“I’m the monster who will save the world.” Next week—Tokumei Kibou’s furige RPG, SOLDIERS DesireWing, the sprawling tale of hot-blooded women beating, burning, slashing, and tearing one another apart.
I just recently learned that the Sega CD ADV "Urusei Yatsura: Dear My Friend" received a fan-made port to PC via Adventure Game Studio a few years ago which includes a near-complete English translation! archive.org/details/urus...
“I’m the monster who will save the world.” Next week—Tokumei Kibou’s furige RPG, SOLDIERS DesireWing, the sprawling tale of hot-blooded women beating, burning, slashing, and tearing one another apart.
A second bonus post to close out this month's series of Patreon articles. This time a translation of a very brief article announcing the airing of Twin Peaks' pilot episode on Tokyo Broadcasting Station.
Free to read: www.patreon.com/posts/transl...
Particularly interesting is how researching the specifics of Twin Peaks' broadcast in Japan begins to reveal the contours of (late-night) Japanese film and television programming, including Wednesday Road Show and Diamond Theater.
A second bonus post to close out this month's series of Patreon articles. This time a translation of a very brief article announcing the airing of Twin Peaks' pilot episode on Tokyo Broadcasting Station.
Free to read: www.patreon.com/posts/transl...
New post!
This week I’m digging into the influential denpa novel Shinkou Shuukyou Omoide-Kyou, my long relationship with Japanese harsh noise, and what to do in a world overrun by poisoned radio waves.
Check it out!!
As I inch towards the endgame, here’s a thread for posting a bit about SOLDIERS DesireWing. What really stands about the game is its direction and animation.
I've written extensively on JRPGs, covering games like Gunparade March and Unlimited SaGa, as well as discourses on the genre.
Here's one review: ogrerun.com/2026/02/24/u...
and one opinion piece: ogrerun.com/2026/03/17/y...
The March 22nd issue of Flash featured images of Dragon Quest’s III ending alongside a guide on how to solve the final puzzle. Enix asserted that publishing photographs of the game infringes on their copyright and that publishing puzzle answers shortens a game’s lifespan and thus harms sales.
Some additional commentary. Looking through both the Asahi and Yomiuri, it seems that the initial frenzy surrounding DQ III petered off after March as there’s a drop-off in reportage. However, there does remain some stories of interest. Enix sued the magazine “Flash” for copyright infringement.
Finally, February 22nd. An article which outlines some stories which emerged in the wake of DQ III’s release and Enix's response to accusations of purposefully creating a shortage.
All three articles are free to read: www.patreon.com/posts/152409...
From February 18th: Following the request from the National Police Agency, select retailers shift sales to the weekend: www.patreon.com/posts/151427...
From February 17th, 1988: The National Police Agency directly step in to bring the matter under control, requesting assistance from both Enix and retailers: www.patreon.com/posts/transl...
On February 10th, 1988, Enix released Dragon Quest III. Chaos ensued. While this particular moment in time has been subject to pervasive rumors and myths, I translate three articles from the archives of the Asahi Shimbun which cut to the heart of the matter. Thread and links below.
Here it is. In the February 1995 issue, the magazine announces its "Only in Japan" series which looks at games and technology exclusive to the country. The first two games to be covered are coincidentally two titles being ported from arcades to home consoles. Ridge Racer and Virtua Fighter.
This also isn't to suggest that Japan is never mentioned pre-1992. "Japan Comes to America" and "SPA Goes to Japan" announces VG&CE in their inaugural December 1988 issue.
While this shift may have been unique to Game Informer since its first issue in 1992, Game Fan had been running columns and coverage of Japanese exclusive games. Of course, every publication also ran columns collecting rumors but these seem to skirt the acknowledgement of where these games come from
Here it is a few pages later in the "Tech Talk" column where the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation are being discussed. Notably all these games / tech are being explicitly spoken of as being from Japan which I think in it at least GI demonstrates a shift in how Japanese products are written about.
Here it is. In the February 1995 issue, the magazine announces its "Only in Japan" series which looks at games and technology exclusive to the country. The first two games to be covered are coincidentally two titles being ported from arcades to home consoles. Ridge Racer and Virtua Fighter.
Japanese developers would begin to take note of Western tastes, culminating in the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy looking towards the likes of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios, 2006), Mass Effect, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, 2007). For Western gamers, Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix, 2009 would bear the burden of saving the entire genre. Take the headline of one article from the U.K. gaming magazine 360, "Could Final Fantasy XIII: finally transform the JRPG?" According to reviewers, who especially lambasted the game for being too linear, Final Fantasy XIII neither saved nor transformed the JRPG. https://ogrerun.com/2025/12/14/anime-rpg-trash-or-clair-obscur-and-genre-trouble/
See also my article on discourses surrounding Clair Obscur. ogrerun.com/2025/12/14/a...
This is a moment in history I've touched upon a few times throughout my writing.
See ogrerun.com/2026/03/17/y...
It is overwhelming in the best way possible especially as I've also just started gathering primary sources on the early history of RPG Maker.
I was just looking through these issues and wondering if they were newly uploaded. Big thank you to F_T_B and @gamingalexandria.bsky.social.
There's so much good stuff here. Check out this article on RPG Maker Dante! Really enchanting clay work. Also, Wizardry! The Spring RPG Festival!
Well you can't get it with replies off so you'll have to accept a qrt
"Deep within the bowels of the US gaming industry lies a secret society of starving deprived mutants....They call themselves RPGers - the underbelly of video games."
The opening paragraph to Game Informer's review of Dragon Force is something else.
Game Informer's preview of SaGa Frontier comes appended with this icon of a torii gate, alerting readers that the game is Japanese. I am now in the process of searching for when this first began. This is from September 1997, Issue 53.
Amidst all the radical experimentation of the genre during the 1990s, perhaps the strangest yet was Sega’s Sakura Wars: Le Rôti Brûle?, a French-Maid RPG Simulator influenced by both Konami's Tokimeki Memorial series and the films of Jacques Tati.
While looking through my notes for the quoted images, I did find these articles that I had completely forgotten about! Here's further demonstration of the early and long ongoing discussion of RPGs in Japan.
"In search of the word of 'RPG'" is an absolutely killer title.