Hirozawa Furukawa inserted the game cartridge and started the game.
As the last work by Old Thief Kohara in his lifetime, he naturally had to be full of anticipation and treat it seriously.
Of course, if Old Thief Kohara's work turned out to be truly terrible, Hirozawa Furukawa would absolutely not show any leniency and would definitely criticize it heavily.
Although, judging from the promotional video, it was highly unlikely that it would be a bad game.
The game started, and a beautiful game screen appeared on the television.
It was still the familiar Pokeni Corporation logo, followed by the large title [Your Name].
The only difference was—
This time, P Corporation had placed the producer's name on the initial game screen.
The large characters "Kogahara Tsubakiaki" were very conspicuous.
It was probably hard to see such a situation in gaming history, right?
After the text disappeared, the game's start screen appeared.
Due to the storage limitations of the cartridge, the visual quality that can be displayed now is certainly not as exquisite as in the promotional video, but it makes up for it with a very appealing art style and characters, possessing a distinct freshness.
The start screen features the male and female protagonists back-to-back, with their wrists connected by a colorful string.
The background is a night sky with shooting stars streaking across it.
In the center of the screen is the game menu.
Hirozawa Furukawa operates the controller, familiar with the process, and selects [New Game].
The screen goes black.
The game officially begins.
When it lights up again, it is presented in the way of [eyes opening]. At first, the size of the eye shape on the screen is revealed, and you can vaguely see the appearance of the ceiling.
Then, when the [eyes] are fully opened, the scene in front becomes clear.
In front is the ceiling of a house, with wooden windows on all four sides and beautiful tatami mats laid out on the floor.
Following the game's prompts, Hirozawa Furukawa attempts to [get up from the bed].
Then the perspective shifts, gradually moving downward as the protagonist sits up from the bed.
In the current perspective, a girl's body is visible, dressed in cute pink pajamas with small orange floral patterns.
The girl gets out of bed, looks up at an unfamiliar ceiling, feeling that her body is acting strange. Subconsciously, she looks down at her chest, confirming it with her hands, a look of utter confusion on her face.
"Huh? Is it actually starting with a female lead?"
This is the first time in Hirozawa Furukawa's life he has ever played a galgame from a female perspective.
You have to understand that in the current market, galgames are primarily aimed at male players, so in order to make the game more immersive, they usually choose to present the story from the male protagonist's perspective.
Even in Pokeni's previous work, The Entropic Man, you could choose to play as either the male or female lead yourself.
Playing Your Name, that excitement began to surge through Hirozawa Furukawa's heart once again.
That's right, this is the novel experience that Kogahara Tsubakiaki brings to players; he never repeats himself, and every game he makes brings you a brand new feeling.
However, with the inner monologue that appeared on the screen, the look of confusion, and the subsequent short scene of confirmation, Hirozawa Furukawa immediately realized something was wrong.
"Nani?! Could this be..."
That's right, the protagonist was now in a girl's body.
Playing up to this point, Hirozawa Furukawa was immediately excited.
There are many novels and films in this world where bodies are swapped, but this was the first time he had encountered such a plot in a game.
Although he had already sensed a little bit of it in the PV, it was only when Hirozawa Furukawa experienced it himself that he realized the indescribable excitement that comes from being immersed in the game's first-person perspective.
The immersive experience and sense of presence in a game truly cannot be compared to novels or films!
Hirozawa Furukawa leaned back, his face flushed.
Games make you feel more real, and this feeling was truly wondrous; it was the first time he had experienced being in a girl's body.
"Emmm... damn it, only Kogahara Tsubakiaki could come up with this."
[Hmm... this feeling, isn't it a bit too real?]
Inside the TV, the [female protagonist] was frowning, deep in thought, feeling the reality transmitted from her own hands.
This line of dialogue seemed more like it voiced Furukawa Hirozawa's own inner thoughts at that moment.
