyond that. My favorite moments between them has to be when Tetsuo suddenly says "Call me, anytime" which implies that he heard Youji calling for him in his mind/heart. As I mention above, the game is very often told in Youji's POV, but it also switches to Zenya and what is going on in his house with the cult.

Kitani became a favorite of mine towards the end and in a scene when Zenya starts bleeding from his eye at school Kitani rushes in and holds him all why Zenya is crying "Why didn't you come sooner? I need you here. I called you! Hurry up and come sooner!". For short, his character really enhanced Zenya's loneliness and desperation.

I should note that all of Tetsuo's endings are pretty open and gives you a "judge for yourself" kind of feeling. As some of you know I absolutely hate gore, which might makes you wonder why I would put myself through this, but after playing it I honestly thought it wasn't that bad at all and there are very few scenes involving it.

Music 10/10
Loved. Simply loved the music. The ending songs are very addictive and the background music have been on loop since I finished the game. Miracles May by Itou Kanako is just perfection and fits the game so well it's scary.

Art 10/10
Even though the designs of the characters weren't anything special, I still enjoyed the artwork very much. Onitsuka Seiji replaced the original Nitro+Chiral artist Kana Tatana, but I think their styles are pretty similar, only that Onitsuka draws more manly men. The artbook for the game had a LOT of unused CG, new poses and to my surprise the majority of the pictures were of Zenya & Youji together. You can tell the artist doesn't mind drawing gore and bondage (or the two or them together) and I remember reading somewhere that her favorite thing to draw was abs/pecs lol.

Voices 9/10
Not much to comments here. Wataru sounds a bit too much like Asato from Lamento for my taste but the guy who really stands out is Midorin. His voice can snap from happy to sad as Zenya in a second and it really tingles when he talks with his playful voice. Brilliant work and just a bliss to listen to. I don't know about other people, but I didn't think he sounded like Shiki at all.

Total: 10/10
As expected from Nitro+Chiral, Sweet Pool is a touching, bittersweet, sad and well-written story. The characters are all messed up in their own way, just like everyone in real life secretly is. The game makes you question things and think a lot, which I like. I would really recommend Sweet Pool to anyone, even as a starter BL game for newcomers. It's not about sex or having a boyfriend or shit like that, it's about accepting life for what it is and the dealing with those feelings, that fate always isn't fair and the struggle to finding someone just like you.

Otome & BL news 20/12

2011-12-20T14:50:00.016+01:00

Ever thought to yourself "I wish I could change that character's hair" or "I bet --- would look good in a tuxedo!". New game Custom Drive lets you pick hairstyle and clothes for your bishie of choice! The creators are also holding a contest where you can send in your own designs of what you want your man to wear. The winners will have their designs illustrated and maybe (?) even in the game! You can read more information about the contest on Dengeki Girl's Style website.

ASCII Media Works is creating their first original otome game for PSP, a game called Love is not bound by rules!
The story is about a girl who must get along with the student council members. Promo picture is the one here on the left and judging by the art and characters I think I'll enjoy it very much! It's nice to see a mix up from the usual archetypes and not always having the megane character being the cool-and-serious type.

Just found out yesterday but Cool-B got a calender with all the upcoming otome and yaoi game releases! The list goes as far as August 2012 and got everything from platform to expected price. Add to your bookmarks! Suddenly you realize all those games are really far away...

March 27 is the new release date for Starry Sky ~after winter~. Don't forget to grab the special limited Christmas wallpaper here. Tsukiko looks really cute!

Just found out that the hot policeman from TinyxMachinegun whom I had my eyes on is actually related to Tiny! Her big brother maybe? Looking closer there are a lot of similarities like hair and eye color. I'm not sure just how related they are yet, but they share last name OTL Incest route = No romance

By answering otomates survey about mobage you can get some pretty nice wallpapers from games like Hakuouki, Hiiro no Kakera and Nise no Chigiri.

I just got my Girl's Style in the mail today, so here are some brand hot news (sorry for the crappy quality, I had to take the photos with an old camera)

First up is this new game by Otomate. In the corner it says "February 2012" so I'll guess we'll have to wait until then to find out more. The heroine looks extremely badass and I love how her dark design contrast with the big white eagle. The boys at the bottom reminds me of Hakuouki designs, so maybe it's related? I'm incapable of reading the text in the middle, so if anyone can translate I would be very grateful.

Remember the new Sherlock Holmes detective game by Karin? Three (?) new characters have been revealed starting with Jack The Ripper and two (?) Lupin.Jr.

First profile of Lupin is a blond guy with glasses and hair covering his right eye, making him look very smart and strict. The second profile of Lupin is a guy with backslick and wild hair, open shirt and just oozes of confidence and sex appeal. Are they twins or maybe we got a double-personality thing going on here?

From the new CGs of Miyako it looks like Raikou didn't grew his hair back out! I'm so happy! （　´∀｀） There are seem to be an alternetive universe scenario in the fandisk where all the guys are working at a cafe!

Black Wolves Saga site got updated and more information about the different version have been posted. In the PC game Fiona is captured by the sadistic cat twins Mejojo and Auger Von Garibaldi. Since I'm a big sucker for "true love" I'll be getting the PSP version which focus on wolfboy Rath instead.

TAKUYO have started advertising more for PSP game Kamisama to Koigokoro. I'm not sure if it's related to Shinigami Shojo or not, maybe it's an alternative universe or something similar, because the heroine sure looks alike!

First promo picture for the upcoming Hiiro no kakera anime have been posted. For more updates you can follow the team's own twitter.

Brothers Conflict looks like it will have several interesting systems like choosing how you want to spend the day (and with whom), in what way the heroine react when talking to somebody and there seems to be a lot of heart to fill. Release date is in March next year!

The PSP port of Moujuutsukai to Oujisama~Snow Bride~ recently updated their site. The new game seem to have a lot of new functions and mini games which I'm looking forward to!

For Comiket 81 Nitro+Chiral will release a DRAMAtical Murder-INSTALL BOOK- which contains information about the characters, setting, sketches and artwork.
They will also sell the brand new Lamento Drama CD to celebrate 5 years of catboys~
I'm not sure if this is the offical art or not, but I'm very pleased to see Rai in a ponytail, even if Bardo looks like a hobo in the corner. You can check out more of their goodies for the event here.

That's all for now! Have a nice winter break and Merry Christmas~

Game review: Persona 3 Portable ~Girl's side~

2011-12-15T23:54:00.003+01:00

Made by: Atlus
Genre: RPG, Stat-raiser, Otome, Adventure
Summary: Every night, between midnight, a secret hour takes place. Normal humans are unaware of this, but those who hold the potential can be awakened. Arriving to a new city, you get caught up in a mysterious organization called "SEES", a group of high schoolers with special powers. Together you search the labyrinth of Tartarus for answers and what the purpose behind the "Dark Hour" really is.

Original Persona 3 was released back in 2006 and four years later they ported it to PSP, adding a whole new story and the option to play as female. I finished the game last summer and totally forgot about the fact that you could play as girl, until now, that is.

The heroine doesn't have a name but is fan-named "Minako Arisako" after the male lead's name (Minato Arisato). You arrive one night to your new dorm where a small boy with hallow eyes asks you to make a contract with him. Since the heroine is tired from traveling and it's soon midnight, she thinks it's for the rent or something and signs it XD

Minako is, like everyone else in SEES, a Persona user. She can summon different Personas to help her battle the monsters they call "Shadows" inside Tartarus. The tower of Tartarus, with a staggering 263 floors to climb, only appears at the "Dark Hour" and in the exact same spot the school used to be. Those with potential of becoming a Persona user attracts Shadows and sometimes get kidnapped and thrown into the labyrinth. Minako and the rest of the SEES members tries to find and explanation to the whole happening and there seems to be a strange connection to Minako's parents death and the tower.

Since I wanted to focus on the visual novel part of the game, I'll only cover the guys you are able to date (sorry ladies~)

Junpei
A loud, cheerful, laid back type of guy with lots of energy. When first arriving at school he is the first friend you make there and joins SEES right after you do.

Akihiko

Because of the storyline, the female protagonist can't become anything more than very close friends.

Akihiko
Serious leader-type of character who used to be a boxing champion.
Akihiko is very popular at school, but ignores the fangirls and simply says "annoying" if the topic is brought up. He is very protective of the heroine and at a certain point asks her to stop fighting, afraid that she will get hurt.
If you max out his social link and become his girlfriend, he will share his past and secrets with you, reviling why he is so anxious to protect the people he love.

Shinjiro
Raised in an orphanage with Akihiko, Shinjiro is a shady looking character with a dangerous feel to him. He was the one who started SEES, together with Akihiko and Mitsuru but after an accident where his persona went crazy, he refused to work with them ever again. When meeting the heroine Shinjiro puts on a tough-guy attitude and swears a lot, but when getting to know him he is actually a very gentle person on the inside. When going his route he confesses that he loves her, but that it might be a big mistake on her behalf. Even so, Shinjiro asks her to trust him.

Ken
A young boy who join SEES to find the Persona user who killed his mother. Ken is surprisingly mature for his age (even more than Junpei sometimes) but acts very shy around the heroine.
There is a lot of character development in the game for Ken and in order to start his romance you need to have very high courage. Your confidence starts rubbing off on Ken soon and he gets pretty protective of you, making sure that Akihiko and the rest of the male cast knows that you belong to him ヾ(＾∇＾) Note that I'm not the type who likes shota characters, but Ken is an exception with his grown-up yet so easily embarrassed personality.

Ryoji

Ryoji
A flirty and mysterious character who transfers to school late in the game. He and the heroine hits off well and he quickly falls in lover with her. Knowing he hides secrets from her, the protagonist can't help but wonder why his sad eyes makes her heart ache. To him, their love is forbidden.

Theodore
A new character who works as a attendant in the Velvet Room. He gives you different quest through the game and takes you on dates, saying he is interested in the human world. A very classy, handsome and polite man who soon finds you very charming yourself. Sadly his route doesn't go further than him confessing to you and thanking you for showing him so many wonderful things of the human world.

Gameplay
P3P uses conversation options, just like a regular VN, to improve or worsen your relationship with people

The majority of the game is map-based and it's also the way you get around in town. But when you inside of Tartarus the game changes from 2D to 3D. The battle system is turn-based and be prepared to grind a lot, because at the end of the game you WILL be needed to reach the top of the tower.

Every character got a special element focus such as ice, water, fire etc exept for you, who can change between Personas whenever you want. The game is day-based, but when Dark Hour comes you can stay as long as you like until your party members are hurt/fatigued. If you have a good relationship with a party member there is she/he will sacrifice themselves and take a hit for you.

To be able to create new Personas you must first get friends. By building relationship you also build social links that in the Velvet Room later can become Personas. The Velvet room is a special place which only you can enter and where you can talk to Theo, complete quests & get hints how to advance the story.

Final Score:
Story 7/10
I wish I could rate it higher, but I just can't get over the weird pacing in P3P. Having such a long story, the actual events to kick it off doesn't come until much later. The first half of the game is too slow and the last half is stressful. It's a bit of a roller coaster, but overall enjoyable.

Music 8/10
New in P3P is the heroine's music. I really enjoyed that they decided to change it since they easily could have re-used the original OST but decided to make a new one instead. The genre has everything from rock-ish battle theme to jazz in the shopping mall and relaxing blues when you're at school. The opening theme from the original game also deserves a mention and as usual the ending song is touching.

Art 8/10
The 3D models are a bit pixel-ish and the animation is nothing to mention. The classic Persona sprites on the other hand are the usual quality with different expressions and clothing options depending on season. I love the heavy shading and all the characters are

Voices 8/10
Looking at the VA list, we got a pretty nice lineup here. Hikaru Midorikawa plays the arrogant but later kind big-brother type. Kōsuke Toriumi (knowns from Vitamin X and Hakuoki) and Junichi Suwabe also got big roles. And if you are a fan of j-pop, Maaya Sakamoto plays an emotionless android in the game.

Total: 7/10
Even if P3P was unable to push Persona 4 of my top ten rpg list, it was still a fun experience to play as a girl this time around. The boys will argue over you and the heroine is a pretty kickass character who speaks her mind and can summon monsters at her will. If you're into rpg and want to play a VN at the same time, I would say Persona 3 Portable is just the thing. The system is easy to understand and you'll soon forget about real life when running through the labyrinth of Tartarus.

Special: One year celebration ~Results~

2011-12-11T00:42:00.000+01:00

********
Ayako
********

I'll contact you soon for your address ヾ(＾∇＾)

Thanks for participating everyone and for leaving such nice comments!
Let's hope the next year will be just as much fun as this with lots of bishies, sexy BL games and Drama CDs to fangirl over! I hope you'll all be there to share it with me~

Otome & BL news 10/12

2011-12-10T18:08:00.002+01:00

Kimi ga Tame, Koishi Midareshi Tsuki no Hana just opened the game site some days ago. So far it looks pretty...mediocre? I like the promo art more than the in game sprites.

Beastmaster & Prince~Snow Bride~ PSP wallpapers are up

Kami Kimi poll has ended and the results are in. Narumi is the winner with a impressing 42% votes. The other guys weren't even close!

Check out Otomate's goodies for Comiket81. I almost started drooling when I saw all that merchandise!

Diabolik Lovers is now confirmed for PSP! The music gives me eargasms, seriously.

New information about the superhero Drama CD and PSP game LOVE&PEACE by Rejet.

