Review by Matt S. Visual novels that are deeply rooted in some kind of bittersweet nostalgia are dime a dozen. Japanese culture itself is a deeply nostalgic one (to this day the country struggles to resolve its respect for tradition with its love of progress), and there’s an abiding fixation…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Focus on You is a rather gorgeous and elegant looking VR title that releases on July 5 in Japan and the Asian PlayStation Stores – Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand (with English localisation in those locations). It’s developed by Korean developer, Smilegate Entertainment, and…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Featuring the sublime art of the Blazblue series lead artist, Yuki Kato, World End Syndrome is a horror/romance blended visual novel from Arc System Works. It looks really gorgeous and now, thanks to PQube, we’re going to be able to play it in English. PQube will…
Read MoreFilm review by Matt S. The flight to Japan from Australia is about nine hours long, and while I generally get the overnight flight (so I’m not wasting time during the day in the air), I also can’t sleep on planes. I’m 6’3″, with long legs. Planes weren’t made to…
Read MoreReview by Lindsay M. At the ripe old age of 32, I’m already as close to a crazy cat lady as you can get. We don’t have kids — but we do have three cats. It was only supposed to be two but then I found a needy stray and……
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The image of a massive explosion coming down from the skies, bringing complete devastation with it and great social and personal change in the aftermath is a story that you’ll find retold over and over again in Japan. It’s a country already prone to frequent disasters,…
Read MoreThe last couple of months have seen an absolute deluge of visual novels land on the PlayStation Vita. Perhaps because they are relatively inexpensive to localise, and that the only people still regularly playing the Vita are fans of Japanese games, we have seen a real surge of the genre…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Shaft is surely the most talented and innovative animation house going around at the moment – not just in Japan, but the world. What it did with the Monogatari series is nothing short of incredible, and raw talent is the only way I can think that…
Read MoreImpressions by Clark A. Princess Yona leads a peaceful life. She’s got more liberty than you’d expect from a family of nobility and one of her few “worries” is whether or not her hair colour suits her complexion. When her childhood sweetheart, Soo-Won, stops by the castle one day, Yona…
Read MoreImpressions by Clark A. Oftentimes when childhood friends reunite in an anime, at least one party has changed to a comedic degree. Blue Spring Ride (Ao Haru Ride) takes a more realistic approach to the situation, however. While its plot is obviously embellished to flow well and elicit emotional responses…
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