Blerdy Otome

Visions for A Better Tomorrow – January 2020 “Visions” OWLS Blog Tour

By pokeninja90 on January 18, 2020 • ( 1 Comment )

It’s a new year and with it comes the promise of a new beginning for many looking to put the hardships of last year behind them. Like many, I see the new year as a chance to start fresh, both online and in my personal life. 2019 ended on a high note with me finally securing a full time job, giving me a much more positive outlook for the new year. There will of course be some ups and downs, but I’m definitely optimistic about what 2020 has in store for me moving forward.

So, when the lovely Lyn revealed that the theme for our first Blog Tour of 2020 would be visions, I was eager to put my own personal spin on the topic. Initially, I intended to write about the anime series revisions (which explains the feature image), and while I’ll probably plug the series at some point in this post, I felt that a more personal post was necessary this time around.

Happy New Year! Since it is a new year, it’s a new you! This month we will be talking about various pop culture mediums that focus on envisioning “the future.” What type of future do we want for ourselves, our communities, and the world? Also, we will be sharing our goals and plans for the new year. Once again, happy new year!

-OWLS January 2020 “Visions” Blog Tour Prompt

OWLS has grown and changed considerably since it’s inception back in 2017, I remember being approached by the President of OWLS Katrina Sade to join the group that at the time had a very simple goal, “to create a safe space for people to be free being who they are”. We didn’t have a huge platform back then, it was just a small group of bloggers from the aniblogging community who wanted to make a small difference in the world.

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Thrifty Gaming: Games That Won’t Blow Your Budget #40

By pokeninja90 on January 16, 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

Hey there Heroes, Travelers, and Wandering NPCs it’s that special time of the week—Thrifty Thursday!

In a world where it’s all about the almighty dollar, sometimes it’s a little tough to make our pennies stretch enough to accommodate our hobbies. But, there are plenty of ways to balance your budget while still enjoying the things you love, you just have to be a little thrifty about it. So, I created Thrifty Gaming in order to spotlight some lesser known indie titles that are both entertaining an affordable.

If you’re a new follower or someone who has been following since my Nice Job Breaking It Hero days who’s been gone for awhile, here’s a refresher… Thrifty Gaming, is a weekly post series where I spotlight three games/visual novels that are under $10.00. These can be mobile games, PC games, and a few times I have found some nice indie console titles too. The list used to focus on just otome games and romance visual novels, but after requests from a few readers I have since expanded to other gaming genres. I don’t include sales or limited time offers, each title has to be consistently priced at $10.00 or less without any promotions to be included in this line up.

Note, these are not reviews, rather recommendations so your mileage may vary with some of these titles. This week’s post will include a brief synopsis and links to each game so you can add them to your gaming library! You don’t have to break the bank to enjoy your hobbies, so save a little bread and check this week’s thrifty gaming picks!

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Bite-Sized Review – Nightshade

By pokeninja90 on January 15, 2020 • ( 1 Comment )

Where to Get the Game: Steam

A little while ago I went on a recovery mission into my backlog and I “rescued” a few titles from the depths. One of those titles was Nightshade. When this game was originally released I didn’t have the money to purchase it, so a friend of mine from an otome group I’m in gifted it to me on Steam. Even then, I didn’t immediately play the game, and I have to wonder that if I had played it back then when the entire otome games community was hyped as hell for this game, maybe, just maybe my opinion might have been different. But, I didn’t and I’m gonna be upfront with you guys, I did not enjoy this game and the only reason I even finished the game was out of a moral obligation to the friend who bought it for me the game.

I went in expecting Nightshade to be this epic historical fantasy on par with the much beloved otome darling Hakuoki, but what I got was a bland and largely forgettable gaming experience. Everything was just so meh, it just didn’t WOW me the way I thought it would. The premise was okay, the characters were okay, and the story itself was just… you guessed it, okay. It just didn’t stand out at all. Everything was just so predictable and unoriginal, HELL if you’re looking for a better game with shinobi, I highly recommend the mobile game Destiny Ninja it has its moments, but at least it’s FUN. Nightshade just played it too safe.

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Sunshine Blogger Challenge Part I

By pokeninja90 on January 13, 2020 • ( 3 Comments )

I’m super late with this and despite it being the middle of Winter, it’s a temperate 65ºF here on the East coast, which I suppose is the perfect time to unload these neglected Sunshine Blogger Award Challenges. Better late than never, right?

