「Book Review」Shirobako White Summer! Official Compilation

「Book Review」Shirobako White Summer! Official Compilation

Friday, August 25, 2017 / No Comments

If it isn't known yet, I went on a trip to Japan in August (right smack in the typhoon period) and despite coming back with my usual haul of anime items, I also visited a ton of interesting places such as parks and museums. I do have plans on reviewing the latter sometime soon because of the huge impact each museum left on me.

However, I decided that the most interesting and efficient way to comment about what I experienced in Japan this time is to start with my spoils. Unlike my previous trip, this one is much more print-orientated -- which means that I bought a ton more books than figures... and I figured, why not start with Shirobako?

Shirobako is one of my favorite series in animeverse thus far and this book is quite different from what I am used to (official visual artbook) to something more fan-based (collection of art from fan artist). Perhaps it is due to the announcement of 1/8 Alter scale of Miyamori Aoi that rekindled my love for this series and resulted in me purchasing this book!

I would like to think that the book is not 100% doujin as I see a few insert art that resembles the official art to an uncanny extent. One such example is the cover of the book itself.

But of course, the first page into the book, we are reminded once again that this isn't the type of artbook I am usually used to. We see the numerous number of fan artists listed out on this page. If you see any artist's name you recognize here, good for you!

As usual, I would not be taking a photo of every page as that is not the aim of this review. I would be taking a few shots of the fanart I personally find better and hopefully that can help you gauge your level of desire for this book!

The reason why I review books in this way is because... obviously I am the kind that doesn't like to make purchases without knowing exactly what are the different sections in a book, so I hope that reviews like this will help those who have the same problem as myself, to come to a decision~

Of course, the main part of the book showcases our five little cute main characters and I particularly love the art-styles in the above two images. The featured characters have this cutesy yet elegant and mature edge to them. I would also like to point out the crisp line art and how the shading is spot on and creates the perfect illusion of depth.

In addition, the book also ends with a short comic where you get to see out cute heroines (once again) in yukata, a type of summer kimono. This ties in perfectly with the current season in Japan and I hope the five of them are enjoying themselves at a summer festival!

And as all books featuring mainly female characters, we have some explicitly fan-service pages such as this content page at the end of the book which focuses on the chests of the girls. Note that these are actual illustrations included in the book and if you like any of them (as weird as that sounds), you can check out the corresponding illustration at the mentioned pages.

Some of the "better appreciated" art pieces, if I may call them that, are also featured after the content page to give the artists more fan-exposure. I love the colors in this art piece, especially the vibrant fireworks visible through the window. The only gripe about this illustration is that the body is extremely disproportionate, where Ema's head seems to be too huge for her body.

And last but not the least, we have a comment page by all the different artists who contributed to this book and made it a reality. Most of them have their names (and links) listed, so if you end up liking one of the illustrations, do make sure to check the artists' profile out and show your support!

~ Reina-rin

Making the Most Out of Tokyo

Making the Most Out of Tokyo

Wednesday, August 23, 2017 / No Comments

Although I've only been to Japan twice, and with both times being spent entirely in Tokyo at that, I already understand why my friends and family make the trip to the Land of the Rising Sun year after year. Each season has its own charm, from the fireworks and festivals in Summer to the holiday buzz and rainbow-coloured illuminations lighting up the streets in Winter. I've enjoyed both Summer and Fall in Tokyo and I'm currently planning another vacation during Winter next year. I hope the following tips will help you make the most out of your time in Japan's capital, no matter the season.

1. Get lost, no seriously, get lost

Unless you're desperately looking for a specific shop, restaurant or landmark, I highly encourage you to plan your itinerary according to the districts and just walk around the area once you hop off at the appropriate train station. You never know what hidden gems you might unearth and if you're worried about getting lost, I can guarantee that there's an entrance to a train station within five minutes of wherever you are. Personally, I found a dozen izakayas, wine bars and restaurants when I was initially looking for a pub that specialised in craft beer. And yes, I did end up at one of these establishments instead of that craft beer place, although I hope to try out its wide selection some day.

