Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien is one of the anime that I know is not perfect, but I can't find any category to deduct points on. It perfectly bridges the connection between drama and anime. Structure-wise, it is probably one of the best drama anime, due to its non-stop, suspenseful, concise storytelling in only 14 episodes. The mistake of many drama series is to drag out the same dramatic plot for 24 episodes, but Kimi ga Nozomu Eien knows when to stop so the drama doesn't grow tedious. There's no fillers, guest appearances, onsen excursions, or any of the sort. From the ... beginning to end, nothing was left out, and nothing was excessive.

Disclaimer: It is impossible to completely review this anime without giving up some minor spoilers. If the above paragraph convinced you to watch the anime, then please do so without reading on. If it did not, then you can read on; no major spoilers are present.

Story: 10/10

If I had to pick the anime with the best plot, it would have to be Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. Not only does the plot draw you in captures your attention, it is also unique in many ways: It takes on life during and after a relationship, not so much two people trying to convince themselves that they like each other for 20 episodes. In this way, the audience does not need to any unnecessary funny introductions or excessive blushing, but rather, the first episode sufficiently provides all the information needed to move on.

Just when the anime was starting so look like a typical high school romance, disaster strikes, deeply affecting the four friends. This is when Kimi ga Nozomu Eien enters a three year time skip, frequently revealing what happened during that time through short flashbacks. The plot from here on is very unsettling and highly subjective, exploring many major themes such as friendship, betrayal, love, aspirations, endeavors, and escaping from reality. All of this comes together at once, consistently driving the story forward to the very end.

Art: 9/10, Sound: 10/10

Although the art was only decent, the 9 rating goes to the portrayal of human emotions. As you can expect for a drama series, this aspect is very important and crucial to complementing the dramatic plot. All of this was done brilliantly in accompany with great background music. I can relive, in my head, half of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien's final episode because the series integrates the aspects of art and sound so well that the events becomes memorable.

Music alone deserves a special mention. For the first and second episodes of the anime, there were no opening sequences. That doesn't mean that the anime did not have an opening. The opening starts out with a scene with Mitsuki swimming and Haruki watching, Takayuki and Shinji talking under a tree, and all of this was accompanied with soft, soothing music. The ending for the first episode was nothing except Mitsuki silently listening to the Haruka's voice on the answering machine as the credits roll by. In fact, it wasn't until the second episode that there was an ending. This ending sequence, called Rumbling Hearts, is the second best ending sequence I have ever seen; it continues the story from the second episode in an amazing way. The best, however, is Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, the ending for the 14th episode. It is an emotional sequence, summarizing the entire series with the lyrics of a song. In my opinion there could not have been a better way to end the series, and the conclusion of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien is probably the reason why the series is still my number one favorite.

Character: 10/10

Three of the four original high school students were presented with the utmost detail. The fourth, however, was not. While some people did not like this, I am very comfortable it. Even though the story is technically about the four high school students, the plot was only between three, so the (dis)appearance of Shinji for some time was understandable. He did play a very big role later on in the plot, although it did not explore much more about him that we couldn't already assume in the first two episodes. I agree with this decision to turn Shinji into a supporting character because it clarifies the plot without leading it into confusing territories.

With this anime specifically, supporting characters are one of its most important elements, maybe even more so than the main characters. It was the main characters' actions that created the plot, but it was Akane, Shinji, Fumio, and others that actually drive the plot forward. And then there's Ayu and Mayu, the well-needed comic relief of the series. The balance of character development in Kimi ga Nozomu Eien was perfect down to the very last character, neither too excessive or lacking.

Enjoyment: 7/10

The first time around this series will be excrutingly painful. No matter which female lead you like, there will be moments where you feel very sad and sorry for a character, and it is just not a story you will want to sit through and enjoy. Even though I'm a pretty tough guy, I was teary for certain scenes of the final episode. It doesn't really have a great re-watching value either, but one time watching through it is all you need. You will end up watching specific scenes over and over again though, so you can be prepared for that. It is enjoyable once it's over, but it might not while you're watching it.

Overall: 10/10

All that aside, it is an excellent series that you have to watch and experience. It is not for everyone; people who haven't watched a drama or romance series should not start with Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. There are several memorable moments, such as the train station in episode two, Haruka telling the story of the fairy in episode fourteen, and Akane reading Haruka's story in episode fourteen. If you are looking for a deep yet concise drama/romance that doesn't drag on endlessly, then Kimi ga Nozomu Eien for you. I highly recommend it to all who can stand a little bit of drama.

Akane: "Heave-ho, heave-ho, heave-ho. This is how Haru found the real treasure."

Hontou no Takaramono (The True Treasure)
-Murakami Haruka

Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien, also known by the name Rumbling Hearts.

What this anime seems to accomplish like no anime before it is the amount of fake thrown at your face. It shows some promise in the first couple of minutes, but in the end, all it ever does is puke insincerity and exaggeration at your shoes. Taking this anime seriously for but only a second is a tedious and difficult task. I wouldn't recommend trying it to anyone, my suffering is enough alone.

