Densha Otoko and Daicon IV

Densha Otoko is a jdorama that actually has an animated opening sequence. While this OP looks kinda pointless (read: a bunny girl riding on a flying train greening the world and then out into the depths of space), it does have its roots.

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As many already know, the Densha Otoko OP is paying homage to Daicon IV, a sleek opening animation that was featured in the 22nd Japan Science Fiction Conventions, way, way back in 1983. Some concepts are similar, and the exact same song was used (Twilight by Electric Light Orchestra). Despite its age, I think it stands the test of time. I really felt compelled to write this up because… Daicon IV was AMAZING! I really wondered why it’s just now that I watched this short animation video.

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Densha Otoko’s Mina character is a bunny girl similar to the Daicon bunny girl, but notice that Mina has some orange carrots in her costume. Daicon is a word play on “daikon”, a white radish. Well, bunnies like carrots and radishes.

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The mix-up of stuff in Daicon IV was amazingly crazy. You see the bunny girl not only kick robots and sci-fi monsters, but also have a lightsaber battle with Darth Vader! Even references to superhero comics like Batman and Robin are there, as well as transforming mechas and sentai stuff. It all mixes together to create imaginative chaos. No less from the masters… the animators of the Daicon videos were actually from Gainax! Gainax was officially founded because of these videos, so thank Daicon for it. Okay, fine, I will watch He is My Master someday… promise.

The part I really liked was the nuclear explosion. My jaw dropped in that, I can’t believe this is 1983 stuff! I guess despite technology animation still needs creative minds to visualize an awesome scene.

Daicon videos here

DC++

Let’s start the ball rolling!

Who will win Junichi’s heart in Da Capo Second Season?
Would you even care?

This post is a DCSS analysis post. I’ll keep track of all the craziness, on how much these Da Capo girls love the boring male lead. I’ll reward each DC girl with points depending on the events that happen. And to keep things crazier, I’ll do this in the prententious and entirely fictional DC++ programming language! Don’t take the programming thing too seriously though, it’s just for presentation purposes. And of course, the point system is entirely my bias, so it’s just my personal analysis on who leads the race.

Please do check this post often because it continually updates.

============================

As of Episode 10:

Current Tally:
Kotori = 24 (+20 +3 +2 +2 -10 +3 +3 +1)
Aisia = 29 (+1 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 -3 +3 +3)
Nemu = 33 (-5 +3 +30 -3 -5 +10 +3)

Kotori is extremely side-character lately. Nemu seems that way as well in the latest episode. Looks like the new D.C.P.S. characters will share the limelight with D.C.S.G. new character Aisia, although it seems that despite episode 10 being a Tamaki episode, Aisia shares or steals the spotlight from her. I want another Tamaki episode, so I hope the format for this second season is the same (bring in a filler ep. or two for each character, then also a ‘dramatic’ finale ep. for each character towards the end.)

Mako = 4 (+2 +1 +1)
Miharu = 7 (+2 +2 +3)
Moe = 1 (+1)
Alice
Nanako = 3 (+3)
Tamaki = 4 (+1 +3)
Izumiko
Mystery Girl
Sakura = -4 (-5 +1)
Yoriko = -4 (+1)
Kasumi = -5

============================


^define major girls {
[kotori]high contender for junichi’s heart, and one of the most popular bishoujo ever[/kotori]
[aisia]new contender, a magician, and temporary maid of the junichi house[/aisia]
[nemu]previous winner, has just come back, the school nurse, and still asakura-imouto[/nemu]
}

^define minor girls {
[mako]my favorite DC girl, may she not be in junichi’s evil love arms[/mako]
[miharu]banana freak, nemu’s most active yuri lover[/miharu]
[moe]mako’s sister, has the best body proportions, has the worst mind sanity[/moe]
[alice]new DCPS girl, has amazing acrobatic abilities, has the most quiet reputation[/alice]
[nanako]new DCPS girl, manga addict[/nanako]
[tamaki]new DCPS girl, some kind of traditional japanese girl[/tamaki]
[izumiko]she’s the pink bear[/izumiko]
[mysterygirl]probably some of you know already, but i’ll keep this as a mystery for now[/mysterygirl]
}

