Author: Anne Lee

Chic Pixel’s Holiday 2014 Gift Guide

The holiday season is nearly upon us, and for many people that means it’s time to update and circulate wish lists and ready the wallet for impending gift purchases. Whether you’re looking for gift suggestions to give to other people or things to buy that special nerd in your life, Chic Pixel is here to give you a few ideas to get you started!

Amazon, Play Asia

Nerdy Nendoroids (Jlist, Play Asia, CDJapan, Amazon; prices vary) – If you follow Chic Pixel, you’ll know that over the past year or so, I’ve completely fallen head over heels for little Japanese posable figures called Nendoroids. These cute manifestations of your favorite characters may not be something you’d normally buy for yourself, but they make great presents! For the Nintendo fan, there’s the newly-released Toon Link (pictured above), Luigi (Jlist, Amazon, Play Asia), and even two versions of Isabelle from Animal Crossing.

There are tons of non-Nintendo Nendoroids as well, including a very awesome Monster Hunter Nendoroid line and some harder to find Danganronpa Nendoroids. On the anime front, there are Nendoroid versions of characters from a whole slew of series – the easiest way to find if there’s one of your giftee’s favorite character is by searching for the character’s name plus “Nendoroid” on Google. Jlist and Play Asia both stock official Nendoroids, but be careful if you shop at Amazon, as some resellers try to pawn off bootleg versions as the real thing.

Sailor Moon S.H Figuarts, $30.63 at CDJapan

If you prefer to get something a little more “realistically”-proportioned, there’s also figmas or the S.H Figuarts line. While I don’t personally own any figmas, I love my S.H Figuarts Sailor Moon. She’s a ton of fun to pose!

OyatsuBox sample box

Japanese snack subscription (Jlist, from $25.45/month; OyatsuBox, $7.99 or $25/month) – Japanese snack subscription services have really come into their stride over the past year, with a variety of options enabling the discerning snack fan to select the perfect box to fit their taste and budget. Both JList and OyatsuBox allow you to cancel your subscription at any time, making it easy to subscribe for just one or two months, get a boatload of exciting candy to try, and resubscribe when your wallet/stomach allows. OyatsuBox’s new $7.99/month option would make the perfect stocking stuffer – just keep in mind that you’ll need to sign up by the end of November in order to get a box in time for Christmas.

PS Vita Slim (Play Asia, $206.99; Amazon, $199.99, includes Borderlands 2) – For someone who has nearly everything, the PS Vita is a great system that has generally been overlooked in favor of home consoles or the 3DS. For the importing game fan, however, the PS Vita has the 3DS beat in the handheld department due to being region-free, and its sleek screen is really impressive. It’s worth noting that if you want the cool colors (read: pink/white, blue/white, or basically anything that isn’t solid white or black), you’ll need to import a Japanese system. Luckily they won’t break the bank when compared to local prices, and you can totally sign into any region PSN account and play non-Japanese games on them!

For those looking for some games to go long with a PS Vita system, I highly recommend Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Play Asia, Amazon) or Project Diva F 2nd (Amazon). For the Japanese romance visual novel fan, DRAMAtical Murder re:code (CDJapan, Play Asia), Binary Star (CDJapan, Play Asia) and Hanasaku manimani (Play Asia) are all great options, though I can give many more suggestions if you’d like to ask in the comments!

If the $200 price tag of the PS Vita is out of your price range, there’s always the PlayStation TV (Play Asia $69.99; Amazon $79.99). Not only is it compatible with nearly all PS Vita game cartridges, but it will play both digital PSone and PSP games via your PSN account on your TV. For those with a PS4, it can also be used to stream to another TV in your house, making it a very convenient little device.

Fujoshi’s Guide to Japanese (Otome’s Way, $29) – Presents don’t have to be just fun and games; they can be educational, too! If you’ve always been telling yourself you’ll learn Japanese to play those cool imports or read the manga that never gets translated, now’s as good a time as any to start. Fujoshi’s Guide to Japanese is a cute, fun way to learn the language and is available in two full color volumes that come with extensive audio content from native Japanese voice actors. If you want to learn more about what to expect from these digital texbooks, check out my review of the second volume.

