February 11th 2024

Slow news week this time around other than the obvious Lunar new years stuff. I was asked whether or not I tried out Echocalypse Scarlet Covenant in last week’s update, and I guess I would quickly go over why the game didn’t really jive with me after testing it out. Feel free to watch the video above for another person’s take on it and their rationale. Specifically, at the 6:50 mark in the video is something I really agree with and their breakdown of things. At the end of the day, I felt the game just didn’t really bring to the table anything I was looking for in particular, so I just part ways with it. Hopefully others find enjoyment with it where I didn’t.

It’s important to engage with me whenever possible so I can talk about things you may all be more interested in. In last week’s update, long time amigo of the site NoidsEdstrom mused about finding inspiration for new games and the difficulty of finding the one that resonates with him. It’s a problem all of us face, but for me specifically (and those who have the same tastes), it’s increasingly difficult to find games that focus on gameplay first and fan-service second. The upcoming AFK Journey for example looks to be a very polished mainstream title that shows innovation in the Gacha industry isn’t completely stagnated. In order to rake in the big bucks however, they only sprinkle a few fan service notes sparingly for us degenerate hard core folks. Like Scarlet Covenant, I hope folks find the game interesting and get something out of it. Folks like me wait another day, week, month, year, and decade in purgatory waiting for the unholy union of addicting innovated gameplay combined with over-the-top fan-service. I fear flying cars may be out before that realization.

Artist is Michi

Obviously by the time you read this, it will be officially 2024 the world over both in Gregorian and Lunar. Just a heads up if you’re buying anything overseas (Asia), there’s going to be a significant downtime in shipping speed since most folks are off for holiday celebrations.

February 4th 2024

Kyonyuu (“khan-you”) Fantasy Burst CN recently released on Erolabs. This is significant because this game has been region locked by DMM / Fanza in the past and was not playable unless you were willing to use a VPN and (hopefully) get through the restriction. Pay attention that it’s available on a lot of platforms, but the “PC” version is really just a download of an Android emulator. I still use Bluestacks by the way, just make sure to uninstall their obnoxious NOW GG Wallet (Bluestacks Services under Windows 11) thing every update. You can play on browser apparently, but those are always a bit janky in my opinion. There’s a Google Doc here to help new English players. Apparently there’s also an English Discord, but it’s so under populated right now you might not get a lot of help there but it’s better than nothing.

In last week’s update I forgot to mention a little thing about online stores. Generally speaking, if you’re not in Asia your choices in reliable stores that sell in English (and ship reliably) are a bit limited. You can use proxy services if you wish, but some stores are just easier to order from even if they’re a bit more expensive and take a bit longer to arrive. You can always get more information via the Anime Figures reddit with this link here. If you’re a first timer, I would recommend playing it safe using AmiAmi or SolarisJapan. Always remember that security + ease of use + good reputation = increased cost. I don’t mind paying a little extra for peace of mind, but you can find much better deals if you choose to buy from less reputable sites.

Finishing off with a fun one. Watch the video above and then come back for the extra commentary in the audio blog. Long story short, I’ve dealt with similar people in the past. It’s absolutely strange how business is done in Asia when it comes to influencers. Apparently over there (especially in China), there’s a lot of popular folks with an internet prescence. So they play REAL HARD ball with creators. Unfortunately, this doesn’t translate well overseas (especially English-speaking demographics) but it still happens quite often. I would write out my quick story, but even then it’s a bit long to type out. So listen to the audio blog for the details back in the day when I head to deal with PR folks from South Korea!

Artist is Surin / すうりん

Still looking for this particular “Virgin Killer” sweater for my wife. Hook me up via the comments below if you know! (There’s open back sweaters out there aplenty, but they’re not the same!)

February 1st 2024

Let’s kick things off by getting in your questions or comments about…anything really. Please use the comment box below (it’s at the bottom of the page) and engage with me how you see fit. Have a recommendation? Have a burning question you always wanted to ask? Just want to leave a comment about anything? Do so and leave it below. If it’s awesome, I’ll give special attention to it. If it sucks and not worth mentioning, that’s all on you. The most important thing is that you left something at least. Quick answers will be given in the form of text. Longer answers will have a dedicated audio response to it.

Anime figure prices have stabilized against an increasingly volatile Asian economy. In other words, the pandemic sent prices soaring into the sky at nose bleed prices, and now things are starting to settle back to 2019-ish territory. Make no mistake, it’s still an expensive as hell hobby, but at least it’s worth getting back into or starting up now unlike 2 years ago at the height of highway robbery. The above 1/4 scale (that’s huge by the way) figure is going for $350 shipped. 2 years ago you could have easily expected that to be $500 for example - and sold out immediately.

Speaking of which, I want you all to welcome my new waifu statue to my collection! Been looking at owning this one for a very long time now, and thankfully with the recent reduction in prices across the board in Asia, I was finally able to snag her. If you like what you see, head on over to KikaGoods. Maybe one day they’ll sponsor me… probably not through all things considering.

Artist is Lugar00

Never had the time (or money) to fully integrate myself into the Warhammer 40K universe. But believe me when I say I have had my fair share of watching content related to the franchise in the form of tournaments (mostly games) and just general lore stuff. Just wanted to get this out there as it’s not a huge part of my life but might as well throw it out there just in case some of you never heard of it and might want to look into it yourself. Also, me being me this link here is highly relevant for obvious reasons.

You’re here for the good stuff right? Well here it is… at least news wise. Aeon Fantasy has been out for quite some time now; however the game is not natively in English. So a fully uncensored English release has finally been confirmed in the form of Aeon’s Echo, and is going to be available on the Nutaku platform. Obviously I can’t direct link you over to the page, but just search for the publisher’s name (Nutaku) and you should find the pre-registration page.