B's-LOG January

[WistfulWisteria]

Hi everyone!

Here's January's B's-LOG with the latest otome (and other) news. (´ω｀★)

Part 1 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/e9e54698c49c31c11a49df4c
Part 2 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/ebbaaadfad92be292b35c7d6
Part 3 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/585b14f9d40f7615d89e721a
Part 4 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/383010743cf99d2670442364

What do you find interesting? What are you expecting the most in the new year? (｡･ω･｡)

 

[Myshella]

Jooubachi (Kaguya hen) for me. I already preordered the Stella set!

I'm also looking forward to Hana Awase; such a long wait between the games... I hope Karakurenai/Utsuro is released quicker.

 

[Merefi]

Oh my god! Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino has a strange artwork but I just simply love it! It reminds me of Hotarubi no mori e, alittle bit with kamisama hajimemashita/Natsume Yuujinchou? geezus... I need this...

 

[Shiroiify]

For now just
- Jooubachi [Menou side & Kaguya side)
- Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino (I'm sill playing the non-voiced version, PC version :P ) Can't wait for PSP edition~
- Taisho Mebiusline Portable

 

[WistfulWisteria]

Jooubachi (Kaguya hen) for me. I already preordered the Stella set!

I'm also looking forward to Hana Awase; such a long wait between the games... I hope Karakurenai/Utsuro is released quicker.

I'm super excited for Himeutsugi-hen!! Yeah, we have to wait so much for the games... >_>
I didn't even play the bad ends until I don't have the happy ends in my hands.... x,D >< It's finally time for Hime, can't wait for Karakurenai

Spoiler: ....

(and still hoping for a Half Moon/Iroha-hen.... ;A; )

February, where are you??? щ(ಥДಥщ)

Oh my god! Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino has a strange artwork but I just simply love it! It reminds me of Hotarubi no mori e, alittle bit with kamisama hajimemashita/Natsume Yuujinchou? geezus... I need this...

For now just
- Jooubachi [Menou side & Kaguya side)
- Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino (I'm sill playing the non-voiced version, PC version :P ) Can't wait for PSP edition~
- Taisho Mebiusline Portable

I'm interested too in Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino! I love the art! (You're right, it really reminds me of Kamisama Hajimemashita!:3) So beautiful, colorful and interesting! And I heard the story is great. ^^
I got to know this game from its OP song, because Shikata Akiko sings it, one of my favorite artist.
I felt so let down when I saw that on the drama CD's the protagonist's seiyuu is Tachibana Shinnosuke and the game is unvoiced... T-T Because of this (and other games ^^"") in the end I never started to play it. But guess what we finally get our voiced game~~~! Can't wait!

Also I'm a little frustrated. I recently got my long wanted PSP, because every great game came out for that platform and I was so mad I can't play them! Now that I finally have it, I realized that almost all the new games which I'm interested in are all for PC....
On the other hand I'm afraid when will the makers move completely to PS Vita... Otomate already started the process...
Y U do this to me??

 

[Merefi]

Yeah! I went to listen to the opening of Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino and it got me addicted, I couldnt stop listening, its really a beautiful song! <3 Also, I got my psp for two years, theres alot you still have to play in it if you got recently, there are so many good otome games for it, so you still got an adventure awaiting forth even if it starts going for Vita , but yeah it is kinda sad... I think they will still be sending for psp for another year, but cant be sure... Im just hoping XD

 

[WistfulWisteria]

Yeah, I'm a little late coming in VNs and otomes, I started to play them a little after I started to learn Japanese (it's more then a year about now actually if I think back *yeah, anniversary!! xD*).
So, it's absolutely true that there are still many games to play on my PSP, luckily. :)
I guess they'll just wait out how these games will sell, before they decide to move completely to Vita. I think too it will take a year, or a little more.
We can just hope. ^^"

 

[Jezebel]

Yeah, I'm a little late coming in VNs and otomes, I started to play them a little after I started to learn Japanese (it's more then a year about now actually if I think back *yeah, anniversary!! xD*).
So, it's absolutely true that there are still many games to play on my PSP, luckily. :)
I guess they'll just wait out how these games will sell, before they decide to move completely to Vita. I think too it will take a year, or a little more.
We can just hope. ^^"

I discovered otome about a year and half ago. Within the time I've discovered and played many games on the PSP plus some on the PC games too. I've also learned which types of games I enjoy and which publisher/developers I prefer. Yes, I think they're testing to see if people will buy the games on the Vita, which makes me think games released on the Vita will be slow, publishers/developers are still releasing games on the PSP. :)

 

[LaCaL]

I think I'm pretty much one of the very few people that isn't too concerned about handheld otome games (possibly) making a primary move to the PS Vita. I ended up getting one about a year ago, but the PSP (of course) still gets used far more often when it comes to otome games.

I also think that visual novel companies are going about checking for PS Vita "sales-worthiness" the wrong way. Re-releasing popular titles with few incentives would hardly make anybody purchase a brand new handheld console. If it's a brand new title that seems super interesting, as well as coming with some interesting bonuses, maybe people may budge. A new 3DS and PS Vita are roughly the same price (with the Vita being a bit more expensive) and I've gotten a lot more out of my 3DS than the Vita... but I digress, we're talking about the PS Vita in relation to visual novels. The Japanese market is still happy with their PSPs. Especially for visual novels. Other than better graphics, what justifies the (to many people) costly move? To top it all off, a solid amount of PSP VNs are still being released, even a fair while after PS Vita's launch- i.e., cheaper competition. It's not an easy situation, and I imagine quite a few slip-ups must be made if the PS Vita should ever become as commonplace with otome fans as PSPs.

