• Event report 0.9 by Hitoshi Doi, 1998.04.17

The announcement event for the Sentimental Journey Playstation game took place on March 20, at the Banpresto booth of the Tokyo Game Show.

It opened with a video on the large screen on the stage. Okada Junko, Nishiguchi Yuka, Okamoto Asami, Mannaka Yukiko, Oda Michiko, and Maeda Ai were playing a Sentimental Journey board game. But things don't go well.. They can't find the dice to roll, they accidentally knock over the pieces, they lose their cards, they forget their turns, etc. They get disappointed and say that a Playstation version of the board game would make things a lot better.

Then the emcee (Miura Daisuke) came out onto the stage. Then he called out the Sentimental Graffiti seiyuu, who came onto the stage one by one.

• Suzuki Urarako
• Makishima Yuki
• Okamoto Asami
• Yonemoto Chizu
• Okada Junko
• Toyoshima Machiko
• Oda Michiko
• Maeda Ai
• Nishiguchi Yuka
• Konno Hiromi
• Suzuki Mariko
• Mannaka Yukiko

• Kubota Masayoshi (Marcus)
• Nakata Masahiko
• Aki Takanori (Banpresto)

The SD (super deformed) characters of the "gacha ou figures" are the basis for the Sentimental Journey game. They made up rules for a board game, and then make it into a video game.

Mr. Kubota said that Sentimental Graffiti is not over yet. There is more and more (that can't be announced yet) to come.

There were some questions by the emcee to the seiyuu.

to Machiko: What is the secret of SG's popularity?
Machiko: Characters are charming.
to Hiromi: Why is SG so popular?
Hiromi: Cute characters, cute goods.
to Junko: Did you finish the recording? How was it?
Junko: Yes. It's different from the SG world, and it was fun.
to Michiko: Your feelings on the new game?
Michiko: We did all the voices alone, so I don't know how the others feel, but in this game you can see a different side of each girl, so that is fun.

Mr. Kubota said that this was a board game that talks a lot.

Then the 12 seiyuu introduced the game in their character voices, one by one at a mike at the front of the stage. They were all holding scripts. (For the BGMs, they had each character's songs.)

Endou Akira: This is a multi player game, and everyone is a rival, going after the girls. You pick up a card which specifies which places you have to go visit.

Hosaka Miyuki: The object of the game is to go around Japan and become friends with the girls. (You travel around with the girls.)

Hoshino Asuka: You can travel around with more than one girl in one game.

Matsuoka Chie: You win by going to all places on the card. If you set the game for multiple travels, you can travel with different girls to different places.

Adachi Taeko: When someone goes to all places, the game ends, but the winner isn't necessarily the one that finishes first. The winner is the one who had made the girl happiest.

Sugihara Manami: The girl's feelings go up when you travel to places that the girl likes. But there are other ways to build up her feelings too.

Ayasaki Wakana: When the umbrella appears, the couple can carve an umbrella (with the names of the boy and girl), and this increases the feelings of the girl for the boy.

Nagakura Emiru: There are also mini-game date events, presents you buy, also wishing at a shrine.

Nanase Yuu: But there are also things that try to get into the way. The rivals can take the girls away.

Yamamoto Rurika: The most powerful character is the mysterious Hanako-chan.

Sawatari Honoka: There is also a one player mode, and there are special events that only happen in one player mode.

Morii Kaho: The rules are complete, and it's fun to play with friends. The game will go on sale later. Please buy it.

Then the emcee asked some more questions to the seiyuu.

to Ai: How was it, doing the explanation in front of everyone?
Ai: Nervous, but fun.
to Asami: Were you able to explain it well?
Asami: How was it..
emcee: Everyone was great.
to Chizu: How was it?
Chizu: I had rehearsed the script, but I got nervous.

Mr. Aki said that the Playstation Sentimental Journey game will go on sale July 23, 1998, and it will cost 6800 yen.

Then they took some questions from the crowd.

regarding the anime: The Sentimental Journey anime will start on 4/8.

any new promotional things:

They can't be announced yet, but since a lot of SG fans use the Internet, there will be something on the Internet. There will be a new kind of home page that is not easy to enter.. More details will be announced later.

Then the 12 seiyuu lined up for a group "photo session".

Some final comments..

Hiromi: I like games too, and I'm looking forward to this game.

Mr. Kubota: The TV series will have 12 episodes, one per character. Also there are many other secret things (related to SG) being planned. The TV show will be aired 25:15 on Wednesday nights, but the first two episodes will be aired 30 minutes later.

Then they showed the opening animation of the Sentimental Journey TV series.

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