item then as a limited commercial release. The game was only released in Japan. In a 2009 interview, Vanillaware director George Kamitani stated that the game was denied localization due to its portrayal of training people who resembled small girls. Reception The game sold 3,500 copies in its debut week, becoming the 4th highest-selling Nintendo DS game during that period. Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu enjoyed the artwork and basic premise, but one reviewer felt that its real-time gameplay mechanic was intrusive, while another thought the game lacked substance. Joystiq commented on the game's visual style, which they felt was a departure from previous Vanillaware titles, stating that "That's not to say Kumatanchi looks bad (which, in turn, is not to say it looks good), but it's a lot more cutesy than what we were expecting." Janine Dong of GamerTell was fairly mixed about the game; while she enjoyed the art design and some of its gameplay ideas, she found the general gameplay and interactions with Kuma-tan uncomfortable. Mathias Oertel, during a review of Dragon's Crown for German website 4Players, noted Kumatanchi as having inferior artwork to the rest of the developer's titles. References 2008 video games Japan-exclusive video games Kemonomimi Life simulation games Moe anthropomorphism Nintendo DS games Nintendo DS-only games Single-player video games Vanillaware games Video games about bears Video games developed in Japan Video games set in zoos Virtual pet video games