Slice of Life

Anime, Manga, Lovely Complex, Love Com, Love*Com, Shoujo, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Anime Couples, Anime Couple, Mismatched Couple, Mismatched Couples, Love, Romance, Relationships, Anime Relationships, Drama, Slice of Life, Highschool, Friendship, Anime Review, Anime Reviews, Anime Retro Review

Lovely Complex | LoveCom | Love*Com | Anime Review

Title: Lovely Complex (Also commonly referred to as Love*Com)

Release Date: 2007

Episodes: 24

Based on: Manga by Aya Nakahara – There’s also a live action movie but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re a die hard fan of this series – definitely read the manga or watch the anime first at least. The movie tries to fit 24 episodes into an hour or 2 hour format. It just doesn’t work. Too much has to be cut. It kinda just felt like watching a recap or highlight reel. There’s also a videogame but to my knowledge it has not been translated. The manga also has a sequel focusing on Risa’s little brother. read more

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Twelve Months Russian Folktale Anime

12 Months Anime Review

Title: Twelve Months

Studio: Toei

Release Date: 1978

This was a joint production with a Russian studio and is based on a Russian Fairy Tale. – The only one I could find online was dubbed in Russian and had English subtitles. There are also Japanese and English voiced versions. The Russian one is not terrible though since the anime is “Set in Russia” and the characters themselves are supposed to be Russian.

Story: 10/10 I enjoyed the story immensely despite the age of the film and having watched it in Russian language. I think it’s an under rated and obscure anime. It is older than me, and probably older than most of my readers. read more

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Only Yesterday Anime Review

Only Yesterday Anime Review

Title: Only Yesterday

Genre: Slice of Life, Romance

Release Date: 1991

Studio: Studio Ghibli

Overall: 23/35 66% D “Average Anime For Girls”

Story: 5/10 A young woman goes to spend a summer on her aunt’s farm. While helping out on the farm and around the house she is reminded of her childhood. She also meets a young man working on the farm and must reconcile her feelings of her childhood in order to become a woman.

The story is told through numerous flash backs that take place 17 years prior to the current events. The flashbacks are of other people, friends, family members, former romances, etc that she has encountered thus far in her life and how they’ve shaped her outlook on life and her experiences. read more

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Kodocha, Child's Toy, Anime, Review, Anime Review, 90s Anime, Retro Anime, Comedy Anime, Romance Anime, Family Anime, Slice of Life, Slice of Life Anime, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Comedy Anime, Elementary School, Middle School, School Girl, School Life, Child Star, Children Stars, Anime about making movies, Anime about acting, Anime about modeling, Anime Couple, Anime Relationship, Anime Couples, Anime Relationships, Funny Anime, Old Anime, Obscure Anime

Kodocha Child’s Toy Anime Review

Title: Kodocha

Alternate Title: Child’s Toy

Genre: Romantic Comedy / Slice of Life / Drama

StudioStudio Gallop, NAS

Length: 102 Episodes

Release Date: 1996

Based Upon: “Kodomo no Omocha” manga by Miho Obana

Where to Buy: Amazon.com/Kodocha.. – This is a pretty old and rare / obscure series. At time of writing, there’s only 2 copies of the Kodocha Season 1 DVD box set available – for about $45. I’d encourage you to snap them up now, rather than later, as it will become harder and harder to find as time goes on. The Season 2 Kodocha DVD boxset is even more rare, with only 1 copy for $135 at time of this review. read more

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Princess Maker, Princess Maker 2, Life Sim, Life Simulation, Raising Sim, Raising Simulation, Child Raising, Child Raising Simulator, Child Raising Simulation, Parenting Simulation, Dressup Game, Dressup Games, PC, PC Game, PC Gamers, PC Gamer, PC Gaming, Retro, Retro Game, Retro Gamers, Retro Gaming, Decisions Matter, Choices Matter, Dressup, Kawaii, Cute, Slice of Life, Sim, Sims, Simulation, Simulator, Sim Games, Sim Game, Simulation Game, Simulation Games, Anime, Anime Games, Review, Game Review, Sim Review, Retro Game Review, Multiple Endings, Branching Plot, Raise a Daughter, Games in which you raise a daughter, father and daughter, father and daughter relationships, fantasy

Princess Maker 2 Review | Retro PC Game | Simulation Game | Life Sim | Anime Game

IMPORTANT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN NOW LEGALLY BUY AND PLAY THIS GAME ON STEAM. RE-Released with new art work as “Princess Maker 2 Refine” You can grab the game, and learn more about the release on my news article here: Princess Maker 2 Refine Now Available in English on Steam for the PC.