^define hiatus girls {
//note: The hiatus girls (including Nemu) start up with -5 points in the tally.
[sakura]a previous major contender, currently nowhere[/sakura]
[yoriko]the ever-loved nekomimi maid, maybe still a cat[/yoriko]
[kasumi]a DCPS girl, seems like she’s not around yet[/kasumi]
}


^ events {
[miharu]Well, the banana incident left Miharu a bit of banana-phobia. I’d give her points for waking Junichi up sometimes.[/miharu]
[kotori]Definitely Kotori has the lead here. We see her walking home with Junichi, which I assume has been an everyday affair. Even taking a bath in his house… whoa! Definitely posing to be one of Junichi’s major heart grabbers![/kotori]
[aisia]First appearance. She says “I’m hungry, falling into Junichi’s arms. Kotori saw the whole thing. Hehe, did it cause Kotori some bit of jealousy? Dunno, but I’ll give her a point up.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[miharu]2 points[/miharu]
[kotori]20 points[/kotori]
[aisia]1 point[/aisia]
}


^ events {
[kotori]She’s been trying to find Junichi here, and even helps him out for Aisia’s sake.[/kotori]
[aisia]Very quiet girl. She’s trying to find Sakura’s grandma, with the help of Junichi.[/aisia]
[sakura]Because of this, maybe memories of Sakura linger on with Junichi, so I’ll add her a point.[/sakura]
}

^ deliberation {
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[sakura]1 point[/sakura]
}


^ events {
[aisia]O MY GAWD! An extreme change of personality, Aisia becomes a maid! Junichi is Goshujin-sama![/aisia]
[nemu]All of Junichi’s thoughts about Nemu is bugging me quite a bit. I’d give her 3 points this time, based on how often he thinks about her… for almost 3 episodes already.[/nemu]
[mako]Mako’s not very happy that Aisia is living with Junichi, so Aisia stays with the Mizukoshis for a while.[/mako]
[moe]Well… she helped out a bit so… one point.[/moe]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[nemu]3 points[/nemu]
[mako]2 points[/mako]
[moe]1 point[/moe]
}


^ events {
[aisia]Another Aisha-centric episode. She thinks the school is some kind of Hogwarts, and invokes magical chaos all in the name of her beloved master.[/aisia]
[kotori]Helping out. I think she’s being continually pushed away these days.[/kotori]
[tamaki]Offers to help find Aisha.[/tamaki]
[mako]Helps find her too… and continually gets angry with Junichi (a little sign of affection)[/mako]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[kotori]2 points[/kotori]
[tamaki]1 point[/tamaki]
[mako]1 point[/mako]
}


^ events {
[aisia]Yet another Aisha episode! Gets in some… sticky situations with Junichi. And instead of goshujin-sama, Aisha calls him as Junichi now.[/aisia]
[kotori]Helping them out of their sticky situation.[/kotori]
[mako]Helping them out as well.[/mako]
[nanako]One of Nanako’s manga characters definitely looks like Junichi. She blushed when Aisia noticed it.[/nanako]
}

^ deliberation {
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
[kotori]2 points[/kotori]
[mako]1 point[/mako]
[nanako]3 points[/nanako]
}


^ events {
[nemu]Ah… yes! The so-called ‘evil’ has returned to haunt the DCSS crew! Junichi’s coming back to his sis-con![/nemu]
[kotori]The shock on Kotori’s face! Plus the cold shoulder! It’s a negative for Kotori fans![/kotori]
[miharu]Junichi seems unusually happy that Miharu has some kind of love life. Of course it’s a misunderstanding, but her yuri-complex just rose with Nemu’s return. As butterfly effect I’ll give her some points.[/miharu]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]30 points[/nemu]
[kotori]-10 points[/kotori]
[miharu]2 points[/miharu]
}

