Author: Anne Lee

Catch-Up Corner: FFXIV: A Realm Reborn’s birthday and stressing over figure purchases

Happy almost Birthday, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn! I don’t play you anymore, but I’m so glad you’re still going strong!

art by Junko Watarai (source)

That’s right, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn turns one year old on Wednesday, August 27th! It’s crazy to think that this time last year I was obsessively leveling my cat boy Chive. While I never expected to enjoy, much less stick with, an MMO, FFXIV: ARR hooked me during the open beta, prompting me to preorder the limited edition and be a paying subscriber for nearly six months! Every time I hear about new content and patches (did you know you can dye your chocobo now?!) I feel a twinge of regret that I let my subscription lapse, but I ultimately felt I just didn’t have the time to merit paying the monthly fee… Plus, I have so many other games I want to play!

Still, that doesn’t stop me from loving the world of Eorzea and looking forward to hearing about team’s plans for the game’s future. With over 2 million subscribers, I have a feeling it’ll be around for a while! If you’re like me and prefer to enjoy the media surrounding FFXIV: ARR without actually playing the game, I highly suggest checking out the awesome anniversary illustration countdown that I took the above image from.

In other news, it’s on secret that I’ve been on a bit of a figure kick lately. While I’ve mostly been sticking to Nendoroids and am trying to stay far, far away from scaled figures (we’ll see how long that lasts), the impending release of the Etrian Odyssey IV sniper gal, pictured above, had me pining over whether or not I was ready and willing to enter the world of plastic models.

Now, plastic models are different from other figures in that you are required to assemble, and often paint, the figure yourself. While I do consider myself relatively crafty, I don’t think I’m ready to go full-on plastic model enthusiast and buy all the paints and tools needed to assemble them, which is why I felt so torn about the sniper girl. According to numerous blogs and descriptions on Japanese sites, the sniper girl comes pre-painted, so she’s supposed to look relatively good even if you don’t want to bother with painting her. Fingers crossed that that’s the case, as I eventually broke down and ordered one! The idea of assembling my own figure does sound like a rather neat project, so worst case scenario, it will be a learning experience that ends in an miserably ugly mess of a figure. But it would be pretty great if she ended looking as neat as the above photo, don’t you agree?

Anne in Japan 2014: The Game Haul

One of the best things about going to Japan is the chance to go game shopping. Last year I bought a whopping 24 games when I was in Osaka on vacation for three weeks, but this year I had to be slightly more frugal. Still, I think I came back with quite a few goodies, including some rare and very cheap finds! 

If you add it all up, I purchased a total of 13 games this trip, comprised of three PSone games, one PS2 game, one PS3 game, one PSP game, two Vita games, one GBA game, three DS games, and one 3DS game. I’m actually pretty impressed by the relatively even sampling of consoles on display in my haul overall! While I may not have bought quite as many games as I admittedly would have liked, that was largely due to the fact that three of the games purchased were significantly more than the few bucks I usually spend per game while in Japan. 

Funnily enough, one of the first game purchases I made also happens to be the one I’m most proud of! Last year I actually got a copy of The Vision of Escaflowne for about $8, but this year I managed to find the limited edition for only $15 in Akihabara, so even though I already had a copy of the game, I absolutely had to add the LE to my collection. It comes with a tarot card set and extra booklet that I’ll definitely be showing off more in-depth in a future post.

I’ll actually be giving away my extra copy of the game in my August Chic Pixel supporters giveaway, so if you’d like to be in the running, donate $5 or more to support the site and you’ll have the chance to win that and some other nifty stuff! My secretary tells me we only have two entries so far, so your chances of winning might be pretty good…

Since I’m talking about PSone games, here are the other two I picked up. The one on the left, Harukanaru Toki no Naka de, is the first otome game in the series by the same name. It was only $1, so I figured I might as well pick it up! On the right however, is a game that I totally stumbled upon by accident while I was wandering around Super Potato in Ikebukuro. Titled Oujisama Lv1, it claims to have RPG elements while apparently having an entirely male cast that may or may not all have crushes on the protagonist. You guessed it: the main reason I picked this up was due to the shōnen ai vibe! After doing a quick search on Google.jp, it appears my intuition was correct, as the game originated as BL PC RPG that spawned a fan disc and sequel, as well as a manga. I can’t wait to see what it’s like!

