CONGRATULATIONS.
The Tokimeki Memorial series is renowned for being at the far end of the idealistic side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, and thus for running with sweet and heartwarming romance: as such, expect to see a lot of heartwarming moments in that franchise. Here's a list of those:
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Tokimeki Memorial franchise in general
- Basically every Happy Ending that doesn't fall in Funny is this. Especially if Tears of Joy from the character who got her/his feelings reciprocated by the protagonist are involved, as in the case of Shiori and Nozomi in 1, Saki and Ayako in Tabidachi no Uta, Hikari and Kaedeko in 2, and Maki, Yuu and Itsuki in 4.
- Also, nearly every character in Tokimeki Status during Valentine's Day.
Tokimeki Memorial 1
- Any time Shiori confesses counts as this and a Moment of Awesome.
- Shiori and the protagonist's Double Birthday Event, where they reminisce on the toy ship he offered to her in their childhood days.
- Saki's "Tears of Joy" Event, when she cries of happiness after you and the base-ball team she's the manager of wins the Koshien. The scene is particulary memorable, as the game uses a special crying sprite for Saki not reused anywhere else in the game.
- Saki's Sick Episode special event, where she falls ill during the 3rd day of the School Trip, and you stay at her bedside during the 4th day. The sweet music box BGM and Saki's "If only I could be ill like this more often..." line she unconsciously slips out make the scene even more adorable.
- Ayako sleeping on the protagonist's shoulder, and saying "I love you" in her sleep if you don't wake her up, in her special Date Event at the Planetarium. Her peaceful and cute face during the scene adds to the "awwwwwww" factor as well.
- Mira's Christmas Party event, where she shivers from the cold and the protagonist offers her his coat. She takes her arm to "give some warmth", and then a few days later, she gives him back the coat, with all the little tears sewn off, courtesy of her. Considering she is the Lovable Alpha Bitch of the game, seeing her being so close to the protagonist is an adorable view to hold.
- Likewise, discovering Mira being so kind, caring, and adorable to her little brothers (such as in the main game, in drama tracks like her monologue in Volume 2 of Nijiiro no Seishun Forever, and the OVA), and little kids in general (as shown in Tabidachi no Uta) really adds a lot to her character.
- The ending of the Shiori Route in Tabidachi no Uta doubles as Moment of Awesome, as the protagonist, out of love for Shiori, symbolically completes the marathon route he couldn't participate in the day before due to a severe muscle tear in the leg, suffering hell in the process. Shiori, having guessed his intentions, waits for him at the finishing line all while cheering for him; and after, they confess their feelings in each other's arms. AWWWWWWWWW.
- The final line of Nijiiro no Seishun 's Perfect Ending, which doubles as a Title Drop for the game's Leitmotif, as Saki and the protagonist are happily holding in each other's arms, under a rainbow: "Anata ni deaete yokatta" (= I'm so glad I've met you).
Tokimeki Memorial 2
- The Blooming Stories Drama CD series are living and breathing this. Each CD has 3 Drama Tracks, placed in a order such as their contents show the evolution of the girl's feelings towards the protagonist: the first track takes place at the beginning of their relationship; the second track is when the girl has fallen in love with the protagonist; and the third track is after she has confessed her feelings to him. The heartwarming contents varies with the girls, with for example Mei having a Sand In My Eyes Onion Tears scene, or Kaori gradually believing back in The Power of Trust.
- As a whole, the "Futari Dake no X-Mas" (A Christmas for just the two of us) special events for each girl are made of heartwarming, meant to show how much the two characters have fallen in love with each other. It's a different kind of heartwarming scene depending on the girl ( a Snowed-In situation for Hikari, a You Must Be Cold scene for Kaori, a Train-Station Goodbye for Kaedeko, or a She Cleans Up Nicely scene for Homura for example), but they'll make you go awwwwww.
