Author: Anne

We Heart Hobonichi Techo

For someone who loves planners to the point of having three separate planners for 2013 alone (no, I don’t use all of them, they just gravitate toward me naturally), I’m embarrassed to say I’d never heard of the Hobonichi Techo before it was announced that it would be getting an English version this year. I say this is embarrassing because the Hobonichi Techo has been somewhat of a phenomenon in its home country of Japan ever since it was first released in 2001. It also holds a special place in the hearts of gamers, as Hobonichi is the company founded by Mother creator Shigesato Itoi!

While I have my own personal yearly Rilakkuma planner tradition, there’s something very appealing about the community that has sprung up around the Hobonichi Techo due to its accessibility and quirkiness. The largest version of the planner has a page dedicated to each day, so people have started customizing their books in a wide variety of ways and posting their daily entries all over the place. It really is a joy to see what everyone is doing with theirs!

Still amazed at how popular Ted is in Japan… (source)
(source)

And now with the release of the English version, we’re not only seeing coverage of the planner on sites like Tiny Cartridge, but Tumblrs have sprung up to celebrate its greatness. I have to say, I just love the sense of creativity the community has and would love to be a part of it myself next year! If you’re interested in checking out more Hobonichi Techo pictures, I definitely suggest browsing the #ほぼ日手帳 tag on Instagram.

Memos from Mamemura: Weeks 11-13

What’s this?! Why, it’s the triumphant return of Memos from Mamemura! Instead of giving some sob story explanation as to why I haven’t been updating weekly (though I will point out that I’ve done more than one Animal Crossing: New Leaf-related post in the interim), I’m just going to quietly resolve to do better in the future and move on to what you’re all here for: the pictures!

Week 11 started with a bang on the 3rd of February with a uniquely Japanese holiday, Setsubun. Setsubun marks the change of seasons from winter to spring, and it’s said that evil spirits come out during this period, much like Halloween. It’s traditional for a member of the family to dress up like a demon (oni) and for everyone else to throw beans at them to ward off evil, shouting the phrase, “Demons out, luck in!”

If you’re interested in learning more about Setsubun traditions, I urge you to check out the link above (it has some lovely photos, including different oni masks!). As for how this relates to Animal Crossing:  New Leaf, players have the opportunity to choose either a blue or red oni mask and have beans thrown at them by the townspeople. You can also buy a box of beans to throw at unsuspecting friends who come to visit!

It was a lot of fun running around and capturing each villager throwing their beans at me. Chuuko had particularly cute dialogue; you can see the little yellow beans scattered about in the screenshot above.

Soon after, the adorable Maiko-chan appeared in my village for the first time. What a cutie! I was able to send her on her way to another village, and to show her thanks she sent me her picture in the mail the next day.

I finally got my act together and erected this lovely “Yaranai ka?” sign (pun intended)! For some reason I get a big kick out of my townspeople gathering together to celebrate such a silly thing. I have a bit of a Kuso Miso Technique theme going on, actually, as I’ve also taught Shimoyake to say “kuso miso” as his catchphrase…

I also went on my first dream visit to a stranger’s town – the gal who’s in charge of the gorgeous room pictured above was actually featured in the post I did on my designs earlier in the month. Her work (including the lace pattern shown) is amazing!

And lookie here, another new villager moved into Mamemura! Layla the penguin actually came from a friend’s town.

Even more interesting than the fact that villagers can move out of your friend’s towns and into your own is the fact that they actually remember the melody from the town they previously lived in! Here Layla put on a little performance and sang Fuukou Village’s melody for me.

Would you believe this was my first time participating in the monthly fishing tournament? I only got 3rd place, but I’ll take what I can get! (I’m usually too busy on Saturdays to take part)

Oh, what’s all this?!

Why, it’s Carnivale (known as Festivale in North America)! What a fun and colorful holiday! The main goal of the day was to collect different colored feathers for the fabulously-clothed peacock shown above in order to get the special furniture series only available during the festival.

Let me tell you, collecting feathers is hard work… Pavé asked for pink, and after searching at least 30 minutes without finding a single pink feather, I finally gave up. Luckily I was still able to score a couple pieces of this furniture series along with a rare rainbow feather (shown above).

