すくすく時計

Suku Suku Clock (すくすく時計)App for iPhone
     This is an analog style clock application featuring a cute little round group of characters.  They are not real creatures... but some sort of... pig, rabbit, hamster... demon... bubble... thing.
     There are three little creatures you can switch between.  A green one with horns, a pink one with horns, as well as a blue one with a funny hat.
     The application is incredibly simple to navigate.  Once it's done loading you will begin on the clock screen with the green character slowly spinning around as the seconds go by.  In case you couldn't figure it out, the characters on the clock represent numbers.  The top number is zero/zed, not twelve.
     If you wish to switch to the pink characters, simply click the button in the upper right corner.
     Everything will be the same but the character and background colour.  To switch back to green press the left upper button.  The right upper button will move you along to blue.  You may freely switch back and forth between all of the characters.
     There are no sounds.  No alarms to set.  There are no extra features, animations, Easter eggs...  It is just a simple analog clock application.
     Below you can see the green, pink and blue character screens.

     I have not experienced any issues with the application.  No bugs, forced shut downs, etc.  My only concern is that it is perhaps a bit 'too' simplistic.  Though it is a free application.  If you are a fan of the Sukusuku characters then you may very much enjoy this application.  Otherwise I think there may be more functional clock applications that you may choose to download, that are of the same price (free).

     On the bright side, if you are learning Japanese or have a small child learning to count.  The characters rather than numbers could be very educational.
Rating: 2/5

• Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Released: Jun 06, 2012
• Version: 1.0
• Size: 0.8 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: YUKI KATO
• © Project Higasinakano

Rated 4+

MoeAlarmClock -Talking Alarm Clock-

Moe Alarm Clock - Talking Alarm Clock App for iPhone
     For those of you that enjoy 'clock applications' to use when your phone is just sitting on your desk, doing nothing of any importance, this could be a nice application for you.  It really depends on your preference and how picky you are.  As for me... I'm not one for clock apps.  If I were to use one though, you had better believe I'd be very picky about the quality.
     I'm going to start off with the colour scheme of this application.  The bright primary colours make me think of a Kindergarten class and a box of Crayola.  It doesn't seem cute or professional or even well thought out.  I do not like the colour scheme at all.  It almost seems like they just chose completely random colours.
     The artwork: I'm not impressed.  mind you this artwork isn't 'bad'.  I'm glad the artist is working on their style and trying to use their creativity in a fun and possibly new way.  however, when I download an application, I expect a certain amount of 'professionalism'.  This includes the quality of the artwork.  I wouldn't even consider my own artwork to be app quality, and I've sold a lot of art.
     Alright, let's move on to the features.  What does this application do, besides just tell time?
     Well, it is called a 'talking' application.  When you start it up you will be greeted by the maid.  She will refer to you as "Master".  However, this is all spoken in Japanese.  The voice acting is good, but the sound quality is not the best.  You can hear some background static when the audio is playing, and the voice is a bit muffled.  Sometimes you can even hear what sounds like background noise I believe this is on purpose, and supposed to be 'digital sounds', but it just sounds like noise.
     The red "A" in the top right corner is for the audio settings.  You can change the audio to be low, medium or high.  Click the Mario "?" box ripoff icon to make her speak, so you can test that volume.  She says several different phrases.
     It looks like the maid character should be in the bottom left corner, but she's hovering over the text at the top, leaving the bottom corner barren.  It looks like it may have been improperly coded.
     The red clock in the middle is for setting an alarm schedule.  It is in military time.  You can set up to 2 alarms.
     The "T" icon is for posting to Twitter.  It is a means of promoting this application to your Twitter followers.  Now, if I knew the app creator and I wanted to support them as a friend, I would Tweet about their application.  But as someone who downloaded the application and was disappointed by the quality, I shan't be doing that.
     Now I can tell this was probably just made by a person just starting out making applications, or perhaps a group of people, and not by a professional company.  I have to give them respect for putting themselves out there.  However, I can't be bias and have to judge this application the way I would judge any application.
     I don't like the art, or the sound quality.  The concept is good (Over-used, perhaps, but it's popular) and the voice acting is good.  The character animations are single frame animations.  The colour scheme needs to be changed.
     I do like that you can set two alarms instead of one.  However, the clock can not run in the background.  So unless you plan to turn off your lock feature, and let this run all night, I don't see how useful an alarm is going to be.  That is my concern for most alarm clock applications though.  So that's not an issue with just this app.
     If you really like this application from what you see in the screen shots, it 'is' free.  But there are just so many 'cute' alarm clock applications out there that have much higher quality (That are also free)...  I just can't really think of a reason to chose this one over the others.
Rating: 1.8/5

• Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Updated: Jul 07, 2010
• Version: 1.3
• Size: 11.2 MB
• Languages: English, Japanese
• Seller: Masahiro Kurokawa
• © 8casette

Rated 4+

Sleepy-time Boyfriend -Every weekday CD ver.-

Sleepy-time Boyfriend -Every weekday CD ver.- App for iPhone
     I reviewed a similar application last month for a sleepy time girlfriend.  So now it's time for the male version.  After all, girls need imaginary lovers (Trapped inside a cellphone) to sleep next to them too, right?
     Alright there's sort of a lot to cover so I'll try to be thorough.
     Upon loading the application you'll receive a prompt.  It is there to inform you that you can click the talk button to converse with your "boyfriend".  Also, that you can review any of your favourite phrases from him in the memories section of the application.
     There are many chaps to choose from.  So there should be something for everyone (So long as your type in the super skinny, pale skinned cartoon boy type).  To browse your options swipe the screen.  See the dots at the bottom?  Each of those is another page with another "boyfriend".  You sure are a popular, lucky girl.
     Let's go through the bottom button options before we cover the boyfriends themselves.
     Under the settings menu you can Set an alarm, adjust the volume, turn the subtitles on and off and so on.  If your phone is in "sleep" mode (Lock screen mode) then the alarm will not go off.  You must have your phone in active mode to hear the alarm.  This means plugging your phone in, before going to bed.  I hope there's an outlet next to your bed if you intend to have your sleepy time boyfriend in it with you.
     The alarm is also not something I would rely 'too much' on for waking you up.  Unless you are a very light sleeper.  The alarm is the boyfriend (Of your choice) telling you to wake up in a very low and calm voice.  personally, I'd probably sleep right through it.
     Under the shoppe menu you are able to buy different voice files for your boyfriends.  They will still have the same "voice" but they will say different things, and in a different "style"  For example, if you purchase the sweet talker package, he'll speak to you like a "sweet talker".
     In the memory album, as I said before, you are able to hear your boyfriend say all of those things you like to hear him say.  Remember, you have to have the boyfriend chosen on the main screen to access his voice samples in the memory album.  Just click the sentence you want to hear and it starts playing it.  Anything with ????? written across is something you have not yet heard him say.  Talk to him often to collect all of his phrases.
     The official site button opens your browser to the official website for this application.  It is written entirely in Japanese.  As this was originally a Japanese application.  Perhaps they'll create an English version of the site if the application gets more popular in the English speaking countries.
     On to the actual boyfriends now.  The boyfriends are as follows:
Kakeru: A devoted sophisticated boyfriend.  He will say sweet charming things that a real boyfriend would never say.  He has dark hair and wears glasses.  You can see him to the left.  He wears a two piece silk pajama set.
Some Sample Phrases:
"To be with you makes me happy every day"
"I will... always be by your side"
"Your hair has the same scent as mine... wonder why"
Jin: He has a deep voice and seems very passionate.  His constant need to be near you comes off a bit creepy to me, but hey, I'm sure some girls go for that sort of thing.  He comes off as the type to do martial arts based on generic character stereotyping.  he has dark short hair and wears a more traditional looking robe as pajamas.
Some Sample Phrases:
"Let's hold hands"
"Show me your cute sleeping face"
"Be always close to me"
 Tomoya:  A playful, teasing boyfriend.  He has longer curly hair and seems to own a cat.  He wears a loose striped shirt and pajama pants to bed.  He reminds me of the main character in half of the Korean television dramas.  You can see him to the right.
Some Sample Phrases:
"You're wide awake?... Then you wont feel like sleeping for a while."
"It's fun to see your reactions every time I tease you."
"You really worry about funny things"
 Sosuke:  A younger and more playful boyfriend.  Likes rabbits and teasing you.  His voice is more energetic than the previous boyfriends. He sleeps in a loose sleeveless top and shorts, which gives off the feel that he's a more "sporty" type.  He has short blonde hair.
Some Sample Phrases:
"You said my name in your sleep a while ago."
 "I could say "I love you" easily if I'm joking."
 "You sound sleepy... Don't fall asleep, stay awake!"
