Tanto Cuore Oktoberfest-Kickstarter

So if you've ever seen Tanto Cuore at conventions in the dealer hall, you'll know it's a game about maids. Well it seems that there's a new Kickstarter out for a new version of the game which; Tanto Cuore Oktoberfest.

Tanto Cuore Oktoberfest

The game itself plays similar to Dominion, but the main difference, besides the whole theme is that you feel more connected with your other players, even though you're competing against them.

For $50 you get the game, which is the same price as the other Tanto Cuore games, but you also get all those sweet promo card stretch goals. Though some of them I don't like, just because I don't like cosplay cards. But the actual barmaid cards are adorable.

The add-ons for the game are standard fare though; playmats, towels and shirts. But the one thing I do like from the add-ons is the beer steins.

Ceramic Beer Steins, for the beer or the hot chocolate

I wouldn't have actually thought Japanime Games would commision a beer stein to be made, but there it is. While the actual cup is simple , the logo does a good job of covering up the face of the stein. Some people wanted there to be pictures of the barmaids but I think the emblem is classy.

Basic Tier

The tier I got was the apprentice maid tier since all I want is just the game, and nothing else.

Comes with the oversized playmat

The barmaid tier had quite a bit of anger and resentment since there is another promo that is not in the basic tier. Yeah even I commented on how weird it was that it wasn't offered to the people who pledge overall $75 and above (with add-ons) but I just wanted an answer as to why it was just in the barmaid tier. We did get an answer a bit later, though it looked like the kept skipping over it on purpose. But at least we got an answer. So I put my donation of $50 back. I don't need another playmat but I am ok without having that Mimoza maid card.

The Kickstarter ends on September 16 and the game is supposed to be sent out in December 2014.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun a brief overview

What happens when a boy writes a monthy girl's comic? Well you get Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Umetaro Nozaki (foreground) and the Roman high school main cast

The series itself is an adaptation of a 4-koma manga of the same title. Its simple premise starts with a girl named Chiyo Sakura who tells Umetaro Nozaki that she is a fan of his. Which turns out she gets a sign board with his pen name instead of an acknowledgement of her affection for him.

Which starts the fun hijinks of the series.

Chiyo Sakura pretty much gets invited over to Nozaki's apartment and then works on doing beta (filling in the blacks on manga manuscripts) which Nozaki mentions that he had his eyes on her for a while; as he mentioned a draw that she colored for a school poster that dealt with washing hands.

Chiyo Sakura more commonly addressed by her last name

Chiyo's introduction into the world of manga and more importantly how it affects her school life is quite an interesting one, as she learns that people are not what they seem. Or rather characteristics within one gender reflect differently in another and may be ideal. With her first interaction with Mikoto Mikoshiba, she feels as if he is just a crude person who is great around women.

Mikoto Mikoshiba more commonly known as Mikorin

While in reality Mikoshiba is a rather shy and pure person, which is why he his nickname is "Mikorin". Within Sakura meeting him, she thinks that he's annoying to some content but then looks at Mikoshiba in a different light when Nozaki casually mentions that Mikoshiba was the basis of one of his characters; the heroine, Mamiko.

That is the basis of the first two episodes of the anime so far. While I am writing this there are seven episodes out so far but with the flow of the actual show, seems easier to watch things in two episode intervals as it flows better.

So if this seems to sound interesting to you, I'd suggest to give it a shot. And if it doesn't, there's always the three episode rule. But to me Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is a great funny show that is a great adaptation of a 4-koma manga.

I finally bought my first house...In Skyrim

I sometimes have the horrible habit of starting games and then never finishing them. Last year on a whim I picked up a copy of The Elder Scrolls:Skyrim because a lot of people said it was fun and I actually had lots of fun in it. I enjoyed playing a character as I would play it; which means that I play as lawful good.


So I started up the game again recently and just started grinding for gold so I can finally get that house. And today I did it. I finally got that 5,000 gold pieces to get Breezehome. I know, I know I skimped out for the cheapest house. But in reality Breezehome is the best for me. I tend to sell a lot and make a lot of things via smithing so being next to Warmaidens is a huge plus.

