Monthly Purchase for March

Well I haven't done one of these in a long time. I just got in a huge amount of stuff from AmiAmi and I thought I would share it with you. Well it's not huge, but my box was pretty big. Inside contained a figure and some other things inside.


All the images have been taken with my iPhone, so hopefully the images look good. Also who doesn't love the cute Amico illustrations that Amiami sends people, because I know I love them.

So with my package I got a little bit of all sorts of things, and lets' just start out with the two things that kind of are different from all the rest; a CD and a game case.

I ended up getting the 24 card case for the 3DS from Hori and the Persora: The Golden Best 2 album. Oddly enough I actually found the first volume at Kinokuniya and bought it. I personally like volume 2 better because it has songs like Backside of the TV and Light the Fire Up in the Night from Persona Q. If you like P4 you should get volume one and volume two for P3. Though both have a good mix of songs, so honestly get both if you're into music collecting from video games.

 I also started to collect Gugure Kokkuri-san Bluray and poster collection. I haven't opened any of the posters yet but probably will pretty soon. If I have any duplicates I'll probably sell them online, because what am I going to do with all those posters. it's a pretty full box. The Bluray itself is pretty cool, I haven't watched any of my new Bluray's yet, but out of all of them, I think Gugure Kokkuri-san has a pretty interesting box style.

 I also bought an Otome game for the PC. It's called Taisho x Taisho Alice. This is volume one and I have ordered volume 2 as well. I haven't done anything besides looked at case itself and it seems like a genderbent version of fairytale characters. On the cover is Cinderella and Red Ridding Hood. But on the back is more fairytale characters. I'm sure this is going to be quite an interesting game, I hope to have either some sort of review or in progress shots as I go along. It should be a pretty good time as I really love Alice in Wonderland.

I also bought a few Hello Kitty x DRRR covers for my phone. I will be honest, I really only got an iPhone just for the cute covers along with the fact that I've been using the same phone for about 5 years without getting a new one. I did need one, so I bought an iPhone since the camera on it is pretty ok too. I was pleasantly surprised though, that the covers were all made in Japan. Right now I'm using the Heiwajima Shizuo one right now, but I probably will switch it to the white one or the other one in a couple of weeks. I actually have quite a few anime covers already, and will most likely be getting more in the future.

There is one thing I did get that made the majority of the box, but I just couldn't take a good picture and that's of my Sol Badguy figure. Hopefully once I open it, I can take pictures of it. But as of right now I cannot.

I do have more Blurays coming in but that's not really anything of a big deal. Hopefully during Sakuracon I should have images up of what I buy or things that I do, so look forward to that.

Year End Review-Visual Novels

Visual novels have always been a part of my life for a very long time,but oddly enough it seemed like this year was the year that I bought a ton of them, and oddly enough almost all of them were translated into English.

I initially just preordered Steins;Gate the limited edition because JAST USA made it sound like the only people who were going to get a physical copy of the game (at the time when this was in golden master) were the people who jumped in and bought limited editions. So of course I went ahead and preordered a copy of the limited edition, though now there is Steins;Gate coming out for almost everything and that a standard edition of the game exists as well. Though I don't regret getting the limited edition, it looks really nice and everything. I wish that they made more of them like this, I really like the way the box looks.

Honestly though, if you haven't picked up Steins;Gate for the PC yet, or if you don't want to play VNs on your PC, there is going to be a few releases next year of the game on IOS, PS Vita, and PS3. So in 2015 no one will have an excuse to not have played a piece of otaku history.

When I was at Sakuracon in the spring I ended up buying Kara no Shoujo for the PC as well. It only happened by chance because I was just walking through the dealers hall at the convention and ended up finding the Mangagamer booth. The only thing I was kind of interested in was Kara no Shoujo so I picked it up for $50 for the limited edition of it as well. Though it was a limited edition, it's not as good looking as the Steins;Gate one. And to be honest, it was much of an impulse buy than anything else because I want more VNs to come to the US and international, I knew enough about it that it's an eroge but nothing else.

Of course after that I bought another Hakuoki game, this time for the PS3 just for the fact that I love this game series even though we end up getting the same game over and over with just added content.

