Kumatanchi

Kuma-tan in her room, where the player can interact with her.

Kumatanchi is a life simulation video game, set in a zoo housing moe anthropomorphic young girls; the player assumes the role of a caretaker at a zoo, tasked with looking after a new arrival, the bear girl Kuma-tan.[1] The interactions with Kuma-tan influence her mood and performance during public shows in the zoo.[2][3][4] The game takes place over two weeks in real-time, during which time the player must raise Kuma-tan's standing in the zoo by interacting with her as much as possible. The player interacts with her in her home, which can be outfitted with furniture and activities. At set points in the game, Kuma-tan receives visits from other zoo inhabitants, which further reflect on Kuma-Tan's progress.[3][4]

Kuma-tan's mood and hunger levels are each divided into five stages, and can be maintained by feeding and interacting with her regularly. While players can give positive reinforcement to her by patting her head. Too much patting can cause her to misbehave, and may be balanced with a disciplinary flick to the forehead. Players may interact with other animals in the zoo, allowing Kuma-tan's mood to become better by taking part in conversations and activities, as well as purchase food from the zoo's shop.[2][3] Accessories are paid for with money earned by selling themed merchandise and pictures of Kuma-tan to zoo visitors, with some pictures yielding higher rewards depending on Kuma-tan's mood.[3] At the end of the two weeks, the player's choices are reflected in Kuma-tan's behavior.[4]

Kumatanchi was co-developed by Vanillaware and the doujin studio Ashinaga Oji-san.[5][6] Shigetake, who was a member of both developers, handled both direction and character design. The lead character is based on Habanero-tan, a mascot character of his design.[1][5][6] It was produced by Nobuhiro Takagaki from publisher Dimple Entertainment.[1][7] It was part of an attempt by Vanillaware to develop two games at the same time; Kumatanchi was in production alongside Muramasa: The Demon Blade. However, there were little to no staff for Kumatanchi, forcing Shigetake to act as both director and art designer. Due to this and the tight production schedule, development was tiring and discouraged Shigetake from taking on a directorial role again. It also prompted Vanillaware to abandon parallel game production at the time.[8]

Speaking about the potential broad appeal of Kuma-tan, Shigetake commented that while the game was intended to be a family-friendly experience for all ages, he admitted that the character and gameplay was comparable to an adult-oriented edgy style. To research the game's zoo setting, three of the staff members went to Tennōji Zoo, with many of the game's props and activities based on their observations of the animal pens and zoo activities. The game's opening cinematic was inspired by anime openings, with Shigetake taking specific cues from the opening of Pani Poni Dash!. The team considered several titles for the game, including one based on an earlier product of Ashinaga Oji-san before settling on Kumatanchi.[7]

The music was composed by Kimihiro Abe and Mitsuhiro Kaneda of Basiscape, a music company founded by Hitoshi Sakimoto which frequently collaborates with Vanillaware.[8][9] The aim for the music was to break away from Basiscape's traditional musical image, commemorating the company's launch of its self-titled commercial label. The score combined toy drums, melodica, recorder and ukulele to create a homely and comforting sound.[10] The game's opening and ending themes were performed by Ryouki Ruou.[9] The opening theme was intended to convey the energy of an anime opening.[7] A soundtrack album was released on December 16, 2009 by Basiscape and Sweep Records.[9][11] For the soundtrack version, a different sound source was used, creating a alternate sound from the in-game score.[9]

The game was announced in June 2008, after Vanillaware earlier hinted that they were working on a game for the Nintendo DS.[12][13] When announced, it was 70% complete.[13] It released on September 25, 2008.[14] A drama CD was published by Dimple Entertainment, first as a promotional item then as a limited commercial release.[15] The game was only released in Japan. In a 2009 interview, Vanillaware director George Kamitani stated that the game was denied localization due to its portrayal of training people who resembled small girls.[16]

The game sold 3,500 copies in its debut week,[18] becoming the 4th highest-selling Nintendo DS game during that period.[19] Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu enjoyed the artwork and basic premise, but one reviewer felt that its real-time gameplay mechanic was intrusive, while another thought the game lacked substance.[17]

Joystiq commented on the game's visual style, which they felt was a departure from previous Vanillaware titles, stating that "That's not to say Kumatanchi looks bad (which, in turn, is not to say it looks good), but it's a lot more cutesy than what we were expecting."[12] Janine Dong of GamerTell was fairly mixed about the game; while she enjoyed the art design and some of its gameplay ideas, she found the general gameplay and interactions with Kuma-tan uncomfortable.[3] Mathias Oertel, during a review of Dragon's Crown for German website 4Players, noted Kumatanchi as having inferior artwork to the rest of the developer's titles.[20]