(L) I want more To Heart!!!

[Greenish Growth]

Originally Posted by suguru

To Heart aired starting in April 1999 according to animenfo. I'm surprised as much of a following as it has it never got licensed for R1, but maybe if Comic Party does well, To Heart will get picked up too (since they're both Aquaplus).

Yeah I believe To Heart was the fourth or fifth ren'ai game anime to ever air on Japanese TV from April 1-June 27, 1999. So it's one of the earliest romantic game TV adapted anime.

The animation looks good for a TV series.

[babbito2k]

This series fell prey to a decent number of bad reviews on Internet sites. The basic complaint was that the show is not dramatic enough. I am not echoing these complaints, just mentioning them; you can probably find old bad reviews.

The "first wave" of fans was pretty small, from what I remember. The show is getting a bigger following now than it used to have. I can think of two reasons:

1) 13-episode series were much less common back then, and people have gotten used to these series and what they can and can't do.

2) The boom in "harem" anime which came after this series, and the increased emphasis on fanservice nowadays, have lowered the standards for "romance" and "romantic comedy." This series stands out a lot more than it did when it was being compared to longer older series, which have now faded from view.

I think the shortness of the series was a reason why the show was never licensed.

As far as the animation, backgrounds, character design, music or anything else, I think this show stacks up with the best. I just wish they changed the ED song a lot sooner in the series than they did, because the 2nd one ("Access" by SPY ) is so good.

[Roots]

Originally Posted by 7thMethuselah

Finally some new To Heart ! At first the episode felt a little out-of-place because of the robot girl but the entire episode kept the pace and the atmophere of the previous ones so I liked it anyway Looks like the story for multi isn't over yet so I'm eagerly awaiting episode 11 now.

So far episode 9 remains my favorite (the one where they decide to study together)

For some reason I couldn't remember that episode so I downloaded 9 (half way through the download I remembered it though). But the study session isn't episode 9! Episode 9 is the culture festival one! Oops But yeah I really liked that episode too. I'd say its my 2nd favorite. My favorite is unquestionably the sports festival one, because it makes me reminsic about my high school days....

Spoiler for if you're interested in my real life...:

So this was my junior year of high school at the city track meet. I was supposed to run the 1600m (4th event) and 3200m (2nd to last event), when I discovered that a guy on the 4x800m team said he couldn't do it. So they asked me to do it, and I relunctantly agreed (running the 4x800m and then the 1600m 3 events later is very painful...). My coach told me not to push it and to just stick with someone the entire time (I was the 3rd leg). So when I got passed the baton we were in second place, trailing first by about 20m or so. I easily caught up to the guy in first and was breathing down his neck. He was going SO freaking slow I couldn't stand it, so finally I got fed up at the 600m mark and freaking blew him away and took first place. Then our last leg kept the lead I got and we became city champs. Ahhh such fond memories

By the way, we haven't been introduced to the purple haired girl yet have we? Not the rich, super-quiet magician girl but the other girl with light purple hair and purple eyes in the intro. She must be Episode 12 I presume.

Frankly I think Multi doesn't fit in with the story. Freaking maid robot, what the crap. I don't hate Multi or anything, but she's just SO out of place with this anime.

Originally Posted by babbito2k

This series fell prey to a decent number of bad reviews on Internet sites. The basic complaint was that the show is not dramatic enough. I am not echoing these complaints, just mentioning them; you can probably find old bad reviews.

I like the fact that its not dramatic. Its simplicity is the best part in my opinion. Its easy to relate to, and its just down-right enjoyable. Man this series really makes me miss high school I love the opening song, it brings peace to my heart

[Muir Woods]

Hmm...I'll just spill my mind about To Heart a bit. I finished To Heart long time ago (on poor quality fansubs back then). My high school experience was no where near what To Heart was. A usual school day for me would be skipping class, playing basketball, gambling (not with money, but with stupid stunts doing 10 situps on the cafeteria table) with cards, and general teen tomfoolery; needless to say, way more interesting than To Heart was, and I'm not even listing the more "ghastly" things I do. However I really like To Heart, in fact it is one of my favorites, for one simple reason: The relationship between Akari and Hiroyuki. It's a relationship that I wish I had but never had a chance (why? I moved about 8 times in my life). It somehow makes me smile (and happy) when I see them together. Strange eh?

Whatever happened to Anime-Galaxy? I still have their To Heart episodes from 01-09. But they're not cranking out To Heart anymore...or anything at all. It would be a bummer for me to download 01-09 again from another fansubber who'll complete the series. I don't like mixing fansub groups of the same title.

Oh uh...Mahoro > Multi .

[babbito2k]

Originally Posted by Roots

By the way, we haven't been introduced to the purple haired girl yet have we? Not the rich, super-quiet magician girl but the other girl with light purple hair and purple eyes in the intro. She must be Episode 12 I presume.

Kotone, the psychic girl, was in episode 7, which was about soccer and sick cats. Episode 12 and 13 are more or less about Hiroyuki and Akari, with some other stuff going on that I will not even mention.

