Coming out in March 2020 amid the pandemic, Animal Crossing New Horizons exploded in popularity as the game to hang out with friends. Whether it was building the island of your dreams, hoarding all the bells to buy one of everything, or visiting your friend’s islands in real-time by using Dodo’s airlines, it was what everyone was doing while being socially distant. Now over a year later, we have Animal Crossing New Horizons Deserted Island Diary as a companion manga for the game. Though relatively short, Deserted Island Diary has four characters Coroyuki, Benben, Himepoyo, and Guchan. With four distinctly…
Author: Justine Stacy
We are back down the rabbit hole of love in Golden Japanesque: A Splendid Yokohama Romance Vol. 2. Our main protagonist Maria is falling more and more in love with Rintarou Mayuzumi, son of a wealthy family. As we continue the story from Volume One we have already learned that Maria comes from a humble background, has a foreign father, which in turn explains her blue eyes and blonde hair. Beautiful as she is, we are quick to note that during this era mixing with foreigners was considered a negative so she hides her true self to not draw attention.…
As a recap from the first volume, we begin with Konoha Satou, who created fantasy adventure stories back in middle school. Little did she know that her story would come to life, and she would be injected into it because of certain events. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t take on the protagonist heroine role she always portrayed herself as, but instead, she was reincarnated as the villainess Iana Magnolia whose role was to kill her sister, the heroine. Complicating things, Konoha has to prevent her own death, which was planned in her story. To avoid that, she does things to…
Mint Chocolate Vol. 1 left off with Nanami Murata living with her crush and newly made stepbrother Kyouhei Suzumura after their parents marry. After many incidents, this budding romance goes further in Mint Chocolate Vol. 2. Continuing the ridiculously cheesy but cute scenarios we start with the two alone again in the house for the weekend. What entails will make you giddy with excitement. Mint Chocolate Vol. 2 definitely adds more to evolving the characters and providing an additional level of care and feelings between Nanami and Kyouhei. With the help and advice from their friend Andou, both Kyouhei and…
The constant stream of cute anime boys is almost never-ending. But their attractiveness could never come between my love for cats. However, what happens when a manga combines these precious entities and presents them in a manga? Well, in I’m the Catlords’ Manservant Vol. 1, we get a pretty good idea of just how interesting a situation this can be. I’m the Catlords’ Manservant introduces us to Yukiharu Izumi, a high schooler who recently became an orphan. With no parents, no money, and no place to call home, he receives instructions and a house key from his late father to…
Taking place in Meiji-era Japan, Golden Japanesque: A Splendid Yokohama Romance Vol. 1 begins its story with sixteen-year-old Maria. Unlike others around her, Maria has natural blue eyes, and her hair is golden, which are features she acquired from her father, who left overseas when she was just a child. This was the time period of the late 1800s to early 1900s where worries of mixing with foreigners were shunned. Filled with shame, her strict mother raised her to keep her head down and hide her appearance, so entering the book we see a very plain and timid girl. In…
It’s time to clear your schedule and get comfy because Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town has finally been released in the west. This entry marks a significant 25th anniversary for the series and includes some of the most advancements in new systems and features that make it one of the best entries to date. Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town’s adventure begins as they typically do; your grandfather owned a farm back in the day, he passes away, and you inherit it. This is what brings us to Olive Town. The general setup is your basic…
If you were granted any wish, what would yours be? In Kuzushiro’s new manga series Mama Akuma, we see what comes when a 4th grader does just that. Some exceptionally emotional and powerful themes develop in this early volume, but we mostly only see the foundation of what’s to come. On the other hand, there’s plenty of historical moments packed in this first volume. In Mama Akuma Volume 1, upon summoning the demon Seere, Sakura Masuda makes one wish, asking him to become her mama. Even though he is used to slaughtering people and destroying cities as wishes, Seere, our…
