Seasonal Anime Tag~

☆ Fall Anime Tag ☆

Yahalloooo~ (^ _ ^)/

So, here I am! My third blog this month OMG you have permission to be shocked! (゜ロ゜;)

..because I am. Three blogs in one month hasn't happened since 2014;;; ≦(._.)≧

But enough about that as I'm sure it won't happen again.. ^^;

ALSO! It's been a whole year since I started doing Seasonal Anime Tags! *O* Personally I thought it had been longer than that.. But I guess not! ^^

So let's make this Seasonal Anime Tag a suuuuuuper special one~! ^ω^

..though I don't really know how ^^;

Unlike the Summer Anime Tag which was the last one I did, I enjoyed this whole season that is just wrapping up! ^^ There were many great series that I really loved! ♡

*cough* Yuri!!! on Ice *cough* >ω<

So with that being said...

Let's get staaaarted~! ♪

[ Remember, of course, that the answers to these questions are all my opinion. So don't get all freaky if I dislike something you like ]

~   ~   ~

List of Fall Series I watched;

- 3-gatsu no Lion (recommend)

- Ajin 2nd Season

- Ame-iro Cocoa in Hawaii (not yet finished as it has a strange airing pattern...)

- Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season (recommend)

- Bubuki Buranki: Hoshi no Kyojin 

- Drifters

- Fune wo Amu (recommend)

- Gi(a)rlish Number

- Hibike! Euphonium 2nd Season (recommend)

- Magic Kyun! Renaissance

- Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku (I recommend this... But with a warning that it will kill you!)

- Occultic;Nine (it's confusing.. But I recommend it)

- Show By Rock!! # (recommend)

- Shuumatsu no Izetta (recommend)

- Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru

- Trickster: Edogawa Ranpo "Shounen Tanteidan" yori

- Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari (recommend)

- Uta no☆Prince-sama ♪ Maji Love Legend Star (recommend if you're familiar with the series)

- Watashi ga Motete Dousunda

- WWW.Working!! (recommend)

- Yuri!!! on Ice (recommend)

List of Fall ONA's I watched;

- Girlfriend (Note) (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

List of Fall OVA's I watched;

- Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka OVA (recommend)

- Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou OVA

- Oshiete! Galko-chan (OVA) (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Strike the Blood II (recommend)

- Trick or Alice (airing December 22nd)

- Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku OVA (recommend)

List of Fall Movies I watched;

- Ansatsu Kyoushitsu: 365-nichi no Jikan (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Chain Chronicle: Haecceitas no Hikari Part 1 (recommend)

- Gantz:O (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Kagerou Daze: In a Day's (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- KanColle Movie (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Kuroko no Basket Movie 2: Winter Cup Soushuuhen - Namida no Saki e (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Kuroko no Basket Movie 3: Winter Cup Soushuuhen - Tobira no Mukou (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Orange: Mirai (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Pop in Q (airing December 23rd)

- Suki ni Naru Sono Shunkan wo.: Kokuhaku Jikkou Iinkai (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

List of Fall Specials I watched;

- Boku no Hero Academia: Jump Festa 2016 Special (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

- Ludger Code 1951

- Musaigen no Phantom World Special

- Servamp Specials (haven't seen it air with subtitles yet..)

1. What was the best anime?

Easy question for me. The best anime was definitely Yuri!!! on Ice ♥

This anime series literally took OVER the entire Fall Season! I haven't seen another anime that aired talked about as much as this one :,) B-But obviously for a very good reason; Yuri!!! on Ice is amazing! ;ω;

Yuri!!! on Ice follows Yuuri Katsuki as he returns home to Japan. He was Japan's most promising figure skater, but after suffering a crushing defeat, he gave up skating. Now 23 years old, Yuuri finds that he still can't forget about skating and when a video of him skating a routine that was once performed by Victor Nikiforov is uploaded to the internet, Victor himself suddenly shows up at Yuuri's home in Japan saying that he'll coach him! Yuuri accepts Victor's offer and he returns to the world of figure skating. But not without Yuri Plisetsky, a rising star from Russia, following closely behind Victor determined to beat Yuuri and win Victor back.

For me, the thing I loved most about Yuri!!! on Ice was the different relationships between each character's and seeing what drove them to skate and what made them the person we see on the ice. And just when you think this anime can't make you ship Yuuri and Victor any harder, it goes ahead and makes them canon! ♡ω♡

Victor and Yuuri seriously have such a beautiful relationship~ They lift each other up and they're so affectionate in their own little ways, like.. KYAH!! 

Obviously you have the other skaters (all very unique in their own way). I think my main favourites are Yuri, JJ and Chris *ω* They're all so passionate! And the ice skating sequences are brilliantly animated; seriously just so beautiful to watch! I often found myself screaming when a jump came up, like..

 "OMG YOU GOT THIS! YOU SO GOT THIS! AH! AH! AAHHH~"

I recommend this anime. I seriously think anyone who hasn't seen this needs to see this!

A second season has already been slightly hinted at, so.. If that happens, I will be SO happy! When this anime ends on Wednesday, I think a little part of me will end with it;;;

[ my rating; 10/10 on MAL ]

2. What was the worst anime?

To be fair, I didn't really think there was a really awful series this season;;; Even Ajin and Bubuki Buranki were okay and I really disliked the first season of those series. But for the sake of answering the question, I'm going to go with Watashi ga Motete Dousunda.

