The Let's Play Archive

Tokimeki Memorial Series

by vibratingsheep

Part 92: Tokimemo Girl's Side Chapter 2: When Will My Life Begin?

Tokimemo Girl's Side, Chapter 2: When will my life begin?

4/5: Day 1 as a girl.


So here we are: the dawn of the first day. The meetings are out of the way, and it's time for Goonko to have some me time.

We start with a quick analysis of the activities and stats.

The stats, listed on the bottom of the screen, are slightly different than before, and I've tried to look up standardized translations for these things so people don't get confused by my naming conventions. They are:

Stress | Rich
Intelligence | Arts | Fashion
Fitness | Social | Charm

The "social" category is the one that most confuses me, since that stat has replaced Guts and it would seem like it follows the same function, but the word Social makes me wonder about what its role in the game is. I am probably going to revert to old habits and use Academics a few times instead of Intelligence, so be aware of that too.

Rich is new to this game - it's the game's currency. In Tokimeki Memorial 4, it's used to buy presents, go on the more expensive dates, and buy new clothes. You can get more of it by either working a part-time job on the side or waiting for your monthly allowance. 4's allowance was 10 Rich per month, with slight increases in allowance possible based on your grades. We'll see how much of what I've said is true in this game. The rest is pretty straightforward.


The activity icons are mostly familiar - the sleeping figure means Sleep, the books represent Study, the painter means Art, the blank yellow space will be Club, the runner is Exercise... and then there are three that I've never seen before: some kind of magazine about shoes and hats, lipstick, and a girl's face. Mousing over the girl's face says that this activity is "Talk art with Mizuki", so I guess it'll raise Art and Social.

The lipstick icon is most likely going to be the equivalent of preening - it'll raise Charm, and Goonko won't need that quite yet.


The magazine icon says that this activity involves reading magazines to understand current trends and fashions, so I'm going to guess that this will raise Fashion as well as Social and Charm, but who knows?

The icons on the bottom are pretty clear too. The three blank slots are for weekend-only activities, which should be phone call, go out on a date, and uhhhhh... I'll get back to you on what the third one will be. The last row looks like a changing room, browsing the Internet to check the news, checking the schedule, and what looks like e-mail. I didn't bother with e-mail at first, even though I probably should have earlier. The first thing I did was hit the closet.


This is Goonko's default outfit. There are no other options, so before we go out on a date with anyone, we'll need to figure out how to get new clothes.


Dear God, what is Tsukushi trying to do while Goonko is sleeping on the save menu?!





What I think Goonko looks like right now, part 4:


Anyway, because I've never done it before, I go with the magazine action first. The first thing I notice is that the art style gets very scribbly when there aren't people standing around, and to be honest, it's pretty charming in spite of its rushed look. Take a look at the magazine success and failure screens to see what I mean:


Shoes! Shirts! Smiles! And, uh, a loss of Academics and Social stats. Huh.


I don't get it! I don't get fashion at all! Please note that this is the default opinion of the author.

4/6: The first phone call


Goonko: (Whoa, who could be calling?)
???: ...Hello?
Goonko: Hi!
???: ...
Goonko: ...
???: ...Who is this?
Goonko: Huh? Uh, my name's Fudou Kimiko.

What I think Goonko looks like right now, part 5:


???: Oh, from the entrance ceremony. It's me. Hazuki.
Goonko: Hazuki-kun?! How do you know my number?
Kei: Well, some passing grade school kid gave me this number.
Goonko: (Tsukushi...)
Goonko: Wh, whoa, that's weird!
(time passes)
Kei: Well, I'll talk to you later.
Goonko: Yeah, later!
Goonko: (Wow, that was a shock. Geez, Tsukushi!)
Goonko: (Oh well. I'll try calling Kei some time!)

That's a nope, Goonko. So far, Kei has shown about as much personality as drywall. We'll be skipping on him this run, since Shioris are boring and they're extra boring when they can't even hold a normal conversation.

4/7: Joining a club!

Tokimemo Girl's Side has 8 clubs, and if it follows the TM2 pattern, all of them will be linked to a specific guy. The clubs are:


The baseball club is begging for a girl to join and manage the team, since all they have is dudes. It's tempting, but I'd like to save Koushien for when I can imagine that I'm the ace pitcher/star of the team, not the manager. Sorry, Kaedeko.


The tennis club, as always, makes reference to Ace wo Nerae.


The art club's poster is very stylized. By that I mean that it's covered with sayings like "life is short, art endures" and other stylized text. It practically screams "We are a bunch of snotty posers" to me.


The gardening club looks incredibly boring. Not because of their poster, it's fine, but because it's the gardening club.


The basketball club catches my eye immediately because it won't stop at anything short of total domination.


The cheerleading club is the cheerleading club.


The brass band brings back bad memories of Shiori.


The crafts club looks completely unthreatening.

The only attractive choice here is to join the basketball team, and help them achieve their dreams of total domination.

What I think Goonko looks like right now, part 6:



Goonko: Alright! I'll join the girls basketball team.

Just like in every other Tokimemo, the third Sunday of the month is mandatory practice for sports clubs. Miss it twice, and yer out! However, unlike its contemporary Tokimemos, Girl's Side doesn't have the handy dandy reminder for what you're doing each week, which I've gotten used to from 2 and 3. I had to reload the game twice because I missed club! It's a minor thing, but it's definitely noticeable when it's gone.


Goonko: (Augh, I forgot my towel! I'm gonna be home late!)
Goonko: (Hmm? There's someone still in the gym. I wonder who it is?)


???: Huh? What's your problem?
Goonko: Uh--
Goonko: I, I left my towel here after practice.