- KAORI YAE. That girl is the epitome of Heartwarming in Tokimeki Memorial 2. A lot of her Special Events ooze with those, especially the ones occuring after She's Back from her Heroic BSoD. Special mention go to the following Events:
- "The person I can believe in", which doubles as Moment of Awesome for the protagonist:
Protagonist: Let's go back together, Yae-san?Kaori: ...Didn't I told you to don't mind about me anymore?Protagonist: I heard that well. But, you didn't give me a reason that'll convince me to do so.Kaori: It's that, I don't want to trust in you...!Protagonist: Did I do something that hurt you, Yae-san?Kaori: No no, so far you haven't done something like that... But I have the feeling that one day, surely, that'll happen.Protagonist: So, by acting like this, this means you're giving up, even before you'll know if you can trust in me.Kaori: ...(Ah!)(Cue the game's Leitmotif variant occurring when a character overcomes his/her hurdles)Protagonist: ...Yae-san, let's go back together?Kaori: ...Yes.- "Late-blooming Cherry Tree - Resolution", THE mandatory Event of her storyline, where she finally reveals her Backstory to the protagonist (again doubles as Moment of Awesome for him):
Kaori: That's why... That's why, I'm like this cherry tree. Unable to bloom... Just a bothersome being...Protagonist: That's not true ! After all, that tree is blooming. It's just blooming a little later than the others.Kaori: But... Even if it's blooming...Protagonist: It's fine if it's blooming late. Even if it were to hurry and bloom, if it doesn't produce a nice color and smell, it would mean nothing.Kaori: ...(Ah!)(Cue the game's Leitmotif variant occurring when a character overcomes his/her hurdles)Protagonist: Yae-san, it's fine if you bloom at your pace.Kaori: ...Thank you. My decision is made. ... I'll enter the Volley-ball Club!Protagonist: Good.(Outside the park)Kaori: Thank you for today. At last, I've...Protagonist: The real battle begins now, Yae-san.Kaori: Yes, you're right.Protagonist: Well then, shall we go home ? I'll take you back home.Kaori: Yes.- The Sick Episode event, where Kaori visits the protagonist at his home when he's ill, and lovingly feeds him with mikan (tangerine) lumps she prepared for him;
- The 3rd Year School Festival Event, where, if you choose to do a Tea Shop attraction, she'll cheerfully and happily act as the shop's waitress, donning a maid costume. And then there's the camp fire scene just after...
Kaori: How beautiful...Protagonist: Yes...Kaori: Thank you...Protagonist: Eh, about what?Kaori: If I was able to be with everyone and have fun with them like this during this School Festival, it's thanks to you.Protagonist: ? What do you mean by this?Kaori: No no, it's all right, if you don't understand. For now, I just...Protagonist: You just?(Kaori blushes)Kaori: I just want to be like this a little more, and silently gaze at the flames... Together with you.Protagonist: Yes...- And then there's the Epilogue of the novel she's the heroine of, Anata o Shinjiteru, and more specifically its very last lines: see the Quotes section of the He's Back! page for their English-translated version. The heartwarming is absolutely overflowing when finishing the novel on those lines.
- Hikari's 2nd Year Birthday event, if you saw the "It's the one who calls others 'idiots' who's one" Childhood Event, and if you offer her a Glass Dolphin figurine. The sweet BGM adds to the heartwarming of the scene as well.
- Hikari's 3rd Year School Festival Event, where the protagonist rushes to get back the precious-to-her-heart ring he offered her in their childhood, that he and Takumi inadvertently used as a selling item for the Small Item Shop. The scene when he gives her back the ring and she presses it in her chest is positively adorable.
- Kaedeko's Event where she and the protagonist meet again at Hokkaido, during the latter's School Trip. The two of them feared to never meet again after Kaedeko and her family's sudden moving away from Hibikino, so the scene is very powerful and poignant.
- Mei, being a cute Tsundere, has a good share of adorable Events. Among them are:
- "First Food", where the sheltered girl discovers for the first time fast-food, invited by the protagonist;
- "Flower-picking": the sight of a blushing Mei with a beautiful flower in her hair is aaaaaaw-inducing;
- "You are my only slave", showing her Clingy Jealous Girl side (and embarrassing herself in front of everyone with this);
- and "Mei's memories", occuring if the protagonist met her in Childhood Mode: seeing her cry as they discovered they actually were the kids who played together back then, and renewing their promise of being together is really moving.
Tokimeki Memorial 4
- The game's setting... A modern day Kirameki High School. Even if the series ended there, It became a heartwarming set of Book Ends, that the series began, and ended, with a young boy finding romance at that particular school, and confessing under their famous tree.
- Even more heartwarming is, despite the fact that the iconic sailor fuku uniform that made Tokimeki Memorial so, well, memorable is being phased out In-Universe as well as Real Life, they found a way to cameo it in the most heartwarming way possible.note
- The intro even plays to this, in that you see the two female leads, one in the iconic sailor fuku, the other in the modern uniform, both stood beside Kirameki High's iconic romance spot.
Tokimeki Idol
- One of the unlockable costumes for all the girls? The iconic original Kirameki High School fuku from the original game, complete with an optional yellow hairband. Also, one of the last songs you can play? Motto! Motto! Tokimeki!...
