I never thought that an anime could have less plot and less of a conflict than Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting, but To Heart proved me wrong. Okay, maybe I am being a little extreme, but you get my point. To Heart is the story of a childhood relationship that has existed through high school. Although they have never been serious before, Akari realizes she has strong feelings for Fujita but is uncertain if he feels the same way. Instead of using this premise to create some dramatic or even comedic situations, To Heart ignores these feelings through most of the series. Instead, it simply chronicles the Akari and Fujita’s interactions with other students. Again, even this premise could create some interesting situations, but it does not.
To Heart is plagued by weaknesses and doesn’t really have a strong point. The characters are all sort of generic and dull. No ones personalities or actions ever conflict with one another; in this school everyone gets along and avoids conflict. At one point Akari’s best friend discovers she also likes Fujita. This could have caused tension between her and Akari or she could have had an internal conflict because of these feelings. Yet, for the most part conflicts that would occur in reality are never faced as she immediately gives up her feelings.
No story means no complex character development which prevents the viewer from ever connecting to the characters. This connection is especially important when the series deals with emotional subjects like high school romance. Yet the characters always seem distant and you never get to really know them.
As if this is not enough, To Heart even strays away from its one strength, its realistic approach. At first this series is like the most boring day you could possibly have at school, but this is realistic as everyday cannot be interesting. Yet, for some reason towards the end of the series, To Heart introduces a female robot student. Maybe if she had some lasers or could fly this addition would have helped this series, but the robot is simply content cleaning floors and being boring.
If you are looking for a romantic series I suggest seeing Kare Kano (also called His and Her Circumstances). If you have seen every other romance series and still want more I suggest exploring a new genre, going grocery shopping or making a dentist appointment. To Heart is a boring series with generic characters. Anything this series tries to accomplish has been done better somewhere else.