My lone PS2 purchase was the Harukanaru toki no naka de 2 premium box, which came with some art cards in addition to the game itself. What can I say, I’m a sucker for cheap otome games!

… And then there were the slightly more expensive otome games. Uta no Prince-sama Repeat for the PSP was nearly $40, as many otome games on the PSP don’t ever drop significantly in price, but it’s one I’ve been meaning to play for a while. After watching the anime, I know I’ll probably enjoy it, even though it’s very silly!

Yet another otome game! Do you sense a theme? Beyond the Future: Fix the Time Arrows is one of the few otome games available on the PS3, and though I literally know nothing about it, I quite like the art style. For $15, that was enough to sell me on it!

Believe it or not, these two PS Vita games were my most expensive game purchases of the trip. On the left we have the self-explanatory Puyo Puyo Tetris, which I originally planned on buying for PS3 for the couch co-op but ultimately decided it would be more enjoyable on a handheld. I’ve played a little of it and so far it has reestablished the fact that I’m awful at both Puyo Puyo and Tetris.

On the right, we have a game that actually came out while I was in Tokyo, Corpse Party: Blood Drive! The Corpse Party series are pretty much the only horror games I’ve ever gotten into, but after XSEED brought the first two for PSP out in English, I’ve been hopelessly hooked. I haven’t really had a lot of time to dig into this one yet, but it’s definitely very high on my list!

It’s a sad truth that the above game, Ohanayasan Monogatari GBA, is the only GBA game I bought during my trip, despite my obsession with them. It’s getting increasingly more difficult for me to find GBA games within my price range that I don’t already own! I’d never heard of this one before running into it during one of my routine GBA section checks (of course I had to meticulously go through all the GBA games in every game store I went to), but the cover art was cute and it seems like Harvest Moon… but with flowers. Apparently there’s a DS game in the same series that actually looks cuter, so I guess I need to put that on my list of things to get eventually! 

Speaking of DS games, Pokémon Typing DS is one I’ve had my eye on for quite a while now but never wanted to spend more than a few bucks on, so I was pretty stocked to find a copy with the bluetooth keyboard (pictured in the first photo) for only $5! The bottom game is Chocobo no Mahō Ehon: Majo to Shōjo to Gonin no Yūsha, which is the Japan-only sequel to Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales game. I honestly didn’t have this one on my radar at all, but after seeing it for $5 and initially passing on it, I ended up going back to the same store and grabbing it a few days later.

The final DS game I added to my collection was another spontaneous purchase, Ore ga Omae o Mamoru (bottom). I only knew it as an otome game with some RPG elements, but apparently it’s also a Metroidvania side-scroller? I’m definitely intrigued, but I don’t remember it getting a very good reception when it came out…

Oresama Kingdom: Ikemen Kareshi o Getto Shiyo! for the 3DS (top) is actually a game I had wanted to pick up last summer, but at over $40, I ended up passing on it. I had completely forgotten about ever wanting it until I randomly ran into it in a bargain bin in Ikebukuro the morning of the day I was returning to Australia… And for only $10, I knew I had to grab it! It’s one of the rare 3DS games that requires players to hold the system as if it were a book (think Hotel Dusk on the DS), and, of course, it’s an otome game. In the case of Oresama Kingdom, I believe it’s based on a manga series aimed at elementary/middle school girls. It’s currently going for $24 at Play Asia, which is the cheapest I’ve seen it available online, if you’re interested in checking it out!

