Kotaku: haruna anno

The Top Spelunker Player In Japan Is A Pin-Up Model

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:00:00 MDT

...though, calling idol Haruna Anno simply a "pin-up model" isn't entirely accurate. She's a gaming idol and not by accident.

Last month, Haruna posted her Street Fighter IV online stats. She had fought in 214 fights, won 178 of them and lost 36. Her winning percentage was an impressive 83.13 percent.

Haruna is hardly a casual player. Her room is a gaming shrine, filled with retro game hardware, an arcade cabinet and games — lots of games. She's dead serious about playing, too. She claims to have once played Chrono Trigger for 36 hours straight and has whizzed through Super Mario Bros. so many times that she can clear World 1-1 without looking at the screen.

Since her specialty is retro gaming, the HD Spelunker remake for the PS3 is right up her alley. She came, she saw and, yes, she has already conquered. She blogs this about Minna de Spelunker:

Now, it's 3 o'clock. Finally, I'm in first place!! Number one nationwide! It's currently 3am on March 27. I can totally keep going. I should be able to even for the next three weeks.

This isn't totally unexpected as Anno was involved in the game's promotion. Still, she'll pwn you proper.

みんなでスペランカー　一位になった。寝る [杏野はるなの日常 via チラシの裏でゲーム鈍報] Pic]

Retro Gaming Pin-Up Model Tells Off Game Pirates ("Yaargh!")

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:30:00 MST

Hey! Everyone's favorite retro gaming idol Haruna Anno has some harsh words for you illegal downloader pirate people. Very harsh.

How harsh? This harsh: "[Not paying for games] is the same as not paying your dinner tab or shoplifting," she blogs during a break from writing "Chrono Trigger" in Japanese calligraphy. "It's stealing. Don't think you've really played the game if you've done this... I do not think people who don't buy the games have the privilege to enjoy them."

Well, that wasn't that harsh. Still. Remember, this is coming from a person who once played Chrono Trigger for 36 hours straight. She's the anti-Rola Chen and so not joking around. Haruna Anno is serious business.

DS版『クロノトリガー』が発売前に流出に [杏野はるなの日常。via Sponichi Annex] [Pic]

This Is What The Retro Gamer Girl Is Doing With Metal Gear...

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:00:00 MST

Over the weekend, I stayed at home at waited for the baby to fall out of my wife. (It didn't, but rather, hung around in her womb and listened to my Prince albums.) On Saturday and Sunday, Osaka played host to the Games Japan Festa 2008. (Like I said, I was at home, with the wife, Prince records and a catcher's mitt.) The event is nowhere near the size of TGS, but Famitsu was there, reporting long lines for Metal Gear Online: Meme Expansion. The wait reached 90 minutes — compare that to the brisk 15-20 minute lines for The Last Remnant.

Also. The Games Japan Festa answered a truly important question, what is the planet's greatest retro gaming pin-up model doing with Metal Gear? She's apparently wearing a beret and pointing a plastic gun at Famitsu photographers. That's Haruna Anno in the picture. Now that question is answered, let's movie on to the important stuff like what created the universe and how babies are made. Mysteries!