Tokimeki Tonight-ten

In 2023, it was announced that a traveling exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of Tokimeki would be held at various locations around Japan. All information can be found on the official site as well as the official twitter and instergram accounts.

This page aims to collect and translate the most relevant information.

• contents
• venues
• displayed works
• rough sketches
• catalogue
• merchandise

Exhibition contents

• Black and white manuscript pages
• Color art produced for Ribon covers, title pages, and furoku
• Various preview illustrations and other rare pieces of art
• A large number of never-before-seen rough sketches Ikeno drew for Ribon covers, title pages, and furoku
• A selection of furoku from the original run in Ribon
• 6 pages of manga written exclusively for the exhibition (also included in the catalogue)
• Portrait gallery of all major and many minor characters from all three arcs
• A photo booth of a scene where Shun holds Ranze up against a wall
• A mock-up of Ranze's Instagram account
• A machine that displays various male characters of Tokimeki confessing their love to you (available characters: Shun, Rinze, Kairi, Shinjō, Aron, George, Sand, Tsutsui, Carlo, Tamasaburō, Mōri, Taku)
• A wall where visitors can leave messages for Ikeno on post-its styled as the Omoiga-ike flowers.

Exhibition venues

At all venues, pre-order tickets come with a B6 clear file featuring new art created for the exhibition and the cover of the September 1983 issue of Ribon. Also at all venues, attendees will receive one of three exclusive stickers featuring the title pages of Ranze arc ch. 12, Narumi arc ch. 24, and Aira arc ch. 34 (depending on the date of attendance).

Tokyo

• Dates: July 19th to August 7th, 2023
• Venue: Shinjuku Takashimaya department store (official site)
• Reporting: natalie.mu article + youtube, Fashionapp, Art Exhibition Japan, Ribonmusubi exhibition + merchandise (requires log-in)
• Tags: twitter 1, twitter 2, instagram

Kyoto

• Dates: October 11th to 30th, 2023
• Venue: Kyoto Takashimaya department store (official site)

Toyama

• Dates: December 22nd 2023 to January 9th 2024
• Venue: Toyama Daiwa department store (official site)

Nagoya (Aichi prefecture)

• Dates: March 28th to April 15th 2024
• Venue: JR Nagoya Takashimaya department store (official site)

Takasaki (Gunma prefecture)

• Dates: April 24th to May 6th 2024
• Venue: Takasaki Takashimaya department store

Displayed works

Below you'll find an exhaustive list of all works displayed at the Tokyo venue. The list was compiled with help from a kind person who showed me all her photographs from the venue, and I plan to compile a similar list for the Kyoto venue soon.

Tokyo

Exhibition catalogue

A 144-page softcover artbook featuring close to 400 pieces of Tokimeki artwork. It costs 2.200 yen and is only available at the exhibition venues at this point, although it might become available online or through regular booksellers after the exhibition has wrapped.

Table of contents

• Prologue (3-page manga)
• 1st Door Memories of Ranze
• 2nd Door Memories of Narumi
• 3rd Door Memories of Aira
• Ribon cover arts & Tokimeki Tonight chronology
• Story highlights Ranze
• Story highlights Narumi
• Story highlights Aira
• Tokimeki Tonight furoku no sekai
• Story highlights side stories
• Story highlights Sorekara
• Epilogue (3-page manga)
• Ikeno Koi special interview with Maki Yōko & Mochida Aki — Tokimeki no kakikata

List of illustrations

Omitted title pages

In the past, Ikeno has confided to fans that some of her color manuscripts have been lost, and this was why it's be impossible to publish a "complete edition" of Tokimeki reprinting all color pages. I've always been curious about which manuscript pages were lost and why, and I believe the omission of many title pages from the exhibition catalogue gives us some hints.

By far the most glaring omissions from the catalogue are 21 Ranze arc title pages (ch. 1, 4, 6, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 44, 48, 55, Christmas no okurimono). Of these 21, the title page of chapter 1 was reprinted in the Tokimeki manga-michi tankōbon and the title page of Christmas no okurimono was reprinted in the Romantic Album fanbook, so I think it's safe to say these pages haven't been lost, but simply omitted from the catalogue for one reason or another.

Ranze arc ch. 30 title page

Of the remaining 19, a large majority of 16 title pages were reprinted in the "Memorial scene collection" furoku from June 1987, a small artbook commemorating the conclusion of the Ranze arc. Many beautiful title pages were included in this booklet, such as a Shun solo piece from chapter 30, a dramatic two-page spread from chapter 33, and two highly romantic Ranze & Shun title pages from chapters 36 and 44. In my opinion, you can't explain the omission of these masterpieces fro the catalogue by any other reason than they have been lost, likely in the process of reprinting them for this furoku.

Of the remaining 3, the title page of chapter 4 was reprinted in volume 1 of the "Anime special edition" magazine, at which point it might have been lost.

This would also explain why the Italian edition uses different cover illustrations than the Japanese tankōbon for volumes 2 (ch. 4 title page swapped with ch. 5) and 9 (ch. 33 swapped with ch. 39.

That leaves us with chapters 21 and 22, which I can't find any specific reason for being omitted or lost — although the title page of chapter 21 includes a manga panel, so the catalogue editors might have judged it's not a "proper" title page.

Aira arc ch. 20 title page

As for the Narumi and Aira arcs, I also can't think of a reason why the title page of Ginga romance no yoru chapter 1 should have been omitted or lost. The Aira arc chapter 20 title page might have been omitted since it's technically a title page but also a part of the manga including a speech bubble. The title page of Aira arc chapter 36 was not colored, which would explain it not being included in the catalogue. The Aira arc side story Poteto no Merry Christmas might have been lost, or its existence might have been forgotten by the catalogue editors; same with the Aira cover of "Ribon sōshun no bikkuri daizōkangō 1993".

Whatever the reason for these omissions, it's my goal to collect all title pages and covers not included in the catalogue or fanbook, particularly those that weren't included in the "Memorial scene collection" furoku either. You can find scans of these omitted color pages here:

• Ranze arc ch. 1, 4, 10, 11, 15, 18, 21, 22, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 44, 48, 55: Ranze arc color pages
• Ranze arc ch. 6, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 44, 48, 55: Ranze furoku 1987
• Christmas no okurimono: Romantic Album fanbook
• Ginga romance no yoru ch. 1: Narumi arc color pages
• Aira arc ch. 20 and Poteto no Merry Christmas: Aira arc color pages
• Aira cover for Ribon sōshun no bikkuri daizōkangō 1993: magazine scans

Merchandise

81 items of merchandise (over 100 if counting the random draw items) have been released for the Tokimeki exhibition. Please check the official site for details and images.