The Let's Play Archive

Tokimeki Memorial Series

by vibratingsheep

Part 74: Tokimemo 3, Chapter 3: Working for the weekend

Tokimemo 3, Chapter 3: Working for the Weekend

Now that I've talked about most of the mechanics, it's unfortunately time to roll up my sleeves and go elbow deep in this game. Here are Serika's requirements:


Wait, that's it?

Well, I guess we should get started. Or something.

Step 1: Join a club

Choosing the Extracurricular Activities option brings up the 10 clubs, some of which are associated with characters, but most of which are fluff.


Drama club
"Elegant and gorgeous!"
Associated character: Yellow


Astronomy club
"Let's talk while watching the stars.
(All girls welcome)"
Associated character: Yaoi Hands


Baseball team
"Aim for Koshien!"
Associated characters: Red, Masaki (this run)


Tennis club
Associated characters: Orange? (Randomly determined)


Science club
Associated character: Pink


Track team
"Let's run with the wind!"
Associated characters: Red, Masaki (sometimes)


Student Council
"Come!"
Associated character: Orange? (Randomly determined)


Broadcast club/Radio station
Associated character: Green


Soccer club
Associated characters: Red, Masaki (sometimes)


Aikido club
"Now recruiting club members"
Associated character: Purple

Because Purple is going to be the only character of any use to us whatsoever this game, we're going to join the Aikido club to join her. It'll save us the boredom of a no-club run.


This is what it looks like when you fail at the Aikido activity.


And this is what it looks like when you succeed at the Aikido activity. In Tokimemo 3, as in real Aikido, there's a whole lot of rolling and tumbling involved.

4/13-4/14: Knitting and Exploration


By the way, I was wrong about one thing - each of the Hobby activities and phone calls does indeed take an entire holiday. It's just that, as of the late '90s and early 2000s, most Japanese schools stopped having classes on Saturday. So now, both Saturdays and Sundays can be used for phone calls and for hobbies.

Sorry for the mistake. That means our first Sunday is taken up by buying a knitting catalog and exploring around the hill.


Goon: Hey, Yabe.


Takuo: Yo. Hey, have you seen a brownish tabby coat around here?
Goon: I haven't. Did your cat run away?
Takuo: No, nothing like that. I see it around this park a lot, and I haven't seen it today.
Goon: You come here that often?


Takuo: Yup. When I have some free time, I hang around with my camera in hand.
Takuo: Lately, I've been obsessed with taking pictures of cats.
Goon: Pictures of cats, eh?
Takuo: I can't help it, I just have to press the shutter when I see them basking in the sun.
Takuo: They're just the cutest!
Goon: Is that so.
Takuo: Anyway, I gotta go.
Goon: Yeah, see you later.
Goon: (Yabe and cats? I can't tell if I'm surprised or not.)

Eventually, wandering around town will find new date spots. Until then, we'll see randomly see some vignettes like this.

4/30: First official Emi appearance


This is the same as reported before. I'll let you know when the next ones come in.

5/9: Second Emi appearance


Goon: It sure feels great to run in the morning.


Emi: Good morning.
Goon: Hey, you're that girl from before.
Goon: Good morning.
Emi: The weather is great today.
Goon: Yeah, it is.
Emi: When the weather is this good in the morning, it really motivates you to work hard.
Goon: That's for sure.
Emi: Hehe, let's both do our best today.
Emi: Excuse me, I have to go.

Well, that was... vanilla.

5/13: Sampling the merchandise


Over the last few weekends, I skipped over some supremely mundane tasks, like listening to rock CDs to be able to talk about them and creating an original tea blend. You can eat these items at any time, for variable effects - this one in particular reduces our current stress to zero, though it wasn't that high in the first place. Still, it's something.

5/18: Sports Festival, for real this time

This time, instead of the all-consuming hatred of the three-legged race, I decided to go with the 100 meter dash, which is usually just a stats check.


But hey, guess what, guys? They added analog button controls to the mini-game! See how well you can control the pressure you exert on the X and O buttons, because if you press the buttons too hard (AKA you press the buttons) then you may run out of stamina and not be able to finish the race. The last time I saw a mechanic like this, it was in Stakes Winner 2 for the Neo Geo, where using too much of your horse's stamina meter would cause it to collapse on the track and probably be euthanized off-screen.

I don't know why I told that story, other than because Stakes Winner 2 is a hilarious game that doesn't require me to talk about Tokimemo 3.


I assume that the P bar stands for Power, which is how much reserve strength we have left in the tank. The S bar is current speed.


Excuse the PS2 interlacing here. The important thing is that maintaining speed doesn't consume too much P - it's acceleration that really hurts.


You know what? I'll take it.


Yukiko: You were so close.
Yukiko: But you tried your best, and I think you did really well.
Goon: Yeah, thanks.
Goon: (I wish I could've done better.)
Goon: And that's how this year's sports festival ended.

That's... a little bit of a weird thing to say out loud in front of everyone, Goon.

5/23: Chitose appears


I covered this in the previous update, and it's unchanged - you trigger it by hitting level 2 in Lit. Chitose pretty much comes by and warns you that you are in danger of meeting the most annoying character in this game.

6/4: Rika appears(?)

Due to hitting level 2 in Science, we got the Rika warning. By the way, have I mentioned that Rika means Science? So her name is a syllable away from being Cute Science.


Goon: (Hmm? There's someone hiding behind the foot lockers.)
Goon: Um, excuse me--



Goon: Huh? What the hell was that?

I don't even know what to say. The pink-haired stalker is the most interesting character we've met so far, and she hasn't even said anything.