Anime/Game Calendars (Jlist, CDJapan; prices average $10-$30) – Calendars are often seen as a cop-out gift, but that’s because people don’t know where to find really good calendars. Luckily, sites like Jlist and CDJapan offer a wide variety of Japanese calendars featuring everything from anime and games to Japanese pop stars and cute cats. Generally larger in size than western calendars, Japanese calendars usually feature two months on a single sheet (pictured above), meaning they contain 6 different images. I love cutting off the month part at the bottom and reusing mine as posters!

I really can’t begin to suggest the perfect calendar for you or your giftee, but here are a few that caught my eye: Pokémon (CDJapan, Jlist), Card Captor Sakura (CDJapan, Jlist), Hatsune Miku (CDJapan, Jlist), Free! (CDJapan, Jlist), and Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun (CDJapan, Jlist).

Nintendo FAMICOM MUSIC (CDJapan $19.61; Play Asia, $18.99) – This CD recommendation may seem oddly specific, but that’s because I think it would be perfect for a retro game lover in your life! The 2 CD set contains 26 remastered tracks to celebrate the Famicom’s 30th anniversary last year, and contains classic themes from the likes of Super Mario Bros., Ballon Fight, Kid Icarus, and more. On top of that, the CD comes with some stellar Famicom art on the cover and discs.

Of course, there are countless CDs one could recommend to those who are more musically inclined, but the other I’d like to mention today is Monster Hunter Swing Big Band Jazz Arrange. If there’s anything I like more than my favorite game tunes, it’s re-imagined versions of my favorite game tunes! And Monster Hunter plus swing band jazz? What’s more to love? Or perhaps BlackLute – Monster Hunter Guitar Arrange – is more your style…

I could go on forever, but it’s high time for me to get started on my own shopping! What would you most like to receive as a present this holiday? My Jlist and Amazon wishlists are available for perusal if you’re interested in knowing what I’d like to get this year…

Note: Links in this post are to Chic Pixel affiliate sites. All proceeds earned through affiliate links go towards hosting costs and enable me to purchase items to cover on the site, so please consider doing your shopping using my affiliate links this holiday season. As long as you click a link, any purchases will count towards my affiliate credit. Thank you! 

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Review

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair review

Earlier this year, adventure game/visual novel Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc quickly wormed its way into my heart for being one of the most fun and interesting titles I’ve played in recent memory, let alone this year. While NIS America announced from the get-go that they would release the sequel before the year was out, I had my doubts that it could be anywhere near as good as the original, let alone better, as many assured me. How exactly do you follow up a game that throws fifteen elite high school students into a situation where the only way they can escape is by killing one of their classmates and not getting caught?

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Japan Envy: Sailor Moon Tortilla Chips

I’ve said it time and time again, but I absolutely adore collaborative Japanese food campaigns! There’s nothing better than a good themed café, and I’ll happily admit that putting one of my favorite characters on any sort of food packaging will increase my willingness to buy said food a hundredfold. It’s no wonder, then, that I’m totally thrilled by this new Sailor Moon Crystal tortilla chip campaign… and its hilarious promotional artwork! 

I love that rather leaving the scouts in their every day attire for the above illustration, chip company Koikeya decided to amp up the camp by having the inner scouts getting ready to gorge on bowls full of tortilla chips while in their sailor uniforms. Makes total sense!

Unfortunately, there’s nothing Sailor Moon-y about these chips aside from their packaging, but that certainly won’t stop me from lamenting that Sailor Moon tortilla chips aren’t something I can buy at my local grocery store. The above avocado cream cheese flavor is one of three in the Sailor Moon Crystal collaboration, along with Bagnacauda anchovy and garlic and Balsamico grilled pork.

Each flavor will come in one of six package designs featuring the five inner scouts and Tuxedo Mask. In addition to the cute packaging, Koikeya is offering special wallpapers for mobile phones with each chip bag purchase:

Click the image for a close-up of these cute designs!