The Miyako fandisk website also added more information. Did Raikou grew his hair out again? If he did, I'm gonna be so pissed （；￣д￣）

Don't forget to fill in the Amnesia Later survey. Rumors says that they might add things that you fill out in the new game.

Arcana Famiglia is getting a fandisk! After refreshing the website a thousand times I was finally able to screenshot one of the two characters that you see for a brief second! Could this be grown-up Liberta?
( 'A') The new name is Vascello Fantasma which in english is the story about The Flying Dutchman. Aaah I'm so hyped!

Original Arcana Famiglia added the second secret password. If you got the game, don't forget to register to unlock the secret bonus scenario!

A bit late on this, but BROTHERS CONFLICT got delayed until spring 2012.

Ozmafia updated with new characters.

The Hiiro no Kakera 3 fandisk is set for April next year.

Tokyo Yamanote Boys character poll is up

TinyxMachinegun update the site and announced a date for the first Drama CD: 29th February. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the two thieves named Tom & Jelly (Jerry) in the corner

Please don't forget to vote for your favorite otome game at the Otome game Award 2011! It's important to support the company's as much as we can :)
Application is here

A new company called Parade are releasing their first BL game called NO, THANK YOU!! (K-ON inspired?). The appeal of the game is that you are always seme (yes, even with those 2 oyaji characters back there) and in the website corner you can press a button to turn the chest/arm hair on and off ;｀(;ﾟ;ж;ﾟ; )ﾌﾞｯ

The story is about a 22 year old man who saves a guy from being run over by a car. You get hit instead and when you wake up all your memories are gone. The man you helped takes you in and let you work at his bar, but shady things are going on behind the nice facade.

You can now pre-order DMMD and see what kind of bonus you get at different stores.

Big update for the upcoming yaoi game Gakuen Heaven 2 ~Double Scamble~

Last but not least is news about the sequel to Lucky Dog 1. The title Gian no tame nara seikai wo kowasu! (I'll even destroy the world for Gian's sake) and more sneak peak will be available in this month Cool-B

Game review: Bouyoku no Fortisimo

2011-12-08T11:19:00.000+01:00

Made by: Utsukiyo

Genre: Yaoi, doujinshi, Tiger and Bunny

Summary: Kotetsu and Barnaby don't get along. Simple as that.
When their boss suddenly announce that they will be living together from now on or else they'll be fired, Kotetsu got 20 days to make the tsundere warm up to him.

A quick introduction to those who haven't watched Tiger & Bunny:

Sternbild City is home to people called "Next," who use their special abilities to protect the people as superheroes. The story mainly focuses on veteran hero Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (Wild Tiger) who is assigned a partner, a strict young man named Barnaby Brooks Jr. However, Barnaby and Kotetsu have trouble working together as they have different opinions on how a superhero should act while at the same time trying to crack the mystery of the murder of Barnaby's parents.

Utsukiyo is a pretty famous group known for their look-alike doujin game of the butler anime/manga Kuroshitsuji. Bouyoku no Fortisimo is their first try at the Tiger and Bunny series and just some weeks after it got released they announced a sequel.

The game starts out with Kotetsu walking in on Barnaby taking a shower. Unlike most VNs where you get a list of choices what to say, Bouyoku no Fortisimo gives you a list of choices what to spend the day doing.

As I mentioned above, you only got 20 days to get closer to Barnaby. Choices like "Talk", "Go out" and "Play a prank" are the usual options. There is also a mini-game where you get to poke at your heroes, see their reaction and eventually take their clothes off.

Bouyoku no Fortisimo might be a doujin game, but you can tell the creators actually put some effort into trying to tie the game with the anime storyline. Aside from that, the game is mostly you trying to seduce the tsundere Bunny, going on dates and eventually hooking it up.

The art is nice and the coloring/shading is what makes it come together. One complaint is how Kotetsu looks 10 years younger than he should. Another is how the only character beside Kotetsu and Barnaby appear in the game is Ivan (Origami Cyclone). I know it's a fan-made game, but I think they could have squeezed in one more.
The music can become annoying and I started to turn it off towards the last route and end of the game, which is nothing trivial, but still drags down the experience.

In the end I would say that if you like the pairing, give it a try, otherwise this is probably not for you.

Oh Bunny, you and your fried rice

Special: One year celebration ~Prize giveaway~

2011-12-07T00:56:00.000+01:00

It's already been a year since I posted that badly written Starry Sky ~in Spring~ review last November.

This last year have been extremely fun and I've learned a ton of Japanese, all while gaining some new friends online and fangirling together with y'all.

As a thank you for all the visitors who keeps coming back and all the amazing otome VN blogs which I am very inspired by, I decided to have a little gift giveaway!

Prize: Dengeki Girl's Style Magazine 2012 January Number.
(Might change)

Instructions:
Just leave a comment with your name (Do not need to be your real name) and your email. I'll put all the comments under moderation so it's impossible for anyone besides me to see it.

Closing date: 11th December 2011

I'll pick a lucky winner by random and post the result here by next week.

Since the time is very short, feel free to spread the word around to other otome/VN bloggers and people. Goodluck~

New otome game announcments 1/12

2011-12-01T12:53:00.000+01:00

With 2012 just around the corner a lot of companies are announcing their new titles for the next year. These are just some of the news that popped up last week...

Otomate and Rejet have started working together on two new projects.

First is already known Black Wolves Saga which will be split in two parts. A PC version named Bloody Nightmare (by Rejet), which will focus the dark and gothic theme of the game, and a PSP version, Last Hope (by Otomate), which will be much more romantic and have a "true love" feeling to it. Which one do you prefer?

I really recommend watching the trailer on the website, not only to get a glimpse of whats to come, but because the music is absolutely amazing. I simply must have the OST when it's released.

The second project is a vampire themed game called Diabolik lovers. If I understood right, it's currently being released as six different Drama CDs, and if they sell well a game will be made. The character designs looks very interesting and the coloring is super, so I really hope they decide to make a VN out of it.

Rejet alone announced a collaboration with Ninomiya Ai (famous writer for Are you Alice?) called Tiny x Machinegun. There will be both a game and several Drama CDs released. From the trailer it looks like it will be comic-style text, just like Arcana, and the song gave me major Lucky Dog 1 flashbacks. The story takes place in NY where policewoman Tiny (blond girl in the middle) is trying to find the criminal who attempted to kill the mayor. Tiny is voiced by Tamura Yukari, which is a big big plus for me since almost no otome game (except 18+ ones) have voiced heroine.

Note that there might be a chance or yuri route with the girl on the left, as the had a scene with her saying "I can tell you like me too and you know I'm right".

Back to otomate who are porting the Hetalia Gakuen to DS and Armen Noir to PSP. I remember reading reviews for Armen Noir and how most of the characters died.
Hopefully they'll add some new routes so the fans finally can get a happy ending (´･ω･｀)

Little Cheese, creators of rapefest/siscon/yandere game KuroKin, are making a new 18+ game called Trick or Alice. Official website will open in a few days but I can't say I'm excited. The promotion pictures are cute and from the looks of it they hired a new artist, but somewhere back in my head the rape-alarm is screaming like crazy. I'll have to wait and see some more content before I make up my mind.

I'll do a another game update after I get new Cool-B and Girl's style magazine. Remember that these are just the ones announced last week, so I'm sure we'll get even more good upcoming titles~

Game review: Idolm@ster 2

2011-11-30T21:13:00.000+01:00

Made by: Namco Bandai

Genre: Rhythm game, Raising sim

Summary: You arrive at Studio 765 where you will be working as a producer from now on. Your job is to raise a unit consisting out of 3 idols and help them become number one on the music chart.
I'm a big fan of music games (project diva, taiko, DDR etc) so when they announced Idolmaster for PS3 I knew I just had to have it

Idolmaster gives you 55 weeks to get your unit to the top. You'll be doing things like dance lessons, commercials, shopping new outfits and competing against rivals. Even though a unit exist out of 3 girls, you only go the route of the leader in the group. There is 4 endings for each girl, and a lot of achievement to unlock.

Characters (Left to right)
Makoto

Tomboy with a deep but beautiful voice. Her best attribute is dance and she is known to have a large amount of fangirls who loves her somewhat androgynous look.

Miki

Carefree girl who simply just loves to sing and dance. She doesn't care about how much skin she shows or what she wears because "Miki is still Miki no matter what".

Takane

Ojou-sama from a far away country. Her beautiful silver hair and smooth voice have caused rumors saying she actually comes from the moon (?). The twins calls her "Kaguya-hime" which is a nickname from the old Japanese story about the princess from the moon.

Yayoi
Full of energy and always cheerful, Yayoi tries her best at everything. All the other girls are impressed by her commitment and her ability to make everything around her a little bit happier.

Hibiki (left, second row)
Hibiki loves animals and got all kind of different types at home. Her favourite types of song are often upbeat ones and she gets along well with Makoto and Yayoi.

Yukiho
Afraid of dogs, men and many other things, Yukiho became an idol to overcome her fears. She gets nervous a lot and cries easily.

Haruka
Friendly girl who gets along with everyone. Haruka wanted to be a star since she was young and is a very optimistic and outgoing person.

Chihaya
Often quiet and not very approachable, Chihaya got a heavy background, her only wish in life is to sing. The one member she can talk to is Haruka and Chihaya tries to become more open like her.

Mami

Got a twin sister named Ami. Mami & Ami are cheerful, teasing types who loves to play tricks and call the other girls funny nicknames. Mami and Ami was separated when Ami joined Ryuugu komachi, making Mami realize she wants to follow her dream of becoming an idol as well.

Gameplay

You and your unit is aiming to win the Idol Academy award that takes place at the end of the game. To win the awards you must gather fans all over Japan, compete against the new famous boy band Jupiter and also your former idol colleges.

A regular day consist of four events: Morning greetings, daily schedule, evening goodbye+ music chart check. You'll be producing one song at a time with 5 weeks to do promotions and commercials until the release.

Idolmaster gives you three different choices of answer, just like in any visual novel. This also shapes your relationship with your girl and the unit you produce. The game is known for the dynamic relationship indicator which changes almost every day.

And geez, let me tell you this, producing a unit isn't an easy task. One day one of my girls were jealous of the leader, which resulted in the leader getting angry at the other member. The third person were standing beside them on the verge of tears and said she hated all the tension between them. The next day the two who were fighting had made up, but the third girl was still depressed and refused to do any work. The above is just an example of all the things that can happen between your unit. You have to share the work between them properly, make sure you not give the leader more spotlight and try to do the events they tell you they want to do.

The daily schedule is free for you to decide over. There will be certain events you can't refuse and you'll eventually learn to plan your time around them.

Publicity/Promotions
Raises your fan awareness and how many fans you have in the area. Publicity/Promotions are short visual novel scenes with choices to make. Depending on what girl you chose, what choices you make and what type of event it is, the outcome will be different.

Live
The goal when doing a live is to make your audience happy. A status indicator shows the crowd reactions and you need to get the score up to a certain number. It usually starts on a negative number (-0.2) and the requirements to success the live is to make it above 4.5. Doing a live raises your fanbase a lot, but often costs to participate.

Festivals
This time it's a battle between you and another idolgroup! The group with the highest score at the end of the song wins. Festivals are great for making more fans, but you won't be paid for doing it.

Auditions
It's recommended to do a audition when releasing a new song. Just like a real audition, you dance in front of a group of judges, trying to impress the director. The goal is to raise your rank (just like when doing a Live) except this time the prize is to sing your new song on TV. There will also be chances to do an audition to sing on a nationwide TV program, which raises your fan amount greatly.

So how do you play it then? Below is a gameplay screenshot from a festival, but the gameplay is the same to both Live and Audition.

1. Your score

Based on your timing, value of button and voltmeter, the score gets higher with every buttonpress.

2. Voltage and Appeals

While playing, your voltage bar will slowly fill up. When it's 100% you can do a burst appeal. A burst appeal is when the girl whose name is listed left (you can change between the members) takes place in the spotlight, earning you more points compared to usual.You start out with only one appeal, but gets more as you spend time with your unit.

3. Dance, Visual and Vocal button

When you pick your members, it's very important to think about the stats. It's recommended to do a group who all focus on one of the following appeals. For example: Pick 3 girls who all have high dance stat, when you later play you'll notice the dance button is worth much more points compared to the other ones. When choosing an outfit and amulet, this is also very important to think of.

When pressing a button, the value will go down and the button next to it will instead rise. You can chose either to focus on just one button, or switch when the first one no longer is worth any points.
Some of the songs in Idolmaster are very fast and if your not used to a rhythm game, I can imagine it being very hard to keep up the pace. Luckily there are also a couple of slow songs which doesn't require much button pressing and will be much easier.

4. Rival's score
As I mentioned above, the screenshot is from a festival. When doing an audition and live, the score is replaced by the crowd reactions. Note that the rival also got a voltage bar and have hidden appeal hearts, how many is unkown. Be careful using your own, because your rival might have been saving theirs for a sneak attack.

Idolmaster have ofcourse other modes than just the story one. You can anytime dress up any character (up to 6 of them) and make them sing any of the songs in the game. This time you don't have to worry about button pressing or stats. Just enjoy the dancing or take some photos at the same time. You can also save the full dance if you want to keep it a memory or liked the girls sining together.

Final Score:
Story ?/10I've only finished 4 girls so far, but the stories in them have been very up and down. They all have a main storyline abou the new rival group Jupiter, but the thing you notice most when finishing the true/good end is character development. Sure, it might not be a lot, but all the characters grow during the game and all become a little more adult.

