My life, my hobbies, my real self

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My 2022 otome gaming schedule

Hello everyone!

Are you enjoying your Christmas holidays, so far?

I just have 2 days off, but I’m using this chance to organize my life and my future plans, which obviously includes a gaming schedule for next year.

I usually have an hard time sticking to it, the otome I choose depends on my mood, but I usually end up playing most of the games on the list I write, so you can easily expect at least half of these reviews, in the months to come. I’ll do my best, be kind to me please!

Let’s take a look together:

  • Kannagi no mori

This was scheduled for last year, but at some point my PC gave up and I started playing only on console; but I swear its time will come, at some point.

  • Dot Kareshi 1

Old school Rejet stuff, it’s still worth playing, since they probably stopped making games for ever.

  • Hanayaka nari, waga ichizoku

I’ve been recommended this so many times, I know it’s great; I’ll find some time to give it a chance.

  • Bara ni kakusareshi verité

Dating men from the French Revolution will surely be a memorable (and maybe cringe?) experience.

  • Suuran Digit

This game has a bad reputation, I think it was considered kinda boring; let’s see if I wasted my money or not, time will tell.

  • Root Rexx

A cute school game, I’ll play this when I’m tired of deep plots and random tragedy.

  • Tokei Jikake no Apocalypse

I’ve completed the first route already, but I put it on hold to complete other games; this will probably be my first review of 2022.

  • Lover Pretend

It looks cute, I have high expectations on this game, I don’t know why I’ve never felt in the mood to start it. Well, at some point its time will come.

  • Cendrillon Phalika

I think this has a bad reputation? I remember people calling it boring, when it was released. We’ll find out.

  • Yoshiwara Higanbana

This is really spicy…. I expect it to be really something, I’ll be disappointed if it’s not at least Jakou no lyla level.

  • Shuuen no Virche

Probably heartbreaking, I’m really curious to try it and feel the pain.

  • Hametsu Flag

I loved the anime, I can’t skip this!

  • Gothik Murder

This seems interesting, mystery is always my cup of tea. I’ll play it blindly, ready to see where my choices will take me.

  • Reine des Fleurs

I’ve always wanted to replay it and write my opinion, but I never got the chance; I’ve started it recently and I’ve completed one route already, so the long awaited review will come very soon!

I don’t know when Radiant Tale and Tengoku Struggle will be released, but I’ll probably buy both; I’m still conflicted about Soukai Tenki, I’ll decide when there are more news.

I also plan to replay Brothers Conflict, which is the most important game to me, so I couldn’t resist to buy the Switch port; but I wrote a review already, back in the old days, I haven’t decided yet if I want to write a new one. We’ll see.

Have you made your schedule already? Is there a title in my list that interests you?

It’s almost time to say goodbye to 2021, I hope next year will be way better.

I wish you the best, have a good time with your loved ones and don’t forget to stay safe.

See you soon!

8 years of otome gaming……

This month, I proudly reach my 8th year of otome gaming; is this long enough to make me a veteran player? Probably yes.

I still remember vividly my 2013 Christmas holidays, when I first started approaching this new world which seemed so unbelievably attracting to me; “do you mean I can really date anime characters? Can they fall in love with me? Will they confess to me?!” Too good to be true.

I was into idols at that time, but after years of fanwars, scandals, and feelings of betrayal when my favorite idols randomly left their group, I really needed an healing hobby, something that would not disappoint me. Otome games were all I needed at that time.

Whenever I turned on my PSP, those ikemen were welcoming me, saying cheesy lines, without judging me. They are not real after all, they aren’t pretending to like me while in reality they laugh behind my back; they can’t judge me. Silly as it seems, it felt comforting.

The fandom was really small back then, since most of the games were in Japanese only; it was a small, but welcoming family. In 2014 my twitter changed completely, erasing any trace of idols to become only dedicated to otome games; only my old name, KyuMyMiracle, still remains to remind me of those ancient times.

Some of the people I talked to at the beginning are still my friends, or at least I always consider them special even if we barely talk these days; but whenever I see them on my TL, I feel reassured to see they are still here.

