Kodansha’s live-action romance sim Sweet Hamster Days launched for PC on July 17 via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
In a somewhat bizarre departure from your typical romance game, Sweet Hamster Days puts you in the role of a protagonist who has been reincarnated as a literal hamster. From a hamster’s perspective, you spend your days being doted on by three beautiful sisters (who happen to be your childhood friends) after they take you in as a pet.
Live-action or FMV (full-motion video) romance sims have become pretty popular on Steam in recent years, particularly in China and South Korea. For its own spin on the genre, Kodansha Creators’ Lab collaborated with the Japanese photo magazine FRIDAY, casting gravure idols Sayaka Tomaru, Momoha Takatsuru, and Shiori Ikemoto to portray the three sisters. The game’s concept revolves around offering a romantic storyline set against the Japanese gravure culture and aesthetics. Gravure refers to a popular style of glamour photography featuring models in cute and sexy (but non-explicit) outfits.
Ahead of launch, AUTOMATON caught up with the team at Kodansha to find out more about how this project came to be, including its gravure roots. This article is part one of a two-part series. In the second article, we will discuss Sweet Hamster Days’s initial removal from Steam and the difficulties it faced prior to release.
—Please introduce yourselves.
Oda:
I’m Oda from “Game Lab,” a game project within Kodansha Creators’ Lab, which is part of Kodansha’s division for new business ventures. I’ve primarily been responsible for game design, so I’m grateful for this opportunity to talk about a project that’s completely different from anything I’ve worked on before.
Katayama:
I’m Katayama, also from Kodansha Game Lab. I oversee the organization as a whole and have been involved with Sweet Hamster Days since its earliest stages.
Sakurai:
I’m Sakurai from FRIDAY’s editorial department. I normally work on gravure content for the magazine, but I was involved in the production of Sweet Hamster Days as a director. Thank you for having us.
—To start off, what kind of game is Sweet Hamster Days?
Oda:
It’s a game about being reincarnated as a hamster and being pampered by girls. One of its major distinguishing features is that it uses live-action footage, with three gravure idols playing the heroines. We’re calling it a completely unprecedented genre, a kind of “being-taken-care-of adventure game.”
—How did development of Sweet Hamster Days begin?
Oda:
Actually, the three of us joined Kodansha in the same year, and Sakurai and I had been drinking buddies too. When he transferred to FRIDAY and started working on gravure, he approached me and asked, “Do you think we could make a game that makes use of gravure?” That was how things started.
Before that, Katayama had mentioned to me that live-action games were becoming popular in China, so we thought combining the two could produce a really unique game. We also talked about using the game to help its actors become future stars. That eventually led to Sweet Hamster Days.
—That’s such a quintessentially FRIDAY-like way to start a project.
Everyone:
(Laughs)
—The three heroines played by the gravure idols each have their own charm, but they also seem to share a common theme. What was the concept behind the trio?
Sakurai:
The concept of them being “three sisters” was there from the earliest stages of planning. It’s a bit of a cliche setup, but we envisioned a mature eldest sister, a dependable middle sister, and a spoiled, tsundere youngest sister.
FMV games had already become popular in China and South Korea, but from a player’s perspective, we felt that the interpersonal relationships between the heroines in those games often lacked depth. We decided that if we were going to make an FMV game of our own, we wanted it to revolve around a close-knit family, which is how the three-sister concept emerged.
As for the casting, the eldest sister was envisioned as someone mature and forgiving, so we cast Sayaka Tomaru, a gravure veteran with more than ten years of experience.
The middle sister is a hardworking student in the midst of job-hunting. Momoha Takatsuru had trained in classical ballet from around the age of two and had studied abroad, so we incorporated those elements directly into the character.
The youngest sister was meant to have a youthful air, which is why we approached Shiori Ikemoto, who’s known as “the supernova of mini-gravure (gravure photography featuring petite models).”
—Sakurai, you mentioned that you oversee gravure at FRIDAY. What exactly does that involve?
Sakurai:
Basically, I come up with concepts for the kinds of people we’d like to photograph, arrange the shoots, choose photographers, assemble staff, and then select the final images afterward. Nowadays, there’s a lot of work involving digital photobook releases too, so I handle those alongside physical photo books.
—So it’s something like a “general director” role?
Sakurai:
Yes, editors in this field are much like general directors.
—Was this role assigned to you within Kodansha, or did you actively pursue it yourself?
Sakurai:
Originally, I worked in news and reporting related to economics and current events, but I’d always wanted to try gravure as well. That said, the publishing industry as a whole, not just gravure, isn’t exactly in the most favorable situation these days. Against that backdrop, I wanted to try something new, which is why I proposed Sweet Hamster Days.