That being all said, I still prefer playing on the PC- better graphics, faster skipping, practically zero loading time and the text is far easier to read. I've been playing otome games for 2~3 years now. I would say that Rejet is my favourite (even though they rely on personality tropes a bit too much with some of their stuff) at the moment. Otomate has always been hit-or-miss for me, but they have been suffering lately.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Jooubachi no Oubou quite a bit. I'm especially looking forward to Kaguya's game. I like how she's quite unlike your run-of-the-mill otome protagonist. I think the premise has potential. I'm pre-ordering Kaguya's game very soon myself.

 

[Sorata]

Thanks for uploading ^^ Agreed, I also personally prefer PC over other consoles. However, another reason is that i personally need ith and translation aggregator to really understand these games since my japanese is rather poor. I've been improving, but it's a slow process.

Jooubachi no Oubou (both menou and kaguya hen) is something I'm really looking forward to as well. It's a bit of fresh air and the political intrigue aspect really appeals to me. Kaguya is a heroine unlike most so I'm really interested, but I'm excited for both games! Hime-Hen is another one as the series has become a favourite of mine. Hana Awase is great and the writing is really eloquent. I'm also very curious on what the fourth game will be as they still have left it as ???. I thought it was going to be Iroha-hen, but maybe it has something to do with Half-Moon too? I also dont get why they put Karakurenai and Utsutsu-hen together for the third one. So many unanswered questions, I need to be more patient! 2014 seems to be a good year for otome games, so I am looking forward to these releases.

I'm just upset that rejet is releasing a bunch of drama cds this year, there are a couple of those that I'd love to see as otome games instead. Drama cds are fine and al, but I dont really see the appeal. i always end up falling asleep when i try listening to one :P

 

[WistfulWisteria]

I prefer playing otomes on my PSP. For me it's more comfortable then my PC and I especially love the "portable" part of it. :D That being said, the ones for PC are still have their good points as you mentioned: the big screen, better graphics --> readable kanjis (seriously, on the PSP I sometimes have hard time with the unreadable characters... =_=) not to mention the help of my best friends: ITH&TA (my Japanese is far from understanding everything perfectly though I have to say since I play games without the help of translator programs my skills improved noticeably!)

Since on the PSP I don't have this huge help to understand the text I have to chose games carefully according their "language level difficulty". When I start to play one and I don't understand grand part of the unvoiced text I drop it immediately and put it aside for a while. Then I wait until I'm on that level to read it and try it again (With this I can also check my improvements. ^^) For me the most hard ones which I wanted to play were always the QuinRose games, but I'm this close now to be able to read 12ji no kane no Cinderella! (I checked recently and although I understand what's going on basically there are still many things I have to learn till I'll be able to read it fully.)
When I notice this little changes on my language skills I become so happy I can't even put in words! This means I'm not working hard in vain and I see the result of my studying. ^^ (Because I'm studying Japanese at uni.)

I guess I don't have a preference in companies...though I'm may be a little biased towards Rejet as BWS was one of the first games I played and I pretty liked it (I can't believe I still didn't finish it...) and they produce great games (although I'm not a fan of TYB) and I really like the dark twist in them.
With Otomate I wasn't too lucky, it was always a "miss" for me... I can't say a bad word about the art but the story always misses something, at least for me.
In fact what I found out is that my all time favorite games were always from a little or one-game companies. Just to mention one: Akai Suna Ochiru Tsuki is Landkarte's only game and although it's unvoiced it's one of the best otome I've ever played because it has that "something" in the story what I always miss in the "popular games".

Hana Awase is my no.1 favorite series right now. I love the art, the music, the story, the poems (I got interested in classical Japanese literature and started to learn classical Japanese because of this :D) the card game (:D) and of course the characters; though I love Iroha the most from them. That's why currently I'm waiting a little anxiously what the mysterious ??? 4th game is going to be. I mean I seriously hope they don't plan to leave Iroha without his happy ending.... or I will first .•´¯`(>▂<)´¯`•. and then (╯°Д°）╯︵ ┻━┻ *fangirl rage* (khm I'm too obsessed with this topic I guess... ^^"")
But oh well this is still at least 2 years away....... (T-T) I'm just happy Hime's game is finally coming out in a few days! :3
I'm curious too about the reason why they paired up Kurenai and Utsutsu... and about Half-Moon, I have my suspicions but I'm just speculating.

Aside from Hime-hen (02.26.!!<3) and AkaAka (ok, it's already released; but still not available...T-T) I'm waiting for the 3rd Dousei Kareshi game (release in March) just because the main guy's voice actor is going to be Morikawa Toshiyuki and he's my absolute favorite seiyuu right now! >///<
Honestly I still don't know what to think about Jooubachi no Oubou. I find the concept interesting and at the same time it doesn't appeal to me for some reason (maybe because of the art?). I guess I have to listen to the drama cds first to have a picture of it.

And as we are already at drama cds... :D

Drama cds are fine and al, but I dont really see the appeal. i always end up falling asleep when i try listening to one :P

I started to listen to some of them when I was in my "Starry Sky phase" (:D) and at first I was just like you. :D But recently I found out how much I love them (not Starry Sky but drama cds in general :D). You just have to find the great ones. For example not too long ago I run into this series: 王子様 (笑) シリーズ(Ouji-sama (warai) series).
It's a hilarious parody of classic fairy tales like Snow White (and I absolutely love fairy tale re-tellings:3) with great voice actors (like Suzumura Kenichi, Miyano Mamoru, Sugita Tomokazu, Morikawa Toshiyuki and others).
And when it comes to drama cds, I guess it's also depends on which seiyuu's your favorite. (*´・ｖ・)

Finally here's the February's...

