Retro ReCAP, Round 3 - Love Live! School Idol Project

Warning: The following presentation contains major spoilers, reader discretion is advised.

Today, Tiger and Rabbit sit down to discuss phenom Rabu Raibu!, also known as Love Live! School Idol Project in the West. Launched in Dengeki G's Magazine, this multimedia project by ASCII Media Works, Lantis, and Sunrise has taken the world by storm. The many forms of Rabu Raibu! include music, anime, manga, music videos, video games, and much more. In this entry of Retro ReCAP, Tiger and Rabbit focus on the anime and its characters, music, and style.

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Rabbit: It's time for another entry of Retro ReCAP!

Tiger: What's the topic this time?

Rabbit: I was thinking of recapping Rabu Raibu!

Tiger: What? Why? What made you pick that anime?

Rabbit: Uh... because I thought it would be a fun one to talk about.

Tiger: Why? I don't like it; I mean I'm not a fan or anything.

Rabbit: We've watched it a couple of times though and you've even bought me a few of their CDs and live concerts too.

Tiger: Well, I knew it was something you'd enjoy but I'm not into it at all.

Rabbit: Why are you being so defensive?

Tiger: Me? Defensive?

Rabbit: Why are you answering my questions with questions?

Tiger: I'm not doing that; I just don't want to talk about this because I don't like the series.

Rabbit: We've watched the anime a half-dozen times so far, you've even gone as far as suggesting we watch it when I wanted to watch something upbeat. We now even own all of their singles and albums. I know you play their mobile game too. You also play the music when we're in the car together...OMG!

Tiger: What?!

Rabbit: You're a closet Rabu Raibaa, aren't you?

Tiger: No, I'm not!

Rabbit: Well, I know you like Ayase Eri a lot.

Tiger: It's Eli not Eri.

Rabbit: And you hate that Koizumi Hanayo always says “Nico Nico Nii!”

Tiger: Hanayo doesn't say that, her catchphrase is “dareka tasukete!”

Rabbit: I also know your favorite singer is Uchida Aya who is the Seiyū for Sonoda Umi.

Tiger: Ucchi voices Minami Kotori, Mimori Suzuko is Umi's Seiyū.

Rabbit: ^shocked face^ You are so a Raibaa!

Tiger: I'm not, I swear it!

Rabbit: Why are you denying it? It's not a big deal that you're a fan, a little surprising since Rabu Raibu! isn't something I'd peg you to like. Still, it's nothing to be ashamed of.

Tiger: Of course it is! Rabu Raibu! is the sugary happy-go-lucky upbeat anime garbage you enjoy! It's not something I should like... but I do.

Rabbit: Hey! I'd be offended by that statement if it wasn't true. I think it's great that you can get in touch with your inner happy kitty instead of always being the overly violent and heartless cat that you are.

Tiger: Hey! I'd be offended by that statement... if it wasn't true.

Rabbit: ^claps hands^ I think this is so awesome! This is going to be fun. Do you want to explain what Rabu Raibu! is since you're our resident expert?

Tiger: *sighs* You can do it; I'll just correct you when you get something wrong.

Rabbit: ^giggles^ Also known as Love Live! School Idol Project, Rabu Raibu! is a cross-media project that debuted in the August 2010 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine. It tells the story of a group of high school girls that become school idols to save their school from closing.

Tiger: Kōsaka Honoka, a second-year student at Otonokizaka Academy, was the one who came up with the idea to become school idols. She roped in her friends Minami Kotori and Sonoda Umi to become the group μ's, which is pronounced “Muse.”

Rabbit: Eventually other students joined in the fun such as first-year students Nishikino Maki, Hoshizora Rin, and Koizumi Hanayo.

Tiger: Rounding out μ's are the seniors Yazawa Nico, Ayase Eli, and Tōjō Nozomi.

Rabbit: What makes Rabu Raibu! special is that it's more than just a manga or an anime. LL is a phenomenon that includes music videos, video games, and a yearly live concert with the Seiyū! Nitta Emi is the voice of Honoka, Uchida Aya is Kotori, Mimori Suzuko is Umi, Pile voices Maki, Iida Riho is Rin, Kubo Yurika voices Hanayo, Tokui Sora is Nico, Nanjō Yoshino is Eli, and Kusuda Aina voices Nozomi.

Tiger: For the sake of clarity, let's just focus on the anime and the music from the show to start.

Rabbit: Start dash! The anime is produced by Sunrise, directed by Kyōgoku Takahiko, and was licensed for North America by NISA. There are two seasons which consists of thirteen episodes each. The first season follows Honoka as she comes up with the idea to form a school idol group to save Otonokizaka Academy from closing due to low admittance.  μ's gets off to a bad start and faces heat from the Student Council, but soon the group grows in size and support.

Tiger: The second season follows Honoka and the gang as they continue their pursuit to win Rabu Raibu, the school idol contest, as well as how they cope with the pending graduation of the senior members.

Rabbit: Finally, Love Live! School Idol Movie sees μ's traveling to New York to promote the Love Live competition.

Tiger: I don’t want to get too into the movie since it’s hard to talk about without spoiling the anime.

Rabbit: I definitely hate spoilers and the vulgar rogues who release them.

Tiger: Vulgar rogues?

Rabbit: Onii-sama!

Tiger: ^rolls eyes^

Rabbit: μ's is made up from some of the best anime girls ever in existence.

Tiger: Aren’t you being a little biased there?

Rabbit: You don’t agree with me?

Tiger: I love them but they aren’t the best, they kind of all into the stereotypical role that most of these shows take. I think it’s the Seiyū that really make μ's.

Rabbit: Very true but we shouldn’t talk about them until we discuss the lives.

Tiger: Fair enough, let’s talk about the actual characters first then.

Rabbit: We already mentioned them briefly but the members of μ's really deserve a closer look. First, there’s the leader of μ's, Kōsaka Honoka. She’s a vibrant and upbeat character that sweeps everyone up in her love of singing and dancing. She can be forgetful and spacy at times but her true love for her school, friends, and μ's are always present.

Tiger: Her best friends and fellow second-year students are Minami Kotori and Sonoda Umi. Kotori is a “go with the flow” type of person who oversees μ's costume design and early choreography. She’s also the daughter of Otonokizaka Academy’s director.

Rabbit: She really loves her pillow too.

Tiger: Umi is your stereotypical tsundere character. She has to balance her activities with μ's, archery club, and helping at her family’s traditional dance and martial arts school. She is the most down to earth and tends to come off as a little naïve. Don’t wake her up either, she is scary if you do.

Rabbit: Shameless!

Tiger: Then there’s the first-years. Nishikino Maki is the daughter of a wealthy family of doctors and she is expected to pursue the same career. She is a gifted pianist and composer who comes off as haughty but eventually fits in with μ's.

Rabbit: Hoshizora Rin and Koizumi Hanayo were best friends before μ's formed. Rin is very athletic and comes across as tomboyish. She even has a complex about wearing cute girly clothing because she was made fun of as a child. She’s cheerful and energetic much like Honoka. Hanayo is shy and has poor self-esteem but always dreamt of being an idol. She loves eating rice and becomes a totally different person when talking about idols.

Tiger: Next are the third-years of Otonokizaka. Ayase Eli is the mature president of the student council. She is determined to save the school but unlike Honoka, has a different plan on how to do that. Eli is good at academics and was also a ballet dancer, which leads to her eventually becoming μ's choreographer. Eli’s best friend is Tōjō Nozomi, who she met at Otonokizaka. Nozomi was forced to move often as a child and was never able to make any lasting friendships until Eli and the rest of the girls of μ's. She’s the oldest and acts as the voice of reason for many of the members but she also has a mischievous side to her. Nozomi’s main hobby is fortune-telling which she uses to predict the future with accuracy.

