Boku no natsuyasumi 3 - DAY 10-14

This is the final entry in my Boku no Natsuyasumi 3 diary. I had wanted to do 30 days, but 2 weeks seems like a good run. We've not had many comments, and I've only seen one link on another website, so I'm guessing it wasn't hugely popular. Furthermore, playing with a notepad and camera by my side is counter-inducive to fully enjoying the game. My final word of advice: water grandpa's garden everyday using the tap by the side. I failed to do this and his vegetables all died on the 15th or so. Also, I've worked out that to find acorns I need to talk to Megumi on the 10th a lot, until she mentions the squirrel, so visit her at night too. Days after the 14th have been really neat. Since uncle asks Boku to say itadakimasu during meals, which kind of symbolises that he's now really part of the family.

Someone asked if this was like Harvest Moon, and really it isn't. It's more like 30 mini-adventures where you need to have as much fun as possible. I'd go as far as comparing it to the Bill Murray film Groundhog's Day, almost. Except your actions carry over. It's also nowhere near as monotonous as Harvest Moon, since monotony in your daily activities results in a dull diary entry (all of mine so far have been special event entries). While I won't write up the remaining 15 days, I will probably at some point make a blog post with all my remaining diary crayon images. If you've enjoyed these entries to this point you should enjoy playing the actual game, I've provided plenty of links to Youtube tips and a Japanese wiki which can be machine-translated
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Tuesday 10 August.

Exercise. Told family about yesterday’s adventure and aunty suggested I go again with Midori and her baby sibling, and have her introduce me to the old lady who lives there. Midori didn’t seem pleased.

Fed Cowcow. Checked sparrows. Cheated with Haiku man for a score of 95! Based on conversations with Hayato nearr the den, I think he has a crush on Midori. On the way to meet Midori I saw a massive fish. I’ve named him Chubbo Derrick, and I vow to catch him someday! Apparently some fish only like lizard tails as bait, but I don’t know where to find lizards.
I went with Midori to the new area and we sat and chatted in the grass, then visited a cliff face where we bumped into the old lady.
After introductions Midori ran off, stranding me there - the big meanie! I sat looking at the old woman, but didn’t know what to say, so ran off in the direction of the lake. Went swimming and found a drowned tanuki statue which I’m going to name Wet Derrick. I went too deep though so passed out again.
Awoke at the barn. Dinner, bath, then bed.



DAY 11

Wednesday 11 August. Another snake was harassing the sparrows so I attacked it with even greater courage this time.

Fed Cowcow. Haiku man gave me 100 points for my new poem, something about a cow trapped in the rivers of hell. He also gave me a new rank. Yay! I am now HAIKU MASTER!


Next was insect sumo. After 10 wins I had to crown him, so gave him the title BROWN MAGNUM! (technically black magnum, based on the kanji, but it’s the same kanji used for brown bread, so I thought it would be fine). I had wanted to call him BROWN THUNDER, but thunder was only in the first column, not the second column for naming. After 37 straight wins with BROWN MAGNUM there were no other challengers so I stopped playing.

Went to the lake and caught an Itou fish using crayfish as bait. He’s huge and spotted, so I’m going to name him Freckley Derrick.
Also skipped some stones, it bounced 9 times. After dinner I visited Megumi at her house, while it was dark, and she gave me a crystal drinking glass she’d made.



DAY 12
Thursday 12 August. Got an egg from the chickens and gave it to aunty who said we’d have it for breakfast tomorrow. Checked the sparrows and fed Cowcow. Next headed to the temple and found a caged bear! He’s just a cub and very cute. Slid down the big hill but missed the bottle cap near the tractor.
Afterwards met Megumi’s younger sister Harumi at the glass shop. She seems nice. I was in a hurry so then rode the conveyor belt up to the barn. I spent the rest of the day looking acorns but couldn’t find any! Aunty gave me a quiz on dinner again and I got it - soon I’ll have that bottle cap. After dinner uncle, grandpa, Megumi and Harumi sat outside by a fire. Aunty stayed inside looking after baby while Midori did homework.



DAY 13
Friday 13 August. Over breakfast I spoke about the bear cub, saying I wanted to name him Goro (this is what my physical self said - in my mind I wanted to call him Fuzzy Derrick). Fed Cowcow. Visited Goro while wearing my Goro T-shirt.
Slid down the big hill 6 times before finally getting bottle cap #49! Then I played beetle sumo and beat Hayate’s King Kabuto beetle in KING RANK. What a great end to the day.


DAY 14
Saturday 14 August. This morning everyone talked about visiting the cemetery to pay respects to our ancestors, which I agreed to. Aunty also said to leave well alone the brick outside the house - but I took it anyway to fix the wall bridge over the stream.
Fed Cowcow. Found that TWO sparrows had falled out of the next today - the silly fools. Then went and fixed the bridge. I should have fixed the next day, but I was so impatient I did it today. As a result, this evening, instead of drawing a picture of us praying, I drew it of myself on the wall. My priorities were wrong in this case.

After exploring the new area and collecting some bugs I went to the cemetery dressed in my best white T-shirt. The priest explained how in Hokkaido the spirits don’t like snow falled on their graves. After prayers I walked home.

Dinner was steak and salad.