From the country that gave the world a pigeon dating sim comes a short romance game starring cockroaches.

Summer in Japan means many things: the dazzlingly vibrant fireworks displays, the refreshing seasonal treats, and sipping on some cold beer in some of the country’s stunning beer gardens. However, the hot weather also brings forth some unpleasant critters, and while mosquitoes have a very prominent presence in daily lives with the incessant itching their bites cause, cockroaches are an even more unwelcome sight to see in your home.

It’s no surprise that there is an assortment of pest control products targeted specifically towards these summer villains, with Earth Chemical being among the most recognizable companies to sell them. This year, they are introducing a new spray in an easy-push canister, the Gokish Su… Sugoi Roach Killer, coming in 60, 120, and 160 push variations, plus one with a pleasant minty fragrance. While intended for cockroaches, it’s also effective for bed bugs, dust mites, mosquitoes, and flies.

With all new things, the company often spends a considerable amount of planning and effort in the marketing of the additions to its lineup, and this time Earth Chemical seems to have pulled out all the stops, creating a free, limited-time-only dating simulator game that can be played in your browser.

Dating sim games, which see the main character interact with and develop relationships with one or several potential love interests, are by no means hard to find in Japanese stores. Nor are they limited to traditional romance novel settings, what with being able to find games that allow you to date pigeons, an alpaca, and even a man with an ice cream chocolate for a head. That being said, it’s a bold move from Earth Chemical to suggest that the nation’s most detested insect could even remotely be a target for romantic affection.

Available for a limited time from June 4 until September 3, 2026, players will be able turn these little household nightmares into dateable bachelors in the game called Gokigen Lovely Days, or simply Goki-Love for short. The name makes a play on the Japanese word for “cockroach” (gokiburi) and the word “gokigen”, meaning “to be in a good mood” or “in high spirits.”

The game features four distinct handsome archetypes: a clumsy prince, an innocent younger brother, a refined traditional gentleman, and a wild older brother figure. All fairly standard for a dating sim, but take a closer look at their profiles and the veiled truth comes to light: they love dark, damp spaces, beer, and onions, while despising mint, citrus, and lavender. In order to raise their affection levels in the game, players will need to leverage their knowledge of actual insect biology.

As an added bonus, all four characters are voiced by Yuki Kaji, who is famous for voicing Eren Jeager in Attack on Titan, Shoto Todoroki in My Hero Academia, and Kenma Kozume in Haikyu!!, meaning the quirky insects are accompanied by a high-quality vocal performance.

▼ Yuki Kaji

In addition to the game that is available to play, there’s a campaign running until June 17 where if you follow Earth Chemical’s official Twitter account and repost the designated campaign post, you could be one of 64 people to win a bundle containing pest control gear and a Gokigen Lovely Days acrylic character stand. Or, if you reply to the campaign post with your thoughts and impressions after playing the game, 10 lucky winners will be able to get their hands on an exclusive autograph board signed by Yuki Kaji. All winners will be contacted via direct message once the drawings have been conducted.

Whether you’re a resident trying to survive insect season or a fan of quirky Japanese subculture, this browser game offers a unique experience that will truly prove that love has no boundaries.

Related: Browser game, Twitter campaign link
Source: Twitter/@EarthOfficialJP via Jin, PR Times
Images: PR Times
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Paramount is reconstituting its video game operation, launching a new game studio and setting a leadership team for the division. Like its media peers, the company has deployed various strategies over the years in the sector, which has historically not been a straightforward process for Hollywood despite all of its established IP. Ramping up in […]

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Video games are a growing medium, which is weird to say, since they are the most profitable form of media at the moment. However, they continue to get better each year with masterpieces such as Red Dead Redemption 2. Despite modern games having massive open-worlds that take years to make, many fans agree that the greatest video game of all time is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a title from the 1990s. Part of the critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda franchise, this game follows Link in the kingdom of Hyrule, who must save the Princess Zelda from Ganondorf, the king of the Gerudo, who captured the young princess for his own goals. Link must travel between the present and future, taking on dungeons to summon the sages, which will bring about enough power to create part of the Triforce.