Now localisations brought many new people to this genre, which is obviosuly good, but there are also negative aspects of this too: sometimes I open Twitter just to see fandom wars and people arguing, which is something that I could never imagine seeing 8 years ago.

Well, everything changes, it’s normal.

I still remember how I used to be happy but also sad, when PSP new games stopped being released, and everything new was for PsVita; it felt like the end of an era.

I could never expect, that the amount of sales and releases would have decreased dramatically, from that moment on. Just look at the amount of the new releases now, and their sales numbers… it’s so depressing. People who play localised games are happy, since they feel like it’s the golden age of this genre; but the sad reality, if you look at Japan, is that console otome games will probably stop existing in a few years.

Those good times are over, when we had like 4/5 or even more releases every month, and I had to choose carefully which one to buy, because I wanted them all but it was impossible to keep up.

Now there’s barely 1 release per month and if I’m not interested it’s over, I just need to dig up my backlog; that’s the reason why I still play on PsVita, until there’s still old stuff worth playing. Sad.

I really miss those times.

On Tuesday I’ll receive my copy of Brothers Conflict for Switch: I wanted to celebrate going back to my roots, where it all started, to fill my nostalgic void. Will it make me happy or sad? Probably mixed feelings, the same as I’m feeling now while I’m writing this post.

But I wanted to share these emotions with someone who maybe relates, to feel a bit less alone.

Someone answered in my last survey that they come here mostly for this kind of content, since they enjoy my discussion posts more than reviews; it surprised me, but it’s good, knowing my readers’ opinion was the porpuse after all, so thanks!

I’ll do my best to write more of this kind of reflections and to share more of my experience and feelings; see you in a few days!

It’s my blog’s 5th anniversary!

Hello everyone!

Somehow, despite a few months of struggle, I was able to reach this milestone: my blog is officially 5 years old! yay!

At some point, in July, I honestly thought it was the end of the road: I was tired, I had no free time and no energy to play otome games or write; I guess it’s what you’d call a burnout.

Maybe it’s a normal crisis that happens after a few years immersed in a hobby, or maybe it was just me; what matters, is that I managed to get out of that slump and come back, as an active member of the otome community. Kind of.

Let’s see in detail how this year went:

  • I wrote 9 reviews, which is a really low amount and I’m almost ashamed….. I’m sure I did way better in the past, but life gets in the way sometimes. I wish I could say that next year will be better for sure, but I’ll do my best.

  • I wrote 7 TOP10, despite the endless list of posts I’d like to work on, that I’ve written in my bullet journal; how could this happen??

  • I wrote 12 random posts, talking about otome games, my life and personal stuff.

Nothing stays the same forever, so I’ve made a few changes: now I write first impression posts and sometimes even opinions based on a single route, instead of expressing my feelings only in full reviews.

This was made to avoid disappearing for too long, if I’m playing something really slowly and it takes me months to complete a game; I think this kind of post could still be helpful to someone who wants just a general opinion, so why not?

I’ve also started my “Let’s talk” series, where I share my feelings and experiences in this fandom.

I still have many topics to talk about, I made a list of like 50 post ideas I want to write one day, on various topics; this includes my TOP10 too, of course.

I can’t predict where the future will lead me: every year, less and less otome games are released; I’m talking about Japan obviously, not about localisations.

But I can’t even complain, time goes by and I’m not the same person who used to complete more than 20 games in a year, I would never be able to keep up at that speed anyway.

Some of the 2021 releases were not my cup of tea, like Jack Jeanne, Parading Paradox and KimiYuki, so I skipped them; but who knows, maybe when they’ll be localised I’ll change my mind.

Sorry if you were waiting for my opinion, those reviews will probably never see the light.

My plan, as you probably know, is to buy old PsVita games I still miss, at a cheap price, and give them a chance: some will be a success, others a waste of time and money, but it’s worth a try.

I’ll tell you more about my 2022 gaming plans next month, when the moment for my usual end of the year posts will come; I hope you’ll look forward to my otome games awards and all my plans for next year! I guess you know how I love planning, of course this blog is not an exception.

