Last October in Beijing, when Fengniu Jushi Zhu Niubi treated me to guanchang at the Dongsi Minfang restaurant, he asked me a question: “Your blog’s pretty badass these days, huh?” “Badass my ass. There’s exactly one badass thing about my blog.” “Where?” “Open Google, search for the keyword ‘妹ぱらだいす2’, and see who’s first.” “Search for what? Ichimoto… what?” “It’s Japanese!” So I guided Zhu Niubi through searching “妹ぱらだいす2”, and after seeing the first result, even Zhu Niubi couldn’t help but marvel: “Badass, badass, badass. Truly badass.” “Right? That’s the one badass thing about my blog, though I don’t know how to explain it.”

Lately I’ve been really into pure-love confession games. Probably because pure me is just too pure. Watashi ga Suki nara “Suki” tte Itte! (私が好きなら「好き」って言って!) is exactly that kind of confession-raising game. To borrow the words of the well-known bishoujo game voice actress Kyoka, this one’s a “恋愛シュミレーションゲーム” — a love simulation game, basically. I’ve played a few of those before. The deal is that it isn’t structured like a novel; the heroines’ affection shifts dynamically based on what the protagonist does, and at the end whether you end up dating depends on how much affection she has for you… That’s the formula from Purely X Cation, Pure X Connect, and the older Fureraba. No real story, just pure romance — and school life, of course. But If You Like Me, Say “I Like You” has a couple of things that set it apart: the story and the system.