My life, my hobbies, my real self

Categoria: Personal stuff Page 3 of 6

Selling some otome merch!

Hello!

If you follow me on twitter, you probably know I’m moving to a new house in the next months: for this reason, I decided to sell some of the otome game related stuff I own, so I can bring with me only the merch I really care about.

I’ll try my best to make the prices low, but keep in mind that I live in Italy and I can’t do much about expensive shipping fees: please don’t ask me for a single badge, if the shipping cost is way higher than the value of the merch, I can’t do miracles!

Anyway, if you buy multiple things I’ll give you a discount too, so don’t be shy!

I sold many drama cds on twitter already, these are the ones I still have:

Sanada Ninpou Chou, Nil Admirari Kuroyuri En’yotan and Shiro to Kuro no Alice Twilight Line are still sealed; I’d normally sell them for 15$ each, if you buy them all or other stuff I can give you a discount.

Dance with Devils My Carol, Klap Fun Party and Bad Medicine are opened but in good conditions, I’d sell them for 10$ each; you can see Oumagatoki in the picture too, I’m sure no one will ever buy it, so I’ll give it as a present to the first person who makes a nice deal with me for other stuff.

If you’re interested, I also have otome badges and manga/novels in Japanese (Brothers Conflict, Diabolik Lovers More Blood, Kuroshitsuji, Amnesia, Clock Zero).

It’s all used so you can’t expect it to be perfect, but still in good conditions.

Toma’s strap is the only one still sealed, so I’d sell it for 5$.

If you’re interested in something, I’ll give you a closest picture so you can see how it looks.

The prices depends on what you buy, my idea would be about 2/3 $ each, but of course I have to send them with other stuff.

For reference, shipping to the USA costs me 20$.

If you live in Europe it gets way better, but depending on the country.

Se sei italiano/a, con circa 4 euro ti mando un pacchetto raccomandato.

Please let me know if you’re interested in something, you can send me a private message on twitter @KyuMyMiracle or on instagram @otomelandblog.

I won’t import new otome games anymore

As you probably know, if you’re not new to my blog, in the past 2 years I’ve been very cautious about new otome games releases: the prices keep getting higher, so I can’t just be blinded by the beautiful art and throw my money in the void, as I did in the past.

But I still kept buying the releases that got my interest, I wanted to play those games as soon as possible and I didn’t want to wait for sales.

At least until today.

I usually buy from Yes Asia, since there are no shipping fees and no taxes for Italy; of course, I had to wait about a month before the game arrived, but at least it was affordable for my wallet.

What a nice surprise I got today, while I was going to preorder Shuuen no Virche!

The price is now 71 euro.

It may not be a huge amount, I can still pay my bills and eat, but investing all this money on games I don’t even know if I’ll enjoy makes me feel worried and guilty: I could do it, but I don’t want to.

Probably part of this feeling comes from the fact that I’ve just bought my new house, I’m having a lot of expenses, so it’s not the moment to waste money without thinking; but even in normal situations, I consider 71 euro too much for a single game.

For this amount, I could buy 3 psvita games and entertain myself for like 4 months, why should I just focus on one?

Today I made a huge decision: it’s the first time since I started playing otome games that I officially stop buying new releases at full price; from now on, I’ll just wait for sales or I’ll buy used copies.

There’s also another path, which I’ve never considered so far: wait until a game is localised.

With the huge wave of localisations this year, there’s a chance Virche will be localised too; I’ve looked at the average price and it’s way more affordable, even with expensive shipping.

So here we are: after almost 8 years of gaming, I’m forced to call it quits to save my money and my soul from the sense of guilt.

From now, I’ll keep cleaning my backlog, I’ll buy psvita games, I’ll replay old stuff I’ve never reviewed… while waiting for Virche and Hametsu Flag to be localised.

Stay tuned!

I’m back!! (kind of)

Hello everyone, I’m back!! how have you been?

Maybe you were wondering what happened to me, since this is the longest break I’ve ever taken from writing here and playing otome games.

If you follow me on twitter, I’m sure you know what a wild month was June for me; but if you only know me through me this blog, a quick update is necessary.

I got married on June 9th, after more than a year of stress and postponing the event 5 times due to obvious reasons; I was mentally and physically devastated, stressed way beyond my limits, so there was no time and energy left in me for playing games or writing.

After the event, instead of leaving immediately for the honeymoon, I had to work like crazy for 2 weeks without a day off, even on Sunday. But at least the deserved vacation finally started on June 24th! It was amazing, I’ve visited many beautiful places and I had a lot of fun with my husband.

