Hello! It’s been a long time since I last wrote here. A lot of stuff happened and now I don’t know how to organize my thoughts! So please excuse the mess that is this blog post.

As promised, here my copies of GADGET. I tested them out on an old IBM ThinkPad from the 90s my boyfriend had laying around. Great stuff and the Spanish dub of Past as Present is super charming. Read the previous entry if you haven’t played them yet, and then go play them, dammit! As a side note, it looks like the Spanish adventure gamers of yore didn’t like this game very much.



I also received my new Game Boy Color in the mail around the same time. Nothing newsworthy, but it’s pretty and I wanted to show it off. I’m playing Pokémon Silver on it because I never finished a non-remake game of this gen, but the Crystal cartridge is almost the same color. I’m obsessed with it (^人^)

Anyway! Some months ago a big otaku event took place in my home country. I hadn’t stepped on one of those since before the pandemic, but Ryukishi07 (of When They Cry fame. He also recently wrote Silent Hill f) was attending as a guest so I took a flight all the way there from the other side of Europe. In the event I felt a bit out of place since I don’t really partake in fandom culture (and everyone was so young, too… I felt like a grandma ;_;), but it was overall fun. They had some otoge cabs, it was a bit crowded as expected but still fun. There was also a ‘retro area’ with some retroge shop stands. A lot of stuff had incredibly whack prices and they were selling overpriced custom Game Boys to the nostalgic uncles, but some shops were pretty okay! We bought some import games for a fair price. One of those shops had a physical store I used to visit some years ago. I hadn’t gone there in more than two years, but to my surprise the guys recognized me as “the young girl from [redacted] who knows a lot about videogames”, and claimed I was the person in there who had the most knowledge on the hobby – “apart from the owner, of course!” ≧▽≦ It made me really happy that they would still remember me even after so much time had passed. This sort of thing reminds me that I still leave an impact on others’ lives, no matter how small it is. That I exist.

Back to the Ryukishi07 thing… There was a signing event there. He signed one of my Higurashi copies and we exchanged a few words. My mind kinda went blank when talking to him, which was embarrassing, but oh well! I’m happy that my words could reach him, and he was very nice too. Kazutaka Kodaka was also a guest, and Fer managed to get one of his games signed (I spent all my luck on the R07 lottery). He looked so happy when they took a picture together that it made me cry tears of joy. Other than that, with so many like-minded people going to the signings, I was able to see some old friends and also devirtualize some newer faces. It was an overall good time! (Please bring Goichi Suda next ← delusional).

After the event, I also spent some weeks back in my country while I worked remotely. An old friend from uni came to visit, even though she lives in a different city, and it made me so happy! If you pay close attention you’ll notice that I mention being happy quite a lot. We got cheesecakes and visited some nerdy shops and also had a cute pasta date and relived some old memories. I miss my friends so much…! I wish I was better at keeping in touch online.

On a different occasion, Fer and I once again found a new arcade place by complete chance. This one had some impressive, rarer machines that I had never seen in real life before. However I must now commence gatekeep mode. But it kind of bothers me when this sort of place becomes trendy so (please forgive me for using the word) n*rmies come here to hang out or take pictures. I hate when I’m trying to clear a game and people start rounding it only to take a few pics and leave💢 At least finish your credit. But then again these new freeplay arcades wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the nostalgia/aesthetic factor and it’s probably my fault for going there and expecting something different instead of getting involved with an association or whatever. But the Anita☆ has social anxiety and is a bit of a free agent, hehe.

So, now I’m back to one of the greyest cities in Europe and not getting totally super sad that I’m not in my home country while writing this. But during these months I also took the chance to visit the countryside here and honestly, I wish I wasn’t this lazy, because the scenery was so beautiful I once again shed tears of joy. As someone from a place where it’s basically summer all year long, seeing the ochre forests was shocking. On the trip back, I put on Fishmans’ Long Season and through the window I saw all those red trees and little country houses while the night fell and it was a truly magical experience, as corny as it sounds. I’m not the most well-traveled person, but this little escapade made me consider that there’s so much of life that I haven’t experienced and that maybe a small house in the European countryside could save m- who am I kidding I’m a city girl and I wouldn’t go back to live in a small town even if they paid me lmao. There’s probably more stuff I’m missing I wanted to talk about… but I forgot. It’s probably okay! Take care.

Over, Anita☆