Tag: Black History Month

Melanin Friendly Games – ‘One Thousand and One Days’

Published on by Blerdy1 Comment

Hey Hey! I took an unexpected break this past weekend, I took a blogging break to enjoy my new Switch and do some adulting. I wanna get back into the swing of things with another Melanin Friendly Game pick. This time around I’m covering a game that I’ve covered before, but I don’t see many people talking about, which is a shame because it’s really quite impressive.

For today’s pick I’m covering Asif G.’s episodic Arabian Nights inspired fantasy visual novel, One Thousand and One Days. The game borrows heavily from ancient Persian mythology and Islamic lore AND features an all ethnic cast that draw inspiration from Middle Eastern, North African, and Mongolian cultures. Like Nusantara, this game focuses on a culture and region you don’t see explored very often in games—sure you get otome games that borrow the aesthetic of Arabian cultures, but you don’t see any one taking the time to really go in depth. One Thousand and One Days, does that and more while also weaving an intriguing fantasy adventure that will keep you captivated through each new chapter.

Continue reading “Melanin Friendly Games – ‘One Thousand and One Days’” →

Melanin Friendly Games – ‘Magical Warrior Diamond Heart’

Published on by BlerdyLeave a comment

One of my first experiences with Japanese culture and anime came from watching Sailor Moon after school. Though the American dub of the series was HEAVILY edited, I was enamored with the series and tuned in every day to see Serena (yes, I know Usagi) and the rest of the Sailor Scouts kicking ass and protecting their city from evil… and Tuxedo Mask, he was like my first anime crush! I can STILL remember singing the opening theme at the top of my lungs much to the annoyance of my mom and brothers, but watching Sailor Moon sparked a love affair with anime and the magical girl genre that has lasted years…

I love me some Sailor Moon, but there weren’t exactly any Black sailor scouts (except for Pluto… I’m gonna go ahead and claim her for the culture), not that that stopped me from wanting to be a sailor scout. But, looking back, I would have loved to have seen someone that looked like me fighting along side the rest of the sailor scouts. So when I came across Xeregha Lopez’s magical girl yuri/otome visual novel, Magical Warrior Diamond Heart it set my little magical girl heart all a flutter!!

Continue reading “Melanin Friendly Games – ‘Magical Warrior Diamond Heart’” →

Melanin Friendly Games – ‘A Troll’s Fairy Tale’

Published on by BlerdyLeave a comment

Hey Hey!! Day 2 of my “mostly” month long shoutout to melanin friendly games!! It’s Black History Month, so for the remainder of the month, I want to write mini reviews spotlighting games that feature Black and Brown characters in prominent roles! As a Black woman and gamer, I am always on the lookout for games that feature characters that look like me and even more so, stories from creators of color. Because there is just something beautiful about creators of color telling their own stories!

And today’s Melanin Friendly Game pick has both! 

Y’all may know S-morishita for her delightful webcomic series Catch Me! Fight Me! Love Me!, but did you know she also released a game too?! S-morishita is a triple threat- Artist, Writer, and Game Developer! Back in 2013, she released the fantasy romance visual novel, A Troll’s Fairy Tale, for the one month Game Jam, NaNoRenO. The game follows a 24 year old troll, named Acacia, who despite not being a beautiful dainty princess, wants to have her own fairytale romance just like the ones she’s heard about in stories. But, can a troll really have her own happily ever after? Join Acacia on her quest for the perfect fairytale romance and find out!

Continue reading “Melanin Friendly Games – ‘A Troll’s Fairy Tale’” →

Melanin Friendly Games – ‘Nusantara: Legend of the Winged Ones’

Published on by BlerdyLeave a comment

It’s Black History Month, and while I’m a week late to the party, I wanted to do something special to celebrate and what better way to do that than to flood your timelines and readers with Melanin Friendly games?! Diversity in games has certainly gotten better over the years, and as a Black woman and a gamer, I really appreciate seeing more and more developers including narratives that focus on characters that look like me. I’ve written about representation in games before, focusing mostly on indie games and visual novels, since they tend to have more inclusive casts of characters and narratives. I wrote a post last year spotlighting a list of visual novels and otome games that featured Black and Brown characters in prominent roles and I want to kind of expand on that. Every day I’ll write mini reviews of games that I’ve found that have characters of color at the forefront.

