Category Archives: thoughts

Add Sakura Samurai to the list of “games with weird name changes”

I’ve always wondered what goes into the localization and adaptation of game titles for different regions, and the recent news surrounding Sakura Samurai‘s European release has me scratching my head once again. The 3DS eShop title will not be coming to Europe under the name Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword, but Hana Samurai: Art of the Sword.

This leads to a number of questions. Is that why the game has taken so long to come out? (it’s been out since February in the US) The most logical conclusion is that “sakura samurai” has already been trademarked in Europe and it took a long time to negotiate a new name with the creators/publisher/etc. I can only imagine how that meeting went down.

“Hey guys, so “sakura samurai” is taken. We’ve gotta change it to something else.”

“How about another random Japanese word?”

“No, wait, I know! Sakura is a flower, right? So let’s just use the Japanese word for flower!”

Hands were shook, meeting adjourned. Okay, if it really went as well as the scenario in my head, then I wouldn’t expect it to have taken so long. By the way, sakura means “cherry blossom” and hana means “flower.” From what I’m aware, “sakura” is a much more recognizable word for English speakers, whereas I don’t think “hana”is anywhere near as commonly known. And why didn’t they go for another Japanese flower term, rather than the actual word for “flower”? The world probably will never know.

I always love an excuse to post a picture of a kappa!

Now, how about the game’s logo? The North American logo (at the top of the post) features the kanji for “sakura” and “samurai” above the corresponding English. Will they be changing it to the kanji for “hana” for the European release? I’ll be very disappointed if they don’t, though they may figure not that many people will notice.

Of course, I’ll admit I haven’t played the game, so there is the possibility that there is meaning behind the name “hana samurai” that I’m missing. Anyone who has played the title who thinks they have additional insight to add, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments!

Now’s a perfect opportunity to share your favorite game name changes, so have at it! My recent favorite is Fortune Street, which was changed to Boom Street in Europe and Australia. No, I have no idea, either.

I don’t care how bad the Vision of Escaflowne game is, I must have it

The Vision of Escaflowne is, without a doubt, my favorite anime of all time. Dating back to 1996, the series tells the story of a high school girl named Hitomi who is transported to the world of Gaea and finds herself an instrumental figure in war where men fight with superpowered mechs known as Guymelefs. Though the premise may sound similar to countless other anime, its beautiful soundtrack, compelling cast of characters, and mix of action with an art style and emotional depth typical to shōjo series make it, in my opinion, a true masterpiece. Not only is it rare to see an series created as an anime first and then adapted to manga (Escaflowne actually got both a shōjo and a shonen manga, which shows how diverse its viewership was), but Escaflowne was markedly more popular internationally than it was in Japan, making it somewhat of an oddity.

Perhaps it’s that last point that spelled disaster for the series’ video game adaptation. Whatever the reason, the Escaflowne game looks about as bad as it gets –– not only does it condense the 26 episode series into a measly 2.5 hour game, but the graphics are atrocious! See for yourself:
Drab colors, blasé textures… Hardly fitting for one
of the most artistically-inspired anime of the 90’s!
Of course, it should be evident from the title that I haven’t actually played the Escaflowne video game, nor do I own it. It’s been on my “most wanted” list for many a year now, and though a copy generally won’t set you back more than $30, I have yet to add it to my collection. Luckily, blog posts like these give some insight into what the game is actually like, which is enough to make any fan of the anime downright depressed. 
The game reportedly plays a lot like an adventure/visual novel – there is an abundance of text, some voiced dialogue, walking around, and a few mech battles thrown in for good measure. Apparently, the battles aren’t even that much fun. The only plus I can see is that at only 2.5 hours total, it would be easy to get all of the multiple endings if you had the stomach to subject yourself to the entirety of the experience more than once. 
But when all’s said and done, no amount of bad mouthing the game will deter me from my eventual purchase. Why? Just look at this limited edition set:
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I’d say the box art and that rare tarot edition (modeled after Hitomi’s set) is more than enough to justify the price tag, don’t you? Of course, I’d be tickled pink if the game itself was actually enjoyable, but I doubt I’ll find many redeeming qualities in it outside of seeing how it condenses 26 twenty minute episodes into 2.5 hours. 
For the curious, here’s a video of the first eight minutes of the The Vision of Escaflowne game:
Has there ever been a game you knew wasn’t going to be very good, but you bought anyway? 

