When discussing ecchi games, most developers or gamers in Japan refer to these as Bacca games. While this may seem negative, Japanese dev leans into the tropes of the genre through games like Gal Gun and Senran Kagura. Surprisingly, I’ve found depth in these games’ narratives, whether through a clever use of a character or an unexpected plot device. These games may seem like they’re mainly for ecchi enjoyment, and some of them are, but others have some nuanced narrative.
The Qureate-developed dating sim Bunny Garden is more profound than I expected. The game highlights real struggles I’ve dealt with, and likely others have, too. Playing through this game presented situations and realizations that I’ve had, but could never talk about, making me feel not so alone but also opening up a means of dialogue that this game presents.
Bunny Garden opens with our main character, Haito Kanda, who has just been fired. Interestingly, the game presents this situation with no fault to the character; he just wasn’t suitable for the possession. This creates doubt in his mind about what’s wrong with him and where he needs to improve, but it’s lost without feedback. This leads him to stumble into a maid host-club bar, where he quickly retreats, but not before receiving some motivation from the female leads Kana, Rin, and Miuka. This quick shot of dopamine infects our lead and gets him to place a call about a job, which he gets.
This effectively becomes the gameloop where the lead works throughout the week, and on the weekend, he can either work more for extra money or go to the bar and hang out with the girls. If he has a good time, he gains motivation, which encourages him to work harder and earn a little extra money. Interestingly, you aren’t confined to the funds in your wallet; you can quickly go into debt on these nights out, but it’s hard to pay attention to money when you are having a good conversation and the host lets you know that you have to pay if you want to continue it.
This seems like a strange situation to make a game out of, but the mental games it plays with the player are essential. You’re allowed to act desperately and boldly, which will quickly get you into debt or upset the girls. Further, you can become overly invested in one girl and feel annoyed when being forced to talk to one of the other hosts when the girl you like isn’t working. Real issues here deserve to be unpacked, but you’re subtly taught how to manage your money and hold a positive conversation, or else you’ll be punished. For example, my first time at the bar, I thought I should be ordering the most expensive items. However, that quickly got the loan sharks on me, so even though I was making the right conversation choices, I was burning through money trying to show off. I eventually improved and got the true ending.
Additionally, Bunny Garden requires you to read what the girls say because they’ll test you on it. I was pretty surprised by this because you’d think that this game is one of those ecchi novels people play with one hand, but you must be invested here. As you learn to manage your time, wallet, attention with the girls, and liquor, the gameloop becomes more manageable, but there’s always room to mess up. Sure, as the player, the incentive is to see the girls in revealing situations, but like typical dating, that’s not going to come easy.
Now, I don’t wholly agree with the game suggesting that the only way to get a girl is to buy her the right drinks and make lots of money, but this is still a game, so these systems are present. As you spend more money, the girl will be happier, but if I think about it, that’s not far from real life. I don’t know about you, but when I have excess funds to burn, my partner and I have more fun. It’s also important to realize the cultural differences between the Japanese and American workforces. Japan has a class of young adults known as NEETs, and then there are those living in manga or internet cafes, which isn’t outside the norm. This game is likely to have a different effect on Japanese players that encourages their 20-year-olds to go out and be successful, whereas, in the West, it’s almost taboo to suggest someone is with you for their money, even though it happens.
Is Bunny Garden a very horny and out-of-pocket game? Of course, it is, but I enjoyed the efforts it put into forcing players to confront their own social or financial issues. Other surface-level ecchi games are available right now, but Bunny Garden surprised me with the particular story it wanted to tell. These words of encouragement and various systems of being a proper member of society could easily help someone struggling with confidence or loneliness. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to work overtime so I can go to the hot springs with Nana.
Bunny Garden is available now on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.
Didn’t know about this one being on switch, sounds fun.