In the ever-expanding pantheon of open-world video games where combat, survival, crafting, and anarchy reign, the simple idea of taking a virtual walk while chatting with a few friends might seem pointless. A new video game from Melbourne-based developer House House begs to differ, though, turning a casual stroll across dreamy landscapes into a uniquely collaborative game, where puzzles and the lengths required to solve them take center stage. Some areas of Big Walk render players speechless, forcing you to devise innovative ways to communicate. It might just be the antithesis of Fortnite or Grand Theft Auto.

This friendly, casual, and playful approach to game design may come as no surprise from the makers of the critically acclaimed Untitled Goose Game, which is centered entirely on a hapless goose that navigates everyday environments while avoiding the unwanted attention of nearby humans. “As much as Big Walk is a game about walking and talking, it’s also about exploring, and getting lost, and doing challenges, and sometimes, not really doing anything at all,” shares a game trailer.

You can play this “cooperative online walker-talker” on Steam, Switch 2, and PlayStation 5 beginning August 4.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article ‘Big Walk’ Is a New Video Game about … Walking and Talking appeared first on Colossal.

Tokyo’s new video game/anime eatery has a lot to love (and eat).

June 12 is the grand opening of the brand-new Square Enix Cafe in downtown Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood, and the eatery has released a sneak peek at what’s going to be on the menu. As you might expect, food and beverages inspired by the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises will be on offer, but there’s one other dark-horse candidate for your dining and drinking attention, and an anime/manga mega-hit too.

Beginning with Final Fantasy, the entrée options are the Chocobo and Moogle Spice Curry, milder Moogle Kids Curry…

…Chocobo and Friends Burger Plate (with a special appearance by Cactuar on one of its mini buns), and Chocobo Balanced Salad, designed as a for-humans equivalent of the Gysahl Greens so loved by the avian steeds.

And for dessert, Final Fantasy fans can look forward to the FF Version Purin Parfait, a Japanese-style custard pudding served in a classy cocktail glass with toppings including a marshmallow Chocobo and ice cream.

The “FF Version” part of the name suggests the existence of other pudding parfaits as well, and the DQ Version, of course, stars Dragon Quest’s adorable Slime.

The DQ mascot monster also appears in the Slimes Draw Near Jiggly Sweets Plate…

…and there are savory Slime plates too, such as the Healslime Burger Basket, in which the restorative creature’s tentacles are represented by a sliced sausage, and the Taco Rice-Style Hamburger Plate with Bubble Slime On Top.

Getting back to that third video game inspiration we mentioned, it’s none other than Nier: Automata, whose version of the purin parfait gives you a triple dose of Emil marshmallows…

…and his smiling (?) face is also present in the Lunar Tear Milk Tea Float plate.

Things get a little abstract with the 2B YoRHa Skirt-style Crepe Salad (with edible bamboo charcoal the most likely ingredient giving it its color), and things get really abstract with the On-Site Procurement Bullet Hell Pasta, meant to evoke memories of the enemy bullet barrages in the game’s shooting segments.

Now we come to the anime/manga part of the menu, which is saluting Fullmetal Alchemist.

Though Square Enix is most famous for video games, the company is also a major manga publisher, and within Japan handles the tale of brothers Al and Ed Elric, who are featured in a purin parfait, plus steamed buns with sweet custard and savory stew fillings. Fellow alchemist Roy Mustang also contributes to the menu with a Flame Alchemist shrimp pasta topped with shredded chili for extra heat.

Drinks come in two tiers, with the fancier ones consisting of a Final Fantasy Potion, Dragon Quest Traveler’s Healing Herb Set, and Fullmetal Alchemist Dwarf in the Flask.

The lower drink tier is made up of standard soft drinks such as coffee, tea, cola, orange juice, and melon soda. The cold drinks come with your choice of illustrated cup sleeve…

…while hot drinks let you pick one of two latte art designs per series.