This is the one of two Sunshine Blogger posts I’ve gotten, but rather than banging them out in one go I’ll spread them out a bit and post the second one next week. I wanna thank Carla over at Pop Culture Literary for tagging me in this challenge (and sorry for dragging my feet in getting this done). If you guys haven’t heard of Carla or her amazing site, I highly recommend giving it a look, ASAP! Carla covers a wide range of topics within the pop culture sphere from animated shows to films to books to comics, and even Japanese media, if you can think of it she’s probably got a post on it. And they’re not just your run of the mill reviews, Carla writes some great analysis pieces that give a in depth look at a series and it’s influence on the fandom and pop culture as a whole. Seriously, you have to check her stuff out, you won’t be disappointed!

As part of the Sunshine Blogger Award Challenge, Carla came up with 11 questions for me to answer, which I have done below the cut.

Continue reading “Sunshine Blogger Challenge Part I”

Haikyuu to the Top is Finally Here! – Thoughts on Episode 1 “Introductions”

By pokeninja90 on January 11, 2020 • ( 1 Comment )

We’ve been waiting almost four years for this new season and after watching episode 1 – Introductions, I can honestly say it was worth the wait! The series is back and in full form, the cast is back and everyone gets their fair share of screentime. I missed my Haikyu!! boys so it was nice to kind of get reacquainted with everyone. The first half of the episode was just so nostalgic, everything was just so spot on, from Kageyama and Hinata having one of their usual pissing contests right off the bat to the third years just being so over the younger team member’s shenanigans to Tsukki being so smug about surpassing 190 cm. All my old Haikyu!! just came flooding back full force and this is just the first episode!

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Thrifty Gaming: Games That Won’t Blow Your Budget #39

By pokeninja90 on January 9, 2020 • ( 1 Comment )

Hey there Heroes, Travelers, and Wandering NPCs it’s 2020 and how about we start the year off right with some thrifty game buys!! It’s been awhile since the last one of these, but I definitely want to keep this going, because I know what it’s like to be ballin’ on a budget and it’s even harder when there are all these great games out there just begging to be bought. So, I created Thrifty Gaming in order to spotlight some lesser known indie titles that are both entertaining an affordable.

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10 Reasons You Should Be Watching Haikyu!!

By pokeninja90 on January 8, 2020 • ( 13 Comments )

Haikyu!! is based on the ongoing Weekly Shounen Jump manga series by Haruichi Furudate. It’s one of the most popular sports series and the anime was recently voted the Sports Anime of the Decade over on Funimation… which is huge since Haikyu!! beat out the likes of Free and Yuri!! On Ice. The series follows the members of the Karasuno High Volleyball Club as they attempt to rebuild their team and win Nationals. It sounds like the premise of just about every other sports anime under the sun, but there is just something special about Haikyu!! that get’s your blood pumping! From the intense volleyball matches to the dynamic cast of characters to it’s compelling character drama, Haikyu!! is hands down one of my favorite anime series of all time!

I blame Kat Sade for my Haikyu!! obsession, because without her I would have never discovered this amazing series! This series single-handedly got me interested in the sports anime genre, I binge watch the entire series every couple of months and no matter how many time I watch this series I find my self falling even more in love with the characters and the music… and just everything! Like many in the Haikyu fandom I am eager for the premiere of the LOOOOOOOOONG awaited 4th season, Haikyu: To the Top on January 10th.

There are still a few days left before season 4 starts, which is plenty of time to catch up on the series. But, if you’re still on the fence about Haikyu!! here are 10 Reasons You Should Be Watching Haikyu!!

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Love Brings You Home – Arata Yuki Main Story Review

By pokeninja90 on January 7, 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

With all the flashier titles in their catalog, Love Calls You Home is one of their underrated gems. It doesn’t come with all the gimmicks and angst of some of their more popular Otome Romance titles, so it’s pretty easy to overlook this unassuming slice-of-life romance. An overworked young woman finds herself in close quarters with a handsome and supportive guy, and while the circumstances for their cohabitation differ by route, the romance between the MC and her chosen love interest remains largely grounded in reality. The only “gimmick” is that a majority of the guys are secretly famous or have lucrative careers. I kind of got the impression that this was what Voltage was going for with their older title, Serendipity Next Door, which has a similar premise.

