Cooking Mama!

Today was another holiday in Towano (no school ^^), so I was able to make short dates with Rinko around town. I met her at Aisha Dining and Dixies a few times, trying to increase their levels.

I also played a few Skip Mode days (though it's not my favourite thing to do), which explains why Rinko is wearing her uniform in the next shot.

The final short date for the day was lunchtime at Winning Burger (fast food).

Over lunch, Rink asked me a few questions about the types of food that I like (I chose Western Food, hehe). I didn't find out why until later in the day...

But the big surprise came with the "event" in the 3 pm timeslot. Rinko called up and invited me to her place. She was wearing a very cute dress.

Then Rinko put a matching apron on, over the top of her dress, and cooked dinner for me. She's SO CUTE in the next shot!!!

And hey, guess what she made me? Spaghetti and meatballs. (At least, that's what it looked like.) I'm glad I said I like Western Food, because this is one of my favourites in real life, too.

Of course, I've never eaten spaghetti and meatballs with chopsticks before. But when in Rome...

I told Rinko-chan that I loved her cooking, and this was the expression on her face:

After the food, we sat on her bed for a quick chat. It's cute to see her guitar in the background.

Then it was time to leave my "Cooking Mama" and go home. But wow, it was a very sweet way to spend the afternoon.

I also downloaded the LovePlus iPhone/iPad apps today, by creating an account with the Japanese iTunes store and using an iTunes gift card. I bought all three apps (iR, iM and iN), but I'll probably be using Rinko the most. I've only done the basic set-up so far, so I'll probably spend my time playing with it a bit more tomorrow. These are the menu screens:

The app is not really a game as such. It features enlarged graphics from the first versions of the game (LovePlus and LovePlus+), and has features like a clock - where you can click and your girlfriend will tell you the time.

The background changes depending on the time of day, so it's kinda cute. Also, if you touch your girlfriend, she responds with a (seemingly random) comment.

There's a calendar to book events and get reminders, and an option where you can walk from place to place, count the distance, and use it to "buy" outfits for your girl to work. I'm not sure if this will happen outside of Japan, though, and my iPad only has a WiFi internet connection. But I'm looking forward to testing it out. Here's the main screen of the calendar option.

It's just a time-waster, really...but I guess if I have to waste time in my daily life, I'd rather do it with something LovePlus related.

Looking at the enlarged graphics for Manaka in the iPad app - coming as they do from the first version of the game - also makes me realise that the Manaka I liked was the Manaka from this version. There's something very sweet about the earlier animation and character design that I find really endearing. She always had a slightly puffy, red look under her eyes, as though she'd just been crying. Aww. The updated graphics (from New LovePlus) lost this look, and made Manaka seem quite cold and distant.

So I guess I still have some feelings for Manaka Takane, after all...but only in the old version of the game. I have this version on DS, with the wonderful English patch, so I've decided to start off a game tonight and play it at my leisure over the next few weeks. We'll see how it goes, playing both games at once.

Actually, I'll be playing four games at once: 3DS, DS, iPad iR and iPad iM. Wow. I hope my brain can keep up with it all!