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I'm putting this here because of requests from Pocky and Alex, so we can put this in a place that isn't behind a paywall.


Now playing: Tokimeki Memorial 2!

Tokimeki Memorial 2 Table of Contents
Introduction: Let's Play Tokimeki Memorial 2!
Meet the cast!


What is Tokimeki Memorial?

Tokimeki Memorial (TokiMemo) is a series from Konami that started in 1994 and quickly became as synonymous with the company as Castlevania. The first game alone has been released for 8 consoles, while the TokiMemo franchise has spawned 3 sequels, dozens of side games, a Girl's Side franchise aimed at female audiences, and sold so much merchandise that the Konami Style store still sells it to this day.

The game classifies itself as a "Romance simulation" (恋愛シミュレーション), a genre which brings a lot of derision outside of Japan but really isn't all that different from playing The Sims. In all of the main TokiMemo games, you take on the role of a Japanese high school student from the first day of freshman year until graduation day. Along the way, you build up stats that represent your skill at sports, aptitude for academics, or good looks. All of these help you get into good colleges, ensure your future employment, and ideally, win you the heart of one of the ensemble cast of potential high school sweethearts.

While it sounds pretty plain - and it is, at least for the early ones - the games were groundbreaking for their time. They were huge hits (well, except for 3), spawned dozens of imitators, and their influence can still be seen today in games like Harvest Moon, Persona, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and many, many more.

Why are the Japanese so obsessed with high school, anyway?

To understand why so much Japanese media obsesses over high school life, you have to understand how Japanese society worked in the '90s. In general, Japanese companies used a "membership-based" model of employment, which was (and is) unique to Japan. The membership model of employment means that Japanese companies don't hire people to fill specific positions, instead hiring people based on how dedicated to the company they will be. To quote a fascinating article: "Instead of recruiting and hiring workers with specific skills to perform particular work when needed, Japanese companies have generally hired young people en masse immediately upon their graduation from college (or, especially in earlier days, from high school) by taking applications from students before they graduate and attempting to select ones with the latent ability to do any sort of work that the company may assign them."

This means that for most people about to enter the workforce, their actual college education was essentially meaningless unless they went to a trade school; they couldn't really train for a specific field of work because they had no idea what field of work they were going into, they just knew what kind of company they wanted to be hired by. The moment students were accepted into college, their quality of life for the rest of their lives had essentially been decided for them based on the prestige level of the school.

Let that sink in for a moment; imagine a world where your entire working life has already been laid out for you based on your college acceptance letters. Got into UC Berkeley or Oxford? Congratulations, you are guaranteed to be a hot commodity before you've even graduated. Forced to settle for community college? Good luck getting the third-rate jobs, loser.

This meant that for most people, high school was the last time in their lives where they felt like they had any freedom and control over their destinies. This is a big reason why high school life was so romanticized by Japanese culture. Today, while college educations have become a little more specialized to working life, high school still represents the last time in many Japanese people's lives where they can be carefree.

Why TokiMemo?

Tokimeki Memorial helped create a genre. The visual novel didn't really gain traction until Leaf's To Heart was released in 1997, and while Tokimeki Memorial wasn't the first game of its kind - as far as we can tell, that honor goes to Elf's Doukyuusei, an adult game released in 1992 - it was the first one that was available to the mass market. The characters are a lot of fun, and you can see echoes of them in modern Japanese games too.

I first played this game in high school, and it had a pretty big impact on my life. It's one of the tools I used to learn Japanese, it's a game I forged lifelong friendships over, and hey, the 20th anniversary is coming up! Why not share the love with the goons?

What can we expect from this LP?

Over the course of this thread, I plan on playing through every Tokimeki Memorial game in order. At major decision points, I'll throw it up to all of the readers so that they can choose how the character's life goes within certain limits - no quadruple Forever Alone endings, please. On the way, I'll touch on topics like Japanese culture and education, anime character archetypes, and miscellaneous trivia. Any questions you might have, I'll field!

Are there any rules?

At the end of most posts, I will ask a multiple choice question, which will shape how the next game session goes. Please put your answers in bold so it's easier for me to collect answers! Voting will close 24 hours after each post to give me time to work on the next post.

Tokimeki Memorial: Shiori run
Chapter 1: The First Day of School
Planning for Perfection: Or, How I Learned to Start Worrying and Hate the Bomb
Chapter 2: Spring 1995, a Tale of Trumpets and Being Bad at Sports
Chapter 3: Summer 1995, Close Encounters of the Yuina Kind
Chapter 4: Summer 1995, part 2 - These Six Times at Band Camp
Chapter 5: Fall 1995, Ducking and Weaving
Chapter 6: Christmas 1995, Groundhog Goon
Chapter 7: New Year's 1996, Not THE God, just A God.
Chapter 8: Spring 1996, Walking the Tightrope
Chapter 9: Spring 1996 Part 2, The Baby-Faced Assassin
Chapter 10: Summer 1996, The Path of Perfection Begins
Chapter 11: Fall 1996, Bear Territory Part 1
Chapter 12: Fall 1996, Bear Territory Part 2
Chapter 13: The Smell of Napalm in the Morning
Chapter 14: Winter 1996/97, Groundhog Christmas 2
Chapter 15: Winter 1997, All Downhill from Here
Chapter 16: Spring 1997, My Name is Goonzymandias, Teen of Teens
Chapter 17: Summer 1997, The Mark of Goon's Dignity Shall Scar Thy DNA
Chapter 18: Fall 1997, What is a Goon? A Miserable Pile of Perfection!
Chapter 19: Winter 1997/98, All Realities, All Dimensions are Open to Goon
Chapter 20: I am Goon. The End Has Come!

Tokimeki Memorial: Yuina run
Yuina, Chapter 1: A Goon of a Different Color
Yuina, Chapter 2: Enter the Archnemesis
Yuina, Chapter 3: One Crazy Summer
Yuina, Chapter 4: It's Only Cheating If You're Caught
Yuina, Chapter 5: Wizardry
Yuina, Chapter 6: I'm So Into You, But I'm Way Too Smart For You

Gifs and fun things!


Science.


Science!


Every high school student's nightmare: bears throwing boomerang salmon.


:science:


Ayako won't stop 'til she gets enough.

[timg]http://i.imgur.com/bPsHxEp.png?1[/timg]
Megumi only knows how to give one kind of present.


Dragonball Z has it all wrong, this is the real way teenagers power up.

Special thanks to seiya, cyxx, ndarkstar, pocky, and totoroslayer for helping me with fact checking, translation, and tech!

The First Day of school!

So let's get started! Roll the opening movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKEo2IVESK4
Inspiring, huh? This song was all the rage back in 1996, and in the back of my head I can still hear the sold-out concerts doing the call-and-response chants...


Step 1: we have to have a name! All names in this LP will be in Japanese order, family name - first name. I've chosen the last name Fudou because I've used that forever, while the first name is Gunpei out of respect for the creator of the Game Boy.

Ah, who'm I kidding, I did it because it has "Goon" in the name, which is also our nickname for this run!

There are two names that you can enter here that act as codes, just like in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Naming yourself Konami Man will set all of your stats to ridiculously high levels, while Minna Nakayoshi ("everybody's friendly") will... make everyone friendly. Neither of these codes are as attractive as you'd think.


Step 2: birthday and blood type. The Japanese think that blood type is just as important as astrological sign when it comes to predicting personality and such; I don't put much stock in it, but some of my Japanese friends still do. Anyway, I'll just use my own birthday and blood type here.



Step 3: We get to choose our Childhood Friend Shiori's birthday and blood type too! This actually has a gameplay effect, as what club Shiori joins is defined by the following formula: (day*3 + month) mod 11. You can also get a special event if you have the same birthday as Shiori, so pretty much everyone makes it the same. So in this playthrough, she will join the Literature Club. That's important to keep in mind if we want to reach for that brass ring! Although technically, if we wanted to see the special event, we have to put the shared birthday in March... it's complicated.

It's time to start our wonderful school life! Wind up the wayback machine, we're going to April 4th, 1995 - the first day of school! The theory is that Japanese schools start in April to match the fiscal year, and conveniently, that places the start of school right around when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Pink trees for everybody!


Goon: My name is Fudo Gunpei. Starting today, I'm a student here at Kirameki Private High School.


Goon: This school was my first choice, and I never thought I'd make it, but I was lucky and got accepted.
Goon: I'm so happy, because I get to go to the same school as the girl I've secretly liked forever, Fujisaki Shiori.

This big white board here is how Japanese schoolkids find out what homeroom they're in. The convention is to divide classes into 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, etc.


Goon: We've been friends since grade school, and we've been neighbors forever...
Goon: But compared to me, she's the moon and I'm a mud turtle. So we've never been more than friends...

And there it is, the face that launched a thousand ships! Shiori was, and is, the most popular character in Tokimeki Memorial history. She is also one of the most notoriously difficult routes in any romance simulation, ever.


Yoshio: Yo! What's with the troubled face?
Goon: Uh... uh, nothing, really. (Who is this guy, and why's he acting like he knows me?)
Yoshio: My name's Saotome Yoshio. Nice to meet you! What's your name?
Goon: Fudou Gunpei. Nice to meet you too.

Girl A: He's here!
Girl B: Oh, he's so wonderful!
Yoshio: What? What're the girls so excited about?


Rei: Hello, everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting.
Rei: I don't believe anyone here could possibly not know who I am, but...
Rei: I am Ijuuin Rei, the grandson of this school's chairman of the board.
Rei: I apologize to all the males in this class... but ah well, let's all get along.
Yoshio: Ijuuin?! That super-rich Ijuuin? I hate this class already...
Goon: Y...yeah.

[spoiler]Ijuuin Rei started a long tradition of secret characters in ren'ai simulations. if you spend every weekend calling him, you'll eventually find out that he's actually a girl in men's clothing due to the pressures of being the heir to a business empire. But it's also an incredibly boring play-through, so it's not worth doing a Let's Play of this; you can find her special events and ending here on YouTube if you want to see it.[/spoiler]


Goon: Oh, looks like it's Shiori's turn to introduce herself.
Shiori: Hello, everyone! My name is Fujisaki Shiori.
Shiori: My hobbies include listening to music, especially classical. I'm pleased to meet you all.


Yoshio: She's cuuuuute... Fujisaki Shiori-chan, eh? I'm so glad I'm in this class!
Goon: (Didn't he just say that he hated this class a second ago?)
Yoshio: Whoa! She just looked your way! Do you know that girl?
Goon: Yeah, we're childhood friends.
Yoshio: Is that so?! Then what's her birthday?
Goon: 10/26.
Yoshio: Blood type?
Goon: O.
Yoshio: Hobbies?
Goon: She just said it, music.
Yoshio: Oh. Huh. And her measurements?
Goon: How the hell should I know?
Yoshio: Alright, check!
Goon: Whoa. That notebook... it's filled with notes about girls, isn't it?
Yoshio: Hey, if you ever need to know anything about a girl, just contact me! I'll help you out any time.
Goon: Y...yeah? Thanks.

Yoshio created another archetype that has survived through the decades as well - as your Designated Best Friend, he also provides a vital gameplay role by meticulously creating profiles of all the female characters, and somehow magically knowing all of their phone numbers. He gets to be the Exposition Fairy, and acts creepy so you don't have to!

Yoshio: Oh yeah, have you heard about this school's Legendary Tree?

No, I didn't. Thanks, Exposition Fairy!


Yoshio: Look at the window. See that huge tree?
Goon: Yeah?
Yoshio: They say that if a girl confesses her love to you under that tree, the two of you will live happily ever after.
Goon: Huh, I didn't know there was something like that around here.
Yoshio: I don't know who started it, but I'm so jealous of them.

The Tree of Legend is a trope that gets reused in romance simulations all of the time. It's pretty much at the point where a game feels weird if there isn't some kind of magical legend that means you'll live happily ever after.


Goon: Yeah... If it were me...
Goon: And that is how my high school life of worries and hopes started.

Don't get your hopes up too high, Gunpei. You're just setting yourself up for failure! I mean, uh, aim for the brass ring! Anything is possible with constant saving and reloading!
Speaking of which, let's get acquainted with the menu that will define the next three years of Gunpei's life!


This is the core of every TokiMemo game. Stats, and the activities you do to raise them. The stats are laid out as follows:

[fixed]Stamina | Literature | Science
Art | Sports | General knowledge
Looks | Guts | Stress[/fixed]

The 8 major daily activities are:

[fixed]
Study Lit | Study Science | Practice Art
Exercise | (FREE SPACE) | Club (currently grayed out)
Hang out | Preen | Sleep[/fixed]

We'll get to the grayed-out options later, though the two available options are just "system" and "calendar", so nothing really interesting there.

Choosing one of the eight main activities has you perform that action for the next six days, which changes your stats. In general, studying will raise the appropriate stat while slightly lowering the sports or looks stats, exercise will raise sports while lowering academics, and once you join a club, you'll have more powerful versions of the same kind of effect. Hanging out tends to raise general knowledge while lowering stress, preening in front of a mirror does exactly what you think it does, and sleep is purely for raising Stamina and lowering Stress. This is important because if you let your Stamina fall below 30 or your Stress rise above 100, you'll most likely get sick and be forced to sleep for a week or more!
Of course, this game being this game, there are certain girls who'll come over to your house and take care of you if you get sick, so you might want that to happen anyway...

Sundays and holidays bring up a special version of this menu: you can go on dates, call girls in order to invite them on dates, or call Yoshio or Rei for vital information [spoiler]or for Rei's secret, honestly kinda boring ending[/spoiler].

So here comes the first, and possibly most important, choice for young Fudou Gunpei! What will he focus on in his high school life?

A) Academics! I have to get into a good school, so I need to hit the books - maybe meet a nice girl in the library or a girl whose life is devoted to SCIENCE!

Mio: Treasure these glasses, because there ain't many more in the series who fit this fetish.


Yuina: Get in, boys, we're doing SCIENCE!


B) Arts! I don't want to be a cog in the machine, I want to SING, father!

Ayako: Art... and, weirdly, English


Mira: She actually doesn't really care what you do, as long as you look as good as her doing it.


Yuuko: who honestly just wants to hang out and have fun.

C) Sports! I'm gonna be the very best, like no one ever was!

Saki: The one constant throughout the years, Gunpei, has been baseball.


Nozomi: Because swimming gives you mermaid hair.


