ToHeart
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese adult
visual novel
developed by Leaf
and released on May 23, 1997 for the PC
. It was later ported
to the PlayStation and given voice acting. A second PC version, titled To Heart PSE was released containing the PlayStation version as well as bonus
games. To Heart PSE and the PlayStation version had the adult scenes removed. To Heart is Leaf's fifth game, and the third and final title in the Leaf Visual Novel Series along with Shizuku
and Kizuato
. The gameplay
in To Heart follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the eight female main characters. A sequel
of To Heart, To Heart 2, was released on December 28, 2004 directly to the PlayStation 2
. A special bundle of To Heart 2 and a PS2 version of To Heart was released on the same day. The original PC release of the visual novel was titled To Heart, however the anime and the PSE versions later changed to ToHeart without any space between the words. The English release of the anime uses the former format.
To Heart was adapted into a thirteen-episode TV anime
series by Oriental Light and Magic
aired between April and July 1999, and a second anime, To Heart: Remember My Memories, aired between October and December 2004. The first anime was licensed by Right Stuf International for distribution in North America; the first DVD was released in March 2007. Two manga
series were produced, both illustrated by Ukyō Takao and serialized in MediaWorks
manga magazine Dengeki Daioh
. The first manga, which ran between October 1997 and December 1999, was based on the original visual novel, and the second manga, which ran between November 2004 and July 2005, was based on the anime To Heart: Remember My Memories. A drama CD
entitled Piece of Heart was released in October 1999.
in To Heart requires little player interaction as much of the game's duration is spent reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents either dialogue
between various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often the player will come to a "decision point", where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. The time between these points is variable and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Gameplay pauses at these points, and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are eight main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines. In order to view all eight plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in an alternate direction.
In the PlayStation and PSE versions of To Heart, there are three lighthearted bonus
mini games available to play featuring the characters super deformed
. The first game is called "Heart to Heart", and each stage consists of a few enemies and other To Heart characters to defeat, using attacks unique to each character. There is only one screen per stage and is not a side-scrolling game. There are thirty stages to play, with a 100-second time limit for every stage. It supports up to two players. There are two bosses, fighting Serio and Multi together, and at stage thirty, a robot version of Daniel, Serika's butler. The player can choose between all of the female cast in To Heart, except Ayaka, Serio and Rio, whom need to be unlocked by finishing each character's scenario in the main game. All characters have certain moves in common: they are able to do a super jump, which can be used to stun enemies if hit from the bottom, and they can charge up their shots up to three levels. The second mini game, "
", is a puzzle game in which the player needs to arrange blocks with designated shapes together to form and eliminate lines. The name of the game reflects the PlayStation controller, of which the four shapes and the controller layout plays a large role. The final game is , a side-scrolling shooter game featuring Serika Kurusugawa as a witch riding on her broomstick. There are three different types of shot that can be used, which can be leveled up by collecting power-ups. Each type of shot will only work on some enemies, and they all have different types of arching shots. Serika has access to three different levels of power-ups, which increases the power and effectiveness of the shot. She also has access to three 'bombs', which destroys everything on the screen. The bombs themselves are her butler shouting at the enemies.
visual novel
on May 23, 1997 playable on a Microsoft Windows
PC
as the third and final title in the Leaf Visual Novel Series, the first two titles being Shizuku
and Kizuato
. To Heart is Leaf
's fifth visual novel. To Heart was ported to the PlayStation on March 25, 1999 playable on three CDs with the adult scenes and themes removed, though full-voice acting and bonus
games were added. A new opening sequence was used for the PS version, which has similarities to the first anime's opening video. Although the character design was unchanged in the game, the new opening sequence utilized the anime version's changes to the design of the characters.
