Author: Anne Lee

Memos from Mamemura: Week 4

This week was a relatively low-key week in Mamemura. Even my secretary Shizue was looking a little less chipper then usual:

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t get anything done! I’ve been diligently visiting Mamemura every day, and not only did the shoe shop finally get built, but Nook’s store received an upgrade, as well!

If you look closely, you can see a certain villager in Nook’s store, as well! Can you guess who it is?

Guess who moved in? It’s Doremi, the deer who camped in my village last week! What a quaint little house she has!

Since Christmas is coming up, all of the villagers are telling me what they’re wishing for. Frill here wants something green. Funny, I would’ve pinned her for more of a black or purple sort of gal, especially considering her taste in home decor…

Why, look who it is! Dr. Shrunk appeared one morning saying he wanted to open a club in my town, and that if I could get 6 signatures from other villagers, they’d start construction immediately. Of course I made it a priority to get those signatures, and a few days later, Club 444 was open and ready for business!

How do you like my Santa outfit? I’ve been trying to collect the various pieces as they show up in the shops. So far I have the boots, shirt, hat, and even beard (not wearing it in the above image, obviously). I just need the matching pants!

Oh, Lisa’s husband Kazio finally woke up! He has a really fun way of speaking, I can’t wait to see how they localize it. He can refurbish your furniture for you, but I haven’t tried it yet. 

Poor Doremi’s caught a cold, and I’ve fed her medicine two days in a row with no sign of her getting better. I wonder if villagers are more likely to get sick in the winter?

Well, that concludes this week in Animal Crossing: New Leaf! As always, feel free to ask me any questions you might have about the game in the comments!

Welcome to Backlog Hell aka “What do I play over vacation?”

Ah yes, the dreaded backlog… we meet again. Something about the holiday season and my never-ending list of Games I Want to Play (followed closely by Games I Want to Own and Games I Wouldn’t Mind Owning) always gets me reminiscing on just how many games I actually own but still have yet to play. I always buy my games with the most honorable of intentions (to play them, of course), but somehow they end up getting lost in the always-growing stack of reviews and new games I also Want to Play. 
I’m not going to count each and every game in my backlog because a) the result would undoubtedly be really depressing and b) I don’t think that would be all that productive. What would be productive, however, is to set a clear goal of what I’d like to play over the upcoming holiday. With that in mind, I surveyed my shelf and chose six games I bought/received over the past year that I feel drawn to play for one reason or another. The lucky titles are: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island, The Legendary Starfy, Grand Knights History (JP), Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, and Fossil Fighters. 
How could I resist such an adorable chubby star? 
Now, it’s time to set a few goals. I’ve got nearly 3 weeks of vacation over the holiday break and two 20-hour flights to endure. I’m not sure what would be realistic, but I’d like to think I could play at least two games over that period. Since I need to be conscious of what I’m bringing with me from a space/weight standpoint, I’m going to rule out Grand Knights History and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together because of the UMD Factor, which of course would mean I’d need to bring my PSP along for the ride. 
I don’t even know how I’d transport UMDs… 
From the looks of things, it’s going to be a a very DS-centric trip! I’ll probably cross Atelier Annie off the list due to the RPG Factor, which means it would take considerably more time to beat than non-RPG titles. 
I share my nickname with the protagonist of the game, though… 
So, that leaves me with three games: The Legendary Starfy, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, and Fossil Fighters. Where should I start? Is it reasonable to try and beat these three over the break, or should I whittle the list down to two? Do you have any games in your backlog you want to play through over the holidays? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 
Bonus: Fossil Fighters scores a place on this list solely for the Dinosaur Factor and the Awesome Character Designs Factor. Case in point: 

The World of Girls’ Manga exhibit and my first academic presentation

I briefly mentioned the fact that I recently attended an academic conference (symposium, to be exact) in a previous post as an excuse for not blogging for a while, but I figured since my topic and the theme of the symposium are relevant to this blog, why not blog about it? It’s okay for me take a moment to gloat about my very first name tag (shown above) and the fact that I got to attend the World of Girls’ Manga art exhibit from Kyoto International Manga Museum at the same event, right? (that’s a rhetorical question – this is my blog and I’m going to do it anyway!)

Don’t worry, just because I presented in an academic setting, I certainly haven’t let it go to my head. In fact, it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. For the curious, my paper was titled “From Shōjo to Boys’ Love (BL) and Back Again: Yoshinaga Fumi and the Diversification of Male-Male Romance in Japanese Manga.” I won’t go into the details of the paper because 1) it will probably bore many of you and 2) I’m planning on presenting a modified version in January which will then go on to be published in a journal somewhere down the track and I don’t want anyone stealing my ideas (hah), but I do have something else I’m very keen to discuss… 

Namely, the gorgeous full-color World of Girls’ Comics book that each and every one of the presenters at the 2-day symposium received, including myself! It’s chock-full of gorgeous illustrations and information on early shojo manga artists. I couldn’t have asked for a better memento of my first academic presentation.

