On a whim today, I preordered the ultra deluxe Blue Reflection Second Light that comes out for Nintendo Switch (and various other consoles) tomorrow. I spent all of 5 minutes checking out the free demo and did not get far at all. My curiosity was piqued though, because as you know, school simulation games are one of my favorite genres. This cute anime RPG promises to let you build your own school with cute anime girls. Cool, cool… But I didn’t know anything else about the game. Total whim purchase. read more
I shared a lot of music last week over here. But Monsta X just dropped a new English language single called One Day and I can’t stop listening to it. It’s so good! Thank you for catering to your English-speaking fans. We love you. And “Maybe One Day I’ll See YOU” in concert that is if you ever come to Pittsburgh – Please 🙂
What else have I been listening to this week? Well how about this song by Dua Lipa with a new 80s-90s anime inspired music video – official, not fan made – that gives us vibes of Sailor Moon, Aishite Knight, Animal Crossing, Full Moon Wo Sagashite, Creamy Mami, and other Magical Girl old school anime. The song is pretty good – but the video is awesome!read more
I just recently discovered and began watching “Aikatsu! Stars”. Aikatsu! Stars is a sequel of an anime called Aikatsu! The anime is based on a card / arcade game by Bandai. The arcade card game involves dressing up idols with cute kawaii clothes and accessories to help them achieve a higher score. — From the success of these arcade machines, as well as the success of the anime (which I believe has about 6 seasons now), and the success of the other media related to the Aikatsu franchise — Bandai then introduced Aikatsu! Photo on Stage, a mobile game which is kinda similar to Bandai’s other Idol Collecting / Rhythm Games such as Idol M@ster which I’m just learning now, and Love Live School Idol Festival, which I’ve been meaning to also review, but haven’t really gotten around to just yet.
The main difference in Aikatsu! Photo on Stage compared to Love Live School Idol Festival, is the way in which the rhythm game is actually played. Love Live School Idol Festival displays characters’ faces in a half-moon arc like shape scattered around the screen. As a song plays, music notes, indicated by a ring shape, float out to one of these characters. Pressing on a character at the right time will score higher points. You “chain” “perfect” time presses for the highest score possible.
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In Aikatsu! Photo on Stage, the rhythm game is completely different (and in my opinion more challenging). This time, you see your selected characters standing on a stage, and over top, overlaying these characters, you see a various number of boxes, outlined by white squares. Â As the song begins, these squares begin to fill, with what I would describe as playing cards. Spade, Diamond, Club, and Heart symbols begin to fill each box. Pressing when the shape has filled in the white outline the fullest will result in better scores. The number of squares, layout of squares, and speed with which they fill, varies not only from song to song, but within different parts of a single song as well. Some squares, indicated by a golden color, can be spammed over and over before they fade, letting you chain dozens of notes quickly. Often multiple squares appear at once and while playing which you can either press simultaneously or in rapid succession.
A photo posted by jenilee (@xenokitten) on
You may also unlock combos and abilities of your girls;Â This seems to be determined by who is in your team. When the song begins, there’s a lengthy animation showing your girls, and they “Pair off” It seems like certain cards when “paired together” will activate different abilities “together”. Sometimes a girl will also activate a single ability. All of these abilities will act as huge score multipliers for the duration that the ability is in effect.
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The other significant difference is that Aikatsu! Photo on Stage has never been released in North America. This means the game is in Japanese. My time spent with Aikatsu Photo on Stage has amounted to probably an hour, spread over the past two days. I cannot speak or read Japanese, and am not an expert by any means on this game. In fact, twice now I’ve accidentally clicked things and wasted my stars (in game currency used to summon new idols).
There are people and places to get much better information on this game than what I’m about to share with you. I just wanted to share my love for the game and show how cute it is, and tell you you should be playing this game. You should also watch the anime, at least Aikatsu Stars! because it is super kawaii (cute). It’s like Harry Potter crossed with Love Live School Idol Festival. It follows a young girl as she enrolls in a special academy just for idols. She is given a phone and badge and even taken to pick out a special outfit. And it was discovering this anime that sparked my interest in the game. I thought WOW this would make such a fun game! I want to go to a school for idols too! Then I thought “I wonder if there is a game based on this anime already” There are numerous Nintendo DS games, and then there’s this mobile game (and of course the original arcade/card game).
