Visual Novels

I've played very few visual novels but the idea and gameplay of them especially intrigue me.  I have always been a fan of reading and visual novels, especially those concerning anime, is like a delicious packaged treat just waiting for me.  So far, I've only played Princess Debut, Red Shift, and Ace Attorney as for anime visual novels.  The non-anime visual novels I've played were Surviving High School and College Romance.  The games I have started and have not finished are Kana: Little Sister and Clannad.

College Romance
This was a simple online game in visual novel format that got me started in my obsession for visual novels.  It was basically a game where you play a guy and through your 4 college years, you have to meet, woo, and date 1 or more of 5 girls.  Based on what you decide to do through the game will give you different outcomes.  I'll be honest, the game was a 3 out of 10.  The artwork was terrible and the music was SO annoying, but the dialogue and mediocre story made up for it.  It was enough to peak my interest in the world of visual novel games.

Red Shift
This was a free game I discovered on the internet that I downloaded it and tried to play it.  To be honest, I can't quiet be sure if this should be called a game at all.  The story was just as it was: a story.  You never made any decisions for the character, you just point and click and watch.  So at first, I was a bit disappointed.  The story was very well written and could easily be written into a novel or even a manga.  It took about 3 or 4 hours to complete but I was glad I played it.  The story was quite satisfying.

Princess Debut
This game was turned on by a friend who was playing it before me.  Since I really wanted a good visual novel, I gave it a try.  I didn't find it, but this game was entertaining.  You play as yourself, naturally, and you one day meet a girl looking exactly like you and with the same name.  She claims she is the princess of the Flower Kingdom and that she has to attend a dance competition in 30 days but doesn't want to do it.  So you switch places with her and enter the Flower Kingdom in her stead.  During your 30 days, you have to practice dancing while trying to find dance partners within certain prince's you find in the kingdom.  At the end, you do the competition and hope you win.  And that's all.  The dance practice was a bit annoying but the game was interesting.  It's a good starter visual-novel.

Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
I finally found my excellent visual novel.  This game was epic in every way possible.  The music, the characters, the story, the gameplay: EVERYTHING.  You play as the character Phoenix Wright, a defense attorney who takes on mostly murder cases.  You have to successfully defend 5 cases, all of which are closely tied together.  I don't want to reveal much about this game because if I were to recommendany game to anyone, this is the one.  You have to play this game.  This is the third game for the "Phoenix Wright" series, so the story may confuse you at first but you catch on quickly enough.  PLAY THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surviving High School
This was a cute game.  They have many versions of this game but it started on the cell phone.  You basically play a high school student and you have to may decisions for the character so you can either become Prom King, get straight As, star in a play, etc.  This is a good game for kids.  I've completely out grown the high school thing.

I'll talk about the other games I didn't finish on another post.  My fingers hurt.  =[

Jaaaaaaaaaaa ne!

Anime I Really Want To Watch

There is so many anime that I have yet to watch, that I'm thinking it may be wise to put it in writing as a reference to some sort.  I have a problem with skipping around to different anime that I forget which ones I've already watched and which ones I really want to watch.  So here is my top 10 list.

1.  Vampire Knight.  Every "Best Anime Ever" lists I've read has always had this one right here on it at some point or another.  I've heard it's really awesome, so I have to get to it somehow.

2.  Bleach.  I know, I know, this should have been watched by me already but I never got the chance to!  I think it's because I'm just not ready for a long anime.

3.  Death Note.  Yet another one I should have finished. 

4.  One Piece.  Don't ask why, I'm just curious.

5.  Loveless.  I started watching this before but never finished it.  I would like to one day, though!

6.  The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.  Same as the one above.  It's so popular, I should have finished this a while ago.

7.  Princess Mononoke.  This is technically a movie, but it's the only Hayao Miyazaki movie I haven't seen.

8.  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.  Again, it's a movie.  But I really want to see it.

9.  Kanon.  I really want to see this because I think it looks really interesting.  I like a good drama, anyway.

10.  Mahoromantic.  I heard of this from a friend and thought it sounded stupid at first.  But now I'm intrigued.

I think pretty soon I'm going to watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.  But until then, Ja Mata!