I really hope we can meet again for the next anniversary.

See you!

A brand new series: let’s talk!

Hello everyone!

I’m really excited to start this new series today, since I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.

I’ve always wanted to make this blog more personal and interactive, to share my feelings and experiences with you: I’ve been in the otome game fandom for more than 7 years, I have a lot to talk about, besides my usual TOP10 and reviews!

I’ve decided to avoid sharing these posts on twitter or instagram, since they are a bit more personal and I want them to be read mostly by people who come here on regular basis.

Even if I rarely receive comments, I know exactly how many people read my opinions and come here from time to time, just to check if there’s something new: if you’re one of them, I guess you should check updates a bit more often, from now on!

Before I officially start talking about the first topic, I have a little request: I know many of you are too busy, to comment on a blog; but since I want to open my heart to you, expressing freely my feelings, I’d love to have some kind of feedback, about this new type of content.

Google analytics just gives me cold numbers, it obviously can’t tell me if you’re enjoying what you read or not; sometimes it feels like I’m just talking to myself, and since I put a lot of effort and passion in this, it can become a little depressing.

If you enjoy this place, could you please remember there’s a person behind it? A person who sometimes needs a little pat on her shoulder, to feel motivated?

Sorry for the rant, I stop immediately. But thanks to all the people who took their time, in these past years, to leave me any kind of feedback, I really appreciate a lot, when people don’t take things for granted.

So, for today, I’d like to talk about a weird period of my life, which lasted for 4 months.

It’s a short span of time, but at the same time it can be very long, if lived intensively.

It was about 7 years ago, at the end of 2013. Oh, the old times, when I was still a young girl living with her parents, trying to find her path in life!

At that moment, I barely knew about otome games and I was slowly approaching to the genre: it was a new world I was exploring for the first time, mostly while watching reverse anime, trying to figure out how to play those games in japanese.

It was just one of my many hobbies, those days I was mostly invested in kpop and I even went to a concert. But something about otome games captured my interest and even my soul: it was a combination of a book (I’ve always loved reading), an anime (2D ikemen with sparkly eyes and coloured hair) and a game (you gotta catch em all, like pokemon!), so I was immediately sold, it was exactly what I’ve always hoped for, but I didn’t even dare to ask.

All those handsome guys, waiting for me to enter their world, live amazing adventures together and finding love…. why should I live in the real world, with annoying people, if I can live a wonderful dream? It almost became an obsession. I kept finding something new, there were literally hundreds of games to choose from… it was driving me crazy!

I was able to keep a balance until I was working, but when my contract expired and I found myself unemployed, I lost every common sense.

I remember myself waking up early in the morning, just to start a new route: I literally played 4 hours straight, losing contact with everyone around me, alone in my room and absorbed completely by that new world. I stopped for a short while just for lunch and then I started again, for hours, until my mum complained and I had to force myself to make some effort to find a new job.

This situation lasted for 4 months. Then I finally started working again, I had to go back to real life, my mind was focused on many other things and my “addiction” naturally decreased.

Years went by, I still play a lot as you can see from my reviews, but I’m a decent human being who plays 1 or 2 hours every day, not a sociopath who depends of her family to survive, locked in her dark room.

Even if I realize that it wasn’t healthy, I still consider that one of the best experience of my life: I was living someone else’s life, not mine, and it was very fullfilling.

But obviously, it could have been very dangerous, if it lasted longer.

Why am I telling you this story?

Because I know many people go through a similar situation, but they aren’t lucky or strong enough to get out and face reality; living in a fantasy is amazing, it feels like the world outside doesn’t exist anymore. But it’s not the truth. Sooner or later, you’ll need to stand up on your own.

I hope you all find a good balance in life, this is the key to happiness.

Have a nice day!

My first survey is over: here’s the result!

Hello everyone!

It’s been a few days since my anniversary post, but also since the little survey I made up is closed.

First of all, thanks to the kind people who took their time to participate, it was really useful for me!

