Seeing video game consoles in Japanese anime shows isn’t anything new. Occasionally a real world console makes an appearance in an anime though, like the PlayStation Vita did in the most recent episode of the hit anime Oreimo.
Oreimo, short for "Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai" or "My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute," is about a high school student named Kyosuke Kosaka who’s younger sister Kirino, a popular and gifted middle school student and model, is a closet otaku (Japanese slang for "nerd," often someone obsessed with anime and video games). Kirino keeps her geeky hobbies a secret because she’s afraid others will look down on her. The show explores otaku culture as Kyosuke learns about his sister’s interesting pastimes so she has someone to talk to about them.
In the latest episode, Kirino becomes addicted to a real-time advanced dating simulator called "Love Touch," a parody of Konami’s Love Plus DS/3DS game franchise. As you can clearly see, Love Touch runs on a PS Vita. However, Oreimo anime studio A-1 Pictures must not have been able to secure rights from Sony and instead used hilarious fake names. The handheld in the show is called the "BS Wita" and the PlayStation Network is renamed, "Boomstyle Network." The Vita’s signature small blue game cases even make an appearance. The show’s production team utilized sharp, cell-shaded computer animation for the Love Touch gameplay that appears in the episode for added realism.
Parodies of real-life products is commonplace in Japanese anime to avoid having to acquire rights to use specific names or designs. Seeing counterfeit logos, like "Sansumg" (Samsung), add some humor in the anime they appear in.
Check out the screenshots below (click on them to enlarge) or watch the episode on the Crunchyroll website or PlayStation 3 app.
Ernest Lin is a US Editor for PSU when he’s not saying cute Japanese phrases or wishing he had a little sister. You can follow him on Tumblr & Twitter.
