We remember this excitement! “Tokimeki Memorial” 30th Anniversary Live Was Completely a Reunion

The two-day live event “Tokimeki Memorial 30th ANNIVERSARY LIVE Emotional presented by TOKYO MX” was held at Tachikawa Stage Garden in Tokyo from May 18th to 19th, 2024. This article provides a live report from Day 2.

This live event was held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tokimeki Memorial, a love simulation game released by Konami Digital Entertainment on the PC Engine in 1994.

Mami Kanazuki, Akiko Sekine, Tomoko Naka, Masayo Kawaguchi, Shoko Sugawara, Ayako Kurosaki, Ayako Sasaki, Rei Igarashi, Yoko Teppozuka, Mikiko Kurihara, Kurin Yoshiki, Shiho Kikuchi, A total of 14 people appeared, including Narumi Tsunoda and Yuji Ueda, who played Yoshio Saotome, the main character's best friend. An all-star lineup that doesn't make you feel like 30 years has passed has been realized.

◆The call “More! Mott! Tokimeki” was perfect
The first song is “Motto! Motto! Tokimeki,” the theme song for “Tokimeki Memorial ~forever with you~,” which was released for the original PlayStation. The original song was sung solo by Mami Kanetsuki, but in this live performance, it is sung by the 13 heroine cast members (Tokimeki All-Stars), which brings back memories and a special feeling.

I was overcome with emotion at the thought of the day when I would be able to hear them perform live after 30 years, and was amazed at how the audience's call and response is still perfect.

We still remember the excitement of those days…!

After singing, the performers remained on stage, and Mami Kanazuki, who played Shiori Fujisaki, greeted them with, “Today is the Kirameki High School reunion!'' Masayo Kawaguchi is currently living overseas, and she told us about how she suddenly returned to Japan for this live performance.

◆The cast members decorate various songs with seven costume changes!
This live show has a structure in which a video is played between songs, and “You (the main character ≒ player), Shiori Fujisaki, and other heroines are performing and participating in the music festival being held at Kirameki High School.'' That seems to be the case.

The live performance started with Mami Kanazuki singing “Dara!”. After that, Yoko Teppozuka's “Hero'' was followed by Ayako Kurosaki's “Yukari to Lunch,'' where other cast members appeared dressed as “cooking fairies'' and added color to the stage.

When you think of the heroines supporting the performances of other heroines in the same way at the “Music Festival” held at Kirameki High School, it feels somewhat like a musical.

“Ame no Chi Mata Ame'' by Mikiko Kurihara is also about Mikihara Ai, who suffers from rash syndrome, and the main character advises her, “Just think of the audience as Muku (Muku is the name of her pet dog)''. “Muku~♪ 2,500 people~♪'' spoke to the audience before the song began, eliciting laughter and strengthening the link with the story.

◆The melancholy song of the bad ED, “Femish Yarodomo no Uta” was also met with great applause!
“Tokimeki Memorial'' is a monumental and pioneering work in the romance simulation game genre, and in the late 1990s it created a major movement in which many CDs containing songs sung by the heroines were released. There were probably more than 100 vocal songs alone, and this live show was a luxurious lecture with a very different set list on Day 1 and Day 2.

During the MC, Narumi Tsunoda, who plays Rei Ijuin, who appears in the game as a beautiful woman who dresses as a man (to be more precise, she hides the fact that she is a girl from the people around her due to family circumstances), said, “I have never hidden the fact that I am a girl from the beginning. It's refreshing and fun to be able to appear on the show,” he said, expressing his joy. It was also revealed that Ayako Sasaki, who is currently working as a dance instructor, was in charge of the choreography for her co-stars.

Additionally, the bad ending song to “Tokimeki Memorial ~forever with you~”, “Utsunomiyashii Yaroudomo no Uta”, sung by Ueda Yuji, the only male among the cast, is a popular number that has become something of a comedy, with its lingering lyrics, melancholy melody, and Ueda's excellent singing ability.

At this live performance, Ueda received huge cheers.

◆Thrilled to be featured in the drama series!
The climax of the live performance was filled with songs from the Tokimeki Memorial Drama Series.

The “Drama Series” is an adventure game that focuses on the relationship between the protagonist and a specific heroine, and three titles have been released: “Rainbow-Colored Youth,” with Nijino Saki as the heroine; “Irodori no Love Song,” with Katagiri Ayako as the heroine; and “Tabitachi no Uta,” which features two heroines, Tatebayashi Miharu and Fujisaki Shiori.