And this hilarious scene made a strange smile involuntarily spread across Furukawa Hirozawa's face.
Just as the protagonist was touching himself, quite coincidentally, a little girl suddenly opened the door, looked at the protagonist, and asked in confusion, "Sister, what are you doing?"
Still lost in confusion because he had turned into a girl, the protagonist pointed at himself and asked in surprise, [Sister?]
Seeing his strange appearance, the little girl looked as if she had seen a pervert and quickly slammed the sliding door shut.
Seeing this, Furukawa couldn't straighten his back from laughing so hard.
Isn't this setup just too interesting?
Old Thief Kohara's ability to tell a story is truly top-notch. Especially in the little daily life segments interspersed before the emotional trauma hits, one can see witty and humorous jokes everywhere, making people smile knowingly after reading them.
However, Furukawa had long been trained to have PTSD. Based on Old Thief Kohara's usual tendencies, the happier the early stages of the game are, the more heartbreaking it will be later on.
This is the essence of emotional trauma.
Without the beauty of the early stages, there would be no emotional impact later.
Thinking of this, Furukawa covered his eyes in pain.
What a painful realization this is.
Then, when she went downstairs to eat, the heroine returned to normal. It must have been the next day.
There are no time indicators in the game, which is completely different from The Entropic Man; you can only guess based on the plot, clues, and the heroine's state.
However, the lines between the words and the content of the conversations with surrounding characters make Furukawa Hirozawa feel it is very interesting.
The heroine's name is Miyamizu Mitsuha, and she lives with her grandmother and younger sister.
Yesterday, Mitsuha suddenly started acting strange, but today she has returned to normal.
Furukawa guessed that it was probably like this...
But it's hard to say for sure, after all, this is a work by Kogahara Tsubakiaki.
Although, from what it looks like now, there are obvious differences from Gen Urobuchi's writing style, it still hides many subtle clues within the little fun moments. How everything actually turns out is something Furukawa will have to explore for himself.
The main activity area in the game is currently Itomori Town, and players can explore both the Miyamizu household and the outdoors.
The places to explore outside include the school, the mountain path, the town square, the police station, and so on.
Talking to different people can also trigger corresponding plotlines.
As for the plot, it starts from the heroine's perspective. Mitsuha's friend says that Mitsuha (the heroine) was acting strange yesterday—she didn't know how to tie her hair in a braid, didn't know her own name, couldn't remember where her seat was, and so on...
The heroine's father is the mayor of the town, and her home is a shrine.
The heroine also wears a red and white miko outfit~
Seeing this, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart.
Although it wasn't the same game, the Miyamizu Mitsuha dancing in the evening inexplicably reminded him of Yuki Rei from P Corporation's previous game, Onmyoji.
Both were very cute and strong-willed girls, especially when wearing the red and white miko outfit, which made people sigh with emotion for no apparent reason.
Furukawa Hirozawa thought to himself—
Just how much does that old thief Kohara love miko outfits?
And is he really that good at it?
When it comes to character design for heroines, Furukawa hadn't seen anyone who understood players better than Kogahara Tsubakiaki.
Dusk, a Shinto shrine.
The heroine is wearing a red and white miko outfit, performing a mysterious dance.
Although the game only displays it through animated images, Hirozawa Furukawa can already imagine a deeply moving scene in his mind.
How wonderful would it be if a girl like this truly existed in real life?
Furukawa sighs, gazing infatuatedly at the game screen.
But the very next second, he quickly shakes his head.
This thought only lasted for a second before Hirozawa Furukawa rejected it.
A girl like this could not possibly exist in the 3D world.
If one really did, then this world would be too surreal.
In a sense, Hirozawa Furukawa considers himself to be suffering from the "inability to fall in love with real girls" disease.
However, this disease hasn't affected his life in the slightest. Aside from becoming more reliant on games, Hirozawa Furukawa doesn't feel that his current days—the days without a girl's companionship—are bad at all.