Music 8/10

I'm not one of those hardcore Idolmaster fans since years back, but I do love the music. Many of the songs are from the first game and since it's a re-relase from the 360 version, some selected DLC were added to. I'm not usually the type who buy DLC after finishing a game, but if they release any good songs, I'll be tempted to buy it.

Art ?/10

Another hard topic to judge. Compared to the 360 version, the textures are much more sharp and the colors looks gorgeous in HD. The dance animations are super b and I never noticed any drop in framerate at all. So thumbs up!

Voices 9/10

It's hard to dislike any character in Idolmaster. Sure, there are a few girls I care a little less for, but one thing is for sure, they all got great voices. Chihaya, voiced by Asami Imai, is easily the best singer in the bunch. Mayako Nigo pulls of the cutest songs with the most hyper pitch I've ever heard and Yumi Hara, voice to Takane, sings beautiful ballads with a smooth and gentle voice.

Total: 7/10
I really love rhythm and music games and I'm not even close to unlocking everything in Idolmaster. So far it's been a very fun, sometimes stressful, but also very addicting game. The anime is still ongoing, so if your interested but don't want to buy the game, I recommend checking it out instead. Well, I'm off to make some superstars (ノ￣ω￣)ノ

Otome & BL news 19/11

2011-11-19T23:08:00.000+01:00

Games

A trial for Beyond the future hit the PSP/PS3 stores some days ago. The gallery also had a really big update with many new pictures.

It's finally time for Rikuto's birthday which also concludes Hotokensers wallpaper special.

Upcoming dress-up game FabStyle recetly updated their website. The guys in he game got their own character profiles. Right now I'm leaning towards the first or last guy, but we'll see when the game comes.

LiarSofts old games Souten no Celenaria, Sekien no Inganock and Shikkoku no Sharnoth are getting re-launched with new visuals and this time fully voiced! I'll definitely play Sharnoth and Inganock!

TOKYOヤマノテBOYS ~ SWEET JELLY BEANS is scheduled for the 13th January next year.

Pashet, who I wrote about in my last news post is up on OZMAFIAs website. And it turns out he is actually a she. After many discussions about the possibility of crossdressing/misreading the text, a 4koma was posted on the website and I no longer have doubts, this puss in boots is really a girl. The description also says "female knight" but who knows?
I'm pretty open to yuri myself and if her route is indeed a love-route I won't have a problem with it at all.

The story page was also updated and I felt I had to post the first couple of lines here, because they are so touching and sweet.

The one who brought a rainbow into my dull future was you
Swept up by a tornado, you, with cheeks as red as an apple's
In order to get my brain, Axel's heart, and Caramia's courage,
We set out on a journey together with you, who wore a pair of silver shoes
At the end of our travel, you returned to your distant, far away home
The love we were supposed to have ended before it even begun.

The above is written in Kyrie's POV, which is interesting since in the character data he calls himself a sadist and got a yandere-feeling to him. Maybe he is a got a soft heart underneath?

DRAMAtical Murder got updated with voice samples! Koujaku got some kind of accent which I'm not really digging. This is gonna take some time to get used to. Noise was put up today, his voice being a bit darker than I expected, but overall okay, he is still the guy I'm most interested in so far.

Otomate's hit game AMNESIA is getting a fandisk! Woot (/^▽^)/
Scans are here and here. Wedding rings! Naked Ikki! Ukyou blushing! You can tell it's gonna be great.

Hatoful Boyfriend is 100% english translated and ready for download here. Enjoy your pigeon bishie~

Merchandise
Continuing on the last mentioned topic, you can now buy A4 illustration sheets at AmiAmi with the Amnesia guys signature on here. I'm kind of tempted to buy and put up in my apartment as posters lol.

Arcana Famiglia is releasing the ending songs for the game on 21th December. An official fanbook is also coming out the same month, together with a pocket book and a comic. A fourth Drama CD will be released after new year's.

A character poll is up for Kami Kimi. Go and vote for your favorite!

PSP game Musketeer will get a artbook. Release date is 22nd December.

The Wand of Fortune 2 Drama CD will be released in a few days. The character poll just ended and the winner is Est!

Currently playing a lot of Skyrim and Idolm@ster 2, not sure what VN to read next. KamiKimi? Peter Pan Sweet Never Land? If you have any recommendations, leave a comment~

Game review: Arcana famiglia - La storia della Arcana Famiglia -

2011-11-19T20:58:00.000+01:00

Made by: Hune-X

Genre: Otome, Mafia, Romance, Adventure

Summary: Mondo, leader and "Papa" of The Arcana Famiglia, a big mafia organization, decides to retire. A tournament, The Arcana Duel, will take place and the winner not only get to take over the family, but also marry his beautiful daughter, Felicitá. The contestants are the 10 heads of the family (Felicitá included), whom all have special Tarot Arcana powers. Felicitá got 2 months until the tournament and during this time she must train hard unless she wants to be married against her will!
Felicitá
I usually don't write about the heroine in my reviews, but I felt that Felicitá needed her own introduction. Felicitá is a strong, kickass heroine who knows what she wants and ain't gonna let any dudes do as they please. Her infamous kick can beat the shit out of all the servants and all the guys in the game (except Papa, of course). She got a good sense of humor and can sometimes be a bit sarcastic, but overall a very feisty girl who does what she believes in. Felicitá's Arcana "The Lovers" let her read other people's hearts, which both can be useful and hurtful. She can be seen around town with her pet owl, Fukurotan, by her side at all times. She grew up in a small hidden cottage with her mother and her personal butler Luca for unknown reasons.

Liberta

Liberta is a very happy-go-lucky character who always got a smile on his face. He often acts on instinct and luck and let the thinking come later. His Arcana is "The Fool" but unfortunately Liberta can't handle his powers and wants to avoid using it. Liberta is very close to Dante and with his birthday coming up Liberta asks Felcitá for help and together they prepare everything.

Liberta thinks masks are fascinating and when he brings Dante a new one he found at the market, Dante snaps and tells him he needs to stop playing around and get serious. The Arcana Duel is coming up and since Liberta can't control his Arcana powers, he need to train even harder.

So later Felicitá and Liberta train in the garden and things get pretty intense. Liberta accidentally bumps into Nova who says Liberta will never be able to become strong and protect someone if he keeps doing things without thinking it through. The fight continue after Nova leaves but Liberta is so shaken by his words that he accidentally hurts both Felicitá and himself.

Some days later Liberta and Felicitá are shopping new masks at the market again and Liberta notice a very particular one. He asks the shopkeeper about it who tells him it used to belong to a famous man who rescued children from northern lands. When Liberta later shows it to Dante, his reaction was surprise and anger. Felicitá, feeling something was off, read Dante's heart and found out about the story between them.

Turns out Dante really was the pirate who saved children, and Liberta was one of them. The staff at the facility where he was raised used to provoke him in a attempt to bring out his Arcana powers. One day Liberta snapped and burned the whole place down, standing alone crying in the fire. It was then Dante came and took his hand. Dante put a "lock" on Liberta's power so he only could use very little of it and also sealed his memories of the event, hoping the child would one day be strong enough to control his Arcana. Dante always took care of Liberta as a kid, spending most time on the boat, SS Arcana.
There are two ways of releasing the Liberta's "lock", either by making Dante remove it or by Liberta remembering his past.

A fire breaks out a the market the next day and Liberta is too shocked to do anything. He grabs Felicitá's hand and asks her to read his heart, not being able to bear the feeling of confusion and fear for something he can't remember. Felicitá only says the words "fire", "Casa Bianca" (the island) and "mask" but it's enough for Liberta to remember everything.
Liberta runs off, hurt by how Dante treated him, but also afraid of his new powers.

Felicitá visit his room at the SS Arcana the next day, but Liberta asks her to leave, unsure about how he feels. Felicitá holds his hand and they both blush, Liberta realizing she was always there to believe in him. Right when things were getting good a storm hits the shore. Felicitá is thrown overboard while trying to save a man and Liberta doesn't hesitate to jump into the sea after her.
Liberta opens his eyes sometime later, washed up in a small cave on the beach with Felicitás cold body beside him. She doesn't respond and knowing she will die soon, Liberta hugs her and decides to believe in himself. He finally uses his power properly and starts a fire which warms the two of them. When Felicitá wakes up she thanks Liberta for rescuing her and tells him that his flames are "beautiful".

Felicitá's mother and "Mama" of the Arcana Famiglia, invites her daughter together with Liberta and Nova to a secret teaparty. She reveled that Liberta is actually Mondo's grandson, born from Mondo's first wife's son. Liberta says he now knows who he is, and that he wants to win the Arcana Duel, become a strong and righteous man like Dante and be there for Felicitá like she have been there for him. He wants to fight for her and hopes their hearts will be even closer in the future~

Liberta, so cute! His story was really nice and had good pacing. It was sweet seeing how his confidence grew with time and how he wanted to win the Arcana Duel for Felicitá's sake.

Nova
15 years old. Have a hard time depending and opening up to people. He and Liberta are always arguing, but the truth is that they are actually pretty close. Nova has a sweet tooth but is embarrassed to admit it because he thinks it makes him look childish.

Nova and Felicitá are cousins and were actually engaged in the past. Sumire even had a ring she promised to give Nova when he grew up but after an accident, the whole thing was called off.

One night Nova and Liberta rushes into Felicitás room, saying it's an emergency. Nova's parents, who both are in a coma, were kidnapped by pirates. Liberta, Nova and Felicitá sneaks off, planning to save them on their own.

Nova uses his Arcana, "The Death", which puts the pirates to sleep. Soon Nova himself collapses and explains it takes a lot of energy to use his powers, so he will stay behind searching for his parents while Liberta and Felicitá fights a masked man on the ship.

Some days later, Felicitá decides to go and talk to Nova. He opens up and tells her that even though his father is Mondo's brother, he wasn't chosen by the cards, meaning he wouldn't have a place in the family. The card ended up choosing Nova instead. His parents raised him very strict and said that it had to be like this if he wanted to become number one in the family. One night Nova overheard his parents plotting to kill both Mondo and Sumire in hope for Nova to become the new leader.

Angered by how desperate his parents were for power and the fact that they only used him as a tool to get the family, Nova's power went berserk and he put his parents in an eternal sleep.

A week later Liberta, Felicitá and Nova spends the day at the beach. Nova shortly tells Liberta about his parents and when asked why he didn't tell him sooner, Nova replies with "It's none of your business". Liberta then punches Nova in the face, screaming that they are all family and that they should carry the burden together. Nova smiles, realizing Liberta is right. Even if he wasn't loved by his parents, the Arcana family have always been there for him.

Nova talks to Mondo about finding a way to wake up his parents and Mondo is willing to help him with his own Arcana "The World". There is a big chance of not working though, and Nova could get hurt in the process. Knowing this, Nova still accepted Mondo's offer.

Just like Mondo had predicted, Nova started screaming in pain when trying to use his powers. Felicitá ran up to him and hugged him from behind, activating her own powers to help him make it through. Collapsing tired on the floor, both of them decide to wait there until morning to see if it worked or not. Felicitá cuddled up under a blanket with Nova and they soon fell asleep.
The next morning they both wake up by someone calling them, turns out it worked after all.
Nova smiles and hold Felicitá's hands, thanking her and saying that he would never have been able to wake them up without her help~

Nova was the first route I finished and after playing everyone else I felt that his was one of the weakest. His character felt a little flat sometimes and I his CGs were also the most boring/generic in the bunch. Nova also seemed very attached to Sumire and there are some jokes about how he like older ladies with big boobs (Poor Felicitá never stood a chance)

Debito
Hates being tied down, love exciting things and flirting with beautiful ladies. He calls Felicitá "Bambina" which means "little girl", but the say he says it ends up being more like "babe". When playing Arcana Famiglia you'll notice Debito isn't just flirting with you in his route, he does it in almost everyone's. He loves making Felicitá blush and whispers sexy things in her ear. He also takes care of the financial in the family and spends time at the casino. He, Luca and Pace are childhood friends. His power is to become invisible.

So Felicitá finds herself pretty interested in Debito and when Pace invites her to help the children at church together with Debito and Luca, she agrees. When choosing activity Felicitá picks soccer and everyone is having fun playing around until Felicitá starts bringing out her A game, daring Debito to challenge her. Luca later tells Felicitá about how the three of them used to play in this church when they were kids and how Pace and Debito always got him into trouble.
A child starts talking to Felicitá, describing weird and warm feeling inside. She reads his heart and realizes the kid is in love with her. Felicitá says some kind words and promises to met him again, but on the way home Debito stops her and says she should never say something like that.
Sure, he likes to flirt with women, but he make sure never ever to promise anything more than that. Giving hope of love to the other person is just cruel.

A girl named Milena causes trouble at Debito's casino and when they later get to know her she reveals herself to be the daughter of another famous mafia family. She and Debito flirts and he is amused to see how jealous Felicitá gets.

Debito is actually a pretty bi-polar guy and his mood can go from extremely angry some days to happy-go-lucky. Felicitá is worried about him and asks Luca to tell her more about his past.
Debito's family died when he was really young so he was raised at the church, befriending Pace and Luca. Then Jolly knocked on the church door. And the experiments began.
Jolly wanted to find out more about how the cards chose their owner, and did all kinds of tests on Pace and him. In the end Debito was forced to make a deal with "The Hermit".

