You may have dated pigeons in Hatoful Boyfriend and romanced every inanimate object in Date Everything!, but have you ever been wooed by the legendary Japanese regent and politician Prince Shotoku? The upcoming indie title Nara☆Koi lets you experience just that, alongside being courted by other notable Japanese historical figures who have been transported to the modern-day fictional high school of Heijo-kyo in Nara, Japan.
Unlike existing historical dating sims like Hakuouki or Ikemen Sengoku, this one does not redesign its characters into modern-looking, handsome young men, but instead opts for a true-to-history-textbook look.
Four historical figures are confirmed to be potential love interests: Prince Shotoku is portrayed as a mysterious, handsome transfer student who is highly intelligent but hard of hearing. The latter characteristic seems quite ironic, considering the real prince was rumored to be able to hear and comprehend seven people speaking to him simultaneously.
Fujiwara no Kamatari, a historical politician and aristocrat in real life, serves as captain of the Heijo-kyo soccer club. He wants to run in the next student council election against the current president, Soga no Iruka. Their in-game conflict is likely a reference to the coup d’état that the real Katamari led against Iruka.
Otomo no Yakamochi, a statesman and waka poet, is represented as a singer-songwriter who performs live poetry readings known as “tanka” near the school train station. He dreams of performing at the local Nara Budokan.
The last romanceable historical figure is Gyoki, a Buddhist priest of the Nara period. As president of the Buddhist Art Club in the game, he is currently working on a Great Buddha statue that will be displayed at the upcoming cultural festival.
As Ono no Imoko, a first-year high school student who dreams of studying abroad in China, players must navigate the trials of adolescence alongside her best friend, Himiko.
The first gameplay screen (shown in the image above) features a conversation between Ono no Imoko and Otomo no Yakamochi, where the latter is asking the former about what she thought about his tanka performance. Players can respond with “It’s spendid”, “It’s dreadful”, It’s touching ”, and the snide remark “Is it not a bit a long??”.
Apart from Soga no Iruka and Himiko, other minor characters include Emperor Go-Daigo as a Japanese history teacher (who might become a potential love interest in the future, according to the developer), Emperor Shumu as a teacher who “exiles” troublemaking students, Empress Suiko as a Classic Literature teacher, Egoku Dōmyō as a P.E. teacher, and Prince Naka no Oe (later known as Emperor Tenji) in an unrevealed role. Despite being high school students in-game, all of the historical figures are portrayed with the same images that are commonly seen in various study texts and books.
Nara☆Koi already has a diverse cast of characters, but Japanese fans are asking for more historical figures to be included and romanceable. From Tokugawa Iemochi and Ki no Tsurayuki to Matsunaga Hisahide, Japan has no shortage of iconic personalities for the developers to draw inspiration from.
Production and scenario writing for Nara☆Koi are being handled by one Aonimaru, while the illustrations are being handled by Bakkinu. While Aonimaru said that the plot outlines for some characters, like Prince Shotoku, are already finished, overall development isn’t progressing quite at the pace that they wish it would. Given that they are doing most of the work, they publicly asked Koei Tecmo to help them complete the project.
Nara☆Koi is currently in development. The game’s release date and supported platforms are yet to be announced.