The game's visuals were incredibly exquisite and detailed, and it vividly introduced this archaic ritual.
It was truly fascinating.
It even gave Furukawa Hirozawa the illusion that "perhaps this was actually based on a real small town in Japan."
Many producers and concept artists are accustomed to gaining inspiration through field trips, which they then use to fuel their imagination when creating games or animations.
The most classic example is Hayao Miyazaki, who once lived in Wales for quite some time to prepare for the production of Castle in the Sky.
Perhaps Kogahara Tsubakiaki did the same.
At the thought that such a town might exist in reality, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but feel a yearning.
After Miyamizu Mitsuha finished performing the mysterious ritual, she used chopsticks to pick up rice, chewed it thoroughly in her mouth, and spat the resulting milky-white liquid into a square wooden container.
Mitsuha's best friend, who was watching from the side, explained that this was called "kuchikamizake" (mouth-chewed sake). The shrine maiden chews the rice thoroughly, turning it into a liquid that ferments over time to become sake, which is then offered to the gods. It is said that this kuchikamizake has a very long history.
Would the gods really like this?
Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but tilt his head and wonder.
Because the heroine Mitsuha's classmates were also there watching, finding the sight of her in her red and white miko outfit, spitting out the white liquid from the chewed rice, to be quite intense and off-putting, they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
So, after the performance (is that even the right word to use?) ended, the heroine couldn't help but complain and shout on her way down the mountain~
[I've had enough of this place!]
[I've had enough of this life!]
[In my next life, please let me be a handsome guy in Tokyo and live a new life~!]
Hahahaha...
Seeing this, Furukawa Hirozawa rolled on the floor laughing.
Having finally managed to stop laughing, he sat up from the tatami mat, picked up the controller again, and wiped the tears from his face that had been brought on by his stomach hurting from laughter.
My god.
The script written by Kogahara Tsubakiaki is just too good, isn't it?
The girl is written so vividly.
And this kind of wish is really...
After thinking for a long time, Furukawa Hirozawa picked out the word "adorable" from his mental dictionary.
Only "adorable" could describe it, right?
In the game at this moment.
In the night sky in the distance, stars were densely scattered, making the small town seem even more tranquil.
Hearing the heroine's voice, her younger sister couldn't help but sigh—
[What a silly girl, my sister is.]
When the heroine, Mitsuha, opened her eyes again, she had turned into the hero.
[Hmm, what a realistic dream.]
Pfft...
Furukawa Hirozawa almost spat out his saliva.
What kind of ridiculous plot is this?
Kogahara Tsubakiaki is truly a genius. Body-swapping between a male and female—isn't that just too interesting?
Looking around the room, the environment and surrounding items were completely different from those in Itomori Town previously.
The surrounding walls were in cool tones, and the floor wasn't tatami mats, but rather, there was a bed half a person's height.
Because an alarm clock suddenly went off, Mitsuha, who had turned into the hero, flailed and fell off the bed onto the floor, taking a solid tumble.
In the next scene, the hero pulled the blanket off, revealing a young, handsome face.
He looked like a high school student, but the style was inexplicably appealing.
Furukawa Hirozawa just felt that Pokeni's character designer was truly talented—
Although there was no voice acting, from the expressions on the face, the eyes, and the subtle body language, players could instantly tell whether it was the hero or the heroine inhabiting this body right now.
For instance, right now, the hero sitting with his hands clasped against his chest in a "duck sit" position, with a shy expression on his face, was enough for Furukawa to confirm that this was definitely Miyamizu Mitsuha.
Wait.
Just then, Hirozawa Furukawa suddenly recalled the wish the heroine made after coming down from the mountain in the previous scene—
[I hope that in my next life, I can become a handsome guy in Tokyo and start a new life.]
What?!
He suddenly widened his eyes.
Could it be that this game isn't just a simple body swap?
Does it mean that the heroine has already had her wish granted and was reincarnated as the male protagonist?!
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