Part 1 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/474965271bb154e150fd878e
Part 2 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/0b13f919a7526b17d0d66d8e
Part 3 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/29260afde7b66d0ece9f32d8
Part 4 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/3c4fed01891fd422f3eafcdc

... and March's B's-LOG if anyone's interested. :3

Part 1 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/49eea49e8274a8e82916472a
Part 2 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/1c4f073a74c8c6cd6d15e9bb
Part 3 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/2f630002a1fa7eeba01034fb
Part 4 http://hi.baidu.com/nobuta_p/item/19b5710086b03e75d45a1155

 

[Sorata]

Since on the PSP I don't have this huge help to understand the text I have to chose games carefully according their "language level difficulty". When I start to play one and I don't understand grand part of the unvoiced text I drop it immediately and put it aside for a while. Then I wait until I'm on that level to read it and try it again (With this I can also check my improvements. ^^) For me the most hard ones which I wanted to play were always the QuinRose games, but I'm this close now to be able to read 12ji no kane no Cinderella! (I checked recently and although I understand what's going on basically there are still many things I have to learn till I'll be able to read it fully.)
When I notice this little changes on my language skills I become so happy I can't even put in words! This means I'm not working hard in vain and I see the result of my studying. ^^ (Because I'm studying Japanese at uni.)

That's a good method! I don't have any formal education of Japanese, so I'm just struggling along the way by self-teaching myself. It's going pretty slow lol, it's just that the Japanese language is so very different from English; it's hard for me to get accustomed to :P I don't know any other asian languages, which would hav emade it easier for me, I only know English so well... yeah I'm not the best at languages. But good for you! I'm glad you're making steady progress ^^

I guess I don't have a preference in companies...though I'm may be a little biased towards Rejet as BWS was one of the first games I played and I pretty liked it (I can't believe I still didn't finish it...) and they produce great games (although I'm not a fan of TYB) and I really like the dark twist in them.
With Otomate I wasn't too lucky, it was always a "miss" for me... I can't say a bad word about the art but the story always misses something, at least for me.
In fact what I found out is that my all time favorite games were always from a little or one-game companies. Just to mention one: Akai Suna Ochiru Tsuki is Landkarte's only game and although it's unvoiced it's one of the best otome I've ever played because it has that "something" in the story what I always miss in the "popular games".

I haven't played that landkarte game. Mainly cause it wasn't voiced. I don't know, for some reason even if the story is great, I can't bring myself to play unvoiced games; unless they were in English. I mean it's even harder for me to play them, since the voices help me understand the flow f things slightly better :) The art wasn't greatly appealing either, but what was that "something" that made it really good? I'm curious actually :)

Hana Awase is my no.1 favorite series right now. I love the art, the music, the story, the poems (I got interested in classical Japanese literature and started to learn classical Japanese because of this :D) the card game (:D) and of course the characters; though I love Iroha the most from them. That's why currently I'm waiting a little anxiously what the mysterious ??? 4th game is going to be. I mean I seriously hope they don't plan to leave Iroha without his happy ending.... or I will first .•´¯`(>▂<)´¯`•. and then (╯°Д°）╯︵ ┻━┻ *fangirl rage* (khm I'm too obsessed with this topic I guess... ^^"")
But oh well this is still at least 2 years away....... (T-T) I'm just happy Hime's game is finally coming out in a few days! :3
I'm curious too about the reason why they paired up Kurenai and Utsutsu... and about Half-Moon, I have my suspicions but I'm just speculating.

It's mine too! My faves are Iroha and Hime <3 I love Mizuchi and Kurenai too though! All the guys are wonderful in their own ways and it breaks my hear tto see them all suffer in each game. I heard that kurenai/utsutsu's game is coming out in 2014 as well. Then, I'd have hoped for ??? to come out next year.. But then again, Hime-hen was delayed, so these releases will probably be delayed too :(

I started to listen to some of them when I was in my "Starry Sky phase" (:D) and at first I was just like you. :D But recently I found out how much I love them (not Starry Sky but drama cds in general :D). You just have to find the great ones. For example not too long ago I run into this series: 王子様 (笑) シリーズ(Ouji-sama (warai) series).
It's a hilarious parody of classic fairy tales like Snow White (and I absolutely love fairy tale re-tellings:3) with great voice actors (like Suzumura Kenichi, Miyano Mamoru, Sugita Tomokazu, Morikawa Toshiyuki and others).
And when it comes to drama cds, I guess it's also depends on which seiyuu's your favorite. (*´・ｖ・)

Yeah I've seen some interesting drama cds with a stellar cast and a lot of my fave VAs as well. Tachibana Shinnosuke is a personal fave of mine :) There are a lot of ones with great stories too! Still though, for some reason, drama cds still fail to grab my attention and I will always far prefer otome games ^^; I get that VAs really add depth to characters, but still art plays a huge role for me. Otome games just help me stay engaged with the story? Also, many (if not all?) otome game drama cds only have the guy talking. I know it's meant to be as if he were talking to you, but still, it feels so one sided.. BL drama CDs have two people talking to each other, so I find those better at times.. but I always end up blushing at *those* scenes haha xD Ah! I hope I don't sound mean, it's just that this is my opinion ^^; That series looks interesting! Again, I'd prefer it if it were an otome game instead, but at the same time, I'm interested. So I'll check it out soon!

Thanks for the B's Logs for both months! Hugely appreciated!! I would never have known about that site :)

 

[WistfulWisteria]

That's a good method! I don't have any formal education of Japanese, so I'm just struggling along the way by self-teaching myself. It's going pretty slow lol, it's just that the Japanese language is so very different from English; it's hard for me to get accustomed to :P I don't know any other asian languages, which would hav emade it easier for me, I only know English so well... yeah I'm not the best at languages. But good for you! I'm glad you're making steady progress ^^

I really respect everyone who's studying something on their own because somehow I'm just not capable of it. T^T I learned the kana when I was still in high school but that was it. xD
After English I learned Italian, then Japanese so I don't know other Asian languages either, though I always wanted to learn Chinese. I love learning new languages. ^^
I really like the Japanese grammar, it's true it's different from the other language's that I know, but somehow I feel it the most close to me (if this has any sense...).

