I am sick of Aoi Nishimata’s character designs – Please spice up your character designs

Honestly, her designs are copies of each other. Don’t get me wrong. They’re okay sometimes for example, I didn’t mind them at all in SHUFFLE! I loved the designs in SHUFFLE! which is what attracted me to the game in the first place! This was probably due to the fact SHUFFLE! was a joint effort between her and Hiro Suzuhira, but now that Hiro Suzuhira is gone, Navel is just bringing out games with characters that have the same face and body type but different clothes. I am not attracted to their games at all anymore because there is no variety between the characters at all in terms of appearance. Now that I think about it, I only like the characters Hiro Suzuhira designed to begin with which, according to wikipedia, are Nerine and Asa-senpai.

Sure, I love the character designs by Mitsumi Misato, Bekkankou, and Noizi Ito. They’re my three favorite character designers I could say off the top of my head. They design characters that are all practically the same in one way or another, but at least there is some kind of variation that makes things tolerable and don’t leave me feeling like I am seeing the same damn character just dressed in a different set of clothes.

Mitsumi Misato

Bekkankou

Noizi Ito

Aoi Nishimata’s designs are just annoying. If you liked one character designed by her you probably like them all. Granted, maybe personality of the character is also a big factor in distinguishing them. I will say that some of Aoi Nishimata’s non game CG work is good and you can tell the difference between characters half of the time. So, I think my main beef is how her designs are presented in CG form.

New Idolm@ster SP details on the PSP

In the January issue of Dengeki G’s there is a small article showing some new additions to the PSP version of Idolm@ster, the popular idol raising simulation game. Now apparently you can do things like meet in real time which give slight boosts in trust, stats and what not. Like, you can set what time and date you would like to meet with your idol for practice. Although, if you forgot stats go down. This is supposed to help people who are busy and can’t play a whole lot.

Also, there is a mode where you can actually have goals now while you play like, “I want to make an A rank idol.” Also, from the screen shot there must be varying levels of difficult tasks since there is easy, normal and hard tabs. I wonder if they unlock new clothes and what not?

It says something about you can choose the appearance of who you want in a 3 person group out of the 9 girls, I think? I don’t know how that is new because I already read something previously that you can mismatch girls from the other games even if they aren’t all in the same games, which is great. I was actually wondering this because I knew they were releasing 3 games but it just seemed lame if you could only make groups out of the girls in the game you’re playing. Maybe that is why it is only a line of text and not much detail is given since it is older news?

Also, there seems to be two modes of play. The regular story mode and a free mode. I’m interested to see what this free mode is like. It says it is similar to the XBOX 360. During the year of play you can freely produce. You are the head behind the produce aim settings. So, I wonder if this is like a sandbox kind of mode or is tied in with the ability to choose what kind of goals you want to have?

Some of this stuff sounds pretty cool, and at least they’re making an effort to not make it just like a normal port of the XBOX 360 version but just portable. I guess it really wasn’t from the beginning since they added rivals. Looking forward to this. Finally! My PSP won’t be so useless.

10 Ways to achieve pride and confidence and still be otaku

The semester is almost over here in Japan and lately I have been having mixed feelings about my hobbies. I mean, I love anime, manga, games and all that jazz. It is quite exciting to be a part of a culture that is so counter culture in Japan. I’m happy and proud that I like such hobbies. It is just all the other people that are bringing me down because otaku look like bald, fat, unstylish losers from my observations. If otaku could only realize all the power they have as a counter culture movement maybe they wouldn’t be so miserable all the time.

I have devised a list of things that might help one to gain pride and confidence in themselves but still remain an otaku. You can follow it in no particular order. I actually came to such realizations in my list before coming to Japan but dropped them because there was no way to achieve them in a foreign country on my own, or so I thought.

I <3 Naruse Mia

Um, yes so I now like a particular voice actress, Naruse Mia, who does the voice of Mia Clementis from Yoakena. Of course she does eroge and I want to find every game she has done a voice in and see if the character is appealing enough for me to want to check out. I am not very sure why I didn’t try this sooner because most voice actors tend to play similar roles they are good at. Her voice is just so, so, MOE! Just from browsing around her voice is actually quite versatile. Hell, she does the voice of two characters in this one game.