Though I won’t go into too much detail, I just can’t help but share some of the exquisite art from this book! Each artist featured in the exhibition has a short biography in both English and Japanese, along with a number of illustrations, of which have been restored using the Kyoto International Manga Museum’s special Genga'(Dash) preservation technique.

 A lot of these early artists are people I’m only vaguely familiar with, if that, so this book has really opened my eyes to a lot of stunning work that I wouldn’t have known otherwise!

This is by the same artist as the image above, Katsuji Matsumoto. Her eyes are kind of derpy looking and I’m not sure what she’s doing with her hands, but there’s something really appealing about this piece to me.

Many early shojo manga artists, particularly those in the 60s and early 70s, were actually men. I don’t think many western fans realize that the popular artist behind the above illustrations, Macoto Takahashi, was actually a man! I love his attention to detail.

Another male artist, Satoo Tomoe, wasn’t afraid of drawing war-related illustrations. For better or for worse, any anime/manga-style work involving children will inevitably remind me of Grave of the Fireflies.

There was another piece from the series shown above, Shiroi toroika (White Troika) at the exhibit I attended that really grabbed me, to the point that I think I want to track the original manga down and read it someday. It was drawn by Hideko Mizuno.

Not all of the works included are color illustrations – there are also a number of original manga pages, which I find utterly fascinating. See if you can make out the the differently-colored text portions. I assume these were edits of some kind. This page is from Anasutashia no suteki na otonari (Anastasia’s Wonderful Neighbor) by Yukiko Kai.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a book about early shojo manga without some crazy shojo window eyes. I’m not particularly fond of the above illustration, but you’ve gotta admit it’s something else! This one’s from Aiba Enzeru (My Horse Angel) by Kimiko Uehara.

Last but not least, one of my personal favorite manga artists from this period, Keiko Takemiya. She’s actually a teacher at Kyoto Seika University in their manga studies program, and she was the supervising editor behind this collection. I find her dedication to restoring and preserving works from her early years as a manga artist and teaching others really inspiring.

Well, there you have it! Memories to last a lifetime. If you’re interested in reading more about the symposium and exhibit, you can do so at the official page here.

Memos from Mamemura: Weeks 2-3

Remember how I said I was going to start a (semi)weekly feature chronicling my adventures in Animal Crossing: New Leaf? Well, I’ve finally got off my lazy butt and compiled all my screenshots thus far into one such post! My Initial Animal Crossing: New Leaf Impressions post will serve as the first week, hence why this is weeks 2-3.

I’ll try my very best to talk about all the special events and fun tidbits that people might not know about in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, so keep in mind that these posts will be chock-full of information and screenshots that “spoil” some of the surprises in the game. That said, I won’t cover every little thing in order to keep some of the magic there for those of you who haven’t gotten the chance to play yet, but I can’t guarantee anything, so please proceed with caution!

Anyone notice my ongoing thing for Swadloon?

But before I begin, you’re probably wondering why I decided to title this “Memos from Mamemura.” I’ve named my Animal Crossing: New Leaf town Mamemura, which literally means “bean town,” but I like how it almost sounds like Amemura, short for America Mura, which is an actual location in Osaka.  Of course since I am actually American, a town who’s name is a pun of Amemura sounded like a grand idea! (Amemura really doesn’t have much of anything to do with America, if you’re wondering) And I’d like to give everyone who pitched title suggestions in my last post a huge thanks for the wonderful inspiration! If it weren’t for your awesome ideas, I wouldn’t have come up with Memos from Mamemura, which I’m quite proud of, if I do say so myself.

Enough talk! What have I been up to in the world of Animal Crossing: New Leaf?

I got a whopping three new villagers over the past two weeks! The first to appear was Frill, who, if I’m not mistaken, is new to New Leaf (someone please correct me if I’m wrong!). Doesn’t she look like she came straight out of a Tim Burton film? And I love the Victorian decor! I wonder if they were channeling lolita goth when they designed her.

Next came Rocky the koala, another (definitely) new villager to New Leaf! I’m really lucky to have gotten such a wide range of characters! I just adore his shades, sideburns, and leather jacket. 
Finally, we have Kuroko, or Alli in the English versions. It’s lots of fun to see old and new faces mingle. 

I got my first visit from Kaburiba, or Joan, the lady who sells turnips. As all Animal Crossing aficionados know, you can make quite a killing reselling turnips to shops, as the price changes from day to day (I believe it even changes multiple times a day in New Leaf). The only downside is that they go bad in a week, so you might find yourself stuck having to sell them back for a less-than-desirable price. I thought Joan was trying to pull me a fast one by setting the turnip price rather high this week, so I decided to play it safe and not buy any.