The PC version was re-released in a 'renewal package' on June 19, 2003 for updated support for Windows ME
/2000
/XP
computers. Leaf released an enhanced version of To Heart for the PC on June 27, 2003 playable as a DVD known as To Heart PSE which used the PS version as the basis; PSE stands for "PlayStation Edition". Unlike the previous versions, the box art for PSE used the character redesigns from the anime. The game itself used the same character designed as in previous incarnations. A PlayStation 2
version of To Heart was included in a special To Heart 2/To Heart bundle in one of three packages To Heart 2 was released with; the PS2 version of To Heart was not sold individually.
for the original visual novel titled was published by Enterbrain
in June 2000. The book contains a comprehensive walkthrough for the entire To Heart visual novel, along with a gallery of all the obtainable CGs
, as well as stage-by-stage descriptions of all three bonus
games included in the PlayStation and PSE versions. A was released by MediaWorks
, and contains images from the PS version.
adaptation based on the original To Heart visual novel was illustrated by Ukyō Takao and serialized in MediaWorks
' shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh
between October 1997 and December 1999; the chapters were later compiled into three bound volumes
published under MediaWorks' Dengeki Comics
imprint
. The manga was licensed by ADV Manga. A manga based on the anime adaptation To Heart: Remember My Memories was also drawn by Takao and was serialized in Dengeki Daioh between November 2004 and July 2005; one volume was released.
series adaptation produced by Oriental Light and Magic
and directed by Naohito Takahashi aired in Japan between April 1 and June 24, 1999. The overall story centers around Akari Kamigishi's blossoming relationship with the protagonist Hiroyuki. Six short bonus
broadcasts 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
. Three pieces of theme music were used for the episode; one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is "Feeling Heart" by Masami Nakatsukasa; the first ending theme is "Yell" by Ayako Kawasumi
, and the second ending theme is "Access" by Spy. Different ending themes were used depending on the location of the broadcast. The DVD and VHS releases used "Yell" as the ending theme. A set of six DVDs, videotapes and laserdiscs were sold in Japan for the To Heart anime.
To Heart was licensed for North American release by The Right Stuf International
at Anime Expo
2004 on July 3, 2004 at their panel. Volume one was scheduled for late 2005, but the master's copy Right Stuf received from Japan were in bad shape, delaying the release. 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. Unfortunately, the film masters had been destroyed, and their only choice was to restore and digitally remaster
the video that they had been sent. All thirteen episodes and the six bonus extra was released on four DVD volumes between March 27 and August 28, 2007.
A sequel
anime series entitled To Heart: Remember My Memories is set a year after the conclusion of the first anime and completes the anime's storyline (deviating from the visual novel). The future of Akari, Hiroyuki, and Multi are also shown. In To Heart: Remember My Memories, characters' hair color changed, for example Hiroyuki's hair, which turned from a dark brown to a greenish blue. The Himeyuri twins from To Heart 2 make their debut appearances in To Heart: Remember My Memories as speaking cameos. The anime, which was produced by AIC and Oriental Light and Magic
, and directed by Keitaro Motonaga, aired in Japan between October 2 and December 25, 2004 compiling thirteen episodes. The episodes were released on seven DVD compilation volumes in Japan. Seven short omake episodes titled Heart Fighters were released with the consumer DVD versions of To Heart: Remember My Memories; they are not available on rental DVDs. Unlike the bonus shorts of the first season, the characters are not drawn super deformed and there is an overall arching mini-story. The humor comes from its parodies of popular Japanese culture. Two pieces of theme music were used for the episodes; one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is (Into Your Heart)" by Naomi Tanisaki, that ranked at No. 63 on the Japanese Oricon
weekly singles chart, and the ending theme is by Haruna Ikeda.
based on the original To Heart visual novel entitled Piece of Heart was released on October 27, 1999. The story revolves around Serio at her assigned high school alongside and after the anime version when Multi is still studying at Hiroyuki's school. A drama CD released for the second anime series was released on January 26, 2005.
