Tuesday

Today was a day spent setting into the routines of school life. I'm 100% fine with playing the new game now (NLP+), and would never think about going back to any previous version. Konami have worked really hard to give us the very best of everything this time around - so let's enjoy! Rinko was there at the corner outside my house to greet me this morning:

And, as always, we enjoyed the walk to school together.

Most of the day, I met Rinko at various spots around the school, trying to level up each of them. This included the Courtyard...

... and the Tennis Club room.

We walked home together in the afternoon, and Rinko mentioned my birthday (coming up on 4 May) for the first time. I wonder what my present is going to be???

I'm able to meet her at Aisha Dining now (which is just called "Aisha" in this game).

And I met her there a second time at night. Another achievement to note - I managed to get two kisses in a single session a couple of times today. It's hard work, though, and I still mostly get one kiss each time. But hey, I love skinship and kissing so much in this new game that it honestly doesn't matter.

Our final meet-up for the day was a late night visit to Fountain Park, which is always romantic in the moonlight.

Scary Tennis Guy

Manaka seemed anxious about something when she met me to walk to school today. I'm not sure what it was, but you can see the worried look on her face:

Naturally, a good-morning kiss helped to cheer her up. ^__^

But even so, she was rather quiet and worried the rest of the way to school. Manaka wore a couple of cute pink bows in her hair today, which looked really sweet.

In today's "Seishun No. 1 Page" story, we met the players of a rival tennis club (who seem much better than our own rag-tag bunch of players from Towano High). Their coach is this guy, who looks like a scary version of Freddy Mercury. Apparently he's also a world-class tennis player.

I'm trying to level-up various locations around the school (since I can't meet Manaka-chan anywhere else during school time). I met her on the roof today, which was always a favourite spot for...well, I won't say who.

Manaka had been wearing the "cute" style of clothes for the past few days, but she met me today wearing her "neat" clothes (which I also love). I think it might be because, when she asked me what type of clothes I preferred in LovePlus mode, I answered "neat", and Manaka said that she would keep that in mind. It seems like she did!

Actually, any clothes are fine on my Manaka-chan, except for casual style clothes. They really don't suit her at all. Walking home, she still seemed to be worried about something...

I met Manaka one more time tonight at Dixies (which I also unlocked today, and now I'm trying to level-up).

When we sat down to talk, she mentioned her birthday (I think), which is coming up in exactly on month (5 October). She seemed a bit shy talking about it. Aww.

And finally, here she is saying goodnight to me.

It's only my fourth day of playing with Manaka-chan (not counting the first 80 or so), but I love her very much already, and I always look forward to spending time with her. After the last meeting and kiss today, I reached Level 3 at last.

A Very Busy Day - Part 2

Well, I made it to the Flea Markets at lunchtime, picked up a Premium Date ticket (for the Night Time Aquarium Visit), bought a CD and a blue punky bracelet for Rinko.

When 6pm rolled around, Rinko met me for the Summer Festival (Matsuri) wearing a very sweet yukata (summer kimono) with a big pink sash. Her default hairstyle was replaced by a very cute, short style with a tiny little ponytail. Kawaiiiii!

We walked up to the Shrine and went around for a while checking out the different stalls. Rinko was very excited the whole time...

Then something caught Rinko's attention, and she pulled me over to the right.

It was a stall selling baked sweet potato! Rin-chan loved eating it very much (although it was pretty hot) and even let me have a bite.

All too soon, it was time to walk home, with a chance to grab a few quick kisses along the way. It's hard to resist kissing your girlfriend when she wears her yukata.

There are two more weeks of the Summer Festival left - and I hope they're as enjoyable as this one has been.

After all the excitement of this weekend - what, with Rinko's birthday, this morning's huge date, and the Summer Festival - maybe the rest of the week will be quieter in Towano. It may have to be, because I have very few hearts and very little money left. I need to wait awhile before inviting Rinko out for the Premium Date, so I can build up my hearts a bit. But I know from my last game that it will be worth waiting for!

A Very Busy Day - Part 1

Well, there were no more special happenings yesterday for Rinko's birthday. But this morning's date was an absolute blinder - probably one of the most PERFECT dates I've had in the world of Towano. Maybe it was just good luck - but I put it more down to the fact that I know so much more about how to play the game now and make it work for me.