Yukari: if you... don't mind... girls who talk... really... really... slowly...

D) UTTER PERFECTION! I will not rest until I have relived high school as the Nietzschean superman and ensured that my digital life is the life of a WINNER!


Yumi: it's like kissing Yoshio by proxy! Also, wrestling.


Megumi: Silver Medal


Shiori: Nintendo Hard in redhead form.


(And just so you know, the Forever Alone ending looks like this:)

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showth ... genumber=2

Planning for Perfection: Or, How I Learned to Start Worrying and Hate the Bomb

Since D won the poll, we're going to need to go back in time and retcon a few things in order to fulfill the requirements of UTTER PERFECTION.

First: I mentioned that there is a special event that you can see with Shiori if you set her birthday to be the same as yours. To see this special event (which is exclusive to the Forever With You versions of the game), you also have to fulfill the following conditions:
1) The shared birthday has to fall on a Sunday or holiday in 1995, 1996, or 1997.
2) Your relationship status with Shiori has to already be at friendship level.
3) You can't have any dates on that day.
4) If that day happens to be the third Sunday of the month, when most clubs have their compulsory activities/practice matches/swimming meets/etc., you will be kicked out of the club if you see this event instead of choosing the club activity.

Because of the demanding requirements of the special event, most people set this shared birthday in March to give themselves the maximum amount of time to meet the requirements.

Second: Because of the previously mentioned (day + month*3) mod 11 formula, Shiori routes depend on certain birthdays in order to isolate Shiori to a club activity that won't gain the notice of anyone else. This is because the game scales in difficulty with how many girls you have met. Allow me to explain:

In TokiMemo, you meet certain girls by either sharing a club activity with them or fulfilling a minimum stat requirement and performing the generic activity on a school day. The exceptions to this in TokiMemo 1 are Shiori, who you've known forever, and Yumi (Yoshio's little sister), who is a year younger than you and automatically meets you at the beginning of your second year. But here are all of the girls and the conditions to meet them (skip to Spreading Yourself Too Thin if you don't care about this list):

There is a third way to meet girls at random - if you're at the Christmas party and you know fewer than three girls, the game will introduce them to you at random until you know three.


How to meet Mio method 1: Study Literature on a schoolday while your Lit stat is 55+ (75+ if you've already met two non-Shiori/Yumi characters)
How to meet Mio method 2: Join the same club as her (Drama club or Lit club, depending on where Shiori is) and choose club activities 5 times, or she will automatically appear in the club's summer camp)


Yuina method 1: Study Science with Science 60+ (85+)
Yuina method 2: Science club or Computer club


Ayako method 1: Practice Art with Art 50+ (65+)
Ayako method 2: Concert band or Art club


Saki method 1: Do anything with Guts 36+ (96+)
Saki method 2: Baseball team or Soccer team


Yukari method 1: Exercise while your Looks are 81+ (84+)
Yukari method 2: Tennis club


Nozomi method 1: Exercise while your Guts are 31+ (71+)
Nozomi method 2: Swimming club


Mira method 1: Preen while your Looks are 101+ (126+)
(there is no method 2 for Mira)


Yuuko method 1: Hang Out with General Knowledge 91+
(there is no method 2 for Yuuko)


Megumi method 1: Special - Shiori will introduce Megumi to you at the Ijuuin Christmas party if you're really standing out in academics and/or your club activities.
Megumi method 2: If you don't meet Megumi at the Ijuuin Christmas party, Shiori will introduce her to you on the following Valentine's Day


Spreading Yourself Too Thin: or, Why This All Matters

Shiori is a very demanding girl - in order to win her heart, you have to be exceptional in all aspects of school life. These are the stats you'll need:

Stamina 50+ | Lit 130+ | Science 130+
Art 130+ | Sports 110+ | General knowledge 120+
Looks 100+ | Guts 100+ | Stress 50-

If you look at the chart above, you'll note that earning these stats will force you to meet every girl if you're not careful.

So, what is it about meeting girls that makes the game harder? Now we'll have to explain how the relationship chart works.


That's not so bad, right?

This is Yoshio's graphical representation of how much girls like you. As you can see, it ranges from "Tokimeki" on the left (the girl is in love with you) to "oh god why" on the right (the girl hates your guts), with various levels of friendship in between. For all non-secret characters, you must be at Tokimeki level with a girl in order to see her ending.

You raise a girl's affection by going on successful dates, walking home from school with her, and seeing special events. You lower a girl's affection by going on bad dates... or ignoring her for a while (about 3 months, usually) and making her feel jealous and hurt, represented in-game by bombs.


This is a nightmare case and has sabotaged many a Shiori route. Beware the mad bombers!

If you ignore a bomb and it explodes, then you will receive an ominous call from Yoshio, who tells you that there's a bad rumor going around that you've hurt <X girl>. When this happens, every other girl's affection for you will go down, often dooming you to the Forever Alone ending. Yumi and Megumi are especially notorious bombers - Yumi because she starts out at a high affection level and has the shortest bomb timer in the game, and Megumi because she gets really hurt every time you walk home with a girl who is not her.

In order to defuse a bomb or prevent one from ever appearing, you need to make sure to go on a date with a girl at least once every 4 months, which destroys your schedule - it takes one Sunday/holiday to invite a girl on a date, and another Sunday/holiday to do it. With a full 11 girls, you basically need to take 22 days out of every 3-4 months in order to keep a bomb from forming... and there are only 12-13 Sundays every 3 months, plus a variable number of Japanese holidays. You can see how this can quickly spiral out of control!

Time to man up!

There is a relatively easy way of winning Shiori's heart while fulfilling all of these requirements. We jokingly call it the Teen Wolf route: what you essentially do is lay low for two years, never standing out in anything and not caring about any bombs that may go off. Then, in year three you suddenly burst out of your shell to raise your stats to ridiculous levels, go on nonstop dates with Shiori (only taking time out to avoid 9 months of bombs from girls you will probably just meet in year 3), and call it a win.

We didn't know about this method back in 1995 - the Internet was pretty young and knowledge was concentrated in magazines, books, and mooks (magazine books). This path is also boring, sees very few if any of the special events, and does not fulfill the requirements of Utter Perfection. So, in Monday's update, we will be starting down the path of UTTER PERFECTION and showing you the true path of the High School Superman.

Goon, we salute you. You will truly be the greatest of men.

Chapter 2: Spring 1995, a tale of trumpets and being bad at sports.

Enough waffling. It's time to make a three-year plan and put it into action so that we can fulfill the requirements of Utter Perfection while not falling prey to the horrors of the bomb.

Inspiration came from the works of Jin Yong, the great wuxia novelist. In the latter parts of Return of the Condor Heroes, the protagonist Yang Guo wears a mask so that girls stop falling in love with his hot perfection, which means that he can stay dedicated to his one true love, Xiaolongnu. She's at the bottom of a cave shooting bees at people with her poison kung fu or something, so the analogy kind of falls off there, but the point is that the plan has been proven to work!


This is obviously the greatest and best plan to hide Goon's smoldering hotness.

So here's how it's going to work. Since you only meet girls if you both fulfill their stat threshold and perform the appropriate activity on a schoolday, and because once you meet a certain number of girls, these stat thresholds go up, we're going to choose a couple of stats that are safe to raise and stick to them until year 3, meeting only a couple of girls.

That's the plan. Let's see how easy it is to stick to it.

The journey begins: April 4th, 1995 to June 3rd, 1995

The first step is to remake Goon from the ground up. We want Shiori's birthday to be on March 30th, so that she joins the Concert Band - this club avoids stats that will attract too many girls to us, and is generally pretty safe. If you look at the first post, you may notice some retconning in order to make sure the path of Utter Perfection starts off on the right foot. Also, you may notice that I've started capturing from my PS3 instead of my Saturn, which should hopefully mean vastly improved screenshot quality.

With that out of the way, we can actually begin playing the game! As I mentioned before, the meat and potatoes of the Tokimeki Memorial experience is the building of your character, not the girls or the relationships. Each week, you choose one of the eight basic activities and you perform that action for the next six days, training your stats appropriately. You'll get a graphical representation of how the day went, with a little happy chime for successful training and a game show buzzer for days that went poorly. Every action other than Sleep will lower your Stamina, and most of them will also raise your Stress.

All academic stats start at 40, while General Knowledge, Looks, and Guts start at 32, 60, and 5 respectively. We'll start with some book learning in week 1.


Successful days tend to have stronger effects, and are less likely to raise your Stress level.


Unsuccessful days like this one have a lower impact on your stats, while being more likely to raise your Stress level.

The main way to improve your success rate with an activity is to keep doing that activity - kind of like real life.

At the end of the first week of studying, we have a net of -3 Stamina, +3 Lit, -2 Sports, -1 Looks, -1 Guts, and +4 Stress. Not a great start, but you shouldn't expect miracles in your first week while your stats are low. The important thing is getting to the all-important Sunday/Holiday version of schedule planning.


On Sundays and holidays, more options light up. The six actions at the bottom are:

[fixed]Call a friend | Go on a date | Read Memorial Spot
Options | Calendar | Save/Load[/fixed]

You'll also note that for the first time, the club activity action is lit up - starting on April 9th, we can join the club of our choice! In this run, Goon has no choice but to join the Concert Band, but we don't have to do it today. In fact, let's go for a run.


Success! The net effect of Sunday is Stam -3, Sports +13, General Knowledge +1, Looks -1, Guts +6. Sundays are vastly more effective than weekdays, making them precious precious resources.

After choosing your Sunday activity, you go back to the regular version of the menu, where we can choose the schedule for the rest of the week. But before we do that... hey, let's go look at one of the main easter eggs of the game. Remember how Shiori lives next door? Well, that's her window right there, and if you set your cursor to mouse mode and click on her window at night...

[video type="youtube"]gfZqdMTlAfA[/video]
Shiori: Hmm? Having trouble falling asleep? Then I will count sheep for you!
Shiori: One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep, five sheep, six sheep, seven sheep, eight sheep, nine sheep, ten sheep, 11 sheep, 12 sheep, 13 sheep, 14 sheep, 15 sheep, 16 sheep, 17 sheep, 18 sheep, 19 sheep, 20 sheep.
Shiori: You're starting to get sleepy, right? What? Not yet?
Shiori: 21 sheep, 22 sheep, 23 sheep, 24 sheep, 25 sheep, 26 sheep, 27 sheep, 28 sheep, 29 sheep, 30 sheep, 31 sheep, 32 sheep, 33 sheep, 34 sheep, 35 sheep, 36 sheep, 37 sheep, 38 sheep, 39 sheep, 40 sheep.
Shiori: You're finally sleepy now, aren't you? Still not yet?
Shiori: 41 sheep, 42 sheep, 43 sheep, 44 sheep, 45 sheep, 46 sheep, 47 (yawn) sheep, 48 sheep... 49 sheep... 50 sheep...
Shiori: I've gotten sleepy myself. Sorry... good night.

I am not embarrassed to say that this sound file is how I learned to count in Japanese, which is harder than it sounds because of some utterly random quirks to the language.

Anyway, back to the run! It's time to do some more studying, this time to dabble in some Science! We have to make sure our stats are at least a little decent in order to do well on midterms.


Net result: -4 Stamina, +4 Science, -4 Sports, -3 Looks, +1 Guts, +3 Stress. Not the greatest, but we have plenty of time. We shouldn't just reset the game over tiny stuff like this, or the LP will last forever.

Alright, it's April 16th and we might as well go ahead and join the same club as Shiori! To the Concert Band!


-1 Stam, +1 Science (?!), +3 Art, +1 General Knowledge, +1 Stress. Welp. Time to lay low in the brass section for a while, Goon. Perfection can wait.

Note that the only time we can save is AFTER we've already taken our Sunday activity. This is something of an anti-save scum measure, since calling a girl and inviting her out on a date take an entire Sunday, and if she turns you down, the game wants us to suffer through an entire week again before we can retry. The same goes for choosing the wrong option on a date and making a bad impression - we'll get to that shortly.

Let's hit the books again! Another week of study yields -5 Stam, +5 Lit, +1 Art, -2 Sports, +1 General Knowledge, -1 Looks, and +5 Stress.

Next, let's take a look at Memorial Spot, the magazine that tells us all the local hangouts! This is important to check once every three months since it unlocks new locations, tells us what movie is playing, and says which musical act is in town - all of which will help our hero Goon be successful on dates. We'll have to remember to do it diligently.


Memorial Spot
In this corner, we tell you all about the latest out spots.
Starting next issue, we'll start telling you all about special events. Watch for it!
Current movie playing: None
Concert hall: KNM Symphony (Classical)

And yes, that's an ad for the first Suikoden RPG. It actually came out a few months after the original PlayStation version of Forever With You. Do you feel old? I do.

Goon: This is the latest issue.
Goon: Oh yeah, I can check my biorhythms on the calendar, too.

Oh hey, there's a symphony in town? Didn't Shiori say she liked listening to classical music? Let's invite her to the concert hall!

From the menu, we make sure to call Shiori - calling Yoshio is important later, and talking to Rei only matters if we want the secret, really-boring ending.


Phone: Trrrr... trrrrr...
Shiori: Yes, this is Fujisaki.
Goon: Um... this is Fudo Gunpei.
Shiori: Gunpei-kun? Is something the matter today?

Seriously? You've known each other for how long and you still have to act all formal on the phone? We will have to do better than that, Goon. We'll make a Superman out of you yet.


Anyway, this is a screen we're going to get pretty familiar with over the course of the next three years. We need to pick a date and a location to invite a girl out. Let's ask Shiori to go to the symphony with us on Saturday, April 29th!

Goon: Want to go to the concert hall with me on April 29th?
Shiori: Let me check... yes, that's fine.
Goon: Alright, let's meet in front of the concert hall on that day.
Shiori: Yes, let's. Don't forget, okay?
Goon: No way will I forget. Okay, talk to you later.
(click)
Goon: Yes! I can't wait for the 29th.

SUCCESS! :dance:


There's now a giant heart mark on the 29th to remind us of our date with Shiori. Don't forget, or things will get real bad real fast. And that does not suit Perfection!

Sadly, the act of calling Shiori and talking to her for 20 seconds took up Goon's entire Sunday. This is another part of why knowing a lot of girls makes the game difficult - we don't have time to work on our stats if we spend 4 days a month on the phone!