Luca is suddenly stopped by Debito, who's been standing there all along, using his powers to conceal himself. Debito announces that he will kill Jolly at the Arcana Duel and leaves the church angry.

Some week later, the friend trio + Felicitá goes to visit the children again. Everything is fun and going great until Jolly shows up, scaring the children away. Debito starts fighting with him and when things are about to get out of hand, Pace punches Jolly in the face, sending him through a window and eventually destroys the whole church. After reminding Debito how weak he is, Jolly leaves.

Days later after having a date together, Debito is feeling tired and Felicitá walks him to his bed. He invites her to sleep beside him and she hugs him tight, saying Sumire used to hug her like this when she was a kid.

Debito pulls her down in his lap and says her name for the first time. Blushing, she hugs him back and hears him whispering "You're warm. This kind of thing...might not be so bad either"

Debito tells Felicitá more about his past and the trauma behind his lost eye. One of the reasons he can't sleep is the immense pain from "The Hemit", mixing together with the memories of Jolly putting his artificial eye in. Debito admits he can't handle his powers properly, and Felicitá reads his heart, noticing he is actually unsure if he wants to kill Jolly or not.

After that day, Debito disappears for a pretty long time. Felicitá feels helpless trying to search for him, knowing his powers.

One night re-appear in her room with beautiful purple flowers, asking for forgiveness. She wants to know where he have been, but Debito just says he doesn't want to see a pretty lady sad, and asks her to forget the whole thing about revenge.

Unfortunately, the nightmares become so intense that Debito decides he can't wait until the Duel to kill Jolly. Worried, Felicitá talks to Jolly, and knowing that Debito is listening from somewhere, Jolly makes a plan to have a showdown in the garden later at midnight.

I love Debito for being the sexy and teasing guy that he is. That being said, he was pretty hard to understand sometimes and required reading his heart to know what he really meant. I think he and Felicitá makes a pretty good match though, since they always got a kind of competition going on. Good chemistry to be short. And what is love about if not finding a good match?

Pace
Very care-free type of guy who loves lasagna more than anything.
He is actually a pretty smart and very caring guy underneath the silly first impression.
When spending time with Felicitá almost all they do is eat, until she finds out he haven't been paying for the food lol.
And we're not just talking about some meals here, for dinner Pace can eat about 30 lasagna, 10 pasta dishes and some pies as dessert.
His Arcana power gives him super strength.

So one day Felicitá notice Pace is always nervous and keep looking around town as if searching for something. He says it's nothing and tells her to forget about it. When the two of them later receives a mission to go to a ball, Pace pretends to have a stomach ache
and makes Felicitá go on while he will catch up later. Not fitting in very well, people start whispering about her at the ball. A blonde man with an attitude walks up to her and starts talking to her while looking at her pitifully.
Just when Felicitá had enough a handsome man with well-groomed hair asks her to stop. Everyone at the party starts talking and the blonde man shockingly says "Brother!?"
Felicitá didn't recognize him first, but the handsome man is actually Pace.

Turns out Pace is actually son of the mayor, but only half-related to his brother.
After his mother got pregnant she was sent away to live in a cabin while Pace's younger brother was raised in the fancy mansion. Pace says he doesn't regret being raised poor, because they still had love. His most fond memory is when his mother made lasagna, the two of them eating it together with Debito and Luca.

Felicitá wants Pace to make up with his brother, but they put it on hold for now. After eating another huge dinner, they run into some bad guys at the street. Pace runs up to them, punching them in the stomach, only to be shocked when nothing happens. Debito and Luca passes by and help out, and Pace explains it must be because he is feeling tired.

A week later Pace is eating less than normal and his energy seems drained.
Worried about him, Felicitá tries to talk to him but the only reply she gets is that "It's no big deal". Some time later Pace takes Felicitá to the garden and tell her the truth. Because of the tests Jolly did on him, and his own Arcana power, he is destined to die when he turn 30. Being 25 now, he only got a few years left and tries not to do anything that would leave people sad when he dies.

Felicitá promises not to tell anyone, but Luca soon notice the ojou-sama is indeed hiding something. With Felicitá on the verge of tears, Pace finally tells Debito and Luca as well. With everyone feeling down, Pace takes Felicitá to his mothers grave, where they met his brother. They talk and Pace realize how sad he was when his mother suddenly died, and that he doesn't want to do the same to his friends.
He also confesses to Felicitá for a second time, apologizing for falling in love when he got his curse.

Pace and Felicitá goes to fix the broken church the next day, but an accident occur and the heroine is trapped under massive logs with the children. Pace tries to open up a path and tells himself "If I can't even protect the people of love..." Screaming Felicitá's name, Pace uses his power and finally removes the wood. Felicitá runs up to him and says she always believed he could do it. They hug and Pace starts crying out of relief that she is alive.

Just as handsome without glasses

After the accident Pace is starting to go back to normal. After spending the day together, he reveals he got a gift for Felicitá. On one of their earlier dates, he gave her a beautiful broach, and this time it turns out to be a necklace. She happily puts it on and Pace winks, saying that next time(after the Arcana Duel) it will be a ring~

If I were to sum up Pace's route it would probably be "The power of love". Pace is just such a awesome character. He always does silly impressions of the other characters which made me laugh way too much, and I would give Sugita 10/10 for doing a splendid work on the voice.

In the ending where Pace wins Arcana Duel, he says he needs to start making some babies with Felicitá right away, since he wants to see them grow up before he passes away. Luca then interrupts by brining a letter, written by Pace at the age of 8, declaring that his only love in the world is Lasagna and that he is forever married to it, therefor his marriage with Felicitá isn't real. Poor Pace lol~

Luca

Felicitás assistant since an early age who would go through anything for his dear ojou-sama. He always gets trolled and bullied through the game (which is hilarious) but tries his best everyday.
He can sometime start babbling to much when nervous or over-think it, and his somewhat perfect butler facade is broken down through the game, and we get to see the real Luca.

It's obvious from the beginning of the game that Luca have been in love with Felicitá since forever. The other characters are also aware of it and Felicitá knows it somewhere deep down too.

Luca was the one who taught Felicitá to fight with knives and one day when practicing for the Duel, Felicitá challenge him.
Things are looking even up until Felicitá makes a rush for it. She runs up to Luca, grabs his cheeks, whispers his name and gently blow in his ear!
(God, you should hear the sound he made here)

So they continue to spend more time together and everything is going great until some of the subordinates starts pointing out that Luca can't always come and save ojou-sama. She is all grown up now and might even be better at fighting than him. Felicitá replies that she indeed does want more distance and do things her way. Luca is of course sad but when talking to her later in the garden he admits that he agrees, even if it hurts a little bit.

Luca is interested in alchemy, just like Jolly. One day when Felicitá stops by his room Luca shows off some magic that looks just like firework in small bottles. Just like magic - as Felicitá says.

After the incident with Jolly at the church, Luca starts taking a distance from Felicitá and locks himself in his study room. With help from the chef, Felicitá bakes a pie and makes tea, as a thank you for always doing the same to her. Luca smiles and somewhat cheer up, explaining that he was just reminded of a trauma. He continues and tells her about how he, Pace and Debito were Jolly's lab rats and begs Felicitá never to get close to Jolly.

Later, returning home from work, Felicitá open the door to Luca's room only to find Jolly standing there. On guard, she starts asking questions, but Jolly chuckles and says that maybe Luca is the on she should ask instead?

Just then Luca opens the door and shields Felicitá, yelling at Jolly to get out. Jolly smiles and continues to mock Luca, up until he gets really pissed.
Before Jolly leaves, he asks Felicitá to read his heart. She is shocked at what it says; Luca is Jolly's son. But instead of fighting, she says that the bond between her and Luca can not be broken that easily. Bored, Jolly leaves, returning the book he originally came for.
Luca apologizes, and admits that what she read in Luca's heart is true. Jolly is Luca's father. Luca says he can never forgive Jolly for experimenting on him and his friends and being such a cruel person, but he thinks that one day they might come to an understanding.

A week from that, Pace's brother stops by, asking for Felicitá to use her powers to help someone. Since it's against the Arcana Famiglia rules to use your powers outside the family, she refuse. Just before she leaves, he suddenly says "But you saved Sumire when she was in a coma!". Luca, standing beside her, is shocked to hear this and quickly pulls Felicitá out of the room, saying it's time to leave. Realizing Luca knows something, Felicitá feels betrayed. When meeting Luca at the market the next day, Felicitá asks why she was locked away in the cottage as a child? What was the coma Pace's brother was speaking about? Will Felicitá still love Luca after knowing he hid so many secrets?

Man, being Luca is suffering.
Joke aside, Luca is my favorite character in the bunch. He is so gentle and only one of his endings had a confession scene (because the rest didn't even need it) and I was just moved by how much he loved Felicitá (Both in his own route and in others too). His Drama CD tracks and they were really sweet too, everything is from his point of view. He says "It doesn't matter what she think of me or what happens. As long as I can see her beautiful smile, and be here by her side, I'm happy. My beloved ojou-sama." (*´・ｖ・) Naaw. I loved how at first he tries so hard to always be the calm perfect butler, but you later get to see his different emotions and sad/angry/happy sides too.
I recommend playing him last of the osananajimi-trio, just to understand their relationship more.

Jolly

Gondo's right hand man. Jolly is a guy who likes to work alone and rarely spends time with the other members of the family. The town people are scared of him and he is known for his cool attitude.

Jolly's story starts out with Felicitá meeting him at the market. He is staring at an octopus for sale. While talking to Felicitá, another guy walks by and asks to buy it instead. Jolly is of course pissed off and is about to beat the shit out of the guy for buying the octopus HE was about to get, but the guy runs off in fear and the shopkeeper is so scared she says she'll give him anything he wants for free. Jolly walks away and Luca pays the old lady because he felt so sorry for her. Lol, I don't know if this was supposed to be funny scene or not, but I laughed!

After that Felicita becomes a bit stalker-ish and sneak around after Jolly all the time. She does some jobs for him but on her spare time she tries to follow him everywhere he goes. He eventually let her in his secret lab (why did that sound dirty to me?), where he show she her his alchemy work.
When first stepping in, Felicitá curiously asks about the large tank in the middle of the room. Jolly explains that he is creating human clones, a homunculus. Felicitá leaves the room, somewhat unsettled, but interested.

Remember the boy at the church who fell in love with Felicitá? That boy was actually Jolly's experiment, Elmo. He was only completed a few days ago, but is picking up things very fast. Elmo is also a Arcana user, and his card "The Tower", gives him power to cast invisible shields. Jolly is very impressed with Elmo using his powers every day without getting tired or losing control.

Some days later Felicitá is having trouble sleeping, so she and Liberta spies on Jolly and Mondo, whom are drinking in the garden and talking about their past. It's the first time both of them have seen Jolly without his shades, and Liberta teases Felicitá for staring at Jolly's face for too long xD

Jolly one days comes to Felicitá asking for help. He explains that it's important for her to listen and that it's actually a matter of life or death.

Ah, I'm sorry that his summary turned so short, but telling any more would spoil the whole game, which I really didn't want to do :I Jolly is...kind of hard to place. Even after finishing his three endings I felt that I was a still unsure of what I thought about his character. But hey, maybe that's his charm as well? And he loves to troll Luca and the rest of the cast, which is always a plus XD

Dante
Surprise, surprise, even the big bald guy gets a route!
Dante to me is almost a side-character, so it felt really weird reading his route. He and Felicitá never really goes to the romantic-aspect, but close enough.

Dante's route is almost 50/50 of Liberta's route. Focusing on Libertas and Dante's past. As I mentioned earlier, Dante used to be a pirate who saved children and did all kind of heroic deeds.
The masked man on the ship, fighting with Felicitá and Liberta was also Dante. His power is to remove/manipulate memories.

Felicitá remember how he used to visit her at the cottage, and that he was the one who gave her Fukurotan.

Dante acts like a mentor through the game, helping Felicitá realize and use her powers. He also helps her train for the Duel, happy that she decided to go her own path.

Sorry that his summary is so short but honestly...I just don't care OTL
Dante is a pretty generic guy who doesn't really have anything going for him (or against him!) but his route was so slow that I almost fell alseep when reading.

Gameplay:

Arcana Famiglia uses a map-selection when choosing guy and as you play the game you unlock the characters secrets (in form of hearts) which you later can go and hear after finishing the route. They are divided into different categories such as "Date secret nr.1" and "Food secret nr.2" and it's really fun to know different little things about them. The main gameplay in the game are two things:
The Kokoro-function. Felicitá can read people's hearts by using the analog controller. There is a limit to how many times you can use it per day, but it refills at night. Be aware that some endings require you never to read their hearts (expect in situations forced to), so check with a walkthrough before you play. You will sometimes see a small grey heart beat once on the other character, indicating that their thoughts/mood has changed.

The second selling point of Arcana is the real time button pressing system. During the fighting scenes, buttons will pop up and you actually got to be pretty quick not to miss it. I pressed the wrong one several times when playing and it can change the outcome of the game.

The game also had a bunch of extras to unlock, which I'm always think is a plus. Don't forget their website for the secret passwords and more goodies~

Final Score:
Story 10/10
You guys should know, even though this ended up so long, I left out a lot of story, which just shows how much potential Arcana Famiglia has. Not only did I not want to spoil all the major events/secrets/backgrounds, but because it's just too many. You can tell they worked really hard at making all the characters believable, with stories and character interactions shining through (osananajimi-trio especially). The humor is great, all the character tease each other really often, even if Sumire turns out to be the real troll of the game.