 Reo:   Seems the typical "bad boy" type.  The way he talks makes him sound like he might be involved in a gang of some sort.  He has fiery red hair and can snap at you from time to time.  He wears pajamas that look similar to a track suit but looser.  He appears to have a black "wife beater" underneath.
Some Sample Phrases:
"What are you to me?... What? A girlfriend.  You get it after all."
"Wishing me good sleep and then moving around like that, no way I can sleep!"
"What's with you?... If you want me to kiss say so."
Kazuya:  Another teasing type but in a more "sexy" way (If that makes sense).  He has a very deep smooth voice and long dark hair.  He wears short pants and a kimono style black top as pajamas, hanging loosely, revealing his bare chest.  I swear if he had a pencil thin mustache I'd think he was a loan shark.
Some Sample Phrases:
"Don't you think it's a lot warmer... Being together in the same blanket?"
"Hahaha, making a cute sound like that"
"What's wrong?  You can't sleep because I woke you up? Hahaha, sorry."
 Sei:  He seems older, or perhaps just more mature than some of the other characters.  He also is the first one to have facial hair, sporting a goatee.  He has light brown hair and belted black pajamas.
Some Sample Phrases:
"What's wrong?  you can't sleep?  Did something happen?"
"You really are a spoiled one today"
"You want me to stroke your head?"
Ryo:  A sort of innocent type.  He's very reluctant to make a move but caring.   He has a much lighter voice.  He has a straight split style black hair and wear pajamas that are entirely white.  Two pieces, cotton fabric.  You can see him to the right.
Some Sample Phrases:
"Hm? I'm glad you smiled"
"That surprised me... It's foul play to kiss like that... Can I... kiss you back?"
"If I can see you smile a lot I'll be happy"
 Takahiro:  He seems like a hard working type.  but enjoys watching you work hard as well.  I forget what that 'type' is called.  Very motivated, I suppose.  he wears an "Eagle" T-shirt and pajama pants to bed.  For some reason there is a giant brown bear sleeping behind him.  Not a "teddy bear" an actual bear...  He also has short brown hair.
Some Sample Phrases:
"I'll stay by your side until morning"
"I thought you're cute because of your effort"
"You're more important than work now... come here"
 Yuki:  He seems a very confident type.  He also seems to have ideas other than "sleeping".  He has long blonde (Or perhaps a very light brown) hair and wear a loose white top and tight black bottoms to bed.
Some Sample Phrases:
"You didn't want to keep me waiting... or you couldn't wait to see me?"
"What's wrong?  Oh maybe you're nervous."
"Your hair is still a bit wet.  You didn't blow dry it properly?"
Tohma:  He tends to have some "after the phrase" sounds that seem awkward to me.  Like the sound of him drinking after he says cheers.  He seems a very defensive type.  The sort that doesn't like to open up to people.  He can snap or get upset from time to time.  He wants you to be happy though.  he has curly blonde hair and wears a long sleeved black shirt and sports shorts to bed.  You can see him to the left.
Some Sample Phrases:
"Anyway, for a good day's work, cheers"
"You can go take a bath first"
"...what are you looking at?"
 Satoru:  He seems the intellectual type.  He is constantly concerned for you.  You must be very clumsy.  he is the 'other' short dark hair and glasses character (Why are there 2?).  He also wears a black two piece pajama set.  You can see him to the right.
Some Sample Phrases:
"I don't want anything to happen to you if you're out at night.  You could catch a cold, so don't say you're going home."
"I will try to forget... work is important but you... No, I can't even compare."
"You have the day off tomorrow.  You'll stay the night, right?"
     Alright!  Finally... that was the last one.  Each character has a Japanese speaking voice, but as you can see it is subtitled below (Unless you turn the subtitles off).  You seem to get different phrases on different days.  If I click him 10 times in a day I'll get the same 4 or 5 phrases.  But the next day he'll say different phrases.  So the trick to collecting them all is to speak to your boyfriend every day!
     It's an interesting application.  it's clearly modeled for teen girls.  I think that even though nothing 'bad' is said, sexual situations are subtly 'hinted at' so you may not want to give this application to a 'very' young girl. Not that she's going to get molested by an application, but...
     The artwork is very nice, the voice actors do a great job and I love the fact that it has subtitles.  The variety of characters is quite impressive.  The alarm is disappointing, but your phone comes with an alarm already so use that...  Good app for any lonely girl who likes cartoon boyfriends. (Or lonely boys who like cartoon boyfriends)
Rating: 4/5

• Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Size: 219 MB
• Languages: English, Japanese
• Seller: Visualworks Co., Ltd.
• © Visualworks Co., Ltd.