Take a walk down otome nostalgia lane with Angelique (GBA)

Okay, I confess –- I’m on a bit of a Game Boy Advance kick. Ever since I got my hands on a hot pink GBA micro, I’ve been itching to add a few more GBA titles to my collection. And, since we all know I’m a huge fan of otome games, it was only a matter of time before I acquired a GBA otome game. 
Well, in the case of Angelique, I really should say the otome game. Angelique was originally released for the Super Famicom in 1994, and is generally regarded as the first dating sim title to be marketed specifically towards girls. Players assume the role of Angelique, a young girl who has been chosen as a candidate to become the next queen of the Cosmos. Becoming a queen isn’t easy, however –- Angelique must face off against her rival, Roselia, in a race to see who can populate their country the fastest. Both Angelique and Roselia can call upon the aid of nine elemental guardians to either increase their own country’s stats or inflict damage on their rival’s lands. The otome aspect comes from the fact that the nine guardians are hot men who are all potential love interests for Angelique and Roselia… The catch being, however, that if you choose love, you must forfeit your title as queen. 

The GBA version is a direct port of the Super Famicom version, and a bare-bones one at that. There aren’t any additions whatsoever to this version, but that’s fine by me, as the portability is a great bonus and the box art, which totally screams 90s shōjo manga, is completely adorable. 
I plan on doing a separate post about the gameplay, but for now I’d like to share some of the great illustrations in the game’s guide!
First up are a series of illustrations from the manual’s opening pages, which introduces the premise:

The art reminds me a lot of CLAMP’s early work!
Incoming rival alert! 
Angelique and Roselia face the nine guardians/suitors

It’s interesting to see the emphasis placed on quality illustrations inside the manual. Modern otome games have the technology to actually replicate manga/anime-style art in the games themselves, but the Super Famicom couldn’t really give the same effect, so the images in the manual really mimicked manga styles of the time.

Next up are a few guardian profiles. Each guardian has a specific element he resides over, which is generally reflected in their design and personalities.

Randy, the wind guardian
Olivie, the dream guardian
Traditional shōjo alien hands 
Closeup of Lumiale, the water guardian,’s profile

Finally, here’s just one sample page of the instruction portion of the manual. Not quite as interesting as the above sections, as pretty much all of the pages look the same, but they’re very colorful and littered with screenshots and quaint illustrations. 

Overall, I’d say it’s a pretty nice manual! In an upcoming post, I’ll talk about my first playthrough of the game (Ever! Can you believe it?). Do I choose to become queen, or elope with one my guardians? Stay tuned!

By the way, have I ever mentioned that I’m complete rubbish when it comes to making up titles for these posts? I probably would’ve had this posted days ago if it weren’t for the fact that I couldn’t come up with a witty title. I’ve toyed with the idea of doing something similar to The Gay Gamer’s Acquisition #123 series, but I don’t really plan on posting every time I get a new game… Any thoughts/suggestions? Leave them in the comments! 

