''To Heart 2'' (stylized as ''ToHeart2'') is a Japanese

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

developed by

Leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ...

and published by

Aquaplus , formally and , is a Japanese company which specializes primarily in the publishing and distribution of visual novels, including both adult games under their brand Leaf and games for all ages under Aquaplus's own brand. Aquaplus has been invol ...

. It was first released for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

on December 28, 2004 as an all-ages title, and was followed by an adult version playable on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

and subsequent all-ages versions for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...

and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

. This deviated from the release history of the game's predecessor, ''

To Heart ''To Heart'' is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Leaf and released on May 23, 1997 for Windows. It was later ported to the PlayStation and given voice acting. A second PC version, titled ''To Heart PSE'' was released containing ...

'', which was originally released with adult content prior to receiving versions with such content removed. The gameplay in ''To Heart 2'' follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction based on the player's decisions. Its story centers on the male protagonist Takaaki Kouno, and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters. The game was positively received in both sales and popularity. Its original PlayStation 2 release sold more than 82,000 copies in its first week of release in Japan, and it was voted as the third best

bishōjo game A or , is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls". ''Bishōjo'' games are similar to ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books in the way of narrative, in which the game tells a story but the player may make ...

by the readers of ''

Dengeki G's Magazine is a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and serial ...

'' in 2007. It has since received several

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

titles, including a sequel entitled ''To Heart 2 Another Days'', which was released on February 29, 2008 for Windows, and has also made transitions to other media. There have been six

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

adaptations of ''To Heart 2'': an anime television adaptation produced by OLM's Team Iguchi, which was first broadcast in Japan between October 3, 2005 and January 2, 2006; and five

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

series produced by

and

Chaos Project is a Japanese animation studio that specializes in the production of anime. The studio's main jobs are as a sub-contracting company. Establishment After working with Tsuchida Production, Ayumi Enomoto joined Studio Fantasia was a Japanese a ...

. Four

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series, fifteen sets of manga

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

, three

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

shows, two

drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s, and six

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

adaptations based on ''To Heart 2'' have also been produced.

Gameplay

''To Heart 2'' is a

"novel-type adventure game" in which the player assumes the role of Takaaki Kouno, who begins his second year of high school after reuniting with a childhood friend. Much of its

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pl ...

is spent on reading the story's

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional ( memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc ...

and

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

. The text in the game is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Takaaki is talking to, appearing over background artwork. Throughout the game, the player encounters

CG artwork Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great deal ...

at certain points in the story, which take the place of the background art and character sprites. A gallery of the viewed CGs and played

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

is available on the game's title screen. ''To Heart 2'' follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction. The game divides each school day of the storyline into four segments. These segments illustrate the events that occur during Takaaki's commute to school, during school, after school, and after he returns home at the end of each day. Depending on the time of the day and the player's actions, he or she may be presented one of three types of events: mandatory events, which occur automatically during certain points in the game's plot line; temporary events, which occur during certain periods of time only if specific conditions are met; or after school events, which occur at the end of each school day. At the end of each school day, the player will be given the option to navigate to various locations within the game's setting. Each choosable location is accompanied by an image of a heroine in order to allow the choices to be easier to make. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from. Text progression pauses at these points, and depending on the choices that the player makes, the affection rate of the heroine associated with the event will either increase, decrease, or remain the same. This mechanism determines which direction of the plot the player will progress into, but influences the story only during Konomi's and Karin's plot lines. In the

version, there are nine plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story except Sango and Ruri, who share the same plot line. This is expanded to ten plot lines in the

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for se ...

and

versions with the addition of Sasara's scenario, and further expanded to eleven scenarios in the

version with the addition of Mio's scenario. In order to view all of the plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in alternate directions. In all versions, the game also contains a bad ending in which the player is unable to pursue the other scenarios. This ending serves as the basis of the Another Days scenario in ''To Heart 2 Another Days'', which allows the player to pursue an additional seven heroines. ''To Heart 2 X Rated'', the Windows version of the visual novel, includes two additional

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than t ...

s that serve to lengthen the experience the game provides; these minigames do not affect the main plot in any way. In both minigames, the player controls one of the heroines from ''To Heart 2'' storyline, who is made available upon the completion of her scenario in the main portion of the game. The first of the two minigames, titled , is a

scrolling shooter In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...

in which the player's goal is to progress through a vertically scrolling level, while attacking enemies that resemble confectioneries and dodging their attacks. The second, titled , is a

puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzl ...

in which the player competes against an opponent for the highest score, by connecting three or more books of the same color and eliminating them from the screen.

