Tokimeki Memorial 2 Nostalgia Review Disc 1 – Introduction
Well, this is finally the second part of a series of reviews I started nearly a year ago on the Tokimeki Memorial series. You can read my short rant on the first game in the series here, but I think you will find that this article will be much more enjoyable since Tokimeki Memorial 2 is the best game of the series hands down. If you would ask me what my favorite date simulation games is I would instantly reply saying Tokimeki Memorial 2. That is my favorite. Playing Tokimeki Memorial 2 was at least one of the first Japanese games that helped me just pick up on Japanese even if I didn’t know much of what was going on. I was able to pick up Katakana, Hiragana, and some of the more basic Kanji, vocab and grammar structures. It’s so easy to forget how certain things have helped me in that period before I actually started learning Japanese as a major.
Also, to me it is like the Final Fantasy 6 or Chrono Trigger when it comes to date sims. It was release in November of 1999, so it was a time when the Playstation was at its end and making way for the Playstation 2. Konami took what they did with Tokimeki Memorial in the 1995 release on the Playstation and only built on that to create an enjoyable and solid game.
Tokimeki Memorial 2 (Tokimemo 2 among fans) takes the basic story of the first game where you are playing a male student through his 3 years of high school but this time when you first play you start out as a kid who then later moves away. Later, when you are much older, you can meet most of the female characters you met as a kid but now in high school. This really has no effect on the story except maybe at the end of the game for that female you will get a line of text saying like, “You were that boy from that time.” or something. Regardless, it’s a neat little way to start the game. Some of the things you do even add little stat boosts to your character later but on the whole really don’t do much.
The main bulk of the game is the three years in high school which span four whole discs. My main beef with Tokimeki Memorial 1 is that it feels like things just drag on for long periods of time with not enough events or enough material to stay interested for long periods of play. That was fixed in Tokimemo 2. I’ve played it in one sitting albeit it takes a while, but it never gets boring because there is enough material going on. Whether it just be dating, club events, holiday events, and what not. Every time I play I always seem to pick up on something new story wise too since I’ve been playing this game ever since I knew zero Japanese to when I started Japanese and started translating bits of it to even where I am now. There is also a slight level of challenge in the game I think. At least until you’ve played a few times. My first time playing it in 2003, I couldn’t really understand the stat growth too well, and I just kept saying the wrong things all the time so I found myself starting over a lot.
Gameplay wise there is more events to shoot for and girls don’t reach blushing stage as fast, which is the main goal of the game. They added rivals where at the end of the game some times you find out your best friend likes the same girl as you do. There are some indications of this before the end of the game, but some times you can never be too sure. But if they do like the same girl as you then you have to fight and whoever loses has to give up. There have been times where my total play through was ruined because of this…
I always feel like I need to experiment with new things every time I play too. Take a girl to a new location and see what happens or say the wrong thing and see how pissed off she gets. There are actual times where you can say the total WRONG thing and she will get VERY pissed off, but I haven’t tried it. The one Konami guide I own does have a little section under each girl or maybe it is some of them where it says what to chose that will get them pissed off.
Hair colors of all different kinds just like a rainbow.
It is great that they gave the female characters stories and personalities. In the first game, the female characters were very flat and had no personality except for the niche stereotype you could place them in like this is the sporty one or this is the shy one. In Tokimemo 2, every female character has their own kind of story and unique and sometimes quirky personality. The feelings of closeness feel like they’re actually there unlike the first game. It really does feel like you’re getting to know this character and appreciate them as your time in high school goes by dating them. I know this sounds strange, but I’m trying to explain how this game makes you feel on a gamer level.
It is also probably the only date simulation game where I can say that I like all the female characters all around. I mean, I still do have my favorites, but they really grow on you. Kind of in the same way as the Sakura Taisen girls do. They’re just all very awesome. From the tsundere Kotoko Minazuki to the very unlucky Miyuki Kotobuki you’re bound to at least like one of them.