This anime centres around Kae Serinuma. She starts off as a...fairly overweight girl, but when the death of one of her favourite anime characters causes her to become stressed, she loses basically all her weight and ends up attracting the attention of Igarashi (JERK!), Nana (THE BIGGEST JERK!), Shinomiya (TINY JERK!) and Mutsumi-senpai... But Mutsumi-senpai doesn't count because he cared about Kae before she lost weight and likes her regardless of what she looks like. He's the best boy in this series and no one will convince me otherwise!! You also have Shima-chan who takes an interest in Kae, but she likes Kae regardless of how she looks too, so... Her and Mutsumi-senpai are fine!

But because Kae is an avid fujoshi (girl, I relate!!), she doesn't look at these boys as possible relationship partners for her...but more as possible relationship partners for each other ;3 So she often freaks out when they try and get close to her when she desperately wants them to be together! >ω<

It's not that this series was the worst or even bad...I just don't like the fact how it shows a girl can only be attractive if she's skinny :,)

Yea, yea. Okay, I know what I sound like. SHUT UP!! But that's seriously what this anime is showing and it sucks because it's not true :,) I can think of many attractive women who are maybe considered "overweight" so it just... Yea. That's my main reason for why I chose this anime to answer this question :,)

But the comedy aspect of this anime makes me laugh and I enjoy Kae and Shima fangirling over their favourite anime characters and also Shima taking pictures of the guys when they end up in compromising positions >;3

It's just the general idea of this anime I dislike > <

[ my rating; 6/10 on MAL ]

3. What was your favourite anime?

My favourite anime of this season was 3-gatsu no Lion ;ω;

This anime, for a lack of a better word, is beautiful ♡

I can't really remember what I was expecting when I started watching this anime, but not a single episode so far has disappointed me;;;

The story follows Rei Kiriyama who is a 17 year old Shogi player and he lives alone using the money he earns from his Shogi tournaments to support him. While playing Shogi for a living may seem easy from the outside, Rei suffers a great deal;;; He struggles to interact with his classmates so he rarely attends school, his relationship with his adoptive family is strained and because of the expectations placed on him because of his incredible ability at Shogi, he enters a sort of slump and appears to find no enjoyment in the game whatsoever.

We find out that Rei is acquainted with three sisters; Akari, Hinata and Momo Kawamoto. They happily invite him into their home and, while Rei was reserved to interact with them at first, he eventually warmed up to them and started joining them for their meals. He receives care from them that he never got from his adopted family and appears to enjoy his time with them greatly. I really enjoy these scenes because I feel like they add a bit of happiness and colour into Rei's life;;;

I don't know if this anime is for everyone, but I would personally be happy to recommend it!

It's slow, yes. But the story is deep and very moving. I love watching Rei and finding out more about him and watching him develop. I also think Shaft (the animation Studio behind this series) is doing a brilliant job; I think it's very beautiful and BUMP OF CHICKEN who have provided the main opening and ending songs for this anime are incredible ♥

Everything fits together perfectly!

Also >ω< The song "Nyaa Shougi Ondo" by Hana-chan, Kayanon and Kuno-chan is SO cute and funny and...just...Ahahaha!! I LOVE IT!! ^O^

[ my rating; 9/10 on MAL ]

..it might change to 10 since it's only at episode 10 out of 22~

4. What was your favourite OP. song?

When I think about it, within reason, I pretty much liked every OP. song this season :,)

But since I have to choose, I'm going with S.O.S. (Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari).

S.O.S. - Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari

I chose this because whenever I watched it, I did so with the biggest smile on my face ^//ω//^

This anime in general is SO sweet and adorable ♥ And WEAVER really outdid themselves with this song :,) Seriously, it's just SO cute I can't even explain it;;; It warms my heart~

5. What was your favourite ED. song?

The same things applies here about me liking pretty much every ED. song this season >ω<

But again, for the sake of answering the question, I chose DREAMCATCHER (Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku).

DREAMCATCHER - Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku

First of all, I simply adore nano ♥ She is so beautiful and has such an amazing voice~

..I may have a bit of a serious crush on her/////

But the main reason I love this song so much is because, after the pain this anime inflicted upon you, this song helped to mend me;;; I'd literally be broken after an episode of this series finished; at least one character died per episode ( ´•̥ו̥` )

But DREAMCATCHER has such beautiful lyrics that made me think there may be a light at the end of this anime;;; Which...I guess maybe there was? But not the best light ever;;;

But regardless of all of that, I still love this song very much (*´▽｀*)

6. Who was your favourite seiyuu of the season?

My favourite seiyuu has to be Shiho Kokido (voiced Poco from Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari).

Poco is a seriously adorable character ♥ I mean, he's a tanuki that can transform into a little boy! Does it actually get any cuter than that!? *ω*

I love him SO MUCH!

I want my very own little Poco-chan ;/ / / /;

Shiho-chan did a great job voicing Poco! She was in a couple of series this season, but Poco was definitely her best role, me thinks ;3

No one could have made Poco more adorable than her! Not. A. Single. Person.

ALSO! Poco saying "Souta!" is so cute! Seriously! Everything Poco does is so cute! Even when he brings frogs into Souta's house it's cute! ..and I hate frogs > <

Seriously. OMG!