Plot and characters

''To Heart 2'' story revolves around the male protagonist Takaaki Kouno, a high school student who has an aversion to most girls around him, and focuses on his interactions with his schoolmates. The story begins on March 1, 2004, when Takaaki's parents leave for an overseas business trip. That morning, Konomi Yuzuhara, Takaaki's childhood friend, comes to meet Takaaki for their commute to school. Konomi is a cheerful and innocent, but childish girl. She is one year younger than Takaaki, who often views her as a younger sister. The two are also friends with Yuuji Kousaka, who is in the same class as Takaaki. Despite being the son of a wealthy and prestigious family, Yuuji has a frivolous and carefree personality, and often flirts with the girls at school. Takaaki later reunites with Tamaki Kousaka, another childhood friend, who had promised to return before being enrolled into a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

. Tamaki has a strong and dominant personality, and tends to act as an elder sister figure to those around her. She later transfers into Takaaki's high school upon the beginning of the new school year. Throughout the story, Takaaki meets several other heroines attending his school. The first is Manaka Komaki, a timid, clumsy, but accommodating girl who is the vice class representative of Takaaki's class. She often spends time in the school library's storage, and helps the library committee with general tasks. Similar to Takaaki, she is inarticulate around the opposite gender. Manaka is also close friends with Yuma Tonami, an aggressive girl who commutes to school by a mountain bike. Yuma sees Takaaki as a rival after she first met him at school, and often challenges him to various duels. She often laments her grandfather's insistence of having her take over the family business, and attempts to hide her family background from Takaaki. Karin Sasamori is a schoolmate of Takaaki's and the founder of the school's mystery club. Karin has a cheerful and energetic personality, and has an odd affection towards the occult and objects such as egg sandwiches. She first meets Takaaki early in the story, and later deceives him into joining the mystery club. Sango Himeyuri is an underclassman who takes a liking to Takaaki. She is lively and innocent, but also intelligent. She is in particular proficient in computer-related subjects, and designed multiple humanoid maid robots as an engineer for Kurusugawa Electronics. Ruri Himeyuri is another underclassman of Takaaki and Sango's younger twin sister. In contrast to her older sister, Ruri has a bad-mouthed and hostile personality. She is very protective of Sango, and often regards Takaaki's interactions with her in bad faith. Lucy Maria Misora is a girl whom Takaaki meets one day on his way home. She has a calm personality and opens up to very few people except him. Lucy claims to be an alien, and speaks a unique language she calls the . She later attends Takaaki's school under the name Rūko Kireinasora. Yūki Kusakabe is a gentle and well-mannered girl who often lingers in the school building at night. She was one of Takaaki's classmates in elementary school, but has since transferred away because of her parents' divorce. Two heroines were subsequently added to ''To Heart 2'' story in later versions of the game. Sasara Kusugawa becomes the student council president of Takaaki's school during his second year. She inherits her position from the previous president Ma-ryan, as she is the only remaining student council member after the latter's graduation. Sasara is very diligent, often completing all of the student council's tasks by herself. She is often feared by students for her strict attitude, but is actually disguising a shy and gentle personality. Mio Hanesaki is Takaaki's classmate. She remains largely unnoticed by other students, most of whom remain oblivious of her name. She originally ties her hair up and wears eyeglasses, but later wears contact lens and her hair untied as an attempt by Takaaki to change the impression she gives to others.

Development

''To Heart 2'' development originally began as a collaborative effort for the

between the Osaka and Tokyo studios of

. During one of the staff meetings for the partnered project, ''To Heart 2'' was conceived when a staff member jokingly mentioned the possibility of a sequel for the original ''

