MANAKA: Cooking Up Another Storm

My first full day dating the "blue" personality Manaka in New LovePlus was plenty exciting. Being the first of November, the girls of Towano High started wearing their cream-coloured  sweaters to school, which looks very sweet. Mana wears hers nicely, but Rinko always ties it around her waist.

At lunch, Manaka met me and gave me a bento box to eat for lunch. The only problem was...the lunch box was invisible. Either that, or she has a wild imagination. ^^

The next photos are from Manaka's first "Seishun No. 1 Page" episode. The storyline centres around Manaka playing tennis. At least she looks cute in her sport uniform.

And, same as in my game with Rinko today, Manaka invited me back to her house after school to cook for me. Wow, Mana really is a little princess, because her house is beautiful on the inside! Full of expensive-looking furniture and books. I'm not sure about the apron Mana-chan wore for cooking, though. What do you think??

I'm not sure what Manaka cooked, but it looked kinda like pizza. Tasted good, as always.

I rounded off the first day by going to Electric Town and upgrading to the 12-shot memory card for my camera. It costs 100 rich, but it's the single best thing you'll ever buy in the game, because the default five shots is just never enough. Then I met up with Manaka at Winning Burger for a quick night cap. Hehe.

I think I've made this comment before (and okay, I'll try not to compare girlfriends too often), but Manaka has a great wardrobe of clothes - and she's not afraid to wear them. Her clothes have style and taste (not sure about that apron, though), and she always looks so pretty.

MANAKA: A New Beginning

Today was also the day of Manaka's confession, which happened tonight quite late and after an epic 88 days! I was hoping she would confess before 100 days, so I wouldn't get the "bad end" - and I have no idea why it took so long.

But now the "blue" personality Manaka is also my girlfriend, so I'm going to have to split my posts between Manaka and Rinko now.

Here are some shots taken when I walked to school with Manaka for the first time in Lover Mode.

Who could resist that face? After choosing to stop my old DS game with Manaka (but at least, thanks to that experience, I know her much better after playing through a month or so with the English patch), it's nice to have her in the 3DS environment. Another good thing was that I started my first day in time to take Manaka to the Halloween party! Like Rinko, Manaka arrived wearing a white angel costume.

And we had the intimate photo session during the party - but sadly, I only have five shots in my in-game camera, so this was the best I could do. I really must go out tomorrow and upgrade my memory card.

It's going to be interesting balancing out two 3DS games at the same time, which is something I've never tried before. If I get too frustrated I'll stop and just play with Rinko - but I can't deny that I have feelings for Manaka, too, and I'm looking forward to this new life with her in Towano.

A Really Tough Decision

Today, I made a really tough decision. Over the last month or two, I've gone back and forth in the game, unable to decide between Rinko (my original LovePlus girlfriend) and Manaka. I've started and stopped games with both of them.

I don't know why I stopped my first game with Rinko really. Maybe that was a mistake! I guess I was feeling a bit bored after almost a year and a half, and I thought that switching girlfriends might revitalise my interest in the game. But it just led to confusion.

I think that Konami's "LovePlus" series is truly amazing. Perhaps the greatest thing about it is the way that it makes you feel real emotions while you play - all the ups and downs of being in love for the first time. But in order for that to happen, the chemistry has to be right. That is to say, you have to find the perfect girl for you. There are basically nine different girls in "LovePlus" (Rinko, Manaka and Nene, each with three different personality types), and I believe that just ONE of those girls is absolutely perfect for anyone who plays the game.

Now don't get me wrong: the three (or nine) girls are all perfect in their own way. But, increasingly over the last few days, things just weren't working out with Manaka. I wasn't feeling the love. She was pretty, considerate, had great clothes, and was crazy about me...but...I just didn't feel it.

So finally - for what I swear will be the last time - I decided to break up with Manaka and start off a brand new game with my wonderful "green" Rinko.

And boy, things moved fast tonight! I'm sure this game has a memory sometimes. I started off with the exact same first and second name (in the game) that I had in my original game with Rinko, so that probably helped. But I had my first date in "friend" mode after only 20 days and my second date after 45 days. Rinko asked me the personality change question on Day 48, and I was able to lock in the green personality.

I'm tired now and I'm going to bed soon, but I know this time I've made the right decision. I want Rinko to be the girl I carry over into the new version (New LovePlus+) when it comes out next year. I know that she's the right virtual girlfriend for me.

