About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

ToHeart

Encyclopedia : T : TO : TOH : ToHeart

The ToHeart Logo
Enlarge
The ToHeart Logo

ToHeart (トゥハート) is a visual novel by Leaf/Aquaplus released in 1997 for the PC. It was later ported to the PlayStation and given voice acting. A second PC version, titled "ToHeart PSE" was released containing the PlayStation version as well as omake games. The new computer version and PlayStation version had the adult scenes removed.

It was also made into a 13-episode TV anime by KSS in 1999. A second anime, ToHeart: Remember My Memories aired from October 2004. ToHeart is an influential ren'ai game with a large cult following; it has been the inspiration for a great deal of fan art in the dōjinshi community.

Before ToHeart, the visual novel genre was donimated by leading company ELF. The company ultilized the sci-fi and fantasy concepts, and stressed on the importance of story background. Visual novel players often concern themselves more about the overall story, rather than paying attention on main character's personality and emotion. "ToHeart" was one of the first games which specifically allowed and encouraged the player to fall in love with normalcy, and started the trend of school related visual novels. Players symphatize with situations leading characters are in, and concern themselves more with characters, instead of the overall story.

Main script writer Tatsuya Takahashi's idea of "visual novel" is widely adopted today by many Japanese games, regardless of the genre.

ToHeart expended its cult following to non-visual novel players when the KSS anime and Playstation Version were released. Furthermore, the original anime was one of the first cases where a anime adaptation of a video game would prove to be succeseful 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

History

Game

ToHeart Playstation Version Boxart
Enlarge
ToHeart Playstation Version Boxart

ToHeart was originally released on the PC in 1997 as a hentai visual novel love adventure: the third in its series. Produced by Aquaplus/Leaf, it is credited to having helped to lift the company out of obscurity.

In 1999, two years after the original PC release, ToHeart was converted to the Playstation and released. All adult scenes and themes were removed from this version, but full voice acting and omake games were added.

Four years after, the game was again rereleased on the PC, which was known as the PSE version. The version here used the Playstation version as the basis for its conversion.

The game was also included in the special ToHeart2/ToHeart bundle, which was one of three packages ToHeart2 was released in. The game was made for the PS2 and is not available individually.

Anime

Two anime series have been produced and released: ToHeart and ToHeart ~remember my memories~. The first was known for its watercolour like art, as well as slow and slice-of-life storytelling.

The second series was released five years later in order to generate interest in ToHeart2, and coincided with the marketing blitz that ToHeart2 was receiving. The anime's storyline continued from the original series and completed the actual story (deviating from the game). The future of Akari, Hiroyuki and Multi were also shown.

All voice actors and actresses for the game were also used for the anime.

Characters

Character design differences

There are several design differences between the game and the anime:

Audio CDs

Manga

There are several manga versions available in Japan and are all published by different companies. Most of them are one off stories written and illustrated by dojinshi authors, before being complied into volumes although the Daioh magazine offers a coherent story.

Two manga versions by Ukyou Takao is also available in Japan by Dengeki Comics 「電撃」. The first version published in 1999 was based on and roughly followed the original ToHeart story. It has since been complied into three books.

At present, there is also a manga running titled ToHeart ~remember my memories~ based on the anime continuinity of the same name. It is also by Ukyou Takao and is currently being serialised in Dengeki Daioh (where ToHeart2 manga is also being serialised). The second ToHeart manga is still ongoing, and has been complied into one book so far.

It was also published in the US by ADV Manga.

Omakes

There were several games and fan made products that have used the ToHeart franchise.

A card based game featuring the heroines from ToHeart, along with other characters in the Aquaplus/Leaf franchise.

A fan-made 2D fighting game made by the same group that would later create Melty Blood. It features characters from the games being pitted against one another.

Books

Game Related

トゥハート公式ガイドブック―The essence of ToHeart

This book contains a comprehensive walkthrough for the entire To Heart game. It also includes a gallery of all the obtainable CG, as well as stage-by-stage descriptions of all three omake games included in the Playstation and PSE versions.

ToHeart ビジュアルファンブック (Visual Fun Book)

Contains images from the Playstation game.

Anime Related

KSS Perfect Collection Series: TV Animation ToHeart Full name: ToHeart ケイエスエス パーフェクトコレクションシリーズ

The first volume covers episodes 1 to 7 of the TV animation, while the second book covers episodes 8 to 13. The second book has interviews with staff, as well as a collection of all the colour images in Japanese magazines and posters printed to promote ToHeart during that period.

See also


ToHeart series
General information ToHeart - ToHeart2 Games ToHeart - ToHeart2
Anime ToHeart - ~Remember my Memories~ - ToHeart2
Characters ToHeart - ToHeart2 Audio CDs ToHeart - ToHeart2

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: