A Shojo-Centric Introduction to Vampire Manga

In honor of this week’s vampire-themed Manga Movable Feast, I thought I’d kick things off with a brief overview of some notable shojo titles that feature vampires. Of course, vampire in manga are definitely not limited to shojo –– in fact, the most iconic manga vampire stories are generally shonen, such as Hellsing, Vampire Hunter D, and Blood+, but the embarrassing truth is I know next to nothing about those titles and everything (not really) about shojo vampire manga. So, if romance, character development, and a large serving of sexy vampires is up your alley, read on for some titles that might interest you!

Vampire Knight
Vampire Knight is, without a doubt, the most popular modern shojo vampire title. The series began in January 2005 in Japan and is still ongoing, with 14 volumes currently available in English (the 15th is coming early November, just missing the MMF!). It ticks all the right boxes for a shojo manga hit: hot male characters, melodramatic plot, love triangle, and, as an added bonus, lots of vampire bites. The heroine, Yuki Cross, is the adopted daughter of the headmaster of a school for both humans and vampires. Her dream is for humans and vampires to coexist peacefully, but with a childhood friend who hates bloodsuckers and her long-time crush being none other than a vampire himself, navigating her relationships is far from easy.

Millennium Snow
If the art in Millennium Snow looks familiar, that’s because it’s drawn by the same woman behind the popular Ouran High School Host Club series. The story centers on Chiyuki, young girl with a heart condition that not only leaves her extremely weak, but she’s been told that she won’t live long past 15 years of age. She meets a vampire who has the power to extend her lifespan to 1000 years if he drinks her blood… but unfortunately for Chiyuki, he doesn’t want anything to do with her blood! At only 2 volumes, it’s a great taste of shojo vampire goodness without a massive time or monetary commitment, but be warned: it’s on hiatus up until January of next year, so you might not want to start it if you can’t stand to be left waiting.

Honorable Out-of-Print Mentions
For the purposes of this post, I wanted to keep my list to titles that are only currently available in English, but surprisingly, a lot of the good ones have gone out of print after Tokyopop shut its doors. That doesn’t mean they aren’t easily available on sites like Amazon or eBay, but you’ll most likely have to go through individual sellers.

Bloody Kiss, in particular, is a great entry into the world of vampire shojo, as it is short (only two volumes), and unlike Millennium Snow, it actually concludes in two volumes. Unlike many of the other titles mentioned, however, it reads like a series meant for slightly younger readers, as it has an emphasis on humor and slapstick comedy.

Vampire Game is another great out-of-print title that might be worth tracking down for fans who like their shojo with heavy fantasy elements and a bit more action than the other titles on this list. Unfortunately, this one’s 15 volumes, so it might take a little more effort to get hold of the whole series.

And last but not least, I need to give a special mention to Model, a drop-dead gorgeous manhwa about a struggling artist who allows a vampire to take her to his mansion and repeatedly drink her blood in exchange for letting her paint him. Romantic, eh?

For those whole like boy-on-boy action
This wouldn’t be a Chic Pixel post without some boys’ love titles, so here’s a few I’ve round out that fit this month’s MMF theme perfectly:

Until the Full Moon
Now how’s this for a premise: Marlo is half-vampire, half-werewolf boy who has the misfortune of turning into a girl every month on the night of a full moon. His family has also betrothed him to his childhood friend and vampire David! Of course, chaos ensues. It’s also by the creator of FAKE, which anyone with a penchant for BL likely holds in high regard… And at only two volumes, you really can’t go wrong with this one. The story continues in At Full Moon.

While Until the Full Moon might be a little too far on the gender-bending side for some hardcore BL fans, there are plenty of other vampire-centric BL titles worth mentioning, such as How to Seduce a Vampire, Bloody Kiss Tonight, and the manhwa My Boyfriend is a Vampire.

Of course, I’m sure there are plenty of titles I’ve missed or couldn’t cover for the sake of time and space, so feel free to let us know your favorite shojo vampire titles in the comments!

Welcome to the Vampire MMF

Or perhaps I should say “Velcome!” Today marks the start of this month’s Manga Movable Feast, and we’ve got a special Halloween-inspired theme: vampires! I dare say the popularity of vampires in mainstream culture these days does not need much of an introduction, but just because Twilight is the go-to vampire literature for adolescents around the world doesn’t mean that vampires in manga are all sparkles and brooding hunks! Though there’s plenty of that, too…

I hope this week’s feast will see a wide range of titles covered, since are so many different vampire manga out there! If you have a post you’d like to submit, you can comment here with the link, email me, or tweet to me at @apricotsushi (be sure to include the tag #vampiremmf). Submissions of older posts are always welcome for the archive, so don’t be shy! Oh that note, the archive already has a great selection of reviews from Cowa to Vampire Knight, so be sure to check it out for some inspiration. You’ll see the archive has a permanent place on the right sidebar under “Vampire MMF Archive” for easy access.

I’ll be posting roundups of the day’s submissions every evening, along with a couple submissions of my own, so keep checking back! Also, be sure to follow the #vampiremmf tag if you’re on Twitter. Please head to my original call for participation post for a list of some vampire manga available in English and more information on submission guidelines.

Last but not least, I hope you have fun, whether you’re submitting posts or just reading everyone else’s work, and use this as a chance to get in the holiday spirit!

Final Push for Extra Life

With just one sleep left before the 24-hour Extra Life gaming marathon to raise money for children’s hospitals, I’ve managed to raise nearly 80% of my initial goal! But my work’s not over yet –– I’ve still got 24 hours of gaming ahead of me and $65 left to raise! Every dollar counts, so please consider clicking the image above and donating some change, if you have any to spare.
Update: I’ve reached my goal! I’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone who donated! However, Team VGW still has a ways to go before we reach our ultimate goal of $2000, so please keep on donating! 

Also, did you know that if you live in the United States and donate over $12, you can enter Video Game Writer’s drawing to win a Roxio Game Capture HD Pro unit for streaming and recording game footage, valued at $150 a pop? Yeah! Definitely go check out the details of that giveaway here, as I have it on good authority that there have been very few entries to date, so your chances of winning are high. Since I’m a member of Team VGW, donations directly to me count towards the contest, too!

Now I know I had a lot of lofty incentives in my previous post that never came to fruition for a variety of reasons, so I’m going to scrap all that and give everyone who reads this post to vote for which titles you most want to see me play!

You can even submit ideas for other games I haven’t included, but of course there’s always the possibility that I don’t own it or have already played it, so please keep that option for general suggestions only. The highest voted picks will have the highest priority in my play list, but of course I reserve the right to change my mind whenever I feel like! Let me tell you, 24 hours is a long time, so if playing one game over another means the difference between staying awake and phoning it in early, I’m going to do whatever it takes to stay awake!

Tune in from 3 am PDT (awful time, I know, but that’s actually 8 pm here in Australia) to my Twitch account to watch me play games in real time! I’ll also be tweeting my antics if you’re not interesting in watching/listening to me ramble. Video Game Writers will be giving away game codes and swag the whole day, so be sure to follow them, too!

I hope to see you on Saturday!

Japan Envy: POKÉMON with YOU Train

Anyone who’s a fan of Pokémon probably knows that Japan has plastered the lovable critters faces in virtually every inanimate object available – including trains, school buses, and even airplanes. The upcoming POKÉMON with YOU train (yes, that capitalization is intentional), however, takes the trend a little bit further by featuring a full Pokémon-inspired interior and special play carriage with the theme of a “Pokémon forest” for rambunctious children!

Of course, these images are an artist’s interpretation and do not reflect what the final train will look like exactly, but it will probably be fairly similar to what’s pictured above and below.

Now, I can safely say that I would definitely ride the POKÉMON with YOU train if given half a chance, but I’m not really impressed with the color scheme, especially those horrid bright-colored seats in the first illustration. Yuck! 
If I were the president of The Pokémon Company (and I clearly should be), I would’ve utilized the gorgeous designs used in the Pokémon Time merchandise series exclusive to Pokémon Centers in Japan. Well, at least the outside looks pretty adorable: 

The POKÉMON with YOU train is part of the POKÉMON with YOU program, which was established as a way to spread happiness to the children of Japan after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It will run in the Tohoku region of Japan (the Northern section of Honshu, Japan’s main island, which was most affected by the disaster last year), consist of two cars, and have 100 different Pokémon featured throughout. The first week of service, December 22nd to the 28th, will be exclusive to victims of the disaster, following that it will be open to the public for 160 days. That means it’ll still be running when I visit Japan in June! Now, if only I could find a reason to go to Tohoku and a child to bring along so I don’t come off as a total weirdo…

I wonder if the stewards will wear Pokémon-themed uniforms like the attendants on the Pokémon planes?

Note: I’ve just switched to Disqus for comments, so please let me know what you think of it! 

I’ve found my missing artistic half, and her name is patty

I’m pretty sure the Pixiv artist who goes by the name patty and I are sisters separated at birth, because her work just about covers all of my favorite things (for the purposes of this post I’m going to assume she’s female). Retro-inspired color palettes? Check? Pokémon gijinka? Check. Girls with glasses, big hats, and frilly clothes? Check. Viera-esque bunny people? Check. She’s even done Princess Tutu, Odin Sphere, and Freya (of Final Fantasy IX fame) fanart! My heart be still!

Since I’ve been burying my nose in Pokémon Black Version 2 since I got it on Friday, I’ll just dedicate this post to showing off some of patty’s gorgeous illustrations. I absolutely adore her fairytale-like style! In honor of the new Pokémon games, I’ll start off with some of my favorite of her Pokémon gijinka (humans characters designed to look like certain  Pokémon) works:

What an adorable Ho-oh! I love how she’s taken its feathers and used their design in her hair as well as her sleeves. And none of that “pretty girl sitting around doing nothing” business – this Ho-oh gijinka’s a fencer!

Let it be known that I am actually quite partial to Shinx and its evolutions, so that may be part of the reason why I love this Luxray design. Some may think it looks nothing like the Pokémon it’s meant to be designed after, but I love the small details like the star on her parasol and her spiky blue hair. Regardless of whether she looks like Luxray or not, her costume is adorable, and the color palette used in the image is amazing, in my opinion!

Now Arceus is a Pokémon that I’ve never liked, but patty has managed to make it look so appealing! Again, the gijinka doesn’t look all that like the Pokémon aside from the color scheme and the gold spikes near her tail, but the Greek inspiration makes it a really interesting image.

Last but not least, we have a Leavanny gijinka. Leavanny just so happens to be the evolution of one of my favorite ‘mon, Sewaddle, and I’m thrilled with how patty has interpreted its design in this image. That’s actually an outfit I’d love to wear! And see how she represented its feelers with the feathers on her hat? I’m melting from sheer bliss!

She has plenty more gijinka illustrations and other Pokémon-related art that are just as amazing over at her Pixiv page, which I highly recommend checking out! Before I go, I’ll just share a couple more pieces that caught my eye:

I absolutely adore these rabbit-people that appear frequently in patty’s portfolio. Apparently they’re from something called Toto no Mura (Toto’s Village) which, as far as I can tell, is a series or world of characters created specifically for a Pixiv event called Pixiv Fantasia, where artists registered on the site are encouraged to submit pieces that fit the theme. The Toto no Mura theme seems to be from the fifth Pixiv Fantasia, as you can find many other pieces featuring the same characters under the Toto no Mura tag. I wish I knew exactly what Toto no Mura is, so if you know more, please do let me know in the comments!

And finally, I couldn’t help but include her rendition of the Mad Hatter… I blame my Alice in Wonderland obsession!

Wolf Children Impressions

A few weeks ago I was treated to a big-screen showing of Wolf Children (おおかみこども雨と雪), the latest film by Mamoru Hosoda, director of Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, at a local cinema. I must say, I’m very glad I went! The screening was part of an anime festival here in Australia, and as such was only available for a limited time, so I actually made the executive decision to see this over Studio Ghibli’s From Up on Poppy Hill.

Wolf Children tells the story of Hana, a 19-year-old woman who falls in love with a mysterious man who, after a whirlwind romance, reveals himself to be the last descendant of Japanese wolves. She accepts him for what he is, and the two begin to cultivate a life together, starting with the birth of two children, a girl named Yuki and younger brother Ame. Both children have a mixture of human and wolf qualities, and have the ability to change from being 100% human to 100% wolf (or any mixture of the two) at will, but their emotions often get the better of them, causing them to change into wolves at inappropriate times, making things tough for young mother Hana. When the father dies unexpectedly, Hana is forced to raise the children alone, without any help from the outside world, and she makes the decision to move to the countryside so Yuki and Ame can grow up without the constant prying eyes of outsiders.

