A blog about Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side and some other otome games! 70% shared posts 30% original posts Made this blog to share guides and blogs about TMGS!
Hi there! I just stumbled on a post of yours saying you like Itakiss, and I was wondering: what is your favourite adaptation? And what do you think about the people who say that Naoki and his relationship with Kotoko are toxic? And how do you perceive Naoki’s character (either on his own or like, comparing the versions you’re familiar with)?
(Sorry if this is a weird ask btw lol you’re like the first person I find here saying they like Itakiss, and I like it too but I’ve seen so much criticism on the lead characters and their relationship throughout the years, and on how the story is outdated and etc, that it made me think no one liked it and everyone thought badly of it. Hope the ask doesn’t bother you! Have a great day!)
I’m so sorry it took me a bit to answer, anon! I hope you’re still out there!
I love Naoki’s character. Yes, in the beginning he is a piece of shit at times. He can be cruel. But as he falls for Kotoko, his walls fall down and he begins to take her into his family. Sure, he gets annoyed with his family, but they’re still his family and he still cares for them. I love the slow burn aspect of it. As someone who’s partner is also notorious for being closed off and indifferent with everything, I feel that I understand him on that level. Sure, he’s all walled up most of the time, but he cares for Kotoko and he sort of lets him be, well, himself around her. I wouldn’t say she’s always necessarily a comfort to him, because he is very self assured, but she can be. I love that he loves to see her grow and succeed. He’s an aspect of positive growth in her life after they get together. I guess just being in an odd relationship like that myself, I can’t really see their relationship as toxic. Naoki changed towards Kotoko. It’s obvious he cares for her. In the beginning, yes, things weren’t built on the best terms. But people change and grow. And it’s the growth I love to see.
I’m most familiar with the anime adaption. I watched the K-drama years ago. And I did watch some of the J-drama as well, though I never finished it. The anime is a comfort show for me! I just want the entire manga set now so I can see what wasn’t included in the anime. I like to know the whoooooole story. Thanks for talking ItaKiss with me, anon!
I actually decided to rewatch my all-time favorite J-Drama, "Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo."
Honestly, I was very surprised over the fact that this drama is already 10 years old.
Which is very ahead of time, and I remember the first time I watched this when I was still, like, in middle school, when I also did not understand small details from the characters. But now, when I rewatched it again, I still fell in love with their dynamics and storyline.
Like, oh boy, I just noticed the smaller details from Naoki's POV were really unexpectedly good, whether it was his jealousy or intention. Even though Kotoko doesn't always notice or realize it much because of his personality, it's still funny in its way.
One of the things that I've just realized from this series is they were also issuing life lessons about expectations from people, career switches, different paths after college, consequences from reality, and also grit. It makes me love this series more, and I'm probably going to rewatch it again later, hehe.
GSNK characters are so insane. This girl becomes an unpaid artist on the manga of her crush, this guy starts dating a horrible girl cuz he wants to protect other men from her, this guy becomes psychosexually obsessed with his job cuz hes in a position of power over the one person he covets, adores, admires, loves, hates, respects, dislikes and so he also works at the Unpaid Labor Factory Manga to pay for her plays. all of them are so in love it makes them look stupid
Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side: 4th Heart
(ときめきメモリアル Girl's Side 4th Heart)
Release dates (Nintendo Switch)
Japanese: October 28th, 2021
English (unofficial patch): May 26th, 2026
"In Habataki City, a beautiful place surrounded by sea and mountains, your new life begins at Habataki Academy; a prestigious school whose philosophy is celebrating youth. Experience new love in this place where unique students and teachers meet."
This is a fan-translated patch for Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side: 4th Heart for the Nintendo Switch! There are complete translations for both the Tomoe and Onari DLC available as well.
You can get the patch from Discord here.
There is also a patch for the remastered version of TMGS 3 in the works.
A more in-depth breakdown of what I am doing can be found here, as well as the past entries here. Today’s entries are as follows:
10. Maybe the Real Friends Were the Dungeons We Ate Along the Way by Moonpie AMVs
Audio: Friends by Flight of the Concords
Visuals: Dungeon Meshi
Considering our hobby is all about timing visuals with music, I am surprised that when it comes to comedy amvs, I don’t see many discussions about comedic timing. And well if you were wanting a cool breakdown of how the two work, I can’t really give it either, but Moonpie’s work here might be just as good teacher.
