The second episode is about the sisters Manaka and Ikuno Komaki. This marks Ikuno’s anime debut! The [game->toheart2] featured a bit of her in [Manaka’s->toheart2-manaka-komaki] scenario, and so I was looking forward to her stint in the OVA. The OVA finally arrived, and well… it is still typical To Heart 2, aside from more fanservice than the usual. Anyway, this is the ever-present beach episode, and Ikuno is quite bored.
Continue reading To Heart 2 OVA: Episode 2
Category: Bishoujo
Bishoujo
Revivals: Summer of Bishoujo 3 Project
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Re-opening this project is like reminiscing a old lost love.
Welcome to the revival!
Since I was away, I bet that all of you readers more or less know so much about bishoujo games already. I feel like I don’t need to introduce the genre anymore. The bishoujo/eroge/galge theme is exploding like wildfire right now, and most of that is attributed to game-to-anime conversions.
On the other hand, I saw a personal decrease in my fandom of the genre, mostly because I’m quite busy. So my this time around Bishoujo 3 will a be a bit more attuned to reviving my interest towards, er… beautifully drawn CG girls trapped in CG backgrounds with a text box and voice dialogue. And hopefully my sparse blogging would be improved by it as well.
The URL for the project is still the same, please visit:
http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/summer-of-bishoujo/
See you!
Continue reading Revivals: Summer of Bishoujo 3 Project
To Heart 2 OVA: Episode 1
At first I was not particularly anticipating the new To Heart 2 OVAs, seeing that the TV series failed my expectations a bit. Of course, having Ma-ryan and Sasara (and present-day Yuuki) animated is a nice bonus, but otherwise I stick to the [original game->toheart2] for my fandom. I would only wonder in horror how they would dilute Sasara’s scenario (the longest scenario in the game) in a mere episode or two.
Continue reading To Heart 2 OVA: Episode 1
Impulse Buying
As you probably know, I’m in Japan. So when I’m in Japan, I want to buy something… anything. But I’m poor. But still, I just can’t resist. So I save some money by not eating sometimes. I lost a lot of weight actually. Don’t worry, I’m joking on the not eating part… I’m not that hardcore…
I have this rather impossible sickness called “impulse buying”, where I buy something I probably won’t even need or treasure later on, but still buy just for the heck of it. If there were a way to resell these stuff to you, my readers, I would gladly, but shipping charges are not cheap. So basically, I’m stuck with these items myself, and someday, it will be JUNK. Yes, TRASH.
Most impulse buys I have ain’t related to anime at all, so I won’t mention some. And of course, I won’t tend to buy too much anime stuff, because I don’t have a hikkomori or otaku room.
This post is a collective of all the “impulse buys” I made during the entirety of my stay here in Japan. Of course, this will update as time progresses, so check it out sometime.
Da Capo II: Anzu Yukimura
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Gothloli know-it-all. The female counterpart of Suginami. First impressions tell me that I might not be interested in her (except the loli part). Indeed, her story started out slow, but after the Ski Trip event which I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish, I got some much needed urge to finish her story. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. Anzu’s scenario is solid and simple. Moreover, so many characters get involved, including a seeming teaser for the upcoming “Da Capo” story. Very intriguing.
This time, there doesn’t seem to be a direct correlation between Anzu and Minatsu’s scenario, as opposed to the Koko and Nanaka partner scenarios. Minatsu is quite prominent in this one, and I liked her character a bit. I should get started on that one. For now, here’s Anzu Yukimura.
Disclaimer: Lacking Japanese will mean lack of story details. I expect that there will be a LOT of errors in the way I understood some events, because I rely only on the spoken dialogue. To the Japanese-literate game players who may have found this page, please do help me in case I have mistaken in understanding some parts of the story. Please do post a comment or contact me.
Da Capo II: Koko Tsukishima
.jpg "Koko Tsukishima")
As your typical “childhood friend” character, Koko Tsukishima is a soft-spoken and shy girl. She oftentimes can’t say what she wants, and as a side-effect, she can’t express her love for main guy Yoshiyuki. But this love is SO obvious to everyone else except the two involved. Ah, love is blind.
Devoid of any magical effect of the unwithering sakura, Koko’s story is a simple story of love and friendship. Surprisingly, her scenario has no major flashback or backstory of any sort, which is the usual setup for “childhood friend” characters. And so we just assume that Yoshiyuki and Koko are longtime friends, period.
Koko’s scenario intertwines with Nanaka’s, in such a way that there are very similar events in both. There is also a major decision point, where Nanaka would confess to Yoshiyuki. You (the player) decide either to accept or reject Nanaka. Accepting Nanaka will give you the continuation of [Nanaka’s scenario->da-capo-2-nanaka-shirakawa], while rejecting her will give you Koko’s scenario. This single decision point will give you a very different story should you choose either one. So please do take some time to go through Koko’s story.
