To Heart (anime)
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| ToHeart | |
|---|---|
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| トゥハート (Tu Hāto) |
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| Genre | Romance, School, Slice of life |
| TV anime | |
| Director | Naohito Takahashi |
| Studio |  Oriental Light and Magic |
| Licensor |  Nozomi Entertainment |
| Network | TV Kanagawa |
| Original run | 1 April 1999 – 24 June 1999 |
| Episodes | 13 |
| Manga | |
| Author | Ukyou Takao |
| Publisher | MediaWorks ADV Manga |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Dengeki Daioh |
| Original run | October 1997 – December 1999 |
| Volumes | 3 |
To Heart (トゥハート Tu Hāto?) is a Japanese anime adapted from the visual novel ToHeart. To Heart was an influential dating sim 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 thirteen episodes which originally aired from 1 April 1999 to 24 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 successful 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.
Contents |
[edit] Production details
- Presented by: KSS
- Director: Naohito Takahashi
- Animation Production: Oriental Light and Magic
Theme songs
- Opening: "Feeling Heart"
- Vocals: Masami Nakatsukasa
- Lyrics: Naoko Suya
- Music and arrangement: Naoya Shimokawa
- Ending: "Yell"
- Vocals: Ayako Kawasumi
- Lyrics: Sumiyo Mutsumi
- Music: Katsuki Maeda
- Arrangement: Masayuki Sakamoto
- Ending: "Access"
- Vocals: Spy
- Lyrics: Kazuyo
- Music: Masakazu Osabe
- Arrangement: Hiro
(Different ending songs were used depending on the location of the broadcast. The DVD and VHS releases used Yell as the ending song).
[edit] Episodes
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | "A Brand New Morning" "Atarashii Asa" (新しい朝) |
April 1, 1999 |
| The anime opens with a scene from Akari's childhood - she has dropped all her books as it rains. While the other kids just walk past her, Hiroyuki helps her pick up her books. Many years have passed, and they're both second year high school students. It is the first day of school after summer holidays, and Akari wakes up Hiroyuki who is still asleep as usual. In their first homeroom, the teacher asks the class representative, Tomoko Hoshina, to assign new seats. Despite being harassed by a group of students, she continues to calmly make slips for a random draw. Hiroyuki decides to help Tomoko make the slips so he can go home earlier. The slips are made and draws conducted. Akari is lucky enough to draw the seat right next to Hiroyuki. | ||
| 02 | "After School Incident" "Hōkago no Dekigoto" (放課後の出来事) |
April 8, 1999 |
| A popular band called "Childish an Hour" is due to perform at a sold out concert that week. Masashi tells Hiroyuki in private that he has only two tickets to Childish an Hour so Hiroyuki offers to talk to Akari and Shiho to see what can be done. In another scene, Shiho tells Akari she has two tickets to the concert. Hiroyuki searches the school for Shiho and when he finally does, they can't bring themselves to talk about the fact they both only have two tickets. In the end, they are unable to bring up the topic. Masashi and Hiroyuki, and Akari and Shiho both head to the concert not knowing they have enough tickets for all four of them. The four meet before the concert and figure out that there are actually four tickets and they all enjoy the concert without feeling guilty. | ||
| 03 | "In a Sunny Spot" "Hidamari no Naka" (陽だまりの中) |
April 15, 1999 |
| Whilst sweeping up outside, Hiroyuki bumps into third year Serika Kurusugawa, the sole member of the school’s Occult Research Society. Serika gets Hiroyuki to help her gather ingredients for a magic potion, and subsequently lends him a book on black magic and invites him to participate in one of her ceremonies. However, Hiroyuki forgets and goes to a games arcade with Shiho, leaving Serika waiting alone after school until Akari notices her and goes to find Hiroyuki. | ||
| 04 | "Shining Moment" "Kagayaki no Shunkan" (輝きの瞬間) |
April 22, 1999 |
| Switching from an older girl to a younger one, Hiroyuki is now the sempai who lets himself be entangled by the aspirations of a younger girl, the feisty first year Aoi who is trying to set up an Extreme Rules martial arts club. However the head of the karate club comes to make trouble, and egged on by an outsider (who turns out to be Serika's younger sister) challenges Aoi to a fight. The episode culminates in a contest between the two girls which serves to attract new members to Aoi's fledgling club. | ||
| 05 | "Beneath the Blue Sky" "Aoi Sora no Shitade" (青い空の下で) |
April 29, 1999 |
| At the school sports day, Shiho says that the good for nothing Hiroyuki has lost his team spirit; Akari feels he's still reliable. Hiroyuki slowly realises everyone he knows has great expectations of him despite his lackadaisical demeanor, and he comes under pressure to join the relay team in addition to the race he has already agreed to run. | ||
| 06 | "Admiration" "Akogare" (憧れ) |
May 6, 1999 |
| Rio is a plain jane who yearns for the manga fantasy world of dashing heroes and whirlwind romances. When a series of coincidences allow her to get to know her hero Hiroyuki, she thinks her luck is in, at least for an hour or two as they go shopping together for a birthday present for her brother. Meanwhile, Akari learns from Shiho that Hiroyuki is on a date with a dowdy girl, and wonders what is going on. | ||
| 07 | "Wavering Gaze" "Yureru Manazashi" (揺れるまなざし) |
May 13, 1999 |
| Akari meets a withdrawn and apparently psychic girl Kotone, who is shunned by her classmates as jinxed. Akari politely ignores Kotone's warnings to keep away from her and manages to entice her to join her at a school soccer match. | ||
| 08 | "A Tranquil Time" "Odayaka na Jikoku" (おだやかな時刻) |
May 20, 1999 |