First up is the fantasy romance visual novel, Nusantara – Legend of the Winged Ones from indie developer, Sweet Chiel. The game follows Tamara, a young woman who is transported from the present day into the past—a world of myths and legends. Embark on a journey into the unknown, as you are thrust into the ongoing conflict between the Sakma, a race of winged people and their enemies, the ruthless Komodo.

Continue reading “Melanin Friendly Games – ‘Nusantara: Legend of the Winged Ones’” →

Melanin Monday: Black Folks Killin’ It in the Oscars

Published on by Blerdy2 Comments

Hey Hey Heroes, Travelers, and NPCs, out there it’s Monday, and that means another Melanin Monday post!! I know its been awhile since my last Melanin Monday post (I’ve been slacking off), but, for those of you just joining the party, here’s a little refresher. Melanin Monday is a bi-weekly post series that I started for Black History Month, where I talk about Black and Brown skinned characters in anime, manga, video games, etc., but you guys loved it so much I decided to continue it!

So, in this week’s Melanin Monday post, I wanted to talk about the Oscars… Yeah, I know, I’m not the only one talking about the Oscars, everybody is talking about the Oscars right now. But, after not one but two Black-led superhero films managed to not only snag quite a few Oscar nominations, but, also WIN awards… well, let’s just say that is grounds for celebration. But, that wasn’t all, the 2019 Oscars was a triumph for women and people of color as well, with films like Roma and BlackKklansman snagging quite a few awards last night.

Continue reading “Melanin Monday: Black Folks Killin’ It in the Oscars” →

Melanin Monday: Why We Need Quality Representation- A Short Rant

Published on by Blerdy5 Comments

Hey Hey Heroes, Travelers, and Wandering NPCs, it’s Black History Month once again and with it comes the revival of Melanin Monday, the post series where I talk about the representation of Black and brown characters in pop culture. While I mainly focus on the nerdier side of the pop culture spectrum, from time to time I will cover more personal posts about my experiences as a Black nerd.

This started as part of Black History Month 2017, but you guys liked it so much that I decided to keep it going, albeit rather sporadically. However, for the month of February I will try to post one of these every Monday.

This week I didn’t really have anything planned since this post coincides with my OWLS Blog Tour post, and I am notorious for waiting until the last minute to do anything… So rather than focus on a particular form of media, I’m just going to talk about the importance of representation in general… as a rant.

Continue reading “Melanin Monday: Why We Need Quality Representation- A Short Rant” →

Melanin Monday: I Am Not Your Stereotype- Racial Representation in Anime [Part II]

Published on by Blerdy14 Comments

Hey, hey all you wonderful Heroes and Travelers out there it’s Monday, and that means another Melanin Monday post!! For those of you just joining us, Melanin Monday is a special weekly post series that I started for Black History Month, where I talk about Black and Brown skinned characters in anime, manga, video games, etc.

I was originally going to end the series at the end of the month, but due to the positive feedback, I will continue Melanin Mondays!! However, another weekly post series on top of all the other stuff I have to write for this blog would be a bit too much for me to handle, so I’m making this a bi-weekly series instead. So expect a new Melanin Monday post every other Monday until I get tired of writing them…

Last week I did a Top 5 List of My Favorite Black Male Anime Characters and this week, since it’s the final Monday of Black History Month, I’m going to revisit a topic I talked about two weeks ago: the representation of Black characters in anime. But, if you all will remember, that post focused on the negative portrayals of Black characters in anime, so this week, I wanted to look at the flip side of that, the positive portrayals!