Okay, so back to MangaNEXT

I would have to say it was a lot better than some of the other conventions I've been to in it's own way.  For one, the staff was a lot nicer than AnimeNEXT and more knowledgable than those of Zenkaikon.  I also enjoyed a lot of the panels.  I went to a panel that taught us how to make masks out of plaster.  I believe that was one the best panels I went to.  I also had a good time at the publishing panel.  Some panels, like most places, were very unorganized and the people who ran them weren't very knowledgable about what they were running.  But other than that, it was a very nice experience.  I can't wait until next convention!

MangaNEXT....Enjoyable!!

I never had the chance to blog before I went to the convention but I have good news...my costume came in time!  It almost didn't fit.  It was a bit large around the waist but very good material and everything that was included fit too.  The only problem is that the headdress kept slipping off of my wig and falling behind me.  so I replaced it with my little kitty ears I bought at the convention.

Oh yes, that's my BF dressed as Luigi!  I will be posting pictures soon.

MangaNEXT schedule is finally here!!!!!!!!!! *dances*

Yes!  I have been waiting for the schedule to be posted for like a month now and I'm excited to know that it's finally here.  =]  So, before today, I was completely dumbfounded about what to blog about until I just so happened to browse into the website and saw a schedule.  Yay!  Now I have blogging material.  I'm going to take note of what I really would like to go to so I have a good idea of what times I'll be free at.

Friday

Anime Jeaopary (5:00-6:00)  Hopefully it's better this year.
The Importance of Setting in Storytelling (8:00-8:30)
Ahhh!  Video Game Cartoons!
Uncle Yo (10-11)

Saturday

Making Making (It's 5 dollars!) (10:30-1130)


To be continued.....dinner!

Blogging "School Days"

So tonight I was a bit bored a I decided to blog a bit on the anime "School Days".  "School Days" is an anime based off of an adult visual novel game in Japan.  It's one of the shorter, more unknown pieces of anime unless you've done some searching for a good, short anime.  It's only 12 episodes.  It's basically about a boy named Makoto who becomes infatuated with this girl named Kotonoha, who rides his train on the way to school.  Nervous on how to approach Kotonoha, he confides in his annoying friend Sekai to help him make his moves on her.  But eventually, Sekai developes feelings for Makoto.

Sounds like a typical anime soap-opera-like drama, ne?  At first it seriously isn't that bad.  It's very light-hearted and cute and you think it might be one of those annoyingly exaggerated anime where people keep shitting on everyone's face by sleeping with everyone else but everyone seems ok about it.  No!   That changes about halfway into the anime when Makoto thinks he's macho because he's no longer a virgin and he starts sleeping with all the girls in school.  After a while, you'll start to hate Makoto, especially when the sweetie-pie Kotonoha is completely oblivious to it all and just wants desperate to be with her love, Makoto.  You'll start to feel really bad for her because she's basically the only one you want to cheer for happiness in the short series.

You'll suddenly start to notice that the anime isn't cute anymore.  It's actually almost scary.  It keeps getting darker....and darker..................and darker.........................................until you start to question if you're watching an anime that should be in the thriller genre.  The ending is hard to explain.  I won't spoil it for you, because then what's the point of watching it?  But I guess I can explain it as it's expected yet so unexpected at the same time.  You may think to yourself as you continue to watch the anime, "This is so gonna happen at the end," but think to yourself, "Nah, how could this happen?" when you finally see the end.  Honestly, Makoto deserves the shit at the end, and Kotonoha isn't as sweet as she seemed the entire anime.  That's basically as much as I can give out without spoiling it any further.

Overall, I enjoyed this anime.  It's a nice fix for a good anime that's not too long but will keep you gripped throughout its entirety.  I would recommend it if your into the romance/drama genre but like i had said before, this anime could have easily slipped into the thriller category.  If I were to rate it, it would be a 4/5 stars!

Another thing you might want to consider doing is, after you've watched the anime, watch the alternate endings on youtube.  There's a lot.  Over 5, I believe.

The next blog I will try to do about an anime will be Ouran High School Host Club.  Ja ne!!!

Counter for MangaNEXT

I figured I needed to post this sooner or later.  I should have done it much earlier, to be honest.

But here is the counter to MangaNEXT!!



Make your own Countdown Clocks

Only 1 More Week To Go!!

