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With that said, Merry Christmas!

Fortunately, there are Korean mmorpgs aside from Ragnarok Online (enjoying the Shining Moon private server which covers more Korean server trends than official servers) with private servers such as Lineage 2, Metin 2, Silkroad Online, Flyff, Cabal Online, Dragon Nest, Aion, ArcheAge, Elsword and My Online. They're all free, not requiring the player to pay for items that may not exist in the original Korean server. I've been completely satisfied with the Shining Moon Ragnarok server giving me freemium equipment (making leveling very easy aside from medium experience rates) and more focus on Korean server trends. One thing I miss about the old, pre-renewal Ragnarok is that Gundam SEED fangirl from Malaysia who was very nice to many players. Though, I also miss some of those very nice Canadian players too. One of them being a very cool chick from Quebec too.

Anyway! official servers take forever to get all the good stuff or goodies happening in Korea. That's why I trust such freelancers more than western publishers.

As for Japanese games on PC, Ark of Napishtim is a great start. It took me less than 20 hours to finish that awesome JRPG. Though, I did replay it several times since high school. I remember when I had a crush on Olha who I thought was a sweet elf. I would rescue her little sister just for her. I wasn't that satisfied with my first playthrough like I wanted because I had to return it to Gamefly in time.

I would avoid early Final Fantasy games aside from 1, 4 and 6 which are far more memorable. Nobody likes the story of 2, 3 or 5 (a blatant ripoff of FF1 with a story written for little kids).

Some of those early Final Fantasy games that I think suck are easily outclassed by Grandia 1 which is already remastered for different platforms. I had a blast with that remaster of a true classic. I also love the fact that Aya Hisakawa and Kikuko Inoue were in that Japanese cast.

Yes, it's still universally believed that older games are superior. I don't delve into any entertainment with blatant millennial writing, humor or strong millennial energy.

It's never too late to explore hidden gems, by the way.

As for manga, I never read anything like Guyver which someone recommended to me. I don't remember reading any manga like Hyper Police either. Suikoden 3 as well which has a more detailed story than its source material on PS2.

Yes, Suikoden 3 is what should be recommended to beginners.

I love Suikoden 5 even though it was all laggy on PS2 and had to play it on an emulator several years ago.

I generally prefer story-driven games like the OG Valkyria Chronicles. Persona 3 is cool given that Maaya Sakamoto did the voice of Aegis.

Yes, classics are better than new releases, but Iooking forward to those upcoming 2026 Indian games coming to Gamepass, Xbox, Steam, etc. Good thing that western AAA slop with the complicated plot written by socially inept millennials are getting rendered unviable. Time to make way for the rising stars as of Year of the Horse.

I'll be playing classic Korean mmorpgs in the meantime.

I also look forward to Suikoden 1 and 2 getting anime adaptations. Hopefully, they'll be as canon or more than Monster Rancher. Definitely no 12 episodes per season which Monster Rancher didn't have. May the original Suikoden creator Yoshitaka Murayama RIP.

Hopefully, the Suikoden 3 manga by Aki Shimizu will be next in line to get an adaptation too. More detailed storyline than original Suikoden 3 story. Wild Arms XF also got a manga adaptation.

Speaking of that Tecmo franchise, I have yet to play Monster Rancher 3, but I'm liking Ninja Gaiden 4.

I love Yui Horie and the fact that she voiced Hitomi in DOA.

i like visiting old profiles. often find something interesting there. and i like reading random conversations from years ago :D
also interesting to see what was popular back then because i started watching anime when it became mainstream :p

I too wish we had a Japanese-based site that had all licenses with English subs and all animes of dead studios. Dead studios including Bee Train and Xebec.

Xebec may be gone, but at least the Fafner showrunner is still around. I could sure use a Fafner origin story.

As for JRPGs, Star Ocean 2 or Second Story is a great place to start. That's the game a semitomboy from Indiana that I haven't seen in ages cherished since childhood. She also told me that she she spoke fluent Japanese and has read manga I've never heard of.

If you hate JRPG tropes, then I highly recommend that Arc The Lad Collection. Part two is peak Arc The Lad and is very climatic. Made back when Sony had common sense and cared about consumers.

Shame that most of Arc The Lad 2 didn't get adapted because Yui Horie as Lieza was awesome. The dub was great too, same ADR people in the cast as Digimon, Stand Alone Complex or Cowboy Bebop. Iga getting more screentime outside of his respective source material would have been great. He's a martial arts master or veteran fighter running a dojo in part 3.

