Saturday, July 17, 2010

Busou Shinki or Loveplus?

Cuteness is in the eye of a Japanese otaku. In the hands of the troops from Konami, the words "Buso Shinki" and "Loveplus" seems to be differ depending on which Konami fan decide on those two. Could an otaku choose a "take-everywhere virtual girlfriend" or figures with movable parts most Konami fans love especially the PSP game where they show who's Busou Shinki is the boss?

CASE ONE:
Konami's not all things Metal Gear, DDR, Silent Hill, and Castlevania. These troops also specialize in all things "moe" and cute, especially animes with their own Konami-branded games, goods, and others.

About Busou Shinki, these were the figures that were cute and customizable. It uses MMS (Multi Movable System) to move the figure's parts freely as the customer wishes to do with it. It debuted since fall 2006 with the introduction of the very first two Busou Shinki figures, Arnval and Strarf, following with different Busou Shinki variants in the following years.

The Busou Shinki shock in Japan is not just the success of these figures, but also online (http://www.shinki-net.konami.jp/) and now on the PSP video game Busou Shinki Battle Masters. From the net to the PSP game, most Busou Shinki enthusiasts in Japan can customize their Busou Shinki the way they want, and pit them to battles. Reputation is the key in the eyes of the Busou Shinki owner and his/her Busou Shinki, and the only way to gain reputation is to win battles. If they win battles, the Busou Shinki will gain experience based on their performance. A key reminder is its respect, if his/her Busou Shinki wins more, it will respect more on the owner. Talk about a part-dating sim, part fighting-game....


CASE 2:
Since its debut from fall 2009, Loveplus is a real-time dating sim game that pits lonely male Japanese players to choose either Manaka Takane, Rinko Kobayakawa, or Nene Anegasaki. What the player do to the selected virtual girlfriend is spend time together any way a player wants.

Since the Loveplus shock that made this game successful in Japan, the R&D of Konami decided to give Loveplus some minor changes and the Loveplus's facelift, called Loveplus Plus, debuted just in time for the long Japanese summer vacation.

Fast fact: Some Japanese guy tied a knot with the choses Loveplus gal, Nene. Read the scoop: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10404956-71.html

My Comment: Seems the Konami name is not just a "Militaires Sans Frontieres", the R&D of Konami also specializes in all things "moe" and cute, especially the wide success of either the Busou Shinki figures and the Loveplus game. Hope I can find one of those in selected Comic Alley stores...

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