While reading your answers, I got to know you better and I could reflect on many ways to improve this place. I hope you’ll be nice enough to participate to future surveys and polls, when the time comes!

Let’s check the results together starting with the questions about you!

Most of my readers are between 20-30 years old, which is the most common range in the otome game community, from what I’ve seen on twitter too.

Hello to my teen readers, but most of all to over 30 people like me, yay for making me feel less lonely!

Most of you are European, which came as a surprise, somehow I thought most of you were from the USA or even Asia. Well, hello fellow Europeans, greetings from Italy!

Most of you have been reading my blog for less than a year, I guess you came here recently due to quarantine boredom. I hope you will stay even when the covid will finally disappear and you’ll became loyal readers for years!

I thought Twitter was the place where my blog spreads the most, but unexpectedly most of you found it while looking for otome game reviews on google.

The result which surprised me the most, is when I asked “which are your favorite posts?”: most of you were really kind and said they love everything, while others answered reviews. So little love for TOP10? I don’t know why, but I had this feeling that maybe TOP10 were more appreciated than reviews. Nice to know!

Most of you expect a new post each month and you come here randomly, when you have free time. That’s fair! Actually, I try to write 4 times each month, I’m glad it seems fine for your expectations.

The vast majority of you said that my blog is fine as it is, it won by a huge margin, so thanks a lot!

For others who would prefer more TOP10 or reviews, don’t worry, many are coming soon!

And now, the question which scared me the most: “What’s your impression of me?”.

I was a bit scared to ask this, since I don’t really know how my writing style is perceived; English it’s not even my first language and I thought I was giving the wrong impression sometimes.

But gladly, none of you thinks I’m annoying, most of you want me as a friend!

Thank you!! don’t be shy, talk to me here or on twitter, I’m here to make friends!!

Most of you already follow me on twitter, which is not a surprise.

Now, the last question: I’ve asked you if you’d enjoy to participate in survey and polls, so I can write about the results and we could talk about it. I’m really happy to see that most of you were entustiastic, will others still were positive to participate from time to time!

Tha’ts a good news, since I had a lot of fun doing this, it was informative and it helped me to know a lot of interesting things. I hope somehow it was interesting for you to read!

A lot of TOP10 and reviews are coming soon, but before the year ends you can expect my usual otome games awards, my plans for 2021 and my gaming schedule. Since you are mostly new to this, I hope you’ll look forward to it even more.

Maybe I’ll come up with a new poll too, so I can make new resolutions for 2021 and change this place a bit. Let’s see what is my inspiration.

Again, thank you for participating! And if you are reading now, but you missed the survey, or were too busy to answer, I hope you’ll consider taking part in the next one!

Have a good day!

It’s the 4th anniversary!!

Another (terrible) year has passed again, but here I am once more, celebrating my blog’s anniversary! It’s been 4 long years since that day, 2nd November 2016.

It was a long road, many ups and downs, and I would lie if I’d tell you, smiling, that I’ve never thought about going on hiatus or even giving up; but I enjoy too much writing, I’m grateful to all my lovely friends and lurking readers, so I can’t imagine neglecting this place.

Somehow, my blog’s existence is soothing, it makes me feel comfortable; it feels like it can gather people who share my same interests and passion, so I can’t feel lonely.

It would be really nice, if people who come here could consider this place soothing too.

Anyway, let’s take a look at these past months.

Since my last anniversary I’ve written a total of 46 posts, in detail:

  • I’ve written 18 reviews

My most popular review this year was Charade Maniacs, which is not surprising since the game itself was popular in Japan. My favorite was probably Gekka Ryouran Romance, I’ve been wanting to write my opinion about it since I first played it 7 years ago, back in the old times when I didn’t even think about opening a blog; I hope more people will try it!

  • I’ve written 14 TOP10

I know I’ve written so many TOP10 already, but somehow I still have many ideas, I have a long list! Sorry if they will become really weird one day, but at least I can say they are original, it’s not something you could read anywhere else! I hope so. My personal favorite of this year was TOP10 Typical situations in otome games, I had a lot of fun!