Rabbit: Last but certainly not least is the universe’s number one idol, Yazawa Nico. She is the president of the idol research club which merges with μ's. She is the most dedicated member in her pursuit of becoming an idol and has been trying to gain that status since she first entered high school. Even though she is a senior, Nico still comes off as childlike because of her young appearance and immature nature. Though she is an attention seeker and acts like a big shot, Nico truly cares about the other members of μ's.

Tiger: Oh my gosh!

Rabbit: What? What happened?

Tiger: It’s so sad!

Rabbit: What is?

Tiger: *cries* They’re seniors!

Rabbit: ^pats Tiger on head^ It’s okay. I thought we weren’t going to talk about the sad stuff so you don’t cry.

Tiger: *sobs* Like the final live?

Rabbit: Yeah, we’ll just skip over that.

Tiger: No! It’s over!

Rabbit: ^shakes head^ It is over but μ's will live forever on the CDs and BDs we own.

Tiger: *moans* It’s not the same!

Rabbit: Just to explain why Tiger is freaking out, μ's officially ceased activities on April 1st, 2016 when the seiyū performed the μ’s Final LoveLive! ~µ'sic Forever♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪~.

Tiger: SO SAD!

Rabbit: We’re not going to talk about it yet so see’mon, get yourself together!

Tiger: Just change the subject already.

Rabbit: Going back to the characters, who is your favorite?

Tiger: Are you really asking me to pick just one of the wonderful girls of μ’s?

Rabbit: Wow, you sound like me. Okay, then who’s your favorite out of the first-years?

Tiger: I’ll say Rin is my favorite, I love her energy and tomboyish-ness. She’s cute too, which goes to show you can be both cute and athletic at the same time.

Rabbit: Good choice, I’d have to agree with you though breaking through Maki’s cold attitude was always a highlight for me too. For the second-years, I’d say Kotori is my favorite. She is so adorable and is always putting the others first. It was so great to see her special ability shrine through when the rest of μ’s found out about her side gig too.

Tiger: I have to stick with Umi, she’s the first character I really latched onto way back in 2010. Her tsundere personality is just too cute and she tends to be the most grounded out of the group. She also knows when to work but still has fun too. She’s also super weak to Kotori’s pleading face, which is adorable.

Rabbit: You remind me a lot of Umi too.

Tiger: You’re more of a Rin type.

Rabbit: Nya~!

Tiger: As for the third-years, this is probably the hardest one to pick, they’re all so awesome!

Rabbit: I definitely have Nico as my favorite third-year. She was annoying at first but I really fell in love with her personality in the end.

Tiger: I’ll pick Eli, the student council president. She is mature and so cool yet has these cute weak points that only her friends see. I like that they didn’t make her perfect too, and her faults are her charming points. I think it’s time for us to talk a little about the music and what μ’s looked like before the anime.

Rabbit: When μ's sings in the anime, it is usually done with stylized CGI which mimics the original animation in the PVs aka promotional videos. These PVs were actually how μ's first got their start.

Tiger: Yup, first were the fan votes in Dengeki G to pick character names, themes, etc. Then they debuted the character designs and some of the first artwork.

Rabbit: But μ's didn’t come to life until the first PV of Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE came out.

Tiger: Looking back at that PV, the character art looks so different than in the anime. Especially since Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE shows up again in the anime.

Rabbit: Yup, the first PV released way back in August of 2010 before the anime was even in production. As you watch μ's PVs in chronological order, you can see them slowly morph into the characters that became the standard in the anime.

Tiger: That PV still has a special place in my heart, it’s where it all started. It’s crazy too because the single only sold 434 copies in its initial sales phase, making it a total failure. Eventually, LL gained traction and flourished. Since we’re already talking about the music, let’s mention how it works in the anime and in real life.

Rabbit: In the show, most of the lyrics are credited to Umi while Maki writes the songs but in reality, various composers write the music for μ's and their subgroups; Printemps, BiBi, and Lily White.

Tiger: While the composers change from song to song, Hata Aki has written the lyrics for almost every song. She even did some work on one of my favorite anime, Lucky Star.

Rabbit: There are a lot of great songs in a variety of genres, so it doesn’t all just sound like idol/pop music.

Tiger: The centers always change too, which is a feature I love. Even though Honoka is the leader, the center spot and the lead vocals are shared amongst the members. Many of the song centers were even chosen by fan vote.

Rabbit: There are fan favorites like No brand girls and Snow halation which have specific parts in the songs for fans to participate in, known generally as Wotagei.

Tiger: There are classics like Wonderful Rush and Natsuiro Egao de 1,2,Jump! Which both released before the anime.

Rabbit: Then there’s songs like Wonder zone and START:DASH!! Which were featured in the anime.

Tiger: There are also songs sung by the three subunits, solo songs, and some fan service songs such as Zurui yo Magnetic today.

Rabbit: All in all, μ's and its subunits released over 100 singles spanning their six-year career.

Tiger: And we own it all. It’s crazy just how prolific they were compared to other similar anime idol groups.

Rabbit: If you haven’t been able to tell, music is integral to Rabu Raibu. With a bunch of singles released before the anime was even shown, it was only inevitable that μ's would hold a live concert.

Tiger: How exactly do you hold a live when your idol group is made up of a bunch of anime characters? Simple, just dress the Seiyū up as the characters they voice.

Rabbit: The lives are one of my favorite things about Love Live! Getting to see the Seiyū sing on stage and interact with their fans is really fun. Plus, they’re very good performers and I found them a lot more entertaining to watch than The iDOLM@STER.

Tiger: Ooh, you did not go there.

Rabbit: I’m not trying to start a fan war and while I do enjoy The iDOLM@STER, especially Cinderella Girls, they don’t have the detailed choreography that μ's has.

Tiger: And μ's only has nine members. The literal hundreds of iDOLM@STER members are hard to keep track of.

Rabbit: The μ's Seiyū also have great personalities and they were just a blast to watch. I really enjoyed their streaming shows as well, which they hosted a bunch of along with radio shows. Too bad it’s all in Japanese making it hard to follow along with. Though there is a group of dedicated YouTubers who have been working for the past couple of years to sub the best clips from these internet shows.

Tiger: Going back to the lives, one of my favorite parts is seeing the animated PVs come to life. Not only did the Seiyū dress up in the same costumes as their animated counterparts, but they also replicated the dances. Heck, some of the Seiyū even copied their anime characters hairstyles and hair colors. I can even remember some of the dance steps since we’ve watched those lives so many times.

Rabbit: That’s what I call dedication because some of those hairdos are gravity defying.

Tiger: We’ve talked about our favorite characters but what about our favorite Seiyū?

Rabbit: Ooh, that one is tough because while the anime characters have their own personalities, I feel that the Seiyū are incomparable when it comes to their charm features.

Tiger: I definitely agree, it’s hard to pick but why don’t we pick our favorite from the different grades, just like we did for the characters.

Rabbit: For the first-years, my favorite Seiyū has to be Pai-chan who voices Maki. Her drama time skits are the best. She gets embarrassed easily and they always seemed to give her the most out there lines.

Tiger: I’m sticking with my girl Rin and going with Rippi as my favorite first-year Seiyū. Rippi is actually pretty similar to Rin in a few ways which I find endearing. She does a spot-on Kansai mother impersonation too.

Rabbit: I think Mimo who voices Umi is my favorite second-year. She’s more reserved than the others but I love her funny faces and cute voices she would do during the internet shows.

Tiger: Wow, we actually switched our second-year choices. Ucchi, who is Kotori’s Seiyū, is my favorite out of this group though Emitsun is a close second. Ucchi’s antics were some of my favorite bits from the lives and the other appearances the μ's Seiyū had.