I have really great memories playing this game. Though, I wonder how weird it must have looked if someone were observing me. A 21 year old playing a game about dating high school girls. Talking about how cute this and that is. Just absorbing everything in and having a fun time. I must have really looked sad, lol. I don’t think I’ll play through it again for awhile, but it was really fun while it lasted though and I think that’s what is important. Tokimemo 2 is just a quirky game and really hard to explain why or how I have such sentimental feelings for the game. It is just the little funny things that also make it enjoyable like if you click on your TV you can watch things, or if you take Homura to the science club’s exibition on the club festival thing and do very poorly on the shooter game the club creates, Homura will take over and show you just how the hell it’s done.
It’s an awesome game, and just this probably isn’t enough to talk about it. It’s somewhat rare to find a hard copy now, but not so rare since I do see copies on Ebay often. So, if you ever have some spare change and time off to play. I would suggest picking it up because it’s worth it if you’re a fan of the date simulation genre and looking for top tier stuff. Those that are familiar with the game I hope you enjoy because this is just the beginning of a possible 5 part nostalgic review.
I guess we’re on opposite sides here (first see my comments on TM1 in your TM1 article). I tried TM2 but somehow I just didn’t dig it. Perhaps it was made too easy (eg bombs take longer to happen; in fact when I did try it, I never got any bombs), especially the main heroine, and after that one try and getting the feeling that the game just didn’t have the oomph that made TM1 challenging, I just stopped midway. I get the feeling Konami responded to the knee-jerk reaction of the gamers who complained of how hard TM1 was.
At least I played the Drama Disc, TM2 Drama Disc 3: Memories Ringing On, and that very story rich (and very heavily drama laiden) game made me want to play it (even though it was more of a visual novel than a dating sim), enough for me to take a liking to TM2’s girls.
It saddens me that you don’t enjoy TM2 as much as I do, but that’s okay you’re older than me so it’s probably just more nostalgic for you to like the first game.
I don’t find TM2 all that easy. I think TM3 is probably the easiest of them all. TM2 has a good balance, I think.
I had played the first game but only on the SNES as a rom, but I can’t say I enjoyed it too much. It was only until much after I played TM2 that I got TM1 on the playstation. I at least want to try and see Shiori’s ending on the PS version since I heard it is very hard.
Yeah, the girls in TM2 are awesome. I never really played the drama games since they were less game play oriented.
Hm? TM3 the easiest? Well I guess I’ll never know…
Hehe I too played the SNES version of TM1 mainly, and won all the girls there (including the alternate endings of Mio and Nozomi [the tomboy swimming girl]); I only played once on the PSX version, and that was to get Shiori (and I did win her on the first try :D).
The SNES version is way too easy I think especially if you have the turbo thing for the emulator you use.
I only got the alternate ending for Mio since she is my favorite girl.
Gosh this takes me back when I used to play a lot of dating sims. So nostalgic as you say.
Tokimeki Memorial holds a special place in my heart as, like you, it was the series that helped me to pick up certain Japanese words, terms, phrases etc long before I learnt the language.
In terms of the games Tokimeki Memorial was my first game. I played the SNES version first and then played Tokimemo 2 and then got the PSX version of Tokimemo. Needless to say playing Tokimemo 1 after 2 on the PSX was quite a disappointment for the same reasons you gave.
You might have played them since but I will say that the SNES version of Tokimemo 1 was vastly more difficult than the PSX version because of the bombs. Shiori was especially difficult to get in the SNES game because you had to date her a lot but also date the other girls to avoid the bombs.
In contrast Tokimemo 2 is vastly easier and there were far less bombs but what I loved was there was a lot more emphasis on the stories. Gone were the usual stereotypes with hardly any back story and in place we got some characters with some good back stories.
A good example would be Megumi/Shiori and Kotoko/Hikari. In Tokimemo there was never any emphasis on the relationship between the main player, Shiori and Megumi. It just seemed that Megumi could come along and snatch you away from Shiori. Not that I minded all that much. I have to admit Shiori, for me, is vastly overrated and I just find her very boring. There’s no real character to her, even in the third drama game, she’s not given a lot to do. However with Kotoko and Hikari there was a great deal of struggle on Kotoko’s part as she was conflicted between you and Hikari as she didn’t want to hurt her best friend. Kotoko isn’t all that popular with fans but at least she cared for Hikari’s feelings in the matter.
