Sunday's Date: Giri-Giri?

Today's date was interesting to say the least, if not entirely successful. Rinko had the same hairstyle she's had for the past few days, and her clothes were pretty casual - but I let it it go this time, because it didn't look TOO bad.

We stopped into the Japanese Sweet Shop first for a quick bite...

Then we went by train to the main part of our date.

I'm sure I booked something else, but it turned out to be a jazz concert at the Live House. Rinko was not very impressed...

With a second date option, I chose the Indoor Pool, but we didn't end up there. Instead, we arrived at the Shopping Mall - which Rinko also hates.

Okay, so she was a good sport about it in the end.

But when we got back to her home at the end of the date, Rinko said that the date was "Giri-Giri" - which means just barely ok.

Have to do better next time! Anyway, Rinko's affection level is still high, and I stopped into the Markets today (finally!!!) to pick up a Premium Date ticket for the all-night karaoke festival. THIS should be much more Rinko's idea of fun!

In the afternoon, I took Rinko out to the Coffee Shop, and she wore a pretty pink variation of her Killer Bambies jacket.

It's nice to have a girlfriend who still adores you, even if you have one bad dating experience!

Tuesday

Today was a busy day, starting out with a long but interesting episode of Rinko's "Seishun No. 1 Page" story. Rinko and her band ("In The Rye") are starting to rehearse for their first live performance at the Live House. The most obvious thing you'll notice in these shots is the change-over to winter school uniforms in Towano today (the 1st of October). These uniforms are dark blue with long sleeves.

In the proper game it was raining, so Rinko was waiting to meet me with her umbrella and walk me to school.

Luckily the showers had cleared up and there were blue skies by lunchtime, so Rink had lunch with me on the school roof. She'd made another bento for lunch...without the cute face this time.

She even shared some of her bento with me. How cute!

And this afternoon, she walked me home from school as well. I really can't get enough of Rinko-chan with this new hairstyle. I'm going to let her keep it for as long as possible.

Here's an extreme close-up:

Now that it's Autumn, the trees at the Shrine have bright orange leaves - and there are a lot of falling leaves, too. It's very romantic.

I've booked a date for Rinko at the Zoo this Sunday at 3:00 pm. Oh yeah, and I finally reached Level 4 in the 3DS game today. Yay!

In my DS game with Manaka, I finally went to the Shopping Mall and bought a gift for her birthday, which is coming up this Saturday. I bought her a pretty formal dress, so I hope she likes it. I've been playing with the orange Manaka for almost a week now, and I'm enjoying the old game with the English patch very much.

Preparations

Today saw Rinko's band, "In The Rye", preparing for their first live at the Live House in Towano. There's still some friction between members, and a lot of stage fright, but Rin seems to be holding it all together. Here's some shots from today's "Seishun No. 1 Page"...

You know, I'm actually starting to like Rin with this short hairstyle! I always thought I would prefer long or medium long hair...but this 'do is starting to grow on me. Rinko looks pretty young like this, but that's okay because it's also cute. Here are a couple of shots from our afternoon meet-up and Fountain Park.

I have a date booked with Rin for this coming Sunday at 9:30 am, so basically the rest of the week will be building up stats and getting ready.


================
SIDE STORY - MANAKA
================

Today's date with Manaka in the DS version was pretty amazing, too - it took me around an hour at lunchtime to play all the way through! We started off going to the Amusement Park and riding the Ferris Wheel. Then, with a second date option, we went to Fountain Park. And then - yes, there was still more! - to Winning Burger for a drink and a snack. Manaka was in a mood where she wanted to never stop kissing me, including when she "forgot something" and the end of the date and came back to kiss me some more.

I'm enjoying playing the two different versions of LovePlus side-by-side now, and with the two very different girls it's actually not confusing at all. Obviously I love the DS version because of the English Patch, but there's so much cool stuff in the 3DS version that I wouldn't want to miss out on that, either.

Can't wait for "New LovePlus +" next year. I'm hoping that I might be able to be in Japan for the launch, but maybe that's just a pipe dream right now. There's no definite date from Konami yet, so we'll have to wait and see...

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.