''. Production began shortly after once the team realized the popularity and success of the forerunner. Naoya Shimokawa, the president of Aquaplus, produced the resulting project, and Tsutomu Washimi served as the game's director. The work on the game's scenario was split between four writers. Shōsuke Miyake drafted the game's overall storyline as well as the scenarios for Sango, Ruri, and Lucy; Nagare Makura wrote the scenarios for Manaka and Yuma; Takeshi Marui for Karin and Yūki; and Munemitsu for Konomi and Tamaki. Likewise, the game's character designs were split amongst four artists. Misato Mitsumi provided the character designs and illustrations for Konomi and Yuma; Hisashi Kawata for Lucy and Karin; Tatsuki Amazuyu for Tamaki and Manaka; and Takeshi Nakamura for Sango, Ruri, and Yūki. The game's music was composed by Shimokawa, Junya Matsuoka, Shinya Ishikawa, Kazue Nakagami, and Michio Kinugasa. Since the development staff had an equal number of writers as illustrators, it was originally planned to pair each illustrator with a single scenario writer; Mistumi was also to provide designs for the main heroine. Though this would have simplified the project's workload by easing communications among the staff, the idea was scrapped once the staff realized that the final product might merely be a collection of four distinct pieces. Ultimately, writing and design responsibilities were divided based on the staff members' individual preferences. The staff also commented that the development team faced communication difficulties because of the physical distance between the two Aquaplus studios. Early in production, members from both studios gathered in a single location to discuss development, but as production progressed, they began to rely on other methods of communication such as telephone calls and instant messaging. Washimi noted that these methods made it complicated for the writers and illustrators to communicate effectively, and during the development of ''To Heart 2 X Rated'', Miyake took a two-month-long business trip to Osaka to rectify the problem. Rather than creating a new setting for ''To Heart 2'', the development team chose to roll over various inherent features from the original. The majority of the game is set within the same school and town, but instead focuses on the northern side of town, rather than the southern side, which is the primary setting of ''To Heart''. The story is set two years after ''To Heart'', and its lack of mobile phones was an attempt to replicate the technological themes of its predecessor. Despite the story's inclusion of maid robots, the writers stated that the story's setting was influenced by the 1990s, during which ''To Heart'' took place. As the only artist to return from the original's development team, Kawata was consulted by the other illustrators for character designs. He commented that the other artists attempted to create their designs with respect to the previous work, but he decided otherwise by attempting to "shape a new image" for the designs. The illustrators avoided creating a character with green hair as a heroine, because of the overwhelming impression the character Multi had left them in ''To Heart''. Miyake noted that it was difficult for him to write the scenario for ''To Heart 2'' because the game's development began during the time he was writing ''

December When There Is No Angel is a Japanese adult visual novel developed and published by Leaf. The game was released in both CD-ROM and DVD formats on September 26, 2003. Characters * is the game's protagonist. Although he is an unfriendly and relatively volatile youn ...

'', and Ruri and Sango's original scenario had to be rewritten because of their overwhelming resemblance to the latter title.

Release history

''To Heart 2'' was first released as an all-ages title for the

on December 28, 2004 in three versions: a limited edition, a deluxe edition, and a regular edition. The limited edition release contains the game itself, an original soundtrack disc, a visual concept collection, a calendar, and a special casing; the deluxe edition contains the extras included in the limited edition and a version of ''

'' playable on the PS2; the regular edition does not contain the aforementioned extras. The original PS2 version was followed by an adult version entitled ''To Heart 2 X Rated'' (stylized as ''ToHeart2 XRATED''). It was first released on December 9, 2005 for

PCs as a limited edition, and was subsequently followed by a regular edition release on December 23, 2005. ''X Rated'' is the fifth title in the Leaf Visual Novel Series; it contains additional scenarios and introduces a new heroine named Sasara Kusugawa. Its

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...

was released by Aquaplus under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general ...

on December 22, 2005 along with the source code for ''Arurū to Asobo!!'', '' Tears to Tiara'', and ''

Kusari is an eroge visual novel by Leaf. It is a suspense adventure game dealing with psychological warfare as players are pitted against a cunning and powerful criminal while trapped in the open sea on a cruise ship. Although this game produced Leaf, ...

''. This decision was made due to the inclusion of

Xvid Xvid (formerly "XviD") is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 video coding standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (ASP). It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi mas ...

derived code; Xvid being distributed under the same license. The source code for all four games is distributed upon request in CD-R format. A source code mirror is hosted on

GitHub GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continu ...

