Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

Rumbling Hearts

Also Known As: KimiNozo, KgNE, The Eternity You Desire, The Future You Wish For

Genre: Romance/Drama

Format: 14 Episodes

Allegiance: Kimi ga Nozomu Eien Production Committee/Studio Fantasia

Director: Watabe Tetsuya

Vintage: 2003-2004

Intelligence Agency Report by: Kuzu Ryu Sen

Suzumiya Haruka, a 3rd year student at Hiiragi High School, has a crush on Narumi Takayuki, but was always too shy and reserved to approach him. However, forces are at work to place the two together, namely Hayase Mitsuki and Taira Shinji, Haruka's and Takayuki's respective best friends. Thanks to their work, Haruka and Takayuki begin dating, and while Takayuki doesn't take the relationship very seriously in the beginning, he begins falling for Haruka as time passes. However, while everything appears to have worked out perfectly, certain hidden feelings and emotions threaten to destroy this utopian setting, making for a potentially explosive situation. Then one day, tragedy strikes, and the spark is lit...

Field Agent Report by: Kuzu Ryu Sen

Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio

8.50
5.00
1.50
8.00
7.50

Overall

5.75

(not an average)

I'd like to harken Kimi ga Nozomu Eien to an inexperienced marathon runner: exploding out of the gate with so much potential, only to squander his chances mid-race due to poor planning and strategy, and as a result, crawling to the finish. Despite all the potential in the world, poor pacing and ineffective characterization renders Kimi ga Nozomu Eien out of the running as a top notch anime, and an exasperating ending drives it all the way down to the realms of mediocrity.

Like the inexperienced runner, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien starts off very nicely, gradually building up to a very nice plot twist at the end of the second episode. However, after this, while the premise remains strong, the characters simply bog the story down with episode after episode of repetitive pointless angst. Herein is the greatest problem with Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: annoying characters. Our protagonist, Takayuki, is a spineless irritating twit, surrounded by Mitsuki, a confused and equally gutless girl, and Haruka, someone who seems completely oblivious to the outside world. This wouldn't be so bad, but there are two other factors compounding this issue. First, the majority of side characters are just as annoying and one-dimensional. Second, outside of Mitsuki, there is next to no character development until the last episode, which makes the ending seem like as if the producers were trying to make up for lost time.

Some may call the strength of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien to be it's stark realism and ability to arouse emotion, but the only emotion that I felt from watching endless episodes of wavering and complaining was extreme hate; to the extent where if each of the characters were actually real, I'd have no problems if I heard they had all been hit by trucks. If that's realism, then humanity is doomed. Even its attempts at symbolism fail from lack of focus (especially when the theme is dropped overnight, and a new one is picked up equally as fast with no basis). The art is nice, and the animation is decent, but the music, save the opening and ending songs, is woefully lacking, sapping the anime of what little power it had left. So, what does save Kimi ga Nozomu Eien from being something people use as skeet targets? The creative premise, the fantastic opening, a few side characters, and the merciful fact that it's not 26 episodes or more.

Despite all the hype surrounding it, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien is nothing special at all. A creative premise and nice story is overridden by grating characters and slow pacing. While credit must be given for such a bold first stab in the dark, someone should probably turn on the lights for the next attempt.

Field Agent Report by: Djudge

Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio

8.00
5.00
2.50
7.00
7.25

Overall

6.00

(not an average)

In the world of storytelling it is said that effective dramas can teach its audience that the human being leads a sad and lonely existence before possibly reaching true happiness. Figuring since I heard Kimi ga Nozomu Eien billed both as a "true magnum opus" and a "detestable freak of nature" by a few colleagues, I was going to be seeing one of the more, shall we say, hotly debated titles today's anime market had to offer. Well upon finishing this title, it's safe to say that KgNE is definitely worthy of its notoriety. However, despite its more unpolished aspects, I have to say that I am not completely without sympathy for this attempt at a refined and totally serious drama.

The visuals in KgNE are certainly not the most important aspect of the show and the quality of the technical achievements displayed in the title remains at the norm for today's standards. The animation never detracts from the title's mostly somber ambience, but never really rise up and become eye-catching. If there were any gripes to be made about the art in this title they would probably be focused on the slightly revealing and distracting character designs of the female cast in the series. Some viewers, such as myself, found the artwork in this regard to be far too skimpy and even a bit damaging to the overall feel of the weighty dramatics that were playing out onscreen. However, seeing that KgNE does have its roots as a popular H-game, it should only be expected that the show's staff keep that particular portion of the audience satisfied.

While the technical aspects of KgNE remain satisfactory, it just has to be said that unfortunately the storytelling doesn't exactly measure up. The show starts off strong enough, showcasing a catalyst that had the potential for starting up some very strong and effective plot/character development. Enter the nearly blasphemous middle segment of KgNE. For what seems like an eternity, the main characters engage in a cacophony of crying, screaming, and to be frank, plain old whining. I'm not too sure whether or not this was meant to the "effective drama" that fans of the show say time and time again. Nevertheless, any possible comprehension of the plot's advancement was hindered tremendously by the actions of a gutless and, well, inane leading trio. The only saving grace that these those three idiots could possibly provide stems from the fact that sadly there are many people like them in the world (a hint of realism perhaps?). From my perspective, the overall quality of a show rests heavily on the interaction between its cast and meaningful and timely developments in the plot. When all is said and done, KgNE fails many times to deliver these all-important tenets of an accomplished piece of storytelling.

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien remains as a classical example of what society likes to call "wasted potential." There was so much there for the staff to work with, largely in part due to the show's promising opening installments. Before closing this review I'd like to summarize my experience with this show with a final thought: While I can't say that I've been lobotomized, raped, or tortured, I can say that I've watched Kimi ga Nozomu Eien.