I haven't played that landkarte game. Mainly cause it wasn't voiced. I don't know, for some reason even if the story is great, I can't bring myself to play unvoiced games; unless they were in English. I mean it's even harder for me to play them, since the voices help me understand the flow f things slightly better :) The art wasn't greatly appealing either, but what was that "something" that made it really good? I'm curious actually :)

Really? Because for me the main reason to play it were the pretty art and the theme. ^^" I love everything historical (and it makes even better that aside from it, it’s Chinese themed too ^^) so maybe who's not a fan of historical stories won't like it that much?
Though I have to add I didn't know at first it wasn't voiced and I had to struggle through the boring prologue (of which purpose I still don't get honestly...). I managed for the 3rd try I think... x,D ^^" But after that it was that good that I mostly forgot to miss the voices. (Of course I read it with the help of ITH&TA - I still don't have the confidence to fully understand a completely unvoiced story.)
I don't know if I can explain it well why did I love it that much, but I'll try... ^^"
1. Great romance: For me it's the most important in any story (why else would I play otome games?), and in this one it was soo good it made me go dokidoki. xD >///< My personal favorite was Rakusen (the black-haired guy) he was such a cutie and I really loved that he fell in love with the heroine despite he never once saw her face.
2. Good humor: Well it's not that much in it because it's not a comedy, but there were funny parts. ^^
3. Historical setting and politics
4. Fantasy: Now what's better than historical? Historical fantasy!
5. The heroine: You can choose the personality of the heroine during the first half of the game. She can do magic (and also fight with it!) and it's depends on the elements. Depending on what element you choose for her you also determine her character (for example: dark - tsundere; light - the always good-hearted&nice girl; air - cute air-head who loves food (xD) etc.)
When you finish a route you can replay the scenes with her different personalities. ^^
6. Fighting mini-game: So during the game there are these mini fights with chibis (when the heroine uses her special magic skills) which you have to win to continue the story (like in Hana Awase). I enjoyed this part too, although I've never once been able to beat it in hard mode. Impossible!

Now that I talked this much about it, I suddenly really want to replay it. Hehe. （ ´ω｀）

If you ask what is that "something" I couldn't explain it. I guess in this game it was the romance part (and the perfect mix of everything I love to see in a story(*´・ｖ・)) but for example in Gakuen Tokkyuu Hotokenser (other personal favorite of mine) it was the hilarious humor, I probably never laughed that much on a game. xD (And waaah Gomukeshi-kun!!<3 So cute!!)

It's mine too! My faves are Iroha and Hime <3 I love Mizuchi and Kurenai too though! All the guys are wonderful in their own ways and it breaks my hear tto see them all suffer in each game. I heard that kurenai/utsutsu's game is coming out in 2014 as well. Then, I'd have hoped for ??? to come out next year.. But then again, Hime-hen was delayed, so these releases will probably be delayed too :(

I'm guessing they plan to release Kurenai-hen around december 2014 (like how they did with Mizuchi-hen) even so I'm sure it will be still delayed... ahhh, so much wait! T-T
First I hated Kurenai but somehow I got to really like him, he's probably my second favorite now? Haha. I don't know exactly, Hime is pretty much close to it too. (　´∀｀)

Yeah I've seen some interesting drama cds with a stellar cast and a lot of my fave VAs as well. Tachibana Shinnosuke is a personal fave of mine :) There are a lot of ones with great stories too! Still though, for some reason, drama cds still fail to grab my attention and I will always far prefer otome games ^^; I get that VAs really add depth to characters, but still art plays a huge role for me. Otome games just help me stay engaged with the story? Also, many (if not all?) otome game drama cds only have the guy talking. I know it's meant to be as if he were talking to you, but still, it feels so one sided.. BL drama CDs have two people talking to each other, so I find those better at times.. but I always end up blushing at *those* scenes haha xD Ah! I hope I don't sound mean, it's just that this is my opinion ^^; That series looks interesting! Again, I'd prefer it if it were an otome game instead, but at the same time, I'm interested. So I'll check it out soon!

Oh, it's just a matter of taste I guess. ^^ I don't know, I don't compare drama cds to the games, I like both in a different way. So maybe that's why I don't miss the art. If it were an otome/VN the art'd be the first thing which catches my interest. ^^
On a side note in the series which I mentioned the characters are talking to each others, not to "you", so if you'd be interested I can just recommend it. :)

Thanks for the B's Logs for both months! Hugely appreciated!! I would never have known about that site :)

You're very welcome! I just discovered that site not too long ago, since then I can always read the new B's-LOG (as I wanted for a while now) and I thought I should share it with others too. ^^ I thought about subscription before, but I live in Europe, and the shipping fees are just horrendous. T-T And I'm sorry but as long there are nice people who scan it for us, I don't feel I need to order it... ^^""

Wah, I just started to play AkaAka and I felt so nostalgic from the song at the very beginning. It made me remember of summer holiday (because when I first started to play the PC game it was summer holiday ~^^~ - I never got to continue it from that point though... ˇˇ"). I simply love the art, and the voices just makes the understanding really easy - luckily all text is voiced as I see it. ^^ AND Tachibana Shinnousuke!! I love him too! :3

 

[Sorata]

I really respect everyone who's studying something on their own because somehow I'm just not capable of it. T^T I learned the kana when I was still in high school but that was it. xD
After English I learned Italian, then Japanese so I don't know other Asian languages either, though I always wanted to learn Chinese. I love learning new languages. ^^
I really like the Japanese grammar, it's true it's different from the other language's that I know, but somehow I feel it the most close to me (if this has any sense...).