The Arcana members also play a sort of punishment game at the end of certain events. Picture above is when Debito and Luca eats Lasagna in front or Pace, which makes him go totally crazy.

Being Luca is suffering

Music 8/10
Game music was pretty nice. The battle-theme fitted well and made you alert and ready for those buttons to pop up. All the characters sang their ending song (CD will be on sale in December) and I found most of them cute. Debito's "Amore Bambina" is the one I liked the most.

Art 10/10
Love! No weird proportions, no mistakes that I could see, simply flawless! I love the super heavy black shading which really brings out the comic-style. Did I mention the boxes appears/moves around? Just like a comic, but better!

Voices 9/10
First off, Sugita needs a special mention for his work as Pace. Just awesome. I actually didn't realize how good the voices were until I unlocked the seiyuu commentary. Debito and Nova' for one, sounds really different in their normal voices. Honestly, all of the crew put a lot of effort in this game, and you can tell. Listening to Nakamura Yuuichi (Luca) was pretty funny, at the end he says Pace's catchphrase "Yosh! Everybody together now! LAASAGNAAA!". Yonaga Tsubasa (Nova) on the other hand talks about how he thought Nova looked really cute being tsundere and all when first seeing the character. Lol I guess being in the voice acting businesses makes you like that XD

Total: 10/10
I seriously love Arcana Famiglia to bits. The game is unique with it's comic-style and heavy shading, none of the characters feels flat or dislikable and the story is well-planned. It also got a nice pacing that makes it easy to read and makes you want to play even more. I really hope people give this a try, because I seriously couldn't put it down for a second, it's just that good.

Until next time!

Otome & BL news 25/10

2011-10-25T22:22:00.000+02:00

Games
Koisentai LOVE & PEACE was recently updated and aside from the superhero theme, the main characters are all power rangers. Will it beat Hotokenser or end up being a cheap copy?

Hanaoni ~Yume no Tsuzuki~ Fandisc and a new game called Issyo ni gohan announced by Otomate. The last mentioned is adapted from a Drama CD about a bunch of guys running a apartment dinner show (I think?). The guys all look pretty nice and it's nice to have a change from the regular school-themed visual novels. Plus, I love cooking!

Getting ported to PSP is Moujuutsukai to Ouji-sama ~Snow Bride~. I loved the first game and read the beginning of Snow Bride, so I'm really looking forward to see what they add in the port.

Karin Entertainment opened a new "mystery site", currently under construction. News have leaked and apparently it's a Sherlock Holmes otome game for PSP! Right now it's under the name Eikoku tantei mysteria (The British detective mystery) but I'm not sure if it's the official name or not. The heroine, Emily, is ridiculous cute and the black haired man is confirmed to be Holmes Jr. Watson looks really handsome too and I love the suspenders and the bag over the shoulder. I'm getting way too excited about this orz . Check out the site here.

Following the detective theme is a spin-off game of the popular VitaminX series. VitaminX Detective B6 will be out for PSP sometime during 2012.

Quinrose is as usual making new games at a frightening pace, and this week they announced yet another fairytale-themed game. Cinderella when the clock hits 12 ~Halloween Wedding~ (Unsure how to translate the title. Cinderella at midnight (12 o'clock) might be more correct) is the classic story with a halloween twist to it. To be released in 2012.

OZMAFIA announced another new character in this month B's LOG who became an instant favorite of mine. He is a purple haired cat-eared knight-like character with ponytail and a tsundere/easily embarrassed to boot! I think his name is Aen (Aien? Ein?). Either way, I'm sure they add him to the website soon.

A big double spread with characters made by the artist from Kuro to Kin no Hirakanai Kagi (Shiraha Makamome) was also included in the magazine. It doesn't say anything except "Hana Awase". Little Cheese haven't any information so I guess we just have to wait and see. The picture features 2 siblings, both beautiful drawn, even if the girl reminds me of Kuro to Kin's heroine except with short hair. Very gothic and dark theme once again.

I haven't been so interested in the soon to be released Miss Princess for DS, but after reading the article and watching the trailer, I'm kind of curious. The game got some cute mini-games like playing piano and horseback riding. The story is about a tomboy trying to win a model competition called "Miss Princess". If you feel like playing something super-sugary and so cliché it makes you laugh (in a positive way) I'd say this is your game.

Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 3rd Story is getting ported to PSP with the word "Premium" added in the title.

Merchandise
Finally arriving in stores is these sexy Togainu no Chi figures. Akira sure looks sexy with his rough look and low pants while Shiki always pulls off an elegant and dangerous vibe. Hurry up and pre-order before they are gone!

Want to show off how much you love UtaPri? These super cute chibi rubber straps are now up for pre-order. I actually put an order myself, hoping to get either Otoya or Masa orz

Harada Sanosuke from Hakuouki is getting a 1/10 figure. You can see sneak peak pictures here. Love all the details!

Wand of Fortune 2 is getting a Drama CD with new scenarios next month. As expected, the cover art is absolutely stunning.

Tomorrow is the release date of the first pre-song CD feauturing new characters from UtaPri Debut! I'm really looking forward to both Utapri Music and Debut so I'm hoping they won't let me down~

I also want to apologize for not writing any proper reviews lately. I've been listening to a lot of Drama CDs and reading manga instead (Remember to stay away from Yandere Heaven if you want to be able to sleep =_=). On the game front I've been re-playing UtaPri and getting all the normal endings with the guys.

Otome & BL news 8/10 Updated

2011-10-08T16:58:00.000+02:00

Games
A company named Straight is currently working on a 18+ PC game named Kimi ga Tame, Koishi Midareshi Tsuki no Hana (Picture on the left). The heroine looks really cute and I'm looking forward to hearing more about it.

Rejet announced a new game called Black Wolves Saga, using the same artist the did for Gekka Ryouran Romance. No rating or station have been announced, but it looks pretty dark to me, so maybe 15/18+?
The game is about Fiona, a princess locked up in a tower, until she one day meets a wolf on the run. She escapes together with him and their adventure begins. Thanks to Rin for the translation~

A game that has been on everyones lips lately is Beyond time - fix the time arrows. The site is being updated very often, adding more informations and goodies as the days go by. The game is planned for PS3 and PSP 12/1 2012. My only question is if there will be any actual gameplay?

Starry Sky - After Winter have been changed from it's set release date to TBA for unknown reasons.

Horror and thriller BL game Shingakkou – Noli me tangere is getting a fandisk called Shingakkou - Noli me tangere ~ The gift.

Another game which is also getting a fandisk is Rewrite, Rewrite - Harvest festa!

Omerta is getting a re-release with new skip functions and fix some bugs. I'm not sure if they will add any new story or CG, but the new cover art alone makes me want to buy the game again.

Sanctuary recently released a PV for the Miyako fandisk, you can watch it here

Utapri creators Broccoli is releasing a new game called Koisentai LOVE & PEACE. Super hero theme sounds fun, but I'm not liking the designs of the guys.

Otomate is porting more mobile games to PSP, this time it's Kimi Kare.Which boyfriend do you want?

Last but not least, DMMD got a big update, including wallpapers, character data and CG. I really love Aoba in this picture.

Merchandise
Omerta is releasing 3 new drama CDs; first one is with TachibanaxJJ, second one is LukaxJJ and the last one is JJxKiryuu.

The Amnesia poll was (to my surprise) won by Toma. I guess japanese girls really love yandere guys? Here is his special illustration for winning the poll.

*UPDATE*
So I got Cool-B magazine this month, and thought I might as well write about some of the content.
Big feature on Mebiusline, both the announcment of seiyuus (you can check the website) and a very distracting picture of Iori licking the wounds of the main character. I'm not really into blood-fetish so I didn't really get it, but I'm sure it's very popular with some people ^^;

Nitro+Chirals DMMD also announced their cast (once again, check their website if you're interested). Some new CGs were promised but it turns out to be...a gang rape picture. Three random guys holding Aoba down and pulling off his clothes, and I really hope this is some bad route ending or else I'm gonna be pissed.

Beside from that, a new CG from upcoming otome game PersonA was included. This as well turned out to be a rape picture where the prince-like type of character is pinning the girl down the bed. Honestly, why can't we have a 18+ otome game without rape? It's ridiculous.

First impression: Amnesia

2011-10-07T19:18:00.000+02:00

Made by: Otomate

Genre: Otome, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Summary: You (the heroine) wake up to find a little spirit talking to you. His name is Orion and when he was traveling between different worlds he accidentally bumped into your consciousness, messing up all of your memories and even throwing your existence out of balance. Together you will have to work with Orion to get your memories back and find out who you really are

Note: First impression means I've only finished a few routes and not all the endings. As you will notice in the review, I really loved Amnesia. The only reason I'm not doing all the endings/playing all the characters is because of studies. I also just recently started trying to read VNs only relying on my own Japanese (I use AGTH on the computer) so it takes a lot of time and just finishing one route alone is a big obstacle.

Final Score:
Story 9/10

Amnesia is that kind of game that really pulls you into the story. It might be because the heroine doesn't talk very much (so it feels like you really are the main character yourself) or simply because it's pretty damn well written. The characters are all very interesting and there is always suspense in the air, making you wanting to keep reading.

Shin was my first pick and I finished his happy ending pretty quick. His route is also got the most mystery-theme to it and out of all the ones I read his was the best. In his story, the heroine and Orion wakes up in a hospital, covered in bandages. They panic when Shin comes into the room, telling her to hurry up and get changed since the taxi is here. The heroine tries to make up excuses for seeming lost, but after failing to even guess her boyfriends name, she admits her amnesia.

Shin can seem like a cold guy at first and I had trouble understanding what he said at times because of his monotone voice. He is also pretty harsh and sometimes rude to the girl, but after playing his route it's obvious he is doing it for her sake.

So Shin turns out to be your osananajimi and boyfriend. The reason the heroine was in the hospital was because of an accident, which Shin blames is his fault. The two of them, together with the rest of the main characters were staying in a cabin in the forest over the weekend. The heroine fell down a cliff when playing around in the dark forest one night, but as the story progress it turns out there might have been a culprit behind the accident. Shin promise he will protect her, and tells her not to trust anyone, but can she even trust herself when not all of her memories are back yet?

Music 10/10
Background music is always important, and in a mystery game like Amnesia it's more important than ever. I honestly loved every single track in the game, even the darker/scary ones. MANYO (Little Wing) got samples on the website in case you want to check it out.

Art 10/10
花邑まい is the creator or this beautiful art. The character designs got a fantasy-like appeal, both the guys and girls are really sexy/cute but the thing I like most got to be the color palette. The sprites also blink, move their mouth and got lots of close-ups without being pixel-ish which was a huge plus for me. The backgrounds were all faded into one color, which made the character stood out even more.

Voices 8/10

Kakihara Tetsuya is the seiyuu for Shin and as I mentioned above I got some problems while reading his route. After getting some hours in I got used to it though and his voice when he turns dere-dere is really cute~

Total: 9/10
Amnesia is really a great game that dares to stand out. Beautiful art, deep characters and well-written plot all in one game is pretty hard to find these days. The dark mystery theme is not for everyone though and romance isn't really the focus in any of the routes. If your up for some mystery, drama and dark secrets, Amnesia is your game.

First impression: Uta no prince-sama ♪ Repeat

2011-10-02T00:09:00.000+02:00

Made by: Broccoli
Genre: Otome, School, Romance, Mini-game

Summary: Haruka gets accepted into Saotome Gakuen, a school for gifted people to become idols or musicians. Her life long dream is to become a songwriter and she gets paired up with one of the boys for the next year to try to aim for the top.

Note: First impression means I've only finished a few routes and not all the endings. I've also only seen the 4 first episodes of the anime, so please go easy on me ^^;

Final Score:
Story 5/10
So I only played Otoya, Masatos and Natsukis route, the reason being was troubled by the story. You can't really call it story either actually. The game plays out over a whole year, which is way too long and it ends up not feeling cohesive. To me it felt more like seeing random events with the guy of your choice, playing mini-games and collecting points at the same time.
Not boring, but it loses its charm after the third time.

UtaPri Repeat is a very silly game and I recommend not trying to take it too seriously: The principal, Shining Saotome (voice by the amazing Wakamoto) jumps through/into walls/roofs/windows, flies around in a helicopter spying on the students, ties Haruka to a rocket and threaten to send her off to space if the idols doesn't cooperate and even more crazy things that I even can't explain. The characters are very likable but the they often turn into shojo-manga stereotypes when you get later into the game. The classic "I'll scare you off because I like you/can't be with you"-situation takes place and the heroine runs away crying "Noo! You're not yourself! It's a lie! No!" which made me go （ ´_ゝ`)

Otoya is the classic happy-go-lucky guy and probably my favorite too (I honestly wouldn't mind having such a sweet guy as a boyfriend). Saotome Gakuen have rule that the students can't fall in love, and in Otoya's route he and Haruka try to prove the principal wrong, love is just as important as music.

So Masato is always competing against Ren, another rich guy from the S class (Everyone mentioned up untill now goes in A class). Masato's dad own a big company and Ren is his rival since way back. When Masato's dad one day shows up and yells at him for wasting his time with music, he looses all confidence. The rest of the route is about how Masato tries to become his own person and not be his fathers puppet anymore.

