Gree Animal Days was my all time favorite mobile game.

Be warned, before reading this review; the game was shut down several years ago.

There are lots of articles available online pointing to why the game failed. But largely, from what I read, the developers over promised and under estimated how difficult it would be to maintain their production schedules for new content and features which ultimately led to them shutting down the game as they could no longer maintain it.

There were not many games like Gree Animal Days at the time available in the android or IOS app stores. read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF

THE ART OF THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY

New Hardcover Art Book Edition Features Vivid Illustrations, Concept Sketches, And Interviews From The Beloved

Studio Ghibli Film

San Francisco, CA, February 15, 2018 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), a premier company in the fields of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing, expands its renowned Studio Ghibli library with the release of a new hardcover edition of THE ART OF THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY on March 6th. read more

Title: Pop in Q
Length: (approx) 1.5 hours, feature length film.
I hear there is a 2nd film in production as well that will finish telling the story. *hint: Keep watching after the credits of the first movie*
Genre: Shoujo, Magical Girl, Fantasy, Idol, Musical, Slice of Life, Drama
Studio: Toei Annimation
Release Date: December, 2016

Score Card:

Geeky 1/5 – There is a bit of action later in the film, also some nostalgia to anyone who grew up watching shows like Digimon. But largely, this is pure shoujo aimed at very young girls. Afterall the girls themselves are middleschool students in this film. read more

With the 2018 Winter Olympics well under way, I’ve been thinking a lot about games and anime (such as Yuri on Ice which I reviewed here) that showcases the dedication that a skater must possess. I remembered fondly an NDS game from “a few” years ago that I played that allowed you to take on the life of a professional skater, competing in various events, training, dating, and dealing with drama.

This game, as it turns out, was Imagine: Figure Skater for the Nintendo DS. The game first came out in 2008 (at least in North America), making it “retro” by my definition (I consider anything greater than 10 years old to be retro.)  I’m thinking about digging out my cartridge and playing it again this weekend. I’ve also been thinking about rewatching Yuri!! on Ice. read more

Here’s a scenario for you:

Your kid comes home from school and tells you at the last minute they need their uniform washed. Or your husband needs his suit for an important meeting, or your friends call and invite you out, but your favorite dress is dirty. You don’t have time to wait for a full load of laundry to finish. What do you do?

LG has the answer with its new LG Twin Wash and LG Sidekick System. 

The LG Twin Wash includes a full size front load washer and works with the LG SideKick smaller pedestal washing machine. You can now wash two loads of laundry at once. The large full size front loading washing machine is designed to tackle heavy loads, while the SideKick pedestal washer right beneath it can quickly handle those last minute “need it now” items. read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VIZ MEDIA AND ROSE CITY GAMES PARTNER TO LAUNCH A NEW PUBLISHING PROGRAM FOR INDEPENDENT VIDEO GAMES

The First Original Game To Be Published Is The World Next Door

Portland, OR, and San Francisco, CA, February 6, 2018 – Rose City Games and VIZ Media announce a partnership to debut original, narrative-driven games. VIZ Media, publisher of popular gaming adaptations for POKÉMON, SPLATOON, THE LEGEND OF ZELDA, HOMESTUCK, MONSTER HUNTER and more, will deepen its robust connection to the gaming world. Rose City Games, a leader in the rapidly-developing indie game scene, will introduce new and diverse voices from the world of indie games to the massive pop culture audience VIZ Media has cultivated since its founding. read more

I received volume 1 of Takane & Hana from Viz for free to review here on my blog.

Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Note: This review may contain spoilers for volume 1 of the manga.

Title: Takane & Hana

Mangaka: Yuki Shiwasu

Licensed: Viz

Release Date:  Dec 20, 2014 – Ongoing (Japan), February 6th, 2018 – Ongoing (USA)

Length: 9 volumes (and ongoing) (in Japan) Viz will be releasing volumes bimonthly.