  • I’ve written 14 random posts about my life, my opinions about games, my gaming schedule and much more

Many random posts were about quarantine or life problems, sadly, while others were game related, since I’ve decided to reveal a few unpopular opinions I’ve always hidden.

If you’re interested in otome games limited drama cd, you can check my post since I’m still selling a few; if you want to support my blog, here’s my ko-fi page.

Quarantine gave me too much free time, I think this is a personal record, I’ve never been able to write this much! But this happened also because I received so many kind messages, which gave motivation to keep going, even at hard times.

A special thanks, obviously, to my sweet friends who even supported me on ko-fi, I don’t deserve it, but I’ll keep working!! I still have many plans, I hope you’ll enjoy it all!

I’ve been promising magazine translations and drama cd reviews for 2 years, but I always fail miserably; well, selling that stuff obviously doesn’t help, but there’s always a chance that I could change my mind. You must know, that I’m really a lunatic person: I can go for 2 weeks without writing a single post, then I spend one full day writing 5 of them. It’s the same for games, sometimes I’m hyped or maybe for a week I have no will to turn on my Switch.

But there’s something I guarantee you: next year, on the same date, we’ll see each other again!

I’m on instagram too!

If you have instagram, you can find me at OtomeLandBlog!

I’ll mostly use it for blog updates and previews, to show you what I’m working on, but maybe also for other hobby related stuff and even my life…. I don’t know, I barely opened it and I still have to figure out how it works and what I plan to do with it.

Anyway, if you enjoy my blog and you want to be updated with new posts or special stuff, follow me there!

While we’re at it, I also have a Twitter account, I’m KyuMyMiracle!

See you wherever you want! 😉

Personal (sad) stuff………….

Hello everyone!

This post will be kinda sad and I hate to write it as much or even more as you’ll hate to read it, so if you’re here just to have fun, please, run away while you still can!

I really want this blog to be an happy place, but sometimes life really gets on the way. And it makes me angry, really angry and frustrated.

If you’re still reading after this intro, I hope I won’t ruin your day… that’s not my goal, so you’re still in time to close it all and read something better.

Are you still here? I don’t know if you are a Do-m, or maybe you somehow care about me enough to go on with this struggle.

Well, let’s make it short.

We all know what’s happening around the world, this tragedy started months ago and it probably won’t end soon; I was lucky enough to have still my dear family and relatives here with me, even if Italy was hit really hard at first. We managed to survive, even if March and April were pure hell.

I’ll be honest with you: I stopped working around mid-February and started again around May, but my shifts were so little, I couldn’t even call that a real income.

It felt like the old times when I helped my mum doing house chores and she gave me an allowance, it’s still money, but it’s nowhere near a decent paycheck.

The situation improved in July and August, I was able to stand on my feet again and life seemed almost back to normal. But sadly, it’s getting worse again.

Why am I telling you such personal stuff? Because I want to explain properly why I probably won’t be able to afford buying otome games for a while, before you ask me when I’m going to review new releases. As a blogger, I find this really depressing, since you probably know how much I love sharing my passion for otome games with you.

I’m not saying this blog will close or go on hiatus, absolutely, I still can write a lot of TOP10 and reviews about games I already own.

I was also able to sell some of my otome stuff (if you are interested, there’s my drama cd post, I still have many), which allowed me to buy Cupid Parasite. Probably I’ll get Piofiore 1926 too, since I’ve been waiting to play it so much.

Don’t worry too much about me, I’m not saying I can’t afford my rent or my bills, my boyfriend is still working and I’m fine! But obviously, I have to cut on unnecessary things and otome games are really an expensive hobby.

After debating for literally weeks, I decided to open a ko-fi page, which you can see at the right of the page: I hate asking for money, I’ve never been into this fandom for this and you know I only write for passion, but I thought that maybe some of you may think my blog is worth some support, who knows? It’s obviously your choice. If you ever decide to support me in any way, I’ll guarantee your contribution will be invested entirely on this blog, to bring you more and better content.