PC

2000年

* ぎゃるゲッチュウ!! （相田由美）
* 二重影（紗枝、香淡）
* Liberal（鹿島 樹）
* 戦術傭兵師団ブレイブブレイド（ハーミス=フィール）

2001年

* ごめんなさい…アタシのせいで（哀沢涙）
* 二重箱（紗枝）
* 女神さま☆にお願いっ!! （保険医榊先生、ジェニファー）
* こんなアタシでも…（葉川有香）
* アメリカンセクシーチャンネル3（睦月、他）
* ForkTrain（愛原菜々美、愛原亜由美）

2002年

* AQUA BLUE（加藤なごみ）
* なないろ 恋の天気予報（藍沢七瀬）
* こんな魔法少女…アタシはレミィ（ラモーヌ）
* KISS×200 〜とある分校の話〜（吹雪みぞれ）
* GeNOME（ジーナス・チュアート）
* VGR´（羽田野恵子）

2003年

* モエかん（リニア）
* PIZZICATO POLKA 〜彗星幻夜〜（ミリアム・ユーリ）
* ている・ている（志乃）
* 紅（嵯峨野沙希）
* 通勤快楽2 〜痴漢でGO!GO!〜（有栖川希美）
* 華夏楼（月島霞）
* よりしろ（スーラン）
* ちょこれーとDays（岬風花）
* ぱすてるキッチン（沢田香夜）
* Natural Another One（湖川水緒）
* 我家に魔女がやって来た!（リン・ネージュ）
* DOUBLE RONDE（今村京子）
* Moon Light Renewal 〜おもいでのはじまり〜（牧原綾子）
* この空がついえる瞬間に（姫谷瀬名）
* MIND REAPER（森下樹里）
* 斬魔大聖デモンベイン（エンネア）
* 妹☆妹(まい☆しすたぁ) 〜SweetGemini〜（美也）

2004年

* 最終試験くじら（榛原胡桃）
* ちびママ（きいろ）
* やきもちツインベル（常葉広海、広華）
* 巫女舞 〜ただ一つの願い〜（風見久音、ナギ）
* あの空の向こう側（一ノ瀬美沙）
* こんねこ（川原訪花）
* 聖痕 〜牙と贄と狂喜の館〜（カルティエ）
* Sixty-Nine2（ルシーダ、他）
* 友達以上恋人未満（八尾日向）
* boin（筑紫野みつぐ）
* Clover Heart’s 〜looking for happiness〜（桃瀬愛理）
* まじかる☆QUINTET!（百蘭）
* こいじばし（紺野乃ノ香）
* はるのあしおと（緑川あかり）
* AngelEgg（新井ちはる）
* PIZZICATO POLKA〜縁鎖現夜〜（ミリアム・ユーリ）
* エンジェル・メイド（天川和音）
* モエカす（リニア、朝霧一紗、アリスサード、他）
* ポチタマ（ポチ）
* オレンジポケット（七緒美典）
* おねーさん DAY☆BY☆DAY! （大文字にあ）
* 水泳教室（マミュウ）
* 黒百合の館（霧瑞そのか）
* 魔女っこde’GO♪GO♪（魔女っ子クル、春風くるみ）
* Happy Planning 〜しあわせの総和〜（多田敦子）
* くれいどるそんぐ 〜昨日に奏でる明日の唄〜（メティス・ゼウ・ジュピス）
* Reverse Desire 〜裏返る欲望〜（秋津詩乃）
* ハーレムDAYS（かな）
* 女教師恥辱の旋律（島本香澄）
* UnderGround 〜地下室で泣く子羊たち〜（鈴木香澄）
* きずセデュ復刻版（藤野愛美）

2005年

* しょうよん! コドモ☆ちゃれんじ （湊夏緒）
* 最終試験くじら〜Departures〜（榛原胡桃）
* FESTA!! -HYPER GIRLS POP-（響紗南絵）
* 偲笛恋華（御神 和琴）
* 姉汁 〜白川三姉妹におまかせ〜（白川悠）
* はじめてのおてつだい（桃野いつき）
* はぴねす! （柊杏璃、タマちゃん）
* 夜明け前より瑠璃色な（ミア・クレメンティス）
* 巫女舞 〜永遠の想い〜（風見久音、ナギ）
* 痴漢者トーマスII（尾積知菜）
* えろぼーん （安藤ルリ）
* ぷちぷち・ご奉仕（瀬戸瑞穂）
* _summer（七緒日向子）
* あやつりブルマー（筒井さやか）
* すぱっちゅ! 〜如何に私がはきものを愛するようになったのか〜（御嶋志麻）
* ダイブボカン 〜おしおきだガメ〜（水上サクラ）
* 学園処女狩り（沢口愛）
* 灯穂奇譚（加茂カナタ）
* 輪舞曲 〜ぷにゅぷり女子校編〜（制服娘）
* お嬢様組曲（一ノ瀬舞鈴、岩本綾瀬、他）
* 魔界天使ジブリール -episode2-（ロコ・コ）
* ぱんちょ DE ブラボー!（蛍）
* ジオグラマトン（イーディス＝レモン）
* ラストストーリーはあなたへ（遊女、泉の精霊、他）
* にじいろキャンバス（白川みずき）
* しろクロ 〜白いこころと黒いツルギ〜（鈴音）
* STAMP OUT（島田陽菜）