In comparison to other comedy amvs I have discussed, this one isn’t really going for big laugh out loud moments as opposed to a generally goofy and lighthearted atmosphere. But considering the breezy pace of the song, it really works to keep the jokes coming and the actual flow not to get bogged down as well. Reaction shots like at 0:51 and 1:24 do a lot to help sell punchlines/add to the humor without worrying about getting in the weeds of literal lyric sync, and overall by the end it is still able to sell you on the sweetness of the group’s friendship, all shenanigans aside. And while I don’t read/watch the series, it is really nice to get reminded that these guys like each other.
9: He’s a Zombie by TheLazyDaze
Audio: Good Grief by Bastille
Visuals: When Sato-kun Died
And here we get to the last summer mmv exchange vid, the gift I personally received. If you forgot this list wasn’t extremely biased, now is a good reminder, but even if Daze wasn’t editing with one of my “titular dead bf” mangas, there is a lot to love.
She’s always been an excellent mmv editor, but this vid in particular is packed with so many great details. The foot sliding into the panel at 0:23, the hand animation at 1:08, the undressing animation at 1:29. I could list more, but you’re probably just better off reading my original youtube comment.
Funny enough I wasn’t a big fan of this song before this vid (although I generally like Bastille). But in the end it is such a great match for the series blend of slice of life and drama. There’s lingering sadness over the fact that he really *is* a zombie, but more time is spent showing what will be missed and enjoying the good memories they do have.
8. The Amazon by PieandBeer (CW: Gore & Nudity)
Audio: Brazil by Declan Mckenna
Visuals: Devilman Crybaby
The first time I watched this vid, I was certain it wasn’t going to work. The breezy guitars are tonally far from what I associate with Devilman Crybaby; however as I got past the instrumental opening, I found the visual rhythm of the vid too intentional not to get into. The vid was less dissonant than I anticipated, but instead contained a surprising amount of resonance.
This might be one of the more obtuse vids on this list. Even with knowledge of the source material and a full read-through of the lyrics on Genius, it is hard to summarize this vid down to one pithy sentence. As disillusioned as the lyrics are and and as intense as the violence is on screen, whenever we cut back to just the two leads, their tenderness is so sweet it hurts. It feels like a bit of a ink blot test where how you interpret it has more to do with what you bring to it, and for me it just invokes this feeling where you know the relationship with someone is done, yet you can’t help but keep reaching out to them. If you like your vids moody and introspective like me, I think there is a lot to enjoy unpacking here.
7. DO YOU WANT TO FUCK A GOOSE OR NOT? by keiichiface
Audio: My Brother My Brother and Me
Visuals: Princess Tutu, Lucky Star
Listen I ship the dude and the “goose” of Princess Tutu so I was gonna be a fan regardless but keiichiface went above and beyond to elevate the audio. Just combining the two sources already adds a lot. By going literal with a talk show totally outside the world of this man and his love affair with a water fowl, there is a expressive lip sync and that meta element to play with. And even when she is working with Princess Tutu footage itself, keiichiface keeps finding creative things to do. I especially love when the concept art gets brought hastily masked in for some ultra specific lyric sync. The rough edges only add to the charm, giving it a quirky vibe without detaching from the more impressive technical elements.
All types of art deserved to be celebrated. Even if there’s isn’t a lot meaningful or deep I can extrapolate about goosefucking in particular, there’s no denying that when it comes to shitposts, keiichiface is a master of the craft.
6. Our Neighborhood Has Changed by Obsidian Zero
Audio: Souvenir by The Midnight
Visuals: Kimba the White Lion
As much I love my sad stories, I am rarely the type to cry over something fictional. So out of all the vids I expected to work past my defenses, I didn’t expect it to be a Kimba vid. Still Obsidian Zero finds incredible emotional material by soundtracking a story of pouching and ecological destruction with nostalgic yearning for a past that cannot be returned to.
There’s a specific element of powerlessness this amv taps into that is really palpable. Similar to ctrl alt delete, we end on a moment of denied catharsis. It’s not a matter of mourning and moving on from one death or loss, but grief by a thousand paper cuts and loneliness that’s much more difficult to process. Add that in with great moments like Kimba swimming to the opening guitar riffs and or the impeccable gun sync, and you got a little lion that leaves a large impact.
5. Catch and Release by BecauseImBored1
Audio: Houdini by Dua Lipa
Visuals: Saint Tail
This is the platonic ideal of a lot of what I look for in amvs tbh. I will always love it when an editor takes a song I might have heard but not given much thought to, pairs it with a combo that, in retrospect, feels like it was made for, and then wraps up the entire package with tight flow and clever sync. The trick is more difficult to pull off then I make it sound, but BecauseImBored is honestly a pro at this exact thing.