MangaNEXT is right around the corner!  I only have a week left (kinda less) and I'm about to go nuts.  I can't effing wait!  (=3)

So my costume hasn't come in yet at all (Dammit!).  It hasn't even been shipped yet.  At least that's what the website says.  If it doesn't get here before the convention, I'll be a very peeved Viki.  But I will not let it ruin my weekend!  I really am looking forward to having a great time.  I just hope the same staff members as AnimeNEXT.  They were terrible!  I could not stand them!

Anywho, I'm glad my friend Mandy is coming along.  She really likes to take pictures and it's nice to have someone who can snap photos here and there so I can compile an album of the convention afterwards.  So far, we have no idea what panels are going to be at the convention, so we have no idea how to plan this.  We plan to get there early so we can try to plan things ahead of time. 

***MENTAL NOTE***
Bring a high lighter so planing on which panels to go to is a lot easier!

I know I want to go to the Cosplay dating shows or Anime Jeaopardy.  (^_^)

Well, my BF's friend wants some Naruto Shippuuden songs put on the Go-To-Convention CD so here are some updates on the CD:

#1: "Hero's Come Back!!" by nobodyknows+ (eps 1-30)


#2: "distance" by LONG SHOT PARTY (eps 31-52)

#3: "BLUE BIRD" by Ikimono-Gakari (eps 54-77)

#4: "CLOSER" by Inoue Joe (eps 78-)

#5: "Hotaru no Hikari" by Ikimono-Gakari (eps 103-)

#5: "Hotaru no Hikari" by Ikimono-Gakari (eps 104-)



Hopefully I can find all of these.  =]  More hopefully I can find a place where I can actually burn a CD.  =P
 
Well, otaku-Vic is out for the night.  Ja ne!
 

Dame-desu yo!!!

I'm so mad right now.  I am an angry otaku!  I just found out by tracking that my outfit might not arrive to my house in time for the convention!  I guess that's what I get for ordering my costume too late.  If anything, it may come the day before the convention.  I'm gonna track it religiously!  I really hope it comes on time!  A lot of the reviews says that the website orders fast so I may get lucky!  Wish this otaku luck!  If it comes on time it will be my first time cosplaying!

Well, I cosplayed once before as L but let's not go there.

Song List For MangaNEXT!

So my first anime convention was Zenkaikon 2009, last year, in King of Prussia, PA.  It was a lot of fun.  My past friend Keith took me with his brother and his brother's girlfriend, Natahlin.  (She has been my ultimate otaku-sister ever since!!!)

Anywho, on the way to Zenkaikon, Natahlin had made two anime-realted-only CDs to play in her car to pump us up to be a complete otaku when we arrive.  I have decided to do the same so I'm going to keep track of my song list on here so I don't forget because "God Knows" (ha!  A song from Haruhi Suzumiya!  *prepares to put that song on the list*) if I write it down, I will lose the paper and have to rewrite the whole thing all over again.

"God Knows" - Aya Hirano (Haruhi Suzumiya)
"Fukai Mori" - Do As Infinity (Inu Yasha)
"My Will" - Inu Yasha
"Dearest" - Inu Yasha
"Come" - Inu Yasha
"Precious Memories" - Rumbling Hearts
"Sakura Kissu" - Ouran High School Host Club
"Bouken Desho Desho" - Haruhi Suzumiya
"Simle and Clean" - Utada Hikaru (Kingdom Hearts)
"Sanctuary" - **
"Sakura Drops" - Utada Hikaru
"Always Smiling" - Mario Mix
"Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga" - Nico Chorus
Claymore Opening Theme
"Hare Hare Yukai" - Haruhi Suzumiya
"Motekke Sailor Fuku" - Lucky Star

That's all I can think of for now.  I will definite update this later on!!  Ja ne!

MangaNEXT!

I'm officially going to MangaNEXT 2010 in East Brunswick NJ!  I will be attending this convention on October 29th to October 31st!  My friends Tommy, Mandy, and Yusef are going!  I can't wait!

I don't know of any panels yet so I guess I will have to update this when I find out but I know I'm attending the hentai panel this year!!!!!   No doubt about it!!!!

Oh and this is my cosplay.  It's the lolita outfit that Haruhi wore in the series The Melonchaly of Haruhi Suzumiya.  All I need now is the wig.