2. Try the arcades...or not

I've waxed lyrical about the arcades in Tokyo in a previous piece so you would've seen this tip coming from a mile away. There's something for everyone in these expansive game centers, be it the addictive UFO Catchers filled with merchandise featuring characters from various anime titles and games to old school bullet hell and fighting games like Street Fighter II. My friends and I threw caution into the wind whenever we entered an arcade, with the UFO Catcher and its tempting goodies robbing us of our precious yen time and again.

3. Get a Pasmo/Suica card

A Pasmo or Suica card will be your best friend throughout the entire duration of your time in Tokyo. It's the Japanese version of our very own Ez-Link card and in case you're wondering, your Pasmo or Suica can be used for much more than just paying for the subway or bus. From a can of coffee at a vending machine to a bowl of ramen at a restaurant, there are an increasing number of merchants accepting the re-loadable cards as an alternate form of payment. The cards will come in handy when you least expect them to, and do you really want to go through the hassle of buying a ticket every time you take the train or bus?

4. Stick with public transport as much as possible

On that note, you'd want to stick with public transport as much as possible, unless you plan to stay out past 12am. Taxis are too expensive and I didn't even bother to open the Uber app to check how much a private hire car would cost. Like I mentioned above, there will be a train station within walking distance from wherever you are, given how many lines there are in Tokyo's subway system. Enter HyperDia. The trip planner a godsend, especially if you can't be bothered to scrutinise the Tokyo Metro map for minutes on end. Just key in your current train station along with your destination and the website or app does the rest, much like Singapore's Gothere.sg.

5. Cash is best

From what I've experienced, cash is still king in Japan, even in cosmopolitan Tokyo. Forget about relying on your credit card exclusively and head to the money changer with extra cash in hand instead. Additionally, prepare a separate coin pouch because there are six denominations and they'll definitely start piling up before you know it. You wouldn't want to be that guy holding up everyone else in the queue as you attempt to differentiate between a 10 yen coin and a 100 yen coin, right?

6. Have fun!

Perhaps the most cliche and overused tip but it's the one I believe many people forget when they travel. You don't need to tick everything off your itinerary and you definitely don't have to buy unique souvenirs from every district for all your friends and family. Fortunately, there's something for everyone in Tokyo, whether you're a fan of Japanese culture, huge otaku, cafe enthusiast or shopaholic. It's a break from work or school after all so let loose and enjoy!

Written by ET

A Letter To Tomoko Yua - Coffee Genie

A Letter To Tomoko Yua - Coffee Genie

Sunday, August 20, 2017 / No Comments

Dear Genie,

Abracadabra! Hocus Pocus! Open Sesame (?)...my apologies, I have no idea what I am doing here, though there is word that a certain genie has been appearing out of coffee cups around different coffee houses recently, and I am somewhat intrigued by that. While I am not sure how I would react if something like you ever appeared from my coffee, I hope it isn't anything that would send me to the emergency ward. But then, do you grant three wishes? Sorry for being blunt though! 

Do you only appear out of cappuccinos? I don't dislike cappuccino, but I am more of a latte person. Even that is easily taken over by something else also known as my terrible weakness. You see, I am a complete gone case against anything with matcha. Do you do matcha? I mean, tea isn't awful...in fact, it is way healthier! Anyway, for a genie or non-human, you look way too fantastic I must say. 1961...that makes you the oldest presence around here. Just curious, are you older than Godzilla?

Do genies have past lives? Oddly, you don't remind me of anybody Japanese. You look like you had lived inside a jungle or something. Pardon that remark though! I mean, you could pass off as a tribal woman. Maybe Tarzan would fancy you! Oh, I don't think he takes coffee. Snake soup with a side of bananas I think? Anyway, I am sure your blessings to all coffee lovers would continue to intrigue the world out there! I hope to see you someday as well! Meanwhile, stay genki!

Eccentrically Yours.

Written by J.Fluffysheep ♪

「Mobage」Ikemen Sengoku

「Mobage」Ikemen Sengoku

Saturday, August 19, 2017 / No Comments

The main storyline of this game follows our cute little talented heroine who just landed her dream job as a fashion designer and was on a holiday in Kyoto before she starts work. One stormy night when she was visiting tourist spots in the area, she chanced upon a man in a lab coat at the monument of Honnou-ji, the castle where Oda Nobunaga was betrayed and committed suicide. At that moment, lightning stuck the monument and the two were thrust back in time to 500 years ago.

