Sunday Spotlight: Romy’s Video Game Fan Art

9 / 27 / 15

Happy Sunday, and welcome to the first of what I imagine will be many Sunday Spotlights featuring awesome artists! There are a ton of artists drawing amazing video game fan art, to be sure, but how many of them are drawing iconic otome game characters using selfie sticks?

I’m pretty sure the only person who can claim that brilliant title is Romy of Strawberry Core. What I love about Romy’s art blog is that it features all kinds of fun otome game fan art, including art of characters from mobile games such as NTT Solmare’s Shall We Date? series. I also spy some Yowamushi Pedal and 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, which tells me we pretty much have exactly the same tastes in nerdy Japanese media. If you’re in the same boat, definitely give Romy’s blog a follow, or check them out on Twitter!

Japan Envy: Otomate Garden Amnesia Café

9 / 25 / 15

I’m a bit late to this one because I totally missed that Otomate now has their own café! Otomate Garden, the official café for all Otomate otome game collaborations, apparently opened earlier this year in Ikebukuro last month and I completely missed the announcement. Well, it just so happens that the café’s theme for the month of September is Amnesia!

Better known as Amnesia: Memories in English, this café theme comes at a great time since the English version just came out at the end of August… Though most of us appreciating the English version of the game will sadly never have the chance to attend the café in person! At least we can drool over the menu and merchandise…

Kyoukai no Shirayuki Character Profiles and Comments Translated

9 / 24 / 153 / 8 / 16

I’ve been beside myself waiting for new information on Kinako’s otome game, Kyoukai no Shirayuki, ever since it was announced last month. The dark fantasy otome game features Kinako’s striking illustrations and has an intriguing Snow White motif… coupled with a large number of prominently-displayed pomegranates. After a long month’s wait, new information on the characters and plot has been unveiled in the latest issue of B’s Log, which I’ll be going over in detail in this post. Let’s see what’s in store in the dark world of Kyoukai no Shirayuki…

Chic Pixel Newsletter + Reader Survey

9 / 21 / 15

Exciting things are afoot at Chic Pixel! I recently launched a Reader Survey to get an idea of what everyone would like to see more of on the site, and so far I’ve had a lot of great responses. One comment in particular requested that I offer a way for people to subscribe to email updates, which is something I’ve actually been considering for a while. That was the motivation I needed to finally get the Chic Pixel Newsletter off the ground, and I’m happy to say you can now subscribe to get an email every time there’s a new post! Just click the icon below and fill out your details to sign up:

A newsletter wouldn’t be fun without some exclusive content, so I’m currently planning a few things that I can offer to make subscribing by email more exciting. I’m definitely planning on offering a peek behind the scenes on what I’m working on/upcoming posts, but if you have any other ideas of newsletter content you’d like to see, let me know in the comments!

As mentioned above, I’m also currently running Reader Survey to help me determine what kinds of content to make more of going forward. I’ll keep it up until the beginning of October, so if you haven’t filled it out yet, please do! There are only three questions, so it should only take a minute or two to complete. So far, the largest request has been for more reviews and videos, which is great and I’m looking forward to incorporating them into the site more in the upcoming weeks. I’m taking every response into consideration, so make sure your voice is heard!

Thanks for all your support, and feel free to leave any questions or suggestions you have in the comments below!

Sunday Spotlight: Pinkcheeks Toy Photography

9 / 20 / 159 / 21 / 15

I can hardly believe it, but it’s been nearly two years since I started buying figures! While Nendoroids based on my favorite anime and video game characters have largely been my poison of choice, I’ve had to cut back on my purchases simply because of how darn expensive they can get. But while I can’t always plunk down my own hard-earned cash for a gorgeous scale figure or limited edition Nendoroid, I can still live vicariously through the many amazing toy photographers out there who capture the impressive craftsmanship that goes into Nendoroids, figmas, and more. One such photographer is Pinkcheeks, a Filipino photographer who goes above and beyond static poses on plain backgrounds to craft props for her figures, making for some really jaw-dropping photos.

https://instagram.com/p/6wDldsQzJO/?taken-by=lovepinkcheekshttps://instagram.com/p/5hiXkzwzL3/?taken-by=lovepinkcheeks

This is me during WonFes ?? #wf2015s

A photo posted by Pinkcheeks (@lovepinkcheeks) on Jul 26, 2015 at 1:48am PDT

Pinkcheeks’ #FeelingCrafty series that showcases the various items she makes by hand for her photoshoots along with her Behind the Scenes post are especially worth checking out for tips for aspiring toy photographers. I could spend hours browsing through her blog for ideas! Brainstorming fun and interesting ways to photograph your figures is a great way to extend your enjoyment of your collection and keep them from gathering dust, don’t you agree?

Be sure to check out Pinkcheeks’ blog for high res photos, or like her page on Facebook to be notified when she posts new shots!

Japan Envy: Dohton Bori x Show By Rock!!

9 / 19 / 159 / 19 / 15

Let me tell you, I can’t get enough Show By Rock!!. I wrote about one Show By Rock!! café collaboration earlier this year, but this time around, the adorable app/anime series is teaming up with an entirely different venue: Dohton Bori. The okonomiyaki chain will be offering an exclusive Show By Rock!! menu through November 8th, and they’ve even decked out the members of Plasmagica and Shingancrimsonz in appropriate attire. The menu doesn’t look too shabby, either:

Makura no Danshi Otome Game Coming to Mobile Phones

9 / 18 / 159 / 18 / 15

Makura no Danshi kittens — from *Makura no Danshi* episode 9

I’m sorry to say, but this isn’t an announcement about a new kitten book featuring cute anime boys (though that would be amazing). Rather, this season’s crazy otome anime Makura no Danshi will be getting its very own romance simulation game! Aside from the fact that it will be for both iOS and Android and is coming out sometime this winter, there’s not much else in the way of information, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to admire the wide variety of content this series is garnering.

If you’ve been listening to Chic Pixel Plus, you’ll know that Sarah and I have been following Makura no Danshi this season. Given the horrendous production values that result in extended still frames, awful animation, and a strange lack of audio during numerous sequences, I’m honestly surprised they’re actually putting more money into this franchise! In addition to the recently announced mobile game, there are also a number of upcoming drama CDs, as well as a sleeping aid app exclusive to au phones in Japan (pictured above).

I guess this is an indication that Makura no Danshi is more popular than I thought… I hope this means we’ll see even more otome anime and associated media in the mainstream going forward! Also, big thanks to Gredlen for pointing out this news to me – I’m honored to have friends that make sure I stay up to date with pillow boy news.