Same! Not a big fan of them made mostly for consoles, but at least Trails of Cold and Breath of Fire 4 have come to GOG. Hopefully more JRPGs will come to GOG. If only Square Enix weren't so greedy and put copy protection on Octopath Traveler. I would still emulate that though and eventually.

Steam can keep FF7 Rebirth which is a waste of Maaya Sakamoto's potential and time. That and keep Visions of Mana which has mediocre storytelling with no hope of seeing an anime adaptation like Arc The Lad. Even Suikoden 2 is getting an adaptation which its source material is known for challenging JRPG tropes and conventions.

A mold breaker from another decade.

Speaking of mold breakers, I love the fact that indie graphic novelists are challenging old cyberpunk themes, conventions, tropes and aesthetics while adding more substance. The internet is already real rather than a futuristic concept and that high tech-low life theme can get pretty old. Can't wait to check out Private Eye. I thank Silent Möbius and Solty Rei for getting me into unconventional cyberpunk.

With that said, I finished Legend of Dragoon. Back when Sony leadership cared about aesthetics and substance for the consumers. Before they went full western and full retard by successors. I have no interest in Ghost of Yotei or bland Playstation stories nowadays.

Part of the reason why I prefer PC and emulation, unfortunately.

came here from a 2008 midori days post ✋

Yeah I was talking about his works like Mx0 and Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa, they both had lot of potential but got cut early just like Pretty Face. I haven't touched his newest work yet, Kiruru Kill Me, but it seems to be on hiatus since 2022 at chapter 62. :(


True, but there is enough old work to sate that hunger while waiting for those new mangas to finish up. Though manga nowadays feels like a downgrade to be honest, but there is some great works in the rubble. :/

Ayyy nice Pretty Face manga favorite, shame about how the author's manga always get axed... He had such great works.

I totally forgot that I sent you a message.

As for Quebec, my tomboyish penpal was born there too and I hope that she enjoyed that Gundam SEED movie as of last year. Yes, she's been watching anime for decades and has yet to read many graphic novels.

I know that she has a lot of work to do so I'll recommend her indie space opera comics when she's got time. The likes of Saga and Paper Girls would blow her mind. There are definitely more space operas than Star Wars and Gundam. Space opera indie comics are abundant enough to control my anticipation for future Macross movies my half-Asian friend told me about years ago.

Japanese-wise, I've been catching up significantly with kanji, that SOV order, the lack of pronouns and so on. I also have AI and Eriko Sato's book to thank for getting me caught up with that language. I believe that you'll catch up with Japanese eventually.

Crunchyroll? I've been disappointed in that website. Even before the Soyny acquisition and I refuse to support that company (PC or MSI over PS5 any day of the week). I rather buy anime or manga that I like directly from Japan. Make more use of Japanese.

Having said that, I hope that you'll have a good day too. You and said Canadian penpal.

Oddly similar taste in anime to my friend from North Carolina (a historical manga fangirl and semitomboy) as usual.

Speaking of video games, I'll see what happens next in Legend of Dragoon. Tail Concerto and early Dot Hack games are some of the other reasons why I love Maaya Sakamoto.

ごきげんよう、貴婦人!

Have you been studying Japanese too and what do you like most about Maaya Sakamoto?

A semitomboy your age said that she's one of her favorite people and I bet she watched the recent Gundam SEED movie without subtitles. Yes, Maaya Sakamoto reprised her role as Lunamaria Hawkeye.

Alors si on ce vois, je te salura en passéent. En plus c'Est dans juste deux mois, tu va venir en cosplay?

De retour d'Anime North! .........et trop fatigé....

Yes, we do share quite a few shows. You've watched a lot more than I have, though. I don't know how people find time for that much anime. XD

You're right about Reki. She's leading in the poll in the Haibane Renmei group, but we don't know how the people who haven't voted there would vote. =P

I see. It always seemed to me that the popularity was the other way around, and Reki was more popular than Rakka. Even though Rakka was the protagonist, in the end the story was more centered around Reki and her problems too.

That's true, with only 13 episodes it wouldn't have been very good if they tried to include the other characters too much. There wouldn't have been enough time to spend on each character and develop all of them properly.

As far as Index goes it wasn't the moe elements specifically that turned me off, since I can enjoy some moe shows. I just couldn't get into the story or the characters at all. Admittedly the rating of a 3 may be a bit harsh since I tend to rate shows I've dropped lower than ones I've finished even when the level of quality is about the same.

I feel similarly about the Haibane. I'd say that Rakka is my favorite, but I liked Reki too so she's a very close second. None of the others stand out to me too much. Some of the characters from the factory seemed interesting but they didn't really get much development. It would be nice to see an OVA or something about them but that probably won't happen.