. An all-ages version, titled ''To Heart 2 Portable'', was released for the

on July 30, 2009. Unlike previous releases, the PSP release allowed viewing the game in both the original 4:3 and widescreen 16:9 aspect ratios. It was released in three versions: "W Pack Limited Edition", "W Pack", and a regular edition. W Pack includes a version of ''To Heart'' playable on PSP, while the limited edition also includes

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with clay ...

s of characters Sasara and Ma-ryan. A budget-priced version of ''Portable'' was released on April 25, 2013, while a downloadable version for the

PlayStation Store The PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital media store available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable conten ...

followed on May 30. An enhanced re-release for the

, titled ''To Heart 2 DX Plus'', was released on September 22, 2011 in limited and regular editions. ''DX Plus'' is a compilation of ''To Heart 2'' and its spin-off ''To Heart 2 Another Days''. It contains new computer graphic illustrations, additional and rewritten scenarios, including a new heroine named Mio Hanesaki, and Motion Portrait graphics rendering. The limited edition release contains a 300-page A4-sized art book named , a four-disc soundtrack titled , and the game itself. A budget-priced release and a downloadable version of ''DX Plus'' were released on June 26, 2014.

Spin-offs

''To Heart 2'' has received multiple

titles since its initial PlayStation 2 release. The first spin-off release is a

desk accessory A desk accessory (DA) in computing is a small transient or auxiliary application that can be run concurrently in a desktop environment with any other application on the system. Early examples, such as Sidekick and Macintosh desk accessories, used s ...

package titled and released by Aquaplus on November 25, 2005 in limited and regular editions. The release is a collection of multiple wallpapers, screensavers, desktop mascots, voice clips, and a typing game titled . Its limited edition release contained a binder and a

ballpoint pen A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian and Philippine English), or dot pen (Nepali) is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) over a metal ball at its point, i.e. over a "ball point". ...

, both of which are not found in the regular edition release. The second spin-off release is a visual novel titled ''To Heart 2 Another Days'', and it was first released as an adult game on February 29, 2008 for Microsoft Windows PCs in limited and regular editions. ''Another Days'' plot takes place in the fall as a continuation of ''To Heart 2'' story, and its main storyline allows the player to pursue seven heroines consisting of both supporting female characters from ''To Heart 2'' and new characters. In addition, ''Another Days'' also contains two additional scenarios that extend storylines from the original game. The first additional scenario is based on Manaka's scenario, and features Ikuno as the protagonist, while the second scenario extends Konomi's scenario, and features Tamaki and Konomi as heroines. ''Another Days'' limited edition release was bundled with a soundtrack disc titled ''To Heart 2 Secret Sound Track'', which contained additional music not found in ''To Heart 2'' original soundtrack release. The scenarios of ''Another Days'' are also included as part of the

compilation, ''To Heart 2 DX Plus''. The third spin-off release is entitled , and it was released in both limited and regular editions on December 18, 2009 for Microsoft Windows PCs. ''Manaka de Ikuno!!'' itself is a collection of four games: a role-playing video game titled "Final Dragon Chronicle: Guilty Requiem" featuring the characters of ''To Heart 2'', an action game titled , a collectible card game titled "Princess Collection", and a 3D visual novel titled featuring Manaka as the heroine. Its limited edition release included an illustration book and an original soundtrack disc; the regular edition did not contain the aforementioned extras. An all-ages version of "Final Dragon Chronicle" for the

, titled , was released on June 30, 2011. The visual novel also inspired a pachinko slot machine produced by

Sammy Sammy is a nickname, frequently for people named Samuel, and also an English spelling of the Arabic name Sami. People Music *Sammy Adams (born 1987), American rapper and songwriter * Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), American songwriter * Sammy Davis Jr. ...

. The pachinko slot adaptation, named ''Pachislot To Heart 2'', was released to Japanese pachinko parlors in February 2012. A video game recreation of ''Pachislot'' for the PS3 was later released by Aquaplus on October 25, 2012. The characters Tamaki, Konomi, Manaka and Sasara appear as playable characters in the 2011 fighting game '' Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match'', while Yuma and Ma-ryan appear as supporting partner characters. The game's characters also appear in their ''Dungeon Travelers'' attire as

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...

playable characters for the PlayStation Vita version of '' Dungeon Travelers 2: Ōritsu Toshokan to Mamono no Fūin''.

Related media

Books and publications

A 113-page guidebook titled ''To Heart 2: Master Guide'' was published by MediaWorks on January 15, 2005. The book contains poster artwork, the 'face patterns' of each character, selected CG scenes and a guide on how to play through each character's scenarios.

Voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

interviews are also included, as well as a brief guide on how to play through each scenario in ''

''. This was followed by another 192-page guidebook for the visual novel titled ''The Essence of To Heart 2: To Heart 2 Official Guidebook'', which was published by Enterbrain on March 4, 2005. The book contains detailed character descriptions, a complete walk through to every heroine in the game, computer graphics, and interviews with the game's development staff. Enterbrain also released a 223-page guidebook entitled ''The Essence of To Heart 2 Portable: To Heart 2 Portable Official Guidebook'' for the

version of the game on August 18, 2009. The guidebook is based on the original ''Essence'' for the

game, but contained new and revised content for the PSP version. A guidebook for the PSP spinoff ''To Heart 2: Dungeon Travelers'', named ''To Heart 2: Dungeon Travelers Official Complete Guide'', was released by Enterbrain on August 11, 2011. Multiple novels based on the ''To Heart 2'' franchise have also been published by several publishers. A single-volume short story anthology entitled ''To Heart 2 Short Stories'' was published by Square Enix under their Game Novels imprint on June 30, 2005. This was followed by three

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

s written by Osamu Murata and published by Harvest Novels under their Nagomi Bunko imprint. The first volume, titled , was illustrated by Yōichi Ariko and released on October 5, 2009. The second, titled , was illustrated by Ariko and Atsuto Shinozuka and released on June 1, 2010. The third, titled , was illustrated by Tasuku Iizuki and Sana Wakatsuki and released on July 5, 2010. Harvest also released a two-volume short story compilation entitled and written by Ikkaku Morino, Yūri Nanami, and Tomoyuki Fujinami. The first volume was released on December 5, 2010, while the second was released on June 1, 2011. A single-volume light novel based on the "Final Dragon Chronicle" minigame was again published by Harvest. The novel, titled , was written by Takuya Baba, illustrated by Ushio Komone, and released on February 20, 2011.

Manga

''To Heart 2'' has received multiple

adaptations since its original visual novel release. The first manga series was illustrated by Haruka Ogataya and serialized in the

shōnen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent boys. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent girls and young women), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adult women), ...

magazine '' Dengeki Daioh'' between February 21, 2005 and January 21, 2007. The individual chapters were later compiled into three bound volumes published by MediaWorks between October 22, 2005 and May 26, 2007. The second manga adaptation, titled ''To Heart 2: Colorful Note'', is a retelling of the entire ''To Heart 2'' story. ''Colorful Note'' was illustrated by Tsuna Kitaumi and serialized in the shōnen manga magazine ''

Monthly GFantasy is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mark ...

'' between March 18, 2005 and March 18, 2008. It was later collected into five volumes published by Square Enix between October 27, 2005 and April 27, 2009. Another manga, titled ''To Heart 2 SD: Seitokai Days'', was serialized in the manga magazine ''Manga 4-koma Kings Palette Lite'' between July 2, 2008 and September 2, 2010 and was illustrated by Natsuki Miyama. It was released as a single bound volume by

Ichijinsha is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the name Studio DNA whose main purpose was to edit shōnen manga. ...

on December 22, 2009. A manga adaptation of ''To Heart 2 Another Days'' was serialized in ASCII Media Works's '' Dengeki G's Festival! Comic'' between July 26, 2008 and August 26, 2010. ''Another Days'' was illustrated by Sō, and was collected into two bound volumes released on February 26, 2010 and April 27, 2011. There are also fifteen sets of manga

produced by different companies and drawn by a multitude of different artists. The first anthology series, titled simply ''To Heart 2'', was published by Square Enix as two volumes on February 18 and May 27, 2005. It was followed by a sixteen-volume anthology series titled ''To Heart 2 Comic Anthology'' released by

between February 25, 2005 and June 25, 2007. A two-volume anthology series titled ''To Heart 2 Anthology Comic'' was released by Fox Publishing between March 10 and June 25, 2005. The fourth anthology series, titled and published by Square Enix, was released on March 18 and June 30, 2005 in two volumes. A three-volume anthology named ''Anthology Comic To Heart 2'' was released by Ohzora Publishing between March 24 and August 24, 2005 in three volumes. A two-volume anthology series, titled , was published by

Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cla ...