Rabbit: The third-years are so tough to pick from. I really feel they are the best characters and the best Seiyū but in the end, I have to pick Kussun who voices Nozomi. She was one of the younger Seiyū but really held her own amongst the veterans of the group. She was also super funny which surprised me since she first struck me as kind of shy. Also, Kussun in pigtails and a gangsta cap will melt anyone’s heart.

Tiger: I’m going against the grain here and saying Soramaru is the best third-year Seiyū and maybe the best out of all the μ's girls. She is so quick-witted and charming, everything I’ve seen her in is entertaining. She’s also my favorite Milky Holmes Seiyū and I’ve kind of stalked her by buying all the games and anime she’s in.

Rabbit: That explains the Senran Kagura games.

Tiger: I feel like we can talk about μ's forever but I think we should move on to some of the other projects that they were involved with, like the video games and SchoolFes.

Rabbit: Not only are there a few Vita rhythm games for Love Live! but μ's starred in another game called Kamisama to Unmei Kakumei no Paradox for the PS3.

Tiger: Also known as The Guided Fate Paradox in the West, the nine girls of μ's voice characters as well as provided character songs for the game. The confusing thing about this is that the μ's characters are the ones credited as the CVs in the game.

Rabbit: Wait, so the real life voice actresses behind μ's don’t get credit?

Tiger: They’re listed in the credits too but on the character album, the vocalists are listed under their μ's names, not their real ones. Talk about bringing fictional anime characters to life.

Rabbit: μ's biggest hit game has to be SchoolFes, the mobile rhythm game that has over 30 million players globally. One of those, I know is you, Tiger.

Tiger: Yup, I’ve been playing SchoolFes every day for over a year!

Rabbit: Wow, that’s dedication.

Tiger: It’s a really fun rhythm game that features card collecting and building your digital idol group to compete in Love Live!

Rabbit: Cards, I should’ve known. How many digital cards do you have?

Tiger: I currently have over 200 though I’ve collected over 350 unique cards total.

Rabbit: LL also has two physical card games, one dedicated just to LL and the other is a part of a bigger collectable card game.

Tiger: SchoolColle and Weiβ Schwarz! Both of which I collect.

Rabbit: Excuse me?

Tiger: What?

Rabbit: I thought you only played Weiβ Schwarz.

Tiger: *shrugs* I do only play Weiβ Schwarz but I also collect SchoolColle cards.

Rabbit: Why?! Why on earth did you start another collection?!

Tiger: SchoolColle has cards for the songs too unlike Weiβ Schwarz which just has character cards. Plus, SchoolColle has the same artwork from SchoolFes, so it’s like I get to keep my SchoolFes collection in real life.

Rabbit: ^shakes head^ There is no hope for you.

Tiger: Well as much as I love μ's, I think we need to wrap up this Retro ReCAP.

Rabbit: Got somewhere to be?

Tiger: Actually there’s a SchoolFes event going on right now and I need to check in so I can keep pace and make sure I get my SR card.

Rabbit: ^shakes head^

Tiger: So, what where your first impressions of Love Live! School Idol Project and how have they changed since then.

Rabbit: I really thought LL was a cute and fun anime but I never paid too much attention to the other parts of the project until they were already in full swing. When I started to really listen to the music and saw their first live, that’s when I truly fell in love with μ's and their Seiyū. We’ve fallen in love with a lot of different groups like this, the first one I can remember is Ho-kago Tea Time from K-On! but they didn’t have the same pull that μ's has had on me.

Tiger: We’ve already mentioned The iDOLM@STER which was probably one of the earliest projects to combine anime, music, and live performances together but like you mentioned, we weren’t really into them from the beginning. Of course, after μ's, there seems to be so many of these groups popping up. There’s Wake Up, Girls!, BanG Dream!, Walkure, i☆Ris, and a bunch of others I can’t think of right now.

Rabbit: Notice how they all really like to use exclamation points?

Tiger: And while μ's is *sniffs* over, Aqours is already in full swing. They’re the next iteration of Love Live!

Rabbit: I still love Milky Holmes too but part of that is because two of their members were also members of μ's. What about you Tiger, you haven’t mentioned your first impressions or how you now view LL after all this time.

Tiger: I truly thought it was another one of your fluffy feel good anime that I hate and I didn’t want to like it as much as I ended up liking it. The first live really did help make a connection but I also think watching the streaming shows on Nico Nico opened my eyes to μ's. Then, I heard Wonderful Rush and I was sold.

Rabbit: Yeah, I never thought you’d actually enjoy the music since you are so picky.

Tiger: Hey! I’m entitled to like pop music every once in a while.

Rabbit: Yeah, like when hell freezes over.

Tiger: Anyway, I have learned to love the charms of LL including its fun and cute anime, the catchy music, the entertaining lives, and the addicting gameplay in the games.

Rabbit: At this point in time with μ's officially over, we’ve basically consumed all we can. We’ve seen all of their lives, own all the PVs, we’ve listened to all the music, and have watched the majority of their internet shows. There’s only one thing we haven’t seen yet and that’s-

Tiger: Nope, we aren’t watching it.

Rabbit: Why not? It’s the only thing we have left to see.

Tiger: Exactly! Once we watch the last day of their final live, there’s nothing left! I don’t want μ's to ever end!

Rabbit: But they did end! They aren’t going to make anything else. It’s not like you can’t ever watch it again either, we own the BD, we can watch it again whenever you want.

Tiger: But it won’t ever be new again after we watch it. That means there’ll be nothing new left for us to see.

Rabbit: Are we ever going to watch it?

Tiger: Never!


Love Live! School Idol Project ReCAP
μ's *sniffles*
Is *cries*
Over *sobs*

The CG animation in early PVs is stiff
The movie doesn’t have enough μ's in it
Seeing the Seiyū cry at the final live


The variety of music
The Seiyū and their wonderful performances
μ's is just awesome

Season 2 Episode 11 gets me right in the heart
Seeing μ's grow as a group throughout the anime
the 18 members of μ's

Random Happy Time, 43 O'Clock - The A-RISE of Aqours!

Love Live! Sunshine!! Has already debuting their first single, the anime, and are now preparing for their first live. Tiger and Rabbit talk about the newest group from LL, Aqours, and if they plan to support them as much as they supported μ's.

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Rabbit: With μ's now retired, the Love Live! torch has been passed to a new set of idols called Aqours.

Tiger: It’s a brand new series in a brand new location with brand new girls.

Rabbit: Set in the seaside neighborhood of Uchiura, Love Live! Sunshine!! follows Chika Takami as she tries to shine just as brightly as μ's by forming her own idol group. ヘ(^_^ヘ)

Tiger: Along with fellow second-year Watanabe You and Otonokizaka transfer Sakurauchi Riko, they begin their quest to make Aqours the best idol group they possibly can.

Rabbit: Eventually first-year students Tsushima Yoshiko, Kurosawa Ruby, and Kunikida Hanamaru join the group.

Tiger: It’s Yohane! (ﾉ`Д´)ﾉ.:･┻┻☆(/o＼)

Rabbit: There are also three third-year members which include Matsuura Kana, Kurosawa Dia, and Ohara Mari.

Tiger: Aqours have already released numerous singles, the first season of the anime, and have a live scheduled for February of this year. Your thoughts on Aqours?

Rabbit: ^makes funny face^ The jury is still out for me. We haven’t seen much of the anime, which will probably swing me one way or the other, but for now I’m on the fence.

Tiger: Is there a particular reason?

Rabbit: Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑) They aren’t μ's. I’m trying to be open-minded with Aqours and the Seiyū but I just don’t enjoy them as much. We’ve watched a lot of their streams too and I don’t find them as entertaining.