Oops I’m rambling now. Always a bad habit of mine when talking about a favorite series of mine.
To sum up Tokimemo 2 will always remain my favorite dating sim. Only Refrain Love 2 and True Love Story 2 come close to matching it in terms of gameplay but there are various elements in those two games that do let them down a bit whereas I find Tokimemo 2 to be near perfect and your right. I bought the game when it came out and loved it but even when I played it again a couple of years ago I still discovered some new scenes and events that I had never seen before and that’s very rare for a video game especially for this genre of game.
Yeah I agree with a lot you have said. Tokimemo 2 REALLY improved a lot of things namely given the females stories and what not. The girls in Tokimemo 1 just seemed kinda there and seem to lack any sort of depth. I like Mio from Tokimemo 1 but it is purely based on looks and traits. She has no real depth to her as a character. I still hold her as one of my favorites though because she set the standard for a lot of other female characters I would like later.
Kotoko wasn’t very popular in Japan? Do you know which characters were? Huh that’s weird though. I’d think the Japanese like girl would be some what popular. She is my favorite girl in the game and definitely a proto tsundere of sorts.
Yeah Tokimemo 2 is one of my fav date sims. I never heard of Only Refrain Love 2 but I’ll look into it since I am always looking for new date sims and what not. I just got into the True Love Story series last year and I think it is pretty unique too in terms of what it has. Have you tried their new games like Kimikiss and Amagami? They’re made by the same team who has done the True Love Story games. Also do you know about the new date sim by Konami Loveplus? I don’t know if it could top Tokimemo but it seems to be getting a lot of press since it’s being made by Konami and they had that history of making those kinda games. Looking forward to it actually.
Yeah, whenever I pop in Tokimemo 2 I always seem to find some kind of new scene or event too. I’ve had it for a while but I am just now going for Maho’s ending. Maho is so funny. Definitely the complete opposite of Miho.
Hey, I don’t mind the rambling. I like talking about these games and reading what people have to say about them.
It helps that all the girls eventually got EVS discs in Tokimemo 2. It was rather fun hearing Akane say my name as well as Miho/Maho. It’s a shame Maeka never got an EVS though.
Mio wasn’t one of my favorite characters from Tokimemo. Yuina, Yuko and Yukari (or as I call them – the three Y’s) would be my favorites simply because they at least had some personality. Granted Mira does as well but I’m put off by her personality. I did find her little scene in the OVA with her little brothers and sisters quite funny though.
Kotoko was indeed the least popular character in Japan (as well as everywhere else too). It’s down to her attitude. The Japanese did tend to like the quiet, sweet, obidient girls which is why Kotoko wasn’t well liked. Kaori was and still is the most popular character and she does fit into that mold. It’s also the reason why Ami/Mercury was the most popular Sailor Moon heroine.
Times have changed somewhat and more, wild shall we say, characters have become popular now. This is especially the case with Haruhi from the anime of the same name. Kotoko therefore theoretically could be more popular now but from the evidence the most popular character is still Kaori.
In terms of the other characters the popular Tokimemo 2 characters were Hikari, Kasumi and Miho along with the aforementioned Kaori. Three out of those four characters later went on to appear in the Tokimemo Music Video Clips PS2 game which, if you own the game, you’ll know was just an excuse for a cheap cash-in with mini games focusing on the character that got virtually zero attention in the actual Tokimemo 2 game (Sumire). It did have some beautifully animated music videos though. In case you don’t know the game featured Sumire (whose music video is technically the animated opening) who you control for all the mini games. The other girls in the game who got music videos are Hikari, Kasumi, Homura, Mei and Kaori. The music videos are all set to their respective character’s image songs which, if you own the Vocal CDs, you’ll know are set to their instrumental themes from the game. Mei was the only Tokimemo 2 character who never got an actual song set to her instrumental theme. That is until the PS2 game. Her music video is the most interesting since it’s an original song that has sadly never been released on CD. I have it ripped somewhere as it’s quite a fun, catchy song.