Originally Posted by Itlandm

The robot/android felt out of place...

Originally Posted by Roots

Frankly I think Multi doesn't fit in with the story...

Originally Posted by 7thMethuselah

At first the episode felt a little out-of-place because of the robot girl...

Multi-chan fits the story fine - she is just another character. In the games she has just as much chance to get with Hiroyuki as any of the other girls - and plenty of them were "different" too, if you recall.

Just look at her as a girl who happens to have green hair and weird thingies sticking out of her head. Hiroyuki can do it... that's the point of having her in the story. Episode 11 isn't even available yet... watch it and see what you think.

[Greenish Growth]

Could someone explain me about the dance-around-the-bonfire thing they do at the end of episode 5?

I've seen this dance in other anime too such as Maria-sama, but I've never heard an explanation about it. Is this a common thing to do at your High School at the end of Health-Sports Day (October 10th)?

[Roots]

Originally Posted by babbito2k

Kotone, the psychic girl, was in episode 7, which was about soccer and sick cats. Episode 12 and 13 are more or less about Hiroyuki and Akari, with some other stuff going on that I will not even mention.

Ahh that's right, I forgot about that. Man I really need to re-watch this series.

Originally Posted by babbito2k

Multi-chan fits the story fine - she is just another character. In the games she has just as much chance to get with Hiroyuki as any of the other girls - and plenty of them were "different" too, if you recall.

Umm its an ero game right? How does Hiroyuki have sex with a robot Does she have sexual functionality built in? Hmm, maybe I better get me one of these robot mades

[babbito2k]

Originally Posted by Greenish Growth

Could someone explain me about the dance-around-the-bonfire thing they do at the end of episode 5?

I've seen this dance in other anime too such as Maria-sama, but I've never heard an explanation about it. Is this a common thing to do at your High School at the end of Health-Sports Day (October 10th)?

That's a "folk" dance, apparently a slo-mo adaptation of a square dance. It's certainly a common way to end Sports Festivals in anime; similar scenes are shown in Azumanga Daioh and Chibi Maruko-chan movie, just to name two off the top of my head.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by babbito2k

Multi-chan fits the story fine - she is just another character. In the games she has just as much chance to get with Hiroyuki as any of the other girls - and plenty of them were "different" too, if you recall.

Just look at her as a girl who happens to have green hair and weird thingies sticking out of her head. Hiroyuki can do it... that's the point of having her in the story. Episode 11 isn't even available yet... watch it and see what you think.

I agree with this - after Episode 11, you see how she fits in to the story. Even though she's a robot, she acts more like a cute little girl, which is why Hiroyuki has a hard time believing she's a robot at first. In any event, she probably has one of the most developed plots in the show (which is to say, it's still quite short, but a little longer than some of the others). I never found her to be out of place... but then I suppose I never gave much thought to what Roots mentioned... umm... there are some things I don't need to know!

Incidentally, I believe that kj1980 mentioned once that Multi was one of the more popular characters in To Heart - it's the role that made Yui Horie "famous" in Japan, if I'm not mistaken (as opposed to her role as Naru in Love Hina, which ended up being more popular in the States).

[akabane-san]

hm.... wow i didnt know that so many animes here are from ero-games. no wonder when i tell people that i am an anime crazy person, they go telling other people that i watch japanese cartoon porno. T_T

well i agree with the multi-roboto thing. its really out of the regular to heart feel and no cute robot girl deserve harshness like that (they derserve better, like me! =P) but the cutest thing in this epi was akari's soft voice doing the "DORYAaaaa".

epi which i liked the most is the bedroom studying too. that was nice....

[akabane-san]

hm... maybe multi does fit in, but our judgement is based on this current epi so thanks for the clarification ^_^. but it really isnt that strange that multi want to get with hiroyuki, doesnt every girl wants to get with him.

questions:-
1)To heart is from an ero-game?????? i thought u said romantic game.... define your meaning of romantic to me pls...
2)multi is capable of sexual functions?????.......wow

i too want a multi-robot...

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by akabane-san

hm... maybe multi does fit in, but our judgement is based on this current epi so thanks for the clarification ^_^. but it really isnt that strange that multi want to get with hiroyuki, doesnt every girl wants to get with him.

questions:-
1)To heart is from an ero-game?????? i thought u said romantic game.... define your meaning of romantic to me pls...
2)multi is capable of sexual functions?????.......wow

i too want a multi-robot...

1. "To Heart" was a mega-hit ero-game released by the softhouse Leaf in May 1997.
(http://leaf.aquaplus.co.jp/product/index.html)

2. "To Heart" was then released by Aquaplus (the consumer and non-ero brand arm of Leaf) in March 1999 for the PlayStation. (http://www.aquaplus.co.jp/th/index.html)

3. In Summer of 2003, the consumer version of "To Heart" was then re-imported back for the PC by Aquaplus as "To Heart PSE."
(http://www.aquaplus.co.jp/th/pse.html)

4. This year, in Summer 2004, Aquaplus will release "To Heart 2" for the PlayStation2
(http://www.aquaplus.co.jp/th2/index.html)


The release of "To Heart" on the consumer market further spread the "To Heart" mania. This release included professional seiyuus. The two seiyuus from this game that likely owe their current success are Kawasumi Ayako (who played Akari) and Horie Yui (who played Multi).

Although the game was supposed to focus its attention to Kamigishi Akari as the main heroine, many people fell a strong amorous feeling for the little but strong-willed android-robot, Multi. Multi's fame even surprised the game makers themselves.

[zalas]

Originally Posted by kj1980

Although the game was supposed to focus its attention to Kamigishi Akari as the main heroine, many people fell a strong amorous feeling for the little but strong-willed android-robot, Multi. Multi's fame even surprised the game makers themselves.

Has Multi's fame been infamous in some way? I've seen a lot of MADs where Multi is the butt of all the bad jokes/murder plots. (Of course, her falling over in one of the episodes is the main source material ^^;)

[Itlandm]

I don't dislike Multi as a person, I just felt up to then the show was plausible ... it really could have happened. Well, there was the psychic girl, but she was only a little psychic, enough that you did not really need to believe it unless you wanted to. (I have seen things almost like that in real life.) A robot is just so far over the top, it takes away the feeling that "this could really have happened". Well, unless we learn that she is actually a girl with a mental problem who thinks she is a robot. That was what I hoped for.

[Yamano667]

Why to heart had a forced end ??? it should have continued with a more appropiate END ? It should have had more romance and more extensive character development

[babbito2k]

Originally Posted by Yamano667

Why to heart had a forced end ??? it should have continued with a more appropiate END ? It should have had more romance and more extensive character development

You can still find complaints like this on the web, dating from when the show was first subbed. Bad reviews and unfair comparisons to longer romances have kept this series from getting broader recognition.

To Heart was only 13 episodes long, and it absolutely had to get in all the characters from the game. The writing accomplishes a lot with what it has to work with. Hiroyuki is a "camera's eye" character - it really doesn't matter that the viewer doesn't see him directly because of the way the girls react to him.

The girls are developed very efficiently in the time allowed. It doesn't matter that the viewer doesn't get a lot of backstory or always know exactly what each one is thinking. The girls are casual acquaintances and Hiroyuki knows them as well as anyone would after just a couple of days.

There is plenty of romance in the series, even if there is not a whole lot of drama regarding relationships. When Rio is riding home towards the end of episode 6 it is obvious that a lot is going on in her mind. Kotone in episode 7 has a crush on someone else. Akari, of course, is romanticizing her relationship with Hiroyuki regardless of what he does.

It's fun to watch soap operas like Hana Yori Dango, but that show lives on the sheer drama and stupidity of its characters and the plot has to take a lot of awkward turns to keep everything going. To Heart has a much simpler and clearer-eyed view of romance and comes off more naturally.

As far as the end, I can't agree that anything about it is forced. The last couple of episodes are mildly dramatic but they are wrapped up in a way that is consistent with the tone and pace of the rest of the show. If you are saying that the series is too short, well, it was set to be this long and I think the writing is excellent.

[Greenish Growth]

The romantic stuff at the end of To Heart is rather subdued. You have to do a lot of reading between the lines as to what the characters are really trying to say to each other. After you know what they are really trying to expess, the ending makes more sense and it becomes a bit more dramatic than it would have been otherwise.

[akabane-san]

thanks for the info. i like noraml anime and ecchi anime's but not downright hentai anime. hentai anime series are just a waste of time (my personal opinion, no offence). apart from character similarity from the game, i hope it doesnt really evolve into a h-series.

thanks again for the info on the to hearts history. ^^

[babbito2k]

Episode 12 is just released by B-F today, but more importantly, episode 11 came out over the weekend. #11 is probably the best episode of the whole series because it wraps up the theme of "making new friends" in a definitive and touching way.

Hopefully anyone now watching #11 for the first time understands why Multi is one of the better-remembered characters from the game or show and how Multi fits in with the show.

BTW the guy in the park always amuses me because I have no idea what he is babbling about. Some of Akari's comments hold up pretty well, but for the most part noone makes any sense of Multi as a robot.

Although most of the episodes introduce new characters, making the previews a bit irrelevant, the preview at the end of #11 (for #12) gives almost no clue about that episode.

Weird trivia - this show had two ED songs; which one was used depended on which station it was shown on. "Access" by SPY is the one that didn't get used on the video release...

[spudman]

Originally Posted by babbito2k

Weird trivia - this show had two ED songs; which one was used depended on which station it was shown on. "Access" by SPY is the one that didn't get used on the video release...

Thank you for that. I'd heard of a second ED, but wondered what the deal was. It's mentioned in the booklet for the soundtrack, but I'd not come across it even with the DVD set.

Anyway, hope they sub the omakes as well as I've never seen those subbed & haven't managed to find a script either.