Tiger: I haven’t been too keen on their music either so far. I love Aikyan who voices Yohane though. She and the other first-year Seiyū are pretty entertaining.

Rabbit: I really dislike the third-years right now. But I still plan on giving them a chance. For me, the benchmark will be their first live and us finally finishing the anime. I really want to like them too because there is just so much content with Love Live! unlike some of the other groups we’re interested in.

Tiger: Like Bandori.

Rabbit: （●´∀｀）ノ♡ I find them adorable!

Tiger: They play their own instruments, that’s so awesome!

Rabbit: There are only five of them too, much easier to keep track of them!

Tiger: And I like their music!

Rabbit: Do you know who I really liked?

Tiger: Style Five?

Rabbit: ^giggles^ So dreamy. ( ˘ ³˘)♥ No, I’m talking about A-RISE. They’re the trio of idols from UTX and are μ's rivals.

Tiger: They did have a couple catchy songs.

Rabbit: I really wished they would’ve shown up in a live and had a mini Love Live! battle with μ's.

Tiger: Well μ's did do that mash-up with THE iDOLM@STER at Anisama 2015.

Rabbit: That was glorious to see two massive anime idol groups on the same stage together.

Tiger: Anisama 2016 had Poppin’ Party though we haven’t seen that one yet.

Rabbit: ^sighs^ If only Style Five went to Anisama. σ(≧ε≦ｏ)

Random Happy Time, 30 O'Clock - Memento Mori!

After chatting at length about Persona 3 and Persona 4, Tiger and Rabbit take some time to discuss the upcoming sequel and what they would like to see in the next game. They also cover how the Persona series has expanded into other mediums, like anime and musicals.

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Rabbit: Persona 5 has been officially announced! ೕ(•̀ᴗ•́)

Tiger: Yes, I’m super excited about that. What about you? Anything you’d like to see them change or add in the new game?

Rabbit: I want more animal partners!

Tiger: Anything besides that?

Rabbit: Not really, I think they’ll do a great job with it no matter what. I just want them to create the vision that they truly want and not be hindered by anything.

Tiger: I’m curious to see how the whole stealth sections play out and the phantom thief theme sounds neat.

Rabbit: Doesn’t their home base totally look like Stray Sheep? ᏊˊꈊˋᏊ

Tiger: It does though it can’t be because I’m pretty sure Atlus stated that Stray Sheep was in the U.S. somewhere, while Persona 5 looks to be set in Japan again. Also, they’ve said in the past that Catherine and Persona aren’t in the same world.

Rabbit: I do love me some Stray Sheep. Did you see they turned Persona into a musical? (\˳˘ ɜ˘)˳ ♬♪♫

Tiger: I did! I really want to see that, I think it would be cool. P3 even has a female protagonist. We’ve seen previews advertised with the P3 movies. Which are also awesome.

Rabbit: I really enjoyed the P4 anime but I haven’t picked up any of the manga, Still gotta do that.

Tiger: There’s also the two fighting games. o(｀ω´*)o

Rabbit: Which I suck at.

Tiger: I think it’s cool to see the P3 cast now that they’re older. I still need to beat the story modes but I never seem to have time.

Rabbit: While you do that, I’ll be playing Dancing All Night! Rise is amazing! ┏(＾0＾)┛

Tiger: It’s the same developer that does the Hatsune Miku games, right?

Rabbit: Yes and no. Dingo worked on Project Diva but was dropped when the development team was reshuffled.

Tiger: I’m still bummed that it’s only going to be the P4 cast but I’ll be playing it no matter what.

Rabbit: ♪♪(o*゜∇゜)o～♪♪ I’m going to play Your Affection nonstop!

Q Attack, Round 23 - Should Visual Novels be Classified as Games?

Rabbit has recently completed AMNESIA: Memories on PlayStation Vita and decides to share some thoughts on the surge of visual novel localization. She and Tiger discuss past visual novels, the different genres, and if visual novels should really be considered video games in this entry of Q Attack.

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Rabbit: ^sighs^ I wish Ikki was a real person.

Tiger: Really? I thought you’d be more of a Shin fan.

Rabbit: I don’t like my tsundere guys with that much edge. What about you, Toma I take it?

Tiger: *crosses arms* Heck no. I’m not a fan of yandere, not at all. If I had to pick anyone, I’d say Kent is more my type.

Rabbit: Of course, I should have known.

Tiger: What, is it that obvious?

Rabbit: ^shakes head^ Megane.

Tiger: Hey, I’m not even a fan of otome games; you’re the one that’s been on this AMNESIA kick all month.

Rabbit: I’m really enjoying it; I waited months to finally play it. I even got the physical collector’s edition.

Tiger: Back up a minute, a collector’s edition?

Rabbit: Yes.

Tiger: For a digital only game?

Rabbit: Yes, Iffy made a physical collector’s edition that came with the soundtrack, artbook, coasters, and a body pillow cover.

Tiger: *rolls eyes* Oh geez.

Rabbit: I even got the anime as well.

Tiger: You and your games that aren’t even games.

Rabbit: They are too! Otome games are visual novels geared towards gamers who like dating sims.

Tiger: I don’t even like calling them dating sims, that’s pretty inaccurate.

Rabbit: Well, I don’t want to say they’re chick games because that’s wrong too. I know a few guys who enjoy playing them.

Tiger: They’re non-games that have a load of hot guys that interact with the usually voiceless heroine in non-realistic ways.

Rabbit: Like Toma and the cage.

Tiger: Actually, I think that might be the most realistic scenario from AMNESIA.

Rabbit: ^shocked face^

Tiger: Anyway, otome games are a subgenre of visual novels.

Rabbit: And NVLs are games that include lots of text, pretty art, and are often fully voiced-

Tiger: Yet they don’t have any actual gameplay-

Rabbit: They have mini-games!

Tiger: Jan ken pon does not count as a video game!

Rabbit: They are too games and there are a lot of them.

Tiger: We all know you have Hakuouki on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

Rabbit: Ah, my PSP. We had a good run together. Hakuouki is considered an otome game as well as Sweet Fuse: At Your Side.

Tiger: Then there’s AMNESIA which came out recently on PlayStation Vita.

Rabbit: I’ve also played XBlaze Code: Embryo on Vita but that’s just a straight up visual novel. I picked up Steins;Gate too. I’ve heard some people call it a dating sim but I don’t really think of it that way. I also preordered Norn9: Var Commons and Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ which are both on Vita also.

Tiger: You also have a few ADVs as well.

Rabbit: I do! Those tend to have a lot more gameplay in them like with Zero Escape. You could even say that games like the BlazBlue series have light ADV components to them too. Whether they’re straight NVLs or ADVs, I love them all!

Tiger: I still don’t think NVLs should be called video games, you’re basically reading a book. You can, after all, just go read a book instead of “play” a book. It’s not like it has to be in video game format. Now ADVs are a little different, they actually have gameplay elements but NVLs have you pushing circle a hundred-thousand times to advance the text, that’s it.

Rabbit: You have more control than just that. Because most NVLs have multiple endings, you have dialogue choices that lead to different branches of the story. And if it’s an otome game, often times you have multiple endings for each guy, AKA route, you can choose from. Like with AMNESIA, there are five routes and each route has at least three endings. You have other controls too like fast forward so you don’t have to sit through text you’ve already read, though I really enjoy replaying my favorite routes.

Tiger: That doesn’t sound fun, just fast forwarding through scenarios you’ve already seen.

Rabbit: It makes more sense when you play them. Anyway, that’s not the real reward. NVLs are special because of the usually high quality voice acting and unlocking the CGs, which are sometimes partially animated.

Tiger: We’ve thrown around a lot of abbreviations and terms so far, maybe you’d like to clarify what they really mean.