On one hand, I’m a little sad they aren’t offering these as stickers, but on the other, exclusive wallpapers are a great alternative to additional clutter around my house, so I’ll take it! I really like the checkered effect on their clothes!

Luckily for folks like me outside of Japan, Jlist is already taking preorders for all three flavors. While the package design they send out will be at random, they say they will try not to send duplicates if you want to order more than one. Of course, it’s only natural that I’ve already preordered one of each for myself! I can’t wait to see what designs I get…

Demo Impressions: No, Thank You!!! (MangaGamer)

Back in July, MangaGamer announced that they would be releasing two very exciting titles in English – the boys’ love game No, Thank You!!! and otome game OZMAFIA!!. While neither has a firm release date yet (though it looks like they’re aiming for sometime in 2015), No, Thank You!!! now has a rather beefy (pun intended) demo to help gather buzz and allow fans to try before they buy.

The trial edition can be downloaded from the MangaGamer website (the product listing page is very NSFW, so beware before you click) or this blog post if you have trouble creating an account on their site. While the game is for PCs, the game’s translator Haro has posted a tutorial on how to run the game on a Mac (which I myself have done). The demo covers the game’s opening scenario as well as one sex scene for each of the main characters, and will probably take about an hour or so to complete depending on how fast you click through it.

In No, Thank You!!!, you play as the amnesiac protagonist Haru, who takes up a job at an upper-class bar after saving the bar’s owner from being hit by a car (which, subsequently, is how he lost his memories). During his first night on the job, you’re introduced to the five main characters and get a glimpse of the game’s overarching narrative before the game offers you the choice to of whose butt you wish to grab, which then leads into a sex scene with that character taken from later in the game.

The main reason I wanted to check out this demo was to see how the localization fared, and I’m happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed! Haru’s internal monologues are often quite humorous and all of the text flowed really well.

Another pleasant surprise was the fact that text you’ve already read appears in blue – a simple addition, but one that’s really helpful in visual novels when completing multiple character paths. I’m surprised not all companies do this!

Of course, one of No, Thank You!!!‘s big claims to fame is the option to toggle the men’s hair on and off at any time in the game. I’ve never seen a BL game do this before, but it’s great that they’re able to cater to different tastes! I hope more games follow suit in the future.

This doesn’t really sound like sexy fun times to me…

In the interest of being honest, I think it’s important that I also mention a few issues I have with the game so far. Haru is an extremely outgoing protagonist that takes control in all of the sexual encounters in the demo, making him a traditional seme, and nearly all of the sex scenes have some element that makes them not completely consensual. This continues the trend seen in the bar scenes where Haru constantly invades the other characters’ personal space. He often proclaims that he’s engaging in “sexual harassment,” which is a term often used jokingly in Japanese media (and is similarly used for humorous effect here), but personally, I don’t really find a character that is constantly “harassing” everyone to be all that appealing.

Similarly, I would much prefer to see sex scenes where both parties are really enjoying the encounter, rather than the one-sided slant all but Hiroyuki’s takes in the demo. I’m sure the full game sees Haru’s relationship with each character develop to the point where everyone is clearly having fun when they do have sex, but I didn’t really like the way pleasure was depicted as repressed/resentful in the scenes in the demo.

Regardless, I very much want to support the release of more BL games in English, so I will happily pay $39.95 for the game when it does come out. If my impressions have you on the fence, I highly recommend you check out the demo yourself! I would love to hear everyone else’s thoughts.

Japan Envy: Animate Girls Festival 2014 and Real Otome Game

While the rest of the world struggles to grasp how to market niche media to woman (and whether it’s a viable market in the first place), Japan continues to be leagues ahead in catering towards fans who want something a little different than the usual mainstream anime/video game fare. New otome games are released nearly every week, and the success of anime like Free! shows that there is definitely a large market outside the straight male demographic that is more than willing to spend oodles of money on series that make the effort to appeal to them.