It's a slow process, incredibly slow to be honest. I must admit, it's sometimes discouraging :S Formal education would have been nice, though Japanese classes can be expensive. I should have taken it as an elective this year at uni, but my program has a heavy courseload, and I wasn't able to :/ And I won't be able to next year either *sigh* I actually forgot to mention, but I know French too. I had to take it from grade 1 to 12, so I know the language because of that. Though I find it easy, since the sentence structure and grammar is rather similar to English. It's just an easy language to learn due to knowing English. Japanese on the other hand, makes my head hurt.. LOL its so difficult to read and its hard to wrap my head around ^^; But wow, I'm impressed you know Italian too. A lot of my friends are Italian, it's such a beautiful language the culture is really nice too <3

Really? Because for me the main reason to play it were the pretty art and the theme. ^^" I love everything historical (and it makes even better that aside from it, it’s Chinese themed too ^^) so maybe who's not a fan of historical stories won't like it that much?
Though I have to add I didn't know at first it wasn't voiced and I had to struggle through the boring prologue (of which purpose I still don't get honestly...). I managed for the 3rd try I think... x,D ^^" But after that it was that good that I mostly forgot to miss the voices. (Of course I read it with the help of ITH&TA - I still don't have the confidence to fully understand a completely unvoiced story.)
I don't know if I can explain it well why did I love it that much, but I'll try... ^^"
1. Great romance: For me it's the most important in any story (why else would I play otome games?), and in this one it was soo good it made me go dokidoki. xD >///< My personal favorite was Rakusen (the black-haired guy) he was such a cutie and I really loved that he fell in love with the heroine despite he never once saw her face.
2. Good humor: Well it's not that much in it because it's not a comedy, but there were funny parts. ^^
3. Historical setting and politics
4. Fantasy: Now what's better than historical? Historical fantasy!
5. The heroine: You can choose the personality of the heroine during the first half of the game. She can do magic (and also fight with it!) and it's depends on the elements. Depending on what element you choose for her you also determine her character (for example: dark - tsundere; light - the always good-hearted&nice girl; air - cute air-head who loves food (xD) etc.)
When you finish a route you can replay the scenes with her different personalities. ^^
6. Fighting mini-game: So during the game there are these mini fights with chibis (when the heroine uses her special magic skills) which you have to win to continue the story (like in Hana Awase). I enjoyed this part too, although I've never once been able to beat it in hard mode. Impossible!

Now that I talked this much about it, I suddenly really want to replay it. Hehe. （ ´ω｀）

If you ask what is that "something" I couldn't explain it. I guess in this game it was the romance part (and the perfect mix of everything I love to see in a story(*´・ｖ・)) but for example in Gakuen Tokkyuu Hotokenser (other personal favorite of mine) it was the hilarious humor, I probably never laughed that much on a game. xD (And waaah Gomukeshi-kun!!<3 So cute!!)

Alright, I take back what I said about the bad art. I was just basing that off the cover image of the game. The art has a nice soft touch to it that's rather nice ^^ Still, it's hard to find much info on the game online as there isn't much coverage. I'd love to see all the CGs of the game somehow :) You don't happen to know where I can find them, do you? Oh and no, I ADORE historical games. They're one of my faves! That's why I'm really enjoying ken ga kimi and loved hakuouki. Meiji tokyo renka and Hanasaku Manimani are two games that I really would love to play. They both take place in a historical setting, but alas my Japanese would never be good enough as they're both for the PSP :(

But back to landkarte's game. WOW, that's such a cool touch about the heroine part. And you can even replay scenes with the heroine having a different personality?? That's really cool :D Based on what you said, I'm rather interested in the game. Still, the unvoiced part will always make me a bit hesitant.. but I'll see ^^ Ooh gakuen tokkyuu hotokenser is on my backlog of games I want to play! It seems like so much fun and I heard it's very funny :D Well it certainly looks hilarious xD I'm quite excited to play it some time in the future!

I'm guessing they plan to release Kurenai-hen around december 2014 (like how they did with Mizuchi-hen) even so I'm sure it will be still delayed... ahhh, so much wait! T-T
First I hated Kurenai but somehow I got to really like him, he's probably my second favorite now? Haha. I don't know exactly, Hime is pretty much close to it too. (　´∀｀)

Oh, it's just a matter of taste I guess. ^^ I don't know, I don't compare drama cds to the games, I like both in a different way. So maybe that's why I don't miss the art. If it were an otome/VN the art'd be the first thing which catches my interest. ^^
On a side note in the series which I mentioned the characters are talking to each others, not to "you", so if you'd be interested I can just recommend it. :)

You're very welcome! I just discovered that site not too long ago, since then I can always read the new B's-LOG (as I wanted for a while now) and I thought I should share it with others too. ^^ I thought about subscription before, but I live in Europe, and the shipping fees are just horrendous. T-T And I'm sorry but as long there are nice people who scan it for us, I don't feel I need to order it... ^^""

Wah, I just started to play AkaAka and I felt so nostalgic from the song at the very beginning. It made me remember of summer holiday (because when I first started to play the PC game it was summer holiday ~^^~ - I never got to continue it from that point though... ˇˇ"). I simply love the art, and the voices just makes the understanding really easy - luckily all text is voiced as I see it. ^^ AND Tachibana Shinnousuke!! I love him too! :3