Let's hit the books before our date with Shiori - this week is good for -5 Stam, +5 Lit, -2 Sports, +1 General Knowledge, -1 Looks, and +5 Stress.

From this point on, I'll start glossing over the individual stat gains/losses more, but it's important to note that we probably can't choose to study lit on weekdays anymore, because at 55 we are in very real danger of meeting Kisaragi Mio, who we don't want to deal with yet! Guess we'll have to sneak in our study sessions on the weekend.


Goon: (Today's the date with Shiori)

Yes, we can choose not to go on the date and do something else instead. Yes, this is a very bad idea, though later in this playthrough it can lead to the best part about meeting Ayako.

Goon: (Well, let's go meet up with Shiori at the concert hall.)


Goon: Have you been waiting long?
Shiori: No, I just got here myself.
Goon: Phew, glad I wasn't late.
Shiori: Oh, the doors just opened. Let's get inside.
Goon: Yeah, let's go.

Yes, that building is almost 100% based on the Nippon Budokan. I love that place - it's a very up-close-and-personal venue with a ton of history. For musicians, the Budokan is kind of a sign that you've "made it" - there are much larger and more profitable venues, but the Budokan is sort of like the Hollywood Bowl or Carnegie Hall in that there's a lot of prestige associated with the place. We should probably stop gawking and find our seats, though.


Goon: Hey, Shiori, our seats are over here.
Goon: (The KNM Symphony Orchestra is one of the best orchestras in the country; they've even worked with Mr. Osawa.)

The KNM Symphony Orchestra is a please-don't-sue-us version of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and we think that Mr. Osawa is a reference to Seiji Ozawa, a world-famous conductor who has a building named after him in Boston.


And here comes the other core mechanic of Tokimeki Memorial. Once per date, we will have to choose from one of three responses. Depending on the response, we'll make some degree of a favorable impression, a neutral impression, or a bad impression on the girl. In general, taking a girl to a place she likes is more likely to produce better impressions or have multiple positive choices, while taking her somewhere she doesn't enjoy can give us two bad answers and a neutral response. When it comes to the stadium, the movie theater, and the concert hall, though, our choices will almost always be:

Choice 1: Wasn't that concert/game/movie great?
Choice 2: That concert/game/movie was kind of average.
Choice 3: That concert/game/movie was boring.

Since Shiori likes classical music, the obvious answer is 1.


Goon: Wasn't that concert great?
Shiori: Yes, it was quite wonderful. I love this kind of performance.
Goon: (Looks like I made a great impression!)

This is the primitive ancestor of "Morrigan approves (+5)".

Shiori: Today was a lot of fun. We should do this again some time, okay?
Goon: Definitely. I'll call you again some time.
Shiori: We should head home, Gunpei-kun.

SUCCESS! :dance:


After this, it's back to playing trumpet in the Concert Band. Note that every once in a while you're given the opportunity to quit a club and join another one if you want to; this is never really a recommended action, but hey, the option's there.

Actions over the next few weeks:
4/30 (Sunday): Concert Band
5/1-5/2: Concert Band

5/3 (holiday): This is our first chance to check out the new issue of Memorial Spot, so let's go!

Memorial Spot June/July/August
Introducing Kirameki Central Park!
Current movie playing: "We're doin' it" (comedy) (based on a Japanese comedy catch phrase; a modern English equivalent would be a movie called "Git 'er Dun")
Concert: Morita Chisa (idol)
Events: Starting in August, the amusement park will be holding night parades!
August 6th is Ennichi at the shrine!

Ennichi is kind of a catchall term for a local shrine's festival in Japan, since they're all dedicated to the local Shinto gods. Some shrines have multiple Ennichi in a year, and the commonness of summer Ennichi are behind the huge number of anime episodes that involve people dressing up in fancy-looking yukata and going to their local shrine to play festival games, eat festival food, and at the end of the night, watch a fireworks show. It's one of the highlights of Japanese summers. We'll definitely want to invite Shiori there when it's time.

Also, the Konami ad for the quarter is Parodius. I miss that game sometimes.

5/3 (holiday): :science:
5/4 (holiday): :science:
5/5 (holiday): Rest
5/6: back to Concert Band
5/7 (Sunday): Preen
5/8-13: Preen

I should probably talk a bit about why there are so many holidays back-to-back at the end of April/beginning of March. This is known in Japan as Golden Week - it's basically a cross between Spring Break and the week between Christmas and New Year's, with so many national holidays packed close together that most people just take the whole time off and go on vacation. It's a huge boom for the movie industry and for any kind of travel. For many school kids, though, it's mostly just a bunch of days off really close together - public school kids in particular have to go to school on the 1st and 2nd, which really seems like it sucks.

5/11: Event!

Goon: (School's finally out. I'm so sleepy...)
(THUD)


Female Student: Oh, I'm sorry!
Goon: Nah, I'm fine.
Female Student: Oh no, I'll be late for the movie!
Goon: What was with that girl?

Hi Yuuko. Thankfully, this doesn't mean that she's officially met us yet. Call it a warning shot.

5/14 (Sunday): Study lit

This brings Goon to 56 in his Lit stat - that means that if we take the Study Lit action on a school day instead of a Sunday, we will meet Mio.

5/15-5/20: :science:
5/21 (Sunday): Preen
5/22-5/27: Concert Band
5/28 (Sunday): Study lit
5/29-6/2: Concert Band

Gotta get ready for midterms while we can! Still dodging Mio like a boss.

6/3: Event!


Kirameki's taiikusai, or Sports Festival, is another of those super-common annual events in Japan, and almost all schools have them from Kindergarten on up. The Sports Festival is like Sports Days in other countries, where all the schoolkids are compelled to compete in races (potato sack, three-legged, egg-and-spoon, etc.) and other competitive events.

In-game, though, the Sports Festival means one thing: mini-games!

Goon: Which event should I take part in?

Option 1: Egg-and-spoon race
Option 2: Scavenger Hunt Race/Karimono Kyousou
Option 3: Three-legged race
Option 4: Ball-rolling race

I chose Option 2 for this without asking people what they want to participate in, since the other three minigames are pretty familiar to people outside of Japan. However, a Karimono Kyousou isn't something you get much of in the states, so it's nice to be able to explain what it is.

The reason I call it a Scavenger Hunt Race, even though the term literally means "Borrowed items race", is because the rules require all of the racers to run up to a table and open up a sealed envelope. Inside that envelope are instructions to bring a specific item to the finish line. Racers need to run up to one of their friends or classmates and, depending on the rules of the race, they either need to borrow something from them and race to the finish line with the item in hand, or take that person to the finish line with them.

Common items in a Scavenger Hunt Race include hats, umbrellas, "someone wearing glasses", "someone who has traveled overseas", etc.

In the case of Tokimeki Memorial, though?


You're supposed to find girls.

Rules for the Karimono Kyousou
Search for the girl listed in the sealed envelope using the D-pad, then bring her to the finish line. Press the Circle button to choose the girl, and then press the Circle button repeatedly to run!

Pretty simple, but almost every Sports Festival mini-game is affected by your Sports stat. With only two months to build stats, the first year's Sports Festival is almost always a guaranteed loss.


It's okay, Goon. Your time will come. Keep that mask on.


Oh look, we're supposed to find Shiori in that crowd of sprites. It sure is a good thing that anime girls have such wildly different hairstyles or colors, that makes this one easy!


Not that this actually helps, with the current state of our Sports stat.


Well, there's always next year!

This seems like a good time to go into the next poll. We haven't met any girls yet, but we're approaching the thresholds for most of them! What should Goon do?

A) Stick to the plan. Let's enjoy more of our high school life and learn more about Japanese culture. There's plenty of time to meet the cast later.
B) Learning about all these events is nice and all, but there's more than enough leeway to stop and enjoy the sights. Let's meet and talk to some of the girls early. It can't possibly hurt, right?

Goon's stats as of June 4th, 1994:

[fixed]Stamina 67 | Lit 61 | Science 56
Art 57 | Sports 39 | General Knowledge 48
Looks 73 | Guts 9 | Stress 31[/fixed]

The poll closes at midnight Pacific time on Tuesday. The next post will hopefully go up on Thursday!

Next time: Midterms, Ennichi, and most likely a whole lot of reloading saves.

Chapter 3: Summer 1995, part 1 - Close Encounters of the Yuina Kind

It's been an interesting couple of months in young Goon's life. He made it into an elite high school with the girl next door and is well on the road to Utter Perfection, but something is missing in his life. Something a little unpredictable. Something a little wild. Something that people might call... mad.

6/4-6/10: :science:
6/11 (Sunday): Sleep
6/12-6/17: :science:

6/16: Event!


Goon: This question is so easy!
Goon: Mwahaha... I'm a genius!
Make your own Metal Gear sound here
Goon: Urgh...
Goon: (Someone behind me...)
Goon: (Consciousness... fading...)


From her heart and from her hand, why won't people understand her intentions?

Goon: (Hey, this is the lab! M...my body won't move!)
Yuina: Hmm? Ah, Fudou Gunpei-kun. It seems as though you've regained consciousness. Unfortunate.
Goon: Wh-who are you?! What are you planning to do to me?

Yes. Yes, Goon, get her to start monologuing. This will buy time. Hopefully the death trap will be elaborate enough that you can escape from it.

Yuina: It's fine, you won't feel a thing. Now, just hold still for a moment.
Goon: Wh-what're you doing?! Stop it!
Yuina: Alright, alright, I get it. Stop shouting! I suppose I'm left with no choice...
Goon: Please, please just let me go!
Yuina: If ever you tire of the limitations of your body, consult with me - Himoo Yuina.
Yuina: I will be waiting for you here... for as long as I need to.
Goon: Urgh... (Blacking out... again...)


Goon: Agh! Oh... oh, it was just a dream. Thank goodness...
Goon: Hmm? Someone scribbled in my notebook. Let's see here-
Goon: "For all requests for 'modifications', contact Himoo Yuina, Computer Club."

Now THAT is a first impression. :allears:

Yuina has introduced herself, which means that she can now be contacted on Sundays and holidays via the phone. But we can't just call her out of the blue - this is an era before cell phones, so we have to figure out what her home phone number is. Now, didn't Yoshio mention that we should call him whenever we needed any information about girls? Time to take him up on that promise!

6/18 (Sunday): Call Yoshio


Yoshio: Hello, you've reached the Saotome household.
Goon: Hey, it's Fudou.
Yoshio: Ah, Gunpei? I'm glad you called.
Goon: You told me once that I could contact you if I ever needed to know anything about a girl...
Yoshio: Of course, of course. What did you want to ask about?

There are two options here - one to ask about date spots, and one to ask about your status with the girls. While asking about date spots might be interesting, there is one and only one thing we're calling for here.

Goon: I'd like to know what the girls think of me.
Yoshio: What they think of you, eh? Gimme a second.
Yoshio: What the girls think of you is...


Yoshio: Something like this.
Goon: (Should I ask him about any one girl?)

This is how you get the phone numbers of the girls - you ask Yoshio for their profile. Yes, it's an archaic game design choice. It gets easier in later installments of the game, I swear.

Goon: I'd like to know more about Himoo-san, if you can tell me anything.
Yoshio: Yeah, sure. Gimme a second.
Yoshio: Himoo, Himoo...
Yoshio: There she is. Okay, listen up and take notes.


Yoshio: That's about what I know.

There's a lot of info on here, so let's start at the top.

[fixed]
Himoo Yuina - phone# Triangle Triangle Triangle - Circle Circle X Circle
Birthday: July 7th
Sign: Cancer
Blood Type: A
Measurements: 84-58-84 (33-22-33 in inches)
Club: Computer club
Notes: Seems to be doing some suspicious experiments. All other information is murky at best.[/fixed]

Goon: Merci beaucoup~. Sorry for bothering you with this stuff.
Yoshio: Bah, it's no problem at all. Ask me any time you want to know about a girl.
(click)

And with that, Yuina is now available in the address book. We can call her on Sundays and... well, just wait and see.

6/19-6/24: Concert band
6/25 (Sunday): Concert band

At this point, Goon's stress level is getting dangerously high - at 30 and above, the success rate of almost all actions goes down - the notable exception is Sleep, which never fails.

6/26-7/1: Sleep
7/2 (Sunday): :science:


Three important things coming up on the calendar: the gift box is someone's birthday. The sheets of paper are midterms, while the school icon is summer camp.

7/3-7/8: Concert Band

7/7: Event!


Goon: It's Himoo's birthday today. What should I do?

Option 1: Give her a present.
Option 2: Don't bother giving her a present.

There is no choice. We are compelled.

Goon: (What should I get her?)

For all birthdays in this game, there are three options for presents. In all cases, there's a good option, a neutral option, and a bad option. They're all pretty obvious if you have even a basic understanding of the girl. Organized from best to worst, Yuina's options for year 1 are:

Option 1: A book about the theory of 6th-generation computing
Option 2: A whip
Option 3: Perfume

Pretty straightforward, ri-wait, what?!

We have saved recently. We must know.

Goon: (Yeah, let's buy her a whip. This is obviously a good idea.)


Goon: Hey, Himoo-san!
Yuina: Can I help you?
Goon: Happy birthday!
Yuina: You have taken the only natural course of action. Let's see what's inside?
Goon: Sure, open it. Do you like it?
Himoo: This could be a bit useful...
Goon: (She seemed happy enough with it. Not bad, I guess.)

Welp.

RELOAD COUNT: 1

Goon: (Yeah, let's buy her a book.)


Goon: Hey, Himoo-san!
Yuina: Can I help you?
Goon: Happy birthday!
Yuina: You have taken the only natural course of action. Let's see what's inside?
Goon: Sure, open it. Do you like it?
Himoo: This is perfect! I feel like doing more research in the lab right now!
Goon: (She looks so happy. I'm glad I got her that gift.)

Cultural/translation note here. The polite and proper way of receiving a gift is to ask "May I open it now?" and wait for permission. Yuina has no need of such pleasantries and just declares that she's opening it - with a vestigial question mark at the end of the sentence that assumes a yes and doesn't leave any room for saying no.

7/9 (Sunday): Study lit
7/10-7/15: Midterms


A new, non-optional icon appears during the weeks of midterms and finals. Hurray for high school! These days have no effect on your stats. The results are based on stats, with a tiny bit of RNG thrown in.

7/10
Goon: (The first test is language.)
Goon: (It feels like I did okay.)

