Editorials

Transfer Limitations in Pocket Monsters Sword and Shield, Is Game Freak Betraying their Fans?

June 12, 2019 by chikorita157 5 Comments

Back in February 2019, Game Freak finally announced their next generation games, Pocket Monsters Sword and Shield for the Nintendo Switch. This game will finally have a third person view in an open world compared to the previous games. However, after showing off new features at E3, a lot of people became upset. News broke that you won’t be able to transfer all your Pokémon from the Pokémon Home service to the new games. This is because of Game Freak’s change in direction.

To me, this decision is a big betrayal to the loyal Pokémon fan base. Of course, many people are angry about this decision and for good reasons. He or she won’t be able to use all of their favorite Pokémon in the new games. With that, I want to share my thoughts on why Game Freak is out of touch with the fan base.
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Vita Retrospective – Why It’s Better than the Nintendo 3DS for Anime and Japanese RPGS, but Still Unsuccessful

May 22, 2019 by chikorita157 2 Comments

Since I finally obtained a PlayStation Vita in 2012, it was my console of choice. It had a great library of Japanese role-playing games and anime themed games released throughout the Heisei Era. While the console did poorly in the west, it sold well in Japan. This is not too surprising since Japan vastly prefer portable consoles opposed to home consoles.
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The Power and Popularity of Manga Time Kirara

May 9, 2019 by chikorita157 7 Comments

Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, there has been various debates about moe. Despite the critics, moe in general has eventually became mainstay in modern anime

I feel the main reason moe actually saved anime is of course the adaptations of Manga Time Kirara series and Houbunsha, a Japanese book publisher that is behind it all. The first few series in 2007 started receiving anime adaptions. The first being Hidamari Sketch and Doujin Work. After that, the rest was history after K-ON aired and became wildly popular.

Since the 2010s, there are usually anime adaptations of series from the family of Manga Time Kirara family of magazine air almost every season. Sometimes, there might be two that air in the same season. You might be wondering why I think Manga Time Kirara is the savior of anime and why these magazines are popular? I will explain why.
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State of the Blog – Part II – Frustrations and Possibility of Burnout

April 10, 2019 by chikorita157 10 Comments

This is how I feel after two months in regards to lack of comments.

In recent months, things have been very frustrating in regards to the state of my blog. The past few episodic and editorial posts received no comments at all, which adds to the frustration. If you have been following me on Twitter, the lack of comments has been my torn in my back for the past few months. Rather than keep my frustrations in, I want to share them. Also, I want to ask for your suggestions on how to motivate readers to comment on my posts.
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More Thoughts on Manga: Physical vs Digital and the Problem of Manga Piracy

April 4, 2019 by chikorita157 3 Comments

It has been a year since I started reading manga of series I enjoyed. This mostly consists of Manga Time Kirara series in Japanese. To me, it’s a good way to practice my Japanese language skills without the time commitment compared to other mediums such as video games.

Of course, there is more I want to touch upon the manga reading experience besides what I covered already. It includes the debate over buying physical or digital formats and of course the whole piracy debate with manga.
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The Many Reasons You Should Start Reading Manga

March 15, 2019 by chikorita157 6 Comments

For most people, watching anime is the most convenient form of entertainment for most people. It’s not too surprising since the voice acting, music and visuals make it a lot easier to experience the story opposed to reading it.

The reality is, anime productions are very expensive. In other words, some of the story will be left out so it can fit it in twelve or twenty-four episodes. When the show ends, you might want to experience more of the story since in most cases, most shows won’t receive another season. With that, there are some reasons why you want to read a manga or light novel.
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iPad and Anime Blogging Revisited – The Ideal Tablet for Japanese Gacha games?

February 11, 2019 by chikorita157 1 Comment

If you have read my editorial on the popularity of BanG Dream and the changes in the Japanese video game market, Gacha games are wildly popular. While I have some mixed feelings with mobile gaming in the past, smartphones and tablets have changed substantially. They are now powerful to give good enough experiences.
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State of the Blog – Addressing my Frustrations and Changes for the Future

January 25, 2019 by chikorita157 3 Comments

This is how I feel about how the blog is doing this month.

Now that we are heading to the 10-year mark next month, I would like to share the state of this blog. This month has been a very frustrating month. Rather keeping my frustrations in, I would like to share how I feel along with future changes.
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Bang Dream’s Popularity Two Years Later, Girl-Band Boom or The Raise of Mobage?

January 21, 2019 by chikorita157 1 Comment

Nearly two years ago, I wrote an editorial sharing my reasons why the Girl-Band Boom will never happen. Since then, Bang Dream has grown in popularity, especially with their overseas mobile game release. From this, I thought I was going to eat crow over this. With some thought, I wonder if the statement Kidani Takaaki made was correct. Or maybe, does it represent another trend for gaming in Japan? Here are my thoughts.
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