The Square Enix Cafe has a service charge of 1,200 yen (US$7.60) per person, but that price does include one lower-tier drink of your choice, plus an illustrated placemat (you can pick which title you want, but the exact design is random).

▼ In keeping with Nier’s unabashed weirdness, its placemats are vertically oriented.

And as anyone who’s been to one knows, you can’t have a proper themed cafe in Japan without art coasters, and you’ll receive one at random when ordering any of a series’ associated food items or premium drinks.

Prices for the premium drinks and desserts are generally in the 1,000-1,500 yen range, with most of the main dishes priced between 1,500 and 2,200 yen (though the Fullmetal Alchemist steamed buns are just 770 yen each).

Again, the Square Enix Cafe’s grand opening takes place on June 12, and while walk-ins are allowed if space is available, reservations can be made through the restaurant’s website.

Restaurant information
Officially Licensed Square Enix Cafe & Shop Shinjuku
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 3-36-1
東京都新宿区新宿3丁目36-1
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Website

Source, images: Officially Licensed Square Enix Cafe & Shop Shinjuku official website
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And yes, there is a reason Mercy is dressed that way.

With Japan being home to many of the world’s most passionate gamers, Japan Railways Group periodically partners with popular video game franchises to add a little extra fun to fans’ train travel in Japan, like we’ve seen in previous tie-ups with the Final Fantasy and Pokémon series. For its next video game collaboration, though, JR Central (a.k.a. JR Tokai) is teaming up with a series that hails from the U.S.

This summer, characters from the cast of Blizzard’s Overwatch will be taking a ride on the Shinkansen as part of the Payload to Osaka campaign (a reference to the game’s “payload escort” missions). The promotion’s key art shows Hanzo, D.Va, Genji, Kiriko, Mercy, Hammond, and Jetpack Cat getting off the bullet train at Shin Osaka Station, the closest stop on Japan’s high-speed rail network to downtown Osaka. The artwork contains a few tips of the hat to Osaka’s famous food culture, with Hammond snacking on takoyaki octopus balls and Hanzo scarfing on a steamed pork bun (and you’ll note that Hanzo is eating it after getting off the train).

From July 17 to September 23, passengers onboard JR Central Shinkansen trains can take an Overwatch-themed quiz via their smartphones, and correctly answering the questions gets you one of seven phone wallpapers. While the wallpaper you win is randomized, you can take the quiz as many times as you want during your ride (10 questions are randomly pulled from a pool each time), and JR Central guarantees you won’t get any duplicate wallpapers until you’ve completed a full set of all seven.

Even if you’re not up to taking the quiz, you can still receive a PC wallpaper image of the illustration just by answering an online questionnaire, which, like the quiz, can be accessed through the promotion’s official website, while onboard the bullet train. This also serves as a record of your Shinkansen ride, which you can then show at the Osaka Nipponbashi branch of anime merchandise store chain Animate to receive an Overwatch cleaning cloth with the same illustration.

Animate Osaka Nipponbashi will also be hosting an Overwatch Payload to Osaka popup store with character pins and acrylic mini standees from July 17 to 26.

While Overwatch does have fans in Japan, the series’ most passionate supporters tend to hail from other countries. With international tourists accounting for so much travel in Japan these days, though, especially on the JR Tokai section of the Shinkansen network that connects Osaka with Kyoto and Tokyo, JR Central most likely expects to get a lot of interest from non-Japanese fans, enough so that the company felt the need to follow up on its official Twitter announcement for the collaboration with a statement that “These items are available in Japan only.”

Speaking of the Twitter announcement, at least one non-Japanese fan was furious about the clothing that Mercy is wearing in the artwork.

What is this kind of OUTFIT? ugly as hell pic.twitter.com/4wkggD4fpR

— 𓆩♡𓆪 ✦ÆØNLIZ ✦𓆩♡𓆪 (She/Her) (@AEONFLUX_85) June 4, 2026

From the choice of words and capitalization, that was probably meant as a rhetorical question, but hey, there’s actually a reason for this outfit (sorry, OUTFIT). Aside from having a vibrant food culture, Osaka is also known for its flashy fashion sense, in particular its ladies’ fondness for animal prints. Granted, it’s usually associated with women of a more mature age than Mercy, but a little touch of Osaka style isn’t completely out of place here.