The heroine meets Nobunaga in the fire and manages to save him, thus changing history. Nobunaga then labels her as his "lucky charm" and demands for his troops to bring her back to his castle. Along the way she meets both his allies and enemies, which are also coincidentally the heroine's other choices), as well as the guy in the lab coat. The latter arrived 4 months prior to the heroine and has settled into the warring period well by taking up the name "Sasuke" who was a fictional ninja, to prevent changing history.

It is then that the heroine finds out that history has already been changed due to the presence of people like Takeda Shingen in this timeline, when they were supposed to be long dead. Still adamant on returning to the present, she then plans with Sasuke to be in Kyoto three months later, when a wormhole will open again and return the two to the present.

However, for the three months that the heroine has to remain in the castle as chatelaine... can she resist falling in love with the Ikemen?

First off, let's just put it out there that this is an Otome game (a visual novel for girls where they "date" guys) and is quite distinct from the anime which does not feature a heroine.

Next, let's talk about how PC and handheld control Otome games differ from mobile Otome games such as Ikemen Sengoku. For the former, you purchase the full game and play it from start to end at your own time and target. For the latter, you usually have to use chapter tickets to unlock the stories, which means that you will have a limited number of chapters parts you can read per day. In Ikemen Sengoku's case, this is rather slow--5 tickets per day, which means that you need 2 days to clear one full chapter (10 parts each).

If you are thinking that's very slow, I agree with you. In addition, it has a dramatic ending, romantic ending and an epilogue, which all adds up to making progression on the main story itself to be very, very slow. But hey, they make up for it!

How?

Through side stories. Ikemen Sengoku has an event as well as 2 gacha systems where you can get voiced side stories which will be archived into your "memories" so you can listen to them again anytime, any day.

Castle Gacha (similar to friend point gacha) would give voiced cards and decoration items for your castle (so you can have a beautiful love nest for you and your lover, apparently). 

Fashion gacha (with gems) will give both of the above as well as attire (for aesthetics and "beauty" stats).

Who would say no to kimono, right?!

And most importantly, most of the gacha in Ikemen Sengoku has no doubles. So if you roll enough (not that it costs much to roll >_>), you will eventually get every single goodie in the gacha.

Secondly, Ikemen Sengoku also lets you increase "Grace" stats via Princess Lessons (a PVP system, stamina bar refills every 5 hours) and by clearing the lesson with excellent bonus, you will gain gacha points too. Again, it's a pretty slow system for gaining gacha points this way (unless you have luck to get the bonus all the time), but you can get gacha points from login or through paying too. In comparison, gems are given only through login and paying.

But the main draw of the game is not just through these features but the heroine. The heroine isn't a pushover like those in many other games (I'm looking at you diabolik lovers!) and that is extremely pleasing for someone who enjoys playing Otome games to find one that steps out of the mold of spineless heroines and having something more unique.

As of now there are only three main routes (Oda Nobunaga, Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura) but more are to follow (Takeda Shingen, Tokugawa Ieyasu, etc.)

Choose your favorite guy and let's play the game together!

Currently, I'm on Date Masamune's route =w=)b

Written by Reina

「Mobage」Princess Principal (Puripuri): Game of Mission

「Mobage」Princess Principal (Puripuri): Game of Mission

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I think that it's rare for an anime airing in the season it gets a game in and perhaps this suggests that Princess Principal is popular enough for this. Surely, based on the anime, it has a mysterious feel about it that just drags the viewer into the atmosphere and winds up wanting to know more about the franchise. Perhaps it is this part of it that makes it interesting!

This new mobage is called Princess Principal Game of Mission, and as the name suggests, it is a game where you (as a player) go on mission alongside the main cast and more.

The main gameplay for the game is largely fixated on puzzles, where you match a number of same-color orbs to move in the map. As seen in the image above, enemies will be placed around the map and when you move within range of the enemy during your turn, you will be able to attack them.