Poco is the definition of cuteness! /)ω(\

7. Who was your favourite male character?

I had to think about this question for a bit... In the end, I decided to go with Daisuke Higashida from WWW.Working!! ^^

I really liked him :,) I think it's mostly because he's so dry in his sense of humour and the fact he gets easily annoyed by most things >ω<

..plus Yuu-kyan is such an awesome seiyuu who I love very much! ♡

Also I love the relationship Higashida has with Miyakoshi who is his "sort-of-but-not-really" girlfriend ^^; If I remember rightly, the reason he dates her is to test her chocolate or...prevent other people from eating it...or to help her improve?? You know what? I can't remember exactly, but it's something along the lines of those reasons :,) Miyakoshi is terrible at making chocolate, so whenever Higashida eats it, he dies and meets Saint Valentine :,D ..seriously.

I also love his constant "everything-around-me-sucks" face :,) XD

8. Who was your favourite female character?

My favourite female character is Kyouka Izumi from Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season :3

I never really payed a huge amount of attention to her in the first season, but she had a lot of character development in the second season, so I started to like her a lot more ♡

Kyouka lacks emotion, isn't really sure of herself and believes that she isn't worth anything. Her ability, Demon Snow (which causes a sword-weilding phantom to materialise), is mostly the cause for her lack of emotion since because of that ability, she has killed people.

After being exposed to the real world by Atsushi, she changes dramatically and kind of reverts back to being a normal teenager.

Her character development in this season is really important because it's what leads to her ultimately becoming a true member of the Detective Agency ^ω^

Kyouka-chan is really such a lovely girl, and I've always known that! It's just that I took more notice of her this season and now I love her suuuuper amounts!;;;

9. Who was your least favourite character?

This was an easy question :,) My least favourite character was Chitose Karasuma from Gi(a)rlish Number .-.

Right from the first episode, I disliked her :,)

She's really spoiled, self-centred and acts all high-and-mighty and that trait annoys me most of all. She is also really ungrateful and that particular aspect is mostly shown towards her brother. Chitose is aiming to become a voice actress and she thinks her talent is unmatched and that she is sooo amazing and I'm just sat there thinking..

 "Um... No. You really aren't."

It's like, just try and act a little bit nicer sometimes > <

Ugh. I'm done here because I just don't like talking about her :,) She's a meeeanie! D;

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So that was my Fall Anime Tag!

The next season of anime will be the Winter 2017 Season-- 2017;; OMG I swear this year has just flown by;; But I am looking forward to the next season; it looks like there will be quite a few promising series, so yay! ^^

I hope you enjoyed reading this tag!

And if you're interested, here is a link to my MAL account :3

MyAnimeList - Serahnyan

Thank you for reading and have a great day! n.n

BYESIES~! c:

                          xoxo~

Days (TV)~

Yahalloooo~ (^ _ ^)/

So the Fall anime season is coming to a close (which means I'll be doing my Seasonal Anime Tag soon) but before that, I have a particular anime I just...want to dedicate an entire blog to.
And that anime is...

Days (TV)

This anime actually started airing in the Summer 2016 season, but because it's had 24 episodes, it'll be ending with most Fall series ^^

When I was looking through the Summer anime series that would be airing and came across Days, it didn't immediately catch my attention. I think maybe because I'm not always a huge fan of sports series and soccer is one of...pretty much every sport that I know next to nothing about ^^; So I just passed Days like..

 "Meh. I'm sure I won't be missing out on anything."

BUT!

As well as looking through the anime series that will be airing, I also go to my favourite seiyuu pages and see if they'll be in anything and sometimes watch series just for them. And, of course, I saw that Yocchin (Hiroyuki Yoshino) who is literally...probably my favourite ever male seiyuu would be in Days.

So I thought to myself..

 "Oh, alright~ I'm sure it'll be a decent anime anyway."

In actuality, this anime has an insane cast of perfectly awesome seiyuus! It's just... Yocchin. I love you the most! ♥

So after deciding to watch it because of Yocchin, I went into it not really expecting much and just thought that it'd be a fun series that I'd probably think was relatively average by the end.

...

I have never been so wrong in my whole entire life!

{ Days follows the day-to-day lives of two boys in particular; Tsukushi Tsukamoto and Jin Kazama. These two boys end up meeting one day by chance and Kazama convinces Tsukushi to play a game of soccer with him. Tsukushi has no experience in soccer, but because he's such a lovely person, he complies and goes along with Kazama. They then end up realising they attend the same school when they meet again and Kazama, who has already decided to join the soccer team, ends up being accompanied by Tsukushi who, after discovering how much he enjoys soccer from the game he shared with Kazama, chooses to join as well. The anime continues on following these two and the other members of Seiseki Soccer Club as they face the ups and downs of Soccer }

From that plot, it may sound quite cliché and fairly basic and, while that isn't exactly wrong, this anime presents many different things that I personally think sets it apart from your average sports shounen and really just...lets you fall into the anime and have a great time watching it!

As far as the story goes you have your sport, your sports team and your matches.