I haven’t played otome games for more than a month, I was only focused on recovering and enjoying life. I needed it.

Before leaving, my energy level was so low, I lost interest in everything and I even considered dropping this blog completely.

I’m the type of person who works really hard on everything to be 100% proud of it, I don’t want to keep a blog open for no reason, if I’m not motivated to make it the best I can; but I knew I couldn’t keep up updating regularly, so I just wanted to write a final post and announce it was over, for ever.

But when I came back from the trip, I realized I would end up missing it, sooner or later.

So, at least for now, I want to give it another try.

Well, this explains why I disappeared for a whole month.

Did you miss me? I’ll do my best to get back on track and post regularly, but real life makes me way busier than I expected: my job makes me tired and I want to enjoy my free time outdoors as much as I can, before covid19 strikes back again.

Yesterday I started Orlok’s route in Piofiore1926, I’m halfway done with the game, so you should expect a review pretty soon, probably before July ends. And maybe other special posts, let’s see.

Anyway, I’m officially back in the otome world!

Let’s talk: being an otome gamer

Hello everyone! ^^

Have you enjoyed the first post of this series? Do you think it would be interesting, if I’d keep sharing my thoughts and opinions with you?

Since there are many topics I want to talk about, here I am again!

This time, I’d like to share my personal experience about gaming as a person who is not so young anymore; I’m 33 years old, if you are new here.

First of all, my parents.

I don’t live with them anymore, I moved out 5 years ago; I wish I could do it even before!

My life was hell: whenever I turned on a game, my mum was constantly telling me to “stop wasting my life” in front of a screen. One day, she even said: “you are so young and beautiful, why are you here alone in your room??”. Keep in mind, at that time I had a boyfriend, a job and a fulfilling life; yet, spending some time with games made her “sad”.

My father never cared, I guess to him I looked like some kind of disgrace.

Since I moved out, and she can’t see me playing, our relationship got better: she knows I still do it, but she avoids the topic and that’s good. I guess she’s still secretly waiting for me to “grow up”.

Now, let’s talk about my workplace.

At my previous job, being serious to obtain trust from customers was really important, so there’s no way I could seem “childish”. A couple of my coworkers knew I loved Japan, because I went on trips there, but they didn’t care about it. There was no way I could be myself.

At my current job, people are more friendly: one of my coworkers plays games (Call of Duty, stuff like that), and she knows I enjoy japanese games too. I even told her that I write reviews on my blog; she was really interested and she wanted to follow me on social media, but……… I know it was mean from me, but I told her that I want to keep real life and hobbies separated.

This brings us to social media.

None of the people I know in real life follows me there and there’s an important reason: I want to be free, completely myself, without caring.

If I want to complain about my boss, or about my job, here on my blog or on twitter, I want to be completely free. I don’t want to be judged.

I don’t want to feel trapped even here. This is my space. For me and for everyone who shares my love for otome games. This is 100% me.

My friends in real life only know that I love Japan and play games, but they don’t ask me more than that. A couple years ago, I was talking to my best friend who loves reading as I do; I was trying to explain that some otome games had deeper plots than “classic” books which are famous all over the world. He didn’t believe me. I live in Italy, for us literature is serious stuff, we are proud of it; but I swear, for me Black Wolves Saga (just the first example that comes to my mind) had a huge impact, even more than famous books. Those characters, that backstory, the tragedy… it was great.

But obviously, if I had to tell it to any kind of literature teacher, they would assume I’m just ignorant. That’s why I always avoid the topic.

Now, you probably understand why I love writing here so much: this is the only place where I can voice my opinions without restrictions; this is the reason why, despite my busy life, I always find some time to update.

Now, it’s up to you!

Do you talk freely with people around you about otome games? How do they react?

At work, at school, with your family… do they support you? Or maybe they just don’t care?

I guess talking about it with people in real life must be very fulfilling… but for now, I’ll just enjoy my “long distance frienships”, with all the amazing people I met in this fandom.

Thanks for reading, I’d be really happy if you want to share your story.

See you soon!

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 2021 otome game schedule!

Since 2020 is going to end really soon and I’m done with my otome games awards too, it’s time to take a look at my future game schedule and decide which titles I’m probably going to play next year! Are you curious? I think you should be, since those are the reviews you’ll read in the next months, if you decide to come here from time to time!

I revealed my backlog recently, but there’s no way I can play it all in 2021, considering there will be new releases for sure; I won’t buy everything immediately, you know I have no money, but I’m too weak to resist when I’m too excited for a game!

Expect a lot of older stuff too, PsVita games keep getting cheaper and there are at least 10 which I haven’t bought yet and I’d like to try. But we’ll see what happens.

