Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

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

Would a doctor really not tell a comatose patient how many years they've been in a coma? I understand slowly introducing a person to the idea that a period of time has in fact passed, but to out right lie and treat the person as if they are an invalid or a mentally retarded person who can't pick up on the concrete clues around them that something is off? This question bothered me to the point I had problems picking up this Anime and it bothers me even after I've finished it.

I have come to the conclusion that a comatose person is honestly not represented ... well in this story. First off, I have to question the fact that Haruka didn't notice that her hair was longer then what it was or that her sister had gone from being flat chested to big busted. She would have had concrete memories of what herself and her sister looked like before her accident and you don't have to look in a mirror to tell if your hair is long.

On top of this, I might as well mention that her hair would have been kept short as it is easier to manage, rather then those long locks that Haruka had in the Anime. I also doubt there would be any mention of rehabilitation while the patient was still within the coma, yet the doctor tells Akane that her sister is ready and prepared to go into rehabilitation if she just wakes up. I'll also add that rehabilitation starts as soon as a patient wakes up from their coma and isn't just about walking.

Add to the unrealistic of the situation we find the characters in, the first two episodes were honestly a pain to get through. Haruka and Takayuki's relationship never felt like a real relationship. Haruka was crushing on him and Takayuki went out with her because she was Mitsuki's friend. There is no telling whether he really did like her or he simply liked being with her which were two different things entirely.

A lot of this Anime storyline seems to be soft footing it around Haruka's feelings and not hurting them. Which is the real reason I feel nobody told Haruka the truth. It wasn't because she had some sort of weak psyche but because nobody wanted to see her cry and feel bad about having lost the years. Truth of the matter is, it would have been kinder to let her cry about the things going on around her rather then letting her find out people lied. And not small lies either.

As for the art style, I wasn't pleased with that either. Sure, the characters had some beautiful designs when it came to the face, but the body proportions were awkward at times. I also think the high school girls uniform is one of the ugliest I've seen. And no... I'm not talking about the uniform you see with the typical sailor blue outfit like you see in the pictures. No, the color is this rather ugly shade of purple. This isn't to say there aren't pieces of artwork that isn't well done, but there is a major lack of consistency. Sound didn't stand out much on the other hand.

As for characterization, for the ridiculous plot they were given the characters honestly acted the way they should have in the situation. However, goodness knows they shouldn't have been in the situation they were put into. I guess the best way to put it, this is the kind of bad plot line I would expect of a fanfic writer, where the fanfic writer has their favorite couple and throws in a love triangle to spice things up. The only difference I think is the fact that all the characters were shown in a rather positive light, though some fans of this series are likely to disagree and badmouth the character they don't like.

I honestly did not enjoy the first two chapters. Haruka felt way to needy and there was always this need to not hurt her feelings and shelter her from the real world. I honestly hate doing this because it only ends up hurting people. I struggled with the lack of realism when it came to the situation, but I did find the character interactions in the last twelve episodes to be how I'd expect people to act in the situation. That also said, this took me multiple times to pick this up and once I did, I found myself debating whether to drop it or not.

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.