Story:
A story? Come on, that is the last thing that this anime accomplishes to establish. A lovey-lovey sugar sweet drama with all ... sorts of different and complex conflicts? Please, if anything, you will laugh at the complete idiocy of it all. Fake fake fake! If anything even remotely similar would happen in reality I would be the first one to praise its uniqueness. As if the protagonist wasn't false to the bone enough, most conflicts could be handled just by communication alone. I'm left to wonder if there could actually be someone as stupid as him - as if that wasn't enough, I'm almost crying my eyes out silly that; of course, if a boy has a girl buddy in fiction, they automagically hook up. Seemingly, fiction seems to imply that males cannot have female friends without having a "thing for them". If you dare call this a good drama I'm left to pity you - go read Shakespeare's Othello. Whilst this anime has a thing for conflicts it executes them poorly and you're left confused with how this can even slightly relate to reality. It amuses me how people can call this slice-of-life when the relations are perfect, the conflicts are perfect, the setting is perfect, and the other seemingly non-important people are perfect; and of course, the ending is "perfect". Yes, all perfect conflicts have perfect solutions, that's why you sure as hell can call this anime slice-of-life. You're not left amazed and flabbergasted of how this perfect story hangs you on the edge of the cliff with such an astonishing suspense. No, it has a suspense indeed - but it's a suspense of stupidity. Half of the suspense would wither away if only the protagonist wasn't so foolish. You could cut more than half of this anime by destroying the perfect settings and the perfect supporting characters. Doing this would actually be reasonable and actually add to this anime's credibility, but then everyone would see through this pile of sickening goo, that adds nothing but laughs and tears to the wonderful genre that is drama.

To put all of that short; this anime tries violently to be something it never was, and never will be.

Art:
Pitiful and shockingly disgusting to watch. I can not say anymore, as it was fail to begin with. Of course you need some big round oh-look-at-the-five-light-sources eyes to achieve empathy with the characters. Amusingly, this relates to the story and proves a poor attempt at making an anime you're supposed to feel sympathetic towards. It was nothing short of awkward to watch.

Sound:
Oh, I'm quite confident that all people have those cute lullaby voices. I have to be honest and confess something, at one point in this anime, at one of those supposedly heart-warming tear-jerking scenes I was about to reconsider this anime's good points, when suddenly I'm bombarded with cutey comments that reek of incredibility in my ears. I could not stand the voice-actors, and even less the opening. What the opening succeeds to do is show you smiling girls and remind you of how fantastic the story is. The originality stuns me. The music broke through at some moments but was left unmemorable, which is far from a good thing in this context, disappointingly.

Character:
One of the extreme downsides of this anime, my dislike of the protagonist should seem obvious but that's actually not the worst. Yeah, are there worse? Oh, believe it.

Aside from the perfect relationships that are foolish, the protagonist who is nothing short of foolish, there is the rest of the cast who are pure fools. Alongside the protagonist the other two -main-characters show little integrity thought capability. It's like you're watching a show of puppets. Whilst the Muppets is also fake at least they manage to show some original personality - this show only again proves that it can't do anything but fling out perfect personalities that is just so short that you're supposed to feel rapport with them, whilst still understanding that this sort of personality can lead to conflicts. If you haven't realized by then the extreme improbability of this anime, you should at least by the time the characters are introduced.

Enjoyment:
Is it even possible?

Overall:
Probably one of the worst drama slice-of-life I have ever run across. It puts a dent on these genres that might never be repaired.

This is quite possibly the best anime drama I have ever seen, and that's saying a lot considering that I usually am drawn to more action oriented anime. One phrase that could describe Kiminozo is 'a beautiful mess of emotions.' The basic concept or plot puts Takayuki (the main male character) on the theme of choosing someone he loved dearly in the past, or staying with the girl he loves now in the present. A majority of the anime shows the feelings and emotions that take place while Takayuki is deciding on who to ultimately be with in the end. This ... is what makes the anime so great. One truly has sympathy to the characters as they struggle with their feelings. Eventually, you'll start rooting for the character you want Takayuki to choose and thus motivates you to continue watching. This leads up to the dramatic conclusion in which Takayuki chooses the girl he loves...who is the girl he chooses? You will have to watch to find out. All I can say is that the girl I wanted him to end up with got chosen. :)

The animation isn't too bad, but it isn't great either. I felt the character designs were great though. Kiminozo also has some pacing issues. There were some moments where it just felt too dragged out and not much was happening. However, if you're the type who enjoys slow and painful dramas that continuously builds, then you'll enjoy this aspect of Kiminozo. Another problem focuses on two co-workers of Takayuki that provide comic relief. I felt that they did an excellent job with the comic relief since after painful, dramatic, and depressing scenes, the anime usually focuses on the two co-workers to lighten up the mood, but most viewers would say that these scenes of comedy ruin the impact of the sadder moments. The ending itself also left me feeling unsatisfied. After watching this emotional rollercoaster, I expected the ending to be nothing short of spectacular, but instead it was just a 'good' ending.

Some other stuff I would like to point out is that the first two episodes serve as an introduction to the main story. I would highly recommend to continue watching until at least the third episode. The first episode gives the impression that it's going to be a bland, generic, 'highschool life' anime, which this is definitely not. After watching the second episode though, most everyone continues watching to see what happens next. Personally, I absolutely loved this anime and I'm incredibly bias towards giving this a perfect 10. However, that wouldn't be fair to those who are actually using this review to decide whether or not to watch KGNE, so I have pointed out some of the faults this anime has. Overall, I would say if you enjoy dramas, then I would recommend this wholeheartedly. However, if you're more action oriented, expect explosions, and do not particularly enjoy the 'slice of life' genre, you might not enjoy KGNE, but I would still say check this out.

Rating

+ Good, realistic character designs
+ Interesting story with a good theme tying it all together
+ Excellent depiction of human emotion
- Some pacing issues
- Some misplaced comic relief

9 out of 10