| Confined to bed with a cold, Shiho freaks out when she realizes that her absence means Hiroyuki and Akari are studying alone together in Akari's bedroom. During a short break, Hiroyuki looks at old pictures of Akari and himself. He realizes that he forgot most of the stuff that happened between them. | ||
| 09 | "Where The Heart Is" "Kokoro no Arisho" (心の在り処) |
May 27, 1999 |
| Culture festival is nearing and it's up to the girls of the class to decorate the class. Okada and her gang decide to change plans at the last moment and when things don't go as planned, they place the blame on Tomoko. Although everyone has gone home, Hiroyuki and Akari help Tomoko who stayed behind to finish the preparations. | ||
| 10 | "Dreaming Smile" "Yumemiru Egao" (夢見る笑顔) |
June 3, 1999 |
| An eager-to-please but clueless prototype maid robot, the cute green-haired Multi, is sent to the school for trials. | ||
| 11 | "A Warm Gaze" "Nukumori no Hitomi" (ぬくもりの瞳) |
June 10, 1999 |
| Hiroyuki and Akari are dismayed to learn that if Multi fails her trials, her memory will be wiped and have a new software installed. But what should constitute success: a highly skilled robot, or one people can relate to as a companion? | ||
| 12 | "The Season of Emotions" "Omoi no Kisetsu" (想いの季節) |
June 17, 1999 |
| When Hiroyuki shows some kindness towards her, Shiho finds herself in a confusion of emotions, and realizes she's in love with him. | ||
| 13 | "On a Day of Snow" "Yuki no Furu Hi" (雪の降る日) |
June 24, 1999 |
| Ever since episode 8, Akari has been increasingly concerned that all her special shared moments with Hiroyuki seem to mean nothing to him. Does he even remember the incident by the stone steps? And now Shiho seems to be making a play for him! With the worst possible timing, Akari gets confined to bed with a cold. When Shiho comes to visit, Akari puts her on the spot by asking if she's in love with Hiroyuki. Caught off-guard, Shiho is in a quandary and realizes she must choose between Akari's feelings and her own. | ||
[edit] Omake
Six short "Special Broadcasts" (omake) were produced and aired after selected episodes. They lasted around five minutes and followed the general style of the main anime, although the characters are drawn super deformed.
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Usual Morning" "Itsumo no Asa" (いつもの朝) |
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| Hiroyuki is awaken by Shiho, Serika and her butler is sweeping the school yard, Lemmy is spouting unlucky predictions, Multi is conducting black magic, Kotone is a member of the kyūdō club, Tomoko knocks Hiroyuki down with a well placed kick, Aoi is the respectable class president, and Akari is dispensing gossip and saying that she knows everything about Hiroyuki. When he goes to ask her what is going on, he finds himself in bed again: this time with Akari by his bedside trying to wake him up. | ||
| 2 | "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. | ||
| 3 | "Hanging Out" "Tokiniha Isshoni" (時には一緒に) |
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| Ayaka Kurusagawa, Serio, and Hiroyuki go fishing. While Ayaka and Serio have some good bites, Hiroyuki hasn't caught 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. | ||
| 4 | "Monster Shock" | |
| Everyone finds out that their lunch has been stolen. Suddenly, from the classroom closet, a round yellow monster with many eyes and wings pops out. Everyone chases it to the roof, where it lies heaving and tired. None of them is willing to approach the monster. Serika informs everyone that the monster is a newborn baby. It's mother appears from the sky, and the baby monster returns to its mother. The mother thanks everyone for caring for my child and in appreciation, rains diamonds all over the school. | ||
| 5 | "Good Story" "Chōto ii Hanashi" (ちょうとイイ話) |
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| 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 bargaining. | ||
| 6 | "Class has one hundred percent attendance today" "Kyō wa Bokura no Kurasu wa Zenin Shusseki da" (今日は僕らのクラスは全員出席だ) |
June 24, 1999 |
| The class puts on a self-referential play in which they play themselves having homeroom and discussing what production they are going to perform for the culture festival. The performance segues into a reprise of the homeroom plot of the first episode, bringing the story full circle. | ||
[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
To Heart was licensed for North American release by The Right Stuf International who recently changed their name to Nozomi Entertainment. It was announced at Anime Expo 2004 on July 3, 2004 along with Boys Be at their panel.[1] Volume one was scheduled for late 2005, but the masters Right Stuf received from Japan were in bad shape delaying the release.[2][3] Due to the fact that To Heart was animated in the process of cel animation, it was captured on film instead of digitally on a computer. With the real masters destroyed, Right Stuf was left with dusty and degrading film that were not aligned. Their only choice was to restore and digitally remaster the video.[4] All thirteen episodes and six extras was released on four DVD volumes from March 27, 2007 to August 28, 2007.[5][6]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ TRSI announces two acquisitions (English). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ New Right Stuf Acquisitions (English). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ To Heart Update (English). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ To Heart (English). The Right Stuf International. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ To Heart Vol. 1: New Feelings (English). The Right Stuf International. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
- ^ To Heart Vol. 4: Love and Truth (English). The Right Stuf International. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) To Heart Official Site
- (English) Nozomi Entertainment's Offical Site
- To Heart (anime) (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
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