Well, there you have it – every single game I bought while I was in Japan! If there’s any title you’d like to hear more about sooner rather than later, let me know in the comments and I’ll prioritize it!

Alice in the Heart Deserves a Better Localization

The Alice in the Country of Hearts series by QuinRose is otome game series that fans have been clamoring to see released in English since the first game was released in Japan on PC back in 2007. Loosely based on Alice in Wonderland, the series is highly regarded for having sharp writing and a refreshingly spunky protagonist, along with a slightly sadistic yet colorful set of suitors. Largely due to this series, developer QuinRose is now a household name for otome game fans worldwide, and the Alice games have even spawned a number of very successful manga adaptations and spinoffs, many of which have been released in English and frequent the New York Times best seller list for manga.

Needless to say, the series has a well-established western audience that has been eagerly awaiting the release of the Alice in the Country of Hearts game for many years. Why is it, then, that when QuinRose finally brought the game over to their English-speaking fans, they couldn’t even grace it with a serviceable localization?

Alice in the Heart ~Wonderful Wonder World~ is an iOS/Android port of the PC/PSP remake of the original Alice in the Country of Hearts ~Wonderful Wonder World~ game, which, most notably, featured a complete art overhaul. The first thing that caused alarms to go off for me when I learned of the Alice in the Heart release was the title. Why would QuinRose choose to localize the title as Alice in the Heart when the series has already been established by a number of publishers from TokyoPop to Yen Press as Alice in the Country of Hearts in English? Immediately, it breaks continuity from the very popular manga, and also gives an extremely poor first impression for just not making any sense.

Luckily, the prologue and episode one of the game are available for free, so people can try it out before committing to buy it. All of the screenshots included in this article are from the prologue, as I honestly couldn’t bring myself to play any more. I was prepared for a mangled translation going in, and while at first I felt a combination of amusement and disappointment, as I read on, the amusement faded until I was left feeling nothing but frustrated and sad about the state of Alice in the Heart. While I have the Japanese version of Alice in the Country of Hearts for PS2, I was prepared to purchase the version with Japanese voiceovers for $37.99 (it’s $24.99 without voiced audio) just to show my support for this and more otome games being localized. Now, I want to implore anyone thinking of shelling out money for Alice in the Heart not to do so until QuinRose fixes the localization.

While otome games on mobile devices have a reputation for getting subpar localization jobs, Alice in the Heart truly takes the cake. I’m sure I’m not the only one who understands how much work it is to translate the wall of text that is a visual novel, but running the Japanese through Google Translate (I can only imagine this is what they did) to save on time/costs is simply not acceptable. In fact, Jenni Lada over at Technology Tell has already written an article calling the release “heartwrenching” and “one of the worst game localizations I’ve ever seen,” and nearly all of the reviews on both the Android and iTunes pages for the game cite the poor translation and/or a bug that causes the game to freeze during the prologue. It goes to show that in a genre that relies so heavily on reading to advance the narrative, the translation is everything, and fans should and will hold popular otome games like Alice in the Heart to such a standard.

With the huge number of quality freelance translators doing work to bring Japanese games out in English available, combined with the number of people that have been long awaiting an Alice in the Country of Hearts game release, there is simply no excuse for Alice in the Heart‘s poor localization. If you find yourself amused by the gibberish and want to try the game out for yourself, please consider downloading and playing the free portion of the game and then sending QuinRose an email or writing a review telling them you won’t pay for the full product until it is in, at the very least, understandable English. The game, otome game fans, and the localization industry as a whole deserve much, much better.

Japan Envy: Card Captor Sakura Bags by Super Groupies

I’ve always said that the best kind of nerdy fashion is that which incorporates nerd/geek culture in an interesting yet trendy and not completely obvious way, and this new Card Captor Sakura bag line by the Japanese brand Super Groupies does exactly that. They manage to be adorable and functional without screaming “I’m from an anime/manga series!” but also have lots of details that will most certainly appreciate. Let’s take a look!