But Days really does manage to keep everything so exciting and tense. Like, I'm always on the edge of my seat whenever there is a soccer match going on :,) It's not like Kuroko no Basket and how each main character has a specific skill that always comes in handy at exactly the right moments. The characters in Days are people who genuinely love soccer and are good because they've practiced and worked hard; not because they have some miraculous skill that doesn't always make sense ^^;

Each episode gets better and better and just keeps sucking you in. It's really hard to explain but I find that I can never look away when watching an episode! *ω*

Even the filler episodes are enjoyable, too! ♡ Because, more often than not with filler episodes, you find your concentration drifting when there isn't anything of huge interest going on. But another thing Days does is make these filler episodes entertaining and as enjoyable to watch as the soccer matches. You've got all these different characters doing all these different things and dealing with different things.. Honestly there is never a dull moment in any one episode, I swear that you to right now!

Speaking of characters...

OhMyGOD are the characters in Days something else! :,D

They vary widely from calm to excitable. To compassionate to aloof. To stuck-up to easily agitated. Not one character in this series has the same personality, they're all very different and it's because of this reason that they all blend together so well and are able to make Days into a beautiful journey. They come across many trials and difficulties and it's their clashing personalities that bring them together during these times that they're able to pull through and remain such a close-knit group of friends.

I want to take a moment here to look at Ooshiba and Kimishita.

These two clash the most and are always seen arguing and appearing to never get along :,) But like that common thing people are always saying..

 "It's because they get along that they argue so much."

..I mean, I think that applies in this case.

Who knows. Maybe they really don't like each other!

No, they definitely do. I know they get along really ;3

Also with the characters in this anime, they all seem to have flaws to them whether it's something in their personality or something they deal with in private. But it's because of said flaws that you can find a character you relate to the most and you will find that this character means something really special to you.

You are also able to watch these characters grow and develop with everything that makes them who they are and that makes it all the more easier to feel excited, happy and proud when they achieve something! 

For example, you have Tsukushi.

He is a precious person. He could easily be one of my favourite protagonists ever. He's loyal, caring, humble, sensitive and at first...really, really sucks at soccer. But he's determined! He practices long after everyone else finishes and runs laps around the soccer field constantly. And you are able to see his efforts pay off in each match they play until that moment comes when Tsukushi scores a GOAL! I actually cheered out loud when that moment happened! I was so proud of him! >//ω//<

..he's also really good at cheering the team on!

SEISEKI! FIGHT! (•̀o•́)ง

It's also a perfect example to show how hard work pays off and that you should never give up and that when you try, you really can do anything!

Also! I want to take another moment here to look at Tsukushi and Kazama.

They have such a wonderful friendship! ♥

They really are, like...the bestest of friends ;ω; Kazama is always there to cheer Tsukushi on and Tsukushi is always looking out for Kazama, too! I just... AAAAAAAHMYGHAAAAD!

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THEY ARE JUST SO CUTE AND PRECIOUS OMGOMG!! ♡ω♡

..I also love Kazama in general. He's an awesome guy and...really hotttt!! ♥

As for my personal favourite character... I'm going with Kurusu Hiroyuki ^^

I mean, I may be sliiiiiightly biased towards Kurusu because he's voiced by Yocchin. And, as I've already mentioned, Yocchin is by far my most favourite seiyuu ♥ //////

BUT! I really do like Kurusu :,)

He's very funny! He always has something to say and he is also such an ambitious soccer player as he's been playing it since he was very young ^^

..OMG! I bet baby Kurusu is the cutest thing EVER!! ♡ ..SHOW ME YOUR BABY PHOTOS, DADDY!!!!!!!!!

He's also...very hot and cold towards Tsukushi :,) Like...I can't tell if he likes him or not :,) Sometimes he's shouting at him for something or another and then the next moment, he's running along with his friends cheering Tsukushi on as he runs down the soccer field!

So.. I'm not sure ^^;

He's also ridiculously vocal; both in voice and body language :,)

Also Kurusu seems to think his talent in soccer lies with passing the ball, but he's actually better at holding onto the ball. He can keep a hold of it for aaaaages!! And because of this, he works very well with Haibara who was actually the first one to praise him for his ability to keep the ball! ^ω^

And because he's so obsessed with soccer, his grades are pretty bad.

..I guess that's where I relate to him since I didn't apply myself a huge amount when I was still in school ^^;

Oh! And another reason to love him is because he did this ↓

I have no idea.

All I know is that I love it and I cried with laughter when I first saw it :,)

UuuUuggGhhghHGHGH!! I would sooo marry that guy! ;;;

I also love the soundtrack that comes with Days! *ω*

I LOVE the Opening and Ending songs! Especially the second OP.

Higher Climber - HOWL BE QUIET

IT GETS ME SO PUMPED AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!;;;;

But really. EVERY song is great! ♥

Wake We Up - HOWL BE QUIET

Ending No. 1 ^^

EVERLASTING DAYS - Seiseki High School Soccer Club

(Sung by Takuto Yoshinaga, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Daisuke Namikawa, Daisuke Ono and Mamoru Miyano)

Ending No. 2 ^^

DAYS - Shout it Out

Something I really like about the opening songs is that you can actually see how everyone has gotten better and improved! Like, the first op. song focuses on what it takes to get better and the second op. song shows the result of that effort! The determination in Tsukushi's face in the second op. is what I love the most! *ω*

Also I love how the friendship between the team is shown in the second ed. song ♡

I interpret that ending as soccer being the sun in their lives and that the team is what makes it shine all the more brighter as they're working together to get it that way! ♥ ..I'm not sure if that's correct, but it's how I see it~

The soundtrack in general is awesome! It fits into every scene perfectly; almost like a puzzle piece. And the voice actors are absolutely P-E-R-F-E-C-T! They match with the character they play so well that it makes the characters even more believable and relatable and loveable!