I'll buy it because not only do I like the story of it being taken a part in an alternate history in Japan. There's freaking Oni and pseudo-oni people in it. And if that wasn't enough fun, then I don't know what is. But to be honest it is an Otome game and there aren't many of those existing in general; even in Japan. So I feel like I got to buy this game to boost up the numbers. But it actually is a good story, so it's a win-win situation.

Though with how niche the PS Vita is, I don't see why AKSYS hasn't gotten the copyright to release an English version of the Sweet School Life version of Hakuoki. Because who doesn't like an alternate reality where everyone in the Shinsengumi is in high school, or teaches in high school. Are you kidding that would print instant money. Seriously, every fangirl would get to live out their dream of being surrounded with cute boys doing stuff.

The last thing I have bought this year in regards to VNs was another impulse buy it was Littlewitch Romanesque released by JAST USA released on the 23rd of December. The only reason why I think I bought it was because I was on JAST USA's page and saw it was getting released this month. And to my honest surprise it was. I have the game downloaded right now on my computer but I am still waiting for my physical copy, though I just looked it up on J-list itself and saw they have addressed the problem. I don't know when I will be getting the physical one but I hope it is soon, because I want to see how the case is and I hope it is akin to the one they did for Steins;Gate.

I did get past the intro to actually save the game and I came across this cute little thing.

I really have no idea what it is, but doesn't it kind of look like a Moomin? A Moomin that looks like he's made out of chocolate...

From what I've seen so far, I like how the story is shown, with it going more for a living manga style where speech bubbles appear than just a box with text. And the voices are great so far. I am especially glad that the main male lead has a voice, as that is the number one deal breaker for me. If I play a game and the main male has no voice... It just stops me in my tracks and then makes me want to mute all the characters. Because if I hear someone talking and the response to it is just a wall of text that I am suppose to read, and then goes back to voices. It just breaks immersion. There is an all-ages version though coming to Steam via their Greenlight system, so if you're interested in the story without the eroge contents there's that for you.

I am excited for 2015 since there will be a lot more VNs on their way, including Clannad from Sekai project, and not to mention (hopefully) the release of Hanachirasu from JAST USA. Also more Steins;Gate which is good too. But most of all I am excited to see what will get the potential go from either kickstarter or from independent small groups making their own VNs.  It seems as if VNs have found their way into the hearts of people outside of Japan. And I'd like for it to keep growing years down the line.

Steins;Gate coming to Playstation 3 and PS Vita in 2015

Stiens;Gate is coming, be prepared Sony

Well if you haven't heard the news yet, Steins;Gate is going to have a release in 2015 for PS3 and Vita. Now even though the game is already out in English on the PC thanks to JASTUSA there is going to be a release for Europe and North America.

I am really excited by this. Even though I have a copy of the PC game already, I hope what has had happened recently with the growing trend of visual novels coming out, that Japan does see that there is a market out here for it, and that yes, people do buy them. While I do have a few gripes of how visual novels are handled (I'll make a post about it eventually) in the USA with certain distributors. I've got to say overall that I am glad that people can enjoy these games.

Now I am just waiting to see if they'll actually start translating otome or yaoi games.

WAS~The Hourglass of Lepidoptera-Kickstarter

Well it's time for another Kickstarter that I'm funding and where I talk about it, and it's about something close to my heart; visual novels.

Sekai Project is bringing us another kickstarter for another visual novel and this time it is WAS-The Hourglass of Lepidoptera. If you are interested in seeing if you want to donate to this visual novel there is a demo in their first update right here.

I have downloaded the demo and have played a bit of it:

A word of warning when you download this game, turn down the volume as if you wear earphones as I do. I got a huge blast of sound that has hurt my ears. Now for the demo itself, it's a bit of the common fare of waking up and not knowing what your surroundings are and have to be explained everything and a huge twist of events.

I only played up to the point of when you get out of the chapel, and for a good reason too. I was already started to get interested in the game. As I am a backer for the project I just knew if I was going to keep it up, I would wanna play the whole thing now. But I have to keep that restraint as I do want to be excited for the real deal when it comes out.

