[Novel] Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu 3
EuHiii! I’m trying a new format. So basically I’m just writing the short version of the review first, then there’s a bit longer version if you want or have more time to read.
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[Novel] The Husky & His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun 2
Erha’s volume 2’s cover is beautiful, don’t you think? I loved the previous volume’s cover with Mo Ran vs Chu Wanning kind of feel, but the brighter colors of this book look even more beautiful. I love seeing all three of them with their Shizun just hanging out together. CWN watches in the background as his disciples play around.
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[Novel] The Husky & His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun 1 (二哈和他的白猫师尊)
Erha Volume 3 finally came out! I was excited about this book and had been waiting patiently for September 26 to come. Only to find out that, for Kindle users, you have to wait for another week before it gets released. (I don’t know if this is only for Seven Seas books?) To soothe my disappointed heart and refresh my memory, I decided to re-read the first two books while waiting.
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[Novel] Qian Qiu 1 (千秋)
Series: Thousand Autumns (Qian Qiu)
Written by: Meng Xi Shi (梦溪石)
Translation: Faelicy
Cover and Interior Art: Me.Mimo
Interior Color Illustration: Furifuricchin
Available at: JJWXC (Chinese), Seven Seas Danmei (English)
What makes a man strong?
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[Manga] The Apothecary Diaries 1
薬屋のひとりごと 1 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 1
Story: Hyuuga Natsu (日向夏)
Art: Nekokurage (ねこクラゲ)
Compiled by: Nanao Ikki (七緒一綺)
Status: Ongoing
Available at Amazon (EN), Rakuten Kobo (JP)
Summary from Goodreads:
Read MoreAfter breaking a “curse” on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster…and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated period mystery series!
Maomao, a young woman trained in the art of herbal medicine, is forced to work as a lowly servant in the inner palace. Though she yearns for life outside its perfumed halls, she isn’t long for a life of drudgery! Using her wits to break a “curse” afflicting the imperial heirs, Maomao attracts the attentions of the handsome eunuch Jinshi and is promoted to attendant food taster. But Jinshi has other plans for the erstwhile apothecary, and soon Maomao is back to brewing potions and…solving mysteries?!
Hashihime of the Old Book Town Walkthrough
I created this as a personal reference, and after I finished the game, I thought, why not post this too. This, I believe, is a spoiler-free guide so you don’t have to worry about anything that might spoil the story for you.
Unlike most VNs, the only branching point in Hashihime is when you choose which guy you should go after. There is only 1 end for each character. Whether those ends are good or bad, depends on you, as I thought all the ends are good and fitting to the circumstances and personalities of the characters.
Also, please note that you can’t really choose your route order as there is a specific order you have to go through. Say, you can’t go to Hanazawa’s route unless you finish Minakami and Kawase’s. Also, you can’t force it since the choices only come up after finishing the required routes.
Here goes~
Hashihime of the Old Book Town (古書店街の橋姫)
古書店街の橋姫 | Hashihime of Old Book Town
Company: ADELTA | MangaGamer
Platform: PC, PS Vita
Category: Boys Love, Mystery, Historical
Release Date: August 13, 2016
English Release Date: September 26, 2019
Official English Site: http://mangagamer.org/hashihime/
Summary: (from MangaGamer site)
Jinbochou, Tokyo
June 1922, Taisho Era
The Rainy Season
Tamamori came to Tokyo with his sights set on getting accepted to the Imperial University. However, he doesn’t pass the entrance exam, and is so undisciplined and wrapped up in endless fantasies that he’s kicked out of his boarding house after only two years. Through a stroke of luck, Tamamori begins to live and work at Umebachidou, a used book store. There, he enjoys whiling away his time as a “student preparing for entrance exams” and taking advantage of friends who are also from his hometown. But one right after the other, mysterious deaths befall those friends and, realizing he’s been repeating the same rainy three days over and over again, Tamamori finds himself racing throughout Jinbochou to save them.
In this pop-occult mystery that surrounds the deaths of his friends… What is real, and what is a hallucination?
✯Verdict✯
A MUST PLAY
Recommended for: Everyone
Obviously for BL fans, but also, for people who like a bit of mystery, a bit of thriller, a bit of drama, lots of bizarre events, and a damn good story littered with flawed but lovable characters.
Though, there are some fair warnings in the game which you should also need to check out after the cut.
Read below why you should or should not play this game.
[First Impressions] Hashihime of the Old Book Town
古書店街の橋姫 | Hashihime of Old Book Town
Company: ADELTA | MangaGamer
Platform: PC, PS Vita
Category: Boys Love, Mystery, Historical
Release Date: August 13, 2016
English Release Date: September 26, 2019
Official English Site: http://mangagamer.org/hashihime/
Summary: (from MangaGamer site)
Jinbochou, Tokyo
June 1922, Taisho Era
The Rainy Season
Tamamori came to Tokyo with his sights set on getting accepted to the Imperial University. However, he doesn’t pass the entrance exam, and is so undisciplined and wrapped up in endless fantasies that he’s kicked out of his boarding house after only two years. Through a stroke of luck, Tamamori begins to live and work at Umebachidou, a used book store. There, he enjoys whiling away his time as a “student preparing for entrance exams” and taking advantage of friends who are also from his hometown. But one right after the other, mysterious deaths befall those friends and, realizing he’s been repeating the same rainy three days over and over again, Tamamori finds himself racing throughout Jinbochou to save them.
In this pop-occult mystery that surrounds the deaths of his friends… What is real, and what is a hallucination?
Just a heads up before we continue. I’ve already played and finished a route in Japanese before. You can say that I’m already spoiled but it’s been almost two years already since the last time I played so my memory’s fuzzy so what I have is only the general idea of things.
I’m so so glad that this has been translated! I loved Hashihime but the characters used in the Japanese version where old given the time period, not to mention the literary titles and authors that popped out every now and then that makes my head 😵. I feel like I missed a lot of details and I couldn’t shake off that FOMO feels so I stopped playing this before. But now it’s finally here! Yasss!!
[Manga] Neon Ginza Paradise (銀座ネオンパラダイス)
銀座ネオンパラダイス | Neon Ginza Paradise
Mangaka: Unohana (ウノハナ)
Status: Completed
Volumes: 1
From Renta!
Aoi reunites with his old friend Takahiko, who was sent to war. Takahiko’s family ran a kimono business for generations, but he was a selfish womanizer and they disowned him. His charisma made it hard to hate him though, and he and Aoi spent a night together… Afterward, Aoi feels alive again, but although they’re living together, Takahiko won’t touch him…… A love story set in the late-40s unfolds!!
I skimmed through this a few years back and swore that I would get back to this one day to relish at Takahiko and Aoi’s feels.
May contain spoilers so proceed with caution!
[Manga] Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori (天は赤い河のほとり)
It is already the 20th century. Yuuri is enjoying her date with her boyfriend. As she steps on wet soil, something grabs her and take her to the time of the Hittite Empire. Later, she learns that she is transported there to be a living sacrifice by the Queen. Fortunately for her, Prince Kail saves her and take her as his concubine. Caught between political intrigues and wars, how could Yuuri go back to modern Japan? Also, what will happen to her relationship with Prince Kail when the two of them are slowly developing strong feelings for each other?
From the present Anatolia (Turkey), let us go back to the ancient time as the story’s heroine, Yuri is transported from 20th century Japan to Anatolia. We are introduced to the era where the rulers in the Middle East are the Hittites. There is also Egypt ruled (at the start of the story) by Tutankhamen. Chie Shinohara did a good job in making a connection of history and fiction.