Rabbit: Oh yeah, good idea. Well NVL is just the common way to refer to standard visual novels. I think it’s short hand for NoVeL though I could be wrong. ADV is the same concept and refers to ADVenture games, or visual novels that have more gameplay ala Danganronpa. CGs stand for Computer Graphic and yes, while technically all the images are computer graphics, CG directly refers to the full screen images you unlock throughout the playthrough. Most games have a gallery that keeps track of which ones you’ve unlocked and allows you to look at them again, sometimes with the full voice audio being replayed as well. Routes, as I already mentioned, refer to the different paths or love interests you can choose in the game. With AMNESIA you choose your route very early on but in Hakuouki, it’s not as clear which route you’re following until you advance farther in the game. These routes lead to the multitude of endings that most NVLs have which usually consisted of a good, normal, and at least one bad ending.

Tiger: I think in Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward, all the endings were kind of bad.

Rabbit: That game had so many endings, the game actually had a chart to help you keep track!

Tiger: It’s crazy to think how many visual games have been localized.

Rabbit: I know! Especially the straight NVLs. Now I don’t play PC or mobile NVLs so I know I miss a lot that release that way but on Vita alone, I’m going to pick up five legit NVLs and three more that could be classified as ADVs just in 2015 alone. I remember when I only had Hakuouki to keep me company at night back in the early PSP days.

Tiger: *shakes head*

Rabbit: I’m really thankful for Aksys, XSeed, NISA, Iffy, and everyone else who supports the NVL community here in the West.

Tiger: Now you mentioned a game I don’t consider to be a NVL, Danganronpa.

Rabbit: The first two Danrangonpa games are considered visual novels, ADVs to be exact, just like the Ace Attorney games!

Tiger: But I like the Danganronpa games.

Rabbit: That means you like visual novels!

Tiger: Technically, that only means I like ADVs. I still think straight up NVLs shouldn’t be considered games.

Rabbit: So you don’t think visual novels are games?

Tiger: No, I don’t think visual novels are legitimate video games. While they are partially interactive it’s only a small margin of the overall experience. I’d say NVLs are closer to choose your own anime or manga than anything else. While the genre has its fans, *points at Rabbit* I wouldn’t consider it a large enough category to be a subgenre of video games. I personally don’t see how you could really call them video games. It’s similar to my issues with some of the indie games like Journey; they just don’t really fit into what I perceive as a game. I mean the definition of “game” is that it’s an activity that involves skill, knowledge, and chance in which you follow rules to try and win against an opponent or solve a puzzle. There is nothing in that definition that even remotely applies to NVLs. Again, I’m not saying they're wrong and shouldn’t exist; I just think it’s going a little too far to call NVLs video games. ADVs are something else because you do have parts where a player’s skills are involved and it’s something you can beat. NVLs just end, no matter what you do. So no, I don’t think NVLs should be considered games.

Rabbit: Well, I just think you’re being too narrowed minded. Not everything is quantified by winning and losing, sometimes there are other ways to finish a game. How about reaching the end of the story? That is almost like winning. Plus, you do get rewards for choosing certain paths or completing various routes in the form of CGs and bonus stories. And media can be interactive in more ways than one. You don’t always have to be in control, the fully voiced narratives in NVLs create a level of immersion that when coupled with choosing your own destiny, creates an experience you couldn’t get in the theaters or with books. I love NVLs because it’s just another great way to experience a new world and a new story that I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else.

Should Visual Novels be Classified as Games?
Tiger     vs     Rabbit

Random Happy Time, 29 O'Clock - Romancing the Vita!

Rabbit takes time in this edition of Random Happy Time to talk about her love of otome games with Tiger and which games have the best hot guys, er, routes and endings.

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Rabbit: （●´∀｀）ノ♡ I love otome games.

Tiger: I think we all know that by now.

Rabbit: I even bought the digital versions of Hakuouki and Sweet Fuse so I could play it on my Vita again.

Tiger: What did you think of Sweet Fuse?

Rabbit: I enjoyed it, not the greatest but it had some good moments. I really liked the protagonist, Inafune Saki, who is the niece of Inafune Keiji. She gets trapped in a theme park that’s been taken over by a deranged talking pig.

Tiger: Sounds a little like Danganronpa.

Rabbit: Yeah, just a bit. I wasn’t really impressed with the guys though, they weren’t as smokin’ hot as the Hakuouki men.

Tiger: （；￣ェ￣） I don’t think anyone could beat them in your eyes.

Rabbit: Shidou Subaru is the canon route; he’s your typical serious guy. You can choose to have Saki blow up and yell at the guys during certain scenes and it’s always funny to see his reaction to this. It’s the only time he really breaks from being a cool detective. I personally liked Shirabe Ayumu the best though.

Tiger: You like older men?

Rabbit: It just turned out that way in the game; he was interesting while the others just felt like your typical cookie-cutter characters.

Tiger: We know you love all the guys in Hakuouki but-

Rabbit: Correction! I love everyone but Toshi, I can’t stand him.

Tiger: He’s canon in the anime though.

Rabbit: I know that’s why I hate the anime.

Tiger: But you still watch it.

Rabbit: (^～^;)ゞ I do, I make no sense.

Tiger: I’m glad you realize that.

Rabbit: We even own a few anime series that are based on otome games like Hiiro no Kakera and Uta no Prince-sama.

Tiger: You and your love of reverse harem. (︶︹︺)

Rabbit: (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و I still love Saitou the most! Though Kazama is a close second with Okita and Harada tied for third.

Tiger: What’s so great about Saitou anyway?

Rabbit: His hair and how it partially covers his eyes making him look so mysterious.

Tiger: *covers face*

Rabbit: But Kazama has that wolfish grin, Okita with his fox-like smile, and Harada’s flaming red hair that just ignites my heart.

Tiger: You can stop now. You can stop anytime.

Rabbit: I love AMNESIA’s character designs. I think all of the characters look really cool and even the simplistic background art looks amazing in that game. If only Shin wasn’t canon.

Tiger: Face it; you’ll never like the canon route.

Rabbit: I know but at least the anime shares the love!

Tiger: *shakes head*

Rabbit: Ikki, darling! Let me succumb to those gorgeous eyes of yours! ٩(♡ε♡ )۶

Q Attack, Round 11 - Are You an Otaku?

Tiger and Rabbit have returned from their adventures at Sakura-Con 2015, one of the oldest anime, manga, and cultural conventions on the West Coast. They spent an entire weekend immersing themselves in all things Japanese and share their experiences here.

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Rabbit: Tsukarechatta!

Tiger: *moans* You can say that again, I’m beat. I love going on all these trips but man is it hard to function once you get back.

Rabbit: We need a vacavacation.

Tiger: There you go, making up words again.

Rabbit: No, really. We need a vacation from our vacation.

Tiger: I second that. So you want to explain why we’re both so tired.

Rabbit: ^stretches arms^ Five days of craziness, that’s why. We attended Sakura-Con 2015 in Seattle.

Tiger: It’s an anime, manga, video game, and general Asian cultural convention. They have everything from industry panels, anime theaters, a manga library, to special guest panels.

Rabbit: They also have an exhibitors hall, artist alley, and art show.

Tiger: Some of the guests included Vic Mignogna, Shimamoto Sumi, GARNiDELiA, Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, Kashiwada Shinichiro, Mori Toshimichi, Kitada Katsuhiko, Asai Masaki, and n.NAOTO.

Rabbit: Which we didn’t see… at all.

Tiger: We saw some of the special guests though most we really didn’t care about seeing. It’s hard to get excited for all the English voice actors that go to Sakura-Con because we don’t watch anime in English. Now the Japanese voice actors were another story, I was really excited to see and hear Ueda Kana.

Rabbit: It was amazing to see the members of WIT Studio too.