Princess Maker 2 is part of the Princess Maker Franchise – Note – none of these games were ever released in English. Princess Maker 2’s translation was mostly complete – 99.99999% when their licensing agreement fell through and also the game met tough criticism (by American media and press outlets) from people that viewed it as too pedophiliac in nature despite there being absolutely no sex scenes in this game. The (western) world was just not ready for Princess Maker 2 (and may never be ready either). read more

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Sonicomi Communication English Preorders Begin. Game Release Date Scheduled for Summer 2016

Sonicomi Communication English Preorders Begin. Game Release Date Scheduled for Summer 2016

Sonicomi English Preorder is now live on JLIST. Up til now, the game has only been available in Asian regions. This new English release is the original Sonicomi Game from 2011 for the PC; however, JLIST has licensed the visuals from the much improved 2014 PS3 version.

Preorder Sonicomi Communication – and use Coupon Code: MOE-22Y-E8BNV5 to get 5% off!

Gameplay puts you in the role of a professional cameraman as you photograph a “Gravure Idol” (which loosely translates to Magazine Model), the busty, pink haired, Sonico. You get scores and combos for taking better photos. Outside of the photography element, you interact with the model in visual novel fashion. read more

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D4 Dark Dreams Don't Die Game Review

D4 Dark Dreams Don’t Die Game Review

Title: D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die

Genre: Sandbox Game with elements from Simulation Games, Dressup Games, Point n Click Games, Visual Novels, Adventure Games, and “TellTales Style” Games.

Developer: Access Games

Publisher: Microsoft Studios (Xbone) and Playism (PC)

Release Date: September 2014 (Xbone) June 2015 (PC)

Platforms: Xbone and PC

Where to Buy: If you’re lucky, the humble bundle sale may still be going on which includes the entire first season of D4 and a buncha other games for $10. You can check here to see what the weekly humble bundle currently is. Otherwise, you will need to purchase either a season pass, or buy the episodes individually (if that’s even possible everywhere I look appears to be selling “Season 1” for $14.99 (or less with steam holiday sale). You can check steam for the PC version here or Xbox Store for the Xbone version here. read more

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Graduation, Graduation 95, Mixx, Mixxzine, Mixx Entertainment, Tokyopop, Tokyo Pop, Windows 95, PC Game, Retro PC Game, Retro Game, Retro Gaming, Retro Game Review, PC Game Review, Simulation, Sim, Life Sim, Raising Sim, Life Simulator, Life Simulation, Teaching Simulation, Teaching Simulator, Stat Raiser, Raiser Sim, Stat Raiser Simulation, Stat Raising, Visual Novel, Dating Sim, Dating Simulator, Anime Game, Anime Games, Anime School, Game about School, Games about School, School Girls, School Girl

Graduation 95: Retro PC Game Review | JRPG | Anime | School Simulator

Title: Graduation 95

System: PC

Publisher: Mixx Entertainment

Genre: Simulation – Life Sim, School Sim, Dating Sim, Raising Sim, Stat Raising Sim

Where to Buy: Damned if I know. I spent a half hour just now trying to google it and came up empty. Maybe ebay? Although I just searched there and the only thing coming up is the Japanese import version. Glad I still have my English copy by Mixx Entertainment.

Geeky:

Sweetie:

Overall: 69 / 90 77% C+ “Good Game for Girls” read more

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Steambot Chronicles, RPG, JRPG, Cult Classic, Atlus, PS2, Playstation 2, Mecha, Steampunk, Arena Battles, Rhythm Game, Musical, Anime, Cel Shaded, Cel Shading, Dressup, Dressup Game, Interior Decorating, City Building, Cooking, Crafting, Playing a Musical Instrument, Singing, Band, Orchestra, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Dating Sim, Multiple endings, Good or Evil, Branching Plot, Illusion of Choice, Open World, Sandbox

Steambot Chronicles | Retro Game Review | JRPG | RPG | PS2 | Playstation 2

I hope everyone had an excellent holiday. Today I’m reviewing Steambot Chronicles for PS2. This is one of my favorite games because of the amount of things to do and see as well as the unique steam punk setting within the game.

