Welcome to Michibiku!

Graham: So… welcome? Is that what we say here?

Jenni: That certainly is the most courteous course of action. Hi everyone, and welcome to Michibiku! If you want to go ahead and say the name out loud, which I wholeheartedly recommend since it sounds cute, say, “Me-chi-be-ku!”

Graham: Yep. That’s the name of the site. You probably saw it as you scrolled down. Jenni, do you want to tell these fine people what we do around here?

Jenni: To put it succinctly, we play games, then talk about them. We both kept coming across these situations where we’d find something that appealed to us, looked around to find out more information and saw nobody else knew about it. And that’s just wrong. Right?

Graham: Correct. I’d clarify that most of what we’ll be writing around here deals with Japanese games, be them imports, localized titles or what have you. And, of course, the stuff around them, like figures and soundtracks and… well, Jenni’s probably going to make us write about candy at some point. She’s an unstoppable force of nature about that.

Jenni: If you had a store like Mitsuwa within walking distance, you’d be the same way. So tell me, Graham. What makes you so qualified to talk about such things?

Graham: Well, I suppose my eight years of games writing may help? I’ve interviewed developers, hosted podcasts and video shows, reviewed more games than I can count and covered five E3s. (No Tokyo Game Shows. Yet, anyway.) After all that, though, the thing I realized I love the most is sharing my excitement and enthusiasm for the weird and underappreciated. So that’s what I plan to do here.

Jenni, how about you rattle off some of the myriad major outlets that have been graced by your byline? That’s sure to impress the folks reading our little chat.

Jenni: Impressed by my supernatural luck in stumbling into super sites? Sure. Well, I started off at Ctrl+Alt+Del’s now-defunct CAD Media. From there, I joined both Technology Tell and Siliconera in 2007. GeekParty briefly hosted my ramblings a few years ago. I’ve been hanging around CheatCC for over two years now, and this year I joined the staff at G4@Syfygames. As far as freelancing goes, I talked about visual novels for PC Gamer earlier this year and will be going over Fire Emblem Fates for The Escapist shortly. You’ve got me beat on E3s, though. I’m only at 4.

What’s your favorite memory from all your years in games coverage so far? Seems like sharing a highlight is a good way to let everyone know what we value the most. (If you want to go ahead and say meeting me, I’ll try to remain humble.)

Graham: Ha! That’s a difficult question, and maybe one for another time. We need to tell these lovely people about the site, remember!

So we won’t keep you too long here, because we want you to go check out all that other stuff we’ve been posting. I’ll simply say that I hope you enjoy what we do. And hey, if you do, maybe support us on Patreon? Maybe follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook? Oh man, I really sound like one of those crazy YouTubers right now, don’t I?

Jenni: A little? But then, a little shameless self-promotion never hurt anyone. It shows an enthusiasm for what we hope to accomplish here. Because we want to do great things for everyone taking the time to read and listen to us. You’re the reason we’re here.

Graham: It hurts me a little, but… well, it really does help us get this stuff seen. So… you know… like, comment, subscribe…

Okay, I said the things. Please just do the things so I don’t have to say them again.

Jenni: Right. We all have better things to do. Like I hear there’s this great video on the site right now. Something to do with that whole Fire Emblem Fates thing. We should really go watch that.

Graham: Definitely. Okay, before we go, I really just want to call out our wonderful little mascot, dubbed “Michibiko” by Jenni. She was designed by illustrator and animator extraordinaire (and generous, gracious friend of Jenni) Caitlin Lehman.

Jenni: Who I most certainly didn’t have to bribe or coerce into said favor.

Graham: If you say so. Anyway, thanks, reader! Go have fun! And if you notice anything weird or wrong or missing… let us know. We’ll do our best to get everything in order.