7/11
Goon: (The second test is math.)
Goon: (It feels like I did okay.)

7/12
Goon: (The third test is science.)
Goon: (It feels like I did okay.)

7/13
Goon: (The fourth test is social studies.)
Goon: (Ugh, I don't think I did well.)

7/14
Goon: (The fifth test is art.)
Goon: (Ugh, I don't think I did well.)

7/15
Goon: (The test results are being posted today.)


Japanese schools post their test scores for all to see, and rank the students based on composite scores. Goon has averaged a 60 and falls sort of in the lower middle of the class at rank 137 - not surprising because there hasn't been any time to build stats. We will do better next time! More importantly, with midterms over, it's time to take a break from all this schoolwork.

7/16 (Sunday): Call Yuina

Yuina: Yes, this is Himoo.
Goon: Um... this is Fudou Gunpei.
Yuina: Gunpei-kun. You've been acting overly familiar with me lately. Can I help you?


Goon: Want to go shopping on the 23rd?

It may seem counterintuitive, but Yuina does love shopping. Kind of. I'll explain later.

Yuina: Your luck has run out....

Oh dammit. RELOAD COUNT: 2

Yuina: ...for I appear to be free on that day.

RELOAD COUNT: 1 What a troll.

Goon: Okay, let's meet in front of the shopping district on the 23rd.
Yuina: You dare to give me orders?
Goon: Alright then, where would you like to meet?
Yuina: ...Your previous suggestion is acceptable.
Yuina: Our business is completed, and I am hanging up.
(click)

Goon: Woohoo! I can't wait for the 23rd.

I don't even know where to start. I just don't. We've gone from Goon being Tony Stark to Goon being Alan Scott.

7/17-7/22: Sleep

7/23 (Sunday): Date night!

Goon: (Today's my date with Himoo-san.)
Goon: (Let's go wait for her in front of the shopping district.)


Goon: Did I keep you waiting?
Himoo: Not really. You're right on time.
Goon: I'm glad I wasn't late.
Himoo: It sure is hot, isn't it?
Goon: Yeah, it's really hot.

This... is surprisingly normal. We have to be careful and hope it's not a trap.


Himoo: Very well then. Where shall we go?

There are three main places to go in the shopping district, and as you might expect, each girl likes different shops. Yuina does like shopping, but only really in one place. Can you guess what it is?

Option 1: Let's go check out the boutique.
Option 2: Let's go check out the accessories shop.
Option 3: Let's go check out the electronics shop.

Yup. We're goin' to Fry's!

Yuina: Let's go.


Yuina: If you're talking about shopping, this is, of course, the place.

Option 1: I just can't get enough of this place!
Option 2: Y...yeah, I agree. This is pretty much the Japanese equivalent of "nod and smile"
Option 3: You're really weird, for a girl.

Again, it's pretty clear which option is good, which option is neutral-to-bad, and which is bad.

Yuina: I didn't think you would understand the appeal of this place. You've surprised me.
Goon: (Looks like I made a great impression!)


Yuina: It's nice to take a break like this every once in a while.
Goon: Does that mean I can invite you out again some time?
Yuina: I can't allow you to get too familiar... but a little bit won't hurt.
Goon: Great, I'll call you.
Yuina: It's time for me to head home. Bye, Gunpei-kun.

Welp. That was a thing.

This post went longer than I thought due to the sheer difficulty of translating how weird Yuina is, so I'll continue it tomorrow, with the CYOA coming at the end of that. Next time: Five Times Through Band Camp - summer vacation and Shiori.

Chapter 4: Summer 1995, Part 2 - These Five Times at Band Camp

That was a strange little diversion. But time and high school stop for no man, and we march on!

7/24-7/29: Exercise


Goon: Summer vacation starts tomorrow!

Summer vacation in Japanese schools is mercilessly short. It's six weeks long, and in-game, one of those weeks is a compulsory club activity. Two things make summer vacation incredibly precious to us: one, since we're not in school, we won't meet anyone for building stats; two, activities during summer vacation are two to three times more effective than regular schooldays for building stats. Our Sports stat has slipped to 25 with all the studying we're doing, but with just these few weeks of work, we can climb up a huge amount in a short time.

7/30 (Sunday): Call Shiori

This is the last possible day to call Shiori and invite her to Ennichi. Seize the day! Ready the reload button!


There are a few date spots that are only available during the summer. They include going to the ocean and going to the public swimming pool. On Ennichi and on New Year's Day, you can also invite people to go to the local shrine.

(the formalities have been skipped since they are the same as last time)
Goon: Want to go to the shrine on 8/6?
Shiori: Let me check... yes, that's fine.
Goon: Alright, let's meet in front of the shrine on that day.
Shiori: Yes, let's. Don't forget, okay?
Goon: No way will I forget. Okay, talk to you later.
(click)
Goon: Yes! I can't wait for the 6th.

7/31-8/5: Preen
8/6 (Sunday): Date with Shiori


Goon: Have you been waiting long?
Shiori: No, I just got here myself.
Goon: Phew, glad I wasn't late.
Shiori: It's so lively around here!

Yukata are amusing to me. While they're now considered to be fancy-yet-light summer wear, the style comes from bathrobes and towels used by nobility a thousand years ago. The kanji literally mean "bathing clothes". Hurray for fashion!


Option 1: Praise her yukata
Option 2: Eh, no need to praise her yukata

Gee. What should we do.


Goon: That yukata really suits you. You look cute!
Shiori: Th, thanks. I'm happy to hear it.

There it is, the bright red blush of one of the most popular 2D girls in Japan. We're going to have to get used to her making this face pretty soon.

Goon: Okay, let's get started! Want to go goldfish scooping?

Hurray for Mini-games!

Goldfish scooping is a very traditional Japanese festival game. Imagine a kiddie pool filled with goldfish, where you score points by scooping them up and putting them in a bowl/bucket. The catch is that instead of something useful like a net or a big cup, you're supposed to catch them with an oversized bubble blower covered with paper. The paper is a little stronger than you'd think, but you have to stop as soon as it breaks. To do well, you have to make quick, darting movements into the water, and you also have to make sure that you catch the fish as close to the edge of your scooper as possible to keep the paper strong. At the end, you can pick one of the goldfish you caught and they'll give it to you in a little baggie to take home. Alternately, you can put them all back like a true sportsman.

For reference, my personal record is 23 fish. I didn't keep any of them.

[fixed]Use the d-pad to move your scoop.
Press the Circle button to put your scoop in the water.
Release the Circle button to lift the goldfish out of the water![/fixed]



It's been at least a decade since I played this mini-game, and I forgot that the mini-game adheres to video game physics and not real-world physics. Instead of dip, move, scoop, you can pretty much catch fish by putting your scoop directly over them and pressing Circle.


Old man: Didn't catch any? Here, you can have one to take home.

At this time, I would like to repeat that my personal record is 23. In real life, I would not have needed this old man's pity.


Goon: Here, Shiori, I want you to have it.
Shiori: Thank you so much!
Shiori: Today was a lot of fun. We should do this again some time, okay?
Goon: Definitely. I'll call you again some time.
Shiori: We should head home, Gunpei-kun.

Shiori will back me up on this. I just had a bad day today, but I could get 23 if I tried again. I just want to keep moving instead of reloading to do a mini-game. :words:

8/7-8/12: Preen
8/13 (Sunday): Study lit

8/14-8/19: Summer camp!


Goon: (Here I am at camp.)

For the most part, TokiMemo summer camp just forces us to participate in club activities for a week. But...

8/15: Event!


Shiori: Oh, Gunpei-kun! How's the band treating you?
Goon: Well, it's nice to be part of the band, but I don't even know where I should start...
Shiori: For starters, make sure you learn how to read music, okay?
Goon: Read music, eh...
Shiori: Good luck in your studies!

...it's a forced participation in club activities that also lets us talk to whichever girl is in our club. There are some events that we can only see if we're in the right club with the right girl.

8/19: Event!

Goon: (Whew... the last night of summer camp.)
(The sound of running water)
Goon: (Wha?! It looks like there's someone in the showers!)


Option 1: Jackpot! Time to peek.
Option 2: Let's not...

The spirit of Porky's lives! Choosing to peek leads to the following choices:

Goon: (Which one should I peek through?)
Option 1: Peek in the left window.
Option 2: Peek in the middle window.
Option 3: Peek in the right window.

Alright. Let's pick the left window for now. What could possibly go wrong?


Goon: #%&$^*#%!#@$%$@%&
Man: Hey there. Care to join us?
Goon: N...no thanks.
Goon: (That was awful...)

The contents of each window are randomized, again to prevent save scumming. If we peek and see the musclemen, our stress goes up by 12. Welp.

RELOAD COUNT: 2

8/14-8/19: Summer camp! (see above)
8/15: Event! (see above)

8/16: New Event!


Goon: Uggggghhhhh, my stomach...
Goon: (Everyone in the club has collapsed, too. Is it food poisoning?)


Shiori: This is all happening because I was careless. I'm so sorry!
Goon: (Shiori was in charge of making breakfast this morning, wasn't she?)
Shiori: I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry!
Goon: (We can't even try to practice today. It hurts so much...!)
Game: By the next day, everyone had miraculously recovered.

Goon: (Alright, we can start practicing again. Shiori seems to have gotten a hold of herself, too.)

And with that, it's back to band practiWHERE DID ALL OF OUR HEALTH GO?


Sweet monkey Jesus, woman, that event gave us -35 Stamina! What did you put in those eggs?!

8/19: Porky's II


Goon: Jackpot! Today is the greatest day of my life.
Girl: EEK! A Peeping Tom!
(Splash!)
Goon: (Crap. I was so happy that I said that out loud.)

That's nice for you, Goon, but this version of summer camp has been a disaster.

RELOAD COUNT: 3

8/14-8/19: Summer camp! (see above)
8/15: Event! (see above)
8/19: Porky's Revenge!



RELOAD COUNT: 4

8/14-8/19: Summer camp! (see above)
8/15: Event! (see above)
8/19: Live Free or Porky's


Goon: What the hell is this? Who decorated this place?
Goon: Is this the Ijuuin's bath?
Goon: I just can't understand how rich people think.

Well at least there was no change in stress. Time to move on!

Ah, who're we kidding. Goon, enjoy your youth while you can for the sake of us old folk.

RELOAD COUNT: 5

8/14-8/19: Summer camp! (see above)
8/15: Event! (see above)
8/19: A Good Day to Porky's



:f5:

RELOAD COUNT: 6

8/14-8/19: Summer camp! (see above)
8/15: Event! (see above)
8/19: Episode VI: Return of the Porky's


Goon: Jackpot! Today is the greatest day of my life.
Girl: EEK! A Peeping Tom!
(Splash!)
Goon: (Crap. I was so happy that I said that out loud.)

Honestly, the best option at the end of summer camp is to avoid peeking on anyone and just go home. But I wanted to show everyone what happens, and how much Konami discourages people from save scumming things like summer camp.

8/20 (Sunday): Time to check the latest issue of Memorial Spot!


Memorial Spot September/October/November
The museum is open!
Current movie playing: "Forres and Gump" (romance)
Concert: Chage and Asu (rock) (Based on Chage and Aska)
Events: The works of a famous painter are on display at the museum.

Goon: (A museum, eh?)

The Konami ad is Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu, an arcade-style baseball game that was new as of the publishing of TokiMemo, and is now approaching its 20th installment.

8/20 (Sunday): Sleep
8/21-8/26: Exercise
8/27 (Sunday): Study lit
8/28-9/2: Exercise

8/31: Special notification

Goon: (The new semester starts tomorrow.)

I forgot to mention this, but the music changes along with the background color every season.

9/3 (Sunday): Call Shiori

Shiori likes romances, so let's go see Forres and Gump, which is totally not Forrest Gump.


(pleasantries)
Goon: Want to go to the theater on 10/1?
Shiori: Let me check... I'm sorry, I'm busy that day. I wish I could go, but...
Goon: D, don't worry about it. I don't mind.
Shiori: We'll try and make it work next time, okay?

First she poisons our stomachs, and now she poisons our hearts... she is a cruel mistress indeed.

RELOAD COUNT: 7

8/28-9/2: Exercise

8/31: Special notification

Goon: (The new semester starts tomorrow.)

9/3 (Sunday) Call Shiori

(pleasantries)
Goon: Want to go to the theater on 10/1?
Shiori: Let me check... I'm sorry, I'm busy that day. I wish I could go, but...
Goon: D, don't worry about it. I don't mind.
Shiori: We'll try and make it work next time, okay?

It was worth a shot.

RELOAD COUNT: 8

8/28-9/2: Exercise

8/31: Special notification

Goon: (The new semester starts tomorrow.)

9/3 (Sunday): Study Lit
9/4-9/9: Sleep
9/10 (Sunday): Call Shiori


(formalities)
Goon: Want to go to the theater on 10/8?
Shiori: Let me check... yes, that's fine.
Goon: Alright, let's meet in front of the theater on that day.
Shiori: Yes, let's. Don't forget, okay?
Goon: No way will I forget. Okay, talk to you later.
(click)
Goon: Yes! I can't wait for the 8th.

It's the home stretch of 1995, and this is a good time to check on Goon's stats!

Goon's stats as of September 10th, 1994:

[fixed]Stamina 65 | Lit 78 | Science 71
Art 80 | Sports 72 | General Knowledge 54
Looks 65 | Guts 25 | Stress 6[/fixed]

Things are progressing well. Quite well. Summer was very good to our stats, with a whopping +50 to Sports. It looks like this fall, we'll be meeting Nijino Saki because the Concert Band will raise Guts above her threshold. We should also prepare for the Ijuuin Christmas Party.


Next time: Fall semester, Christmas, and New Year's!

In case you missed it, the current poll is what to do about Yuina:

A) Stick to the original plan! There are 9* more girls to meet, let's meet more of them instead of getting distracted!

B) Modify the plan slightly to make friends with Yuina. We finish Shiori's route as planned and go straight through to Tokimeki Memorial 2, where we can vote again and stuff the ballot in favor of :science:

C) Do a second, less detailed playthrough with Yuina after Shiori's path is done. Note that this will delay progress through the series by at least a month, based on how difficult it is for me to translate Yuina.

The poll closes at Midnight Pacific time on Saturday, December 7th. I'll be at EA's holiday party and probably pretty drunk at that point, so you can probably sneak in some votes until the morning of the 8th without me noticing.

