Tokimeki Memorial: Forever With You

To put it simply, the Tokimeki Memorial OVA is a melodramatic tour de force. More elaborately, it is an extremely pointed work of fanservice for a very particular audience, though this isn't a bad thing at all. The OVA assumes the viewer has played through at least Shiori's route in the original game, and her perspective from that scenario forms the basis of the story.

Each of the girls are fleshed out as well, with their own scenes that tell of their struggles with unrequited love. Of course, Shiori is the queen at the end of the day, she is the true heroine after all... but ... where does that leave everyone else?

*Spoilers Below*
A Tale of Young Love and All That Entails in All of its Glory
Tokimeki Memorial, the game and the OVA, forces you to think about jealously. Twelve girls, one man, they all want him. The OVA pulls no punches and right off the bat you know something is up, the girls know something is up. They all know that they don't stand a chance against the ideal girlfriend, Shiori Fujisaki, and it shows. The melancholy gazes they give towards the sky, the moon, to each other; their young high school lives are coming to a close and they all wish to make the best of it, they all wish to find love.

The OVA purely reflects the parts of Tokimeki Memorial that hit us the deepest, the careful balancing act of trying to make everyone happy, for everyone to have wonderful high school memories. But there are many delicate feelings in play, many hearts to be broken, and rumors can spread quickly. The OVA is able to pull off all of these dramatic aspects, but most importantly it portrays exactly what makes our main heroine Shiori so memorable, and what makes her an unmovable, cherished cornerstone of the genre.

She's Playing the Game
You may go into the game Tokimeki Memorial seeking your ideal partner: which one of these many girls is best for me? You talk to them, learn about them, and in turn learn about yourself, "what do I want from her? ...what does she want from me?"

What the OVA portrays is Shiori in the exact same conundrum, she's playing the same "game" that you are, a journey to find true love, "you" are the man she wants to be with forever. Shiori's ending in the game reveals that she wants to work up the courage to confess these feelings to you, but what exactly does that entail? The OVA shows exactly what that means, for those left on the sidelines to pick up the pieces, and for those who's hearts are most broken, like Miharu, who acts as Shiori's silent rival, yet in the end gives her the ultimate push towards her confession under the tree of legends.

In Conclusion
It's bittersweet, it's heartfelt, it's everything you want it to be if you're a fan of the game. Even if you're just jumping in it is still a wonderfully paced and directed tale of tender young romance, with scenes of classical music montages and wistful walks through the rain to pull you into its dramatic world. On top of the bottomless fanservice is even hints at other faint romances (like a potential lesbian/bisexual romance between Ayako and Nozomi). Although maybe in flower language, lavender had other meanings back in those days. Maybe many other feelings, symbols, and habits are lost to these times as well.

We may not all those things, but we can always Shiori Fujisaki.

I'll be honest, I've known of Konami's 1994 game Tokimeki Memorial for a good number of years now. I know it's a dating sim game and I've known of the game's lead female character/poster girl Shiori Fujisaki.
That being said, my knowledge of the game stops there since I have never played it. Which means that I pretty much went into the OVA adaptation with no knowledge on the game's story or any of it's characters.
After conducting a little research for this review, I learned that the game's story basically bolis down to this: You play as a student at the Kirameki Private High School which ... Shiori Fujisaki, who is also the player character's childhood friend, also attends. The protagonist also learns of a legend ed throughout the school that couples who confess their love under the school's Tree of Legend (Seriously?) on their day of graduation will be blessed with eternal happiness. From then on, the game basically has you date any number of the game's female characters in the hopes of one of them confessing her love to you in the end.
The OVA adaptation, released in 1999, pretty much follows the basic plot of the game but puts Shiori in the protagonist role and focusses on her struggles to confess her feelings to a faceless male student at school (basically the player character from the game) all throughout her graduation year. In between Shiori's arc are some insights to the lives of some of the other girls who attend Kirameki High who are also dealing with their own issues, such as the tomboyish Nozomi Kiyokawa who loves swimming and sports and is also struggling with her own feelings of love and Megumi Mikihara, Shiori's boy-shy best friend. Oh, and there's also some mystery girl who keeps mistakenly phoning Shiori who is also struggling with expressing her feelings to the same male student Shiori has feelings for but doesn't specify who the boy she's in love with is which leads to Shiori cheering her on in confessing her feelings to said boy.

The story isn't exactly anything special and is pretty much your cliche melodramatic romance shtick of a bunch of cute girls in high school all crushing on the same boy. What keeps this from turning into a typical harem anime is that we never actually get to see the boy the girls are crushing on nor do we see any kind of character interaction with him. Characters don't really get any form of development through the story other than dealing with their feelings and having to pick up the pieces from any inevitable heartbreak that happens. Not to mention the OVA makes sure that every character from the game gets an appearance with some not having any form of involvement within the story and being relegated to simple speaking cameos. But hey, it's not like anime based on fighting games haven't done the same thing.
Which brings me to another issue of this anime is that it assumes that the viewer is familiar with the characters from the game. Sure people who have actually played the game will know all about them but for anyone else going into it with no knowledge of the game will be at a loss on who is who. The only exception to the rule being Shiori who we're given plenty of insight to through her thoughts and feelings. Though this makes sense as she is the protagonist and needs to form that connection with the audience.

Another issue I have with this anime is that at times the anime feels like it's trying to pad out the run time, mainly through montages of the characters going about their lives while a piece of music plays in the background. Gotta make sure every girl from the game gets their fair share of screen time I guess.

If there's one point where the the OVA really shines it would be the art style which is colourful and vibrant with adds to the appealing visual design of the characters. As for the animation, it's decent enough for what it is.

To sum up, the Tokimeki Memorial OVA is something of a mixed bag. The visuals are pleasing but the story is rather cliche, the characters are rather one note and the run time feels padded out. I also may be a bit more biased towards it given my lack of experience with the anime's source material.
It isn't one of the greatest OVA titles I've seen but it's certainly not one of the worst, though fans of the original video game will likely find more enjoyment out of it. For anyone else, I can only say this: If melodramatic romance anime with cute girls is the kind of thing that's up your alley, give it a try and see what you think.