KYAH~ /) / / /(\

I would also like to say that MAPPA has done a very good job with this anime! ^O^

To me, MAPPA is a very decent anime studio and has produced and adapted some very decent and enjoyable series and the work they put into Days is obvious to me ^ω^

While the animation does fault sometimes, it hardly takes any enjoyment out of the show. And I personally love it! Especially the way the characters move ♡ They've animated it well enough that you can see the effort the characters make to push themselves across that field! Also right down to the trips and falls.. I love it all so much;;;

The thing with Days is that, while soccer is the main feature, I feel that the bonds and friendships between the Seiseki Soccer Team is what connects all those little dots ^^ To have soccer is all well and good, don't get me wrong! But what would it be without a real team?! And Seiseki does feel like a real team. And I love everyone on that team SO much that is actually hurts ♥

I don't think I'll ever get over how much I love this series :,) I'm all ready to watch it again once it finishes and ready to read the manga before the second season airs! ..Oh boy, if you had seen my reaction to the fact there is a second season >ω<"

I really think Days is extremely under-rated and not enough people know about it;;; And it's such a shame because it really is such a great series! I really suck at putting my feelings into words, especially when it's about something that means a lot to me... But just trust me when I say that Days is brilliant! If you like the sport genre with great characters and development, seriously Days is what that IS!

And it really teaches you a lot of lessons and never lets you forget about the important of Never giving up! I can't say it right, I really can't but...

Days (TV) really makes me feel so, so happy! I love it so much and I'm so happy to have watched such an amazing series! ♥ ..I'm going to cry SO MUCH when the last episode airs on Saturday;;;;;;

How did this end up turning into a review type of thing?? > <

That wasn't my intention, I just wanted to talk about Days but somehow I ended up covering each aspect like a review ^^;

..Oh well! :3

Anyway!

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and I hope you are watching Days! If not...

Go. And. Watch. It. ^^

Thank you for reading and have a great day! c:

SEISEKI! FIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

BYESIES~! ^^

                           xoxo~

Root Letter Game Review~

Yahalloooo~ (^ _ ^)/

As you can probably tell by the title of this blog, I'm going to be reviewing Root Letter (also stylised as √Letter) which was released on the 16th of June in Japan, the 28th of October in Europe and then on the 10th of November in North America.
I found out about this game purely by chance. It came up as a sponsored advertisement on my Facebook news feed and I was immediately attracted to the game because of the gorgeous artwork. I think it was around it's release in Japan I found out about it, so I had to wait a while for the release;; But it was definitely well worth the wait! It really is a unique and visually pleasing game that I would happily recommend to anyone! (⌒▽⌒)

So at the risk of making this opening too long, I'll get started~! ^^;

--SPOILER WARNING--

I really only put this at the start as a warning, but I actually feel this time there won't be any spoilers. The only thing that may be counted as a spoiler is that I'm going to name the endings, so if you don't want to know about them, just skip that part~! ^^

~   ~   ~

[ Root Letter (√Letter) 

Developed for the PS4 and PS Vita game systems ]

Plot Outline~

Set in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture.

The protagonist decides to visit Shimane upon finding a letter from his old pen pal, Aya Fumino, who he was corresponding with while they were both in their last year of High School. The letter he found had no post mark and said that she had "killed someone" and that she must atone for her sins. After that, the protagonist never heard from her again. In the hope that he would have eventually met her some day anyway, he journeys to Shimane to find out the truth behind her letter and to also find out if everything Aya had ever told him was a lie.

During his time in Shimane, he meets various people who were all Aya's classmates in High School each one as reluctant as the next to speak about her. They all have their own reasons for not wanting the player to find out the truth and avoid the topic of Aya at all costs.

..though he cracks them all eventually >:D

Gameplay/style and specifics of the game~

Root Letter is a Visual Novel which, if you don't know what that means, is a game mostly based on reading through the dialogue with very little action on your part.

As for the genre, it's mostly an Adventure/Suspense/Mystery game. Since you're trying to discover what happened to Aya and the truth behind her last letter...it really is like you're playing detective or something :,)

What makes Root Letter slightly more unique than most other Visual Novels is that it includes two new forms of gameplay. These are;

The Adventure Part;

This is where you will enter the Investigation Mode and interrogate Aya's old classmates in order to get information out of them about her and also what kind of relationship said person had with Aya.

The Simulation Part;

This is where the player relives his past interactions with Aya through the letters they sent to each other. You'll see the letters Aya sent and then the player will reply and you'll choose a response to the questions Aya asks at the very end of her letters.

Each choice leads to a different ending and as far as I can tell, there is no specific order in which to view each ending as they're quite separate from each other.

You will progress through the game by visiting different places and talking to different people and there are quite a few ways in which the game offers you to move onward with the story.

Move;

This is how you move to different areas of the location you're currently in or you can bring up the Overall Map and move to a completely new location entirely.