As for the Kickstarter itself, it was only asking for $10,000 and we're already past that. As I type this the exact amount is $13,389 so far. Though while we are already past the mark, voices will be unlocked as stretch goals, since they have to pay for the rights of the voices.

$30,000 will get us events and rewatching scenes voiced while $46,000 will get all voices unlocked and additional characters to be voiced except for of course the protagonist.

If you are interested in the game here is the main Kickstarter page. Sekai Project has done already a few sucessful projects via Kickstarter and has games (including World End Economica) on Steam as well. The minimum donation is $15 for a copy on Steam while deluxe for everything is at $150. If you want a physical copy of the game, you need to donate at least $75.

I'd suggest reading the information and downloading the demo if this seems up your alley. I know I am donating to make sure good VNs come out that retain various audiences. And it seems Sekai Project has a more general reach than the other few translators of Japanese VNs.

Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney:Review and my feelings about this crossover

Well it took the US and its territories long enough, but we got it. We finally got Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney.These are two very different franchises, but yet come together for one game, and I will say the game on its own is pretty good for what it is. There have been many complaints that the game is so easy but you have to realize that the game was meant to breathe new life into both series. So if you've played only one series or the other, it's meant to make you see the other side and make you want to play the other... And for me, it certainly did that.

 I've been playing Phoenix Wright games since the first one came out, it was the one game I wanted for my 3DS and I was happy to play it. The story was so fun. And the Japanese best version of the game; Gyakuten Saiban, well it came with not only the Japanese version but the English as well. So when a new game came out with my favorite defense attorney, I went to get it as soon as I could.

U.S. Cover of the game featuring the main four heroes

 I am trying to keep this review spoiler free so I'm sorry if there are things in here that you didn't want to read, since I tried to keep it to the content and want you to experience the game itself.

So as it comes to reviews, I will be reviewing it based on these criteria in order:
-Story and setting
-Characters
-Voices/Music
-Gameplay
-Cohesiveness

Story and Setting
The story itself starts off in London, England featuring Professor Layton and his assistant, Luke recieving a request from a previous student of the Professor. While at the same time Phoenix and Maya are going to a conference in England. In a weird twist of fate both groups of people then get thrown into Labyrinthia, the city of walls.

Concept Art for the game

In Labyrinthia everything is decided and foretold by the Storyteller, and what he writes is an absolute to the point where if he goes out into the street people create parades for him, and revere him; for his power is absolute.

But where you play a part in it; well it depends on who you are currently playing as. If you're playing as Layton and Luke, your main point is to figure out the secrets of Labyrinthia and what lies beyond the veil that control the regular people whose days go by in relative peace.

As for Wright, he does what he does best, and that is pull miracles in the courtroom. Since the trails that happen in Labyrinthia are witch trials, Wright has to learn the new ins and outs of the courtroom including a new mob mechanic.

The story that happens within Labyrinthia itself is brimmed with an intriguing storyline, but the problem with it is its pacing, especially towards the end of the game itself.

Characters
Layton, Luke, Phoenix and Maya are all developed quite nicely and interact great. Personally I love how Luke and Maya interact together the most, mainly because both characters have somewhat child-like whimsy around both of them. Though all four main characters act like how you think they would be. But it isn't just about them but the characters that surround them.

The citizens of Labyrinthia all have unique personalities and likes. Labrythinthia's citizens are all about puzzles though, so a lot of your interactions will contain puzzles with them. But when you're in court, this is when character development shines the most. Most characters seem one dimensional, but during the witch trials, these seemingly one dimension characters aren't so one dimensional anymore.

Though I felt the greatest love for your opponent, who for the most part in the trials is Inquisitor Barnham.

Inquisitor Barnham's first appearance in court

Inquisitor Barnham's a knight, but at the same time, he is beloved by the citizens for his personality though he may seem like a bad guy at first glance, you realize through court cases that, well that isn't the case with him. As he only desires one thing; truth. At first Phoenix was able to trip him up, as a knight he is quick on his feet and can adapt fast in court. He is a good counter to Phoenix in the courtroom and can keep him on his toes, which made court battles between the two very fun to watch and read. Really good character dynamics between the two.

