#aoi matsubara

[aniwebfindsko]

[lily-visual]

| Full art pages from Visual Works To Heart Anthology Alpha.

| Artists are credited in the alt txt on each image.

| Release date 1999.

[akarikamigishi]

To heart (PlayStation 2) cg collection: Aoi Matsubara

[ecargmura]

ToHeart Volume 2 Review

Come read my review of ToHeart Volume 2 on my blog, Arum Journal!

[okaeri-ossan]

Sis scouted an adorable Aoi at the coolest shop in the city.

[sarukahparullah]

I had a vision

[animemakeblog]

“Astro Note” The First Promo

The Astro Note television anime's official website unveiled the first promotional video, the opening theme. The first showing of the original anime is slated for April 2024.

[colasarchive]

A look at To Heart Prerelease

A look at some assets and early designs shown before the release of ToHeart

If you've ever downloaded the original ToHeart, you may have noticed a strange sprite used during installation

Though it's clearly Akari, some features are a bit off, and the sprite itself never appears in any gameplay. Thats because this sprite is based off an earlier design of the character.

scan by Game Vecanti

Though there are plenty of designs for unused girls in To Heart's Fanbook, by the time promotional artwork started coming out the designs for the chosen girls were pretty solidified. So most changes we go over aren't gonna be anything too thrilling, but someone should has to do it : )

Design changes for all girls

all uniforms initially had a small yellow symbol on their collar, this would later be removed. Thats it.

Akari Kamigishi

Hair length shortened, in concept art even earlier in development it was much longer than this, though i'm going to keep most comparisons to this line of near-final designs

HMX-12 Multi

Hairstyle slightly changed to be a bit thinner in the back, her ear pieces became less metallic looking and moved to a more turned down placement

Lemmy Miyauchi

Given fangs, (you'll see it a bit clearer when comparing unused sprites), the front pieces of her hair are drawn a bit longer flowing

Shiho Nagaoka

Change in design of her socks and shoes

Serika Kurusugawa

Changed to black socks

Girls with no specific changes

Kotone Himekawa

Tomoko Hoshina

Aoi Matsubara

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Early game assets and their differences from Gimix

In Megastore Gimix Vol 5, a bunch of early game screenshots and assets were shown off, this section will go over any differences between these and the final game.

Special Thanks to Brad for letting me take a look at the files

Here's a broad comparison of every change, I'll talk in more in depth about some but others don't really need it

The Lemmy sprite shows her old design (no fangs). Asides from the change in colors of the background all the trees have been totally redrawn. Lemmy's also given an unusually bright eye color that not even her reference sheet had.

Along with the color change the shoe lockers are given more detail. Shiho's sprite would later be redrawn.

another sprite that would be redrawn

Redrawn trees and adjusted shading, it's most apparent on the roof

Aoi's face has been slightly redrawn, the shading on her uniform was also changed.

Shading style completely changed

also somehow this version of the cg ended up on the back of the box

next up is a look at the demo disc, due to the tumblr image limit, click here to continue

[priest-iuput]

Aoi Matsubara

[knitmylove]

I WAS WAITING FOR YOUR WRAPPED HIIIIII LUV YOU 🫶🫶🩷🩷 15, 29, 47, 63, 76, 99?

HIII IM FINALLY HERE 😭💓

15: from me to you by jungwoo

29: ruler of my heart by bl8m, rubyeye

47: mystery of love by sufjan stevens

63: stay with me by miki matsubara

76: fall in love by hideaki tokunaga

99: こころをこめて by aoi teshima

send me a number 1-100 and i’ll tell you the song it corresponds with on my top 100 playlist

[meyer-sensei]

くらべる京都

Higashiyama ↔︎ Arashiyama

Kurama ↔︎ Ōhara

Uji ↔︎ Fushimi

Shōgunzuka ↔︎ Daimonji-yama

Katsura Rikyū ↔︎ Shugaku-in Rikyū

Higashi-Honganji ↔︎ Nishi-Honganji

Ginkakuji ↔︎ Kinkakuji

Eikandō ↔︎ Tōfukuji

Daitokuji ↔︎ Myōshinji

Kamigamo Jinja ↔︎ Shimogamo Jinja

Kamogawa-tsutsumi ↔︎ Kyōto Gyoen

Aoi-Matsuri ↔︎ Gion Matsuri

Gion ↔︎ Miyagawachō

Tōji no tō ↔︎ Yasaka no tō

Matsubara-bashi ↔︎ Gojō Ōhashi

Sakura ↔︎ Momiji

Ritz Carlton ↔︎ Okura Hotel

Nishiki Ichiba ↔︎ Demachi Masukata Shōtengai

Teramachi Kyōgoku ↔︎ Shinkyōgoku

Takashimaya ↔︎ Daimaru

Kitaōji Aeon Mall  ↔︎ Rakuhoku Hankyū Square

Shizuya ↔︎ Shinshindō

Izumiya ↔︎ Fresco

Tenjin-san ↔︎ Kōbō-san

Keihan ↔︎ Hankyū

Karasuma ↔︎ Tōzai

[saint-miroir]

To Heart pages included in Raspberry Magazine vol. 3 (2002). Scanned from my personal collection.

[magical-xirl-4]

Feel free to add more

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 12 Review + Final Thoughts - Happy Endings For All

The ending, while happy, was something I did not expect and that’s a good thing. I mean, I didn’t predict that this show would turn into a mech one and that the mecha robot would be participating in a final battle Astro Lodge and fish aliens. I like the unpredictability this show gives!