Once again I’m no expert and the following info may not be 100% correct or accurate. I will include some resources at the end of this article that will probably prove more helpful.
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First here is how to get the game if you use IOS (iphone, ipad, etc).
From a PC, log out of your Itunes account. In the bottom right corner you should see a flag to change your country/region. — If you don’t see this or if it has moved, don’t worry I’ll show you how you can change regions midway through this process later.
You need to decide which version of Aikatsu you want to play. I chose the Japanese version, but there’s also Korean and Chinese versions. The Chinese version for country code MO even looked like it was in English??? I can’t confirm that though as I chose the Japanese version believing it to be the most updated and least likely to close down later.
So if you want to play the Japanese version, select to change your region to Japan now.
Once you’ve selected your region, search for Aikatsu! – you’ll see a lot of anime and music here, you can narrow your results to just Iphone or Ipad apps to make it easier to find.
Once you find the Aikatsu! Photo on Stage app, click the “+Get” button.
You will then be prompted to create a new itunes account.
Here is where you can change your country if you didn’t already do so. It will say something like “If your billing address is not in the United States, click here to change regions” You can then search again for the Aikatsu app and click the +Get button and be prompted again to set up a new Itunes account.
The important thing is that you select the app and use the +Get Button BEFORE MAKING YOUR ACCOUNT. SUPER IMPORTANT DO NOT IGNORE THIS STEP.
Assuming that you followed this advice, the payment should be set to “None” by default.
Ignoring that step and trying to either change an existing Itunes account region, OR creating a new account before clicking the +Get button will result in you being asked for payment details even for FREE apps! And it will only accept Japanese credit/bank cards or Japanese Itunes Gift Cards. So It’s really important to remember to FIRST select the app, and THEN create your account.
You will then need to finish filling in your details, an email address that is not associated with any other Itunes account, you may need to create a new email address, which you can do for free on sites like hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc. Then fill in your secret hints and select a new password.
You need a Japanese address, I have read that you can use a university address, your mileage may vary. My understanding is that as long as the Prefecture, city, and zipcode all line up, the rest of the address doesn’t matter.
You can use a US cellphone number.
You are now the proud owner of a Japanese Itunes Account. Congratulations!
Your app should begin downloading automatically after entering your password or thumbprint.
To get your app to your Iphone: Now from your Iphone, go to settings, and under the “Itunes & App Store” select sign out, and select sign in to use the new account you just created.
Now when you browse the App store you’ll be browsing the Japanese app store.
You can switch back at any time by going to settings and again signing out and back in to your US Itunes account.
My team Just started playing #Aikatsu and watching #aikatsustars wish #bandai #namco would make English version #kawaii #cardgames
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Aikatsu! Photo on Stage will not Work on any Rooted Devices, so if you Jailbreak your Iphone it will no longer work for you. This also means Aikatsu! Photo on Stage will not run on android emulators such as Bluestacks. So I am not sure how Android users can enjoy this game. I think it involves using a VPN and Tunneling service, but then I don’t know if that would “flag” the “Rooted Device” warning signal, so unfortunately I can’t provide help or directions to get the app on Android.
But assuming you’re an IOS user, you’re now ready to Play Aikatsu! Photo on Stage. And I’m now finally ready to review it for you 🙂
Title: Aikatsu! Photo on Stage
Where to get:Â https://itunes.apple.com/jp/…
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Genre: Rhythm Game / Idol Simulation
Overall: 68/90 76% C “Good Game for Girls”
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A few days ago, I got a chance to go see Sailor Moon R in theaters, again for the 2nd time. The first time that I saw it, they were showing the Sailor Moon R English Dub, which I reviewed here. The dub was good, but I always prefer to watch my anime subbed, because quite often so many things get changed when they dub an anime. Even though, this time it was “uncut” there were still some changes that I noticed.