Chapter 5: Fall 1995, Ducking and Weaving

The first semester wasn't very notable. But now our stats are higher, and things are going to start getting truly hairy. I can show you fear in a handful of blushes...

9/11-9/14, 9/16: :science:
9/15 (holiday): Sleep
9/17 (Sunday): Study lit
9/18-9/22: Sleep
9/23 (holiday): Concert band
9/24 (sunday): Hang out with Yoshio and Friends


It's going to be a quiet September, so I might as well sneak this in just to show a screenshot of what it looks like.

9/25-9/30: Concert Band

9/26: Event!


Goon: (School's out. I feel pretty tired today.)
(THUD)
Girl: Oh, sorry!
Goon: You again?
Girl: Oh no, I won't make it to the concert!
Goon: What's her deal? That's twice now.

Another warning shot from Yuuko. Still in the clear!

10/1 (Sunday): Study lit
10/2-10/7: Concert Band
10/8 (Sunday): Date with Shiori!

Goon: (Today's my date with Shiori! I should go meet her at the theater.)


Goon: Have you been waiting long?
Shiori: No, I just got here myself.
Goon: Phew, glad I wasn't late.
Shiori: The movie's starting soon, we should hurry and get inside.

This dialogue won't change until Shiori's affection rises some more.


Shiori: There are some open seats over there, let's go grab them.

Movie theaters in Japan are pretty different from the ones here in the States. Because real estate is so precious, they tend to be smaller, and built vertically. They have to do way more than sell overpriced popcorn to make their leases, so it's very common for movie theaters in Japan to go upscale. Reserved seating is the norm, ticket prices are about 50% higher than American prices, there are gift shops with merchandise related to many of the movies playing (including Playbill-style programs), and they even serve beer!

Movies usually only last about 4-5 weeks in the theaters, and because screen time is so scarce with so few screens per capita, release dates are rationed out months in advance. Hollywood blockbusters and other guaranteed hits get released in bunches while school is out, often causing a delay in a Japanese release for early summer blockbusters. Spring break, Golden Week, summer vacation, and Christmas are all prime times for movies, and if you've been paying attention, you'll realize that this only covers nine weeks of the year - a bare fraction of the American blockbuster season. The film industry has gone as far as to try and declare Silver Week to try and boost filmwatching, which didn't catch on in the '50s but has been redefined in the last few years and has become a new window for movie-watching. Speaking of changes in the past few years, the Japanese movie industry used to be really arthouse-oriented. These days, it's getting way more commercialized, with a lot of popular franchises getting annual movies. Every year you are guaranteed a Kamen Rider movie, a tokusatsu/Power Rangers movie (sometimes a Kamen Rider-Tokusatsu crossover movie), two Precure movies, a Detective Conan movie, a One Piece movie, and a movie a year from Ghibli as well.


Goon: (Forres and Gump is a movie that really captures the devotion and earnestness of a man in love.)

Nope. It's totally not Forrest Gump.

Voice: "This showing has ended. Please exit the theater."


Goon: Option 1: Wasn't that movie fun?

Shiori likes romances. This is the only right choice.

Shiori: Yes, it was wonderful. I love these movies.
Goon: (Looks like I made a great impression!)
Shiori: Today was a lot of fun. We should do this again some time, okay?
Goon: Definitely. I'll call you again soon.
Shiori: We should head home, Gunpei-kun.

This exchange won't change for a while either. It should start changing on us in a few months, if we play our cards right.


Goon: Hmm? There's a message on the answering machine. I wonder what it is?
Club president: Starting tomorrow, we're getting ready for the culture festival. You need to come help us at the club!
Goon: (I have to help prepare for our club's presentation.)
Goon: (Time to get ready for the culture festival with the rest of the club.)

The only option is club activity, because the Culture festival is coming! Like many school fairs across the world, school festivals in Japan are a combination of street fair and talent show. Most Japanese culture festivals are closed to the public and are by invitation only. Usually, invitations go out to the friends and family of students, and in high school, invitations also go out to middle school students who want to see what the school is like.

The Concert Band, the Light Music Club, the Drama Club, and other art-based clubs usually put on a performance in the gym during the culture festival.

Strangely? No mini-games.

10/9, 10/11-10/13: Concert band
10/10 (holiday): Preen

10/14: Event!


Goon: Today's the culture festival.
Goon: The Concert Band will be performing a game music concert in the gym. I have to go get ready!


Shiori: It's almost time for us to go on stage. Do you think I'll be able to go without missing a note?
Goon: You'll be fine. As long as we do it just like we practiced, it'll go well.
Shiori: You're right. We'll be fine, right?
Goon: I'm telling you it'll be fine. Relax.
Shiori: By the way, what song is this?
Goon: It's a song from a video game. I love this song.
Shiori: A song from a video game... oh, it's time to go on stage.


edit: Friendly Googling in Japanese says that this song is from Gradius. If anyone wants to post the performance on Youtube, I can send you my raw footage and the appropriate time stamps. I don't have the time to do it myself!


Shiori: It looked like the audience didn't really enjoy it.
Goon: Do you think we chose the wrong genre?
Shiori: That may be the case, but we have to make sure we play better next year.
Goon: That's true.
Goon: (And that's how the curtain went down on the culture festival.)

Your success/failure in culture festival activities is mostly based on how often you chose the club activity. We will be better next year so that we can dodge the flood of popularity that Goon will see starting in '96. Cue ominous music!

10/15 (Sunday): Preen
10/16-10/21: Concert Band


For certain activities, girls associated with that activity will appear next to Goon and participate. This has a very small effect on affection, but it adds up over time. While the girl is there, you can get a special scene for getting a full week of successful activities. Conveniently, this happens in Shiori's very first week hanging out at club with us!

10/21: Event!


Goon: (This week went perfectly according to plan!)
Shiori: You played really well today!
Goon: Thanks.
Goon: (Awesome, I'm even more motivated now.)

10/22 (Sunday): Sleep
10/23-10/28: Concert Band


No event. I just think Shiori's sprite is hilarious on bad days.

10/29 (Sunday): Study lit
10/30-11/2, 11/4: Sleep

10/31: Event!


Goon: (Man, I am exhausted. I should hurry home.)
Goon: (Oh hey, that's Shiori over there.)
Goon: Hey, Shiori!
Shiori: Oh, Gunpei-kun. Are you heading home?

Option 1: Want to walk home together?
Option 2: Yes I am. Bye!

Walking home from school or walking a girl home is another of those small events that can raise the affection of a girl slowly but surely. It happens randomly after regular school days.

Goon: Want to walk home together?
Shiori: If we walk home together, it could be really embarrassing because my friends might start to gossip about us...
Goon: Oh, I see. Well then, bye.
Shiori: Sorry. Goodbye!
Goon: (Can't be helped. Time to head home alone.)

Seriously, Shiori? You live next door. Who could you possibly be afraid of?


Oh. Good point.

11/3 (holiday): Read Memorial Spot, then call Yuina
Cultural note: The holiday on 11/3 is why most culture festivals happen in the fall - it's Culture Day in Japan.


Memorial Spot December/January/February
The aquarium has opened!
Current movie playing: Somersault (The Japanese name for Guile's Flash Kick - meaning that this is Street Fighter: the Movie. Let's... let's not take anyone to see that movie.)
Concert: WIZARD (Legendary rock group Zard, who notably provided the opening and ending songs for Tokimeki Memorial 3. These songs were pretty much the only good things about the game.)
A koala is coming to the zoo!

The Konami ad is for Twinbee, which is actually included in Tokimemo as a mini-game/Easter egg. You have to join the Computer Club for it.

Goon: (Hmm, an aquarium? Oh yeah, and it seems like it'll be easier to manage my album data if I remember to create a system file.)

Um, thanks.


Yuina: Yes, this is Himoo.
Goon: Um... this is Fudou Gunpei.
Yuina: Gunpei-kun. You've been acting overly familiar with me lately. Can I help you?
Goon: Want to go to the zoo on 11/26?
Yuina: Your luck has run out....
Yuina: ...for I appear to be free on that day.

I'm not falling for it this time, woman. I actually made a mistake here calling on 11/3 and not 11/5. The game only allows setting dates 4 weeks in advance, and I meant to have Yuina meet the koala. The koala and Yuina have a... special relationship. We'll find out more if I go back for a Yuina playthrough. But my memory of it is why I set the koala as my cursor.

Goon: Okay, let's meet in front of the zoo on the 26th.
Yuina: You dare to give me orders?
Goon: Alright then, where would you like to meet?
Yuina: ...Your previous suggestion is acceptable.
Yuina: Our business is completed, and I am hanging up.
Goon: Woohoo! I can't wait for the 26th.

11/5 (Sunday): :science:

Tactically, this is not ideal, since Science is one of the activities we can still safely do at school. However, midterms are coming up and it's important to raise our stats whenever an opportunity arises.

11/6-11/11: Concert Band

11/7: Repeated event: Seeing Shiori after school Shot down again. This is exactly the same dialogue as before, and it happens so often, I'm only going to bring it up when we actually do go home with someone in the future.

11/12 (Sunday): Study Lit
11/13-11/18: :science:
11/19 (Sunday): Sleep
11/20-11/22, 11/24-11/25: :science:
11/23 (holiday): Preen

11/26: Date with Yuina

Goon: Today's my date with Yuina.
Goon: (Alright, let's go wait for Yuina at the zoo.)


Goon: Were you waiting long?
Yuina: Not really. You're right on time.
Goon: I'm glad I wasn't late.
Yuina: Come on, we're going in now.

Translation/cultural note: Just like it was with opening her birthday present, when Yuina says this, there is no opportunity to say no.


Yuina: I would love to have this many lab animals.

Option 1: Can you really keep that many pets?
Option 2: No way, that's cruel!
Option 3: Do you think this many would be enough?

Tactics decree that we should find as neutral a response as possible here. But this seems like a bad-bad-good set of choices, so we'll stick with 3.


Yuina: If I had this many, it would be a good first step.
Goon: (Looks like I made a decent impression.)


Yuina: It's nice to take a break like this every once in a while.
Goon: Does that mean I can invite you out again some time?
Yuina: I can't allow you to get too familiar... but a little bit won't hurt.
Goon: Great, I'll call you.
Yuina: It's time for me to head home. Bye, Gunpei-kun.

Unlike Shiori, hearing this from Yuina is a good sign. We'd like to hear neutral responses from her for as long as possible.

Before choosing our weekday action, it's time to check the calendar.


12/24 is the big Christmas party, and while Japan doesn't generally observe Christianity, the secular version of Christmas has been adopted by the Japanese as a day for romance, gift-giving, and, strangely, Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's a pretty big party holiday like New Year's Eve here, and it doesn't hurt that 12/23 has been a national holiday since the start of the Heisei period in 1989 - it's the Emperor's birthday.

With midterms coming up, we should make sure to keep working on those academic stats. Sports can wait until next year's sports day.

11/27-12/2: :science:
12/3 (Sunday): Preen

Maintaining our looks is going to be important too. You'll see why on Christmas.

12/4-12/9: Concert band
12/4: EVENT!


(THUD)
Goon: Ow.
Mysterious Girl: Oops! I'm sorry!
Goon: Hmm? Oh, I'm fine now.
Mysterious Girl: I'm truly sorry! I've... got to go...
Goon: What a weird hairstyle.

Surprisingly, this is the introduction of Tatebayashi Miharu, one of the game's secret characters. I didn't include her in the poll because meeting her is entirely random. If this keeps up, she'll just keep bumping into Goon in the hallway, apologizing, and running off. She's not tied to a single stat, her events are entirely RNG-based, and you can't call her to invite her out on dates, so she makes for a really boring play-through.

Also, she's a stalker. If you keep an eye out for loopy green hair in the background, you'll probably start finding her head pretty quickly. Finding Miharu's hair peeking out is like this game's version of Where's Waldo?

12/10 (Sunday): Study lit
12/11-12/16: Midterms

Goon's stats are significantly higher this time around, leading to this screen:


Bam. 29th in the class, ahead of everyone but Shiori. All that studying has paid off! Suck it, Rei, all that money and yet your test scores are worse than Goon's. Also of note: Miharu is surprisingly smart. I guess that's what comes from doing nothing but staying at home and stalking Goon.

12/17: Call Shiori

Successfully make a date for 1/14 at Kirameki Central Park. I've skipped the dialogue, since it's still the same. Also for reasons that are explained later.

12/18-12/22: Preen
12/23 (Holiday): Study lit
12/24 (Christmas Eve): Ijuuin Christmas Party

The Ijuuin family's Christmas party is the highlight of Tokimeki Memorial's social calendar. The main reason we've been spending so much time maintaining our looks is because the party has a bouncer - if we don't look good enough, he'll kick us out. There is a second way in if our Sports stat is high enough and we can get past him, but the Sports requirement is way higher than the Looks requirement.

Goon: (They're holding a Christmas party at the Ijuuin house today. I should probably head to the grounds.)
Goon: Here I am at the Ijuuin house. No matter how many times I see it, this place still looks enormous to me.


Man in black: Would you happen to be a friend of Rei-sama?
Goon: I don't know if we're friends, but we're classmates.
Man in black: That's good enough. Please come inside.

Goon: Looks like the party's just starting.

Rei: Welcome, everyone, to the pride of the Ijuuin family - our Christmas party.
Rei: Forget your dreary everyday lives, and make merry tonight!
Goon: What a poser.


Rei: Did you say something?
Goon: Crap, Ijuuin? How long have you been standing there?
Rei: Your manner of speech is quite rude... but today is a special day. Perhaps I shall forgive you.
Goon: I don't need your forgiveness.
Rei: Hmph. You have some nerve, coming in here looking like that.
Goon: I don't need to take that from you.
Rei: I shall tell the man at the gate to be more discerning next year.
Goon: (...he's not even listening to a word I say.)

The minimum Looks to get into the first Christmas party is 70. In year 2, it requires Looks 100, and year 3, it requires Looks 120. For reference, those numbers in Sports are 150/175/200.

Rei: Well, now that you're here, you might as well sample some of the haute cuisine that you peasants cannot normally enjoy.
Rei: Haaaahahahahahaha! And now, I must excuse myself.
Goon: What a dick.