Well, this is my plan, let’s see how much I can stick to it!

  • Jyuuzaengi 2

I know, I planned to play it in January this year, but at some point I got bored with historical games and I lost my motivation; but the moment has come! I started it today and I really love it!

  • Urakata Hakuouki

Same as Jyuuzaengi 2, I need to be in the mood for historical stuff.

  • Kannagi no mori

Beautiful art, interesting plot, I can’t miss it.

  • Code Realize Shirogane no kiseki

I’ve already completed half of this great game, it seems kinda short, so it will be my first review of 2021. I’m sure it’s coming soon!

  • Toraware no Palm

I loved playing Refrain this year, there’s no way I could miss the original game! I’m really excited for this!

  • Jakou no Lyla

I’ve only played Episode 1 on PC so far, but I saw my friends enjoying it a lot and I got curious; I decided to get the full game on Switch, let’s see if my opinion changes!

  • Dairoku Ayakashimori

It looks interesting, ayakashi are always fascinating for me.

  • Hanayaka nari, waga ichizoku

A very famous old series, I’ve never tried it, despite the good reviews and recommendations I always get. I want to give it a chance!

  • Utapri After Secret

It’s the only game of the series I’m still missing, when I’m in the mood for music and funny stuff, it’s perfect.

  • The House in Fata Morgana

Everyone loved it, I’ve been recommended to play it multiple times, I can’t keep delaying it!

  • Possession Magenta

I bought it because it was very cheap, I have no expectations, but I hope I’ll be surprised.

  • Believer!

Same as Possession Magenta.

Well, that’s it! There aren’t many new games planned for 2021, but I’m sure I’ll get Apocalypse and Lover Pretend when they are released; depending on my mood, maybe I’ll play them immediately, who knows! I hope you’ll look forward to my reviews next year too, keep in mind that this list may vary a lot, so… if you want to know what you can expect next, follow me on twitter, where I always livetweet!

What’s in my backlog?

We always talk about our “neverending backlogs”, it’s a very common joke in our community; but are your unplayed games so many, that you can’t even count them?

Well, I’ve decided to take a look at my stuff, just to feel guilty and see what’s actually there.

This could also be interesting, for everyone who has ever asked me: “did you buy XY?” or “do you plan to play XX?”, since I guarantee that, sooner or later, I’ll be able to complete it all; I hate wasting money, so it’s just a matter of time, even for very old games.

Let’s start!

My Switch otome games:

  • Piofiore no banshou 1926

  • Dairoku Ayakashimori

  • Toraware no Palm

  • Cendrillon Phalika

  • Jakou no Lyla

Since I bought my Switch Lite at the beginning of 2020, I still don’t have many unplayed games; also, since they are really expensive, I’ll be careful with my choices.

My PsVita otome games:

  • Code Realize Shirogane no kiseki

  • Root rexx

  • Teikoku Kaigun Koi Bojou

  • Possession Magenta

  • Hyakka Yakou

  • Believer!

  • Amnesia World

This list is going to increase, even if this console is basically dead, because there are many games I still have to buy since the prices are dropping; I’ll probably get some of them one day: Hakuouki School Life, Suuran Digit… not great stuff probably, but I can’t say no to cheap games. Maybe I’ll find hidden gems.

My PC Otome games:

  • Un:birthday Song

  • Kannagi no mori

  • Dot Kareshi I

  • Ken ga kimi (which I have partially played, but not completed)

As you probably know, I don’t like that much playing on PC; slowly but surely, I’ll get through those games too.

My PSP Otome games:

  • Urakata Hakuouki

  • Jyuuzaengi 2

  • Utapri After Secret

  • Arcana Famiglia 2

  • Unending Bloody Call

  • Hanayaka Nari, Waga Ichizoku

Yes, from time to time I still use my old friend PSP! Obviously, it’s getting more and more difficult since my eyes are getting used to the Switch high resolution, but I won’t give up until I cleared it all! When games are cheap, you can always count me in.

So, what do you think about my backlog? Did you think it was even worse? Or slightly better?

I guess you’re probably surprised that I’m still buying and playing old stuff, but Switch games are too expensive, for the same price I could literally buy 4 PsVita/PSP games and I can’t afford getting (almost) every new release immediately, as I used to in the past.

Of course, I’ll keep buying the games which interest me the most, but for the others I’ll probably wait a few months for reviews or a price drop. As a person who plays a lot, I need to make smart choices. Games I neglected in the past, which are ridiculously cheap now, could still end up being entertaining!

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!

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!

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