Japanese dating sims are strange

I was browsing the Japanese Playstation store, and I decided to check out a few dating sims, since that's a genre we don't see very often in NA, if it's not at least mixed in with other genres. I decided to go with ps1 classics, since they're more affordable , take up less space, and can be played on my ps3, so I don't have to mess with my psp's account activation(I can do it, but it's a pain). That append disc thing fascinates me, since that sort of thing doesn't exist in NA. I imagine it's kind of a pain for the Japanese, since, to my understanding, it involves switching in that disc at certain points to access certain content, but it appears to be a sort of predecessor to dlc. It is apparent that I need to brush up a little on my Japanese, but that's ok, since I was looking for a reason to do so anyways. I'll probably have to learn some more of the language too, but if I can scroll through most of the text at my own pace, it shouldn't be too big of a problem.

Anyways, the strange part(hence the title of this thread) asked me for my blood type. At least, I'm pretty sure that was what it asked me for. I know enough Japanese that I can make it through the naming process, and other related questions(like my birthday) just fine. I could take the time to translate the kanji for that last question, but I'm fairly certain I know what it's asking, since the options are A, B, AB and O. First of all, why is my blood type even relevant, and second of all, I don't know what my blood type is anyways, so I just went with A. That's a little bit strange. Then again, these games were made in Japan, where strange passes as normal, so maybe that's not all that odd.

The Japanese are very big on blood type as they believe it is predictive of personality and behavior. Kind of like Horoscope signs are in the West.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_types_in_Japanese_culture

i agree...in my studies, zodiac and blood type sometime tell someone trait, even handeness, habits and face tell us someone's [ersona. in Japan, i'm not surprised to see this type of question....

Kiskaloo wrote:The Japanese are very big on blood type as they believe it is predictive of personality and behavior. Kind of like Horoscope signs are in the West.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_types_in_Japanese_culture

I didn't know that. Interesting. Guess I learned something new today. I was expecting the answer to be much stranger than that...

Funny how that works. I am, or supposed to be AB- as a Red Cross donor but have an M counterpart by another test I had years ago and have been know to be tested as O- on some hospital blood test.

I just say to the docs, 'phucket... you guys dont know what you are doing."

That was seriously the weirdest thing you encountered in a Japanese dating sim? You might be in for a ride.

Well, I haven't exactly played any dating sims, since we don't really have those in NA. I just bought some to see what they're like, since Harvest Moon is pretty much the extent of my experience with dating sims. I decided to start by seeing what the beginning of each game is like, so I could decide which game to start with.

After much deliberation, I decided to start with Tokimeki Memorial: Forever With You. It took a while, but I was able to get through my first date. Hooray! Of course, the main character's childhood friend is the only girl I know so far, but it went well. The game sure has a lot of options for a simple date. I chose to go shopping, then I had choices for which kind of store to shop at, and then I had to choose what to say to her when she asked if I liked a certain stuffed dog(of course I thought it suited her perfectly, and wanted to get it for her as a gift). I will say, 90s fashion in Japan wasn't so hot. I guess in 1995, it wasn't unheard of for my date to wear a pink cardigan.