Seifuku no Ojisama is for all the daddy lovers out there

Seifuku no Ojisama. Older men in uniform. This upcoming Android otome game puts more mature men then we normally see in games such as these as objects of our protagonist’s affections. Poor Sachi, a third year university student, has the hots for men more than twice her age, and, like in any good otome game, it’s the player’s job to make sure she finds true love (as long as it comes in uniform!). 
I have to say, I am beyond intrigued by this premise. I’ve long thought older men were turning into somewhat of a trend in female-oriented media in Japan, and this confirms my suspicions. Funnily enough, the boys love manga titles I’m familiar with that feature older men all focus on café staff and the like, so perhaps the two go hand-in-hand? 
You can give me a check-up any day!
For the curious, the oldest male suitor revealed so far is 60 years old (and a professor, at that!). Gameplay is traditional otome game format: players read through text and make an occasional selection to dictate the path of the narrative. Seifuku no Ojisama adds an interesting twist, however, in the form of two types of endings, called “receiver” and “pursuer.” Depending on which options you choose, you may get an ending where Sachi makes the first move, or has the moves put on her by her love interest (completely non-sexual moves, I’m sure, since this isn’t a PC game). If you don’t pick the right response, you might even be stuck with the “friend” ending.
Though friend endings are common for “bad” endings in otome games, where the player hasn’t met the right conditions to have a “good,” romantic ending with one of the characters, this “receiver” and “pursuer” element is something I’ve never seen before. Even more interesting is the fact that it’s literally called the seme and uke system in Japanese. Seme and uke are pretty much exclusively used in reference to the male characters in boys love manga (referring to “top,” and “bottom,” respectively), so this may be a conscious nod to the BL fans who are eagerly eating up any and all stories about older men these days. But if that’s the case, why not make it an all-out boys love game, instead? Perhaps they are trying to reel in a larger audience while still appealing to BL fans, or that BL games don’t fare as well on smartphone markets. The alternative is that I am, of course, reading too much into all this. Just some food for thought! 
My personal favorite from the male rooster. What can I say?
I appreciate a man in a vest and apron! 
So, otome fans and non-fans, is the idea of a game that features older men (or women, if bishōjo titles are more your thing) something you’d like to see more of? I have a feeling most would write it off as unappealing or worse, and though I readily admit it isn’t for everyone, I personally think it’s all in good fun and would be eager to give this game a go myself. If you’re interested, do head over to the character page and let me know your favorite! (Before anyone asks, the younger guy in a school uniform is the protagonist’s cousin. It says he has a secret… I sincerely hope it isn’t that he turns into a 50-year-old man at night!)

801 Day: A Celebration of Yaoi

These days, there’s a holiday for just about anything, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that there is a dedicated yaoi day. Yaoi, or boys’ love, is also written as 801, hence August 1st, or 8/01, being the obvious date for an international holiday celebrating the love between men as drawn by women. Why 801? In Japanese, the shortened pronunciation of the word for 8 is “ya,” while 0 can be read as “o” (how’s that for a western influence?), and 1 as “i.” Ta-da!

I’ve written a post on boys’ love visual novels before, but since today I’m going to be discussing the manga variety, I thought it’d be worthwhile to go through the terms “yaoi” and “boys’ love,” since I know a lot of my readers aren’t really that familiar with the manga side of things.

Yaoi originated as a term that was largely used to describe dōjinshi, or fan comics that usually parody existing works by “slashing” male characters and depicting them in loving, often explicitly sexual, relationships. When officially-published works started making their way over to the US and other countries, publishers and fans latched on to the term “yaoi” and began to use it to describe any manga that was drawn by a woman for a female audience and depicted male-male relationships.

Boys’ Love, on the other hand, sprouted up in Japan in the late 90s, I believe, and quickly came to be used to describe the genre as a whole. Often abbreviated as BL, it refers to all officially-licensed works that are written by women for women and deal with male homosexual relationships. Since BL has expanded from manga to other forms of media in recent years, this term can be used to describe anything from anime to video games, as well. Even so, yaoi still remains the predominant term to describe the genre outside of Japan.

The first boys’ love manga I ever purchased! Notice how
it’s labeled as a “yaoi series.” (published by Digital Manga
Publishing in 2002)

I’m sure you’re all wondering why I feel the need to be a party pooper and give a lesson in semantics when I could be posting gay porn, right? (or maybe not…) Well, I figured I’d actually take this opportunity to make it official: I’m doing a PhD on this very topic! Yes, if all goes well, in 3 years, you can all call me Dr. Anne Lee, boys’ love specialist.

I first realized the study of boys’ love (and other manga, by extension) was an actual legitimate academic pursuit when I took a course titled “Homosexualities in Asian Literature and Film” in my freshman year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I’d been interested in continuing my Japanese studies to the graduate level since high school (what can I say, I’m a book worm), but the thought of extending a hobby of mine into the academic sphere seemed unthinkable. Little did I know manga studies is its own area of research, and that there was even a manga studies degree being offered at a university in Japan! Boys’ love studies, too, has been growing in popularity in recent years, with scholars looking at everything from why women like to read narratives that appear to exclude them to how boys’ love acts as a feminist forum!

