Memos from Mamemura: Weeks 2-3

Remember how I said I was going to start a (semi)weekly feature chronicling my adventures in Animal Crossing: New Leaf? Well, I’ve finally got off my lazy butt and compiled all my screenshots thus far into one such post! My Initial Animal Crossing: New Leaf Impressions post will serve as the first week, hence why this is weeks 2-3.

I’ll try my very best to talk about all the special events and fun tidbits that people might not know about in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, so keep in mind that these posts will be chock-full of information and screenshots that “spoil” some of the surprises in the game. That said, I won’t cover every little thing in order to keep some of the magic there for those of you who haven’t gotten the chance to play yet, but I can’t guarantee anything, so please proceed with caution!

Anyone notice my ongoing thing for Swadloon?

But before I begin, you’re probably wondering why I decided to title this “Memos from Mamemura.” I’ve named my Animal Crossing: New Leaf town Mamemura, which literally means “bean town,” but I like how it almost sounds like Amemura, short for America Mura, which is an actual location in Osaka.  Of course since I am actually American, a town who’s name is a pun of Amemura sounded like a grand idea! (Amemura really doesn’t have much of anything to do with America, if you’re wondering) And I’d like to give everyone who pitched title suggestions in my last post a huge thanks for the wonderful inspiration! If it weren’t for your awesome ideas, I wouldn’t have come up with Memos from Mamemura, which I’m quite proud of, if I do say so myself.

Enough talk! What have I been up to in the world of Animal Crossing: New Leaf?

I got a whopping three new villagers over the past two weeks! The first to appear was Frill, who, if I’m not mistaken, is new to New Leaf (someone please correct me if I’m wrong!). Doesn’t she look like she came straight out of a Tim Burton film? And I love the Victorian decor! I wonder if they were channeling lolita goth when they designed her.

Next came Rocky the koala, another (definitely) new villager to New Leaf! I’m really lucky to have gotten such a wide range of characters! I just adore his shades, sideburns, and leather jacket. 
Finally, we have Kuroko, or Alli in the English versions. It’s lots of fun to see old and new faces mingle. 

I got my first visit from Kaburiba, or Joan, the lady who sells turnips. As all Animal Crossing aficionados know, you can make quite a killing reselling turnips to shops, as the price changes from day to day (I believe it even changes multiple times a day in New Leaf). The only downside is that they go bad in a week, so you might find yourself stuck having to sell them back for a less-than-desirable price. I thought Joan was trying to pull me a fast one by setting the turnip price rather high this week, so I decided to play it safe and not buy any.

I finally unlocked the island! If only I took better notes, I’d be able to say exactly which day this occurred on… After completing certain tasks as mayor, Tortimer, the mayor of previous Animal Crossing towns, will appear when you load up your game and invite you to visit his island. From the next day, you’re able to travel to the island whenever you wish, as long as you can afford the 1,000 bell fee. It’s a great place to find rare bugs, fish, and fruit, as well as play special mini-games!

Swimming is new to New Leaf, as well, and can only be done on the island. It’s a lot of fun diving for things! You can see I’ve caught a sea urchin above.

I bet you’re wondering what’s wrong with my eye in the above screens, right? Well, guess who shook one too many trees? I pushed my luck too far and a beehive landed right next to me! I was no match for those bees. I love how the villagers react to seeing your mangled face. They suggest to find medicine but I had no idea how to get any… Luckily all was well the next day.

New digs and swag! I love my Mario hat and sparkly shojo eye glasses.

My first project as mayor was building this bridge! Every time you compete a project (i.e pay off your debt) you’ll have a little celebration with some of the villagers and Shizue, the secretary.

Last Thursday was the Harvest Festival! This turkey, Franklin, shows up in everyone’s towns asking for ingredients to cook a feast. Unfortunately the event was going on when I was traveling, so I didn’t get a chance to complete all the tasks.

I did, however, trade some ingredients with some villagers…

and brought them back to Franklin to make a mushroom salad! He asks you to bring a “secret ingredient,” but I didn’t realize I needed one, and unfortunately there’s no turning back once you have the required items and initiate a conversation with him. Basically, my lack of the secret ingredient meant that it wasn’t the “best it could be,” which leads me to believe I might’ve gotten a better item had I brought the secret ingredient. I’m happy with the harvest dresser I got in return, but it’s a shame I’ll have to wait until next year to do the rest of the event! 
I also built a tent in my town so wandering villagers could come visit. You can play a short guessing game with them, and in this case the conniving deer you see above, Doremi (another newcomer to New Leaf!), managed to swindle my bug net off me for a mere 56 bells because I kept picking the wrong numbers (it’s basically all up to chance, I believe). Luckily she said she enjoyed my town and wants to move in, so I hope to see her soon! 
Gettin’ my nerd on with an arcade machine and cat ears. 
Finally, though I don’t have space to share all of the pictures I have from visiting friend’s towns, I wanted to show a quick glimpse of K.K Slider’s Club 444. You can actually dance around by pressing the directional buttons and everything! (Can you see my little hip shake in the above image? Talk about cute!) 
Well, that about sums up my last two weeks in Mamemura. As always, if you have any questions about the game, feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer. See you next week!

[Update] Ah yes, I forgot to post what my town’s layout looks like! Here you go:

 

About Anne

Also known as apricotsushi. Anne can be written with the kanji for apricot (杏), and sushi was the most quintessentially Japanese thing I could think of when I was 13, resulting in my goofy, albeit memorable, nickname.

