ToHeart (anime)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ToHeart | |
|---|---|
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| トゥハート (To Heart) |
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| Genre | Romance, School, Slice of life |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Naohito Takahashi |
| Studio | KSS |
| Network | TV Kanagawa |
| Original run | 1 April 1999 – 27 June 1999 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
ToHeart (トゥハート?) is the first of two anime adapted from the visual novel ToHeart. ToHeart was an influential ren'ai game with a large cult following and it has been the inspiration for a great deal of fan art in the dōjinshi community.
The anime consisted of 13 episodes which originally aired from 1 April 1999 to 27 June 1999. The anime can be described as laid back, and is based on normal situations that the characters encounter in their daily lives. It is episodic, with each one focusing on Hiroyuki Fujita's friendship with the other girls he meets at school. The overall story centers around Akari Kamigishi's blossoming relationship with Hiroyuki.
The animation itself has a very soft feel, and uses a significant amount of watercolour images for backgrounds, while characters were redesigned for the anime version - the most noticeable aspect being the eyes.
The original anime was one of the first cases where an animated adaptation of a video game would prove to be succeseful among viewers who didn't even play the game, although it is debatable if it could be considered one of the most popular animated series adaptation of a game. However, ~remember my memories~ and to a lesser extent, the ToHeart2 anime didn't receive as much praise as the original series. The KSS anime became a stepping stone for many famous voice actresses in regular anime we see today.
[edit] Episode Summaries
[edit] 1. New Morning 新しい朝
The anime opens with a scene from Akari's childhood - she is in elementary school has dropped all her books as it rains. While the other kids just walk past her, Hiroyuki stands and helps her pick up her books, also offering to give her his dry books for her to use instead - one of the many reasons why Akari likes Hiroyuki.
Many years have passed, and they're both now second year high school students. It is the first day of school after summer holidays, and Akari goes to wake up Hiroyuki who is still asleep as usual.
On the way to school, Hiroyuki complains, asking Akari to finally stop using the "-chan" suffix to call him. In the meantime, they bump into Masashi, an old friend, who notices that they two are the usual.
At school, they meet up with Lemmy, who tells Hiroyuki to be more energetic after the summer break. Masashi then suggests that they all go to karaoke after school - an offer Hiroyuki refuses, preferring to go home and sleep.
Their first homeroom involves assigning seats to people - a task which falls on the shoulders of the class representative, Hoshina. Despite being harassed by a group of students, she continues to calmly make slips for a random draw. While this is going on, Shiho (who is in class A) suddenly appears beside Hiroyuki's desk to talk about the best seats in the classroom. After a bit of heated friendly exchange, Shiho tells Hiroyuki that she has special half-price discount tickets to karaoke.
Hiroyuki immediately replies that he hasn't promised anything, before looking Akari's way, who signals asking him to go. After a brief pause, he decides to help Hoshina make the slips.
The slips are made and draws conducted. Akari is lucky enough to draw the seat right next to Hiroyuki. She remarks that it's always been her dream to do so, and that this is the first time that she has had the chance to sit beside him.
After school, Akari, Shiho, Masashi and Hiroyuki head for karaoke, where Shiho takes the spotlight.
At night before bed, Akari makes an entry into her diary on the events of the day focusing on Hiroyuki. She ends her diary with "これからもすっと一緒にいられますように": from now on, we will always be together.
Note: When Shiho appears in the classroom, Hiroyuki calls her using the word てめえ (te-me), which is a very rude form of 'you'. Used in this context it maintains its rude meaning, but in a sarcastic manner.
[edit] 2. After school event 放課後ので来事
On the way home, Hiroyuki, Shiho, Masashi and Akari spot the poster for "Childish an Hour", a popular band which is due to perform that week. Shiho comments that the gutarist is really cool, but is rebuffed by Hiroyuki saying that women only care about looks and that she should listen to the music for a change.
Although they would all want to go and watch Childish an Hour together, it is virtually impossible for them to get tickets. Shiho exclaims that in the future she may join the entertainment business, and that in the future there won't be a problem getting a ticket. Hiroyuki retorts that her ideas are in the future, and she should make more practical ideas in the future.
At the end of another schoolday, Akari asks what Hiroyuki will do afterschool, which is to go into town before heading home to sleep. Although Akari mentions having cleaning duties, he simply wishes her good luck and leaves.
On the way out, Hiroyuki meets with Masashi who says he has tickets to Childish an Hour - courtesy of the CD shop Masashi worked part-time at. Unfortunately, he only has two tickets. Hiroyuki offers to go and talk to Akari and Shiho to see what can be done, commenting it may have to be decided through stone, paper, sissors (janken).
In another scene, Shiho quickly tells Akari she has two tickets to the concert. She also has only two tickets. When faced with the prospect of choosing two out of the four friends to go, and tells Akari to simply "leave it to her" to deal with the problem.
