Rock band appears in Kenka Bancho 4; Akina Minami appears in my heart

No no no. Not "Rock Band" as in the Guitar Hero rival. (Would that even make sense?) Kenka Bancho 4 is seeing a tie-up with a real rock band.

Members of Kishidan, the group that's performing Kenka Bancho 4's theme song "Rock 'n Roll in My Fist," will see their own make of school outfits appear as collectable items in the game. You'll be able to dress your customizable character in the clothes, with the changes appearing not just during gameplay, but during event scenes as well.

How you go about getting the clothing is a mystery at present. But the result will look something like this:

Spike has been announcing lots and lots of promotions for Kenka Bancho 4 of late. Prior to the Kishidan clothing tie-up, the company detailed a tie-up with Asahi Beverages that will see branded Asahi drinks appear in the game.

The drinks, which serve as power-ups, will be purchasable from Asahi vending machines. In past Kenka Bancho games, you had to acquire power-ups from convenience stores.

Rock bands and carbonated beverages are great and all, but here is the only promotion that counts.

Meet Akina Minami:

See how cheerful she is? Akina is the image character for Kenka Bancho 4, and I imagine she's cheerful that her game is less than a month away from release.

But look at what happens to Akina when she plays Kenka Bancho 4:

I give Akina permission to dress in her school thug clothing and punch me anywhere she likes.

Acquire got Akina to do her legendary fist move (it's not legendary now, but I bet it will be!) for the Kenka Bancho 4 television commercials. You can see the spots at the game's official site, or here:

(That's Kishidan's theme song in the background.)

Also be sure and visit the official site for a video message from Akina.

If you like the looks on Akina, remember that I saw her first, and visit her blog for more.