Graphic Novel 1
Akari had known him for years it seems. Way back since Kindergarten she had two childhood friends.
Hiroyuki, the tough guy who is quite the chivalrous nice guy once you get past his theatrics.
And Masashi, the guy who seems to fill the background but not play much of a role in To Heart.
This is more about Akari, in a sense, and how her feelings for Hiroyuki have changed since youth now that they're in high school… but she's a bit of a inhibited girl who isn't good at expressing her feelings.
In fact she thinks that Hiroyuki is more interested in the quiet (to the point that it seems she does all her communicating through the power of the force) Serika Kurusugawa (member of the Occult Club and most likely the Japan branch President of the Hermione Granger fan club), which leads to the appearance of one who may help her express her feelings to Hiroyuki.
Enter the HMX-12 Multi, or just plain Multi to you and me. She is a android maid in training, and she's in school a few days to finish her "learning" before the final exam to pick a production model between herself and a more serious maid in training (who happens to be "younger" than her). The winner becomes the new production line of maid-bots, the loser is put into "sleep" mode… a sure "death" for androids, and a fate that seems to be waiting for Multi since she is failing in her training as a maid.
With lots of help from Hiroyuki, and Akari (who has been recruited by Serika to observe Multi with an "auditor" who is a robot teddy bear) Multi may make it past her test somehow and avoid being put on ice.
But what can Multi do in return?
According to the back cover she can use her "machined mind" to help Akari overcome her shyness.
Mis-print. It's not Multi's mechanical mind that'll help Akari, but the pureness of Multi's spirit and her beautiful honesty and desire only to help others that'll help Akari find the voice within her to speak her mind. Oh, but she's not the only source of "help" as you'll see…
Oh, and Hiroyuki is more along towards being in love with Akari than she thinks, it's just that he's not all the way there… yet. But by the time we reach the end of this series I'm betting we'll be pleased with how things turn out for these two.
With a cast of characters that are both lovable and great to read about (from the wacky Shiho and her obsessive "news flash" rumor mills, to the strange Lemmy and her misphrased "proverbs", not to mention a full body of positive attributes from a good story to nice artwork, this is going to be an appealing read for both young and old alike! Highly recommended from me to you.

To Heart Breakdown the 1st
What's Hot? It's a highly lovable title, and a solid read. From start to end it just grabs you, and takes you along on this great, funny, insightful and just plain good read. From the artwork to the storytelling the book has solid marks, and for an All Ages reader it's got a lot of spunk to it that makes it well worth your time and effort to seek out. A good read that you should consider the next time your in your local bookstore.
What's Not? Nothing. It's good all the way around.
Moments to Remember? The book is pretty good, and that is memorable in itself. From the cast of characters to the story it's a good book. Looking forward to seeing Graphic Novel 2!
What to Ignore? Nothing. The way it all comes together makes it well worth a look by you…
Ok. Maybe the fact that one of the characters (Masashi, who is one of Akari's childhood friends) doesn't seem to do much of anything in the title and is relegated to occasionally pushing the plot forward. Ignore that. I mean he SHOULD be one of the main characters, yet for all intent and purposes this second childhood friend of Akari seems to be there only to fill in background space and push the plot forward.
That's no good no matter how you slice it.
Overall? For an All Ages title it's got a lot of appeal to it. From the artwork, to the writing, To Heart is a nicely done piece of manga that I recommend checking out! Nice job! I wish there were more All Ages titles out there with the same kind of appeal that To Heart has! Quite a lovely book if I do say so myself!