To Heart 2: Episode 2

Second episode!

Geh, more animation quirks. Some good shots, but some inconsistent character animation. Nevertheless, the [Tamaki->toheart2-tamaki-kousaka] episode is a healthy mix of Tamaki goodness. While I don’t share the enthusiasm of the legions of Tamaki fans, they may agree that the average animation took out some of the brilliance of an otherwise great episode. Now I get it… they want us to buy the DVD! It’ll be expected that the animation will be a lot more refined on the DVD. What a clever marketing move… although nothing may be more clever than them doing a [To Heart 2: XRATED->toheart2-xrated] (evil grin)…

We get a glimpse of the three rabid Tamaki fans who were left behind. Can’t be helped, because Tamaki says that a promise is a promise.

[Game->To Heart 2: March 20] – Tamaki introduction
Tamaki’s love-love mission played out almost the same here. Tamaki acting sophisticated, while Takaaki still seems boggled about who she is. The addition of the nanny praising Tamaki about her cooking, her gracefulness etc. fleshes her out a bit more. We see Tamaki very ‘physical’ towards Takaaki, and also Konomi, while Yuji gets the obvious face-pinching terror.

[Game->To Heart 2: March 21] – The shopping event
This is one of the first times I’ve seen an anime where implied ‘fanservice’ scenes are played more naturally than being oh too ecchi about it. We see Tamaki going over Takaaki’s dirty magazines, and also they enter a lingerie shop in the shopping event. It’s so great that not a hint of malice was seen, especially the male characters who merely blush instead of drool or nosebleed at female underwear. Refreshing, refreshing change as opposed to other bishoujo anime. There was a pointless chasing event which leads us to show the ‘promise’ from years ago. Not exactly pointless, we see that Tamaki still remembers those boys’ running paths and hiding spots. And so she feels more and more at home. Lastly, she will transfer to their school instead of the school where Konomi’s friends were supposed to be in. Bad news for the boys.

Well that’s it. It seems that each To Heart 2 episode is jampacked with events. It paces itself real fast, but at the same time never leaves you behind. Those who played the game can discover something new, while those who didn’t can still enjoy the new experience. Aside from the animation quirks, it’s still going strong so far. Next episode… finally… [Manaka’s->toheart2-manaka-komaki] time to shine!