I am currently enjoying playing a new Nintendo Switch game that I am using to practice my Japanese. “Kureyonshinchan “ora to hakase no natsuyasumi”~ owaranai nana-kakan no tabi ~” (クレヨンしんちゃん『オラと博士の夏休み』～おわらない七日間の旅～) follows Crayon Shin-chan and his family as they visit Kyushuu from Saitama during summer vacation to spend time with friends in a small town.
The main reasons why I got this game are:
- It is right at the level to challenge my basic Japanese. Its made for kids so the simple vocabulary and furigana allows me to understand a lot of what is being done
- I recently started watching the Crayon Shin-chan anime series and I am a huge fan of the humor, more so than Doraemon and other anime I have tried targeting Japanese children.
Simple and calming
Ten hours in and I am so glad I got it. Shinchan is hilarious and the gameplay mechanics though simple are so calming. No stats to stress over, no bosses to fight; just exploration, mischief, and dinosaur battles. The last few games I played for similar reasons with the same qualities were the Sumikko Gurashi game set in a school and Doraemon: Story of Seasons.
Loading ...The game is in Japanese and I don’t understand every word of dialogue but because it is made for kids I can generally follow what is happening. I understand about half of the vocabulary and even more when I whip out my dictionary app to help decider unfamiliar words. All in all, I don’t stress about it.
#Shinchan using a time machine? Bad idea! #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/r680wIWcRH
— Kirk 🖍️ (@Jamaipanese) July 18, 2021
Crayon Shin-chan – Summer in rural Japan
I live in a very rural town as well many of the topics and scenes are so relatable. I am happy the humour of the anime was carried over into the game and I can see myself casually playing this for a long time. I am thinking about how I can talk about some of the vocabulary I have been picking up playing this game, I am very open to suggestions via Twitter @Jamaipanese. Are you a fan of Shinosuke and friends? let me know in a comment below