Kurenai actually grew on me at too. At first, he was so vulgar and everything, but by the time I finished playing, he seems sweet? I don't know how to say it, but I actually liked him a lot better by the end. I'd like to see more of his other side in hime-hen and the upcoming games too. Oh and agreed about shipping :S To be honest, I wouldn't mind getting all these Japanese merch and games and everything, but that shipping just doubles the price of the item itself.. and that just really deters me :/ Still, I try to support my fave games after I enjoy them so much. Still though, I wish shipping was cheaper *cries*

I ADORE Tachibana Shinnosuke! He's one of my fave seiyuus ^^ His role as Hime from Hime-hen is what made me a solid fangirl of his voice haha xD I would love to play AkaAka, but again the PC version isn't voiced and only the PSP version is :/ But still, I might give it a shot in the future. The game has a really unique atmosphere that draws me in ^^

 

[Myshella]

Kurenai is my favorite character in Hana Awase xD He's so rough but I really liked his vulnerable side with Mikoto plus that sexy voice from Hino Satoshi HNGGGGGGG. Can't wait for his game though I have a feeling it will be like two years before it comes out -_-

I'm debating on whether I should preorder Birdcage Marriage. I've hated all of Hiyo's games except for Under the Moon...

 

[Sorata]

Kurenai is my favorite character in Hana Awase xD He's so rough but I really liked his vulnerable side with Mikoto plus that sexy voice from Hino Satoshi HNGGGGGGG. Can't wait for his game though I have a feeling it will be like two years before it comes out -_-

I'm debating on whether I should preorder Birdcage Marriage. I've hated all of Hiyo's games except for Under the Moon...

Kurenai certainly is awesome, and I like him for those exact reasons you said ^^ And his voice acting gives me shivers in certain scenes when his voice drops like 10 notches.. xD I adore this game and every seiyuu was perfectly chosen for each character in my opinion :)

In regards to birdcage marriage.. hmm I would wait til I see some reviews out for the game first. I'm not a fan of Hiyo's games either as the writing makes me go O_O 99% of the time. However, I never gave under the moon a chance. What made you like it? It didn't pique my interest before, but now I'm curious ^^

But yeah, Hana Awase was my most awaited game of the year and I'm so glad Hime-hen is out! I know they've delayed so much, but still, I'm holding onto that tiny sliver of hope that kurenai/utsutsu's game will be released this year and ???-hen will be released early next year /coughs yeah right but I'm still gonna hold onto that hope haha

 

[Myshella]

Kurenai certainly is awesome, and I like him for those exact reasons you said ^^ And his voice acting gives me shivers in certain scenes when his voice drops like 10 notches.. xD I adore this game and every seiyuu was perfectly chosen for each character in my opinion :)

In regards to birdcage marriage.. hmm I would wait til I see some reviews out for the game first. I'm not a fan of Hiyo's games either as the writing makes me go O_O 99% of the time. However, I never gave under the moon a chance. What made you like it? It didn't pique my interest before, but now I'm curious ^^

But yeah, Hana Awase was my most awaited game of the year and I'm so glad Hime-hen is out! I know they've delayed so much, but still, I'm holding onto that tiny sliver of hope that kurenai/utsutsu's game will be released this year and ???-hen will be released early next year /coughs yeah right but I'm still gonna hold onto that hope haha

I liked Under the Moon because the twins were awesome xD Well Leni at least lol though Seizh's pure love route was rather sweet. Also it was one of the first R18 otome games to really go all out in the sex scenes ^^;;

I would really love to see Kurenai/Utsutsu released this year but I'm not keeping my hopes up... Himeutsugi took so long to come out I actually thought it was discontinued or was going to keep getting delayed. Glad I was wrong but it scared me!

That said I've preordered the Animate and Stellaworth (Stellaset) versions of Jooubachi Kaguya-hen so that should keep me busy next month. I didn't really like Menou-hen that much except for Ruby but I like all of Kaguya's drones and I LOVE Kaguya so I hope the game isn't as bad as Menou's xD

 

[Sorata]

I liked Under the Moon because the twins were awesome xD Well Leni at least lol thought Seizh's pure love route was rather sweet. Also it was one of the first R18 otome games to really go all out in the sex scenes ^^;;

I would really love to see Kurenai/Utsusu released this year but I'm not keeping my hopes up... Himeutsugi took so long to come out I actually thought it was discontinued or was going to keep getting delayed. Glad I was wrong but it scared me!

That said I've preordered the Animate and Stellaworth (Stellaset) versions of Jooubachi Kaguya-hen so that should keep me busy next month. I didn't really like Menou-hen that much except for Ruby but I like all of Kaguya's drones and I LOVE Kaguya so I hope the game isn't as bad as Menou's xD

Ahh I see :D Maybe I'll give under the moon a shot one day.. though my backlog is overly long and just keeps getting longer :/ I know Bloody Call has the whole twins thing going on too :) LOL it's already on my backlog though as well xD Oh yeah you're right! Himeutsugi hen was supposed to come out last year (early or late last year?). Either way, you're right in that it was heavily delayed :( Ugh darn it even though the projected release date for kurenai/utsutsu-hen is 2014, it's most likely not gonna happen *sigh*

Wow you ordered the game twice? So you can get the animate and stellaworth tokutens? :O Unless I'm misunderstanding something ^^; But wow, that's a lot of money. I'm sad to hear you didn't enjoy Menou-hen. I quite enjoyed the trial, so I was looking forward to playing the game. I ADORE Kaguya too, she's so unlike any other heroine I've ever seen. So it would definitely be a pleasure to see how her game turns out :)

 

[Myshella]