The largest bag, pictured at the top, is a “roll Boston bag” and priced at ¥7,800, while the smaller shoulder bag is ¥4,800. The small red Clow book pouch is for organizing your things within a larger bag, and is priced at ¥3,800. Both larger bags feature iconic bows similar to those found on Card Captor Sakura’s many outfits, but a closer look reveals a lot of cool details: 

The zippers are shaped like Sakura’s sealing wand when it’s in key form!

The inside of each bag is even patterned with a Card Captor Sakura-style print! 
Here’s closer look of the print, as seen in the Clow book pouch. The pattern of Sakura, Kero, Spinel, and various accoutrements is really special.  
Both bags also have a faint embossing that says Card Captor Sakura, along with a cute star pendant hanging from the bow. 

Finally, here’s a close up of the Clow book pouch. I really love the design on this one!

Card Captor Sakura-inspired bags aren’t the only CCS items Super Groupies is offering, though they’re definitely the most exciting.

It’s hard to make out the design by the ankle, but there are also these Kero “tattoo” stockings. I’m not actually all that fond of these… I think I’d much prefer a pair of stockings with a full pattern like the one featured inside the bags, even if it is a bit flashy (what can I say, I like flashy stockings).

Super Groupies also offers a number of other anime-inspired items, including some gorgeous Revolutionary Girl Utena shoes. I can’t say yet whether or not I’ll spring for one of the Card Captor Sakura bags, but I know at the very least that I’ll keep this brand on my radar from now on!

Chic Pixel Joins Kawaii in Manila 2’s Worldwide Kawaii Campaign

There’s a lot of horrible things going on in the world right now, and it’s starting to wear on me, but that’s all you’re going to hear about that here. What I can do, however, is share something a little personal and hopefully a little uplifting in light of all the current news. At the very least, I hope it makes you smile!

I don’t believe I’ve ever mentioned it here, but I really admire Kaila, Kawaii Ambassador of the Philippines (official title!), as well as creator of Rainbowholic and Kawaii Philippines and co-creator of the amazing site Japan Lover Me. She’s only 21 years old, but she’s something of a social media celebrity if you’re into anything Japanese and cute, and she’s currently involved in putting on Kawaii in Manila 2, the second year of the first ever “kawaii convention” in the Philippines.

If you’re not familiar with any of those sites and you’re a fan on this blog, I highly suggest checking them out. While Kaila isn’t as nerdy as me, she definitely appreciates many of the same things about Japanese culture and entertainment as I do, and I strive to be half as motivated as she is! She and the other folks behind Kawaii in Manila started the event to bring kawaii Japanese culture to the Philippines, but they also recognize that there are many of us around the world that wish we could attend… which is why they started the Worldwide Kawaii Campaign!

The Worldwide Kawaii Campaign encourages everyone to take part in the festivities by sharing what kawaii means to you. All you need to do is create an A4-sized poster answering that very question and take a photo of yourself with it like I’ve done in the above photos. Then, share it on your blog/social media accounts to spread the fun! You can also email your submission to the Kawaii in Manila folks to be in a photo compilation that they’ll display at the event itself. Apparently they will even be giving out special prizes to stand-out entries, though they haven’t revealed the details of that yet.

Kawaii is a great word that I think really means more than its dictionary definition of “cute,” so there are a lot of ways to approach this project! I originally thought of the rather cliché “kawaii is anything that makes you smile,” but I quickly realized that one of the example submissions basically said the exact same thing, so I had to come up with something a little more unique! Since “kawaii” to me is all about expressing myself in whatever way makes me happy, rather than worrying about what others think, I decided to go with “kawaii is fearless self-expression.” I’ve decided to submit the very first photo in this post, since that’s the one I’m happiest with, but here’s an example of one of my nerdier photo attempts:

Whether you’re into kawaii or kakkoi (cool), what’s most important is doing what makes you happiest. And, if you decide to join the Worldwide Kawaii Campaign, do share your photos with me! If you’d prefer not to go to all the trouble, but feel a special connection to the word kawaii like I do, why not share with me what kawaii means to you in the comments?

