Reviews for Tokimeki Tonight

Tokimeki Tonight is not a well-known anime (which is why there are no reviews for it). It's fallen to the wayside since it finished airing 35 years ago. Is it fair or is there more to this series than what's on the surface? Story: If you ever wanted an anime version of the Addams Family with your typical shoujo clichés thrown in, this is the closest you're going to get. Due to the episodic nature of the series, don't expect any significant progress. Yes, even after the dramatic events of episodes 25 and 26, everything turns back to normal when the credits roll. Also, don't be surprisedif some clever (at first) ideas get driven into the ground.

The "forbidden" nature of Ranze's love for Makabe-kun will definitely hit home for some viewers. (More on that later!)

Music:

I was rather taken aback by the score on Tokimeki Tonight. The score was quite infectious, to the point that some of it played in my mind while I was trying to fall asleep. A special shout-out goes to the fighting music with the saxophone in it.

Of course, the main draws are the OP and ED. I must admit, this is one of the few series where I liked the ED music more than the OP. However, both are quite catchy and memorable (in accordance with the law of 80s themes).

Characters:

While there's no character I like 100% of the time (outside of the shark in episode 32, which, trust me, makes sense in context), the main cast tends to be likable more often than not.

However, there were some I couldn't bring myself to like, no matter how hard I tried. The rigidness of Ranze's mother made any scene she was in tough to digest. She wants Ranze to fall in love with a fellow monster and repeatedly tries to sabotage her romantic efforts with Makabe-kun. In fact, her rabid traditionalism even puts Ranze in danger in episode 13.

Yoko, Ranze's rival in love, is a brat at best and downright treacherous at worst. However, I believe she was intentionally written to be unlikable.

Recurring characters Sand and Prince Aaron are borderline predators and that ruined any enjoyment I could have had of them.

Art:

One of the most unusual aspects of Tokimeki Tonight is the background art. While the series presumably takes place in Japan, most of the signs are in English and the architecture has an old European flair to it.

As for the rest of the art, it's par for the course for an anime made in the early 80s. There was obviously a limited budget, which explains why the coloring is often basic and there's a lack of detail in the character's faces (you'll notice several times throughout the show, characters are drawn without noses). I'm willing to let this fly, as the art isn't vomit-inducing and anime wasn't the most fruitful industry at the time.

Enjoyment:

Tokimeki Tonight is a mixed bag. Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's good. Some stories are entertaining, while others can be borderline snooze fests. Like most everything else with this series, my enjoyment was about abverage.

Final thoughts:

While not the worst anime I've seen (*cough* Blue Flames), it's understandable as to why this series fell to the wayside. It's a 7 at its best and it's a 3 at its worst. I honestly thought I would have more to see for this, but it's just-so average. It's an obvious 5.

So, all in all, I give this series five glasses of tomato juice out of ten.

Tokimeki Tonight, or what it was called in the Arabic dub, Ranze the amazing (رانزي المدهشة) I grew up with this anime back in the 80s so it was a real throwback to come across it again 40 years later. The show masquerades as a shoujo anime but it's really a circular gag show, similar in style to Urusei Yatsura by Rumiko Takahashi (of Ranma 1/2 fame). The characters are introduced, they fall in love, the relationship never advances past the introduction and its used as an excuse for comedy to happen. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if it was inspired by Urusei Yatsura as the characterdynamic and situations are pretty close.

Summery = Ranze is a daughter of a vampire father & werewolf mother. On her first day of highschool she falls for Shun the bad boy, because he's human and she's a monster it's considered forbidden love. Love rivals are introduced to complicate things and hijinks ensue.

Plot (7/10) =

Episodic by nature and very character driven. A situation is set up and the characters are left to run amuck. Similar to Urusei Yatsura (and Ranma) regardless of what happens no lasting harm is done and the relationship status quo is maintained. The episodes are memorable though, If I can still remember some of them including one off characters over 40 years later then the show must be doing something right. Ending was rather lackluster though, I always thought the arabic dub stopped at an odd point so imagine my surprise to find out they were actually faithful to the OG.

Characters (8.5/10) =

This is the show's strong point. Not only are they solid but memorable, they're not stereotypical at all. If anything every single character is created with some form of conflict in mind so the relationships and interactions are very dynamic, explosive in some cases.

Ranze's mother is headstrong and tries to force her daughter into a more traditional marriage, which is hilarious when you find out that she herself rebelled against her parents and married for love. A man she now uses as a punching bag whenever the full moon rises (gee I wonder what that symbolizes... subtle...)

Ranze herself has a strong sense of self and doesn't let anything or anyone get her down. She is sure both of herself and her parent's love (to her and to each other) & very internally motivated. More than can be said for 90% of modern heroines sadly.

Even Shun the love interest, I didn't like him as a kid as it seemed like he was just leading the girls along. Well yeah he is but he isn't your typical bad boy jock either. He actually has a personality and just because he is the love interest doesn't mean he HAS to like the girl back.

