The anime was released in the United States by ADV Films under the title Diamond Daydreams in three volumes and later in a thinpack re-release.
The game takes place in modern Japan and (unusually for a dating sim) uses actual photographs of Hokkaidō as background art, while the character sprites are illustrations.
Game interaction is achieved through a menu of action options, such as sleeping, using your cell phone, waiting, saving, or going somewhere.
Upon arrival in the chosen area, the game shows and describes the scene in visual novel format, with text layered on a graphical background.
[3] The player, a second-year high school student (17 years old), travels from Tokyo to Sapporo in Hokkaidō (hence the basic title of the game Kita E (To the North).
Jurota Tokibi and Mafuyu Morinaga: This unfortunate guy and melancholy woman appear at various points throughout the anime series as a cheeky nod to players of the game as well as supplying some comic relief.
In fact, in the third DVD of the collection, Jurota is described by the director as "He's the character who just can't seem to fall in love with any heroine in the game."
However, in episode 12, these two background characters come to the foreground at the very end and mysteriously meet up with Mafuyu sending a final message to Shoko's radio show saying (in the English dub) "I've decided I'm going to tell him everything.
"[4] Zac Bertschy, also with ANN, called the anime unremarkable and "fairly banal", but did say that "It's really refreshing to watch a show based on a dating sim that doesn't make you wish you could reach through the screen and slap the characters around a little bit.