First and foremost, Wolf Children is a beautiful film, both in animation and its seamless integration of the fantastic with the real. Some reviewers have compared the film to the works of Studio Ghibli, and I have to say I agree, as they both feature an exquisite attention to detail. Though the story is never quite as grabbing, nor the music quite as memorable, as some of the more iconic Studio Ghibli films, fans of My Neighbor Totoro will find a lot to like in Wolf Children.

It’s hard to talk about the plot of the film without revealing the finer points of the narrative that best be left for the viewer to experience themselves, but I must say that though the overall story ran a relatively predictable course, the narrative, which chronicled the hardships and joys Hana faced raising her two wolf children, was at its best when depicting the “mundane” aspects of life. One of my favorite scenes is when Hana brings her two children out to their garden to harvest potatoes, something that I did with my own parents when I was young. Of course, all of these “normal” activities include a fantastical element, that of the wolf children, but the way they are portrayed is surprisingly believable.

The Wolf Children‘s ending ultimately left me unsatisfied, but I enjoyed the rest of the film enough that it didn’t end up leaving a sour taste in my mouth as I left the theater. The film excels in depicting everyday moments that are punctuated with the fantastic, and offers more than a handful of memorable scenes and thought-provoking themes to keep you engaged in the film even after the credits have rolled.

… Of course, this wouldn’t be a Chic Pixel post without at least one reference to merchandise! How about Ame and Yuki-inspired brainwave-controlled ears?

official website

Or how about Ame and Yuki tail keychains? Isn’t that a little morbid?

Well, regardless of the weird merchandise, I highly recommend watching Wolf Children if you get a chance. Wikipedia has it listed for a October 17th release date in the US, but I haven’t found any other information about showtimes or what cities it’ll be in. If it comes to your area, I definitely suggest seeing it on the big screen! 

Thoughts on three recent and radically different game demos

What do fashion shows, deranged nurses, and a talking rabbit have in common? They just so happen to feature in the three game demos I played over the last week! The first week of October was surprisingly busy for game demos, and though I don’t usually jump at the sight of a new demo, all of these happened to be titles I’m interested in enough to give them a shot. I know you’re dying to see what titles I’m talking about (or have you guessed already?), so I’ll cut right to the chase.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PS Vita)
It probably won’t surprise any of you to hear that I’ve never properly played a Silent Hill title before. I’ve played and watched various segments of Silent Hill 2 (mostly the beginning, along with the infamous pyramid head scene), and though I know a good deal about the series in general, I don’t particularly have a huge investment in it, nor do I know enough about the games to have a discussion on them. Taking that into account, I was still surprised when I heard that Book of Memories was going to be an RPG. “A Silent Hill RPG? Now that’s something I’ve got to see!” accurately sums up my reaction to the news that the demo was finally up on the North American PSN.
As you can see from the image above (have I ever mentioned how much I love the PS Vita’s screen capture function?), I wasn’t horribly creative with my character, choosing to go for the gothic lolita look and generic goth gal name Alice. Did you know my parents almost named me Alice? Well there’s your random Chic Pixel trivia for the day! 

So, how does it play? I came out pleasantly surprised and satisfied with my time with the Silent Hill: Book of Memories demo. I didn’t find the areas and overall graphical style very appealing, but the gameplay was interesting and made great use of the PS Vita’s touch screen to pick up/use items and weapons. I’d go so far as to say that this game has the best mixture of traditional and touch screen controls I’ve seen on the PS Vita since launch! 
Gameplay consists of exploring various rooms in a randomly-generated zone, battling classic Silent Hill enemies, and collecting puzzle pieces to unlock the door to the next area. All traditional RPG elements are present, including experience points and artifacts that can be equipped for a range of stat boosts. There’s also a heavy multiplayer element that is apparently included in the demo, but honestly I couldn’t figure out how to get a multiplayer sessions going! Will I pick it up on launch? Probably not, as I’m generally more interested in more story-driven RPGS, but this demo has definitely convinced me that Silent Hill: Book of Memories is not some throwaway spinoff. 
Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (PS Vita)
The second PS Vita demo I sank my teeth into (figuratively, of course) was for the upcoming sequel to 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, the graphic adventure/visual novel for the Nintendo DS which has subsequently been rebranded as Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. For the record, I have played 999, and I definitely consider it one of the standout titles on the DS. The mixture of interesting puzzle segments, a gripping and surprisingly mature story, and gorgeous character designs quickly earned it a special place in my heart, and I’ve been looking forward to the sequel’s English release ever since. 