If I had to describe this vid in one word I’d go with “bouncy.” There’s a lot of attention given to the specific vocal inflections of Dua Lipa’s voice for a lot of fun moments of sync. And thanks to that tight control of the vid’s flow from scene to scene, it is easy to get swept up in the excitement and miss some of the subtle overlays and masked transitions BecauseImBored1 has under her sleeve. All in all, just every shot of this is delightfully paced to the point you’re left satisified by the end of the vid and yet are still itching to press replay again.
4. AND YOU CAN’T COME by Troubleclef (CW: Sexual Grooming)
Audio: Harder to Kill by Carter Vail
Visuals: Chainsaw man
Juggling multiple tones in a video is a tricky task. Most songs aren’t full stories and are more snapshots of one idea. And even when you get in the 5 minute + range, that is still not that much time in the grand scheme of things to establish set up, payoff and then repeat the process all over again when you pivot to a new topic.
1:33-1:46 alone is an amazing sequence, condensing a lot of harsh and heavy storytelling down to just enough implication to make out what it is happening in between shots. I consider it to be this vid’s best part but what makes it such an effective bridge is what it is sandwiched between. The first half of the vid is light-hearted and boyish, concerned just as much with heartbreak as it is food and fun. But even after the turn, we’re still left with this grasping incomplete understanding of the situation. As Denji whirls around from building to building and we cut between grasping hands and looming eyes, it feels as if he is trying to put the pieces together, but can only get so far. The final section of the song, where the vid gets its title from is equally childish, but it fully captures this inability to fully process the horrors you are currently going through, even as you are feeling the full effects of it.
3. The Keeper by Elixir
Audio: The Keeper by Kai Wachi
Visuals: Jujutsu Kaisen
I had a friend who was curious why more vids didn’t use rap. And while I had my personal theories from my corner about how much was due to only looking in certain corners of the community and how much was other facts, this vid is probably the best argument for what the rest of us might be missing out on.
Going back to my “sum up a vid into one word” challenge, the one I would use here is intense. Not only does Elixir lean into the horror-influenced elements of JJK, but the song itself is full of all sorts of unnerving musical motifs that adds to the oppressive atmosphere. By the end of my first viewing, I had to take a deep breath just to release all he tension that had been building up. However even on a less visceral rewatch, there are so many great moments. Elixir uses a lot of fun internal sync for the standout sounds like the drill noise or screams. I love the focus on close-combat when the flow switches up at 1:36.
Overall the vid is like a great horror movie. Even when you know what jump-scares are coming, everything is set-up and executed so well you can appreciate them on both an emotional and intellectual level.
2: Disco Expansion: Infinite Rizz by Ileia
Audio: Feels Like by Outasight
Visuals: Jujutsu Kaisen
And now for something completely different. To steal a joke from someone much funnier than me.
This vid dropped early in the year, but after seeing it I was already convinced this was gonna be one of my faves for 2024. Ileia’s flow is consistently slick and engaging, no matter the genre or subject matter, but centering a vid around Gojo’s new and invented disco powers gave her a lot more opportunities to get flashy with her tech work. All the overlays are great, my fave being the sound wave lengths at 0:28 and 0:31, but the transitions at 1:22 and 1:28 are no slouches either.
In contrast to The Keeper, here the horror elements are used cheekily. Some of the scene selection feels handpicked to cause physic damage to fans of the series, but even without context, it is hard to miss the punchline of heads rolling perfectly on beat. My fave moment has to be when Toji comes up and starts to sing along/fight. It just encapsulates how this vid keeps the perfect amount of goofy energy going without sacrificing a lick of its explosive momentum.
1: Velodrome by sandelwoodbox
Audio: Veldrome by Dessa
Visuals: Silo
My love for amvs and art as a whole tends to come from a love for character and narrative, the idea of narrowing a focus down to something direct and intentional. Even when I know there is no way for an outsider to get what is going on, I always strive to at least include some level of internal logic and progression for myself. Which is why I find myself to a certain degree to be even more drawn to vids that go in the opposite direction, that not only embrace that wider broad focus, but still maintain thematic cohesion.
More than any one character, Velodrome profiles an entire alternative society. While familiar faces pop up several times, no one voice or perspective stands out. Instead the lives of scientists, blue collar laborers, and children all weave together to paint a picture of place as beautiful as it is horrifying. The stairs that boys and girls slide down are the same stairs men fall to their death (a striking motif that syncs with nature fall of the singer’s inflection.) Most dystopian art focus on their attention on the injustice, the evil that consumes a place, but sandelwoodbox takes the time to show that a deeply wrong world can be one that still contains so much joy. And furthermore this fact only heightens why the injustice is so perverse in the first place. Even under amidst suffering, people continue to live, fight, and love. The editing carries that same restless energy, never truly coming to a still until the final shot.
