Room No. 9 Review

2020 has been a great year for boys’ love (BL) game localizations so far. First, we had Togainu no Chi ~Lost Blood~ from JAST Blue, and now MangaGamer is following with Room No. 9. Room No. 9 is significant as developer parade’s latest BL title, following No, Thank You!!!, which, when MangaGamer released the English version five years ago, it was the first major BL game localization since Enzai: Falsely Accused back in 2006. Seeing as No, Thank You!!! was a very enjoyable title, I’ve been very interested to see what parade’s next game would be like.

Togainu no Chi ~Lost Blood~ Review

5 / 18 / 205 / 26 / 20

It’s time to review yet another JAST Blue boys’ love (BL) visual novel localization! After being thoroughly engrossed by Sweet Pool (there are still scenes that remain vivid in my mind a year later), I couldn’t wait to see what Nitro+chiral’s first release, Togainu no Chi ~Lost Blood~ had in store for me. I soon found out that that would be another bleak narrative with a solemn protagonist and serve of Fight Club, post-apocalyptic Tokyo, and drugs added to the mix.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village HD for Mobile Review

7 / 4 / 197 / 4 / 19

Professor Layton and the Curious Village HD review Chic Pixel

Professor Layton and the Curious Village recently received an HD port for iOS/Android, making the game that started the world-famous series more accessible than ever. Unfortunately, it seems to have gone under many people’s radars, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to review it for the site. After all, I always welcome any excuse to return to the quirky world of the Layton series!

Sumikko Gurashi: Atsumare! Sumikko Town Review

4 / 18 / 194 / 18 / 19

Sumikko Gurashi: Atsumare! Sumikko Town is the second game featuring Sumikko Gurashi characters to come out on the Nintendo Switch in Japan. The first game, Sumikko Park e Youkoso, was a Mario Party-style party game, while Sumikko Town is a town building game with a few mini-games sprinkled in.

Sumikko Park e Youkoso was adorable, but I ultimately found it rather repetitive, and soon grew tired of it. Does Sumikko: Gurashi: Atsumare! Sumikko Town step up the variety and fill the gap until Animal Crossing comes out on the Switch? Read on to find out!

Sweet Pool Review

1 / 17 / 191 / 17 / 19

Sweet Pool, the first of JAST Blue’s Nitro+chiral BL game localizations, is finally out in English! Not only did I have the very exciting opportunity to contribute very slightly to its release as a PR consultant, but I’m thrilled to share my thoughts on the full game with you in this review. It’s not often we get an official English BL game release, so Sweet Pool‘s release is definitely cause for excitement!

When the news was first announced that Sweet Pool was going to come out in English in time for its 10th anniversary, I was thrilled, albeit surprised. As the first Nitro+chiral game to come out officially in English, it’s a rather interesting choice… because Sweet Pool is quite notorious for its dark horror themes and grotesque, body horror elements. So, while Sweet Pool is billed as a BL game, I would recommend anyone interested in it solely for the BL elements to tread with caution.

Manga Spice Cafe Review

12 / 23 / 18

I love Japan-related subscription boxes, especially when they offer something a little different from the usual snack and candy fare. Manga Spice Cafe is one such box!

Manga Spice Cafe is like getting a manga cafe experience delivered to your door every month. Each box contains snacks and candy as well as a selection of curated manga every month. If you can’t visit a manga cafe in Japan, this is the next best thing!

Halloween Otome Drama CD Review

10 / 30 / 18

Now that I’ve been a fan of situation CDs/otome drama CDs for a few years, I can safely say there is a CD on practically any theme you can think of! And when I saw the amazing Halloween-themed cover for Amasu Toki no Kataribe ~ Halloween no Hi o Kimi Totomo ni (Spare-time Storyteller ~ Halloween Day with You), I knew I had to get my hands on it. Luckily, on a recent trip to Japan, I was able to find the special edition that comes with a picture book for a very good price at a Mandarake in Tokyo!