Thank you for reading all this and sorry for bringing you sad feelings in these difficult times, we are all suffering from this situation and I hope you all are fine.

I just hope 2020 will end soon, bringing us some relief.

Again, sorry. Have a nice day!

Selling my drama cds!!

Hello everyone!

I was cleaning my otome shelf yesterday, and I realized I have a lot of drama cds which came with preorders of otome games: I’ve listened to some of them just once, some others are still sealed and brand new. So, why not trying selling them?

It’s something I never did as a collector, but since I never give them proper attention, I guess they just deserve a better home. I’m sure some of you will appreciate them!

Prices are:

  • Dance with devils 13$ or 10 euro.

  • Diabolik Lovers Lost Eden 15$ or 12 euro.

  • Bustafellows 13$ or 10 euro.

  • Diabolik Lovers Vandead Carnival 15$ or 12 euro.

  • Nil Admirari is still sealed and brand new, 20$ or 15 euro.

  • Collar Malice 15$ or 12 euro.

  • Sanada Ninpou Chou is still sealed and brand new, 20$ or 15 euro.

  • Haitaka no Psychedelica 15$ or 12 euro.

  • Klap Fun Party 10$ or 8 euro

  • Shinobi koi utsutsu 13$ or 10 euro

I know already that no one is going to ask for Oumagatoki or Rear Pheles, so I can just give them for 1$ if you buy something else.

  • Bad Medicine 15$ or 12 euro.

  • Shiro to kuro no Alice is still sealed and brand new, 20$ or 15 euro.

If you are interested in something, but think the price is too high, let’s talk about it: the more you buy, the more I can give you discounts.

Contact me on twitter, my profile is @KyuMyMiracle !

Life updates!

Hello everyone! How are you?

I thought I had to update you a little about my life, since there have been good (and bad) news recently! This place sometimes feels like home for me, I met nice people and I know there are nice lurking readers who care about me, so I want to share with you what’s going on recently.

First and most importantly: I was supposed to get married on May 24th, but it’s impossible in this situation and I had to reschedule it all. You probably won’t believe me, but making decisions and call all the people involved was even more stressing than starting wedding preparations from zero.

The worst part was deciding if I wanted to postpone it all next year or trying to have a decent celebration while coronavirus is still around.

In the end, we decided that we are going to sign our wedding papers, becoming officially husband and wife, next month, on June 30th, which is also my birthday.

I admit this was mostly my choice: I was depressed, thinking about how corona crushed my plans and dreams for this year, so I needed to give myself a nice birthday present. I had to cancel my Japan trip and wedding party, but at least I need to accomplish something on that day, so this 2020 won’t feel like a waste of time.

Me and my boyfriend talked a lot about the celebration, since restaurants probably will start opening next month, but we couldn’t imagine a party with masks and social distancing: it’s supposed to be a fun event, I don’t want my guests to come scared for their lives.

In the end, we decided it to hold our wedding party next year, again on June 30th, so it will be our first anniversary celebration too! I need to wait one more year to wear my red dress, but at least it will be a great day and memory.

You may think I’m heartless, but canceling my Japan trip made me even angrier than postponing my wedding: I miss Japan so much, I’ve been looking forward to this trip since October!

And now, I’ll need to wait for another year. We still haven’t decided the exact dates, but probably we’ll leave on mid-July, hoping next year this corona nightmare will be settled completely.

I wish I had a great news to end this post make it brighter, but there’s another bitter note I want to add: my credit card has been cloned and I’ve been stolen 150 euro.

I had to block it, ask for a refund, deal with annoying stuff… It wasn’t fun.

It isn’t over yet, but I’m positive I’ll receive my money back soon. Or at least, I hope so!

Now I kinda feel guilty for wasting your time while telling you about my sad life………… I hope yours is better lately, even if these are though times for everyone.

On a side note, happier this time, I’m basically done with Usotsuki Shangri La and my review is coming very soon! I also wrote a new TOP10 yesterday, so you can expect funnier updates next week!

Stay healthy and thanks for reading, as usual!

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