Talking about Tokimemo 2 when I put it in again a couple of years back I was shocked by some of the events after Christmas during your third year. I don’t know if you know about it but some of the girls completely change their outfits and hairstyles during the third year after Christmas. This is especially true for Kotoko and Maho (the latter of which obviously just couldn’t care less with the disguises anymore and yet the main character is still a complete moron and doesn’t work it out). When I first got the game I played through each of the girl’s routes and also got the two bad endings yet not once during those 13 or so playthroughs did I ever see these fashion events. Bizarre.
Maho is indeed hilarious. I also love the little Final Fantasy battles as well which has a special nod to Final Fantasy 8 for the battle music. Homura, Kotoko, Miyuki and Miho’s moves had me cracking up with laughter.
Last paragraph now on Tokimemo for this message as I’m rambling again. Did you know about the special DVDs for Tokimemo? It’s had a few of which I’m lucky enough to own most of (thanks to both my friend who lived in Japan for a while and Yahoo Auction Japan). Many of them are live events. Some are music videos. Not properly animated as such. The animation, when there is any, is more done in the style of flash animation really.
I should warn you if you plan to check out Refrain Love 2 that having a guide for it is essential which is one of the reasons it’s been downgraded in my book. True Love Story as I’m sure you know does as well to an extent but if you thought that was bad you haven’t seen Refrain Love 2. Each girl has a set of events that must be seen to get her ending. It does have some nice animated cut scenes as well as CG pictures that rival the Tokimemo series. In fact the Refrain Love series was the only series to rival the Tokimemo series in Japan in terms of popularity. Like Tokimemo I prefer the second game to the first as it has better gameplay and better graphics.
True Love Story does indeed have a unique style to it. I was never keen on the first game but loved the second. It seems to be a bizarre pattern of mine that when it comes to dating games the second is the best.
I haven’t heard of the other games you mentioned. To be honest I feel that dating sims these days, much like the anime harem genre, have gotten increasingly samey.
I’ll most likely check out Loveplus as it’s made by Konami and they’ve made two of my all time favorite video game series. It’s going to be tough to top Tokimemo.
These days I’m more into RPG’s and isometric strategy games but occasionally dip back into the dating sims for nostalgia purposes.
Getting back to dating sims before I sign off I also highly recommend checking out Mitsumete Knight and Oujosama Express. The former is by far the most popular out of the two and has become a classic since it’s jointly made by Konami and Red Company though there are virtually no elements of Sakura Wars in it. It essentially plays a lot like Tokimemo. They made a short RPG based on it as well. Oujosama Express is far more obscure which is a shame as it has a good solid cast and is a fun, relatively short game. The best thing about it is that it does not require the use of guides and, aside from Tokimemo and to a degree Mitsumete Knight, was the only dating sim I owned which didn’t.
Well, first I have to say thanks for the name dropping. I have never heard of Oujosama Express, Mitsumete Knight or Love Refrain 2. I’ll keep them in mind. I can find an abundant supply of Mitsumete Knight on eBay but no Oujosama Express, and they only seem to have the first Love Refrain for sale…
To be honest, I really dislike True Love Story 2. I own the guide for this one and some of the events are so random, and I don’t know I can’t seem to ask any of the girls out on a date because they just get shy and run away. So I’m guessing there is just a certain point where on the gauge you can ask without being rejected and having them run away. I like the first one a lot better. It just seems a lot easier. If you’re a fan of the True Love Story series, I would say to try Kimikiss out. It is the same team and it’s nothing along the lines of “samy” as you say. The gameplay is kinda hard and not as easy as just saying the right message prompt. You have this matching conversation thing where you have to pick the right conversation stater out of the many that you have, but only certain ones appear first and then they come out in a random order as you choose them. You have 5 picks.
The girls are pretty solid and like all their works the girls look more Japanese. As in no weird colored hair and what not. Like I said the girls are all pretty solid and I usually only like 1 or 2 girls top in a date sim.