and distributed by Jive on April 2 and August 1, 2005. A single-volume anthology, again titled ''To Heart 2 Anthology Comic'', was published by Enterbrain under their Magi-Cu Comics imprint on April 25, 2005. A single-volume manga anthology, again titled simply ''To Heart 2'', was published by Mag Garden under their BC Anthology Collection on May 28, 2005. Another manga anthology series, named , was published by Futabasha in two volumes on May 28 and October 29, 2005. Hobby Japan released a single-volume manga anthology, again titled ''To Heart 2 Anthology Comic'', on July 25, 2005. This was followed by a single-volume anthology named and published by Ohzora on September 24, 2005. The twelfth anthology released was a three-volume series titled ''To Heart 2: Special Days Comic Anthology'' and published by Ichijinsha between May 24 and July 25, 2008. A single-volume anthology titled was published by Enterbrain on June 25, 2008. Another single-volume anthology titled ''To Heart 2: After School Diary 4-koma Maximum'' and published by Bunendo followed its release on August 11, 2008. The last manga anthology series, titled ''To Heart 2 Anthology Comic: Precious Days'', was released by Capcom on December 10, 2008 and February 20, 2009 as two volumes.

Anime

television adaptation of ''To Heart 2'' was produced by OLM's Team Iguchi, directed by Norihiko Sudō, and was scripted by head writer Hiroshi Yamaguchi. Both members had previously served the same positions for the studio's ''

Comic Party , sometimes abbreviated to ComiPa, is a dating sim video game by the Japanese game studio Leaf. It was first released on May 28, 1999 for Windows with adult content, but re-released with it removed for the Dreamcast, Windows, and PSP. The ...

'' anime adaptation, and Yamaguchi was also the main writer for the ''

To Heart ''To Heart'' is a Japanese Eroge, adult visual novel developed by Leaf (company), Leaf and released on May 23, 1997 for Microsoft Windows, Windows. It was later Porting, ported to the PlayStation (console), PlayStation and given voice act ...

'' anime. The anime series, containing fourteen episodes, was first broadcast in Japan between October 3, 2005 and January 2, 2006 on

Television Kanagawa (tvk for short) is an independent television station in Japan serving Kanagawa Prefecture and parts of the Greater Tokyo Area with favorable reception. The station was founded on April 20, 1971 and began broadcasting on April 1, 1972. Its call si ...

as a

UHF anime refers to the anime (produced in prospect of being) broadcast by independent stations generally located in the Kanto, Chukyo and Kansai regions of Japan, who are members of the Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations (JAITS). Ot ...

. Out of the fourteen episodes, thirteen were regular episodes, while a summary episode also aired after the eleventh episode. Inspired by the film ''

Mystery Train "Mystery Train" is a song written and recorded by American blues musician Junior Parker in 1953. Originally performed in the style of a Memphis blues or rhythm and blues tune, it was inspired by earlier songs and later became a popular rockabi ...

'', Sudō and the production staff created the series' story as a nonlinear narrative; each episode of the anime follows a different heroine's interactions with the protagonist over the same span of time. The anime series was released in Japan as seven separate

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

volumes between December 22, 2005 and June 23, 2006 by

Imagica is a Japanese post-production company for films, television programmes and commercials, etc., established in 1935 and headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Imagica Group. History Imagica was formerly named from 193 ...

. A DVD box set containing the series was released on September 10, 2008.

Maiden Japan ''Maiden Japan'', released as ''Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album '' Made in Japan''. Release There are at least two different versions of ...

have licensed the series for a North American release. There have also been five sets of

series produced by Chaos Project and Aquaplus. Of the five OVA series, Yasuhisa Katō directed the first two sets of episodes, while Jun'ichi Sakata replaced him for the remaining episodes. The first OVA series, containing three episodes, were released by Imagica as three DVD volumes between February 28 and September 28, 2007. The second set of two OVA episodes, titled ''To Heart 2 AD'', was released by

Frontier Works is a Japanese company specializing in the creation and distribution of media related to anime, such as producing OVAs, radio dramas, drama CDs, anime soundtracks, or other related products. The company was established in August 1990. Projects ...

as two DVD volumes between March 26 and August 8, 2008. The third set of two episodes, titled ''To Heart 2 AD Plus'', followed as two DVD volumes between April 24 and October 7, 2009. The fourth set of two episodes, titled ''To Heart 2 AD Next'', was released as two volumes in Blu-ray Disc and DVD formats on September 23 and December 22, 2010. The fifth set of two episodes, titled ''To Heart 2: Dungeon Travelers'', was released as two volumes in BD and DVD formats on February 22 and July 25, 2012. To commemorate the visual novel's tenth anniversary, a BD box set collecting all eleven episodes on two discs was released on December 3, 2014.

