To Heart 2 is a Japanese Visual Novel developed by Leaf. It is a sequel/spin-off series of sorts to To Heart; it is set in the same universe, albeit two years later with a completely new set of characters.
The story follows Takaaki Kouno's daily life in high school alongside his childhood friends Konomi Yuzuhara (who just graduated from middle school) and Tamaki Kousaka. The story follows the same lines as the original To Heart, where Konomi's feelings for the male lead blossom.
The series also has an adult Gaiden Game, To Heart 2: Another Days, that focuses on the secondary characters of the series.
A thirteen-episode anime series adaptation produced by Oriental Light and Magic and directed by Norihiko Sudō aired in Japan between October 3, 2005 and January 2, 2006. It was subsequently followed by three OVAs in 2007, two more in 2008, another two in 2009, and yet another two in 2010.
For some strange reason, somebody made a CGI short featuring the characters, by the name of Funky Cat Maybe
. It's basically a Zombie Apocalypse but with Puni Plush dancing Cat Girls instead.
More recently, Aquaplus (Leaf's partner that releases Family Friendly versions of the To Heart games to the consoles) developed and released an Eastern RPG adaptation, titled To Heart 2: Dungeon Travellers for the Playstation Portable, featuring all the girls up to Another Days in a fantasy setting (yes, even the Robot Maids are there too), which in turn was adapted into an OVA in early 2012. To Heart characters also appear in Leaf/Aquaplus' fighting game collaboration with Examu, Aquapazza.
This show provides examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight - Each episode is centered around the girl of the day.
- Agent Mulder - Karin Sasamori.
- Alternate Universe - Yuuki Kusakabe's time traveling hijinks is this.
- Anachronic Order - The episodes are presented in a thematic way, so the events in the episodes are often out of chronological order.
- However, before most events in each of the episodes, there is a cutscene to a blackboard which shows the current date. Using this, the chronological order of events can be deduced.
- Arranged Marriage - In Charu's route in Another Days, Takaaki rescues her from such by declaring himself to be her fiancee.
- Art Shift - Of a subtle variety: Takaaki's hair color changed from dark green back to his original brown, and Manaka's dark brown hair became light brown.
- Ascended Extra / Demoted to Extra: With the exception of Konomi and Tamaki in their special route, the Another Days game sequel swaps the roles of the winnable characters and the supporting cast.
- Beach Episode - The second episode of the OVA.
- Big Friendly Dog - Konomi's Old English Sheepdog Genjimaru.
- Blackmail - How Karin "convinced" Takaaki to become the Mystery Club's second member.
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine - Yocchi and Charu seemingly have this kind of relationship in Another Days.
- Sango and Ruri could be seen this way to a degree as well.
- Bowdlerise - The PSP port of the game has a ridiculous instance of this. (NSFW)
- Butt-Monkey - Yuuji
- Cherry Blossoms - It's even in the opening theme of the show!
- Childhood Friend Romance - Konomi's developing feelings for Takaaki in the last two episodes.
- Class Representative - Manaka
- Continuity Nod - Marianne, Sasara's close friend, is from the same year as Aoi Matsubara and Kotone Himekawa from the original To Heart.
- Cool Big Sis - Tamaki to both Konomi and Takaaki.
- Crash-Into Hello - Yuma, into Takaaki, on her bike at the beginning of episode 4. Up until she admits otherwise, she sees him is her sworn rival.
- Deadpan Snarker - Charu, especially in Another Days.
- Disabled Snarker - Ikuno.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul" - In the epilogue to the second Another Days OVA, Karin calls Yuma "Yuma-chin." Yuma is not amused, given that Karin was prying about the the events of the previous night...
- In the game (Sasara's path), Marianne tried to pick out a cute nickname for Tamaki, such as "Tama-Tama". Tamaki is not amused. Marianne settles with "Tama-chan" much to Tamaki's annoyance.
- Early-Bird Cameo - The Himeyuri twins appeared in To Heart: Remember my Memories in a speaking cameo role. It is assumed that the disk that Sango gave to Nagase was a copy of Ilfa's OS.
- This is amazing in that at the time, the latest model of the HMX series was Serio, HMX-13. What Sango gave to Nagase was the OS for Ilfa, HMX-17, which proves just how much of a Teen Genius she is.
- That episode aired three days before the Visual Novel was released.
- Konomi Yuzuhara appeared in the sixth Omake of To Heart: Remember my Memories as Akari Kamigishi's opponent. No one knows who won though.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" - With the exception of Takaaki, everyone in his class calls Manaka "Iinchou."
- First-Name Basis - Played with in the first episode of the adnext OVA series. Takaaki's Harem gets wind of the news that both him and Manaka are apparently on a first-name basis (thanks to Yuuji, who was acting out a hilarious sketch), and they all chase him around to get him to use their first names (in some cases, it's dropping any honorifics entirely). Some (particularly Ruuko, Yuma and Konomi) don't quite realise they were already on a first-name basis with him. Gets especially hilarious in Tamaki's case, as he ends up using a much more distant "Tamaki-sama". In fact, the robot maids even get in on it, and more surprisingly, Konomi's mother, Haruka gets in on it as well.
