What an incredible journey, and an all-around improvement to the already master-class SakuUta. (Bit of a disclaimer, my Japanese isn't the best and there were a number of cases where I didn't feel like I fully grasped the meaning, but I am confident that I was good enough to understand it for the most part)
If Uta was the set-up, then Toki is the best a sequel can get. Knocks it out of the park. It trims the fat of Uta and focuses solely on hard-hitting, thought-provoking ideas and themes, and it doesn't stop. It's a never-ending train of emotion and impact.
Unlike Uta, where Makoto's route was a (pretty unanimous) weak link, surely in part because it had a different writer, every route in Toki was good.
While I do think it was strange for Makoto to have another route in Toki, I kinda wanna believe SCA-ji wanted to redeem her and write one for her himself. Or he just likes her a lot. Or maybe she's more popular among the fans than I expect.
Anyway, this game made me love Makoto, and she's the most relatable character for me. Well, her and Kana.

Speaking of Kana! What Toki also does is takes one-dimensional characters from Uta (some more so than others, looking at you Thomas) and fleshes them out. I hated Kana in the first game, but now? Arguably my favorite character if it wasn't for Ai. She really feels like the only "normal" person in this game, among a cast full of monsters blessed with natural talent. Her theming of hard work, strenuous effort and finding your own place in the world resonated me hard.

And yeah, even Thomas got his moment to shine, something I did NOT expect but was greatly welcomed. He's still a ridiculous character and I don't like him, but his speech about the idolization of heroes made me see him in a new light.

Kei's chapter? I teared up. Chapter 4 (I think?) and the ending leading to the climax were my favorite parts. God damn amazing storytelling and execution. Amazing tale of loss and moving on from it. Very strong finish.
I'm just rambling at this point, wanted to get some things off my chest. I haven't even scratched the surface of my experiences with this game, but I'll leave it at that.
I'm not confident at all in recognizing themes and analyzing stories, but hopefully this was somewhat readable.

I'm grateful to SCA-ji for giving us these amazing VNs. I could probably rate this a 10/10 in good conscience but something is holding me back. At the very least I can completely understand why people view this as a masterpiece, and I wouldn't argue.

I went into Sakura no Toki with my expectations through the roof and needless to say those expectations were met, no they were surpassed in every sense. The comedy which was lacking in Sakura no Uta was good in Sakura no Toki no moment felt stale and no moment felt hollow. The narrative in Sakura no Toki builds off of its prequel (obviously) but not only as a story but it takes what Sakura no Uta was lacking (pacing, cast, and comedy) and perfected it and needless to say made those aspects some of the best factors of the experience. Sakura no Uta was lacking in its side cast most of the side characters were not their own person they felt hollow and had no HEART, but Sakura no Toki took those side characters (Kana, Rin, Nei, etc) and made them into fully fledged characters that I can personally call some of my favorites. As for the narrative of Sakura no Toki it is phenomenal; it adds new characters and builds phenomenal dynamics with Naoya and the other members of the cast, and adds a thought provoking true route in the second half of the narrative with IV-VI. All in all Sakura no Toki takes what Sakura no Uta layed down and explores and builds upon it and ends the story of Naoya Kusanagi and Kei Natsume with one of the best and most emotional endings i’ve ever witnessed. Thank you SCA-DI, and thank you KeroQ for giving me the opportunity to read this grand narrative of happiness and anguish, a story of a genius chosen by god and a genius abandoned by god. Thank you for showing the bliss of life and art. And most of all thank you for your hard work.