1st Post, gotta do it!

Hello my loves!  Welcome to the blog of Victoria Ann!  Can't post my last name because it would be unethical! (-__-")


But anywayz, I figured I have tons to say about my love for anime and manga and video games!  For those of you who don't know, like my grandmother who will probably get linked to this blog anyway (SHOUTOUT--Hi, Mom Mom!!!!!!!! (^__^) ), anime is the japanese term for cartoon.  But it's not just any kind of cartoon.  It's the cartoons straight from Japan like Inu Yasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.  More commonly known "anime" are Pokemon, Sailor Moon, or Naruto (BOO!  Sorry Naruto-nerds, I just don't like Naruto!).  Manga is the japanese term for comic books in Japan.  I don't read manga too much.  The only manga I've read are One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, GTO The Early Years, Inu Yasha, and Romeo x Juliet.  Video games are pretty self explanatory.  I have always loved those, ever since I was about 4 or 5 years old and I was a chiisai girl and I would play Mario on the Super NES.  To this day, I'm still a Mario fan!


So, to tell a bit about myself, I guess I shall start with an introduction??  Mini-bio activation!!


Basic Stuffs (Let's get this out of the way)


Name
Victoria Ann


Age
20, at the time


Location
New Jersey, that's all I'm saying!


Hair Color
Brown (wish it was red)


Eye Color
Black (wish they were blue)


Stupid Otaku Questions (stole these from yahoo)


1. When did you first discover anime/manga/etc.?
Indirectly, when I was about 6 or 7, can't remember but it was around that time.  I was a Sailor Moon and Dragonball freak.  Later I was addicted to Pokemon, before it became dumb.  It wasn't until I was about 13 when I realized it was called anime because a friend of mine showed me Inu Yasha.  I loved it and soon got into an entire array of different anime.


2. How were you before anime/manga versus after?
Well, throughout my teenaged years I couldn't watch much anime.  I only watched what could be shown on Adult Swim and Comcast OnDemand.  But once I started living on my own, I was able to begin watching anime on a computer, so I got into a lot more genre than before (even the distasteful ones).


3. Have you increased in confidence or ability in anything?
Not nessacarily but I can finally say I found something I like...in confidence.


4. Has it sparked a (healthy) hobby?
I guess it depends on how you define "healthy".  If spending nearly 100 dollars a month on anime-related items is unhealthy than yeah, I would say it's an unhealthy hobby I'm involved in.


5. Friends you've made/met through anime/manga (or bf/gf/spouse)?
Almost all of my friends are into anime.  My current BF is into it, though not as much as I'm into.  My friend Kristin is also into it and so is my friend Mandy but my ultimate best anime-loving friend is my friend Natahlin!!!  She loves anime just as much as I do and we can sit in a diner for hours talking about it and still have more to talk about!  I'm so happy I found someone like her to share my otaku-ness with!!


6. Learn any 'life lessons' or...morals, or...good stuff from anime/manga, or even fellow otaku?
Not really.  Just to keep your mind open and creative though no anime nor otaku taught me that directly.


7. Has anime inspired something, like an interest in art, or cosplay, or designing?
It definitely peaked my interest in writing!  So many anime have given me the inspiration for a lot of my stories!


8. Have you learned things about yourself or others from anime/manga (saw warning signs, or realized that they weren't really your friends; figured out that you liked something, got you to try something you would have never thought to try, etc)?
Nah, anime is too unrealistic to teach me that.


All The Rest








I hope I can actually keep this blog up.  Ugh.  Ja mata!!!!!

http://www.bzoink.com/S5661/Ultimate_100_Question_AnimeManga_Otaku_Survey.html" title="Ultimate 100 Question Anime/Manga Otaku Survey" style="color:#fff;">Ultimate 100 Question Anime/Manga Otaku Survey Created by http://www.bzoink.com/~peachprincess" title="peachprincess's Profile" style="color:#fff;">peachprincess and taken 828 times on http://www.bzoink.com/" title="Bzoink Free Fun Surveys" style="color:#fff;">Bzoink
Ultimate Anime/Manga Otaku Survey
Do you...
Make AMVs:	Yes.
Fandub/Radio Plays:	Ha ha, I plan to.
Cosplay:	Yep!
Help scanslate manga:	No.
Draw manga:	I've attempted to...and failed
Write fanfiction:	Yep!!!!!!
Draw Fanart:	Tried to, once.  Did ok.
Have a huge collection of anime pictures:	Of course.  Even non-anime lovers do.
Play the card games:	Nah.
Roleplay:	God, I've been doing that since I was like 13.
DDR:	Yes!  But I can't see how that related to anime.  Maybe it's the music??
Have you ever...
Watched a series in 24 hours:	Yes!  Elfen Lied, good show.
Skipped school for anime related reasons:	Don't tell my parents but yes.
Attended an anime convention:	A number of them, actually.
Woken up/stayed up late to watch anime on tv:	Yep.  Those were the Inu Yasha days...
Worn your hair like an anime character in public:	Not yet.
Have you got...
DVDs of anime:	Yes.
Tapes of anime:	1, the second Inu Yasha Movie.
Fansubs:	No.
Manga:	Yes
Scanslated manga:	No
Untranslated manga:	No
UFO Catchers:	Hahahaha, no.
Anime Posters:	Ugh, I did!!  Where did they go??
Misc. fun game...
What's you favorite number:	7
Count the abc's until you come across a letter for that #:	G
Name 5 animes/characters/mangaka/etc. starting with that letter...1.:	Gaara
2:	Goro
3:	Guru-Guru
4:	Goku
5:	Gohan
3 Favorite...
Shonen Series:	Death Note
Shoujo Series:	Gravatation
Magical Girl Series:	Sailor Moon
Unlicensed Series:	meh, don't know any
Licensed Series:	Eh?
Series on TV:	Inu Yasha
Boy Characters:	Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club
Girl Characters:	Kikyo from Inu Yasha
Bishonen/Bishoujo:	Not into them
Theme Songs:	Sakura Kissu from Ouran High School Host Club
Couples:	The Hitachiin Twins
Mangakas:	Rumiko Takahashi
Anime Companies:	Funimation
American Voice Actors:	Jonny Yong Bosch
Japanese Voice Actors:	Aya Hirano
Mascots:	Rice Ballz?
Least Favorite...
Shonen Series:	Naruto
Shoujo Series:	Cardcaptor Sakura
Magical Girl Series:	don't like them
Unlicensed Series:	eh?
Licensed Series:	eh?
Series on TV:	Naruto
Boy Character:	Shippou from Inu Yasha.....or is he a girl?  Eh, never figured it out.
Girl Character:	Kagome from Inu Yasha
Bishonen/Bishoujo:	don't like any
Theme Song:	The Love Hine theme song
Couple:	Kagome and Inu Yasha
Mangaka:	don't have any
Anime Company:	don't have one
American Voice Actor:	I don't like the voice who plays Sailor Moon
Japanese Voice Actor:	I like them all
Mascot:	lol idk
Lessons learned...
Did you learn Japanese from anime:	To be inspirational!
Learn more about Japanese customs and traditions:	You can't wear shoes inside the house.
Listen to J-Rock/J-Pop as a result:	You bet!
Red string of fate:	No
Walking under cherry blossoms:	....leads to sexual desires
Indirect kiss:	The guy is always the one who starts it.
Naming a bear after someone:	I did name my bear Pikachu once
Baking sweets for someone:	lol, I do that anyway
Has anime had an influence on your future(become a manga artist, etc.):	I want to become a manga artist....one day.
Do you know the Japanese word for...
Boy:	No
Cat:	Neko
Cellphone:	Haven't a clue
Cool:	Sugoi!!!!  I think?
Dog:	Inu
Girl:	I SHOULD no this
Magic:	idk
Manga Artist:	Manga-ka
Moon:	Ugh, why don't I know that??
Ocean:	This either!!
Sky:	I suck
Snow:	I'm ashamed
Soldier:	I'm no otaku
Sorry:	Shoot me
Tea:	Fuck
Teacher:	Sensei!  Yes!  A comeback!
Voice Actor:	And then I lose again.
Vs...
Shoujo/Shonen:	Shonen
Kyou/Yuki:	Yuki
J-Rock/J-Pop:	J-Pop
Anime/Manga:	Anime
Dub/Sub:	Sub...the voice acting is better.
The End
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