So on this 801 Day, I wanted to take a little time to reflect on how far I’ve come, and encourage everyone out there who’s ever though their interest was too weird or niche not to give up hope. It may sound a little cheesy, but it’s true! I’m just at the start of my degree, and it’s a whole lot of work, but it’s all worth it. Plus, I get to buy all sorts of awesome books in the name of research!

A sampling of the books on my desk right now.
Death is a  collection of short stories by Banana Yoshimoto,
and the top two manga volumes are actually Antique Bakery
by Fumi Yoshinaga

So thank you, 801! Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today! Yaoi banzai!

And a big thanks to @ladyriven for whipping up such an awesome banner! 

This Pac-Man tablet case won’t be the last thing I buy from Simbiosis

Would you be surprised if I told you I recently purchased an Asus Transformer Prime Android tablet? Well, I’ll be surprised for you! I still can’t believe I own it, as I never really felt the urge to buy a tablet, but I decided to bite the bullet due to their portability (I’m namely using it for school). So far it’s been great for reading PDFs and doing work on the go –– it’s much lighter than my laptop and I love that it comes with a fully-functional keyboard attachment with a USB port and everything. 
But this isn’t a post about my tablet! No, I’m writing today to show off the fancy case I found online. See, I wandered the local shops to find something fitting to secure my new gadget in, but I just couldn’t find anything me… Until I stumbled upon this gorgeous case featuring vintage Pac-Man fabric, that is!
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What better than a video game-themed cover, eh? I ordered it faster than you can say “Mrs. Pac-Man.” Even though the shop is located in Oregon, it arrived here quite speedily. 
As for the case itself, it’s quite cushy, and it looks professionally made. I assume “Simbiosis by Julia” is run by Julia herself, and I must say, I’m really impressed. So much so, that I’ve been eyeing some of the other goodies she has in her shop… 
Red Riding Hood clutch

I’m a sucker for cute Japanese fabric, I really am. I particularly like the Red Riding Hood clutch purse, but I’m going to exercise some self-restraint as I’m all too familiar with the huge pile of assorted bags waiting for me in the other room.

I’ve got good news for anyone interested in that awesome Pac-Man fabric –– there’s another tablet case (they’re a standard size that will fit iPads and most other tablets), as well as a large zipper pouch featuring the same design up for sale! 
And even if you don’t find any of these particularly grabbing, I highly urge anyone with good taste in cute fabric to check out Simbiosis by Julia! 

Mother + Studio Ghibli + Level-5 = !!!

It recently came to my attention that Level-5 actually released a prequel game to the Ni no Kuni titles called Ni no Kuni: Hotroit Stories. Why haven’t I heard of it before now? Probably because it was only released on iMode phones in Japan on a service Level-5 offers called ROID (short for “Revolutionary Original Ideas Discovery”). The service is probably best known for hosting the Professor Layton spinoff title called London Life, which was released in the west bundled with copies of Professor Layton and the Last Specter.

Now if you don’t notice an uncanny resemblance to Mother 2 (also known as EarthBound) in the above screenshot, let me jog your memory:

Okay, it had a stronger resemblance in my head, but still… The point is, Hotroit Stories was developed by Brownie Brown, makers of the Mother series! (and London Life, as well) The game follows protagonist Oliver and his friend Mark… as they fight snakes? 
Not really sure how Hotroit Story fits into the Ni no Kuni story, but its resemblance to Mother alone makes it intriguing. And there’s a cat that follows protagonist Oliver around town!
Wouldn’t it be great if Namco Bandai could include Hotroit Stories with the North American release of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch? Wishful thinking, I know, but considering this title is only available on a very specific service for certain cell phones in Japan, the likelihood any of us will ever get to try it is exceedingly low. I’d be interested to know how it was received (it was released in 2010, for the curious). 
Don’t forget, Namco Bandai has a special Wizard Edition of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch available for preorder on their online store! This version is the only way North Americans can get a physical copy of the amazing spell book released in Japan, so if you’re at all interested, now’s your chance! You can read my full impressions of the Japanese version here.