Like 999, Virtue’s Last Reward features a deadly game that forces its participants to use their wits and make some difficult choices in order to escape from the compound they’ve inexplicably found themselves in. This time around, the game is known as the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition (for reference, 999‘s game was just the Nonary Game) that requires its participants to either betray or cooperate with the other players in an effort to obtain the necessary 9 BP (“bangle points”) needed to escape. In all honestly, I still don’t quite understand how this system works, but in my defense it didn’t really factor into the demo, which only featured a short visual novel segment that introduced the story and an escape portion that focused entirely on escaping from a certain area. 
As always, Aksys’ translation is quite humorous, and I regularly found myself chuckling at the quirky dialogue. The gameplay also remains true to its roots: Virtue’s Last Reward requires you to work out a series of puzzles that involve investigating the world around you, and since this is the PS Vita version (it’s also coming to the 3DS, but the demo is PS Vita-only at this time), there are a lot of touch screen controls. I’ll admit that after playing the Book of Shadows demo I felt like the touch controls here were a little more difficult to get used to, and I often found myself doing actions I didn’t intend to. 

The visual novel section features a quick introduction to the game’s story that, in all honesty, didn’t really grab me, which was unfortunate, but I’m still (perhaps naively) confident that the actual story will end up being just as engrossing as 999‘s was. One final quibble: I wish the game retained the 2D character illustrations of its predecessor rather than making the jump to 3D models, but I can understand why they made that decision. But can you just imagine how lovely Kinu Nishimura’s gorgeous art would be on the PS Vita’s screen? I know I can! 
Honestly, it sounds like I was rather underwhelmed by this demo, and I suppose I untimately was, but that’s only due to the fact that I have such high hopes for this sequel. It’s still something I’m planning on playing –– I just hope the story delivers. 

Style Savvy: Trendsetters (3DS)
Of course, I’ve saved the best for last! Yes, I’m not kidding, and yes, I can just imagine you all side-eyeing me very hard right now. If a game titled Style Savvy: Trendsetters doesn’t sound like something that will appeal to you from the get-go, I certainly won’t try to convince you otherwise, but I’m happy to report that the demo has proven itself to be a competent fashion game and not just another shovelware title destined for bargain bins and 5-year-olds. 
The first notable thing about this demo is that it only gives you a measly five tries, rather than the full 30 that usually come with 3DS demos. Funnily enough, though I never use more than one or two of my alloted demo plays, this is the one title that I think I’ll actually run out of tries for. The reason for this is that though Trendsetters only gives a sample of one portion of the game, the fashion contest, there are at least two different themes you can compete in, each with different clothing choices, and a wide range of randomly-selected models to choose from. At the time of this post, I’ve played through the demo four times (all on one “use” since I didn’t exit out of the demo itself), and have tried both the “pop” theme and the “bold” theme (for the record, I got pop three times and bold once, which leads me to believe these are the only options). 
I guess I must not be very style savvy (pun intended), since it took me all four tries to get first in the competition. The fashion contest pits you against three other stylists, and it’s your goal to select and dress a model according to the theme with the goal of being the best representation of that theme on the catwalk. I’m really not sure how the game determines what’s fashionable and what’s not, but there are certain clothing brands that it indicates as fitting better with certain themes. The above two images are my winning coordinate for “pop,” and I thought I was just phoning it in, so who knows. 
Regardless, if you have any interest in fashion, Style Savvy: Trendsetters should definitely keep you happy. The full game has you managing your own store, among other things, and I must admit it’s a title that I’m extremely looking forward to picking up. Also, it gets major props for featuring lolita fashion and allowing you to dress men as well as women! 
So, did you play any of these demos, or are any of these titles on your radar? I’d love to hear your thoughts!