Japanese advertising has a long history of doing things no other market would, and Earth Corporation, one of the country’s leading insecticide manufacturers, has just added its own contribution to this legacy. The company launched Gokigen Lovely Days, a free browser-based dating simulator where players can fall in love with four attractive anime-style insect boys, all voiced by Yuki Kaji. Yes, the same Yuki Kaji from Eren Yeager in Shingeki no Kyojin and Shoto Todoroki in Boku no Hero Academia.

The game works exactly like any otome: players meet the characters, go on dates, spend quiet nights together, and build a romantic relationship with each of the four insect boys, each with their own personality. Kaji recorded four completely different voices for the project, something he described as a first in his career, encouraging players to use headphones to appreciate the difference between each character.

So far, everything is normal within controlled absurdity. What comes next is different. No matter how well you develop the relationship, at some point in the game an insecticide spray appears and the player is invited to end the romance in the only logical way available. The game includes a warning at the start about disturbing content and recommends those with weak hearts avoid playing it. It’s no exaggeration.

The concept is absurd but the advertising logic is flawless: you take common household pests, turn them into attractive characters with a recognizable voice, make the player grow attached to them, and then kindly remind them that in real life, the solution is the company’s spray. Kaji described the project as “exciting in a way only a company like Earth Corporation could create,” which is a polite way of saying they paid him well for four different cockroach voices.

About Gokigen Lovely Days

Gokigen Lovely Days is a free browser-based dating simulator developed by Earth Corporation as a promotional tool for its insecticide products. This isn’t the first time a Japanese company has used this format for marketing: previous examples include titles where players could romance a monster from the Ultraman franchise or household cleaning products. What sets this one apart is the involvement of Yuki Kaji, one of the industry’s most recognized voice actors, playing all four available characters. The game is available in Japanese.

Did you reach the end of any route or stop before having to make the difficult decision?