Music 7/10

While the background music wasn't anything that made a impression, the songs for each guy that you learn through playing the game was very nice. The mini-games consist out of 3 challenges; Button pressing, song writing and a music quiz. I had some trouble with the music quiz at times, but manged to get an A or B at least orz. (If you have trouble there are always guides online).
I'm a hardcore fan or rythmn games and I have to say that Utapri was very well done. It's not Project Diva, but for an otome game, I really enjoyed it. I wouldn't have minded a little more variety though, and I was a bit sad to find out Maji Love 1000% wasn't in the game.

Art 6/10
After seeing the art in UtaPri Repeat compared to the original, it's a huge improvment. That being said, I can't say I enjoyed it very much. The sprites got very heavy shading and looks very anime-ish. The background on the other hand got a totally different style and so does the CGs. This all together makes the game feel a bit lacking in the visual department.

Voices 8/10

Miyano Mamoru ,Suzumura Kenichi, Terashima Takuma, Wakamoto, the list could continue. The voices are great to put it simply, and one of the game strongest points.

Total: 7/10
Uta no Prince-sama is best described as an easy-going, fun and light-hearted game. The characters are likable, even if they end up being cliché at times. Mini games and collecting points are two big factors in this game which I enjoyed a whole lot. It's the type of game you play while your waiting for the bus or taking a break.

Game review: Moujuutsukai to Oujisama

2011-09-28T20:34:00.000+02:00

Made by: Otomate/Idea Factory

Genre: Otome, Magic, Romance, Adventure

Summary: Tiana is training to become a beastmaster just like her mother and when walking home one day she meets a man who is selling rare animals. Tiana ends up buying all 4 of them and when she gets home the creatures start to talk. They ask Tiana for help finding a cure for their curse so they can turn back to humans and so the story begins...

Matheus
Matheus is the blond ladies man who got transformed into a lion. He and Tiana hit it off well and he soon let her play and cuddle with him. I want to pet a big fluffy lion too (,,#ﾟДﾟ) Matheus got a strange phobia of men which is also a reason he prefer to hang around the ladies.

So Tiana goes to the medicine shop to ask if there is any cure for the curse and finds out that there is apperently a “witch’s apprentice” who works there that can make a cure for her. She gets it the next day and it works! But only for 15 minutes. The animals suggests she goes back the next day, which Tiana does, but the shopkeeper says it's gonna be expensive to pay for a medicine that works longer.

Matheus says he knows a way to get money quick and asks to use the rest of the medicine. Tiana trusts him and end up going with him to a local inn where Matheus win in a cardgame. The rest of the needed money was gained by the two of them doing beastmaster performances in the town.

The cure doesn't work this time around either and Matheus joins Tiana the next time she goes back. When entering the shop the shopkeeper went
"B-But you're supposed to be dead!". Before they could catch them, both the shop owner and the apprentice witch escaped through a secret room. Understanding that it was the two of them responsible for the curse, the guys started thinking of a plan to lure them out. Matheus and the other boys also told Tiana that they are the princes of the country and all brothers.

Since they still got a lot of gold powder left (medicine to turn them human) so they decide to get a carriage and show themselves around town. That way the royals will know they aren't missing anymore and the person wanting to kill them will know they've failed.

When returning the carriage Tiana met her childhood friend Klaus, who works with the royals. He told her about Matheus past and the reason of his phobia.

There is a Carnival in town the next day and Matheus asks Tiana to join him. They buy some cheese, played cards, and gets followed by a swarm of fangirls. Matheus tells her that he doesn't care about them since none of the girls really love him. This is also proven by the magical rose garden where the rosebuds only bloom if you love someone true and deep down in your heart. Matheus gets a ton of rosebuds from the fangirls, none of which blooms. He then asks Tiana to help him carry them and the moment she touches them all of them turn into beautiful roses. ＼(^▽^)ノ

Some days later a bunch of fangirls show up at Tianas house, screaming that they want to see Matheus. Out of nowhere the witch apprentice, Gerda, shows up and stabs Tiana with a cursed dagger.

The curse is slowly eating away her life and Gerda says that if they want to save Tiana and turn back to humans, Matheus has to kill his brothers. They stage a fake death and are able to capture both the shopkeeper, Silvio, and Gerda. They finally spill the beans and tell the gang the reason they cursed them:

20 years ago the town was burned by the ground by The Last Witch. Gerda was her apprentice and when her mentor was captured some weeks ago Gerda was told to kill the 4 princes if she wanted to see her teacher again.

Gerda also explains that neither the princes curse or Tianas can be lifted without The Last Witch, so they all team up and goes off to save the witch. Just when they are about to leave they find out that a war is starting between the countries. The princes were also charged with murder, so they had to be careful when traveling. Our heroes split into groups and Tiana of course goes with Matheus.

They later end up meeting Bernd, Matheus mentor and only person he ever really trusted. Bernd end up stabbing Matheus in the back and he is saved by Tiana and her beastmaster skills.

Tiana, Matheus and Klaus end up hiding in the secret room of the potion shop where Matheus recovered from his wounds. They tried to attack Bernd again, this time with the help of Alfred, only to fail once again. Dirk, their fifth and youngest brother appeared out of nowhere and swore to kill Matheus. He was the one responsible for starting the war and told them he had made a contract with the powerful dragon who was resting inside of The Last Witch. Dirk was planning to create a new empire called Elfonbine, where he is to rule.

Our gang eventually got back to the hideout room where Tiana suddenly passed out. The curse was starting to get to her but at the same time Matheus wanted to stop Dirk. Tiana understood that she'd only be trouble if she went with him, so they kissed and said farewell. A few days later Matheus still hadn't come back, Tiana being on the brink of death. Klaus then gave her a potion Gerda had prepared. The curse would be lifted for 24 hours, only to result in her dying directly after.
Not waiting a second, Tiana drank the medicine and started riding towards the city Sardine.

FFFF I really really like Matheus, but pairing up Midorikawa with his character did not work for me at all. Midorikawa does that kind of sleezy, way too deep voice that almost ruined it for me. I honestly don't know what they were thinking. I still really enjoyed Matheus route and his bonus picture when unlocking his route was so adorable I had to make it my wallpaper. Honestly, who wouldn't want to cuddle up with a big, warm, fluffy lion?

Alfred
Alfred is the strongest of the brothers and don't really know how to interact with people (women especially). After Tiana ordered the second batch of medicine, Alfred said he could get the money for her. Together they went to the colosseum where he easily won against his opponent. Just when they were about to leave he saw a bunch of men, including the man he just fought, screaming and rushing towards them. Alfred grabbed Tiana and threw her over his shoulder, apologizing and saying she runs too slow XD

Turns out the men weren't angry, they wanted to try to fight Alfred one more time. He politely refused later and they did a performance just like Matheus and Tiana, this time Alfred was doing sit-ups in his wolf form. He suddenly messed up and started counting "One...two...One...two" out loud which caused some suspicion. The story continues same as in Matheus route until the carnival comes.
Alfred and Tiana visited the colosseum again where Alfred sparred for awhile. They also went to the market, the hill and the forest. When walking home it started to rain and Alfred pulled Tiana under a roof to take cover. He noticed her shivering and hugged her closer, telling her to listen to his heartbeat.

After the rest of the guys noticed Tiana and Alfred was getting closer, they started teasing them. Alfred in particular, being so clueless about women, didn't get understand and Tiana was too embarrassed to say anything lol.
The next day someone knocked on the door and there stood Dirk, the fifth and youngest prince. Out of all the princes, he and Alfred are the only ones sharing the same mother. Dirk told Alfred to return at once and blamed Matheus for everything. He also insulted Tiana, her home and started talking about how Alfred should be king instead of Matheus. After Dirk left Alfred told Tiana that they used to have yet another brother, Abel, whom died in an accident. Dirk became bitter after Abel passed away and Tiana said she hoped they could get along in the future.

Same night the witch apprentice stabbed Tiana with the magic dagger and later tricked Silvio and Gerda into being caught. The war broke out and they split into teams, this time Tiana went with Alfred. During the time they traveled, Alfred told her how Abel died. Abel had asked Matheus for a duel, which he had refused to, Abel got angry and was about to attack Matheus from behind when Alfred jumped between to stop him. In the end Alfred lost his eye and accidentally stabbed Abel in his heart. Everybody agreed that it was an accident except for Dirk who kept saying it was Matheus fault.

So back to the story, Dirk eventually became the dragon and started destroying the town again. Alfred told Tiana to find a safe place but she refused to leave him. Gerda contacted her through the magic mirror and told her that her beastmaster whistle can tame dragons, just like her mothers could! Tiana searches for Alfred and eventually finds him in the colosseum, the two of them faces Dirk together.
Alfred was really cute and I do like clueless guys, but he doesn't really have that spark and charm that the rest of the cast does. His story was okay but not as interesting as the rest.

Lucia
Also known as the Tsundere Duck by people who have played the game xD
And let me just get this out of the way first; Ducks are adorable. Lucia the duck is ten times more adorable. Tsundere Lucia the duck is the most adorable thing ever.
Moving on, Lucia is the third prince and always the one to start an argue. He got strong opinions and can sometimes come off as mean, but on the inside he is really a good guy.

After the events with the medicine and carriage, Lucia and Tiana meet up in the castle garden. Lucia tells about how he and his cousin Kurt used to play here and do all kind of mischief. Tiana tells him she used to train animals here too and wondered if they ever met. On the day of the carnival Lucia is sulking and Tiana spends the day cleaning the house. She hears someone playing violin beautifully and it turns out to be Lucia. He apologizes for making noise and explains he's not as good as his father at playing. Tiana smiles and ask him if he wants to go to the carnival after all, and he happily agrees.

They end up resting at the flower field on the hill where Tiana falls asleep, tired from all the fun. She wakes up by hearing Lucia talking to her.
"Do you still not remember?". When she opened her eyes, he asked her what she thought of him, and she replied that Lucia is Lucia. Simple as that.

Before returning home Lucia told Tiana to leave early since he had some businesses to do. When she came home she searched for her old diary. As a child she had indeed tamed some cats in the castle garden, together with a boy who played the violin. They've made a promise to enter the annual beastmaster competition together one day.

Lucia didn't come back to the house for several hours and all the other brothers got worried. Right when they were about to leave he showed up. Matheus was so angry he grounded Lucia and took all of his powder that turn him back human. Lucia tried to explain that tomorrow something really important happened, but they didn't listen.

The next day Tiana, Erik and Lucia were the only ones in the house. Tiana tried to cheer Lucia up and found a paper by his pillow. He told her not to read it but she did anyway. Turns out Lucia had been applying for a beastmaster contest that day, which was the reason he came home so late last night. He knew Tiana wanted to become a beastmaster just like her parents and she thanked him for his kindness. Lucia got so happy he suggested they would sneak outside, but Tiana said it would be best not to disobey Matheus. Our tsundere duck got the wrong impression and started yelling at her, thinking it was because he wasn't a big lion or a graceful wolf, just a silly duck.

Tiana sat in the living room, thinking how to apologize to Lucia when Erik came running, saying Lucia had escaped. Matheus and Alfred came back and they searched all together. He was found by Kurt in the forest, badly beaten up. When he woke up he told Tiana he wanted to capture a boar so she could use it in the beastmaster contest, but he was interrupted by her hugging him. She remember that it was Lucia she used to play with as a child and he tells her he's been practicing playing violin just so he could preform together with her.

So they eventually split into teams and this time Tiana goes with Erik, Silvio and Gerda to rescue The Last Witch. They are betrayed by Hannes, the man who sold Tiana the animals from the beginning, but luckily Tiana and Lucia hid behind a bush. Lucia says he have to save Erik, kisses Tiana and tells her to run, then steps out. A fight with the guards take place and Lucia is just about to lose when out of nowhere Kurt appears and beat the bad guys ass.

Right after they've escaped, Tiana passes out from the curse. Lucia cries a river and asks her if she still want to go with him to fight the dragon, and she replies that she does. Even if she is about to die, she wants to spend her last moments together with him.

Lucia easily takes first place as most likable character and best guy in the game. When playing the mofumofu he kept saying all these cute things like "D-Do you do this with the other guys too?" and "You're the only one allowed to pet me". While I didn't really like his character design in human form (Add some freckles and he would have reminded me of Ron from Harry Potter), his cute duck hoodie made up for it.

Erik

The cute, little innocent bunny! Or is he?
Erik is the youngest of the four brothers. He is a bit of a crybaby and carries a stuffed frog named Caspar on his back all the time.
During the carnival Erik and Tiana goes to the rose garden. He tries giving her some rosebuds (just like Matheus) but since Tiana thinks of him as a kid they don't bloom.
They had lunch on top of the hill the next day, where Erik asked Tiana to kiss him.
She apologized and said she still didn't think of him in that way.

On their way home they run into Silvio who starts picking a fight. Erik wants to prove Tiana wrong and when he steppes in Caspar gets torn apart. Inside was a little bottle with some sort of powder that spills onto Erik. When Tiana opens her eyes she doesn't recognize the man in front of her, but it is indeed Erik. Silvio runs of scared and Erik sprinkle the silver powder on himself, turning back to shota. Tiana was about to ask him about it, when she realize shota Erik have no memory of what happened.