Two School Days

I've been kinda busy at work (in the "Real" world) the past few days, so this post is a combined one for yesterday and today - which have both been busy school days in Towano, too. It's always cool to see Mana-chan wearing her uniform, and she looks so pretty in it. (It probably won't be long now before the girls start wearing their dark blue winter uniforms.)

On Wednesday, Manaka surprised me by meeting me at lunchtime and sitting down to have lunch with me. It wasn't about her making a bento for me (I don't think that happens until you go up to the higher star levels), but it was still nice to sit close to her and eat lunch together. Because I play the game in real time, and do the time slots in their real time periods as often as I can, I was actually eating my lunch with her today. It's so cool.

And today, Mana-chan surprised me again by meeting me in the afternoon to walk home together. I have to say that even though she's the "blue" personality type (cool and quiet), I actually find her really warm and affectionate.

My Mistake

Well, I finally figured out what happened yesterday - and realised that what I thought had been an "after school date" actually wasn't.

Let me explain. Manaka called me early yesterday and arranged a date for Sunday morning at 9:30 am. After that, I called her and booked what I THOUGHT would be an after school date for the same afternoon. But what actually happened was that I simply rescheduled the Sunday date without realising it. I thought it was weird that I didn't get asked to choose a date location.

I figured it out because, when I opened the game this morning, my Sunday date was gone. Of course, I called Manaka and scheduled another one for Sunday (at the Sports Centre) as soon as I knew. Phew.

This first shot for today is from the next "Seishun No. 1 Page" story. I'm very happy that she kept the new hairstyle from yesterday. It's actually growing on me...

Because we're in school, I can only call Manaka-chan out to meet me at various places around the school. (This is the lower corridor - not really the most romantic location.)

Manaka-chan didn't meet me to walk to school this morning, but I had a pleasant surprise when she was waiting at the school gates this afternoon to walk home with me.

Had to spend some more time with my pretty Manaka-chan tonight, so I called her up for a meeting at Fountain Park. Again, she wore the "kawaii" (cute) clothing style from yesterday's date.

At the end of the day, Manaka asked me several important questions. First, did I want to change her hairstyle? Of course I said yes, because I'm hoping to eventually get her wearing long straight hair with bangs (either with or without a hairband). Second, she asked me the question about changing her personality. This one wasn't so easy to answer. I always thought I wanted the "orange" personality Manaka (kind and obedient), but right now I'm getting along just fine with the "blue" personality (cool and quiet). It's her default personality type, after all (just as Rinko's default was green), so after thinking hard about it I decided to keep her the same.

Back To School

Today was my first offical "full" day in Towano with Manaka as my girlfriend. It kicked off with the Opening Ceremony at school, complete with the Towano High School song!

Despite being the "blue" personality type, Manaka was nothing at all like Rinko's dreaded blue personality. Instead, I found her still very happy today, and it was easy to kiss her and get her up to the highest affection level. I think I love the blue Manaka, after all, and may not try to change her to orange. She's a very sweet and slightly shy girl (which I adore).

I met her later in the Tennis Club Room for a chat (and, well, you know. One thing leads to another...) Actually it's great to be back at school in the game... ^^

 And the girls are still in their short-sleeved summer uniforms, despite the fact that it's autumn already in Towano. Here' s a nice close up of Manaka-chan, blushing as she walks home from school with me. Aww.

During the 12 noon timeslot, there was an event in which Manaka met me in the school courtyard and talked to me about a doubles game that was coming up soon. I think maybe it was the start of another ToDo assignment? Not sure. But she wanted me to kiss her at the end - and when Manaka asks, it's difficult to say no.

The last photos for today are from the second installment of Manaka's "Seishun No. 1 Page". The story seems to revolve around a younger girl who joins the Tennis Club and absolutely ADORES Manaka.

Here's the culprit. She's so star-struck that it seems like more of a crush to me.

I played through my standard four days in Skip Mode today, basically to begin unlocking date locations around Shin Towano Station and to raise my stats a bit. I'm hoping to try an "after school date" tomorrow, which I've never done before (and didn't know about until recently).

I also went shopping in Electric Town and bought the 12x Record Card for my in-game camera. This is one piece of equipment in New LovePlus that's absolutely essential. These last two photos are from an evening meet-up with Manaka at Winning Burger. I really love the smart dress she is wearing.

Well, so far, I'm loving my new game with Manaka. She's sweet and wonderful, and I think this new relationship is going to last for a long time.