 It's To Heart, Jim, but not as we know it, as quite a lot has changed since the first season - and not all of it for the better...
1 - A New Premonition
The more things change, the more they stay the same - Akari's still
having to drag Hiroyuki up for school in the mornings, despite his
protests. Some things have
changed, though (Shiho's gone up in chest size, for a start), so here's
your chance to catch up with the gang as they start their final year in
high school. The only person missing is robot-girl Multi, who hasn't
been seen since she was returned to her manufacturer - until now. Seems
'Multi' is back - but she doesn't seem to remember any of the gang...
2 - Then and Now
Akari thinks back to when they first met Multi - how human she appeared
and how they came to care for her. Now she's back, but all their
previous experiences are gone - seems she suffered something of a
malfunction during testing, and as a result her memories prior to the
accident were locked out. The data's still there, she just can't access
it - so the company has decided to send her back to the school in the
hope that contact with her old friends will restore her memory. If that
doesn't work, they'll need to erase her personality. Hiroyuki & co
are keen to help, but of course the job is easier said than done -
particularly as it seems Hiroyuki may be partly to blame for Multi's
amnesia in the first place...
I suppose one of the main criticisms of the original To Heart
series was 'needs more Multi', and they've certainly taken that
complaint to heart (no pun intended!). Other than that, I would've
said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but it seems they've gone and
'fixed' a few things anyway. For a start, there's a story - part of the
charm of the original series was its 'standalone' nature. There's also
been a little tweaking done to the personality of the characters - in
particular, Hiroyuki comes across as a less likeable person here than
he did in the original series
The most noticeable change, though, is in the character designs -
rather than stick with the designs used for the first TV series, the
designs from the games are used here. The differences are quite subtle
in a lot of ways, but it's noticeable enough to be distracting,
particularly as the other designs were more appealing - in my opinion,
anyway.
Still, when all is said and done, more To Heart was never
likely to be a bad thing. The new series is different enough to take a
little getting used to, but under the surface it's still got the appeal
that the original show had - and because of that, I'll be sure to keep
watching. |