This review is going to be a little bit different. I’m going to start by pointing out the changes between both versions, some thoughts on the overall experience of each version, and then, my more traditionally formatted review near the very end. Hope you enjoy my review; and if you get a chance, go watch this at the theater. It’s a once in a lifetime experience for you as a fan, and it may help to bring us more Sailor Moon movies, series, and merchandise!
Onto the changes between each version.
For starters, there’s a scene where the girls are sitting around planning their next move and Usagi is feeling nervous about the nature of Mamo and Fiore’s friendship. In both the Dub and the Sub the girls begin to tease Usagi. However, in the Sub, they also begin to tease Ami and it’s a very cute moment. In the Dub that Cuteness is Lost. Here is an overview (from my memory) of how it goes in each version.
Dubbed Scene:
Usagi: “Am I overthinking things?… But they sure seemed like more than friends to me”
Ami: “I guess Mamo is popular with the guys too”
(I think it was ) Mako: “Well I guess it’s fine if you’re born that way”
(I think it was) Rei: “There’s even a few couples like that at my school”
Anime Otome Game Like Harry Potter – Wizardess Heart+
“Shall We Date” is a very popular series of free mobile and browser based Otome Games (Games for Girls) by NTT Solmare. Wizardess Heart is one such game in this series. I recommend this game for anyone who loves Harry Potter (or cute anime games in general). Check out my review of “Shall We Date: Wizardess Heart +” below!
Title: Shall We Date? Wizardess Heart+
Developer: NtT Solmare
Genre: Otome Visual Novel with Dressup Game elements
Qbox is a mystery box that features a different kawaii theme each month. The theme for February is Sailor Moon! They did another Sailormoon Qbox back in 2015.
To me the quality of the items in previous Qbox seems low – just judging from other peoples’ box opening photos and videos I’ve seen online.
If the Sailormoon Qbox was around 18-23 bucks (including shipping and handling) I’d probably pick this up myself. However, sadly, that’s not the case.
The Sailormoon Qbox is around $32 (with shipping), for 8 (or more) sailormoon items. They say the items are officially licensed and from Japan. So that may add some value. But judging from what I’ve seen it seems like small cheap plush, stationary, scrapbook materials, and etc. — While all of those things are kawaii, to me they aren’t enough to justify the price of the box which I feel is about $10 overpriced right now.
Crunchyroll shared news lastnight that a new Cardcaptor Sakura anime has been announced to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Cardcaptor Sakura manga. Earlier this year it was reported that a new Cardcaptor Sakura manga would be released that would continue the adventures of Sakura and her friends as they enter into Junior High.
No information is available at this time as to if the new Cardcaptor Sakura anime will follow the newly announced manga, or whether it will be a series or stand-alone movie, or perhaps a reboot or remake of the original series (for example, taking the route of fellow magical girl Sailor Moon and what she did for her anniversary with the new Sailor Moon Crystal anime), or perhaps this new Cardcaptor Sakura anime will be something new entirely. Also no release date or voice actor cast or further info has been released just yet, which indicates it may be well into 2017 or even 2018 before we actually get to see this new anime.
Crunchyroll currently has all of the original anime to view on their site. I personally need to sit down and marathon them all at some point. Over the years, I’ve seen a dozen or so episodes and at least 2 of the movies, and from what I’ve seen it’s a very cute show! Just so much to watch and so little time that I never “got into it” as much as I would expect to be into a magical girl romantic comedy / fantasy adventure such as this.
Now that the new show has been announced that motivates me to want to hurry up and watch the original episodes 🙂 I know what my plans will be this weekend lol. Anyone else?
Another month, another awesome box of anime and manga goodies from www.boxychan.com – You can check out some of my other boxychan reviews here, and here. – I’ve been subscribed since May, but haven’t reviewed every box. I do put pics of every box on my instagram though which you can find here instagram.com/xenokitten – Boxychan and Pusheenbox remain my top two favorite subscription crates. I subscribe to both with my own money and am in no way compensated for blogging about them. They don’t even have a referral program – I just love boxychan so much, and I think it is far less widely known than similar boxes such as Geek Fuel and Doki Doki.