I finally unlocked the island! If only I took better notes, I’d be able to say exactly which day this occurred on… After completing certain tasks as mayor, Tortimer, the mayor of previous Animal Crossing towns, will appear when you load up your game and invite you to visit his island. From the next day, you’re able to travel to the island whenever you wish, as long as you can afford the 1,000 bell fee. It’s a great place to find rare bugs, fish, and fruit, as well as play special mini-games!

Swimming is new to New Leaf, as well, and can only be done on the island. It’s a lot of fun diving for things! You can see I’ve caught a sea urchin above.

I bet you’re wondering what’s wrong with my eye in the above screens, right? Well, guess who shook one too many trees? I pushed my luck too far and a beehive landed right next to me! I was no match for those bees. I love how the villagers react to seeing your mangled face. They suggest to find medicine but I had no idea how to get any… Luckily all was well the next day.

New digs and swag! I love my Mario hat and sparkly shojo eye glasses.

My first project as mayor was building this bridge! Every time you compete a project (i.e pay off your debt) you’ll have a little celebration with some of the villagers and Shizue, the secretary.

Last Thursday was the Harvest Festival! This turkey, Franklin, shows up in everyone’s towns asking for ingredients to cook a feast. Unfortunately the event was going on when I was traveling, so I didn’t get a chance to complete all the tasks.

I did, however, trade some ingredients with some villagers…

and brought them back to Franklin to make a mushroom salad! He asks you to bring a “secret ingredient,” but I didn’t realize I needed one, and unfortunately there’s no turning back once you have the required items and initiate a conversation with him. Basically, my lack of the secret ingredient meant that it wasn’t the “best it could be,” which leads me to believe I might’ve gotten a better item had I brought the secret ingredient. I’m happy with the harvest dresser I got in return, but it’s a shame I’ll have to wait until next year to do the rest of the event! 
I also built a tent in my town so wandering villagers could come visit. You can play a short guessing game with them, and in this case the conniving deer you see above, Doremi (another newcomer to New Leaf!), managed to swindle my bug net off me for a mere 56 bells because I kept picking the wrong numbers (it’s basically all up to chance, I believe). Luckily she said she enjoyed my town and wants to move in, so I hope to see her soon! 
Gettin’ my nerd on with an arcade machine and cat ears. 
Finally, though I don’t have space to share all of the pictures I have from visiting friend’s towns, I wanted to show a quick glimpse of K.K Slider’s Club 444. You can actually dance around by pressing the directional buttons and everything! (Can you see my little hip shake in the above image? Talk about cute!) 
Well, that about sums up my last two weeks in Mamemura. As always, if you have any questions about the game, feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer. See you next week!

[Update] Ah yes, I forgot to post what my town’s layout looks like! Here you go:

 

Braving the wait for Rune Factory 4 with gorgeous fanart

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Sorry for the radio silence over the past week! I’m back from presenting at my very first academic conference, so I can finally take a breather and return to a regular blogging schedule. I don’t want to inundate everyone with too much Animal Crossing: New Leaf (lest you think this has converted into an Animal Crossing blog), so today I’ll talk about another game that’s been on my mind: Rune Factory 4.

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It went under my radar a couple weeks ago, but XSEED Games actually dropped a hint on their Facebook page that they might have picked up (or be working on obtaining) the license for Rune Factory 4. In a response to a fan inquiry, an XSEED employee wrote, “We’ve had an itch to work on another Rune Factory game since we loved Frontier so much, so let’s see if we can’t grab a back scratcher somehow…”

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Natsume has brought over all of the Rune Factory games besides Frontier, but the above statement certainly makes it sounds like they don’t have exclusive rights to the series. Personally, I’m a big XSEED Games fan, so I’d be more than happy to purchase the localized Rune Factory 4 from them, but in the end I really don’t care who picks it up, as long as somebody does!

Of course, with a Japanese 3DS now in my possession, I could very easily import the Japanese version of the game, but for titles like these that are likely to come out in English I generally like to support their western releases. So how do I deal with the waiting game? As you can see from the above three examples and the title of this post, with fanart, of course!

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I’m glad to see some really beautiful pieces of Japanese fanart floating around on the internet, and that so many of the characters are represented! But looking at all of this great art is just making me want the game more, if anything. Unfortunately, given the track record of Rune Factory localizations, we probably won’t see it released in English until well into next year. Good thing I have Animal Crossing: New Leaf to keep me busy! And yes, there are already Rune Factory 4/Animal Crossing crossovers in the form of fan-made clothing…

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And I’m sure there’s more where that came from!