^ notes {
– Why is Mako not so close to Nemu this time around? In season one Mako used to be one of Nemu’s best friends. Ooh, she seems so distant this time. I’m afraid Mako’s slowly turning into the sidelines. And being Suginami’s fight-partner for so many episodes already… the shame. I want a Mako-centric episode NOW!
}


^ events {
[nemu]A misunderstanding tipped her down a bit, but I think it’s never major. Misunderstandings always happen with Junichi and Nemu anyway.[/nemu]
[kotori]Aah… good strategy. Keeping your enemies closer eh? Kotori gives Nemu a little ‘yoroshiku’ on their pet talk.[/kotori]
[aisia]Aisia talked a bit of sense to Junichi, so her ratings go up this time.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]-3 points[/nemu]
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]5 points[/aisia]
}


^ events {
[nemu]The misunderstanding continues, and it even brought about the Dark Nemu accent. While Junichi realizes his mistake toward the end, Nemu is burying herself deeper into despair.[/nemu]
[kotori]Keeping her enemies closer again, this time, she talks to Aisia. Kotori is very, very sneaky. At the same time, she doesn’t involve herself on Junichi and Nemu’s conflicts. Smart.[/kotori]
[aisia]It’s Aisia’s first slip. She tried to do something amusing in the heat of an Junichi-Nemu fight, with bad effect.[/aisia]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]-5 points[/nemu]
[kotori]3 points[/kotori]
[aisia]-3 points[/aisia]
}

^ notes {
– Dark Nemu is in full Force this episode. I like the way she talks when she does that. It’s so formal and at the same time angsty.
– I really, really hate that Mako isn’t even concerned about Nemu’s problems. Her character doesn’t seem to be carried over from the first season. What’s with that?
}


^ events {
[nemu]Nemu and Junichi finally made up! Are we back to incest mode?[/nemu]
[aisia]Aisia helped solved Nemu and Junichi’s mini-fight.[/aisia]
[miharu]Miharu helped too.[/miharu]
[yoriko]Yoriko’s master appeared.[/yoriko]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]10 points[/nemu]
[aisia]3 points[/aisia]
[miharu]3 points[/miharu]
[yoriko]1 point[/yoriko]
}


^ events {
[nemu]Spent so many days watching DVDs with her nii-san. What bonding! (half-sarcastic)[/nemu]
[aisia]Thought that miko powers = magic. Annoyed the baseball team, but at least had a bit of good result.[/aisia]
[tamaki]Showed off her miko powers! Go Tamaki![/tamaki]
[kotori]She’s… just… there.[/kotori]
}

^ deliberation {
[nemu]3 points[/nemu]
[aisia]3 points[/aisia]
[tamaki]3 points[/tamaki]
[kotori]1 point[/kotori]
}

^ notes {
– This seems to be the start of a filler arc surrounding the new characters which were not in the first season. As a result, minimal point system will be attributed because this does not concern Junichi too much anyway.
}

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This is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

To Heart 2: Karin Sasamori

Generic disclaimer: Same basic rules apply as in my [To Heart 2->toheart2] project. Please do comment or contact me in case I have mistakes in describing each girl’s scenario.

She’s the second girl I finished in playing To Heart 2. Part of the reason is that her scenario is quite short. She doesn’t appear too much until the latter half of the general timeline. Anyway, I’ve compiled a list where she has appeared in my detailed To Heart 2 project:

[To Heart 2: March 2->]
[To Heart 2: April 13->]
[To Heart 2: April 14->]
[To Heart 2: April 15->]
[To Heart 2: April 16->]

imageimageimage Continue reading To Heart 2: Karin Sasamori

To Heart 2 Project: Extended Play

[To Heart 2 Project: Extended Play->toheart2]

To Heart 2

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More To Heart 2!