As you can see, there are a number of different places to visit and you just use the directional keys to scroll until you find the place you want to go to. After a certain point in the game, you can travel to Izumo City by pressing the { L } key, but there is only one location for you to visit over there and... It's an odd place, I can tell you that much right now :,)

Ask;

This is the option you use if you want to get more information on certain things from the people you're interacting with. Some people are more helpful than others :,)

Check;

You'll enter this mode when you need to explore your current surroundings in order to find items and/or clues.

You use the directional keys to move the magnifying glass around and it'll turn red (like in the picture above) when you've passed over something you can investigate further.

Inventory;

This is how you view any items you've found or acquired throughout the game and use them if necessary. 

Think;

If you're ever stuck and don't know what to do, use this option and the protagonist will hint at something for you to do or somewhere for you to go. This option is also used as a way for new questions to appear when you're talking to someone or if maybe you need to double check something in your surroundings again.

Guidebook;

You use this to get more information on the location you're currently in or if you need to visit a place you haven't been to yet, you'll use your guidebook to find out where it is and then it'll appear as an option to go to on the Overall Map.

Smartphone;

There are quite a number of things you can do with this option...even though nothing you do here affects the flow of the game unless someone calls or sends you a message. Even then, you don't have to do anything as it gets done automatically by the protagonist :,)

You can view what Items you've collected from every gameplay, Save your game, Load your game, adjust the in-game Options and once you've completed one play through, you'll be given the option to Skip the main chapters all the way up to Chapter 8 which can never be skipped.

[ RANDOM TIP WITH SERAH ]

Make sure that you reply to the letters before you skip the chapters! The game doesn't have the ability to remember past replies, so you're response to Aya's question will be left blank. I do recommend using this option, though. I did after the first gameplay and it does help speed it along and you really don't miss anything since you can pretty much remember everything you did in all those chapters, anyway :,)

With the smartphone, you can also view what endings you've currently achieved along the bottom.

SIDE NOTE! How cute is SHIMANEKKO?! ;ω; He's the mascot character of Shimane and.. Uwaa~ He's just way too adorable~! ♥

Characters~

As always, this is my favourite part of the reviews I do! *ω* I just... LOVE talking about the characters! ^O^

Name; Aya Fumino

Age; > <

Occupation; ...

Seiyuu; Noriko Hidaka (though a "fictional actress" was created for her called AYA)

She's freaking cute, I'll give her that much! ♡

Aya Fumino was born in Tokyo and is the protagonists pen pal from 15 years ago when they were in High School. She come across as a very kind and compassionate girl but as you begin to investigate her disappearance and the events that happened, the player will begin to question everything he thought he knew about her.

Name; Yukari Ishihara

Age; I'm not sure... I think in her 30's?

Occupation; Curator of the Shimane Art Museum

Seiyuu; Kikuko Inoue (but I THINK a "fictional actress" was created for her too called YUKARI)

Yukari is one of the more nicer people in the game :,) She is much more tolerant of the player and while she does hide things like everyone else, she isn't mean and annoying about it ^^;

While Yukari was growing up, she lived in the shadow of her older sister who went to a prestigious university. As a result of this, Yukari ended developing a bit of an inferiority complex. But now she's older and has a successful career, she's much more optimistic now.

Out of everyone in the game...I think she was my favourite character-- Or maybe one of my top favourites since I have another one I really like :,) I think it was because after investigating everyone else and because of how annoying they all were, it was nice to find someone who wasn't bratty like the rest of Aya's classmates :,) She had a more grown-up feel to her and I found that quite refreshing and ended up liking her a lot because of it ^ω^

Name; Jun Omori

Age; I'm guessing again he's in his 30's ^^;

Occupation; Owner of Patisserie Pure

Seiyuu; Keisuke Komoto

Jun is...quite the delicate one :,)

Like he might topple over if the wind blew on him; he's just very sensitive :,)

He owns his own cake shop, he has a lovely fiancé, he is also kind and gentle and...seems to have quite a great life from the outside! But he's actually hiding quite a dark fear as a result from something that happened in the past;;

He is one of the more reluctant ones to speak about Aya and, while he is very sweet, it does get a bit annoying trying to get him to talk :,) His fiancé gets proper angry with the player on several occasions, which... Yea, I felt a little bad about :,)

But Jun is genuinely a good person, so I can like him fairly easily :3

Name; Kousuke Tanaka

Age; Again, in his 30's :,)

Occupation; Works at the Matsue City Offices

Seiyuu; Hiroshi Iwasaki 

To me, he is probably the most annoying one (;¬_¬)

Even after interrogating him and hearing about how he was in High School with Aya, I still didn't like him much? I mean, maybe I could pity him.. But not really like him;;

He just pushed the boundaries of "Annoying Character" too far to return back :,) The amount of times he told the player to "Go away!" and refused to talk to him, just... Seriously .-.

It was majorly annoying.

As a person, he's mild-mannered which... I don't know, feels a bit generous :,) I think he's really quite rude. ALTHOUGH! In his defence (..surprisingly!) the player is very pushy :,D So in some cases, I can understand this guy's feelings towards him >ω<

Tanaka also has very little confidence and a bit of speech impediment; like he stumbled over his words a lot when cornered.

