Rumbling Hearts
| Rumbling Hearts | |
 The two female leads, Haruka Suzumiya (left) and Mitsuki Hayase | |
| Genre | Drama, Romance |
|---|---|
| Video game | |
| Developer | âge (PC) Alchemist (DC) Princess Soft (PS2) |
| Genre | Dating sim, Eroge, Visual novel |
| Platform | PC, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Tetsuya Watanabe |
| Studio |  Studio Fantasia Funimation XL Media |
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (君が望む永遠, lit. The Eternity You Desire), abbreviated as Kimibou or Kiminozo is a Japanese adventure game created by âge, first released in 2001 for the PC, which was later ported to the Sega Dreamcast (by Alchemist) and PlayStation 2 (by Princess Soft) as all-age versions.
An anime series, officially known as Rumbling Hearts outside Japan, was later adapted from the game; it aired between October 5 2003 and January 4 2004, comprising 14 episodes in total. It has been regularly featured among the user-voted top ten anime on comprehensive anime guide web pages like animenfo. The Rumbling Hearts DVD volume one was released in North America on December 19 2006. Volume two is expected in February and volume three, the last volume, is expected to be released some time in March.
A second anime series, which will feature cover Haruka's route from the game (the first series covered Mitsuki's), is currently in production.
Plot
Template:Spoiler Kimi ga Nozomu Eien is a romance story, the central theme being an accident that profoundly affects the lives of a girl and her three high school friends.
The story begins by introducing Haruka Suzumiya, Takayuki Narumi, Mitsuki Hayase and Shinji Taira. Mitsuki sets Takayuki up with the shy Haruka and they begin to date each other, out of sympathy or other reasons involving Mitsuki and her deep friendship with Haruka. Despite having such problems occur, Takayuki and Haruka eventually develop an intimate relationship—where Takayuki and Mitsuki start realizing their feelings for one another.
One day, Takayuki is running late on his way to meeting up with Haruka. This turns into tragedy when Haruka becomes involved in a very serious automobile accident and as a result falls into a coma. This puts Takayuki into a serious state of depression (as he feels that his lack of promptness caused the accident). As time goes by, Takayuki's mental condition grows worse and worse. Mitsuki begins to take care of him because she has feelings for him which she has always kept hidden. Eventually they start dating, and then eventually living together in Takayuki's small apartment.
Then, one day, three years later, Haruka reawakens from her coma, oblivious to the goings-on of the previous three years. In addition, she is diagnosed with anterograde amnesia. The doctors ask that she be kept uninformed of what has happened in order to protect her fragile psyche. After Haruka wakes up, Takayuki is conflicted with his feelings of guilt and responsibility and must choose between Mitsuki and Haruka. The bulk of the story focuses on the suffering of the characters because of this predicament.
Characters
- Takayuki Narumi (鳴海孝之, Narumi Takayuki), (Seiyū: Kishō Taniyama, VA: Kevin M. Connolly)
- The protagonist. Takayuki Narumi met Haruka through Mitsuki setting them up with on date during high school. When Haruka is badly injured in an accident, he feels responsible for it and falls into a deep depression. Later in the story, he works at a family restaurant after having regressed in his studies due to the accident. In Haruka's absence, he gradually begins to develop a relationship with Mitsuki.
- Haruka Suzumiya (涼宮遙, Suzumiya Haruka), (Seiyū: Minami Kuribayashi, VA: Carrie Savage)
- A shy, timid girl; Mitsuki introduced her to Takayuki, whereupon they fell in love with each other. Her hobbies are collecting picture books. She is involved in a serious car accident and ends up in a coma. The main part of the story starts when she awakens three years later. She is afflicted with anterograde amnesia and because of her delicate psyche, her family and Takayuki conceal truth that three years have passed, despite Haruka's increasing suspicions that more time has past than they allow her to believe. Towards the end of the series, Akane, under a great of stress, reveals the truth and Haruka falls unconscious. When she awakens again, she has forgotten everything since she has awoken from her coma and her family chooses to reveal the truth this time.
- Mitsuki Hayase (速瀬水月, Hayase Mitsuki), (Seiyū: Chiaki Takahashi, VA: Colleen Clinkenbeard)
- Mitsuki is friends with both Takayuki and Haruka, but secretly she desires Takayuki. In high school, she was a strong swimmer and tomboy, but shortly after Takayuki and Haruka's relationship begins to develop, she grows distant and decides to quit, eventually leaving the swimming world altogether. She throws herself at Takayuki when he fails to climb out of his depression, and reveals her feelings for him. Mitsuki is well-meaning, but suppresses her feelings, allowing them to bottle up and explode in dangerous ways. Mitsuki also believes that she is responsible for her friend's accident, as she was the main reason why Takayuki was late for his date with Haruka. In fact, in the fandisc, if Takayuki ignores her on that fateful day, he and Haruka live happily ever after.
