Category Archives: KiraKira

April 7, 2011

Last Christmas I…

By omo

Just going to toss these thoughts down before they fly away with the Spring breeze.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? – Korean Zombie Desk Car – It’s my most enjoyable, uh, romp this season. It has just the right kind and right amount of randomness. It’s the sort of otaku show that they make every season, that has the kind of self-referential humor that pisses some cancer-speaking-people off and just annoying enough with its senseless plot to highlight that the point of this exercise is all those things otaku like about…things otaku like. Mousou Yuu! Boobs! References to Kira Kira! Of course the drama was pretty amusing that they can even pull it off, but I am not sure if it was used to the show’s benefit.

The only thing left to do is to make Korean Zombie Desk Car our version of Ankoiri Pasta Rice.

Level E – Really enjoyed the show, just as it is. It’s just retro enough, and I really like the ED for some reason.

Fractale – It’s a nice try Yamakan. The story and the composition is all “there” but it just didn’t come together. Which is probably more unusual than I would expect? How many shows like this fall flat? I think noitaminA is flushing them out.

Hourou Musuko – Best show of the season, and I didn’t even read the manga (nor do I really want to). Pretty much everything about this show is spot on, except how we had to squeeze episodes 10 and 11 together. It does have the “you don’t really need to have a vested interest about transgender issues” thing to it, but I think even that is done just right as to not alienate people unnecessarily. OP and ED are not my bag of tea but they are very well done.

Freezing – It was pretty okay except for the horrible pacing for a boobs show. I don’t get why people say the manga is good either. It feels a bit like High School of the Dead, just much less well-produced.

Infinite Stratos – This is the true moe show for this season. Half of which is because of Charlotte. The other day I karaoke’d Straight Jet, and it went down pretty smooth. It’s a quality tune. The ED, as mentioned previously, is cool ensemble stuff.

Dragon Crisis – This is the moe show for the season, and except Yukana’s character, it’s not even that moe. The one quiet girl was more WEIRDO than moe, the Kugyuu character is Yet Another Kugyuu Character and Rose isn’t setting any records there (not even sure if it sets the “most number of times Kugyuu repeat the same word per episode” record). Maruga and everyone that comes after only offer boobs, and not much else. Maybe you can make a case for furry girl but I don’t want to waste my time. Oh wait, oops, too late.

Star Driver – Save the Best Kiraboshi for Last. What he said.

Kimi ni Todoke – I like the first season more, but this one at least pays off. That said, I’m indifferent about the overall story the series covered in season 2. It doesn’t even make me RAEG like it does for some others. The thematic content, however, was pretty interesting terms of talking about communication.

Casulties: Rio, Gosick, Beelz (I should’ve just go watch Gintama), Merry, LOLOL Index.

The Other Type of Casualty: Madoka

Leave a comment | posted in English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Fractale, Hourou Musuko, KiraKira, Kore wa Zombie Desuka?, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, Modern Visual Culture, Star Driver

January 3, 2011

Kirakira, Take 2

By omo

I picked up the all-age, physical copy of Kirakira over the con season last year; it isn’t until the holiday break that I had made some real progress on the game. And considering it has been an iOS game since late 2009 and available legit on PC even earlier than that, I’m really behind the ball here. I’ve played a couple hours here and there before then, but the going was slow and while it was interesting it wasn’t very engaging as well. It’s like reading a book; it’s a good way to kill an hour before hitting the sack after a long day.

For a relatively new operation like MangaGamer I think Kirakira is the right kind of title to push. It’s got a layer of meta that will appeal to people who are familiar with rock music. Kind of like Japanese guys in their 30s or 40s? What’s more that layer of meta is appreciated but not necessary to enjoy the game. Like its pretentious namesake and title graphics, it’s about the sort of serious retrospection about a youth you probably have never had, a story pieced together as artifact trying to appear as natural.

I suppose this is why This Is Spinal Tap exists. That said, I enjoyed Kirakira (how do you properly spell it anyways?) pretty much the whole way, although I’m not at 100% yet, still only 70% or so done with the whole game. But once you get one of the proper ending, you probably aren’t missing too much. A large portion of the game was spent in the first chapter, which is almost the same for any route you will take. And the first chapter was probably already enough of a story to be standalone.

On a related note, Carpe Fulgar announces that they steamrolled Recettear over 100,000 (or over 9,000 if you wish) and considering only the best “indie” games move that many units in Japan (albeit at much higher MSRP), I think this is pretty awesome. Look at how much Recettear moved over at one of the more popular Japanese download store: ~1400 units seems actually a good number (for over the course of a year, and that’s a year after it was first released), considering the size of Japanese gamers that do DDL games are pretty niche. But still, I’d be surprised if total Recettear Japanese language version moved over 10,000 units counting event sales, mail order and digital… It’s good news for ECS, who most probably made more money through that than its Japanese market on the title. The rest is hunting the sweet spot on supply and demand…

This is suppose to be a mini-review on Kirakira, so I’ll just end with this (not counting route-specifics):

  1. Mika
  2. Tomo
  3. Sarina
  4. That guy (post-op)
  5. Chie
  6. Yuko (Maybe I’ll play Curtain Call afterwards)
  7. Kirari
  8. Mai & Miyuki
  9. Everybody else, and even Shikako-chan, lols.

Leave a comment | posted in Bishoujo Gaming, English Language Modern Visual Fandom, Franchises, KiraKira, Modern Visual Culture, Seiyuu, Idol, Pop