Ranked #1006

Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~

For those of you who like humor, pretty girls romancing over a guy, and interesting episodes; this is one that I would recommend.

Story:
Ah the various goals of these romantic comedies. Is it for the guy to get the girl(s) or for them to graduate and have life lessons, etc... It is a harem comedy, so the guy has to choose between a few beautiful girls. It is a high school set, so you move through the school season.

For me personally, the Journey is entertaining. The humor stands out. For example, they have a little chick (baby chicken) that is one of the characters, and acts like a mentor. It also has the ability to kick ass. For the most part the story is realistic; but they have a little bit of fun and can throw in ghosts and goddesses in select episodes.

While this may be in the Harem category, it is not in the Ecchi category. There were no panty shots or girls with crazy cleavage. The girls are very pretty, and you do have girls with short skirts and huge ( ) ( )'s.

The main female attraction is really quite amazing, and you find yourself rooting for something to happen throughout the episodes.

Art:
The art was well done, not cutesy or young. The main female attraction was very beautifully drawn.

Sound:
I actually enjoyed the intro song for all 25 episodes.

Character:
The main male character was well done. He was a normal nice guy, who was lucky and could excel at what he put his mind to.

The variety of humerous characters were abundant, and fun. Not too much of specific ones to make it boring. Okay I lied, there were two instances where I didn't think they had to draw out (a teacher, and i didn't like the youngest love interest). But with 25 episodes, it was very good overall.

I've seen quite a few of these romantic comedies, and this stands out as an entertaining series. read more

There are 3 main aspects that make a high-school harem love comedy work. 1 is pretty girls, the second is chracter drama and the third is comedic moments. Whereas Tokimeki Memorial hosts the first two, it is severely let down by the comedy.

The attempted comedy in this show is very over the top and stupid, and while this may work for some, it fails to hit my funny-bone on more than a few occasions. Support characters, such as Aoba's friends are full of idiocy, yet lacking in any real substantial humour. The sports societies and their presidents are one off lame jokes, and by far the worst is the chicken, Hiyoko, who, despite attempts to become the supporting entertainment that Da Capo's Utamaru brings us, fails to be comedic on any level.

That said, its nice that the development between Aoba and his 3 main heroines is nicely paced and the nice guy with three main girls routine never seems to get old on me. Romantic scenes are full of drama and makes the series some what watchable if you can ignore the comedy aspect, although I could never understand why Sayuri was so popular because she feels and looks rather dull and uninpiring(And I have a personal hatred for those cheesy Sayuri Legends that pop up in episodes which try to be funny and heartwarming yet fail on that behalf). Another great character was Inukai, Aobas lazy classmate, whose story started incredibly well and was very dramatic, yet, in the end its a shame he didnt get more screentime.

Visually, the series isn't top notch, but is competent enough to allow us to enjoy watching the show. The girls are all attractive and cater to many tastes, from Pink-haired firey Kasuga, to the slender Ayame (my personal favourite, there is plenty for the young otaku to lust over. The audio is forgetable but never intrusive on the main action, yet opener and ender songs feel lacking in life.

Overall, Tokimeki Memorial wasn;t a total waste of time. Its nice that the main story developed rather realistically and was full of drama and heartbreak. I'm also glad that there was no flip-reverse 180 turn at the end of the story, otherwise I'd be ranting about that cheesy 1980's style end (although it was still a pretty over the top ending. I can't help but feel somewaht cheated afterwards, with the fact that, for one there was nothing new that you have''t seen in other harems before, and again, the lack of hilarity filling the episodes (I had more of a feeling of embarassment than laughter by the end.) Still if you're looking for a harem to fill your void between seasons, then Tokimeki will not disappoint, as long as you don't enter with such high expectations read more