*Disclaimer: I realize that this is a touchy subject for some people, but I want to let you all know right now, that while comments are welcome, I will not tolerate any personal attacks or overtly nasty comments. If you can’t discuss this post in a respectful and civilized manner, then keep your hands off the keyboard… I promise you I will not be very forgiving of anyone that uses my comments section as such! 😀

Continue reading “Melanin Monday: I Am Not Your Stereotype- Racial Representation in Anime [Part II]” →

Melanin Monday: My Top 5 Favorite Black Male Anime Characters

Published on by Blerdy5 Comments

Hey, hey all you wonderful Heroes and Travelers out there it’s Monday, and that means another Melanin Monday post!! For those of you just joining us, Melanin Monday is a special weekly post series that I started for Black History Month (I might be persuaded to continue the series, if interest is high enough), where I talk about Black and Brown skinned characters in anime, manga, video games, etc. Last week I switched things up a bit, with an op-ed like piece on the negative portrayals of black characters in anime and I’m not gonna lie, it wound up being pretty ranty! So for this week’s post, I wanted to transition to something a bit more chill…

Two weeks back I spotlighted  My Favorite Black Female Anime Characters; five phenomenal women of color that I felt everyone should know about… Well, this week, I’m giving the fellas a chance to shine. These fierce fellas know how to take care of business! Because I think all the men on this list are fantastic, this won’t be a ranked list, I love them all equally!!

Continue reading “Melanin Monday: My Top 5 Favorite Black Male Anime Characters” →

Melanin Monday: I Am Not Your Stereotype- Racial Representation in Anime [Part I]

Published on by Blerdy23 Comments

Hey, hey all you wonderful Heroes and Travelers out there it’s Monday, and that means another Melanin Monday post!! For those of you just joining us, Melanin Monday is a special weekly post series that I started for Black History Month (I might be persuaded to continue the series, if interest is high enough), where I talk about Black and Brown skinned characters in anime, manga, video games, etc. Last week I did a Top 5 List of My Favorite Black Female Anime Characters and this week, I’m gonna do things a little differently…

As a Black nerd, it’s hard to find strong characters that look like me in the media, more times than not people of color, especially African American people are cast as criminals, villains, or worst of all hurtful stereotypes. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen my people used as the butt of someone else’s joke and quite frankly, it pisses me off! Even my beloved anime, as progressive as it is, has some rather questionable black and brown characters… So, for this week’s post, I wanted to look at the various ways anime portrays people of color, both the negative and the positive portrayals. This post wound up being longer than I originally intended, so I decided to split it into two parts! Part I focuses on the negative stereotypes and Part II which will go up on the last Monday of the Month will focus on the more positive depictions of POC in anime.

*Disclaimer: I realize that this is a touchy subject for some people, but I want to let you all know right now, that while comments are welcome, I will not tolerate any personal attacks or overtly nasty comments. If you can’t discuss this post in a respectful and civilized manner, then keep your hands off the keyboard… I promise you I will not be very forgiving of anyone that uses my comments section as such! 😀

Continue reading “Melanin Monday: I Am Not Your Stereotype- Racial Representation in Anime [Part I]” →

Melanin Monday: My Top 5 Favorite Black Female Anime Characters

Published on by Blerdy23 Comments

Hello all you wonderful Heroes and Travelers, it’s Black History Month here in the States, and I wanted to do something to celebrate it here on Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! As a Black nerd, I love it when I see characters that look like me in anime, on tv, and in video games. But, more times than not, they’re reduced to side characters or insulting stereotypes, so I want to use this month to highlight a few outstanding black and brown skinned characters. So every Monday from now until the end of the month, will be hence forth known as Melanin Monday!! As of right now this is just a one month thing, but if you guys like it, I might be persuaded to extend it!

So for my first Melanin Monday’s post, I wanted to write about five of my all time favorite Black female anime character!! Each of these beautiful brown sistas, are phenomenal women that shine in their respective anime series! Because I think all the ladies on this list are fantastic, this won’t be a ranked list, I love them all equally!!

Oh, before I kick things off, I want to say a huge thank you to Hazel of Archi-Anime for making the super special awesome Melanin Mondays banner!! She did a fantastic job with it and I can’t thank her enough for doing it on such short notice!! *hugs*

Continue reading “Melanin Monday: My Top 5 Favorite Black Female Anime Characters” →