Not this again
Apparently, I’m not satisfied with doing only a Konomi ending, so I decided to play them all! Well… almost.

So, what are you trying to do this time?
Nothing much. I will play the scenarios of the other girls, but I will not crazily blog it day-by-day unlike what I did with the Konomi one. Instead, I will feature a single post per girl.

Any troubles so far?
Surely, there are a lot. First up, the other scenarios seems to be use a bit more complex Japanese than usual. To be frank, I CAN’T UNDERSTAND AT ALL! Prepare for more errors than usual, but I’m hoping to capture and convey each girl’s personality as close as possible.

Talk about spreading the hype for the upcoming To Heart 2 anime…
But of course! This is my thanks to [Leaf/Aquaplus->leaf-aquaplus] in showing me some great games and anime.

In any case, watch out for new content in the following weeks. Enjoy!

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This is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 6: One year since

Animax-Asia

August 1, 2005

It’s been one year since the historic reformat of Animax-Asia, alienating so many Japanese dub lovers all over the Philippines and the rest of Asia. Believe it or not, ever since I have started this crappy rant, nothing very significant from Animax-Asia has ever changed. The same stellar new anime premiers and lineups every month, same excellent programming scheme, but still the same good and crappy dubs with the same lineup of voice actors.

One of the biggest changes was the separation of a unique Philippines-only cable feed from Animax-Asia. Animax-Asia headquarters are situated in Singapore, and being broadcast over some countries in Asia by cable companies. At one point, the network split a feed exclusively for Philippines viewers only. Apparently, a big voice of complaint from the Filipino fans of the Saiyuki series, having seen English dubs of the Saiyuki Reload and Gunlock series which they didn’t like, forced the network to do so. Wow, I guess you can see that in this country people power is one way to get some change. The fans complain, the network answered. The Saiyuki sequels were rebroadcast in their original Japanese language with English subtitles. In addition, the 6-7PM timeslot which used to be an English dub slot was changed to a subtitled slot to accomodate Saiyuki Reload and Gunlock, as well as other new subtitled anime like Witch Hunter Robin and Samurai 7.

That’s kinda good news right? Well, there may be more subtitled timeslots but there is a drought of subtitled anime. So many reruns aired into the few subtitled timeslots. Furthermore, some good anime such as Cowboy Bebop and Gankutsuou (yes Gankutsuou!), which I expected to be broadcast in subtitles, were broadcast in English dub instead.

They need to get their act together now. Anime is getting more and more popular over here. Many popular titles have graced the local scene lately, and I have even spotted anime merchandise in mainstream shops, something that I have not seen before. Most important of all, Animax-Asia will have competition! A Philippine broadcasting company has just released Hero, the very first locally based, predominantly anime cable channel in the country! This is a milestone here, because, well, how many countries have an exclusively anime channel?

While Hero will just have Filipino language dubs (yup, no subs too), it is still competition for Animax-Asia here. Our country is one of their biggest markets of course, judging from the way they even accommodated a separate feed for us, and having another channel eat a bit of their audience pie will be bad news for them (Hero has certainly caught my attention too). Couple that with their already battered reputation because of their English dubs… it’s a shame really. They really have a lineup to die for (some of them are listed at ANN Encyclopedia). If only they could clearly define what animes in their lineup deserved to be shown in subtitles or in English dubs… they would have a better score for me.

By the way, I like their Animax Musix slots. That program shows jpop videos! Their lineup for jpop always seems to be lagging only mere months, and the really mainstream popular stuff are there. The only caveat is that they never finish each video to the end, but nevertheless it’s a nice exposure to jpop.