Lucia, being the closest one to Erik, later asked Tiana if anything special had happened. She told him what she saw and he said it's something Erik will have to tell him herself. Tiana gets stabbed with the dagger the same night and when she wakes up Erik wants to tell her the whole story:

Erik's mother wanted a daughter badly, so when Erik was born she could not help but feel disappointed. She was worried about how many princes were killed in order for other princes to get closer to the throne. Erik grew up thinking he was a unwanted child and put a curse on himself at age 7 so he would always be the sweet, innocent, childish person his mother wanted him to be. He hated his life and was even about to commit suicide if Lucia hadn't stopped him. Tiana hugged Erik and thanked him for telling her, understanding his reason for wanting to create a facade.

Gerda and Silvio was captured by Erik singlehandedly and he threaten to cut their throat off if they didn't lift the curse from Tiana. Gerda was so scared of him that she told him the whole story about The Last Witch right there and then, and off they went.

During the travel they camped in the forest and Erik said he didn't want to be someone he is not anymore, so he threw away the last of the powder, forever giving up on the option of turning back to shota-Erik. Tiana cried and realized that she loved shota-Erik for his smile and bright personality.

When raiding the castle some days later, the team split into two once again. Erik and Tiana hid in a storage room where Erik told him that even if he's been "asleep" inside of Erik this whole time, he still felt as if he had spend time with Tiana and loved her. Not knowing what to feel, Tiana just said that she wanted to know more about the real Erik.

The two of them made it to the main room, where Gerda, Silvio and Lucia had been captured. Erik threw the rest of the gold powder in the room, turning everyone into animals. While laughing, he sat down on the throne and told them to spill the beans on where the witch was. Right when he was about to kill Hannes, Tiana screamed and told him to stop.

So then the gang went to stop Dirk, who once again turned into the dragon. On the way there Erik kissed Tiana and told her that he was always afraid of his true self, and that he would end up being a murderer like his father, but thanks to Tiana, he was now a better person. She smiled and Erik promised to always protect her.

Wow, I'm kind of speechless after finishing his route.
It's not that unusual with a shota character that got a dark/grown-up side, but this game took it to a whole new level. Erik definitely got the most character development out of the guys and playing his route was really interesting and I honestly had no idea what would happen next. When writing this review I was close to writing "Dark-Hunny" (Ouran High School Host Club reference) LOL, doesn't help that he is a rabbit as well.

Klaus
Tianas megane childhood friend. His route was short and it honestly felt like the creators were going "Oh damn, we don't have a megane character! We can make him a osananajimi so he got some background story!". Klaus also get some powder on him and he gets turned into a little mouse. Very fitting (※థэథ). One thing that bothered me was that his sprite looked kind of bad, but in the CGs/other view, he looked pretty handsome. I didn't dislike him, but I didn't like him either. In the end, he just felt like any other side-character.

Silvio
Silvio is the shopkeeper and god, I just love the teasing/flirty but cute kind of guy that Silvio is.

So since Tiana doesn't hook up with any of the princes, she doesn't have enough money for the cure. Silvio suggests she goes to the forest and find 100 magical flowers which would be enough payment.

The same night Tiana goes there together with the animals, they split up and she meets Silvio there.
He was afraid she might get hurt or attacked so he came to check on her. When they were walking around Silvio told her that there is maximum 30 flowers in the forest anyway, so even if she finds all she won't have enough. Sulking, Tiana started walking faster but accidentally tripped and fell down a hole, dragging Silvio with her. There Tiana had found a secret place filled with the magic flower and enough to get the cure for the princes.

So Tiana and Silvio spends the following days together and Silvio keeps telling her how much he likes her, even if they only met recently. He says there is something nostalgic about her and she agrees.
After everyone find out Silvio and Gerda are the bad guys, Tiana felt confused and hurt. She walks by the potion shop on the day of the carnival and sees somebody inside. At first she think it's Silvio that have returned, but is later scared that it might be a burglar. She goes inside either way and there was a random man dressed in black. He told her to be quiet and was about to kill her when Silvio showed up and saved her. Quiet they stood together and none of them had anything to say.
Silvio asked her to stay away from the princes and that she would get hurt if she continued to. Tiana replied that she couldn't just leave them and Silvio disappeared through the secret door.

The next day he and Gerda came knocking on the door, wanting to cooperate with the princes. When Matheus didn't trust him Silvio pointed at Tiana and said he was doing it for her sake. He also gained their trust by pouring some powder on himself, turning into the cat that Tiana had seen around the last couple of days.

During their travel Silvio and Tiana bonded even more but things got complicated and in the end they had to say goodbye. Silvio said he'll return as soon as he has rescued the witch, and that he wanted a proper kiss when he comes back. Tiana blushes like a tomato but agrees to Silvios surprise.

Things take a turn for the worse when the dragon appears. Tiana goes off to find Silvio almost dying at the colosseum. He takes her hand and tells her he loves her, and that even if she doesn't remember him, he will always remember her. Silvio was the kitten Tiana used to train with at the castle gardens and his curse is a reverse from the princes. (Was an animal -> became human)
He fell in love with her back then and when seeing her enter the potionshop for the first time he was more happy than ever. Silvio passes out but Gerda says he'll be fine.

Now he got a big decision to make; drink the potion and forever be his true form, a cat, or to stay with Tiana as a human.

Gameplay:
So in Moujuutsukai to Oujisama there is a special gameplay called MofuMofu. You get to choose which one of the guys you want to pet (in animal form, of course lol) and you have to pet them in the right spot before the time runs out. I loved MofuMofu-time and as I mentioned before, Lucia the duck and Matheus the lion was my favorite. I'm that type of person who never had any animals when growing up, so whenever I visit someone that does, I go crazy with the cuddling and forget the person I was visiting orz

The game also got a nice bar system where you can check out which guy likes you the most. In case you forget anything there is a memo with the important parts of the story saved.

A big bonus for me was the extras. 4-komas, a special picture and a voiced comic is all unlocked when you finish someones route. Silvios 4-koma was about how he could climb all over Tiana in cat form, and when he then turned human and tried the same thing (groped her boobs) she hit him in the face lol.

Final Score:
Story 10/10
The main reason I gave this game such a high score was not because the story itself was that spectacular, but because they really created a cozy and fantasy-like atmosphere. The extra story in the PSP version where Tiana herself turns into a cat was adorable. Lucia especially went "You're so fluffy and warm, this is bad, I don't want to stop cuddling" Beside from that, I'm a sucker for this theme; Romance, magic, far-away country, strong heroine and handsome boys. What's not to love?

Music 7/10
Opening song was really nice and ending song as well. In-game music was nothing in particular but I overall enjoyed it.

Art 8/10
Just a note; I tried both the portable version and the PS2 version of this game, and on both of them the character sprites were a bit pixel-ish. Another thing that I'm kind of bothered about is how characters like Lucia and Alfred didn't have that many "good" CGs. If you compare to Eriks CG, all of them were cool/cute and showed the characters face etc, where in Lucias many of them felt half-hearted.
The art in general is very fluffy and I love the soft coloring that goes hand in hand with the game.

Voices 6/10
I have to score this low because of Midorikawa's work with Matheus. I would also have preferred someone else for Alfred, who spoke way too low for me to even hear him at times.

Total: 9/10
Right off the bat I knew this was my type of game. I love these fairytale-like stories and all of the characters are very lovable. If you like a bit of magic, romance and comedy, together with character development and a nice story, I really recommend this game~

Game review: Gakuen Tokkyuu Hotokenser!

2011-09-23T15:01:00.000+02:00

Made by: Two-Five
Genre: Otome, Comedy, Romance, School
Summary: Kureha starts her new life in a new school. But what she didn't know is that she was choosen to protect the school from evil spirits as the red ranger and leader of the group; Hotokenser! Together with three other rangers, Blue, Green and Yellow, they fight side by side against evil.

Rikuto
He is the yellow ranger and an instant favorite of mine. Rikuto is Ryuuichis childhood friend even though they got some kind of rivalry going on. He always calls Ryuuichi "megane-X" (add random insult at X) but is himself nearsighted. This results that almost every time Kureha talks to him he gets up really really close face to face since he think "all girls look alike". Rikuto can be pretty dumb at times but makes up for it with his charm and humor. One thing I liked about him is that he is very down to earth about people and emotions and not some clueless-idiot-stereotype which his character could have fallen into. In Rikuto's route he is pretty busy with the swimming team and never shows up at student council, which is the secret rangers club, and since Kureha is the leader she is told to do something about it. They end up making a deal that if she does a bunch of chores for him and writes his essay, he will come to the club.

As a thank you later the same day Rikuto offers Kureha a ride home on his bike. Since the three guy in the student council are super popular with girls, a rumor starts about the two of them. Kureha soon asks if she is a bother but Rikuto grabs her hand and says he doesn't give a f*ck about rumors or what other people think. If he enjoys being with her, then he wants to be with her

The next day our heroine is eating her bento when Rikuto comes along and grab some food. He declares that it's the best thing in the entire world and Kureha decides she will make him one too the next day. When she later helps Rikuto with homework at his place, he offers to make some dinner and brings a pot of disgusting curry. Turns out Rikuto has bad/zero taste palette and pretty much think anything tastes amazing orz

Rikuto is such a cute and funny character. His jokes were always spot on and comments had perfect timing. I also felt he was the one who fitted best with Kureha and I could imagine him as her boyfriend. My favorite color is yellow (lol) so I guess it's just natural attraction?

Ryuuichi
Kureha and Ryuuichi doesn't really hit off very well and when being paired up to go around town setting up posters for the cultural festival none of them are happy. An old man in a shop asks them for a favor, he wants them to preform a power ranger show for the kids since the interns are sick.
They both agree and in turn gets two tickets to the amusement park. Ryuuichi says they might as well go, but it turns out he is ridiculously scared of rollercoasters. Kureha on the other hand thinks everything is a blast until a monster appears. Luckily they beat it and the two of them end up holding hands while helping a girl find her parents~

The next day another monster appears but Ryuuichi fails to do his special dragon-attack. They are both beaten and saved by the principal who used to be a ranger together with Kureha's deceased father and her mother. Ryuuichi doesn't show up to school the following days and Kureha feels guilty for not helping out when fighting. She goes over to his house where he starts yelling at her and says he will be studying abroad in France. So the days pass and everyone can't help but feeling down. Rumors of a monster in the science room reach the gang and the three of them goes to check it out the same night. Kureha barley escapes but both Rikuto and Mitsuki disappears during the mission. Alone and confused she decides to try to save them herself. Will Ryuuichi show up to save her?

I wasn't really a fan of Ryuuichi, but after finishing all of his endings my opinion changed for the better. He used to be the leader of Hotokenser until Kureha showed up and took his place, so it's only natural he is a bit stingy at first. Plus, the serious tsundere character who gets teased by the rest is always fun to watch.

Mitsuki
The playful and laid back guy in the group (or so he appears to be). When first meeting the heroine he asks her to call him Roxanne which she does for several days until the other guys finds out and laugh at her like crazy. Mitsuki himself calls Kureha "Piyo-chan" (little chicken) because she is new and like a new-born chicken baby. Naaw~

So in Mitsukis route the black ranger appears again (he was in Ryuuichi's too) and another new character we've only seen a glimpse of. A boy in Kureha's class is being bullied and she steps in to protect him. The days pass peacfully and she spends time with Mitsuki on the rooftop where they talk about different things and watch the sunset. He have also been given Kureha rides home with his scooter the last couple of days and when she one day reject him in order to help the bullied kid with homework, he gets pissed. Mitsuki warns her not to get to close to the other guy and sense something wrong with the situation.

Kureha, somewhat brainwashed from her new friend, only replies with "Are you jealous or something?". This, of course, piss Mitsuki off even more and he leaves angrily. Kureha joins up with the bullied kid to study, whom is acting very strange.

I usually don't like the "happy on the outside but got a tragic past"-type of characters but Mitsuki was really cute. All of his ending got a kissing scene so it's heavily implied he is the main guy of the game. I also strongly recommend playing his route last since all the big plot elements happen in here. His route was also my favorite considering how Kureha learned how to fight and become a good leader for the Hotokenser. My only problem was that his route pacing was a little bit off for me comparing to the other guys.

Gameplay:
The game had a lot of CG and chibi-events which I really really loved! Instead of having all the same CG you've already seen during the credits, they added 4 completely new pictures as an epilogue. The guys also sang each a special song during the true ending which made me fangirl like crazy because I loved the seiyuus. The transformation scene were well done and the battles over all were exciting.

Final Score:
Story 10/10
A perfect mix of comedy, romance and a little bit of action! I've lost count of how many comedy/romance visual novels I've tried, and honestly it's only a handful that even made me giggle, but god, this game made me laugh so much I had tears running down my face! Super random Engrish conversations, super b side characters (Kureha's friend/classmate in particular), monsters were cool and great feeling overall. I'm a bit sad that the Black ranger didn't have a route, he seemed really interesting too, but who knows, maybe they make a continuation or fandisk!

Music 9/10
As I mentioned in the text, the music was really cozy, nice and fitting. The opening song is great and all the character songs are even better.

Art 10/10
Cute shojo manga style, even cuter chibi art, how can I not give this 10/10?

Voices 8/10
Kimura Ryohei did a great job as Mitsuki. The others were really great as well! Lol I'm running out of words how to describe how much I liked this game orz

Total: 10/10
Despite it being so short (which is also the reason I tried not to spoil the endings), this game is really good. Kureha is a refreshing strong lead female and all of the guys are charming with lots of personality. I absolutely recommend this 100% to any otome game fan!