I'm sure there were many audience members who were deeply moved by the set list, which consisted of the trilogy “I'm Glad to Have Met You,” “Tomorrow ~Beside You~,” “The Power of the Starry Sky,” and “Image of Happiness” (at least I was deeply moved).

Then, when the All Stars (a cast of 13 heroines) performed “Heart's Starting Line~with you~'' and the 10th anniversary song “10th SMILE'', things went by in the blink of an eye. The three-hour live show finally came to an end. Lastly, Kanazuki said, “When she was playing Shiori, she never imagined that 30 years would be so wonderful.

I feel like crying because the warm space from that time still exists today,'' he wrote in words of gratitude.

The encore was the long-awaited ED theme of “Tokimeki Memorial ~Forever with you~”, “Futari no Toki ~Forver~”, and the return of “Motto! Motto! Tokimeki”. The performance concluded with a singing performance by the entire cast, including Yuji Ueda, who plays Yoshio.

◆The protagonist returns after 30 years!?
The Kirameki High School music festival, which had been held during the intermission of the live performance, also came to a safe conclusion. As the protagonist was about to head home, Shiori called out to him if he wanted to go home with her, and he responded by using her name (?), causing the audience to erupt in laughter. In a way, it was a revenge that had been 30 years in the making.

I'm sure many in the audience were thinking, “This guy just said that…!”

In any case, after a festival, people tend to feel desolate. “I feel like I won't be able to see the person I care about anymore,” she says, expressing her anxiety, to which the protagonist makes a very straight-forward confession, which in turn elicits cheers as if to say, “Well said!” did. Well, that's good, that's good. She saw something good.

At the end, a message was displayed at the venue saying, “Please stay tuned for new information about Tokimeki Memorial!'', and the same message was announced on Official X after the live performance.

Tokimeki Memorial, the monumental love simulation game, will celebrate its 30th anniversary on May 27, 2024. I look forward to future developments.

“Tokimeki Memorial 30th ANNIVERSARY LIVE Emotional presented by TOKYO MX” Day.2 Set List
M01. More! More! Tokimeki (Tokimeki All Stars)

M02.So! (Mami Kanazuki/Shiori Fujisaki)

M03.Hero (Yoko Teppuzuka/Yuko Asahina)

M04. Lunch with Yukari (Ayako Kurosaki / traditional role of Yukari)

M05.Breath of Roses (Narumi Tsunoda/Rei Ijuin)

M06. Rain after rain (Mikiko Kurihara/Ai Mikihara)

M07. First Shrine Visit LOVE MOTION (Yoshiki Kurin/Saotome Yumi)

M08.Lunatic emotion (Tomoko Naka/Yuna Himio)

M09. To the City of Water… (Rei Igarashi/Mira Kagami)

M10.Double Bubble era (Ayako Kurosaki/Koshiki Yukari, Narumi Tsunoda/Rei Ijuin)

M11. Hyacinth (Yuji Ueda/Yoshio Saotome role)

M12.Fiesta ~Red and Black~ (Tomoko Naka/Yuna Himio)

M13.Over the rainbow (Shoko Sugawara/Saki Nijino)

M14. Wind (Akiko Sekine/Mio Kisaragi role)

M15.Sincerely ~I want to be honest~ (as Ayako Sasaki/Nozomi Kiyokawa)

M16. Shy Sleeping Beauty (Mikiko Kurihara/Ai Mikihara)

M17. Poem of the Effeminate Men (Yuji Ueda / Yoshio Saotome)

M18. I'm glad we met (Sachiko Sugawara / Saki Nijino)

M19.Tomorrow～Beside you～ (Masayo Kawaguchi/Ayako Katagiri)

M20. Power of the Starry Sky (Kikuchi Shiho / Tatebayashi Miharu)

M21. Image of happiness (Mami Kanazuki/Shiori Fujisaki)

M22.▽’s starting line ~with you~ (Tokimeki All Stars) *▽ is a heart symbol

M23.10th SMILE (=10th Smile) (Tokimeki All Stars)

M24. Futari no ki ~forver~ (everyone)

M25. More! More! Tokimeki (All)
(C)2024 Konami Digital Entertainment