So here we are at the 3rd route in the lineup. Tomomi sensei. And yep, this the teacher. Is this the best route? Nah, nah it isn’t. but it’s still and incredibly solid story. Shall we begin? Oh please. Let’s.
Once again, if you didn’t read my last two posts on this game “Hourglass of Summer” I will rehash the plot for you once again. Because I’m awesome like that. You are Kotaro, a student in high school who is in love with a girl named Kaho. On the last day of school before summer vacation you ride your bike home and get covered in weird powder. You wake September 1st to find out that you and Kaho were together. But she died the day before. That’s when you start time hopping back and forth between the two month time span.
During this time, you think to yourself that you’re starting to go crazy. so you have to tell somebody. (You haven’t met Ligene for real yet). So you decide the best person to tell would be your sci-fi obsessed teacher Tomomi.
At first she’s a little hesitant to believe you, but she eventually does, giving you whatever advice she can, and also not telling you about events that you haven’t come across yet in your time travel journey. She’s basically the only person who knows what’s going on besides you and Ligene the time cop.
If you decide you want to romance her she begins to have a problem with her stalker ex-boyfriend and you have to basically team up with her to stop him.
Eventually after you end up saving her, you decide to go on a date with her. The date goes very well and Tomomi lets you know about how when she was little she had some kind of precognition that she would one day meet the perfect guy in which she’d be happy forever. But she waited through high school and college and the guy never showed up. She begins to get sad as she realizes that you’re that guy and she’s mad at herself for not waiting a bit longer. (aka being in a relationship with her crazy stalker ex-boyfriend).
This is when Ligene comes and informs you of something. and to me, this is the most depressing part in the entire game. Ligene informs you (in this route only) that the only way to save Kaho is to do a hard reset of the timeline. Kaho will be saved…. but everyone will lose their memories of the events of this summer, including you and Tomomi. You and Tomo agree it’s the only way and you both lose all the memories of the time you spent together, but not before she kisses you on the forehead.
However, before you get out the hankies, I’ll tell you this.
After the timeline resets, you start having the same conversations you did in the beginning of the game with her, but for some reason, the two of you get extreme feelings of deja vu, and you’re not exactly sure why.
This route’s epilogue is cutting to a few years later with you in college in a relationship with Tomomi, and you couldn’t be happier.
Now i’m sure you noticed, this had a lot longer plot recap than Ligene’s. The reason is, there’s a LOT MORE PLOT than her route. The majority of this route is you gaining her trust, but also has that strange stalker mystery substory going on. It feels a LITTLE out of place, but, the tone, music, and voice acting carry it over well.
Tomomi is a bit….I’d guess the word you’d use is…eccentric.
However, what saves it, is that once Tomomi lets you in, she is ADORABLE. Without her glasses and her hair down she looks like totally different person, and she lets her guard down, dropping her defenses, and shows you who she really is.
Here’s the funny thing about this route. When you start the game, the VERY FIRST CHOICE you have is your friend Takeshi saying “Boy, Tomomi-sensei isn’t very attractive.” your choices are “yeah, i bet she doesn’t have a boyfriend” and ” i don’t know, I think she might look cute without those glasses.”. If you do not pick the second option, her route will not open up and you CANNOT get her. Yes, you read that right. You can screw up her romance BEFORE THE OPENING THEME SONG.
As Zuko would say
This is s a tough route. it’s definitely the darkest of the five, but at the same time, it’s also filled with hope. Tomomi is a hilarious, vibrant, yet soft personality. She’s trusting (shown as she’s the first one to believe your crazy story about time travel) but she’s also cynical. It’s an odd mixture to be sure, but the writers of this game knew exactly what they were doing. For some reason, it just works. The ending is bittersweet, but still good, and I enjoy the time I spend with Tomomi. she’s…fun to be around in the game. The only negative I’d give to this route is the stalker thing seems a bit..out of place from the other routes in the game. But still, incredibly enjoyable and i’d still recommend it to people.
Tomomi’s route? 8/10
Now come here and give daddy some sugar.
Awwww yeeaaahhhhh
Hideki