The best part of Carnivale was seeing all of the villagers dressed up in their colorful garb, dancing and singing the town tune. Lookin’ sharp, Doremi!

I guess Carnivale got everyone in high spirits! The above screenshot was taken a few days later – it’s the first time I’ve seen two villagers so cheerful together.

These past couple of weeks saw a lot of firsts, including the first time I managed to catch K.K Slider (Totakeke) off DJ duty. During these times, it’s possible to get a piece of music from K.K and request songs. Here’s a picture of the single I got:

It’s really catchy! Love the album art.

It’s always fun to see all the different ways the villagers interact with the player, as well as one another. I gotta say, it was a little unnerving to walk into Layla’s house to the sight of her and Doremi staring right at me… Perhaps I caught them at a bad time? (Oh, and check out the album directly below Doremi!)

I’ve made a lot of progress on the museum! Here’s a picture of a finished T-Rex.

Prepare for trouble?!

And as you can see, I’ve been having a lot of fun downloading my design costumes for my character to wear. In fact, the café outfit with the pink checked skirt that you see in most of the screenshots, along with the “museum curator” outfit and Team Rocket costume above are all my design items made by various creators.

Tune in next week for the first days of spring in Mamemura and a few dream world town visits!

Update: I just realized I don’t have any Valentine’s Day pictures! Unfortunately the holiday isn’t really celebrated in Animal Crossing, so all I got were some chocolates from Shizue-san and a few villagers I’m close to. Sorry about that!

Fabulous Finds: Japanese Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire

Now here’s a game I never thought twice about picking up before now: Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire. Not that I have anything against the game, but as I’ve mentioned in the past, my time with the GBA has been very limited. After recently becoming enamored with the beauty that is Japanese GBA box art, however, I’ve spent my fare share of time perusing eBay for import titles that catch my fancy… and catch my fancy Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire did. One look at the cover and I knew I just had to have it!

Now, I’m not really a fan of pinball games, mainly because I don’t really understand the mechanics around pinball itself, but that doesn’t make this box art (and the in-game graphics themselves) any less appealing! I’ll be sure to actually give the game itself a spin on my GB micro in the near future, but for now I’ll stick to gushing about this adorable acquisition of mine: 
Kecleon is such a neat Pokémon – I love that he got featured on the front of
the box! 

I can’t believe how much detail is put into some Japanese GBA boxes. Not only is the GBA logo very unassuming, unlike what they did with the North American and European GBA cases, but nearly every side of the box has cute little touches, such as the Spheal and Sealeo shown above.

And there’s a Pikachu and Pichu on the other side!

Would you believe the inside flaps even have pictures on them? Take a look at this:

Such loving detail!

Let me remind you that this is a used copy of the game, but as everything that comes from Japan, it arrived in near-immaculate condition. It’s almost as if it was never opened…

Even the original fliers were left intact! I love little relics of the past such as these; it’s so fun to look at what they were advertising back in 2003. 
Side A
Side B
I have to say, I’m really enamored by the art style used to depict the Pokémon in this game! It’s very similar to a lot of the Pokémon Center art. The Pikachu looks a lot like the Pikachu design used on the recent 3DS XL, for example. 
I’m a little worried that pinball might be a bit tough to see on the micro’s tiny screen, but I’m determined to give it a shot! If all else fails, I can always switch over to my DS lite, after all. Expect a report on how it actually plays in the very near future! 
Oh, and what do you think of my new title, “Fabulous Finds”? I’ve been trying to think of a way to unify my “acquisition” posts for a while now. I’ve finally settled on Fabulous Finds, so I hope you all like it! 

Why am I still playing The Legendary Starfy?

Last I checked it was nearing the end of February, but for some reason I’m still playing my January Beat the Backlog Club pick, The Legendary Starfy! If you read my initial impressions, they weren’t all that positive, so you’d be forgiven if you were skeptical of my choice to continue with the game. Well, it all comes down to one very important detail: I’m extremely stubborn.

