In The Rye: Friday

Today was mostly a quiet day in Towano City, with the main highlight being the latest instalment of the "Seishun No. 1 Page". Rinko was proudly wearing her "In The Rye" T-shirt and trying to enthuse the other girls in the band. Here are some photos of her at rehearsal with her guitar:

Although my hearts are fairly low (to say the least) after blowing everything on the Premium Date, I've booked another date with Rinko on Sunday - going to Electric Town, and hopefully visiting the Cat Cafe. I didn't get to go to a real Cat Cafe when I was in Japan last time...so this kinda makes up for it. And Electric Town makes me think of Akihabara, which I miss very much!

This last shot is from my short meeting with Rinko at Dixies this afternoon:

So Comfortable ^____^

Well, today was the first day of my brand new game with Rinko as my girlfriend. I'm so happy. For one thing, I've made a fresh start in "New LovePlus". Yes, I've lost 500+ days of gameplay, but I know so much more now than I did when I started playing this game on 3DS last March...so I KNOW I can do it better.

But much more than that: being together with Rinko again just feels...right. I guess it depends on what you're looking for in a relationship (including a virtual one). Some people look for constant excitement or challenge, but for me, my ideal girlfriend is someone I feel absolutely comfortable being with. An in the world of Towano, that girl for me is Rinko Kobayakawa.

After playing through all the compulsory tutorials at the start of "lover" mode, I met up with Rinko at Fountain Park. She had the straight-line mouth (on her tiny affection level icon), but after just one session of skinship and kissing she was right back to the big happy smile and flashing eyes - and she stayed that way. The "green" personality Rinko is really nice.

I also played through the first "Seishun 1 Page" story, which is about Rinko starting a band with a couple of other girls from the Library Committee (which explains why she's wearing her school uniform in the next couple of shots, even though it's Summer Break).

In the afternoon and evening, I met her a couple more times at Fountain Park, because once I get that location up to Level 2 or 3, I can visit the Flea Markets on Sunday and buy stuff - especially Premium Date tickets, which I'm anxious to use more this time around.

My next objective will be to unlock the Electronics Quarter (Akihabara?) and get to the Electronics Store so that I can upgrade my in-game camera. It's frustrating being able to take only five shots per date, so a memory card of even 12 photos for my camera is a big advantage.

Plus, Saturday is Rinko's birthday. Sadly there isn't time to unlock the Shopping Mall and buy anything, so she'll just have to make do with either the default gold cross earrings (which you always get for free at the start of "lover" mode or one of the password protected items that you can download.

A Normal Day...

After the emotion of yesterday, today was a fairly normal day in Towano. Still wonderful, of course. I started out by walking Rinko to school...and she seemed happy enough.

Then, a little later, I met her for a short date on the school roof. As you can see, she loves going there!

We also walked home together after school, which was a treat because it doesn't seem to happen so much these days. I think Rinko-tan's orange hair looks perfect with the dark blue winter uniform.

And because I wanted to spoil her, we finished up the day with a night-time date at Fountain Park (her other favourite place).

In front of Rinko's apartment building is always a great place for a goodnight kiss.

Surprisingly there was another Seishun 1 Page chapter after 9pm. The Library girls are rehearsing and talking about their live show - and I note that Rinko is still playing bass.

Ahh, I miss Japan. I loved the trip to Tokyo SO MUCH, and really wish that I'd been able to spend more time shopping in Akihabara and playing the LovePlus arcade game. I have the feeling I'll be heading back as soon as I can afford it.

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!