Yeah the EVS discs must be neat. I just recently got volume 2. I wish I could find the others especially the one with Kotoko’s voice. Huh so Kaori was most popular? I can kinda see that. The same for Kasumi and Miho but Hikari? I just always found Hikari as clingy and annoying because her tokimeki level always goes up regardless of what you do. Thus bombs from her all the time.
That reminds me just recently I had read in the Hibikino Watcher that I bought recently that the developers wanted Kaori to commit suicide but they scrapped it. Man would be nice to get the other ones because the info they have is all very interesting.
Not sure about the outfit thing. I never really paid attention but I’ll keep it in mind this time as I go through Maho’s route. Never heard of these DVDs either but I’m always looking for neat Tokimemo 2 stuff.
Yeah, I really like Tokimemo 2. One of my favs and I’m really glad I have gotten it back then because I’ve really loved it ever since, and I’ve played the game over a bunch of times just getting Kotoko’s ending. I really should experiment more though when I play. Hmm. I dunno, maybe I didn’t reply properly but I just want you to now that I really appreciate your comment. I don’t really talk to people that like this kind of stuff if ever. So, it’s really nice to meet someone who knows what you’re talking about and knows how you feel. So I understand your comment and know what you mean. Thanks for your comments.
Also, no love for Yumi? :(
Hey. It’s me again. The annoying one ^^v.
I just wanted to let you know about one video game series that I forgot to mention that is a bit like Sakura Wars. The Summon Night series. The actual PS1 games which have now been remade for the DS (minus a lot of the voice acting I would imagine) are strategy games but have a dating sim element to them. In case you don’t know about the series you choose what character to be at the beginning (either a boy or a girl) and as the game progresses you get to chat to each of the characters that join you at night. If you chat to one enough then you get a nice little ending scene of them complete with CG (this is especially the case for Summon Night 2).
Also on that note I’m currently playing the Tokyo Majin Gakuen DS game and it is fast becoming one of my favorite games in recent years. Like Summon Night it is also a strategy game and does involve some dating elements (ie: you can get endings for all the characters that join you – both male and female) but I really like the story to it and I’m addicted to it. The characters have some great character development and there are some really funny interactions. It reminds me of the Shadow Hearts RPG. Uramitsu Misa is my favorite character. She’s hilarious. I’ve never watched the anime of the same name that’s based on the game but from what I’ve heard the anime takes a lot of liberties. Characters are radically redesigned, stories are changed and many characters are not in the anime at all.
I hope you got my Tokimemo 2 reply as the net crashed when it sent it a while back. I can see that it’s been posted at any rate. ^^v
It has no relevance to this post but I also like your list of favorite animes. Card Captor and Orange Road I definetely agree with. I’ve never personally really liked Maison Ikkoku and find it the weakest of Takahashi’s series out of the ones I’ve seen (I’ve never watched Inuyasha). I just find the relationship too contrived and there are far too many coincidences for my liking. Ironically given it’s wacky and zany element I find Urusei Yatsura actually handles the relationship between the two main leads a lot better as there are always subtle hints of Ataru’s true feelings towards Lum. For me Marmalade Boy is my favorite of the romantic dramas (especially the manga). The anime does take some liberties but it’s still fun nonetheless.
Hrm. I’ll have to look into those. I’m always looking for new games to try out so thanks for the recommendations.
Yeah, I dunno. Overall I liked Maison Ikkoku, but I understand what you mean about it.
Yeah Mistumete Knight is the most common of the three games which is ironic really as it’s also the oldest game by far and has been out of print a lot longer. Mitsumete Knight is the best of the three games as it doesn’t require guides per se. Some of the girls are hard to get and you will need a guide for them (Priscilla, Carol and Raize spring to mind) whilst others such as the main girl, Sophia are extremely easy to end up with. Fortunately Mitsumete Knight is extremely popular in Japan and has tons of online guides for it. Oujosama Express isn’t so lucky which is a shame as it’s a great fun little game with a diverse cast.