Matching same color orbs will get other team members to lend their help during attacking in that turn, as well as help to charge the gauge of your team and when the gauge is full, you can then unleash their respective skills.

Player-wise, you can choose between male and female and you can change this later in the game as well. In addition, you will be seeing your character moving on the puzzle board so be sure to choose a gender that sits well with you.

I would also like to add that the animation for the scouting is quite nice to watch but it appears for even single-scouting which may make it too long and repetitive at times. However, just like most gacha games, scouting 10-times guarantees at least 1 5-star card (SR), but for the first scouting round, there is a 6-star of every main girl featured in the anime.

But it's such time when you get a whole bunch of SR but no SSR that you wonder if your luck is okay or is it sheer crap.

Well, at least... even the Rares look magical~

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「Mobage」Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero: Hanayui no Kirameki

「Mobage」Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero: Hanayui no Kirameki

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Hanayui no Kirameki, otherwise known as Sparkling Flower, is a mobile game for Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru franchise. It brings together the 3 different timelines, presented in 3 different series of novels (Yuyuyu, Wasuyu and Nowayu) as well as a mobage-only group (with Shiratori, who we saw glimpses of in Nowayu but never had a series of novels for the group).

Hanayui boosts a large cast size, but not big enough to create problems, especially if you are a fan of the franchise or have at least watched the anime. The game itself is rather RPG based and you get the fun of solo-player events, but still interacting with your friends through borrowing their main girls as "helpers" during battles.

Each stage is ranked up to three stars via 3 aims: clearing the stage, completing it within the designated timer, and completing the stage with no character dying. You will gain the reward based on how many stars you obtain per clear, and not based on what goal you clear. That is, if you clear 2 of the goals at any one time, you will not be able to get the third reward unless you clear all 3 at any one time.

Each stage consists of X number of enemies you have to kill and when the counter falls to zero, the boss will spawn. Hence it is crucial to increase the "critical" status of the characters as each critical attack on an enemy will take 2 enemies off the counter instead of 1. Attack pace is also another way to improve speed of killing.

The game also runs a lot on attributes (blue--> red --> green --> blue; purple --> yellow --> purple). Using a "stronger" attribute such as blue hero against red enemy would enable you to deal twice damage while getting your damage halved.

In addition to that, specific girls have chapter bonuses and setting your teams with this characters as the leader pair will then activate these bonuses. In the case of the image above, setting Tougou and Yuuna together (no matter in what order) will give EXP up and 12% increase in attack pace for normal stages and 25% increase in attack pace for hard stages.

At the instance of the screenshot, expert stages were not released yet but now expert stages are also in-game and are proving a challenge to clear.

Your teams are constructed with a maximum of 6 girls. There are some rules to this, whereby unique characters are to be placed on the front row and in pairs. That is, I am unable to have 2 Yuuki Yuuna in the front row or use her in the same pair, but I can put 2 more Yuuna cards behind my other 2 pairs.

The pair color will follow the color attribute of the girl in the front row, and the stats of the girl behind will contribute to the pair. Faeries are also added to the pair to boost stats and reap some in-battle benefits.

To help farm for items, the game also has daily stages which you can grind for coins (used for literally anything in the game) as well as crystals for awakening.

Awakening requires materials and coins that scales as you awaken them more. SRs can awaken a total of 3 times (max at level 70) while SSRs can awaken a total of 4 times (max at level 99).

There are 2 kinds of scouting in this game (with gems/Shinju blessings) and with friend points. You can get 50 friend points for using a friend as a "helper" and 20 friend points otherwise. 

Scouting with Shinju blessings gives characters (60 per day for paid blessings, 250 per pull or 2300 for 10-pull), and scouting with friend points gives both faeries and characters. Do note that while scouting 10-pull with Shinju Blessings gives at least 1 guaranteed SR, scouting with friend points do not guarantee anything and getting all Ns are not out of the ordinary.

Getting doubles of character cards in this game is rather good as it increases their stats and gives more faeries. Getting more of the same faerie means you get to upgrade them and that will boost their usefulness. In addition, many players especially make use of the boost in character stats by grinding for drops during events.

If you are intrigued by this game, I'd say why not give it a try?

Written by Reina