You folks should *REALLY* play the 'Kita e' ("To the North") game series that this anime is based off of. I cannot stress enough how utterly awesome they are. "Kita e: White Illumination" is what made me buy a Dreamcast the day they came out in Japan (only to have the game -- which was supposed to be a launch title -- delayed for months
I got it eventually though
)
The games are not traditional Romance Adventures or Romance Simulations. The "official" genre that is stated on the packaging is "Travel Communication"... Structure-wise the game is basically an Adventure but at its core it's a TRAVEL SIMULATION. The stories are romantic stories set in real-life present-day Hokkaido. The stories are all very down-to-earth simple slice-of-life romances that you get involved with. My favorite character from the first game was Kawahara Ayu, the daughter of a sushi restaurant who wants to be a professional singer...
What gives the stories their flavor is SETTING, SETTING, SETTING. All the places you go to visit are real places! The restaurants are real, the parks and beaches are real! Tourist attractions are real... The girls take on the role of tour guides telling you about the places you visit. In fact, you can even visit the places without the girls and simply use the game as an interactive travel guide! I really want to visit Hokkaido someday, and now I can and know exactly where to get a good bite to eat!
The Dreamcast version would even put links to the websites of the attractions onto your browser!
I remember when I was 15, and I had the best vacation ever. I met lots of nice girls and visited interesting places with them. These games take me back to those days when I could find adventure and romance away from home.
People might draw comparisons to Sentimental Graffiti, which was also a travel game... but they are not comparable at all. Senti focused on the actual act of TRANSPORTATION -- figuring out if you could afford to fly or take a train or hitchhike to get to your date on time. "Kita e" is all about the DESTINATION. Getting to see incredible volcanoes or the stunning fortress at Hakodate, or even silly biggest-ball-of-twine style tourist attractions (in Kita e: Diamond Dust there's a park you can visit thats claim to fame is the "world's longest park bench" that stretches to the horizon.)
People expecting a story like Kanon with magic and high drama will be disappointed. The places you visit and the girls you meet are all completely realistic (aside from being a bit prettier than might be considered realistic). Nothing out-of-the-ordinary happens. ...but the stories are sweet slice-of-life stories about people living real lives. It makes you feel like you're really there.
Most of all, if you ever want to visit Hokkaido, this game will show you where you can go. In particular there's these beautiful waterfalls I want to visit. ^^
You can pick up Kita e: White Illumination and the add-on disc Kita e: Photo Memories for the Dreamcast, as well as the new game Kita e: Diamond Dust for the PS2 at
www.ncsx.com ! Get these games now if you like travel and romance!