The Let's Play Archive

Tokimeki Memorial Series

by vibratingsheep

Part 114: We're not the same 'cause we don't know the game

Tokimemo Girl's Side, Chapter 2: We're not the same 'cause we don't know the game

Now that the dust is mostly settled, it's time to get comfy with the day-to-day portions of Girl's Side 2.

4/5: Taking control


???: Welcome home, sis!


Siren: Oh, Yuu-kun! I'm home!
Yuu: Say, today was the opening ceremony over at your high school, wasn't it?
Siren: Yeah, it was.


Yuu: It'll be nice if you can make tons of friends!
Siren: Yeah, that'd be nice.
Yuu: Since you just moved here and all...
Yuu: I have a few people I know here.
Siren: Haha, thanks for caring.


Yuu: Oh yeah! If there's something you need to know, just ask!
Yuu: I'll go out and get any info you need, sis!
Siren: Thanks, Yuu-kun.
Yuu: Ask me anything, okay?
Yuu: See you later!
Siren: (Hmm. If there's something I need to know, maybe I should ask him.)

A couple notes here about Yuu. One, even though he calls Siren "Sis", he's just her next-door neighbor. Because of how close together Japanese houses tend to be built, they can talk to each to each other from their windows - you can see his window on the left screen, just like you could see Shiori's window across the way in Tokimemo 1. Not that teenagers with facing windows is a particularly Japanese trope or anything, as any Taylor Swift fan can tell you.

Two, you have to wonder how he's grown so close to Siren so quickly, since she's probably lived in the area for a couple of weeks at most. Oh well, at least he's not as creepy as Tsukush...





Dammit.


The available actions are exactly the same as the previous Girl's Side activities. In the interest of avoiding cute boy overload, the safest activities for Siren will be hanging out with Haruhi, reading fashion magazines, sleeping, and going to whatever club we choose. Conveniently, Siren's starting Academics stat is perfect for meeting Motoharu, so we won't have to go out of our way to dodge Itaru. We'll be spending our first few weeks hanging out with Haruhi to qualify for the flower shop job.


Speaking of Haruhi, a quick check of Siren's inbox shows two messages - one from ArbeitNews and one from Haruhi.

I am the one known as Nishimoto Haruhi.

Aww, just kiddin', we'll skip the stuffy greetin's!

Let's have fun, Siren

Haruhi


In case you forgot that Haruhi is from the Osaka area, the footer of every e-mail she sends is decorated with a singing octopus and a bunch of happy-looking takoyaki.


The Habataki Arbeit News mailing list works just like it did in the previous game, alerting you to new jobs as soon as you qualify for them. On the first day of the game, nothing's available, but this will change very soon.


First order of business: spend a lot of time hanging out with Haruhi.

4/9: The first weekend

The first Sunday unlocks some familiar icons, but before that, there's a new e-mail to read.


The posting is from a cafe called Sangosho, which appears to be in dire need of part-time help on Wednesdays and Fridays. It's so hard up, in fact, that instead of the usual call, it's accepting applications via e-mail and will respond within the day.

Siren: (This ad's looking for help. A cafe, eh...)
Siren: (Hmm? I feel like I've heard the name Sangosho before.)
Siren: (Oh, it says that help is urgently needed. If I don't reply today, I might be too late.)
Siren: (What should I do?)
Siren: I won't apply.


We don't really need to consult with Tsukushi Yuu yet, so let's go shopping! Siren starts with 100 Rich just like Goonko did, and all that money was meant to be spent.


Many of the same stores from Tokimemo Girl's Side are still open as of GS2 (including Goro's boutique), but what immediately catches my eye is Boutique Dixie, because


Being a girl is hard - it took me about 10 minutes to figure out what the deal was with these... things hanging off the bottom of a simple camisole. Some helpful ladies in stream chat told me that those are ribbons hanging from the back that you're supposed to tie into a bow, and not the world's least useful suspenders.


While the "Tank top with a neck" was easy enough to translate, it was also incredibly confusing because why would you ever want your tank top to have a collar and a cleavage window?

After much thought, Siren picked up the following items at Boutique Dixie:



After checking out of the store, the first new feature of GS2 pops up - the Skullbear point card! Not only do we now know what Skullbear actually looks like, we can get giant discounts without having to wait for December 24th or the last Sunday of the season. Fill up the point card to 10%, 30%, and 50% discounts, then redeem the discount at any store in the area. Seems simple!


New to GS2, a single shopping trip lets you go to two stores, so it's off to Boutique Nanami!



Where some terrible, terrible people convinced me to buy this hideous camisole and tight skirt combo, purely because they make the wearer look like a mermaid. Oh, and there was a black miniskirt that seemed alright.


Because of some horrible miscalculations, Siren ended up one stamp short of a 50% discount the next time she goes shopping. I hate it when that happens!

And, as usual, there are little vignettes that happen on the way back from a shopping trip.


Siren: (Hmm? That's Nishimoto-san with Wakaoji-sensei over there.)
Siren: Wakaoji-sensei, Nishimoto-san, what're you two up to?


Wakaoji: Fudou-san.
Haruhi: Ren! Can you believe this?
Haruhi: I was just walkin' ta work and mindin' my own business when Waka-chan came up outta nowhere lookin' like that!
Siren: Hmm, okay. Then what?
Haruhi: So normally, you'd be thinkin' he must be headin' ta a date if he's lookin' like that, right?
Haruhi: So I started bustin' his chops a little, but...


Wakaoji: Well, you see, I just wanted to buy kitty litter today.


Haruhi: Ya hear that? What's a grown man like him doin' with his day off, huh?
Haruhi: Don't it feel like an awful waste of a perfectly good leadin' man?
Siren: Haha...


