Archaeon

Nice. That's what this show is. Not thrilling or dramatic or bad, just.... nice. I first found out about To Heart when I watched Comic Party, and I thought I'd give it a whirl. Unfortunately I watched To Heart 2 first so I wasn't expecting much when I eventually got around to watching this. That said, I was pleasantly surprised at how different the atmosphere between the two shows actually is. Where the sequel feels quite forced, To Heart is far more natural in the way it progresses. The stories aren't that different between the two, and indeed the theme (harem highschool romance), is generally quite commonamongst many shows (Clannad, Kanon, Lamune, etc). However when you look a little closer you find that To Heart is actually quite unique in it's approach to the romance side of things. The story doesn't follow any straighforward plot, but adopts a more episodic approach. This detracts from the various possible romantic developments (of which there are few), but it gives the show a very different feel from the norm. To Heart isn't a harem highschool romance by a long way. It get's misnomered as such because people assume that, because it's based on a dating sim, and has a male lead who meets multiple females, it has to be a harem highschool romance. To Heart (unlike it's sequel), is slice of life. Nothing more, nothing less. The episodic nature of the show actually works when you look at it from a slice of life perspective, and the fact that there is no "real" romantic development becomes irrelevant at that point. The true qualities of the show can only be admired when you watch it as a slice of life show, and in this way it reminded me of Aria far more than Clannad et al. At times the artwork in the show is exceedingly good. The show makes use of watercolour stillframes to good effect, and although the animation is a little dated compared to most you see these days, it still retains a certain "realistic" quality about it. The music in the show is generally quite mellow, again, reflective of the show's slice of life perspective. The OP and ED aren't really anything special though, and the sound effects, although quite well used, are sparse at best. To Heart doesn't really have any truly memorable characters (except maybe Multi). Fujita Hiroyuki is generally a nice, caring guy, and Kamigishi Akari is a well rounded, kind-hearted girl. The two have been best friends and neighbours since kindergarten, and the show highlights the strong ties between the two of them. The many female "love interests" in the show are mainly just friends. One or two may have a crush on him at one time or another, but for the most part the "romance" is mainly between Hiroyuki and Akari. The supporting characters are generally okay, but nothing special really. I found some of them amusing in some ways, but I didn't find any of them annoying (I'll explain why in a bit). I think if you approach this show with the assumption that it is a stereotypical harem romance then you probably won't enjoy it as much as something like Clannad or Kanon. However, if you approach the show from a Slice of Life perspective then it becomes a nice, relaxing way to spend half an hour. The main appeal of the show is the "nice", relaxed feel it has. It won't appeal to anyone who wants a good romantic story with continuous plot development (watch Love-Com or Bokura Ga Ita for that). It may appeal to fans of Aria though, as To Heart has a similar feel (and both female leads are called Akari). The reason why I didn't find any of the characters annoying was because of the relaxed feel of the show - the characters didn't bother me in the slightest - which is very much the same feeling I had when I watched Aria. To Heart is a show that is worth watching if you're in the mood for something nice. It doesn't bludgeon you over the head with drama or romance or thrills of any sort. It's just.... nice.

Retro8bit

It’s funny, when I first started "To Heart" I thought I was going to be in for another harem title, but to my surprise it was nothing like that. This school life anime is probably one of the more layed back and relaxing ones out there! The main chunk of the story will be Hiro (main male lead) interacting with the female students. Now I know this may sound like a "harem" plot, it isn’t at all though. Whenever he meets one of them that needs help, instead of having a romantic view of them (you know, the whole damsel in distress thing?) he simply helpsthem out with their problems like a good friend would. Which in turn really does describe "To Heart" the best...friendship! Many people (like me) would probably go into this anime thinking about romance, after all the title does have the word heart in it, which would be a logical assumption. Not at all though, this titles name is based on simply helping out a friend in need. Which I have to say was a nice change of pace from all the romance and love triangles you would otherwise see in an anime like this. Now that’s not to say there is no love interest at all here. Because in episode 1, Akari (main female) does imply that she likes Hiro to the audience, but it never goes past that. Even many of the situation that would implement jealousy is handled in a peaceful manner. In fact some may be surprised to see that not one character ever really raises their voice against another. This probably could be seen as a negative as well though, because most school life isn’t that way at all. Since there is no real romance that takes place (though there will be a small amount in the last two episodes), the story may tend to be a bit bland depending on your tastes. I also didn’t really like the ending, but I won’t spoil it for you. The character design is what stuck out for me in the art department, they have a certain noticeably to them...this is especially true when you take a close look at their facial features. The clothing and detail that went into each is really great, and all characters are drawn well balanced as people and not exaggerated. The backgrounds can best be described as "stiff" though, most of them are displayed rather nicely, while others tend to look more like still water color paintings. Because of this you will most likely keep your attention to the actual characters than the backgrounds. Well since over 70% of the time there is no real music playing in the foregrounds, means that To Heart gives off a much more calmer feel to it like I mentioned earlier. Most of the time I felt that this series could be a nice stress re-leaser when you’re not having the best of days. Now it’s nice to have that kind of feel when watching it, but it still would have been nice to have some kind of memorable background track, since the main one that does play is simply a non-vocal version of the opening theme. Now with that in mind the opening and closing theme’s are nice, they fit the mood of the title pretty good. Even if the ending feels more along the lines of a re-mixed version of the opening. The characters I felt were the weakest link in the anime, now don’t get me wrong they are indeed a friendly bunch. Its just that they are not well varied in their approaches. It seems like you can pretty much describe them all in these three simple words: "quiet, outgoing, middle ground." The only real noticeable one for me was a girl named "Shiho, " as she tended to have the most spunk of the group, and was probably the only real comical character in the bunch. At the beginning song you see quite a large cast of females, however most only appear for one episode and are never really seen again. Still, they all compliment one another great in the friendship department, and are truly there for one another to pick each other up when they are down. To Heart is not funny, deep, or very romantic in any of its aspects. And I have to admit that not having an actual romance plot going on in the overall scheme of things was a bit of a bummer, and romance fans may want to steer clear of this because of that. However, what this title lacks in those aspects, it makes up for quite nicely with its "friendship" approach! If you’re a fan of nice and peaceful school life titles that really emphasis on helping others, then To Heart’s heart...is truly big! Thank you for reading my review! :)