Also I'm already a Thane, and the little girl I want to adopt are in Whiterun so why not build my home there? It seems to me everyone wins.

While I only have the Hearthfire expansion pack; I'll wait till the next huge Steam sale to get Dragonborn and Dawngaurd.

Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax-PS3/PS Vita

It's time for the light novels characters to duke it out!

If you don't know who Dengeki Bunko is, they publish light novels primarily targeted for men. Though as most light novels aren't published in English (as of right now the only ones that Dengeki Bunko has published in English is Sword Art Online and Boogiepop; at least to my knowledge) we have have gotten most of the anime that the light novels are based off of.

While there is no English release, and probably won't be; we can be glad that the platforms that the game is going to be available on aren't region locked. The PS3 and the PS Vita. I have no idea if there is a storyline or not, but we all know that fighting games aren't well known for their plots, so even if there is some sort of semblance of a story it probably won't matter anyway.

Honestly what I am looking forward to the most is the assist character Boogiepop and Heiwajima Shizuo tossing crap at people.

Shizuo about to toss that vending machine

While the arcade version is out right now in Japan; the rest of us have to wait till Nov.13.

Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi, A story, and a review

Now I am not a person new to the whole doujin soft/VN scene. I have been playing these games since about when Melty Blood came out in fact I just recently found my copy of it in my room. But that is not what this is all about.

Toshizo Hijikata and his fury form on the front cover

When Hakuoki:Stories of the Shinsengumi came out my friends were ecstatic for it, since not many Otome games get published for probably one of two reasons 1.Otome games are an even bigger niche in a niche market or 2. Too damn cliche for anyone's taste (seriously why is every man an extreme tsundere or yandere in womens works?)

Well for whatever reason Aksys released it for the PS3 even though the game has been released on the 3DS and the PSP before, each game with slightly more material or options which means for a VN collector, you're going to get all of them for the material not found in the other games.

Well going back to my friends, one has sort of experience playing these before but she's an odd typical fujoshi as every VN she's ever played has been a BL/yaoi game and the other has never had played these games before. This second friend, talks to me and asks how to get Souji Okita's ending because she keeps having trouble as she only gets either the bad ending with Okita or the regular ending where you just follow around Kazama. The first question I asked her was she saving or quick saving at every flag and she just looks at me blank...

My reaction to her expression

...I then realized how much my love of VNs are that what seemed like common sense to me just didn't make sense to her. After explaining what flags were in a VN context, I then began to ask her if she tried different combinations of options, even though I knew it was the last flag that pretty much determined if you were going to get a good ending or not. I just didn't want to straight out tell her.

Eventually I just gave up and gave her a guide on what to do to get Okita's ending. Oddly or rather typical friend that she is...She hasn't looked at the guide or finished it yet, instead just complains about the endings she did get.

As for the review...

It's a Otome game so you have a lot of men that you can fall in love with, and as with everything you should find the guy that makes you heart bump and try to please him. For me that was Hijikata.

Commander of the Shinsengumi

Yeah he does look like that typical tsun-pretty boy that all the girls clamour for but I actually enjoy his depth a lot and how you see that cold side melt or rather gradually fall apart. Also Hijikata's route is the longest out of all the routes since he's actually our "main male" as far as Otomate is concerned.

There isn't much to the gameplay as it's just a VN and it's a little bit interesting playing them on the PS3 but I can see why this is a good way to market the game to a bigger audience than just a computer, where even less of a female market is there.

Story wise, Hakuoki is expanded on again in this version with the Stories of the Shinsengumi added in with also the fandisk SSL stuff (Sweet School Life). For me these little bit of extras were the main reason for me to purchase the PS3 version of the game even though I have the PSP version (which was the first one to come out in the US).

I can honestly say this isn't for everyone, but if you like VNs Hakuoki's story isn't a bad one on its own, without the romance, and the actual romance itself paces at a realistic rate (as far as anime things go) and more supplemental information is added with the Stories of the Shinsengumi extras which leads to even more realistic feelings of the male characters and the lead female as well.

It's an interesting story that is vastly superior in VN form than its anime counterpart. If you're going to chose one or the other, I suggest the VN if anything.