#TheAnimangaFestival: So You Wanna Play Otome Games? – Five Otome Game Recommendations for Total Newbies

Melanin Friendly Otome Games & Visual Novels

A Beginners Guide to Otome Games: Part 3 – Common Character Archetypes

How To Woo an Otome Guy in Five Easy Steps!

#TheAnimangaFestival – Set Sailing: Why I Love KuroTsuki

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Hey Hey Guys, as many of you know, The Animanga Festival is in full swing! But, if this is your first time hearing about the festival, here’s the cliffnotes explanation: Auri and Nairne over at Manga Toritsukareru Koto doing it big for their third (second) Bloggiversary, by hosting the Animanga Festival. This month long celebration will feature themed posts, events, and games that the entire Aniblogger community is encouraged to participate in throughout the month of October. I just happen to be one of the many bloggers participating in the event and everyone has been putting out a lot of great content and it’s only the second week. I’m a bit behind with my Animanga Festival posts, but I just couldn’t pass up on writing something for the October 9th prompt: Set Sailing!

Ever shipped two characters that were non canon but would actually make a great pair? Well, now’s your chance to shine. Head out, explain your stance to support your ship and set sailing!

-Set Sailing Prompt

And of course anyone that knows me knows that I am a huge fan of one particular Haikyu ship…. KuroTsuki is my OTP Haikyu ship! You can keep your TsukiYama and I don’t wanna hear about KuroKen, for me, Kuroo Tetsuro and Tsukishima Kei are a match made in heaven. So of course, it only made sense that I’d write about KuroTsuki for the Set Sailing prompt, it’d be criminal not to share my love for the BEST SHIP IN THE SERIES!!

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Lake of Voices Game Review – Who Will You Leave Behind?

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Whether it is weathering an on coming zombie horde or fending off malevolent spirit, in most horror stories the ultimate goal is survival. However, even in the most hopeful horror stories, not everyone will make it through alive. Some people are just not going to get a happily ever after, which gives more weight to the narrative and the actions of the characters. Each and every choice matters, and one misstep could be the difference between surviving and dying a horrible death.

Lake of Voices 1

Super reassuring… 

GB Patch’s Lake of Voices is built around the idea that ‘anyone can be saved, but not everyone can be’. It’s a story that forces players to accept the fact that there is no perfect solution to every problem and that sometimes, in dire situations, sacrifices must be made. Lake of Voices follows guard for hire, Kikka, and her companion Belleme as they attempt to cross Sinnlos, a lake that’s home to gruesome monsters. The creatures that dwell beneath it’s murky depths have claimed the lives of many unfortunate travelers. In order to complete the journey, Kikka and her companion must rely on mysterious Guide if they have any chance of surviving the treacherous two day journey. However, they are not the only travelers hoping to cross Sinnlos, but with a larger group, the chances of survival are significantly decreased….

Game Details

  • Genre: Horror, Suspense, Thriller
  • Fully Voiced in English
  • Available for PC (Widows, Mac, Linux) | Steam
  • Gameplay Lengh: 4-5 hours
  • Cost: Free

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The Doll Shop Review – A Slow Atmospheric Horror

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The horror genre has always been about telling good stories. Made up campfire stories, urban legends, and folk tales… there’s something thrilling about a good scary story. But more often than not it seems like most big budget horror media is more concerned with hashing out the same old played out cliches and tropes, than they are with telling a good story. Jump scares and predictable characters are the norm, to the point that it’s rare to come across anything that feels genuine, let alone telling a good spooky story.