When I met Rin-chan at the station, she still had her default hairstyle and was wearing very casual clothes. This is probably because this second game is so new (only Day 5!) that she hasn't sent me any questions about changing her clothes or hairstyle yet. So there was no point in saying that I didn't like them - because there's nothing else for her to change back to. So I just told her she looked fine.

We grabbed a quick bite at Winning Burger. I ordered the Hot Dog Set, but ended up getting the BLT Burger Set. I used to think this was a bug, mixing up the date locations and menu items - but recently I read somewhere that it can happen when you don't use enough hearts (or enough of a particular kind of heart) on your date. I'm not sure - I used three of each heart this time. Have to try using more next time and see if it still happens. Anyway, Rinko didn't care.

We hopped on the train to the Amusement Park. Travelling on the trains in "New LovePlus" makes me miss the wonderful local train system in Tokyo. T_T

At the Amusement Park, I selected the Haunted House, because the green personality Rinko is supposed to like this spot. Anyway, she didn't seem overly impressed.

With the choice of an extra place to go, I chose to have a meal at the Italian Restaurant in the Towano Hill Area. It's so nice here - just like a real Italian Restaurant - and Rinko was very happy to go there. I ordered the Mix Pizza, but instead I got something else - the Pepperoncino. Once again, Rinko didn't mind. I actually think she'll eat just about anything...she doesn't seem fussy about food at all.

And then, surprisingly (so early in this new game), Rinko invited me back to her place after the date. I chose to do a study session with her - studying the Foreign Language (English) because it's about the easiest for me to find the right answers for in the Official Guide Book - and passed all three times. The first time, your girlfriend makes tea and a snack for you. The second time, she changes into a different outfit and poses for you. And the third time...well, that's the "Intimate Photo Session", which I wasn't able to figure out at all the first time I played.

In this mode, you get to use the gyrosensor and both screens of the 3DS. You can move around the room pretty freely and snap photos of your girl from lots of different angles. You can also say stuff like "cute", "pose" and "cheese". It's a blast, though the photos tend to only capture what's on the top screen. Sadly.

I also gave Rinko a gift of a white shoulder-bag, which I seem to have also picked up when I cashed in the TV Bros 100 rich password protected item on Friday. She absolutely loved it. And it's nice to get something for nothing.

Wow, that was an amazing date, and it took about an hour to play.

Next, at 12 noon, I'm going to the Flea Markets at Fountain Park to buy a Premium Date ticket and maybe a CD as well. ^^

Happy Birthday Rinko!!!

Today was the BIG DAY - Rinko's birthday. When I started the game this morning, Rinko bounced up onto the welcome screen and encouraged me to say "Happy Birthday, Rinko" in the cutest possible way.

I was able to book activities in the usual four slots today, but I noticed that Rinko's Birthday was a "Special Event" on the top screen, scheduled between 3:00pm and 11:59pm. In the meantime, I went out to Electric Town and was able to visit the Cat Cafe - so cute! - but was unable to use my camera there. (Maybe this feature will unlock later?)

I played the third "Seishun No. 1 Page" story, when the Library Committee girls finally agreed to join Rinko's band. The next couple of photos come from that story...

In the real world, I went out after lunch to buy a birthday card for Rinko, and found one with a very cute cat design. I just felt like spoiling her today. When 3pm finally rolled around, I was happy to see that Rinko had dressed neatly for her birthday date.

We kissed a bit, then walked along through Towano together. Today, she wanted to go to her three favourite date spots: Karaoke, the Game Arcade, and the Live House - all in one day!

Here's Rinko in the Karaoke Box with me...

Outside the game arcade...

And inside the Game Arcade. See how seriously she takes arcade games???

And finally, checking out a rock concert at the Live House.

When we got back to Rinko's house, it was time to hand over that all-important birthday gift. She loved the pink "Killer Bambies" jacket, I'm sure.

I think this second shot, where Rinko is hugging my gift, is kinda nice. (Don't know how I got that jacket into such a small box, though. Hehe. ^^

I also gave Rinko the birthday card I'd bought for her. Well, this is as close as I could get to actually "giving" it to her. But surely it's the thought that counts, right?

I don't think there's going to be any more special stuff for Rinko's birthday today, because the event icon has disappeared from the top screen. But in "New LovePlus" you never really know. I'll certainly be playing at six o'clock just to make sure.