And now comes the important part of the Christmas party: talking to the girls. The game will choose the three girls with the highest affection rating and have us talk to them. Their affection rating will go up further. This is why, since we've only met two girls, we're going to be forced to meet a third. It's also important for the mini-game later.


Shiori: Ah, Gunpei! You were invited too!
Goon: Oh, Shiori, you're here?
Goon: (I talked with Shiori for a while)
Shiori: My friends are waiting for me, so I'm going to go meet back up with them.
Goon: Okay, see you later.


Yuina: Oh, Gunpei-kun. You came as well.
Goon: I didn't expect to find you here, Himoo-san.
Goon: (I talked to Himoo-san for a while)
Yuina: I still have some experiments to run, so I must go soon.
Goon: Okay, see you later.

Goon: (Hmm? That girl over there isn't looking very well.)


Goon: Excuse me, are you feeling sick? Do you need any help?
(sound of girl collapsing)
Goon: Whoa! Are you okay? Somebody help!
Mio: I'm... I'm okay.
Goon: Are you sure you're okay? You scared the hell out of me, falling over like that.
Mio: I'm sorry for shocking you like that...
Goon: That's all fine, but you should get more rest if you're feeling ill.
Mio: Thank you. My name is Kisaragi Mio. Could you tell me your name?
Goon: Oh, uh, I'm Fudou Gunpei. Anyway, Kisaragi-san, take care of yourself and don't overdo it.
Mio: Thank you for your concern, Fudou-san.

Here comes one of the biggest barriers to the path of Utter Perfection: the present exchange. The capstone of the Ijuuin Christmas party is a white elephant exchange, where everyone brings one present and opens a different one. There are four presents to pick from - one from each of the girls we've met earlier in the party, and one from Rei himself. Opening a girl's present lowers Stress by 10 and slightly raises her affection rating. Getting Rei's present raises stress by 10.


There is no way to tell present which is which. It's a 25% chance of getting it right each time.

Game: It's time for the gift exchange. Pick which present you'd like to open.
Goon: (Which should I pick?)


Game: It's Kisaragi-san's present! A book of Goethe poems... that's so like her.
Goon: (I'm glad I came today! It's time to head home, though.)

At this point, I realized that I'd made a terrible mistake and saved at the end of November. WELP.

RELOAD COUNT: 9

To be continued! Next time: Way more than Twelve Days of Christmas. Plus: Not THE God... A god.

Christmas 1995: Groundhog Goon.

Because I was careless about saving in Christmas, I had to reload to 11/26. This means that the test scores, the meeting with Miharu, and the meeting with Mio never happened. Some of these things are better than others.

11/27-12/2: :science:
12/2: New event!

This week of :science: has been nothing but failures, and as you might expect, there's an event for that too.


Rei: With such pathetic efforts, you cannot and will not attract the attention of a lady.
Goon: .......
Goon: (Ugh, I just can't bring myself to care anymore.)

12/3 (Sunday): Study lit
12/4-12/9: Concert Band
12/10 (Sunday): Preen
12/11-12/16: Midterms

This time, the results are only good enough for 32nd in class. Well, I guess that's alright.

12/17 (Sunday): Concert Band
12/18-12/22: Concert Band

12/21: Event!


I wanted to do something different this run, so I invited Yuina to walk home.

Goon: (Oh, hey, Himoo-san is right over there.)
Goon: Hey, Himoo-san.
Yuina: Gunpei-kun. Are you heading home?
Goon: Yeah. Want to walk home together?
Yuina: That's fine with me. And now, we head home.
Goon: Okay, let's go.

You're probably getting the idea now of why Yuina fans call her the -sama honorific. She just can't comprehend a world in which her authority is not absolute.


Goon: Himoo-san, what're your plans over winter break?
Yuina: I plan on nothing but research the entire time.
Goon: O...oh. (I feel stupid for asking.)
Goon: (We walked home talking about little stuff like that.)

12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Second Day of Christmas

The exchanges with the man in black, Rei, Shiori, and Yuina are the same this time.


(bump)
Mira: Eek!
Goon: Oh, I'm sorry!
Mira: Hey, why don't you watch where you're going?
Goon: No, um, uh...
Goon: Uh, it's because you're so pretty I wasn't paying attention...
Mira: I see. Well if that was the case, I can't blame you.
Goon: (Whew, she bought it)
Mira: What is your name?
Goon: It's Fudou Gunpei.
Mira: You should already know this, but my name is Kagami Mira. And now, you'll have to excuse me.
Goon: (That girl was the same Kagami-san who has the fan club at school?)
Goon: (She seems kind of harsh.)

Game: It's time for the gift exchange. Pick which present you'd like to open.

pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease


Game: It's Kagami-san's present! What? A fan club membership kit? It even has a membership card!
Goon: (I'm glad I came today! It's time to head home, though.)

RELOAD COUNT: 10

Yes, I forgot to save again. :bang:

11/27-12/2: :science:
12/3 (Sunday): Study lit
12/4-12/9: Concert Band Successful week event - see above
12/10 (Sunday): Remember to save then Study lit
12/11-12/16: Midterms Back to 29th. Woohoo!
12/17 (Sunday): Preen
12/18-12/22: Exercise
12/22: Event!

I think I've made a mistake. I chose to exercise while our Guts are high, and it's not Winter Break yet. I think this means... oh no...


Goon: Wheeeew, what a workout.
Goon: (Running in the morning feels great!)


Nozomi: Good morning!
Goon: Uh, good morning.
Goon: (I wonder why she's talking to me?)
Nozomi: Did you just finish your morning run?
Goon: Yeah, I did. Same with you?
Nozomi: I've never missed my 50k in the morning.
Goon: F...50K?! Every morning?! Are... are you a Kirameki High student?
Nozomi: Yes, I am. I'm Kiyokawa Nozomi. Do you go there too?
Goon: Yeah. My name's Fudou Gunpei. Wait, Kiyokawa...
Goon: You mean THAT Kiyokawa, from the swimming team?
Nozomi: One and the same... so you've heard of me?
Goon: Of course I have, you're super famous!
Goon: (She's a super high school level swimmer. I thought she'd be... less refined, I guess?)

Yes, the phrasing used to describe Nozomi is the exact same that Dangan Ronpa uses years later to describe its characters. Take that as you will.

Nozomi: Super famous, you say? Well, whatever - let's go running together some time!
Goon: Hahaha... I hope I can keep up with you, Kiyokawa-san.
Nozomi: Hahaha, no way. Anyway, it's time for the next leg of my run.
Goon: I think I'll stay here and take a breather.
Nozomi: Here, I don't need the rest of this juice. Have it. Bye!
Goon: ...gulpgulpgulp...
Goon: Wait, isn't this an indirect kiss? Jackpot!

12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Third Day of Christmas

Most everything is the same, until...


Those dead eyes... Shiori... don't say it...

Shiori: Oh yeah, I have a friend I want to introduce you to.

Oh God. No. Not now. Not this early.

Goon: Introduce me to?
Shiori: If you stay here, she'll come by, so please just wait here for a second.
Goon: Wait for a second, you say...
Shiori: I have to go, talk to you later!
Goon: Talk to you later!
Goon: (Huh? I wonder who it is?)


REE REE REE REE REE REE

Megumi: Um... good evening.
Goon: Good evening.
Goon: (Who is this girl?)
Megumi: Um... I'm Fujisaki-san's friend...
Megumi: Mikihara... Megumi.
Megumi: And um... farewell.
Goon: ...We never actually talked about anything.
Goon: (Mikihara-san, eh? I wonder what she wanted? She was pretty cute, though.)

REE REE REE REE REE REE


Nozomi: Oh, Fudou-kun! You got invited?
Goon: Kiyokawa-san, I didn't know you were here.
Goon: (I talked to Kiyokawa-san for a while)
Nozomi: Sorry to cut this short, but I gotta go.
Goon: Okay, talk to you later!

Gift Exchange of DOOOOOM


Game: Ugh... This... is this a signed 8x10? What the hell is that guy thinking?
Goon: (I really would've preferred a present from a girl... ugh, guess I'll head home.)

:bang:

RELOAD COUNT: 11

12/11-12/16: Midterms


Rei beat us this time. Damn him!

12/17 (Sunday): Preen
12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Fourth Day of Christmas

This run is the same as the first day of Christmas - we meet Mio at the end. And we get the book of Goethe poems again. I really wish Past Me would remember to save on the night of the 17th!

RELOAD COUNT: 12

12/11-12/16: Midterms
12/17 (Sunday): Preen
12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Fifth Day of Christmas

In this version, Shiori introduces us to Mikihara Megumi again, then we meet Yuina.


Game: It's Himoo-san's present! The Hyper-Watch! Amazing!

RELOAD COUNT: 13

12/11-12/16: Midterms
12/17 (Sunday): Preen
12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Sixth Day of Christmas


In this run, the two Preen actions failed, which left the Looks stat at 69. Let's see what happens! At least it won't end in a 25% lottery!


Man in black: Would you happen to be a friend of Rei-sama?
Goon: I don't know if we're friends, but we're classmates.
Man in Black: I beg your pardon, but I cannot allow you inside wearing such clothing.
Goon: What? Is that so?
Man in Black: Indeed. My instructions are very clear.
Goon: (Damn. I guess I have to celebrate Christmas alone this year.)


Goon: Merry Christmas! I'm having so much fun.
Goon: Ugh, next year. Next year I'll have a merry Christmas for sure!

RELOAD COUNT: 14

12/11-12/16: Midterms
12/17 (Sunday): Preen
12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Seventh Day of Christmas

In this version, we meet Shiori, who introduces us to Megumi again. Then it's Yuina, and then...


Game: It's Himoo-san's present! The Hyper-Watch! Amazing!

RELOAD COUNT: 15

12/11-12/16: Midterms
12/17 (Sunday): Preen
12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Eighth Day of Christmas

This run has no Megumi, so it goes Shiori, Yuina, and then...


Ayako: Merry Christmas!
Goon: Umm, Merry Christmas. (?? Who is this girl?)
Ayako: You were just talking to Ijuuin-kun, weren't you? Are you a Kirameki High student?
Goon: I am, but who're you?
Ayako: I'm Katagiri Ayako. What's your name?
Goon: I'm Fudou Gunpei.
Ayako: As I was saying, it's rare to see one of Ijuuin-kun's friends.
Goon: We're not really friends.
Ayako: Don't be so shy. I hope we bump into each other again at school!
Goon: Y...yeah. (What do I have to be shy about?)
Ayako: Alright, goodbye!
Goon: G, goodbye. (She's kinda weird.)

Translator's note: Ayako says Goodbye twice here. Once in English, and once in Japanese. Her English is pretty damn good, for a Japanese teenager.


Game: It's Katagiri-san's present! 16.7 million colors of pastels? How can we use all of those?

Sorry Ayako, I do like you, I really do, but...

RELOAD COUNT: 16

12/11-12/16: Midterms
12/17 (Sunday): Preen

I REMEMBERED TO SAVE HERE

12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Ninth Day of Christmas

Shiori, Yuina, and the introduction to Mio this time



why does this game hate me

RELOAD COUNT: 17

12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Tenth Day of Christmas

Shiori -> Megumi -> Yuina


Game: It's Mikihara-san's present! A plush Banana Crocodile! Isn't it cute?

This is the worst possible outcome. We do not want Megumi's affection going up, since the entire reason she asks Shiori to introduce her to us is because she's already interested. Keep the bombs away from us, woman!

RELOAD COUNT: 18

12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Eleventh Day of Christmas

Shiori, Yuina, and Mira.


no please I have a family

RELOAD COUNT: 19

12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Twelfth Day of Christmas

Shiori -> Megumi -> Yuina


why

RELOAD COUNT: 20

12/18-12/22: Concert Band
12/23 (Holiday): Preen
12/24: The Thirteenth Day of Christmas

Shiori, Megumi, and Yuina


Game: It's Shiori's present! A classical score... this is a pretty nice gift!



12/24 (night): SAVE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SAVE

Last post of the night coming up: New Year's Day!

New Year's 1996, Not THE God... just A god.

First order of business: We've ripped off the band-aid and met Mad Bomber Megumi. Because we scored so high on midterms, it was inevitable - if we hadn't met her at the Christmas party, Shiori would've introduced her to us on Valentine's Day. So in the long run, it's probably better to rip off the band-aid this way. Exposition Fairy, we need you!

12/25-12/30: Concert Band
12/31 (Sunday): Call Yoshio


Girl's voice: Yes, this is the Saotome residence.
Goon: Is Yoshio-kun home?
Girl's voice: Oh, you want to talk to my brother?
(the sound of running)
Girl's voice: Onii-chaaaan! Phone call!

Our first sign of Yumi, Mad Bomber #2. Please stay away for another 4 months, Yumi. Thank you.

Yoshio: Yes, this is Saotome.
Goon: Hello? It's Fudou.
Yoshio: Oh. It's you.
Goon: What's with tone of voice? Are you sad that I called you?
Yoshio: Don't ask stupid questions.
Yoshio: So what'd you call for?

The same old choices are here - Yoshio can be used to unlock date spots for you if you forget to check Memorial Spot every 3 months, but we're not interested in that.

Goon: I'd like to know what the girls think of me.
Yoshio: What they think of you, eh? Gimme a second.
Yoshio: What the girls think of you is...


This is... both good and bad. It's good that we have Shiori's affection climbing. It's bad that Yuina and Megumi are right there with her.

Yoshio: Something like this.
Goon: (Should I ask him about any one girl?)

Goon: I'd like to know more about Mikihara-san, if you can tell me anything.
Yoshio: Yeah, sure. Gimme a second.
Yoshio: Mikihara, Mikihara...
Yoshio: There she is. Okay, listen up and take notes.


[fixed]Mikihara Megumi
Birthday: September 5th
Sign: Virgo
Blood Type: A
Measurements: 78-57-79 (31-22-31)
Club: None
Notes: Quiet girl who loves animals.
Gets easily flustered around boys, so has very few male friends.[/fixed]

Goon: Thanks! Sorry for bothering you with this stuff.
Yoshio: Bah, it's no problem at all. Ask me any time you want to know about a girl.
(click)

1/1 (holiday): New Year's Day!

While Japan converted its New Year celebration to the solar calendar back in the Meiji Restoration, it still holds much of the same meaning to the Japanese that it does to the rest of Asia. So on New Year's Day, most Japanese people visit their local shrine (some people go to Buddhist temples, but this is less common) to wash away the bad luck of the last year, pray for good fortune in the upcoming year, and buy good luck charms in a tradition known as Hatsumoude (&#21021;&#35427;) - which means the first shrine visit of the year.