Tiger: And Mori Toshimichi. We saw him at one of the panels, which we’ll be discussing in a different Q Attack. But before we move on to what we saw and did, let’s start with the first day of our trip.

Rabbit: ^deep voice^ Captain’s log, star date-

Tiger: *bops Rabbit on head* Do it normally.

Rabbit: Hai, hai. So we left our terribly sheltered lives behind us on Thursday, April 2nd, 2015 to travel to the big city that is Seattle, Washington.

Tiger: Calling Seattle a big city makes me miss Cali.

Rabbit: ^glares at Tiger^ Interrupting! We traveled with the help of a magical fairy named Tinker Bell who helped us fly across the water.

Tiger: Chigau! It was a ferry and we sailed across the water.

Rabbit: The truth is just a matter of perspective. ^sticks out tongue^ We arrived at our destination and headed straight to the International District.

Tiger: Ever noticed how Seattle is constantly under construction?

Rabbit: Yeah, it took us a lot longer to get to the International District than usual because all the roads were closed.

Tiger: I’m telling you, that city is always in a state of disarray.

Rabbit: From there we ate-

Tiger: Yamero!

Rabbit: Yamete!

Tiger: Kotowaru!

Rabbit: Why did you stop me?

Tiger: We are not, I repeat, we are not going to talk about food.

Rabbit: Bu-

Tiger: Nope!

Rabbit: Kedo…

Tiger: You always do this, you always digress to food. We have a lot of things to cover so let’s not waste time on food.

Rabbit: ^crosses arms^ Fine… We spent the day in the International District shopping at Daiso Japan, Uwajimaya, and Kinokuniya before checking into the Sheraton Hotel and picking up our badges. We also went to see the Seattle Symphony that night but we’re saving that for a different Q Attack as well.

Tiger: Friday, April 3rd, was the first official day of Sakura-Con 2015. We started out bright and early, arriving at the Washington State Convention Center at 7:00am. The first anime we watched was The Basketball that Kuroko Plays from Production I.G. and Tada Shunsuke. It was originally a manga created by Fujimaki Tadatoshi and follows the great basketball players from Teikō Middle School, known as the Generation of Miracles, as they play in high school. What’d you think of this one?

Rabbit: I really enjoyed it; I wish they had a U.S. release planned sometime soon. Unfortunately, they didn’t show the beginning of the series but started it somewhere in the middle so we didn’t quite catch the entire plot. Still, I’d pick it up if they ever do release it here.

Tiger: I noticed there were a lot of sports related anime and cosplay at this Con. Last time we went in 2012, everything seemed to be focused on the school theme.

Rabbit: There were a lot of people running around in basketball uniforms, cosplaying the various players. I almost got hit by a couple runaway basketballs too.

Tiger: Next, we caught a single episode of Level E on accident. It was in English too, ugh. Originally a manga from Togashi Yoshihiro, it was turned into an anime by Studio Pierrot and directed by Katō Toshiyuki. The plot centered on a high school student and his encounters with the various aliens that had moved to Earth.

Rabbit: We didn’t mean to see that one. We were actually there for another anime but they were off schedule. So we watched that until…

Tiger: Steins;Gate! Originally a visual novel by 5pb. and Nitroplus, the anime adaption was created by White Fox and directed by Hamasaki Hiroshi and Sato Takuya. I really enjoyed this anime, we’ve seen it before, but watching it on the big screen made me enjoy it even more. I love the time travel story that it centers around and how mad scientist Okabe Rintarō copes with his ability to change the past and the future. The game is even getting released on the PS3 and Vita this year in the West.

Rabbit: We actually got to see a guest that’s connected to Steins;Gate on Saturday but we’ll be saving that for another post.

Tiger: We did so much that we’re going to spread this out across a few posts to try and limit each post’s length.

Rabbit: Really, we just want to milk this trip for all its worth.

Tiger: *laughs* Sō desu ne…

Rabbit: I feel like we’re on one of those game shows. “We’ll reveal the winners… next week! Goodbye everyone!”

Tiger: We aren’t doing this on purpose, honestly. Back to Friday, next up was the Aniplex of America Industry Panel.

Rabbit: Which was basically an hour of them showing anime trailers we could’ve easily watched on YouTube or something.

Tiger: It just made me sad. I want to own the Fate/Zero series so bad but Aniplex is freaking expensive! They are Aniplex of America so why do they only import their stuff? I don’t get it.

Rabbit: They always make limited or premium editions too. It’s not like we need that stuff, I’d love if they did just a plain ‘ole standard set that’s affordable. Oh well. That was our version of pressing our noses against the glass of an expensive restaurant and watching people eat inside.

Tiger: *shakes head* I don’t even know how to reply to that. Next, we saw Nisekoi: False Love. It was first published as a one-shot manga by Komi Naoshi and then serialized before becoming an anime series from Shaft and Shinbo Akiyuki.

Rabbit: I absolutely loved this one! Out of all the shows we hadn’t seen before, this was my number two pick. The story follows high school students Ichijo Raku and Kirisaki Chitoge. But these two aren’t your average high schoolers, nope. Ichijo is the son of Shuei-Gumi’s leader and Kirisaki is the daughter of Beehive’s boss. What does that even mean? Shuei-Gumi is a yakuza and their rival gang is Beehive. A war is brewing between the two factions and to settle the feud, Ichijo and Kirisaki are told to become boyfriend and girlfriend. Then there’s this thing about a locket and a promise and trying to find a key. Really though, it’s super funny.

Tiger: Next was my number two pick… but again the theaters were behind schedule so we ended up seeing an episode of DRAMAtical Murder. I kind of liked this, which is really sad to admit.

Rabbit: ^crosses arms^ Bad kitty, you have a dirty mind.

Tiger: I swear I didn’t know what it was, you can’t tell by watching just one episode!

Rabbit: DRAMAtical Murder was originally a visual novel by Nitro+chiral and then turned anime by NAZ and Miura Kazuya. But it wasn’t just any visual novel, no it was BL. ^shocked face^

Tiger: It had a PG-13 rating on the program! The story is set in the near future where an entire island is turned into a resort and the residents are all forced to live in the Old Residential District. Seragaki Aoba lives a simple life here until he is forced into the popular cyber game known as Rhyme. Soon, turf wars break out in game and in real life, dragging Seragaki deeper into the fray. Anyway, we weren’t there for that. Really, we weren’t.

Rabbit: I don’t know about you…

Tiger: *blushing* Oitoite. The real reason why we were in that theater was for Mekakucity Actors. It’s the anime adaption of The Kagerou Project by Jin. It’s a little confusing to explain but the project basically started with the Vocaloid song Kagerou Daze and soon became a phenomenon with a light novel series, manga, and anime. Produced by Shaft and directed by Shinbo Akiyuki and Yase Yuki, Mekakucity Actors follows the Mekakushi Dan, a group of people with eye related powers. The episodes seem to run out of order, making it a little confusing at first, but it’s a great show. I know the manga and light novels got a U.S. release and I hope to see the anime soon too.

Rabbit: Vocaloids, there were a lot more of them around too. Quite a few cosplayers, I even saw an IA cosplayer which was impressive.

Tiger: Very true, in the past you would only see Hatsune Miku and the other Crypton Vocaloids. Mekakucity Actors was all over the place. Lots of merchandise floating around the exhibitors hall.

Rabbit: I’d reckon that the only anime that you saw more cosplayer or souvenirs of was Attack on Titan.

Tiger: Well, I’m excited that The Kagerou Project is finally making its way stateside. Just picked up the first manga and hope to see Mekakucity Actors get a physical release soon.

Rabbit: Speaking of IA, the last thing we did on Friday was see the IA – KAGEROU Project Concert Movie.

