I can’t believe how many participants there’ve been in JRPG July so far this year! As such, I thought it would be the perfect time to bring back my weekly roundup posts to highlight some of the games people have been playing, as well as the various podcast/let’s play/blog post contributions we’ve had. It’s still early in the month, so if you’d still like to join in the fun, head over to my original announcement post to get all the details!
Despite only being a little over a month old, Linda’s Ms. Visual Grammar blog has already rocketed to the top of my favorites! She has a great eye for all things cute and nerdy, and a slightly larger focus on makeup and fashion than you’ll find here at Chic Pixel. I just can’t get enough!
Linda covers everything from conventions and cosplay to cute figures and awesome illustrators, so if you’re a fan of Chic Pixel or any of the things mentioned, I highly recommend her site! I especially love her weekly Fashion Friday series; Linda has a great sense of style, and I’ve already gotten a few ideas for my own wardrobe from her posts!
If you enjoy Ms. Visual Grammar, be sure to also follow her on Instagram. Her photos always brighten my day!
Calling all Kirby fans! Starting this August, you’ll be able to eat all manner of food shaped like the adorable pink puffball at the brand new Kirby Café… if you live in Japan, of course.
Unveiled by the official HAL Labratory Twitter account, the cafe will be a limited-time affair, so if you don’t live in Japan, it’s time to start planning those trips! Unfortunately, the official website has no word on where the café will be located, but I think there’s a pretty good chance it’ll be somewhere in Tokyo.
There will also be limited edition merchandise that can only be purchased at the Kirby Café, but nothing aside from the August launch date has been revealed so far. The official Kirby Café Twitter account did, however, share this adorable stop motion animation to commemorate the announcement:
はじめまして！『カービィカフェ』です。この夏、「星のカービィ」の世界観をテーマにしたカフェをオープンします。https://t.co/dGo0tFNSkl pic.twitter.com/cV4cLaCtTJ
— KIRBY CAFÉ / カービィカフェ (@KirbyCafeJP) July 7, 2016
My heart be still! If, like me, this video has you somewhat inspired to make your own adorable Kirby vignettes, you can get your very own Kirby Nendoroid at CDJapan. It’s not the same thing as visiting the cafe, but it’ll have to do…
[Update 8/12/16] – I have gotten a number of messages regarding the Fujobox campaign, and I would like to clarify that I am in no way affiliated with the creators, nor did I personally back this campaign. It seems they relaunched the a “part 2” after the first fundraiser was unsuccessful, and were due to send out the first Fujobox in November 2016. However, backers have heard nothing from the creators since the campaign was funded on September 6th, 2016. I would exercise extreme caution before donating money to anything related to Fujobox. This post will be updated in the future if any developments occur.
I’ve sampled many a Japanese subscription service over the years, with themes ranging from candy to cute and nerdy merchandise. One demographic distinctly lacking in a subscription box that caters to them, however, is fujoshi, or boys love/yaoi fans. Until now! The FUJOBOX (short for “fujoshi box”) recently launched an Indiegogo campaign to set up a subscription service for fujoshi and fudanshi (male BL/yaoi fans), and are looking to bring all kinds of awesome merchandise from series ranging from Free! to Super Lovers to fans worldwide.
I had no idea going into this year’s Anime Expo that Aksys Games would announce not one, but four otome games localizations, but here we are! With Idea Factory International’s silence after releasing Amnesia: Memories, it wasn’t clear if and when we would see more Otomate games in English, but luckily Aksys Games has shown they value this market by showering fans with game announcements. And I couldn’t be happier!
[Update] Period Cube and Collar x Malice are available on Amazon!
Scheduled to release in 2017 for PS Vita in North America are Period Cube, Bad Apple Wars, Collar x Malice. In addition, the Code: Realize fan disc will also be getting an English release. Since Aksys Games already brought over Code: Realize last year, it makes sense that they would release the fan disc (not quite a sequel, but rather extra content for fans of the original game), but all of these other titles came as a complete surprise!
[Update] Apparently Aksys Games also stated during their Anime Expo 2016 panel that they are trying to release Hakuouki: Sweet School Life, the Hakuoki AU spinoff game set in a Japanese high school, as well.
In honor of the start of JRPG July, I thought it would be fun to do a feature on a cute little game that unfortunately never made it out of Japan, Nōra and the Time Studio: The Witch and the Misty Forest (Nōra to Toki no Kōbō: Kiri no Mori no Majo)! Developed by Atlus, Nōra and the Time Studio is completely separate from their flagship series Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, swapping demons for Atelier-like alchemy. But since I haven’t yet had a chance to play it, today I’m going to focus on swooning over the packaging of the game and premium booklet!
July is nearly upon us, and that means it’s time to start picking out games for JRPGS July! Created as part of my monthly Community Game-Alongs, JRPG July has proved to be the most popular theme by far. I’m excited to see what everyone plays throughout the month!
But first, allow me to explain the rules: to participate in JRPG July, simply play a JRPG. That’s it! But to get the most out of the festivities, share your experiences and connect with other participants by tagging your posts with #JRPGJuly on social media. You don’t have to stop there, though – why not share a blog post, podcast, or gameplay video, too? The goal is to get as many people playing and enjoying JRPGs as possible, so do spread the word!
Since July is often a slow release month, this is a great time to knock off some games in your backlog, but there are also a lot of great JRPGs that have recently come out or will be coming out in July. Below are a few you might want to check out, but you can also head to the 2014 and 2015 JRPG July posts for more recommendations!