But though the regular citizens and Barnham are great; a lot of the other main characters are rather insufferable, Espella in particular just really irritates me. Her personality is just so infuriating at times, she tries to keep self sacrificing herself but it seems so half-assed that I can't believe it to be true sometimes. I simply cannot empathize with her and that's a huge problem seeing as she is one of the main characters that interacts constantly with Wright and Layton. It's just lazy writing and development, which held the game back since this game is extremely story driven.

Voices/Music
I've got to admit the voices for this game are top notch, even though there's no Japanese track the English voices were such a delight to listen to. All the British characters all had accents and Maya and Phoenix sounded great. Though it was weird hearing Phoenix's inner thoughts in the same exact pitch that he was speaking normally. That just didn't translate well when voiced parts happened. If there was some sort of indicator that he's talking to himself in his head it would have made everything better.

The music though, I simply loved it. Music greatly added to the charm of the game and was appropriate for what ever happened. The music that plays during most puzzles was extremely soft yet the constant beat was just enough that I didn't mind whenever I failed a puzzle or had to take some time to think about what I was doing. Though the song I enjoyed most was Layton's theme. It's just soothing for the ears, a great arrangement that suits the Professor.

Gameplay
Gameplay is divided into two main parts based on whichever character you're playing. Layton's puzzles are rather straightforward along with the investigation. It just is a whole bunch of different types of puzzles based on either the place or the current person you are interacting with.

Layton explains to Phoenix and Maya about puzzles

The puzzles themselves I've heard from other people are quite easy for a Layton game, but as my first time playing this sort of thing, a lot of puzzles kind of kicked my butt. Though later on I realized that using the memo function and trying to figure it out. Then everything became a little bit easier, but sometimes I thought puzzles worked one way, when the exact opposite was true. But the puzzles were fun for a person who had never played anything Layton before.

As for Phoenix's side it at first seems like a standard court case in Labyrinthia, but you have to remember that these are witch trials. The witch trials have introduced a new mechanic called the mob trial. Now to explain the mob trial I need to show a picture of it first.

Mob Trial-exclusive to this game

The mob trial has you interviewing and questioning all these characters, all at once. Bits and pieces come from each character in the cross examination. The main gripe of this type of trial is the way that the game mechanic works.

So when you're cross examining a person and you press for more information and you'll hear a sort of ping sound and then if you go over there are ellipses that are over the characters head who you can question for even more information on. It makes the game more straightforward, which for most peoples main gripe is that it makes the game easier. But most people don't understand that Ace Attorney is a type of visual novel (adventure game in Japan) so I can see how if need be it can have mechanics to make things more straightforward, especially to make it more accessible to a bigger group of people. But I will admit the main gripe does still stand, it doesn't require as much thought as the original Ace Attorney series, which is a bit sad, because court cases in the Ace Attorney series is so fun, and is usually a huge climax in each case; a nonstop fun climax.

Cohesiveness
Overall the game plays great. The story is really engaging and the characters overall are fun and delightful... But the pacing is rather the worst part of this game and just breaks things up into chunks instead of seamless play.

As you progress through the story, you'll notice that at times it's as if the characters are playing tag with one another. As soon as you get to a really good part; bam, switches you to another point of view and what they're doing, practically just killing the hype that the game has just built up for you. This is especially true when you're playing as Layton and it switches to Phoenix. And the only reason why it feels like that is the most crucial development when it comes to the whole overarching story has you playing as Layton. But then even in game, you're kept from information for the sake of breaking up the current story to have it go somewhere else. Which is dumb.

Afterthoughts 
Would I recommend this game to people? Of course I would! The reason being both the Professor Layton and Ace Attorney series are introduced in such a way that makes it so interesting for anyone to get interested in. And not only that, puzzle games and visual novels/adventure games aren't what I would call the mainstream and these series show how fun and intuitive these genres are.

While there are pacing issues with the story it doesn't detract so much overall when you play the game. Honestly with the way that the game has it, you feel like you're doing a lot of stuff within the game. You feel like you're making great progress. If you like either of the series, I suggest that you pick it up but even if you don't look up some images or the preview if it looks interesting, you may find yourself liking a new genre. I know I did. I am obsessed with Layton right now and want all the games.

