Category Archives: Waifu Wednesday

Wednesday is the day when we celebrate the many and varied waifus of video gaming! Whether they’re adorable cuties, badass butt-kickers or a little of both, this is the place where we explore the amazing female characters of Japanese gaming and beyond.

Waifu Wednesday: Yasuko Yamanouchi

At the time of writing, I haven’t yet finished a full readthrough of Kogado Studio’s Nurse Love Syndrome, but I did want to show some love for one of its main characters. (And probably some more in the near future.)

For the unfamiliar, Nurse Love Syndrome is a visual novel that explores new nurse Kaori Sawai’s early days on the job, and everything that entails — both good and bad. Yasuko Yamanouchi is a character who is introduced early on as one of the more experienced members of the nursing staff but… well, let’s just say she’s a bit of a character.

And she’s voiced by Yumi Hara, too, so if you ever wanted to hear Yumi from Senran Kagura playing someone who isn’t Yumi for once… well, now’s your chance!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Yasuko Yamanouchi

Waifu Wednesday: Tiffani Hildebrand

One of the things the Atelier series has always done well is infuse its secondary characters who are of minimal importance to the main narrative with just as much personality as its leads.

A good example of this is Tiffani Hildebrand from the Atelier Arland series, who first appears in Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland and sticks around for its follow-up Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland. In mechanical terms, she’s a shopkeeper. In personality terms, however, she’s so much more.

There’s also a disappointing lack of fanart of her online. Someone get to work, quick! In the meantime, though, let’s take our time to celebrate Atelier Tiffani: The Mom of Arland and her official art.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Tiffani Hildebrand

Waifu Wednesday: Lionela Heinze

It’s a sad fact of life that we’ve seen a general rise in levels of anxiety and stress over the course of the last couple of decades. Or, at the very least, people are a lot more aware of it — and, crucially, willing to talk about it — now.

One way you can help develop your understanding of a condition such as anxiety is to engage with characters who display traits that you recognise; by seeing how that character acts from an outside perspective, you can perhaps get a bit of an understanding about how you feel about things — and why.

Lionela Heinze from Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland is a good example. While the specific cause of her anxiety may not be something we can directly relate to, the way her anxiety manifests itself is something I’m sure more than a few of us can recognise. So let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Lionela Heinze

Waifu Wednesday: Rorolina Frixell

Ah, Rorona. My first Atelier girl; my entry point to the series; and a character who pretty much acts as a perfect representative of what Atelier is all about.

Last time we looked at the Atelier Arland trilogy here on MoeGamer (back when it was still actually a trilogy) we explored a number of the series’ secondary characters. But we never gave any love to the titular leading lady of Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland.

So let’s rectify that right now, then, shall we, what with this ongoing Atelier MegaFeature and all?

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Rorolina Frixell

Waifu Wednesday: Whim

Who doesn’t love a good maid? Everyone loves a good maid. And the only thing that can make a good maid even better is if she’s 1) a bit cheeky and 2) a manifestation of spiritual, elemental energy in service of the resident ojou-sama.

Well, okay, there are other things that can make a good maid even better, but if we get into that we’ll be here all day. So for the sake of today’s celebration of awesome female characters in gaming, let’s assume all of the above is true, and let me introduce you to Whim.

Whim is an water-attuned Mana who serves Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy’s resident lovestruck princess, Lilianne “Lily” Valendorf, and forms part of the main cast of playable characters in male protagonist Raze’s route. Let’s take a closer look!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Whim

Waifu Wednesday: Refia

Refia is an interesting character in Final Fantasy canon, because she didn’t exist in the original version of the game she’s from — in fact, none of the protagonists from the 3D remake of Final Fantasy III did.

Indeed, the original Famicom version of Final Fantasy III instead features a player-named party of indeterminately gendered “Onion Kids” — thereby kicking off the series’ occasional, inexplicable obsession with the vegetable in the process. Refia didn’t show up until Matrix Software brought out the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy III in 2006 — which was also the first time the game came West.

Well, just because she wasn’t there from the very beginning doesn’t make her any less worthwhile as a character! So let’s take a moment to celebrate Refia’s contribution to one of the most well-known RPG series in the world.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Refia

Waifu Wednesday: Chloe Hartzog

The Atelier series has always been full of excellent female characters. And they’re all much more than just a pretty face.

Chloe Hartzog from Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy is a prime example. In fact, Chloe is particularly noteworthy because of the deliberate choice to make her embody pretty much the polar opposite of almost everything one thinks of when one contemplates a “pretty anime girl” supposedly on the side of the protagonist.

That, of course, makes her supremely interesting. So let’s take a closer look!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Chloe Hartzog

Waifu Wednesday: Maiden in Black

I’ve been playing a bit of Demon’s Souls recently. I’ll talk more about my experiences specifically very soon, but I thought I’d devote today’s Waifu Wednesday to one of the most striking figures in the game: the Maiden in Black.

If you’ve never played Demon’s Souls, the tutorial will almost certainly kill you, at which point you will encounter the Maiden in Black for the first time. She will helpfully inform you that it’s now your job to ensure that the “world be mended” and that she can help you get stronger — but not until you’ve gone and beaten a big slobbering horrible demon in the game’s first stage.

Well, I guess there’s nothing like a woman who sticks to her principles, huh?

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Maiden in Black

Waifu Wednesday: Ulrika Mulberry

With Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis done and dusted, this week we’re turning our attention to its direct sequel, Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy.

And where better to begin taking a look at this game than with an appreciation of the main female protagonist, one Ulrika Mulberry? After all, we’ve had four Atelier games in a row with a male lead, so it’s about time we let the ladies take the spotlight once again.

Okay, yes, Mana Khemia 2 also has male protagonist Raze, but we’re all about Ulrika today. Hit the jump to find out more!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Ulrika Mulberry

Waifu Wednesday: Pamela Ibis (Again)

Yes, yes, yes, I know we technically “did” Pamela already last year, but as you’ll know if you’ve played more than a couple of the Atelier games… one can never really claim to truly know Pamela.

Specifically, knowing just one form of Pamela — her (re)incarnation that appears in the Arland series, in the case of that previous article — doesn’t necessarily mean that you know everything there is to know about Pamela. I mean, she may or may not be the same person at all. Probably not, given that the various Atelier subseries are regarded as unfolding in completely separate continuities. Unless…?

Enough justification. Today we’re looking at Pamela Ibis from Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis. Don’t you dare make her cry.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Pamela Ibis (Again)