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Love sushi? Now you can date it, with this romance simulator available in English!

Casey Baseel May 31, 2014
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Since most sushi is served raw, the flavor can vary wildly depending on the freshness of the fish and even the season in which you eat it. Granted, most of what’s available in Japan is reasonably tasty, but when all the factors line up just right, the mix of surprise, joy, and satisfaction that come from popping a really good piece of sushi into your mouth can be a borderline emotional experience, almost like falling in love.

If you’re a sushi-loving lady looking to take your relationship with the dish to an even deeper level, there’s now a dating simulator that lets you romance handsome anthropomorphized pieces of sushi.

The game, titled Hei! Renai Iccho!, which translates as Here You Go! One Order of Romance, was released for smartphones on May 28. Players take the role of a young woman who’s the only child of a sushi chef. When her father suddenly accepts a temporary overseas job offer, she’s left to run the family restaurant by herself, since, like all proper anime/video game characters, her mother isn’t in the picture.

One night after her father departs, the daughter wakes to the sound of a mysterious voice. Stepping into the kitchen, she comes across a half-dozen young men she’s never met, yet who seem oddly familiar.

▼ Yes, those are men surrounding the protagonist…

Since this is a dating sim and not a survival horror game, their encounter is much more benign than what young girls can usually expect when six uninvited strangers appear in their home in the middle of the night. The fine-featured, pastel-coifed group explains that they are pieces of sushi come to life in order to lend her a hand while her dad is away.

Currently, the free-to-download game features four of the six sushi boys. There’s hot-blooded Yu Guromatsu (tuna), easygoing Kei Sukegawa (salmon), his shy little brother Iku (salmon roe), and somewhat childish Tamaki Marui (egg).

Each name is packed tight with puns. The kanji for Yu’s name (有) for example is the same as the right half of the character for maguro, or tuna (鮪). Ditto for Kei (圭) and shake/salmon (鮭), whose last name means “river of salmon.” Iku’s name is one half of ikura or salmon roe, and Tamaki is just one syllable off from tamago, plus Marui can also mean “round” when spoken.

Future updates promise an ebi, or shrimp, character, Shima Ebisawa, and even a bit of international romance with Alba Estacado, who originated as a piece of the sort of avocado sushi that’s slowly catching on in Japan.

Of course, sushi has become popular around the world, and the game’s developer, Koyon Plete, seems well aware of this, as evidenced by the inclusion of English, Chinese, and Korean text.

We’re not sure how exactly about the eloquence or syntax of the English title, Love! Sushi Rangers – Choose your target (sushi?)!, but we’re sure non-Japanese speaking gamers who are intrigued by the unusual presence won’t be swayed by a little funkiness in the title.

Whichever title you choose to call it by, the game is available for iOS here and Android here. Go nuts, and let us know how it is in the comments section below!

Sources: Kai-You, Keyon Plete
Top image: iTunes Store, Kai-You (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Koyon Plete, Google Play, iTunes Store