New Year's is more of a family holiday than Christmas is in Japan, and many people in the big cities "go home" to the countryside during this time. It's the biggest travel season of the year.


(ding-dong!)
Goon: Who could that be?
Deliveryman: Here're your New Year's cards!
Goon: (Sweet! Himoo-san sent a New Year's card. How lucky!)

New Year's cards in Japan are a very formal and artistic thing - you'll see more of those in TokiMemo 2, so I won't cover them here.

Goon: So what should I do now?


Option 1: Alright! Let's invite a girl to go to Hatsumoude.
Option 2: Alright! Let's go to Hatsumoude alone!

There is only one choice that matters.

Goon: Who should I invite?

Again, there is only one real choice.

Goon: Let's try calling Shiori.

Shiori: Hello, this is the Fujisaki residence.
Goon: Happy New Year! This is Fudou.
Shiori: Happy New Year, Gunpei-kun.
Goon: Shiori, are you free right now?
Shiori: Yes, I'm free, did you have something in mind?
Goon: Do you want to go to Hatsumoude?
Shiori: Sure, let's go.
Goon: Cool, I'll wait outside.
Shiori: I think it'll be a while before I'm ready, so I'll come to your house.
Goon: Got it. I'll wait here.
Shiori: See you in a bit.

(ding dong!)
Goon: (Is that Shiori?)


Goon: You're wearing a haregi...
Shiori: Does it look weird on me?

A haregi is a very specific kind of formal kimono. It's only worn by women and only on special occasions. In this game, only Yukari and Shiori wear one on New Year's.

Option 1: It really suits you.
Option 2: That looks awful on you.

Some day, I'll choose option 2 just to see what happens. This is not that day.

Shiori: You really mean it? Thanks!
Shiori: Let's go!


Shiori: It's less crowded than I expected.
Goon: Let's go pay our respects.
Shiori: Lead the way.


Goon: what should I pray for?

Option 1: Success in academics
Option 2: Health
Option 3: Luck in love

A quick note on what's going on here - a typical Hatsumoude starts with ceremonially washing your hands to wash away the bad luck and impurities of the last year. Then everyone lines up to pray at the front of the temple. The general method of prayer is to toss a coin or two into that grill-looking thing (which is a collection box), ring the shrine bell if there is one, then clap your hands, close your eyes, and pray for something good to happen.

While most everyone does this at Hatsumoude, this style of prayer isn't limited to Hatsumoude. You can see Japanese people doing it all year long when they want to make something good happen. Prayers for healthy children, traffic safety, good grades, and, if you go to the shrines I do, baseball championships are very common.

In terms of actual game effect, all three of these wishes do exactly what they say on the box. Praying for success at school makes it easier to raise academic stats. Praying for Health provides about 25-30 Stamina, or the equivalent of 2 Sundays of sleeping. Praying for luck in love is just asking for bombs to rain from the sky. For every TokiMemo but 4, the right answer is always to pray for good grades.


God: (Your wish shall be granted.)
Goon: (Hmm? It feels like my thoughts are acquiring speed.)

The lips acquire stains, the stains become a warn... wait, wrong universe. Anyway, God in this case isn't The Big Guy; it's just one of the local gods that the shrine has been erected to. No, it's not Bill Murray. Though that would be awesome.


Shiori: Hey, what did you pray for?
Goon: It's, um, it's a secret. What about you?
Shiori: If you won't tell me, then I'll keep mine a secret too.
Shiori: Want to go pull our fortunes?

When the Japanese say "pull a fortune", they mean it literally. At most shrines, they have dozens of fortunes written out and arranged on numbered shelves. In order to find out which fortune is yours, you shake around a little cylindrical box with a small opening on one end. Once you're confident you're going to pull the best fortune, you pull out a stick with a number etched on it. The people at the shrine will then take that numbered fortune and hand it to you, where it sums up your upcoming year with various levels of luckiness before going into more detail about various aspects of your life, from finance to romance.

If you don't like the fortune you pulled, tradition says to tie the fortune around the shrine's tree or a special rack, either of which will leech away the bad luck.

In gameplay terms, you know what this means? Yes, it's time for mini-games!


Goon: (Let's see, this year, my luck is going to be...)

There's no explanation for this mini-game, but it's super simple. Press Circle and you'll pull a fortune for the year. Good fortunes lower Stress, and bad fortunes raise Stress. You can get the best fortune by pressing Circle right when the box is in the center, but this mini-game works on the pachinko/skeeball principle. If you go for the highest score and miss by a little bit, you'll get nothing. Meanwhile, if you aim for the outsides, you can get good luck without stressing about it.


I don't know why, but Goon really puts his back into shaking that box.


Goon: This... this is...!


Goon: Ooh, Good Luck Ahead.
Goon: (Eh, could've been worse.)


Shiori: Hey, how's it look?
Goon: Go ahead and see for yourself.
Shiori: Ooh, not bad. This might be the best result anyway.
Goon: What about yours, Shiori? Let me see!
Shiori: Well... okay, I don't mind.
Goon: Wow, you pulled Great Luck! No fair hogging all the luck.
Shiori: But, um, you know what they say, "moderation in all things".
Goon: You don't have to console me, I don't really care.
Goon: (I. Am. So. Jealous.)

Shiori, of course, always draws &#22823;&#21513;, or Great Luck. Goon's reactions to his various fortunes are pretty funny, so we'll take a look at some of those later.


Shiori: Let's both work to make this year as good a year as possible, okay?
Goon: You got it. Should we head home?
Shiori: Yes, let's.

1/2-1/6: Concert Band
1/7: Call Shiori

Goon: Want to go to the zoo on February 4th?
Shiori: Let me check... oh, sorry. I'm busy that day.
Goon: It's, it's fine, I don't mind.
Shiori: I'll try to make it next time!
Goon: I will.
Goon: (Dammit. Next time!)

RELOAD COUNT: 21

Two reasons to reload here: One, I forgot it was winter break - using that time on club activities is a waste of precious stat-building time. Two, let's see more of those fortune scenes. They're funny.

12/25-12/30: Exercise
12/31 (Sunday): Study lit
1/1: New Year's, Part 2

Everything's the same, up until...


Goon: Bad luck...
Goon: (It's bad news right from the start this year...)


Shiori: Hey, how's it look?
Goon: Go ahead and see for yourself.
Shiori: Oh. But maybe this means you've used up all your bad luck for the year!
Goon: What about yours, Shiori?
Shiori: M, Mine? Mine was, um... Good Luck Ahead. Yeah.
Goon: Are you telling me the truth? Let me see.
Shiori: Sure, you can read it - oops! I dropped it. Oh no, now it's unreadable.
Goon: ......
Goon: (She definitely pulled Great Luck, didn't she...)

RELOAD COUNT: 22

12/25-12/30: Exercise
12/31 (Sunday): Study lit
1/1 (New Year's Day): New Year's #3!

Everything's the same, until...


Goon: Oh hey, Good Luck.
Goon: (Not bad, not bad)

The rest of the conversation is the same as the &#26411;&#21513;/Good Luck Ahead conversation above.

1/2-1/6: Exercise
1/7 (Sunday): Sleep

That's it for now - it's 3 months until Finals week and spring break of year 1. Our stat growth is pretty much amazing, thanks to keeping focused. But with more girls entering the picture, we're going to start losing weekends and vacation time. Building and balancing stats is going to be tricky in the years ahead!

Fudou Gunpei's stats as of January 7th, 1996:

[fixed]
Stamina 52 | Lit 114 | Science 110
Art 116 | Sports 85 | General Knowledge 77
Looks 72 | Guts 43 | Stress 2[/fixed]

Here's a reminder of what the stat goals are for Shiori. Remember, if we miss these by even one point, it's the Bad Ending:

[fixed]
Stamina 50+ | Lit 130+ | Science 130+
Art 130+ | Sports 110+ | General Knowledge 120+
Looks 100+ | Guts 100+ | Stress 50-[/fixed]

Guts is going to be the hardest stat to build, since it doesn't grow quickly. Thankfully, Concert Band is also one of the ideal Shiori-route clubs because it raises Guts while not straining Stamina too much.

Come to think of it, I just realized that even though we're past Saki's Guts threshold, we didn't manage to meet her in all of that Christmas loading and reloading. In fact, technically the only characters we haven't met yet are Yukari and Saki. How the hell did that happen?

Next time: Spring 1996, The Chainsaw Juggling Begins. Plus, the next poll. It should be up on Tuesday night. Ask me any questions you want in the meantime!

Chapter 8: Spring 1996, Walking the Tightrope

1995 was pretty good to our young Goon. His grades went up, Shiori started to notice him, and he was handsome enough to pass the Ijuuin family's standards. Miraculously, he pulled Shiori's present from the pile (what are the odds? One in thirteen, it turns out) and the next year is going to be critical in his road to finding love and Utter Perfection. That Yang Guo mask is starting to slip off, though - Mad Bomber Megumi is now in the mix, and that means a few less Sundays a year to build stats.

From this point on, the critical juggling act is to balance social obligations while focusing on making Shiori happy and still building those last few stats toward Shiori's exacting standards. It's not bad with only three characters met so far, but Saki is still yet to enter the mix, and Mad Bomber Yumi lurks just around the corner as well...

1/8-1/13: (New semester starts!) Concert Band
1/14 (Sunday): Sleep
1/15 (holiday): Study lit
1/16-1/20: Concert Band

1/18: Event!


Goon: (It's after school. I have a bad feeling about this...)
(thud)
Girl: I'm sorry!
Goon: Could you cut that out?
Girl: Oh no! I'm going to be late!
Goon: What the hell is her deal? Is she staging these crashes for insurance fraud or something?

I feel like playing Saints Row now. I just imagine Yuuko running around hitting the Ragdoll Physics button and I start laughing.

1/21 (Sunday): Exercise
1/22-1/27: Concert Band

1/24: New event!


Goon: (Man, I'm tired today. I should hurry home.)
Goon: (Oh hey, Mikihara-san's right over there.)
Goon: Hey, Mikihara-san!
Megumi: Oh! Fudou-san. Are you headed home?

Option 1: Want to walk together?
Option 2: Yes. Goodbye!

DANGER GOON ROBINSON! DANGER GOON ROBINSON! CHOOSE OPTION TWO

Megumi: Oh. Goodbye.

oh god oh god oh god

1/27: Praised by Shiori for a perfect week

See previous posts; it's the exact same event. Awesome, though! Let's call her up, we should make sure to keep that affection high. We just had a great week, what could possibly go wrong?

1/28: Call Shiori

Goon: Want to go to the shopping district on 2/11?
Shiori: Let me check... I'm sorry, I'm busy that day. I wish I could go, but...
Goon: D, don't worry about it. I don't mind.
Shiori: We'll try and make it work next time, okay?

RELOAD COUNT: 23

1/22-1/27: Concert Band
1/28: Call Shiori


Goon: Want to go to the zoo on 2/12?
Shiori: Let me check... yes, that's fine.
Goon: Alright, let's meet in front of the zoo on that day.
Shiori: Yes, let's. Don't forget, okay?
Goon: No way will I forget. Okay, talk to you later.
(click)
Goon: Yes! I can't wait for the 12th.

1/29-2/3: Sleep
2/4 (Sunday): Read Memorial Spot, then study lit


Memorial Spot March/April/May
The stadium is finished!
Movie: Fungaa! (Horror) (Fungaa is the noise Frankenstein's Monster makes in Japanese - you might remember this if you've ever read or seen Princess Resurrection. That makes this movie the 1994 Frankenstein.)
Concert: Koudama Riko (idol) Kouda Mariko was a popular singer and voice actress at this time. Amusingly, she appears as one of the main characters of Mitsumete Knight, a 1998 fantasy-themed follow-up to Tokimeki Memorial. It didn't really take off, but it wasn't for a lack of talent thrown at it.
Stadium: March - Pro Wrestling
April - Baseball
May - Baseball
Events: The cherry blossoms will be in full bloom at Kirameki Central Park
The dolphin show is starting at the aquarium!

Goon: (The stadium's finished? Oh, and in free mouse mode I can press L2 to grab on to icons.)

Sadly, the advent of the stadium means that there isn't room on this for Konami game ads.

2/5-2/10: :science:
2/11 (Sunday): Preen
2/12 (holiday): Date with Shiori

Goon: (Today's my date with Shiori. I should go wait for her in front of the zoo.)


Goon: Have you been waiting long?
Shiori: No, I just got here myself.
Goon: Phew, glad I wasn't late.
Shiori: Let's go in!
Goon: Yeah, let's go.


Shiori: That koala is really cute, isn't it?

Option 1: Yeah, it really is cute.
Option 2: But its eyes are creepy.
Option 3: It's really, unbelievably ugly.

Yuina is the only character who doesn't like the koala. It's complicated. But for Shiori, 1 is the right answer.

Shiori: Yeah, I'm glad you think so too.
Goon: (Looks like I made a great impression!)
Shiori: Today was a lot of fun. We should do this again some time, okay?
Goon: Definitely. I'll call you again some time.
Shiori: We should head home, Gunpei-kun.

2/13-2/18: :science:

2/14: Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day has been adopted by a surprisingly large portion of Asia, largely thanks to the widespread influence of Japanese candy companies. Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan have found it so successful and profitable that they've separated out days for girls giving guys chocolate (Valentine's Day, 2/14) and for guys giving girls some other kind of confection (White Day, 3/14) in order to extend the candy-buying season.

There are two important kinds of chocolate given on these days: &#32681;&#29702;&#12481;&#12519;&#12467;/Giri Chocolate, which is given to friends out of a sense of obligation, and &#26412;&#21629;&#12481;&#12519;&#12467;/Honmei Chocolate, which is given out of love and affection. The difference between these two kinds of chocolate is mostly determined by intent, but you can also tell which is which by the amount of effort that went into it. Homemade chocolate made just for you? Possibly in the shape of a heart? Honmei Choco. A bunch of Hershey's Kisses and she asks you to pick one or two you like? Giri choco. Really expensive assortment? Honmei choco. And so on, and so forth.

There are other kinds of chocolate given to family members and given as simple thank-yous, but they aren't relevant in the TokiMemoverse, so we'll ignore them.