As much as I love art, I don’t like acting like my tastes have to mean something. But if I have to wrap this up with a bow, Velodrome embodies both the sum of any work’s parts and the parts itself deserve equal love and attention.
~
Thanks for sticking around through my list and going on this new venture with me. A playlist containing all this vids, from number 1 to my honorable mentions can be found here. Looking forward to another year of great amvs!
Saint Tail anime voice actor commentary (episodes 1-2 and 43)
(Even if you try to be as generous as possible, it's at least 45 times.)
If you thought we were done with everything regarding the Saint Tail anime, think again: we've now subbed the voice actor commentary included with the Blu-ray release from 2014, featuring voice actors Tomo Sakurai (Meimi), Kosuke Okano (Asuka Jr.), and Kikuko Inoue (Seira)! This covers commentary for the episode 1-2 combined special (including the bonus skit that came with it) and episode 43, and features a bunch of interesting behind-the-scenes stories and thoughts from the three of them.
Notable things include:
Kikuko Inoue is "seventeen years old" (oi, oi)
Discussion about the musical adaptation, as well as Sakurai and Okano's experiences playing their respective characters there
Tomokazu Sugita mentioned when you least expect it
All three voice actors repeatedly getting distracted by wanting to watch the actual episode because it kept absorbing them
The line Okano had the hardest time saying in the entire series
...and more!
For more information and instructions on how to watch, check out the release post!
I started writing this last week, then my tonsillitis floored me so @bunnymajo beat me with her own post on the topic (it's v. good, check it out!!), but I still wanted to share a few of my thoughts about why y'all should consider picking up the Discotek release of the Kaitou Saint Tail anime series on blu-ray.
I'll be honest, Kaitou Saint Tail wasn't my favourite magical girl series growing up in the mid-90s, I found myself far more drawn to Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (in that order). However, as I've grown older and re-watched the anime series a couple of times, I've grown to appreciate a lot about it that perhaps I didn't so much when I was young and had a million anime series vying for my attention.
The anime
If you've never seen the Kaitou Saint Tail anime, Haneoka Meimi is regular teenage student by day who rights wrongs by night as the thief Saint Tail. How does she know about what bad things have gone down in the local community? Why her BFF (Mimori Seira) is a nun-in-training, of course! So when Seira hears about things being stolen etc. she relays this information to Meimi so she can set things right.
Complicating the situation is Asuka Daiki, the son of a local detective who notably failed to catch a previous phantom thief (hmm!). Asuka Jr. wants to stop Saint Tail no matter what and luckily the local mayor is cool with giving him the status required to do so. Meimi slowly finds herself torn between how she feels about Asuka Jr. (whom she bickers with but ultimately cares about) and how Asuka Jr. feels about the thief Saint Tail.
So obviously if you like magical girl-type series and you're keen on a cute lil tween romance with some wacky kids' show thieving then you're going to be keen to watch (or read, the manga is adorable) the series no matter what. If you're on the fence, here are a couple of things I found to be stand-outs in Kaitou Saint Tail that you might like about it too.
Saint Tail = Seira & Meimi
Saint Tail the thief is really a team of two people. You've got Seira who gathers all the intel & helps plan, then you've got Meimi who acts as the muscle and executes the scheme. If you removed either of them you wouldn't have the legendary phantom thief everyone talks about in the series. Seira is never magical herself, she goes between God/Meimi/the community to help save "lost lambs" but her role is vital and Meimi's feats as Saint Tail are truly part of a team effort.
I've honestly always loved this about the series, that Seira isn't some friend kept in the dark nor is she another magical thief to team up with, she's got her own unique role to play that utilises her skills just as much as Meimi's role relies on her talents too. Together they are a phantom bigger than any one tween girl could ever be.
Meimi is physically adept
There's room for all types of magical girls in the genre imho and these days we've seen lots of magical girls who can land a solid punch as well as those better suited to intellectual challenges. However, in the mid-90s at a time when Tsukino Usagi and Hanasaki Momoko said it was OK to be clumsy and not great at athletics, Meimi said it was just as OK to be athletic and have excellent fine motor skills.
One thing I didn't note in my above summary of the series is that while Meimi does a whole lot of VISUALLY magical girl things like transform in the anime, she doesn't actually have any supernatural abilities. Meimi is instead adept at stage magic thanks to her father's profession and she plays a lot of tricks to get the job done (while following in her mother's footsteps as well). Meimi can't punch a bad guy through a wall like a Precure, but her strength allows her to frequently save other characters or pull herself out of tricky situations.