Ahh I see :D Maybe I'll give under the moon a shot one day.. though my backlog is overly long and just keeps getting longer :/ I know Bloody Call has the whole twins thing going on too :) LOL it's already on my backlog though as well xD Oh yeah you're right! Himeutsugi hen was supposed to come out last year (early or late last year?). Either way, you're right in that it was heavily delayed :( Ugh darn it even though the projected release date for kurenai/utsutsu-hen is 2014, it's most likely not gonna happen *sigh*

Wow you ordered the game twice? So you can get the animate and stellaworth tokutens? :O Unless I'm misunderstanding something ^^; But wow, that's a lot of money. I'm sad to hear you didn't enjoy Menou-hen. I quite enjoyed the trial, so I was looking forward to playing the game. I ADORE Kaguya too, she's so unlike any other heroine I've ever seen. So it would definitely be a pleasure to see how her game turns out :)

Under the Moon was good back when I played it xD Not sure if it has aged that well since I haven't played it recently. I liked Bloody Call also! It's by the same company as the one that made Under the Moon so I guess they like the twin thing xD No complaints from me here!

And yes I did buy two versions of Jooubachi Kaguya-hen for the tokutens. I actually also really want to buy from Hobibox for Rin's cd since Kakki is one of my fave seiyuu but I have to make an account there and I'm lazy xD Menou-hen, I only enjoyed Ruby because he was sooooo cute! He really reminds me of a R18 version of Guillan from BWS who I also adored. The story was borderline nonsensical though, sadly T_T

 

[Sorata]

Under the Moon was good back when I played it xD Not sure if it has aged that well since I haven't played it recently. I liked Bloody Call also! It's by the same company as the one that made Under the Moon so I guess they like the twin thing xD No complaints from me here!

And yes I did buy two versions of Jooubachi Kaguya-hen for the tokutens. I actually also really want to buy from Hobibox for Rin's cd since Kakki is one of my fave seiyuu but I have to make an account there and I'm lazy xD Menou-hen, I only enjoyed Ruby because he was sooooo cute! He really reminds me of a R18 version of Guillan from BWS who I also adored. The story was borderline nonsensical though, sadly T_T

Haha yeah, it's a bit of an older game, it came out in 2006, which is 8 years ago.. :O Time flies by so fast. I thought Bloody Call was made by another company. I remember reading that bloody call was icing candy's debut game, then they released another game and sorta disappeared :/ Which is a shame really, since bloody call seems to have been really good. I'm so excited for when I start playing it :D

And wow, that's really impressive. So do you usually sell your other copies of the game after getting the tokutens you want? Haha I'm slightly envious, since it's so hard for me to afford these games ^^; I've bought four otome games in my life, but that was to support English localizations and so on. Still, my wallet and I cried tears of agony LOL I've been contemplating buying an otome game from Japan in the future, but the shipping is another additional cost that makes me cry even more lmao xD But thats enough of me complaining! By the way, I heard the jooubachi tokuten tracks for hakuou and ruby on tumblr... OMG that was so explicit and the sounds and voices.. I just couldn't stop blushing XD

I loved Guillan from BWS! That's good news, so I'll most probably adore Ruby too! I must admist, despite his craziness, he has that cuteness to him that I simply cannot resist ^^ And that expression in one of the CGs that appeared in the OP where he was probably looking at Menou and had the sweetest smile.. *MELTS*

 

[Myshella]

Haha yeah, it's a bit of an older game, it came out in 2006, which is 8 years ago.. :O Time flies by so fast. I thought Bloody Call was made by another company. I remember reading that bloody call was icing candy's debut game, then they released another game and sorta disappeared :/ Which is a shame really, since bloody call seems to have been really good. I'm so excited for when I start playing it :D

And wow, that's really impressive. So do you usually sell your other copies of the game after getting the tokutens you want? Haha I'm slightly envious, since it's so hard for me to afford these games ^^; I've bought four otome games in my life, but that was to support English localizations and so on. Still, my wallet and I cried tears of agony LOL I've been contemplating buying an otome game from Japan in the future, but the shipping is another additional cost that makes me cry even more lmao xD But thats enough of me complaining! By the way, I heard the jooubachi tokuten tracks for hakuou and ruby on tumblr... OMG that was so explicit and the sounds and voices.. I just couldn't stop blushing XD

I loved Guillan from BWS! That's good news, so I'll most probably adore Ruby too! I must admist, despite his craziness, he has that cuteness to him that I simply cannot resist ^^ And that expression in one of the CGs that appeared in the OP where he was probably looking at Menou and had the sweetest smile.. *MELTS*

Icing Candy and Sugarbeans are both the otome subsidiary companies under Will xD Icingcandy was the non-hentai branch of Sugarbeans.

I usually give my other copies to friends actually lol. I pretty much spend my paycheck on otome games XD And yeah, shipping costs can be pretty crazy but if you consolidate the packages, it's not too bad ^^ Lol have you heard the Jooubachi drama cds? Those are really explicit XD;; I was giggling like crazy listening to them! Also from the drama cd Ruby was really crazy and loud so I didn't think I'd like him but in game he turned out to be so adorable haha. Ruby has THE BEST expressions in the game I swear. I ripped the images on my other computer and they are so darn cute. I'll upload some later xD

 

[Sorata]

Icing Candy and Sugarbeans are both the otome subsidiary companies under Will xD Icingcandy was the non-hentai branch of Sugarbeans.