Every so often I come across a good scary story, one that renews my faith in the horror genre and Atelier Sentô’s The Doll Shop is one of those hidden horror gems. The Doll Shop is a slow tale that ditches the usual horror cliches in favor of telling a truly unsettling story. In a secluded Japanese village, there lives a quiet doll maker, who is content to spend his days with his dolls. Each one is more beautiful than the last, and so he spends his days in isolation, until his childhood friend, a beautiful young woman from the city arrives. She’s unlike anyone he’s ever met before, and suddenly his dolls aren’t enough to fill his lonely existence. But, he has a secret… he’s just waiting for the right person to share it with…

Game Details

  • Genre: Horror, Suspense, Thriller
  • Available for PC (Widows, Mac, Linux) 
  • Gameplay Lengh: 2-3 hours
  • Cost: Free
  • 3 Endings

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#TheAnimangaFestival: So You Wanna Play Otome Games? – Five Otome Game Recommendations for Total Newbies

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Hey Hey Guys, I have a super special awesome post today! Auri and Nairne over at Manga Toritsukareru Koto doing it big for their third (er, second) Bloggiversary, by hosting the Animanga Festival. This month long celebration will feature themed posts, events, and games that the entire Aniblogger community is encouraged to participate in throughout the month of October. I just happen to be one of the many bloggers participating in the event and I am super excited to see what everyone comes up with for their posts!!

If you’re still curious about The Animanga Festival check out Auri and Nairne’s introduction post over on their blog for all deets and important links: The #Animanga Festival Begins Tomorrow

Today’s festival prompt is “Anime/Manga You’d Recommend to a First Timer”, since this is a gaming blog, I figured I’d focus on Otome Games. But, I couldn’t decide on just one game to recommend, so I chose FIVE instead!

For those of you unfamiliar with the otome games genre, I highly recommend checking out my Beginners Guide To Otome Games series for a crash course on everything you need to know about otome games. But, if you don’t feel like reading that right now, here’s the cliffnotes version:

“Otome Game (乙女ゲーム lit. otome gemu) is a Japanese term used to describe a series of story based games targeted primarily towards women… the main goal of otome games is to foster romantic relationships between an in game female protagonist (also often referred to as the MC or Heroine) and one of multiple male protagonist (some games also feature female romantic partners), similar to the setup of reverse harem media.” 

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Romance to Die For: Five Romance VNs to Get You in the Mood for Halloween

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It’s that time of year again! October marks the beginning of Halloween season, the time of year when we celebrate all things spooky. From ghosts and goblins to gothic horror and all things macabre, there are 31 days of spooky good fun ahead of us! I absolutely love the horror genre, so this is the month when I’m really in my element and I really like to do it big here on Blerdy Otome. So, for the entire month of October I will put out a series of horror themed posts and content to get you in the mood for Halloween! Kicking things off is a list of five horror themed romance visual novels!

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Back to School: 10 School Romance Otome Games

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September 23rd marks the first day of Fall, and despite the heatwave we’re having, I  can’t help but be a little nostalgic. For most, the season marks the start of the new school year and many have already started making the daily trek back to the classroom. Everyone has at least one or two fond memories of their school years from late night study sessions in the library to hanging out with friends in the halls to after school clubs and activities.

It’s one of those universal experiences, so it’s no wonder school settings are so popular in our media. School romances are especially popular topics in otome games, from sweet first crushes to the angsty drama filled romances, otome games give you the chance to explore all your school romance fantasies. So, today, I wanted to dive into 10 school romance otome games, that’ll give you some nostalgia for our bygone school days… or maybe even give you the chance to live out your wildest school fantasies…

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OWLS “Lovers” Blog Tour – A Natural Otome Romance: Enomoto and Ichika in ‘Collar x Malice’

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Hey Hey Owlets!! It’s been awhile since I participated in an OWLS Blog Tour and chances are you were directed here by Carla over at Pop Culture Literary and her amazing post about how fan culture influences how we view relationships. If you haven’t already given her post a read, I highly recommend giving it a once over!

owl

For those of you that are here by chance, I’m the next in a long line of bloggers, vloggers, and content creators participating in the September 2019 OWLS Blog Tour! As many of you guys know I’m a member of the blogging group OWLS (Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-Respect). We’re a group of bloggers and vloggers that hope to spread a message of acceptance and understanding through thoughtful community activism! We use our love of pop-culture and other media to discuss a wide range of topics. Each month we host themed Blog Tours where we discuss topics we feel are important to the greater fandom community. 