Rei: Hello and good morning.
Goon: What do you want, Ijuuin?
Rei: Today is Valentine's Day, is it not? I could not possibly hope to equal you, but I did receive some paltry amount of chocolates.
Rei: Observe for yourself, that is all I have managed.


Goon: ...
Rei: Of course this would never happen, but should you find your own bag empty at the end of the day, you need but give me the word.
Goon: Why?
Rei: I will spare you a small portion of my own. Well then, I must go.
Rei: Haaaaahaha...!
Goon: ...


Shiori: Gunpei-kun! Here, I got you some chocolate.
Goon: Oh, thanks!
Goon: (It's pretty small. I guess it's giri chocolate...)


Yuina: Gunpei-kun. This is chocolate.
Goon: Hi-Himoo-san, you're giving me some? Thanks!
Yuina: Please submit a report on any symptoms or side effects you may experience. Now if you'll excuse me...
Goon: Wh...what the hell did she put in this?


Megumi: Umm, uh... please... accept this.
Goon: Th...thanks!
Megumi: And um... goodbye...
Goon: (This is giri chocolate, probably)

Goon: (I got this many, I should count myself lucky.)

2/18 (Sunday): Sleep
2/19-2/24: :science:
2/25 (Sunday): Call Shiori

Shiori: Yes, this is Fujisaki.
Goon: Um... this is Fudo Gunpei.
Shiori: Fudou-kun? What's up today?

This part of the conversation has now changed slightly. This means we've accumulated a good amount of points. Yaaaaay! I'll make a note if and when this part of the conversation changes again.

Goon: Want to go to Kirameki Central Park on 3/10?
Shiori: Let me check... I'm sorry, I'm busy that day. I wish I could go, but...
Goon: D, don't worry about it. I don't mind.
Shiori: We'll try and make it work next time, okay?

...But not enough points, it seems.

RELOAD COUNT: 24

2/19-2/24: :science:
2/25: Call Shiori

Goon: Want to go to Kirameki Central Park on 3/17?
Shiori: Let me check... yes, that's fine.
Goon: Alright, let's meet in front of the park on that day.
Shiori: Yes, let's. Don't forget, okay?
Goon: No way will I forget. Okay, talk to you later.
(click)
Goon: Yes! I can't wait for the 17th.

2/26-3/2: Concert Band
3/3 (Sunday): Sleep
3/4-3/9: Finals


A great way to end our first year! But wait, wasn't there something about lying low we had to worry about...?


Nah, must be my imagination.

3/10 (Sunday): Call Yoshio

Somewhere in all that reloading, I lost the path where I called about Megumi. So, this is the time to ask again. Just in case.

Girl's voice: Yes, this is the Saotome residence.
Goon: Is Yoshio-kun home?
Girl's voice: Oh, you want to talk to my brother?
(the sound of running)
Girl's voice: Onii-chaaaan! Phone call!
Yoshio: Yes, this is Saotome.
Goon: Hello? It's Fudou.
Yoshio: Oh. It's you.
Goon: What's with tone of voice? Are you sad that I called you?
Yoshio: Don't ask stupid questions.
Yoshio: So what'd you call for?
Goon: I'd like to know what the girls think of me.
Yoshio: What they think of you, eh? Gimme a second.
Yoshio: What the girls think of you is...


MEGUMI HOW DID YOU JUMP PAST SHIORI AND YUINA PLEASE NO

3/11-3/16: Concert Band
3/17: New event!


Goon: (Man, I am exhausted. I should hurry home.)
Goon: (Oh hey, that's Shiori over there.)
Goon: Hey, Shiori!
Shiori: Oh, Gunpei-kun. Are you heading home?
Goon: Yeah. Want to walk home together?
Shiori: Okay. We live right next to each other, after all. Let's walk together.

Our first success at this event! Once again, that's a good sign - it means we've accumulated even more points.

Goon: Okay, let's move.
Game: And so...


Shiori: Oh by the way, do you remember that my birthday's coming up?
Goon: Of course I remember it.
Shiori: Really? That's great.
Goon: (And, while talking about stuff like that, we walked home from school.)

Hmm. It feels like we're forgetting something, though. Something important. Some reason why Shiori didn't want to walk home with us before.

Nah, must be my imagination.

3/13: New event!

Goon: (Man, I am exhausted. I should hurry home.)


Megumi: Oh, Fudou-san!
Goon: Mikihara-san? What's going on?
Megumi: Um... could we... um... walk home together?

Option 1: Sure! Let's go home together.
Option 2: It'd be kinda embarrassing, so I'll pass.

DANGER GOON ROBINSON. DANGER GOON ROBINSON. THIS EVENT HAS CHANGED TOO. FLEE. LEAVE THE COUNTRY IF NECESSARY.


Megumi: (sniffle) E...excuse me, I have to go!
Goon: (She was nice enough to wait around for me, and I just acted so rude...)

REE REE REE REE REE REE

3/14: Event!

Here comes White Day! This is where the guys are supposed to return the favors of the girls who gave them gifts on Valentine's Day. According to tradition (and, more importantly, good marketing), guys are supposed to give gifts that are about three times the value of what they received, and they tend not to be chocolates. Cookies, cakes, etc. are common on White Day.

And, did you know that Korea's trying to popularize Black Day on April 14th, where single people are supposed to gather together and eat black bean noodles to "celebrate" their singleness? Yeah, it hasn't quite caught on yet. Give it time. And marketing.


Rei: Hello and good morning.
Goon: What do you want, Ijuuin?
Rei: White Day must be as rough for you as it is for me.
Goon: Why?
Rei: I sent out my servants this morning to deliver all of these thank-yous and gifts, and yet it appears as though all of their deliveries will still not be completed within the day.
Goon: ....
Rei: You would never be so uncouth as to leave a favor unrepaid, would you?
Goon: I have all of them right here.
Rei: Oh? I would never believe that you would have anyone to give such gifts to. Well - work with what little you have.
Goon: ....

Goon: (Okay, I should calm down and go hand out my thank-yous for Valentine's Day.)
Goon: (Actually, I did splurge on one special gift.)
Goon: So, who should I give this special little thank-you?

There are 3 choices displayed, but only one matters.

Goon: (Oh, Shiori's here. Good timing.)
Goon: Hey, Shiori!


Shiori: Is something the matter today?
Goon: Here, take this. As thanks for Valentine's Day.
Shiori: What, for me? Thank you.
Goon: (She seemed pretty happy.)

3/17 (Sunday): Date with Shiori

Goon: (Today's my date with Shiori. I should go wait for her in front of the park.)


Goon: Have you been waiting long?
Shiori: No, I just got here myself.
Goon: Phew, glad I wasn't late.
Shiori: Shall we take a walk?
Goon: Let's head down the park avenue.
Shiori: Let's go!


Shiori: The weather's so nice, want to sit on the grass?
Goon: Sounds good.


Shiori: Now that I've taken a good look, doesn't this seem like that one park from when we were kids?
Goon: What do you mean?
Shiori: Don't you remember? One time, we ran off to a big park without telling our parents where we were going.
Goon: Did that really happen?
Shiori: It did! I remember every detail.
Goon: Like?
Shiori: Like, one of us almost fell in this big pond...
Goon: A big pond? Oh yeah, I remember now! That was me.
Shiori: See? You remember it too.
Goon: I almost fell in, but some old guy saved me. I seriously thought I was gonna die.
Goon: Come to think of it, where were you?


Shiori: I was scared and just watched... I think.
Goon: You could've helped out a little..
Shiori: Can't you let it go? It's just a memory now.
Goon: I guess it's too late to be angry.
Goon: But yeah, this place does feel nostalgic.
Shiori: There sure is a lot to remember...
Goon: Yeah.

Whew. Doesn't that seem like an unusually long conversation? That's because it is! This is one of Shiori's unique events which comes with its own custom picture; you have to go to Central Park with her in spring to see it. There are 7 more of these events in the game for Shiori - three occur on dates in specific seasons at specific locations, two happen on normal school days, and two of them require certain conditions to be met on holidays. Utter Perfection demands that we see all 8...


Shiori: Today was a lot of fun. We should do this again some time, okay?
Goon: Definitely. I'll call you again soon.
Shiori: We should head home, Gunpei-kun.

If you're having so much fun, stop costing us Sundays and forcing us to reload every time you shoot us down! :bang:

3/18-3/19,3/21-3/23: Exercise

3/18: Event!


Shiori: Oh, Gunpei-kun!
Goon: Hmm? Shiori? What's up?
Shiori: Hey, do you think you're free this Sunday?

Option 1: Yeah, I'm free. Why do you ask?
Option 2: Sucks to be you, THIS guy has plans that day.

Translator's note: Option 2 is the only time I've ever seen the main character refer to himself as &#20474;&#27096;/ore-sama, which is really self-important and arrogant. No, Rei doesn't use it.

Shiori: I'd like you to come shopping with me... would that be too much to ask?


Option 1: It's fine. Let's go shopping together.
Option 2: Nah, I'll pass.

This is another great sign. Shiori is inviting us out, which means that she can't say no and force us to reload because we had to waste a full Sunday on it. Hurray!

Shiori: Really? Then, umm...
Goon: Want to meet in front of the shopping district?
Shiori: Yes, that's perfect. Don't forget!
Goon: (This Sunday? I need to make sure I don't forget.)

Awesome! But I can't shake this feeling of dread...

3/20 (Holiday): Call Megumi


Megumi: Yes, this is the Mikihara residence.
Goon: Hi, this is Fudou Gunpei.
Megumi: (gasp)
Goon: Hello? Is something wrong?
Megumi: I'm... I'm sorry! What might you calling about?
Goon: What to go to Kirameki Central Park on 4/14?

Why did I choose the park, you ask? Well if you go to the same date spot three times in a row, you can get a certain mini-game to come up. [s]But it doesn't seem to work in TokiMemo 1, so this is my mistake. On the plus side, no one hates the park, and there are almost always some neutral answers to give.[/s] edit: oh yeah, this didn't work because Shiori broke the combo by asking us out to the shopping district. We can take care of this by going to the park a fourth time...

Megumi: What? Y...Yes, gladly!
Goon: Alright, let's meet in front of the park on that day.
Megumi: .....
Goon: What's that? I couldn't hear you.
Megumi: Y...yes, we'll meet there!
Goon: Okay, don't forget.
(click)
Goon: Goon: Yes! I can't wait for the 14th.

3/24 (Sunday): Spring Break! And, Bonus Date with Shiori

Goon: (Today's my date with Shiori.)
Goon: (Where was I supposed to meet her, again?)


Option 1: Meet at Kirameki Central Park
Option 2: Meet at the Shopping District

This choice is one of the reasons you need to keep notes while playing this game. If you have two dates close together, there's no way of remembering date is at which location unless you wrote it down somewhere. Thankfully, this improves in later games, but in TokiMemo 1, it's hell to reload an old save game and try to remember what day is supposed to be spent where. Thankfully, since Shiori made this date mere seconds ago, and we still remember that it's time to go shopping!


Goon: Have you been waiting long?
Shiori: No, I just got here myself.
Goon: Phew, glad I wasn't late.
Shiori: So where should we go shopping?

Option 1: The clothing boutique
Option 2: The accessories store
Option 3: The electronics store

Shiori doesn't particularly like the clothing store over the accessories store or anything, so it's kind of a toss-up. We might as well go with the clothing boutique here.

Shiori: Okay, let's go!


Shiori: I'm going to go look around.
Goon: Go ahead and take your time.
(beat)
Shiori: Sorry! There were so many things I wanted to look at.

Option 1: You can take as long as you want.
Option 2: Did you see everything you wanted?
Option 3: Please be considerate of those of us who have to wait around...

Kind of a toss-up between 1 and 2, so let's just be safe and say 1.

Shiori: Thank you. I saw more than enough, though.
Goon: (Looks like I made a pretty good impression.)


Shiori: Thanks a lot for tagging along with me today.
Goon: If you'll have me, I'll come along any time.
Shiori: Okay, let's go home, Gunpei-kun.

3/25-3/30: Exercise

3/30: Events!

Goon: Hey, isn't today Shiori's birthday?
Goon: (Should I get her a present?)

Technically, there's a choice here. But really, there isn't a choice here.

Goon: (What should I get her?)


The choices, ranked in order of how much Shiori likes them:

1: CD of classical music
2: Handkerchief
3: Earrings

Goon: Alright, let's give her a CD of classical music.
Goon: Let's call her up.

Shiori: Yes, this is the Fujisaki residence.
Goon: Umm... it's Fudou Gunpei.
Shiori: Gunpei-kun? What's up today?
Goon: Well, I have something I wanted to talk to you about. Could you meet me in front of my house?
Shiori: Yes, that's fine. I'll head over there soon, so just wait a little bit, please.
Goon: Okay, bye.
(click)
Goon: Alright, I'll head outside and wait for her.

Seriously, you two? You can see each other from your bedroom windows. This shouldn't be that hard!


Shiori: Were you waiting for long? I'm sorry I took so much time.

Seriously? I mean, really? How can you be late to an appointment that is 50 feet away?!

Goon: Happy birthday! I got you a present.
Shiori: Thanks! May I open it now?

You may remember that Yuina just says "Let's see what's inside" and sticks a question mark at the end. Shiori is a polite and proper girl, who actually observes the usual etiquette here.

Goon: Of course. Do you like it?
Shiori: I've wanted this for long time! I'll treasure it.
Goon: (She looks so happy. I'm glad I got her that gift.)

3/30: Another event!

(ding-dong!)


REE REE REE REE REE REE

Megumi: Excuse me...
Goon: Oh, Mikihara-san? What's up?
Megumi: This is, um, uh, your, birthday...
Goon: Present?
Megumi: Yes! Will you... accept it?
Goon: Of course I will. Thank you.
Megumi: I'm so glad...
Goon: (I'm such a lucky guy for getting a present from Mikihara-san!)

That was a relatively uneventful 3 months. We still haven't met Saki, somehow, but we're going to need to find more people to meet so that we can avoid Megumi at Ijuuin Christmas Party '96. But it's okay. Megumi seems to be relatively under control, if a bit clingy. There shouldn't be any more obstacles in our way! Build stats, meet some people, talk to them every once in a while, and it's a smooth road to Shioritown! Right?


:bang:

Next time: Summer 1996, More Chainsaws to Juggle