thevoiceitself

Another site worth checking out would be Kirin Hobby, as they tend to get a nice stock of figures and bring the prices to reasonable levels. One of my best friends is very much into figures and has an extensive collection, a lot of which he has purchased through Kirin Hobby. They import what they can and do their best to price affordably, and they offer great service in my limited experiences with them. I'll see if I can get my friend on Fuwanovel to contribute himself, as he would probably have a lot more to say on the matter. I don't claim to be a figure buff myself though, so I probably don't have a lot of viable input for you. However I can say good things about Good Smile Company and the amazing works they put out. I received a Homura 1/8 figure from them that is nothing short of stellar, and I plan to purchase the Princess of the Crystal 1/8 as soon as I can get my hands on her for a good price. That will bring my figure total up to two. In any case, don't be afraid to look around as you will find a great difference in prices. Avoiding direct import is a must, as customs/shipping/etc. will leave you penniless in a hurry. "I don't always buy figures, but when I do, they are f**king epic."

PDF = Win. I have the actual textbooks from some college classes... didn't even consider the possibility of getting them in PDF. Much simpler and more affordable.

...and then this happened... Yup.

Argh, took me a day to get back on the forums to respond! Skills --> Yes, I have some. However they're useless if I can't put them to... well, to use. So I'll be looking for projects to contribute to. As for Katawa Shoujo, I was curious about the whole "disability girls" thought at first too... then I was blown away by the depth of it all. Totally worth your time to play through. There is quite a bit of story to each character, great artwork, and even short animated introductions for each character. I highly recommend it. Go, play it now! Oh, and to answer the previous questions... I've been programming for roughly 10 years and learning Japanese for about 6 years or so, including studying in Japan no less than three times (which I am paying for now... studying abroad is expensive).

A lot of what I'm going to say appears to be said already (which is good)! Hiragana and katakana first. Get these two down 100%. Do this before you dive too deeply into anything else. From there you can start learning the basics of kanji. Keep in mind that Japanese students spend their entire school life learning kanji so don't expect to learn it all in a few months... this is a long-term and potentially life-long process! It helps to learn hiragana and katakana since you can write out anything using these two syllable alphabets... including your notes! You should refrain from using "romanji" as much as possible. Immersion helps. Any opportunity to surround yourself with native Japanese text and/or voice will help you recognize parts of the language or vocabulary you are learning. Watch some anime with subtitles instead of an English dub. Pay attention to the Japanese voices in the VNs you're playing and see what you can pick out. As an extreme, go to Japan! There's nothing like experiencing the real thing! Surround yourself with as much Japanese as you can if you want to pick it up in a hurry. Having studied in college and abroad, I have a couple of textbook recommendations. Namely the Genki series, as it is straightforward but teaches effectively and goes from the basics to some advanced concepts. There are several hiragana/katakana/kanji practice books available... go with whatever one makes the most sense to you. If you practice writing the characters I would recommend finding a Japanese friend to look over your handwriting and give you a few pointers. To learn them, make flash cards and practice with them at least once a day. If you need some additional guidance feel free to send me a message... I'm a linguist and an educator with lots of studying abroad in Japan. Learning a language is no small task, even if you have a knack for it. It will be work, but it will be worth it! One other important note... once you start, please don't stop. Languages work on a "use it or lose it" principle... if you stop using it you will forget a lot of it! Find a pen pal or someone to practice with and keep it going! I'm not sure what your endgame goal is but I wish you luck in learning. Linkage: Genki I Textbook - A great introduction. Genki I Workbook - Goes with the textbook. Basic Kanji Book I - I like this one. Simple to advanced with lots of practice space. POPjisyo - A decent translator. It makes a nice resource. There's a start. I'll see what other resources I have lying around that would be helpful. If you have a Nintendo DS look for a kanji practice game... those are fun and educational. がんばって！

Shizune's route was actually rather melancholy. It didn't feel as definite as it could have been. It was good, mind you, but I feel like it could have had a little more to it. It's not bad in any way but it could have progressed just a little further. For my first route, not bad! It has a good story... but I'm looking forward to the other characters' routes. I haven't spoiled the particulars of Lilly's route but every reaction I've seen so far has indicated it's a powerful story. I have some time this weekend between work and holiday festivities so I hope to get to more of it then! Everybody needs a little Katawa Shoujo in their day. Oh yes. I'm doing that. I have several friends who would be floored by what is available on the site.

I somehow ended up down Shizune's route first. But now I'm headed straight for Lilly, who I wanted to go after in the first place! I'm really caught up in her story at the moment. Overall, it's an amazing game... I have a hard time putting it down once I start playing, but I also have a hard time sitting down and playing it since I know I won't do anything else for the next several hours. Thank you all for the warm welcoming. I like it here.

I'll browse around and look at the various projects. I'm sure I can find one to help out on. Haha, I like the tradition. First? Hmm... that is a good question. Not sure what the first one I played was (or I can't seem to remember the name). The first VN that really got my attention was Snow Sakura. I still love that one. A nice blend of story, humor, and good art. Presently I'm going through Katawa Shoujo, which I'm loving every minute of. Second path through with a cumulative game time of 12 hours or so. After I finish I'm looking at Aile's VN Friends or possibly Utawarerumono (I always enjoyed the anime for that one). I hope this post makes sense. Took a while to do on my phone's web browser.

I'm working through Katawa Shoujo, which has some of the best stories I've ever experienced. Pretty amazing for a community-created game and it has a very unique theme to it. I'm surprised it took me this long to get to it, honestly, but it has been one hell of a busy year. I played Shizune's story and now I'm caught up in Lilly's. It is really, really good... I just don't always have the time to devote to getting lost in it so it is taking me quite a while to get through. I've also been slowly plodding through the Japanese in Aile's Friends, which has some gorgeous artwork (look it up, totally worth it). But it's taking me a while too.

Hello. I commonly go by thevoiceitself. I'm a reviewer of Japanese media publicly, although in reality I'm a linguist and geek with a passion for Japan. I stumbled across Fuwanovel entirely by accident, and I'm glad I did. Since the site has given me the gift of game, a gift that will last for quite a while. I figured I could join the forums and show my appreciation by giving back. If you can make use of any of my skills on any project, just shoot me a message. I have native English proficiency and college education with teaching English, so I make a good proofreader, editor, etc. I have fluent German and early-intermediate Japanese, the latter of which I'm still in the process of learning and improving. I think that about does it for languages. In terms of tech, I'm good with HTML/JavaScript, Java, and pretty much any scripting language or anything related to object oriented programming (OOP). I catch on fast so learning a new one wouldn't take long. I've dabbled in C/C++/VisualBasic/etc. So yeah... hoping I can give back in some way.