As such, it’s no surprise to see events like the Animate Girls Festival, a two day celebration of everything from otome games to BL manga. Taking place on November 8th and 9th in Ikebukuro Sunshine City, the festival is now five years old, and is even hosting a special “Real Otome Game” for attendees to celebrate the occasion!

While there are a variety of events held on the main stage, such as voice actor appearances from series such as Photograph Journey and World Trigger, a Sailor Moon Crystal special event, and even a fashion show from the anime/manga-inspired label Super Groupies, the main draw of AGF is undoubtedly the company booths and wide variety of exclusive merchandise they bring. There’s no way I could possibly cover everything in one post, but here are a few (personal) highlights:

Perhaps one of the biggest figure-related announcements will be the Makoto figma, which Hobbystock plans to unveil at AGF. Fans are hoping to see the preliminary sculpt for Rin’s Altair figure as well, but since there’s been no word on it so far, we’re unlikely to see it at this event. [UPDATE: Turns out Rin was unveiled after all!]

Mink may not be the most popular DRAMAtical Murder character, but his new drama CD will be debuting at the event. You’ve got to admit, the cover art is nice! Nitro+Chiral has a number of other merchandise from their BL games that they’ll be bringing to the event, as well:

I’m most intrigued by these gorgeous tights inspired by Aoba, the protagonist of DRAMAtical Murder! I love the blue to teal gradient. They totally look like something I would actually wear.

There are also these AGF-exclusive merchandise sets that feature the characters of DRAMAtical Murder dressed up as their AllMate familiars. Be sure to head over to Nitro+Chiral’s AGF 2014 site to see the full adorable series!

Broccoli will be touting a new line of themed Uta no Prince-sama merchandise called Shining Circus, which seems to be catering especially to fans who like vests. I’m certainly not complaining! They’ll be selling everything from clear file folders to phone straps and pouches that will likely go for insane prices on the aftermarket following the event. If UtaPri is your thing, you can drool over all the exclusive items on their website.

In addition to more merchandise than you can throw your wallet at, Animate Girls Festival will be holding a “Real Otome Game” in honor of their 5th anniversary! What is a Real Otome Game, exactly? According to their site, attendees can participate in the game, titled Koi suru AGF (Love AGF), by purchasing a game book for 550 yen at the event. By reading through the book and going to different locations depending on how you want the story to progress, you’ll be able to “fall in love” with one of the three characters pictured above, each with two different endings!

While I can’t imagine how busy it will be if there are actual actors playing the men in the game, this sounds like a really fun idea in the vein of the otome game scenario reenactments that were at Tokyo Game Show this year. Hopefully attendees will be able to take photos so us poor souls outside of Japan can see what it’s like! I know I’ll be scouring the AGF2014 hashtag on Twitter throughout the weekend so I can live vicariously through everyone there…

Announcing the Nippon Ichi Software Community Game-Along

Goodness me, look at the time! We’re nearly a week into November already, which makes this month’s Community Game-Along theme announcement horribly overdue (though if you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably heard all about it by now). For those of you who haven’t, never fear – there’s still plenty of time to get in on this month’s theme, Nippon Ichi Software games!

For the purposes of appealing to as many people as possible, I’ll be including combining both Nippon Ichi Software and NIS America this month, so games that are developed as well as published by the two companies are eligible for the theme. If you’re unfamiliar with Nippon Ichi Software, I’d highly recommend checking out the Hardcore Gaming 101 series that focuses on the Japanese developer’s strategy RPGs.

All you need to do to participate in the NIS Community Game-Along is pick a game (or games) that fit the theme to play and share your experiences! On social media, please use #NISNovember to tag your posts so everyone join in the fun.

I’ve had a few folks mention to me that NIS games aren’t really their thing, which is why I’d like to use November to highlight the wide and varied library both NIS and NIS America have! While Disgaea is undoubtedly their flagship title, there are many more games under the NIS umbrella to discover. Why not try out one of these fine games?

