In Japanese games and anime, there are often character archetypes you will see again and again the more you watch. And when it comes to characters, there are no more commonly used archetypes than those known as the “deres”: tsundere, kuudere, dandere, and yandere. To start with, the term “dere” itself comes from the Japanese…
When the summer 2013 anime season started early last month, I told you a little bit about each anime and where to watch them. However, with 36 new anime available to watch this summer, that raises the question: Which of them should you be watching? Now, as we hit the half-way point of the season,…
Over the years there have been some great (and terrible) Gundam games. But while many games let you pilot a Gundam, Gundam Breaker takes it one step further and lets you build your own dream Gundam as well. Good – Build Your Dream Gundam Gundam Breaker is centered around building “Gunpla” Gundam models and then…
Gundam Breaker, the newest Gundam video game, is all about building your own custom Gundam. More often than not, though, they turn out to be completely hideous. In the game itself, your character builds Gundam models. You can then take these models you make to the Gundam arcade and pilot them in a VR game.…
Halfway through the spring anime season, I wrote two articles covering nine anime—the five anime you should be watching and the four anime you could skip. Yet, readers berated me for skipping one anime in particular. And it’s a good thing they did as My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU is an extraordinarily witty anime. Good…
About a month back, the PlayStation 3 got its newest Gundam video game. But unlike past Gundam video games, this one takes place not in a fictional future full of giant robots but rather in a modern day setting where Gundams are small-scale plastic models. In the game itself, you go to an arcade, put…
Late last week we took a look at the scores of famous Capcom characters that have gotten samurai redesigns in the online social game Onimusha Soul. But sadly, while the cameo characters really are cool to look at, everything else in the game just feels run-of-the-mill for a collectible online card game. When you first…
A few weeks back, I received an email from a reader who was blind in one eye and wanted to know how the Oculus Rift would work for him. I thought it was an interesting question but honestly didn’t know the answer, so I put it to the back of my mind. Then this last…
Ever wonder how Capcom’s greatest heroes and heroines would look as samurai? Or ninja? Or geisha? Well now is your chance! Onimusha Soul is a Japan-only browser (and smartphone)-based customizable card game. Much like in the Valkyria Chronicles browser game, you build your own squad and battle against the squads of other players. But the…
Midway through the spring anime season, I called Henneko: The “Hentai” Prince and the Stony Cat one of the anime you could skip…something which I will now take back. Because while there is much I would normally hate in a show like Henneko, all that is overshadowed by just how damn funny it is. Bad…
As a gamer, I rarely play in short chunks. I’d rather play hours at a time. So ever since I learned of Oculus Rift, I’ve been consumed by one burning question: will playing the Oculus Rift for long stretches make you sick? Well this week I got the chance to test this out on the…
Just over a week ago, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, the first main series Ace Attorney game in over five years, was released in Japan. And while real time has passed, not much has changed in the world of Ace Attorney. It is still filled with excellent mysteries, crazy characters, and over-the-top courtroom drama. [This import…
As the spring anime season hit its mid-way point, I called Red Data Girl one of the five anime you should be watching. And while it is definitely one of the more low-key anime in that bunch, it is also the most real on an emotional level. Good – A Modern Japanese Fantasy Tale When…
Devil Survivor 2:The Animation is an anime based on the 2011 DS game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2. A few months back, I called it one of the anime you’d be okay skipping last season because of its first half being rather cliché and boring. And while its second half wasn’t amazing enough to…
A month or so back, I got to spend an hour with the Oculus Rift VR headset—most of which I spent swooning over Portal 2. Ever since that time I’ve been dying to get the Rift wrapped around my head for a larger chunk of time. And when that dream turns to reality, the question…
When I was a kid, I had a poster of an F-14 Tomcat hanging on my wall. It was my favorite airplane. Then I watched Robotech and saw my favorite plane transform into a giant robot as well. I dreamed about flying one. Now, two decades later, Oculus Rift has helped me get as close…
While the release of Dragon’s Crown in North America is still a few weeks away, Vanillaware’s newest title hit Japanese shelves yesterday—a copy of which has already found a new home in my PlayStation 3. So click the video above and let’s sit down together and look at Dragon’s Crown‘s single player and online multiplayer…
Back in the middle of the spring anime season, I called Valvrave: The Liberator one of the five anime you should be watching. Now that all the episodes have aired, I can understand that it may not be for everyone; but for me, it was one of the most crazy and utterly enjoyable anime of…
Late last month, If My Heart Had Wings, a winner of several visual novel related awards, was released in the United States. This English version of the game has all the sex scenes removed and numerous scenes and lines of dialogue edited to fit a “T for Teen” rating. And while I stand by what…
This past weekend, The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ), the newest film from acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki was released in theaters across Japan. But how does Studio Ghibli’s latest film stack up against classics like Spirited Away, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Princess Mononoke? Read on to find out! [This review contains spoilers about…
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