Genre: Shoujo, Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy

Geeky: 2/5 – No action, but a good dose of comedy could make this one appeal to geeks of any gender. read more

Title: Windaria

Alternative Title: Once Upon a Time

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Action, Adventure

Release Date: 1986 (Japan initial release), 1992 (US, (VHS) first US release), 2004 (US re-release (DVD) with title change)

Where to Watch: I don’t support piracy here, but as a heads up, ALL of the “US Releases” of this film are very severely edited. And YES, that includes even the subtitled versions! I highly recommend that you watch the original Japanese version at least once before passing judgement on this beautiful movie. Of course, I grew up with the VHS in the 90s, and I STILL loved even the heavily edited dubbed version of the film way back then. Last year, I finally got the chance to watch the original Japanese version. A lot of content was cut from the English version, including significant amounts of story content. They change the order of certain scenes, remove most of the violence (and drugs and sex) and have completely re-written the script of the original film to better suit an American audience (where cartoons were (and still are) primarily intended for children). Also all of the music is different in both versions, although it’s very good in both versions as well. Still the overall theme and plot and moral of this heart breaking anime remains the same in both versions. That’s why I really recommend you to try to watch the original film – and then still go ahead and buy the English DVD or VHS to support the creators :). I’m not going to tell you where to find the original online, but you can find it if you look. And then you can purchase the Windaria North American DVD here. read more

I’m testing a new plugin that will let me more easily share app recommendations with my readers. The first app I’m going to recommend is Princess Closet by Ciagram. It is an otome game available in both the IOS and Google app stores.

What I like about Princess Closet is that you don’t have to spend real money on cash shop items to reach the good ending. You can also read a few stories each day for free, making it possible to play the game without having to invest any money.

Read the full description and see screenshots below. This info was taken from QooApp. But this app can also be downloaded via the Google Play and IOS stores without using Qoo App. read more

Title: Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix

Platform: PS4 (note this release combines various Kingdom Hearts games originally found on the PS2, GBA, Nintendo DS and 3DS)

Genre: Action Roleplaying Game ARPG

Publisher: Disney + Squarenix

Where to Buy: $49.99 on Amazon (at time of this writing)

Overall: 68/80 85% B “Very Good Game for Girls”

Geeky: 3/5 The games have fun gameplay, good graphics for the age of the games, and a great soundtrack. However, the Disney segments can be a bit too kiddie for some more serious gamers, and although the entire series is about the juxtaposition of light and dark, the light hearted disney characters can sometimes take away from immersing yourself in the deeper darker story of Sora and his friends. read more

Bushiroad is bringing us yet another great anime rhythm game.

From the creators of Love Live School Idol Festival, and hot on the heels of the recent announcement of Klab’s English localization of Utapri Utano Princesama Shining Live, Bushiroads has recently announced plans to localize BanG Dream Girls Band Party.

More details can be found on the official website at https://bang-dream-gbp-en.bushiroad.com/

Not only are we getting the mobile game, but also English versions of the Weib Schwarz card decks: read more

Rakuten Viki Joins Forces with Twitter for the 13th Annual Soompi Awards as Voting Opens

Big Hit Entertainment’s BTS and Globally Acclaimed Series ‘While You Were Sleeping,’ and ‘Goblin’ Lead Nominees from Korean Television and Music

SAN FRANCISCO – January 24, 2018 – Soompi (@Soompi), a division of Rakuten Viki and the leading source for Korean pop culture news and fandom, today announced the nominations for the 13^th Annual Soompi Awards, a yearly celebration of the best and brightest television and music that emerged from Korean entertainment this past year. This year’s Awards will also mark the first collaboration with Twitter, which will include both the highly popular #TwitterBestFandom Award and the first-ever Twitter emojis tied to Awards-related hashtags during the voting period from 23 January to 20 February 2018 PST. read more

“Utano☆Princesama Shining Live”

Released Worldwide!

KLab Inc.

(TSE1: 3656)

Tokyo, Japan – January 24, 2018 – KLab Inc., a leader in online mobile games, together with BROCCOLI Co., Ltd., released the smartphone rhythm game Utano☆Princesama Shining Live worldwide on Wednesday, January 24 (UTC+9). The game is now available for download in the App Store® and Google Play™ in over 136 countries and regions around the globe.* The global version of the game has been fully localized into English and Traditional Chinese. read more

I did a lot of research for this list. So the 40 2018 PS4 Games below are not ranked in any particular order.

If I had to pick a few favorites it’d be Detroit Become Human, Kingdom Hearts 3, Shenmue 3, Stein’s Gate Elite, Atelier Lydie & Suelle, Yakuza 6, Your Four Knights Princess Training Story, Shining Resonance Refrain, A Way Out, FF7, and Ni No Kuni 2.

This is not a full release list for the PS4 in 2018, but instead a collection of games I thought would appeal to other gamers such as myself based either on story, anime graphics, cuteness, or gameplay mechanics. read more