If I’m very honest the whole True Love series isn’t a favorite of mine. The art style is somewhat unique though I did get accustomed to it but I also ran into the same problems you did when asking the girls out on dates. The reason your failing sometimes is because of the choices you are choosing to talk to the girls about. Also some girls like the main girl from True Love Story 2 whose name escapes me have events which must be seen to get their ending. Not all girls have this though. The swimmer for one doesn’t. You can tell how much the game impressed me when I can’t even remember their names off the top of my head.
The EVS discs are common-ish on Yahoo Auction Japan (ie: at least two usually appear on a daily basis which is more than can be said for some other Tokimemo rare merchandise). The reason most people assume they aren’t is because the Japanese tend not to write in English on auction sites which is understandable. Therefore writing in the actual magazine’s title of Hibikino Watcher usually gets you nothing. However if you write it in Japanese you get results. In fact I just tested it and I’m right. I wrote Hibikino watcher and got nothing but entering the actual Japanese got me a few results (ひびきのウォッチャー).
To be honest if you desperately want them I’m afraid Yahoo Auction Japan is the only way you’ll most likely get them now as, like the game, they are long out of print and were only available for club members anyway. Since my friend no longer lives in Japan and when he did I started to feel guilty always asking for his help so I now use Japamart’s online service. Whilst they do charge you for import duties and taxes because of the way Yahoo Auction Japan works I find it’s really the only way to get a lot of rare Japanese merchandise. Incidentally I got the Tokimeki Club CD using Japamart which contained brand new songs for Shiori, Hikari and Yukiko and was limited to 300 copies. It’s that rare and I can’t thank Japamart enough for it. The other advantage to Japamart is that you actually bid on the items or choose the “buy it now” option yourself as opposed to other online services such as Celga which do it for you. Just looking on the auction site they have the first issue you want which contains Kotoko’s EVS data for a buy it now of 1500 yen.
Final word on the Hibikino Watchers. If you really only want the EVS data then you only need to get Issues 1 and 3 since you mentioned you now have 2. Issues 0 (which only came with the limited edition of the game) and 4 have no EVS.
You can’t miss the fashion change for Maho. She completely changes her hairstyle and outfits that would make Miho blush if she could see her.
Hikari’s popularity is really more to do with the actress Noda Junko who was extremely popular at the time of the game’s release. Incidentally Kosuge Mami (Kotoko) is also very popular and also appeared at two of the Super Live events. She’s the complete opposite to Kotoko. That reminds me of Yamada Miho (Maeka). I don’t know if you’ve got her ending but in her free talk she mentions that people always call her “Sexy Idol Seiyuu” and having seen her I can see why. During one of the talk sessions at the final live event Kingetsu Mami (Shiori) and Kurosaki Ayako (Yukari) tease her by calling out her name in a deep voice and then shouting “Sexy”. It was quite funny.
Before I sign off I’ll just talk a bit about the live events and the music video DVDs.
The music video DVDs were really made to promote something for Tokimemo 2. If you thought the Hibikino Watchers were rare then prepare yourself for a shock as these are extremely rare. Although they turn up from time to time on Yahoo Auction Japan because they were only sold at Konami’s booth at the respective events which promoted the games they are expensive (usually around 10,000 yen as opposed to the 3000 yen they were originally sold for).
The Video Clip collection promotes the Leaping School Festival drama game containing the short versions of Homura, Akane and Mei’s songs set to some of the respective character’s CGs from the game. It also includes the Dancing Summer Vacation opening. What really makes this DVD special is that it contains an alternate version of the game’s opening from Hikari’s point of view. You’ll notice in the opening that Hikari is always looking around in the actual game’s opening and in this version we get to see what she’s looking at (usually various locations). It helps to confirm that her bumping into you was an accident and not a deliberate ploy as my friend always used to think.
The Music Video clip collection promotes the Blooming Stories CDs. The DVD has flash style animation as well as CG pictures set to one of the Blooming Stories songs for Miho/Maho, Kaori, Kaedeko, Kotoko and Kasumi. There is also a special edition DVD which contains the above but also includes songs for Miyuki and Mei. Finally there is a fun music video at the end showcasing all of the Tokimemo 2 characters set to a Hikari song.