There’s no shortage of romance manga, but I typically find myself gravitating towards the ones that get creative with their narrative. Mint Chocolate Vol. 1 from Mami Orikasa offers readers an interesting premise with the question of, “What if your crush’s dad marries your mom?” Now, we get to see into this new living arrangement and all the romantic awkwardness that comes with it. Mint Chocolate begins by introducing Nanami Murata who has just been introduced to her mother’s new husband and son. The son just so happens to be her crush, classmate, and now stepbrother, Kyouhei Suzumura. After Nanami’s…
I think by now everyone knows what Frozen is and has probably had one of the songs from the animated film stuck in their head for a few days. Disney has never been shy about bringing their IPs to other mediums if it means spreading awareness, so it was only a matter of time before they licensed a Frozen manga. Even though the first entry didn’t receive the same treatment, Disney Frozen 2: The Manga still caters to the Disney otaku fans with detailed illustrations that follow the film’s narrative. Disney Frozen 2: The Manga begins as Elsa and Anna…
They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but the one aspect I love to see in an indie game is the artistic visuals and how well they compliment the gameplay and story that is being told. Through these means, we are given a chance to view things from a different perspective, and in the case of developer Hollow Ponds’ puzzle adventure I Am Dead, we get the chance to take a look at death in a strange new way. It makes for a relaxing journey through a whimsical world, but systems outside of the puzzles themselves left me…
The Switch continues to grace me with more entries of the Story of Seasons series, which I will not complain about. Now, Marvelous brings us Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, a remastered version of the 2003 Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town that released on Gameboy Advance. This updated version gives fans some fresh new graphics to look at, a few new characters, and many other improvements to make it worth returning to. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town begins with you inheriting your late grandfather’s farm in Mineral Town. Twenty years have passed since you…
Since March, I’ve been consistently playing one game on my Nintendo Switch, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game has taken over my daily life to the point where I block out specific times of the day when to log on. It’s an obsession, and I’m willing to admit that. Before Animal Crossing took all of my free time, I considered myself a fan of the Story of Seasons series. Now that XSEED is gearing up to bring Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town to the west, the big question is, will it take me away from my Animal Crossing…
The Rune Factory series is a mix of farming and dungeon crawling, with the former being something that I greatly enjoy. Now with Rune Factory 4 Special on Nintendo Switch, I’ll have a chance to get an understanding of what it has to offer. Being new to this entry of the series, I found that there’s plenty more to do outside of running errands for townspeople and growing crops. With the inclusion of runes, exploring dungeons, battling monsters, and marriage proposals, I was introduced to a whole new world that I’ve been missing out on. https://youtu.be/3nh1qNutxpE Rune Factory 4 Special…
Title: Read Only Memories #1 Writer: Sina Grace Publisher: IDW Publishing Publish Date: December 18, 2019 Released in 2015, 2064: Read Only Memories was a well-received visual novel that opened up players to a cast of exciting characters fueled by mystery. Through that, we now have the Read Only Memories comic book from MidBoss and IDW Publishing. After this first issue, there are a few elements of the story that has us eager to dive deeper into this brand new mystery. Read Only Memories introduces Lexi Rivers, a character that fans of the game will know. Lexi has become a private…
Have a gaming PC and are looking to upgrade? — This is the list for you. Simple upgrades like these are sure to improve your gaming experience whether it be technically or aesthetically. Video card/Graphics Card The graphics card has a large impact on the performance of your computer. If your graphics card is years old, you should consider upgrading yours with a higher GPU. You may notice significantly better performance in games you play with better graphics processing and multitasking. Our suggestions are: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Graphics RAM It’s better to have more…
If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love Story of Seasons. The almost never-ending gameplay and expanding world is something that peaks my imagination for 100’s of hours of gameplay. Now, I know who Doraemon is, but I’ll admit that I’m mostly here for the Story of Seasons part of the new collaboration project: Doraemon: Story of Seasons. What’s easy to point out is that this is a step in the right direction for the series. https://youtu.be/z0bS2cn2OUM During Doraemon: Story of Seasons players meet Noby and his friends. Unexpectedly, the group gets swept away by a storm and…