25 thoughts on “Memos from Mamemura: Weeks 2-3”

  1. First: You SHOULD be proud of your town’s name. It’s like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, or something like that 🙂

    Second: I’m kind of shocked that only three new neighbors have moved into your town in the last two weeks. That seems … slow. How many do you have overall at the moment?

    Third: God, how I love the design of this game’s deer characters. Doremi (what a name!!) is sooooooooo cute. Oh, man, I’d better have a deer neighbor in my AC:NL town 🙂

    BTW, what’s your character’s name? Is it Anne or Apricot or something else altogether?

  2. Oh my god, this looks so great! The whole games seems to be freakin’ adorable! I can’t wait anymore ;_______;

    Why do we have to wait so long till the release? We miss so many interesting events!

    Maybe we can visit eachother when it’s been released in Europe? (only if you like of course).

    About the medicine: in the last games Tom Nook was selling it, did that change?

    Awww I want to go swimming and visit the island, build a bridge and visit my villiagers 🙁

    I’m so jealous! Well you seem to enjoy your copy of Animal Crossing New Leaf and your Animal Crossing 3DS XL aswell! 🙂

    Oh I got a question: could you take a picture of your town map?

    I would love to see how your town was generated. 😀
    Thanks before!
    Yours Lizzi

  3. I *need* this! Anne, you’re so lucky to have it already (especially since apparently there’s now a shortage of Animal Crossing in Japan?)! The original GC version was a daily ritual for me for months. I have never really felt the same about the series since then, but it looks like New Leaf might be able to rekindle those old feelings :).

  4. Thanks! I’m glad you understand my pride for my town’s name 😀

    Do you think the rate that neighbors move in is slow? I believe I’ve had 5 new people move in since I started playing a little under a month ago (Doremi moved in the day before I posted this, but I’m counting her in week 4). I can’t remember how quickly they populate your village in the other games. I believe I have 10 villagers total now, but I’ll have to check and get back to you on that one!

    The deer characters are so cute, aren’t they!? I’m really happy I got Doremi. I’m pretty lucky to have gotten 3 of the new faces to New Leaf.

    As for my character’s name, it’s actually Anpan! It’s a bit of a nickname I picked up in Japan. There’s a character called Anpanman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anpanman who is actually an animate bread bun filled with red bean paste, and I happen to really like red bean paste (which is pronounced “an,” the same as my name in Japanese) so my host family sometimes calls me that. I think it’s cute! The villagers gave me the nickname Anpuu, haha

  5. Yeah, I’ve heard about the shortage! I got the download version with my LL, which I suppose is nice because now I always have it with me.

    Actually, I never played the GC version! I started with Wild World, which I liked quite a lot, but I’ve heard a number of people say they preferred the GC version. Maybe I’ll try it someday just for comparison’s sake!

  6. Honestly, I’m not sure how long it takes to fully populate your town in older ones. I’ve been playing the original AC for about 3 weeks now and I’ve had the full (I think?) 15 neighbors for about a week, I think.

    BTW, I love that the deer neighbor’s name is Doremi! How adorable is that??

    If I don’t get a deer neighbor in my New Leaf town, I’m going to be MAD!

    That’s a great story about your character’s name — and your nickname, too, of course 🙂 Does Anpuu mean anything in Japanese, by the way, or is it just cute?

  7. Hi Lizzi! I would love to visit your town when the game comes out in Europe 🙂

    You’re right about the medicine, but apparently it only is available in the shop once you’ve upgraded it to a convenience store. I just got it the other day.

    And thanks for reminding me about the town map! I was meaning to add that. I’ve put it at the end of the post above.

  8. Thanks for the screenshot of your town-map. It seems like there is more on the right side? How big is the whole map and what is missing on the picture? 🙂

    Oh I’m so excited about the game! >.<

  9. That arrow on the right just reveals the characters’ names so you can click on them and see which house they live in. That’s the whole town map.

    All of the shops, however, are in a shopping district area to the north (past the train tracks). You can go visit the island by heading to the little dock on the ocean at the bottom of the screen.

    The map is a bit small, but I still find it a pain to run from one side to another! The shopping district area is really nice, and new shops open every few days. I still haven’t unlocked everything!

  12. Waaaaaah! That sounds so great! I’m so excited what kind of stores I’ll find in the shopping district. 😀
    Have you watched the Animal Crossing Anime-movie yet?
    I just sent it to Bryan the other day.

  14. Of course! Just need your email-adress. It’s japanese but english subs. I have to send it in 4 parts because it’s too big for one email. Hope that’s ok.

  15. Sure! Thanks a bunch! My email is apricotsushi @ gmail . com without the spaces, of course 🙂

  21. Oh geeze, sorry I never replied to this comment, Bryan!

    I STILL haven’t gotten any more neighbors in my town, which is causing me to think the limit is actually lower than 15! I sure hope not, but that would explain why I’m not getting any more people…

    Anpuu doesn’t really mean anything, I think. Guess it’s just the villagers being silly with sounds 🙂

  22. No need to be jealous! You got your amazing Animal Crossing 3DS LL (with AC-adapter included… -.- ). I AM jealous! I wish I could get one too… 🙁 On the picture you can see the red warning-sign which sais “AC-adapter is NOT included”. Still don’t get why Nintendo did this to Europe…

  23. Oh, please don’t worry about it, Anne. I had forgotten about it, too 🙂

    As for the number of neighbors in your town: someone on NeoGAF just suggested that the limit in New Leaf is 10, which I think kind of sucks. However, that’s all you could get in City Folk, too, so I guess it’s not too terrible. (I’m not sure how many you can get in WW…)

  24. Actually, the Japanese 3DS LL doesn’t come with an AC adapter, either! But I still have my regular 3DS one, so I just use that.

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