Wish I could say I was having as much fun as these
gals are! (source)

That’s not to say the game isn’t fun – the environments have become exponentially more interesting as I’ve progressed through the game, and the characters and dialogue continue to be an adorable treat. Actually playing it doesn’t quite live up to the idea of playing it, but I’ve gotten to the point where I just won’t feel satisfied until I can say “yeah, I beat it.”

Does this mean my February BBC pick, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, will suffer? I have to admit, it already has. What little time I’ve spent away from Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Ni no Kuni has generally gone to The Legendary Starfy, mostly because it’s much easier to get through a quick level of that than trudge through more boring tutorials Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (that should make it glaringly obvious how early in the game I still am…). I’m not sure what this will mean for my Beat the Backlog Club project, but I’m not ready to give up now!

Anyway, let’s get back to The Legendary Starfy. Here are a few reasons why I just can’t stop playing it:

absurdly adorable takoyaki minigame 
collectable Starfy costumes
everything just keeps getting cuter…

… Correct me if I’m wrong, but Starfy is starting to sound eerily like a significant other you really don’t have anything in common with but can’t leave because they’re just too good looking (or heart-meltingly cute, in this case). Regardless of the moral implications of my sojourn with Starfy, I’m content to see the game through to the end, but I won’t be sticking around for any sidequests or 100% completion nonsense. Will I finish it before the end of February? Time will tell…

Bonus photos:

Starfy’s idle animation is him whipping out a sleeping bag and going to bed right in the middle of the level!

Pretty much what the screen looks like 100% of the time I’m playing the takoyaki minigame.

I’ve got me an Animal Crossing: New Leaf bible

I’ve been hinting in my recent Animal Crossing: New Leaf posts that a number of factors brought me “back” to the game after a bit of a hiatus over the winter holidays, but I’ve been keeping one very important influence tightly under wraps. In the interest of not spamming everyone with too many Animal Crossing: New Leaf posts all at once, I decided to hold back on revealing my wild card, but with the wonderful news that the game will be hitting North America on June 9th, I thought it high time I share what’s got me so excited!

What’s that you’ve got there, Goldie? Hold on…

It’s an Animal Crossing: New Leaf guide book! Would you believe my friend Nel gave me one of hers What a wonderful present! I can honestly say it’s one of the most adorable books I own, and now I don’t have any excuse not to do research on in-game items or how to build snowmen properly.

Would you believe me if I told you that it’s literally bible-sized? (not that I’ve held many bibles…) Well, take a look at how it stacks up to my other Japanese game guide books:

There you have it – it’s larger than the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 3: Battle and totally dwarfs the Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town guide!

Though there are a number of Animal Crossing: New Leaf guide books on the market, this one is well-known for its intuitive cataloging system. For one, it displays all of the villagers by species on the first pages:

Ack! Why are they all so cute?!

It also has a great section where it tells you all about what you can do over the course of a year, month by month! Holidays, fishing, bug catching… they all have their own specific sections, but I love how I can turn to the current month and quickly see what’s in store for me:

Each individual section is neatly – and adorably, I might add – organized. Here’s just one example from the first page of the segment on Brewster’s Café:

Oh, and the book also comes with special exclusive QR codes! My favorites are the Shizue outfit and the various Nintendo-related designs:

The book even has a section on holidays that it claims will be exclusive to other regions! It specifically says players may need to trade with people from other regions, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that that’ll be possible come June 9th (I want you all to come visit my town!).

More items from international holidays:

Of course, you could spend hours looking at the pages and pages of unique furniture to be found in the game: 

The guide book also comes with a mini book that you can carry around for added convenience  It’s much smaller and just lists all of the furniture, bugs, fish, fossils, etc. in the game. Check out this adorable cover:

And here’s a sample page. So many items!

And last but not least… swimsuits!

That red and white striped one will be mine someday… 

And there you have it! I couldn’t be happier with this book, and it never even crossed my mind to purchase one for myself. Many thanks again to Nel for the wonderful present, and if anyone wants additional photos or has any questions, feel free to ask!

Beat the Backlog Club: Introducing February’s Pick + First Impressions

So, we’re nearly two weeks into February and I’m only just now getting around to announcing what game from my backlog I’ll be tackling over the course of the month… My efforts for the Beat the Backlog Club are off to a great start, eh? In fact, I’m still hard at work on my January pick, The Legendary Starfy! (more on that in a future post… I’m determined to finish it!)