He was also the smartest person back in High School but his grades suddenly started dropping.. You find out the reason for that in the game;;

Name; Masaya Watanabe

Age; Look... I'm just going to say everyone is in their 30's! XD

Occupation; Baseball Coach and Matsue Oba High School

Seiyuu; Shusaku Shirakawa

Masaya isn't too bad in terms of being annoying :,)

In fact...the more I sit thinking about him, the more I like him?? He has quite a lot of funny facial expressions and I also think he's the one who gets along with the protagonist the best; he helps him out from time to time, though...he may not always want to :,)

When he was in High School, he dreamed of being a professional baseball player but after he got injured, that dream got further away;; But it's not all bad, I guess? I mean, he's coaching the baseball team at his old High School and I think that's pretty impressive, too! Like, leading the next generation of kids to baseball tournaments and stuff! ^ω^

He is a little bitter due to that, but he's also kind and helpful; he is often the one you see helping out his old classmates the most. He can be short-temperd as well..

But I still like him! :3

Name; Misaki Murakami

Age; In her 30's :,)

Occupation; A TV Presenter at San-in Chou TV

Seiyuu; Hyosei

I just have to say that I think she is really HOT! ♡/ / /♡

Misaki and Yukari are my favourite characters and are also the two whose character designs are my favourite, as well! ♥ ..I'm honestly straight (..well-- XD lmao!) but I can't stop looking at her legs right now--- You never really see them in the game, so.. Yea..! *cough* //////

A-ANYWAY!

While Misaki is blunt and can be very rude, I really like her :,) Granted her character design is a contributing factor, but I still just really like her. She also seems to get along fairly well (within reason) with the protagonist towards the end of the game :3 She doesn't remain harsh towards him as much as other characters do :,)

But the reason is fair enough since they all just want him to stop digging up their pasts ^^;

Aside from being blunt and rude, Misaki is also very driven, charismatic (my personal opinion) and kind which is shown in her past with Aya ^ω^

So...yea!

Misaki, I like. I think she's actually my first favourite, followed by Yukari who is my second ♡

Name; Shota Nozu

Age; 30's >ω<

Occupation; Works as a Bartender at Nakamura Bar

Seiyuu; Kazuhiro Sunseki

I.. Um-- I mean, I think.. Ohmygod!! Nozu is SO attractive! Like, seriously HOT! ♥

Which, I have to say, is good because it's really the only thing he's got going for him :,)

Nozu is another one who wants the protagonist to leave and stop bothering everyone with questions about Aya; he even stalks him and tries to kill him at one point! (O∆O)

Nozu is...really bitter about his life;; He grew up in a wealthy family and was very spoilt, but when it was brought to light that his father's company had been involved in fraud, him and his family suddenly found themselves on the brink of poverty;; And being a bartender is hardly how he envisioned his future, so... I guess you can't blame him at all for being bitter ;A;

But what bothers me the most is something he did or...tried to do in High School involving Aya, so.. That's why I can't like him :<

I'm sitting here trying to think of something positive to say about him... But I really can't think of anything;; He...helped Yukari move into her new condo, so... I guess he can be helpful? :,)

I'm sorry, Nozu :,) But I really can't think of anything!! *hides* >A<

Name; Riko Sasaki

Age; 30's :,)

Occupation; Housewife

Seiyuu; Yumi Toma

Riko is...not very nice :,)

Again, she's an awkward one when it comes to getting her to talk about Aya .-. Most of these people are, actually.. So that's hardly anything new :,)

When Riko was in High School, she was very beautiful and talented and dreamed of becoming an actress. But it never worked out for her, so now she's just your average housewife married to your average guy. Riko has a daughter who it seems she's forcing into the world of Show Business so she can live the excitement through her and while her daughter seems to succeed in the Theatre Group she is part of...you can easily detect jealously within Riko.

As a person, she is also a bit short-tempered, harsh and rude. Though... I guess she occasionally shows moments of being kind?? Maybe?? You know what, I might be wrong about that since I don't remember that happening at all :,)

QUICK NOTE!

For the people who have played this game, I know I've missed a character out. It wasn't an accident, I did that on purpose as that would be a major spoiler to the people who are reading this and haven't played the game yet;;

Endings~

Being a Visual Novel, Root Letter obviously has multiple endings and these endings are determined by the response the player gives to Aya's letters :3

This game also doesn't have any accidental Game Overs and stuff like that, it's just the set endings you can get.

There are five possible endings for you to get and they are;

- The Bond of Marriage (which unlocks after your first playthrough)

- Crossing Paths

- The Princess of Himegamori Forest

- A Government Plot (which unlocks after your first playthrough)

- The Cursed Letter

Obviously The Bond of Marriage is the True Ending, so I would personally try to save that one for your last playthrough ♥

In my opinion, all of these endings (excluding The Bond of Marriage and Crossing Paths) are really creepy and oddly disturbing :,) ESPECIALLY A Government Plot. I mean, you can probably tell by the title of the ending, but it really is, like... Whoa! ;A;

The Cursed Letter is pretty terrifying and The Princess of Himegamori Forest is super creepy and weird, too :,) But I really think A Government Plot is the best one at being weird :,)

God..! Just thinking about it is giving me the chills :,)

Regardless of all that, I do recommend trying to get all of the endings :3 Because...well, where would the fun be in that if you didn't, right? ^ω^

[ RANDOM TIP WITH SERAH ]