Title: Steambot Chronicles

Publisher: Atlus

Platform: PS2

Release Date: 2006

Where to Buy: Amazon seems to be the only way to go (aside from ebay of course). The game was a commercial failure in north america, so not many copies exist; and it was before Atlus “struck gold” (and attainted a cult following) with games like Persona 3 and 4. There are currently 2 copies available on Amazon at time of this review for $90 – $120. You can keep checking back. Here is the page for the game on Amazon right here. Edit: Actually there appears to be 2 pages on Amazon; and this one has 11 copies of the game available; some for only $45 – You can check this page also for where to buy Steambot Chronicles on PS2. read more

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Nodame Cantabile Anime Review

Nodame Cantabile Anime Review

While sick last week, I marathoned my way through the first season of the anime version of Nodame Cantabile, a cute shoujo romantic-comedy anime about a young man (Chiaki) who wants to become a conductor. He encounters a girl who plays the piano with so much energy that it sounds as if she is singing. Her nickname is Nodame. Hence we get the title, Nodame Cantabile. A Cantabile is a musical term to describe instrumental music which emulates the sound of human voices singing. It literally means “to play (an instrument) as if singing”. read more

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Azure Dreams, Roguelike, Procedurally Generated, Anime, JRPG, RPG, Dungeon Crawler, Monster Taming, Monster Tower, Monster Tamer, Azure Dream, PS1, Playstation, Konami, Sony, Dating Sim, 90s, Retro, Retro Game, Retro Game Review, Videogame, Videogames, Games, Video Games, Video Game, Pokemon, City Building

Azure Dreams – RogueLike Dungeon Crawler with Dating Sim, City Building, and Pokemon Style Gameplay | Retro Game Review | Playstation | 90s | Cute Anime RPG

Title: Azure Dreams

Publisher: Konami

Release Date: 1997

Platforms: Playstation 1, and Gameboy Color. Note that the Gameboy Color version is widely different and not as good as the PS1 version, for example the Gameboy version removed all of the dating sim elements from the game. I really recommend playing the original PS1 version.

Where to Buy: Unfortunately it’s very old and hard to find, at time of this review there is one copy left on amazon, being sold for $150+ Keep your eyes on this page here: http://www.amazon.com/Azure-Dreams-Pc/dp/B00000DMAP  read more

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School Days HQ, School Days, Visual Novel, PC Game, Hentai Game, Adult Game, Hentai, Anime

School Days Visual Novel PC Game Review

I was asked by a reader that I met on crunchyroll’s forums today if I would please review the School Days visual novel, from which the popular yandere anime is based. I actually picked this game up a few months ago in Groupee’s Visual Novel 2 Bundle sale. And I’m glad I did.

Now before we go on, this is an adult game, or hentai game as they call it. I won’t be putting any adult screenshots or going into too much detail about these scenes. There is a lot of REAL story elements and it’s more than just all about sex, but you should know that there is still a fair amount of Hentai in this game. read more

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Sometimes Always Monsters Preview Sequel to Always Sometimes Monsters

Sometimes Always Monsters Preview Sequel to Always Sometimes Monsters

While trying to promote my recent review of Always Sometimes Monsters over here I came across exciting news on destructoid that a direct sequel is in the works titled Sometimes Always Monsters. As a little aside, that title drives me crazy. I always forget if the first game is titled Sometimes Always Monsters or Always Sometimes Monsters. The only way I can keep it straight now is by reminding myself that A is the “first” letter in the alphabet “Always” and S is the first letter of “Second” or “Sequel”. read more

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Always Sometimes Monsters Review

Always Sometimes Monsters Review

This game is one that you either love, or you hate. I love it; but there are a lot of people who give this game low and negative reviews. Your mileage may vary. It is not a happy sunshiney game. And since it is a visual novel, you’re not going to do much besides read, play a few mini games, and make some choices to reach a few different endings. It’s a very personal game, and you come to care a lot about the characters, which makes some (most) of the endings pretty gut-wrenching which enrages a lot of people. read more

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