Hiroyuki's search for Shiho brings him around the school and glimpses into activities. while pondering where to look for Shiho next, he inadvertedly spends too much time at the swimming pool where girls' are practicing for a swim tournament, earning him some suspicious looks.
He heads over to the kyudo club, where Lemmy is practicing. He looks through the window, looking at her progress when she suddenly turns as if to shoot him. Later, she explains that she's practicing to stop perverts from hanging around the changing rooms and swimming pool. Hiroyuki laters comments that she looked cool when practicing, and Lemmy invites him to come visit her at practice anytime - cheerfully advising him to take the main entrance next time.
While finishing off her duties, Akari spots Hiroyuki in the yard and runs to him. She bumps into Hoshina, who falls and drops all her books. Akari helps to pick her books up, but then loses Hiroyuki.
Hiroyuki grabs a drink, while verbally complaining that Shiho always appears when he doesn't want to see her, but never the other way round, and that she's idiotic. Shiho suddenly appears and scolds Hiroyuki, complaining that she's been looking for him.
Although they finally meet, they can't bring themselves to talk about the fact they only have two tickets. They keep talking about irrelevant topics - the closest they can do is to bring up the topic hypothetically - what would the other do if they had two tickets?
At then end, they are unable to bring up the topic. Masashi and Hiroyuki, and Akari and Shiho both head to the concert not knowing they both have enough tickets for all four of them.
Akari and Shiho go and line up for the concert, Akari unaware that Shiho has been unable to talk to the other two while Shiho feels guilty.
Hiroyuki and Masashi head to the concert late, where Hiroyuki admits to Masashi that he was unable to bring up the topic of the tickets, and would rather not go. Masashi agrees and also says that he would not go given that the other two would not be able to enjoy it.
For some reason, Akari and Shiho have not actually gone into the concert and the four meet up at the entrance, finally figuring out that there are actually four tickets - so they can all enjoy Childish an Hour.
Note: The Childish an Hour tickets cost 4500 yen
[edit] 3. In a Sunny Place 陽だまりの中
[edit] 4. A Moment of Brilliance 輝きの瞬間
[edit] 5. Under the Blue Sky 青い空の下で
[edit] 6. Inspiration 憧れ
[edit] 7. A Wandering Stare 揺れるまなざし
[edit] 8. Peaceful Time おだやかな時刻
[edit] 9. Where One's Heart Belongs 心の在り処
[edit] 10. A Dreaming Smile 夢見る笑顔
[edit] 11. Heartful Eyes ぬくもりの瞳
[edit] 12. The Season of Heart 想いの季節
[edit] 13. Snowy Day 雪の降る日
[edit] Omake
There were six short omake episodes produced and aired after selected episodes. They lasted around 5 minutes and followed the same style of the main anime, although the characters are drawn as chibis.
The omake series themselves were broadcast after selected episodes, and were known as "special broadcasts."
[edit] いつもの朝 Usual Morning
Hiroyuki is woken up in the morning not by Akari, but by Shiho screaming loudly. Things have suddenly changed and Hiroyuki goes downstairs to find that his parents are home.
Walking to school with Shiho, he discovers Serika and her butler sweeping the school yard - her favourite activity being cleaning. Lemmy then appears in her usual manner, except spouting psychic predictions of the negative events that will happen.
Hiroyuki starts to sense something is seriously wrong and rushes to the Occult Club room to see Multi in the middle of cheerfully and energentically casting a spell. When the spell is cast, the whole room blows up, launching Hiroyuki out of the window - Multi was unsure if the final words of the spell should have been "doriya!" or "toriya!" or "oriya!".
Hiroyuki crashes into the kyudo club room, the girls in the room screaming that a chikan (pervert) has entered the room. Kotone immediately makes an appearance with bow and arrow, running after Hiroyuki and shooting.
While running, Tomoko suddenly knocks Hiroyuki down with a well placed kick, with Aoi being the respectable class preseident and claiming that his morals are corrupt. Just as Tomoko and Kotone are about to "punish" him, he uses his coat as a decoy and runs off, trying to figure out what has happened.
After thinking about it, he realises that Akari must have taken the place of Shiho. When he finds her, she is dispensing gossip and saying that she knows everything about Hiroyuki. When he goes to ask her what is going on, he suffers some flashes and then finds himself in bed again: this time with Akari by his bedside asking him to wake up.
Although it seems everything is back to normal, when he goes downstairs, he realises that there is still something wrong: not only are his parents home, but they are both cute teddy bears - and Akari can't resist but hug them.
Roles which changed:
- Serika Kurusagawa is seen sweeping the school instead of Multi
- Lemmy Miyauchi has become the psychic in place of Kotone Himekawa
- Multi is now engaging in the occult instead of Serika Kurusagawa
- Kotone is now the archer in place of Lemmy
- Tomoko Hoshina has become the martial arts expert instead of Aoi Matsubara
- Aoi has gained Tomoko's responsible nature
- Akari Kamigishi has now become the source of gossip in place of Shiho Nagaoka
[edit] Private Room
It is a snowy night, and Kotone is at home studying. While writing, her mechanical pencil lead suddenly breaks. Kotone tries to push some more out, but even though she has plenty of lead in the pencil, it refuses to come out. She solves the problem by pushing lead through the front instead.