箱庭ズ

 箱庭ズ App for iPhone
     This is a cute clock app, entirely in 2-D pixel art.  It reminds me of that really old game from the 80s (I forget the name) where the little fellow just walked around his house all day and did what he wanted, and you watched him.
     Now I'll be frank (Pleased to meet you, Frank!), I am in no way a fan of clock applications for devices that have clocks on them already by default.  It seems like a complete waste to me.  However, that being said, I still paid and downloaded this.  Why?  It seemed really interesting to me.
     You can choose between 3 characters.  You can also switch between 3 different rooms.  This is done with the "Room change" and "Character change" buttons at the bottom.
     The characters walk around and you can interact with them, as well as the room itself.  For example, taping the little pink haired fellow can cause him to respond by swishing his hair and posing.  Or it can cause him to play some music on his guitar.  Sometimes the female character falls over from being tapped.  The cat boy enjoys his tea and will sometimes swat you with his sword.
     Here is a list of things in the rooms that can be tapped to see an animation.  I wont list all of them, as I think that part of the fun here is to explore each room yourself.
---------
Traditional Japanese Bedroom:
Wall Scroll
Sliding panel over entrance
Fish bowl
Pink Bedroom:
Window
Tele
Modern Bedroom:
Guitar
Computer
Clock
----------
There is also a large "Talk" button on the lower section of the app, you may have noticed.  When you press this button the character will tell you something.  However, it is via text only, this application has no voices.  Wouldn't it be more fun if it did?  The text is in Japanese, so if you are unable to read this language, it may be a useless feature for you.  Here are some sample phrases (Translated).  I am not sure if the rooms cause them to say different things or not, so I have listed the room in which the phrases were said as well. (I put the names after the character.  I 'believe' these are their names based off of conversations with them in the app)
Female: (Nikki)
"Why not make tea?" (Traditional)
"Good evening" (Pink)
"Please take care of yourself" (Modern)
Fashionable Male: (Yuge)
"Don't succumb to drowsiness" (Modern)
"Nja~(sound), Goodnight!" (Traditional)
Cat Boy: (He speaks differently & is difficult for me to translate) (Mesare)
"Don't swallow when drinking sake, thank you." (Something like that) (Pink)
"Those customers who love themselves, I am Mesare." (Something like that) (Pink)
     Of course it also functions well as a clock (It's primary feature).  You are shown the time of day as well as the day of the week & the date.  There is no alarm function or any way to change the display time (Military VS standard).
     Overall I believe this is a very cute application.  It's fun to fiddle with for a short time, but I do not see myself using it in the future.  As I have said, I'm not much for 'clock apps'.  I wish they would have added an audible feature to this so we could hear the tiny characters speaking.  Also, considering everything other than the speaking is in English, translating the phrases the characters say would have been nice.  It's cheap, only 99 cents.  But I'm a bit torn as to whether it's worth it or not for me... However, if you find yourself often needing or using a digital clock to display the time on your desk or what not, this could be worth it for you.
     If you're not sure as to whether or not you should pay for this version, there "is" a free version you can try out (I did not find out until later).  It features only the samurai cat fellow.  It only has one room available (Traditional).  It is called "箱庭さん".  You can view it in the app store here.
Rating: 4/5

• $0.99
• Category: Utilities
• Size: 0.5 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: Kazumiti Suzuki
• © Actual Brain Corporation

もっと！添い寝カノジョ

Motto!SoineKanojyo Sleepy Girl Friend App for iPhone

     I keep hearing about some application called "Sleepy Boyfriend" or something of that nature.  While looking into what the fuss was about I found one called Sleepy Girlfriend.  I'll likely review both, but this review is just for the female version seen here.
     From what I see is it is the digital version of those body pillows with Japanese cartoon characters draw on them in some sort of sexy pose.  It's for people who don't 'have' a significant other, but want to feel loved while they fall asleep.  How to quench this demand?  Apparently cartoon versions... Not sure how that works, but hey, I wont judge you.
     For this free application you have what appears to be a rather young blonde female.  She has 2 'time of day' settings (Day and night) and each of which give you 2 poses.  Depending on how you lie on your bed (To the left or to the right).
     Your brand new digital girl friend will keep you company while you drift off to the land of nod.  Give her a little tap and she'll talk to you for a while.  However, the audio for this is only in Japanese.
     There is even a collections setting where it will show you all of the things she has said.  You can see from that screen how many sayings you have not yet heard from her.  Keep tapping!  This girl's words are like Pokemon!  You've got to catch them all.