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.

Monthly Purchase June-Part One

I know I will have quite a few purchases from June so they're going in parts, there should be three parts if I end up not combining them, but I tend to though. As usual the purchase is from Amiami and contains an assortment.

Yotsuba&! Figure, Little Busters Nendoroid, Steins;Gate CD single and traveling mug, Kill la Kill BD and shirt, Hozuki no Reitetsu BD

Mostly everything that I got from this package, there is a book that isn't pictured but I will go into that later.

Yotsuba Figure and Kamikita Komari Nendoroid

While I was really excited for the Yotsuba figure I was rather sad seeing how small she stands in comparison to other scale figures. But I guess at the same time I am going to be standing her between two different Danboards so it shouldn't be that much of a problem in comparison, after all Yotsuba is just a child after all, so I guess she should be small in comparison to other figures.

As for the Little Busters nendoroid, I haven't watched Little Busters yet, nor have I played the VN as well. But it is on my backlog things to do. I must say though, I actually just bought her because she looked so adorable and her expressions are completely moe I could just die.

Stiens;Gate "Hacking to the Gate" CD single, Kill la Kill BD vol. 5 and Hozuki no Reitetsu BD vol.3

I've talked about my Steins;Gate mug in detail, so I'm not going to be talking about it anymore... But if you want to know why I bought it, here is the main reason.

Along with that I also bought the Hacking to the Gate CD single from the anime, I actually like the OP theme a lot and wanted it so I ended up buying a copy, while I should have bought the "Best Vocals" album I also like the idea of starting up again a CD collection but since the US is getting rid of CDs (or at least it seems that way) it looks like my entire collection is going to be Japanese CDs and CD singles; which isn't a bad thing to me.

Kill la Kill volume 5 BD is really cool as it features Gamagoori and Sanageyama not only on the cover but each are on a respected disk, Sanageyama is on the Original CD Soundtrack Vol. 2 while Gamagoori, accompanied on his head by Mako and Guts, is the actual BD disk itself. I personally haven't listened to the CD soundtrack yet but will later this week.

The other BD is Hozuki no Reitetsu. I don't know how many of you watched the series as it was airing or are reading the manga, but Japanese supernatural stories are kind of something I have liked since I was smaller (loved Gegege no Kitaro). So watching a glorified assistant to King Enma doing his daily routine of helping out in the various hells was just a blast. Supposedly it was picked up by Sentai Filmworks but honestly it's a rather short series with only 13 episodes, so it's pretty much the standard two episodes per BD. But the interesting thing about the Hozuki BDs is that you were able to chose between A and B. A having the drama CD accompanying it while B has something they call "Jigoku Goods" featuring Hozuki's plant/goldfish hybrid plant. Volume three features a small pouch that you can use for pencils and cosmetics.

Kill la Kill "Kamui Banshou" book

This supplemental book for Kill la Kill is really interesting, not only does it contain the standard things you'd find in a supplemental book like character synopsys and episode details but also talks a deal about their process in general like the 3D in episode 3 among other things. Even if you can't read Japanese this is a good book as a point of reference for images for drawing or just in general to see how Studio Trigger does their thought process.

One thing is for sure though I do want Sushio to come out with a Kill la Kill artbook though.

Monthly Purchase from May

I do a lot of online purchases so I thought I would start posting images and what I got so that you could see my collection, and my tastes. Hopefully if you see something that you like and want a more detailed information on an item or even more pictures (within reason) I can do that too.

Madoka Magica Rebellion, Kill la Kill Vol. 4, Guts MofuMofu case, Yume Nikki phone strap/cleaner, El Psy Congroo T-shirt

The Blu-rays alone pushed my order into the very expensive range, because for some odd reason the Japanese price their anime BRs at an expensive price. I know that the money goes more to the studios but still... I understand quite well why people would import the English version because at the same price you get a lot more.

The Shizune/Isabelle nendoroid was mostly an impulse buy as I only like the effects that she does come with and I don't really care about anything else, because she doesn't even fit into my collection. I probably won't open her at all and probably sell her.

The phone case and accessories I bought because I'm finally upgrading my phone into something way better than the crap phone that I have now.