—To the general public, I think FRIDAY largely has the reputation of a gossip magazine, but is the gravure editing side of things quite different?
Sakurai:
Well, I’d say the “scoop mentality” of uncovering sides of people that haven’t been seen before is shared by the gravure team, and we’re always trying new things.
Showing people what they want to see has always been part of FRIDAY’s identity, and I think that’s reflected both our reporting and our creative projects.
—There’s already plenty of FMV games on the market. What unique value you think FRIDAY’s involvement brought to this project?
Sakurai:
I would say it’s the way the game’s footage captures the heroines’ beauty and natural expressions from multiple angles.
Sweet Hamster Days features dialogue choices in the style of a typical romance sim. When you make the right decisions, you unlock reward scenes, which we were responsible for filming.
The game’s hamster perspective naturally imposes quite a few limitations, since you’re stuck with low-angle shots, and you obviously can’t have the hamster fly through the air. However, the reward scenes break free from those constraints and let players enjoy footage from a much wider variety of perspectives. Though at that point, some people might wonder “What happened to the hamster premise?” (laughs.)
—Was that something only the FRIDAY team could have pulled off?
Oda:
Kodansha has a photography and video department that works on everything from gravure shoots to sports coverage, including events like the FIFA World Cup. I think the game’s high visual quality comes from combining the technical expertise accumulated by that team with FRIDAY’s long-standing know-how for making its subjects look charming and appealing.
—Were there any other FMV games that you used as reference or inspiration during development?
Oda:
I’d say my influences were Knowledge, or Know Lady and Five Hearts Under One Roof.
Sakurai:
As a player, I enjoyed Five Hearts Under One Roof the most.
Oda:
Katayama’s experience really came into play during the game’s planning stage. Once we decided to make a live-action game, everyone brought in ideas inspired by existing works, and among them was the hamster concept.
Katayama:
Years ago, I worked a part-time job wearing mascot costumes. I realized that whenever I wore a costume, children and elderly people who would normally never approach me suddenly became very friendly (laughs). That made me wonder, “If I took on a form different from my usual self, wouldn’t I experience that same kind of joy and fun?” That’s where the idea came from.
—So the idea of interacting with humans from a hamster’s perspective originated with you, Katayama?
Katayama:
I wouldn’t exactly describe it as isekai (being reincarnated in another world), but I think everyone harbors some desire to become a different creature or person.
I’m a big fan of Grand Theft Auto V, where you switch between three protagonists as you progress. As I was having fun switching between the lives of other people, lives that weren’t my own, I had this idea that it might be nice to have a hamster as one of the options instead of a human.
—What sort of experience does Sweet Hamster Days offer that sets it apart from other FMV titles?
Katayama:
I would say it’s the experience of being cherished. People often joke about wanting to become some helpless little creature like Chiikawa (laughs), I think it’s fundamentally the same appeal.
The protagonist, after being reincarnated as a hamster, ends up accomplishing quite a but, but at first no one expects much of him. I think that sense of liberation, or perhaps, the comfort and pleasure of being doted on as a pet, is an experience unique to this game.
Sakurai:
From the perspective of someone producing the game’s footage, one thing that struck me was how rare it is to be gently soothed like “there, there.” Even in films and TV shows, scenes where someone strokes your head or tickles your tummy aren’t all that common.
—Is it not disorienting to actually identify as a hamster as you play?
Katayama:
I think it definitely throws you off at first. But by the time players reach the latter half of the story, I think they’ll have become one with the hamster (laughs).
—Sakurai, what was your impression after playing the game yourself?
Sakurai:
I found the scenario quite serious. Hamsters have short lifespans, and because of their size, there are many things they simply can’t do. As a result, the game contains a lot of internal monologue, and in the latter half, the hamster ends up really agonizing over some things, such as, “How can I save these girls?” I think that narrative direction is one of the game’s strengths.
Since I was involved in planning the project, it’s hard for me to judge it from an outsider’s perspective, but I certainly didn’t expect the story to unfold the way it did (laughs). I think players may find it surprisingly emotional.
During our initial meetings with scenario writer Ken Shimomura, we often brought up Yu-no: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of This World as a point of reference. We drew inspiration from elements of the game such as the time-loop premise and the increasingly serious tone toward the end of the story.
If we were going to make an FMV game in Japan, we wanted to incorporate at least some of the country’s wonderful visual novel game tradition. That’s why we put a lot of effort into Sweet Hamster Days’s scenario. I’d also really like to emphasize that this isn’t just a game selling itself on sexy content.
—Thank you for your time.
Sweet Hamster Days is out now for PC (Steam/Epic Games Store). A free demo is also available.