Haruhi: Y'know, Waka-chan, this ain't the right movie for ya ta be actin' avant-garde!
Haruhi: Ya should know better 'n this!
Wakaoji: Um, okay.


Haruhi: Ya gotta go on proper dates! With girls! Seriously!


Haruhi: Whoops, gonna be late for work.
Haruhi: We'll talk more about this later!


Wakaoji: Sigh...
Siren: You know, Wakaoji-sensei, umm...
Siren: You're different from all the other guys anyway, and you shouldn't worry too much about--


Wakaoji: I agree that I should know better, but calling me avant-garde is too much.
Siren: (That's what got you?)

We have chosen the greatest of best friends. Also, holy crap is Haruhi difficult to translate properly.



Back at home, a quick trip to the dressing room shows that there are a couple of good go-to outfits that go together pretty well, so Siren can now look sporty or sexy whenever she needs to.


Dear God, why. WHY?!

4/12: Getting our priorities straight


Siren: (Hey, it's Nishimoto-san.)

Thanks to the transition to touchscreen, there's now a big NICK NAME button that makes it more obvious than usual that you can call your friends different things.


Here are all of the things you can call Haruhi:


Wow. Those last two are pretty mean. Anyway, Haruhi-chan is the easy choice for the girl who will be our bestest buddy through the next three years.


Siren: Haruhi-chan!
Haruhi: Hmm? Oh, hiyadoin' Ren!
Haruhi: You headin' home?
Haruhi: What a coincidence, I am too!


Siren: You want to walk home together?
Haruhi: Aww, I'm super sorry! I gotta hurry today!
Haruhi: Wanna sprint with me?
Siren: Uhh...


Haruhi: Hahaha, just kiddin'!
Haruhi: We'll have ta hang out another time, get some tea or somethin'.
Haruhi: Anyway, gotta go!

Unfortunately for us, Tuesdays and Thursdays are bad for Haruhi, so RNG was not in favor. The conversations with Haruhi are pretty amazing.

4/18: Set event with Teru


This entire event always happens on the 18th, and is translated in its entirely in the previous introduction post. I'll spare you the whole thing.

4/25: Teru's nicknames


Siren: (Hey, it's Saeki-kun.)

Teru's potential names are:


That's... kind of boring, compared to what you can call Haruhi.


Siren: Saeki-kun!
Teru: ...Yes?
Siren: Want to walk home together?
Teru: Why?
Siren: Hmm, well, no real reason.
Teru: ...Sure.
Siren: (I had a fun time walking home with Saeki-kun.)

RNG failed us again - these walks home come with really interesting conversations in GS2, and Teru's first conversation actually reveals a ton about him.

4/27: A word to the thick soul sisters


Siren: (Hey, that's Haruhi-chan over there...)


Haruhi: I know, right? Like, my arm's bad right up here, real real bad.
Haruhi: It's all flabby and squishy!
Siren: (Is she talking about dieting? I really don't think she has to worry about it, though.)

Is this a bad time to mention that Haruhi works at the sweets shop?

TOTALLY UNRELATED ASIDE: This is what happens if you start working with Haruhi


Siren: My name is Fudou Siren, and I'm starting here today. Nice to meet all of you!
Chief: Your shift will be every Tuesday and Thursday. We're expecting great things from you!
Siren: Got it!
Siren: (Alright, time to work hard!)


Haruhi: Ah-ha, so ya just couldn't resist, could ya?
Siren: Oh hey, Haruhi-chan! I just started today, let's have fun!
Haruhi: Did ya pick this job for--y'know--that?
Siren: What do you mean by "that"?


Haruhi: There ya go playin' dumb on me!
Haruhi: Thanks ta ya comin' here, my share's gettin' smaller!


Haruhi: It ain't no skin off a my neck, though!
Siren: Huh...?


Haruhi: Anyway, welcome!
Haruhi: When I think about how much we're gonna gossip in here, I get all giddy!
Siren: Yeah!
Haruhi: If there's somethin' ya don't get, ask me!
Haruhi: I don't think there'll be no problems, though.



END TOTALLY UNRELATED ASIDE - we're meant for another job this run!

5/1: When Cliches Attack


Siren: (Argh, why did the lunch counter have to be so crowded? Now I have to hurry I'll be late for class!)


Christopher: Ahh!
Siren: (Huh?!)


This is a Skinship screen, and there is no escape. You must touch Chris' face to progress in the game. I take some small solace in jabbing him in the eye.


*smooch*
Siren: Eek!
*thump*
Siren: Ow ow ow ow ow...
Siren: (I just felt something soft on my forehead...)


Christopher: Ouchie... I'm sorry.
Christopher: Can ya get up? Did ya hit yer head?
Siren: I'm... I'm fine.


Christopher: That's good. Looks like the only things that bumped were yer forehead and my mouth.
Siren: Your--your mouth?
Christopher: Ooh, ain't ya a cutie. Lucky me!
Christopher: Ain't you lucky too--this'll be a wonderful page in the album of your memories.


Christopher: Aw, hell, I forgot I was hurryin'.


Christopher: If we meet again, this time I'll give ya a kiss hello!
Christopher: Hope ya don't mind waitin' for me!
Siren: (What just happened? And wait, what was he talking about at the end there?)
Siren: ("I'll give ya a"--that means... you know what, I shouldn't think too much about it.)

The full original title of this game was Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 2nd Kiss, because this is Siren's first kiss, technically. And the second kiss comes at the very end. Get it?

Anyway, this is all the thread's fault for choosing Kind and Funny in Siren's introductory quiz - each set of answers leads to this scene for all of the main boys in the game, and that particular set led to this result. Christopher is now the only character eligible for a few special lines, but thankfully, it doesn't affect that much.

Next time: I'm close to the edge