And if so, would one of you--those of you who know Japanese, especially--be so kind as to help me figure out the identity of the girl shown in the photos below?
The first photo is of the front of Otocky's outer box, while the second is of the back of its box.
I'm guessing the second photo, and the text that accompanies it, will be more helpful to those of you who are willing to come to my aid, but what do I know?
Also, I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that the girl in question won some sort of competition held by ASCII, or that she was one of those "idols" the Japanese seem to be so fond of.
Not good enough to read that yet.
ReplyDeleteI think I've cracked it - after a bit of digging I think she's a idol called Natsuki Ozawa, her real name being Junko Yamashita. Here's her wiki page.
ReplyDeleteLooks like she's been in the adult film business in the last few years, including appearing in a film given the wonderful title "Woman Ass" by Google Translate.
stage name 小沢なつき, real name 山下純子. if you want to know what the readings are well, uh, good luck with that! the rest of the profile details her work in what look to be tv shows. and her measurements. :|
ReplyDeleteit was common for a game of this time to have an endorsement from a popular singer or actress; probably the most striking example is that FDS tokimeki high school dating game starring a then-popular idol.
dang, too slow! all that picking through archived 2ch threads for nothing D:
ReplyDeleteThat's OK, Adam. Hey, can I ask you a question about your, educational process? How are you learning the language? Are teaching yourself? If so, how?
ReplyDeleteThank you, VGJunk! Why does it not surprise me that she was an idol?
ReplyDeleteI am a *bit* surprised to hear she's made some porn as an adult, but only a bit.
Nobody should be ashamed to put a movie titled "Woman Ass" on his/her resume, though.
Thank you all the same, sharc. I find it interesting that it was common for games to be 'endorsed' by popular singers/actors. Did said 'endorsers' usually appear on the game's packaging, though? I think it's kind of hilarious that ol' Natsuki (or should it be ol' Ozawa?) appears both on the front and back of this game's box :)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure it's just celebrity endorsement, like you used to see in Nintendo Power. :) The first bit is a little bio, listing some of her work as an idol, I guess (TV appearances and whatnot). The blurb below is some kind of testimonial, pardon my rough translation. I assume "howaki" (ホワキ) is some kind of cleaning item, or it could be a person, like "playing in the manner of Howaki."
ReplyDelete"When I had cleaning duty in middle school, I would often use a "howaki" to pretend to play electric guitar. But with Otocky, it's not just guitar, I can make sounds from all kinds of instruments. It's like a dream..."
Thank you, too, gsilverfish! I love the testimonial text especially -- thanks for translating it :)
ReplyDeleteWoman Ass!
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine what Margaret Cho's mother would have to say about that.
Ha! That's a good one, warp :)
ReplyDeleteI love your photos of games, Bryan! Keep posting them, ok? Never played or seen this game, then I read your previous text to inform myself.
ReplyDeleteVGJUNK
Hahaha! If you are curious, the "Woman Ass" video is called Mejiri (女尻).
gsilverfish
A small correction: it's not "howaki" but "hōki". She used a broom to pretend she was playing guitar, heheh!
Will do, Eduardo! And thank you for the nice comment. It's always nice to know folks enjoy your photos, posts, etc.
ReplyDeleteThanks, too, for adding to VGJunk's and gsilverfish's comments on the subject at hand :)
i'm trying to think of where else i've seen idols in promotional stuff before, but the only big example i can come up with is hardware; every other piece of japanese home computing equipment had some idol sponsor.
ReplyDeleteincidentally, this was part of the retro-styling for ancient's protect me knight. take a look at the back of the mockup packaging. :B
That's really interesting, sharc! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteBTW, that Protect Me Knight mock-up example is *hilarious*! It actually reminds me of what's going on with the Otocky box, albeit a bit less blatant.
Mine I would consider self-taught. I got a vocab and grammar book, a few iOS apps, and some websites.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Adam! Do you feel you've learned enough to enjoy Japanese games a bit more, even if you aren't yet fluent?
ReplyDeleteAlso, any way you'd be willing to share the names of the apps, books and websites you've used? I'd appreciate it!