I didn’t expect that the reason the Hubby king was after Mira was so he could marry and have babies with her. He failed with Adara, so he was settling for Mira. The reason why he wanted to marry a Wido was because he wanted to have beautiful and talented children. That’s a very dumb reason, but I didn’t see that coming. I’m guessing Widos are objectified and glamorized like how Asians are objectified and glorified by Western countries. I also didn’t expect that Shoin’s house was a spaceship and that it cannot transform into a mech like Mira’s. He was promised marriage with Mira if he abided to the Hubby king’s order, but it was all a lie. Geez, all these people are trying to court Mira, but Takumi comes out the victor because she professes her love for him to the aliens.

I also didn’t predict that the Astro Lodge tenants would be chilling and eating food. They’re so free-spirited! Though, if I was in my house that turned into a spaceship and I wasn’t the one piloting it, I too would be chilling and waiting until the pilot finishes their task. Freaking out over alien attacks would only last a moment.

Mira decides to renounce her right to the throne and decide to stay on Earth and on Astro Lodge as its landlady. I honestly did not predict this. Usually, these types of stories have it to where someone from another planet would go back and leave Earth. Astro Note breaks all of those cliche tropes. She says that she doesn’t want to be tied down by duties she doesn’t want and rule a place she had no attachment towards. Honestly, go Mira for chasing after what she wants! I’m glad that she actually decides to stay!

Mira’s decision of not wanting to be tied down actually inspires the tenants. They all get happy endings, surprisingly! Ren decides to wear skirts to school and it seems that his friend Haruto and the girl with the frilly dress are okay with it! Tomihiro feels proud that Ren is becoming confident and it seems that he got a job of his own too! Aoi finally gets a job as a legal assistant to Tasuke’s lawyer, the lady who helped her out with Tasuke when she was homeless. She even grew to like dogs as she is seen petting her boss’s Cavalier Spaniel at the same bench Shokichi sat on. While the Naosuke and Aoi romance didn’t happen, I’m glad that it stayed a platonic relationship. He’s the reason why she became more assertive now. She even gave Naosuke a radio so he can remember her with it; she even submitted an entry so that Naosuke can listen to the song she requested on the radio. Aw, it’s like what he did for her in the previous episode. Teruko is finally seeing some success as an idol as she’s on the front cover of a magazine! I seriously thought Shokichi died, but it was a fake out. It turns out that he wants to go to space with Naosuke and visit Planet Wid so that he can write a book about it; he’s trying to finish writing a sci-fi novel that revolves around a man meeting a space alien girl—sort of like Adara and Mira’s situations. Takumi gets a job in a restaurant where he works lunch shift. I didn’t expect Shoin to end up being a tenant for good and returns to being Takumi’s apprentice. He is last seen working at a bakery where he’s a hit with the female customers. The only one who didn’t get a happy end was the Hubby king and he deserves a bad end for all the trouble he caused.  I actually like that everyone got happy endings and that there’s no need for a Season 2! Everything concluded satisfactorily. 

However, Naosuke is going to go back because he wants to. Mira revokes his duty of protecting her for life, so he decides that he’s going to protect the key. I guess that’s his version of a happy ending? At least Shokichi will come along with him, so he has a remnant of Earth with him.

This is probably one of the happiest endings I’ve seen in anime. While some things did get rushed, it was a nice blend of comedy, romcom and sci-fi.

Final Thoughts

I just decided to watch Astro Note because it looked like a weird anime and I figured out I was a weird anime enjoyer. Yes, it was weird, but it was surprisingly entertaining! I do like that the writing makes it in a way that some predictable things aren’t as predictable as I would assume like with the whole ordeal with Ren liking skirts or the whole finale.

It’s not a perfect anime, but I did enjoy the characters and gags a lot. However, if I were to be a critic, I’d say that not all characters got fleshed out in this 12-episode run. There’s a lot I don’t know about Shokichi. Heck, even Takumi doesn’t get fleshed out a lot. All we know about him was that he lost his job at a hotel due to bankruptcy and is working at Astro Lodge now. I’d like to learn a little bit more about him like where he’s from or his background before getting into cooking. Heck, I would’ve liked to learn a bit more about Shoin too! I feel like characterization got shoved to move the plot forward. It’s also a crime that we didn’t see what Planet Wid looks like. Despite that, the anime does do a great job showing that Astro Lodge is a share house full of kooky tenants; the supporting cast are all kooky and it’s presented well.

The voice cast was stacked, surprisingly. A lot of A-list actors and actresses are casted here! We have Soma Saito and Maaya Uchida as the leads and the supporting cast consists of names such as Shinichiro Miki, Junichi Suwabe, Tomokazu Sugita, Rie Kugimiya and more. This anime is perfect for anyone who’s a fan of any of these actors. The only voice actress I’m not familiar with is Ai Furihata, who voices Teruko, but that’s because I’m not into Love Live. She does do a good performance, though!

The soundtrack fits the whimsical atmosphere, but I did like the opening and ending songs a lot. The opening sound is sung by Ai Furihata and the ending song is sung by Soma Saito and Maaya Uchida. I really like it when anime voice actors participate in the opening or ending songs. It makes them feel rather involved, you know?

I think that this is a good anime to just kick back, relax and laugh at the craziness transpiring. It’s nothing too serious to think about. If you like animes like that, I suggest you try watching this!

[okaeri-ossan]

To Heart characters from the LEAF-FIGHT TCG

[wagreb]