The original theme song was "Brand New Heart", as opposed to "Feeling Heart" which was used in all subsequent versions and in the anime. A music single
for the game, "Heart to Heart", was released on July 2, 1997. The visual novel's original soundtrack was released on May 28, 1999. Leaf released a piano
arrange
album entitled Leaf Piano Collection Volume 1 released in July 2002. The album contains popular songs from several of Leaf's visual novels, including three from To Heart. The first anime's original soundtrack entitled To Heart: Animation Sound Track was released on July 9, 1999. The anime's soundtrack contains all the tunes heard in the anime, as well as TV size versions of the ending song "Yell". It does not contain the opening song "Feeling Heart", which is found on either the "Feeling Heart" single released on April 2, 1999, or the original soundtrack from the game. A single for the second anime, (Into Your Heart)", was released on November 25, 2004 and contains both full and instrumental versions of the opening and ending themes. The soundtrack for the second anime titled To Heart: Remember My Memories Soundtrack & Image Song was released on December 22, 2004; the image song
contained is sung by the Ayako Kawasumi
, the voice actress
of Akari Kamagishi.
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
developed by Leaf
Leaf (company)
Leaf is a Japanese visual novel studio under the publisher Aquaplus, and has offices in Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, and Tokyo. It and its competitor Key are the most popular and successful dedicated visual novel studios operating today. It was launched out of obscurity by its early release ToHeart...
and released on May 23, 1997 for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. It was later ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to the PlayStation and given voice acting. A second PC version, titled To Heart PSE was released containing the PlayStation version as well as bonus
Omake
means extra in Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga fandom term to mean "extra or bonus". In USA, the term is most often used in a narrow sense by anime fans to describe special features on DVD releases: deleted scenes, interviews with the...
games. To Heart PSE and the PlayStation version had the adult scenes removed. To Heart is Leaf's fifth game, and the third and final title in the Leaf Visual Novel Series along with Shizuku
Shizuku
is an eroge visual novel by Leaf originally released for DOS on January 26, 1996. It has since received releases for Windows. The sequel is ToHeart, because in To Heart ~remember my memories~, Yuusuke and a deceased Mizuho appears.-Characters:-External links:...
and Kizuato
Kizuato
is a Japanese visual novel released on July 26, 1996 by Japan's Leaf studio.-Story:Koichi Kashiwagi , a college student, goes to his cousins' for his father's funeral. After the ceremony, as he is on summer vacation, he stays with them...
. The gameplay
Gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
in To Heart follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the eight female main characters. A sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
of To Heart, To Heart 2, was released on December 28, 2004 directly to the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. A special bundle of To Heart 2 and a PS2 version of To Heart was released on the same day. The original PC release of the visual novel was titled To Heart, however the anime and the PSE versions later changed to ToHeart without any space between the words. The English release of the anime uses the former format.
To Heart was adapted into a thirteen-episode TV anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series by Oriental Light and Magic
Oriental Light and Magic
Not to be confused with Industrial Light & Magic, formerly Oriental Light and Magic, is a Japanese animation studio founded in June 1995. They have worked on several anime series, with Pokémon their most prominent work, doing all of the TV anime and films. The animation studio is composed of...
aired between April and July 1999, and a second anime, To Heart: Remember My Memories, aired between October and December 2004. The first anime was licensed by Right Stuf International for distribution in North America; the first DVD was released in March 2007. Two manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series were produced, both illustrated by Ukyō Takao and serialized in MediaWorks
MediaWorks (publisher)
was a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group known for their brand magazines and book labels. These included such well-known magazines as Dengeki Daioh, and Dengeki G's Magazine, along with MediaWorks' main light novel publishing imprint Dengeki Bunko. The company was merged with ASCII...
manga magazine Dengeki Daioh
Dengeki Daioh
is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki brand. Many manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh were later published in tankōbon volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics imprint. The magazine is sold every month on the 27th...
. The first manga, which ran between October 1997 and December 1999, was based on the original visual novel, and the second manga, which ran between November 2004 and July 2005, was based on the anime To Heart: Remember My Memories. A drama CD
Radio drama in Japan
Radio drama in Japan has a history as long as that of radio broadcasting in that country, which began in 1925. Some consider the first Japanese radio drama to have been "" which was a radio broadcast of a stage play. Others consider the Japanese translation of Richard Hughes's "Danger" or to be...
entitled Piece of Heart was released in October 1999.