Last month during our Believe Blog Tour we celebrated the great works from acclaimed animation studio Kyoto Animation as a way to show our love for the studio in the wake of the heartbreaking tragedy back in July. This month, we’re continuing to spread the love with our Lover Blog Tour.

When it comes to romantic relationships, what do we look for in a partner? What core values do we seek when it comes to building a healthy and loving relationship? For this topic, we will be discussing some of our favorite couples in pop culture and what they have taught us about love and relationships, the good and the bad.

– September 2019 Lover Blog Tour Prompt

Love is a topic we’ve talked about quite a few time during our past OWLS Blog Tours, but I still had a hard time choosing a topic for this month’s tour. OWLS members before me put their own spin on the topic, and since most of my posts are related to games, I figured it would only be fitting if I talked about otome games. I mean, the main goal of otome games is to successfully romance one of several male love interests, each with their own “unique” personalities. Otome games, like most visual novels give gamers a chance to craft their own fantasy romance experience, for better or for worse. Though some criticize otome games for their unrealistic depictions of love and romantic relationships, I think there is a lot we can learn from otome games about love. So for this month’s tour I wanted to talk about one of my favorite otome couples and why they work.

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Thrifty Gaming: Games That Won’t Blow Your Budget #34

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Hey there Heroes, Travelers, and Wandering NPCs!! It’s Thrifty Thursday and that means another Thrifty Gaming post, the weekly post series where I spotlight three games/visual novels for gamers on a budget. Whatever your financial situation, I’m here to bring you affordable games that won’t break the bank!! All of the games on this list are $10 or less (does not include limited time offers and sale items), so no more weepy wallets!
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This week’s post will include links to the games and a brief synopsis, but let me stress that these are not reviews, but recommendations… so your mileage may vary! Now that that’s out of the way lets get on to this week’s list!!

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20 Years of Romance: My Top 10 Favorite Voltage Inc Games

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Today marks the 20th Anniversary of Voltage Inc, the Japanese developer behind the popular Otome Romance line of mobile otome games. There have been many ups and downs over the years and some questionable choices by the company, but despite that, Voltage remains one of the leading producers of mobile otome games content.

Voltage was my first introduction into the wonderful world of Japanese otome and over five years later I still find myself going back their games again and again. There is something special about the characters and stories they create, each one with a charm all their own. They’ve since moved all their standalone apps to their Love 365: Find Your Story platform app, and they’re still releasing new titles. They’ve even ported two of their most popular games, Enchanted in the Moonlight and Star Crossed Myth to the Nintendo Switch and this is only the beginning…

So to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Voltage Inc. I wanted to go through their current line up of games and list out my 10 favorite Voltage Inc. Otome Romance titles. There are over 50 titles available in English, and more on the way… so, you can bet this it was hard to narrow it down to just ten. With 20 years of games to shift through, these are my favorite Voltage Inc. games!

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Five Totally Out There Dating Sims You Have to See to Believe

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In the wake of KFC’s I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator announcement the internet is abuzz with delight at the prospect of dating the fast food chain’s chicken loving mascot. The concept is the brain child of UK based studio Psyop, and promises a unique gaming experience full of cooking battles, delicious finger lickin’ chicken recipes, and of course the chance to romance the Colonel himself.

While most of the internet is eagerly awaiting the latest parody dating sim, some in the otome community are worried the upcoming game will do more harm than good to an already niche genre. I’m always down for a good laugh, so I’ll probably check I Love You, Colonel Sanders! out when it’s released on September 24th on Steam.

However, this isn’t the first dating sim parody game (and it most likely won’t be the last). There are quite a few dating sims out there that are sure to have a few people scratching their heads, so of course I did what any sane person would do and compiled a few of them into a list… Your welcome.

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