6/10: New Moegino Watcher


This one's advertising Ennichi at Moegino Shrine, the beach opening for summer, a "Heartful Concert", and the annual summer fireworks show. Unlike before, we actually kind of stand a shot at being able to go to one of these on a date!

6/16: Aikido practice match


Goon's Aikido XP is very very low, so this one's a rout in the enemy's favor. I wish I could bring myself to care.

6/19: Meet Emi for real

This event comes up after enough time spent tumbling around on the aikido dojo's floor.


Goon: (Ow, damn, I came down pretty awkwardly there.)
Emi: Are you hurt?
Goon: Huh?! Uh, no, this is nothing, really.
Emi: You mustn't ignore this.
Emi: I will take you to the nurse's office and take care of this.
Emi: Let us go.
Goon: I told you, I'm fine. It's nothing big.


Emi: No, I cannot let you leave it at that.
Emi: Shall I lend you my shoulder?
Goon: Uh, sure.


Emi: They said it was a light bruise, and the swelling will go down by tomorrow.
Emi: I am very glad that it was not anything worse.
Goon: (I told you it wasn't serious.)


Emi: Oh dear, I forgot to introduce myself.
Emi: My name is Tachibana Emi.
Goon: I'm Fudou Gunzou. Thank you, Tachibana-san.
Emi: Do not thank me, I simply did what was needful.
Emi: Please, just sit and watch for the rest of the day.
Goon: (So that's Tachibana-san.)

We have now met the only reliable source of Serika information in the game. We will need to make sure to treat her nicely.

6/20: Serika event(?)


Goon: The clouds look pretty ominous.
Goon: It looks like it'll rain any second now.
Option 1: Eh, it's nothing to worry about.
Option 2: I have to hurry home before it really starts to come down!

In order to keep this event going, you have to choose the option to tempt fate.

Goon: Eh, I shouldn't worry about it.


Goon: Well, that was dumb.
Goon: This sucks.


Goon: What do I do now? I don't have an umbrella.
Serika: Fudou.
Serika: What's wrong? Why're you just standing around here?
Goon: Well, it's nothing really that wrong or anything...
Serika: Hmm? What, you didn't bring an umbrella?
Goon: Yeah. I didn't think it was going to rain today.



There's so much wrong with this animation that I don't know where to start.

Serika: I see. That's pretty unlucky.
Serika: Here, use mine.
Goon: I can't take this. I mean, what're you going to do, Shinjo-san?
Serika: You don't need to worry about me, I'm used to this.
Serika: Seriously, take it.


Serika: There. See ya.
Goon: Hey, wait! Shinjo-san!
Goon: (She ran off.)
Goon: (She said she's used to it, but I still feel really bad.)
Goon: (Next time I see her, I need to make sure I give this back.)

If you're going to make 3D models and give them walking/standing/running animations, why not... actually have them run off screen instead of just doing the ghost fade?

6/23: Call Yukiko for Emi info


This is as much of Emi's profile as we can get from Yukiko. We know she's in the Aikido club, and according to Yukiko, Emi is a traditional girl who loves the heart of Japanese culture. Her family seems to run an old sake brewery.

6/25: Serika event part 2


Goon: I have to make sure to return the umbrella I borrowed to Shinjo-san.
Goon: Come to think of it, I have no idea what class Shinjo-san is in. I never really see her at school.
Goon: Well, whatever. I'll just look for her.


Goon: Where is she?


Goon: I can't find her anywhere.


Serika: ...!


Serika: Oh, it's you. Need something?
Goon: I'm glad I found you, Shinjo-san.
Goon: Um, thanks a lot for the umbrella.
Goon: Here, have it back.


Serika: Oh, that? Don't worry about it.
Serika: I gave it to you on a whim.
Serika: You could've just kept it, I don't mind.
Goon: No way, I can't do that.


Serika: Whoa, it's this late already?
Serika: I have some things I need to take care of, so I gotta go.
Serika: See ya.
Goon: Uh, see ya.

7/2: The Second Labor of Vibratingsheep: The Lernaean Engrish


This line is absolute murder on the ears. I wish I'd never hit Lit level 4.
Goon: Huh?


Option 1: What? My zipper's open? (in Japanese)
Option 2: Wait till the light turns green. (in English)
Option 3: Wh, what're you saying? (in Japanese)

Goon: What? My zipper's open?


Chitose: Ahaha, sorry. I'm just kidding.
Chitose: You even understand this kind of English without having to think about it. You're as good as I thought.
Goon: (Seriously, what the hell was that?)

There are so many better ways to make this joke.

7/5: The first successful walk home

It's been 3 months, and this is going to be the first successful attempt out of about 10.


Goon: (Time to head home.)
Goon: (Hmm? Isn't that Tachibana-san over there?)
Option 1: Call out to her


Emi: Oh! Good afternoon.
Emi: Oh yes, it looks like you have been working hard lately.
Emi: All of the talk about you is nothing but good.
Goon: Thanks! Say, do you want to walk home together?
Emi: Yes, that's fine.


Goon: By the way, Tachibana-san...
Emi: Yes?
Option 1: Try asking her out on a date.
Option 2: Ask for her phone number
Option 3: Just go home.

It's been 3 months, but it finally feels like we are playing a Tokimemo!


Asking her on a date brings up a very familiar interface, but with a few improvements, letting you know any special events that are going to pop up on the weekends.


Because Tokimemo traditions need to be upheld and Emi is a lover of festivals, we'll ask her to out to Ennichi.


Goon: Want to go to Ennichi with me on the 28th?
Emi: Yes, that sounds fine.
Goon: Alright, let's meet in front of the temple gate on that day.
Emi: Understood.
Goon: (July 28th, I have to make sure to remember that.)

Next time: Countdown to Frown Town