Art and animation (7/10) =

So... yeah. This came out in 1982 with the typical low to moderate budget animation of the time. I suspect it was funded by what change they found in the couch cushions...

Characters often walk in space. Backdrops are missing in none essential shots. repeated animation to cut on costs...etc.

They did try to stylize it though. Lots of English signs to hint at this happening in the west and the characters will often drop english words randomly. The backgrounds have a stylized look, style of something drawn by a 5 year old sure, but still stylized.

The characters have this long thin body with a large head typical of 70s animation.

It's a date look but even with all that it's still charming with a lot of attention to detail. The characters expressive and the animation matches the show's energy.

Sound (8/10)

Another strong point for the show. The music and sound are really catchy and memorable. I would score it higher but I feel like the japanese voice acting brings it down a little.

Fun Factor (7/10)

This is a cute show with lots of gags that still land. It's of it's time but a cheap laugh is still a laugh. Also while the characters can be a bit much at times they are never unlikeable.

OVERALL (7/10)

A cute gag show from the 80s, good characters and doesn't take itself too seriously. It's of it's time for sure and more a curio rather than a hidden gem.

Tokimeki Tonight is one of most surprising and blessings of a series I have come across. This little 34 episode anime from the 80s was everything and much more than I had anticipated. This contained many elements I feel is lost within the romance and harem genre. It’s refreshing to see the guy being the prize while the women chase after someone whom is indifferent. It adds another layer of cuteness and desperation we don’t see too often or is tailored towards the male gaze. Not only does it have a great and unique direction with the romance and competitiveness, this show also has fantasticsupernatural elements that blend into the pursuit of romance and its hilarity. The body swaps and powers had suspense to situations while also having a small scent of sweetness in these ludacris situations. At the same time, the rules of the demon world crest this forbidden blockade that both embraces and negates the pursuit. The relationship and constant avoidance of the supernatural truth is strengthened and tested as the series goes on which the show hits its stride from episodes 24-30; The overarching story and plot developments come at full force as every episode is better than the next!

While some slap stick and an unfinished true ending may leave some feeling unsatisfied, Tokimeki Tonight is the unexpected gem I was waiting to stumble upon. The colors, aesthetics, and palettes is astounding and absorbing with so many warm and eye capturing frames and panels. Amazing character designs and attention to detail with the outfits and a delicate matching OST adds to this progressive love competition and one of the more creative, well used, and outlandish supernatural inclusions thus giving this show an array of ideas and inspiration. I’m glad to have unearthed this wonderful, funny, and comforting series. Oh and I love the OP! 9-8.5/10

I want to preface this by saying that I did not finish this anime but I’m writing this because I’ve got plenty to say about what I did see. This review is pretty subjective and if the points I make don’t personally bother you then you might Like Tokimeki Tonight and I recommend heading over to YouTube where the whole series has been uploaded in pretty good quality. At first glance the premise is really cool. The protagonist Ranze is an average 15 year old girl except for the fact that her mother is a werewolf and her father is a vampire(It's sort of like the Munsters if it was a shojo). Ranze’s parents are by far the best part of the show, and if the show was just about vampire dad and wolf-mom I probably wouldn’t have had a problem finishing the series. The problem is I think that's where it stops being interesting (at least for me.)

For the most part Tokimeki Tonight is your typical 80's shojo/gag anime. The main focus of the story is the bland protagonist girl, and her infatuation was a slightly less bland boy who won’t even give her the time of day. But this is the early 80’s and this type of plot is a shojo mainstay, especially in the early days so I won’t be too harsh on that aspect. I figured that this was just the type of mind numbing fluff my brain needed at the end of the day so I kept going. The real problem for me (and the reason why I didn’t finish it) is more complicated.

Ranze, as I've said, is a 15 year old girl. She’s in love with her classmate Shun. This would be totally fine if that weren’t her only concrete characteristic. The only other female character her age (who gets screen time) is Ranze’s classmate Yoko. It is the dynamic between these three characters that made the series unbearable for me. Ranze doesn’t do anything besides try to win the affections of Shun. She has no hobbies of interest or even any friends. Yoko’s only purpose is to serve as a rival for Shun’s affections. If Ranze had at least one female friend then maybe I could have gotten past her flaws but that's just it. The only interactions between female characters involve petty jealousy fighting over a guy who doesn’t even notice them half the time. Maybe it’s my modern sensibilities but I can’t watch a whole series where girls do nothing but fight each other like that. All i’m saying is girls shout support girls and this series made me want to watch legally blond to scrub it from my memory. You want a good old Shojo then look to the works of Ryoko Ikeda because this just isn’t it.

Because I hate to end this on a down note I will say that the opening and ending theme songs are absolute bangers and they are the whole reason why I even knew about this series to begin with. Seriously look them up; the ending in particular is way better than it has any right to be.