Related: JR x Overwatch Payload to Osaka official website, Animate Osaka Nipponbashi
Source: JR Central via Hachima Kiko
Images: JR Central
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There is something captivating about the high fantasy genre that has made it a staple of storytelling and worldbuilding in all varieties of media. From masterfully crafted novels like The Lord of the Rings trilogy to exceptional films like The Dark Crystal and The NeverEnding Story, high fantasy will continue to be explored no matter the medium. It has also seamlessly translated to the world of video games, with there being standout high fantasy experiences ever since the early days of the medium.

Video games offer expansive worlds where players can immerse themselves and take up any role they might want, whether that be a cowboy in Red Dead Redemption 2 or a monster hunter in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. However, other games offer a much more personal experience; that's basically what the survival genre does by putting players in the middle of a dangerous world where they must struggle to stay alive.

Transforming iconic characters into delicious works of art.

Pokémon is a beloved franchise, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in Japan who has not heard of it, even if they have never personally interacted with any of its media. Through collaborations with famous brands from all areas of the market, the cute and charming character designs can be seen in many places throughout the country.

Despite both being of Japanese origin, the combination of a 161-year-old traditional Japanese confectionery maker and an electric mouse and its friends may not be the natural pairing for most people. However, over the last few years, the shop Shichijo Kanshundo has been releasing delightful treats that blend history with pop culture, and from May 11, they have expanded that lineup with another set of four Pokémon kyo-gashi (traditional Kyoto-style sweets).

The shop is renowned for its jonamagashi, which are handmade by craftsmen one by one. While these sweets, traditionally served during tea ceremonies, typically reflect the changing seasons or classical poetry, Shichijo Kanshundo is using their delicate artistry to bring Eevee and Poltchageist into the physical world.

The Eevee sweet is crafted using nerikiri, a traditional mixture of sweet white bean paste, starch syrup, and gyuhi (glutinous rice flour) that artisans sculpt by hand into intricate, soft shapes. Poltchageist is made as a jonyo manju, a light, fluffy steamed bun made with yam, sugar, and joyo-ko (fine rice flour).

These two Pokémon join two others that were previously released to form this new set of four: Shaymin (Land Forme) and Oricorio (Sensu Style). Shaymin is a kinton, made by crumbling white bean paste or nerikiri into a soboro (ground/crumb-like) state and applying it around a core of bean paste. Oricorio, on the other hand, is expressed using uiro, a Japanese sweet made by adding sugar and water to rice flour, among other ingredients, and steaming it until firm, which results in a chewy texture. The set costs 2,916 yen (US$18) and, since they’re made without unnecessary preservatives, are best enjoyed immediately.

Catching these sweets requires a little bit of extra planning, because the physical store in Kyoto only sells these sets on their special sales event on the seventh of every month, so starting June 7, visitors will be able to pick some up on the afternoon stroll through one of Kyoto’s most historic neighborhoods near Sanjusangendo Temple.

There is another method to get your hands on them earlier: you can order them online and receive them directly at your home, although they will be delivered frozen. However, that also means you don’t need to enjoy them all at once, and can take your time to savor the flavors over a period of 14 days from the date of shipment.

If you do happen to find yourself in the Higashiyama area in Kyoto on the seventh of a month, though, be sure to stop by the shop early. These limited-edition treats are a wonderful way to experience Kyoto’s traditional craftsmanship, even if you’re not a dedicated Pokémon fan.

Store information
Shichijo Kanshundo / 七條甘春堂
Address: Kyoto-fu, Higashiyama-ku, Shichijo-doori, Nishinomon-cho 551-banchi
京都市東山区七条通西の門町551番地
Open 9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Closed January 1
Website

Related: Shichijo Kanshundo online store
Source: PR Times via Japaaan
Images: PR Times
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