This month’s Boxychan has a beautiful figure from Madoka Magica O_O!! It’s by far my favorite figure I’ve received in one of these subscription crates. The box also includes 1 manga and 1 anime dvd EVERY month – This month my box included Kite Remastered (It’s a little bit too violent for my tastes, I recall watching this one back in the 90s and not liking it too much), and VS Aliens – which I have never heard of and haven’t read just yet. This month’s box also included a post card and cute little charm thing.
Everything in boxychan is officially licensed merchandise. So many other anime boxes such as Doki Doki which I reviewed here and Betoyo which I reviewed here have had problems with counterfeit merchandise. This also sets boxychan apart from all the rest.
The anime box is $25 a month – The Madoka Magica figure they sent me retails for just under $20 alone. (Which you can verify on Amazon here, or pick one up for yourself if you feel so inclined – it’s a beautiful figure!)Â When you add in the cost of the manga (amazon has it for $9.95), and the anime dvd ($8.27 on amazon) that brings the value of the box up to just under $40. Which means you get the items for almost 50% Off. Plus there’s the fun element of surprise. Not knowing what will be in each box every month. It’s like having a birthday or christmas 12 times a year lol.
Here are some pics I took from the October Boxychan Anime box.
Are you thinking about playing this game? If so please use my friend code (input it later after the tutorial at the “friend” screen). We’ll both get free stuff! <3 Use InviteCode: 82477180 read more
Title: Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka?!! (So I’m a zombie?!!)
Length:Â 22 Episodes
Genre: Comedy, Parody, Action, Romance, Harem
Overall: 28/35 80% Very Good Anime For Girls
Story: 9/10 Kore Wa Zombie is a fun series that pokes fun at both itself and several other anime tropes. For example, the main character becomes a magical girl who fights with a giant chainsaw while wearing a pink uniform and hairstyle very similar to Card Captor Sakura. He finds himself in the middle of a harem with a house full of beautiful, but strange other worldly girls, including a Necromancer, Magical Girl, Ninja, and more. One episode even parodies and pokes fun at the idol culture in Japan.
While all of that sounds silly (and it is pretty hilarious), the story is not without substance, feeling, and heart also. Namely, in the relationship between the main character and Necromancer who is responsible for turning him into a zombie (and thus saving his life). The Necromancer (almost) never speaks because she’s so powerful that her words become magical spells. Since she can’t control this, she isolates herself from others and writes her thoughts down instead of speaking. This causes her to be very sad and lonely which becomes a plot device later to strengthen the relationship between everyone in the house.
It is a little bit tongue and cheek and over the top at times, but that’s part of what makes it so much fun to watch.
Characters: 8/10 The characters, like the story itself, are over the top; this also makes them highly original. Although each one represents a common character trope, archetype, or stereotype, this is the only anime that asks “what would happen if you stick the characters from series like Bleach into Sailor Moon, or the characters from Inu-Yasha into Tenchi? Because it’s the only anime that has such extreme opposites for characters and blends characters from other worlds all into the apartment of one young (undead) highschool student.
Also, this series is not without a fair amount of character development and you do watch the characters and their relationships with one another evolve and grow throughout the series.
Art: 3/5 The art is kawaii (cute) and very distinctive. The animation is clean and it does have some nice special effects. The character designs are a bit awkward at times and almost reminiscent of the 90s with the very pointy chins and large eyes; however the characters also have a cute charm of their own. Backgrounds are colorful and detailed as well.
Voice Acting: 3/5 (I watched the original Japanese version with subtitles). I wasn’t blown away with the voice acting, but certainly can’t complain either. It can at times be as over dramatic and over the top as the characters and story itself, but that is the intention here.
Music: 5/5 Â It has a zany fast paced, loud, and in your face soundtrack with memorable opening and ending themes. It’s not always to my tastes or my style, but I can’t deduct points just for that. It seems rather fitting for an action harem comedy parody anime