To save yourself numerous playthroughs if you're not really into that, there are a few blogs that have cheats to get each ending, so you can always look to those if you want to get a different ending each time you play :3 ..though it really isn't that hard if you just pick different letter responses each time you start a new game ^^"

My Thoughts~

As for my personal thoughts on the game, I have to say I really did love it! ♡

I loved the uniqueness of this game; meaning that I liked the letter responding part and investigating all the different characters and then confronting them! Which also proved to be a challenge sometimes since it could be a bit tricky figuring out what to do or say next! O:

Another unique thing that I thought worked especially well was that the Shimane in the game was the Shimane in real life! There were articles I read online saying that the game developers went around Shimane taking pictures of real places and then altering them into the style of the game we see! ^ω^ And even some of the people we see in the game are based on real people in Shimane, too! Just that their personalities were altered a bit to fit into the story, but even so that's still incredible! *ω* I mean, obviously Aya and her classmates aren't based on real people, but the fact pretty much everything else is in this game...it's almost like you were actually there in Shimane! :3 When I go to Japan one day, I really hope to visit Shimane Prefecture myself and see all these beautiful and interesting places with my own eyes ♥

Also the characters designs are amazing as well! In fact...I honestly can't find a fault in any of the game graphics; everything is just so beautiful~! ;ω; ..an especially BIG thank you for Misaki and Yukari! I loved them the most! But everything~ The surrounding areas, even inside shops! It was all just so pleasing to look at ♡

I already mentioned this briefly, but I do like the added feature of being able to skip chapters after the first playthrough :3 It's not because any of those chapters are boring or anything like that, it's just that nothing would change since the first seven chapters are the same no matter what happens. The only thing that changes are your responses to Aya's letters, so it makes sense to skip the first seven. That way, you can reach the start of one of the endings faster ^^ ..although I'm not sure why you can't skip Chapter 8 because that seems the same each time too... But, oh well! :3

The Endings were also...really great ^^; Even the super weird and creepy ones :,) In all seriousness though what I liked most about the endings was looking back at the letter responses and understanding how they lead to each specific outcome! O: Also each ending was completely different! Sometimes with Visual Novel games, you get references from other endings in each other and some events that happen may also occur in other endings, too. But with Root Letter, each ending stood on it's own completely different from the next! Even some of the characters turned out differently too which was also interesting! It definitely made each ending exciting to play through, that's for sure! :3

Also going back to the characters, I thought they were pretty interesting, too! Even the ones I didn't like had a level of fascination to them; mostly linking that to how they were in High School and how certain events lead them to live the lives they currently had. If there was a character I really didn't like, it would be Tanaka. I could have done without him around :,) But everyone else made up for him being a total annoyance >ω< I especially liked Masaya, Yukari and Misaki ^^ I liked how Yukari in particular was especially close to Aya. I liked seeing what their relationship was like in their High School days and how it broke apart in different ways because of said events that I can't mention because SPOILERS :,) Referring to each character now, they all were very unique and had very different characteristics which made investigating each character different from the next and also a lot of fun! ^O^

Along with pretty much every video game these days, you can earn trophies! :3 With this game, all you need to do is pretty much play through every route and BAM! You've earned your Platinum Trophy :,) There are a couple that require a little more effort, but they aren't hard to earn even then! If you're curious of how to earn them... Cheats are always good ;D Plenty of cheats online to help you earn those last few trophies! I used them and everything went smoooooothly, so yey! >ω<

A little bit of fun information about this game is that it's the first in a brand new series! *O*

Kadokawa Games (who developed Root Letter) have said that there will be more games to follow Root Letter and that they're part of a new series called The Kadokawa Mystery Game Series *O* And they'll also be bringing back (hopefully!) the fictional actresses they created in this game to feature again in the new games to come! So I, for one, am very excited about this and can't wait to see what games follow Root Letter! And if they're anything like Root Letter, I know that they'll be worth the wait and make for a very exciting game to experience! :3

My Overall Score~

For this section, I'm going to score out of 10 on each main feature :3

So, we have..

- Graphics: 10/10 (I couldn't fault anything about the graphics! Simply stunning!)

- Music: 7/10 (The music wasn't amazing, but it did set the scene quite well)

- Character Designs: 9/10

- Content: 9/10

Overall: 8/10

Root Letter really is just...one of kind ♥

I had a lot of fun playing it and I was very moved in The Bond of Marriage ending;;; In fact, many elements moved me quite a lot, but then... I don't know if that counts as saying anything since I'm a very emotional person ^^" 

..anyway!!

I would happily recommend this game to anyone who enjoys Visual Novels. If you're also a fan of mystery games, then Root Letter is definitely the game for you! If you're thinking about playing it, but aren't sure... Seriously. Just take my word for it and PLAY. IT.

Honestly, if you think you'll like it... Then you probably will! It's a great game! Really great! :3

~   ~   ~

So that was my review for Root Letter.

I hope it wasn't too long-- though out of all the games I've reviewed, I'm pretty sure it was the shortest ^^; So if you did think it was long... Maybe stay away from my Zero Escape game reviews :,)

If you have any questions regarding my review or the game, please leave a comment below and I'll answer as best as I can! ^^

Thank you for reading and have a great day~! :3

BYESIES~! c:

                         xoxo~