Otome & BL news 14/9

2011-09-14T22:15:00.000+02:00

Games
Hakuouki 3D is now up for pre-order. I've never read any of them myself but basing on their big fandom, they're good. I'm very interested how the 3D will work out and what it could hold in store for the future of visual novels.

Tomorrow Otomates Gekka Ryouran ROMANCE will be in Japanese stores. My biggest problem is how none of the characters seem that appealing which makes me want to play the game less.

OZMAFIA had yet another update. This time we get to know about the rival gang, the grimm fairytales. Little red riding hood is a boy named Scarlet, and the twins Hansel & Gretel have been added too. I'm sure there are avalible routes for both sides and I'm just in love with the coloring/artwork in general!

Another game with lovely artwork is recently announced Yuzaengi (I think? I have no idea how to read that). God, catears. My weakness. Not only that, but the heroine looks like she is the strong willed type - me like!

Bloody Call is gonna get an update release in PSP form. Sadly the PC version wasn't to my liking at all.

Yaoi game DMMd released a PV some weeks ago. I'm personally very hyped about the game and it seems to be top-notch!

Merchandise
Snuggle up with these bishie blankets from The Prince of Tennis. I love how they call the collection "Sleepy-head prince"~

When a Izaya (Durarara!!) figure was up for pre-order some week ago I couldn't fight the urge not to order. Hoping for a matching Shizuo!

Note: As I'm writing this, Tokyo Game Show is still ongoing, which means there will probably be a lot of new announcements and new games to come!

Game review: Gian Carlo's LUCKY HAPPY LIFE

2011-09-14T21:16:00.000+02:00

Made by: Tennenouji
Genre: Spin-off, Mini games, Yaoi, Mafia
Summary: Finally the spin-off of the popular game Lucky Dog 1 comes. The game is divided into different gameplay parts and collectables to get, together with different scenarios of your favorite Lucky Dog 1 characters.
The game is basically super mario party but with one player. Dream Eater Mode is the main game, where you play as Gian and compete against the computer to unlock character routes that you'll later be playing against in Take Back Gian's Life Mode.

Gameplay:
Both games have the same concept. You roll the dice, jump the given steps and land on a space. You collect items to help you when playing and a bear that represent your luck.
There are 7 different types of space to land on. Some examples are:
Lucky space: View a lucky event. Ups your luck
Heart space: Smexy time~
Mystery space: Changes every time. Could take your money, give your money, decrease your luck or increase it.

There is also a mini-game where you roll a dice against a skeleton. Luckily there are some cheats to get higher/lower numbers!

After you finished Dream Eater Mode your chosen character is avalible to play against in Take Back Gian's Life Mode. Unlike DE mode, you will now chose a route and ending before starting the game. There is a total of 3 happy ending and 3 bad endings for most of the main characters.

CGs are very random in the game and depends on what route your playing for each character. A space that had no CG in a happy-ending game, could later have one in a bad-ending game. There were also a lot of chibi CGs that were adorable. Ridiculously cute. If you played Lucky Dog 1 you know that there were some rape scenes in it, and of course there were more included in this.

Final Score:
Story 6/10
I'm basing this score of the mini dramas, endings and overall concept of the game all together. There were lots of endings and the little story that played out was overall very well done.

Music 8/10
Ah, the old Lucky Dog 1 music. It's those kind of tunes that never really become tiresome or grow weary, which is very fitting for a game like this.

Art 9/10
How could I NOT rate the art this high? Yura-sensei is always fabulous and just the thought of seeing more CGs and artwork from her makes me incredibly happy.

Ivan is still my favorite~

Voices 8/10 (copied from the Lucky Dog 1 review)
As I mentioned above, all the seiyuus did a great job. I did have some problems with Guilio, but it maybe because I didn't like his character/route in general very much.

Total: 7/10
A extremely entertaining and nice twist to the usual board game. It's the type of game where you think "Just one more time!" but then you end up playing for over an hour. My biggest problem was how unforgiving the game was. If you lost a fight against the skeleton, you go back to the menu. If your luck is low for too long, you go back to the menu. Gian Carlo's LUCKY HAPPY LIFE is a must play for any Lucky Dog 1 fan.

Game review: Kimi Hana

2011-08-27T21:22:00.000+02:00

Made by: PiPiP

Genre: Otome, Doujin, Free game
Summary: Tsubomi have a weird flower which one day turns into a handsome bishie (or not). Together she and the mysterious flower-guy spends the day together celebrating the school festival.

So after Hinano reviewed a doujin game I was reminded of my own folder filled with unplayed games. One of them was Kimi Hana, a nice and short otome game with a flower theme.

So Tsubomi accidentally summons a guy from the flower who starts calling her Master and following her around. She names him Shigatsu (April) since it's the current month and she can't think of anything else (lol). Since it's a doujin game it's pretty short and I finished reading it in an hour or so.

Shigatsu A
So guy number one appears if you water the flower with regular water. He was pretty emotionless and didn't have much personality to be honest. In his true end he disappears after saying goodbye to Tsubomi under the sakura trees. In the prologue a year later our heroine one day wakes up hearing a voice saying "Wake up,master"

Shigatsu B
A flirty guy with long hair and outgoing personality. He immediately starts hitting on Tsubomi and she constantly blushes like a tomato through the game. Just like number A, he disappears in the end of his route, only to come back at the prologue.

I liked him a lot better compared to A and watching him and Tsubomi flirt was really cute~

Oniichan
So after reading both A and B's true ending, you unlock Onii-chan. He is a teacher at the school and spends the day with Tsubomi since she looks lonely. I'm a bit confused if it was her real brother or if she just liked to call him Onii-chan. Heck, I'm not even sure if he was a teacher or not, the conversation was pretty weird and didn't make sense to me. Anyway, the two of them decides to go to the school café where they are surrounded by schoolgirls wanting to talk to Onii-chan.

Tsubomi is a bit overwhelmed and feels jealous, which her date soon notice and teases her for.

In his route the magical flower dies and the prologue is them eating dinner together.

Since it's a doujin I'm not gonna bother scoring it. The style and character sprites was very shojo-manga like and the CGs was really top quality considering the game is for free. No voices but the nice music made up for it. If you got an hour over and is interested I would recommend playing Kimi Hana. Download it here

First impression: Miyako ~ Tsukiyomi no Yume

2011-08-21T18:19:00.000+02:00

Made by: Sanctuary, Otomate
Genre: Otome, Fantasy, Romance, Historical

Summary: Sayuki is shikigami summoned by a man called Seimei. She, together with two of Seimei's other workers, run errands for the prince and clean her master's house. But Sayuki is not an ordinary shikigami.
She have have strange dreams and hear voices asking her to save somebody...

Note: First impression means I've only finished a few routes and not all the endings.
Due some bad luck and some even worse decisions, I got virus on my netbook. This forced my to do a complete restart and lose many of the games I had, including Miyako. Luckily I had just finished two routes before this happened.

Final Score:
Story ?/10

One thing I've always been somewhat sad about is the lack of oriental games for the PC, so playing this was a blast. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to play the main guys (Seimei, Douman), so I can't judge the "true" story of the game. The game consisted of day mission and night mission, and often there were no scenes in between which made the game feel repetitive at times. Many of the CGs were saved for the ending battle which made me want to rush it just to collect them. Sometimes I felt like the guys treated Sayuki like a little girl (I know she is short, but come on!).
Why would they bring her on a dangerous mission only to tell her to stay behind and not do anything? （ ´_ゝ`)

Izumi is the prince of the city voiced by Daisuke Namikawa. Everytime he called her "Shikigami-chaan~" I couldn't help but smile. So everything is going great until one day Raikou warns Sayuki about getting to close to the Izumi.
She soon realize the prince got a lot more to him behind his plastic smile. Because of his role as a prince, Izumi is taught to have always be polite, smiling and never show his emotions.

When the sacred treasures later are stolen Izumi takes it out on Shikigami-chan. Instead being hurt by this, Shikigami-chan is happy that he finally tells her what he feels instead of bottling it up inside him.
I really like his route, even if his constant petting her on the head gave me a bit of big brother-vibe. The epilogue was really sweet too.

When Raikou meets Sayuki for the first time he starts blushing like an idiot until Izumi pokes him and remind him to introduce himself. Definitely love at first sight ヽ(´▽`)/ Not only do I love his voice actor, but dense/easily embarrassed/honest type of guys are my favorite type. So Raikou is a royal guard and Izumi's childhood friend since many years back. He got a sister that he treasures very much and when Sayuki offers to help him choose a present for his sisters birthday they start getting closer. His story was pretty similar to Izumi's except that it was told from Raikou's side. His confession was ridiculously cute and since he is so tall and Sayuki so short he had to bend down when kissing her.

Also, Seimei looks so much better with ponytail, while Raikou looks better with his down. I wish they would have swapped them orz

Music 9/10

I really enjoyed the music. I got the OST too and the opening & ending songs were beautiful. All of them fitted the theme very well and simply made the whole game better.

Art 8/10
Miyako is very enjoyable because of the nice art. The backgrounds, CGs and character sprites are very well done and enhance the experience even more. During battle there were very nice effects and other things like the color of the characters actually chancing depending on what time of the day it was makes it stand out even more.

Voices 9/10

Loved all the seiyuus! Sakurai was great as Raikou and Daisuke Namikawa always got his smooth-talker voice.

Total: 9/10
To sum up Miyako ~ Tsukiyomi no Yume in a word, I would have to say "Quality". Things like the little daily fortune you get when starting the game, the color and menu change depending on which route you go and the amount of different sprites and visual effects this game has. There were a lot of bonus options like which character you want greeting you everyday and hearing a few lines from the selected scene when looking at CGs. I'm kind of sad that I didn't get to finish the game, but I really enjoyed the routes I got to read!

Otome & BL news 19/8

2011-08-19T15:43:00.000+02:00

So I thought it might be fun to write some sort of news update every now and then, since I don't have much spare time and making review takes a while.Anyway, here is some recent and upcoming otome & BL news.

Games
OtomeMate's AMNESIA was finally released yesterday and is expected to be a big hit. I'm really looking forward to reading reviews of it!

After the PC port of Miyako sold well a fandisk is now coming to PSP. I'm currently playing it and I'm extremely jelly.

A new and recently announced game is OZMAFIA. It's created by a company called Poni-Pachet (which I don't think I've heard about before?) however the art looks promising and they just added the main characters to the website.

Upcoming yaoi game Mebiusline finally added some new CGs. I'm crossing my fingers for this one.

Long awaited DRAMAtical Murder got a date set, 2012.2.24. So far away, but I guess it's worth the wait.

Following the popular theme of yaoi mafia, And's new game Sis-Ni-Kanto also got updated. The artwork by Yamada Sakurako really looks gorgeous.

Merchandise
Yet another Lelouch figure is up for pre-order. This time he wears the popular emperor costume, complete with his usual dramatic pose. Where is my Suzaku?

Popular UtaPri gets more merchandise, this time it's a compact mirror with the bishies on. Which ones are your favorite?

If you are a fan or JRPG like me, you've probably played one or two of the famous Tales of - games. These cute chibi's is something for you then! All of the popular male characters for the Tales game comes with a haning clip attached so you can wear it wherever you go. I'll try my best to get my favorites~

Closing up this little new segment is the handsome looking Ichigo from Bleach. I'm not a fan myself, but this figure is definitely worth having in your bishie collection. Long hair, nice effects and see-through bandage. Yummy~

First impression: CAFE SOURIE

2011-08-07T23:14:00.000+02:00

Made by: Cuffs

Genre: Eroge, Romance, Drama, Slice of life

Summary: Shinichi still clings on to the day when his childhood friend one day suddenly moved away. When she years later returns, can she bring back the smile he had lost since?

Note: First impression means I've only finished a few routes and not all the endings.

Final Score:
Story 7/10
When I first got the game, I thought it was a nakige, but luckily it turned out to be a pretty standard and nice story. The story had really nice pacing and it didn't feel like I had been reading very long when I actually been going at it for hours. You can tell the creators thought about all the characters, because when reading it the first time I got really interested and wanted to know more about all of the girls. Sure there was the standard tsundere osananajimi with pigtails, but instead of stopping there, they added a deep back story and new elements to bring more depth to the character.

Now, anyone can probably guess that Cafe Sourire isn't anything revolutionary. But it's a really nice story, perfect now that summer is here, about childhood friends and about a boy who forgot what it was like to be happy.

Music 7/10
Nothing I would listen to on my spare time, but it fitted very nice with the game. The OP song on the other hand was great and I've been listening to it a lot lately.

Art 8/10
A big part for me that made the experience was the lovely artwork. A thing I'm always bothered about is how anime/manga characters never change cloth or hairstyle (since it's a pain in the a** for the creator) but in Cafe Sourire all the girls had several sprites with changes to them, much appreciated~

The backgrounds were fine and the soft coloring really brought together that soft and lighthearted story that the game is. My only complaint is that sometimes the girls look a bit too young. I felt like a lolicon at times...

HNNNNNNNG SO MOE

Voices 7/10
I didn't recognize many of the voice actors, but whoever did the voice for Kyoko (Moritamo Shiho?) was great. She kept a nice distance between her shy voice without sounding scared.

Total: 7/10
A nice, relaxing, somewhat short game perfect to play now during summer. Interesting characters and a lighthearted theme makes Cafe Sourire a very enjoyable eroge.
After all, "Sourire" means "smile" in French.

I want a pajamas like this! >o<