Pantsu Hunter - Innocence and Nostalgia

      Pantsu Hunter: Back to the 90’s does an odd thing – it gives you a hearty dose of nostalgia despite its - on the face of it at least - seemingly perverted premise.

     Ok, you’re going to have to hear me out on this one.

      The basic concept of the game is thus: you play as Kenji, a young man in 90’s Japan who is disillusioned by the societal pressures of work and conformity and instead yearns for true love and someone to settle down with to help provide a greater meaning to his life. His experiences with his thus far unsuccessful search have resulted in him coming up with a theory: that you can tell a girl’s personality by the kind of panties she wears.

      This is all the motivation that is afforded and the game subsequently plays out in the form of a light visual novel with point-and-click adventure elements though in a much more simplified and pared down manner than in other similar games in those genres. There are only a handful of scenarios you can play and each is very short with only a limited number of dialogue paths and objects you can actually interact with. Rather than simply clearing the scenario, instead the appeal comes from trying to find all the paths you can take and checking off all the endings as well as obtaining all the hidden panties. For example the first scenario sees you going over to girl’s apartment to fix their VHS player. As well as 7 different panties hidden in the scenario, there are 17 different ‘endings’ not including the true (successful) ending that is required to progress on to the next scenario.

     As all the endings are listed at summary screen at the beginning, much of the appeal comes from the rapid Groundhog Day-like repetition of the scenario where you explore the different ways each ending could be triggered by choosing various dialogue options or interacting with certain objects. Once obtained, that ending is checked off the list and you start over. Some endings are as random as slipping off a chair and dying or drowning in a bathtub but others can be triggered simply by inaction or by the girl giving you a bruising for being rude to her or acting in a lecherous manner. The various ending names such as ‘Chair-killer’ and ‘The Drowned Man’ certainly gives you a clue as to how they might be play out and be obtained, but the endings often abruptly come out of nowhere with hilarious accompanying text descriptions. As previously mentioned because the scenarios are very short and there are fairly limited in options in how to progress it's very quick to start over and explore different paths and choices in a trial and error manner in quick succession and without much of a fuss.

      Now if you are still reading this far you must be asking the question – how can this not just be dismissed as some perverted adult-only game based on a stereotypically Japanese fetishistic porn premise? Well, because it kind of isn’t. Whilst the concept could definitely be construed as “creepy”, the execution is not. There are no erotic scenes or nudity (at least in the Nintendo Switch version I’ve played) and Kenji’s actions are always respectful and carried out with (ultimately) good intentions, however misguided his actions may be.

      Now let’s be clear that underwear theft and the invasion of privacy is wrong. I am not condoning Kenji’s actions. What I am trying to convey is that the game manages to evoke a distinct 90’s aesthetic with its classic anime style, warm colour tones, relaxing synth score - and it is through this that a strong sense of nostalgia is evoked. It somehow makes you yearn for bygone days – to a simpler and more innocent time. When you were young, lost and inexperienced and capturing a fellow lost souls’ heart was the ultimate accolade. Where something as sanctified and forbidden as a pair of panties could be seen as hallowed treasure and symbolised as the key to finding true love, as ridiculous and somewhat ill justified a concept as that may be. Kenji is not an out-and-out pervert, and you do sympathise with him to a degree. Maybe I felt like a lost Kenji all those years ago.

      In that respect the game feels oddly heartfelt and comforting to play – likely even more so for those grew up on 90’s anime. Despite its simplistic nature and strange premise, Panstu Hunter is surprisingly effective in its nostalgia.

      But obviously don’t go around stealing people’s underwear, okay? Or at least don't get caught.

1^st May 2020