Initial Animal Crossing: New Leaf Impressions

 
I’ve certainly written enough about the limited edition Animal Crossing: New Leaf that came in the mail the other day, but what about the game itself? I’m happy to report that I’ve been playing it for the majority of the week, and it does not disappoint! It’s far too early to give my final verdict, and I have yet to unlock a lot of the game’s content (I still can’t go to the island, for example), hence why I’ve called this “early impressions.” Oh, be warned, there are going to be lots of screenshots of my game (Which you can conveniently take whenever you want by pressing L and R! Nifty!), so if you don’t want to see what townspeople are in the game or be otherwise spoiled, I suggest you avert your eyes! 

You certainly don’t start with that cute little house at the top of the page! No, instead you’re stuck in a tent until you can pay off your first loan. You can’t start working as mayor until you get a house, as well, so it’s pretty imperative to pay off that loan straight away. Luckily it doesn’t take very long at all to do so. It’s pretty quaint under the stars, though, don’t you think?

Here’s my first act as mayor – planting a tree! I love how you can see all the townspeople gathered around. Funny that I started out with not one, but two, tigers, though!

 A glimpse inside Shimoyake (Egbert in English)’s house. He’s certainly into all things astronautical!

Sumi (Nan)’s house, on the other hand, has a more classic feel, and she’s got quite the collection of musical instruments. The other day I suggested she buy a chest of drawers from the local recycle shop (just for kicks, since it’s a new feature in this game) and she replaced that fancy turntable with it! It looked so much better before… 
Here’s Johnny (Gulliver)! He appeared on my beach the first night, but I’m not sure if that’s random or not. Admittedly, I like to play through the game and be surprised by things as they happen, so I haven’t really read any guides or anything like that. I couldn’t help but take a screenshot when he asked me to name the place he was thinking of that was home to koalas and kangaroos! Well, he’s talking about Australia, of course! What a funny coincidence. The next day I received a letter from him from Australia and a special Ayers Rock present for my house, which I then promptly gave to Shimoyake because he asked for it. Now I kind of regret giving it away! 
The blue llama is perpetually sleeping until a certain point in the game (sorry, not sure what his name is). When he wakes up, he’ll modify your furniture for you!
New townspeople started moving in on the second day. Arthur here is pretty cute, don’t you think? I love his mustache! Apparently he’s one of the new additions to New Leaf. 
Hey, it’s Rolan (Sahara)! I got her to make over my house for me, which gave me a new floor and wallpaper.
And to finish the tour, here’s a token fishing shot. I absolutely love the puns throughout the game, and if Wild World was any indication, I’m sure the English version will do a great job capturing the atmosphere and humor of the game. 
Well, if you’ve got this far, congratulations! I think it’s very obvious that I’m throughly enjoying my time with Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Though it’s definitely bigger than any previous Animal Crossing game, the first few days are very similar to what I remember from Wild World, but the online features and island, in particular, are really great new additions (that I haven’t been able to spend much time with yet, unfortunately). 
I’d like to take the opportunity to announce a new column I’m planning, as well! I’d like to do a weekly (or so) feature that chronicles my adventures in the world of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I haven’t nailed down a name yet, but I’m tossing up some things like “My Week in Animal Crossing: New Leaf” or “Greetings from Animal Crossing: New Leaf.” If you have any suggestions for a name, I’d love if you left your ideas in the comments! 
Oh, here’s a bonus image of me visiting Punipen of Dudelde Studio‘s town! Don’t miss his adorable flag design:
If you have any questions about the game, leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer.

More Gratuitious Animal Crossing XL/LL Photography (GB Micro Comparison Edition)

Those of you who read my last post on the Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS LL were probably thinking that was the end of it, right? Well, think again! Bryan over at The Gay Gamer unintentionally gave me a brilliant idea when he commented on the small size of the LL’s box in one of his recent posts. What kind of idea, you ask? Well, I’d prefer to show, rather than tell:

Game Boy Micro and 3DS LL comparison photos! It dawned on me how funny it is that the LL is so large and the micro is so small, but the LL utilizes much more economical packaging than the Micro. Take a look at the thickness of the two boxes!

 The Micro box looks massive in comparison! The systems themselves, however, are an entirely different matter:

It may be hard to tell in the second photo, but the Micro is still thinner than the LL. Of course the weights are very different, but I think the neatest thing to come out of comparing the two handheld’s packaging is being able to reflect on how hings have evolved over the years! The Micro came with a charger, while the LL didn’t, so that does factor into the size of the box, but the Micro’s box definitely feels like it still has a lot of wasted space compared to the LL’s.

I also can’t believe the Micro came out in 2005! That wasn’t that long ago, really! It launched one year after the DS was released, though, so I can understand why it didn’t do so well. Can you imagine if Nintendo came out and said they were releasing a revamped DS now that the 3DS is out? Well, actually, with all the crazy things Nintendo is doing these days (like not releasing the Animal Crossing: New Leaf  3DS LL outside of Japan, for starters!), I suppose I could imagine such a scenario…