But the show must go on, and it’s my hope that as the months go by I’ll eventually start adhering to some semblance of a schedule and complete my target of 12 games by January 1, 2014. So, what lucky game will be the focus of my attention this month? It’s actually a relatively recent addition to my backlog… Harvest Moon: A New Beginning!

I was very much looking for a low-key game for the month, as I’ve also been tasked with reviewing Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, so I did an informal poll on Twitter to see what people would like to see more: Harvest Moon: A New Beginning or Fishing Resort. I honestly wasn’t very surprised to see Harvest Moon smash Fishing Resort out of the water, so I happily picked it up and began farming away on my pink x white 3DS XL (by the way, I’ll still be doing Fishing Resort later this year, so the three of you who voted for it have something to look forward to).

In all honesty, I haven’t gotten much farther than creating my character and going through the initial tutorials, but I do have a few initial impressions to share:

✄ It’s very satisfying to finally be able to make your own customized character! This is the first time players have been able to choose what their character looks like in a Harvest Moon game, and I have to say I’ll be disappointed if the option doesn’t return in future titles.

✄ I know this is a very individual thing, but I’m not very fond of the game’s art style. Not only do I not really like any of the character designs (okay, some of them, especially the animals, are pretty cute), but the 3D models of both the characters and the scenery look very blah, in my opinion. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been playing too much Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but the color scheme doesn’t gel with me very well, and I keep wishing the whole thing just, well, looked nicer.

✄ Gameplay-wise, it’s very standard Harvest Moon fare, so I know I will enjoy that aspect. I can’t wait to be able to customize my character’s clothing and house and get an adorable llama!

The llama’s the one with the pompador! 

For the curious, I’m playing as a girl named Appi with a very trendy cropped pink haircut who owns Yumyum Farm. As for my bachelor of choice (because we all know marriage is the most important thing in Harvest Moon), I might go for Amir or Soseki… Depending on how I go I might even swing for that jerk Allen, just because the things he says are so hilariously awful!

Stay tuned for another update in approximately a week’s time, and let me know what game you’re playing from your backlog in the comments!

Animal Crossing: New Leaf QR Code Extravaganza

I mentioned in my last Memos from Mamemura post that I’d rekindled my love for Animal Crossing: New Leaf after a bit of a slump over the holidays, and let me tell you, I am 100% back down the rabbit hole. What could be responsible? Well, for one, I’ve discovered the realm of “My Design” blogs!

An old-school Dragon Quest-themed town!?
They even have tiles for towns and castles! (source)

My Design, of course, refers to the ability to make custom patterns for everything from shirts to sign posts in Animal Crossing: New Leaf and share them via QR codes. There are literally hundreds of talented people all over the internet creating all manner of amazing and adorable things! It’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer talent these people possess. Here are a few of my favorites so far:

Adorable, and very pink! (source)
Look at the detail they’ve put into the scarf and camera! (source)
This is just perfect for Valentine’s Day (source)
So many gorgeous dress designs! (source)
The creator of this one did both the lace pattern and dress! (source)
These Ghibli-inspired designs go wonderfully with the mushroom furniture (source)

There really are so many amazing blogs and sites; it would be impossible to list all of them here. But, for the curious, I highly advise going to this page that catalogs the highest-ranked Animal Crossing: New Leaf My Design blogs and check out some of the top hits! Alternatively, this site is chock-full of links to anime/game-related My Designs.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to say whether or not these  will be compatible with the English release of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The Gay Gamer tells me Denpa Men QR codes made in Japan were not compatible with other regions, which is a little disheartening, but hopefully Nintendo realizes the importance of players being able to share their creations and doesn’t restrict QR code recognition to copies of the game from the same region. But, even if they aren’t compatible, I have no doubt an ample English QR community will arise with just as much talent as the Japanese one! We’ll just have to wait and see…


Note: I have not posted any QR codes here because most Japanese bloggers specifically request that their QR codes not be shared on other sites. If you’re interested in getting the QR codes for use in your copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, please go to the source links under the images!