Finally you have the Opening Animation collection which contains all of the animated openings for both Tokimemo 1 and 2 including all the dramas and puzzle games as well as the elusive PC Engine opening for Tokimemo 1. The omake on it is the opening video for the Tokimemo 2 PS2 game featuring Sumire as well as a fun flash-style music video for the Tokimemo 2 girls with them in swimsuits set to a group song sung by all the girls.
There was also a Making of Tokimemo 3 DVD but that’s the only DVD I don’t have. Now onto the live events:
First up is the Fantastic Xmas Party from 1996. This features all of the Tokimemo 1 seiyuu plus some of the drama cast except Ayako’s seiyuu who was in New York at the time. She has a video message though in which she drops her wallet and a nice American lady lets her know to which she replies “Oops. Thanks”. Quick fact that you probably know: she lives in New York now. The songs they sing at the event are not complete versions but it’s nice to see the seiyuu all the same. On the topic of Yumi as you mentioned her (I do like her but she isn’t a fave of mine) Kurin Yoshiki who plays her was wearing an awful outfit that made her look like a hippy reject from the 70’s. The reason I mention this is ironically she’s now given up acting and is an actual fashion designer and is good friends with Igarashi Rei (Mira). Also Onosaka Masaya (he plays Naoto in the dramas – essentially taking on the main player’s role) had a jacket on with Mutley. Good old Wacky Races. This event was released primarily on video but a limited edition DVD did come out.
The most well known events though were the three Super Live concerts which featured full versions of the songs and many of the seiyuu. In terms of the games Tokimemo 3 was represented the best but Tokimemo 2 did very well too. The seiyuu for Ayako, Mira, Rei, Yumi, Megumi and Yuko never attended any of the events. In the case of Tokimemo 2 only Akane, Homura and Sumire’s seiyuu never attended. All the girls from Tokimemo 3 attended an event at some point. All three concerts have been released on DVD. In the case of the last one you could also get it in a boxset which also contained the Opening Animation collection DVD. The last concert also promotes the Tokimemo Online game and has the theme song performed by the two singers whose names escape me at the moment. The last event took place on New Year’s Eve and so they had a countdown to New Years. I did feel sorry for them in a way since they weren’t spending the time with their family. Hopefully they got paid well for it.
Finally you had the Tokimemo 2 Summer Festa 2004 which celebrated Tokimemo 2’s fifth anniversary. All the girls attended the event including Masuda Yuki who played Takumi. Sadly this is the only event which has never been released on DVD much to my disappointment as I would have loved to have seen all the seiyuu.
I had hoped that Konami might do something for Tokimemo 2 considering this year is it’s tenth anniversary. For Tokimemo 1’s anniversary they released a new vocal CD but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen for Tokimemo 2. I think what puts a damper on it is that it’s also Tokimemo’s fifteenth anniversary this year and even then Konami aren’t doing much to celebrate it. All that seems to be coming out are some new Gashapon figures for Tokimemo 1 and 2 (not all the girls are getting some) as well as a statue of Hikari and Shiori together.
Finally before I sign off did you know about the Tokimemo gashapons. There were two sets. I don’t own the Tokimemo 1 gashapons as they all looked to much alike but the Tokimemo 2 gashapons are very nice (you get Kotoko, Hikari, Miho, Kaori, Sumire and Homura) and unlike a lot of gashapons they really do look like them. Ironically they look more like them than the actual Tokimemo 2 statues which brings me to rarest Tokimemo merchandise. Konami did an exclusive set of pre-painted Tokimemo 2 statues a few years back featuring all 13 girls and was limited to a set of 100. I’ve never seen them for sale since. I did see some individual ones once being sold on Yahoo Japan and after seeing them they didn’t look all that good if I’m honest but they are still the rarest Tokimemo merchandise followed by the Tokimemo Club Maxi Single CD.