Internet radio shows

There have been three

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

s pertaining to ''To Heart 2''. The first radio show was titled ''Radio To Heart 2'', and was hosted by

Yurika Ochiai , formerly and now just , is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former voice actress and gravure idol. She is also known by her nickname in Japan. She was originally working for Arts Vision, however, she quit in October 2006. From 2007 she worked ...

and

Shizuka Itō is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo, Japan. She is represented by Ken Production. She won a "Best Actress in Supporting Roles" award at the 10th Seiyu Awards for her roles in ''Prison School'' and ''Sailor Moon Crystal''. She is ...

, who voiced Konomi and Tamaki respectively in the visual novel. After the show's initial run on the Japanese Internet radio network Onsen ended on March 30, 2006 with its twenty-fifth episode, it began its renewed broadcast on Radio Kansai and the Animate.tv website in April 2006, and continued to broadcast until its 116th episode on January 17, 2008. Seven CD compilations, each containing thirteen of the show's renewed episodes and an extra recording, were released between November 25, 2006 and December 26, 2008. It was followed by a second radio show, titled . The show is hosted by

Ryōko Ono is a Japanese voice actress from Yokohama, Japan. She is also known as or . Filmography Anime ;2004 *'' Kurau: Phantom Memory'' as Washima *'' Otogi Zoshi'' as Daughter 2 (ep 2) *'' Black Jack'' as Wato ;2005 *''Honey and Clover'' as Female ...

and

Ema Kogure is a freelance Japanese voice actress previously affiliated with Mausu Promotion. She was born in Osaka Prefecture and raised in Adachi, Tokyo. Filmography Television animation ;2000s * Hand Maid May (Mika, Miyuki Zin, Woman) *Go! Go! Itsutsugo ...

, who voiced Sasara and Ma-ryan respectively, and began streaming on Onsen on February 15, 2008. Eleven CD compilations, each containing thirteen episodes and an extra recording, have been released since December 26, 2008, with the latest volume having been released on September 30, 2011. The third Internet radio show, titled , was hosted by Emiko Hagiwara, Kotomi Yamakawa, and

Harumi Sakurai is a Japanese voice actress and narrator. Some of her prominent roles are Saya Tokido in ''Little Busters!'', Yuri Nakamura in ''Angel Beats!'', Awaki Musujime in '' A Certain Magical Index'', Lisanna Strauss in '' Fairy Tail'' and Sylphie Ap ...

, who voiced Ilfa, Harumi, and Silfa respectively. The radio show was streamed on Animate.tv between September 7, 2009 and April 5, 2010, and lasted thirty episodes. The episodes were compiled into three CD volumes, each containing ten episodes and an extra recording. The first CD volume was first sold at the Aquaplus Festa 2009 and Comiket 77 events in December 2009, before receiving a public release on January 29, 2010, while the third volume was first sold at Comiket 78 in August 2010, and later on September 23, 2009 as a public release.

Music and audio CDs

Three pieces of theme music are used in the original ''To Heart 2'' visual novel. "Heart to Heart", the opening theme, was performed by Arisa Nakayama and composed by Kazue Nakagami. , the ending theme, was performed by Akko and composed by Naoya Shimokawa. Both songs' lyrics were written by Shōko Sudani. An insert song, , is also used in Yūki's storyline. The song was performed by

Rina Satō is a Japanese voice actress with hundreds of television and video game productions, many multi-year, and is active in film and as a singer as well. She won the Best Lead Actress Award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. Satō has been appearing since 2003 ...

, who voiced Yūki in the visual novel, and composed and written by Takeshi Marui. The first music CD published for the game was the original soundtrack album. The soundtrack's release preceded that of the visual novel's on December 22, 2004, and the two-disc album contains thirty-eight tracks collected from the background music and theme songs used in the game. A separate soundtrack album containing thirty-three tracks was also packaged with the game's limited and deluxe edition releases. This was then followed by an album titled ''Heart to Heart'' by Nakayama on June 22, 2005, which contains the opening theme and songs from other

video games. An

image song An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, '' dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a characte ...