Tiger: Or attempted to see it. They had a small table with merchandise inside the theater where you could buy stuff. Thing is, the line formed down the center aisle, blocking the view of most of the people there. We ended up buying a few CDs and then leaving early.

Rabbit: You got a few IA CDs; I know you were happy about that.

Tiger: I love IA; she’s one of my favorite Vocaloids so it was worth going just to pick those up. I also bought a CD I had no idea what it was. Turns out it’s an album called VOCALO Zanmai from Wagakki Band. They blend traditional Japanese instruments with Vocaloid music. Really, really awesome stuff. If you’re a fan of Vocaloid music, I’d definitely check them out. I love their rendition of Kagerou Days and Senbonzakura. Really glad I picked up their album even though I didn’t know who they were beforehand.

Rabbit: Then we went to sleep and woke up bright and early for our second day of Sakura-Con. Saturday, April 4th a poppy seed muffin-

Tiger: *shoots eye-daggers at Rabbit*

Rabbit: And then we proceeded to the anime theater so we could see an irregular high school magic show.

Tiger: *rolls eyes* Once more, the theaters were behind schedule and we caught the end of Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie… in English. Nothing is more painful than Naruto in English.

Rabbit: I know how much you love that anime.

Tiger: The guy who created it needs to die.

Rabbit: Finally we got to see what we came for, The Irregular at Magic High School.

Tiger: More commonly known as Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei, it started as a light novel series written by Satō Tsutomu and illustrated by Ishida Kana.

Rabbit: Since then, it has been adapted into five manga series, an anime, and even two video games.

Tiger: The anime is done by Madhouse and directed by Ono Manabu. Two musical facts about this anime; the music is composed by Iwasaki Taku and the second opening theme is Grilletto by GARNiDELiA.

Rabbit: The series is set in a world where magic is considered a form of technology and students go to specialized schools to study it. Students are separated by their test scores with the best students enrolling in Course 1 (known as Bloom) and the rest being put in Course 2 (known as Weed). Shiba Tatsuya and his sister, Miyuki, are new students at one of these schools and while his sister aces the entrance exams, he gets enrolled in Course 2. But not all is what it seems and Tatsuya seems to possess skills far greater than any Weed should.

Tiger: The Director, Ono Manabu was actually at the Aniplex of America industry panel to not only present the U.S. release but also announce some of Aniplex’s new releases.

Rabbit: I thought this was an okay show. Nothing too exciting story wise but the magic battles were pretty rad.

Tiger: Yeah, there have been some mixed reviews on the anime. I’ve read a lot of reviews that said you should stick with the manga but I’d be willing to give the anime a try. We only got to see a few episodes before-

Rabbit: Before we could be free and enjoy eternal summer!

Tiger: *shakes head*

Rabbit: Free! Is another anime that’s based on a light novel series, written by Ōji Kōji and then turned into an anime series by Kyoto Animation and Utsumi Hiroko.

Tiger: What we watched was actually Free! –Eternal Summer-, the second season since the first season has not been licensed for publishing in the States yet. The plot focuses on four high school guys-

Rabbit: Hot guys I might add.

Tiger: *shakes head* And you say I have the dirty mind. Anyway, these four are members of Iwatobi High School’s swim team. Other characters include members of Samezuka Academy’s swim team.

Rabbit: There were a lot of Free! cosplayers too which was kind of strange and cold looking.

Tiger: Seattle in April is by no means a warm place. You have to admit that the guys running around just in swimsuits were dedicated. So, I take it you enjoyed this one?

Rabbit: I did. Nanase Haruka rivals Saitō Hajime in looks but his personality isn’t as cool. And it was sports related so you should have enjoyed it.

Tiger: It was alright, I enjoyed The Basketball that Kuroko Plays better but it wasn’t bad and it had its funny moments. Up next was a panel that we’d been looking forward to for a while.

Rabbit: Yes! The Rolling☆Girls Special with Deai Kotomi, Kitada Katsuhiko, & Imai Arifumi of WIT Studio! Surprisingly, this one began as an anime series before it was spun off into two manga series. Directed by Deai Kotomi, the story is… hard to explain.

Tiger: It has one of those “you have to have been there” stories to really get it. It’s a coming-of-age comedy set 10 years after the Great Tokyo War which caused the prefectures of Japan to become independent states. As these new city-states competed with each other, vigilantes from the war were hired and became known as Best, representing their prefectures in one-on-one territorial disputes. These Best are supported by Rest, or commoners, who help to maintain peace in their respective prefectures. The story follows Moritomo Nozomi, a Rest, who is trying to answer the pleas for her prefecture’s Best who has been seriously injured. Tagging along are three other girls, who go with Nozomi on her trip across Japan.

Rabbit: And since it is called The Rolling☆Girls, they of course ride motorcycles. I have to say that the art style is very, very unique.

Tiger: During the panel, not only did they show a couple of episodes but they also showed what their animated storyboards look like when they are working on it. Definitely a great panel with lots of information on the behind the scenes action that’s needed to create an anime series.

Rabbit: And it was WIT Studio too! They might not be very old but they already have a solid track record with Attack on Titan, Hal, and Hōzuki no Reitetsu already under their belts. Add The Rolling☆Girls and the upcoming Seraph of the End, this is a studio to keep an eye on.

Tiger: After that, it was a mad dash to the main hall for the Itō Kanako & GARNiDELiA Concert.

Rabbit: It was amazing… but we are going to wait to talk about this one.

Tiger: As with our next panel, The BlazBlue Experience. So basically the last two events of Saturday night will be discussed separately in their own Q Attacks.

Rabbit: Sunday, April 5th, was the last day of Sakura-Con 2015! So sad.

Tiger: So we used this remaining day to just watch anime.

Rabbit: First up was Log Horizon, another “trapped in an MMO” anime. This one was also a light novel series first, written by Touno Mamare, before being turned into a bunch of manga series and an anime series. Produced by Satelight Studios and directed by Ishihira Shinji, the story follows game strategist Shiroe and other players as they become trapped inside the game of Elder Tales following a massive update.

Tiger: I actually really enjoyed this one, I thought it added some things and did well to differentiate itself from all the other anime in this genre.

Rabbit: You just like it because the game their stuck in is called Elder Tales.

Tiger: *sticks out tongue* After this one, we saw-

Rabbit: ^jumps in air^ Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

Tiger: Here we go.

Rabbit: This was my absolute favorite anime we saw all weekend! Created by Umatani Kurari and Diomedéa, it was directed by Takamatsu Shinji. The story is about five guys who attend Binan High School; Hakone Yumoto, Yufuin En, Kinugawa Atsushi, Naruko Io, and Zaou Ryuu. A strange wombat-like alien approaches them and tasks them with saving the world. By using Loveracelets, the five transform into the Battle Lovers, who can use the power of love to combat enemies who spread hate. They form the Earth Defense Club in order to fight the Earth Conquest Club, which is also a club at Binan High School bent on destroying everything good on earth. I absolutely loved this one!

Tiger: It was very funny and made fun of the magical girl genre in a great way. It seemed like a pretty decent show in its own right too, not relying solely on gags. It also helps that the guys closely resemble those from Free! which makes them easy on the eyes.

Rabbit: So many pretty boys to stare at…

Tiger: Next was my favorite anime of the Con-

Rabbit: And we all know why you picked this one, you lucky star, you.