I usually give my other copies to friends actually lol. I pretty much spend my paycheck on otome games XD And yeah, shipping costs can be pretty crazy but if you consolidate the packages, it's not too bad ^^ Lol have you heard the Jooubachi drama cds? Those are really explicit XD;; I was giggling like crazy listening to them! Also from the drama cd Ruby was really crazy and loud so I didn't think I'd like him but in game he turned out to be so adorable haha. Ruby has THE BEST expressions in the game I swear. I ripped the images on my other computer and they are so darn cute. I'll upload some later xD

Ohhhh okay that makes sense! And wow thats super nice of you :) You're so lucky, none of my friends like otome games... D: And only a couple of them even enjoy anime, so I'm the only one who likes these sorts of things ^^; So I just vent and fangirl online here haha xD Hmm for shipping though, doesn't it depend on weight? So would it be cheaper to ship several small packages at different times? Or ship one large package? I was just curious for future reference.. well *far* future since I need to save up quite a bit of money first lol

I haven't gotten around to hearing the jooubachi no kanbinaru kougou drama CDs yet actually! Though I will be listening to them soon. LMAO I'm going to be a puddle of mush by the end of it. I heard a bit of Utsuro's, but O...M...G just I can't even describe it. It was unlike anything I've ever heard before and I just OMG speechless xD I guess listening to them will be a guilty pleasure of mine xD Yeah Ruby is so adorable and I love all his different expressions. Except when he shows his teeth that look like jagged shark teeth ^^; Though, I'm pretty sure it'll grow on me once I play the game. But yes, you've gotta show us his other expressions. It'll be a while until I play Jooubachi due to my tremendous backlog, but maybe I'll play menou and kaguya-hen within the same timeframe (one after the other) once kaguya hen comes out. I'll see ~

 

[Myshella]

Ohhhh okay that makes sense! And wow thats super nice of you :) You're so lucky, none of my friends like otome games... D: And only a couple of them even enjoy anime, so I'm the only one who likes these sorts of things ^^; So I just vent and fangirl online here haha xD Hmm for shipping though, doesn't it depend on weight? So would it be cheaper to ship several small packages at different times? Or ship one large package? I was just curious for future reference.. well *far* future since I need to save up quite a bit of money first lol

I haven't gotten around to hearing the jooubachi no kanbinaru kougou drama CDs yet actually! Though I will be listening to them soon. LMAO I'm going to be a puddle of mush by the end of it. I heard a bit of Utsuro's, but O...M...G just I can't even describe it. It was unlike anything I've ever heard before and I just OMG speechless xD I guess listening to them will be a guilty pleasure of mine xD Yeah Ruby is so adorable and I love all his different expressions. Except when he shows his teeth that look like jagged shark teeth ^^; Though, I'm pretty sure it'll grow on me once I play the game. But yes, you've gotta show us his other expressions. It'll be a while until I play Jooubachi due to my tremendous backlog, but maybe I'll play menou and kaguya-hen within the same timeframe (one after the other) once kaguya hen comes out. I'll see ~

Haha well I don't need multiple game cds; I only want the tokuten xD I wish more of my friends played. TBH my closest friend who plays is a guy LOL I wish I had more girl friends who played otome games so I can discuss but oh well xD Shipping does depend on weight but EMS has a base price I think? I ordered only one game once with no tokuten, very light and the shipping was still ~1600 yen. When I'm only ordering just a few games I think it's better to combine the package for EMS.

The Jooubachi drama cds are sooooo explicit hahah. I was seriuusly embarrassed when listening lol. What games are you currently playing?

 

[Sorata]

Haha well I don't need multiple game cds; I only want the tokuten xD I wish more of my friends played. TBH my closest friend who plays is a guy LOL I wish I had more girl friends who played otome games so I can discuss but oh well xD Shipping does depend on weight but EMS has a base price I think? I ordered only one game once with no tokuten, very light and the shipping was still ~1600 yen. When I'm only ordering just a few games I think it's better to combine the package for EMS.

The Jooubachi drama cds are sooooo explicit hahah. I was seriuusly embarrassed when listening lol. What games are you currently playing?

Wow a guy? Who plays otome games? That's really amazing, he sounds great :D Oh so you do EMS? I was thinking surface shipping (boat) since that's the cheapest option. Or maybe SAL as that's the second cheapest option. But hmm that's good to know that there might be a base price for EMS, maybe it's like that for the other two methods I mentioned.

As for games I'm playing now, I'm playing Diabolik Lovers and Sanzen Sekai Yuugi ^^ I need breaks in between dialovers, since it can get a bit much at times haha ^^; How about you?

 

[Myshella]

Wow a guy? Who plays otome games? That's really amazing, he sounds great :D Oh so you do EMS? I was thinking surface shipping (boat) since that's the cheapest option. Or maybe SAL as that's the second cheapest option. But hmm that's good to know that there might be a base price for EMS, maybe it's like that for the other two methods I mentioned.

As for games I'm playing now, I'm playing Diabolik Lovers and Sanzen Sekai Yuugi ^^ I need breaks in between dialovers, since it can get a bit much at times haha ^^; How about you?

Haha he actually plays a ton of VNs but I had him play some otome games ^^. He has played BWS which he liked, most of Hiyo's games (Under the Moon, Ijiwaru my Master, Riddle Garden), Kurayami no Hate de kimi wo matsu which he really liked and Wand of Fortune. His Japanese is way better than mine so I actually made him play DS/PSP games and explain what was going on to me lol. He likes games with cute protagonists with lots of visibility so I guess that's why he enjoyed Hiyo's games lol. I tried to get him to play Desert Kingdom, Diabolik Lovers and Clock Zero but he doesn't want to play those xD

The forwarding service I use only does EMS so I haven't used SAL. I know the other shipping methods are a lot slower and EMS is slow enough for me so I don't even want to try xD

Sanzen Sekai Yuugi started off pretty good and then veered into WTF territory in the last route LOL I love the protagonist though >< I'm done with most games atm. Playing some doujin games like thisl. I am going to replay Menou-hen because I feel like I rushed through it and I want to get myself ready for Kaguya's game XD;;;