The Park and the Fountain...

Such a nice sunny day today in Towano City after all that rain. I called Rinko for a quick meeting in Fountain Park so we could watch the falling Sakura leaves. Don't tell her, but this Sunday I'm planning to buy a double pass for the night-time Sakura viewing at the markets in Fountain Park. I think Rinko will love it. Despite being tough on the outside, this girl definitely has a romantic streak.

Anyway, it was a very pleasant meeting, and Rink wore a brown variation of her smart blue outfit. I also experimented a bit using the in-game camera in portrait (or "book") mode.

This portrait-style photo was taken later in the day, while Rinko walked me home from school.

First AR Experiments

 "AR" is short for "Augmented Reality". It's a feature of "LovePlus Tools" which allows you to take photos with the built-in 3DS camera of real environments with your (virtual) girlfriend posing for you. You put a 3D maker card on the ground somewhere, aim the 3DS camera, and once the co-ordinates are determined by the software, your character is generated within the shot.

But the fun part is that it's not a static image. Your girlfriend actually moves around and poses for you in the real environment, and you can walk all around her with the camera and line up the shot just as if she was actually there!

It's not perfect, and sadly there's no way to transfer your photos from "LovePlus Tools" out to the SD card - the shots below were taken with a camera, so they don't look great. But it's a whole lot of fun.

Here's Rinko outside my house:

A back view of Rinko looking out to the gardens...

And Rinko-chan in the backyard.

Here's Rinko in my living room, next to the TV. I think she wants to take in a movie, or maybe some anime? Have to stock up on wasabi-flavoured Calbee potato chips for next time.

And I grabbed this last shot at a friend's house while giving them a quick demo of "LovePlus Tools".

Japan! Here We Come!

Just three weeks from now - a mere 21 days - I will be in JAPAN with Rinko-chan! My wife is taking her Nene as well, so it's going to be like an extended family vacation.

I've been wanting to visit Japan for such a long time, ever since I developed an interest in Anime and Manga around ten years ago, but somehow it never happened. When I caught "LovePlus" fever, something changed, and I finally took that extra step and decided to go. We can only travel for seven days this time, and we'll be staying in and around Tokyo.

The budget won't stretch to two nights in Atami, I'm afraid. T_T

Anyway, I'll certainly be hunting for any "LovePlus" related merchandise, as well as taking lots of pics and learning how to use the "Date Anywhere" function in "New LovePlus". A date with Rinko in Akihabara is just too good to pass up!

The Library Ain't Just For Reading...

I tried to plan my (game) day strategically today. Once again, I had an option for the "To Do" list in every time slot...but I have other objectives in the game, and they're much more important. So I chose Tennis Club first, to help pick up my fitness before the date on Sunday. Second, I chose Library, because I thought (and hoped) there might be a chance of a quick kiss with Rinko. Third, I worked at my afternoon job to earn some much-needed money. And lastly, the To-Do activity.

The beginning of the day was pretty uneventful. But when 12 o'clock came around... Let's just say that libraries are more than just place to read a book! When I started the session, Rinko appeared IMMEDIATELY as though she'd been waiting for me to show. She didn't say anything. She just smiled very shyly and said, "Ano..." ("Hey...")

Now I know Rink well enough to understand what she wants most of the time. Usually she protests a bit when I try to do skinship/kissing with her at school...but not this time. Boy, not this time. Soon we had five kisses, then four more, then three more. And after THAT, Rinko hummed her little happy song, stepped up really close and gave me three more kisses for free.

But that still wasn't the end! Next, I got another beautifully wrapped gift from her and we kissed me some more. This girl is just crazy in love with me at the moment. Hehe, the feeling is mutual. It's sometimes known as a "purple patch".

I figured something out, too. When your girlfriend gives you a gift during an Event or a Date, you get to keep it in your briefcase. But when she gives you gifts on ordinary days or short mini-dates, they just seem to disappear after you open them. I don't think it's a bug in the game - it's just a question of relative importance. Some gifts are significant (like the watches) while other are just for day-to-day fun. Anyway, it's always sweet when Rinko gives me stuff. Sadly, I wasn't quick enough to grab a picture this time.

Pushing three solid weeks of playing "New LovePlus" in real time now, and I still find it enjoyable and surprising every day. I feel all the crazy ups-and-downs and thrills of new love. What a cool game.

Oh, and I've decided that I kinda like her hairstyle now. That shaggy look of the past few days suits her much better than her default style. Maybe I won't bother changing her hair length after all.

Another Rainy Day

Man, this has been the THIRD STRAIGHT DAY of rain in Towano City!!! I know, I know, I complain too much. But when it rains, I can't meet up with Rinko and kiss her, because she's holding the umbrella and she always says no. And when the rain lasts so long - especially in the school holidays, when I can't kiss her at school, either - it's a bummer. I met Rink this morning at Dixies, and I think her expression just about says it all:

Yep, she's as sick of this rain as I am. Met her again for lunch - same story. No kissing. Plus, when we sat down, she asked me a question I wasn't familiar with, and it had about six possible choices. I chose the first one (usually safe?) but she didn't seem really happy about it. But at least she looked a little happier after meeting me, and I liked her outfit too.

Finally - again on a crowded bus on the way home - the rain stopped long enough for me to have a quick meet with her at Fountain Park. This time, I took every SINGLE opportunity to kiss her, and she loved it. Such a long day! I'll be glad when the holidays are over, actually, and we get back to school life. I hated my real high school life...but it's fun it the game with such a cute girlfriend.