album, titled ''To Heart 2 Character Songs'', was released on November 23, 2005 containing nine songs sung by the voice actresses who voiced the heroines found in ''To Heart 2''. A second soundtrack album containing additional music from ''To Heart 2 Another Days'', titled ''To Heart 2 Secret Sound Track'', was bundled with the limited edition release on February 29, 2008. A

maxi-single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

, titled , was then published on March 26, 2008 featuring the titular ending theme for ''Another Days'' by Rena Uehara. It was followed by a second image song album, titled ''To Heart 2 Character Songs Vol. 2'', on December 25, 2008 featuring eight songs based on the additional heroines found in the later games. A third soundtrack album, titled ''To Heart 2 Complete Soundtrack'', was bundled with the limited edition of the PlayStation 3 game, ''To Heart 2 DX Plus'', on September 22, 2011. The soundtrack consists of four discs of music compiled from the background music and songs used throughout the series. Several

drama CDs Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

based on ''To Heart 2'' have also been produced. The first set, titled ''Anthology Drama CD To Heart 2'', was released as two volumes between February 24 and March 24, 2006. Two drama CD volumes based on ''To Heart 2'' and ''Another Days'' were also released as part of the series. The second volume of the ''Himekuri CD'' series, based on ''To Heart 2'', was released on December 5, 2007, while the fourth volume, based on ''Another Days'', was released on June 4, 2008.

Reception

According to a weekly sales ranking conducted by

Media Create is a Japanese company that gathers and analyzes data from the digital entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the Japanese console gaming market. Business operations include publishing, market research and consulting. It is a popular we ...

, the original version of ''To Heart 2'' was the fourth best-selling video game for the week ending on January 2, 2005, during which the game sold 86,485 copies. Another ranking conducted during the same week by Famitsu.com instead placed this number at 82,949 copies sold. The game subsequently remained on Media Create's sales ranking at thirty-fourth, forty-seventh, and fiftieth until the week ending on January 23, 2005. In a sales ranking of

s conducted by PCNews, ''To Heart 2 X Rated'' limited edition premiered at first place in the rankings. It subsequently ranked third, thirty-sixth, sixteenth, and twice at thirty-second, before making its last appearance on the chart at fiftieth place in late March 2006. ''To Heart 2 Portable'', the PSP version, was the ninth best-selling video game and sold 32,521 copies between July 27 and August 2, 2009. ''To Heart 2 DX Plus'', the PS3 compilation, placed eighth in sales and sold 24,429 copies in Japan between September 19 and 25, 2011. Sales surveys conducted by PCpress indicate that ''To Heart 2 Another Days'' was the most pre-ordered bishōjo game in Japan between mid-October 2007 and mid-January 2008. It also ranked first as the most widely sold bishōjo game in Japan in February 2008, and was the fifth most widely sold in March 2008. ''Manaka de Ikuno!!'' ranked second in bishōjo game pre-orders in Japan between mid-September and mid-October 2009, and it ranked third between mid-October and mid-November 2009. Its limited and regular edition releases placed second and forty-second respectively in the sales rankings in January 2010, while the two releases collectively ranked thirty-third and fiftieth in the two following months. The PSP spin-off ''To Heart 2: Dungeon Travelers'' was the third best-selling video game and sold 37,396 copies in Japan between June 27 and July 3, 2011. In the October 2007 issue of ''

'', poll results for the fifty best

s were released. Out of 249 titles, ''To Heart 2'' ranked third with seventy-four votes. Getchu.com hosts an annual voting poll called the "Getchu.com Bishōjo Game Ranking" where users vote online for the best games of the previous year in several different categories. For the 2005 ranking, the categories were: overall, scenario, music, visuals, gameplay system, and heroines. Among the rankings conducted in early 2006, ''To Heart 2 X Rated'' placed sixth overall, eighth in scenario, seventh in music, fourth in visuals, and ninth in gameplay system. Two heroines from the game, Sasara and Manaka, ranked as the seventh and ninth most popular heroines respectively.

Notes

References

External links

''To Heart 2'' official website

''To Heart 2 Another Days'' official website
* * {{Chaos Project ToHeart 2 2004 video games 2005 anime television series debuts 2005 manga 2007 anime OVAs 2008 anime OVAs 2008 manga 2008 video games 2009 anime OVAs 2009 video games 2010 anime OVAs 2011 video games 2012 anime OVAs Arcade video games Bishōjo games Commercial video games with freely available source code Dengeki Comics Eroge Harem anime and manga Japan-exclusive video games Maiden Japan Manga based on video games Nagomi Bunko OLM, Inc. PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Vita games Romance anime and manga Romance video games School life in anime and manga Seinen manga Shōnen manga Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games Leaf (Japanese company) games Aquaplus games