As usual, their animes are great but some are not projected rightfully because of the English dubs. Cardcaptor Sakura was finally continued in its second and third seasons, but it is still the same dub as I mentioned before. It’s kinda weird that the original Mobile Suit Gundam was shown in dub while the sequels Z and ZZ were shown subbed. The once subbed Texhnolyze was reverted into dubs now. Also, two Digimon animes were shown, and guess what… they used our local English dub! They used the English dub that our own local dubbers made, resulting it into a kinda Engrish-accented dub (while we have high English literacy, some do not speak English fluently [include me in that]). I heard that they will show [Tsukihime->type-moon] in subs, and that’s something for me to eagerly await.

UPDATE: Oof, Tsukihime has some cuts. I’m not impressed (yet again).

Anyway, that’s the story so far. Animax-Asia is still hanging on. Hopefully, some radical change should make me watch the channel regularly again, but I don’t think it will happen very soon.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 1: The end of Animax-Asia? Too sudden!?->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 2: Cardcaptured.->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 3: Trying to Adjust->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 4: Towards the 1st Anniversary->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 5: I gave up on Animax-Asia->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 6: One year since->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 7: Dubbed in Filipino?!?->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 7.5: Initial D Filipino Stage->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 8: More Pain->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 9: Now in blue->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 10: Fake Revival->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 11: Something New->]
[Animax-Asia… Dubbed in English – Episode 12: Red with anger->]

TYPE-MOON

TYPE-MOON

Games
Fate/stay Night
Kagetsu Tohya
Tsukihime
Fate/hollow ataraxia

Related
Melty Blood
TONS of doujinshi

Anime
Shingetsutan Tsukihime
Fate/stay Night (upcoming)

Generic Disclaimer: Of course I wouldn’t know how the bishoujo games industry truly works, so some info below may be wrong or misinterpreted. This feature is from an outsider’s point of view, namely, my point of view.

Continue reading TYPE-MOON

Navel

Navel

Games
Shuffle!
Soul Link
Tick! Tack!
Bokutachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai – under the innocent sky (upcoming)

Anime
[Shuffle!->shuffle]

Generic Disclaimer: Of course I wouldn’t know how the bishoujo games industry truly works, so some info below may be wrong or misinterpreted. This feature is from an outsider’s point of view, namely, my point of view.

Continue reading Navel

Circus

Circus

Games
Circus Team
Aries
Final Examination Kujira
Gadeem & Juteem

Northern Team
Da Capo
Infantaria
Suika
[Da Capo II->dc2]
AR: Forgotten Summer

Fetish Team
Homemaid
Sukumizu
Sukumizu 2

Metal Team
Mai-HiME

Joint Projects
Sakura
Suika O-157
true tears

Sanctuary
Da Capo Girls Symphony

Anime
[Da Capo->]
[Da Capo Second Season->]
Da Capo II
Da Capo II Second Season
[Da Capo if->dcif]
Suika (H)

Generic Disclaimer: Of course I wouldn’t know how the bishoujo games industry truly works, so some info below may be wrong or misinterpreted. This feature is from an outsider’s point of view, namely, my point of view.

Continue reading Circus

summer of the others

This is the ‘others’ group of anime that I’m gonna watch this season.

This and the [loli->summer-of-loli] group constitutes 8 animes in total, double my limit. I told myself I shouldn’t be over this limit. I’m going on overload.

Da Capo Second Season
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One of the biggest bishoujo game based anime just got even bigger! Double the girls, double the service, double the fun! The D.C.P.S. crew is here! For anti-Nemu and anti-Sakura fans this is also a treat, they’re not appearing (yet), and new main character Aisha is as adorable as… well… any other girl who says “goshujin-sama”. Kotori takes the limelight, and my favorite girl Mako remains a sideline (boo).

Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid
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It’s darn good. The animation masters Kyoto Animation is at it once again, in what could be equated as FMP1 + Fumoffu = FMP:TSR. It has the mecha goodness of the first series, and seemingly also the hyper comedy of Fumoffu! Could anyone ask for more?