2006年

* 保健室へようこそ（雫石未来）
* 少女戦機ソウルイーター（秋嶋媛子）
* 故郷の詩（サンポール、パレット）
* 幼なじみとの暮らし方（南菜々美）
* おしえて Re:メイド（マコ&ミコ）
* はぴねす!りらっくす（柊杏璃、タマちゃん）
* ぶり〜ど! Breed-island.（ユイ）
* H2O -FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND-（音羽）
* 姫さま凛々しく!（シャーファ）
* 保健室 〜マジカルピュアレッスン♪〜（雫石未来）
* 青空の見える丘（西村小夏）
* おねすく! 〜おねえさんすくらんぶる〜（野木坂純香）
* 偲笛恋華 -しのぶえれんか-（御神和琴）
* スクールぱにっく!（鳥羽乃空）
* 春恋*乙女 〜乙女の園でごきげんよう。〜（御子柴夏子、有瀬悠季）
* Imitation Lover（園村円香）
* まじかるティーチャー先生は魔女?（春日井菜月）
* 機神飛翔デモンベイン（エンネア）
* きすみみ!!〜Kiss! Me! Me!〜（虎瀬みみみ）
* Circus Disk 〜Christmas Days〜（榛原胡桃）
* おたく☆まっしぐら（櫛田綺羅）

2007年

* MagusTale 〜世界樹と恋する魔法使い〜（レナ・ジェミニス）
* 詩篇69 〜深淵のメサイア〜（ウルリカ・エク、イヴリス）
* ツイ☆てる（河井海）
* ALICE♥ぱれーど 〜二人のアリスと不思議の乙女たち〜（エムドリ、ルージュ13）
* カタハネ（ココ）
* 人工少女3（C型）
* 夏めろ（中里美夏）
* 月光のカルネヴァーレ（ノエル）
* リゾートBOIN（筑紫野みつぐ）
* ひとゆめ（秦聖果）
* E×E（八坂紫織）
* メイドと魔術師（ラピスラズリ）
* ぷる萌えンジェル アイドルあいこ（沖菜あいこ）
* リリカル♪りりっく（浅倉七音）
* 任侠華乙女（大塩菜摘）
* ツナガル★バングル（特別出演・津宮奏ほか）
* Aster（小田巻雛、桜庭渚帆）
* FairChild -フェアチャイルド-（藍沢とばり）
* はっぴぃ☆マーガレット!（北乃路希）
* √after and another（音羽、八雲雪路）
* ぱすてる（草薙雪乃）
* ピアノの森の満開の下(猫)
* 萌え萌え2次大戦(略)（てんざん、シン）
* らいでぃんぐいんきゅばす（キ・シキル・リル・ラ・ケ）
* ドラクリウス（高柳操）
* でるた〜おねだり天使とひとつ屋根の下〜（乃々華）
* 魔法戦士シンフォニックナイツ（甘樹菜々芭（シンフォニックシュガー））
* おいしい魔法のとなえかた。（アリア・ルー・ガーネット）