The shirt though, it was something I ordered by chance. Here is what it looks like on the front and back though.

Steins; Gate shirt from Cospa

It's a really ridiculous shirt, but I love it.  I tend to buy anime clothing every once in a while and most of the time it seems to be an over sized shirt. I kinda feel like though, Cospa should have used the Divergence Number for Steins;Gate on the shirt instead of what they did. I still enjoy it though, since it's not everyday you'll see a shirt like that.

Steins;Gate-Shiina Mayuri Route

I finished Shiina Mayuri's route the other day and I totally forgot how depressing the game got when you started to aim for her or Kurisu's end. To be honest, Mayuri is probably in my top favorite girls of all time. Even though she's not the brightest her perception for other peoples feelings and wanting everyone to be happy is rather endearing.

Mayuri being given the Metal Upa that Okabe got from a Gashapon

As you gradually get along in the story, you start feeling horrible for her and Okabe for reliving all those horrible things over and over in the loop. What really hit hard the most was when she mentioned the dreams of her death to her grandmother, and then when Okabe sits her down and tells her everything. To which she just kept beating herself up.

Mayuri's accurate description about her position change

 The things Okabe did for Mayuri really clenched in the end when it had to deal with her route end with Okabe. After all, he did all those things for her to keep her alive, so it would make sense that he loved her in that way. But the way that it was all brought together was what made me cry at the end of this route.

Final scene with Mayuri and Okabe walking down Akiba holding hands

You can feel that Okabe still has mass feelings of regret for not being able to save Kurisu, and also potential feelings that may have been love (at least in this route end) because he does always go to Kurisu for help when he tried to figure out how to save Mayuri.

Though I actually really love the Steins;Gate route the Stardust Sky (Mayuri route) is my favorite side route.

Steins;Gate Tumbler

So I've been having a bit of a problem lately and that's with people taking my travel coffee tumbler instead of just using another one. See the tumbler I have is a limited edition tumbler from Kyoto Starbucks. And even though everyone complains about it, they always take it from the house to use; which is just beyond backwards to me.

So I'm pretty much out of a coffee mug. So I thought I should get one that no one would end up using. So I ended up browsing AmiAmi and found one that I like, also it was one of the few ones that didn't seem so lewd, since at times I would go to Starbucks/Tullys/Seattle's Best to refill it with coffee.

Steins;Gate Fuka Ryoiki no Deja Vu Tumbler

Pretty much a nice and simple tumbler that should keep a drink warm for good long time, while also not being too crazy with the reference. Steins;Gate doesn't have that much official merchandise so I thought I would get something from it as well. The only bad thing is that I wish Okabe was a bit bigger, but Kurisu and Mayuri look so cute standing back to back together.

The tumbler doesn't actually carry an excess amount; about 360ml so roughly 12oz which for some coffee drinkers that's not enough, but for me that's actually plenty.

Playing Steins;Gate- Amane Suzuha Route

It's been a long time since I had actually played Steins;Gate. I first learned about the game back when it was released on the Xbox 360 in 2009 but didn't actually play it until 2011.

So with all that time passing I preordered the game when JAST USA announced that they were going to release the visual novel. Like many people I was waiting for the long haul of it going to take the metaphorical years that it usually takes them to release anything. No seriously, still waiting for that Hanachirasu VN that was supposed to be bundled with Saya no Uta.

Anyway I got the limited edition of the game and have been slowly playing through it and have just reached the end of the first route completed.

Amane Suzuha's route.

Final CG from Amane Suzuha's Route:Heading to the Past with Okabe Rintaro

I forgot that this route was a relatively easy one to get first of all and it was one of the ending routes that made me feel so horrible for the girl. She finds everything just to lose it. And not only that, but she feels such guilt and self loathing for herself that she eventually commits suicide for not remembering her mission.

Through this route as well, you not only get to see Okabe's softer side (as you do with all the routes) but you see the consequences that start to inflict his psyche when he loops time over and over. To the point where Amane makes a reference to the movie "Groundhog's Day".

Overall though, the ending of the route though doesn't do much for the story as it's the only one that ends in huge ambiguity. Which is actually fine, after all Steins;Gate is about possibility.