Shuffle!
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Humans, gods, and demons live in harmony. This dorky guy gets a “taste” of all of them. A god family and a demon family suddenly live beside you, and within each is a girl whom you should pick from to be a wife! How more lucky can a dorky guy get? Follow his antics and see his choices in bishoujo game based freak show Shuffle!

Suzuka
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Suzuka is cool. She’s great at high jumps. Suddenly this dorky guy would live beside her apartment, and will affect her life. Is it for the better? Or for worse? It’s a new take on the cliched harem genre. It seems kinda different, so I’ll take it. Besides, Suzuka is cool. Did I mention that Suzuka is cool?

Densha Otoko: Bishoujo Tracker

Watching new jdorama series Densha Otoko, I got to see a little glimpse at the sometimes heavenly, sometimes horrific world of the real otakus in Japan. Akihabara streets, doujinshi shops, maid cafes, and bedrooms full of bishoujo posters and mecha figures. Otakus taking pictures of cosplaying girls, performances, and seiyuu interviews.

For this jdorama, I think GONZO lent a hand at the CG and animation production. I don’t know if this is an actual anime series, but here is an anime within the jdorama with a character called Mina:
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On the backdrop of this jdorama you will see a LOT of posters, figurines and stuff based on numerous otaku-related stuff, but one thing I noticed… there’s a lot of Memories Off paraphernalia seen throughout the first episode! So I was thinking that maybe bishoujo game companies like KID (company which releases Memories Off games) have some sort of agreement with the production of this series. And indeed, game soft companies like Princess Soft, Riddle Soft, Studio e-go, and other companies written in Japanese are shown in the credits, along with some anime companies like Sunrise and Gainax. Maybe just a “Thanks To” credit, but in any case, the number of times Memories Off was seen in the jdorama is staggering, as if it’s really a marketing ploy.

As the episodes go by, I noticed that more and more Shuffle stuff is seen instead. Also, Sgt. Keroro is also referenced predominantly as one of Yamada’s (the Densha Otoko) favorite anime series.

This post is an attempt to show various random sightings referencing bishoujo and related stuff located within the Densha Otoko jdorama series. Please click on each link to see some shots.

For more information on Densha Otoko, see Random Curiosity.

Episode 1
Posters of what’s probably Aoi Nishimoto’s bishoujo designs (of Shuffle fame)
So familiar…
Shuffle and Memories Off
A Mina PS2 game, and a REAL Memories Off PS2 game!
Close-up of Memories Off PS2 game
Otaku room
Izumo 2 poster
Same otaku room with different angle
Memories Off pillow

Episode 2
Evangelion and Shuffle figurines
Curtain!
Another Memories Off pillow, this time…

Episode 3
More unknown stuff in one otaku room.
Flight attendant figurines

Episode 4
Probably another game featuring Aoi Nishimata art
New forumer here, seems to be bishoujo game otaku.

Episode 5
A Nerine (Shuffle) pillow!

Episode 6
A Nerine paper bag
Izumo 2 game box
Clearer view of one poster which I thought was from a game I know, apparently not.
Isn’t she just so out of place there?
More Shuffle.
Maid-san doujinshi?
Another Shuffle pillow!

Episode 7
On a gamesoft shop
The Memories Off game
Yet another view of the otaku room, new Shuffle poster sighted

Episode 8
At last, I found out what game this is
A Memories Off figurine
Asuka, swimsuit edition
Rei figure and Mina game

Episode 9
Shuffle
More Shuffle
Even more Shuffle
Completely unrelated, but I just had to smile seeing this…

Episode 10
This one’s the EVA fan

Episode 11
Nothing in particular

Special (Guitar Otoko)
Megumi Soma (Memories Off) among others
One of Densha’s otaku friends’ otaku room… which is Shuffled…
Shuffled…
… and Shuffled even more
Still can’t get enough Shuffle? Densha Otoko is over, watch Shuffle instead.

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This is a [Summer of Bishoujo->] feature

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