2008年

* X Change Alternative2（藤美美音）
* 学園☆新選組! 〜乙女ゴコロと局中法度〜（藤堂芹栖、桂心）
* 残暑お見舞い申し上げます。〜君と過ごしたあの日と今と〜（温井梗子）
* 暁の護衛（神埼萌）
* 魔法の少女シルキーリップ（リメラ）
* まじかるプリンス（柳田千歳）
* 夏空カナタ（三好由比子）
* D.C. Girl’s Symphony 〜ダ・カーポ〜 ガールズシンフォニー（成川大瀬、成川悠）
* どこでもすきしていつでもすきして（小西冬桜）
* MagusTale Infinity（レナ・ジェミニス）
* ツナバン▽らぶみくす（津宮奏）
* Volume7（道明寺さくら）
* 音速飛翔ソニックメルセデス 〜双子ヒロイン調教指令!〜（白峰メルセデス（ソニックメルセデス））
* 魔法戦士レムティアナイツ（甘樹菜々芭（シンフォニックシュガー））
* 孕ませて青龍君! 〜仁義なき女の闘い〜（玄武北海）
* ENGAGE LINKS（マリナ＝リル＝ヴィオリア）
* 冬のロンド（グレース・ルミアウラ）
* ××な彼女のつくりかた ハプニング（壱河弥生）

Let the searching begin! I love you too Japanese wikipedia.

Characters that influenced what I find moe

Listing what series that have defined ones fandom appears to be popular with a lot of other writers lately. Although, I haven’t really seen many talk about their favorite female characters as of late. Actually, I hardly do. Is this just such a nerdy topic that bloggers avoid it or just don’t have an interest in it, I wonder? Maybe I just miss them.

Anyway, I primarily like shy female characters in anime and games, and defining which characters have influenced me in liking such characters really isn’t that hard, but outside those few characters it is rather hard to fully appreciate other characters of that type because I am very picky, and certain features and aspects need to be in play. It is not so easy as saying, “I like all shy female characters.” Some are really more appealing than others, and just being shy isn’t always enough for me. Also, in terms of anime, such characters don’t get as much time to shine as say the tsundere or childhood friend character so in turn it is hard to learn anything about a shy character and start liking them in any type of way. This explains why I went so crazy over Chihiro from Ef because it really has been never that I seen an appealing shy female character get to play a lead role in an anime.

I started to like female characters in anime some time during my third or fourth year as a fan of anime, and since then my criteria has been somewhat harsh. I might like a character but in a rather shallow way. Most of these characters are the ones I buy figures of because, you know, shy female characters are so obsure they hardly get merchandise. My general rule is usually if I can’t hypothetically form something longer than a paragraph about a given character, I probably don’t like them enough. The ones I could write a lot about are the ones I like most. This is where the mai waifu vs. harem kind of lists come into play, I suppose. So, onto which characters have influenced what I find moe presently. There are some kinda H images used so you’ve been warned.

Bishoujo characters – A relationship based on power

In this first part of a possible two part entry where I explore the bishoujo genre I will begin by talking about bishoujo characters. In visual novels, eroge, and most other games of that genre are bishoujo characters are normally associated with words like cute or moe because of the certain characteristics or designs these characters hold which in turn resonate with the fans a deep feeling of… Hm, what is it exactly? Love? Or maybe a feeling of superiority and power?

From my experiences from playing games like Tokimeki Memorial 2 and most recently, Idolm@ster, I am generally filled with a feeling of enjoyment and positive feelings for that particular character. I personally like certain characters because they are cute and appealing to my fetishes, but the majority of female characters are really few that resonate any kind of deep feelings for which is only attained through background story, personality, style, and maybe their voice actor as well.

Although, as a gamer of the bishoujo game genre, I would say that there is a lingering insecurity with my own sexual drive so I turn to these kinds of games to get my fix. I have this despairing feeling that this might be the best I can ever do in my life even though I am hardly what you call unpersonable. I mean, I have my hobbies and what not but I can hold a conversation. It is just that my hobbies and interests are just, I suppose, not normal.

Moeblobs at play.

I was talking to a girl in the dorms here recently, and as much as I want to deny her statements I do agree that there is some kind of power high one might get from these kinds of games. A lot of this comes from the fact that most of the problems the female characters face lie with me, the gamer, to help solve their problem, or bring them happiness. Only I can do it, and no one else.

Take the popular Key games for example. In all three games, Kanon, Air and Clannad, it involves the player reading a story where he plays the role of the male lead who in turn helps the various female characters in the story with the problems they face be it getting out of a coma, delivering wishes to the sky, or collecting shiny orbs to prevent something tragic from happening. Only the player can do this and no one else is going to step up to the plate to save these girls. Most bishoujo visual novels all have the same kind of conventions and the only thing that really makes one more popular from the other is how much budget was put in the game, are the characters appealing, and how is the story that involves helping or bringing happiness to the chosen girl by the player.