- Akane Suzumiya (涼宮茜, Suzumiya Akane), (Seiyū: Kaori Mizuhashi, credited as Tomomi Uehara, VA: Leah Clark)
- Haruka's younger sister, she initially sees both Takayuki and Mitsuki as older siblings until she finds out they have been seeing each other behind the comatose Haruka's back. While Haruka is in the hospital, she visits her every day. She, like Mitsuki, is a powerful swimmer in her own right, but feels as if she can never match Mitsuki. Her intense hatred towards Mitsuki after the accident can be attributed to the feeling of personal betrayal by someone she considered an idol for throwing away her (Mitsuki's) talent and dreams as well as Mitsuki's betrayal of her sister by her sexual relationship with Takayuki. Eventually, she learns to move on in life and becomes a top swimmer in Japan.
- Shinji Taira (平慎二, Taira Shinji), (Seiyū: Masaki Andou, VA: David Wilson-Brown)
- Friends with Takayuki, Haruka and Mitsuki in high school, he drifts off from the group after graduation. Becomes an important character towards the end of the series, and very likely once had a crush on Mitsuki.
- Ayu Daikuuji (大空寺あゆ, Daikuuji Ayu), (Seiyū: Kiyomi Asai, VA: Luci Christian) and Mayu Tamano (玉野まゆ, Tamano Mayu), (Seiyū: Kyouko Yoshida, VA: Monica Rial)
- Two waitresses who work at the same family restaurant as Takayuki. Ayu is the surly daughter of an executive of the restaurant (the only reason she keeps her job) and Mayu is a soft-spoken but well-meaning klutz. While in the game they served as one of the many love interests, in the anime they provide the only comic relief for this otherwise serious series. After the credits of several episodes in the series, a 30-second short known as the "Ayu-Mayu Theater" shows them in a comical situation totally irrelevant to the main story with all characters in chibi form. They are also known as AyuAyu and MayuMayu.
Anime
A 14-episode TV anime based on the game and animated and produced by Studio Fantasia first aired across Japan from October 5 2003 to January 4 2004 (with erotic elements from the game removed). The anime was later licensed for American distribution by FUNimation Entertainment under the title Rumbling Hearts, the title of one of the anime's ending theme songs.
On August 27 2006, âge posted a small article on the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien official website, saying that a new anime adaptation with a different storyline and conclusion from the the original adaptation will be produced. However, that article was removed three hours later. Later, on October 21 2006, âge made another announcement, this time on the Kiminozo-Radio website, saying that they have already started producing the new series.
Episodes
| # | Title | Original air date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Theme songs
- Opening
- Precious Memories by Minami Kuribayashi (ep 3-14)
- Endings
- Rumbling Hearts by Minami Kuribayashi (ep 2)
- Hoshizora no Waltz (The Waltz of the Starry Sky) by Minami Kuribayashi (ep 3-13)
- Kimi ga Nozomu Eien by MEGUMI (ep 14)
Nickname
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien's title (君が望む永遠), due to its length, is usually reduced to "君望". This is officially read as "Kimibou", but many read it as "Kiminozo" instead. Both abbreviations are considered to be acceptable, with "Kiminozo" being written as "君のぞ" instead. People who create or watch fansubs of the TV series tend to use "KGNE" instead. This abbreviation has never been used in any official sources.
Other Appearances
Characters from Kimi ga Nozomu Eien can be seen in other games by âge.
Akane Maniax
Akane is the main heroine in the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien spinoff and Muv-Luv prequel, Akane Maniax.
Muv-Luv
Akane returns again in Muv-Luv, still a student in Hakuryou Hiiragi. Also, part of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien's opening theme (Rumbling Hearts) is played whenever someone is hit by a car.
Muv-Luv Alternative
Several of the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien characters return in the sequel to Muv-Luv, Muv-Luv Alternative. Template:Spoiler Haruka, Mitsuki, and Akane are members of special task force A-01, also known as the Isumi Valkyries, and Homura Manami is a nurse at the Yokohama base. Mitsuki and Akane pilot senjutsuki, but Haruka is the command post officer.
Takayuki is also mentioned. He was killed in action prior to the start of the game, King of Hetare to the end.
In the epilogue, Haruka and Mitsuki can be seen walking around together near the station, Mitsuki with her pre-accident hairstyle. This suggests that the events of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien may be taken by future games to have never happened, allowing for Mitsuki and Haruka to show up as best friends in newer games as they did in Alternative. It also suggests that all of Kimi go Nozomu Eien takes place in the version of the Extra world corrupted by the flow of influence from the Alternative world (as the final Extra world is supposedly one restored to its rightful form). It is possible that Haruka's accident in Kimi ga Nozomu Eien was caused by the influence of Haruka's death in the Alternative world brought by Takeru to the Extra world (this theory assumes that cause and effect would be affected by things in the Alternative world that would happen in the future, though, as Haruka died after Takeru returned from the Extra world).
Haruka and Mitsuki both die in the Alternative world during the Yokohama base battle. Haruka is killed in action by one of the BETA while trying to shut down the hive reactor, and Mitsuki sacrifices herself to destroy it by manually detonating the S-11 bombs shortly after.
In the all-ages version of Muv-Luv Alternative, Mitsuki's death scene has full voice acting for Takeru added on.
References