Koei Tecmo announced on January 30 that it will be declining all gifts addressed to staff or characters from its games on Valentine’s Day and White Day (March 14) this year. While expressing gratitude for all the gifts fans send in daily, the company cited safety and logistics concerns as the reason for the ban during these specific days. This doesn’t come as a big surprise, given that Koei Tecmo has been declining Valentine’s Day offerings from around 2022, but it seems like some fans were hoping the ban would be lifted now that the pandemic is over.
“Looks like this year’s not the year either… I guess it’s time I give up on ever getting a reply from lord Ding Feng… I really wanted to send him a gift at least once,” an X user commented in response to the announcement. In Japan, sending game companies letters and gifts is a common way otaku express love towards their favorite franchises and characters, and what better occasion for that than Valentine’s Day. Moreover, Koei Tecmo used to have a unique tradition where its staff would actually send fans replies to their Valentine’s Day gifts every year on White Day (the Japanese day dedicated to returning Valentine’s gifts).
Not only that, but replies to chocolates and love letters addressed to fictional characters would be written in-character, hence people’s disappointment over never getting to experience receiving a letter from their favorite warlords from Dynasty Warriors and the like. Below is a lucky person who got a White Day letter from Nobuyuki Sanada back in 2015, and another user who “nearly died in ecstasy” after getting a letter from Oda Nobunaga in 2019.
That’s some pretty neat fan service, so it’s not surprising people want Koei Tecmo to bring the Valentine’s Day tradition back. Sadly, it’s hard to imagine this will be plausible for the company, considering safety risks (especially when it comes to edible gifts) and the sheer space needed to accommodate so many parcels coming in at the same time. Thankfully, you can still experience warlords flirting with you by playing Dynasty Warriors Origins, thanks to overly-romantic dialogue that made it into the game while the director wasn’t looking.
