9. Tokimeki Memorial Only Love
The Tokimeki Memorial franchise has a storied history. The original game and its sequels are often considered the quintessential dating sim. The franchise is also unique for its lack of adult content; porn sells bishoujo games, obviously, but Tokimeki Memorial has always managed to get by without. There’s something innocent about the series, and it shows in its most recent anime adaptation.
Tokimeki Memorial Only Love is a breath of fresh air, to be honest. In this era of bishoujo game adaptations, it’s remarkable for its simplicity: there’s no shocking story to be told, no broken heroines, no despicable protagonist. In essence, it’s a show about high school boys and high school girls doing their thing. There’s a certain wackiness to it, of course, as is typical of most Konami anime properties. The wackiness, however, is all in good fun, and serves as a beneficial counterweight to both the show’s more mundane and more dramatic moments. All in all, it’s a good balance.
Of course, it’s likely because the show is so well-balanced and straightforward that it’s often overlooked. Even I didn’t give it the attention it deserved until about half way through its run. However, as the characters grew, the romantic subplots matured, and the writing continued to improve, I realized the show was more than just “filler anime”. What started off as something I watched only for grins eventually became something I looked forward to on a weekly basis.
I don’t watch as many bishoujo game adaptations nowadays as I did in the past. Somewhere along the line, I grew tired of the extraneous stories and cookie cutter characters so typical of the genre. Occasionally, however, an adaptation will come along that circumvents those limitations. I think Tokimeki Memorial Only Love does just that.
Don’t get me wrong: it’s plainly obvious that the show is inspired from a dating sim. The protagonist is even forced to make a choice between the three main heroines in the final episode. The show is true to its roots, but its not necessarily bound by them. The premise may be obvious and the ending may be pre-ordained, but the intervening episodes are a wonderful mix of competent storytelling, playful comedy, and honest character development. And it got better and better with each episode. That’s not something you can say about too many bishoujo game adaptations, really.
To be honest, I feel a bit silly for recognizing this show. I can hear the head scratching from here. However, it really was one of the more pleasant surprises of the past year. It turned out to be far more enjoyable than I ever expected going in. The show may be simple and all, but…
Well, sometimes, simple is good.
I like the fact that you’re using at least part of this time and space to celebrate neglected treasures.
The first two to three episodes don’t do it justice. I ended up watching this series while on a long plane trip as it was the only show in a long time my wife flat out said she didn’t want to watch (after two episodes). After you get past the first to episodes though, the show really starts to shine. When I got home I made my wife watch more of the show and she enjoyed quite a bit.
It’s a pretty decent genre piece.
LOL. your 10th place and 9th place turned out to be two shows which I have dropped in the middle. maybe I should give them a second chance… :)
Even though I haven’t watched Tokimeki Memorial Only Love and odds are I problably won’t, is this kind of choices what makes me respect you as an anime fan.
I followed this on a weekly basis (I think I was like the only one who stuck it out till the end)…I dunno I think it kinda fell apart near the end. Overall though you’re right it was…just okay. No one TOO hated but no one to make me go “damn XYZ was an awesome character.”
[scratching head]
In truth, it’s refreshing to read about something I’ve never heard of. Although I doubt I’ll watch it, I like your description. I think ‘momentum piece’ would be my phrase of choice to describe a show which starts off looking mediocre but continually improves.
I liked this one, except for Aoba but oh well…
Sad thing is, most of my fav characters were not the main ones ;_;
Glad to see some recognition for this show - it’s certainly very average-looking in concept and execution, and combined with a “predictable” nature, perhaps not a lot of people watched it, but there are some things that set this show apart.
I especially liked the wide range of side characters in TokiMemo and how developed they were - it really felt like a wide universe, compared to a lot of anime schools where there’s one teacher and one non-harem classmate.
And I also enjoyed how TokiMemo wasn’t really straight stereotypes with the characters either - although Mina and Tsukasa seemed to slot into Shy Girl and Genki Girl, they did do a good job at lending a pretty human feel to them.
The way I see this show is, that while it won’t surprise people who don’t watch harem, those who can enjoy light-hearted romances will find this to be a great watch. Props.
I managed to stick through the end on this one, and it was mostly the Just Normal High School Life aspect which kept me through it. In fact, I felt that the Wacky Hijinks went a bit too wacky at times; the kung fu chick (as in, small chicken, not slang for girl) always felt a bit much.
Considering I generally like Wacky Hijinks, I suppose my problem was that the slapstick and the romance weren’t really well-integrated together.
Currently, shoujo and dating-sim adapted anime series are a waste of time - but ef is quite interesting though
sometimes, the characters are so simple and ignorant that they become despicable
How would it fare against KimiKiss Pure Rouge? If I’m not mistaken this is another dating sim adaptation with a very casual story, normal high schoolers, no porn and no tentacles.
I’m afraid I couldn’t bear the lightness of it and decided to drop it after something like episode 5 or 6. I’m sure many enjoyed it, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Kimikiss anime is actually a good parallel to Tokimemo only love that neither are real adaptations but actual spinoffs and are original plot-wise. I would be hesitant to call either of them adaptations.
Personally Tokimemo is a staple name. It’s like the Final Fantasy of bishoujo gaming. Tokimemo anime just treads on that name some more. Can you say moo?
As for the anime, I dropped at about the half way mark not because it stunk but it just pushed out of my viewing schedule by better shows once the fansubbing couldn’t catch up with the (lack of) attenuation of my attention span. And I think it’s still an average anime either way you look at it.
I’m still waiting for my Tokimeki Memorial 2 anime and Tokimeki Memorial 4 game. None of this Tokimeki Memorial online dating sim stuff. Come on Konami, what were you thinking!?
I anticipated each episode of this show from beginning to end. Sure it’s cliched and pretty obvious from the get-go, but as one person mentioned, the ‘universe’ seemed wider than most shows. Most of the side characters felt like they had personality and weren’t just cardboard cutouts.
What it boiled down to was that it was one of those shows where you could turn your brain off and just enjoy the entertainment that ensues.
Huzzah. Unlike Idolmaster, I wholly support this entry in the Top10. Plot aside, the technical merits of this show was astoundingly high, and in terms of soundwork, even surpass that of rival companies such as KyoAni.
The characters were entertaining, and I especially liked the Mad Scientist Teacher and the Psychopathic Cafe Lady.
Cheers.
I’m happy to hear that so many people watched (and enjoyed) this show. I think the point at which I really started to think, “Hey, this is pretty good,” was during the school trip in Hokkaido. There was some nice drama starting with those episodes and continuing through the end; it wasn’t overwrought, either.
And I actually liked the chicken.
Oh, God, please, no! This was the stupidest show I watched much of this year. The humor left me completely cold, and the romance was as boring as possible, despite some good characters. And the protagonist is someone I desperately want to forget. I kept coming back to it because people whose tastes I often share liked it. I guess our tastes weren’t that similar after all, lol.
this is one of my best anime I’ve ever watch but the episodes is too short. I really like to request if they can make more episodes on it or having a Part 2 on Tokemeki
hey koji oe what do you mean by Tokimeki Memorial 2 anime? do you mean like a second season or something well anyways i hope they would make another one and this time they’ll show us what happen to Aoba and Sayuri after there high school life ended if they were able to reunite with each other which the answer will obviously be yes but I’m just making sure but anyways i do hope they make another season or if not at least like a 3 or 5 OVA episode.
this show is beautiful……………..
its kinda same with happiness…………….
kinda only
but this is better…………