This problem of being the only one who can save these female characters generally leads to very shallow characters who seem kind of deep with witty quirks that seem cute, and a kind of strange dependency on the player by the female characters. I personally like very shy female characters and from my poll a fair amount of readers do as well. So, in that regard, I would assume it goes double for us because the shy girl is dependent on the male lead for protection, among other things.

So in the end, it really does seem rather creepy to like any female anime characters from the bishoujo genre because they’re definitely designed in such a way to draw fans in but there really isn’t anything beneath the surface no matter how much one likes a character. Watching shows from the early 80s has really made me question where have all the strong willed females of anime gone?

Never again will I play seemingly embarrassing games in public

It’s 1:43 AM here in Japan and I cannot sleep for the life of me at all so I will tell an experience I had in the community room here in the dorms.

Never again will I play Idolm@ster there. I really didn’t want to be stuck in my room playing a game when I could just play it on the community room TV, but obviously I seem to just get weird comments and faces. I really got the same kinds of comments when I bought Princess Maker 5 on the PSP. For the first time in my life it really felt like I had to defend something I enjoyed. The first assumption of everyone is something along the lines of, “Is this porn?” I’m not sure where that is coming from because if I was playing something with porn in it I would clearly go to my dorm room and play it there. I mean, playing a porn game out in the open? That is ridiculous. I do have some sense.

The second thing I get is something along the lines of, “That is weird.” I really don’t understand it, but that’s because I am not really looking at it from an outsider perspective. Maybe it is a little weird to play a game where you help young aspiring idols of various ages raise to the top, and for me some of the appeal is that but also it is the whole raising simulation aspect that is what makes it overly repayable and fun.

Honestly, these kinds of games are the other side of gaming that I enjoy other than RPGs. The whole raising stats for some kind of goal or playing a god like figure over someone in some way is highly entertaining and I am not understanding why the content is an issue for some. What does it matter if it is a dog or a young girl? It’s just a video game. It’s not like I get off by playing these kinds of games OR I could just be in denial? Anyway, that is what eroge is for, but even then there are some really neat eroge that I have played which have cool gameplay that just makes me overlook there is even porn in the game to begin with. I am looking at you Rance series.

Ugh, it just makes me grind my teeth, but I guess it serves me right for playing a game with somewhat questionable material out in the open where other people are. I guess another aspect of it maybe they were interested and just wanted to know more, but I got a little defensive and just turned it off and left thinking I was being mocked. Dunno, but I guess that way of thinking is typical of people like us.

Also, I thought this was pretty cool since I like Idolm@ster and Persona 4.

Help a moe anime fan out – Looking to branch out more

The latest moe anime I am marathoning this week…

For the 13 years I have been into anime I don’t think there was ever an instance where I watched a moe anime because I had heard the story or themes were good. Instead it is always something like, “Oh that particular character is appealing to me. I should watch that show.” I think that is the problem with the 230 some odd anime I have seen. It is a lot of nothing with only a few in between that I can say that I really enjoyed as a show because it wasn’t the trite, cliche and typical mechanics of a moe show. Honestly, moe shows haven’t changed very much since Tenchi Muyo. I am sure it is like that for a lot of other genres but at least those would seem new to me…

I don’t even know why I watch half the shows I watch anymore. I really want to watch new shows that are different from what I am used to. I really do but it is so easy to get caught up in the flashy new moe shows of the current or past season. It is easier to watch the latest Clannad type show than say the latest Baccano type show.

So in your opinion what are some things that you think I am missing that is essential to the anime experience?

Couldn’t the current arc in Clannad AS be solved if they got the police or some adults involved? I mean, WTF?

The tears they do nothing to move me

Oh god, I know this is just a cartoon but come on! I really couldn’t feel anything for the characters involved in this recent arc in Clannad After Story. It is just so sappy and melodramatic, not to mention cliche gang story. Hell, a ton of the grief, suffering and pain could have been avoided if the characters were smart and decided to NOT take shit in their own hands and get some adults or maybe the police involved. What kind of stupid message is this teaching teens in Japan? Oh, I forgot this is Japan. Gangs don’t REALLY exist in Japan just like poor people and those with disabilities so there is nothing to worry about.

Oh well, episode 9 looks to be promising.

Christmas is right around the corner – Things I am totally hyped up for

So yeah, starting today marks when a lot of awesome stuff comes out in Japan that I have been looking forward to which will make up the bulk of my Christmas gifts to myself as if I haven’t bought enough junk here already. HA! I am not rich in any way, and I will probably regret everything I buy here.