- Genre Shift - To Heart 2: Dungeon Travellers. With lots more fanservice. For starters, Tamaki dons an outfit with something close to a Navel-Deep Neckline while Yocchi sports a Chainmail Bikini.
- Genki Girl - Marianne.
- Also Yocchi, particularly in Another Days.
- Genre Savvy - Manaka's sister Ikuno, in the second episode of the OVA, dissects the character archetypes of Tamaki, Takaaki, and Konomi.
- Groin Attack - Ruri does it to Takaaki early in their meeting.
- Hammerspace: Sango pulls a hammer out of nowhere so that she can whack Takaaki on the head to cure him of his Laser-Guided Amnesia. It's even lampshaded by Yuma.Yuma: Where'd you pull that out of?
- Harem Genre
- Harem Nanny - In episode 11, Tamaki has shown she's quite knowledgeable about her Takaaki's activities in the female area, and quite capable of hunting all of them down for some tea, and thanking them for taking care of her Takaaki.
- Hikikomori - Silfa
- Hot Librarian - Manaka
- Human Alien - Ruuko/Lucy
- Imagine Spot - Manaka provides her fans with plenty of imaginary intimate moments with Takaaki in the first adnext OVA.
- Improbably Female Cast - See the picture above.
- I Want to Be a Real Man - Hilariously played with in Another Days - in Yocchi's route, she tries to get Takaaki and Konomi together by "training" Takaaki to be a "real man" (in her words, send him through the "boy's rite of passage"): first by letting him grope her breast (after which she beats him up for it), then getting him to flip her skirt. Of course, it backfires and he falls for Yocchi instead.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia:
- The first episode of the Another Days OVA. Ridiculous yet very funny because the girls all except Tamaki try to rewrite Takaaki's memory for their own benefit.Manaka: "Takaaki-kun, you and I are lovers, and we're happy together."
Takaaki: "Lovers!?"- This one as well:
Ruri: "Takaaki is every woman's enemy! You are a monstrous, perverted, serial rapist!"
Takaaki: "Perverted serial rapist!?"
- The first episode of the Another Days OVA. Ridiculous yet very funny because the girls all except Tamaki try to rewrite Takaaki's memory for their own benefit.
- Like Brother and Sister - Konomi and Takaaki
- Takaaki stating that Konomi is just like a "little sister" to him didn't rub her the right way though.
- Marry Them All: in Another Days, Tama-nee loves Konomi-chan so much that she agreed to share Takaaki with her, not wanting to lose a little sister just to get her man.
- No Romantic Resolution: The anime ending.
- The Ojou - Yuma's grandfather, who is somehow related to Kurusugawa Electronics, is supposed to let her inherit the family business.
- Parental Abandonment - Takaaki's parents are on a business trip for the entirety of the anime. Also, no one aside from Ilfa appears to live with Ruri and Sango.
- Rescue Romance - More or less how Sango was introduced.
- Robot Maid - Ilfa (HMX-17a), Milfa (HMX-17b), Silfa (HMX-17c)
- Ship Tease - Besides the original episodes, every girl gets some with Takaaki in the OVAs. Manaka in particular seems to get more than the rest, though; Yuma probably comes second.
- Sibling Yin-Yang - Manaka and Ikuno.
- Also Sango and Ruri.
- Starfish Language - Ruuko's first words to Takaaki were completely unintelligible, until she adjusted her translator by tapping her head.
- In the game, she even speaks German (which Takaaki is not fluent in) in her first attempt at a human language after that first adjustment.
- Status Quo Is God - Even after thirteen episodes and nine OVAs, Takaaki still hasn't picked a girl.
- Student Council President - Sasara Kusugawa
- Teen Genius - Sango, who is employed by Kurusugawa Electronics, can easily program robots to do her wishes. She even wrote Ilfa's OS.
- Tsundere - Yuma Tonami, Ruri Himeyuri, and Silfa.
- And later on, in AD Plus, Silfa.
- Those Two Girls - Charu and Yocchi, Konomi's friends from junior high, in the original release. Subverted in Another Days as they become winnable this time.
- Unlucky Everydude - Takaaki insists that he has problems dealing with girls, yet the premise of the show subverts this. Lampshaded by Yuuji in the first episode of the Another Days OVA.Yuuji: "Even with his memory gone, he's always involved with girls somehow."
- Unwanted Harem - Brilliantly illustrated in the omake after the first Another Days episode. The girls all chase Takaaki around school to attempt to inflict Laser-Guided Amnesia on him again.
- Possibly the largest named harem in anime today, after the one in Negima! Magister Negi Magi, of course.
- Tamaki, Yuma, Manaka, Konomi, Ruuko, Karin, Sango, Ruri, Sasara, Yuuki, and Ilfa. That's eleven girls.
- Throw in Silfa and Harumi/Milfa and you actually got thirteen!
- Maybe even Marianne and Ikuno... Not to mention Konomi's two friends (in Another Days) Michiru and Chie.
- Possibly the largest named harem in anime today, after the one in Negima! Magister Negi Magi, of course.
- Updated Re-release - The adult version of the game was released one year after the original, clean version.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Another Days reveals Yocchi is frightened of thunder storms.