Kotone sneezes, and uses a tissue. Instead of throwing it away directly, she tries to use her psychic abilities to slowly carry the tissue into the bin. She misses twice, but makes it on the third try, before being called down for dinner.
Note: The Japanese name for this episode was also in English.
[edit] 時には一緒に Hanging Out
Ayaka Kurusagawa, Serio and Hiroyuki go fishing. While Ayaka and Serio have some good bites, Hiroyuki is left without any fish. Ayaka cheerfully speculates that it's because he isn't having fun as she continues to reel them in.
After a while, no more fish are caught - but then suddenly Hiroyuki gets a bite and catches the largest fish of the day. He says that he has tartar sauce left over from lunch and that they should eat it now. Serio offers to help, and uses her laser eyes to grill the fish.
[edit] Monster Shock
Serika brings a cardboard box labeled broccoli to school, carefully covering it with her cape and witches hat and leaving it on the table in the Occult Club room.
Hiroyuki, Akari and Masashi are all sitting together in their classroom during lunch, when Shiho confronts Hiroyuki accusing him of stealing her lunch. Hiroyuki denies it, saying he doesn't know what she's talking about. In the classroom, other people also find out that their lunch has been stolen.
They suddenly hear a noise from the classroom closet - it starts to rattle and suddenly a monster with many eyes pops out. It is round, yellow, has many eyes and bat wings. Shiho classifies it as a "chikakabura", a supposed vampire monster. Akari looks inside the closet, and finds a while pile of bentos sitting empty in there. Shiho announces the monster is the thief and calls everyone to pursue it.
They chase it to the roof, where it lies heaving and tired. Shiho tells Hiroyuki to catch it. Hiroyuki then asks Akari to catch it, before Akari asks Masashi to do something - none of them really willing to approach the monster.
Serika then appears and approaches the monster. Hiroyuki shouts telling her it's dangerous, but she places her witches hat on it and wraps it up in her cloak, before gently picking it up. Serika informs everyone in her barely audiable voice that the monster is a newborn baby, and asks everyone to be kind.
The sky suddenly goes dark and a monster covering the entire sky appears. Hiroyuki speculates it's the mother, and the baby monster calls to it. Serika allows it to fly to its mother.
The mother says "thank you for caring for my child" - the actual words are written on the screen as opposed to being spoken. In appreciation, the mother rains diamonds all over the school. The child says goodbye to her "mother", Serkia, as she slowly waves goodbye.
In the background, Shiho reacts excitedly to the diamond shower and exclaims that now she's prepared for life - rich to the diamond.
Note: The original name of this episode was also in English.
[edit] ちょうとイイ話 Good Story
Multi and Serio are working part-time at a book store. When a child asks for an old picture book that is out of print, Multi goes out to look for a copy at used book stores and antique shops. She later meets up with Hoshina, who takes her to a flea market and finds the book. Unfortunately, the book costs 2,000 yen, but Hoshina bargains the price down to 500 yen. Multi returns to the book store with the book and shows Serio what she learned: a very Kansai-esque style of bargining.
[edit] Class has one hundred percent attendance today
The class puts on a play about school.
[edit] Production details
- Producer: KSS
- Director: Naohito Takahashi (高橋ナオヒト)
- Animation Production: Oriental Light and Magic
Theme songs
- Opening:「Feeling Heart」
- (Singer: Nakatsukasa Masami (中司雅美). Composer: Shimokawa Naoya (下川直哉). Lyrics: Sutani Shouko (須谷尚子). Arrange: Shimokawa Naoya & Matsuoka Jun'ya (下川直哉・松岡純也))
- Ending: 「Yell」
- (Singer: Kawasumi Ayako (川澄綾子). Composer: 前田克樹. Arrange: 坂本昌之. Lyrics: 六ッ見純代.
- Ending:「Access」
- (Singer: SPY. Composer: 長部正和. Arrange: HIRO. Lyrics: KAZUYO)
(Different ending songs were used depending on the location of the broadcast. The DVD and video releases used Yell as the ending song).
[edit] DVD, Laserdisc and VHS Releases
A set of six DVDs, videotapes and laserdiscs were sold in Japan for the original ToHeart anime.
DVD
- ToHeart 「トゥハート」Number 2
VHS
- ToHeart 「トゥハート」Number 2
[edit] North American Releases
The Right Stuf International has licensed the To Heart series for US and Canadian release; release dates for the series has yet to be announced.
[edit] See also
| ToHeart series | |||
| General information | Games | ||
| Anime
ToHeart - ~Remember my Memories~ - ToHeart2 |
|||
| Characters | Audio CDs | ||
[edit] External links
- ToHeart Official Site
- To Heart (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