Gameplay
The gameplayGameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
in To Heart requires little player interaction as much of the game's duration is spent reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents either dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
between various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often the player will come to a "decision point", where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. The time between these points is variable and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Gameplay pauses at these points, and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are eight main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines. In order to view all eight plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in an alternate direction.
In the PlayStation and PSE versions of To Heart, there are three lighthearted bonus
Omake
means extra in Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga fandom term to mean "extra or bonus". In USA, the term is most often used in a narrow sense by anime fans to describe special features on DVD releases: deleted scenes, interviews with the...
mini games available to play featuring the characters super deformed
Super deformed
Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble small children...
. The first game is called "Heart to Heart", and each stage consists of a few enemies and other To Heart characters to defeat, using attacks unique to each character. There is only one screen per stage and is not a side-scrolling game. There are thirty stages to play, with a 100-second time limit for every stage. It supports up to two players. There are two bosses, fighting Serio and Multi together, and at stage thirty, a robot version of Daniel, Serika's butler. The player can choose between all of the female cast in To Heart, except Ayaka, Serio and Rio, whom need to be unlocked by finishing each character's scenario in the main game. All characters have certain moves in common: they are able to do a super jump, which can be used to stun enemies if hit from the bottom, and they can charge up their shots up to three levels. The second mini game, "
", is a puzzle game in which the player needs to arrange blocks with designated shapes together to form and eliminate lines. The name of the game reflects the PlayStation controller, of which the four shapes and the controller layout plays a large role. The final game is , a side-scrolling shooter game featuring Serika Kurusugawa as a witch riding on her broomstick. There are three different types of shot that can be used, which can be leveled up by collecting power-ups. Each type of shot will only work on some enemies, and they all have different types of arching shots. Serika has access to three different levels of power-ups, which increases the power and effectiveness of the shot. She also has access to three 'bombs', which destroys everything on the screen. The bombs themselves are her butler shouting at the enemies.Release history
To Heart was first released as an adultEroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
on May 23, 1997 playable on a Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
as the third and final title in the Leaf Visual Novel Series, the first two titles being Shizuku
Shizuku
is an eroge visual novel by Leaf originally released for DOS on January 26, 1996. It has since received releases for Windows. The sequel is ToHeart, because in To Heart ~remember my memories~, Yuusuke and a deceased Mizuho appears.-Characters:-External links:...
and Kizuato
Kizuato
is a Japanese visual novel released on July 26, 1996 by Japan's Leaf studio.-Story:Koichi Kashiwagi , a college student, goes to his cousins' for his father's funeral. After the ceremony, as he is on summer vacation, he stays with them...
. To Heart is Leaf
Leaf (company)
Leaf is a Japanese visual novel studio under the publisher Aquaplus, and has offices in Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, and Tokyo. It and its competitor Key are the most popular and successful dedicated visual novel studios operating today. It was launched out of obscurity by its early release ToHeart...
's fifth visual novel. To Heart was ported to the PlayStation on March 25, 1999 playable on three CDs with the adult scenes and themes removed, though full-voice acting and bonus
Omake
means extra in Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga fandom term to mean "extra or bonus". In USA, the term is most often used in a narrow sense by anime fans to describe special features on DVD releases: deleted scenes, interviews with the...
games were added. A new opening sequence was used for the PS version, which has similarities to the first anime's opening video. Although the character design was unchanged in the game, the new opening sequence utilized the anime version's changes to the design of the characters.
The PC version was re-released in a 'renewal package' on June 19, 2003 for updated support for Windows ME
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
/2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
/XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
computers. Leaf released an enhanced version of To Heart for the PC on June 27, 2003 playable as a DVD known as To Heart PSE which used the PS version as the basis; PSE stands for "PlayStation Edition". Unlike the previous versions, the box art for PSE used the character redesigns from the anime. The game itself used the same character designed as in previous incarnations. A PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
version of To Heart was included in a special To Heart 2/To Heart bundle in one of three packages To Heart 2 was released with; the PS2 version of To Heart was not sold individually.