     Look at the left screen above (The day time version... or I suppose this could just be the 'lights on' version?... I suppose that makes more sense... Few people probably go to bed in the middle of the day).  You have 2 buttons in the bottom corner.  These buttons are to roll her over, or to turn on and off the light.  if you wish to leave girlfriend mode and return to the menu simply swipe so the top of the screen gives you a choice to go back.  Click the back button and you will be at the main menu.

     On the main menu there are 4 tabs at the bottom.  Log, Settings, Special and Shop.
       For log you'll see how long Luna (The girl) was lying with you.
      Under settings you can type in a Last Name and First Name (Your first and last name, not her's).  It's a bit odd because you are supposed to be her brother, according to the app.  She also calls you big brother quite often.  So apparently you are ... her... boyfriend, and her brother?  Either way, your name will be used in scenario mode.  This is why it asks for it here.
      The other options are Alarm time, Snooze, Alarm notification, vibration and push notification.
      Under Special (It's not actually called special, but I feel like that's the best name for this mode) you can view your collections.  On top you can see the phrases she has said to you.  the middle is her breathing collection (Obtained only through the shoppe). Then lastly in this section are the voice collections.  Unlock everything in the collection to feel a great sense of satisfaction.
     The last option is the shoppe (Shop).  Here you can purchase more features for your girl.  You can see the shop menu to the right.  You'll see these 4 square buttons.  Each button is a different section of the shop.  Depending on which section you click, you can purchase different sorts of items.
     The first button is "Voice".  These appear to be different 'speaking styles' for you to purchase.  They have spoiled, flirty and so on.
     The second top button is "Sleep breathing".  You can purchase the sound of your girlfriend sleeping here.  I wont lie, this seems a little creepy to me.  But I suppose it could be scary to sleep next to someone who isn't breathing...  So maybe this is a good thing?
     The first bottom area is "Scenarios".  You can spend time with your girl in various scenarios when you purchase them through this menu.  There are a great many to choose from, but each will be a separate purchase.  You will have to spend a lot to obtain all of them.  Each scenario has a different background and attire for your girlfriend.  I can only assume it has different things for her to say as well.
     And lastly we have "Alarm".  Alarm seems to sell you two "wake up patterns".  In the first one she will wake up regularly.  in the second she will have a hard time waking up (From what I can tell).  Each one will be a separate purchase.
     There is an issue with this application's alarm.  It can not boot you out of "sleep mode" (IE if your phone turns off or goes to sleep, the alarm will not work.  it can only work in active mode).  This means that you need to keep your phone, and this app running all night.  This is a great way to eat up your battery.  You'll need to plug your phone in and turn sleep mode off if you wish to use this as an alarm clock.
     This is certainly an interesting application.  If it helps people feel less lonely, I am all for it.  Just keep in mind that this isn't a real girl, so you don't 'have' to spend all of your money to purchase all of the features for her.  Save that money for when you don't need Luna anymore.  But buying a few features wouldn't hurt.
     I find it interesting how you can modify her voice to suit you, and choose a scenario that you would prefer.  I also like the fact that the basic of this application is free.  You don't 'need' to spend the money to use it.  And that always makes me happy.  I would like to see what some of her scenarios look like, but I'm afraid that I am not willing to spend the money just to test that for the review.  As this is not an application I intend to use in the future.  I don't need a girlfriend to sleep by me at night.
     On the negative side this app is entirely in Japanese.  Why don't places ever wish to translate things before bringing them to the US market?  I can understand the voice staying Japanese, as that would take a lot of work to re-record.  however, the text can easily be changed to English.  Especially if you want people to spend money in the shoppe.  They are less likely to buy something if they can't read what it is they are buying.  So I will lower my rating because of this issue.  There's also the alarm issue (So a little bit off the rating for this too).  But overall I believe this to be a quality app, for what it is.
Rating: 3.5/5

• Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Size: 236 MB
• Language: Japanese
• Seller: Visualworks Co., Ltd.
• © Visualworks Co., Ltd.