I have to say. There's something off about his body proportions. It looks like his arms go down past his knees. Or he just has his basketball shorts pulled up way too high, I'm not sure yet.


???: Huh? Oh, you mean this?
???: I forgot my towel at home today, so I just used this one.
Goonko: Seriously?
???: What? It's your fault for leaving it here.
???: I'll wash it and give it back.
Goonko: Uh, okay. Thanks, uh--

Okay, yeah, he's pulled up his shorts way far. Never mind. I think.


Kazuma: Name's Suzuka Kazuma.
Kazuma: I'm on the basketball team, but I think you already figured that out.
Goonko: My name's Fudou Kimiko. I'm on the girls basketball team too.
Goonko: It's really nice of you to stay behind and mop up by yourself, Suzuka-kun.


Kazuma: No it's not, it's just my punishment.
Goonko: Your punishment for what?
Kazuma: I've fouled out of three games in a row.
Kazuma: They're just stupid scrimmages, who cares?
Goonko: Umm, want me to help you mop up?
Goonko: It looks like hard work.
Kazuma: Nah, I'm almost done.
Kazuma: You should go home, it's getting late.
Goonko: Okay.


Kazuma: S, sorry about the towel.
Goonko: (Suzuka-kun? Wait, I remember now, the coach always yells "Suzukaaa!")

It took me a while to figure it out because he spent most of the time mumbling, but I got this one on my own. Kazuma is played by none other than:

Hiyama Nobuyuki, the King of Braves!

Hiyama Nobuyuki's signature robot roles:
1) Shiro Amada (08th MS team)


2) Shishio Gai (GaoGaiGar)


3) Viral (Gurren Lagann)


The man has made a career out of shouting at the top of his lungs, because he's damn good at it. The mecha genre wouldn't be the same without him.

Hiyama Nobuyuki's most, uh, "special" role: Hirano Kouta (Author of HellsingHigh School of the Dead)


Hiyama also made a name for himself playing giant nerds, not just in High School of the Dead, but in Genshiken and My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU as well.

What I think every time he opens his mouth: SYSTEM CHANGE! HAMMER CONNECT! GOLDION HAMMERRRRRR! HAMMER HELL! HAMMER HEAVEN! HIKARI NI NAREEEEEEEEEEE (There may not be enough capital letters, exclamation points, and vowels in there. He's JUST THAT LOUD.)

Back to the LP. Eventually. I think I need a cold shower to wash all of this robot off of me, or I'm going to scream for the rest of this post and forget that I'm supposed to be a girl.

Okay. I'm better now.

4/14: Back to being a girl

This is what it's like to fail at hanging out with Mizuki. It's pretty amazing.



Success, in comparison, is kind of disappointing. Both outcomes raise Art and Social, while lowering Academics.



4/18: Walking home from school, seen from the other side.


Goonko: (Oh, there's Suzuka-kun.)

The R1 button screams "press me! I'm candylike and full of nicknames!" Who am I to resist it?


Here's the list of what you can call Kazuma, in order from left to right, top to bottom:


While I really really want to call him Mister Hotblooded right now, that'd probably put us behind far enough that I'd rather just try it later. It's amazing, though.


Option 1: Ask him to walk home together.
Option 2: Invite him to a stop by a cafe.
Option 3: Walk home alone.

The second option is new, and kind of welcome. It's a pretty good way to integrate the "hey, wanna grab a bite?" post-date event that got really repetitive in TM2 and TM3. Just make it a separate thing, something you can do on weekends that isn't a date.


Ask him to walk home together.
Goonko: Suzuka-kun!
Kazuma: Huh? Oh, it's you.
Goonko: Are you heading home?
Goonko: Want to walk home together?
Kazuma: I have some more training to do, so I can't do that right now.
Goonko: Oh, I see. Later, then.
Goonko: (Well, I guess I have to go home alone.)

4/21: Time to go shopping.


So it turns out that the weekend-only activities are to call a boy, go shopping alone, or talk to Tsukushi about boys. It's time... to shop.


Choosing this option brings up a map of the town, pointing out shops in the mall, the shopping district, and the parkside avenue. First, I must go to the temple of capitalism.


Oh. I guess there aren't any good shops here yet. Maybe I need to read more magazines or the Internet before there are shops here. I guess we'll go to the parkside avenue.


Much better. We either have the general store Simon, or Boutique Sofia. Let's keep exploring, Boutique Sofia sounds expensive and really really pink.


On the other side of the avenue, we have Boutique Sierra, or Jewelry Vincent. Boutique Sierra seems to carry T-shirts, so we'll head there first since it seems less expensive than anything else so far.


Dear God. Is this what shopping for clothes feels like? There are so many options, and so many outfits. It's pretty overwhelming, and so I'll have to go piece by piece through and see what look we're trying to create for Goonko.

Tops:


That was just the tops, the skirts offer a similar amount of paralyzing choi--hold on.


USA! USA! USA!

Okay, so with the miniskirt already bought, the rest of the lists:

Skirts/bottoms:

Swimsuits:



Full outfits

After minutes of deliberation, and some rather embarrassed googling of what culotte skirts, Sabrina pants, and Raglan shirts are, I ended up with the following haul for Goonko's closet. The culotte skirt, the long-sleeved blouse, the sabrina pants, and the oversize T-shirt, leaving Goonko with 47 Rich left over.


Whoops. I skipped the first basketball practice to go shopping, because even though the cursor defaults to basketball, there's no other indication that it's basketball practice today. Well, I guess I can't miss any more for the rest of this game!

Next time: Shoot the J! Shoot it!