The JRPG Club

May 18, 2013 | Lynn Walker

This is a vocabulary list for Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney.  Many of the words are taken from the very beginning of the game, while others may not appear until later on.  Since most of the kanji in the game have furigana above them, the front of these study cards also feature furigana above the kanji.  Special thanks are due to The JRPG Club community member Matthew, who also contributed to this list.

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April 1, 2013 | J.J. Cappa

The name "Cowboy Bebop" should be familiar to any serious anime enthusiast.  It appears on virtually every "top" anime list, and many fans consider the series to be one of their personal favorites.  Cowboy Bebop also received the prestigious Seiun Award in 2000, joining the ranks of other science fiction classics such as The Empire Strikes Back, Alien and Blade Runner.  The series established Watanabe Shinichiro as a top director, whose ability to synchronize action and story to any genre of music gives his work a unique quality that is rarely seen in other shows.  In my opinion, however, Samurai Champloo is his finest effort, and perhaps the best anime of all time.  That is why no one should ever watch it. Continue reading →

February 17, 2013 | Lynn Walker

This story summary is based on the English version of Fire Emblem: Awakening, which is considered to be a very high quality and faithful localization.  The game is divided into chapters, each consisting of one battle which always has dialogue before and after, and sometimes during the fight itself.   There are occasionally animated cutscenes as well, so the sections within each chapter are labeled as appropriate. Only material that is relevant to the overall story has been included, and new chapters will be added as I play through the game. Continue reading →

December 11, 2012 | JJ Cappa

Disgaea (魔界戦記ディスガイア) games are designed to make completionists insane and the third installment, known in the West as Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, has enough content to keep our great-grandchildren busy long after we have passed into the Netherworld (where the series is set). No mortal will ever be able to take full advantage of the advertised ten million hours of gameplay, but normal humans can complete the main storyline in around thirty-five. Japanese learners taking a trip to the Evil Academy (魔立邪悪学園) will graduate with a stronger grasp of the interesting ways in which dialects and kanji can be manipulated to add flavor to a narrative. In addition, the self-referential jokes about RPG clichés make understanding Japanese humor, normally the toughest aspect of learning a new language, very accessible to gamers. Continue reading →

October 16, 2012 | J.J. Cappa

The PlayStation Vita is an impressive immersion device. It can display complicated Japanese characters with unprecedented clarity for a handheld, and its memory cards can easily hold enough data to support games that are fully voice acted. An extensive library of classic role-playing games from the original PlayStation and PlayStation Portable, along with many free-to-play titles and social applications also add to the experience. Now a digital comic reader as well, the Vita can be used to view thousands of volumes of manga from hundreds of series, giving gamers access to a virtually endless supply of Japanese media. Reader is still far from perfect though, and Sony must put some more work into the application before their new portable can compete with physical comics and other similar devices. Continue reading →