Currently, four out of the five love interests are available—Taiyo, Arata, Liam, and Hazuki. Because, I’m biased towards kuudere and tsundere, I picked Arata’s route as my first conquest of the game.

Also, because folks (myself included) are fussy about spoilers. Here’s your one and only spoiler warning. This review will have minor spoilers for Arata’s route and Love Brings You Home.

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It’s All In a Smile: 5 Otome Game Genki Guys

By pokeninja90 on January 6, 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

These posts are a complement to my Beginners Guide to Otome Games posts, particularly the one on Common Character Archetypes in Otome Games. There I give a very general rundown of the most common character archetypes that appear in otome games with a few examples of characters that fit each trope. But, I kinda wanted to do individual posts on each archetype and now here we are with the second post in this series. Last time around I covered one of my favorite character archetype, the hot and cold, Tsundere. Which you can check out by clicking the link: ‘I Won’t Say I’m In Love: 5 Otome Game Tsundere’.

This time around I’m covering a character archetype that I initially didn’t really care all that much for, but has since become one of my new favs—the genki character archetype.

The Basics: What Are Genki Characters?

Genki (元気) means healthy/energetic in Japanese and these types of characters are a seeming well of good-natured playfulness and joy. These lively, animated, and bombastic guys are always the life of the party, quick to laugh and ever optimistic. You’re bound to have a good time when you’re with a genki guy! Beneath their upbeat personality these characters tend to hide deep traumas and dark pasts, however these rarely affect their cheerful attitudes as they’d much rather look on the bright side of life. Also, most genki guys tend to have red hair to match their fiery personalities.

This is where it always starts with genki characters

These types of guys are much more approachable than the other love interests and are usually the easiest for the Heroine to befriend. There’s a very thin line between friendship and romance in routes/stories featuring genki characters, since they tend to be friendly with everyone. Genki characters can be prone to pulling practical jokes and are often the token jokesters of the group (or the butt of jokes) and have been known to rope the Heroine into their hijinks.

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I Finally Finished My First Route in Code Realize ~ Guardians of Rebirth~

By pokeninja90 on January 5, 2020 • ( 3 Comments )

I’ve been playing Code Realize ~ Guardians of Rebirth ~ off and on for the past five or so years and despite the overwhelming love for the game I could just never seem to make much headway with it. So in 2019 I made a bit of an unofficial resolution to finish at least one route before the end of the year and at long last I was able to complete my playthrough of Impey’s route! Took me five long years, but I can finally say I’ve at the very least played Code Realize and I’m not gonna lie, I have some mixed feelings about it. This won’t be so much a review as some thoughts I’ve had about the game over the years—and after five years I’ve amassed quite a few.

Code Realize was one of the first major otome game releases to make its way stateside. Developed by Otomate for the PS Vita in 2014, Code Realize is a steampunk fantasy, featuring a cast of characters based on famous literary and historical figures. The game follows Cardia—a young woman whose body produces a deadly poison that melts anything she touches—spends her days in an abandoned mansion to protect others from her affliction. Labeled as a monster by the locals, Cardia resigns herself to a life of loneliness until Royal Guards break into the mansion and attempt to capture her. She is saved by infamous gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, who promises to help her find her father, the only person who might be able to remove the poison coursing through her veins.

Game Details

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Action, Romance
Available for PS Vita | Nintendo Switch (Feb 2020)
Full Voiced
Gameplay Lengh: 30-35 hours
Cost: $39.99
5 male romance options
Similar Games: Steam Prison, London Detective Mysteria

Continue reading “I Finally Finished My First Route in Code Realize ~ Guardians of Rebirth~”

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Visions for A Better Tomorrow – January 2020 “Visions” OWLS Blog Tour

Thrifty Gaming: Games That Won’t Blow Your Budget #40

Bite-Sized Review – Nightshade

Sunshine Blogger Challenge Part I

Haikyuu to the Top is Finally Here! – Thoughts on Episode 1 “Introductions”

Thrifty Gaming: Games That Won’t Blow Your Budget #39

10 Reasons You Should Be Watching Haikyu!!

Love Brings You Home – Arata Yuki Main Story Review

I Finally Finished My First Route in Code Realize ~ Guardians of Rebirth~

A World of Bishies Awaits

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