Books and publications
A guidebookGUIdebook
GUIdebook is a website that contains screenshots of computer software.It shows a visual history of the software's user interface. It includes operating systems like Mac OS and Windows, desktop environments like GNOME and KDE, portable operating systems like Newton OS and Windows CE, and...
for the original visual novel titled was published by Enterbrain
Enterbrain
is a Japanese magazine publisher established on April 1, 2000. Enterbrain magazines are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strategy guides. In addition, the company publishes a small selection of anime artbooks. Enterbrain is based in Tokyo, Japan...
in June 2000. The book contains a comprehensive walkthrough for the entire To Heart visual novel, along with a gallery of all the obtainable CGs
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
, as well as stage-by-stage descriptions of all three bonus
Omake
means extra in Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga fandom term to mean "extra or bonus". In USA, the term is most often used in a narrow sense by anime fans to describe special features on DVD releases: deleted scenes, interviews with the...
games included in the PlayStation and PSE versions. A was released by MediaWorks
MediaWorks (publisher)
was a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group known for their brand magazines and book labels. These included such well-known magazines as Dengeki Daioh, and Dengeki G's Magazine, along with MediaWorks' main light novel publishing imprint Dengeki Bunko. The company was merged with ASCII...
, and contains images from the PS version.
Manga
A mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
adaptation based on the original To Heart visual novel was illustrated by Ukyō Takao and serialized in MediaWorks
MediaWorks (publisher)
was a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group known for their brand magazines and book labels. These included such well-known magazines as Dengeki Daioh, and Dengeki G's Magazine, along with MediaWorks' main light novel publishing imprint Dengeki Bunko. The company was merged with ASCII...
' shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh
Dengeki Daioh
is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki brand. Many manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh were later published in tankōbon volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comics imprint. The magazine is sold every month on the 27th...
between October 1997 and December 1999; the chapters were later compiled into three bound volumes
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
published under MediaWorks' Dengeki Comics
Dengeki Comics
is a manga publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works and is aimed at a male audience. Aside from the main Dengeki Comics label, there is the related Dengeki Comics EX label which publishes a lesser number of manga volumes...
imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
. The manga was licensed by ADV Manga. A manga based on the anime adaptation To Heart: Remember My Memories was also drawn by Takao and was serialized in Dengeki Daioh between November 2004 and July 2005; one volume was released.
Anime
A thirteen-episode animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series adaptation produced by Oriental Light and Magic
Oriental Light and Magic
Not to be confused with Industrial Light & Magic, formerly Oriental Light and Magic, is a Japanese animation studio founded in June 1995. They have worked on several anime series, with Pokémon their most prominent work, doing all of the TV anime and films. The animation studio is composed of...
and directed by Naohito Takahashi aired in Japan between April 1 and June 24, 1999. The overall story centers around Akari Kamigishi's blossoming relationship with the protagonist Hiroyuki. Six short bonus
Omake
means extra in Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga fandom term to mean "extra or bonus". In USA, the term is most often used in a narrow sense by anime fans to describe special features on DVD releases: deleted scenes, interviews with the...
broadcasts 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
Super deformed
Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble small children...
. Three pieces of theme music were used for the episode; one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is "Feeling Heart" by Masami Nakatsukasa; the first ending theme is "Yell" by Ayako Kawasumi
Ayako Kawasumi
is a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer. She is affectionately referred to by her fellow voice actors and fans as "", "" and "". She is a skilled pianist, having practiced the piano since childhood....
, and the second ending theme is "Access" by Spy. Different ending themes were used depending on the location of the broadcast. The DVD and VHS releases used "Yell" as the ending theme. A set of six DVDs, videotapes and laserdiscs were sold in Japan for the To Heart anime.
To Heart was licensed for North American release by The Right Stuf International
The Right Stuf International
The Right Stuf International, Inc. is an American retailer based in Grimes, Iowa that markets and distributes anime and manga-related products throughout the United States and internationally...
at Anime Expo
Anime Expo
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation . With rare exceptions, the convention is traditionally held on the July 4th weekend and lasts for four days...