Asuka Jr. provides a great contrast
While Asuka Jr. can ride a bike pretty fast he's not that physically strong, which is a contrast to a lot of love interests in the genre who are tough enough to give the heroine enough time to finish the job (Tuxedo Kamen and Limone, for example). Asuka Jr. is more of an intellectual who despite managing to figure out a lot of what's going on with Saint Tail's capers, can never seem to get pin her down (and yeah yeah we know Meimi looks like Saint Tail but this is a cartoon for kids, being in on that while Asuka Jr. goes mad trying to find Saint Tail is part of the overall charm of the thing imho).
I think a decent chunk of what I like about Asuka Jr. as a male lead in Kaitou Saint Tail is that he's not some older, mysterious guy who helps solve problems; Asuka Jr. is a brat who causes most of Meimi's problems and because of his clueless youth he's also quite oblivious to her burgeoning romantic feelings for him. But I love that? They both feel like they're young kids challenging each other on an equal playing field.
While Asuka. Jr doesn't necessarily disagree with Saint Tail's objectives (to right wrongs), he doesn't support her methods (stealing is baaaaaad) and he's following his own moral code which is perhaps a little more conventional than hers. Meimi and Asuka jr. certainly bicker, but they have a lot in common that becomes apparent over time and their differences do indeed prove to be complementary to each other's in the long run.
The stakes are fairly low
Wait, isn't this a bad thing? Shouldn't the stakes be super high in order for us to care about the series? No, I don't think every magical girl series needs to have high stakes to leave an impact or be meaningful. I love that Kaitou Saint Tail isn't about a potentially world-ending event or magical abilities that could change reality as we know it. Heck, there's an episode where the entire goal of Saint Tail's elaborate scheme is to get back a notebook that a classmate gave to her crush accidentally before he can read it.
In that sense, it harkens back to a lot of older majokko shows that, while having some supernatural gifts for the heroine that Meimi doesn't technically have, still chose to focus on the lead solving personal problems or issues in the local community rather than fighting to save the planet.
This isn't to say there are no stakes at all or anything. Meimi's greatest problem lies in her diverging identities and the fact that, as ostensibly a criminal to those not helped by her talents, Saint Tail being unmasked would ruin her life. I know they're not huge stakes compared to galactic evils, but Saint Tail being an outlaw and the way the persona is both a blessing & curse to Meimi certainly is present throughout the series.
Kaitou Saint Tail's stakes might not be as high as those in Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, Tokyo Mew Mew, or any number of Precure seasons, but there's definitely a place for that in the genre and if you'd like something a little more laid back (that's still plenty of fun & with twists and turns a plenty, mind you) then this series might be worth checking out.
The anime doesn't overstay its welcome
The Kaitou Saint Tail anime is a fairly tight production that deftly balances fun filler (remember when we were allowed to have filler eps???) with more emotional story touch points and doesn't feel at all drawn out, which was certainly an issue even for some of my favourite series of the period. While I wouldn't say the anime is perfect or anything, it really doesn't have any majorly weak arcs or huge dips in quality overall.
Kaitou Saint Tail has lovely music (I'm partial to the first OP/ED combo myself), some great 90s animators at work (Abe Junko, Ishino Satoshi, Kadonosono Megumi & Gotou Keiji, Watanabe Nobuhiro, Ochi Kazuhiro, Motohashi Hideyuki, etc.), and a cast of talented seiyuu (Sakurai Tomo as Meimi and Inoue Kikuko as Seira being the stand outs).
While there are some changes to the source material and a lot of the cute, whispy beauty of Tachikawa Megumi's original artwork is lost on screen, the animated version of Kaitou Saint Tail is worth picking up not just to support the release of magical girl titles in the US market, but because it is a solid little series that I know I always appreciate spending some time with.
Anyway those are my rambling thoughts on the series. It won't be for everyone, but if you're interested in magical girl classics then you might want to check out the upcoming US release from Discotek on blu-ray.
So I read up on the 70s shoujo anime/manga,Candy Candy. And found out why we'll probably never get anymore content for the series. The artist was selling Candy Candy merchandise without the writer's permission. Which resulted in a huge ass lawsuit. So we'll most likely never even get the anime/manga licensed over here,let alone a remake. *long sigh* But Discotek is licensing Lady Georgie and Kaitou Saint Tail,and we're getting a new Hana no ko Lunlun donghua,so we're being fed!
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