When Marnie Was There Review

When Marnie Was There Japanese poster

When I realized I would be in Japan while the latest Studio Ghibli film, When Marnie Was There (Omoide no Maanii), was in theaters, I was thrilled. The last time I saw a Ghibli film in Japan was Ponyo, which was gorgeously animated but ultimately a little disappointing for me, so I wanted to see if Ghibli could outdo some of their more recent mediocre affairs. While When Marnie Was There‘s premise of a young sick girl who goes out to the country and becomes friends with another, rather mysterious, girl didn’t seem all that enticing from a plot synopsis point of view, I went in hopeful that I would be getting another dose of Ghibli’s magic on the big screen, well before the film aired in the rest of the world.

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Catch-Up Corner: HaruToki 4, Battle Princess of Arcadias, and Rilakkuma Re-Ments

Now that I’m back in Australia and attempting (and mostly failing) to resume “normal” life, it’s time to get back to my favorite/only weekly column: Catch-Up Corner! If you’re new to Chic Pixel or just forgot since I haven’t done one in a while, the Catch-Up Corner is my attempt to make a space to talk about things I wouldn’t normally write a whole post about – a weekly roundup, if you will. This week, I’d like to talk about two games I started and the latest video on my YouTube channel.

First, after buying my fair share of exceedingly cheap retro Japanese games while I was in Tokyo (don’t worry, I’ll recount my haul very soon!), I decided it was high time to start chipping away at the old Japanese game backlog. I’ve always wanted to play one of the games in the otome series Harukanaru Toki no Naka de, and after buying yet another copy of the 4th installment by mistake because it was 100 yen (you know you have a problem when you can’t remember what games you have in your collection), I decided that was as good a place as any to start.

I’ve only played a couple hours of HaruToki 4 (PS2 version), but so far I’m really enjoying it! The games are developed by Koei, creators of the first otome game series ever, Angelique, but are particularly unique for the genre in that they have RPG elements in the form of battles and character progression. HaruToki 4 takes place in a fantastical setting loosely based on historical Japan, and features one of my favorite story clichés: girl getting transported to fantasy world and turning out to be the people’s last hope/princess/priestess. I’m surprised it took HaruToki 4 to remind me of this, considering I loved The Vision of Escaflowne and Fushigi Yuugi as a youth, but there you have it. I’m having a lot of fun playing a mystical princess surrounded by a bevy of hunky male protectors, so I imagine I’ll be sticking with this one.

Speaking of fantasy princesses (how’s that for a segueway), the other game I dabbled in this week was the new PSN release, Battle Princess of Arcadias! Ever since the game was announced for Japan, I’ve been enamoured by the gorgeous art style, and intrigued by its apparent similarities to Odin Sphere. From my limited experience with the game, I have to say I’m surprised with how difficult it is! I died right in the very first tutorial level, and multiple times in every level since. It’s a 2D action game, which I’ve never been particularly proficient at, but Battle Princess of Arcadias really makes you work for the victories, and so far I’ve determined that you need to be willing to replay past levels to beef up your characters in order to push through each new area. If you want to hear more about what the game’s all about, check out shidoshi’s recount on The Nichiest Podcast Ever episode 10. I’ll also have a full review in the near future, but I’m pretty positive about it despite the difficulty so far, and that’s partly due to just how darn beautiful it is.

Finally, be sure to check out my latest YouTube video, which is an unboxing of my very first Re-Ments! Re-Ments are a brand of Japanese miniatures that happen to come in many cute character-themed sets, the most important of which being Rilakkuma. I grabbed three different Rilakkuma singles and was really excited to see what I got, so if a video of cute bear-themed toys sounds pleasing to you, do check it out!