2004 on July 3, 2004 at their panel. Volume one was scheduled for late 2005, but the master's copy Right Stuf received from Japan were in bad shape, delaying the release. 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. Unfortunately, the film masters had been destroyed, and their only choice was to restore and digitally remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
the video that they had been sent. All thirteen episodes and the six bonus extra was released on four DVD volumes between March 27 and August 28, 2007.
A sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
anime series entitled To Heart: Remember My Memories is set a year after the conclusion of the first anime and completes the anime's storyline (deviating from the visual novel). The future of Akari, Hiroyuki, and Multi are also shown. In To Heart: Remember My Memories, characters' hair color changed, for example Hiroyuki's hair, which turned from a dark brown to a greenish blue. The Himeyuri twins from To Heart 2 make their debut appearances in To Heart: Remember My Memories as speaking cameos. The anime, which was produced by AIC and Oriental Light and Magic
Oriental Light and Magic
Not to be confused with Industrial Light & Magic, formerly Oriental Light and Magic, is a Japanese animation studio founded in June 1995. They have worked on several anime series, with Pokémon their most prominent work, doing all of the TV anime and films. The animation studio is composed of...
, and directed by Keitaro Motonaga, aired in Japan between October 2 and December 25, 2004 compiling thirteen episodes. The episodes were released on seven DVD compilation volumes in Japan. Seven short omake episodes titled Heart Fighters were released with the consumer DVD versions of To Heart: Remember My Memories; they are not available on rental DVDs. Unlike the bonus shorts of the first season, the characters are not drawn super deformed and there is an overall arching mini-story. The humor comes from its parodies of popular Japanese culture. Two pieces of theme music were used for the episodes; one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is (Into Your Heart)" by Naomi Tanisaki, that ranked at No. 63 on the Japanese Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
weekly singles chart, and the ending theme is by Haruna Ikeda.
Audio CDs
A drama CDRadio drama in Japan
Radio drama in Japan has a history as long as that of radio broadcasting in that country, which began in 1925. Some consider the first Japanese radio drama to have been "" which was a radio broadcast of a stage play. Others consider the Japanese translation of Richard Hughes's "Danger" or to be...
based on the original To Heart visual novel entitled Piece of Heart was released on October 27, 1999. The story revolves around Serio at her assigned high school alongside and after the anime version when Multi is still studying at Hiroyuki's school. A drama CD released for the second anime series was released on January 26, 2005.
The original theme song was "Brand New Heart", as opposed to "Feeling Heart" which was used in all subsequent versions and in the anime. A music single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
for the game, "Heart to Heart", was released on July 2, 1997. The visual novel's original soundtrack was released on May 28, 1999. Leaf released a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
arrange
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
album entitled Leaf Piano Collection Volume 1 released in July 2002. The album contains popular songs from several of Leaf's visual novels, including three from To Heart. The first anime's original soundtrack entitled To Heart: Animation Sound Track was released on July 9, 1999. The anime's soundtrack contains all the tunes heard in the anime, as well as TV size versions of the ending song "Yell". It does not contain the opening song "Feeling Heart", which is found on either the "Feeling Heart" single released on April 2, 1999, or the original soundtrack from the game. A single for the second anime, (Into Your Heart)", was released on November 25, 2004 and contains both full and instrumental versions of the opening and ending themes. The soundtrack for the second anime titled To Heart: Remember My Memories Soundtrack & Image Song was released on December 22, 2004; the image song
Image song
An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album for an anime, game or dorama that is usually sung by the seiyū or actor of a character, in character...
contained is sung by the Ayako Kawasumi
Ayako Kawasumi
is a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer. She is affectionately referred to by her fellow voice actors and fans as "", "" and "". She is a skilled pianist, having practiced the piano since childhood....
, the voice actress
Seiyu
Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...
of Akari Kamagishi.
External links
- To Heart visual novel official website
- To Heart: Remember My Memories official website
- To Heart English anime at The Right Stuf InternationalThe Right Stuf InternationalThe Right Stuf International, Inc. is an American retailer based in Grimes, Iowa that markets and distributes anime and manga-related products throughout the United States and internationally...