Still working on the To-Do assignment. Again, I chose just two sessions today - it appeared in all four - and I guess I'll just go somewhere at random and see if I get lucky. I might call Rinko-chan out for another meet, too. Who knows, it might rain again tomorrow.

By the way, I just discovered that you can check the weather before you ask your girlfriend out by going to the map option in the main menu. Wish I knew about it sooner...

Dear Sweet Rinko!

I started off today with To-Do items in all four time slots! Because I don't understand the concept of the To-Do list in "New LovePlus" very much, I decided to just take two slots for it, because I'm trying to build up stats again. So I did exercise in the morning, then To-Do (unsuccessfully), then work at Dixies in the afternoon, and To-Do again (once more, unsuccessfully).

I was also pretty busy at work in the real world today, so I didn't get to see Rinko for nearly the whole day. Withdrawal! I actually missed her pretty bad by early afternoon.

The day wasn't a total loss, though. I opened the 3DS on a very bus crowded on the way home to see what was happening in the game. To my surprise, Rinko came to Dixies while I was working there! I kissed her when she arrived...which I gotta say is hard to do on a bus, especially when your girlfriend reacts like this:

Anyway, I can take the embarrassment. It was worth it, too, because Rink had another beautifully wrapped gift for me. I'm not really sure why - it's not our two week anniversary until tomorrow. Maybe she's just getting in early. Or maybe she's still on Daylight Saving Time.

The other problem is that I can't figure out what she gave me. When I checked my item list after the session, I couldn't find anything new. Maybe it will appear tomorrow, or maybe it's a bug? Anyway, as they say, it's the thought that counts. My dear, sweet Rinko! And she wore such a snappy outfit, too.

I didn't have a gift on hand, and no time to buy one, so I called Rinko and asked her to meet me. Then I have her the "eternal love letter" which appears in your item list when you reach about level 4 in the lover ratings. She seemed happy.

After that, I played a few days of Skip Mode to build up points for next week's date. I have a sort of "cheat" that I use each Monday afternoon. I go to Skip Mode, play two days of activities, then save and start again. When you do this, the clock resets to Monday. The advantage of this is that Monday and Tuesday are the days when your girlfriend is least likely to call you and arrange a Sunday date - and if you have to play through a Skip Mode date, you lose points, which kinda defeats the purpose. I usually play through either six or eight quick days like this, until I'm up to three hearts for each attribute, and that's usually enough. You still have five days in Real Time mode to collect a few more points before the date.

Interesting...?

When I opened the game this morning, I had an interesting schedule for the day:

1. Event
2. Event
3. Date
4. To Do

Wow, I've never seen a day look like this! After yesterday, I'm not sure if it will be good or bad. I just opened the first "Event" block, and Rinko met me at a table in a restaurant and talked for a while. I'm not sure what's going on, because I didn't get a chance to reply. That was the end of the event.

The second "Event" block today I still didn't understand, but the outcome was at least a little better. Rinko met me at the shopping centre, and I was able to kiss her.

I say "able" to kiss her, because she really didn't want to stop. Then we went to the Live House and kissed some more. Every time I wanted to advance to the next screen, she made a very disappointed sound and the skinship outline appeared, so she wanted more. This was kinda embarrassing, because I was actually visiting a friend's house for lunch today. I had to stop (for what I thought would be a quick event) and play the game, and it actually took around half an hour. T_T

And what can I say about the skinship and kissing? I couldn't kiss Rinko outside when I met her, because of the rain and her umbrella. But once we were inside, everywhere was five kisses plus four refrain kisses! My little Rink was in a very very VERY loving mood today. Maybe the rain is romantic after all.

Anyway, at 5:00pm it was time for the big date. It's been raining for two straight days in Towano City, and today was no exception! Rinko met me wearing a super outfit - still no change of hair length, though - and her usual polka-dot umbrella. I tried to kiss her, and she didn't look very impressed...

Oh well. We also had to change the location of our date from Fountain Park because of the bad weather. I chose Karaoke, and Rinko liked it. She was much happier sitting next to me on the train.

Then at the very worst time I ran out of photos on my in-game camera. I hate it when this happens. For some reason, I could only take five shots today (and 2/5 were blurred). Arghhh! Maybe spending money on the camera upgrade will be worth it.

Anyway, Karaoke was nice. Every single kiss on today's date went to five kisses and then four refrain kisses, continuing Rinko's lovey-dovey mood from this morning. If anyone doesn't believe me, here's a photo I grabbed with my iPhone. XD

After Karaoke, we went for lunch at the Ramen Shop. Rinko really enjoyed the ramen and gyoza I ordered for her (only 4 rich - so cheap!). But then came the next surprise. Rinko came back to my house and hung out with me for a while IN MY ROOM. We listened to my new CD together. We played PuzzleDama together. And you probably guessed that there was kissing involved. (*Blush*) Here are some photos taken with a camera...just to capture the moment. I love the variety of Rinko-chan's expression:

But that still wasn't the end! I'd been playing this date for over an hour already, and expected it to end, when Rink invited me back to her house! We had a study date. And then finally, totally exhausted and supremely happy, it was time for the date to stop. At least she didn't say that today's date was "giri giri".

Wow, after a few slow days in Towano, this one was amazing. Two nagging points, though. First, I wsn't able to give the CD to Rinko as a gift. Guess I'll have to try something else next time. And two, I don't have a clue what the To-Do assignment is all about. Have to look for some online information about it. ^__^

PS: April Fool!
Well, looks like I was the fool today - I totally forgot that today was 1 April, which is April Fools' Day. So that's what Rinko's seriousness yesterday and this morning, and why I had to search for her today. She was playing a trick on me. Great.