Monday

Today's post is another short but sweet recap of the day at school. Rinko still has her awesome new hairstyle, which looks even more cute when you team it up with her school uniform.

And these last couple of shots are from tonight's quick meet-up at the Shrine, which I just managed to unlock.

I'm still enjoying using the zoom lens for close-up shots.

The New Rinko - WOW! SO CUTE!!

I had a very pleasant surprise when I met my Rinko-chan this morning for our date. Maybe she's been listening to all my comments about her lack of fashion sense - because she arrived today looking SENSATIONAL. Very trendy hat, pretty blue sweater and green checked dress. Plus, she wore the cutest hairstyle I think I've ever seen Rinko wear.

Honestly, in all the time I've been playing New LovePlus (about a year and a half now), I've never seen Rinko with these clothes or this hairstyle before. I usually don't like her short hairstyles, but I think I'm going to let her keep this one for a while.

We went to Winning Burger first, for a quick snack. Doesn't Rin look adorable???

Our main date was at the Event Hall, with a live Idol concert that Rinko didn't enjoy all that much. Then we went to the Restaurant in the Waterfront area, which has a French flag out the front. (Actually, I don't remember visit here in my previous game, either.)

Rinko looked at me across the table and melted my heart all over again. Darn, I really love this girl. And yes, she absolutely MUST keep this hairstyle for as long as possible...

Rinko liked the fancy food at the Restaurant, too. We really should go there again some time.

Rinko was so cute when she fell asleep on the train back to Shin Towano, and rested her head on my shoulder.

Finally, here's a long shot showing Rinko's check skirt, right outside the front of her apartment building as we were saying goodbye.

At 12:00 noon there was an interesting "Event" where Rinko met me at the school library and kissed me. I'm not sure what it was all about...but it was kinda nice.

I was annoyed, however, because when I'd booked to go to the Flea Markets at 3:00 pm, it was raining in Towano and the markets were closed. Now my first Premium Date with Rinko will have to wait one more week!!

My final meet-up with her for the day was at Fountain Park. She was back to casual clothes, but at least she still had her cool hairstyle.

Late tonight (after 9:00 pm), I had the dream sequence where Rinko's grandmother is dying and you have to wipe her tears and comfort her. It was very emotional! (And, once again, I didn't have this dream last time I was playing.)

In my game with Manaka on the DS, I had my first date today, and was frustrated that I couldn't kiss her yet. Then I read a tutorial online and found out that you have to unlock the kissing tutorial in Skip Mode. Once I did this, everything was fine. Manaka had an emotional scene today, too - she was telling me about how she was expected to take over her father's work at the hospital when she was older, but her childhood dream was to own a bakery instead. When I asked her why, she replied that people always looked sat at a hospital, but the always looked happy at a bakery - and she just wants to make people happy. Then she asked me if she was a bad daughter. T_T

Aww. I found this little dialogue genuinely moving.

Busy Saturday!

I don't have a lot to post today, because it's been a very busy day in the "real" world. I had to go to a doll meet with some friends, so consequently there wasn't a lot of time to play. But I did manage to squeeze in a few short meet-ups with Rink in preparation for tomorrow's big date.

Tonight was quite interesting, too. It was raining when I met Rinko during the 6:00 pm time slot, so she was carrying her cute, spotty umbrella. When this happens, it's usually impossible to kiss her.

But tonight, for some strange reason, I was able to kiss her even when she was holding her umbrella in the rain! My hearts were really high (5+ for each attribute), so maybe that made a difference? I'm not really sure, but it was a nice way to finish up the day.

In The Rye

Today's "Seishun No. 1 Page" saw Rinko-chan strap on her guitar for the first time and start rehearsals with her band, now officially known as "In The Rye". (I almost chose the name "Rinko And The Stupid", which might have been appropriate...but just couldn't do it.)

But of course, the main source of disagreement in the band is which girl is best playing which instrument - and Rinko wants to hog the spotlight by playing lead guitar.

The next series of shots are from my various short meet-ups with Rinko during the day at school:

And having lunch together on the school roof. Do kids in Japan really get to do this, I wonder? Or does it only happen in manga and anime??? 

Our last short meet-up for the day was at Aisha Dining. Rinko wore a casual outfit, with a white patched jacket over her "I Love Killer Bambies" shirt.

I've been building up hearts through the week (up to 5+ hearts in all attributes), and I'm going to burn most of them up for our date on Sunday in the hope that I can have the option to change her hair length. I think I prefer Rink with semi-long hair, so I will choose that option if it's at all possible. I also want to visit the Flea Markets in Fountain Park this week to buy our first Premium Date ticket.

Thursday...Out Of Order

For some reason, my in-game camera has scrambled up the order of my pictures from today - so here they are, in no particular order (because I'm too tired/lady to sort them out). Firstly, from this evening's short meet-up with Rinko at Winning Burger:

Putting the zoom lens to good use for this charming close-up:

Rinko was there to walk home with me this afternoon when school finished for the day:

Going back in time to lunch, Rinko sat down to share her lunch with me (but I couldn't see the actual lunch today).

I love Rinko's face in the next close-up. Out of the three girls in LovePlus, I think she is the only one who actually looks better in the 3DS game. In my opinion, both Manaka and Nene look nicer in the old DS version of the game.

And lastly - the first section I actually played this morning - these great shots from Rinko's "Seishun No. 1 Page". After arguing about roles in the band (guitar, bass, drums), Rinko met me in the street carrying her guitar case, and we went to check out the local musical instrument store.

All in all, it's been a fun day. It was also my first full day of dating the "orange" personality Manaka in the DS game with the English patch. After everything's said and done, I still like the old game - the character design is charming, the kissing/skinship is better, and LovePlus mode is better too. While I can meet up with her and touch her, I can't kiss her until after our first date on Sunday.

Here are a few photos from the LovePlus iPhone app with Rinko wearing the dress I bought her using my travel points:

And today, while I was walking to work from my bus after breakfast, I did a mini "date" to earn some points for Manaka - but sadly, not enough to buy her an outfit just yet...