Disclaimer: Lacking Japanese will mean lack of story details. I expect that there will be a LOT of errors in the way I understood some events, because I rely only on the spoken dialogue. To the Japanese-literate game players who may have found this page, please do help me in case I have mistaken in understanding some parts of the story. Please do post a comment or contact me.
Da Capo II: Nanaka Shirakawa
.jpg "Nanaka Shirakawa")
Let’s admit… er… Nanaka will be one of the more popular Da Capo II girls, mainly because of her lineage. Nanaka Shirakawa has a striking resemblance to Da Capo Generation One’s [Kotori Shirakawa->da-capo-kotori-shirakawa]. She is also the “perfect girl”. Sweet, kind, smart, loves to sing, and is a popular school idol. Actually, them two girls are almost exactly the same, Nanaka is only a little bit more energetic. Even their powers are the same.
That said, wouldn’t it be boring to see the same Shirakawa, only slightly different? This kind of similarity is comparable to a old song that has been remade. The remake may be good, but you still like the old song better. Such a pity, because Nanaka’s story is arguably tighter and more interesting than Kotori’s.
Nanaka’s scenario would seem to intertwine steadily with Koko’s, and so I guess a run-through of Koko should be in order. Hopefully I will have time to play more Da Capo II (oh no, is that Summer Days I see in the computer table?) and show Koko’s scenario next time. For now, please spend some time and enjoy Nanaka Shirakawa’s story!
Disclaimer: Lacking Japanese will mean lack of story details. I expect that there will be a LOT of errors in the way I understood some events, because I rely only on the spoken dialogue. To the Japanese-literate game players who may have found this page, please do help me in case I have mistaken in understanding some parts of the story. Please do post a comment or contact me.
Da Capo: Kotori Shirakawa
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Let’s admit, Kotori is the #1 girl of the Da Capo series. It’s almost always tradition that most female leads of bishoujo games only settle for second place in the hearts of many-a-bishoujo gamers ([legions of Tamaki fans->toheart2-tamaki-kousaka] come into mind), so Nemu takes a back seat. In the case of Da Capo, Kotori Shirakawa is what you can say as the “perfect girl”. She’s sweet, kind, smart, loves to sing, and is the most popular school idol.
This is the reason why so many of us were disappointed with the [second season->da-capo-second-season] of the Da Capo anime. We all thought Kotori will be the main girl, but then Aisia almost always steals her spotlight. The [first season->da-capo] did her justice, however, as apparently Kotori’s original scenario in the game was more or less executed well.
But of course we wouldn’t know the entire story about Kotori without playing the game, right? Unfortunately no Da Capo game is available in English. Thankfully though, some kind folks have been strutting their stuff in translating them. Maybe you know already, but not so long ago there was a partial translation patch for D.C.P.C. (Da Capo Plus Communication) that included the entire Kotori scenario. I thank those guys very very much. If you are a Kotori fan even in miniscule scale, go grab the game somewhere and install the patch. If it’s not a possibility though, maybe you would settle for my summary? So finally, here she is, Kotori Shirakawa!
Disclaimer: I played Da Capo Plus Communication, and so some additional scenes and characters may have been added which were not present in the very first version of the game scenario. Also, even though it is available in English, my memory might fail me, so please do comment or contact me in case I have mistakes in describing each girl’s scenario.
Continue reading Da Capo: Kotori Shirakawa
Promises: Summer of Bishoujo 2 Project
It’s almost summer in Japan… I think (but then again, I wouldn’t know), and while I’m still scampering for info about the next anime season’s premiere offerings, I should also prepare for the new iteration of my Summer of Bishoujo project.
Don’t know what it is? Well, it’s just my collective that I started [a year ago->summer-of-bishoujo-project] when I realized that I’ve been reviewing too many bishoujo game based anime, and playing nothing but [To Heart 2->]. I’ve had fun with it while it lasted, but it wasn’t all good actually. Back then I promised lots more features, like reviewing more anime, or another game to play, but alas many of those never came into fruition. I never had the time and dedication to focus on them. You could say those were just “empty promises”.
And so I’m gonna go “sarcastic” all over myself again, and make more empty promises for Summer of Bishoujo 2! So with the theme of “promises”, I’m gonna challenge myself in writing more articles for the project. I promise I will. Promise.
(I, the devil’s advocate of this blogger, doubts it. Because look, this blog itself isn’t too active over the past weeks. How could he muster more effort into the project? For the record, he’s so backlogged with Fate/stay Night, and hasn’t watched Canvas 2 yet… surprised? See his dedication? Hahaha! I love to see him fail.)
The URL for the project is still the same, please visit:
[http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/summer-of-bishoujo/->http://bluemist.animeblogger.net/summer-of-bishoujo/]
You will see my empty promises there…
I hope to see you soon. Promise.
Kanon Prelude
How does Kyoto Animation make what can possibly be the greatest bishoujo game based anime series of all time?
Find out.
Continue reading Kanon Prelude