Danganronpa (PS Vita) – Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havocand Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair are by far the main reason why I decided to include NIS America-published titles in this month’s theme. Developed by Spike Chunsoft of Zero Escape series fame, Danganronpa features some of the best writing and catchiest music I’ve heard in a game in a very long time. If you plan to jump into the series, you absolutely must start with the first game, as the sequel expands on the plot of the first in a number of very important ways. Check out my review of the first game to find out if it’ll be your cup of tea.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (PSone, DS) – Unlike NIS’s comparatively dense strategy RPGs such as Disgaea, Rhapsody stands out as being more about the presentation than the difficulty of the gameplay. Touted as a “musical RPG,” Rhapsody features an array of cute and quirky characters that will often break out into song during dialogue sequences. It’s worth noting that the DS version features a gameplay overhaul, making it into more of a traditional turn-based battle system than a strategy RPG. If you want an RPG loaded with female characters that won’t suck away all your free time (it can be completed in about 10 hours), then Rhapsody may be worth seeking out.

ClaDun series (PSP, PSN, Steam) – I hardly ever hear love for the ClaDun series, but it’s actually one of my favorite series developed by NIS! The quirky art style and top-down dungeon crawling gameplay make this series lots of fun for those looking to try something less tactical than NIS’s usual fare. Your characters and party are fully customizeable, down to the sprites themselves, and the music is surprisingly memorable for a niche game release. ClaDun X2, being the sequel, is the more polished of the two, and can be purchased on Steam as well as PSN for PSP or Vita. If you’re looking for something that can be played on the big screen and has a little more story, Legasista (PS3) is very similar.

GrimGimoire (PS2, PSN) – Another NISA-published title, GrimGrimoire is perhaps the least well-known of acclaimed developer Vanillaware’s titles. If the game’s gorgeous art style isn’t enough to interest you, the real-time strategy gameplay might! At only $10 on PSN, this is the cheapest game recommendation on my list, but don’t assume you’re trading quality for cost. You can read my full review here.


Before you start digging into your NIS games, please consider completing my 2015 Community Game-Along survey! The survey will be available until mid-December and will help me gauge if there is interest in continuing these theme gaming months into next year. It’ll only take a couple of minutes to complete, so please let me know your thoughts!

Sailor Moon anime finally gets the HD treatment on November 11th!

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m absolutely loving the recent Sailor Moon revival spurred by the series’ 20th anniversary a few years ago and recent anime remake. One thing that I and many Sailor Moon fans have regularly lamented, however, is the lack of affordable anime DVDs after the Pioneer version went out of print. Luckily, VIZ Media has answered the pleas of fans and will not only be re-releasing the whole series remastered in HD on DVD, but Blu-ray, as well! 
The first part of season 1 goes on sale on November 11th, and will contain episodes 1 – 23 of the original series, completely uncut and featuring an all new dub that retains Japanese names and is closer to the original overall. Considering how much was removed from and changed in the original English version of Sailor Moon, it’s extremely exciting to finally have the complete series coming out for old and new fans to enjoy in full. Here’s what you’ll get in the first DVD/Blu-ray set:

©N.T./PNP, T.A.

The DVD/Blu-ray combo comes with 3 DVDs and 3 Blu-rays with both the new dub and original Japanese audio, along with an 88-page booklet featuring everything from character art to episode guides. For those who just want the episodes without all the thrills, there will also be a 3 DVD set that comes without the limited edition art book.

MSRP for the limited edition DVD/Blu-ray set is $79.95, but you can get it for significantly cheaper ($52.95 as of this post) on Amazon. Similarly, the DVD set has an MSRP of $44.82, but is currently up for preorder for $34.99 on Amazon. If you can’t wait to get your hands on the physical version, you can watch the subtitled episodes on VIZ’s streaming service Neon Alley and Hulu.

I’m so excited to finally be able to watch the original Sailor Moon anime in HD, completely uncut! While the original dub, no matter how bad it may be, will always hold a weirdly special place in my heart for being my first introduction to the series (and subsequently anime), it’s great to see VIZ putting the time and effort to doing a more accurate the dub for a new generation of young fans. The 88 page art book is a great addition, as well.  I can’t wait to see what’s inside!