Tiger: Created by Kuroha and then turned into an anime by Nomad and directed by Sato Hikaru; the last anime we saw before Sakura-Con 2015 shut down was Chronicles of the Going Home Club. The plot follows a group of high school girls who are in the Going Home Club, a club that is dedicated to having as much fun as possible. It’s definitely a slice-of-life comedy that reminds me a lot of Lucky Star. You have club president Domyoji Sakura, the self-proclaimed ordinary girl of the club. She is energetic and downright crazy at times. Ohagi Botan is the club commander and successor to an ancient martial arts style. She once traveled the world fighting bears. Kokonoe Claire is club treasurer and heiress to a mega-corporation. Claire wanted to experience a normal school life but it’s hard for her to do so with her vast amount of wealth. Then there are the newest club members, Ando Natsuki and Tono Karin, both freshmen. Karin is an airhead, excellent at home economics, and her cuteness is Botan’s greatest weakness. Natsuki plays the part of resident Tsundere who’s serious and doesn’t always get the jokes of other club members. It’s a pretty hilarious anime that’s not only self aware but pokes fun at other anime too.

Rabbit: The bit about having to retool the show by episode three if you aren’t popular was super funny.

Tiger: And they have a gag where the ending credits will play too early only to have Natsuki freak out and rip them off the screen.

Rabbit: It was definitely a great way to end Sakura-Con but that wasn’t it for us!

Tiger: It wasn’t?

Rabbit: Nope, we stayed in Seattle on Monday, April 6th, and went back to the International District to eat-

Tiger: To do some more shopping at Kinokuniya and Uwajimaya. I was able to pick up a few more CDs including EXIT TUNES PRESENTS vocalogemini feat. Kagamine Rin & Kagamine Len.

Rabbit: I bought a melona ice bar!

Tiger: Sheesh, you can’t stop, can you?

Rabbit: I don’t know what you’re talking about. So any final thoughts on Sakura-Con.

Tiger: Furries, lots of furries, cosplay seemed to be kind of downplayed this year. Got to see a lot of anime, panels were good, concert was amazing, the tournaments were some of the best we’ve seen, and it was overall a great experience. You?

Rabbit: Lots of amazing food, lots of things to look at though we didn’t buy very much, I almost got killed by a soccer ball when walking around downtown Seattle, and it didn’t rain so that was great.

Tiger: I guess it’s time to wrap this up then.

Rabbit: After experiencing a weekend jam-packed with everything Japanese related, are you officially an Otaku?

Tiger: I’d have to say no to that.

Rabbit: ^shocked face^

Tiger: After all of the conventions we’ve gone to, I’ve learned that I’m not an Otaku, I’m a gamer. While I do enjoy anime, manga, and Asian cultures in general; I don’t find myself really engrossed in Otaku culture. I actually felt like an outsider at Sakura-Con. I don’t stream anime online so I’m really out of the loop with what’s popular. Take The Rolling☆Girls, that series has been out online for awhile now but this was my first time seeing it. Heck, I hadn’t even heard of Free! until you told me about it. It’s fun, I like going, and I like watching anime but I’m not a big enough fan to label myself an Otaku. It’s not like video games were when we went to PAX I recognized all the studios, I knew about the games before we got there, and everything appealed to me. There were lots of things I liked at Sakura-Con but going to Q&As with voice actors I’d never heard of or watching fan panels about certain shows just didn’t interest me. Anime is an interest of mine but not a passion. I don’t love everything about it like I love video games.

Rabbit: Well, I have to disagree with you.

Tiger: Naturally.

Rabbit: I totally consider myself an Otaku. Japanese culture is something that I love and not in that weird, I’m not Japanese but I love everything about you and even want a pet schoolgirl sort of way.

Tiger: I’d argue that I didn’t know anyone was actually like that until we went to our first anime convention.

Rabbit: We’re both Japanese-

Tiger: Faux Japanese.

Rabbit: We’ve lived there-

Tiger: Until we were five.

Rabbit: And it’s something that will always be a part of us. Plus, I like anime and manga in general. Japanese comedy is some of my favorite; it’s nothing like what we get Stateside. The action shows are awesome, the stories are amazing though sometimes stupid, and nothing can compare to manga. So what if we’re from Otaku Generation 2, being fans of older stuff doesn’t make us any less of a fan than those who only like what’s popular now. And while I don’t stream either, I still enjoy keeping up to date with what’s new and trendy in Japan. Otaku are pretty cool people in general too.

Tiger: I like that the Otaku culture is pretty nonjudgmental.

Rabbit: Stop in the name of Judgment! But you’re right, Otaku are generally great people so of course I consider myself one.

Tiger: *shakes head* Haha, very funny.

Rabbit: Really though, I love anime, manga, Vocaloids, chanbara, tsundere, and I especially love Japanese food! I’m happy I got the opportunity to experience things I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to do. I also have a pretty big list of which anime I want to buy next.

Tiger: You’re incorrigible.

Rabbit: And you’re a party pooper. But fear not TvR faithful, the moment you’ve been waiting for is next! Random Happy Time Sutāto! Doki doki transformation in the name of LOVE!

Are You an Otaku?
Tiger     vs     Rabbit

Random Happy Time, 4 O'Clock! - The Origins of Tiger and Rabbit!

Rabbit takes the time to chat about the origins of TvR and how their character designs came to be in this issue of Random Happy Time! Tiger and Rabbit also discuss the anime, Kekkaishi.

**^^**
Rabbit: Welcome back TvR faithful! Today’s topic is about the origins of cute ‘iddle Tiger and happy baby Rabbit where we will discuss the backstory of how we came to be. So Tiger, why don’t you start by telling us how you got your name.

Tiger: I got the nickname of Tiger from a couple of fellow Tae Kwon Do students back in the day.

Rabbit: You really are dangerous. U｡･.･｡U

Tiger: It was a play on my name, if you must know. (=ＴェＴ=) It didn’t have anything to do with my so-called violent nature.

Rabbit: I actually gave myself my name. I was tired of being mistaken for you all the time and wanted a name that stood out. So I used my Chinese zodiac symbol as my name!

Tiger: We are kind of identical.

Rabbit: Nope. I’m so much cooler than you are. ^sticks out tongue^

Tiger: Hardy har har.

Rabbit: Do you know why we chose the colors we did?

Tiger: I do, it’s from the sealing beads of Madarao and Hakubi from the Anime, Kekkaishi.

Rabbit: Yes, Madarao has purple beads and Hakubi wears green beads. Doesn’t this seem a little backwards to you though?

Tiger: How so?

Rabbit: Well I picture you to be a lot like Madarao, he’s the older of the two and he’s more sarcastic. Whereas Hakubi is the younger and more energetic one yet you’re the color of Hakubi and I’m the color of Madarao.

Tiger: Well we chose the colors of our favorite character and Habuki is mine. He also fights alongside the Yukimura family, which consists of my favorite human character in Kekkaishi, Yukimura Tokine. Plus, he says “honey” a lot which is so cute!

Rabbit: That’s funny. I like how cool Madarao is, especially when he transforms back to his true form. My favorite human is Sumimura Yoshimori, he’s funny.

Tiger: And you are a lot like him too.

Rabbit: You think? (´･_･`)

Tiger: Well you both sleep a lot, you're kind of naive, and you both tend to just jump right in without thinking anything through.

Rabbit: (,,#ﾟДﾟ) Hey! That’s not true. Anyway, as for our looks, I know we worked with Dan the Artist quite a bit on our designs.

Tiger: He nailed my character the first time, with only a minor expression change. Yours was harder though. You went through a few iterations before he got how you wanted to look down on paper.

Rabbit: What can I say? He wanted perfection with me, you were just an afterthought. （⌒▽⌒）

Tiger: （；¬＿¬) You definitely are a piece of something. Before we go, don’t you have a teaser?

Rabbit: Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Listen up Qgers and Qbbits! Tiger vs Rabbit has a special guest coming later this year who will sit down with us and talk video games. For now, we will just refer to him as “The Partner.” (◉Θ◉) If you have any questions, send us an email or message us on Twitter and we’ll pick one for our TvR Tag Tournament topic! Look forward to it!