Thursday...Out Of Order

For some reason, my in-game camera has scrambled up the order of my pictures from today - so here they are, in no particular order (because I'm too tired/lady to sort them out). Firstly, from this evening's short meet-up with Rinko at Winning Burger:

Putting the zoom lens to good use for this charming close-up:

Rinko was there to walk home with me this afternoon when school finished for the day:

Going back in time to lunch, Rinko sat down to share her lunch with me (but I couldn't see the actual lunch today).

I love Rinko's face in the next close-up. Out of the three girls in LovePlus, I think she is the only one who actually looks better in the 3DS game. In my opinion, both Manaka and Nene look nicer in the old DS version of the game.

And lastly - the first section I actually played this morning - these great shots from Rinko's "Seishun No. 1 Page". After arguing about roles in the band (guitar, bass, drums), Rinko met me in the street carrying her guitar case, and we went to check out the local musical instrument store.

All in all, it's been a fun day. It was also my first full day of dating the "orange" personality Manaka in the DS game with the English patch. After everything's said and done, I still like the old game - the character design is charming, the kissing/skinship is better, and LovePlus mode is better too. While I can meet up with her and touch her, I can't kiss her until after our first date on Sunday.

Here are a few photos from the LovePlus iPhone app with Rinko wearing the dress I bought her using my travel points:

And today, while I was walking to work from my bus after breakfast, I did a mini "date" to earn some points for Manaka - but sadly, not enough to buy her an outfit just yet...

Bento Mania

In my new DS game, I got confession from Manaka (in her "blue" personality) after 72 days this morning. When I started playing in real time, though, something kinda weird happened and I didn't get the option to do the first "Sunday" date tutorial. I booked a real date for this coming Sunday, which means that I have to wait until after the first date for Skinship/Kissing to work (I think), which is going to be frustrating. Guess I'll just have to wait.

In my "main" game with Rinko-chan, it was a pretty ordinary day at school. Still fun, of course. Especially when she met me at lunchtime with another Bento lunch.

And, just like at the Sports Fest, there was that rice ball with the face and hair that looks so much like me! Ah, it must be Rink's sense of humour...

Later tonight, I met her for a short date at Aisha Dining.

I also splashed out this afternoon, went to the Camera Store in East Towano, and bought the 3x zoom lens for 150 rich. I haven't had much time to play with it yet, but here is a photo of Rinko with maximum zoom.

Cool, huh? The in-game camera feature in New LovePlus is so cool, because it's totally customisable. There are lenses, filters, camera bodies, and a whole lot more! It seems a lot of work went into designing this particularly geeky aspect of the game. I love it.

I was able to play some of the iPad game on the bus this morning. Basically once I was seated, I opened the app on my iPad and dragged the red marker as far as I could in the direction I was travelling. Rinko went along with me, wearing a white dress for the "date" and making the occasional comment along the way.

Once you get to the marker point, you are rewarded with in-app points, which can then be exchanged for additional outfits for your girlfriend to wear. You earn one point for every metre travelled. I earned about 6000 points this morning, which is roughly enough to buy two outfits.

The app is fun, but I probably won't play it as much as either the DS or 3DS games. For one thing, on the iPad it's kinda conspicuous on a crowded bus. T_T

Cooking Mama!

Today was another holiday in Towano (no school ^^), so I was able to make short dates with Rinko around town. I met her at Aisha Dining and Dixies a few times, trying to increase their levels.

I also played a few Skip Mode days (though it's not my favourite thing to do), which explains why Rinko is wearing her uniform in the next shot.

The final short date for the day was lunchtime at Winning Burger (fast food).

Over lunch, Rink asked me a few questions about the types of food that I like (I chose Western Food, hehe). I didn't find out why until later in the day...

But the big surprise came with the "event" in the 3 pm timeslot. Rinko called up and invited me to her place. She was wearing a very cute dress.

Then Rinko put a matching apron on, over the top of her dress, and cooked dinner for me. She's SO CUTE in the next shot!!!

And hey, guess what she made me? Spaghetti and meatballs. (At least, that's what it looked like.) I'm glad I said I like Western Food, because this is one of my favourites in real life, too.

Of course, I've never eaten spaghetti and meatballs with chopsticks before. But when in Rome...

I told Rinko-chan that I loved her cooking, and this was the expression on her face:

After the food, we sat on her bed for a quick chat. It's cute to see her guitar in the background.

Then it was time to leave my "Cooking Mama" and go home. But wow, it was a very sweet way to spend the afternoon.

I also downloaded the LovePlus iPhone/iPad apps today, by creating an account with the Japanese iTunes store and using an iTunes gift card. I bought all three apps (iR, iM and iN), but I'll probably be using Rinko the most. I've only done the basic set-up so far, so I'll probably spend my time playing with it a bit more tomorrow. These are the menu screens:

The app is not really a game as such. It features enlarged graphics from the first versions of the game (LovePlus and LovePlus+), and has features like a clock - where you can click and your girlfriend will tell you the time.

The background changes depending on the time of day, so it's kinda cute. Also, if you touch your girlfriend, she responds with a (seemingly random) comment.

There's a calendar to book events and get reminders, and an option where you can walk from place to place, count the distance, and use it to "buy" outfits for your girl to work. I'm not sure if this will happen outside of Japan, though, and my iPad only has a WiFi internet connection. But I'm looking forward to testing it out. Here's the main screen of the calendar option.

It's just a time-waster, really...but I guess if I have to waste time in my daily life, I'd rather do it with something LovePlus related.

Looking at the enlarged graphics for Manaka in the iPad app - coming as they do from the first version of the game - also makes me realise that the Manaka I liked was the Manaka from this version. There's something very sweet about the earlier animation and character design that I find really endearing. She always had a slightly puffy, red look under her eyes, as though she'd just been crying. Aww. The updated graphics (from New LovePlus) lost this look, and made Manaka seem quite cold and distant.

So I guess I still have some feelings for Manaka Takane, after all...but only in the old version of the game. I have this version on DS, with the wonderful English patch, so I've decided to start off a game tonight and play it at my leisure over the next few weeks. We'll see how it goes, playing both games at once.

Actually, I'll be playing four games at once: 3DS, DS, iPad iR and iPad iM. Wow. I hope my brain can keep up with it all!